A Summer Birthday Party For A Special Lady....

So a few days after I arrived home in Nova Scotia, I had a special birthday party to attend to.

My sweet Auntie Z. was celebrating her 65th birthday and her family had organized a party for her at the local community center. The party was a fully catered meal for about 70 guests, and my job was to lend my hand to the decorating.

Because I had only arrived in the province 4 days before, my plan was to keep the decorations simple....white tablecloths, a cheery, happy yellow accent colour & fresh flowers.
I shopped for white tablecloths & the yellow napkins for a total of $30.

On the morning of the party, I went to the local grocery store & purchased $70 in fresh flowers to make

11 flower arrangements....9 for the guest tables, with 1 for the guest book table and 1 for the drinks table.

It took 2 hours to design the 11 arrangements and I think it added just the right amount of pretty to an otherwise boring community hall.

 I borrowed 11 mismatched clear vases from my mother, added some smooth rocks for weight and interest, and each arrangement had a single stem of a bright yellow gerbera daisy with surrounding flowers of white, green and lavendar.

Here's how it all looked:

Simple & pretty, right?

And on budget at $100.

Here is the birthday girl.

She has been the most wonderful aunt to me over the years. I was so happy to do this for her!

Here is the birthday girl's eldest son with his lovely wife and adorable son.

Here is the birthday girl's youngest son and my son.

And the birthday girl's husband {my uncle}and my son.

 I was so thrilled that I was able to be home for such a special party!

We have just finished our 2nd week in Nova Scotia and I haven't been in blogland much these days.

I really want to make the most of every minute here in my home province visiting and spending time with family & friends....building memories to take away with me back to Edmonton to comfort me all year long.

So please forgive me as I haven't visited much lately.

I promise when I get back to Edmonton, I will catch up with everyone!

xo

This post is linked to these great parties:




Sundae Scoop @ I {heart} Naptime

















Tips & Tuturials Tuesday at Stories of A to Z

Our Seaside Vacation in Nova Scotia: Week 1

So last week the children & I boarded a plane and left for a month long vacation in my home province of Nova Scotia.We have been here a week already and it still feels like we got here yesterday!

Here is a peek through the first week of our vacation.

I just cannot get enough of my Mom's cooking! Here are her homemade seafood crepes & salad:

 We celebrated Canada Day on July 1st:

 We met up with some dear friends at a local Farmers' Market:

 Visited my 78 year old Grandmother at her apartment. We haven't seen her in 2 years:

 Celebrated my Aunt's 65th Birthday with a special party with 70 guests & strawberry shortcake: 

My brother took Tyler for an afternoon of dirt biking with my niece & nephew:

And visit with my Aunt & Uncle who are visiting from Alberta too! Ha! We live over 6 hours apart in Alberta!

And these are just but a few of things we did!

We sure are loving having no schedule!

We just wake up and see what the day brings!

I really want to say a special thank you to all my blog readers. I am so very grateful to all of you and thank you so much for blessing me with you time & attention!

A Vacation Memories Keepsake...

For the first time ever this year, our little family went on a warm winter vacation to somewhere semi-tropical...Florida.

We have always been too busy with our winter sports seasons to book ourselves this kind of vacation, or we just didn't have the extra in our budget.

But with the realization that our daughter will soon be off to University in 3 short years, we decided this year would be the year.

We had an amazing vacation....lots of wonderful, slow down-time on the beach.

No schedules. No early mornings. No practices. No homework.

It was peaceful & rejuvenating.

When I got home, I really wanted to make a tangible reminder of this vacation for us to remember.

I found a shadow box at Winners and I printed some black & white photos doing the thing we enjoyed the most...hanging at the beach.

We loved Cocoa Beach.

I really love how this simple project came together.

It is a snapshot in time....of the 4 of us together.

Happy. Relaxed.

A memory to place on our wall!

