what's cooking wednesday - white chocolate glaze

Tonight was Scrabble Night with Grandma Sandi. I love Scrabble and so does Grandma Sandi, so her Grandparent's Club is the Scrabble Club. Once a month we get together for dessert and coffee and a game of Scrabble. Tonight I busted out my award winning chocolate cake, but mixed things up by drizzling a very yummy white chocolate glaze over top. Oh it was simply perfection.



White Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp corn syrup
1 - 2 tsp hot water

Heat chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup in a saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate chips are melted. Cool about 10 minutes.

Stir in hot water, 1 tsp at a time until consistency of a thick syrup. Glazes one bundt cake or the top of a 8 inch layer cake.

Recipe Notes: Well I doubled this so I could pour some in between the layers and wow! It really brought this very yummy cake to an entirely new level. I think next time I may make it a bundt cake. My layer cake was a bit uneven. Something that's a bit easier to hide with frosting. Or I should just ask Grandma Linda for advice, since it was very much like the white chocolate torte she makes. Now that I can make it myself -- well that's just going to be dangerous.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

spreading some linky love - the karaoke star jr. edition

Wynter is a semi-finalist on CMT's Karaoke Star Jr. She also happens to be the niece of one of my very best friends, Darlene of The Enchanted Heart. (Well she used to be, until that damned Yoville addiciton got ahold of her.) So if you have a few minutes to spare, pop on over and cast a few dozen votes Wynter's way!

tiny moments - blankey

I have tried many things in the past three years in my quest to get Maya sleeping through the night. I remember the night I picked up the pink fleece blanket that Auntie Yoli had given to her as a gift for her christening because the book I was reading at the time told me introducing a "lovey" might be helpful. It had Maya's name and the date of her Christening stitched across the corner. I tucked the super soft pink material up close to her face as I gave her her last bottle before bed. Little did I know that little pink blankey would become one of the most important things in my Little My Pie's life.



That pink blankey has traveled many miles with us. It's been to the grocery store and to Uncle Dave's and to various Grandma's houses and to the sitters and to friends and to church and a million places more. It makes her happy and very likely makes her feel safe and secure. The trick though, to get it to work -- it has to be touching her nose.

an hour for the earth

I am a wanna be granola type person. I wash in cold water, line dry in the warmer months. I try to reduce my carbon footprint, try to avoid single use purchases like juice boxes. I'm thinking about going veggie, one day a week. I reduce, reuse and recycle when and where I can. So of course we, as a family, were hopping on board with Earth Hour. Which we observed tonight for the required hour. We appeared to be the only family participating on our street, for how far I could see anyway. Which is only about four houses, with all the trees and what not in the way.

Abby was beyond excited about it and has been asking for the past two days when were we going to get the candles out? You'd almost think it was a holiday that involved gifts or chocolate instead of just an hour we voluntarily sit in the dark. This year we passed the hour playing charades and 20 questions, that Abby seemed to have a hard time grasping the fundamentals of --

Me: Okay I'm thinking of a person.
Abby: Is it a boy?
Me: No.
Abby: Is it a girl?
Me: Yes.
Abby: Is it twins? Because Maya and I are twins. Because we have the same kind of hair. So that makes us twins.

Did you observe Earth Hour?

friday high five - board games

Time again for a little Friday High Five, hosted by Angela's Adventures and Minor Mishaps.

My family wasn't big on board games growing up, but I've always loved them. So I decided when I had a family of my own I would make us a board game family. Now I will admit that sometimes these things can fall by the way side, but I try to remember to play often. Abby is already a huge board game fan and I can see Maya will be as well. So for today's Friday High Five I give you my favourite board games.

1) Anything from the Scene It family of games. We play Disney Scene It a lot. There are video clips to watch and questions to answer. This is also one of Abby's favourites. We also got the Seinfeld version for Christmas, but have yet to play it. I'm thinking I should set up a Seinfeld game night with my Seinfeld loving girls at work.

2) Scrabble. I love a good game of Scrabble. I play on facebook with random strangers and with friends. We play the junior addition with Abby and Super Scrabble on Scrabble Night with Grandma Sandi.

3) Trivial Pursuit. We hardly ever play this, since we really only play games as a family, but I have the pop culture version and the SNL version that I would love to play more often.

4) Cadoo. There's some charades, some drawing, some sculpting and the odd scavenger hunt thrown in. I highly recommend this for kids Abby's age-ish. We laugh like crazy playing this game.

5) Monopoly. But only when played by the house rules we came up with while playing with Mike's stepdad. It makes the game interesting right from the get go by dropping both property and cash in your lap.

thankful

It Thursday again and time to be thankful. I have heard that writing down what you are thankful for can increase your happiness by 25% and I'm all in for that.

