East of Enid Avenue...

Let's Do 52...

I so enjoy reading blogs.  Cooking blogs, writing blogs, photography blogs, random all-over-the-place with no real point blogs (like mine).  I just enjoy other people's perspectives on life, love, food, fellowship, travel, fashion, decor, politics, faith, thrifting, etc.  Blogs are a great way to gain different points of view on things.  So this is why I creep on them often.  I'm currently perusing the blog world at two o'clock in the morning after dealing with what I believe to be a nasty bout of acid reflux.  Nasty business, wouldn't wish it on anyone.  In any event, I've been following a friend's blog rather consistently (Joni is also a relative but more so a friend, and since she got that side of the family's gorgeous head of hair, I'm a wee bit jealous of her beyond her fantastic photos, and by wee I mean amply but bygones, right!!!).  She's a budding (read superstar) photographer and upon viewing her work here, you'd never know she's only been seriously pursuing photography since early 2010.  By even glancing at her work, you would think she's been doing it for her whole 29 years.  She's a natural and very inspiring to follow.  And so I do, follow to the point of stalking.  I'm a bit extreme and I admit it.  Recently, and via her blog, she's introduced me to the idea of a photo challenge that takes you through the cycle of a year via 52 weeks - a photo project per week.  Basically, you are given a concept/project challenge every week and each week you need to take the time to think on the project and come up with a photo for it.  I very much enjoy photography but it is not always something I make time for, even though I should because I believe you should make time for the things you love.  This challenge is basically forcing me, in an exceedingly positive and creative way, to get out there and show myself how I respond to notions, ideas, challenges and even simply how I view my world around me.  This is only the second week I've participated (I missed the first two weeks because I'm a bit of a lazy sod) and I'm already finding it to be very helpful in stirring the creative juices! It is indeed challenging but I'm also hoping, at the end of it, I'll have found it very rewarding and more so that I'll have learned as much as I can through the help of others.  It is very inspiring to see the pictures in the group as they go up and watch the different perspectives and takes on the weekly themes.  Indeed, I am very happy to be watching all of the creative brilliance as it is added to the group.  I hope to learn as I go and, in the end, I hope it gives me a better perspective on how I view my world.  Thanks to Joni for the inspiration and motivation! If you'd like to follow along or are interested in joining the group, you can go here to read up on the Let's Do 52 challenge.  If you do end up joining, please let me know - I'd love to follow your work!

Here are my week three and week four photos:

 

Week Three:  Negative Space (the space around your photo outside of a subject) 

You likely recognize this from my previous post, but I liked it for the idea of negative space as well.

 

Week 4: Unexpected Perspective

 

Upon reading the morning paper in our study, this was the perspective over my shoulder when attempting to check the clock on the shelf for time.  

Tasty Homemade Granola...

