Christmas Shopping On-Line

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..easy if you know what you want and don’t go for the first link

More and more I’ve been shopping on-line for Christmas presents. One of the reasons is that my adult children post everything they would like on-line with links as to where one can purchase the items. It really makes it easy but I have discovered a few glitches along the way.

First of all, when you’re ordering from Canada the free shipping claim is often null and void. By the time you pay the shipping you’re not saving very much money, if any. This is true for Amazon. com. The shipping charge was more than $16.00 for one item and the Canadian taxes hadn’t been added either. When I went to Amazon.ca the same item was initially a little bit more expensive but even with taxes in and no shipping charge the final price was cheaper than the American price. So Canadians beware.

Amazon.com and Amazon.ca are offering free shipping for a month on all items but after that you will be charged a $79.00 fee for the rest of the year. Personally I rarely shop on-line after Christmas so it doesn’t make sense to sign up for the free offer. If you’re willing to wait a few extra days for delivery you can get free shipping anyway. The lesson here is to read the small print.

If you use Paypal you can get a 5% discount back on all your purchases that you make for the next little while. I think its just from now until the first week in December but every little bit helps. I wish I could use Paypal for all my on-line purchases.

This year we used Elfster to organize our gift exchange. It’s been fun and it’s forced me to think about what I would really like for Christmas. At first I found it extremely difficult to write down what I wanted. I just couldn’t think of anything that fit within the $100.00 limit. I never have problems knowing what I’d like when I actually go shopping but the reality is that I probably don’t NEED anything. I did, however, come up with several items. Once I started I was on a roll and before I knew it I had nine items on my list. Some of them are over the limit but my husband doesn’t have to stick to the limit. The gift exchange doesn’t include significant others. I’m still responsible for getting my husband gifts and vice versa.

The best part of on-line shopping is having the parcels arrive at the door in a few days. It’s like Christmas opening the parcels, even though you know they’re for someone else. I think there’s some truth in the saying ‘It’s better to give than to receive’.

Cheers!

P.S. We’re finally having our gift exchange party tomorrow, even though we all know who we’re buying presents for. My husband is starting to feel better as he recovers from his shingles and is finally up to preparing his Gluewein and Goulash dinner.

Persian Breakfast

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….celebrating my oldest daughter’s birthday

My daughter, A was away on her birthday last week, touring wine country in Prince Edward County. She did, however, want to celebrate with the family and she expressed an interest in having brunch at a very trendy Persian restaurant in the west end of Toronto. Tavoos doesn’t take reservations so they suggested that we arrive at 10:00 when the restaurant opened on Sunday so that we wouldn’t have to wait.

My sister was in town on the same day and she was hoping to spend some time with me so we invited her to join us at the restaurant. In total there were six of us in attendance. Arriving early turned out to be a very good idea because when we left the line-up went out the door.

This unique little restaurant is located on College Street just west of Dufferin. When you walk in you are greeted by a warm, inviting atmosphere with a very Persian decor. There are a couple of areas that are covered with exotic carpets and cushions and you can enjoy your meal sitting cross legged on the floor. Luckily, A requested the small room at the back of the restaurant with regular tables and chairs. I’m not so sure I could get up gracefully from the floor after sitting for any length of time.

The menu offered some very unusual breakfast selections. One of them was a soup made with a goats head and hoofs. We all passed on that item. A ordered the porridge with lamb which was quite delicious and surprisingly sweet. My sister played it safe and ordered a Mediterranean salad and the rest of us had Persian egg dishes. Traditionally the dishes are baked with the eggs sunny-side up on a spinach or onion potato base. With coffee and or tea and tip the total cost came in under $65.00 for our party of six. Pretty good for the city of Toronto.

After brunch we went back to A and J’s house. My sister hadn’t seen their home and it gave us more time together. Of course there was birthday cake and more coffee. We didn’t need to eat again until dinner time.

My sister with ‘my three girls’.

