The Trouble With Retirement...

"The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off"- Abe Lemons

In April, two of my favorite people retired from work. They made my transition to an ICU setting as a new nurse a simplified as it could be. They gave me important advice over the years, taught me skills one would never have dreamed of in nursing school and they were constant providers of encouragement. I don't think I would be the nurse I am today without these two, cool cats. I also don't think I would own a house or have an appreciation for as much different music without them. Can you tell I cherish their friendship?

A week ago I had a little retirement soiree for them at the house. One of the best parts of owning a house is having people over! You can stay up late, play your music loud and not have to worry about the people living above you or below you. We had a wine and cheese, which is always fun and I sort of over shot it just a bit. I had about six liters of wine left over (Gasp! Not to worry...I will drink it sooner than later) and far too much cheese (my co-workers must think I have a cheese fetish cause I keep bringing in a different kind each shift!). It is better to be over prepared than under prepared right?! So here are my tips for throwing a shin-dig of sorts and a tutorial on the perfect cheese board!

"Perfect" cheese board 101

Cheese boards can be pricey and it's always nice to have one big enough to serve a variety of cheeses. If you are a DIY kind or person and you love a deal like me then drive, bus or walk yourself to home depot and bomb straight to the tile isle. Look for a dark ceramic or if you want to get fancy, a slate tile (I picked ceramic that looks like slate..best of both worlds). Grab a couple then walk, drive or bus yourself to a local dollar store...get some chalk and furniture pads. For $8 TOTAL(!!) I made three of these bad boys (see pic below!).



Party Throwing Tips

1) Make sure people know about it a while in advance
2) Try to get an idea of numbers...so you don't have six liter of wine left...or worse not have enough!
3) Make simple apps and prepare as much as you can the day before. Less stress is good stress!
4) Don`t go overboard with decor, people came for the social aspect and to have a good time, less is more!
5) Try to buy local...all of the wine I provided was made in Nova Scotia (blah blah..I know it can be hard to find decent local wine but I have a couple of ringers up my sleeve).
6) If you have furry friends and it is April and they are shedding, ship 'em off a day or two before so you can dust and sweep and suck up all of their little tumble weeds. This way your guests won't find fur in the apps...mine went to my sisters for the week!
7) RENT wine glasses....cheap as hell and easy peasy!
8) Get creative and have fun!

If I Were Thin...

"If I were thin, I would never say I am powerless over fudge"- Camryn Manheim

I have been known to bake for the fun of it. I find it relaxing and love to challenge myself in the kitchen (when my time, my patience and Kenmore allow me to). I don't however, baulk at a simple, straight-forward, never-fail-me-now, even-a monkey-could-do-it recipe. Often I find that the simple no-fuss recipes are the most well loved and most requested. Easy peanut butter cookies (off the back of the jar) are one of those recipes, as is a basic rolled shortbread. While stumbling through the blog-o-sphere this week, I came upon one that seemed so simple I thought it was a joke! Peanut butter fudge, with one spoon, one pot and a total of four ingredients. No candy thermometer required. With my lovely co-workers and their late afternoon break in mind, I got to it after finishing the dinner dishes. Four minutes later, my fudge was cooling in the fridge and the dishes were drying. It's melt in your mouth good and sweet enough that is croons for a glass of cold milk or a cup of steaming hot coffee! Happy baking!
-m
ps. check out my getting fancy with the pictures!


In A Snap Fudge
(for last minute showers, parties or guests!)

In a sauce pan, combine 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup of milk (I used skim and it was perfect!). Heat on medium and bring to a boil while stirring. Let boil for precisely 2.5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 3/4 cup of smooth peanut butter. Stir well and immediately pour into ungreased 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan. Transfer to fridge and cut before fully set (keep things easy!). Wash your spoon and pan, then pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

A Woman Without A Man...

"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle."- Gloria Steinem

Fish cakes, for some reason I LOVE fishcakes. I gravitate towards them on menus and am always positively thrilled with the chutneys, sauces and pickles that can be found in their accompaniment. The day my door was being fixed, I decided I would try my hand at good old fashioned fish cakes. I looked at dozens of recipes and hmmed and hawwwed. There were so many varieties it was almost overwhelming!