I've been a yogurt fan as far back as I can remember, although not as big as my brother...let's just say it's a good thing for my parents that yogurt was relatively cheap...wow.  I do, however, admit to being fairly particular about the taste, texture and flavour of yogurt now more so than when I was younger and I think it was when I was living in Montreal that this happened.  Upon moving to the grand old city, I was quickly made aware of the variety of product that made its way to Montreal's grocery shopping stores, products, and in particular brands, that I had just never known existed.  The IGA down the street from my little apartment housed a plethora of products and brand names that I had just never been introduced to before.  One such product being Liberte yogurt.  Sigh.  Sweetly sighing, that is.  I dare say I've been hooked ever since.  Current lover and biggest fan of the Lemon Mediterranean.  So good.  It was in Montreal as well, at a little bistro on St. Laurent, that I was introduced to granola on yogurt.  I'd never had it before (I know, what the???) but nonetheless was as instantly and equally hooked on this idea as I was about Liberte yogurt.  Brilliant!  There was a brand of granola that I purchased while living in Montreal that was really very good and made in Quebec City but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called.  Geesh.  Must be the ADD.  Oh well.  That's not the point of this post.  Moving on.  Coincidentally, the previous few sentences, just as they seem written, were all thought out in monotones.  A-N-Y-W-A-Y.  Over the recent holiday season, my sister-in-law was home and made homemade granola for us all to try.  Delish!!!  I have to say that her granola recipe and flavour was far and away better than anything I'd ever tried in the past.  It was so good that I can't quite figure out why I hadn't ever tried making my own granola before this.  C'est la vie, but I've since decided that needed to change.  So this past week, I attempted making some myself, since we scarfed down what she had made us at around the first week of January.  I found a recipe online (and a new foodie site that I LOVE) at Kiss my Spatula and went to work.  Sadly, I was so excited to start the granola, I completely forgot to get pictures while making it.  It's easy as a wink though and was very enjoyable to make.  I even followed the advice of G from Kiss My Spatula and paired its creation with Chiquitita by Abba.  Very enjoyable! This granola has such a great flavour and is chalk full of wonderful ingredients!  I'm not a flax lover by any stretch of the imagination but I don't mind it at all in this delicious combination. One thing I did add to my recipe was pumpkin seed kernels because my sister-in-law had put them in hers and I really liked the flavour with them mixed in.  I also ground the flax seed with my mortar and pestle because I've heard that's a good thing to do.  Everything is about this granola is exceedingly tasty and creating it is a great and easy way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I might also add it would make a great birthday gift! Provided your friend isn't allergic to nuts and the like...then that could be bad...epipen bad.  In any event - create and enjoy unless you're allergic to nuts, then remove!

Thank you to Kiss My Spatula for being awesome and providing such a great recipe(s).  I look forward to being an avid blog stalker follower.

Voila! 

 

So very tasty! Give it a whirl! And if you haven't tried Liberte, you're missing out! 

 

 

Newest Hobby...

It is already beyond the mid January point and the old adage is the same as ever...time flies.  Since New Years and actually, maybe even a bit before, I've been devoting bits and pieces of my crafting time to a new hobby.  Earrings.  Sweetly feminine button earrings to be exact.  It all sort of got started when I couldn't find a pair of earrings for a Christmas party outfit that I had put together.  Ah the Christmas party outfit conundrum.  Always fun, always maddening.  In any event, I had happened into the local fabric store here in Edmonton looking for quilting pieces and wouldn't you know it, I was passing by the button section and saw the sweetest looking vintage-style buttons that would be pretty much simple feminine perfection for the outfit and take the maddening out of my desire to bring the outfit to completion.  I had recalled a friend of mine saying some months prior that she was enjoying crafting jewelry out of buttons, so I figured it could be done!  Plus, these really seemed the perfect kind of vintage icing I was looking for.  You might think I'm completely bonkers for going so far as to make my own earrings for an outfit and that it seems quite trite...which is most likely true (the bonkers bit being completely true)...but I love fashion and the individual's concept of style and so I guess if I needed to justify it, I'd justify it thattaway!  Also, if I can envision something in my head, more often than not, I have to bring it into a similar reality, if at all possible.  Anyhoo, this post is going nowhere fast.  In getting back on track, I grabbed a few of those sweetly vintage buttons because at that point I wasn't sure how I was going to fashion the earrings and thought I should have some re-do's if necessary...which proved necessary.  In any event, these sweet little vintage style button earrings quickly became my favourite part of my entire party outfit and it was at that point I decided I would continue to do it as a side hobby, just for the halibut (ha ha...I love writing that).  I have a love of sweet, simple and feminine things, and if they have a touch of vintage in one form or another, so much the better.  When looking through pictures of my grandmother and her female cousins and friends when they were younger, it would actually appear that "button style" stud earrings were common and seemingly went with anything and everything.  Dressed up or dressed down, they worked beautifully! And since this is an era in fashion that I truly love (the 40's and 50's),  I put that notion to the test after crafting a few different styles and I have to say, it's true that these tiny little pieces can add a little bit of something to any kind of outfit, dressy or no.  I also am a firm believer that the simple things in life are, often times, the sweetest.  It could be that adding simple little piece of colorful femininity with a feel of vintage to your earlobe can produce a sweet significance that might not be accomplished otherwise, even with the sparkliest pair of diamonds (although I am admittedly and always will be a pearl girl).  In any event, my latest hobby is one I'm very much enjoying.  I'll be throwing these up on Esty because I love Etsy and it is at least a little corner of the world to attempt to sell homemade wares and things you create that you love with the possibility that other people might love them too.  I've labeled this particular hobby "L'il Beauts" mainly because I think they're pretty dern cute little things! I've enjoyed pairing them with vintage turtlenecks and jeans and with my favourite navy 50's style "kitchen" dress and even my lumberjack plaid tunic with leggings and tall boots.  I can honestly say they've worn so sweetly with any outfit I've paired them with!  Truly, not even kidding!  And it could be that I'll be the only one to ever love these little button earrings, but that's quite alright, because isn't that the point, to love and enjoy whatever it is your laying your hands to? I think so, and I can say, most assuredly, that I've so enjoyed crafting these and that is such a grand feeling.  The pictures I'm posting are not the ones that I hope to put up on Etsy.  I'll have to wait until my bestest friendmember visits next and have her help me with the staging for the Etsy pictures.  Until then, these are just a few pictures to give you all an idea of what my allotted hobby time has been going to! Thanks for reading! 

