POP UP ART SHOW CARO ART

As an admirer of art, my favourite thing is to see the evolution over time of an artist. This is often best showcased in an artist's show. This one of Caro's was no exception. For the longest time she has been a photographer. She worked in oils and geometric squares from before I met her. She has done horizons from her travels, paintings of buildings, and other geometric shapes. Lately she did a few epoxy resin paintings which added a new elements. But always the colours speak, and she showed in latest art show that she has a lot to say. Take a look of a few facets of this amazing artist.

COMBINING LIGHT LUNCHES AND THE US OPEN SEMIFINALS 2017

Sweet Potato Coconut soup, soft pretzel, green salad with edamame and seaweed sesame salad

Neither of us knew who was going to win when we started the semifinal game of Anderson-Carreno Busta. It was hard to cheer for the quiet tall demeanour of the South African (he's 6'8'), when Busta was so adorably nice, but Anderson's win was deserved. We didn't have time to watch the Nadal-Potro game, so I had to satisfy myself with the highlights, which in 16 minutes did a great job of including every point, but I suspect might have been the better game to watch. Now watching the final, Anderson is learning on the fly, but Nadal is giving nothing up. Incredible that the whole event is available online 5 days later. What a great final!

Mysteries remain what happened to Anderson's omnipresent right arm sleeve, and did Nadal really change to black because no one wearing pink has ever wondered the US open?

EASY PEA RISOTTO

Rachael Ray's Mamma's Risotto, with 1 1/2 cup peas

ANOTHER COLOURFUL BROCCOLI SALAD

Broccoli Apple Salad, deconstructed and tossed

The great thing about Pinterest is the immediate connection you can make with the chosen photo. Even without a recipe, it can inspire something in your grocery shopping or the fridge. In this case, I had everything and was reflecting on making my usual broccoli salad but lacked the essential red onion, and wanted a little more palatability for my daughter, who balks at dried cranberries, sunflower seeds (sometimes), let alone, raw onion. The dressing is similar but I loosely followed the Cooking Classy Recipe, omitting the yogurt I didn't have, and starting with less mayo as I often find too much mayo for my liking in most recipes. Mayo, honey and vinegar makes this simple dressing to cover a head of broccoli, one chopped Paula Red apple (from our local farmer's market, nice and sweet), 1/2 cup raisins or cranberries,  1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, and 1 cup grated carrot.

DESSERT AT LA COUPOLE

SCHNITZELHAUS

It was our first day of German Saturday School, and my mind was swirling with hundreds of familiar words that reminded me of Austria. We drove to St Anne's to catch the farmer's market, and ran into this restaurant on foot from the parking lot. We ordered Wiener and spätzle, and the Hunter's schnitzel with spätzle.

We had fast service and a splendid view on the balcony on one of the last summer days of the year. Unfortunately the food was disappointing, but the reminders of open terraces in Vienna, and spätzle on the balcony in Salzburg, and the enjoyment of my daughter after  a morning of extra school that only served to increase her interest in the language of my mom's grandparents were enough to overcome the food reality.

JUST WHAT WAS MISSING

My friend Caro is an amazing artist and a great friend. She expresses so much of herself in her art and her writing, but also in her hospitality, humour, and food. She is what brings a ragtag group of people who love her together regularly, for birthday BBQs, Christmas exchanges and, most recently, a pop-op art show.

It was amazing! Her walls are always full of her photography and art, with a new piece or two in the studio showcased, but many of her pieces are stacked up, not seen. This past Sunday, they were all on display, and most for sale.

I had honestly gone with my daughter for moral support, but as we walked up, and saw the outdoor display, I fell immediately in love with this painting, with an incredible contrast of dark and light, and hints of the blue that we have slowly collected in our life. My bedroom wall paint, my outdoor planter boxes, my daughter's glasses, her shorts, my shirt. We call it Robin's Egg Blue, but it tends towards a greener colour that resembles the Caribbean Sea on a sunny day, or the Mediterranean from the train in the Cinque Terre.

I am an impulsive art lover. I did not have any money in the budget to fill the wall over my bed. On second look, I wondered if the size was too small, and if I had subconsciously tried to match the paint colour on my wall, which were both poor reasons for the purchase. But I was so sure that I asked for a red dot so no one else mistook it for being for sale, and good thing, or the neighbour, who came later would have wanted it too.

