Sunday, January 06, 2008

New Carpet

We just had new carpet installed on our stairs, upstairs hall and bedrooms. Of course this meant that everything had to be moved out and the girls took the opportunity to determine what items would not be going back into their rooms. We've gots lots of stuff for next spring's annual garage sale!

Here's the before pics of some rather tired looking carpet.






The stairs during.




And the newly installed carpet.




Its so fresh and clean! We choose extra thick underpad so its very soft and springy to walk on and feels so good! The carpet almost makes the whole house seem new.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Foolproof Chocolate Fudge



I took some of our Christmas baking leftovers to scrapbooking last night and was proud to bring home a nearly empty tin. Noel loved the chocolate fudge and requested the recipe. Its an easy Eagle brand recipe with variations below. I think I tried this recipe once with the low fat condensed milk and it didn't work so be sure to use the original condensed milk.


3 cups (18 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14-ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
Dash salt
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with EAGLE BRAND® and salt. Remove from heat; stir in nuts (optional) and vanilla.
Spread evenly into wax paper lined 8- or 9-inch square pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm.
Turn fudge onto cutting board; peel off paper and cut into squares. Store covered in refrigerator.



Variations:
Creamy Dark Chocolate Fudge: Melt 2 cups miniature marshmallows with chocolate chips and EAGLE BRAND®. Proceed as above.

Milk Chocolate Fudge: Omit 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Add 1 cup milk chocolate chips. Proceed as above.

Rocky Road Fudge: Omit 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, salt, nuts and vanilla. In saucepan, melt chocolate chips with EAGLE BRAND® and 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. In large bowl, combine 2 cups dry-roasted peanuts and 1 (10 1/2-ounce) package miniature marshmallows. Stir in chocolate mixture. Spread in wax paper-lined 13x9-inch pan. Proceed as above. (Makes about 2 3/4 pounds)

School Pictures

I try to find original ways to scrapbook the girls annual school pictures. I've recently been very inspired by Pencil Lines sketches and, using materials I had on hand(except for two pieces of cardstock), I completed these layouts. Oh, and I also used a new product, self adhesive paper ribbon on Brittany's layout that looks(and works) great.






I'm very pleased with how they turned out.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Finished Pages

For the past four Christmas' I have made each of my daughters an album with highlights of the past year. Sometimes they have been 8 by 8 albums and other times 6 by 6 but they are always finished a few days before Christmas. Finally I can share the scrapbooking I was working on for most of December....here's some of my favourite pages.





















I recently read somewhere,on a blog I'm sure, the idea of taking a picture a month and creating an album out of the resulting 12 pictures. I may try that this year and then I won't spend December wondering if I'll get the girls albums done for Christmas!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Snow Much Fun



well except for the shovelling!!


A couple of snow photos I liked.






Brittany making a snow angel.




And snow tubing!

A Snowy First Day to 2008



Well on this snowy morning(perfect for snowman making or maybe tubing), I've been thinking about resolutions. Do I or don't I make any?



I'm reluctant because like many of you have experienced, they end up broken about two weeks into the new year.




But there's nothing like a fresh new year,like freshly fallen snow undisturbed by any footprints, to consider what's important and resolve to make a new start. Really, if you don't take advantage of a unmarred new year to make some resolutions for change, when can you?

So here they are, in print:

Eat more healthfully(and lose weight in the process).

Go to Curves at least two times per week(I've gone twice since Christmas!).

Add journalling and file my scrapbook pages as I go rather than letting them pile up(this means clearing the back log from 2007!).

And that's it, if I keep my resolutions to a manageable three, I'll be able to stick to them right?

Happy New Year Everyone!

happy new year

Monday, December 31, 2007

Wonders of Winter

Last night we decided to take a walk and tour Wonders of Winter, a local light display. With light snow falling it was a refreshing walk made even better by lattes and hot chocolate afterwards!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Christmas Layouts

These are the Christmas layouts I created from kits yesterday. The second had to be adapted to the photos I had to use. I do find kits a great starting point to create from as they do help to get past any creative block and are a way to try out new techniques.

The first uses basic grey papers and I love the added touch of rhinestones. The sanding where I placed the title is a new technique for me, I like it!






