A Life, Lived

Happy Halloween

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 18 out of 382 photos.

You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

---

Halloween, for many people and many different reasons, is one of the best holidays the year can offer. Aside from consciously creating cavities, the eve of All Hallows Day has transformed into (nearly) a week's worth of reasons to dress up in something bizarre and go out and have fun.

Most of our preparations were done on the weekend and last night. I still decided to leave work early today though so that I could set out the candy, ensure that the car fit in the garage, and make the traditional HUGE cauldron of chili for dinner.

Paul got home about 6 p.m. and it wasn't long before the doorbell started to ring. All in all we had about 96 kids. We still have some chips left over and a few chocolate bars (yeah!). We did better than our neighbours who had to turn off their lights off at 7:30 and hide in the basement for fear that some angry, candy-deprived child might TP their house.

This was the table of treats awaiting the trick-or-treaters. We had a stash of more chips and chocolate bars hidden away to add when our supply ran low. Thank goodness we did because at one time I had about 15 children descend upon the door at once - it was stressful!  LOL They were so cute though!

The front yard was decorated. Tomorrow is November first and by all rights I should be packing the lawn mower away but it has been so darn warm here that the grass won't stop growing (as you can see from this pic)!

 

This is the front of the house under the cover of darkness. I guess that it looked all right - judging by the number of people who posed their little darlings in front of the house for pictures. I admit that we enjoy decorating the place for the holidays - next up - Christmas!

I hope that all of you had a safe and happy Halloween!

Carving the Jack-o-Lanterns

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 18 out of 382 photos.

You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

---

Tonight was one of our favourite times of the year - pumpkin carving! Every year many people comment on our pumpkins and how wonderful they are. This always makes me smile because we use the stencils available from Pumpkin Masters - how hard is it to trace a stencil, carve along the lines with the little saws provided, and sit back and allow the compliments to wash over you?

Once dinner was over we cleared off the kitchen table and covered it with newspaper. Paul brought the pumpkins inside and we were confronted with a challenge - something (likely a skunk or raccoon) had decided to gnaw on one of the pumpkins:

There was also a huge gash in the side - of course it was the perfect side for carving! We decided that we might be able to incorporate the gnawed bit in the pattern.

Next up? Slicing off the lid and scooping up the guts from inside the pumpkin. When we first started carving pumpkins someone (not ME) was actually afraid to get his hands into the 'insides'. As you can see from this pic, this particular affliction has been cured:

Once the inside was cleaned out we taped the stencil onto the pumpkin and marked on the cutting lines. The good folks at Pumpkin Masters have created a great new tool this year - a jagged roller wheel which actually marks off the cutting lines in far less time than we have used in the past. Thank you Pumpkin Masters!

Once the lines were marked off the stencil was removed and we used the handy dandy saws to carve out the pattern. The entire project took less than an hour!

Once we were finished it was time for the test run - we always turn off the kitchen lights to get a sense as to how they will look:

I think that Paul did a great job on the skull!

Beringer Comes to Burlington

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 18 out of 382 photos.

You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

---

It was about two years ago that Paul and I spent a wonderful two weeks in northern California. We rented a spectacular house in the redwood forest of the Russian River Valley and spent our days touring wineries. Horrible!

Generally when we are in that area we avoid Napa; to us it is too busy, too snobby, two glitzy, and too commercial. On this trip we thought that perhaps we would check out the northern Napa valley to see if it was different than the southern part of the valley. It was, but not by much.

We stopped into Beringer, drawn by the allure of the oldest winery in California. I'll admit that our tasting spoiled us - it was the day after Robert Parker had been tasting at the winery and they had some high end wines left that they had opened for him. I am sure that we ended up tasting things that we never would have had otherwise. It was an incredible visit!

When I read that our local liquor store was hosting a tasting of Beringer wines we quickly signed up; if the guys couldn't get to Napa for the crush than Napa could come to us! Today when I was at work I mentioned that we had the tasting this evening to my friend Jane and she laughed and said that she and Ruth were signed up as well - clearly it would be a good night!