Unlike most of her paintings, which tended to squares, this was vertically linear. Unlike many of her inspirations, this came from no specific place. Titled Chaos and Order, it fits perfectly on the wall over my bed. You could mistake it for a showroom copy, but it is an original by an amazing artist that I think of every time I see her paintings. It is just another example of why my mantra is: Beauty is Not Optional.

Check out this girl's art, and be mesmerized by her time-lapse videos. Read her blog and hear her honest brave struggle with MS. Celebrate and share beauty! It is everywhere!

CREME CARAMEL A LA JULIA CHILD

Well it wasn't as pretty as it could have been, but it was long overdue. My friend was famously known for her amazing crème brulée, but although I had never attempted it, I had always wanted to venture there. So I was finished dishes and dreaming of dessert, with a full tray of eggs. So I made caramel for the first time (keep the lid on and don't let it burn), and it was easier than I thought. It was close to smoking and hard crack, honestly, which didn't matter when you put it on the bottom of a flan to be "renverseé", but would matter for actual caramel. If you wanted to be careful, a candy thermometer would make the difference. The custard was simple, and the presentation varied (why I didn't take a photo of the best one, I'll never know!). The recipe is on page 584 under the title Crème Renversée au Caramel in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Crème Renversée au Caramel

by Julia Child, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

serves 4-6 people

for the caramel:

2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

Add sugar and water to a heavy stainless steel saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. When it starts to brown, swirl the saucepan around but do not stir. This will ensure that the sugar turns color evenly and will help wash any crystals off the side. When it is thick and a light, nutty brown, remove from heat and pour directly into molds; swirl each mold to coat evenly with the caramel. If you smell it burning, it is past time. Immerse the saucepan immediately in a cold water bath, and pour out into ramekins.

for the custard:

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean

Directions:

1) Bring the milk and vanilla bean (if you are using) to just below a simmer in a saucepan. Let the vanilla steep in the milk while you prepare the rest of the custard ingredients.

2) Gradually beat the sugar into the eggs and egg yolks in a bowl until well mixed, light, and foamy. Continue beating while pouring in the hot milk in a thin stream of droplets. If you are using vanilla extract rather than a vanilla bean, add it now. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve into the caramel-lined molds.

3) To bake the molds, set them in a pan and pour enough boiling water around them to come halfway up the sides. Place in the bottom third of an oven preheated to 350F. After five minutes, turn down the heat to 325F. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the center is firm but slightly wobbly. Cooking it too long will result in a tough rather than tender custard.

4) If you would like to serve the custards warm, set the molds in cold water for about ten minutes before unmolding; otherwise chill in the refrigerator. To unmold, run a knife between the custard and edges of the mold. Place a serving dish upside down over the mold and quickly reverse the two, and remove the mold from the custard.

CAULIFLOWER PIZZA CRUST

It's been a while I have been meaning to make a gluten free cauliflower pizza crust, and much to my daughter's disappointment, it was the only pizza crust I was making that night!

In the food processor, chop one medium head of cauliflower. Add 1/2 cup grated parmesan, and 1 egg. Add 1 tsp Italian seasonings, 1/2 tsp salt and garlic to taste.

Top with pizza sauce, grated cheese and your favourite toppings as desired.

The texture is a little like cornmeal, and it's more of a knife and fork affair than a NYC wedge of pizza, but if I couldn't eat wheat flour, this would be my go-to recipe, for sure. 

Next day leftovers, if handled carefully were very good. This was inspired by a pin from Dear Crissy called Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe.

A STORY I WOULD LIKE TO WRITE OR READ: THE LETTER, BY TISSOT

ENERGY BITES FROM PINTEREST POSTINGS

I happened upon a great date ball recipe that was a hit with friends and family alike, and is great for school as nut free and can be gluten free if the crisp rice cereal is.

Recently I was led into a Pinterest thread of other energy bites, and have found it fun to try a few others.

They are high calorie, so only eat one for a dessert or two for a snack, but they are fast and based on food, and so far they all freeze well.  I am going to keep exploring recipes, so please feel free to share!

Here are two of my new favorites and the PB chocolate is a kid hit!

