Weekend in Review

 Ahhhhh!  Weekends!

What did you do?

I started mine by bringing home the tulips I bought for myself this week; and putting a couple in a little pitcher for my bedroom.  A touch of spring cheer during this as yet cold and dreary spring.

Saturday found me at The Daisy thrift store.  

I recently read that Princess Kate has made eyelet quite fashionable.  (Where was I?  Did it actually go out of style?)  Anyway, despite the fact that this skirt is a half size too small, I bought it (Reitman's brand; $3) as I'm still losing weight. And despite the fact that I have the ugliest feet in the world [bunions :(], I found these cute little flats (Joe Boxer brand; $4).

Saturday also found me at Atlantic Superstore, shopping for fruit and veg.  And as I'd been thinking this week I'd like a bottle of orange nail polish, I took a stroll down the cosmetics aisle and hit pay dirt.

This is what $10 worth of nail polish looked like.  (Excuse Godzilla feet and bad paint jobs; I polished without the aid of my glasses!)

Last night, I joined some friends for trivia night at the fire hall; and we won!  I've been going for 10 years and other than one other time, we always lost.  But it's so much fun.

Today was church; and my Sunday afternoon was spent doing some cooking for the week -- marinated pork chops, a fantastic beef 'n' barley soup and this chili, made with hot Italian sausage and navy beans.

Man!  It's wonderfully spicy!
I'm sampling it as I write to you.

And so ends another relaxing weekend.  

Back to the grind tomorrow.  Wonder what this week will bring.

How was your weekend?

Crispy Tofu with Citrus Soy

My body and my brain are constantly battling each other.  My body

cries out "No more junk!  Eat healthy food!"  And my brain yells equally as loudly "Where's my chocolate?  I want cake!"

Most of the time, my body wins the battle; its various aches and pains gain the upper hand.  But really!  Let's face it:  we have to give in to our cravings occasionally.  Hence my eating the Lindt  and the Cadbury mini eggs consumed this weekend -- against my WW rules.

There are no regrets:  they were delicious!

But equally delicious is this dish I prepared last night for dinner.  A year ago, tofu wasn't on my list of favorites; but I guess like most foods, you just have to find the right recipe.

I have found it!

To make the Citrus Sauce:  1/3 cup orange juice, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp Mirin, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp grated ginger root and the zest from one lemon.  

Heat a Tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. (I used my iron pan.)  Cut the block of firm tofu (roughly 250-265 gm) into 8 equal pieces; pat dry.  Dip each piece in beaten egg yolk and then in Panko crumbs (roughly 1/3 cup).  Then fry on each side until golden and heated throughout.  

Serve on a bed of salad greens with chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds.  Drizzle with the citrus sauce.  Add some pickled ginger and rice and this wonderful meal is complete.

This is soooo delicious!

Can't wait to make this one again!

Glimpses of our Easter!

Did I mention that the Easter Bunny attends our church?

• Tulips for the lady of the house ....
• Matching dress and nails for church.....
• Bunny chocolate (and other goodies) .....
• Crown Cake (French fruit brioche) from Julian's in Chester.....
• Lemon spatchcocked chicken with the most crispy golden skin, roast onions and potatoes, turnip/carrot mash and my very first Pavlova for dinner.  (A little flat perhaps but most delicious and definitely worth repeating.)

The only thing that's necessary now is an after dinner walk.  

Funny how most of the things I ate today are NOT on the Weight Watchers menu!

Hope your day was wonderful!

Happy Easter!

Farewell for Now!

I need a rest; so I'm going off-grid for a while.  No Facebook; no blogging.

Let's see how long it takes for me to rejuvenate and come back!

See you soon?  (I hope.)

Pre-Weekend Forecast

Things I want to do this weekend:

(Special note:  items in caps are shouts-out to God to "Make it so, Number One")

1. Lie in bed when I wake and just stretch, stretch, stretch "For Lord's sake", smiling in anticipation of a day of leisure.
2. Have a large cup of dark roast coffee ----- ON MY BACK DECK!
3. Make and eat about a million dark chocolate-covered apricots ... ya know, the soft juicy ones, not the nearly dessicated ones I currently have in my dried fruit jar.
4. Go for a long walk in the SUNSHINE wearing my almost new black and hot pink hiking sneakers.
   
5. Eat some good foreign food and not care one tad about the calories.  Peruse a menu (bringing a hankie to dab off the drool, of course); order & sit excitedly while waiting for my order to be filled; look ..... smell ..... taste .... slowly chew & savor every (hopefully) delicious bite; then complain about how full I am!  That's an A+ idea!
6. THRIFT a great new pair of colorful flats.
7. Laugh a great deal.

Things I will probably do this weekend:

• Drive to the city in the rain on Saturday with a most probable #5, the possibility of #6 (if the Value Village gods are kind), a #2 without the back deck (thanks to Starbucks??) and an almost definite #7 'cause I'll be with 3 chatty 'n' cheerful Asian girls.
• Start my Sunday with the first part of #1, possibly move on to #2, and then spend the majority of the day assisting in the new office move down river.  But there will most assuredly be lots of #7 during the move 'cause they're such a great bunch.  I love my new job.

