SUNDAY FAVORITES - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

Chari @ Happy to Design is our host for Sunday Favorites once again. This is number 28. Sunday Favorites lets us show an older post that our new readers may not have seen. Ideally it also gives us the day off other than checking out other blogs for their Sunday Favorites. Join in. 

This was originally posted March 8th, 2009 when it was time to set our clocks forward so I thought it was appropriate to post it now when we are setting our clocks back one hour. 

Whose idea was this? Making me get up an hour earlier. Did it start with Ben Franklin like I have heard or was it William Willett. It didn't go over well back then and still today people grumble. Now my coffee buddy EW is correct that WWII had something to do with it but that was after the previous two clowns got it started in Great Britain.
The energy saving benefits of Summer Time were recognized during World War II. Clocks in Britain were put two hours ahead of GMT during the summer. This became known as Double Summer Time. During the war, clocks remained one hour ahead of GMT throughout the winter.
Chickens apparently do not like this one bit.
Countries around the equator don't have to have it at all because the days and evenings are always about the same length.
Now I have to figure out what time it is back East so I can phone and not wake someone up. Spring forward 1 hour, 3 hours ahead in their time zone but now 4 but I am ahead 1 hour too so that makes it 3 again and never mind. I am going back to bed.

SHOT GLASSES! NO I MEANT GLASS SHOTS

Here are some more photos of my stained glass piece done by my friend Heidi. Do you know how hard it is to get a good picture of stained glass with a light behind it? 

Though some of the grapes look whitish they are  not. They are all purple but some are more opaque than others so we get the different depths of color. 

The leaves vary in color from the greenish ones on closest to the trunk of the vine changing to autumnal shades of orange and red as you go along the length of the vine. 

Heidi even laid out the background pieces that look like they are covered in raindrops so that the drops all run down in the same direction where possible. Attention to detail. 

I have this hanging behind my couch in an opening to my entryway staircase. There really wasn't much room left over at the top and bottom. I guess I got lucky because I didn't measure it first. 

 

FOODIE FRIDAY - A CHOCOLATE DREAM

Michael @ Designs by Gollum is our host for Foodie Friday. Would you like to join in? Everyone is welcome. 

A while back I struck a deal with Lola @ Aglio, Olio & Pepperoncino to swap some of our delicious B.C. smoked salmon for some specialty chocolate from Modica, Italy. It is from the Donna Elvira dolceria.  Just in time for trick or treating my chocolate came. OH MY WORD. 

We all know how woman feel about chocolate. It is said that we prefer it to sex. It gets our endorphins going or something like that. I have enough here to keep me going for a long time. 

The first is called Cioccolata Artigianale translated to Artisanal. 

 Limone of course is lemon. (oops didn't get the picture of this one)

Vaniglia is vanilla.

Cannella is cinnamon.

Pepperoncino is chile pepper. For those of you who have seen the movie Chocolat with Johnny Depp you know how fabulous chocolate is with chile added to it. 

And last but not least is the Pistacchio di Bronte or Pistachio. This is the first one I tasted. 

They are made with organic cacao from Ecuador, Peru and the Dominican. Unlike other chocolate I have had this one has an unusual texture where you can feel the granules of sugar and chocolate in your mouth. The warmth from your mouth starts to dissolve and melt them together while you enjoy the taste and feel. It is so different from what we are used to. 

Thank you to Lola for sending this to me. Of course now that I am hooked I have a bit of a problem don't I? 

I will be trying each one ever so slowly. Piece by piece savoring the taste and the endorphins. I have to go now. The chocolate is calling my name. Please knock before entering. 

IF YOU ONLY HAD A BRAIN

It is getting to be that time of year again. There is snow at the higher elevations. A winter wonderland will soon be everywhere. Many people will get out their skis or snow mobiles or hiking packs and head on out to the mountainous areas. And like every year some of them will lose their lives. 
They will go into areas that are roped off and signed saying Out Of Bounds or Avalanche Area. Look, look at the fresh powder snow over there. The signs don't apply to me. I know how to ski, my machine is powerful enough to get me out of there.
Or will they go for a day hike with only their light jacket and a bottle of water. No one knows their route. No one even knows sometimes that they have gone hiking. 