And now my list -- I am thankful for...

1) My Mom! Yes again! This past Christmas my Mom was part of the plan that got me my new KitchenAid Professional grade mixer. I had seen it in the flyer before Christmas and it was too much of a deal to pass up, but I did because it was Christmas and certainly not the time to be spending frivolously on myself. Lucky for me my family went behind my back and got me one anyway. And then my deal savvy Mother hopped online to see if there were any rebates offered on the purchase of a KitchenAid mixer. Turns out there was and just by sending in a copy of the receipt I got a beautiful new knife block full of beautiful KitchenAid knives -- for free. This same set was in the Canadian Tire flyer this past weekend for nearly $200. I have never owned a "good set" of knives before. Wow! If you like to cook -- good knives are totally worth the investment. Thanks Mom!

2) Grandma Linda who helped me find a dress for the wedding the family is attending in about two weeks. As I flipped through my closet the other night trying to figure out what I was going to wear I realized I have a "Mom closet". And by that I mean I am a Mom and at this stage of my life all my friends are married, I don't go clubbing or hang out at bars with friends. So my closet is filled with yoga pants, long sleeved tees, jeans, dress jeans and the occasional sweater. Not exactly wedding attire. Now that I have a dress Grandma Linda pointed out I will need shoes too because I guess my flip flops just won't cut it.

3) Kids Club. My sitter runs a kids club at her church every other week, they make a craft (or two) maybe do some baking and have a little chat about Godly things. It is just the perfect thing for my artsy fartsy little girl, who just told me tonight that she wants to be "an artiste" when she grows up. Also this week they made a Easter centrepiece that she hid in her nightstand. Apparently I can't see it before the big day!

4) Heather and jammie movie night. It was so much fun. We are so doing it again next month. Sex and the City -- who's in?

5) For my to do list. I always have a kajillion things that have to get done around here milling about it my head and it always seems a struggle to get to it all. Tonight I actually wrote down a list of what I wanted accomplished tonight with each member of the family being assigned to something. For example Maya needed to have a bath, Abby needed to take out the recycling and do her homework. Mike and I split laundry, tidying the house and loading the dishwasher. It all got done and with no arguing. Abby was really great too after an initial poutfest, she sat down and took care of her homework (quickly too I might add) and then got up and put her shoes on to take the recycling out to the road. And now I have a nice tidy house to come home to tomorrow after work. Perfect set up for the weekend!!

And what are you thankful for?

michael

Well even though Mike's birthday was at the beginning of the month, we didn't get around to celebrating it with my Mom until March Break. She cooked up his favourite thing for dinner and bought him a maple walnut cheesecake. And I let her even though I hate maple walnut. But that's not even what this post is about. This post is all about the birthday candles which Mom and I happened to find at Zellers.



They spell out his name. How cool is that? Or how pathetic are we that we thought this was the coolest thing ever when we found them? And for the record, I wanted to get the ones that spelled out Mike, but my Mother pointed out that Michael was the same price, so why not get more bang for our buck? Smart woman she is.

And we'll close out the post with a rare family portrait.

what's cooking wendesday - cinnamon raisin granola

I love granola, but almost never buy it because the ones at the store are usually expensive and full of stuff I don't like. It may seem odd, but it never occured to me to make it myself until I stumbled upon a recipe at allrecipes.com.



Recently I was given a bunch of President's Choice Blue Menu items to review. I haven't made my way through all of it yet, but the Omega Oil is one product I really love. It's a combination of grapeseed, extra virgin olive and flaxseed oils. When I noticed this recipe called for oil I opted to use this instead.



Cinnamon Raisin Granola

4 cups oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used Omega oil instead)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins

In a large bowl combine oats and coconut, set aside. In a saucepan combine brown sugar, oil, honey and cinnamon; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and stir to coat. Spread on a large shallow pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool, add raisins and store in a airtight container.

Recipe Notes: Well I left out the raisins and the coconut because I don't really care for either. This smelled delicious and Abby was stealing pinches of it as it cooled on the table. I'm not sure why, but it didn't clump together in clusters. I think next time I might slip the boiling process to keep everything stickier and see what that gets me. Unless they are granola makers out there with more experience than I, who can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Abby and I really love it the way it is though. She eats it dry out of the bowl. I like to sprinkled on fruit and yogurt, it's like a cheater fruit crisp.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

girls night - disney on ice

So last week was March Break and you know what that means, Disney on Ice was in town. Grandma Linda took Abby and I two years ago, but we skipped last year and did the Backyardigans Live instead since it was Highschool Musical on Ice and Abby has no idea what Highschool Musical is. Thankfully. This year it was 100 years of Disney, so Grandma Linda got the tickets to the Sunday afternoon performance and we agreed not to tell Abby we were going. Every time a commercial came onshe would ask if we could go and I'd tell her we'd have to see if it came to town.

