Thursday, February 25, 2010

Hello!

Hope you're all doin' good.

Things here are good. Its been a moderately busy day.

I had tea with Auntie Gloria this morning - always a good time!

I did some shopping earlier this afternoon, picked up a few things at Liquidation World (like a shower radio for $1!) and popped by the Bookman to see what they had new (not that I need anything new to read!!). Was going to stop in at Logan's Hardware but they're moving to the old grocery store (Overwaitea, I think) on the corner of Mill and Victoria. They've been busy renovating. I'm going to call tomorrow to ask when they'll be open again (unless one of my avid readers knows when haha). They've done a great job with the old building! It looks really swanky now - much better then it did with all the random shops in it.

I've got myself another volunteer gig for the next two weeks. Our church secretary is leaving us so we're on the hunt for someone to replace her. In the meantime, I'll be answering the phones, directing traffic, receiving parcels and taking bookings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays from 9 to 11am. It'll be good experience, I just hope I do a good job!

Our praise group will be getting some new music... six or seven new songs for us to start working on. I'm thrilled but I really was hoping for us to work on some brand-new songs that I don't already know. I already know all the ones we picked yesterday. Oh well, it'll be nice to work on some new stuff. We're starting with 'Come, Now is the Time to Worship' next Wednesday.

I should get a move on - I've got date squares to bake. One of the older gals passed away last week. I think she was 92. I joined the funeral baking group and got my first call last week - one pan of squares comin' up! I'll deliver them to the church tomorrow before 11. I figured date squares are easy enough... the date filling is cooling right now. I've also volunteered to help clean up at about 2:30/3ish after all the mourners have gone home. Better get bakin'!

Talk to you soon!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Hello!

As you can see I gave my blog a bit of a face-lift... after an hour of playing with different backgrounds and editing various headers, I settled on this. Hope you like it!

Its been a quiet day.

I've been going great-guns on Rowan's crocheted rabbit. Its a real treat to make and the challenge that I've been looking for. I get a bit bored crocheting toques, mitts and scarves... this has been excellent - thinking outside the box again! I've got the entire front side of the rabbit done except for the ears and I've got her back and the back of one of the legs finished. I still have to do the arms (both sides) and both ears. I might have it all done tonight and can start stuffing it tomorrow. I forgot that I had clean carded wool in my closet so I'll use that to stuff Miss Bunny.

I talked to my friend's aunt who is a potter about making some pottery-buttons. I thought that would be totally organic and crunchy! She said she'll give me some clay and I can make them myself! I talked to my friend's mom who also made some buttons about the challenges involved and I'm really looking forward to it. Each bunny gets three buttons - two eyes and a belly button (quite literally a belly 'button' this time!). I'm so excited to give it a whirl.

I'm going to make some hot chocolate. I ate an early supper and am getting ready to go out with Jill for coffee after she eats some supper, too.

The casserole turned out great last night! It was SO good. I highly recommend it but be careful you don't overcook the hash browns... mine were just on the verge of being overdone and would have been mashed potatoes if I had cooked them any longer. I think the next time I make this I'll use my mixer/slicer and make the hash browns from scratch. Delicious.

Should get a move on.

Talk to you soon!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Hello again!

I just put supper in the oven, a really yummy sounding hash brown bake with bacon, onions and peppers. The recipe will follow this note. It looks a lot healthier than the other hash brown bakes I came across that called for cream cheese or sour cream. I opted for the one that used a milk sauce thickened with flour.

I've come to the conclusion that my body really does hate eggs... and all the willpower in the world isn't going to make my histamines change their minds! Auntie Gloria has provided me with a really great looking egg desensitization protocol but for this to work I have to eliminate eggs from my diet altogether. I really hope this protocol works because I'm dying for a hard boiled egg!

So I was looking around for healthy egg-free breakfasts and this one looked pretty ok. Its a bit more work than I would go to on an average morning (actually its WAY more work than I would go to!) but it looked delicious enough for supper.

