Creative Life, Kids, Cakes, A unique take on life

My Baby turns 18 today.

2010-12-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

It's a bittersweet day here today. My oldest is turning 18. I haven't posted much in the last year courtesy of that wonderful child's body being invaded by an alien (aka teenage stupidity) which has been the cause of countless grey hairs.

I have been saying for the better part of the year I could not wait until 17 was over and the alien occupying my child's body made it's way out.

I am happy to report that while I don't think it has completely left the building it is almost out the door.

Today my son turns 18 and with that I've seen a remarkable change in him the last few months. He has started to show real responsibility. I think he has started to figure out that the world does not in fact revolve around him and other people's feelings need to be respected.   I am so proud of how far he has come from just a few months ago.

He is working several days a week at a restaurant, night school to bring up an english grade, and has gone back to take a full semester of extra credits in prep for University. I don't see him much but when I do he is back to his old self. Nice, caring, funny as opposed to surly, argumentative, and just plain nasty.   He has a new girlfriend who seems to have a head on her shoulders and he is happy.

I wouldn't have imagined 18 years ago at this time, this little bundle of beauty could possibly bring me so much joy, heartache, worry, and love.   The maturity he has beeen showing since the Fall is certainly making the transition that will come soon a little easier knowing he is on the right track.   Letting go is freakin hard but I can let go know with some confidence that he gets it now.

My little man is no longer little. He is a young man and showing signs that he will continue to grow into a wonderful successful adult.

Happy birthday my sweet boy. Mommy will always love you (even if you aged me 10 years in the last 12 months).   Tonight he has decided to stay home with the family to celebrate. He is getting a favorite dinner and a "Mom cake" (which I'm not sure he requested for himself or for me at this point but regardless...I'm just glad he asked. My little boy is still inside this man)

I've been MIA the last few months but will be back

2010-10-04T21:27:00.000-04:00

Lots going on in our lives these last few months but I will get back to writing soon. In the meantime, Please read the following blog post by a fellow blogger. It's a wonderful read and very very real!

Must read for every single person out there and share it with your kids. They need to hear it to. Thank you to the author for the reminder .

http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/disease-called-perfection.html

Young Miss' latest commercial

2010-09-07T13:31:00.000-04:00

Back to school Campaign. One of three ads so far she is in. She was so excited to finally book something as it has been slow for her. YAY. My little cutie

Today is the first day back to school. I'm so excited to have a day all to myself. I took a long walk this morning after dropping kiddies off and then blasted the ipod through the house and danced like no one was watching. It was invigorating.

A summer of fun and frolicking

2010-08-24T19:02:00.000-04:00

When we left our exhausted multitasking mother in the last post she was on the verge of collapse.

It can now be said she has recovered. What a wonderful summer this has been. Yes, I've still had to deal with the teen drama. Why do teen boys always have to fall for the needy ones? Yoiks!! Anyhow, that particular drama has finally come to an end and I'm sure my son has learned to hate the words.... "Hate me now, love me later" and "This is for your own good", plus "it's time you grew up and started taking responsibility for your actions"......sigh

I THINK he is starting to get it. (from my lips to God's ears) Of course he is now dating a new young lady. Hopefully he's picked one with a head on her shoulders without excess baggage. Tough summer for him as he's was fired, crunched our cars (twice), and had to deal with a take no prisoners mom this summer. tough love baby, tough love.

The deck is finished and we have been completely enjoying our back yard retreat. Hot tub, temporary gazebo and firepit all in place. Working on a permanent gazebo design and a waterfall. I have completely enjoyed relaxing in the back yard all summer.

GOLF, GOLF, and more GOLF. I have had lessons weekly which ended beginning of August. My daughter still has her weekly "Girl's Club" at the golf course for 3 hours, and to my shock, our 15 year old asked to take lessons. I basically spend my Saturdays at a golf course, from noon to 8pm. Loving every second of it!! I'm getting much better at my game to boot!

Soccer: Little man has had soccer weekly and loved it. Stage parents have NOTHING over sports parents...let me just put that out there.

Cottage: Spent a couple of weeks in total up at my parents beautiful northern home which was wonderful. I pulled into that driveway, looked at the lake and could just feel all of the stress melting away.

Landlord duties: Had to evict delinquint tenants. I don't like doing that but I'm not a bank. Live with it.

Acting stuff: It's been a good summer. Oldest signed a second season for his series. YAY, DD filmed a Sears commercial that is airing as of yesterday. YAY. Auditions have been steady but not overwhelming and we've really enjoyed just being a family and having fun this summer. Water parks, golf, and fun!!

It's been ages

2010-06-15T17:15:00.000-04:00

I realize it's been a very long time since I posted. We've had a rough few months dealing with teenage drama, discipline etc. Standard stuff but exhausting!!!

Things seem to be back on track now. Being a hardass is tough as a mom but you have to do what you have to do. Some day they will thank me for it.

So...the film industry. Well...It's been awfully dead around here. A few auditions here and there and some callbacks but not alot in the grand scheme of things. So what does one do with kids in the summer when they are used to running out to auditions and there are none?

Well....I signed the kids up for various activities and sports. I never allowed the kids to join sports teams before because I feel if you can't commit to a team and get to all the games it's not fair to the team. (just like the acting thing...if you can't commit to an insane lifestyle don't bother).

Anyhoo....little guy is signed up for soccer, DD wanted golfing lessons, another tennis and the oldest has managed to find a full time job (and has a boss who is cool with him taking time off if he is lucky enough to get a film job).

Some observations...I'm flippin tired!!!! Tuesdays are insane bouncing between Dance and soccer (oldest also is assistant coach to his little brother's team). June is generally crazy with dance recitals, end of school year, birthdays, phew!...throw in convocation for the oldest and a hubby who has started travelling again and my head is spinning.   Oh...I didn't mention that we are renovating as well through all of this..

