Happy Halloween 2020!

 We decided not to participate this year in terms of decorating and distributing candy, but hope your Halloween is a happy and safe one!  In fact they have advised against trick or treating in our area this year.

Paint Party Friday - Halloween Bunny

 Welcome to Paint Party Friday!  I have a little Halloween Bunny ACEO for you today.  Isn't he cute?

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Halloween Party

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date!  I brought a cake to the 'Halloween Party'!  It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") using oil paint markers.

Japanese Milk Bread

 Nicole posted a recipe for Japanese Milk Bread and I couldn't wait to try it.  My sister in California told me not to slice it, just tear pieces off, so I did that.  It is hard to stop at one bite, forget doing just a taste.

Pasta with peas and proscuitto

I was watching Giada on TV and she was doing this pasta recipe with peas and prosciutto.  I decided to buy some proscuitto and try a simple version of it from memory. Giada uses a lot more cheese.  

2 cups of frozen green peas thawed, I used sweetlets

2-3 cloves of garlic minced

4 slices of proscuitto cut into smaller pieces

9 oz of spaghetti

1/4c grated parmesan  cheese

3-4 tbs olive oil

cook the spaghetti.  saute the proscuitto 3-4 minutes until the pieces are crisp.  remove from the pan.  saute the garlic, add the peas.  mix in the pasta, proscuitto and parmesan cheese.

Seasonal Decorations

 

Husband M and I went for a fall walk the other day and saw this lawn nicely decorated for the season.

They were advising a socially distanced Halloween and maybe extending the candy from the end of a stick this year.  Then they advised against trick or treating.  We had decided not to participate anyway.

My friend S who is a school administrator thinks online school doesn't work for most kids.  They are not challenged to learn in this way.  In fact this March once they learned that March grades would be accepted to pass their year, they stopped working, rationalizing that they didn't have to.  

Meanwhile Ontario reached an all time high of 1042 Covid cases yesterday.  Husband M noticed there are people in the stores not wearing mandated masks.  Hmm.

Surprise blooms

 I had a few more blooms from one of my sunflower plants last week, They lasted about a week before the pesky squirrels got to them.

Do you schedule your posts ahead of time?  I often do a week to a week and a half ahead and I can always go back to make modifications.  Then if some days are busier than others I have posts ready to go as I post daily.

Venue booked and a haircut

A fresh fall flower arrangement

I snapped this photo at a wedding venue we were checking out with daughter L and her fiance.  Yes they did book at another venue for Aug 2022!  Believe it or not, these dates are going fast.

Last week I finally decided to get a haircut, my first since Covid started.  The salon was empty and it was done quickly by a senior lady named Rose.  She had an interesting life story.  She came to Canada on a refugee boat from Vietnam in 1978.  The Cambodian-Vietnamese war was just starting according to Google.  She said at the time, the refugees were offered a choice of 3 countries that would take them in.  Canada was the first choice, the US was the second, and I forget what the 3rd choice was.  So she chose to come to Canada.  She said all the males were taken to jail but some of those relatives were eventually after some years able to buy themselves freedom to the US.  It explains why she has relatives in California now.

As a single mother of 3 boys, Rose said she had to find a good job to support them so she got a telecommunications job monitoring satellites I think she said.  Now that the boys are grown and married she works part time as a hairdresser at the salon.  She had taken a haircutting course to learn a skill for her retirement career.  I was happy with my haircut, I may see her again.   

Paint Party Friday - Masked Pumpkin ACEO

 Welcome to Paint Party Friday.  I did a masked pumpkin ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") for you today, a seasonal and topical piece!

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Legends

 Welcome to the  Rain's Thursday Art Date 'Legends' theme.  Here is my baby Count Dracula ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

Chicken with Basil Pesto

 I had a couple of chicken breasts and decided to butterfly and bake them with basil pesto.  It was super easy and delicious.  Just bake at 350F for 15 - 20 minutes, that's it!

Thai Green Curry Chicken with Spaghetti

 I had success with this Thai Green Curry Chicken recipe recently:

2 chicken breasts, diced

2 tbs canola oil

1 tsp white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tbs  lemon juice

1/2 can coconut milk

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 sweet pepper sliced

2 tbs Thai Green curry paste

saute onions, sweet pepper, garlic, salt,  pepper, coriander, ginger, curry paste for 1 minute.

add chicken and cook for 5 mins stirring.  add coconut milk, lemon juice, green onions until heated through for another 1-2 minutes.

You can serve with spaghetti or even rice vermicelli.

Spot the Snake

Here is the link that referenced this photo.

And here is the snake if you can even see it here.  It is a copperhead, Agkistrodon controtrix.

Hilarious

 Well I shouldn't laugh.

Interesting and True

I recently saw this full quote and thought it was interesting and true. 

Alexander Graham Bell's full quote is: “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

Husband M and I got our seasonal flu shots recently and learned that the stronger dose of the flu shot is being given to seniors 65 and over automatically, they simply ask your age.