If anyone out there has egg-free breakfast ideas that don't involve cold store-bought cereals (ick) then let me know! Or any other egg-free recipes are good, for that matter! I have a chocolate cake recipe already but will clearly need to be experimenting with tofu as a binder in baking. One problem I find is that egg-free recipes often call for fruit like bananas or applesauce.

I'll forge ahead!

In other news, Jill went to the Corb Lund concert last night in Vancouver and had an absolute hoot! I think she went with some cousins and other friends but they're playing again tonight in Surrey so she's going again with some Farrier friends. There's a couple other people preforming tonight, too, like Dustin Bentall.

I started crocheting the rabbit I'm making Rowan based on the rabbit my Great-Grandma Nowlin made for me. I bought the wool yesterday and jumped in with both feet this afternoon... I had to make and re-make the face about half a dozen times before I worked out the pattern exactly. I figured it out eventually and am quite proud of myself now. The hard part is over (I hope, though the ears do look like that might pose somewhat of a challenge). Michelle is going to crochet one for Sebastien but I need to work out the kinks in the pattern before I can teach her.

Should get a move on, supper should be done shortly. Afterwards I'm going to attack the masses of cardboard I have stacked up in my storage closet... haha.

Talk to you soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hash Brown Casserole with Bacon

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Butter an 8-inch-square glass baking dish.

2. Cook bacon in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove slices; drain on a paper-towel-lined plate In same skillet over medium-low heat, cook onion and pepper in bacon dripping 8 minutes, until softened, stirring often.

3. Keep skillet at medium-low. Stir in flour. Slowly pour in milk, ½ cup at a time, stirring to incorporate smoothly with the flour. Cook until mixture thickens and comes to a simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Crumble bacon into mixture

4. Evenly spread potatoes in prepared dish. Top with half of the chives, 1 cup of the cheese, and the vegetable-bacon mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese. Bake 40-50 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with remaining chives before cutting into squares.

http://www.recipezaar.com/hashbrown-casserole-with-bacon-and-cheddar-406719

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Hello folks!

I'm a bit of an insomniac these days so while I'm not sleeping, I thought I would write up a post on the latest happenings in my world!

Jill and her bff Sue popped over tonight for a movie night. We busted out the kleenex and watched "My Sister's Keeper". We all read the book and loved it and thought watching the movie would be a good idea. I've seen the movie twice before and bawled my way through it both times... Jill and Sue did an amazing job not sobbing. I was thankful that I could distract myself by making these mitts. I attempted to teach Sue to crochet a few months ago but it just wasn't her thing so she gifted me the yarn and hook and I whipped these together. Took about three hours - the pattern is my own design and they're really cozy and easy to make. I still have another ball of yarn so I'll whip her up a scarf, too.

Mom and dad hired me last week to go through their attic and decide what of my childhood stuff I wanted to keep. So much of it was just stored there after we moved to the farmhouse and most of it was forgotten. There was plenty of stuff to go through - books, stuffies, school work, toys, etc. At the end of each scholastic year dad would give us a box for all the stuff we wanted to keep. I had 12 boxes to go through... I made quick work of that and ended up with three boxes at the end of the day - one box for Kindergarten through grade six, one box for grades seven through nine and one box for grades ten through twelve. We took a whole bunch of young-adult novels to the bookman and got quite a bit of credit on my account. (YAY!)

While I was rooting through the attic I came across several hand-knit and crocheted items that Great-Grandma Nowlin made for Jill and I. It was a real treat to go through all the crocheted "gowns" she made for our dolls. I kept them all! Its amazing... looking at the dresses now I can see exactly how she made them and how plain they really are but as a child, they were true princess dresses! I also came across several "friends" that she knitted and crocheted for Jill and I. One of these friends was my rabbit:


After going through the wash at mom's, he has arrived and is currently camping out in my living room. I'm going to re-create him! His arms are knit but the rest of him is crocheted. He won't be hard to make at all and I hope to make him for Rowan's birthday this May. I think Jenny would really like that. This rabbit was a special friend to me as a child - you can't quite tell from the picture how worn he is... lets just say he's well loved!!

There's so much that I want to write but some of it has to do with surprises for certain people in my life. I'll have to write about it after the fact!

