snickerdoodles

Boo! and the winner is....

We just did the big draw and hubbie picked the lucky winner from a fedora!

Congratulations  JULIE SMITH! 

you are going to be looking fabooolous in your new bling from Bijoux!

Send me a comment and we can make sure you get connected with Amy for your shopping spree.

Happy Trick or Treating to All! 

p.s.  I think I am officially addicted to candy corn now, wonder if there is rehab available for that?

p.p.s.  I know it's Eco Friday but I am scrambling a bit with Halloween parties and such today, so I will post about Mamma Earth over the weekend, I promise!

          

Halloweenie panic...

Halloween is the best!  Dressing up, binging on candy, kids laughing and running.  This year I have had a lazy Halloween, no parties, only half of the decorations are up and no elaborate costume plans...it's great.   Noah and I bought all the basics to make him a sock monkey but changed our mind.   I'll keep the grey long john set as it would be awesome for Nacho Libre someday.  Generally we don't buy costumes, I like my boys to get creative and we try and use stuff we have in the tickle trunk and within the house.  We also tend to to family themes...we've done Peter Pan twice, spooky family, Pirates and last year the wild West!  It always seems to come together, in a fit of strewn clothes, whining kids and me going bonkers with strategic safety pinning!

We are still in limbo about tomorrow.  Here are a couple of shots from the past two years...

 

Okay, I got this at a 2nd hand store once and Liam was the Shaggy DA,  he was not impressed but stayed very warm.  Thinking of him waddling around in this makes me laugh every time.

 

I also made him into a Vampire once for preschool.  He stayed in character the whole day.

   

The Mummy costume is easy.  White clothes strips of sheets and lots of safety pins. 

 

He was an enthusiastic cowboy.

 

Here we are as a posse, hubbie is blacked out as he is shy on the internet.

Other easy ones we've done are the spooky scarecrow and Zorro.  I wish Liam would still let me paint mustaches on him!  I wanted them to be Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro this year but no luck so far convincing them.  I want to be the girlfriend with the friendship bracelets and big side ponytail, and of course hubbie would have to be the cool Bro with the Ninja moves. 

Hopefully we'll have some decisions tonight!  Good luck in your plans...

Tonight is also the big Bijoux Draw too!  I'll announce the lucky winner tomorrow.

sew kewl!

Sewing is making such a comeback and I wanna be part of the movement.  During high  school I took Fashion Arts and made a bikini,  I also made piles of baggy boxer shorts one summer and a quilted pillow in home ec, last Christmas I managed to do a couple tea cozies....I think I could still do it.  The problem with sewing is my patience, I am an impatient crafter.  I like to have results pronto...that makes following patterns a challenge.  Also I am technically frustrated and when things get stuck in the sewing machine, or bobbins are empty. I can't handle the hassles and loose interest. 

Lately though some things I've seen have inspired me to overcome my sewing laziness and hit the foot pedal again.  Future Make & Take nights might include some sewing projects.  First I want to get this new book from the library:

 

Anna Maria Horner is amazing!  Also love her blog...

Portabello Pixie tempts me with this adorable pin cushion project.  It looks pretty complicated though...anyone ever tried this?  See more of Sandi on her blog...

 

I am collecting old neckties to do this as a Make & Take session, these would be awesome holiday gifts.

 

I met Robin at Women's Camp in September and she makes super cute bags, I would love this clutch!

 

Spud and Peanut is her company, these bags are well made and not something I would attempt! Plus this bag sells for only $25!  They also make bibs, blankies and smocks.   You can shop at Spud and Peanut through there Etsy store here:

Do you sew?  Where do you love buying fabrics?  Lemme know your favourite things to make.  Maybe I could just pay you to sew me stuff?  Do you have a Grannie who's a sewing maniac who needs a project?  LOL  I am supposed to be finishing painting of the new Peak to Peak Gondola here for a contest but instead I am dreaming about sewing!  Gotta go friends...

don't forget to enter the Bijoux contest...tomorrow is the last night!

Lego heaven...

