Tinkerblue

From Sun to Snow

Sunday morning was sunny in Rincon de Guayabitos, Sunday night was snowy in Vancouver.  I am having a hard time adjusting to the real life again.  There's bills to pay, taxes to be prepared, car insurance to be paid, RRSPs to be invested, a job to go to, and laundry to be done.   And it's all still waiting because there's also crafts to be made, letters to be written, cookies to be baked, blogs to be read, comments to be posted, photos to upload and finally there were books to order.   

I'm having trouble keeping track of my amazon orders....

Preordered = 3 copies of the new Harry Potter book, Christmas Feasts from Mexico, British Columbia Wine Country, and Behind the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol.

On back order = Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris, and The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia M Scarry.

And finally something actually on it's way to me = Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing, Little Pea by Amy Krause Rosenthal, Black Books Season 2 on DVD and Alice the Fairy by David Shannon.

Tamara at Little Bits n Pieces finally received her package for the Potholder Swap. 

You can see more photos on her blog.  The swap was a pot holder and a casserole recipe.  I also included a cutting mat, crinkle cutter, pot scrubber, tea towels and a copy of Good Things for the Kitchen.  Then I raided my gift bin for a couple of extra things for her kids.  Oops I just realised the recipe is still here.  So Tamara, if your reading this, there is an envelope on its way to you.

Here is my gift box, which has apparently exploded.  It's stuff I find at markets, dollar stores, online etc.  Most is bought with a particular recipient in mind, and a few things are bought not knowing who they are going to but they will obviously be from Dave and I (the airplane toys).

El Arte De Mexico

Buenos Dias.  I've done absolutely nothing crafty this week.  Instead I have supported Los Artesanos de Mexico.  Today we went to el mercardo en La Penita.  We didn't buy too much, most of our purchases will be gifts.  And in honour of Thinking Day and Girl Guides and Girl Scouts everywhere, we are being prepared.  I bought some stocking stuffers.  Below are some photos of things I didn't buy!

I would love to have this in my bathroom.

This is actually a rug, but it would look great on my wall.

Either of these mirrors would look great in my entryway.

Next time, I will bring a bigger suitcase!

Playa De Los Muertos

Did that sign just say Beach of the Dead?  Yep!  Lets follow the road.  At the end of a very bumpy road is a gorgeous beach in a little  bay.  And yes, it's the beach of the dead - right there on the beach is the local cemetary.

In Stitches Sew Along - February

I'm going to sleep now.

This is my contribution for the February Institches that Kelli and Jessica are running.  It's made of silk and says Ssshh I'm Dreaming.  Should come in handy for our flight to Mexico tomorrow morning.

Speaking of which, I was lucky enough, or my document holders were lucky enough to be the winners of the January Institches Sew Along, and my prize package from Kelli arrived today.

Fabric and zippers and goodies for card making.  A lot more than I expected.  My favourite fabric? This wonderful flowery fabric.

 

I sent a package today too. It's two days late, but it's now on it's way to Tamara for our potholder swap hosted by Monica.  I hope Tamara likes her potholders, my first attempt at sewing some.  I will post a  photo once Tamara receives it, I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Valentines Day is not huge around here.

When I was growing up, we never celebrated Valentines Day.  We didn't give out cards or chocolates at school, we didn't make Valentines Day crafts at brownies.  Maybe it's changed now, I'm not really sure.  It's not something I make a big deal of now.  I'm sure Dave is pleased about that, it's one less day that he doesn't have to remember.   So how did we celebrate? 

I worked the late shift 3-10.30pm, and Dave worked at home!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was more exciting.  We went up to Whistler for the day.  Dave had to measure and draw a hotel, and then we stayed the night at the hotel he measured.  I shopped, went sightseeing and people watched while he worked.

 

We had a delicious dinner at the Keg - Honey BBQ ribs with garlic mashed potatoes for me, and a teriyaki sirloin with a baked potato and caeser salad for him.

This morning we had crepes for breakfast at a bakery near the hotel and then drove back to Vancouver.

1096 days to go

to the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  That's 3 years.  And today the Vancouver Olympic Organising Committee unveiled the countdown clock, in downtown Vancouver. It counts down to the second.

At 1245pmish today there was 1096 days, 5 hours, 14 mintues and 56 seconds to the Opening of the Winter Olympics.

And 1124 days, 5 hours, 19 minutes and 23 seconds to the Opening of the 2010 Paralympics.

I almost finished a couple of works in progess over the weekend.  Can't post completed photos as the recipients have yet to receive their packages, and won't for a few more days, as they are not even in the mail yet.  Here's a teaser...using the Amy Butler fabric, again.  It's my current favourite, so gets used for everything!  I have become a big fan of orange.

Last but not least, some goodies in the mail.  I was a lucky winner of a draw that Sarah at Paper and String had, see the ribbons and cute felt heart?  And a small package from Theresa for our Christmas in Progress project - a tiny glass heart, and some wallpaper squares.

