The missing tax receipt

 Recently I made a small donation to the Canadian Red Cross to take advantage of their triple match offer.  I requested the tax receipt in husband M's name.  When it didn't arrive I emailed them requesting a replacement receipt.  I felt that maybe I mistyped the email or something.  After a few days back and forth with the Canadian Red Cross the duplicate receipt is supposedly on its way with very good customer service I might add. 

 Then one morning I woke up thinking 'what if the original receipt is in the spam folder of husband M's email?'  And sure enough, there it was!  A simple donation became unnecessarily complicated for no good reason.  

And here we are at the end of April!  My children's birthdays have come and gone this month.

Uh Oh

 Well look who showed up on our driveway last week.  Cute duck but husband M shooed him away, we don't want them settling in our yard anywhere!  It is nesting season.  We don't usually see them this far from the local pond.  Mind you, husband M saw geese settled in the planters at the grocery store not too far away.  Their habitat is threatened by all the construction of new housing over the years.

Sunday Smiles - Philanthropy

 Welcome to Sunday Smiles!

Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Many Amaryllis Bulbs

 Well I had this red amaryllis plant which had never bloomed since the first time a couple of years ago.  So I decided to uncover the bulb and discovered it had split into 5 bulbs!  Here are the 5 new bulbs repotted.  I will have to cut them back and let them hibernate in November and see what they do next January.  After that I may be tired of all this.  I am not a nursery after all, haha.

Friday Art - African Girl

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is my African Girl ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") inspired by a photo I saw in the newspaper a few months ago, advertising a theatre show. 

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday. 

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Disco and Cauliflower Salad

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date! The theme is 'Disco'.  I did an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") inspired by John Travolta in the 70's (Saturday Night Fever). 

For the Dinner Date, I made a cauliflower salad similar to the way in which I would make a potato salad.  This is better for people who have to watch their carbs!

Ingredients

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dijon mustard 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 cauliflower cut into florets

3-4 tbs of mayonnaise

1 tbs unsalted butter

1 tsp dried oregano

Directions

Boil cauliflower for about 15 minutes in salted water until fork tender.

'

Wednesday Memes

 

Decorative Clips

 I got these decorative clips on clearance at the grocery store after Easter for 34c each package.  I am thinking they would make great chip bag clips.

Turnip Fries

 Daughter L found a recipe for turnip fries and I tried it.  They were really good and disappeared.  Season as for regular fries (olive oil,salt, pepper, etc)  then  Air Fryer 390 F for 20-25 minutes.

Sunday Smiles - Bee Face

 For Sunday Smiles I saw this high resolution camera shot of a bee face posted online by Lopez Ailyn.  Isn't it fascinating?

Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Zucchini Soup

 

I decided to make some zucchini soup.  Here it is all blended with a hand blender.

Here is my recipe.  I have made enough soups now that I don't even need a recipe.

4 zucchinis cut into segments

2-3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 onion chopped

bunch of celery leaves chopped (or 2 stalks celery chopped)

1 carrot chopped

1 bouillon cube

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried basil

2 gr onions diced

2-3 slices ginger (optional)

1 potato peeled and cut into 4 pieces

6-7 c water

1 tbs unsalted butter

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs lemon juice

Saute onions, carrots, celery, ginger in olive oil and butter.  When softened, add garlic.  Add salt, pepper, basil, lemon juice.  Add water, zucchini, potato.  Simmer 30 minutes.  I let it cool down a bit then blended the soup with a hand blender.

Friday Art - Audrey

 

Welcome to Friday Art!  My inspiration for this ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") was a 1957 photo I saw of Audrey Hepburn taken for the movie Funny Face. Such a pretty lady.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Spoons and Cauliflower Mash

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  The theme is 'Spoons' and here is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

For the Dinner Date, I made some cauliflower mash using my blender. 

