Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Tree!

Just a quick little post for today...my Mom received this email about an Easter tree in Germany. It was too pretty not to share with the rest of you!

'Strangely enough, such a thing as an Easter tree already exists, and it can be found in Germany. Around 1945, when he was just a young boy, Volker Kraft saw his very first Easter Tree (Eierbaum, Osterbaum or Ostereirbaum, in German), and decided he would have one of his very own, when he grew up. Time passed and young Volker became a married man, with a family and everything. But his childhood dream stuck with him and he decorated his first Easter Tree, in 1965. He used 18 colored plastic eggs.

But the tree was growing fast and he and his wife, Christa couldn’t afford to waste so many Easter eggs. So they began drilling holes into the eggs, using the contents in the kitchen, and the painted shells as decorations. When their children grew up, they started helping with the decorating,and the Easter Tree became a family tradition, known not only in their home town of Saalfeld, but all of Germany.'


After their kids moved out of the house, it seemed the Easter Tree would finally catch a break, but grandsons arrived and the Krafts went back to decorating their giant tree. The number of Easter eggs hung by the tree’s branches grew every year,and in 2010 it reached an incredible 9,500 eggs.







There are many websites that have this information on it, but I got this one from here and then I found what I think is the original site! I hope everyone had a great Easter!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Egg-cellent ideas

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail....well, the Easter season is upon us and Little Miss and I created our Easter eggs today!
I decided to blow some of them out and boil the rest of them.  I had Little Miss drop the colour pellets into the cups, she enjoyed watching them melt into the water.
In my mind I pictured these beautifully coloured eggs...something like these



Martha Stewart's Lace Eggs

Instead, we improvised and came up with our own versions...maybe next year I'll pre-plan a little more and have the right tools! We were still very please with our creations none the less!

Little Miss all ready to begin!






 My attempt at Martha Stewart's stenciled eggs 


Little Miss stenciled her egg with painter's tape and stickers


 Our finished product...pretty colours and perfect for us!!

What I learned...the stickers worked well on the eggs, the painter's tape was a little trickier, because you needed to make sure it was the same width, on straight and no bubbles...as you can see from my trial it was challenging!  Oh and I really had no clue what I was doing because I decided to do it while sitting at the table!!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Fabulous Friday!

Yesterday was a great day!  What girl doesn't love a little pampering? My afternoon started with getting my hair done (a couple of hours uninterrupted - what Mom doesn't crave that?) 




Then we dropped Little Miss off at a close friends for an 'overnight' and then we headed to the city for a 'marriage retreat' that our Pastor was speaking at. 
We stayed at a swanky hotel, each room had a welcoming bottle of 'Apple Cider' and some chocolates. We gathered for a little meet and greet and then sat down an awesome meal...we had a choice of New York strip steak, Fillet Mignon, chicken with crabmeat or salmon...Hubby and I each had the fillet..melted in our mouth!! Definitely a top notch meal!  We did an exercise and watched a movie...a really nice evening and no interruptions!!
The morning began with a lovely buffet breakfast (crispy bacon = happy me) and then we met for our sessions with our Pastor and the hosting Bishop and First Lady. 
We ended the retreat with a delicious caesar salad (yum) and chicken florentine lunch, with key lime pie for dessert (double yum!)
Even though we were away for less than 24hrs...it was a great way to have some adult time for us!

How was your Friday??

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Come back Maine Cottage!!

As I have been surfing around this big ol' net, a favourite website of mine to check out was Maine Cottage, out of Yarmouth, Maine.  Sadly they have closed without warning to customers and now everything left in the few stores will be sold off by the bank!!  Oh how I wish I lived closer to one of the stores!!  


Here are a few pictures of what they sold...




Beautiful fabrics and accessories



 Great shelving units and a colour choices


Classy furniture



Such a relaxing space


Each colour they offered came in mulitple fabric prints and textures, they even had their own spray paint line! 


I am sad for the company, they were in business for 20 years.


At least I have one catalogue to refer too...their blog is still up and running...so you can always take a peek for yourselves and take note of your favourites!!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Signs of Spring!

Well...this weekend finally felt like spring and today was amazing...it seems like it's been an extra long winter (Cheri knows it has!)  The temperature hit 11 C here yesterday (51 F for my American friends) and a beautiful 25 C today (or 77 F). We spent most of Saturday doing yard work and other things outside...well Hubby did the yard work part!
Little Miss and I talked about different 'signs of spring', then went for a short bike ride to see what we could see!


We found some pretty flowers and then bundled up my Little Miss to keep her warm with the cool breeze we had blowing.

What signs do you see??

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Too early for summer salads?

I first had this salad at a friend's, daughter's birthday party.  I was hooked after the first bite! I usually make this salad in the summer because I can get local produce at the farmers market. My mouth is watering just thinking of all the flavours!!
With signs of spring popping up here and there along with a few days of warm weather...my taste buds are ready for something exciting again!!
This 'Panzanella' salad has been made by many, I have adapted mine from Barefoot Contessa's, her's can be found here....

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, I have been using Grapeseed oil
  • 1 small French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large, ripe tomatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 english cucumber, unpeeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 red bell pepper, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced
  • 20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped

 Vinaigrette:

  • 1 tsp finely minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp vinegar - I have been using white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil - I have been using Grapeseed oil instead
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently,until browned, about 10 minutes. Add more oil as needed.
Vinegrette, whisk all the ingredients together.
In a large bowl, mix all the veggies, add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavours to blend.

Well...my first post...a yummy salad...let me know what you think after you make it!

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