I think its time to give sleep another try.

Talk to you soon!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Hello folks!

I thought I would post a few of my latest projects.

These towels were for my sister Jill. She was having a war with dad about whose towels were whose so I thought I would solve the problem by gifting her her own set for her birthday. I had a heck of a time with back stitching her name on them... the needle kept getting caught in the terry cloth. Very frustrating.

I don't think I've posted pictures of the blanket I made for Jill for Christmas. It was a lot of work but I'm generally pleased with how it turned out. The quilt is made of 200 patches, half of which are cut up denim jeans, all 9" squares. There was a colour pattern but it accidentally got reversed when I sewed the final two rows together. Ah well. The snipping took forever and would have taken longer had it not been for Melissa http://missy-memories.blogspot.com/ and her magical rag-quilt-spring-loaded snips!


I found a tutorial for these slippers online. They didn't quite turn out like the picture but I know where my mistakes are and I know how to correct them for the next pair I make. (The opening for the foot should be larger and should curve more around the toes.) They're really comfortable to wear!


I needed a new band for my medic alert bracelet and whipped this up the other day. Made from glass and shell beads. Love it!

That's all for now.

Talk to you soon!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Hello!

Hope you're all doing well.

Today was largely uneventful. I'm ok with that.

Jill and I went to Staples to get toner for her computer printer but they charge and arm and a leg for it so we skipped that and just looked around at all their stuff. Then we swung by Pricesmart and I picked up a few groceries. I've been craving potato and onion soup and the recipe I found that looked good also called for carrots. I've just whipped it all together and its simmering away. Starting to smell really good. A few months ago I discovered the exciting world of bay leaves so every time I make soup, the pot gets a one! Delicious.

Yesterday's worship practice was short. There were just three of the six there and one of us had to leave early so I did, too. I can't sing my way out of a paper bag most days but I do love to raise my voice in worship. I know God likes it... I'm just careful to not sing into the microphone!

Guitar went really, really well! I'm "writing" a song... and that really means I get to pick the strumming patterns and cords and then Troy puts to together into something that sounds passable! I'm enjoying it a lot and can't wait to play it for mom, dad and Jill.

Well, I should get back to my delightfully smelling soup.

Talk to you soon!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Hello to my peeps!

Sorry I haven't written lately. Like I told auntie Gloria, I stopped posting regularly when my laptop started to die and it was taking forever to load the pages. Then I got this spiffy new computer and it has a different browser (firefox) and it isn't as easy to bookmark pages like you can with Explorer. That's the only detractor from this browser - I love everything else about it! I had a routine of going through my list of web pages and blogs but now I have to actively remember which pages I want to look at. And my memory often fails me! whoops, eh?

But, I'm doing fine otherwise!

Jen's husband Elie flew out to the Dominican Republic (DR) today. He's taking some aid with him and then is going to his mom's to get their papers together so she can go back to France with his nephew (or cousin, can't remember). He's supposed to be there for two weeks and I sincerely hope that's all he's gone for - its too hard on my Jen otherwise. She heard from him today (he has cell service in the DR so we'll just have to wait and see if he calls tomorrow from Haiti. I hope he has cell service there, too. He arrived safely and made a couple of friends who helped him get to the bus station with his many bags. Now he just has to cross the border. Please keep him in your prayers.

Frank, the dad of the family I work for, is on his way home to Chilliwack after spending the last three and a half weeks in Haiti. I can't speak for his family, but I know I'm relieved to have him back in Canada! I'm not sure what his friend Chad is up to. Please keep the work they're doing down there in your prayers.

Jen and I took a break from all the craziness of life today and took a drive into Coquitlam to hit up IKEA. We had a hoot. I didn't buy much - uber tight budget this month - but it was fun to look at all the pretty things - especially the baby things! (no comment).

Well, I've got a bit of tidying to do. My pal Kathy is coming over for tea tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing her! Its been a while! Plus she's bringing me back one of my favourite books that I've been dying to lend my sister (Second Glance by Jodi Picoult).

I'll endevour to write more often. I do miss it!

Talk to you soon!