Art for Remembrance Day

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….Picasso’s Doves of Peace drawings were the inspiration for this lesson

Pablo Picasso was very political and didn’t like how the world’s peace initiatives were emerging after after the the second world war. He created The Dove of Peace as an extraordinarily powerful and lasting political symbol for peace, liberation and equality around the globe. Doves also had a highly personal significance for Picasso, going back to childhood memories of his father painting the doves that were kept in the family home. Doves were a frequent presence in Picasso’s homes and studios in Paris and in the south of France. ( adapted from Tate.org.uk)

Back in the spring when I came across The Dove of Peace I decided then and there that I wanted to do a similar theme for this year’s Remembrance Day assembly. I liked the simplicity of the drawings and felt that my students would be up for the challenge.

I didn’t want every student to draw doves so I had them research symbols of peace that could be easily drawn. My only rule was that the picture couldn’t have blood or weapons in it. After working out a rough copy of what they wanted to draw I gave each student a piece of watercolour paper. They were allowed to choose between a small and medium size.

First they drew their symbol with pencil and then went over the lines with crayon. To make the symbol stand out more I showed them how to add a bit of black marker. Then I taught them how to do a simple wash of colour for the their background while leaving the symbol white. This was a difficult concept for some because they wanted to paint everything.

As a final touch the children were allowed to take photographs of each other. The photo had to symbolize friendship and or peace. Some children embraced each other while others shook hands. If they didn’t want a photo taken the other option was to find a magazine picture with the same theme. The pictures were in black and white because we printed them from the computers in the room onto our shared printer which only prints in black.

On Friday, most of the art was finished and ready to be displayed in the gym. Other classes did a similar theme and some of the younger grades changed it up a bit. All in all, everyone did a great job and the space looks wonderful. A big thank you goes out to all the staff and students.

The Kids are Back, Lucy Goes Home and My Baby Turns 34

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….November always evokes special memories for me

It was a cold grey day in November, 34 years ago when I finally went into labour with my oldest daughter. I say finally because my original due date was October 10th and it was November 4th, almost four weeks later before I went back to the hospital. I remember that my rosebush in the front yard still had a beautiful bloom on it. I think that’s why I took a photo of this rose on my walk on Sunday.

It feels strange to say that I have a 34 year old daughter. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. A and her partner went away for a couple of days so we haven’t celebrated her birthday as a family. We’re planning on getting together next Sunday for a special brunch at a restaurant she’s long wanted to try.

On Sunday our youngest daughter and her husband returned from their week long cruise in the Caribbean. It sounds like they had a good time. It was a very special reunion when they came to pick up Lucy. When they left for their holiday they got a phone call just before they were ready to board the plane that Lucy needed to have emergency surgery. It took a couple of days and a couple of phone calls to the veterinary hospital before they could really enjoy their holiday.

Lucy was pretty much back to normal when G and B picked her up Sunday evening. As much as our Frances loves playing with her buddy, Lucy, I think she was glad to have the house to herself again.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….it poured down all day and just before our Hallowe’en parade was to start it stopped

The only thing worse than indoor recess all day is indoor recess on Hallowe’en. The kids are already excited and when they can’t run off that excitement during recess it’s hard to keep them focused on their work. On top of that the book fair is still going but I have to admit that business was considerably slower today.

Someone was looking out for us today because just before our parade was scheduled to start the rain stopped. Hooray! We didn’t have to parade up and down the halls but we actually got to go outside and show off our costumes for the parents and the community.

Some of the costumes this year were very creative. The homemade ones are always the best. Here are a few that I can share with you.

: Homemade Candy Machine

: Homemade with a metal bowl and a garbage can

The teachers at our school also get into the spirit of Hallowe’en.

: Our music teacher dressed as the gym teacher

: Our gym teacher as Wolverine man

: Football player

: Mother Nature

: Paper Bag Princess

: The Library Witch

Unfortunately when I got home tonight it started to rain again. I managed to carve the pumpkin but only 16 children came to the door. They actually didn’t even come to the door. My husband and I stood out in the rain and took the candy to the few children that walked past our house. A very sad Hallowe’en night indeed.

Happy Hallowe’en

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….the scary librarian is on her way to school

Pretty Lame!

Hope the rain stops. Doesn’t look like a great night for ‘trick or treating’.

