not sponsored, i just love it

Can I just take a moment and tell y'all how much I am in love with our new fridge because I really am. Many years ago when it was just Michael and I rattling around in this big old house and before I went into full out Martha Stewart mode we used to have a chest freezer. Way way way back in the day it used to belong to my parents back when energy efficiency wasn't what you would consider a concern. A lot of the time the thing was dang near empty, so we sold it and our hydro bill dropped $20 a month. A month. Craziness.

We made do for a very long time with only the freezer attached to our fridge. Not a big deal back then or even when the kids were smaller, but now they're bigger and I am in full out Martha Stewart mode. I know how to extreme coupon and stockpile and bake and cook and buy in bulk. Oh I asked a lot of that little freezer and it pretty much disappointed me at every turn.

I wasn't with Mike when he purchased this fridge, but he assured me I would be impressed with the size of the freezer in it. I was skeptical, I'm not going to lie to you. I mean it's the freezer attached to a fridge, you've seen one, you've seen them all, but then he brought the fridge home. Oh my. I don't want to brag, but currently I have the following in my freezer..... two turkeys, a roasting chicken, a box of frozen chicken breasts (in the box), a box of chicken nuggets (in the box), a family pack of breaded pork chops, a family pack of chicken breasts, two pouches of frozen fruit, large bag of sweet potato fries, half a loaf of paska bread, ice cube trays, tub of home made ice cream, and a bag of perogies. In the past couple of days I've taken out the bowl for the ice cream maker, a box of frozen burgers and a ziploc bag of frozen chocolate chip cookies. Oh and there is still room for more. Thanks LG!

dessert disasters

I realize it was a week ago, but I think our Easter desserts are still topical.

As I mentioned we had two Easter meals this year. I offered to bring dessert to both. The brown sugar cake I made was supposed to be a bundt cake, but I felt like layer cake, plus I have no bundt pan in a suitable shape for icing. Anyway I had too much batter in the pans, so I ended up having to trim them. So I trimmed, then I set them aside, took care of something else and came back to this.....



There was only one very guilty looking person in the kitchen when I returned......

Me: So what happened here Abs?
Abby: I was helping you.
Me: I'm not really sure that helps me, honey.
Abby: But Mom it's soooo delicious.

What can I say.... I am very vain about my baking. That little line was enough to get her off the hook, but shhh don't tell her that. She'd use it against me like kryptonite.

And in related Easter dessert disaster news I present you with this....



Okay so once upon a time these used to be seriously cute Easter basket cupcakes. Then I asked Mike to bring them into my Mom's from the van. Apparently he thought the cupcakes were "strapped in" so they would survive being turned dang near upside down. Yeah - it turns out he was wrong about that assumption.



And these turned out so incredibly cute I can barely stand it.

that is a good pie

I wasn't sure what to get Papa this year for his birthday. I don't find him all that easy to shop for and his birthday is always smack in the middle of fair time. Seeing as this year was extra busy, with both Mike and I having increased our volunteer roles.... well I was really at a loss. I have been trying really hard to make the gifts that I do give be more than just stuff. So I thought about Papa and what he would like and it hit me..... dessert.

It's no secret that Papa is a dessert guy. He takes it very seriously and can often be heard complaining that Grandma Linda doesn't bake enough pies/cakes/cookies. So I enrolled him in the dessert of the month club. Once a month a plan on making him one of his favourite desserts. I've already made October's selection - apple pie. An apple pie I made using this recipe.

Papa was nice enough to save the pie for Thanksgiving dinner and share 1/12 of his birthday present with the rest of us. The night I made his pie I had made another one for us. So when Papa came over to pick it up we all had a piece of our pie with coffee, before he headed for home. As we ate he commented it was a nice tasting apple pie, for which I thanked him... but guys it gets so much better.

As the pie was being served up tonight Grandma Linda says to me..... Papa says this is the best apple pie he's ever tasted.

To which I replied..... umm could you say that again?

I was shocked, cause here's the deal..... Papa knows his pie. He has 63 years of dessert experience under his belt. And he's not one to throw around "dramatic" statements like that unless it's the real deal. It was a huge compliment that meant a lot to me and it makes me smile every time I think about it. If that's not a ringing endorsement for that pie recipe I don't know what is.

getting crafty

It's just been a hive of activity here this weekend. Entries for the fair must be dropped off Wednesday night so this weekend has been all about that last minute push to get everything done. Yesterday Abby and Maya, even though she's too young to enter anything yet, made tiaras and sashes suitable for the fair queen. We turned a milk carton into a baby pig. We made a necklace all to go along with the pasta picture, original drawing and scrapbook page we've already completed.

This afternoon while our chicken was roasting on the barbecue we created some Christmas ornaments. A category Abby took second in last year (I think). With her painted lightbulb with sparkly gems.



This year we went with styrofoam balls, sequins, beads and straight pins.



Abby really enjoyed making these. It's a great craft for an older child who can handle the straight pins themselves. Having done it I think it's probably helpful to give the balls a quick spray with some spray paint. That's a lot of white to cover with sequins and beads for the little ones.

In the next couple of days we'll be working on rice krispie squares and cupcakes for Abby to decorate. As for me I've got a carrot cake I plan on entering. We'll see if I can bring home the red (ribbon) again this year.

cake auction

Last week Abby's school held a Mother's Day cake auction. These are the cakes I made and donated.



I loved the Mr. Men and Little Miss series of books when I was Abby's age. So I thought, in honour of Education Week, I'd attempt to recreate the cover of the books. I was happier with the Little Miss Giggles than I was with Mr. Nosey, but those were the best stencils I had when I was throwing this together at midnight, cause I'm stupid like that that's how I roll. Abby thought they were fantastic and was disappointed she didn't manage to win one of them. That makes the midnight cake decorating all worthwhile.

i woke up with a slightly larger head this morning

Last night Mike and I helped out at a fundraising dinner, penny sale and silent auction for Abby's school. It was a very busy night, but all the volunteers were great and I had a lot of fun. We were a bit worried about how our silent auction donations would fair in these tough economic times and we did definitely see a decrease, but the night was still an amazing success and we made close to $3000 for our little rural school. Yay us!

For my part, I did what I've been doing best -- or at least the most these days. I baked.



I admit I was nervous putting them out on the table. I told Mike if they didn't sell for a reasonable amount of money my ego would be crushed. And yes, I did sneak away -- when I could -- and check out how the bidding was going. I am very happy to say they brought a total of $42 to Abby's school and there was some disappointment expressed from the losers. So I left the event feeling pretty good about myself.

I was surprised that they went for so much when you consider that my buddy ML was wandering around telling people they were horrible tasting cookies, so she could win them herself.

One of the bouquets went home with Abby's little friend -- who's a boy, but not a boyfriend, Mom okay -- and his Mom called me this morning to complain about them. Uh oh. When she asked her little guy how he liked the cookies he said -- well I don't want to hurt your feelings. And then he wondered if she would ask me for the recipe.

I wonder if I could use that as a testimonial if I decide to go pro?

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?

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.