I've determined that I don't ever want to hear any crap from any parent who's kids are involved in sports ever again about " I don't know how you do all the running around for the acting thing...it's crazy"    One month into soccer and I'm tired. Games, practices, tournaments...WAYYYYY more time consuming than auditions.   Oh....and I've seen some parent's behavior on the sidelines that make the worst of the worst stereotypical stage parents look like Polyannas in comparison.

All that said, the little guy is having an absolute blast with his soccer. He is doing great, and while they are pretty much the Bad News Bears of the soccer league they are a great group of kids.

DD is LOVING her golfing. Once a week, saturday evenings she gets to fart around on a beautiful golf course much to the envy of her father and I. I'm taking lessons at the same course but they pale in comparison.   I want to be part of "girls club" too!

Pottery class is now over for #2 and he is set to start tennis. He also wants to take glass blowing in the fall.

My kids make me laugh, they totally love sports (except #2...he is really artsy), but they love their artsy side too. They all draw, act, sing, and somehow have gotten the brilliant math gene their father has. LOVE IT!!

That's about it. Still loving my new car, and just carrying on with life. Who knows what tomorrow brings. Time to get back into the kitchen to develop some new recipes once my reno's are finished.

New Moon = Kotex

2010-05-04T08:11:00.001-04:00

Lots of activity around this place lately. I've barely had time to breath let alone blog so here are the Coles/Cliff notes.

Oldest broke up with his girlfriend of 1.5ish years. That has been fun....not.   I know there is always drama around this kind of thing but you know what? Teenagers need to learn that life is not like 90210, Gossip Girl, and the like. Living through this has been almost as tortuous as watching New Moon with all the dramatic teen angst pauses.

Onto New Moon....what is the attraction to this fluff? I saw Twilight and while not cinematic genius or anything it was watchable.   DD wanted to watch New Moon. Kill me now. I've rarely wanted to turn off a film. I'll sit through bad movies, but this was worse than bad. Bad acting, bad writing (screenplay), just blech. I'm no writer so I can't be eloquent, but if I ever felt the need to vomit during a film...this was one. Over the top teen angst.   My oldest and I made it entertaining with running commentary. The dramatic little slo mo frolic through the woods reminded me of a tampon commercial. There I said it.

Speaking of which. I LOVE the new tampon commercial by Kotex.   Stick it there "happy period"...LOVE IT.

I'm still loving my new Flex. I can't say I've ever loved a car before but yup...I'm just smitten with it.

Our small deck project has grown in scope. As per usual it started of simply enough. It has now grown to encompass half our back yard, added a hot tub, gazebos, tiki bar, an outdoor kitchen, and a waterfeature.   Unlike most projects we've pretty much decided to contract this one out. I can't wait for it to be finished.

Right now our back yard looks like this

Soon it will be my own little oasis in the city. I can't wait.

DD and I went to her first movie premiere screening last week. We had a great time, met up with friends (whose son was in the film) and the director for dinner. She did really well.

Busy busy working out the deck and backyard design. Hopefully the deck guys show up today.

How many Moms will have this? Exciting day

2010-04-06T18:10:00.000-04:00

We thought holding the Olympic torch was cool...and it was indeed. My niece had the coolest birthday candle ever with that torch. This is up there on the ultimate cool list.

My #2 son. The source of immense teenage grief at the moment had his mug up in Times Square in NYC. His very first commercial filmed almost 4 years ago now was running in Times Square on April 1st.

As much as this kid is giving me grey hair at the moment I was so proud of him. To see your boy up on the screens in Times Square is not something many mom's get to boast about. We try to keep the acting stuff reasonably low key but darnit....this is pretty freaking neat!!

I couldn't be there to see it myself but did find the Nasdaq webcam and snagged a screen shot. Fortunately we made it home in time to see it before it got looped out.

My boy, in his cute 11 year old stage...

Son's Commercial airing in Times Square. Exciting

2010-03-24T19:30:00.000-04:00

I got an interesting phone call today from Vancouver. Back in 2006 my #2 son filmed his first commercial. Actually it was the first commercial booked for any of them. It was very exciting.

It has had a good run. It has played internationally now for nearly 4 years. Well...today I was asked permission if it could be played on the big screen in Times Square tomorrow for 3 hours!~!

How exciting. I'm trying to convince my other half that we need to capture this moment for him and I need to pop down to NYC on a puddle jump flight to video tape it. So far he's not going for that concept.

Still want to do it though. If anyone out there is in NYC and wants to hang about Times Square for a bit with a video camera...email me. I'll give details.

Having fun in not so sunny Florida

2010-03-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

Dang it's been a little chilly here. Honestly, it's only 1-2 degrees warmer than in our home in Canada. That's okay though. It's warm enough to golf, and swim in the pool at my parent's house here. The kids are having a ball.

I feel kind of badly for my 17 year old as he doesn't really have anyone to hang with and I suspect he's a little bored but he's mellowing out with the parental units and doesn't seem overly embarrassed to be around us. Especially when we are paying for his rounds on the golf course. We've managed to get in a couple of rounds so far and are heading out again early tomorrow morning for yet another before we start house hunting ourselves.

We've decided that purchasing a property here is adventageous right now and we'll just rent it out. Diversify the portfolio a little bit as they say.
Prices for homes here are pretty much at the bottom so I think it's good. I'll be doing a lot of research when we get home before deciding anything.

#2 is not enjoying his vacation. He is on work duty and given his actions prior to our departure he's lucky he was allowed in the car on the way down. He has not come out with us at all and my parents have been getting him to do work about the house. He's been painting, cleaning, gutting out stuff and doing a bunch of grunt work. I think he's figured out his mom and dad are not amused or happy with him right now. He's completely lost our trust and it will take a long time to heal the wounds as a result.

Yesterday we decided to take a break from golf and went to the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs. The young ones got to pet turtles and feed and pet stingrays at the aquarium. I used to love going to the sponge docks when I was a kid visiting my grandparents who lived just across the way from them.

