Not a recipe, more of a ramble

I have been busy lately, all good things and all things that I love, but full days just the same. I don't have a recipe for you today, but you are all reasonable people and so, I think you'll understand. I do have two pictures to share though!
The first is a classic winter photo. I took it a few weeks ago, on a warm-ish day when we went walking by the river. Spring still felt years away.

Now, with March just around the corner I am starting to get a tingle in my toes and a spring in my step. And like it has for the past 3 years when spring is near, my mind turns to Italy. It will be 4 years this April that I had my adventure over there and I found myself going over pictures this evening. I thought I'd share this one with you...

...a asparagus tip making it's way out the ground.
We are still months from asparagus but this photo reminded me that the warm weather is coming, the fresh vegetables are not as far away now as they were in December and that no matter where we are in life there are always things to look forward to.
Now I am going to curl up with some hot chocolate and a quilt and try to enjoy these last few moments of winter!

My current project

My mom asked me to knit a bunch of slippers for her new house/office, I accepted and got right to it! Zach likes to joke that I'm like a Grandma with Alzheimer's, but we'll see who he comes running to when his feet get cold one day!

Everytime I go to visit my Mom I bring her another pair to add to the bowl...

Hopefully by Spring the bowl will be full!

A Nana recipe

I tried a recipe from my Nana's recipe box yesterday and thought I would share it here today! I picked one of the more worn and spotty cards, thinking the most used recipe would probably be delicious! The recipe came together so quickly, it was probably in the oven in 10 minutes and as it baked smelled SO good.
In case you can't read the card here is the recipe as it is written.

Date Pudding (in its own sauce)
1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, sifted together. 1/2 cup sweet milk, 1 cup chopped dates. Pour into a deep baking pan and pour over this 1 cup brown sugar, 2 cups hot water, 1 tbls. butter, and a little vanilla. Bake in a moderate oven about 40 min.

I really appreciate a simple recipe with just the basics.
Here is a bit of filler information:
1. Sweet milk, upon investigation, means fresh/not sour milk. The internet says to use whole milk. I didn't have any, so I just used regular 2%.
2. A moderate oven to me is 350F.
3. For those of you who have never made a 'in it's own sauce' cake, where you pour boiling water over batter, warning...it looks really gross. But proceed and you will be rewarded with a delicious caramel sauce.

Anniversary!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week! I have caught a bit of a cold, here is a pathetic picture to prove it:

That was last Saturday and today I am still on the couch. It probably didn't help that I still worked all week! But I am slowly recovering!
This weekend Zoe and I are headed to her parents for some crafting, game-playing and some good old fashioned time in the country. We are celebrating our one year anniversary with our apartment this weekend! Yes, we celebrate things like that.

Just under a year ago

I haven't had people ask me in a while, but friends that know both Zoe and I have asked me over the year "so, are you two still friends?" We are both stubborn creatures but a 21 year long friendship is not worth messing with just because we can't agree if tropical fruits are treats or not or whether the car we saw by that church was a hearse or not (yes, these are the arguments we have). I can say that, without a doubt, one year later we are still friends and most definitely closer then ever. Here's to another year, Zoe!

Pancakes

Lately Zoe and I have been having pancakes Sunday morning, it is lovely tradition that is echoed in many homes of my past. Pancakes/waffles were something that was always eaten on Sunday's when I lived with my family in Florida and also at the Curle-Hodgsons. It makes Sunday more special. They also make great leftovers for the week's breakfasts. Usually we use a gluten-free pancake mix (Only Oats mix is the preferred) but today's were full on gluten, but with a Zoe-reccomended recipe. I wanted to make up my own mix to have in the cupboard for future Sundays (or any days!).
It is a delicious mix to have on hand, and super easy, you could have pancakes on the table in 10 minutes.
As you can see from the picture, my favorite topping for pancakes (and waffles) is yogurt and fruit. I would take that combination over maple syrup on pancakes any day.  I am quite passionate about yogurt on pancakes, I think it is delicious and I think everyone should try it once. So, next time there are pancakes on the table bring out a container of yogurt and prepare to be amazed.