Fast forward to Saturday, Grandma Linda called and asked Abby if she'd like to have a girl's day together on Sunday. Abby thought that was a great idea and maybe we could go to Wendy's for lunch. Cheap date, she is. So Sunday rolls around and we all head out, still not telling Abby where we were going. Whenever we go to an event at Copps Colleseum we park at Grandma Linda's employee lot a couple of blocks away. As soon as we pulled into the lot Abby remembered that we parked there when we went to hockey games and that the arena was near by. I asked her if she'd like to go for a walk and we headed towards Copps. As we got closer Abby started complaining about being cold. Grandma Linda suggested maybe we could pop into the arena to warm up for a minute.

When we got to the doors there was a security guard with a bullhorn telling the crowd that the middle doors were open and you needed tickets to get in. Now Abby is very much a rule follower and her eyes got very wide at this point as she whispered to me -- But Mom, we don't have tickets.

Grandma Linda told her we'd ask if maybe they'd just let us in for a minute. We stepped through the doors and waited in line, while Abby still whispered to me that we didn't have any tickets, even though the tickets were quite clearly in Grandma Linda's hands by now and we had made it past the ticket taker. Right in front of us was a guy selling programs, Abby was completely oblivious to him. We took the escalator down a level and walked to the booth where they were selling all the Disney cups and light up tiaras and such. As Abby stood right in front of it I asked her if she knew why we were there.

She shook her head -- No.

I was literally in tears by this point I was laughing so hard. How could she not know standing right in front of a booth stuffed full of Disney goodies?

We took her to buy a program and put it in her hands. Do you know why we're here now?

She shakes her head again -- No.

I think I could have peed my pants by this point. I could not stop laughing. Grandma Linda made her read the cover of the program.

Disney. On. Ice. Disney on Ice, DisneyOnIce!!

Finally!! And boy was she excited when she figured it out.



I guess the last time that we went Abby mentioned that it would be nice to sit closer, so this year we sat closer. A whole lot closer!!



Grandma Linda managed to score us second row seats. I will fully admit that even I was beyond excited about that. The characters were literally less that 10 feet away from us.



It was an absolute wonderful day! I am so thankful to Grandma Linda for the gift!

*check out all the pictures on flickr

twilight

Well it had finally arrived Twilight was available on dvd. And what better way to celebrate it than with Heather (aka Edward's true girlfriend) and a Saturday night viewing. We tried to get Robin to join us, but she was being a party pooper or had to take care of her "recovering from surgery the day before" daughter. Something like that. Lucky for us (I guess) Michael decided to man up and be one the chicks and watch it with us. I'll let you in on a little secret -- he loved it. And in fact can't wait for the next movie.



Well because my goal is to live as much of my life n my jammies as I can, we had a Twilight jammie party. Mike refused to participate in that portion of the evening, but he was all in for the Twilight themed treats I made.



I just left those cupcakes out on the counter and I guess some errant Vampire stopped by to sink his or her fangs into each and every one. And before I found the vampire bitten cupcakes on the internet I made these sugar cookies.



Bats and moons. Not that Edward ever actually turns into a bat and this movie was Twilight and not New Moon, it was the best I had.

I truly had the most fun hanging with Heather, who even came early and joined us for family game night (Disney Scene it -- so fun!). And the movie was great. I thought Robert Pattinson was a good choice for Edward, although I'm not sure I totally bought the actors as Esme and Carlisle. They seemed a bit too young. And Mr. Jenny Garth was a bit too much the same colour as his hair. I'm always a little worried when they make a book into a movie, but I'm learning to separate them, let them stand on their own and not compare. I thought it interesting how much Mike enjoyed the movie without having read the book. From that I'd have to say they did a pretty good job with it. And now I really want to read the books again.

And now I really want to do jammie movie night again. Who wants to come and what are we going to watch?

friday high five - my list

There have been some intense negotiations going on via facebook recently. You see even though The Mommy Project has been right across the road for 5 years or so I had no idea she even existed for the first three. Then the kids start school and our girls turn out to be BFF's which led to an email to set up a playdate, which led to her finding my blog which led to us finding out that we have a whole heck of a lot in common and that led to a family party invite and that led to a Papa pop in. And now her whole family has been embraced by my whole family. Yep, she's one of us now. And now back to my original point, which is we have a lot in common. Like we both want to open diners or bakeries or cupcake shops or diners that are bakeries as well. Or how we both thought, independently, that an indoor play park in the industrial park near our town would be a great idea. We both had this idea years ago, before we even met and told our husbands about it. I can't speak for Mr. The Mommy Project, but I know Mike thought it would never fly. I would like to point out in the past year two have opened up there to booming business.

