Ruff Ruminations

Connecting Bloggers and Brands - Coming to Calgary

2013-05-20T19:25:00.003-06:00

Do you want to connect more with Brands on your blog? Learn about new products and attend fun events? Learn how to build a relationship with big Brands? Then this may be a conference for you! And the best part is that its FREE!

Even if you've just started blogging, brands want to connect with Calgary and area bloggers. Are you wondering how to begin or manage your relationships with brands, you need to be at the Connecting Bloggers and Brands conference happening in Calgary in June?

National and local brands will be in attendance and they want to meet and talk with you about the blogger/brand relationship! You’ll also get to meet many other local bloggers, to develop friendships, partnerships and great working relationships. The best way to build your blog is by meeting other people doing the same thing as you, we all love to learn from each other's experiences.

The Calgary date will be near the end of June in mid-week, we need lots of people to sign up so we can book a venue and set a date! It will involve evening and daytime events preceded by weekly webinars. Connecting Bloggers and Brands is looking for bloggers to register now for this free event in order for them to approach the local brands they know you’re interested in working with. To apply, you must meet the following criteria:

✔ You are legally able to work in Canada.
✔ You reside in in the province the conference is hosted
✔ You have a blog
✔ MOST IMPORTANTLY – You WANT to work with Brands

To sign up for this event, simply register at http://connectingbloggersandbrands.com/alberta-registration/.

I will also be participating in Social Media Mountain, coming to the Rocky Mountains in May of 2014. Sign up for updates as they’re announced on this fantastic social media conference.

Snow Day

2013-04-10T08:24:00.000-06:00

As all true Calgarians know March and April bring big snowstorms to our city. After one snowstorm in March Grady and Daddy spent a good 2 hours outside playing in the snow while I stayed warm and dry behind the sewing machine! Check out the antics they got up to:

PJ Day at School

2013-04-09T08:21:00.000-06:00

March brought another Special Helper day for Grady, it also happened to fall on Pajama Day! I played along too and wore my pjs to school. We brought pancakes and virgin mimosas for snack. Tiggy came too as all the kids got to show off their favorite stuffy to their classmates.

Skating

2013-04-08T08:17:00.000-06:00

Grady’s class did skating lessons at Frank McCool arena for the one day a week for the month of February, unfortunately he missed 2 of the lessons so he did not progress in his skating as much as his classmates but he still had fun and gained a lot of independence! The classes were taught by his preschool teacher and a fun way to introduce everyone to skating.

Dinosaur Park - Calgary Zoo

2013-04-05T08:09:00.000-06:00

We finally made it back to the zoo. Who knew life with a 4 year old would make it so hard to get there on a monthly basis! We didn’t even do Zoolights this year, well we went but the line of cars to get in was backed up to Memorial drive! So not worth it. But this sunny day in February just after our trip to Vancouver was too good to pass up sitting at home so we set off for the zoo. Daddy doesn’t get the chance to come very often and managed to convince Grady to check out the Dinosaur Park! Grady has refused to set foot in it for over two years. Ever since I took him to Dinosaurs Alive and he got scared because they moved and made noise. No matter how often I told him those dinos were gone he was not interested. But the stars aligned and we were able to go check it out this time.

I still think the Dinosaur Park is the least fun part of the zoo, especially now that you can’t climb on anything. It is basically just a walk through a bunch of statues that are spaced very far apart. I think the zoo could cut the park in ½ and use the space for something else. I would love to see more Canadian species like Lynx, bobcat, moose, elk, even mule deer! Antelope would be fabulous, and what about a funny little family of Richardson’s Ground Squirrels? (gophers) I think that would really draw the international and tourist crowds to the zoo.

In any case I am glad Grady overcame his fear and gave the park another try, it was nice to do something different from our regular routine at the zoo!

January Special Helper Day

2013-04-03T08:02:00.000-06:00

Grady had his special helper day in January. He always asks when his day is coming up and really enjoys getting to be the star of the day. Thankfully this time he did not puke in the hall seconds before class started!