At some point the Search and Rescue people will be called out to find these people who have gone off the trails or simply get lost and are not prepared in any way for a night or two on a rugged mountain. Even if it doesn't snow it is still extremely cold. 
These rescue personnel will risk their lives trying to find you. They have other jobs they must leave and family that love them and they will risk it all to save your sorry butt. 
I think you should have to pay for all costs associated with your rescue if you are out of bounds. 
Nineteen snowmobilers — all but one of them in B.C. — have died in avalanches in Canada this season, according to statistics provided by the Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC). The number accounts for 75 per cent of all national backcountry fatalities, which also includes a heli-skier, a mountaineer and four out-of-bounds skiers.
In several of the snowmobile-related incidents, slides were triggered as a result of highmarking — a deadly practice where riders push their machines as far up a steep slope as possible.
              This information from the Vancouver Sun Newspaper.2008-2009 season.

My husband has encountered several idiotic people who were not prepared for the outdoors and had zero common sense while out there. One guy actually left the hillsides and went to the bar without telling his female companion. She hunted high and low for him for hours eventually getting some assistance from my husbands group. She was going to spend the night alone in an empty cabin to see if he would show up when someone found out he was cozy in the bar. I wonder what that car ride home was like? 

Anyway people use some common sense. Out of Bounds means just that and yes it means you. Tell people where you are going when hiking and be prepared for the worst. Wear avalanche beacons and carry shovels and poles for rescuing. Take walkie talkies. Flares? Sure why not. Be like a boy scout and be prepared.  

HOW TO TELL WHEN A BANANA HAS GONE BAD

TARA JEAN POPOWICH WON

SHE WON, SHE WON. 

CONGRATULATIONS 

TARA JEAN POPOWICH 

You just rocked that place every week. Awesome job with so much hard work. I hope your ribs get a chance to heal. I have written about her before. You can read that here and here

BIRTHDAY GET-AWAY

My birthday is on October 26th. (thank you). My BB guy took me away yesterday morning or a short overnighter in the US. We left around 8:00 a.m. and headed for Washington State. We were not going far. 

 

First we had to stop for breakfast having only had coffee at home. We stopped into Bob's Burgers & Brew for a regular style breakfast of eggs, hash browns toast and bacon or sausage. We were just looking for something quick. It filled the bill. There is a giant almost wall to wall stone fireplace in there. They already had up a couple of Christmas trees. It must be great to decorate that huge fireplace. I'll bet the moose head looks darn right festive come December. That is right, giant moose head and many other trophies. Stuffed turkeys and I don't mean with my bread stuffing recipe. Pheasants, moose, deer. Oh my. Not for the faint of heart.

We carried on now full of breakfast grease down to La Conner. This town boasts some amazing galleries and interesting stores. La Conner sits on a delta at the mouth of the Skagit River.

One window had costumed geese posed all over, fun and casual. While the next one had elegant glass pumpkins.

There were some empty lots between the old buildings and the town doesn't leave them empty looking. They have created some lovely places to sit or to simply enjoy. 

 

 

Let me point out to you that my BB guy is 6 foot 3 inches tall and truly is Big and Burly. Now look at the size of that tree burl. Oh my heavens that thing was big. 

In one of the antique stores I found a wire card holder that I will use to display some of my Santa postcards. I really liked the wooden trees on their front porch. 

My BB guy had brought along some champagne glasses and we were on the lookout for some libations. We came upon a wine shop and that was open for tastings of wine and cheeses. Hellam's Vineyard is the name of the store. It was too early for us to start drinking but we had a good look around. If we could have brought some back across the border without paying huge duty and taxes we would have spent a bundle. 

 

Alas we were just buying champagne and asked the proprietor, Jeffrey Hellam, for his recommendation of an inexpensive one. We bought the Bott Geyl Cremant D'Alsace for $21. When we got to our room we put it on ice to savor later. We enjoyed it before we went down to the casino and well before our dinner. It was great value with plenty of teeny sparkling bubbles that kept on coming. It tasted so fresh and light. It was perfect for a before dinner aperitif  or would have gone lovely with a creamy brie and a crisp flatbread.

 We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant that my BB guy had been to before. It is called El Gitano and is not far from Bellingham. They have a few others around the area too.Very much what you would expect decor wise. The staff were attentive and friendly. I had two Patron margaritas that were just what I needed after walking around La Conner for a while. 

The complimentary salsa and chips tasted really fresh and there was a definite bite to the salsa. It tasted of fresh cilantro too. My meal was Chicken en mole which is a dark sauce that actually has chocolate in it. Not sweetened but real dark chocolate. 

We both really enjoyed our meals.Now off to the hotel to regroup. 