 

 Crafty goodness and hours of fun listening to 40's jazz and glueing bits and pieces. 

 

Happy 2012...

It's 2012! And if the Mayans calendar can be trusted...we're in trouble.  However, it could seriously just be that the calendar maker ran out of room and there it ended.  Either way, let's make the most of 2012!  The whole of December passed exceedingly quickly and I am at a loss as to what even happened for most of the month.  Christmas was in there somewhere, I'm certain of it.  I know this because my tree is still currently up with all its sweet decorations still hanging from its plasticized limbs and all of our lovely gifts from family and friends still sitting neath its lights.  I also am very aware it happened as I had such wonderful times with family and friends.  I feel very blessed.

Last year, well, for reasons that shall sit in my heart and are thankfully resolved, is not wished back again.  I am looking forward to 2012 with arms and eyes and heart wide open.  I began the New Year with family, friends and feasting and I hope to do much of that this upcoming year.  I read a very fine book on the first day of the New Year and it is one my most earnest wishes to continue to read as many fine books as possible throughout 2012, leaving room, of course, for any shite ones that may come my way.  For sometimes, it is the poo-pooer books that make the reading journey all the better.  I've decided that port, at ten years or older because that's the way uh huh uh huh I like it, will be my drink of choice for the year.  I've made up my mind that good (in every sense of the word) food can be achieved easily and often and I wish to achieve it thus on a very consistent basis.  With this new found resolution, I hope to throw a lot of dinner parties as the presence of friends and family on a consistent basis is good for the soul.

I am newly very aware that this blog was created for my enjoyment (and I hope yours too) and therefore, I have most decidedly acknowledged to myself that I will not become a slave to it.   There's no point.  It's for enjoyment!  So it is my wish to update often with things that I dearly love and enjoy and wish to share.  Cooking, photography, music, crafting, getting lost in nature, day trips, thrifting, family and friends, all things Etsy (because I lurve Etsy) and, of course, the general splendor of life.  Life is so grand.  It's agave sweet!  But I won't put a time line on it all.  So updates may come daily, weekly and, most assuredly, at will! 

I wish each and every one of you a beautiful, healthy and amazingly incredible fullness in life in the upcoming year and always.  

See you soon (bloggerly speaking) !!!  

 

A belated Merry Christmas to all and to all, a wonderful and blessed 2012!!!

 

Just To Share...

I know it's been a smidgen since my last post but really...I have nothing to say for myself.  It's December...it's bonkers.  In any event, I definitely want to take this time to share some blogs that I have happened upon recently and am currently blog stalking loving immensely.   The first one being a food blog called Smitten Kitchen.  I LOVE this food blog and it has to be said that it is ridiculous kinds of awesome.  Check it out and for sure try her apple pie cookies!!! Yipes good! Another excellent landing spot was Centsational Girl.  I love that her projects are about creating and recreating beautiful things on a budget and in style! Love it - be sure to give it a look!

There.  There is my latest post.  And while short and sweet, I think you'll find some of its contents most excellent. 