One bowl: Shred in the processor, then add the rest of the ingredients for carrot cake.

Classic Coconut Crisps  and Carrot cake energy bites 

My newest obsession, gingerbread!

CARROT CAKE ENERGY BITES
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 t cinnamon
1/2 vanilla extract
1/3 cup almonds, processed
1/3 cup coconut, unsweetened

Process together. Makes 16. Roll in more coconut if desired.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER ENERGY BITES
1 cup oatmeal
2/3 cup toasted unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Process together.  Roll into balls. Stores in fridge for 2 weeks or freezer indefinitely.

Alternatively, from Well-Plated by Erin:

1 1/4 cups Mejool pitted dates (cooking dates are fine)

1/4 cup plus 2T PB 

3/4 rolled oats

3 T mini chocolate chips

1 T chia seeds (ground flaxseed)

1/8 t salt

3 T cocoa powder

GINGERBREAD ENERGY BITES
1 cup pitted dates, processed
1 cup toasted pecans (watch these, but this step is worth it!)
1 T molasses
1 tsp ground dry ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg

Process together. Roll into 16 balls.

Enjoy!

Other ideas are snickerdoodles and lemon based, like these recipes on bless this mess please.

GRADE FIVE LYRICS

We are going to be friends, by White Stripes.

SONGS

Try by Mandy Harvey

This girl is one of the many talents that come and go on youtube, but it's not every day that you hear a deaf girl sing her own song.

Here are the lyrics.

Still Alright (Have One)
Adam Merrin

GERMAN PRETZELS (BRETZEL)

I don't know that these really taste like German pretzels, but they were pretty good! I realized with posting these photos that I originally planned to use another recipe (see below), but late one night this week I started and finished the recipe by Alton Brown on the Food Network. It did have 5 stars! I think the boiling in tons of baking soda was a little weird, and I realized too late that I didn't have kosher salt, but if you take them out in 30 seconds (my inattention at first left them in too long. See below the soda stains, that led to soda taste) and salt them one with fine or coarse salt, they are pretty yummy. We had them with soup, and snacks, and one morning split like a bagel and spread with Nutella. Delicious! I thought the twist was pretty realistic, but I was told that more twists on the the way down from the U would look better.

Next time!

24 inch rolls

Boiled and baked

https://amandascookin.com/homemade-german-pretzels/

CANADIAN 150TH ANNIVERSARY

SESQUICENTENNIAL!

1 year anniversary ANNUAL
2 year anniversary BIENNIAL
3 TRIENNIAL
4 QUADRENNIAL
5 QUINQUENNIAL
6 SEXENNIAL
7 SEPTENNIAL
8 OCTENNIAL
9 NOVENNIAL
10 DECENNIAL
11 UNDECENNIAL
12 DUODECENNIAL
13 TREDECENNIAL
14 QUATTUORDECENNIAL
15 QUINDECENNIAL
20 VEGINTENNIAL or VICENNIAL
50 SEMICENTENNIAL or QUINQUAGENARY
75 SEMISESQUICENTENNIAL
100 CENTENNIAL
125 QUASQUICENTENNIAL

LAURA CALLAGHAN

My girlfriend's phone's wallpaper.

ZAREBA, BATOCHE

BATOCHE'S CEMETERY

BATOCHE

SASKATCHEWAN THE BEAUTIFUL

MANITOU BEACH

SALT SEA IN A GLACIER VALLEY

Next time we'll eat at the beach!

A map I could have used!

Fettucine Alfredo

Watrous' John's Plate burger

WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW

Dear Princess Pirate,

I didn't want it to be this way. Having your dad take you back to school shopping after a terse text session that I thought would end in a phone call, and a resolution with your best in mind, but instead it was as I should have expected, a degenerating clash of egos and a line I have drawn with a black sharpie over which I feel more taken advantage of than I can bear.