There are a few things right now that make my boys really happy.  They currently love all things Star Wars, anything with crazy amounts of sugar, playing four square or tennis ball taxi, Wii and Legos.  When kids get toys they usually freak out with excitement...unfortunately that joy often fades fast.  One thing that we get endless play out of is Lego...day after day, week after week, year after year...the bucket gets dumped and things get built.  I love it, they use their imaginations, create and make believe.  I don't love all the little pieces I am constantly stepping on throughout the house but it is so worth it.

 

*check out this super cool Imperial Drop Ship from the Original Star Wars.   The whole Lego site can be seen by clicking on my sidebar with the huge Lego banner!

Our local store hasn't carried Lego in a long while and we miss it.  This week I had the opportunity to add Lego as a sponsor and I am thrilled.  The freedom to  pick whatever I want online without them seeing,  and have it shipped here for $5.95!  What could be easier?    Plus, they have a great selection of Star Wars Legos...a combination that will blow their mind.  Being extremely fond of Wookies myself, especially Chewbacca,  I am putting the keychain on my Santa List. 

If you have kid between the ages of 4-12 to buy for I would have to say Lego is one of the best toys you could get them.  Our boys still use some of my hubbies childhood Lego, it's timeless.

thank-you John Derian...

Last week I started my first round of Make & Take nights here at home.  Wine, friends, awsome art supplies and creating together...what could be better? 

On two different evenings I taught glass painting and was soo proud of the work produced.  A row of cute, retro leaf pattened vases sit on my studio shelf waiting to be fired,  I will post some pictures of their handiwork soon.

Tomorrow night is Decoupage night!  The artist John Derian 's decoupage plates keep showing up in home decor magazines.  They are exceptional but who can afford $395 for a platter?   Inspired by his style I created a project for this week's class doing plates with nature imagry.  So, on Friday night I hit my supplies and started playing to make a sample piece...hubbie came home at 1:30 a.m and found me in the garage rooting through my glass stock for more stuff to adorn.  (aahh I forgot I had to get up at 6:30 for Noah's soccer game) I was hooked and I have been decoupaging ever since!

   

First, I did this bottle. Handmade paper, ribbon and an Amy Butler fabric piece collaged on glass.  I added the wool later to cover the creasy mess around the neck of the bottle.  I like the way it finishes it off though.  Then I did a second bottle...

 

I like this one better, especially the cool speckled wool with the butterfly image.  I bought a huge spool of this fuzzy stuff at a junk shop in Squamish on Saturday for a song.  I will keep this container for epson salts in our bathroom.

Then I moved onto a plate, the girls are doing plates on Tuesday night as they are much easier...

   

This was done with a cocktail napkin from Danica, a sticker, and handmade paper for the edges.  I bumbled a bit on the sides...you can see the chocolate brown piping is a tad wonkey at the top.

 

After, I did about four light coats of Modge Podge on the back to seal it... then three light coats of acrylic paint in cream to make it look tidy.   In the future,  I will be very careful with laying the paper, mistakes really show up on the clear glass.

It's been years since I decoupaged anything...I think last time was a little flower pot!   Now I am on the hunt for more papers and items to decorate.  A pedestal cake stand would be amazing ...or some light switch covers for the new house.

Be creative and have fun...hope you enjoy decoupage too!

recipe report...

Following up from Thursday and Nigella Lawson's recipe for Perfect Roast Potatoes.  I made them and they were perfectly yummy.  Crisp and brown on the outside and nice and tender inside.  Unfortunately I didn't have the two cups of GOOSE FAT! the recipe called for but small amount of olive oil worked nicely.  Do you have 2 CUPS of GOOSE FAT in your fridge???  What the heck...it must be a British thing but it sounds absolutely revolting.  The recipe was from her Feast cookbook that I posted about last week.

As for the tempura fish...I am Nervous Nelly and hot bubbling oil with three kids in the kitchen is not a good combo.  A few pieces of the battered cod loins I produced looked worthy of a restaurant but most looked a little soggy and light.  I am sure the oil wasn't hot enough.  Not something I will try again without a kick ass deep fryer.