From there we ventured out to Howard Park beach. It was COLD!!! the wind was just ugly yesterday. We collected some shells and went on our way to Clearwater beach...where it was also cold but that didn't stop the kids from collecting shells, making sandcastles and dipping their toes into the gulf.

Of course at the aquarium we met a little girl from my hometown. Her mom looked familiar to me but of course I just passed that off as someone who may have had one of those faces. At Clearwater the youngest befriended a little boy who just happened to live in our city in Canada. I think we were the only people crazy enough to be on the beach that day.

We have done LOTS of shopping!! I love Fridays at Beall's outlet. Nothing like getting an extra 15% off already clearance prices because I'm under 65...woohoo. Today I went to the regular Beall's and got 82% off items. I saved $192 tonight and my total bill was only $99.00 That bought me, 2 pairs of runners for the youngest, 2 pairs of pants for me, three tops for me, a hoodie, a couple of tee shirts and a golf shirt for my husband!! NOT BAD!!! I'm going to head back tomorrow for shoes for me and my daughter. The most expensive item on the bill was $15.00, everything else was under 10 dollars and the many under $3. unbelievable.

I think we have single handedly stimulated the Florida economy this trip. We have however fully clothed the kids for a year, and I got new clothes for the first time in years! We also bought a heck of a lot of alchohol for people who don't actually drink.

Looking forward to another round of golf in the morning. Hopefully we'll get one more round in before we have to leave on Saturday. We've been here a week and it's flown by.

The drive down was excellent. The kids were fantastic on the trip. Got a speeding ticket in Virginia but we'll survive that. The new Flex behaved like a dream. I LOVE my new car.

I'm now Laughing....oh pillsbury....

2010-03-04T15:30:00.002-05:00

Okay...so I got this honourable mention in the contest. WOOT! I achieved my goal of getting into the finals.

I was going to give away all the prizes to charity, but all I was going to keep was the pair of oven mitts that came with the prize.

I entered, cheating occured. Customer service appeared to do nothing. I researched, found the head honcho of marketing and contacted him. Voting gets suspended and their website fixed. YAY
Work like a fool to get votes again, someone else starts cheating in a new and creative ways. ONCE again contact marketing to inform them of "voting irregularities"....once again voting is suspended, votes reset, back to square one. (Don't they pay people to monitor this stuff??) work again to get votes but not as much as the first time. Get into the finals.....WOOOHOOOOO. now it's up to the judges. excellent

I was notified I won the honourable mention. Disappointed but alright. I'll still get my oven mitts right...in that pretty gift basket??

LOL....ummmm.....nope.   I got ONE oven mitt.   I've been laughing all afternoon.

Thanks Pillsbury.

I'm going to donate the rest of the prize pack to charity anyway....sort of.....

The apron? Perhaps my daughter will like it
The Doughboy? my parents new puppy
The clock? no idea...goodwill I guess
The gift certificates for Pillsbury products?   The food bank
The Clean House Manual? well, since my skills are in the kitchen and not with a duster, we already hired a cleaning lady.   My husband's gift to me. bless his heart.

ahhhhh. The lesson here is. Don't ever enter a vote based internet contest. Too much work, frustration, and annoyance.   I'm going to stick to my recipe blog, chasing my kids, being that not so sterotypical stage mom, Prison warden, and loving wife.

At least I've started getting paid for my baking. I just got a cheque for my very first paid cake. If you're going to do something .... go big. This cake was big!! 400 servings.

Have a great one everyone. I'm off to tidy up and clean (maybe I'll refer to that clean house manual as my own maid service doesn't start til we get back from Florida.

UPDATE:   okay, this is even funnier. The clock doesn't work...well it sort of does. It ticks...adjusting the time was an exercise in frustration, the "alarm" little hand took me 20 minutes to get to the time my son wanted. Finally got it to the right time, moved said clock and the thing moved again....LOL. I did a test. Yup, turn clock upside down....the alarm thingy follows.

Let's tally this now shall we....ONE oven mitt, a faulty clock, an apron that fits my daughter (YAY for that one...I think it's supposed to fit a grown up though), and cleaning manual. Be still my heart.

Everyone in my house is laughing now. The kids are totally excited about giving the Doughboy to the new puppy!!

In true good spirits, one of the other contestants has offered to send me her oven mitt too if she only gets one...I hope she got the opposite hand of the one I have. LOL

Dear Pillsbury/General Mills/Cossette: If you are reading this please send me a match to my lonely oven mitt and maybe a clock that works as my son wants it.   I be sure to let my readers know that you stand behind your products and I promise I won't give the dough boy to the new puppy. I think my mother in law wants it.

Things are Crazy around here

2010-03-03T17:07:00.000-05:00

I still have two teenage boys who are unamused with Mom's hard line of behavior. I'm not a brute but I kind of feel like one right now.

My oldest is coming around but still not happy about the fact that I've taken his cell phone away, or disconnected the internet in the basement and to his Itouch. I'm hoping he is getting the fact that just because you have the communication tools available to you, you don't need to utilize them 24/7 (ie: 3 am phone calls to the girlfriend...or anyone for that matter).

His texting was bordering on insane levels, and when I saw the numerous calls post 11pm I took it away. Working on common sense boundaries with that one. He's 17....hoping it sinks in at some point. He's a good kid (they both are), but some common courtesies that really shouldn't have to be made into rules seem to escape them.

The other one is working on his own issues. He destroyed the big trust issue, and hopefully it's sinking in that this was a big one. I think he is. He is struggling with some impulse control issues associated with ADD but he's working through it.

I HATE feeling like I'm a prison warden. I hate that I need to collect the portable telephones and cell phones at night. I hate I need to run software on my computer that will tell me if the kids break the rules. I hate that I simply can't trust them. I know, I know, they are teenagers, we aren't supposed to trust them, but dang!!!

