So um..

So I'm a slacker...I know I know! I've been slack but hey kids, big news....I"M GETTING MARRIED!

Dan and I had decided to go away to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. We went to the Diby Pines in Digby, NS. We were in our room watching TV the first afternoon there, because it was rainy, and Dan got up to mess around with something in his bag. I kept watching tv and just hanging out on the bed. I could feel him standing behind me so I turned around and he was staring out the window. I looked at him then at the window then at him and I said "What are you doing?" I figured he was looking at a boat coming in the harbour. He wasn't. He immediately dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box. He looks at me and simply said "Will you marry me?" The first thought that ran thru my head was "OMG! Is he serious?! REALLY?!"" But I didn't say it instead I screamed OMG YES and jumped on him!! We kissed and hugged and it was WONDERFUL!!

Spring Cleaning

I haven't abandoned you, I swear! It's just been very busy around here.  I've got volunteer work, real work, a relationship, my dogs, trying to get to the gym...and omg I've been sick!

So it's that time of year - time to spring clean!! What does your Spring Cleaning entail?  Well mine is not a lot.  I know I know! I need to get on it.  Some people clean their entire houses from top to bottom, I don't.  I keep my house neat and tidy but I really hate the idea of spending ALL my energy and time cleaning someone elses house.  I mean really, we rent, why am I going to go to great lengths to keep it? Well really, the place looks better now than when we moved in...but that's another story.

So here's my routine, let's hear about yours...

Weekend One - The usual, vacuuming the house, mop the floors, laundry (drying on the line!!!) and dishes.
Weekend Two - Clean all furniture, wash all rugs/carpets/pillows/blankets/throws/etc, probably vacuuming again (those pugs shed like MAD)
Weekend three - Closet clean.  Anything you haven't worn in 3 months goes. (Excluding special occasion dresses, etc) Bedroom clean and bathroom clean (shower stall, mop floors, wipe down walls, toliet clean, curtains, the WHOLE thing!)

And then I'm done.  Yes it takes me 3 weekend b/c I only work on Sundays.  Saturdays are my days off.  Live with it;)

Receipe Share!

It's that time of the year again - ASPARAGUS SEASON!!!!  Dan and I ADORE asparagus.  I will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if he'll let me (he won't but that's another story).  So in honor of one of my favorite veggies I will now present you with my three favorite asparagus recipes.  One for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner.  Enjoy!

Asparagus Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 loaf  sliced bread, crusts removed
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 cup cubed fully cooked ham
6 eggs
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

Instructions:
In a saucepan, cover asparagus with water; cover and cook until just tender but still firm. Drain and set aside.

Lightly brush margarine over one side of bread slices. Place half of the bread, buttered side up, in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Layer with asparagus and ham. Cover with remaining bread, buttered side up.

In a bowl, lightly beat eggs; add milk, onion, salt and mustard; pour over bread.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 50 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Return to the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Makes 10-12 servings.

Cream of Asparagus Soup
I got this from Canadian Living a few years ago.  It's FANTASTIC!
Ingredients:
1-1/2 1-1/2lb  asparagus
2 tbsp butter (I use margarine)
1 chopped leek (use the white part only)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4tsp pepper
4 cups chicken broth (if vegetarian you can use veggie broth as well)
1/3 cup 10% cream (I use 2% milk)
chopped Fresh chives

Instructions:
Cut asparagus into stalks into 1-1/2-inch lengths. Set aside.
In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium heat; cook leek until very soft.  About 10 minutes.

Add asparagus, parsley, lemon rind, lemon juice and pepper to pan. Pour in broth and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until asparagus is tender, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, remove 1 cup  of the asparagus tips; chop coarsely and set aside.

In batches in  food processor, puree sou.  You should also press it through sieve over saucepan to remove any fibre. Pour in cream and heat until steaming. Serve garnished with set-aside chopped asparagus and sprinkling of chives.


Broiled Asparagus
Use this as a side with a delicious steak or BBQ chicken breast.