Now to get to the meat of the post -- The List. I am assuming you are aware of the list? The five celebrities you can have on your list that are "freebies"? Meaning, should the opportunity arise you are free to hook up with them. Not surprisingly, The Mommy Project and I had very similar lists. In fact her "laminated list" could very well be mine with one small exception. Sorry Mommy Project, Dennis Leary is all yours. I will, however, arm wrestle you for John Cusack, Vince Vaughn, Hugh Jackman or Stephen Colbert.

See the issue? Boys are coming between us already. So we've been doing to civilized thing and negotiating who gets who. I'm still not quite sure how I managed to lose Vince Vaughn because I have loved him since Swingers, but the Mommy Project is so money, I'm willing to overlook it. Plus she did offer me Owen AND Luke Wilson as a trade. With the trade deadline passed (without a firm decision about former Maple Leaf Gary Roberts I might add) I figured it was time to update my list.

So for my first Friday High Five, (hosted by Angela's Adventures and Minor Mishaps) here it is in all it's laminated glory -- My List.

In no particular order, of course.

1. Owen AND Luke Wilson. I get both in exchange for Vince Vaughn, which is a pretty solid trade in my books. It's hard to say who I love more. And yes I'm aware Owen has a messed up nose. I like it. Oh yes I do. I've seen all his movies -- including DrillBit Taylor. Although my favourites are any with him and Ben Stiller together. Luke Wilson I fell in love with after Old School. The Godfather -- how could you not love him? Plus he was hanging with Vince Vaughn. They're all friendly so TMP and I could totally double date.

2. Tim McGraw. He is hawt y'all. His song My Little Girl, makes me weep every time. And he looks damn fine in that cowboy hat.

3. Paul Rudd. So the rest of the world may just be finding out about him, but I loved him ever since he became Phoebe's boyfriend on Friends. He is that perfect funny/smart combination.

4. Patrick Dempsey. I only started watching Grey's last season, but I have no idea why I waited so long. And what is it about that hair? I will admit to watching Enchanted with Abby many many times. Abby actually even tells people that he is my boyfriend. I just burned Made of Honour last night and fully intend to watch it while folding clothes this afternoon.

5. Maks from Dancing With The Stars. Another show the whole world was watching before I was. Have you seen him dance? Those hips are lethal. And that smile, that is one lady killer smile he has right there.

And on my reserve list. You know in case something happens and those on the laminated list are unable to preform their duties...

Eric Dane (McSteamy from Grey's)
Seth Rogen (what can I say, funny is very sexy)
Adrian Grenier (from Entourage)
Jeremy Piven (since he was on Ellen's sitcom)
Ben Stiller (yeah I like to keep it in the comedic family)

Who's on your list?

time to be thankful

It's thursday again and time to be thankful. My very good buddy, the Mommy Project tells me I can increase my happiness by 25%, just by listing the things I am thankful for and I'm all in for that.

I am thankful for --

1) Friends who have parents willing to pick us up jars of Jif on their way home from Florida. I'm not sure why, but all of the sudden I cannot seem to find a jar of Jif peanut butter anywhere and believe me we have been to lots of stores looking for it. I used to be a Kraft peanut butter girl, but then we tried Jif and all the other stuff paled in comparison. Even Abby calls the Skippy we have been eating "not good" and asks "where's the good peanut butter?" Right now in my pantry there is 5 jars of Jif and I am considering rationing it out to make it last as long as possible.

2) My friend Heazer, who is going to Wal Mart at midnight to get Twilight on dvd so we can watch it together in our jammies on Saturday night. Abby has made me promise to keep the volume of the "vampire movie" down low so she doesn't have bad dreams.

3) The clearance section on chapters.ca. I pick up tons of books I probably wouldn't look at twice if it wasn't for the bargain basement price. I just finished a great book I got from there, Dear Zoe. So moving, I admit to getting a bit weepy at the end.

4) My Mom and her help in getting the girls dresses for a wedding we're going to soon.

5) The beautiful weather we've had this week. The flurries this afternoon ticked me off a bit, but tomorrow looks good -- cool, but sunny.

And what are you thankful for?

just like george

The girls have really been loving this warmer weather and especially the opportunity to play outside without a million bulky layers. The other day Mike found Abby attaching some tiny white flowers, that grow wild by the side of the house, to a branch she'd found on the ground.

Mike: Wow, you're very creative Abby.
Abby: I'm also curious!

what's cooking wednesday - two for one

As I have mentioned I have been wanting to play around more in the kitchen, so in honour of St. Patrick's Day I made some treats to share with the girls at work. Neither was a recipe I had tried before (yeah that's right you get two this week, to make up for taking last week off -- I'm nice like that), but judging from the empty container I took home they were a hit.

