Date of the deed...

So it's happening - the contract has been signed, the deposit has been paid, the venue has been booked and the date has been set. Sunday September 4, 2011 Dan and I will be getting married!!!


Please feel free to squee for me.

Okay, enough squeeing. Here's some pictures that our coordinator has sent.

This is what the ceremony set-up would be. Obviously not pink...I am not a pink wedding girl BUT the set-up is like this...

I love  that there`s that big chandiler in the center, where our vows will be said.  And the arch is lovely, although I don`t know if it`s the venue`s or not.  Something to look into...

Anyways, this would be the basic set up of the tables. We're thinking red table squares and napkins.

The centrepieces are tall square vases. The venue provides floating candles and tea lights so my BFF and I are going to go rock gathering around beaches in the area and use them in the bottom with a single  flower, water, a floating candle and maybe tea lights around. Similar to....

But with some rocks in the bottom and probably not so much a wispy flower. I almost picture a Gerber daisy or bright yellow (small) sunflower but I don't know if either of those would work.

Thoughts?

Crock-pot pulled pork

Dan got me a crock pot for Christmas 2008.  I thought it was a wonderful invention and while I was in school we used it several times a week.  Since getting a "real" job, moving and subsequently getting a car, we haven't used it much.  I decided to clean the kitchen last weekend and re-discovered my long lost crock pot.  So imagine my joy when I also came across a sale on pork at the grocery store! ZOMGKITCHENNERD!  I decided it was time to do some of my delicious pulled pork so, without further ado here is my recipe for crock pot pulled pork...

Crock Pot Pulled Pork
2 -4 pork chops
1 large onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup sliced sweet red, orange or yellow pepper
1/2 cup Diana Sauce (the yellow label)
1/2 cup Bulls eye BBQ sauce (red label is the best for this)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 cup water
garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in and cook in the crock pot on low for 8-10 hours.  Once you're done open it up and pull pork apart with a fork.  Yum yum!

Left overs!

So tonight Dan and I needed a quick supper.  I still had some Sun dried-Tomato Pasta Salad left so I decided to use that.  I took some skinless boneless chicken breast poured a bunch of garlic powder and some olive oil in a pan and cooked it up.  Then I added the rest of my leftover pasta salad.  Let it simmer for 5-10 mins on medium heat and VIOLA! Sun dried-Tomato Pasta.  It was fabulous - maybe even better than the pasta salad.  And we have some still left over.

nom nom nom

Sun dried-Tomato Pasta Salad

So I was heading to a BBQ this weekend and thought I should bring along a salad.  I wasn't sure what type to make until I stumbled across sun dried tomato pesto at the grocery store.  Once I saw that pesto I knew I had to make Sun dried-Tomato Pasta Salad.....YUM!

Sun dried-Tomato Pasta Salad

What you will need:

• 1 box of rotini noddles
• 1 container of sun-dried tomato pesto (I think I got Bertolli brand)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbs of olive oil
• 1 small or medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup of assorted olives, diced
• 3 vine tomatoes, in small chunks or a pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
• salt and pepper to taste
• grated cheddar or Parmesan cheese

What you do:

• Take the sun-dried tomato pesto, garlic, onion and olive oil and place it in your food processor.  Whirrrrrr it up.  Put this aside (preferably the day before) and let it rest.
• Cook rotini noodles and set aside to cool.
• Once noodles are cool take your pesto concoction, add tomatoes, olives and onions and mix together. 
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Place in a decorative bowl with serving spoons.  Sprinkle with cheese.
• Enjoy!!

Cupcake Fever!!

I blame this all on The Katie Chronicles, but lately I have an obsession with cupcakes!!!

Funny thing is - I don't like cupcakes that much!  I'll have one every once in a while but I just make them because they're fun and pretty.  This weekend I had a BBQ/bonfire to attend.  I decided I would bring some of Katie's delicious margarita cupcakes.

It was really hot, and my slime green icing started to melt BUT they turned out deliciously.  So good, in fact, that I made more!! I'm hoping to move on to pink lemonade cupcakes next.

nom nom nom

Happy Birthday Lunchbox!

Just wanted to wish my baby brudder, Bob, a happy 20th birthday!


Have a cold one for me, Lunchbox!!

Have a cold one for me, Lunchbox!!

Happy Canada Day!!!

I know, I know, I'm bad at updating.  Leave me alone - I'm a busy lady!

This weekend coming is my parents annual Keji Fest.  Now what, you might ask, is Keji Fest.  Well, my friends and loyal (or not to loyal) readers, this is an annual party that mom and dad have been throwing for over 30 years.  We all head to our farmhouse (located outside of Kijimkijik National Park), get a theme, get some friends, get lots of booze, set up the croquet tournament and head on out!  This is an event that is looked forward to all year! It's a blast!!!

This year our theme was Cuban.  Everyone brings something along so I decided that I would bring along that wonderful Cuban drink - a mojito.  So below is my recipe for a delicious Cuban mojito.  They were a hit, so try one for yourself!!

