Thank You!

Who ever you are, you made my day!! Imagine getting a anonymous surprise package in the mail that congratulated us on the mortgage burning - filled with confetti!! It made me smile all day long. Thank you!

Where Has December Gone?

I can not believe that the month has slipped by so quickly - with our family trip to Hawaii and then preparation for Christmas, the over the top holiday rush and inventory lists due to Edna, the month has come and nearly gone!
Our trip to Hawaii was excellent - we did not get lost even once, we got to experience a helicopter ride over the entire island and we went to an authentic Hawaiian luau ( I hope I spelled that right). Getting there was quite an ordeal, as Murray hurt his back severly just a few days before we left and was flat out in bed for about four days - we were not even sure that he was going to make the trip. The only way that he was able to stand the 24 hours of travelling, was to get both Murray and Mike seats in first class, so they had room to stretch out and Mike could take off his leg and give it some rest. So, while the two men enjoyed the luxuries of first class, Megan and I were stuck in coach. Our plane ran into a head wind on the way and it made the trip even longer, so by the time that we drove across the island to one resort, to pick up the keys to our condo, and then travelled to the second resort and fell into bed, we had been awake and traveling for a full 24 hours!! We were exhausted!
WTF!!!! We were awakened at 5:00am by seriously irritating, fricken roosters! The whole island is covered with Banty chickens and about 15 of them were in our back yard crowing up a storm. There was no way that you could sleep, as our outside condo walls were full of open louvers that allowed the breezes to blow into the house (I am assuming that this is to prevent mold and mildew from setting in, due to the high humidity) The noise of all of the roosters, had the four of us up closing windows and louvres - then we tried to go back to bed. Only to be awakened at 8:00am by the front desk, inviting us down to breakfast and a time share presentation. You have got to be kidding!! I am afraid that the lady was pretty shocked by the reaction that she got, and she probably wrote "cranky bitch" in our file, after Megan gave her a piece of her mind and slammed down the receiver. After that, we always let Megan deal with the people that harassed us about buying a time share, as they could not make any head way with her! Not that they didn't try - time share sales people are very persistent!
Two days of rain followed, and I was forced to wear my winter coat on the beaches. Everyone else was fine, but I was too cold, so I got some pretty weird looks from people who were walking by with shorts and a surf board! Then the sun came out for three days and we were able to explore and travel the island.
The day before we were to leave, we checked into the Marriott Resort in Luhui , so that we could be to the airport on time. I finally found my own personal heaven!! I could have stayed there for the rest of my life!!!! Lava Flow drinks, beautiful Hawaiian flowers, room service, spotless sandy beach - OMG, I had died and gone to the promised land!
Then we had to come home - 83 degrees in Hawaii, -13 degrees in Calgary. Why did we come home?

"Don't Do That!"

Way back in the summer, I was fooling around with my blog and happened to click on a little tab called "Next Blog". It shot me off to a random blog somewhere in the US and with another click, I was reading a funny blog from a 20-something girl in Sweden. Fascinated, I kept clicking just to see where it would lead me next. Then....the most exciting thing happened!! About ten clicks in, I stumbled upon something that has changed my life forever!! The blog was called "Confessions of a Plate Addict" and I was instantly riveted to the screen.

You all know how much I love dishes!! I would go without food and clothes ( and I do go without shoes, handbags, and buying new clothes) in favor of buying dishes. I can walk down a mall and walk right past all of the clothing stores and not even look in the window. Put a set of dishes in that window and you have me at first glance!!! I am a compulsive dish shopper - I have no shame! I actually just bought some pieces last week and gave them to Megan to gift wrap and give back to me at Christmas!! My mom has done that in the past for me as well. I am conniving, calculating and totally addicted!

So you can see why this blog affected me so deeply. I never knew that there were table setting competitions out there, where people from all over the world participated. One blog led to another and my heart nearly stopped when I discovered the blog "Between Naps on the Porch". This lady is talented!!! Her tablescapes ROCK...she has more dishes than you can possibly imagine - and no, she does not rent them or purchase and return after the event. I greedily devoured her blog, where all of the displays are categorized according to theme. I was happily clicking my way to nirvana when the phone rang. My husband - wanting to know if I was ever going to come home and make supper. Holy shit, I had been looking at the tablescapes for over two and a half hours!!

Later, at home, I must have been thinking about my new guilty little pleasure (and smiling) because Mike asked me what I was thinking about and smiling about. I didn't really want to tell him, knowing that he would laugh. He almost laughed, then a look of pure horror crossed his face when he realized that I was not pulling his leg and I was dead serious. "DON"T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" he threatened. He has had the stress of trying to explain my themed "holiday" tree that used to sit in my dining room. In January it had snowflakes and snowballs and snowmen, in February it was decorated for Valentine's Day, in March, Saint Patrick graced the tree - you get the picture. Just remember that we live on a farm. Other people did not get it (the tree) at all. Mike was used to some neighbor asking "Why is your Christmas tree still up?" and then listening to me go through the explanation that it was NOT a Christmas tree. (At which point he was already rolling his eyes!) The thought of having to explain a table that was set, that no one was going to eat at, no company was going to come ...he just couldn't stand it!

