New Food #1

One of my New Year's resolutions was to do something new every month. I thought I would try and make that even more specific and try a new food every month. I do like to eat, so I figure this goal is a good fit. 

When I was at the green grocers the other day I saw some endive and thought that would be my first food to try. My only exposure to endives are in the movie Emelie. Do you remember how the shop assistant carefully selects and even listens to each endive before deciding on which ones to give Emelie. It was so endearing.

A little research revealed what a quirky vegetable endive is. It is part of the daisy and chicory family and can be eaten cooked or raw. Endive is a complicated vegetable to grow as it involves a two-step process. First the seeds are grown into a leafy plant with a deep tap root. Then the greens are cut off and the roots dug up and put into storage where they become dormant. Then the root is put in a cold, dark, humid environment and the endive is grown (the pale green and white colouring made sense when I read that). Endive are chock full of vitamins, potassium, and fibre.

I modified a simple recipe so I could fully appreciate the taste of the endive. Here's how I cooked them:

INGREDIENTS:
2 endive
1 small apple
1 tablespoon butter or oil
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper

METHOD:
1. trim the stem end and slice 2 endive in half lengthwise 
2. place thin peeled apple slices between the layers of leaves 
3. place in frying pan cut side down with 1 tablespoon butter or oil and cook for 6 minutes
4. gently turn the endive over, add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, add 1/4 cup water, season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook for 12-15 minutes
5. uncover and cook until the liquid has evaporated

Verdict:
I liked the endive better the second day when I took it to work for lunch. It does have a slightly bitter taste which the apple helps to offset. I would make it again, but it wasn't a love-at-first-bite kind of food.

Have you tried endive? What was your verdict? Do you like to try new foods?

Winter Sideboard and Mantel

After the whirlwind that is Christmas all I want is to create simple sideboard and mantel arrangements that will see me through until the spring. Something calm and easy on the eyes, but still pretty.

I added some colour to the sideboard by embracing the warm side of the palette - red, pink, and orange. I was inspired by the fresh colours in the plates that I re-hung on the wall ... after not being able to find them for TWO YEARS.  Yep, two years ago I took them down to hang up the Christmas plates and very carefully put them away so they wouldn't get broken. When I went to put them back up, I couldn't find them anywhere and it has taken all this time for them to reappear.  Welcome back fruit plates.

I like that I can change out the flowers when needed to any red, pink, orange, or even white flowers or maybe even add a potted plant (which is a good thing because shortly after I took these photos the hydrangeas wilted and only half of them recovered). The carved oranges are fully dried now - with the more orangey ones being from the Christmas craft party this year and the more brownish ones being from the craft party last year. They are honestly the easiest hit of natural colour ever. I went wild with the tablecloth just because I love how cheery the colours are. And I couldn't figure out any other place to put the red tissue paper flower I made for the husband's birthday so I hung it from the top of the mirror.

The mantel is still very neutral with a collection of white stoneware across the middle and warm browns on either side with the bracket fungus and the brown pot holding the plant on the other side. That plant has been alive through two summers in the garden and this is its second winter indoors.  I love how it looks like a bonsai.

Do you change up your mantel and sideboard. It's one of my favourite ways to decorate our home.

New Ideas for 2015

Welcome to 2015. We made it through the holidays. I love Christmas with its bustle of family activities and mad dash for the finish line of gift buying and wrapping and opening and eating.  Oh, the eating.  So much eating. Anyway, I love it all, but I get to the beginning of the year and I, like almost everyone else, feel the need for a little simplicity and calmness and health living.

I'm a resolutions kind of girl, but it often takes me a bit of time to think what I want to accomplish in a year. Here's what I have come up with for 2015:

1. Try something new every month. It might be a new vegetable, visit a town I haven't explored, a restaurant I haven't been to, or a museum I haven't visited.

2. Work on incorporating my new way of eating into my life to maintain my weight. I lost 10 pounds in the fall through changing the way I ate and I want to work on making it my new normal way to eat (I slip back to old habits at the drop of a hat). More details to come in another post.

3. Experiment with new settings on camera. Sigh! I say this every year and I still don't know how to use my camera, but I really want to learn. Let 2015 be the year!

4. Travel to a new place. So far Peru and Iceland are being considered, but who knows. I get to January 1st every year and like clockwork I begin to pine to travel. I start contemplating where I might go, when, the itinerary, what to see, what to pack. I love all the planning and contemplating as it fills my mind with possibilities. By the way, you can tell that the travelling bug has got me because I spent a good part of today setting up my Travel page (along the header of my blog). Feel free to have a look and let me know what you think.