Now I will tell you that I don't gamble. I find it to be completely boring and also it kills me to see that money disappear. Oh yes it reappears sometimes but mostly you can kiss it goodbye. My BB guy on the other hand doesn't see things the same way and he will not hesitate to feed the insatiable machines while they tinkle and jingle and bing bong. Aaaargh. Obviously he was the one who booked our hotel. In a casino. With ugh!!! smokers everywhere. Our room was lovely and the window opened which is a big thing for me. 

We had two of these queen size beds and they were so comfortable. We wanted a king but they only had them in smoking rooms. No way. So I had a whole bed to myself. I liked that there was a separate makeup area in the bathroom and also the shower and toilet were in a separate area with a door.

We had booked a late dinner for 9:30 so after our champagne we went to the casino for a short while. We went to the Steak House in the hotel and it was a wonderful meal. They start off by telling you that you will have two servers for your evening, not just one. Service is paramount. 

We ordered a bottle of wine from a winery in Argentina called Gascon. Malbec is one of our favorites so of course we wanted to try this one. For the second time this day I enjoyed the flavor of chocolate but this time it was wrapped around a cherry. A fabulous wine that was decanted for a while first to allow some oxygen into it and let the flavors develop. 

 They used an aerator similar to this but it poured out the sides and hugged the sides of the carafe as it tumbled down to the pool at the bottom. Genius. 
We were serve a complimentary salmon mousse with different breads. My BB guy had the biggest prawns he has ever had in his life. Next we were served a palate cleanser of champagne with a little ball or sorbet floating in it. This was so refreshing and brought our palates back to neutral before we tasted our decanted wine. 
Our meals were cooked perfectly. The service was impeccable. I rate it highly. There was no room for dessert but as I said I had my chocolate fix twice already with out even eating candy. 
I had a great birthday get-away. We shopped on Sunday and the best part was we were sent through customs without having to go in and pay duty. We claimed everything we bought and were just under the allowable amount. 
Hey...I missed you guys.

 

IT IS HERE, IT IS AMAZING

Through teaching computers I have met an amazing woman named Heidi. She is amazing for several reasons which I won't go into here but one her talents is stained glass. Here are some I have featured on here before.

I knew nothing of how stained glass was done. Boy have I learned a lot. 
Did you know that every piece must be ground on all edges to allow the copper foil to adhere to it? Did you know that once it is foiled you have about 48 hours to solder it or the foil gets a coating and kind of tarnishes. The solder won't stick to this. You solder both sides of the window completely around each and every piece.  

In the end you will wrap the outer edge with a lead frame and solder on some rings to attach chain to for hanging if it is a free hanging piece. 
This is the part where I should mention my piece had 504 pieces. Yup. She had to cut, grind and wrap every numbered piece then she soldered them all together..twice...once on each side. Heidi...are you still speaking to me? Good.

I am sorry I didn't get better photos today when we went to pick it up but I will take some more when my BB guy hangs it for me. 
Heidi you are an amazing artist. No wonder you had people banging down your door to look at it. Thanks for not giving in to the ones that wanted it for themselves.  
Now for the reveal. Again my apologies for my poor picture quality. 

You should notice that she even thought to make the leaves start as green and change gradually to the rust color of fall the further from the stem they grow just like in nature. I think there are about 150 individual grapes growing here. 

For now this will hang in an opening into my stairway but eventually the plan will be to have it in a wine room. EVENTUALLY.

FOODIE FRIDAY- BUTTERNUT & PEAR SOUP

 
Delicious Foodie Friday is hosted @ Designs by Gollum. Join in for  a day of crazy good food ideas.

As always my recipe is more of a method than a  recipe. Don't like something? Use something else. Here is what I did.

Click here for a printable recipe

First I cut a butternut squash in half, brushed it with olive oil and baked it at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, cut side down. Scoop out the flesh and set aside.

In a large soup pot saute a chopped onion and a couple of pears that have been peeled, cored and chopped until softened. Add in a tablespoon of curry powder, mine is a hot one of course, a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger. (I use this porcelain grater which rinses clean  in a snap and pulverizes ginger or garlic to perfection) 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of pepper. Stir it up for a minute to let the spices release their aromas then add in the cooked squash and about 2 cups of chicken stock. Simmer gently for about half an hour.Add a bit more stock if it is too thick.

Cool this mixture slightly then process in a food processor in small batches being very careful of the hot splatters and steam that may build up. You could also use an immersion blender right in the pot. Return it to the soup pot and if you like you could stir in a cup of cream to thin it slightly and add a richness but honestly I never do that because this tastes so good as is I see no reason to add calories to a very healthy soup.