Another Unebelievable Back Alley Find!

Sometimes many roads lead to your destination, you have to always be on the lookout for interesting finds along the way.

Last week, Dayday had camp all week, not far from our house but still a 7-10 minute drive. There was roadwork being done, so they set up a detour through a couple back alleys to get to the center, and although I could have gone around on another road, I chose the detour because who doesn't like a few bumps along the road? Anyhow, I happen to glance at my side view mirror and saw 3 little tables just thrown down on a little patch behind one of the houses. I didn't go back that way until the next morning, and the tables were still there, but someone had stacked then since they seemed to be nesting tables. After I dropped the kids off, I returned through the back alley and decided they needed a home....My Home to be specific!Yes, they were covered in dirt and mud, scratched up and in dire need of lots of love, who knows how long they had been waiting for me??

I went to Canadian Tire, straight to the mistint department of course, and decided on a very dark navy (midnight) sort of colour, it said it was great for doors and trim which to me translates to good wear and tear and possible long lasting, so at $8 for the quart, perfection!

I took the tables apart with my handy dandy ratchet screwdriver, and took the frames outside where I had to soap them up and hose them down to get the muck and mud off.

The tops I washed and then sanded well with a 100 grit sand paper. I then got down to the painting which I did out on the deck (it was about 27c out!!) things dry fast in that heat!

By the next morning I was ready to give them the final sand down and de-stress, which makes them look vintage and slightly worn and perfect for the look of the living room/dining room in my little home.

I wasn't too sure as to where I would put them, but I wanted them to be handy enough for when we have guest, they can be pulled out for drinks or food or to play a game on etc.

I found the perfect spot, but I had to try to tie everything in nicely. I added another piece from my awesome collection of thrifty finds. Then I had to move the leaves around a bit, I like them but they didn't look right.

The end result is perfect in that small space. I sometimes look at my house and all I want is to run away from the clutter, but you know what...it is not because I don't want it, it is because I just have to organize it better. So slowly, it is coming together and I'm loving it!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by!!
Viviana

I'll link up to:

Pepian Negro (Beef in a dark sauce?)

Yo nunca he probado este plato, pero mi hermana se quedo intrigada con saber la receta, entonces aqui esta.

INGREDIENTES:

1 Cebolla pequena entera y pelada
4 Onzas de miltomate
2 Tortillas (maiz)
4 tazas de agua
1/4 de taza de arroz
1 Chile 7 caldos (optional)
3 Zanahorias
1/2 Libra de ejotes
2 Dientes de ajo enteros
1 Tomate de cocina
1 Libra de bolovique en trocitos
1 Cucharada de sal
1 Chile guaque sin semilla
1/3 Manojo de culantro picado
1 Libra de papas en cuadritos

PROCEDIMIENTO

1. En un sarten sin grasa tueste la cebolla, el ajo, el tomate y el miltomate hasta que esten obscuros. Tueste las tortilla hasta que esten casi quemadas.
2. Mientras tanto cocine la carne en agua con sal hasta que este suave, agregue las tortilla el tiempo suficiente para suavisarlas, luego saquelas,
3. Tueste el arroz, hasta que este obscuro, muelalo, tueste los chiles y muelalos tambien.
4. Licue tosdos los ingredientes tostados con el culantro, los chiles, y una taza de caldo. Cuando la carne este suave anada los vegetales y la salsa asi como el arroz molido, continue cociendo por 10 minutos hasta o hasta que espese.

Enjoy!

Cak-Ik (Kak-Ik), Caldo De Chunto (Guatemalan Turkey Soup)

My Aunt gave me this recipe when she came to visit us in Canada a few years ago. I will write it out in Spanish and later will translate it for all those English speaking readers too.

INGREDIENTES
1 Pavo mediano cortado en piezas
50 Tomates maduros pero firmes (pequenos)
1 chile pasa
2 manojos de cilantro
1 manojo de tallos de cebolla
1 cabeza de ajo
1/4 taza de chile cobanero molido
2 sobres de consome de pollo
3 cebollas grandes picadas
2 chiles guaque
2 manojos de hierbabuena
Achiote o bijol, el necesario para dar color.

PROCEDIMIENTO
1. Se pone a cocer el pavo en una olla grande con 6 litros de agua y un sobre de consome, cuando este a medio cocer se le agrega el manojo de talloes de cebolla y los ajos aparte dos dientes.
2. Por aparte se asan los tomates, las cebollas, los chiles y dos dientes de ajo, luego se licuan y se cuelan.
NOTA-Si queda mucho sedimento en el colador, vuelva a licuarlo con otro poco de agua para evitar desperdicios.
3. Una vez que el pavo este bien cocido retire los tallos de cebolla y la cabeza de ajo, agregese el recado asi como suficiente bijol o achiote para darle color. Cuando el cocido este a punto de hervir agregue un manojo de cilantro y uno de hierbabuena, dejelo cocinar 20-30 mintos. Si cheque sazon y es necesario agregue el otro sobre de consome.
4. Se pica el otro manojo de cilantro y de hierbabuena y se agregan al caldo junto con el chile cobanero antes de servir, acompanelo con arroz blanco y pochitos (tamalitos blancos).
NOTA- Si tiene la fortuna de encontrar samat o cilantro de tripa (como se conoce en el Nor-Oriente) debera usarlo, sustituyendo el cilantro y la hierbabuena.
Rinde 10 a 12 porciones.

Es ta receta me la dio mi tia cuado vino a visitarnos en Canada, la saco de un librito que se llama Cocina Guatemaltec. Dejen mensaje si quieren otras recetas de este librito.