West Edmonton Mall - Sea Caverns and Sea Lion Show

2013-04-02T07:53:00.000-06:00

Grady and I went up to Edmonton in January to do some deliveries and we of course had to squeeze in a visit with my new nephew Zane and some fun for Grady! We decided to check out the Sea Lion show at West Edmonton Mall as well as tour the Undersea Caverns. It is a pretty good deal if you get there early enough to take part in the full day Caverns pass and a show. We got there just in time for the afternoon show and ended up with great seats, front and centre. Grady paid attention nearly the whole time and was excited to get his photo with a penguin and the sea lion after the show. I was a bad person and snuck my own photo instead of paying the insane price for the one taken by the photographer. BUT you don’t have to buy the photo in order to get one done so I would recommend grabbing a ticket for a photo as it is a fun experience for your child!

The Undersea Caverns are fantastic for the price, there are at least 3 touch tanks where you can get up close to rays, sharks and anemones amongst other sea creatures. Then you can spend some time trying to identify the penguins based on their colored bands.

New Year's Eve 2012

2013-04-01T07:43:00.000-06:00

I don’t think I ever wrote about our New Year’s Eve! Our good friends had a themed dinner party where everyone dressed up Casino Royale style, or as a favorite Bond character. We had a fabulous fondue and rang in the New Year. Grady of course stayed up until midnight (or even later I am sure!)

Elf on the Shelf - catching upon missed posts :D

2013-03-29T07:35:00.000-06:00

I know this is super late to the game, but let’s think of it as really early inspiration for Christmas 2013! Here is what our Elf on the Shelf, Nemo got up to before Christmas Day.

Preschool Santa - might be someone you know...

2013-03-28T07:31:00.000-06:00

Don’t tell Grady but some one very close to him helped Santa out this year by standing in during the preschool’s Christmas party. Can you guess who it was? He did a wonderful job as Santa and the kids really enjoyed having him come to class.

SNC Children's Christmas Party 2012

2013-03-27T07:26:00.000-06:00

I planned my second (and I am told last) SNC Children's Christmas Party this year. It was a HIT and probably good to go out on a high note with people saying it was the best kid's party they have ever been to, including those hosted by other companies! We held it at the Olympic Oval. Which was fabulous venue and I would plan a party there again for sure. We got a couple hours of skate time plus Santa, bouncy houses, face painters, lunch and a super cool company branded donuts!

Very Christmassy facepaint, a skeleton with flames

Halloween 2012

2013-03-26T07:01:00.000-06:00

Halloween in 2012 was spent out in Airdrie again. We should really wander our own neighborhood but we find the grandparent’s is so much nicer as people decorate their houses and it is an easy circle to walk and end up with a bag full of candy. Costume this year was another deal found by Gloria, Grady really loved dressing up as a Kangaroo! He had a great time at his preschool party as well. He was definitely the only Kangaroo that we saw throughout the Halloween season! I wonder if Grandma will find him something as unique for this year?

A Trip to the Corn Maze (last year that is ;D)

2013-03-25T06:52:00.000-06:00

Time to turn back the clock all the way to October! And show you what we did in the rest of the year when I wasn't stuck behind the sewing machine :D Grady’s school had a cold but fun field trip to the Calgary Corn Maze.

When the Cat is Away...

2013-03-24T17:36:00.000-06:00

What did Grady get up to while Mom and Dad were in Montreal? Looks like Gramma and Granpa were good to him, trips to the zoo and CalawayPark!

Vancouver Aquarium

2013-03-18T10:26:00.000-06:00

We were super smart while in Vancouver and decided to go to the Aquarium on Family Day since it was raining a bit and we thought it would not be a good day for the Capilano Bridge. BIG mistake! It was crazy busy, but luckily crowds don't bother me or Grady (not so sure about Brian) so we managed. It was hard to find parking and we had to do a little honking at some tourists who didn't want to respect the rule of someone waiting for a spot gets the spot.

We made inside eventually, thanks to some tickets that I got with Airmiles. It would have been nice to know that we could skip the whole line and just show our Airmiles tickets at the front door but oh well. With 3 adults and 3 kids it was surprisingly easy to stay as a relative group. The Martin's had been before so they went through the exhibits a bit faster than us and left early but it worked out to be a nice day together.