Someone told me once that being a mother is easy, being a parent is hard. No truer words were ever spoken.

Getting ready for our annual drive to Florida (if my flippen Flex is ready by then!!!), running around here like a chicken trying to get taxes done, and staying on top of life.

Both my husband and I are totally exhausted after dealing with the teenage drama the last three weeks. I can't believe how much that took out of us both emotionally and physically. I won't get into details but the cell phone calls were the least of the issues. Fortunately both my husband and I are on the same page and dealing with it together. I don't know how I could have dealt with it all alone. He's been a rock and amazing in how he (and I) have dealt with the kids.

I'm sure in the end they do realize that our seemingly draconian methods and 20th century attitudes are coming from a place of love, and in the end for their own good. (whether they believe that now or not).

As my parents used to say to me.... Hate me now, love me later.

Pillsbury Baking Challenge Canada - Honourable Mention

2010-03-02T08:29:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their unwaivering support during the ups and downs of the voting process through the Pillsbury Baking Challenge.

In the end I received an Honourable Mention. I'm thrilled that friends we helped get to the finals won in their respective categories of desserts and appetizers. Just thrilled.

After reflection about this entire contest, how it was executed and how it ended I have to admit I'm dissappointed in Pillsbury.

The blatent cheating led to no disqualifications of offending recipes but resulted in "resets" for voting twice.

The winning recipe leaves a huge cloud of doubt amongst contestants as voting on it led to the second resest of votes. I have no qualms about a winning recipe that got into the finals honestly but the disparaging comments, plots to cheat, explanations on how to cheat, and finally plotting to plan on cheats for other recipes to have them disqualified should have led to this recipe being disqualified, whether the mom was aware of her son's actions or not.

If one of my kids pulled a stunt like this I would have whooped their butt, and he certainly would not win the Son of the Year.

When the first round of resets occurred, I tried teaching my kids that cheaters never win. Not sure how to spin this now for them as they are well aware of what occured throughout this contest.

I worked hard to ensure voting was honest through this contest, giving a level playing field to all. Given the history with the winning recipe, I am dissappointed those efforts were all for naught. Deeply dissappointed.

In the end though, what are you going to do. Move on and carry on. I'm anxiously awaiting my new car this week, and prepping for our annual drive to Florida for March break. I've got bigger issues to deal with than dwell on a flawed contest, in the grand scheme of things.

I held off posting the link to the awful thread regarding the winning recipe and the actions they took during the contest. I'm posting it now. You be the judge of whether it should have been in the finals or not.

Worst Son of the Year Award goes to...... poor sports indeed.

I want to point out, had this thread and nonsense not occured I would be as thrilled for the winner as I am for my friends who took the other categories. Well earned wins.

Olympic Spirit runs HIGH in our house and family

2010-02-11T12:41:00.004-05:00

I'm not going to deny I'm wickedly proud to be Canadian. I love being Canadian.   Having the Olympics hosted in our country this year brings out more of my patriotism.   I was telling my son last night as we were watching the news coverage of the upcoming games that I was his age when the Olympics were held in Calgary in 88. I remember my excitement then as well. I auditioned to sing at the opening ceremonies and while I didn't make it, I still felt like I was a part of the excitement.

I get a tear in my eye watching the promotional video of 'I Believe" with Nikki Yanofsky singing. A young talent who will be catapulted to the next level after her exposure here.   I'm goofy sentimental and am so excited to see all the Canadian flags waving through the ads.

Here is that beautiful song. Inspirational I think

Seeing my young cousin's excitement at holding the torch on the east coast, (see post )was followed by seeing my son's excitement at doing the same here locally. Following that my beautiful neice received the coolest birthday candle ever.( coolest birthday candle )   To quote my uncle "It's not often you can say three cousins from seperate parts of the country all got to hold the Olympic torch" Pretty amazing actually and it a memory they will tell their own kids about some day.   Maybe 22 years from now my son will be sitting with his child if Canada is hosting again and say.... "I was your age when I held the Olympic Torch"   Maybe his own child will be part of the games. We've been touched by torch x3.   Not to mention my cousin on the other side of the family actually got to run with the Torch, in yet another part of the country. So we've been touched 4X!!

I am anxiously awaiting the opening ceremonies and the games. I love winter sports so this is thrill. I doubt we'll have Eddie the Eagle types, or the Jamacain bobsled team types this year, which made the Calgary games even more thrilling, but I can't wait to watch.   I'm insanely jealous of my friend who has an "all access pass" to the games and is busy helping out the Australian teams.

Here are the three cousins, holding thier Olympics torches in their home cities (or kitchen as the case may be)

My cousin, my son, and my neice both holding proudly and blowing out her "candle"

Now...the only down part so far is my son noticed last night in one of the CTV commercials what he calls an "epic fail". Canada was misspelled on one of the kids posters and read Caneda. I can't believe this wasn't caught by someone. I could go on a diatribe about how schools aren't teaching kids to spell anymore, or just let it go. I think I'll this one go but I can't deny it didn't bother me when watching it. Commercials meant to inspire Canadian pride and our country's name is spelled incorrectly? It's a lovely commercial but the spelling mistake kinda bugs me

My Godmother's son (and my cousin) running with the Torch will be added as soon I can get a copy of it!
Got them...here they are

On another note. I know I've not blogged about the kids acting stuff at all lately. That's because...well...it's DEAD!! We've had maybe 6-7 auditions since the new year. Hoping things pick up soon.

It's been a little bit since I've blogged

2010-02-02T11:34:00.000-05:00

I want to apologize for not getting in here lately.   I have been so sick. I had my flu shot, I had my H1N1 shot, but sadly, nothing could protect me from the common cold that turned into bronchitis. NOT FUN.

Two weeks flat out on my back and I'm still not 100% but I'm getting there. At least I can function a little bit now.

Good thing too as I have one son down with what I had and another who just had oral surgery yesterday to remove his four impacted wisdom teeth (ouch).