He does not ever "forbid" me to do something. This time, he drew a line in the sand and FORBID me to cross it!! Well, what he does not know does not hurt him in the least!! My girlfriends and I adapted the concept to mean any decorating project and so we choose a spot that needs some attention or a theme for a holiday and we have fun doing it on our own. I also plan on doing the tablescape thing too - but I am going to be smart enough to plan a supper party so that it is not so obvious. As long as it involves food - then Mike will fall for it!!!

The reason that I chose this topic today was the beautiful tablescape that "Between Naps On The Porch" posted for this week. My decorating hero used a Christmas Village for the centerpiece of her Christmas table. The lit buildings are basically the candles on the table. It is beyond BEAUTIFUL and well worth looking at. I am always struggling to find places for my set that keeps growing and growing. I never thought of using it as a table centerpiece!!! Check it out!!! If you can not find it, just email me and I will help you discover it. Don't forget to look at the Beach tablescapes - they are breathtaking!

Where is the Confetti?

Today, I did something that I have been waiting for - for 21 years. (To be exact) Sometimes I never thought that it would ever happen.

First, about nineteen years ago, Mike broke the ball off the top of his right elbow. It healed. Then he broke it off again. We almost lost our roofing company in the aftermath of his extended healing time and the fact that we were just starting out in his business and we had just bought the farm. That was strike #1.

Then we tried to catch up by renting 150 Simmental cows in a partnership agreement. I was against it from the start. Mike was "all in". One particularly bad calving season, when we lost over 1/3 of our calves to viral scours and both of us were suicidal from all of the little black and white dead bodies, we almost "cashed in" the farm. Cows returned, partnership ended...strike#2
Did I mention that a big Simmental cow can eat a big round bale of hay a day! And if you think that my reference to the cows in comparing them to a poker game is just an accident, you are wrong. Owning cows is the biggest frickin gamble that you can ever take!!

Then the infamous 30 foot on the job site. Most of you know how that turned out. That was strike #3.

Then the slip on the ice and the implosion that spelled the end for Mike's leg. Strike#4.

But today, I walked in the Pincher Creek Credit Union at exactly 10:00 am and made the FINAL F------ payment on the farm. We are done!! Twenty one years. Twenty one years of scraping and making do. Twenty years of wicked blizzards and digging frozen calves out of snow drifts. Two years of bad grasshoppers that ate our crops. Three years when it was so wet that we didn't even get to seed. One year that the crop froze in the field. Nineteen years of raising our kids on the farm. Four life changing crisis situations. (All involve Mike, do you see a pattern here?)

You know what? Somehow I expected that there would be bells that went off, confetti would fly, a grinning bank manager would slap me on the back and say "Way to persevere, lady!" and hand me a glass of champagne. I was envisioning that something should happen like when you are in Vegas and you hit a jackpot. Lights go off, there are sirens, everyone stands around admiring your good fortune...Nothing! A little "blip" on the computer and the line disappeared and the teller asked "Is that all?" I wanted to shout right back at her "What do you mean, is that all, you -----!" I was so let down. It was so anti climatic. Twenty one years and no confetti. What the hell?

Spinach & Chicken Bake

Here you go girls - the recipe that you requested!

Layered Chicken & Spinach Bake

4 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 bag fresh spinach
6-8 chicken breasts, pounded to a uniform thickness
flour for dredging
salt and pepper
1 finely diced shallot
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup Chardonnay
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 can of low sodium chicken broth
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 pound thinly sliced Fontina, Gorgonzola or Mozzarella - I usually have to use Mozzarella, as the other two, while delicious are hardly ever in the stores in Pincher Creek
Hot cooked egg noodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and over medium heat saute the spinach until just wilted. Remove from pan and spread in the bottom of a large baking dish.

Dredge chicken pieces (that you have pounded the heck out of) with the flour and season with salt and pepper. Using the same frying pan (because I hate doing dishes) heat the 2 tbsp of olive oil and saute the chicken until lightly browned and cooked through. You may have to work in batches so that you don't overcrowd the pan. Put the chicken on top of the spinach in the baking dish.

Add the shallot and the mushrooms to the saute pan (you may have to add just a touch of oil oil) and cook them until the shallot is translucent. De glaze the pan by adding the white wine and the balsamic vinegar, scrape up all of the tasty brown bits into the wine sauce.

Add chicken broth and bouillon cube, stir. If sauce is too thin, thicken it with a little cornstarch slurry. (If you don't know what this is, make a runny paste of cornstarch and water and add it GRADUALLY to the pan until you achieve the desired consistency) You want it to not be thick, and not water like. Somewhere in the middle. How's that for directions?

Bring sauce to a boil and remove from heat. Place cheese slices on top of chicken breasts. Pour sauce over the whole thing. Cover with tinfoil.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, until cheese is slightly melted and sauce is bubbly.

Serve over hot egg noodles. Yummmmm!!!!!!

Good luck Shawn!