always be grateful......

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

~Mary Jean Iron

Menu Plan Monday...

I love when fall arrives and the menu can move to warm, spicy soups and fresh fruit cobblers and muffins. It so much easier to get inspired in the kitchen when the weather is cool.

Monday:Dad cooks.

Tuesday:Shepherd's Pie and Salad.

Wednesday: Vegetarian Night: Spicy Corn Chowder & homemade bread.

Thursday: Pork Tenderloin in the slow cooker with veggies.

Friday: Fish Night: Quick Fishermens Stew (Shrimp & Clams) and biscuits.

Pickled Beets project: completed
Baking Projects: 6-8 apple pies..some for the freezer and some to give away. (Mom! STOP laughing! My mom knows that MAKING pies is not my favorite thing...however...eating them...different story! I am trying to break out of my comfort zone. Lis, wanna help me make pies?)

In other news....I got a crown today. I wish I could say that it was the kind that was all sparkly and full of diamonds. It was actually the kind that was white porcelain and goes in your mouth and costs mucho dollars for something smaller than the size of a nickel. Hello laughing gas.

Menu Plan Monday....

Since I have been re-organizing and de-cluttering our home, I have discovered many lovely blogs devoted to this topic. One idea I came across was that of 'Menu Plan Monday'. I used to do weekly planning of meals....but I have fallen off the the wagon lately. So here goes:

Monday: Bad mommy day... hot dogs...I had a quilting class to get to tonight and today was my marketing day....so I only had time to make a quick meal....normally hot dogs are NOT a meal choice.
Tuesday: Beef tips in red wine in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots and green beans.
Wednesday: Homemade chicken & veggie pizza with bread machine wholewheat pizza crust.
Thursday: Vegetarian meal:Homemade macaroni & cheese & salad as per Hunter's request.
Friday: Fish night: Grilled Shrimp with Sweet Chilli Lime Drizzle (new recipe) & couscous.
Saturday: Sweet & Sour pork spare ribs, baked pototoes & salad as per Tyler's request.
Baking: Spicy Brownies, Cranberry Orange Muffins, Bread Machine Maritime Brown Bread ( you cannot buy it in Alberta).
Home preserving project: Pickled Beets. This requires wearing a PURPLE shirt!

missing my hometown...

It is the time of year where I miss my hometown the most...indeed my whole home province. I LOVE the Fall in the Valley. I miss the colors of the leaves, the crisp mornings and the warm afternoons, the smell of apples just picked and the loud snap of biting into a fresh Macintosh apple. I really would give anything to go home during this season....but our budget allows for 1 trip home each year...plus with school in session... a lengthy visit would not be possible in the Fall. How I miss going to Gates' U-Pick for a hayride throught the apple orchard and admiring all the trees heaving with beautiful, fat apples. Picking apples from the trees in my Mom & Dad's yard. The pumpkin display at Hennigar's Farm Market. The smell of apple cider in the air. My Mom's apple pies and applesauce. But you have to be happy where you are...right? So I will carry on....I have been offered apples from a tree in my friend's yard....I am so excited to receive this gift. The greatest part is that I can actually go and pick the apples myself....and maybe just for a few seconds......close my eyes and pretend I am in the Valley.

our junior high girl......

Can't believe our girl is 12! She made her own "flip flop" birthday cake...because...well, it was just such a fun cake to make. She started "Junior High School" this week...so there are lots of changes taking place in our house...a new morning routine, a taking-bus-to-school routine. Then the parents inquisition when she gets home....who'd you eat lunch with?...make any new friends?....any cute boy in yer class? ....(to which I a get a curt "MOM!"). Her father loves to tease her..."so Hunter...what was new in JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL today? Any cool people in your "JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL?" He drives her to the bus stop in the morning and she gets to sit in the FRONT now...because...she is tall enough. Daddy was even teasing her this morning, "Hunter...a boy named Joey called for you this morning." He just gets a GLARE back. He gets away with more teasing than I do...cause only a FATHER can do that.

6 weeks vacation....

waiting forever for...

this movie to be made and released. I loved the series and have it on DVD, but to see it again on the big screen will be amazing. I have plans to go on Friday night, opening night, with a girlfriend. I never to go to opening nights of movies....I am just never excited enough to see it on the busy Friday night.