As luck would have it, said chipmunk cheek boy was called in to audition for a lead role in a new series. Sigh.....we have been able to reschedule the audition but I put him on tape prior to his surgery just in case he is still having trouble moving his jaw by Thursday. Not ideal but hoping it's better than the grumble talk he is currently muttering.

Other than that? Not much happening. I need to go find a new vehicle in the next couple of weeks. My poor battlevan is screaming at me to put it out of it's misery (Literally, there is a wicked squeal coming out of the poor engine block).   I'm trying not to drive it too much as I'm a little concerned about it's safety.   The old lady owes me nothing and has given me 12 years of excellent service. Given how sick I've been and the month long visit from my MIL I just haven't been able to get out to find one.

I am trying to find a used Ford Flex. The dealership let me take one over the Christmas holidays and I love it!!!

Still waiting on an animated series role for my daugher for voice work. They had auditions and callbacks over a month ago and as of yesterday have still not made any decision, so fingers crossed on that one.

That's it. I'm now nursing sickies and verbally challenged kids this week. I have so much to catch up on after being down for so long. Recipes to make, paperwork to deal with (tax time), find a new car, and start to organize a few trips for the year.   The clock is ticking on the car so that's my first priority...we are driving to Florida in March and we can't go without a new vehicle.

Final Day of Voting. BAKING FOR CHARITY

2010-01-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone. Yes I'm still sick but wanted to remind everyone today is final day of voting in the Pillsbury Baking Challenge.

As you know I've pledged the prizes (should I win) to charity and my goal was to get to the finals. With amazing support from my readers, friends and family we've gotten there. This has been an interesting journey and along the way I've met some other contestants. All of us have pulled together as a group to help each other get to the finals where our recipes will be judged by a panel of experts.

Just amazing to see the support of other competitors within the same contest!!!

On that note. Please take a moment to head on over to Pillsbury's Baking Challenge website
and help us stay or get to the finals. We have to midnight EST today to get the ratings in.

My Simply Sinful Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie (which I happen to be making for dinner tonight)
Turtle Tarts (which are really yummy), by Anna Given
Chorizo and Sun Dried Turnovers, by Judy Mackesay
Orange Upside down Biscuits, by Mary (I know we can't get her into the finals but lets give her some support)

and finally... a recipe that I've been voting for since the beginning is so close to getting into the finals Candied Apple Cinnamon Bread. It looks sooooo good!!! She is so close and I don't think Anna would mind another good recipe in the desserts. In the end it comes down to the judges and I think the Candied Apple Recipe looks excellent so I'd love to throw some support her way as well.

Special mention should go to Sheri Landry and her Chicken and Dumplings slow cooker recipe. Sheri has been leading the race since the get go, and needs no help with voting, but I want publicly thank her for getting me to think outside the box as far as web networking, social networking etc. I've learned so much from her as she has been working the web to maintain her lead. Kudos to you Sheri.

I'm alive!!!

2010-01-26T12:24:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. Just wanted to drop a quick note that I am indeed about. I have been sick in bed over two weeks now. This thing is a kicker and has knocked the socks off of me. (Bronchitis).

I'll be back soon with more posts and more recipes on the Ravenous Horde blog shortly. Hoping to kick this to the curb by the weekend and feel human again.

I Lost a Dear Friend today

2010-01-13T22:29:00.002-05:00

Today I lost a dear friend. Her name is Dorothy.

Dorothy was a very special woman. I met Dorothy when I had my manufacturing company. I was looking for an employee and after interviewing gobs of not so eager college students in walked this elderly lady into my warehouse one day to purchase some stock for her daughter's store.

We start chatting and she saw the pile of resumes and asked if I was looking for someone. Turns out she was looking for a job. I was a little surprised as she was 72 years old but I thought...what the heck. We get along well let's give this a shot.

Best decision I ever made. Dorothy could run circles around the young pups who worked part time. She took no crap from them and kept everyone on their toes (including me). When I had the warehouse I also had my daughter who was an infant at the time, and I was pregnant with our youngest. Dorothy doted on the kids. We had an office converted into a playroom/nursery for the kids and in addition to working like a madwoman on our flower products, she would dote on those kids and just adored them. They in turn loved her back. Dorothy could often be found snuggling my youngest and giving him raspberries to hear him giggle.

Dorothy was my savior at the shop. She was talented working with the flowers, she was kind, and was wonderful with the customers. She also took no nonsense from anyone who came in with any frivilous complaint. Dorothy and I became very close. After a major car accident I had, she stepped up and pretty much ran the place while I recovered.   Dorothy was a giver. She gave selflessly to her children, her neighbours and sometimes I would get angry when I saw people taking advantage of her generous spirit.

There was a time we were talking and Dorothy mentioned to me that all she ever wanted since she was a little girl was a gold bracelet. I found a beautiful bracelet for her and gave it her for Christmas. I will never forget her reaction. She was in tears and refused to accept it. I told her that she was so special to me and this was my way of thanking her for everything she had done for me that year.   She said that everytime she wore it she would think of me and hugged me so hard and so long it was like she was clinging for life.

Dorothy became part of our family. When I closed the warehouse, downsized and moved the operation home, she followed, and continued to work part time for me until I sold the company. It did not stop her from visiting though. As with many things in life, our lives changed and Dorothy and I didn't see each other very often anymore. We kept in contact over the phone though. It had been awhile since I had spoken with her. I had dropped some photos of the kids off to her with some notes when we were near her neighbourhood, but I hadn't talked to her in ages. Over last winter she was on my mind alot. I called and left a few messages but none were returned. I became concerned that she had passed away.

One day, the phone rang and I saw it was my beloved Dorothy. I was so excited to see her number. We talked and got caught up, and she apologized for not returning my call. Turns out, Dorothy went into the doctor for a routine exam and was sent to the hospital with pancreatic cancer, and liver cancer. The doctors gave her 6 months without treatment. Dorothy refused the treatment and just wanted to live for what time she had left. Every day beyond the six months were a gift to her.