Today, Noah and I hit the streets of Squamish after soccer and found some awesome vintage books, sewing supplies, a Shrinky Dink oven for $1 and Halloween costume stuff.  We munched lunch at a cool cafe called Bambeanos, then had gelato from down the street with a friend.  Great fun for a Saturday afternoon.

Just finished some decoupage projects, I'll post the results tomorrow when they are dry.  I love Modge Podge!

because I love cleaning with Method...

Have you seen the Method cleaning products, hand soaps etc?  They are super chic and they work really well.  In general cleaning products freak me out, I am a vinegar and baking soda kinda girl.  Seeing someone spray their counters with Fantastic, dump bleach in their toilet or wipe their baby stuff with those nasty Mr.Clean wipes gives me a heebeejeebee attack in the worst way!   Lately though I have been trying some products by Method and it's opened up a whole new world of cleaning opportunities.  Essentially I am a messy woman and I always will be but that doesn't mean I can't have a sparkling clean house. 

This is a quote I stole directly off the Treehugger site to share with you.  Adam is one of my  all time favourite men's names+he's cute+he's insightfull+he's the co-founder of Method.  It's all good today on Eco Friday!

"What the style element does is it creates mass market relevance for a green product. And I'm not just talking about Method right now, although that is very much our strategy. We're not the first company to think cleaners should be green, but we are doing them in a way that makes them accessible both from a price-point standpoint and from a design/aesthetic standpoint to everyone else who isn't this sort of tree-hugging granola -- forgive the expression ...

Why would you do all this green stuff and then just hang out with other greenies? That's one of the biggest reasons why the traditional environmental movement has not succeeded. It's not democratic.

One of the big goals with Method, and why design and sustainability are inextricably linked in our brand, is that if you don't have the design element, you're only going to appeal to people who are already green, so you're not actually going to create any real environmental change ... To us, "sustainability" and "green" are just aspects of the quality of our product -- they are not a marketing positioning ... I mean everything should be that way. Just build it into the quality of the product and let the experience of the product be the real hero."

--Method Co-Founder Adam Lowry, in an interview with Grist (Method's other co-founder, Eric Ryan, chimes in as well), on the importance of combining sustainability and design

One of the big goals with Method, and why design and sustainability are inextricably linked in our brand, is that if you don't have the design element, you're only going to appeal to people who are already green, so you're not actually going to create any real environmental change ... To us, "sustainability" and "green" are just aspects of the quality of our product -- they are not a marketing positioning ... I mean everything should be that way. Just build it into the quality of the product and let the experience of the product be the real hero."

--Method Co-Founder Adam Lowry, in an interview with Grist (Method's other co-founder, Eric Ryan, chimes in as well), on the importance of combining sustainability and design

10 Items or Less....

(apologies to those who read this post on Thursday...during some edits I lost several words and it might not have made sense, all fixed now!)

Ryan had a round of immunizations this morning and is not happy.  Holding your babe still while they get poked with four needles in their tiny arms is so wrong.  The Mama bear in me always wants to scoop my little cub up and run...but I know these things protect Ry so I stay.  Over the years I have learned the hard way not to wear mascara to these appointments...tears do flow from me too. 

Anyways, now I need to spend the day making little Ryan smile, getting ready for my first round of art Make & Take nights, cooking homemade fish and chips(forgot last night was soccer night), and it's also our family movie night, which requires a jaunt to the video shop.  The sun is shining  so I hope to bundle up Ryan and walk there, fall walks are priceless.

 Speaking of movie night reminded me of this review that I wrote a little while ago and saved  for a day like this.  It's a great film, but for adults only as there is a fair bit of swearing.

 In ten items or less can you choose the best things in your life right now?

What would they be?

10 Items or less

 

This film begins at Archie's Ranch Market, a Latino grocery store,  and you are immediately drawn in by the characters.  Morgan Freeman plays himself and is fantastic as usual.   He is  an aging actor with a fear of failure,  doing research for a small independant film that he's been asked  to work on.   He meets Scarlett, the saucy Spanish cashier who is dreadfully unhappy with her lonley life as the 10 items or less cashier.  It's the only job she has ever known, she see's no hope for change in the future and is miserable.   The two end up spending a quirky day together and both have personal revelations that promise positive changes in their lives.   Morgan Freeman gives a brilliant, natural performance and Paz Vegas is easy to adore with her spitfire attitude and insecurities.