The feature exhibit was Sharks but I think the Aquarium is a worthwhile trip anytime. I will be going back for sure, but maybe mid-week to avoid crowds.

Grady really enjoyed it and we managed to get lucky and walk up to the Beluga tank in enough time to grab seats and actually be able to see the show. I am not sure why I didn't get any photos? Must have been to entertaining! I do recommend that you bring something to sit on as rain or shine the seating is likely to be wet and you don't want to have to spend the rest of the time walking around with a damp bum

fish face

best fish face!

The Vancouver Aquarium has a fantastic pretend play area that rivals all other I have seen. Grady played for easily 30 minutes being a vet to stuffed dolphins and rescuing them. Then he took a go at being one himself!

That's Grady in the boat being taking out to sea to be released, he insisted that he must fit into the same space as the stuffies!

The other great part was the 4D movie. I would recommend getting in for this but hope you have better luck that us and don't sit by a family of yak-boxes that don't have any respect for the fact that we are all trying to listen and enjoy the movie. In any case I won't give away the secrets but I will say make sure you catch a show when you are there! We saw the Salmon Run and it was pretty cool!

Have you ever been to the Vancouver Aquarium? What did you think?

An Interview with Hank - Calgary Auto Show

2013-03-13T21:41:00.001-06:00

Grady had the opportunity today to interview Hank, Ford Canada's robot. He has been excited since finding out and got to have quite the conversation with Hank! I recommend you check out the Auto Show if you get a chance and if you aren't from Calgary I believe Hank is travelling with Ford across the country to all the auto shows so take you kids down to meet him! Might as well check out some cars while you are there too! I know Grady had 3 hours! of fun climbing into everything from a Ford Feista to an $117,000+ Range Rover!

HANK

Checking out the hybrid engine

Cool V8

Grady loved these backwards seats, especially when I told him that's how astronauts fly!

Tiggy is an engine part?

Spent so much time at Ford he became part of the display!

cool Lincoln lights

Grady's favorite space in all the cars, especially when they have an automatic hack close button that he can reach and "accidentally" close the door

If you see Hank, tell him Grady says hi!

Capilano Suspension Bridge

2013-03-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

I don't like heights, not in a phobia way but just in a they-make-me-queasy way. I don't even like walking over a pedestrian bridge over a road. That being said Capilano seems like a must-see when you are in the area. I would highly recommend that you check it out, even if you don't like heights like me push through it. Everything on the other side is totally worth it!

Voula and I below the Tree to Tree Walk

A view of the cliff-walk from the bridge

Here we go!

How long is your wingspan? Grady is nearly a raven

As tall as a 9yr old cedar

They made it!

I chickened out for the cliff walk, the bridge was enough of a challenge for me

Some might balk at the price tag of visiting this attraction (a hefty $32 each, Grady was free) but it is a great place to go. There is a lot built in with the cliff walk, bridge, treetop to treetop walk, falcon ridge and tonnes of interpretive information. Not to mention the cute shop and some special adventures for the kids. I didn't think it would be so easy and so fun to burn a day at a bridge! It is set in a beautiful forest and there is so much to learn and do there. Plus if you are a BC resident a one day pass is the same price as an annual pass!

2013 Ford Escape get the man to Whistler

2013-03-04T22:42:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned Brian did most of the driving in Vancouver and he also has a more refined way of speaking about cars. He tasked me with putting his bullet points into a post for you :D

BUT I’m feeling lazy so I’ll leave the bullets and pepper it with my own thoughts in green

· 2.0 Ecotec has punchy throttle response and great acceleration with very subtle turbo lag only – I thought it was tonnes of fun to drive and was easy to beat the Vancouver hipsters off the line

· Only averaged about 11.0 L/100 km with assertive driving style

· Smallish gas tank <500 km="" range="" span="">

· 6-speed transmission a bit hesitant and rough on the downshifts in stop and go traffic