She felt good, and didn't want to be drugged her last days of living. She wanted to come and say goodbye. God bless her. She came over a beautiful afternoon in the summer. We sat in the gazebo and had tea, and talked and talked. She hugged and fussed over the kids and wanted to hear all about their acting adventures. She wanted to know how my husband and I were getting on now that he was with a newer company. She looked pretty darned amazing considering her condition. She was bright and energetic and full of life as usual. I will cherish our last day together, and I'm so touched she came over that day.

Her son called me tonight. As soon as I saw the number I knew. Dorothy had been on my mind all weekend. I was so touched that he called as I was never sure whether her children were aware of how close we had become over the years. I was her confident and her friend.   He told me they were given explicit instructions that they had to call and let me know she had passed and that I was to be told "She loved you".

I'm going to miss you Dorothy. I'm going to miss your stories, your caring, your unshakable faith in the good in people, and mostly your love.   Heaven is a brighter place with you in it.   God bless everyone

Give those you love a hug and let them know you love them.

There are no words that I can convey in this post that can do honour and justice to what an amazing woman Dorothy was, but if anyone deserves a special honour it is this lady.   I will miss you dearly my friend.
This is Dorothy with my two little ones and their nanny one fine sunny afternoon.

The Mystery of the Missing Socks

2010-01-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have the answer to this one?

I've tried everything over the years. I've tried those little round things with the diamond spikes in them to keep socks together. Besides wrecking the socks and impaling my fingers in them, they were useless.

We've tried the little sock bags. Kids don't use them effectively so again...useless.

I've tried doing everyone's laundry seperately. That has worked only to some degree.

My husband bought a whole bunch of new dress socks prior to Christmas. There are several missing socks. I have zero idea where they are. I ripped apart this house last week trying to find some missing US dollars and no socks were found (nor was the money...yet another mystery...I think it's at my husband's office but I could be wrong). I've just finished 10 loads of laundry (yes...I kind of slacked off last week). There is not a single unwashed item of clothing in this house. Nothing unfolded, nothing unironed. It is a glorious feeling. Well until tonight when they all come home with dirty clothes again...sigh.

As I've been going through the piles, I've found some holey socks, into the garbage they went. I placed all my socks into a bag and sat down to sort and match them all when the rest of the laundry was done. This turned into a frustrating adventure. I started buying different socks for each child. That way, no one could be accused of snagging someone else's socks. My daughters were never really an issue as the boys were not exactly partial to pink hearts or stripes.

I have white socks, black stripes for my youngest
White socks hanes for #2 (some with green print, some with black)
White socks champion #1
finally, some white nike and izod socks for my husband when not using dress socks

This isn't rocket science right? Where have they all gone?? Who knows. Sorting through the socks, I have found all the old crappy socks. I have a bunch of matches but lots of unmatched. Some of the newer dedicated socks don't even match. One is bigger than the other...which means...one of the older boys has obviously been dipping into the younger ones stash.

So where do the socks go? I am convinced there is sock monster in the dryer (or maybe it is the washer). If someone knows where these socks go...please share. I'd like to reunite them with their family. In the meantime they will go into the single sock drawer and some day after I throw up my hands and dump them in the garbage, the match will show up.

In the spirit of honest competition: Pillsbury Baking Challenge Canada

2010-01-11T09:20:00.002-05:00

Those of you who have followed me for awhile now know I'm in the Pillsbury Baking Challenge-Canada Edition.

I've written about the fun, the frustration, back to the fun, pledging the prizes won to Charity etc. several times over the last few months.   This contest has become rather drawn out. Pillsbury has never run one of these in Canada and I certainly don't think they expected the level of "voting irregularities" that have occured, which has led to the above noted frustration. They have been very responsive to the concerns of contestants who have brought these issues to their attention and I'm sure have learned alot along the way. Hopefully our experiences will pave the way for a smoother contest next time (should Pillsbury decide to run it again).

An interesting thing happened along the way though. What started as "I gotta beat the leader", turned into utter awe of her web prowess and ability to network her recipe link. Given I'm a new blogger and learning as I go I was fascinated by it and have learned so much about networking, twitter, the sheer power of internet. I have become a googling master, and have discovered so many interesting blogs, websites, and people along the way.

When the voting irregularities started way back in November, a few contestants quietly made their presence known on a forum in a website. When the second round of irregularities hit, a few more came out of the woodwork. It has allowed us to voice our concerns and know that we were not alone in our frustration even though we are in fact competing with each other. It has allowed us the opportunity to support each other, and each other's recipes in our quest to get to the finals, where the recipes will be judged by criteria vs. Internet voting. We have learned from each other, and now are supportive of each other (even within the same categories).

We have 16 days left now in the voting as they disabled the votes and reset them back to early December's rankings. As frustrating as that is to those of us who really worked hard to further our recipes standings it was all they could do really. There are women, like me who are linking their recipes, driving traffic to the site all of which is the purpose of this kind of thing. Get people visiting and talking about Pillsbury.   The more links the better from an advertising perspective, and why not right? Get the contestants to help advertise your products. That's all part of the game.

Given all of the issues, I will reiterate, while there are things I think Pillsbury should have antipated, they have been exceptional in responding to our concerns as contestants, in an effort to keep things fair and on a level playing field for all.

On that note, and in the spirit of friendly competition, I'd like to give a shout out to some of those contestants who are working hard for their votes and would like to lend a hand in their efforts.

When rating recipes please help the following recipes get to or stay in the finals. They could use some help getting there (or staying there as the case may be).

1. Well...of course I'm going to list mine. :)   Simply Sinful Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

2. A Wonderful recipe that I tried, and a lovely lady who I'm confident with our help can get to the finals:
Anna's Turtle Tarts , she has quite a ways to go but with a collective push we can get her there.