Bien et merci!

A Latte For Autonomy...

Isn't it strange that something as simple as a small cup of brilliant liquid mixtures can make one feel so much their own person.  I write that not as a question but as a statement.  Isn't it strange.  It boggles the mind how something such as a little bit of espresso brew paired with a bit of milk and then paired once more with a steam bath, the likes of which no waif model has ever experienced to whittle away at her already spindly waist, and then added to a cup, whether ceramic or enviro-friendly cardboard, can make one feel so empowered.  Incredibly apt even.  Basically, it goes like this:  I walk into a cafe, more often than not feeling a bit of a whirling dervish, and make my way to the counter where I order my most favourite menu item - a latte.  I feel a rush of something within even just placing my order.  The latte magic is brewing.  I then have a bit of a sit at a little table somewhere in the cafe, the location of which I have most likely not thought through at all.  I take my seat and place my latte on some close but very visible area of my little table.  I settle into my meagre area of the cafe, still very obviously not having a clue or surety about life, love or the lack-luster locks I've allowed out my front door but most assuredly thinking my little mug of piping hot deliciousness looks damn good sitting ever so slightly to the left of me.  And then, wouldn't you know it, in that brief but fantastic amount of time as I take my tall and sturdy ceramic mug/slash/enviro friendly cardboard cup in hand, complete with frothy goodness, that I feel, quite literally, like I can do anything.  ANYTHING.  It's almost as if my little cup of latte gives me actual magical powers (also could read makes me feel completely autonomous).  I gaze around the room for others who have realized that they now attain the same powers via hot beverage in hand.  Looking back at me, I can tell through the confidence of their quick gaze and then the obvious avoid that they feel it too and it's almost too much.  You have to look away, of course, you cannot cross the hot beverage magical power streams, it's too dangerous.  Alive with confidence, surrounded by other beings now made magically powerful through the portal of the chosen hot beverage chalice, you almost wish Einstein and Freud were sitting in front of you so that you could get their opinion on the matter, knowing that with this self affirming, most enabling genius juice sitting so effectively in the cup in your hands, you could laugh off whatever they might have to offer and keep it keenly in mind for your next dinner party's bit of entertainment (insert a gaudy pompous laugh here, hand gingerly feathering away at the chest).  It's a powerful brew, my friends, especially when it's sitting in a mug firmly held in your hands in a room full of people who may also be bidding for a bit of self-sufficiency through hot beverage in quaint cafe setting.  I think some of you might just know what I'm talking about..hand to mouth mug magic.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's quite alright.  For the most part, I'm fairly consistently bonkers anyway and usually completely off my jump.

What I've decided is this: lattes, and other hot beverages of the like, held firmly in hand, are, in fact, autonomy in a cup.  

Or perhaps it is just the fact that I can drink it now without shaking all the live long day from the caffeine thus making me feel like a proper adult.  That could be it too.  Feeling like an adult because I can now purchase and drink a caffeinated beverage whenever I want and that gives me confidence.  However, it seems too easy and is far less exciting then gaining actual magical powers through my hot beverage cup.

 

 

Long live the latte!!! 

Rest assured, I understand that there are likely to be several more productive ways of gaining autonomy.  I've tried a few of them, and while I'm sure they work in their own way and are most likely to produce clarity on the notion of self-security, I also think that hot beverage autonomy will prove a more funner* way and will be less costly.

*i think funner should be a legit word in the Merriam Webster...

P.S. I would like to put forward The Duchess Bake Shop & Cafe, Sugarbowl, Transcend Garneau Cafe and Credo Coffee as superb spots in Edmonton to potentially gain some hot beverage autonomy.

Birthday Chimes...

I was able to away to the Antique Mall here in Edmonton yesterday with two of my favourite people, Val and Chad.  The Antique Mall and I have a unique love affair in that it opens its doors to all and everyone and I wish it and all its beautifully aged belongings to be mine and mine alone.  Yes, possibly this seems a bit possessive of the Antique Mall, but it's how I feel and I may as well state it plainly.  I could stay for hours perusing the aisles and enjoying the well-stocked shelves.  They are each filled with such deliciously lovely items, old and vintage and are teaming with unheard and unseen stories and nostalgia. Sweetly sighing am I.  Love.  