Ingredients
12-24 asparagus stalks, trimmed

1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
a pinch (maybe like 1/6 or an 1/8 of a tsp) ground cumin
1/4 grated lemon rind
a pinch black pepper & salt to taste
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients, expect asparagus in a bowl.  Spread over your veggies then broil them for about 10 minutes(on the highest rack) in your oven.

I hope you enjoyed my recipes.  I look forward to having LOTS of asparagus this season.

Beautifying the backyard

As I mentioned last week I really want to discover my green thumb.  So I decided that I should start with some flowers.  I figured flowers were an easy start and they would brighten up my backyard.  So I ran to Farmer Clem's and got some supplies...

In this picture you can see my yellow mums, orange sunfire something-or-others, soil, fertilizer, etc, etc.  Anyways Mol and I set to work getting some rocks to stablize the bottom of the planter while Dan drilled a few drainage holes in the bottom.  Once we had the rocks in place we poured in some soil and set to work planting our moms and such...it took some messy hands, a broom for clean up and a few play breaks...

But we did it! Once the job was done I tidied the yard and put out the new chairs I bought at Canadian Tire.  With a new table in between and some votive candle holders I think my little oasis in the back yard is coming  along quite nicely!  It's not much to look at yet but with some more flowers,

my hummingbird feeder, some decorative cushions (that I'm sewing!!) and some more greenery I think it will be a lovely place to sit and relax in the evenings.

This is my chair...note my beautiful flowers

It's not much yet, but soon it will be our backyard get-away

Sunshine, seasalt and steak!

While at the grocery store today I saw "top sirloin grilling medallions" on sale.  Like REALLY on sale.  So I grabbed two for Dan and I to try.  When I arrived home I thought - What a great time to try a new recipe! So I did!!  Here it is:

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1-3 cloves of fresh crushed garlic

1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2tbs Olive Oil

2 top sirloin steak

Instructions:
Mix basil, garlic, pepper and salt in large bowl with olive oil.  Brush liberally over sides of steak.  Place steak in pan and grill evenly.  5 minutes for rare, 8 for medium rare, etc.

I added grilled baby potatoes and a garden salad to ours.  It was delicious!! Enjoy!

Going green...

My father has been an avid gardener since before I arrived into this world.  I've seen him grow things from the smallest yellow flower to the largest apple tree.  We've had fresh veggies, beautiful flowers and fragrant herbs from Dad's garden since I can remember.  What ever is in season is what we'll be having.  He's an amazing gardener, and as I've grown up he's let me help out along the way.  When I was small I was allowed to plant the carrots and sometimes help with the tomatoes.  We've had huge harvests and not so huge harvests.  I still remember the year we had over 30lbs of tomatoes!! 30 LBS!!!!  I love fresh veggies and I also love the beauty that surrounds my parent's place.  It's always lovely.

Now I would never profess to having a "green thumb" but I've always secretly (or maybe not so secretly) hoped that Dad had passed it along to me.  I've always wanted to garden.  I've never had the space.  Four years of residence life is not conducive to gardening.  Our last place was also no good for a garden.  But here, in our (sort of) new place I have space! I have free reign to plant what I want...and I'm going to try it.  I don't know that I'll actually plant anything in the yard itself, we're planning on moving in the fall, but I've got two large planters just waiting for my touch. 

So this fall I took a stab at gardening.  I started, from seed, some chives, some basil and some parsley.  The chives never sprouted.  The basil and parsley, however, sprouted quickly and now I've got some lovely transplants that I will be putting into my planters.  As soon as it warms up.  So until then...enjoy my lovely plants!

Home,home on the range....

Where the pugs and the dust bunnies playyyyy!

That's how I feel about my house! There are dust bunnies EVERYWHERE!  No matter how often I clean I find pug-fur-fueled dust bunnies.  I try to vaccumm once a week and I sweep ever few days but I still can't seem to contain the maddess! 

So I went in search of ideas and here are some that I'm going to try...
- Dust mop/swiffer  I'm going to get one and I PROMISE to run it around the house EVERYDAY. 
- I've changed the filters in my heating vents...
- Apparently fabric softener and water in a spray bottle works on fabric.  Spray, dry, vaccumm.

So we'll see what happens with those...