3. Karen's Meatball and Veggie Pizza While I haven't tried this one. I have watched this woman trying to get votes in for her recipes in multiple categories. Someone willing to bake that many entries, deserves a shot!

4. Judy's Chorizo and Sundried Tomato Turnovers , another one I haven't tried but dang they look interesting. Judy has also been working hard to get votes. Let's help her get to the finals in the appetizer category. I had never heard of chorizo prior to this contest, and have sourced some at the St. Lawrence market, so I'll pick some up next time I'm down and try this. Judy only has a little while to go to get to third. Let's help her.

5. Another dessert by Mary. Orange Upside Down Biscuits  Again, I've not tried this one, but Mary is part of that group supporting other contestants and would love to help her get more votes.

6. And finally Sheri, who is leading the race with her Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings   This one may surprise everyone to be included as we have at times been neck in neck along the journey. I'm including Sheri, not because I think she needs help with votes..because Clearly, she is a goddess of self promotion, and someone I am in awe of. I'm including her because, she has worked insanely hard to get to where she is in the competition. She has done it cleanly and fairly, and as a result has promoted Pillsbury intensely. In the end of the day I'm hoping we both get to the finals and can both have our recipes judged on their merits. I believe there is a mutual respect there between the two of us as we can recognize how much each other has really put into this.

For those who haven't followed the progress of this contest it can be hard to understand that given the number of voting issues, that the leaders aren't where they are because of potential "help".   I'd like to say without question that there are a number of recipes in the top 10 who got there from hard work and all of those listed above are in that category. It's hard to keep the momentum going after such a drawn out process but we are persevering.

You can help. You can go to the above links and rate the recipes with 5 stars. You will need to register as a one time deal with first name and email, and verify you are human, but after that, you can simply sign in and vote daily. All of us can use your help to reach our own personal goals in this contest.   You can help by linking this post in your blogs, twitter, facebook etc to help garner more attention, or simply share the recipes via "share this" on the pillsbury site itself.

Some of us are baking for charity prizes, some of us are baking for a cleaning lady or much needed new appliances. Some for grocery gift cards, and others, for the sheer challenge, and the goal of having something we love to do judged by pros.

Have a terrific day everyone and please (not to sound like a broken record), don't forget to vote daily.   I came up with a little jingle as a joke on facebook.   sung to the tune of 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

16 days of voting to go
16 days to go
Boorassing my friends to vote some mo'
16 days of voting to go

:)

A Voice Over Audition (with Laryngitis), not a good combo

2010-01-07T20:10:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life takes funny turns. My daughter had an audition before Christmas to be a character in a new animated series (the voice of). She went, did her thing, and off we went into the Christmas frenzy without giving it another thought.

The kids went back to school Monday...except my daughter who has been suffering from a urinary tract infection, then a nasty cough, followed by laryngitis. Inevitably the call comes in..... C has a callback with the director for the cartoon series. Rut roh!!!

Yesterday she spent the day drinking tea with honey and hasn't been allowed any dairy. (Interesting tidbit...dairy can creat phlegm and from what I've heard most pro voice people won't drink or eat dairy on a day they need to perform or audition...who knew??).

Anyhow...she's been downing tea with honey, tea with lemon and honey etc. in an effort to get her voice back. She pretty much had it back last night. Today she continued with her tea concoctions and wanted to go. Fortunately they had the tape from her first audition just in case. Anyway...she felt great about it, and we managed to get out a minute before our parking tag was due so the poor meter guy was disappointed as he was standing there at the ready!! HA!!

She got another call this evening for an out of town shoot audition tomorrow. Reading the script it's like they studied my neighbour as it is the perfect depiction of him. After she read the script she exclaimed "it's Mr. X". Yup. So, I just got through the mane of hair tonight, I'll finger set it before she goes to school tomorrow and off we shall go for another audition. It would be cool if she got this one. Haven't been to Montreal since I was a teenager. Cross your fingers for her on both counts. Landing a series would be awesome to the extreme, and a two day trip to Montreal wouldn't be too bad either!! She's getting antsy to book something as she's craving a new camera, and seeing her brother's commercial every few minutes is sort of sparking a bit of...hmmm.....I need a turn now kind of thing.

So...remember if you need your voice clear...stay away from Dairy...there is my public service announcement for the day.

In other news. Please remember to stop by and rate my recipe Simply Sinful Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie over at the Baking Challenge. You need to register with first name and email now (but only once), and confirm you are human via captcha image. After you are confirmed to be a real live human being you can log in and vote daily. Need to stay in the top three to get through to the finals and remember...I'm baking for Charity. Prizes won are pledged to various local charities. See the post below for details. Have a great one everyone

Voting is back up. Please help me Bake for Charity

2010-01-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New year. A New Year brings new challenges and the first this year for me would be the Pillsbury Baking Challenge. As some of you know, voting has been up, then down, then up, then down again due to voting irregularities.

I'm still in it and I'm still pledging to donate the prizes to charity should I be fortunate enough to win. My goal is to get to the finals to have my recipe judges by experts.

For those who aren't familiar with my pledge, the grand prize is a suite of Kitchen appliances. These I am pledging to donate to our local abused women's shelter. The grocery gift cards ($2500) are pledged to our Food Bank, and the cleaning lady?? Well, I'm still working on that one.

Please take a moment to register and vote at Pilsbury Baking Challenge My recipe is the Simply Sinful Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie. I could really use 5 star ratings daily.

Thanks all. What a great way to start the year if I can get to the finals.
In other news...My husband got a promotion today. A big one. I am so proud of him, and no one deserves it more than he does. Yet another way to show the kids that hard work, and integrity pay off in the long run.

Coolest Birthday Candle EVER!!!

2010-01-04T17:12:00.000-05:00

My niece turned 7 this past week. Now it may be over the top but she will never ever forget her 7th Birthday candle.