Paige's Cuban Mojitos

What you will need:

• A tall glass
• Ice
• A drink muddler (If you don't have this then the back of an ice cream scoop will work)
• White Rum (preferably Havana Club)
• Limes (lots of limes)
• Powdered white sugar
• Fresh mint
• Club Soda

What you should do:

• Put 1 tsp sugar, some mint and about 1 oz lime in the glass.
• Use the muddler (or ice cream scoop) to crush it all up together.  The sugar and lime should be kind of oozy, not too dry.
• Put 1.5 (or more!) oz of white rum in and give it a stir.
• Add ice
• Fill glass the rest of the way with club soda.
• Garnish with a lime
• Consume
• Repeat.

So um..

So I'm a slacker...I know I know! I've been slack but hey kids, big news....I"M GETTING MARRIED!

Dan and I had decided to go away to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. We went to the Diby Pines in Digby, NS. We were in our room watching TV the first afternoon there, because it was rainy, and Dan got up to mess around with something in his bag. I kept watching tv and just hanging out on the bed. I could feel him standing behind me so I turned around and he was staring out the window. I looked at him then at the window then at him and I said "What are you doing?" I figured he was looking at a boat coming in the harbour. He wasn't. He immediately dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box. He looks at me and simply said "Will you marry me?" The first thought that ran thru my head was "OMG! Is he serious?! REALLY?!"" But I didn't say it instead I screamed OMG YES and jumped on him!! We kissed and hugged and it was WONDERFUL!!

Spring Cleaning

I haven't abandoned you, I swear! It's just been very busy around here.  I've got volunteer work, real work, a relationship, my dogs, trying to get to the gym...and omg I've been sick!

So it's that time of year - time to spring clean!! What does your Spring Cleaning entail?  Well mine is not a lot.  I know I know! I need to get on it.  Some people clean their entire houses from top to bottom, I don't.  I keep my house neat and tidy but I really hate the idea of spending ALL my energy and time cleaning someone elses house.  I mean really, we rent, why am I going to go to great lengths to keep it? Well really, the place looks better now than when we moved in...but that's another story.

So here's my routine, let's hear about yours...

Weekend One - The usual, vacuuming the house, mop the floors, laundry (drying on the line!!!) and dishes.
Weekend Two - Clean all furniture, wash all rugs/carpets/pillows/blankets/throws/etc, probably vacuuming again (those pugs shed like MAD)
Weekend three - Closet clean.  Anything you haven't worn in 3 months goes. (Excluding special occasion dresses, etc) Bedroom clean and bathroom clean (shower stall, mop floors, wipe down walls, toliet clean, curtains, the WHOLE thing!)

And then I'm done.  Yes it takes me 3 weekend b/c I only work on Sundays.  Saturdays are my days off.  Live with it;)

Receipe Share!

It's that time of the year again - ASPARAGUS SEASON!!!!  Dan and I ADORE asparagus.  I will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if he'll let me (he won't but that's another story).  So in honor of one of my favorite veggies I will now present you with my three favorite asparagus recipes.  One for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner.  Enjoy!

Asparagus Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 loaf  sliced bread, crusts removed
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 cup cubed fully cooked ham
6 eggs
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

Instructions:
In a saucepan, cover asparagus with water; cover and cook until just tender but still firm. Drain and set aside.

Lightly brush margarine over one side of bread slices. Place half of the bread, buttered side up, in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Layer with asparagus and ham. Cover with remaining bread, buttered side up.

In a bowl, lightly beat eggs; add milk, onion, salt and mustard; pour over bread.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 50 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Return to the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Makes 10-12 servings.

Cream of Asparagus Soup
I got this from Canadian Living a few years ago.  It's FANTASTIC!
Ingredients:
1-1/2 1-1/2lb  asparagus
2 tbsp butter (I use margarine)
1 chopped leek (use the white part only)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4tsp pepper
4 cups chicken broth (if vegetarian you can use veggie broth as well)
1/3 cup 10% cream (I use 2% milk)
chopped Fresh chives

Instructions:
Cut asparagus into stalks into 1-1/2-inch lengths. Set aside.
In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium heat; cook leek until very soft.  About 10 minutes.

Add asparagus, parsley, lemon rind, lemon juice and pepper to pan. Pour in broth and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until asparagus is tender, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, remove 1 cup  of the asparagus tips; chop coarsely and set aside.

In batches in  food processor, puree sou.  You should also press it through sieve over saucepan to remove any fibre. Pour in cream and heat until steaming. Serve garnished with set-aside chopped asparagus and sprinkling of chives.


Broiled Asparagus
Use this as a side with a delicious steak or BBQ chicken breast.

Ingredients
12-24 asparagus stalks, trimmed

1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
a pinch (maybe like 1/6 or an 1/8 of a tsp) ground cumin
1/4 grated lemon rind
a pinch black pepper & salt to taste
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients, expect asparagus in a bowl.  Spread over your veggies then broil them for about 10 minutes(on the highest rack) in your oven.