Paint Party Friday - Lakeside Scene ACEO

Welcome to Paint Party Friday!  I did a Lakeside Scene ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") for you today.  It is done in alcohol inks and oil paint markers.

 

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Supernatural

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date.  The theme is 'Supernatural' for this week.  I did a baby Warlock ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"), not a fan of the scary stuff!

A Surprise

We celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary this past October 8th.  Daughter L surprised us with a breakfast delivery from McDonald's.  It was so thoughtful of her.
 

Scary Movies

 'Name one movie from this picture.  There are 40.'  I have not seen many scary movies so I cannot be of help with this meme but maybe the scary movie lovers can find some of them.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Carrot Pumpkin Cake

Thai Green Curry Shrimp with Kale Stem Pesto

 It is Canadian Thanksgiving today.  Hope you have a good one as best you can under the Covid restrictions.

Daughter L spent Thanksgiving with her fiance's family up north and made the carrot pumpkin cake pictured above.

I am showing you my kale stem pesto made with almonds and some Thai Green Curry Shrimp I made last week when my friend S stopped by with some fresh bunches of kale.  Her sister has a farm.  

My kale stem recipe has evolved and is a lot better now:

2 c kale stems cut in 3 inch pieces

3/4 c olive oil

1/4 c parmesan cheese

2 tsp lemon juice

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 cloves chopped garlic

1/2 c roasted almonds

First, blanche the kale stems in water for about 3 minutes.  In a food processor,  blend all the ingredients into a paste.

My Homemade Sausage Rolls

 I made these delicious sausage rolls using this video by John Kirkwood.   What I did notice is that my supermarket puff pastry rolls have become a lot smaller, sheesh.

Kale Pesto Pizza

The Liberty Belle kindly shared the idea that I might put pesto on my pizza and I couldn't wait to try it.  It is a great idea and very delicious!

Paint Party Friday - Mountainscape ACEO

 Welcome to Paint Party Friday!  I did this mountainscape for you today, it is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2")

in alcohol ink markers and oil paint markers.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Scarecrow

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date!  The theme is 'Scarecrow'.  I did a scarecrow portrait, it is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2') in alcohol ink markers and permanent markers.
 

Alphabet Soup

 

One of my sisters shared this homemade alphabet vegetable soup recipe with me. I have already tried it a couple of times with success. Of course you can make the recipe your own, I added fresh basil to mine and used whatever vegetables I wanted to use up.  I even got alphabet pasta to give it that 'Campbell's Soup' touch.  I found the taste with canned tomatoes a bit acidic, so I added a tablespoon of sugar and it makes all the difference.  The first time I diced 2 fresh tomatoes and it needed nothing.

Salmon with basil pesto

I slathered some of the basil pesto my friend gave me onto some salmon and it was so delicious. It baked up so easily in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

So a week ago husband M and I went to his older sister's place for an outdoor lunch. It was just her and her husband. Then 2 old friends also dropped by and stayed for lunch too. This was before the recent calls from the government to stay home as much as possible and only go out for essential activities such as work or fitness. They are now advising us not to dine out indoors for the next 4 weeks.  It seems we are in the 2nd wave of Covid.

 M's sister is an excellent cook. She made fajitas that we assembled ourselves. The weather was gorgeous that day.  We were happy to see them, his sister has always loved to entertain so it is really hard for her these days. The worst is that Canadian Thanksgiving is approaching and most people will not celebrate to any extent.

Basil Pesto and Some New Soaps

 On our way home from daughter L's fiance's family cottage, we stopped by some other friends to see their beautiful new cottage/retirement home.  We all wore masks.  I took the opportunity to purchase some new soaps from my friend as pictured above.  I can't wait to try the charcoal and coffee soap.  I gave the candy cane one with L.  My friend gave me a large bottle of her basil pesto made with basil from her garden.  It is delicious on pasta.  I will try it on fish and chicken at some point.

Here is the recipe she shared with me, taken from the back of a Costco pine nuts bag.

4 cloves garlic

1/2 pine nuts

2 c fresh basil leaves packed tight

1/4c grated parmesan cheese

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

puree in food processor or blender

How easy is that?

A nice visit

 We spent a few days at Daughter L's fiance's family cottage up north a few weeks ago.  The photo above was taken by son K through the kitchen window when the leaves were just turning.  They took us on a lovely boat ride on Lake Muskoka.  We were fed delicious food, we even toasted marshmallows by the firepit one night.  We reassured ourselves that we were a small group of less than 8  people and spent time mostly outdoors.

My October 2020 Calendar Page

Sharing my calendar page for October with you today.  It is based on my past art.  The quote I chose from Shakespeare says:

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble"

Paint Party Friday - Python ACEO

 For Paint Party Friday I did a Python ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") based on a photo I saw the other day.

And welcome to October!

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Goblins and Trolls

 

Happy October!

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date!  For the 'Goblins and Trolls' theme, I did some trolls for you today.  It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") using permanent markers and paint markers.  I had fun colouring them in.