The Olympic Torch was run through thier town over the weekend. Her Godfather just happened to be a torch bearer. It took a little bit of tape but what an awesome candle. Patriotic and celebratory.

Happy 2010 New Year

2010-01-01T22:44:00.000-05:00

Just a quick fly by to wish everyone a happy happy new year. I hope the new years finds opportunities, adventures, happiness, health and positive experiences for everyone.

We rung in the new year quietly around here. A lovely dinner, and a quiet night of games and movies. Rung in 2010 with a trip to emerg with my daughter who has a urine infection. Wouldn't be a holiday without having to visit emerg I don't think. It's inevitable when all the walk in clinics are closed, someone is going to get sick and we'll spend a night in the ER. All is fine and she is being treated now. I took her in this morning as I didn't want to deal with all the New Year's Eve insanity that I'm sure existed.

In other news. #2 Son's latest commercial went to air. We happened to see the day of release (that NEVER happens). I was actually heading up to bed and it came on. :) I'm proud of him for this one. Never hurts to have an anti drug campaign under your belt. After the gay Mr. Sub ad with his brother I guess it was time to redeem ourselves. LOL. This one is on national TV up here and is set to hit the theatres in March so that's pretty exciting. Here ya go. Happy New year one and all

My Son's latest Commercial from M F on Vimeo.

A Treasured Gift from the past

2009-12-27T21:12:00.000-05:00

My grandma was a character. She was full of life and I strive to be half as energetic as she was in her latter years. She was always doing something special for someone and anything she did it was always from the heart.

My gran never had a lot of money. I mentioned that before. She lived through the depression and never forgot. She used to make us giggle as kids as we sat around the Thanksgiving or Christmas table that after grace we had to pause to remember the poor starving farmers in Saskatchewan, or whomever was down and out that particular year. It was never the sentiment we giggled at but how she would just come out of left field with some of her comments.

I was telling my kids before Christmas as I was wrapping gifts that whenever I wrap a gift I would remember my gran. She would whack you with a wooden spoon if you dared to rip wrapping paper from a gift. That was expensive stuff you know!!! We would get her goat going by ripping the odd one, just to see her reaction and she never failed to get worked up. As we got older and I appreciated her more for all she had seen and been through I always made a point of saving my good wrapping paper for grandma.   My own kids were kind of giggling over the grandma stories as I was relating them. She was beloved to them as much as she was beloved to me.

My Uncle came for dinner tonight with our family. He was down here for the holidays to spend time with friends. My Uncle is my godfather. I grew up thinking my uncle was a bit odd but had the pleasure of spending a full weekend alone with him my last year of University. I got to know my Uncle and saw the kind, warm and gentle side of him. I have a special bond with him now and he is very dear to me. I loved that he was able to spend some time with us today. The kids were thrilled to see him.

I made him a meat pie and pierogy to take with him (although the pierogy theives made off with some of them so he had his portion at dinner). He brought me a treasure. He had taken some photos at Thanksgiving of my parents, my brother and his family and my family. He put it in a small frame for us. That alone is treasured but even more so was the gift bag it was in. Beaten up a little bit, he told me it was the last of my Grandma's recycled gift bags. I don't know if anyone will truly ever understand how much I love that final gift bag. It was like a gift from my Grandma. I had to hold back the tears as I was so touched that he'd chosen my brother and I to receive our gifts in her final paper.   I'm going to think of something to do with that gift bag, because in honour of my grandma, I don't have the heart to throw it out. It's a nice one so I think I may have to frame it, or perhaps decoupage it onto a tray of some sort.

I may not stop my kids from ripping their wrapping paper but I love that memory of my Gran and the treasured gift from the past my uncle brought me tonight.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday and it was filled with blessed treasures.

Happy Christmas to all.

2009-12-23T17:50:00.000-05:00

I am DONE!!! All my preparations are complete. I fell a little behind but with a little bit of get up and go gumption yesterday I got caught up and today got ahead again.

My husband's family is Danish and we have adopted Danish Christmas as our own. It is celebrated Christmas Eve vs the 25th. This works out well as it gives us the opportunity to spend time with my family on the 25th without any squabbles.

We have generally a small Christmas. Usually just my immediate family and my Mother in Law. This does not mean we don't have food though. Christmas isn't Christmas without all of the recipes of my ancestors (thanks grandma). On the menu tomorrow will be. Turkey with a cranberry/apple/cashew stuffing, roasted with bacon.
Polish Perogy (got those made yesterday with the kids assembly line style)
Tourtierre (traditional French Canadian meat pie)
Maple Cinnamon Mashed Turnip (this one is really really good...thanks Mom)
Special Mashed Potatos (secret recipe)
Traditional Danish Soup
Traditional Danish Lemon Mousse
Ricilamonde (traditional Danish rice dessert...ohhhh so good but I don't think I spelled it right)
Ameretto Cheesecake with Oreo cookie base.

I got EVERYTHING done by this afternoon except the Turkey and soup!!! Tomorrow I will enjoy cooking in the kitchen with my mother in law, sipping my chocolate martinis and laughing with the kids all day.

Dinner will be served, dishes done, and then the kids in the Danish tradition will sing to the tree to give up it's gifts. Gifts opened and then we are done. Often we then flip into my tradition mode and will go to Midnight mass, then Santa visits with small gifts for the kids (not this year as I have now been officially busted as Santa) and we all sleep in Christmas morning!

I love Christmas so much. I have been in heaven yesterday and today making food and enjoying all the scents of that heartwarming food. I am all calm today and enjoying every moment of it knowing I'm not stressing about getting everything done.

I want to wish everyone a wonderful Happy Christmas. I will be wrapping it up now until the presents are all opened and I have a moment to reflect on how truly blessed we are knowing my beloved Grans, and gramps, and my dear brother are all smiling down and sitting with us at the table.

To you and yours, a wonderful wonderful holiday and I hope you are enveloped in the warm glow of family/friends and inner peace.