Do you set goals for a new year? I love that quotation at the top of my blog - a new heart is always a good idea!

New Year's in the Snow

We went to the cottage for a few days over New Year's and ended up staying a day longer because of a snowstorm. It is lovely to be snowed in (or even only semi-snowed in) when you aren't in a rush to get home.

Over the course of three days we went from having only a little bit of snow in the bush

to a lot of snow everywhere.

There were crazy snowsqualls

with wild yetis wandering about on the lake and through the woods. The yetis do look vaguely familiar, I have to admit. They carried sticks for safety on the ice, but then became crazed circle-making machines.

We also had calm, sunny weather as well.

Most days began and ended with gentle sunsets and sunrises.

There were frozen puddles with oak leaves suspended in the ice

and snow dusting the dry oak leaves making them look like Christmas cookies

and shimmery ice crystals in the air

and a warm and cozy cabin to come back to

with the best view to admire while eating.

Our days were spent reading, chatting, and walking through the woods or on the lake.  

  
We welcomed the new year with a meal of Nigerian Curry and an evening playing a murder mystery game and a toast of champagne at midnight.

And after we had eaten every shred of food we brought, we left pulling our bags on the toboggans.

  

  
 The end!

 

2014 in Review

2014 was a different kind of year. My father's death at the end of 2013 meant a lot of firsts for us this year. We managed, but 2014 was a sadder, more reflective, and slower paced year. I didn't have the energy to tackle any major projects. I just puttered along. 

It was a miserable winter with snowstorm after snowstorm. I have endless photos (and memories too) of piles of snow, shoveling snow, sun on snow etc. The snowstorms always seemed to hit on weekends which thankfully meant we didn't have to drive to work in the snow, but did mean we were housebound. We just kind of hibernated and licked our wounds (and shoveled snow).

In the midst of all those snowstorms our dear dog Juno passed away.

At the end of February, we embraced the crazy snow and cold temperatures and went to Niagara Falls to see some of the best ice mounds I have ever seen.

We went to the cottage lots this year - beginning in the March Break; then for Easter; often in the summer; with a friend in September to paint clouds and water; with friends and family for Thanksgiving in October; and with my mom in November. Here's a years worth of cottage photos to scroll through.

    

I never really gave up blogging, but I posted far less often for the first half of 2014 than ever before. By September I had regained my energy and hit my stride and rediscovered the joy of blogging which I wrote a blog post about (here) (By the way, the husband thinks it is one of my best blog posts).

I did get a few things accomplished during the year - even some things that were on my 2014 New Year's resolutions list.  

I painted our dining room chairs navy and still love the colour.

I baked bread.

In the summer, I went on a fantastic trip with the husband and my mother to Newfoundland. We had perfect weather and saw such amazing beautiful sites. We all want to go back.

I painted a large painting (well large for me).

And finally, although I don't have a photo of it, I kept the stairs clear of clutter. all. year. long. (which is a complete first for me).  I decided it would be part of my fitness plan to actually take the items up or down the stairs rather than putting them on a step to wait for me to take them later. I love having the stairs clear and now can't stand having anything on them. Oh and speaking of my fitness plan, I did a little self-improvement and made some changes to my diet and fitness regime and have lost 10 pounds (more about that later).

I also got my crafting on this year - well a little bit anyway.

Kate was off at the University of Bath in England for the spring semester and did lots and lots of traveling (lucky girl). Since she was away for her birthday I made her a set of pop-up cards showing three of the places she had visited by that point.

I made little Hallowe'en treats to send to our son and daughter who were away at university.

I made personalized advent calendars for the same son and daughter (here)

 We made twig Santas at my annual Christmas craft party (here).

I decorated our mantel in a Scandinavian style (here).

We decorated our woodland Christmas tree with owls made from toilet paper rolls (here).

And I sketched and painted some scenes from my daughter's travels as a Christmas present for her (I also did one of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal for my son and daughter-in-law for Christmas, but forgot to get a photo of it before they went home).

The husband had a significant birthday at the beginning of December which meant a significant present was in order.

And so we end the year with a new family member - the significant present and presence of Ruggles. 

I'm still pondering what resolutions to make for 2015. I can assure you that they won't be anything too wild, but I'll post about them later (when I know what they are, haha!)

I'm wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year, my friends!


Linked to Best Projects of 2014 party at Southern Hospitality