Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Chilly Rainy Day...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

What makes a cold... rainy... stooped busy day better?..

PRESENTS IN THE MAIL!.. Presents in the mail from JIRRIAN!..


What can it be!?.  It's handmade... and beautiful...


OMG.. TOTALLY BEAUTIFUL... they look like starfish...


...its a tea for two coaster set!.. OMFG... I LOVE IT!..


Funny thing... I had a dream last night that I was packing up my things to go to England to visit Jill... she's not in England... but she does live far away :(  


I wish she were here now so we could have a cuppa together... 


I almost don't ever want to use these... but I will because when I do I'll think of Jillian even more...


Terrible fast food also helps to make a crappy day better... 


I'm not sure what's worse about it though... the food itself or Cleo's poopie paw... reaching out and grabbing my big mac... probably the food!.. ha... she does love big mac bun...


AND my present from Jill!..

xo
Lacey

...this is too good not to link party!..

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Fall Fridge Clean...

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The Fall cleanup has begun... I started with the fridge... having that out of the way will make the big house scrub down... next weekend... will go much quicker...


Check out the mess... that just organizational... under that food you'll find spills and onion skins... you know.. it doesn't take long to get messy in there...


I concentrated on just the fridge last night... Pull EVERYTHING out... I work kinda quick so I just had everything on the kitchen counters... if you're a slowpoke have a cooler handy for the foods that you don't want getting warm... maybe throw some ice in the bottom... thats a lot of fussing around though... maybe enough to inspire you slowpokes to work quick on this one...

As you pull out bottles and cartons wipe them down with a warm lightly soapy cloth... get any stickies off... then packing it all back in will go quicker...


Then start pulling parts out of the fridge... clean the bottom... and wipe down the walls...  I have one of the sinks ready with warm soapy water and wash... so rinse... dry... replace all of the fridge parts...

The Brita seems to have a slow leak at the spout... so there was some hard water stains on the top shelf... pick up a couple of these...  best scubbies ever... most kitchen stores seem to carry them... glass cleaned in no time...


Crumbs and spills be gone!.. nothing left under the glass edge... sounds kinda lame but I was stoked when I discovered that the glass shelf came out separate of the piece that it sits into... so easy to clean!..


Ta-Da!.. clean fridge!..  Be sure as you are putting your food back into the fridge that you consolidate any duplicate containers... if possible... I had three bottles of home made salsa... now I have two... then check for any items that may have gone past date... like salad dressings...  if any of the fruit and veggies aren't looking so hot then toss them into your composter... 


...and order is restored to the refrigerator...  freezer is easy... again work quick with the freezer... luckily its smaller!..


Saturday, August 27, 2011

New Hair Did...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

Ooo... def still getting used to this... have been brunette again now for about 2.5 hours... so far so good!.. haha...


Gone back to dark for the Fall!.. its quite summery outside today but I know Fall is in the air... I can feel it... If you need an awesome person to did your hair then check out Shag that will be opening up on 323 17 Ave SW around the 6th of September... and ask for Candice!.. She's wonderful!..

What shenanigans are you getting up to this weekend!?.  Furs and I went to the Crossroads Market... had some wicked indian for lunch... then chimney cakes from Twisted Cafe... OMG... NOM NOM NOM... on the way out we got some wicked granola... ITS NOT TOOTH BREAKING CRUNCHY... its nice and fresh... and a coconut curry soup mix... AND some fresh made this morning sooo-saaage!.. Soup and sausage for supper tonight!..  

Now I think I'ma gut the fridge... wash it out and then put it all back together... tomorrow we're tackling the bedroom closet... I've begun to amass things from various cupboards and closets around the house for a yard sale that I want to have the weekend after next weekend!.. lots of clothes too... need to find/make a rack to hang the clothes on... hmm... any ideas?..

over and out...
xo
Lacey

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Seafood Chowda!..

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Not to toot my own horn... but... I've been told that I make a good Seafood Chowda!.. 

Originally I planned to post this on Tuesday night... but work has been sucking the life force out of me the past few days... But like Cynthia says: "It's Friday Eve!" so here we go!..

Ingredients:
1/2 package cold bacon chopped
olive oil (maybe)
1 medium size white onion
4 medium red potatoes
4 cups boiling water
1 500ml bottle of lobster and its brine
1 cup shrimp with tails removed
2 cups scallops cut in half
3 cups white fish cut into bite sized pieces (whatever you have on hand)
1 can of clams drained
salt
pepper
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp dry parsley
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup skim milk

Directions:


Chop up cold bacon... if it is very fatty trim the fat but be sure to leave some for flavour...
Cook on low... very low...
Cook the bacon on low to render down the fat before the meat begins to crisp up... 