Yesterday, as it happens, I quite literally stumbled upon (honestly, tripped over an old rug and into the shelf that housed it) a darling little book called the Whittier Birthday Book, filled with what are excellently noted as Birthday Chimes, compiled by John Greenleaf Whittier.  One chime for each day of the year is written on the side of each verso page and on the recto page is a place to write in birthdays.  Because everyone has a birthday at some point, right?  Or even better, every one is certain to have an unbirthday!  In any event of birthdays or unbirthdays, it is a fantastic addition to my collection of old books and I cannot, as yet, put it down.  It was a five dollar purchase that I don't think I'd part with for the world now.  Mainly for the handwriting from someone nearly a hundred years ago that I have never met, nor likely am to meet unless in another lifetime.  A gentleman by the name of Bill Montgomery from the Highlands, as is stated in hand-written well-worn black ink on the first page, would appear to have been the original owner of this little book.  He used it rather lovingly, I suspect, for all the names and dates he placed in it pertaining to people's birthdays.  I am now privy to the fact that a Mrs. Doreen Montgomery was born on February 10th, 1915 as is dotingly penned in this little book.  Perhaps she was his wife and truest companion? His sister and best friend, maybe.  Who knows, but she did, in fact, mean enough to him for him to remember her birthday in his little red Whittier birthday book.  And I love that.  This little book is circa 1896 and was published in Edinburgh and is in fine condition for both reading and thinking on.  I'm quite happy that I came across it and even more so that I impulsively purchased it.  Impulsively would seem my middle name with respects to vintage purchases from delightfully stocked antique malls.  It is what it is, as my dear sweet grandmother would say, and I will not make apologies for it...not even to my poor, decrepit and lonely for funds bank account.

After I purchased it, I read aloud to both Val and Chad what their birthday chimes were, via 1896, of course. Then I read my own and I quite loved it, actually.  It's a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson and it suits to a tee a little something that I need to learn for myself.  

Self-trust is the first secret of success, the belief that if you are here, the authorities of the universe put you here, and for cause, or with some task strictly appointed you in your constitution, and so long as you work at that you are well and successful. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love.  

Ps. If you'd be interested in knowing what your birthday chime is, leave a comment with your birthday and I will happily oblige you with your chime.

Creative Play...

Today was an exceptionally busy day.  Zoikes busy.  Nurtz.  Anyway, moving on from the craziness of the day, it's not what's important...thank goodness.  A day such as this had to be finished off with a bit of creativity.  I had taken some pictures on the weekend of our fine fall surroundings and tonight, after finishing up with my nerds work day,  I had a play date with photoshop.  A textures and overlays play date to be exact.  I understand that a photo in its most natural and unedited form is always most desired and, of course, is in its truest form of art (or so I've been told although I also tend to think photo-editing can be a bit of an art as well).  But it is certainly without any reservation whatsoever that I happily admit to a filthy, passionate and unabashed love affair with the likes of Photoshop and Lightroom.  Yerp.  It's true. And I'm not even a bit ashamed. 

 

Here are a few pictures from my photo-editing fun times...

 

 

Antipasto...