· AWD system not entirely seamless, can feel engaging on slick pavement and full throttle to limit wheel spin. It’s no SH-AWD system. –Can you tell he likes our Acura ;)

· Firm euro sedan ride tested on the curvy stretches of the sea to sky highway

· Seats slightly narrow but comfortable – I found the passenger seat seemed very high in the cabin and did not have a lot of adjusting options

· Well lit cabin with double wide moon roof. – Grady like the glass roof too. I don’t know if it is an option that I would pay for though. It is a “nice to have”

· Good ground clearance

· Large 19” wheels add to curb appeal

· Climate control knobs slippery and lack tactile feedback

· I didn’t read any manuals so my review is based on how intuitive the controls are.

· Touch screen is distracting.

· Giant “Sound” and “Source” buttons seem redundant

· Back-up camera and guidance system is helpful

· Bottom of touch screen difficult to reach due to recessed positioning

· Lots of redundant controls – There are a lot of buttons, but I think over time I would get the hang of it

· Not sure if the kick sensor will work with a trailer hitch installed – I hadn’t thought of this but it is an interesting question

· I prefer to drive and park and don’t want to rely on a vehicle to do the latter. – We didn’t get a chance to try out the park assist. But I agree that it is a feature that I don’t see myself using.

Brian took the car to Whislter a couple times and Voula, the kids and I drove up to meet with them one day and check it all out. It is a great little community but I know Grady would not let me just wander around for a whole day so I doubt I would go up again just to “hang out” while Brian got some skiing in. The drive up is fabulous and well worth the time. There is lots to choose from to meet for a mid-ski lunch or dinner après slopes.

Looks amazing!

Sea to Sky Highway!

What happens when you let two grown men test out the Piggyback Rider?

Whistler is well worth a trip!

Vancouver 2013

2013-02-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Instead of Montana we went to visit our friends the Martin Family in Vancouver (Port Moody) for just over a week this year. Grady was really excited about the airplane ride, Brian was looking forward to some time at Whistler and Mount Baker and I was ready for a break from home. I was really good and didn't even bring my laptop!

Excited for the airplane!

This was Grady's 3rd time flying but he didn't remember the first times. It certainly was a lot easier to travel with a preschooler rather than a toddler! We still had to bring a car seat but were able to pack only 2 suitcases for the 3 of us so there was plenty of luggage allowance for skis too!

They do tell you to read the take off manual :D

I would fly the same way if I had mega head phones and a blanklet

Brian acting as Child hauler at Granville Island

We had great weather overall for this area of the country. It was nice to see green grass in February! Our first stop was Granville Island, it was fun to wander around and have a light lunch. Although there is a huge lack of seating in the food court we made do outside in the rain while the kids chased birds.

Grady was happy for the opportunity to have some "sleepovers" although we did find after a day or two that it didn't work out so well. Billy preferred to sleep alone and Grady would sleep later if they were separate So we had a few tears and lots of good excuses from the adults for the rest of the week as to why they shouldn't share.

We went down to the pier one of the sunny days

It made for a fun morning

Saturday was a bit jam packed for us and Grady made no bones about letting us know that he would rather stay to play than to go to "some kid I don't knows birthday party!" But we each have cousins out in Vancouver so we wanted to make sure if we traveled all that way we at least said "Hi" I would hope our families would do the same the next time they are in Cowtown.

First stop was Ashwin's Angry Birds party.

Lisa went to a tonne of effort but Grady was determined to stay in a bad mood so we just stayed long enough for Brian to catch up and then headed to our next stop.

"Fine! I found an egg! OK! Can we go now?"

We had planned to have a nice dinner with my cousin at the Boathouse in English Bay but Grady's bad attitude made us rethink that so we just met for a coffee rather than ending up in tears and tantrums later that evening.

As you can see what he really needed was some quiet time!

Voula being the genius that she is booked us a babysitter for Friday night and we went out for an adult only meal in Yaletown. We went to this fabulous Italian place La Pentola. We had one of the best Italian meals I have ever had and the best waiter to boot!

We'll be back for sure, it was a very filled 10 days!