My Grandma B (that would be my Dad's Mom) was an incredible cook/baker. One of my favourite things she made (besides the belgian cookies) was the spritz cookies. She always dyed the dough, so we'd have green wreathes, pink hearts and so on. Oh they were delicious. Recently my Mom gave me a cookie press and I thought I'd try to relive my childhood and make some spritz cookies like my Grandma used to make. Well actually I attempted to relive my childhood before Christmas and decided to bake a batch at about 10:30 at night. It was a stupid idea from the get go, but not having all the pieces for the cookie press *and* not finding that fact out until it was loaded with dough -- made it a really stupid idea. So since I finally had all the pieces it seemed like a good time to make some of these -- yep shamrocks, am I too cute for words or what?



Classic Spritz Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place butter in a bowl and beat on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar, egg and vanilla, beat well. Add flour, 1 cup at a time and mix well. Dough will be soft, do not refrigerate.

Fill cookie press, fitted with disk of your choice, with dough. Following your cookie press instructions press dough on to baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 11 - 13 minutes or until firm, but not brown.

Recipe notes: These turned out pretty good, but they weren't as creamy as I remember my Grandma's. I think I may have overworked the dough. I only had gel food colouring so it took a bit to work the green colour through the dough. I'll have to pick up some liquid ones. The cookie press is proving to be a little tricky to master, so if anybody has any cookie press experience I am accepting any tips you may have. I finished up feeling a little frustrated and a bit discouraged, but nothing bad enough to make me pitch the whole thing in the trash.

And now before we go further I have to ask -- why hasn't anybody told me about Bakerella yet? Seriously I am already in love with her and am desperate to try to make everything on her blog. Hello little reindeer cake pops you are adorable!



Oreo Truffles

1 package oreo cookies (divided… use cookie including the cream center)
1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
white chocolate

1. Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later.
2. Crush remaining cookies and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.
3. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.
4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. You can sprinkle the tops with the 7 crushed cookies for decoration.
5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy!

Recipe Notes: I think it's safe to say these were the hit of the day. So very good and easy to make. I actually had green candy melts, so I dipped them in that. There isn't anything else I'd do different. I will definitely be making these again and again.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday.

budding knitter

Not long ago Abby woke up one Saturday morning and asked if I would teach her to knit. So I cast on a few stitches and we were off to the races. I've never taught anyone to knit before so it was slow going as I showed her how to do it and then attempted to guide her hands through the steps. Amazingly she caught on pretty quick and before I knew it she was knitting stitches on her own.



She was so cute, concentrating so hard to get her needles to do what she wanted them to do. And after she'd finished her first row she said....

I am having so much fun. Go get Daddy! He has to see this!

In the end she knitted about three rows before she moved on to something else. She dropped a stitch or two and her gauge was way off, but I figured she had lots of time to worry about that stuff. For now the fundamentals were good enough. I showed her where she could stash her project until she wanted to work on it again.

And then --

Maya got a hold of it.



That would be an action shot of Maya sliding Abby's masterpiece right off the needles. I should have seen it coming, she's done it to me a kajillion times. Of course I have no one to blame, but myself. I'm the one who leaves it out on the coffee table, thinking -- oh she won't bother with it. And I'm wrong every time.

reviewing dishwasher pouches

I really hate to do dishes, so I have a dishwasher of which Mike and I split the loading/unloading. Although I'm sure we'd both say we do it more than the other. It's not one of those chores either of us like to do, but it's preferable to washing dishes by hand.

Recently I was given a package of Cascade dishwasher pouches to try. As much as I love my dishwasher I hate dishwasher detergent. We used to buy the big pail with the scoop, but I hated to get the soap residue on my fingers. This fact may have not made it onto the 225 things list, but I really hate the feeling of stuff on my hands. Just ick! I also didn't like to inhale the soap fumes as I poured the detergent into the required compartments. Also I felt like I was using way too much soap, but that's what the instructions were so that's what I used.

So is it any surprise that I love these pouches? The soap is fully contained inside a water soluble plastic pouch, so no residue on my fingers. Each pouch is packed with pre-treater, food dissolver, stain fighter, shine sheild and rinse aid. There is no airborne soap to inhale and I'm only using one pouch per load, that's half the soap I would normally use. I really love this product and can't see us going back to a traditional powder or liquid. If I had one complaint, I wish they had a "green" product.

*disclosure -- I was given this product for free to try out in exchange for my honest opinion.

just a little bit left you didn't know

So it's been making the rounds on facebook, the 25 things about me list, and I've been tagged multiple times, but I've already told you 100 things about me. And then I told you a 100 more. What's left to know?

Well.....

Twenty-five more things apparently.