This was the sight that greeted us when we arrived. My kind of tasting. The ad for the session indicated that there would be six wines to taste but we were provided with 8. Actually, we received 9 because there was confusion about when the class was to start. We arrived at the advertised time of 6:30 but others showed up at 7. While we waited we had an extra taste of a reserve white wine.

The eight wines we tasted were:

1. 2005 Stone Cellars Chardonnay
2. 2005 Beringer Founders' Estate Chardonnay
3. 2005 Kinghts Valley Alluvium Blanc
4. 2004 North Coast Third Century Merlot
5. 2005 Napa Valley Merlot
6. 2004 Beringer Founders' Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
7. 2004 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
8. 2004 Kinghts Valley Alluvium

Look at the differences in the colour . . .

My favourites were the 2004 Beringer Founders' Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with its deep red colour and aromas of cassis, green tea, and vanilla and the 2004 Kinghts Valley Alluvium with its intense cherry, blackberry core. I can't say as if I cared greatly for the white wines but then again I may only drink a bottle or two of white wine a year.

Now for the silly pics:

Ruth cheating and reading the tasting notes so she can talk intelligently about the wine!

Jane demonstrating the two-fisted approach to wine tasting!

The Christmas Baking Begins - Fruitcake

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 18 out of 382 photos.

You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

---

Before you run and check your calendar for fear you've slept through a month and a half, yes, it is still October! We have a tradition in our family, we gather on a weekend day near the end of October and we whip up a batch of fruitcake. Once baked, these cakes get soaked in brandy, wrapped in cloth, then waxed paper, and then sealed in foil whereupon they are hidden away in a dry, cool spot to await their unveiling - generally 8 weeks after we baked them.

This was the recipe used to make my mother's wedding cake back in 1961. My earliest memory of mom making them is 1967 when she and her friend whipped them together in the small kitchen in our apartment. For those who are counting - I was three way back then. So these cakes have been a family tradition for more than 40 years.

To be honest, I don't really like fruitcake all that much. A slice or two will do me for a year. So what do I do with the eight cakes my half of the recipe generally makes? I give them away or sell them - every year my office has a bake sale to raise money for charity. Each one of these babies goes for $ 6 which is a nice profit for the charity.

This year we decided to get an early start - 6:30 a.m. ARGH When we went to bed last night we smiled to ourselves - sure that there was no way mom would be here that early. When the alarm went at 5:45 I got up, showered, went downstairs to make some coffee and feed the cats. I figured that I could relax for a few hours before mom showed up. I was just in the middle of making some muffins for breakfast when the doorbell rang - 'good lord', I thought - she actually got up! Yes, it was her.

This recipe makes about 7 1/2 pounds of cake.

1 lb butter
2 cups white sugar
12 eggs, separated
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nutmeg
½ tbsp ground allspice
4 cups all purpose flour
5 lb raisins (half light and half dark)
1 ½ lb citron peel
1 lb candied cherries cut in half
1 lb candied pineapple cut into chunks
½ cup brandy
1 small bottle strawberry jam
1 small bottle grape juice (about 14 oz)
½ tsp soda added to grape juice just before mixing it into the batter
1 tsp vanilla

Cut parchment paper to line pans. Grease parchment paper with butter. Line the pans.

With a mixer, cream butter and sugar.

Add the 12 egg yolks to the creamed butter and sugar.

Add spices.

In a large bowl place all of the fruit. Mix the flour and fruit together.

Add butter mixture to the flour mixture.

Mix in brandy, strawberry jam, grape juice/baking soda  mixture, and vanilla.

Gently fold in the 12 egg whites (stiffly beaten).

Fill the prepared pans with the batter.

Bake at 300 degrees until done (small cakes like we make generally take about 2 hours).

