Morning Moon

I took this photo of the moon the other morning. It's not the best shot, but until I get a better cell phone camera....

I made some baked kale chips recently and wanted to use the kale stems. This is how I did them, and they were delicious:

Kale Stems Recipe

kale stems finely chopped
1 onion chopped
3 tbs oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 c stock
1/2 c water blended with 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Saute stems and onions until onions are tender. Add stock and water blended with cornstarch. Cover and simmer 15 mins.

Creative Tuesdays - Forest

Here is my contribution to Creative Tuesdays'  'Forest' theme.   It's acrylic (6" x 6") on cardstock.

Linking to Creative Tuesdays.

My beef outside round roast

I was at the supermarket and I will frequently check out the meat that is going for 30% off. I saw a few pieces of outside round roast which had a 'best before date' of the day I was shopping. I thought, what a waste, and almost felt obligated to get one because I knew they would throw them out that day. The piece I got weighed about 4 1/2 pounds. You could freeze the meat if you are not cooking it that same day. However, I decided to marinate it and roast it that same evening. The meat was tender and would provide many leftover sandwiches for days after. Here's how I roasted this less tender cut:

Beef Outside Round Roast

4 1/2 lbs of beef outside round
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp herbed garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
t tsp dried thyme (or herbs of your choice)
2 tbs dark soy sauce
6 tbs ketchup
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
2 cups of low sodium broth

(my measurements are approximate so feel free to marinate to your preference!)

Preheat oven to 325F

Put the marinated meat in a baking tray lined with first with foil and then with parchment paper on top. Pour the broth into the tray, you might even do this before adding the meat. Then lay a sheet of foil loosely over top with the shiny side down. Bake for 1.5 hours for a medium roast. It will be moist and tender and ready for slicing. I made a gravy with the drippings after slicing and with the leftover stock in the pan.

Sunday Sketches - The Pig

One of my sisters was recently in San Diego at a fair and sent me a photo of her with a 600 lb pig named Peaches. I decided to sketch him with watercolour pencils on cardstock (4 1/2"h x 6 1/2"w).

She saw the pig races and said  'it was hysterical.  The names of the little pigs were soooo funny.

...The worst behaved pig's name is Lindsay LoHAM.  A couple of the others' names were Brad Pig,  Barack of ribs Obama, and Christina HOGulera.'

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

Careful what you ask for....

A middle-aged couple had finally learned how to send and receive texts on their cell phones. The wife, being a romantic at heart, decided one day that she'd send her husband a text while she was out of the house having coffee with a friend. She texted:

If you are sleeping, send me your dreams.
If you are laughing, send me your smile.
If you are eating, send me a bite.
If you are drinking, send me a sip.
If you are crying, send me your tears.
I love you.

The husband, being a no-nonsense sort of guy, texted back:

I'm on the toilet. Please advise.

Paint Party Friday - The Spill

I spilled some coffee the other day and thought it would be interesting to paint it. It's acrylic and pencil on cardstock (6 1/2"h x 4 1/2"w).

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

Frozen Grapes

I received these gorgeous art cards from Sharon in the mail yesterday.  Thanks Sharon, they are beautiful, and all the way from New Zealand!

Here is our latest summer snack, small, frozen, seedless grapes. I had the idea from a cashier at the grocery store. She told me they are so good to take to a picnic. Son K loves them.  Have you tried these before?

Here's a great article I read in the newspaper recently. It highlights the law firm 'McCarthy Tétrault' as being a leader in work and family balance.  It tops up maternity pay for lawyers and a portion is available to fathers taking parental leave.  Support staff also have similar benefits.  It offers lawyers flexibility at different times in their career and there is a focus on moving women into leadership roles.  It would be great if more companies would understand the business benefits of work and family balance.

And did you hear McDonald's introduced the McLobster roll to Ontario, Canada yesterday?  It retails for about $7 and $9 for the combo although it's unclear which locations are carrying it. Here is some information I found. Here's some more.