2013 Ford Escape Gets us Around Vancouver - My Take

2013-02-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

We usually go on a family trip to Montana around this time so Brian can get in some skiing (I would like to join in once I get my allergy under control) as well as enjoy the cheap groceries and shopping. But this year we couldn't convince any other families to go to Montana with us (it is more fun with friends to ski with). BUT our good friends from Family Fun Vancouver convinced us to come out for a visit (wait that makes it sounds like they paid for our trip, they didn't we are actually friends!)

Our Escape one our little road trip to Bellingham

Anyway I digress from the point of this post! Ford Canada was nice enough to provide us with a 2013 Ford Escape while we were there. We were hoping to test out something bigger with two families (4 adults, 3 kids) but beggars can't be choosy and they didn't have one available. BUT the decked out Titanium Escape was nothing to scoff at for sure and certainly made having to take two cars everywhere much more enjoyable.

Now you know that I have had a date with the Escape before but this week gave me a chance to see how it would really fit into our lives. Brian has a much more analytical take which I will share too, but for now you are stuck with a brief version of my side.

I *might* have said at the end of the time "let's trade in our Acura and Mazda for an Escape and F-150" I was delirious from the new car smell maybe. We don't need any car payments in our life right now.

Grady liked it too but was none too happy about having to travel separate from his buds

It is a zippy little SUV and I enjoyed driving it. It has some cool features like the kick assisted lift gate (you don't actually kick it) which I thought was pretty cool and very useful but often too slow and I kept kicking again and making it close part way through opening. I know "first world problems".

I found the navigation system to be helpful but sometimes a bit overwhelming and not easy to use with voice controls. I didn't like that a passenger couldn't scroll through and enter destinations while the car was in motion. I know this is a safety feature to prevent drivers from using the system while driving but I do think that technology has come far enough that system could be a lot more user friendly.

I don't have a tonne more to say as I didn't spend a huge amount of time behind the wheel. But if I were in the market for a family SUV I would be checking out the Ford Escape. I was fun to drive, had a TONNE of great safety features and easily would fit our family.

This is a Nissan Murano but if Ford is listening please add something awesome like this for groceries in your vehicles!

Montreal - You know? We went there MONTHS ago

2013-02-07T13:54:00.002-07:00

Man I was cocky in my Christmas posts hey? I did not end up with as much downtime as I thought :D Oh well. Here are our much belated pics from Montreal when Brian when for a work trip and I tagged along!

thank you gift for Granma Linda and Granpa Bob who babysat while we were away

That's from one day of walking! And not even the day that we walked the most

Must have Poutine! I can't believe I ever thought I didn't like Poutine!

Yummy Smoked Meat at the iconic Schwartz's!

The view from our hotel room

Montreal has some great lights at night

Tour of Old Montreal

Berlin wall

I have serious man hands so you know this is a giant leaf!

A walk up Mont Royal

Lego Mont Royal

The only fall colors we got

We took in the Festival of Lanterns at the Botanical Gardens

If I had to do it again I would go early and take in the gardens in the daylight hours and then see the lights, as there weren't enough lights for my taste to warrant the cost of admission

It was so nice to get away without Grady. I like to say that a vacation with him is not a vacation for me as my work comes too! Brian liked to tease me about sleeping in every day but I said "I'm sorry you have to work on my vacation!" Montreal is a beautiful city full of history but I was surprised at how little the people seemed to take pride in it. Then again I haven't wandered downtown Calgary in a long while so many people just throw garbage and cigarette butts all over here too?

We stayed at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, it is very centrally located, the rooms were nice and the fitness/pool area was great. I got up in enough time a few of the days to get a run in, although I regretted it on the days that we walked for miles!

I would go back to Montreal to visit for sure and it would be nice to see more of Quebec next time, but I don't think I would want to live there.

How to Surprise a 4 year old Boy with a Bunk Bed!

2013-01-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

For Christmas we got Grady a bunk bed or "loft bed" if you prefer the correct name. He has been asking for one since before his birthday and it seemed like time as he was getting too tall for the toddler bed.

