Tag Archives: chocolate

sparkly…

01 Sunday Jan 2017

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this morning the table was covered with glitter as we toasted the new year over breakfast and then fixed a few things around the house before the kids headed out to visit with friends…

I set the table and prepared for our family New Year’s dinner of steak and lobster… we used to have it on New Year’s Eve but it has morphed into New Year’s Day…

used the Ferrero Roche tree as the centrepiece, as well as our dessert, lol… had fun setting the space up… even put out some glow-in-the-dark bracelets…

groups arrived at different times and last to arrive was the working son-in-law who joined us just after seven and headed right out to the garage to barbecue the steak and lobster…

it was beautifully done and went perfectly with the baked potatoes, escargot stuffed mushrooms, fried Brussels sprouts and Caesar salad…

the dessert tree was a hit as well… the kids cleaned up and we had some fun tasting chocolate…

photo by @thedevils3


fun time… as they were leaving we lit sparklers for them to enjoy…

above 2 photos by @peacecyndi


blessed to be able to spend time with the whole family as the year begins…

tasting…

28 Wednesday Dec 2016

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last night we spent some time preparing chocolate tasting packages…

we prepared six of them… two for us and four to do with some of the kids’ friends while they are here…

it is a bit of a process… first my daughter chose which bars to use… first tasting was chocolate from Central and South America…

then we wrote down which bar was used and wrapped a few small pieces of each type in foil… because you usually taste five or six pieces they don’t need to be big… so the bars go a long way…

numbered them and put them into bags…

then we had our tasting… we paired it with a California Square red wine… in the end, the wine wasn’t that great a match, but the chocolate was delicious…

it was also great fun to do the prep work… 

going to look into finding a better wine to pair with the next batch of chocolate…

crafting…

26 Monday Dec 2016

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today I started turkey soup and worked on a craft project which my daughter gave me for Christmas…

the soup has simmered all day and soon I will separate the broth from the meat…

the crafting was fun… started with a box…

opened it to discover everything I would need to produce a Ferrero Rocher tree…

took out the bits and pieces…

pretty cool set up… way better than glueing them together, lol…

couple of levels done…

nice, eh… okay, okay, so all I did was put the chocolates on the layers, but it looks great…

my kind of craft… will use it as the centrepiece for New Year’s dinner…

I love Ferrero Rocher, but shouldn’t be eating them… will be great to have my family’s assistance in getting rid of them, lol… they are very helpful that way…

chocolate…

21 Wednesday Dec 2016

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Christmas has begun… my Ottawa daughter is home for the holidays… 

took this picture of the hot tub when I returned home from running errands this afternoon… looks pretty although not so good that the ice is all the way down the wall;-(…

as I headed to the airport this beautiful sunset stopped me in my tracks…

it was still light when I arrived and I waited in the car, watching for the plane…

wasn’t very long till it landed, but the light was certainly gone on this winter solstice evening…

the plane was very, very, very, big…

home to her favourite dinner of macaroni and cheese, made by mom…

then we had some chocolate after she took the appropriate pictures for her Instagram account @peacecyndi… it was fun to watch her at work…

the leather and walnut bite we shared was delicious and then we had some of my coconut, candied violet with gold flakes Advent chocolate bar from ChocoMe…

it is lovely to look at and quite tasty…

now for a hot tub and bed…

Ottawa day 7…

07 Wednesday Sep 2016

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well, spent the morning in Ottawa and flew home this afternoon…

started out with an egg on an English muffin, with a side of pistachio/coconut bark, all made by my daughter…

we said our goodbyes and she headed off to work… took a bit of effort to get my bag packed… apparently the gifts for my daughter’s friends filled up my suitcase, lol…

then finished taking a few pictures… of the chocolate stash…

final job was to wash the last of the dishes… this is becoming my trademark whenever I am with my kids… but really, fairly easy to manage, lol…

had my bags at the front door when my daughter surprised me by coming home for an hour before I left…

while I waited for my flight caught a few Pokemon and collected items from three PokeStops which were right at the gate…

touch down… home…

had a wonderful, crazy busy, and memorable week…

Ottawa day 6…

06 Tuesday Sep 2016

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last night we had a fun time doing a chocolate tasting…

we had gone to the liquor store to get an appropriate bottle of wine and picked up Inniskillin Cabernet Franc Reserve… two different staff members recommended it…

while I was doing the dishes before our dinner arrived my daughter was preparing the plate of chocolate…

she chose six different chocolates, most of which were around 70% cacao and made a list on a sheet that we would review at the end of our tasting…