I hope you enjoyed my recipes.  I look forward to having LOTS of asparagus this season.

Beautifying the backyard

As I mentioned last week I really want to discover my green thumb.  So I decided that I should start with some flowers.  I figured flowers were an easy start and they would brighten up my backyard.  So I ran to Farmer Clem's and got some supplies...

In this picture you can see my yellow mums, orange sunfire something-or-others, soil, fertilizer, etc, etc.  Anyways Mol and I set to work getting some rocks to stablize the bottom of the planter while Dan drilled a few drainage holes in the bottom.  Once we had the rocks in place we poured in some soil and set to work planting our moms and such...it took some messy hands, a broom for clean up and a few play breaks...

But we did it! Once the job was done I tidied the yard and put out the new chairs I bought at Canadian Tire.  With a new table in between and some votive candle holders I think my little oasis in the back yard is coming  along quite nicely!  It's not much to look at yet but with some more flowers,

my hummingbird feeder, some decorative cushions (that I'm sewing!!) and some more greenery I think it will be a lovely place to sit and relax in the evenings.

This is my chair...note my beautiful flowers

It's not much yet, but soon it will be our backyard get-away

Sunshine, seasalt and steak!

While at the grocery store today I saw "top sirloin grilling medallions" on sale.  Like REALLY on sale.  So I grabbed two for Dan and I to try.  When I arrived home I thought - What a great time to try a new recipe! So I did!!  Here it is:

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1-3 cloves of fresh crushed garlic

1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2tbs Olive Oil

2 top sirloin steak

Instructions:
Mix basil, garlic, pepper and salt in large bowl with olive oil.  Brush liberally over sides of steak.  Place steak in pan and grill evenly.  5 minutes for rare, 8 for medium rare, etc.

I added grilled baby potatoes and a garden salad to ours.  It was delicious!! Enjoy!

Going green...

My father has been an avid gardener since before I arrived into this world.  I've seen him grow things from the smallest yellow flower to the largest apple tree.  We've had fresh veggies, beautiful flowers and fragrant herbs from Dad's garden since I can remember.  What ever is in season is what we'll be having.  He's an amazing gardener, and as I've grown up he's let me help out along the way.  When I was small I was allowed to plant the carrots and sometimes help with the tomatoes.  We've had huge harvests and not so huge harvests.  I still remember the year we had over 30lbs of tomatoes!! 30 LBS!!!!  I love fresh veggies and I also love the beauty that surrounds my parent's place.  It's always lovely.

Now I would never profess to having a "green thumb" but I've always secretly (or maybe not so secretly) hoped that Dad had passed it along to me.  I've always wanted to garden.  I've never had the space.  Four years of residence life is not conducive to gardening.  Our last place was also no good for a garden.  But here, in our (sort of) new place I have space! I have free reign to plant what I want...and I'm going to try it.  I don't know that I'll actually plant anything in the yard itself, we're planning on moving in the fall, but I've got two large planters just waiting for my touch. 

So this fall I took a stab at gardening.  I started, from seed, some chives, some basil and some parsley.  The chives never sprouted.  The basil and parsley, however, sprouted quickly and now I've got some lovely transplants that I will be putting into my planters.  As soon as it warms up.  So until then...enjoy my lovely plants!

Home,home on the range....

Where the pugs and the dust bunnies playyyyy!

That's how I feel about my house! There are dust bunnies EVERYWHERE!  No matter how often I clean I find pug-fur-fueled dust bunnies.  I try to vaccumm once a week and I sweep ever few days but I still can't seem to contain the maddess! 

So I went in search of ideas and here are some that I'm going to try...
- Dust mop/swiffer  I'm going to get one and I PROMISE to run it around the house EVERYDAY. 
- I've changed the filters in my heating vents...
- Apparently fabric softener and water in a spray bottle works on fabric.  Spray, dry, vaccumm.

So we'll see what happens with those...

Cooking with class

I don't think I'm a horrible cook.  I can whip up a meal in good time.  And I have some  tested and true receipes that I follow.  Dan, almost, always likes what I make for dinner and I've heard few complaints from guests that stop by.  However, I'm leary of trying new things in the kitchen.  I always enjoy new tastes when I'm out, but ask me to cook it and I'm going to freeze.  I can take my old recipes and adjust them...add more of this, less of that, throw in pork instead of chicken, etc.  But brand new flavours make me nervous. 

So last night I challenged myself.  I wanted to try something new, something different.  So I made Katie's Mustard Baked Chicken.  (I must confess that I've made the chicken before just not the pasta...and I only put a LITTLE of the paprika last time.  I was ascared!)

So how did it turn out, you ask? WONDERFUL!!  The chicken was delicious (this time I followed the receipe to a T) and the pasta (with some grilled veggies) was delicious!  I think I'm on the road to new adventures in the kitchen.  But we'll see...