I like to be efficient when I cook... so while the bacon is cooking chop up the onion...
I like to chop my onion small..


...just don't mince them or cut them too large...


Once the bacon is cooked remove it from the pot... 
Leave some "bacon juice" in the pot...
If you removed too much fat from the bacon before cooking and there is no "bacon juice" in the pot then toss in a bit of olive oil...


Oh yes... I cook my bacon really slowly... so I had time to peel the potatoes while the bacon was cooking...


Toss the onions in the pot with with bacon juice... and bacon flavour that has cooked onto the bottom of the pot... don't worry!.. that flavour will release when the onions start to sweat...

Cook the onions on low too... 


While the onions are sweating it out you have time to cut up the potatoes...
I'm not sure what the facts are behind it but red potatoes make better chowda potatoes...
I like to cut my pieces fairly small... then you don't get too much potato and not enough seafood!..


Once the onions have soaked up the bacon flavour and are transparent toss in the potatoes and stir it all up...


Oh yes... boil the kettle... four cups of water... and throw that into the pot...


Cook over medium heat...
Start prepping your seafood...
This is where you have a chance to mix and match... your seafood...
I was actually out of shrimp when I made this... no worries... throw in more of something else...
Really its up to you the combination and amounts... just see how it looks and remember that you'll be tossing in one cup of skim milk too...


Furs and I are very lucky... My momma bottles lobster every now and then... and she always has a few bottles for us... the most recent ones she brought to CB earlier this month when her and dad came over to see us while we were on the West coast of Newfoundland... they live on the other side of the island...


I cut the scallops in half... and the fish into bite sized chunks...
I forgot to say... all of the seafood... with the exception of the canned and bottled items came out of the freezer!.. you don't have to have fresh fish for a deadly chowda!..

Bring the pot of water with potatoes and onions to a boil...
Boil for 10 minutes...


THROW all of that seafood goodness into the pot... I throw in the liquid that the lobster is in... its too tasty to throw out!.. but the clam water... too salty!.. 


Then toss the parsley, curry powder, pepper, salt and butter in... 


Be sure to save all your veggie peels and cut offs to compost...
If you don't compost check with your neibs... maybe one of them compost!.. you could add to their pile... then maybe next year they'll give you some good compost for your gardens!?. 


Now put that lid on the pot and... boil!.. boil!.. boil!.. give it 10 minutes... it really doesn't take long to cook the seafood... check the fish... it should flake easily... and the scallops should be solid in colour...
After 10 mins turn the temperature down low... and remove the lid... we want this chowda to cool a little bit... we don't want the milk to go gross... ew...


Once the chowda isn't boiling put in the cup of skim milk...  and turn it back to medium... make it nice and hot... on the way there give it a taste... does it need more salt or pepper!?.  Then add it!.. 

Have you're bowl and buttered bread on standby...  fill the bowl... drop a pile of the bacon you cooked earlier on top... yep... its gonna be good!


That's it!.. The pot usually doesn't last long... a couple bowls for supper and then for lunch the next day... and if I'm feeling good I might share a few bowls with some friends... Consider yourself lucky if I share this liquid gold with you!.. and remember if you want you can add more or less of anything in this recipe... make it your own... spice it up differently... let me know how it turns out!..

xo
Lacey

Monday, August 22, 2011

I Wonder If You Know How They Live In Tokyo...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

Yesterday we slept in... I actually managed to sleep in!.. after getting up and throwing some laundry in the washer that is... BUT I hopped back into bed and fell back asleep!..  When we got up and on the go we headed out with neibs A&B... for some smackle dackles... I took B's advice and made a major cheeseburger adjustment...


It was great...

Then onto Race City...


It was HOT out... +30... not a cloud in the sky... the sun was blistering hot...


This promo guy had to be cooking in his NOS onesie...


These guys were down in the middle of the track... I need some event hookups!..


These shots are looking a litte fuzzy... I exported them from Aperture... I have to choose another option for exporting next time I think...


I jumped back the first time a pair of cars drifted around the corner... It was unreal!.. 


...smoke and tire bits flying at us...


...I'd say at times we were no further than 10-15ft away from the cars as they drifted by...



Not much else to say... other than if you ever get a chance to check out a drift competition DO IT!..



...Awesome!..








...drift... drift... drift...

xo
Lacey