What did I do? I winged it. I combined bits and pieces of all the recipes I had viewed and whipped up what was to probably be a holy mess of fish cakes. It turned out one of the carpenters working on my door was a fish cakes connoisseur, or at least that is both what him and his son told me, so he gave me a little bit of advice. I ended up sending him home with half a dozen! I was pleasantly surprised at what my little kitchen turned out and would make them exactly the same way again. For a modern take on a classic item, find my recipe  and pictures below.
-m


Mich's Everything-But-Kitchen-Sink Fish Cakes

You will need:

-500g fresh haddock (3-5 fillets, depending on size!)
-300g fresh salmon
- A bottle of beer, or a glass of white wine...whatever you got goin'
-5-6 medium potatoes
-A bunch of green onions, chopped
-A small bunch or cilantro or parsley (I am partial to parsley as cilantro is the devil to my taste buds!) chopped
-Juice of a lime
-Juice of half an orange
-Zest of that same orange!
-Good sprinkle of salt and pepper
-Dash or four of your fav. hot sauce
-Dollop of olive oil
-bread crumbs of choice

Turn your Kenmore on to 350 and let it preheat. In a baking dish, place raw fish and pour wine or beer over top (I used beer cause I am more of a red wine gal). Add the dollop of oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 min, you don't want to over cook your fish! Next up peel and boil your potatoes, when soft mash em up...if they are too dry add a bit of oil. Be sure to allow your fish and potatoes to cool for 10-15 minutes. In that time chop up your greens, zest your orange and prep the rest of the ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add 2.5 cups of potatoes, your drained and broken up fish (if should be tender and fall apart), your green onions, parsley/ cilantro, citrus juices, hot sauce and zest. Mix with your hands and add more potato if the texture requires it and then salt and pepper to taste. Form little patties in your hands, about 2 inches in diameter, and lay both sides in bread crumbs. In a large pan, heat some oil and cook fish cakes a few at a time on med heat. 2-3 min on the first side should do it then carefully flip them (you don't want them to fall apart) and cook for 2-3 minutes on the second side. I served mine with a dollop of Greek yogurt that I added some lime juice, lime zest and some hot sauce to! Delicious!

In Jamaica There Are No Problems...

"In Jamaica there are no problems, only situations, mon."- Everyone we met

I have a confession, I was planning on blogging prior to my trip down south. Maybe it was the eight twelve hour shifts I worked in ten days, or maybe it was my dreams of fresh coconut milk, but I was on Jamaican time before I even left Halifax.

Jamaica was lovely. Positively lovely. I will be honest, all inclusive travelling isn't totally my speed. I am more of a book a flight and rent an apartment in Paris or a villa in Tuscany kind of lady. My previous experience with all inclusives in the south was that the beaches were great and the liquor was flowing but the rooms and food left much to be desired.

Jamaica blew all of my expectations out of the water. The rooms were bright and clean, the service and the food was impeccable (jerk chicken and curried goat...could eat them every day!).  The beach was only steps away and the pools were clear and crisp.

Travelling in a large group is also the way to go. Down for a wedding, there were over fifty of the bride and grooms closest friends and family. There was always someone to have breakfast with, lounge by the pool with and climb water falls with. The beach wedding was beautiful as was the beach party afterwards.

I feel refreshed and I even have a bit of a tan. I brought back some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and some Jamaican Rum Cream to continue to my vacation back in Canada. A few pics below!
-m

A Girl In A Bikini Is Like Having A Loaded Pistol On Your Coffee Table...

"A girl in a bikini is like having a loaded pistol on your coffee table- there is nothing wrong with them, but it is hard to stop thinking about it."- Garrisson Keillor

Bikini or Bust. That is how my last few weeks have been. Not even a bikini, just anything that would be appropriate for lounging on the beach or swimming up to a pool bar in Jamaica. 'Cause that is where this chick will be in approximately thirteen days.

I understand that no one likes bathing suit shopping (at least not the average lady). It is brutal. We are pale, maybe even see-through from wearing parkas, scarves and fleece lined leggings during the eight month phenomenon known as an atlantic Canadian winter. Those fluorescent lights that exist only in malls are also a problem. They have probably been put there to encourage people to spend money on fat-burning pills at GNC, vigorous gliding on an ellipticals and intermittant crying into morning coffees. I swear, they even my fingers look lumpy...it's marketing magic. I would bet Don Draper came up with it himself.