And now . . . the pics:

Paul chopping the fruit
You'll notice the debris left behind after I gave mom a treat from Palm Desert - Pistachios

Mom separating the eggs

Folding in the stiffly beaten egg whites

Ready to go into the oven
We put the filled cake tins on cookie sheets so it is easier to move the cakes around in the oven to ensure even browning

Out of the oven and ready to cool

Beef Carnitas Tacos

a shameless self-promotion . . .One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently number 20 out of 382 photos. You can vote by clicking here.Remember a 10 is good! Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!*smile*

---

This is really a two part recipe. A few months ago I made beef carnitas by tweaking a recipe from the Cooking Light website. The beef carnitas turned out well but made a good deal so I froze two containers of the carnitas mixture. This worked out well for me because there were a few nights where I was dragging my feet and just wanted to whip something together in a flash. This taco recipe fit the bill!

These simple tacos are an ideal showcase for tender Beef Carnitas (or Pork Carnitas). Serve with a black bean salad and frozen margaritas or ice-cold beer. You can warm the tortillas in a nonstick skillet just until lightly browned.


2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 2 medium)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced peeled avocado
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
2 cups Beef Carnitas
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon 1/4 cup Beef Carnitas onto each tortilla; top each with about 3 tablespoons avocado mixture. Fold in half; serve with lime wedges.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos and 2 lime wedges)

CALORIES 235 (30% from fat); FAT 7.9g (sat 2.2g,mono 3.2g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 17.6g; CHOLESTEROL 48mg; CALCIUM 37mg; SODIUM 303mg; FIBER 3.8g; IRON 2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2006

It's Time for a Rant

a shameless self-promotion . . .One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently 20 out of 382 photos. You can vote by clicking here.Remember a 10 is good! Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!*smile*

---

Well now, it has been awhile since I last had a wee rant. This one has been welling up inside of me since 9 am this morning and frankly, if I don't get it out of my system I may explode.

So I am on a place heading to Windsor (ewww) to observe a professional learning session which I assisted in designing. It is one of those small planes with about 32 seats. Once we are airborne the stewardess came own the aisle tossing coffee and tea at those foolish enough to NOT have stopped and purchased a jumbo decent coffee in the terminal. When she finished she sat down in front of me (I was in the first row) and read a magazine.

Now I have no problem with the reading part, in fact I have seen this quite often: the drinks are served, the mess tidied, and trash stowed - what is a bored steward or stewardess to do?

BUT (you knew this was coming didn't you . . .) she was reading  (wait for it . . .)

In Touch magazine.

Please! How much confidence do I have that this person is going to assist me to safety in an emergency when I observe her reading 'Why Britney Doesn't Wear Panites?"

ARGH

Immediately I conjour up images of her ensconced in a lovely trailer somewhere watching  Survivor and eating cheetoos. Perhaps the stewardess training sessions could focus on appropriate reading materials for planes and if the material in question so much as contains the words 'Britney' and 'Spears' it just isn't appropriate!

Now in the interest of fairness I should point out that I was a tad cranky - a) I was going to Windsor (enough said), b) I was tired, c) it was raining, and d) I had just dumped coffee all down my leg. However, even with all of that, I just think In Touch (and more specifically, "Why Britney Doesn't Wear Panties") on a plane is wrong.

Speaking of things that are just plain wrong . . . did you hear that Britney's mom is writing a book on parenting? Dear god, the Apocalypse is upon us! Whoever would dream for a second that an escapee from the trailer park who has exploited her spawn to the extent she has could ever offer advice on how to parent? OK - perhaps it is a book of what NOT to do! That I get.

Lynn Spears writing a parenting book is like George W Bush writing a book about how to create world peace. Or Dick Cheney writing about how to hunt safely with friends.

There - I feel better now.

Some require Prozac, I have my blog.

Good night!

Apple Crumb Pie

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently 21 19 out of 378 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

---

You may recall that Paul and I went apple picking a few weeks ago. Of there 30 pounds of apples that we picked there are about 5 pounds left. Before I went away I came to the sudden realization that we were soon to be out of apples and I had yet to bake a single apple pie!

GASP

This could not be allowed to continue.

I found this recipe at the wonderful blog Cream Puffs in Venice. Ivonne, the blogger extraordinaire, is an amazing baker and churns out incredible things; if she recommended it I knew that all would be wonderful. I wasn't sure about the combination of orange flavour with the apples but I just thought - trust Ivonne. I did and it was amazing!