BUT you can just give a kid a bed right? I wanted it to be a special moment and a surprise but how the heck do you surprise a 4 year old boy with a bunk bed? Here's how:

1) It probably helps to have a kid that is a super deep sleeper once asleep. I lifted him out of bed and put him in our room.

2) While Grandpa and Daddy started putting the new bed together in the basement, Grandma and I disassembled his toddler bed. His toddler bed does covert to a double but that just seem too much bed for a 4 year old and too much bed for his room, which is why we went with a single loft bed

3) Daddy and Grandpa assemble the bed in his room, while Grady sleeps next door completely unaware!

4) Everything set up and ready to go, now tricky part #2 moving Grady from our bed to his new bed where I have to lift him up and into it!

None the wise, slept flat out the whole time. The whole process was about 1hr around 11pm Christmas Eve night.

5) Transfer complete, he did stir slightly but once he saw my face went straight back to sleep.

We told him Santa brought the bed and Daddy and Grandpa helped Santa set it up and Mommy and Daddy provided the mattress and crash mat (that giant orange pillow on the floor)

Of course I had to video his awesome reaction in the morning!

Thornton (post)Christmas Festivites

2013-01-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

We did Christmas with my side of the family this year from the 27th-30th. We were meant to go up on the 28th but Grady was BEGGING to go early and asking about once an hour since the 25th when were going so Brian figured we might as well :D

It was nice that everyone was able to get together a day early and we decided to not test the good graces of the kids by opening presents that night rather than waiting for Friday. My mom made us all a great lasagna and then we tore into the paper!

Cousins!

Lots of laughs and lovely things and happy kids and not even Baby Babiak was left out, although he?she? was not nice enough to grace us with their presence despite my full moon predictions.

Some little birdy told my family how much Grady LOVES Spiderman and as fate would have it various gifts combined to turn him into a little Spiderman!

It was good and not good all the same time. Grady and Isabel were excited to play and open presents but by Saturday they were more like siblings than cousins and a bit tired of each other. The day started out with yelling at 8am and went downhill from there. It was saved by many hours apart and alone time doing quiet activities.

Even Spiderman gets tired!

Can't wait to do it all again for birthday parties (Isabel) and BIRTHday parties (whenever that little Babiak decides to show up)

Brooks Christmas Festivities

2013-01-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or has this Christmas break gone by lightening fast for everyone? Except maybe my sis who is waiting to have her baby, I bet she would say that it has been the longest Christmas she can remember and she still has a week or so to wait! Anyways...I'm sure you are dying to know what we go up to and then I will turn back time and let you know how the past few months have been going :D

This year was our year with the Brooks side so we hosted everyone for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And we thought it would be more fun in Grandma and Grandpa stayed overnight so they could be there for Christmas morning!

Christmas Eve pick up sticks while we waited for everyone to arrive

Christmas eve Brian BBQ in -30 weather a lovely beef tenderloin. It was so cold he had to have two propane tanks on the go, one staying warm in the house ready to be swapped when the other one froze!I think this happened two or three times. I can say it was worth it (because I didn't have to go out in the cold at all) because the meal turned out perfect! It was nice to have everyone around and enjoy a fabulous meal. I may never eat a steak in a restaurant again as it just doesn't compare to what Brian prepares at home for a fraction of the price.

Christmas morning opening the stocking

Christmas morning Grady got a new bed (more pictures and story on that in another post) and a stocking from Santa. Mommy and Daddy provided the mattress and crash mat (we couldn't let Santa take all the credit!)

Grady had to wait a bit for the rest of the family to arrive before setting into the presents under the tree

I hope to teach Grady that the day is not just about gifts and getting spoiled but also about family and spending time together. I think it is important to wait for everyone to be present (both physically AND mentally) to show that not only do you respect other people's time and efforts but the value of family and relationships. I think it also worked well because Grady was not totally overwhelmed by a tonne of gifts all at the same time. Grandma and Grandpa were kind enough to left him open one or two while we waited for everyone to arrive in the late afternoon.