Gracias,
Viviana

Lemonade Stand

David and I were blog hopping a few months back and he saw a lemonade stand made out of a microwave cart at Pleased As Punch's blog. He's been asking to have one since winter so we finally decided the old microwave cart (didn't even have to go to Sally Anne to get one!) we had in the dining room was perfect and if we made it into a lemonade stand, at least it would not end up in the dump, like most particle board furniture does!
We picked up some yellow paint at Canadian Tire, Krylon of course, since it's dry in 10 minutes!!! (I have this bad luck of easily forgetting paint is wet....) so Krylon is a dream to use.

The cart was white so all I did was wash it down with a little soap and water to get the dust off, then I set it outside on the lawn on top of a cheap plastic drop sheet. I had for some silly reason, already pasted up the dollar store chalkboard on the back side. So I had to tape it up a bit to mask it and keep it from turning yellow! I do happen to LIKE doing things the hard way sometimes, how else would I learn what was easy then??
So I got it mostly covered in yellow paint, I may have not done the best job, but considering I did it in 20 minutes...it turned out great.

Once it was dry enough, I took a pencil and sort of mapped out what we had decided it should be called (David's Awesome Lemonade) and I brought out my box of paints for the rest of the project. I wish I had a cricut, then I would have used the vinyl I have to cut out the sign, but this should be ok, since I am a graphic designer, lettering comes easy.

That part was somewhat PAINTstaking, hehehe. It takes a steady hand not to mess up the words, and I did well right up until I did the little lemon graphic and grazed my hand on it....anyhow, I managed to fix it with q-tips and a little water.

This is what it turned out like, not bad for a hand painted sign. We had a sleep over 2 days later, and the kids decided to try their hand at sales. They picked mint from the garden and made mint lemonade in one pitcher and  sliced strawberries for the other. They all quickly realized it is not as easy as it looks and it helps for it to be a super hot day (which are few and far between here in Calgary!) and to have people that actually walk, also helps to not drink the product....They made $6 and split it 3 ways.

I think we will give this another try next week, hopefully we can entice more people to buy by lowering the price (I let them chose this time, and they thought $1 a cup was fair because they were big cups)  to 50c a up and maybe using the smaller cups too, and maybe doing it on a hot day this August. 
Anyway Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Viviana

I am linking up to:

Sliders?? The perfect size burger for me!

Ok, it seems to me everywhere you turn everyone is BBQ'ing right now....and slider burgers (those mini ones, for the history click here) seem to be all the rage. So when they were on special at M&M meats, I got 2 boxes (12 in each for 4.99!!), I figured even if I don't like them, my son will. He is not obsessed with food like me, he eats it for living, he doesn't live to eat. He also doesn't ever finish a regular sized burger, so these are the perfect size.
I decided to try them out for me to, I chose to also alter a recipe I saw in the "O" magazine, which has an fried egg on top of the beef, and it is an open faced burger. For the recipe, click here.
This is my version.

If you look closely, I did not use a bun...in my journey to try and stay away from as much gluten as possible, I have started using grilled eggplant as my "bun" ...if you slice it about 3/4" thick and grill it (I salt the slices and let the bitter drip out for a couple hours ahead of time) it dries out slightly (don't let it get charred or the bitter will be right back, not speaking from experience or anything!!!) and makes a great bun!

It looks pretty and tasted prettier!!

I did not fry the egg, but used my handy poacher (I was thinking there was enough saturated fat in the beef and egg, why add butter to the mix?) and although you cannot see it, there is a dab of grainy mustard in there to add some punch....the whole things tasted soooo good and I did not miss the bun at all. So you do one slice of grilled eggpant with a dab of mustard, one slice of tomato, then the patty, then the egg, then fresh lettuce from the garden (we have a really nice community garden here) and a sprig of parsley also fresh from the garden. I served it with a side of caesar salad (which my son approves of greatly) and put it on a fairly small plate so it looked like a huge meal....that trick does work because I seem to eat less and still feel full! My son had his on a slider burger bun, and to my surprise, he ate 2 burgers and his side of salad, so it made me very happy!!
Next, I will try a Mahi Mahi burger on eggplant, that should really be good.

Cheers,
Viviana

PS, sorry my blogging is sparse to say the least, but summers are so short here in Calgary, so most of my tine is spent outside while there is no snow or rain....hopefully I'll post something new by Sundy, but don't hold your breath!

Blessings of Living in Canada

I know there are many wonderful places to travel to all over the world, and maybe one day I will get to see them in more than just pictures, but for now I am loving travelling through parts of Canada.

"Canada (play /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area." That is a little excerpt from Wiki-Pedia. What they don't say in there is that Canada is also the best country to live in, by far, no other place can match it in it's beauty and it's kind people. I was not born here, but I am so proud to be Canadian, it is a beautiful feeling!

The Burmis Tree.

David at Lake Koocanusa.

The lake at Salmo/Creston Pass.

Christina Lake, the warmest lake in Canada.

Poulson Bridge.

Columbia Valley Region, breathtaking!

The Hoo Doo's a few  kilometers before Fairmont Hot Springs.

It was not a Disneyland holiday, no amusement parks to go to, no wax museums or island gettaways....just a road trip through the amazing Rockies, Kootenays and Columbia Valley. The most beautiful thing about it was that my 7 year old son said "This was the best Vacation ever!!" to me as we drove the last few kilometres through the rockies and into the foothills. We sometimes don't need a whole lot of commercialism to make the kid smile, LOVE IT!!!
I also wanted to mention, that there are not many places I would feel safe driving over 1500 kilometres alone with my child, but in Canada, anything is possible!

Cheers,
Viviana