Hallowe’en Night at the Book Fair

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….the one I stay open late so that the parents can shop while the children play

Last Friday the halls were decorated with cobwebs, zombies, witches, skeletons and ghosts and several classrooms were set up with interesting and engaging activities for the kids. The party started at 6:30 and 150 children and their parents came dressed in costume. There were scary masks, long wigs, bushy beards, and store bought and handmade costumes.

I took a few pictures of some of the children when they came to the book fair. Posting them is always somewhat tricky but a number of the parents gave me permission to include them in this blog and others are so covered up that no one would know who’s behind the mask or the beard.

Some of the kids are former students who came back to celebrate with their younger siblings. It always amazes me how much some of them grow over the summer. The book fair has been a big success so far and it was definitely worthwhile having it open during the party. Our goal this year is to sell $7000 worth of merchandise. So far, after 3 days we’ve brought in over $4800. Four more days to go. The library will get about 60% of the total sales back in books when all is said and done. Not bad for a week’s work.

Here I am with my talking witch’s hat and my number one ‘go to guy’ at this year’s book fair. Thank you M all your help.

Family Get Together, Again

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….Thanksgiving dinner at the Cormier house

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada but we celebrated yesterday. We enjoy having Monday has a down day, where we can relax or in our case catch up on our reading, blogging, cleaning, gardening, etc..

Yesterday the big Thanksgiving Day dinner was hosted at our place. Come to think of it, I can’t remember when it wasn’t. When my mother was alive we used to go to my parent’s house. One year they decided to go away with friends on the Thanksgiving weekend. I was devastated, after all Thanksgiving is suppose to be spent with family. I can’t remember how that turned out but I think that soon after that we hosted the annual event. My sister had it at her house a few times but she ‘didn’t cook’ back then so a lot of the food was prepared ahead of time and brought to her house.

There were only six of us at the dinner table this year. My son is still living in the Netherlands and my sister and her family and my Dad and G had made other plans this year. We were planning to deep fry our turkey again but when we woke up it was pouring rain outside. Since we do the deep frying in the backyard we had to quickly decide if we chance it and wait out the rain or do the turkey the traditional way in the oven. Deep frying takes one hour versus the oven which takes 5 hours.

We decided on the oven. Good thing because the rain continued all day and came down even heavier when we would have started the deep fryer. Of course this meant more work for me but once the bird was in the oven the rest of the meal was easy. Our daughter G brought over a great salad made with barley, tomatoes, arugula and ricotta cheese and A, our oldest daughter, made homemade pumpkin pie ice cream and roasted plum ice-cream.

After a delicious dinner, we celebrated B’s birthday. We gave him a new board game, Small World, Underground. We were all very full from dinner so we decided to go for a walk around the block before we started a new game of Ticket to Ride, Europe. A and J liked the last game so much that they went out and bought their own game.

A great day. Wishing all my Canadian friends a great Thanksgiving Monday! Cheers!
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A Mexican Delight

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..surprisingly healthy

On Sunday we celebrated my husband’s birthday with the family. Food is very important when we have family get togethers and K is usually the architect of our meals. Our daughter suggested we do a taco theme and K started searching for recipes. On our shopping trip on Saturday, pork shoulder, tortillas and banana leaves were purchased.

On Sunday while the pork was cooking inside the banana leaves and the rice and beans were thrown together K decided that we needed something else to round out the meal. I found a couple of Mexican side dishes that looked interesting and we decided on the Avocado, Orange and Red Onion Salad. I quickly did some last minute shopping to pick up some of the ingredients that we were missing and I bought a small birthday cake for K.

When I returned home, my daughter G and her husband were already there and A and her partner were on their way. G helped me slice the oranges while I prepared the avocado. The salad was simple to prepare. The orange and avocado slices were arranged on a platter with the slices overlapping each other. Then the red onion was sliced into thin rings and randomly arranged on top along with some cilantro leaves. The platter was drizzled with the juice of 1 lime and a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil. Not only was it a pretty salad and dead easy to prepare but it was also tasty and refreshing.

The recipe for this salad came from Delish.

Everyone assembled their own tacos with shredded pork, pickled red onion, cilantro sour cream, and Mexican fresh cheese.

