Month: December 2011

VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD!

I’m so thankful to cookiemomma.wordpress.com  for nominating momwhearingloss.wordpress.com  for the versatile blogger award.  I’ve been blogging for a couple of months now and I love it!  I was surprised and thrilled to receive this nomination.  I’ve also enjoyed reading other blogs and I love the many different perspectives on life!  Cookiemomma.wordpress.com has been a joy to read.  Cookiemomma is a  mom to inspire to be like, her children are very lucky .ok – the rules:

1.  Name 15 fellow bloggers

2.  Inform bloggers of their nomination.

3.  Share  7 random thoughts about yourself.

4.  Thank the blogger who nominated you.

5.  Post the award badge.

7-random things about me!

1.  I am severely hearing impaired, but at times I hear better than most hearing people as I focus, lip read, watch body movement and  pay attention.

2.  I love my family – My children and my husband are my number 1 priority.

3.  I love to cook and eat!

4.  I love a good novel – the kind of novel where I miss and think about the characters once I finish the book.

5.  I have two big fears – I’m afraid to fly and I have this terrible fear of bed bugs!

6.  I’m very honest and loyal – I don’t have loads of friends, but the friends I have are friends for life.

7.  I dislike it when people are phony and fake – my favourite line is: Check your ego at the door!

My nominations for the most Versatile Blogger:

1:  cookiemomma.wordpress.com – Great mom stories, great family pictures – feel good blog.

2:  thegarumfactory – Great recipes and pictures

3. lesleycarter – Lesley has done so many amazing things in her short life so far – always a pleasure and interest to read her blog.

4. savorysimple / – another great recipe blog – Savorysimple has great homey, simple recipes – I love a simple approach to food.

5.deidraalexander  – love the honesty of this blog  – the writing and the pictures are very good.

6: shahanifudge – good blog about fashion and life in general – love to see what she’s wearing.

7.  talinorfali / – A good read blog – blogs about things that matter, being true to yourself – plus she’s Canadian a fellow easterner as well!

8. soulblindministry  – This man has been through it all – hell and back and he doesn’t seem to have a bitter bone in his body – very inspirational work.

9. myparentsarecrazierthanyours  – This young lady has found herself in some difficult times – yet she writes about it with such clarity and honesty.  Can’t help but like this lady  – great work and great writing.

10.niseenscene / – I love the pictures in this blog – great recipes and good traveling tips – really enjoy this blog and one of my favourite blogs – Plain People.

11.wesothrifty / – I love thrift shopping, consignment shopping, garage sales all stuff vintage – This lady has all the tips and great pics – plus she’s a fellow easterner Canadian!

12. oregontale / – tale of a couple starting over in Oregon – Love the Oregon coast – drive there every summer with our vintage 1977 trillium trailer – love the pics on this blog.

13.dancingmossecafe  – Can really relate to this as this blog documents family life from the eyes of two boys.

14.anuneducatedpalate  – Love food and pics – Cooking classes, recipes and pictures all in one blog

15. theparadigmshifts  / – This blog has everything, God, Antiques, life – good writing.

BLUEBERRY SCONES

I made these scones for Christmas morning – tradition in my house is to sit in front of the tree with coffee, scones and sweet bread, open presents and just enjoy!

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbls suger, plus more for sprinkling tops

1 Tbls baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 Tbls of unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces( I only had regular salted butter – worked fine)

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries( I used frozen) – rinsed

White chocolate pieces – as many as you think you need (optional – chocolate chips were not in the recipe but I added them and the scones were delicious!)

1 tsp lemon zest (grated)

1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more to brush tops

2 large eggs lightly beaten

Adjust rack to centre of oven – heat to 400 degrees

In a large bowl sift together flour, 3 tbsp of sugar(I added 5 tbsp sugar), baking powder and salt.  Using a pastry blender cut in butter until the larges pieces are the size of small peas.

Stir in blueberries,zest and white chocolate chips(if using).

Whisk together cream and egg in a separate bowl.

Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in cream mixture.

Stir until dough comes together (At this point I added extra flour as the dough is a little too moist)

Turn out on floured bowl and knead a few times  – pat dough into a 6 inch square about 1 1/4 inches thick.

