¡Hola!

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Deborah

¡Bienvenidos a Mexico!

¿Como está Ustedes? ¿Bien?…¿Muy Bien?…¿Maravilloso?

Ok, enough of the Spanish, but I am still on Mexican time after having just returned a couple days ago from the land of sun, sand, clear skies and clear blue-turquoise waters. Oh and HEAT…did I mention the HEAT? If not, let me assure you, there was HEAT! Much better than this minus crap we have been having in arctic cold Canada.

Holidays are a great time to clear the head, enjoy the company of your loved ones, experience awesome food, great scenery and to laze around and do nothing but expand … Read more...

Leftovers Turkey Tortilla Soup

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Deborah

Happy New Year!!!

All the best to all my loyal readers for 2015.

I know it has been a crazy long time since I posted, but in my defense (such as it is), I was hogtied to the stove, the retail shopping cart and Christmas hoopla for the last 3 weeks of December.

It is now January and I have been on an organizational/cleaning spree the past couple weeks as we are getting the house ready for the market. Don’t worry, this is not the Northern Homestead going up for sale (banish the thought!), but the Southern one. There … Read more...

Ukrainian Varenyky (Perogie)

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Deborah

As we approach Christmas at a speed that can only be compared to a Japanese super rail train hurtling through the countryside with an avalanche of hot lava on its heels, one of the very few things I actually look forward to at Christmas is making Varenyky. More commonly known as Perogies if you are from Poland or Pelmeni if you are from Russia. They are a common eastern European dumpling filled with a wide variety of ingredients indigenous to their countries of origin with either cheese, meat, fruit and sauerkraut being the norm.

There are variations in using the … Read more...

GLT Wrap

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Deborah

Everyone knows what a BLT is, if you don’t, then you quite possibly have been living on Jupiter until today, and in that case, a BLT is a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich.

Sorry, I just had to explain that before my inbox becomes inundated with the question…what is a BLT?!

Back to the topic at hand. Today’s post is all about the GLT.

Guacamole Lettuce and Tomato Wrap!

Which is ridiculously easy to make and so healthy for you that it automatically justifies eating that chocolate bar right afterwards.

So just what is a GLT … Read more...

Flip Flop Beach Bag

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Deborah

In my *real world* job, I help clients find their next new home and/or help them sell their existing home. The entire time I am dealing with people, I am carefully watching for indications of favourite colours, trends, interests, tastes and anything else I can pick up from them (unknowingly of course). I then utilize this information to come up with a tailored and personalized closing gift.

Like this Beach Bag.

Which is for Deb (same name, cool eh?), who LOVES flip flops. She has the largest collection of actual flip flops I have ever seen in one household, along … Read more...

Autumn Stuffed Squash

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Deborah

I wish I had the room to grow squash. Because I love squash. Butternut Squash. Acorn Squash. Santa Squash and many other Fancy-Schmancy Squashes. They are all good. You can do so much with them too. Baked Squash, Fried Squash, Squash Soup, P’sghetti Squash & Meatballs even…the possibilities are endless.

It is Fall in Ontario, which means it is comfort food season. Apples, squash and all kinds of root vegetables are at their peak. Nothing like freshly pulled carrots to make your taste buds appreciate your hard work all summer.

Squashes are even better. They are sweet and savoury all … Read more...

Dyeing With Marigold Flowers

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Deborah

This year I had an abundance…..no…an over-abundance of Marigold flowers around the Homestead. They not only provide cheerful, sunny, colour to my garden landscape, but they are also perfect companion plants in vegetable gardens as their somewhat obnoxious smell wards off harmful insects, as well as luring the pollinators towards my veggie plants.

So what to do with this overabundance of flower heads? Well, you can’t eat them, but you can use them to dye yarn with. Which makes sense since I have been spinning up a passel of yarn in the latest hobby craze to enter my life.

Dyeing … Read more...

Stop and Smell The Roses

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Deborah

Or the dandelions, or mums, or whatever plant tickles your fancy.

Take the time to savour each and every day.
Every minute.
Every second.
As it could (unknowingly) be your last.

My new motto is: “Enjoy your time on this planet while you can”.

roses

That is all for today.

Deborah… Read more...

Rustic Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Deborah

Rustic is a good choice for describing this soup. It is also the result of me not having my immersion blender handy as I took it back down to the southern household last week….dang it.

But, as things typically happen for a reason, not having the blender made for a rustic (think chunky) soup that was loaded with texture. Texture being one of those elements Chopped judges pine for on tv.

This past weekend was rainy….and windy….and cold….and did I mention rainy? Yes, it was extremely rainy. So rainy that hubby almost started building an ark. Therefore it was excellent … Read more...

From Sweaters To Soups To Spinning

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Deborah

It’s hard to believe how fast *summer* flew by. By summer, I mean that bright yellow thing in the sky that was supposed to give us heat for oh…say about 3 months or so?

Not this year. We had snippets of heat, but certainly not what we are used to. Rainy too. Good thing I have a home-made recipe for killing moss, because I need to use it on my hair to get rid of what’s now surely growing up on my head.

With Fall snapping at my heels, it is almost time to pull out the soup pot. First … Read more...