Sunny Sunday and Goodbye's

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This morning I went and had brunch with an amazing bunch of ladies. The occassion? My Kiwi friend, Chloe, is heading back to NZ. We met at work and she is just so awesome. She has more energy, more personality and more hilarity that anyone I have ever met. All I do is laugh when I am around her.
We took over the corner window seat at the Full Circle and had some seriously amazing food. I had a very non-traditional benny with bacon (mmmmm....bacon....), tomatoes, goat cheese, caramelized onions and of course, hollandaise. It was scrumptious.
Chloe, I am so sad to see you go. I hope our paths cross again one day! I love you and wish you good times and lots of laughter (which I am sure there will be!). Hugs and kisses to you, doll! xo

Tuesday Tune

This song is just really awesome.
xo

Dessert

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I love food. And dessert is one of my favourite things to make. It doesn't matter if it is cake, cookies, custard (I do love a good custard!) or pie. I don't discriminate.
I found some beautiful rhubarb yesterday and decided to pair it with some strawberries for one of the most mouth watering pies ever. I always make my own crust. It really isn't as hard as it seems. Just give it a go, you will probably be pleasantly surprised.
This recipe makes a double crust. After I trim it and gather the trimmings into a ball, I usually have enough dough for another single crust. I just wrap it and freeze it so when I feel like making a pumpkin pie, for example, I just thaw the dough and roll it out.
*After eating a piece of this pie for dessert, I feel like it could have been less tart. Always taste your berries to see how sweet they are and add sugar accordingly.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

3 c. all purpose flour (feel free to sub some whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cold vegetable shortening, cubed
1/2 c. cold butter, cubed
1/2 c. ice cold water

Mix flour and salt together. Rub butter and shortening into flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in water until dough holds together. Gently knead a few times to bring everything together. Divide into two balls and set aside in a cool place.

3 c. rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 c. strawberries, quartered
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour

Gently mix all ingredients together until rhubarb and strawberries are coated in flour and sugar. Set aside.



Now roll out the first ball of pastry. This will be your bottom crust. I just roll it into a circle-ish shape about 2-inches bigger that my pie plate. Gently place it into the pie plate and fill with rhubarb mixture.




Now roll out the second piece of dough. Before setting it on top of filling dab the edges of the bottom crust with a little water. This will help seal the two layers together. Top with top crust, trim edges almost right up to edge of pie plate and crimp together.


Cut some little vents in the top crust to let steam escape.


Bake at 425 F for 40-45 min. until filling is bubbly and crust is browned.


Cool to room temperature. Enjoy!


Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! xo

Tuesday Tune

Sorry, folks. There will be no tunes today.
Everything has been eclipsed by this....

*sigh*

I'm off to try it out. Back to regularly scheduled posts soon-ish. Depending on when I can tear myself away. xo

This Weekend...

...we spent as much time as we could outside,


cleaned up the yard now that the snow is all gone,
went for bike rides and walks in the sunshine,
finished up a very special sample,
re-potted all of our baby tomato plants,
had a picnic by the lake,


made a proper English supper complete with Yorkshire puddings (the Mister's grandpa would have been proud!),
took in the sights and sounds of the fair,


explored and enjoyed being able to stay outside until the sun went down!


Now for today...
I am going to vote. Are you?
xo

Tuesday Tune

Beth Orton. Amazing.
She has the most beautiful voice. Never fails to give me goosebumps.
This song if off her first record Trailer Park and I think it is one of her best.
Enjoy! xo

So....

....I am about to totally dork out. You have been warned.
I love my sewing machines. I currently own two - my work horse Singer that my dad gave me when I was in my late teens and my Brother Select-O-Matic that I inherited from my mom. I learned how to sew on it. It is a gorgeous blue beast from the early 60's and this machine has some serious chrome. It reminds me of an old car.

Beauty!

It is in serious need of a tune up though and has been out of service for a while. But it is my first love and started my fascination with vintage machines.
This weekend I bought myself a stunning vintage Necchi. All black and chrome.


I can't wait for it to get here! It is super heavy duty and will sew upholstery and leather which is a necessity for me right now.
And then later that day the Mister was riding his bike home and passed a free (yes! free!) sewing machine in a cabinet. It is another Singer and is very 70's, blingin' gold and sparkly.

He thought it would be great even if only the cabinet was usable. But after cleaning it up and oiling the bits and pieces it seems to work. Something is off though - it makes a strange noise - so I am going to send it to the shop with the other vintage machine.
I looked up a manual on line and it does some pretty cool things. There are these little discs that fit in the upper part of the machine, under the spool holder. From what I understand different discs make the machine embroider different patterns. Fancy! And also cheesy. I am not sure it is something I would ever use but its still a cool idea. You can also regulate the pressure on the presser foot which is super handy and not all machines have that capability.
Okay, dork out over.
What do you get all stoked about?
xo