1. While I truly love to knit, I really don't enjoy being a pattern knitter. I could happily knit scarves (to donate) for the rest of my life.

2. I am starting to be more creative in the kitchen. I spend a lot of my online time reading blogs and learning about new baking/decorating techniques. I'd really like to improve my skills in this area. People in my life should be prepared for samples!

3. My favourite thing to drink is water, with lots of ice and a straw.

4. I've only recently started watching Sex and the City. Talk about late to the party huh?

5. HBO Canada is my new favourite channel. Flight of the Conchords and East Bound and Down are my new favourite shows.

6. I watch Diners, Drive Ins and Dives every chance I get. It makes me want to open a diner.

7. I rarely go shopping, but this morning I spent with my Mom wandering around Michaels, Zellers and Costco. It was a real treat.

8. I would love to purchase 95% of the baking aisle at Michaels.

9. If I ever get on Survivor I'm layering for the flight over. I'm talking three pairs of socks, three pairs of undies, two pairs of shorts, leggings, yoga pants, bra, two tank tops two t- shirts and a long sleeved tee and a sweatshirt. I'm not going to end up wearing stilettos and a business suit for 39 days in the jungle. Not this girl. I want options.

10. I have watched every episode of every season of Survivor.

11. Despite an elaborate clothing strategy plan, I have zero interest in actually being on the show.

12. The girls and I often have jammie days.

13. We have more jammie days in the winter than we do in the summer.

14. While our little pool is great and worth every penny we've spent on it, I would love to have an actual pool. One that's more that 30 inches deep.

15. I still laugh at the Cowbell sketch from SNL like it's the first time I've seen it.

16. Everything seems funnier to me if Mike's laughing with me.

17. I love all kinds of chocolate, but there's nothing quite as good as lindor.

18. I prefer milk chocolate chips to semi-sweet.

19. I have completely switched to green tea, no more orange pekoe for me.

20. I prefer deep dark coloured nail polish for my toes. Colours like black, brown, burgandy or blue. Never red.

21. With the kids and then myself being sick the past week I've had almost no online time. I missed blogging. The writing, the reading and the commenting.

22. I love my crocs, both the flipflop and the original style.

23. I wish I could let go and be more outgoing.

24. I do not understand the appeal of a thong.

25. It's true. I enjoy webkinz world and often play when Abby is in bed.

Okay... you may know everything now -- I can't imagine I have any secrets left.

thankful thursday on friday

Well I missed Thankful Thursday, but better late than never as I always say. And my good buddy The Mommy Project tells me I will increase my happiness by 25% if I just list what I'm thankful for. So onto the list.....

I am thankful

1) That the horrible nasty stomach virus that fell upon this family a week ago seems to finally be over. I refuse to entertain the possibility that Michael may still get it. I just couldn't take it if he did.

2) That Grey's wasn't a rerun last night.

3) That The Office is so damn funny.

4) That my Mom is coming tonight for a sleepover. Abby just figured out what the surprise is and is about three feet off the ground with excitement.

5) That Family Fun Night morphed into sleepover night with Granny.

And what are you thankful for?

on the mend

Well Abby stopping throwing up at some point this morning and her fever is finally gone. Thank goodness. Abby still has two small holes in her heart and a persistent fever is something we need to watch for. Most of the time it's easy to forget there is something "wrong" with her, but as soon as she gets a fever I'm watching the clock and compulsively checking her temperature and praying a lot for it to go down. I'm, generally, a pretty laid back Mom, but a fever is one of those things that can send me into a silent panic.

And, of course, the only thing worse than persistent painful vomiting is having to watch your child suffer through it. So it's been a rough couple of days. And my stomach has been horribly upset since last night, but nothing has come of it. Which has it's pros and cons.

What is really great is seeing Abby back to feeling like herself. She spent this afternoon making up for her day of silence yesterday and chatted my ear off. She's so talkative and social it was hard to see her quiet and listless on the couch for so long. Some conversation highlights --

When she's a teenager she's going to "find someone to love, go steady, get engaged, get married, have babies and then get her ears pierced."

-- I have no idea how she knows about going steady, but I did tell her she didn't have to wait until she had babies to get her ears pierced and we could go anytime she'd like. She still wants to wait.

Also when she does have babies I will be their Grandma and Mike will be their Papa.

-- They've been doing family relationships at school in Social Studies.

And when I asked her if she would be marrying D the little boy in her class she's had a crush on since J/K her response was -- "No I think Maddie (her bff) is already going to do that."

And then she attempted to explain an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door to me that was so complicated I had no idea what she was even talking about. Also the explanation may have lasted longer than the actual episode itself.