This post is linked to these great parties:







Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff

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Tips & Tutorials Tuesday at Stories of A to Z

The Perfect Picnic Sandwich {Oh Yes It Is!}

This is one of our all time favourite recipes ever.
Our all-time yummy-always-a-hit picnic sandwich.

I love it because not only is it a fabulous sandwich, but it is the ultimate in 'make ahead'  food.

It tastes better the day after it's made....after the flavours have had time to mingle.

It makes 8 sandwich wedges and each piece is very filling and satisfying.

This sandwich requires a filling, some meat & cheeses and a round loaf.

Step 1: The Filling.

5 seeded & chopped plum tomatoes

1 cup chopped red, orange or yellow peppers

1/4 cup chopped pitted black olives (I use kalamata olives)

1/4 cup chopped red onion ( I increase this to 1/2 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil. Do not skip this ingredient!

2 tsp. balsamic or red wine vinegar

drizzle of olive oil

Mix all of these things together.The tomato mixture is similar to a brushchetta topping. You can adapt the filling to your own tastes by adding grilled vegetables with hummus or pesto.

The filling will look like this:

Step 2: Scoop Out the Round Loaf

Scoop out the loaf so that you have about 1 inch of bread all around. Keep the 'hat' of the loaf for the finished sandwich.
Brush the inside of the loaf with olive oil.

This step prevents the bread from going soggy.

Step 3: Fill the Round Loaf

Now spoon half of the filling into the bottom of the bread and press down with spoon.

Then layer in half of the sliced meats.

You can use different salami, ham, turkey or even eggplant if you want to keep it vegetarian.

In this sandwich, I used sliced turkey & ham.

Then layer in cheese slices. I used havarti slices. Again, any favourite cheese can be used.

After the cheese layer, layer the remaining meat and spoon in the other half of the filling.
Place the 'hat' back on the loaf. Press firmly. You are done!

Step 4:Wrap the Sandwich for The Picnic

Wrap sandwich tightly in saran wrap.

Then I also wrap in tin foil.

Place sandwich in large bowl with some soup cans on top for weight to help "press" the sandwich.

(This step can be skipped, especially if you don't have room in your fridge for the big bowl).

Place sandwich in fridge overnight.

I usually slice my sandwich in the morning with an electric knife into 8 wedges.

Then I re-wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and tin foil and place in the cooler until lunch time.

This sandwich doesn't take long to make. Once you chop up the ingredients for the filling, the rest only takes a few minutes. My 13 yr. old daughter has actually made this sandwich.

There you have it.....a super scrumptious sandwich for a picnic!

If you liked this recipe, here are some other amazing camping recipes:

Potato Boat Dinners

Warm Cheesey Dip

Lumberjack Breakfast

Super Easy Upside Down Pineapple Cake

Tortilla Dessert

Marinated Steak

Great For Travelling Bean Salad

10 Best Camping Tips & Recipes

11 Best Camping Tips & Recipes

The Best Pasta Salad

 

This post is linked to:
Cooking With Ruthie, 

10 Great Camping Recipes & Tips To Get You Through Camping Season...

With camping season upon us, I thought I would share 10 recipes & tips to help make your camping excursions easier.

We love camping! It is one of the rights of passage of summer for us! 

We are campers in the true sense of the word.... we sleep in sleeping bags in a tent under the stars {or rain} to the sounds of nature's music.

Our camping kitchen is outside...it consists of a picnic table, a campfire, a table top barbeque & portable kitchen set-up with a sink and the our cooler of food.

I find one of the things that make our camping trips go just peachy keen is if I have the a food plan ready to go.

So here are some tips to help make your camping season as super fun as the toy department at Christmas!

1. Plan The Meals. Write out all the of the meals you are going to need for your camping trip and write a menu plan for it...however simple or elaborate you want it to be. Add in snacks that your family will be looking for and use this information to create your packing/grocery list. Don't forget to include the condiments you will need like bbq sauce, ketchup, etc.