The first time I ever had antipasto in my life was when I was living in Montreal.  I had been studying in my little apartment for literally hours waiting for my brother and best friend to arrive from New Brunswick.  It was a cooler day, so I'm certain it was in the fall, but can't completely remember.  I was so hungry I was ready to eat my pencil and since my family was going to be another few hours getting to Montreal, and since I really didn't delight in the idea of pencil eating, I decided I would go out for dinner and treat myself, because quite frankly I enjoy that.  I happened upon this lovely Italian restaurant a few blocks up and a few more blocks over.  I can't recall the name but I do recall the food was amazing.  The antipasto platter to be exact.  Olives, cheeses, meats, flat breads, grapes and a genius flavoured dip smack dab in the middle of the plate.  It was delicious! I had never had it before but was now beyond certain I would have it again!  Everyday!  Ok, not everyday...but as often as I could!  I so enjoyed that experience that I have never really forgotten it.  Except of course for the name of the restaurant, which I tried to find on the google, but couldn't so it is possible I dreamt it...or that it no longer is in operation.  With the global economy the way it has been, that would be a viable possibility.  Fast forward six years later, and you'll find me in my kitchen, with my mum, my mother in law and my dear friend Val creating our very own antipasto goodness.  It was splendid fun!  We all got together in the morning to go and grab our supplies needed, came back to my place and started to work and within five hours, had fifty-nine bottles of fine-looking processed antipasto.  What's more, this particular recipe for antipasto is one my mother in law has been making for quite some time now, well before my ever discovering it in Montreal.  It really is so very tasty! Very reminiscent of what I had in Montreal but without the authenticity of the Italian restaurant because it's coming from a sweet little Chinese lady - my cutie mom-in-law.  But so so good, authentic Italian or no!  The lovely thing about this antipasto is that it is incredibly easy to make.  The only time-consuming part is all the derned chopping, which is why the many hands will make for light work.  But it must be done by hand! Trust me, a food processor will just ruin it.  As the recipe itself says "chunkiness is the essence of this style of antipasto".  Ha! Excellent! But actually very true.  It's perfect for getting a group of ladies together and having a fine afternoon with red wine and chopping knives.  They may not seem like they go together, but man - do they ever! Throw a bit of music into the mix along with laughs and good stories and you've got yourself one hell of a day!  The finished product of all that drinking, chopping and merriment, of course, is the yummy antipasto.  I'm telling you, it's really so very good with a plate of prosciutto or pepperoni, some sharp cheese - maybe a gouda or a nice aged cheddar, and a plate of flat breads with a side of grapes and, of course, some vino - red or white will do (wink wink).  Really so very good.  Get a group of people together, go and get your ingredients and come back, crack a bottle of red or steep some tea and have a blast! Great and easy way to spend a Saturday with friends.  We each spent about twenty-three dollars on the ingredients needed to end up with twelve 500 ml bottles of wonderful antipasto per person.  Antipasto makes for an easy and very tasty appetizer for Christmas get-togethers and also makes for a really lovely homemade Christmas gifts for friends and family!  You can find the recipe at the end of this post if you click on the "continue reading" bit. It may not appear the most appetizing of delights, but frick - it is! Also - your kitchen and home will smell amazing!  Enjoy!

 

Here are a few pictures from our fun day. 

 

 

1: Cutting the green and red pepper and zucchini

2: Shroom chopping commencing

3: My mom-in-law doing her thing

4: Caulifleur choppied up

5: The two Valerie Jean's working away (for real, both of their names are Valerie Jean)

6: Club pack sweet pickles - yum!!!

7: After cooking, the antipasto is placed in the jars

8: Processing happening - the height of excitement/not really

9: The finished product - a bazillion antipasto bottles lined up

10: Val with her bottle of yummy goodness

11: All ready for Christmas

Fleet Foxes...

When I find music I love, I have to share.  Recently, friends of mine introduced me to the excellent band Fleet Foxes and I have been swooning over their intriguingly mellow sounds ever since.  If you enjoy a bit of folk meets indie meets happily melancholic with a bit of I don't even know what, then you'll love Fleet Foxes.  The word zephyr comes to mind and the only reason my head space can come up with for this is that I find their music floats along as a soft and soothing west wind might.  I say west because they hail from Seattle, WA and that math just works...or so the folks of the Migration Period would have me believe.  Fleet Foxes really are a brilliant set of musicians and I hope that you'll give them a listen, if you haven't already.  I'm fantastically behind the times on most things extraordinary, it's a fact, and so it is likely you've heard them be extraordinary truckloads a'fore me.  And these blokes are extraordinary, in accordance with the musical laws that govern my ear drums.  Laws set forward by neither Grits nor Tories but rather by my own made up political party known as Rick Mercer for Prime Minister.  Moving on.  I will tell you from experience that you will find few better suited songs to drive through the Canadian Rockies with as your musical scene setter than those of Fleet Foxes.  I think they're grand.  Genius grand.