Using a floured knife – cut into three inch squares.

Cut squares in half on the diagonal to form eight triangles.

Transfer to baking sheet – brush tops with cream and sprinkle more sugar.

Bake until golden brown – 20 t0 22 minutes

Transfer scones form baking sheet to wire rack.

Voila – Enjoy!

SLOW DOWN AT CHRISTMAS TIME!

I’ve managed to stay out of the malls at the most busiest times this year.  I’m finished most of my Christmas shopping and today I went out early to pick up a few last minute items I needed.  The kids have been off school this week and we’ve just kicking back and hanging around the house baking, watching Christmas movies – getting much needed R & R.   One of the reasons why I hate going to the malls at this time of the year is watching people running all over the place to fill their Christmas with material things, often forgetting the real meaning of Christmas.  It’s not about material things, it’s about Jesus’ birthday and the gift he gave to the world.  It’s not about rushing to and from it’s about helping others, spending quality time with one-another and giving rather than receiving.

Yesterday at about 5:00 pm I decided to walk up to the store to put a few letters in the mail.  We are looking after a friend’s dog while her family is away – a gorgeous German Shepherd named Rex.  Off the boys, Rex and I went to the store and we we’re enjoying a beautiful evening looking at all the lights and just laughing and enjoying the season.    On the way home, we came to a cross walk and as I always do, I made sure I looked around before the boys stepped off the curb to make sure there were no speeding cars as cross walks can be one of the most dangerous places.  My youngest was ahead of me with Rex and because we were all in a lighthearted mood our defenses were down and Rex was on a relaxed leash quite a bit ahead of my son.   I am usually closer to the boys as we cross streets, but there really was only one car at the light and no other cars in sight.

As we were crossing the street heading west –  I was laughing with my other son when out of the corner of my eye I saw this red car driving very fast heading east and the left hand indicator light was blinking meaning the car was on a collision course with my youngest son  ahead of me.  It all happened so fast, it took me a matter of seconds to realize that the car was not stopping and about to mow my son and Rex down.  I quickly stepped ahead put one hand on my son’s collar and my other hand on his arm and pulled with all my might to get him the hell out of the way.  In my horror I realized that Rex was still in the way and I had no time to help him.  It seemed like forever and in slow motion but it was a matter of seconds, I closed my eyes and braced myself for the dog to get run over.  The woman driving finally saw us and slammed on her brakes and managed to stop literally inches directly in front of the dog.

I stood in the intersection staring at the woman and I was furious.    I approached her car and was heading to the driver’s side and I was about to unleash a fury like never before.  In my head the words were screaming out and let me tell you the words were not very nice, as I headed toward the car and looked in the woman’s eyes I realized she was terrified.  She was holding her chest and breathing hard and she put her hand up toward me as if to say – please,  I don’t think I can handle this.  I recognized that she was most likely as upset as I was.  As I got closer to the car she put her head down and put her hand back up.  I stood for a second and she looked at me again and I calmly looked at her and mouthed – “Slow down and look where you’re going”.

As I looked into that woman’s eyes and realized how scared she was, I immediately lost my anger and was able to be more human.  Not an easy thing for me as I’m Irish, I have a famous Irish temper and my husband’s nickname for me is the fighting Irish!   So this is my message to everyone this Christmas.  Stop, take in your surroundings and slow down to smell the eggnog.  Get out of the malls, really look around you, spend time with the important people in your life, friends and family and don’t worry about having enough material things, worry about having enough quality time.  Merry Christmas everyone and may your season be a safe, joyful and a peaceful one!

RESERVATIONS RECIPE

When I started the recipe section of my blog – my intention was to post quick easy recipes as I go along in  my busy little life – Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time – the other day when searching for a recipe on http://www.supercook.com ( a website where you put the ingredients you have in the search engine and recipes with those ingredients come up) I found the recipe below:

Reservations Recipe

1 can of tuna

1 package of pasta

 

leave both contents on the counter and when you’re husband comes home and he asks what’s for dinner – tell him tuna surprise – he’ll say let’s go out for dinner!

Thought this was too cute and had to share!