 

There is also a documentary of the making of this film which is facinating.  It was made in 15 days with a very low budget and no rehearsals.  Watch for guest appearances from Johah Hill, Danny Devito and Ree Pearlman.   10 Items or Less is a breath of fresh air in a world of huge budget, mega movies and was a pleasure to watch.

 

 

 

feast...

Drool was practically dripping out of my chops while I read through this cookbook.  It's hard not to like Nigella Lawson, she is a real, gorgeous, curvy, down to earth cooking genius. 

 Feast is a cookbook about families and food and the way we use food to celebrate life.  It features menus for holidays throughout the year for all types of groups and sizes of parties.  The recipes are easy to follow and the book is filled with brilliant photos. I love it, this is going on my wish list!  

 Usually I will check a cookbook out from the library before buying it because quite often you can photocopy a few yummy looking recipes and be satisfied without spending $30.  Not this time...Feast is a keeper I would pull out year after year. Tonight I will make Tempura-Fried Cod with Avocado and Arugula with her Perfect Roast Potatoes (sans the goose fat, hopefully olive oil will work!)

Our Bijoux contest ends soon...don't forget to enter.  Read more in the contests sidebar and see Amy's work under Neato Businesses.  oxo

baking plum cakes...

Several weeks ago I promised this recipe and somehow forgot to post it.  Prune Plums are still readily available so today I will bake up another batch of these moist, soul soothing cakes.  I always make two at a time because they disappear quickly, it's hard not to have seconds. You can also freeze some prune plums in ziplocks now to make cakes this winter. They keep really well for up to a year, just drain the juices when they thaw.

This recipe is handwritten on a crumply piece of paper in my recipe book and is called:

Le Plum Coffee Cake...this always makes me laugh.  It brings me back to when I was 15,  working at a local country general store and tearoom called The Lowville General Store.  I loved it there.  Vividly,I can remember sitting at a little antique table with a checkered table cloth with Yvonne, the main baker. She wrote it this recipe from memory.  Yvonne was a sassy woman with a dry sense of humor who didn't take crap from anyone, she could cook and bake like nobody's business.  She was the stereotypical truck stop waitress stuck in a cute little tearoom, with aprons, potpourri, and  tea served with scones and devonshire cream.  I learned how to make a lot from Yvonne and even though it's been over 20 years since my days at Lowville, fond memories make it seem like just yesterday.  Hope you enjoy this recipe too...

Le Plum Coffee Cake

cake:

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter at room temp

Blend these things in a large bowl with a mixed till smooth...

Add :

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Then blend in these dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt...all sifted together

 

Lastly add this to the mix:

1/2 cup milk

Pour this into a lightly buttered 9 inch spring form pan.

Now take enough prune plums cut in half to cover the top...place skin side up.  You don't have to cover it completely but they are so yummy baked I squeeze on as many as possible.  15 plums should do it.

 

It will look like this now...some of my plums are a little wrinkly but it won't matter a bit.

Now you can make the yummy topping...

Topping:

Use a pasty blender or two knives to combine 1/2 cup brown sugar with 1/4 cup of cold butter and 1 tsp on cinnamon until it's crumbly.

Sprinkle it all over the top of the cake, covering some of the plums.

 

Pop it into a preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour or until the tester comes out clean.

 

While the cake is still warm drizzle it with this glaze:

3/4 cup icing sugar, 1Tb milk, 1/2 tsp almond extract.

   

Looks wonderful doesn't it?  Let it cool a tad then run a knife around the edge and put the base on a pretty cake stand.

 

Guard it from your family till the guests arrive.  If you make just before they arrive it will make your whole house smell amazing and it can sit prettily on your counter cooling.  It will still be slightly warm and gooey come dessert time...serve it with really good vanilla ice cream or maple walnut.