Here's hoping things are finally back to normal around here. I could use it!

what's cooking wednesday

Well I thought we were in the clear, but just as we were getting ready to walk out the door this morning Abby succumbed to the same stomach virus that Maya had on the weekend. About that I have this much to say... "almost seven" is way better than "just turned three" when you're talking stomach viruses. She is sleeping for the moment and I feel I should get in some sleep while I can. My stomach is beginning to protest and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find myself sick before morning. Not that I'm looking forward to that, but what are you going to do? Kids and germs and all that. Pre-kids I had a Seinfeldesque no vomiting streak going that I was very proud of.

I'm going to assume that all of you are much healthier than my family is right now, so I'll set up the Mr. Linky, but I just don't have it in me to type out a recipe and review right now. So here's to better health and Happy What's Cooking Wednesday to you.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday.

tiny moments- kitchen floor picnic

Maya: Mommy, you make me toast?
Me: Sure babycakes.
Maya: I have picnic?



And how could a picnic be complete without her bff -- blankey (and her sucky)?

the grandparents club - part two

Do you remember when I started the Grandparent's Club series about a 100 years ago or so? I fully intend to finish it, don't you worry. I think I'm just suffering from that -- too much to do, not enough time to do it in -- scenario that us Mom's fall into all the time. Anyway if you need to get caught up you can read part one. Go ahead, I'll wait. Ready? On to part two.

When it comes to Grandma Linda and Papa, a gift card for one of their favourite restaurants is not unusual. In fact it's pretty standard. I fully intended to purchase one for them again this Christmas when I sat down to really think about it. I spent a lot of time with my Christmas shopping list this year, trying to work out how to get the biggest bang for my buck. I think the restaurant gift card is a great gift. I love to get them as much as I love to give them. I mean who doesn't like a break from the kitchen? Especially if you're the one doing all the cooking.

The more I thought about it the more I realized I could give Papa and Grandma Linda a gift card that would pay for all/most of a dinner out. One single night out and then they'd have to wait a year for that gift to come around again. Or I could make them dinner at our place once a month for a year. The end result is the same. A night out away from the kitchen. But it's also so much more.

It's a chance to spend time together as a family. Really we're pretty social with each other, but it's either random dessert and coffee nights or dinners for an occasion (birthdays/holidays). It's a chance for me to cook for people who will actually eat dinner when I put it on the table. It's a chance for me to poke through my cook books and make fabulous desserts. It's a chance to show the girls that family is something important and that we're very lucky to have what we have. That one I know will come along when they're older, but when it does I expect it will be big. It's the chance to give my girls the tools to make smart decisions when they're older. The chance to show them how many people they have that love them. A chance to really celebrate family. All good stuff in my books.

I "invented" the Dinner of the Month Club for Papa and Grandma Linda, because they do enjoy going out for dinner. After dinner we can play it by ear, maybe a bit of TV (a hockey game perhaps) or some Wii bowling, or Grandma Linda and the girls have been known to perform an impromptu play or maybe a board game. So far it's been great fun.

Stay tuned for Part 3 - The Scrabble Game of the Month Club

knee deep in dirty jammies

Nothing like coming home after a long day at work and finding out that your little one has been up chucking since 7:30 in the morning. Looks like it's going to be a weekend full of laundry and camping out on the couch. I'm just hoping that Maya doesn't pass it on to Abby or I. Or Mike... that would be the worst. I'll take sick babies over a sick husband any day of the week.

thankful thursday

Good news is The Mommy Project is back blogging after some well deserved time off to snuggle that brand new baby of hers. It was she who told me that listing the things I am thankful for will increase my happiness by 25% and I am all in for that.

I am thankful for...

1) Packages in the mail. Especially surprise ones. Tuesday there was an unexpected bubble envelope from my brother in the mailbox. Here's the thing about Dave. I love him to death, he's my baby brother and I truly think the world of him, but he's horrible about keeping in touch. He never calls or emails and if you call or email him odds are he won't get back to you. It's just a defect he has. I try not to take it personally especially since I know that if I needed him he would be here in about 3 hours. So imagine my surprise when I recognized his address as the return. I didn't even wait to get home to rip it open I was so desperate to know what he had sent. About two weeks ago I vaguely mentioned to Mel that we'd been watching season 2 of Flight of the Conchords and asked if they had been watching it as well. It is exactly the kind of show they would love. Turns out they had been. In the envelope, season 1 (which I missed) on dvd. My emailed note of thanks has so far gone unanswered, but I'm so impressed with the multi step process to get the dvd to me I'm willing to let it go.

2) That Abby finally got her hair cut. You see Abby sleeps on her back most of the night. And since she's a bit of a restless sleeper by the time morning rolls around the back of her head is one giant knot. She cries when I have to brush it out. Not really the way I want to spend each and every morning. I have to admit it was shorter than I was expecting, but I totally love it. I'm thinking of a variation of that cut for myself.