1 large cauliflower cut into florets

1 potato peeled and quartered (optional)

2 tbs Greek yogurt

1 tbs dijon mustard

1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

5-6 cloves garlic minced

2 tbs unsalted butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried chives

Boil the cauliflower and potato (if using) in salted water for 20-25 mins until fork tender.  Blend in blender until finely mashed.  Transfer to a bowl.  Saute garlic in butter.  Mix it into the bowl of cauliflower with parmesan, salt, pepper, paprika, chives, Greek yogurt.  Enjoy!

Wednesday Memes

 

Some Good news

 I am happy to report I found a new family doctor.  After asking around and putting myself on several waiting lists in the area since last December, I continued my search and located a young woman actually accepting new patients.  She seems really nice and competent.  

There are many without a family doctor in Ontario.

Calla Lily Surprise

 My friend S shared this photo of her calla lily from last year that surprisingly bloomed in her house.  It was a lovely surprise.

Sunday Smiles

 Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

'A shadow is basically the absence of light. Fire doesn't have a shadow cause fire is itself a source of light, so the wall or obstacle you'd be expecting it's shadow to fall on, would instead be covered by the light from the fire. Hence, fire has no shadow.'  Reference here.

Reverse Graffiti

 I've never heard of reverse graffiti before, it sounds neat.

Friday Art - Ballerina Orchid

Welcome to Friday Art!  This is a ballerina orchid ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  You can Google many images of this interesting flower.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Wheels and Air Fyer Canned Salmon Patties

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  Here is my 'wheels' interpretation ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  I used a gold acrylic paint marker.

For the Dinner Date, I made some canned salmon patties in the air fryer.  They were very good.  It is a great way to eat more fish.  I put some Mexican Valentina hot sauce on the side.

Air fry at 400F for 8 minutes per side.

2 small cans of salmon

1 egg

1/2c panko bread crumbs

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried dill

1/2 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 tbs mayonnaise

1/4 c milk

2 tsp dijon mustard

Mix all the ingredients together and form 6 patties.

Line the air fryer with parchment paper.  Air fry at 400F for 8 minutes per side.  I did not preheat the air fryer.

Here is a photo of a second batch I made after the first batch quickly disappeared.  This time I did 8 minutes continuously each side.  The first batch I did 5 minutes each side then another 3 minutes per side.

Wednesday Memes

 

Cauliflower Pizza

 I found this cauliflower pizza kit at Costco.  It is made with cauliflower, rice flour and potato starch.  It is crispy and quite good.  It comes with sauce and you add your own cheese and toppings.  In the 2nd photo I added some of the microgreens I got from my friend S (see yesterday's post).

Mustard Microgreens

 My friend dropped off some mustard microgreens that her nephews have been growing for a potential business opportunity.  Anyway, she told me I can snip some leaves off and add them to salads and sandwiches, whatever.  I have to keep the roots submerged in a shallow container of water.  They are growing other kinds of microgreens so she will share others at some point.

Sunday Smiles

 

Spiced coca cola

 Daughter L brought over this free sample of spiced coca cola for us all to try.  When she orders groceries from Walmart online she gets a chance to select free samples on offer.  It has 'a sharp raspberry kick' according to L.  To me, it just tastes like coke.  But I am more used to drinking diet coke.

Friday Art - Cheese on Toast

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is 'Cheese on Toast' complete with 'face',  ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2).

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Churches and Bulgur Wheat

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date.  For the 'Churches' theme I did Gothic church arches.  I used acrylic markers and watercolour pencils.

For the Dinner Date, I made some Bulgur Wheat inspired by dining in a Turkish Restaurant last month.

1 c coarse bulgur wheat

2 c water

1/2 onion minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp dried cloves

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1 bay leaf

2 squirts of lemon juice

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs unsalted butter

In a medium saucepan, saute onions in butter and olive oil.  Mix in spices, bulgur and lemon juice.  Add water and simmer covered 15 minutes.  Mix together and enjoy.

I was inspired by a few Instagram recipes, but they all seem to use a 2 to 1 ratio of water to bulgur.

Wednesday Memes