The second uses Daisy D's papers and rub ons. And, as any scrapbooker knows, all rub ons are not completed equally. But these rub ons do rub on very easily! I love how they look on the completed pages.



An Ideal Scrapbooking Day

I spent yesterday with some of my best scrapbooking friends at Younique, an awesome scrapbookers retreat. Heather has all the latest tools for us to use and treats us to wonderful gourmet meals(have to keep our strength up for all that scrapbooking!).

We head back on the 20th for another day of scrapbooking, I can't wait!


Saturday, December 29, 2007

New Year's Cards

I spent a lovely day scrapbooking today with some friends(I'll post more details later).

While I was scrapbooking I decided to make a few New Year's cards. I used the cuttlebug to emboss the cardstock and quite like the finished look.



Here's a closer look.




I also have almost completed some Christmas layouts that I'll post as soon as they are done.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

It Wouldn't be Christmas

without the food.

Here's slide show showing some of the foods and goodies we enjoyed on Christmas Day. I didn't get pics of some before we had already dug in.

Annual favourites include the crepes frangipane, pecan pie, along with trays of various goodies. And you can't forget the turkey, stuffing and potatoes.

New this year was a raspberry cocktail made up of champagne(or sparkling wine), raspberry puree, raspberry liquour and a couple of fresh raspberries. They went down very easily!


Christmas Celebrations

Here's a couple of slide shows from our Christmas celebrations.

The first is our Christmas Dinner with Steve's brother's family.



The second is from Christmas Day and the celebrations with my parents and my sister and her family.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Twas The Frosty Day After Christmas



And its time to eat leftovers! And what leftovers we have! Not to mention new clothes to wear, magazines to browse, toys to play with, lotions/perfume to apply and tools to use.

We had great fun celebrating yesterday and I have 200 photos to sort through in order to create a slide show of the highlights! Thanks to my family for travelling to our place to celebrate and for all of our lovely gifts!

Here's a couple of pics. Now to sort through the others!

Milk and cookies left for Santa!




The one time of year we set the table for breakfast on the night before.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Twas The Day Before Christmas


And all the presents are wrapped! With the final Christmas preparations underway! I'm very much looking foward to celebrating tomorrow with my family.

So in case I'm not back to blog later today, have a very Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Soup and Salad


Yes, it was soup and salad for dinner tonight.

The soup I've blogged about before, Potato Cheese Chowder, a filling hearty soup! And a romaine salad with pears, apples, cashews and poppyseed dressing.




My daughter wants the computer so recipes to follow later!

Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons diced onion
1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup cashews
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
1 pear - peeled, cored and sliced

In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard, and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running, add oil in a slow, steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth. Add poppy seeds, and process just a few seconds more to mix.
In a large serving bowl, toss together the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, apple, and pear. Pour dressing over salad just before serving, and toss to coat.

Potato Cheese Chowder

2 medium potatoes
2 1/2 cups water
2 chicken boullion cubes
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
1 T butter
1 cup cheddar cheese grated
chopped parsley
1 cup medium white sauce(1 cup milk, 1/4 cup butter, 1 tsp salt. Melt butter, blend in flour and salt, cook gently until bubbly. Add milk gradually, cook, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and smoooth.)

Boil unpeeled potatoes in water until semi soft. Prepare white sauce, drain potatoes saving 1 1/4 cup water, dissolve chicken cubes in hot potato water. Cool potatoes, peel and dice finely. Saute green onion and pepper in butter, add to white sauce. Add boullion mixture to white sauce, stir constantly for 5 minutes. Then simmer for 5 more minutes over low heat. Add cheese, stit until melted. Stir in potatoes, heat slowly over low heat for 5 more minutes. Serve very hot garnished with parsley.

Naughty or Nice?

You Were Nice This Year

You Were 40% Naughty, 60% Nice

Okay, so you weren't *entirely* nice this year
But Santa doesn't expect a modern girl to be perfect
You were good enough - and you'll be rewarded for it

Brittany's Space

Brittany has created a blog on her MSN space.

Check it out here.

To view you do need to get permission from Brittany.