Weekends!  

Ya never know what'll happen for sure.

36 Delightful Facts about Canada

I came across these facts this morning from Buzz Feed via a friend on Facebook.  Some I knew already, and some I just learned.  But they're so wonderful, I wanted to share them with you.  Enjoy!

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36 Delightful Facts about Canada

1. People in Churchill, Manitoba leave their car doors unlocked in case their neighbours need to make a quick escape from polar bears.

2. There’s also a prison for polar bears who break into peoples’ homes for food. 

3. No cows in Canada are given artificial hormones for milk production; and that means no dairy products such as milk, cheese or yogurt produced in Canada contain hormones either!  

4. For one day in 1943, Ottawa designated a hospital room to be “extraterritorial” (international) ground so a Dutch princess could be born a full Dutch citizen -- a Dutch requirement for her to keep her princess title.

5. And every year the Netherlands send Canada thousands of tulips to show their gratitude.

6. This inspired Ottawa’s annual Tulip Festival which is held in May and showcases millions of beautiful tulips in bloom.  (Photo:  Alexandre Deslongchamps)

7. Canada has banned the Westboro Baptist Church members from entering the country and picketing funerals.  Hate speech is a penalized offense by the federal and provincial government.

8. Kraft Dinner (“KD”) is the top-selling grocery item in the country. Canadians consume 55% more of it than Americans do.

9. The quality of their tap water is often better than bottled water.

10. They have a $300 collectors’ gold coin that has a narwhal on it  (mint.ca).

11. And a special quarter with a GLOW-IN-THE DARK DINOSAUR on it.  Royal Canadian Mint

12. The Canadian Mint also created a $1,000,000 coin that is actually usable.

13. Canada is the most educated country in the world.

14. It has an “Apology Act.”  It allows an apology in court to be a sign of compassion and empathy, not guilt.

15. In the 1930 World Cup, Canada’s hockey team was so badass they didn’t even have to play knockout rounds and were placed directly in the final game.They then went on to win gold.

16. Canada’s Post Office receives millions of letters addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole” each year.  They respond to each one as Mrs. Claus, and it’s an entirely employee-led volunteer initiative :)

17. They’ve claimed the address:

 “Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0.”   

Canada Post / Via chatelaine.com

18. A part of the country actually has less gravity than the rest of Earth.

19. During the holiday seasons, it has a volunteer service that gives free rides to those too drunk or too tired to drive.  The program is called "Operation Red Nose" (operationnezrouge.com) and the drivers are called Sleigh Deer.

20. The nation’s official phone number is:

1-800-O-Canada. 

I kid you not.

21. George Street in St John's, Newfoundland has more bars and pubs per square feet than on any street in North America.  Yup, I can personally attest to that.

22. Canada does not allow pre-employment or randomized employee drug tests.

23. An Ontario man invented Hawaiian pizza.

24. There is a strategic maple syrup reserve.

25. Alberta, Canada, is the only region in the entire world free of Norwegian rats.

26. In 1947, a group of kids protested after the price of chocolate bars were raised from 5 cents to 8 cents.

27. The Citizenship and Immigration Minister declared that Santa Claus is Canadian.

28. It has an island called “Dildo.” It's in Newfoundland, so, yup! Been there too, and it's very pretty!

29. The term “trick or treat” was first used in Alberta.

30. Canadian McDonald’s exclusively sell the McLobster in the Maritime provinces. mcdonalds.ca

31. You can thank Kiefer Sutherland’s grandpa for bringing the country universal healthcare.

32. The University of Victoria offers a course called the “Science of Batman.”

33. In Saskatchewan, a hoodie is called a “bunnyhug.” koucan.tumblr.com

34. Half of Canada’s provinces (which accounts for more than 85% of the population) are governed by women.

35. A town in British Columbia has the postal code:

 “V4G 1N4.”

(I mean honestly!  Do we really need directions there?)

36. Studies find Canadians to be the second happiest people in the world. And they’re only getting happier.tres-naturelle.tumblr.com  

Yup!  We are.  

Why, just look at me.

Rabbit, Rabbit!

Rabbit Rabbit everyone.

And goodbye March!

It's so good to see the back end of you with your snow storms and icy cold temperatures.  I wholeheartedly welcome April.

But then, what's this, April?  You definitely suck at first impressions.  Here's what we woke to this morning.  

So beautiful yet so ugly!

Yes, it's another day off school for the local kids and another treacherous drive to work for the rest of us.  

What is going on Mother Nature? Why are you angry at us?  

Is this Narnia where winter never ends?  If so, pass the Turkish Delight --- but make it chocolate covered please!  (I'm calling my friend Lucy this evening to come break the spell. )

Is it an April Fool joke?  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  Let it be so that it can disappear by noon and we can get back to spring which we very briefly saw last month.

Winter, you are getting on my last nerve!  At this rate, there'll be no white straw bonnet or black patent leather shoes for me this Easter.  Instead, we'll be seeing this: