Food Day Canada

We received a postcard in the mail a couple weeks ago advertising a Food Day Canada in Elora for this long weekend.  Me being the "foodie" I am, I thought this would be a cool way to introduce the kids to new foods. I'm also on a lifestyle change...I try to only buy Canadian food (unless I absolutely can't...such as bananas for my "family of monkeys"!)...well, this festival was about locally grown or raised food. 

Okay, so my "foodie geek" moment...I got Anita Stewart's Canada Cookbook from the library...I was actually reading it on the way to Elora! And she opened the day officially...so I snagged her for a picture...she willingly obliged. 

Anita Stewart, Jocelyn, me & (in front) Trenton

Trenton enjoying fresh-made lemonade (and he LOVED it despite his face! I think I caught him mid-sentence!) 

Miss Jocelyn drinking her yummy lemonade

"Miss Piggy", as she was fondly dubbed by her chefs, lounged on the Pulled Pork slider table!

My delicious lunch! I could eat this every day! I had the tri-colour broccoli salad (purple, orange and green broccoli), cucumber slaw, pulled pork slider compliments of "Miss Piggy" and Jalapeno Bread...it was SPICY but I love it.

The kids enjoying their lunch! (Hot dogs and Hamburger sliders)

  

Mapleton's Dairy was there too so of course we finished off our lunch with some organic ice cream and frozen yogurt (I ended up eating half of Jocelyn's...that's why I rarely order dessert! I know I'm going to have to help her eat hers!) 

Daddy and Jocelyn enjoying the view of Elora Gorge

My beautiful kiddos...being their beautiful selves! I like this one because it's a great view of the Elora Farmer's Market in background (totally set up that way of course!)

*****

I was so inspired last night, I went home to try out one of the recipes in Anita Stewart's cookbook..."June's Pavlova" (page 228). 

It's a very easy recipe but I didn't realize it takes 1 hour and 20 minutes in the oven! Oops! So we had a late dessert!

This is the base of the pavlova: 4 egg whites, some sugar, cornstarch and vinegar...SO simple

And this is the finished product...the raspberries and blueberries were fresh from the farmers' market and the whip cream I whipped up myself...I was going to buy whipped cream but it just wasn't gonna be the same!

I thought it looked pretty good...not quite like the picture though!

The kids were sitting outside enjoying their dessert as the sun set!

Yum! What a great way to end the day!

I think I need to try out some more recipes in her book...the Beef Bourginon looked good! That might be for a cold winter day though! There were some great seasonal recipes that I might have to give a try. 

Me thinks I need to get this book for myself instead of using the library's copy! Off to Amazon I go!

Bon Appetit!

Missing you...

My heart aches for you

I want to be able to take your hand in mine 

and hold it forever.

But that cannot happen anymore

I cannot see your smiling face

I cannot hear your words of wisdom

To the world you are just a memory

To me, you are my Nanny.

The pain you went through I cannot begin to fathom

The burdens you bore on your body 

should be something that no one ever experience.

My life will never be the same without you

The everyday does go on 

But there is still something missing

I pray you are happy and pain-free

I pray you will remember me forever

I pray you will never forget us.

Amanda Newton July 20th, 2011 

Nanny, 

We miss you...we all miss you...Grandpa especially...I know he thinks about you all the time...we usually have a little conversation about you when I'm at his place...every week I get to spend a little time with you while I clean up the guest bedroom...your pictures are there...it doesn't even seem like you're gone...it just seems like you're away for the day...and that you're going to walk in the door any minute...but you don't. 

I can't believe it's been four years already...so much has happened...Trenton is getting so big...I remember when you were laying on the bed with him, and he was sucking on your finger! 

And I have a little girl, Jocelyn...She's got a lot of your spunk so Mom and I ask her if you and she had tea parties together in Heaven! She usually says yes! 

We know you live on in your great grandbabies, each one that comes into this crazy-wonderful family of yours...your spirit will never die even though your earthly body is gone. I had a cup of tea this morning and said a little "cheers" to you! 

Love you Nanny...missing you lots but I know I'll see you again someday...

Challenge at The Stamping Boutique!

It's challenge time at The Stamping Boutique Challenge blog again...and this week it's using cool colours...we're trying to bring some cool weather on these hot sunny days (I'm not complaining! I love the hot weather!).

I decided to use this superb photo of my photogenic big guy and his Buzz...we're big into Toy Story at the moment! So I thought it would be appropriate seeing Buzz has a lot of the cool colours on his space suit!

My layout is completely digital.  It was created with PhotoShop Elements. The digital papers are miscellaneous and the aliens are from a colour page. I edited those bad boys for a fun touch. 

You can see what the Design Team has created on the TSB Challenge Blog!

Release Day @ Sassy Studio Designs

It's release day at Sassy Studio Designs...We are doing a blog hop so you can see what the other design team members have created...you probably came from Kate's blog, our lovely guest designer this month. (If not, jump up to Kathy's blog and start hopping!)