 

A HOUSE FOR THE PRICE OF A USED MINI-VAN

I just read an article on the internet – Disabled single woman with six children traded her house for a used minivan.  The house was worth approximately $96,000.00 and she traded it for a minivan, worth between $5000.00 – $8,500.00, for the purpose of getting her children to school.    She said that she had better offers in the form of cars that were worth more but she felt the family she gave the house to needed it the most.  Things aren’t as bad as it sounds, this woman bought another house at an auction for $3,600.00.  After I finished reading this piece, I finished cleaning the kitchen which was a  mess from our dinner.  As I was washing dishes looking out the  kitchen window,  I started to think –  traded a house for a minivan and bought a house at an auction for $3,600.00.   The houses I was looking at through my window were all bought  for prices  ranging between $350,000.00 and $500,000.00 depending on the year you bought into this neighbourhood.  Then another thought came to my head – I just bought and paid for hearing aids – $5,000.00.   This woman paid less for her house than I did for my hearing aids – how crazy is that!  We also have a 1977 trillium trailer that we paid $5000.00 for and it barely sleeps four.  This woman gave away a 4 bedroom house for a used mini-van.  Standing there looking out my kitchen window at all of the houses beautifully decorated for Christmas,  I wondered how many people in this neighbourhood have comfort in knowing that their houses are worth more than $500,000.00.  What if things get so bad that we are forced to sell our house for the price of a used mini-van.  Scary thought!  The more I thought about it, the more my house became just four walls.  That’s right four walls, every room in the house has four walls  – that’s all there is to it.  If this house depreciates in value so much so that it is literally worthless, would the house be important to me – I don’t think so,  the livelihood of my children would be the most important thing.  All of a sudden these four walls are just that, walls and roof that gives my family shelter and protects us from the elements.  Sure I like to decorate the house so I’m comfortable and I’ve always held the belief that your house is your castle.  It’s the one place you can be who you are and be accepted.   The more I thought about it the more I realized that my home is wherever I find my family.   The four walls of my house are not my comfort zone.  My family is what gives me comfort.  As I put the last of the dishes away in the cupboard a thought came to my mind.  “It’s a good thing we bought that 1977 trillium trailer because if we ever have to sell our house for a vehicle, I’ll make sure the vehicle can pull our trailer”.   The four fiberglass walls might be my future comfort zone!

QUICK GREAT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!

Make a double batch and keep some in the freezer – they don’t last very long so hide some!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of butter or margarine

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

2 cups of  semi-sweet chocolate chips

or 1 cup of M & M’s and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350

In a big bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt.

In electric mixer (kitchen aid) mix butter, brown sugar, white sugar,2 eggs and vanilla.

Mix until smooth and slowly add flour mix.

Add Chocolate chips  –  mix in by hand.

Drop batter by the spoonful on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Cook for 10 – 12 minutes.  Remove and cool on rack before placing in containers.

Make lots they’ll be gone in no time!  Great for the kids lunches  – not so good for mom’s waistline!

CHRISTMAS – HOW MUCH DO WE REALLY NEED?

Today after work I went for a walk with both my boys and during our conversation we talked about what they want for Christmas.   When the boys were young Christmas was easy – The Sears Wishbook came around in September and they would excitedly pick several things that Santa could bring.  Now at the age of 10 and 12 things are far more complicated, there are so many items out there I think their brains go into overload and they have no idea what they want.   Back to my question then – Christmas – How much do we really need?  When we got home from our walk, my ten-year old couldn’t decide what to write on his wish list so he went to the computer and looked up Walmart’s website to get ideas.  After going through the website he still couldn’t answer my question,  “What do you want for Christmas?”  I’m so tired of all the consumer mania of Christmas, the running around and standing in crowded stores trying to figure out what to buy.   I think it would be great if we didn’t buy any gifts.  We could just get up Christmas morning, all of us sit down to a nice breakfast, relax in the living room in front of the tree and just take our time, enjoy each other’s company and savour the moment!  I suggested this to the boys, because if they can’t decide what they want then they must not need anything, so we could have a giftless Christmas.  Both boys just stared at me and it didnt’ take long before they found items that they want for Christmas.  The thought of a giftless Christmas scared them into a wish list.  Another Christmas with gifts, however, we will also savour the moment and enjoy!