2. Wash & Prep Healthy Snacks Ahead of Time. I always find it easier to have snacks such as fruit & vegetables washed & cut up before I leave home. I pack everything in ziploc bags or containers and into the cooler it goes. This way when the kids are looking for a snack...I can do my mom duty and say "Eat some fruit! Have some vegetables!".

3. Containerize Condiments.  Save yourself time & money by packing small containers of condiments made up from the bigger sizes you already have in your fridge. This saves you from having to buy small sizes of condiments...saving you money. The smaller sized containers from home also fit into a cooler better. I like these little Tupperware containers.

4. Label, Label, Label Your Food Ingredients. This makes it much easier when rooting around the cooler looking for certain things! I like these containers from Ikea...they are so sturdy!

5. Have Side Dishes Ready to Go. I like having our little sides ready to go on the barbeque. These are mushrooms & onions washed & sliced  for our steak night.

6. Have Lunch Ready For  Set-Up Day.  I like having this SPECIAL PICNIC SANDWICH ready for us on the first day of camping when we are busy setting up tents, inflating mattresses, making beds and setting up. It's busy for the first few hours and it is so nice to not have to stop and make lunch.  I make the sandwich the day before we leave for our trip and wrap it in plastic wrap, then tin foil and tuck it into the cooler. You just need to add drinks, veggies & fruit and presto....lunch is ready! You can find the recipe for this PICNIC SANDWICH HERE.

7. Recipe Share: Chicks on Sticks. This is one of my favourite recipes for camping....chicken kabobs. I cut & marinate the chicken at home, freeze it and place it in the cooler for a meal. On the day we are eating this, I take it out of the cooler to thaw for a few hours. We just need to thread the chicken on skewers with veggies and bbq. You can find the recipe for 'Chicks on Sticks' here.

8. Marinade & Freeze Your Meats.  If you like to switch it up from the ususal hot dogs, hamburgers and beans....... simple marinade recipes for meat... prepared at home, tossed in the freezer and taken on your trip for meal are just the ticket. Just take the meat out of the cooler to thaw on the morning of the day you plan to serve it.

For  a recipe for delicous steak marinade, click here.

9. Pack A Salad That Is A Travel Trooper. It's always handy to have a make -ahead salad ready to eat with hamburgers, hotdogs, steak or chicken. One salad that travels really well is this bean salad which  is full of healthy ingredients and tastes better as it ages.It doesn't get soggy like a lettuce salad would. For this bean salad recipe, click here.

10. Try Camp Cookers For Quick Meals & Desserts. Last summer we purchased some camp cookers from Canadian Tire and we had a blast using them at night time for snacks & desserts. They are perfect for grilled cheese, pocket pizzas or toasted s'more sandwiches.Just simply butter 2 slices of bread, add whatever you like inside and toast in the camp cooker over a fire.We tried: pizza sauce with ham, pineapple & cheese.Desserts combinations are endless. My daughter's fav was blueberry jam with cream cheese, but we also made nutella with banana slices and lots of other gooey stuff.

It usually takes me a few hours to prep and prepare all the food for our camping trip, but once we arrive at the camp site, all my efforts are so worth it....as I have more time to sit & relax without feeling like I'm

'in the kitchen' all the time!

What tips do you have to make your camping trips easier?

And don't forget to see how I organize my camping kitchen!

If you liked this post, be sure to check out these other popular CAMPING POSTS of mine:
11 Best Camping Ideas
Potato Boat Dinners in Tin Foil
Warm & Melty Cheese Dip in Tin Foil
Lumberjack Breakfast in Tin Foil
Tortilla Dessert in Tin Foil
Easy Upside Down Pineapple Cake in Tin Foil
Awesome Vegetable Salad That Travels Well For Camping

You might also love these boards on Pinterest:
Camping Recipes & Food To Love
Vintage Campers To Love
Cottages To Love
Summer Ideas To Love