For the filling:

6 or 7 apples, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. finely grated orange zest
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Combine all the filling ingredients (except the butter) in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide in half. Put half in the refrigerator for another pie.

Flour a work surface and gently roll the dough into an 11-inch round (it should be about 1/8th to a 1/4-inch thick). Use a light touch with the dough as you don’t want to overwork it.

Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate or pie tin. Trim the excess dough and crimp the edges decoratively or simply roll them under so that you have an even edge.

Take the prepared filling and pack it into crust. Dot the filling with the butter and then put the pie in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For the crumb topping:

1 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

While the pie is in the refrigerator, mix all of the topping ingredients together, rubbing the butter into the flour/sugar mixture until you have a very crumbly topping.

Once the pie has chilled, sprinkle the topping evenly over the pie.

Bake the pie in the centre of the oven on a baking sheet to avoid any spills. The pie usually takes about an hour and ten minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s done when the crust and topping are golden and the apple filling begins to bubble through the topping.

Palm Desert - The Pics

  a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently 21 19 out of 378 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

---

Well now, if you have been lurking about here for the past few days reading about my fun and exciting trip to Palm Desert I have been promising pics but have not posted. I shall correct that now!

As you know, I travelled to Palm Desert to stay with my friends Palma and Brad. I met Palma on the slowtravel message boards. They live in a beautiful house which they built about four years ago.

Palma's back terrace

The living room

Palma in the kitchen

The front courtyard

I met many amazing people:

Terry, Sandi, and Kathy

John and Gail

Palma's husband, Brad

Ego

Palma and me

This group were all busy on Friday and Saturday with party preparation. We helped to make the food, set up tables, and assisted in the decorating. Palma set 5 tables for her 48 guests:

The green table

The Deruta table (set with dishes from Deruta, Italy)

The gold table

The pumpkin table

The Positano table - the table top is 2 inch-thick pottery shipped from Positano, Italy

The guests started to arrive at 4 pm. Most were gone more than 10 hours later. WOW - a 10 hour party with great food, wonderful company, laughter, smiles, and chatter.

The antipasto table

Kathy and John fight over the baked brie with fig jelly

Guests mingle in the living room with their Proseco

Kirsta, Steve, and Pauline

We were entertained by the 'Slowchicks'
Terry, Kathy, Sandi, Palma, Gail, and Diana

The guests were from Canada, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennesee, and Alabama

The last of the party guests left at 2:40 and people crawled into bed (I presume anyway, I was in bed at 1!). This pic explains the long faces at breakfast:

OH NO!

Breakfast at Keddy's

Well, as trite as it seems to say it - a good time was had by ALL!

The Return Home

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently 21 19 out of 378 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

---

Yesterday did not go as planned after I posted in my blog.

Why?

Because of the incredible Santa Ana winds pummeling California and the fires you see to the left (I took the pic from my airplane).

Gail and John headed to the airport at a truly ungodly hour. We all got up to say good bye. It is only seven months until our week in Montisi, Tuscany and already I can't wait! What an amazing group of people.

Brad went back to bed for some well-deserved sleep while Palma and I drank coffee. After looking at my watch I panicked and went to get the packed. Once we were ready Brad and I loaded up the car. Then came the hard part - saying good bye. It is always such a challenge to say good bye to folks who are so damn wonderful!

Once the long goodbyes were over Brad and I headed for the Ontario airport.  We panicked that I was going to be late. I managed to get checked in and through security just in time to hear that the plane couldn't land at ONT because of the extremely high winds so it was diverted to LAX. I did what anyone else would do - went to Carl's Jr and had a bag of grease.

Trees uprooted outside the Ontario Airport

Delta was good. There's a phrase that you don't hear often!

They brought in buses to take passengers to LAX where they would fly to Atlanta. Some folk elected to be bumped to other flights. I went to the carousel to get my luggage and lined up for the bus. While in line I took pictures of trees in the airport area that had been uprooted by these crazy winds.