We also had a lovely brunch with eggs Benedict bacon, sausage and pancakes. So we had lots of energy for the gift opening extravaganza!

Grady was not too spoiled and (I think) thankful for all he received. We had some bad luck with one broken toy and 2 broken/not fun toys but Lynn saved the day with a fabulous Angry Birds race toy!

Sherry Poached Pear Chocolate Tart Recipe

2012-12-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Look forward to lots of posts over the holidays since I don't have any weighted blanket orders to complete and Brian is home for 16 days!

Sherry Poached Pear Chocolate Tart

This recipe is adapted from two different recipes, one from my friend Heather’s recipe “A Paris Wife’s Chocolate Pear Tart” on her blog Home to Heather. The other I found via Pinterest when I was searching for instructions on how to make the pears look more like a flower. It is called Port Poached Pear Chocolate Tart, but I didn’t have any Port, instead I had 4 bottles! of Sherry so I substituted.

Don’t mind the photos, I don’t have a fancy camera and I figure you are hear for the recipe anyways, the pictures just help the story along :D One day when we redo our kitchen all of my food photos will look fantastic I’m sure.

Ingredients:

Poached Pears:

3 medium-large pears

3 cups Sherry

1/3 cup sugar

Strips of zest from one orange

1 tsp whole cloves

½ tsp whole pepper corns

1 stick cinnamon

Pie Crust:

1 and ½ cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup icing sugar

¾ cup cold butter, cubed

Chocolate filling:

1 cup semi sweet chocolate

¾ cup whipping cream

2 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

Method:

Poached Pears:

1) In a medium sauce pan bring sherry, sugar, zest and spices to a boil

2) Reduce heat to low and add peeled, cored and halved pears

3) Simmer approximately 10min, remove from heat and let cool about 1hr

4) Spoon out pears on to cutting board, strain sauce to use later or for other recipes (great on ice cream!)

Pie Crust:

1) With a pastry blender (you could use a food processor(I don’t have one and there is something satisfying about baking using only hand tools) but be sure not to soften the butter too much) blend the butter, flour and icing sugar until you have a crumbly texture

2) Press into a tart pan with a removable bottom. Press along the bottom and up the edges. I try to use the side of my hand rather than fingertips so you don’t get any divots, I also let it overflow the edges a bit so I am sure to have crust all the way up to the top

3) Set aside in the freezer to set, or if you are making in Canadian winter like I was you can use the “Canadian Refrigerator” aka outside on your deck, the day I baked it was -30 degrees Celsius with the wind chill!

4) Allow to set for at least 15 minutes

Chocolate Filling:

1) In a double boiler (or if you don’t have one you can melt in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between zaps) melt chocolate chips. I added a few spoonfuls of the leftover sauce as well as the cream mixture (described below) to smooth out the texture of the chocolate

2) In a separate bowl whisk eggs, cream and sugar. Set aside

3) Spread melted chocolate on set pie crust, it is easiest to pour the whole mixture onto the crust and then push it to the edges with the back of a spoon

4) Slice pears into ¼ inch slices and place in over chocolate whatever design you choose (I was going for a flower). I made my design by spread them in circles with the center slices more on their sides like petals.

5) Spoon cream mixture over pears starting at the edges and going slowly to allow it to settle, you may not need all the mixture so be patient and slow. I aimed to just barely cover my pears.

Baking:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. I have a convection oven so it cooks faster and at a lower temperature than most others. You will know your oven best so adjust temperature accordingly

2) Bake for 20 minutes then turn pan and increase temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake an additional 5 minutes or until it is golden brown. I place my tart pan on a cookie sheet so that I don’t accidentally pop out the bottom when putting it in or taking it out

3) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm and brush with the leftover port sauce and maybe some vanilla ice cream drizzled in sauce on the side.

We had this on Christmas Eve for dessert and it turned out fantastic, if I make it again I would use less chocolate (gasp! I know, but it took away too much of the pear flavour) We saved the sherry sauce for pancakes Christmas morning but it was a bit to boozy so I reduced it some more and served it with ice cream for dessert that night.