Chagrin

Hope that you are having a better day than little Genghis!

Yummy!

Don't these look good enough to eat!  I'm not sure if I could actually have these in my house because I think a curious 6-year old might try to take a nibble and would be in for a nasty surprise.  These soap licorice are just one of the many fun products that LoveLeeSoaps has created.  I love browsing through her creations - it is bound to make you smile!

Smiles are needed around here.  Reilly and Genghis collided last Saturday night and now poor Genghis is on pain meds and antibiotics and is wearing a cone!  He is so embarrassed, especially when he encounters other dogs on our walks.  Reilly just feels horrible and the cone is a constant reminder to him that he hurt his little buddy.  I would post a pic of the cone but every time I try and take a picture, Genghis turns away almost like he really is embarrassed of the thing.  Poor Genghis!  Here's to a speedy recovery.

"Provence"

Our "Provence" line will be available mid-April.  This time we are also adding something for boy and baby!  Check back for some sneak peeks!

Something Very Fab for Fab Find Friday

I have been looking at redoing Reilly's room and had thought about painting a scene or something on his wall.  Only problem is.... I am not so talented with the painting.  Luckily I came across these awesome vinyl wall decals.  Now I want to do my whole house in them!  Hubby has wisely limited me to Reilly's bedroom and I think this is the one I am going with:

Now to choose the colours!  You can find this wall decal here and many more awesome ones here.

A helping hand

Today's Fab Find was forwarded to me by a friend.  It is a beautiful bracelet kit by the talented Kaari Meng of French General.  My friend knows what a fan I am of French General and this bracelet is all for a good cause - haitibyhand.  Haiti by Hand is an etsy shop established to showcase and sell the handcrafts of the Haitians, as well as a shop to sell items donated by artists and crafters who want to help this group of Haitians rebuild and establish themselves after the devastation of the earthquakes.

You can find the bracelet kit here and other items for haitibyhand here.

Something for your tastebuds

Yesterday was such a beautiful day here.  I was actually out gardening with just a sweater on and I was actually hot.  Yes, this is Canada in early March and I am outside with no coat or mitts or toque and I am sweating!

After all that labouring in the garden, I decided to something quick for supper - my smokey cheddar cauliflower soup.  Now I am one who very loosely follows a recipe.  I have listed the actual recipe but put in brackets how I actually made the soup.  It does change each time :o).

Smokey Cheddar Cauliflower Soup

- 2 tbs of butter

- 1 chopped onion

- 1 head of cauliflower loosely chopped

- 1 10 ounce can of condensed chicken broth

- 2 1/2 cups of milk

- 1/4 cup of flour

- 4 pieces of bacon

- 2 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar

* Heat the 2 tbs of butter in a large pot until melted.  Add onion and cook until translucent (about 4 min.).  

* Add chopped cauliflower and cook about 2 minutes.  Then add the can of condensed chicken broth.  (I actually don't use the canned stuff.  I get either the chicken or vegetable powdered broth from our natural foods store to avoid the msg.  I then just run the tap until the water is hot and add about 1 1/4 cups of water to 1-2 tbs of broth and stir.  Add this mixture to your soup).

* Cover and cook cauliflower in the broth on mdm temperature for about 20 minutes or until soft.

* Meanwhile, in a bowl add flour slowly to the milk stirring the whole time.  I also cook my bacon now (in a frying pan but you could probably nuke it too) and set it aside.

* Once the cauliflower is soft, add the milk/flour mixture.  Bring to a boil and stir until the mixture thickens slightly.

* Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar. (The recipe says 2 1/2 cups but I never measure. I just break off a chunk of the block and shred it up.  I think I probably add more than 2 1/2 cups because Reilly likes his soup very cheesy).

* Pour the cauliflower cheese mixture into a blender and add your bacon (yes I realize adding the bacon diminishes the fact I don't use msg broth - but I do buy my bacon from the local butcher and it tastes so good!).

* Blend on low for about 1 minute.  Pour into bowls and garnish with yogurt or some more shredded cheese.  Serve with baguette or grilled garlic toast.

Enjoy!

It's back!

Okay, so Fab Finds Friday kind of fell by the wayside last summer with our busy "kid home for the summer" schedule.  But, I am vowing to bring this back and keep it going.  There are so many awesome, creative ideas out there that I see every day and I want to share them with people.  If you see anything neat that you want to share, feel free to post  the link in comments!

Today I was inspired by a little birdie I heard in a tree.  A brave little robin has already arrived back and I said a little prayer for him that there will be no further snow storms to make him regret his decision!  The robin's song is the most beautiful thing to hear after 4 months of snow.  Spring is just around the corner!

This robin is brought to you by stayawake.  Be sure to check out her Etsy store.  So many cute little finger puppets.

 

And, oh yes, I should tell you that we are working on our website today so it will be unavailable all day.  If there is something that you HAVE to have, go to etsy or just send us an email.  Happy Friday!