There wasn't enough room on the buses so the good folk from United allowed the rest of us from the Delta flights to board one of their buses to LAX. Yeah United and Delta for working together to take care of passengers!

At LAX there was a wee bit o'chaos. Delta had opened up an entire section for the ONT passengers and extra staff were trying to process everyone through. Unfortunately people weren't human-like in their behaviours. In fact, some of them deserved to be bumped again in my not so humble opinion!

The good news . . . I could get to Atlanta tonight. The bad news. . . I was staying there!

Our plane arrived in Atlanta late in the evening. While I waited for my luggage I used the Internet browser on my Blackberry to Google hotels by the airport and called around to make a reservation. By the time my luggage rolled down the chute I had a room to stay in. I scooped up my luggage and headed to the taxi line.

It was close to 1 am by the time I hit the sack - fortified by my dinner of chocolate covered caramels which Palma had given me to take home to Paul. I carefully set the alarm for 5:30 so I would get to the airport by 6 am to try and get a fight home.

I woke at 6 - the alarm didn't work! ARGH

By 7 I was at the airport and the good folks of Delta tried to find a spot for me on a plane to Buffalo. I presume that I looked like crap because the agent gave me a package containing toiletries as well as a Delta t-shirt.  I was touched at the time but now I'm thinking 'the bitch'!

After an uneventful flight to Buffalo I arrived home at 4:30 pm. I missed both of my meetings today but I really don't care!

The trauma of the 32 hour trip home aside, it was a brilliant weekend.

Coming Home

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently 21 19 out of 378 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

---

Today is that sad day when the reality of 'heading home' sets in. You know the fun is over and after a trip from hell - you'll be back to reality. I say trip from hell because I leave here at about 9 am and likely won't get home until some time between midnight and 1 am tomorrow. ARGH

One of my colleagues called me at 5 am Palm Desert time so I didn/'t need an alarm and while I tried to get back to sleep - there were no more z's on my page.

Gail and John headed back to Atlanta at 6. After Palma, Brad, and I hugged them good bye Brad went back to bed for some well-deserved sleep while Palma sat by the pool, drank coffee, and debriefed.

I have to go and pack soon so this will be a short post!

Yesterday was a blast.

We got up and puttered about, tidying, organizing, and trying to clean the cobwebs that had been induced by lack of sleep, NO lack of wine, an excess of amazing food, and non-stop laughter out of our heads. There was just NOT enough coffee to do the trick.

Once everyone was up and ready to head out we drove to Keedy's for breakfast. Palma had reserved the backroom for the 23 slowtravellers who wanted a hearty breakfast before they headed out on their drives home. Once again the food was great but it was far eclipsed by the company. Say what you wnat about meeting folk from the 'net' but generally slowtravellers are a grand group!

I had flashbacks to camp momments when it came time to leave. Everyone hung about on the sidewalk, knowing that they had to hit the road, but not really wanting it to end! Unfortunately, like all good things, it had to and as each group trickled away there were hugs, references to future get togethers, and of course, in true slow traveller form . . . advice on the best route home.

Palma, Gail, Sandi, and me decided to go shopping. We stopped in at the street fair where we wandered from stall to stall looking at the items for sale and making some purchases. Later we popped into Trader Joes where I did my kid in a candy store routine.

Back at the house we puttered around while Palma napped. Lunch was an assortment of leftover desserts from the night before. By about 5 the place was looking normal again. Terry and Kathy arrived back at the house - they had taken the tram up the mountain west of Palm Springs and had hiked a bit. Everyone checked e-mail, and re-checked our flihgt arrangements for the next day.

Dinner consisted of leftovers and by about 9:30 Sandi, Terry, and Kathy had to head out to their rental in order to get ready to head home early this morning. Luckily my flight was more sensible ((although it will kill me later tonight and tomorrow).

This has been such a great weekend. Busy, for sure, but full of good fun, laughter, and lots of amazing food. I took more thna 150 photos so I shall be posting them later.

Now it is time to sign off, the shower, packing, and the drive to the Ontario airport awaits!