Pancake Mix
From More with Less

6 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
6 tablespoons baking powder
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups powdered milk

Mix well.

Options:
-use half whole wheat flour
-replace 1 cup of flour with 1 cup cornmeal
-add 1 cup of wheat germ
-add anything! flax, hemp, oatmeal.

To make a batch of pancakes
Serves 3

1 egg, beaten
1 cup water
2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
1 1/2 cups pancake mix

Combine all ingredients, mix just until not streaks of flour remain. Cook, using your favorite pan!

I recommend with two thumbs up...

Last night Zoe and I went to the Whitehorse concert at the Cummings theatre, to put it simply the concert was FREAKIN' FANTASTIC. Whitehorse is a wife-husband duo, made up of Luke Doucet (Manitoban!) and Melissa McClelland, they have beautiful voices and to see them live is amazing.  As soon as I was out of the concert I wanted to head back in and do it all over again. Seriously. The concert was an awesome example of great Canadian musicians and I have say it made me feel quite patriotic. There were two openers, first Daniel Romano and then Del Barber (also Manitoban!). They were both amazing, and I bought both of their CDs, which is big for me. I thought I would share a song from each of the artists in case any of you are looking for some new music!
This is Daniel Romano and his song Time Forgot

And here is Del Barber and his song Home to Manitoba (favorite of mine)

And last, but not least, this is Whitehorse and their song Emerald Isle

Hope you enjoy!
Does you have any favorite Canadian musicians you want to recommend?

Crafty Wednesday

I have a good friend that I met up north who shares my love of all things sewing related. Last year we decided we would pick a sewing project that we would complete each month, and share in finding new techniques and trouble shooting projects together. This month (as in January, we always run a bit over the deadline) the project was hexagons, we could do any project that involved paper-piecing hexagons, paper-pieced hexagons is what I did for Zoe's quilt. We ended up both deciding to do table toppers for Valentine's day. Mine is not quite finished, but Crafty Wednesday's include works in progress!
I really enjoy hand sewing and this project is all about hand sewing!

I also wanted to share this neat video I found, its short and sweet and all about quilts dancing in the breeze. It made me long for summer, warm breezes and fresh smelling quilts!

Not quite a recipe

This weekend I helped my Momma move into a new house (very exciting) and therefore uncovered a lot of treasures that had been stored away for the last 4 years. Lots of pictures, a few items of loved clothing, quilts my Nana made for me and also a collection of recipes from my Nana. I knew that the recipes were some where in storage, but I often thought of them and was elated to uncover them on Friday. These are well used recipes and each card is weathered and worn. Some recipes are written on receipts and some on old envelopes. I plan on cooking my way through a few of the recipes in the next little while, I'll keep you posted on my adventures of cooking my Nana's life.
Until then, here is a photo that was dug up this weekend. I thought it was appropriate to show on Recipe Monday, because it's of me cooking in the kitchen with my Mom.

I thinks its very important for kids to be in the kitchen and would like to thank my Mom and Dad for allowing me to be, I know it made things messier and more chaotic but it payed off! Thank you!

Crafts and a new blog!

Hey Everyone! I missed a few posts this week...oops. It was a busy fun-filled week that left me pretty tired in the evenings and with little energy for posting. But I'm here now to play catch up!
This week I finished one of my most favorite knitting projects so far. A sock yarn slouchy hat! The yarn I used was a treat from Nathalie when she went on an East coast adventure last year. It is special yarn and therefore it was destined for a special project!

I have been wearing this hat everyday since I finished it, I love it.
Another crafty update...Zoe and I have quite the collection of quilts, and its growing. Some are on beds, some in closets and there are usually about 4 on the couch at once. Well, we solved the problem with a quilt ladder!

Zoe found the ladder at an antique store and after a bit of scrubbing it was ready for quilts.
Speaking of Zoe, she's started a crafty and bug-y blog! She has been up to lots of creating these days! Here's the link. Enjoy!