then we tasted them one by one with and without the wine…

after each piece we both made notes… she wrote on paper and I entered comments into the Notes app on my iPhone…

we took our time and toasted each piece of chocolate that we tried…

it was great fun…

they were different shapes but about the same size…we took a short break after the third piece to give our mouths a chance to rest…

the wine was very good and we found that it certainly did enhance the taste of the chocolate…

once we were done, we reviewed and compared our notes and picked our favourites… 

as it happened we both chose the same bar…

afterwards we went over ways to make the tasting experience even better…

don’t think it will be too long before she has a group of friends over for an official chocolate tasting…

nice flower bed down the street…


today she worked and I went out and picked up steak for our supper, read, napped and prepared the ingredients for the meal… 

glads opening…


lovely, restful day…

home…

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

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nice to get back to work and see all my colleagues…

brought them a taste of chocolate from New York… they were in a cute little wooden box and no one wanted to open it…  

  
eventually I broke the seal, removed the ribbon and took a few pictures…

  
finally some pieces were eaten, lol…

caught up with all the news and shared some travel stories…

nice to be home… 

NYC day 4…

19 Tuesday Apr 2016

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another busy day, but tons of fun…

we had cold pressed juice for breakfast at the hotel and then broke into two groups… two went with their main goal shopping for gifts for those at home… we went out with a plan to see Eatalia and take a walk on the High Line…

we started out and stopped by the 9/11 memorial where we took a few pictures… was very interested in the story of the survivor tree which was found buried in the rubble, moved to a nursery, damaged in a storm and replanted on the grounds and is thriving…

  
the sun shining on this rose with the huge sculptural dove in the background came out beautifully… 

we stopped at a rather high end mall and found a Tory Burch bracelet for my Fitbit… I am so excited about this because I have only seen them online and wasn’t sure of the sizing so hadn’t wanted to order one… the young woman who helped us provided great service and was able to find a single silver one in the store which fit perfectly… 

  
so it was my present to me… when she heard it was my birthday she gave me a great deal…

my plan for the day included taking as many flower pictures as possible, so I was happy to come across this flower shop…

  
there was a tulip festival taking place and some beautiful purple and orange ones jumped out at me…

  
a nice picture of the Flat Iron Building with my daughter and a blooming cherry tree in Madison Park… just before we headed into Eatalia…

  
what fun we had there wandering through all of the sections and having a spectacular lunch… 

didn’t see Mario though, lol…

from there we found our fifth chocolate shop of the trip… and picked up a few items to bring home… and while we were there we shared a piece of coconut chocolate birthday cake which was delicious… this from a person who isn’t fond of cake, lol…

  
on to the High Line which we walked for about half an hour… hot and sunny the whole way…

  
met up with the other two girls, had a snack and headed to the airport… shared a delicious birthday supper at Prime and made it onto the plane for the first leg of our flight…

  

our second flight got us home just after midnight…

most everyone we met was welcoming, informative and provided excellent service…

we walked, rode the subway, took taxis and flew, all in one day…

so many memories of four days in the Big Apple and the many little bites we took…

sweet…

24 Thursday Mar 2016

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last night I made soup for today’s Souper Thursday… stopped on our way home and picked up sweet potatoes, carrots and coconut milk… this sweet potato and carrot soup is really easy…

  
it turned out very well… veggies, salad, crackers and fruit appeared and we had a great lunch… and everyone enjoyed it… every last drop was eaten…

a while ago I ordered a number of chocolate bunnies for a fundraiser, so this morning the Easter Bunny dropped them off at each person’s desk…

  
made some cute little notes to go with them…

such fun…

  
spent a few minutes admiring my beautiful new orchid this morning… the older one still has four or five blossoms on it…

although I’ve been struggling with a headache it was a pretty sweet day…

LoveLocalMB…

19 Saturday Mar 2016

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productive day…

picked up some purple cauliflower yesterday on the way home… 

  

so today I made soup… it actually came out purple…

  
pretty, but it doesn’t taste that great… think I might need to add spice of some kind to perk it up…

tonight I went to #LoveLocalMB… had the opportunity to chat with many of the food producers in a large room crammed full of people who feed Manitobans…

  
bought a number of items as it was a great way to support the people who make our food…

was most excited to get bessie’s best tzatziki… I fell in love with it last summer at the Downtown Thursday Farmers Market… it hasn’t been available since then and I really enjoy it… what a treat… 

going to have some yummy things to eat over the next while…