Friday, November 26, 2010

Soup for the Snow


It's snowing, it's snowing, it's snowing!! *jumping for joy*

In case you couldn't tell, I'm a bit excited. Is that weird? In Montreal it might be, especially when nearly every Montrealer I've met so far, on hearing that I'm new in town, has treated me to an ominous "*GASP!* It's your first winter here??!" Not exactly something to inspire confidence in someone from the wet and mild west coast.


These look a bit ominous as well. They've been popping up all over the place, which I guess should give me a hint as to the amount of snow that's normally expected here. Lots!


It's an awning for your driveway, in case you couldn't tell. No need to break your back shoveling every morning! Clever.


In an ironic twist, it's been snowing back home for several days now and we had yet to see a single flake here before today. However, that's not to say it hasn't been nose chillingly, ear achingly, finger numbingly cold anyway. Normally under such circumstances I'd make a nest of blankets and empty muffin wrappers (muffins ingested, of course....no muffin left behind!!) and hole myself up until it's all over... but I had to venture out into the cold to buy the ingredients for this soup so I could warm up.

That makes sense, doesn't it?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Who Gives a Fig?!



Some of you may have noticed (as I certainly have, judging by the sudden appearance of twinkle lights and dancing polar bears popping up in store windows downtown), that the holidays are drawing near.

"What do you mean!?" you may say. "We just had Christmas not 12 months ago! It's still the middle of November! What are you trying to do to me???"

To that I say, Good people! I know it's early! I understand that Christmas can be overdone. I, for instance, would rather shove cauliflower in my ears than be forced to listen yet again to Boney M.'s Christmas album in the middle of July. (That's right, you know who you are!)


However, I must admit that I am a very traditional, down-home kind of girl at heart, and the Christmas season allows me to indulge in all the wonderfully cozy and creative things that are simply not sanctioned at other times of the year.

For example, when else can you take down all the pictures in your living room and wrap them up like Christmas gifts (complete with elaborate bows) without being hauled off to the loony bin? Never, that's when!

These are the simple pleasures and mild eccentricities that Christmas allows us.


You may well wonder what the heck figs have to do with Christmas. Well, basically nothing, aside from a few references in song to something called "Figgy Pudding" (which sounds made up, but actually isn't.)

However, one of my west coast friends mentioned that she and a group of people were doing a canning exchange this Christmas! (Genius! Why didn't I think of that??) and although I no longer live on the west coast, I felt could not sit idly by and let the opportunity for greatness pass me by.


Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Happiness!


I had a birthday recently, as I am wont to do every year or so. Usually I find birthdays agree with me quite well, but this one was a bit obnoxious. As I lay snoozing in my idle, comfortable youth, a birthday marched in, picked me up and dumped me unceremoniously into my late twenties.

I should have seen it coming.

Now, I've got nothing against the late twenties per se. Generally speaking, they seem very well behaved, and I'm sure that once I get to know them a little better we'll be good friends. It's just that they seem so...so... grown up!


To combat this impending sense of responsibility, there was nothing for it but to bake myself a big, chocolatey, drowning in icing birthday cake.