The Nutcracker blues

Back in 1987, for the 30th anniversary of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, my Dad designed

the Nutcracker's costumes. Every year since then, in October, the costumes were pulled out of storage, refurbished and repaired for the new dancers.

Dad would attend all the fittings to make sure everything was up to his standards.

Here is a clip:

I saw this wonderful Holiday ballet, a lot of times....

But with Dad's passing I was sad at the thought of not seeing it EVER again.

To my great surprise, I was contacted by my Dad's agent earlier this month and it seems that as part of his contract I am entitled to tickets....and they are planning a special evening to honor his work....

So we are going to the ballet !

I'll tell you all about it!

What, what what ???? and EEEEEWWWW!!!

Sometimes I struggle to find a title to my posts.....I think this fits the bill.

It is nearly November which means the Holidays are just around the corner. In my boondock there is a big food drive (La Guignolée) early December. Last year I was not prepared for it, and I felt bad.

So this year I wanted to get a jump on it and start this weekend. First step: I go through my pantry and check what I have; sometimes I go crazy and buy too much tomatoes, so I'll give some of those.

I love doing this so I can clean the pantry at the same time! I check every can for the expiration date and the expired ones (depending of the date) will either go back in the pantry or in the garbage.

I try extra hard not to give expired items, I feel it is very insulting!

Boy was I in for a surprise!

I was so sure I cleaned out the pantry just 6 months ago! I found soup cans expired 4 years...WHAT? WHAT? WHAT???

I also found some cans all sticky....It smelled of maple syrup....So I cleaned and cleaned and never found the source of the leaking maple syrup.

Like I told Dan : It is a pretty interesting way to spend a Friday night! And as an added bonus I smashed a bottle of sweet and spicy asian chicken sauce on the pantry floor. There was glass and sticky mess allllll over. It took forever to clean up!

                                Now all the almond milk is at the same place,
and easier to juge how many to buy because we use about 4 liters a week and over all things are more organized and easier to see.

                                I have Stockpile Envy ( Extreme Couponing) I wish I had a year of toilet paper and feminine products...but it is not to be in Quebec...the supermarkets do not double the coupons and buy one get one free coupons are very rare....Oh well, I do have soup cans, tomatoes and olives to last me a while...

And Dan says I should not buy Kraft Mac n Cheese for quite a while....LOL unless it is a new amazing flavor.....

In the right corber you can see my 2 quarts of Fire Cider (which I named fire water....) I got the recipe from homespun seasonal living.com  it will help ward off colds and soothe sore muscles!

I can't wait to try it, I bet it is kind of funky tasting!

Have a nice weekend!
 

It's beginning to look at lot.....

Like Christmas!

I'm beginning to see signs that the Holidays are just around the corner!

I spied this beautiful swag on Mountain street last week.

And this secret window....

I can't wait to see what this window is hiding!

On the food front, I'm beginning to see some really kick ass sales on Holiday essentials....Like lean ground pork for .99 cents a pound! I bought about 12 pounds and packaged it all in one pound bags and froze them.

Now I can make meat pie (tourtiere) and meat ball stew (ragout de boulettes) and even meat stuffed salad rolls (petits pains fourrés a la viande).

Now I need to work on some cookie doughs....Ginger bread cookies, pfeffernusse, sandies.....

And I'm happy to say my shopping is well under way!

Have a great evening y'all!