The whole meal was surprisingly light and healthy tasting. Nothing was fried and everyone took as much or as little as they wanted. The two salads helped round out the meal and added some pretty colours to our plates. G made the pickled onions. They added a nice crunch to the taco. I’ll share the recipe in a future post. The green dip was simply sour cream and cilantro blended together in the Nutra Bullet. It could probably be made with yogurt if you want to reduce the fat content.

After dinner K blew out the candle on his birthday cake ( the number 3 has no significance…I couldn’t find any other candles).

Coffee was served and then the board game came out. We had a great time playing Ticket to Ride. K has wanted to have a regular game night for awhile now. All in all it was the perfect way to celebrate his birthday.

Happy Saturday

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….another visit to the market but with daughter, G and sweet Lucy

Whenever we go anywhere with my daughter’s Bassett Hound, Lucy, people stop to make small talk. Yesterday we went back to the Junction Farmers’ Market, sat outside on the patio at the Full Stop and window shopped along Dundas St. W. One of the stores that we wanted to show G was the new meat market situated between the coffee shop and the farmer’s market.

Gourmeats is relatively new to the area. The owner and the employees are extremely friendly and helpful. One of their special features is marinating your choice of meat before you leave the store. There are numerous options to choose from and after the marinade is added (no extra charge) the bag and contents are vacuum sealed.

My husband and G went into the store while I waited outside with Lucy. Every time someone entered or left the store Lucy approached the door, hoping to make her way inside. After awhile both Lucy and I began to peer through the glass door to see what was keeping both of them so long. Someone passed by and commented on what a funny picture that would have been, seeing both of us longingly peer through the butcher’s door.

The meats at Gourmeats are of excellent quality. My only complaint is that they are a tad expensive but then we shouldn’t be eating so much meat anyway and you really do get what you pay for. K purchased some pork shoulder, which he should be cooking shortly for our dinner with the kids today. Everyone is coming over later for a family meal to celebrate my husband’s birthday. We’re also hoping to make it into a ‘game’ day as well.

The only other thing we bought was a capon. I’ve become a huge fan of capons after purchasing one down at the St. Lawrence Market earlier this year. We’ll probably get four or five meals from this big bird alone.

Today we’re having the family over to celebrate K’s birthday and the plan is to make Mexican tacos from scratch. One of the things that we needed are fresh tortillas. We knew of a place situated closer to our daughter’s place so we called her and asked her if she could pick some up for us. She texted us back and told us of a place that has recently opened up very close to where we live.

So after visiting the Junction we made our way to La Tortilleria to pick up fresh yellow and white corn tortillas. La Tortilleria makes tortillas and nacho chips daily and also prepares ready to eat meals as well. You can sit in or take out and there is a small store attached with Mexican products so that you can prepare your own meals if you’re so inclined.

Our last stop of the day was at the Pie Commission. This is a brand new take out place that K discovered on Twitter. Our daughter’s partner, J, also texted us about it so K checked it out a couple of weeks ago and he wanted to show us the place and order some pies for dinner.

The Pie Commission makes a variety of savoury meat pies and sells them from a take out window. There are a few seating areas outside the location where you can sit and enjoy your meal or you can opt to buy the pies frozen and take them home and bake them in your own oven. There are plans to expand the place so that you can go inside. They’d better hurry. As good as the pies are I can’t see people lining up outside in the middle of February, especially if we have another winter like last year’s.

We took home a selection of 4 different pies and served them with a large salad. A great meal and a very special treat for us. As good as these pies are, they aren’t exactly diet food.

After dinner we made our way to a birthday party across the street. We enjoyed the company of our neighbours and met some new people. We also got to know some of our dog walking acquaintances better.

One of our fellow dog walkers is Adrian deRooy. I mention his name here because he is quite an accomplished artist and I would like to feature some of his work here. We’ve only met Adrian and his dog a couple of times but he always engages us in conversation. One of the things we didn’t know about him is that he makes his living as an artist.

At the party we noticed that T had great paintings on her walls and four of them were painted by Adrian. Here is Adrian deRooy’s website where you can check out more of his work. I’ve included a few of his paintings here so you can see what a talented guy he is. He is also a very nice man and very down to earth.