All of that said, I have a problem and it is a little north of the boarder. I am chesty, a little too chesty, especially when it comes to bathing suits. I tallied it up today; grand total of bathing suits tried on in two weeks- forty-nine. To break that down mathematically, of the said forty-nine suits, exactly forty turned out to be glorified nipple covers (as in little to no coverage and probably illegal in at least ten states...). Three, I had no words to describe and one was a beauty that fit like a dream but the top alone was over two hundred dollars. It had this budget-savvy-diva seeing dollar signs flinging here there and everywhere (feuw-feuw-feuw..the sound they were making as they whizzed by me). Bikinis, tank-inis and even the one-pieces were no-goes, they fit everywhere but the bust. Sets were just as bad. If the bottoms fit, the tops looked like dental floss or yarn (which is obviously both very flattering and supportive, not to mention dead sexy..). If the top fit (which lets face it, it didn't really) then the bottoms could have been used as a parachute if the plane unexpectedly crashed (safety first!) on the flight down. Sigh..

After hours of working the bikini-beat and after ingesting an entire crop of coffee beans, I settled. Yes, settled for a top I already owned but never loved. It fits enough to cover the danger zones and some mix and match bottoms should suffice. They had the top in six colors- obviously only two came in my size. Neon orange and white, nothing like attracting extra attention to an already attention grabbing area right? Double sigh..

So, here are some tips.

1) Don't beat yourself up, there is always gonna be someone who looks worse than you (ha!)
2) Don't get frustrated...hard but important.
3) If the lighting is terrible- wear your sunglasses and remember that natural light is always the best light.
4) Remember that bathing suits tend to run a little smaller then regualr clothing so sizing up is not a shameful, it is flattering
5) More coverage can add extra fabric that can exagerate problem areas you are trying to hide.
6) Tequila (otional) may help things along
7) ...and finally give yourself lots of time, you don't want to settle if you don't have to.

Life Happens, Shit Happens...

"Life happens, shit happens. And it happens a lot..to a lot of people."- Colleen Hoover

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind at my place. My door fell off. Yes, it literally fell off the hinges and not in the "that's ok some new screws can fix it" kind of way. It fell off in the "need new door, new frame, new moldings and a new landing" kind of way. My work schedule has been hectic and I finally (FINALLY!) finished my new kitchen cabinets and had them installed by a kind neighbor. That is why I have dropped off the face of the earth.

As I am writing this, my house is being filled with dust and I have no side door. I am bundled up in front of an infa-red heater with a hot cup of coffee, listening to measurements and hammers and saws. Old houses can be tricky. One can be opening a can of worms when you do any work and that is exactly what is happening right now at this very moment. Sigh...Shit happens!

Happy last day in frigid February! Below are some of my favorite things. Please note; there are no pictures of broken doors...they are not my favorite at all!
-m

Curious Pearle...watching the new oil tank go in.

Best cookie cutters ever?

Hank the Snowman...lived in my front yard till it rained. Please note his buttons are wine caps, we like to keep things classy!

Caledonia house coffee roasters...

A Charlottetown farmers market fav! I love waking up with my Two Mexicans every morning!

A new print picked up on a lazy Sunday in Lunenburg!

Weeds Are Flowers Too...

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them."- A.A. Milne

It is official. Tulip season is here! Oh-mah-gaahhd. I know what you are thinking...enough with tulips already, but what is not to love. Fresh and cheery, they are a sure fire sign that spring is close. They are basically free ($7.50 is close to free is the flower world) and you can pick them up at the grocery store. If you take care of them, they will last for up to two weeks! Tulips also have an interesting history, they were the cause of one of the very first economic bubbles (as in increase and fall) way, way back in the 1600's. At one point a single tulip bulb cost ten times a skilled craftsman's annual wages. They became a status symbol world wide but mainly in Europe as people has never seen such saturated and bright colors  before. They remain an important symbol in the Netherlands and (obviously) are still enjoyed world wide! Did I bore you with my history lesson?

Here are some tulip tips...
1) Trim them! They will last longer if they can make better use of the water you put 'em in.
2) Leave them in the sleeve for an hour in your vase. This will help them stand up tall and get accustomed to their new surroundings.
3) Remember that one cent currency we are attempting to eradicate here in Canada? Well a couple of pennies in the bottom of the vase will prevent your tulips from opening up all the way and having the pretty petals fall of prematurely. 

Follow those tips and your tulips will be the most lovely company to enjoy with your morning coffee! Happy one month and two days till spring!

Dining room beauties!

Beauties from Laura!

...and just because I love the little plant stick I made at pottery class, I thought I would share it with you!