The Chocolate Feast Continues

We are still eating the cheesecake.  That's the trouble when there's only two of you, baking = a lot of food.

And yesterday a box o' chocolate arrived from Amy of Pumpkin Cupcake, my secret fairy in the Valentines event.  Lots of yummy chocolate and an adorable pink felt heart.

And Lori finally received a package I sent her.  Photo courtesy of Lori, cause I forgot to take one.

Nutella, the 6th Food Group

are Howyou celebrating World Nutella Day, hosted by Shelley of At Home Rome and Sara of Ms. Adventures in Italy?

We are celebrating with Banana Boats

• Split banana skin
• stuff with mini marshmallows
• cover with Nutella
• microwave until melted.

Nutella Fondue

Nutella Fondue

• 2/3 cup fat-free chocolate syrup
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• In a small saucepan, stir ingredients together over low heat until smooth and warm.
• Serve warm or at room temperature with strawberries, bananas, pears, oranges, pineapples, angel cake, pound cake for dipping.
• Makes about 1 cup. Per tablespoon: 45 calories; 0.5 g protein; 1 g fat
• The sauce will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

And Baked Nutella Cheesecake.

Edited to add recipe for Baked Nutella Cheesecake.

Crust Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour (250g)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (75g)
• 1/3 cup butter (75g)
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped (125g)

Crust Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Place hazelnuts in single layer on a baking pan
• Place baking pan on middle rack of oven
• Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly coloured and skins are blistered.
• Wrap nuts in kitchen towel, let steam for 1 minute, rub nuts to remove loose skins
• Cool completely

• Combine flour and sugar in mixing bowl
• Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly
• Stir in nuts
• Press mixture firmly on bottom of greased 9" springform pan
• Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes until edges are light brown
• Remove from oven and cool crust completely
• Reduce oven to 300F

Filling Ingredients

• 2 pkgs (8oz/250g) cream cheese softened
• 1 can (300ml) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (50ml)
• 2/3 cup Nutella (150g)

Filling Preparation

• Beat cream cheese in large bowl on medium speed until smooth
• Gradually beat in can of sweetened condensed milk
• Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.  Do not overbeat
• Add lemon juice, beat until just smooth
• In medium bowl, measure 1 1/2 cups of cream cheese mixture
• Stir in nutella
• Spoon half of yellow batter over baked hazelnut crust
• Top with half of the nutella batter
• Repeat layering
• Carefully swirl batter for marble effect.
• Place on middle rack of oven
• Place a baking pan, half filled with hot water on lower rack
• Bake 40-50 minutes, until edges are light brown
• Turn oven off, let cheesecake stand in oven with door ajar for 30 minutes, until centre is completely set.
• Cool on wire rack before refrigerating
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 12-24 hours before serving.

Chocolate - breakfast of champions

Nutella on toast.  I'm practising for World Nutella Day tomorrow.

And the end of last week I sent out my package for the SOSF Valentines event.

The theme was Handmade card and chocolate item.  I forgot to take photos before I wrapped the gifts.  The chocolate items included some of my favourites - Cadbury Chocolate Fingers and Mcvities chocolate penguins (my favourites when I lived in London), Pocky (Japanese), Lindt Raspberry Block(chocolate and raspberry - is there a better combination?), Swoops, Chocolate Fabric by Moda, pink and brown buttons, pink and brown ribbon, Turkish Mocha Soap (smells like chocolate), an Australian Womens Weekly Chocolate Cookbook, and Cadbury Cream Eggs.  The contents had to be replaced more than once!

I included two handmade cards - one all lovey dovey, and one not so lovey dovey.

The tour of our home continues here and here.

I'm So Organised, I'm So Popular

I'm really neither.  I was looking for inspiration for organising my recipes.  More likely I was procratinating, but looking for inspiration sounds better.  I am still trying to find that Nutella Baked Cheesecake, and came across these at seejanework.

They made me laugh out loud.  I needed that after a day of SSS. 

I'll give you three guesses as to what SSS stands for...

Sally Sells Seashells?

No

Simon Says Sit?

Nope

Did you guess...

SWIMSUIT SHOPPING SUCKS?

Yes? Then you would be right.  I need a new swimsuit.  The fabric on mine is now so thin that it's almost indecent.  Did I mention that it's 8 years old.  I don't do bikinis.  I wanna one piece I can actually swim laps in, or if I get hit by a wave in the ocean, the suit won't fall off.  Three hours at the mall, and no luck.

I did however buy two books, a placemat, two magazines and a t-shirt. Not quite what I had planned. Oh and these - I don't send valentines, but they were so damn cute, I couldn't resist.

The three name plaques are finally making their way to Ireland.  I made them the year David (the youngest) was born.  Which was, let me see, 2003!  He's almost 4!  I thought I'd better end them soon.