You came with me to Regina for two week near the end of summer. It was the best trip of my life to date, mostly because you were there, and you saw what I loved, and you loved it too. In terms of time with me, it was the maximum your dad and I have agreed you should be away from a parent, for our sakes as much as yours. I had been away from you for a similar period of time in February to go on a snorkelling cruise with Sarah, and then watch LIT with your cousin for the first time on the team. It was supposed to be tit for tat. Before we left, I had to work my shifts, and the week before it was camp. So before I knew it, it was back to school and you weren't ready. This has never happened before and I was okay with it, thinking we would spend a few hours this afternoon, which was the first time I was free, the day before school started. (I was working the last three days and away from home over 40 hours during that time, so I didn't have time before). I was just about to mow the lawn and was planning to look through our piles and then pick you up by bike to go to Walmart, when your dad texted:

Can you bring the car today svp? I want to do this fast.

Since I had hoped to meet you on bike and had planned a back street route that you would like, I said:

I checked the distance and it's 2.2 k, less than the distance between our homes. I would like to encourage less pollution and exercise, and it won't be more than a few minutes extra each way. Please.

While I was mowing the lawn (the dandelions were crazy tall after 2 weeks and 3 days) he texted: 

How about I just take the bus with her to Walmart today and you two can get whatever is missing or fun stuff on Saturday when she is back with you. Text us with any items you found that we don't need to buy.

This was disappointing, and didn't involve you at all, and I hadn't had time to go through your stuff yet, so I wrote: 

Why didn't you just say no yesterday instead of disappointing two girls today?

While I was in the shower, he wrote: 

I thought we were all going in the car. I only have her this one week in a five week period so I want to spend as much time as possible with her.

To be clear, this was because of the unusual annual occurrence of our vacation, and his desire to "reset" the weeks so that he could see his new girlfriend on her biweekly schedule. Frankly, for a moment, because I am pretty touchy about his entitlement history, and just aware of the newly, never voiced before, assumption that he was coming, which really just meant that he had said yes for one reason. So I answered tersely, and I am sorry that I did not think through what I really want, which is for you to be happy and excited and prepared for tomorrow.

K, you are welcome to take her, but I am not coming to write the check.

 I went downstairs and in your room and got some binders and markers and checked again, but there was no response. So I did what I should have done first, I called. But there was no answer. So between my message at 1:38 and my call at 2:01, you were gone. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but it was disappointing that this text led to your dad leaving immediately without telling me. I wonder sometimes what he tells you. I hope you are not disappointed. I hope you don't feel torn, but I writing this with some heartbreak and many tears because I think you might. I am sorry for that. I am sorry for my part in this battle of egos. I am sorry that my attitude might have diminished the joy and added to the anxiety of tomorrow. You only start grade 6 once. I guess that I might not be there. I wasn't invited.  I will try and invite myself because I want to be there and I don't work until the night, but permission might not be granted.

That is the sadness in all this for me. That I would invite K, to your summer birthday, to your garage sale day and daughter's day, on Christmas if it's my turn, to your ballet recital, because I know you will love it. But if the table's are turned, I am not invited. Not to Tremblant or Thanksgiving or Christmas or if it's the start of the year shopping. But if I'll drive, or buy, sure! Come on over! And I don't feel like he would even do it if you wanted, and that makes this very hard.

I don't like this example, and I don't want you to treat me as a pocketbook. I say no to him so that you don't act in this abhorrent way, but today this is the price to pay. He left with you to go shopping, probably angry, grumpy and anxious. That's not what I wanted for you today, but there is nothing I can do about it. He has no phone, so I got no answer when I wrote: 

Please call me. Did you leave?

So I can tell you this, that if you can't coparent when you are together, it becomes nearly impossible to do so apart. I wonder what your perspective is on this. Do you feel under or overparented? Is it a huge difference one week to the next? I know that must be hard, and I only hope that it makes it possible for you to chose earlier what you need and what you want. I am always here, even when you are with your dad. And your dad is always there, when you are with me. But I can't make any promise that I can be part of your life if you dad does not wish it so on the weeks you are with him. For now, you need to know that you can invite your dad, but he often does not come, even when he says he will. If you choose, you can spend time with him when you are with me, because I want you to be happy, and I wish you could just do as like with a two way street. This is how I think you imagined it, and I naively thought would be possible. But this is not our fate, at least for now. Someday, you can make that choice. I want you to be happy. I hope you can find a way to feel loyal to both of us when only with one of us, and that you find a way to express your true self to both of us. What you think and say and do are important to us, and I want to hear more of it. Don't be afraid. Express yourself. Be brave.