Kathy
Sara
Regan
Rebecca
Julie
Kate (guest designer)
Amanda


I did a digital card this month...PhotoShop Elements is my lifesaver when I run out of adhesive! 


I used this sketch from Pagemaps

Here is another one...I didn't use the sketch for this one...

Love this saying...

We hope you will all join us tonight on the Party Blog (see link on right sidebar)...we will be chatting 7-8pm PST so hopefully you can come hang out with us.

Stay at Home Moms

Stay at Home Moms by Jennifer Johnson 

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.


Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. 


In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.


He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. 


As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. 


He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?' 'Yes,' was his incredulous reply. 


She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.

TSB Blog Hop this weekend!

HAPPY CANADA DAY to my fellow Canadians & HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to all my American friends!

The design team at The Stamping Boutique are celebrating Canada Day and Independance Day by hosting a celebration blog hop! The Design Team has created some INCREDIBLE designs. Hope through each blog, leave a comment and we'll do a random draw for 2 winners...from the DT's blogs...The winners will receive 2 images of their choice.

You can start here --> THE STAMPING BOUTIQUE BLOG 

MIRANDA

JEANNIE

COLLETTE

KECIA

STACIE

RHONDA

MICHELLE

AMANDA

Check out ALL the design team's blogs to see the wonderful celebration creations!


I admit I ran out of time to get my card made for today so I'm posting an old favorite! This moose was actually a request I made of Tracey when I first met her! From here on out, I was HOOKED! I think he's so cute and SO Canadian! Thanks Tracey!

Blog Hop ends July 4th, 11:59 EST and the winner will be announced July 5th.

Winner Announced!

We have winners from the CDS Blog Hop!

Randomly chosen...here they are!

From Kathy's blog, Dunn it Again Designs, our first winner is basslady fromLady Bass Creations.

Our second winner, from Sarah's blog, Aunt Bee's Pickles, is Heather of Wire Wrapture.

Thanks for all your lovely comments! I appreciate the support!

"Sugar and spice and everything nice"

We are having another blog hop at Clear Dollar Stamps...this month's theme is "Sugar and spice and everything nice, That's what little girls are made of"...I wanted to use this beautiful flower garden set that was just released on Wednesday...It comes with three different coloured flowers...I chose to use the purple flowers because I've been in a purple mood lately...Purple is a colour that doesn't get used a lot in the scrapbooking/cardmaking world! But I was channeling my grandmother I guess...her favorite colour was purple (she passed away almost 4 years ago now)...my daughter and I were having a discussion and she said her favorite colour was purple! So I guess it was in my brain to use purple!

Anyways, this is a sad blog hop for me...because this is my last one for now with CDS...I have stepped down from the team...I didn't want to...I had to think long and hard about it...but in the end, life just takes priority over my creating time and I just wasn't working up to my standards and I didn't want my teammates to have to pick up my slack...it just seems like these next couple months are SO busy...and I just won't have as much creative time as I'd like. So, with a saddened heart, I had to email Lori and Laurie and tell them the not-so-nice news...but don't fret! I will be creating MANY more cards and projects with the WONDERFUL images that I've been given during my time at CDS! I was so happy to work with the crew at CDS....they are a creative and friendly and caring bunch of ladies! And might I add VERY talented! 

Okay, so back to the hop...you wanna know about the PRIZES! Two lucky winners will each receive a $10 gift certificate for the CDS store for purchase of clear or digital stamps ONLY.  The winners will be randomly chosen from comments received on two DT member blogs. Winners will be announced on the CDS blog Wednesday, June 22nd. 

Here is your hopping list:

LORI

JAN

JERUSHA

KATHY

AMANDA (YOU ARE HERE!)

LINDA

CASSIE

LISA

STACY

SARAH

BARB

LAURIE

SHELL

CHRISTI

CDS Release Day

 It's release day at Clear Dollar Stamps today! I got the Vegetable Garden B&W version...so I coloured this myself! I love these vegetable images...Laurie did an amazing job on these. There is also the coloured version for those that don't have time/can't colour them...I love the pre-coloured images too. They are SO handy for quick cards!

(Inside)

I also had the Patriotic Charlie set...I used it for my CIC Challenge this month!

There are many more sets released...you should pop over to the CDS Store and check 'em out! See what the rest of the DT has created too!

Thanks for visiting!

Release Day today!

I do admit...I'm not a Twilight fan...honestly, I've never read the books...I've never seen the movies...I know the gist of them...but I've never seen them. I'm not on "Team Jacob" or "Team Edward"...my niece was a big Twilight fan (I'm not sure if she still is)...but Lindsay did an AMAZING job with this release. I think they look pretty accurate!

I'm donating this set for the Ovarian Cancer Canada Gala next Saturday in Barrie. I hope there are still some Twilight fans out there! (Is that phase over?) I'm still waiting for the books to come out on CD. I won't read them otherwise! (I don't have that kinda time! Have you SEEN how thick they are!?)

Check out the Sassy Studio Designs blog for the complete list of the Design Team so you can see their creations. And we'll be chatting on the party blog later on tonight (see details on the SSD Blog).