3) That my sitter is a hairdresser. Abby got her haircut before school yesterday morning while I was at work. It's so nice and helpful to have one less thing that needs to be scheduled for after school/work hours.

4) For the warmer weather that we're expecting this weekend. Especially after the frigid temperatures we've been experiencing.

5) That my Mom stopped by tonight and we made plans for our next sleepover. The girls can't wait.

And what are you thankful for?

they say it's your birthday

Today is Mike's birthday and that seems reason enough to list a few more of the reasons why I love him....

#53 He's a man who wears crocs.... outside and even sometimes off the property.
#54 He's always willing to help Abby navigate webkinz world online.
#55 He lets the kids have control of the TV when we get home from school/work.
#56 Gives a pretty great foot rub... (when he feels like it)
#57 He gave up the computer so I could write this and then head up to bed early early early.
#58 He helped me tidy the house and put both kids to bed even though it's his birthday and I totally would have let him slack off.
#59 That he's willing to play along with the girls and their wild imaginations.

Happy birthday Michael... love you!!

what's cooking wednesday - chicken pot pie

This is one of those cold weather comfort dishes that I love, but have never made myself. I thought it was time I did something about that. So I searched all over allrecipes.com until I found something I could work with.



Chicken Pot Pie

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe Notes: I used frozen mixed veggies instead of the peas, celery and carrots. I also diced up a rotisserie chicken, just to make things easier. I also threw a handful or so of grated cheddar after it had thickened. Mike initially didn't like this, or rather he thought he didn't like it. I made it while he was stuffed up with a cold. Once he had his sense of taste back he enjoyed it much more. The kids -- wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. I know... shocking, right? One day they'll eat food. I'm sure of it.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday.

reviewing the brushes

For the past month or so Mike and I have been test driving a couple of Oral B toothbrushes. I asked for his help because I had two brushes and only one mouth. One model had a lot of bell whistles, the other not so much. Being the top notch wife I am, I let my Michael have first dibs. Not surprisingly he went for the plain jane.



So what is the verdict?

Mike loved everything about his model. He liked that there was just a simple on and off button. It was easy to use right out of the package. He said he teeth felt cleaner and he really liked that the vibration wasn't too much. Our last electric toothbrush had too much vibration for him, so using that brush wasn't a pleasant experience. Not so, here. For me the only problem I had with this brush is it doesn't come with any storage. There isn't a place to sit your brush heads if you happen to be sharing the handle with a spouse. Which really isn't much of a complaint I know, but the other model we tested did have storage space and that was kind of nice. All in all it's a great reasonably price electric toothbrush.

Now the one I tested, the Oral B Triumph with Smart Guide is pimped out. It comes with a wireless smart guide timer so you can see how long you've been brushing and know when it's time to move on to the next quadrant. It also has multiple settings (sensitive, massage, clean and polish). I love the charging base and the storage space for extra brush heads that is attached. It comes with a polishing and a floss action brush head. I have to admit I was a bit of skeptic about the floss action brush head, but it works remarkably well. I brushed and then flossed and there was a noticeable difference. Out of the two heads I preferred the floss action head even though it does look a bit intimidating. Surprisingly the polishing head felt a bit too large for my mouth, which is likely all in my head, but still.

Truthfully, for me, it's a lot of stuff for a toothbrush to do. I'd probably be just as happy with Mike's stripped down version. That being said I realize there are people out there that would likely benefit from a toothbrush that can offer you so many options. All in all it's a great toothbrush that I have been more than happy using and I would highly recommend it to anyone in need of a toothbrush with options. If not I suggest the OralB Vitality.

* disclosure -- I received this product for free (for the purpose of reviewing it) in exchange for my honest opinion.

an actual conversation between two apparent grownups

Over the past couple of years Abby has received several WebKinz animals as gifts. While we didn't have high speed at the time they were nothing more than stuffies to play with. Over time most of her WebKinz have lost their tags, but there were one or two still hanging around, so this past week we let her login to WebKinz online. Abby picked the clownfish she just got for Chirstmas from Robin as her pet of choice. So we hooked him up and now she goes online to take care of his needs and to play games with either Mike or myself in attendance. And that led to this conversation this morning....

Mike: I was on webkinz this morning. That clownfish ate like a king.
Me: Did you know there was a spot you could go to get them a daily treat. I fed him a hamburger last night.
Mike: I fed him one this morning.
Me: Yeah but this is for free. And if you go every day you get a bonus.
Mike: I played Pizza Palace this morning and earned some cash.
Me: I played last night.
Mike: How do you adjust his other two levels? Like how do you make him happier?
Me: Well he seems to get happier when you play in the arcade.
Mike: This is not a conversation two thirty-five year olds should be having, how to keep our fake clownfish happy.