Every Day's an Adventure

My book club met last night over Greek food and discussed The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Watson. A few ladies liked it a fair bit and would recommend it to others, but the majority of us weren't that crazy about it. We liked the premise of the book, but didn't like the main characters much or the pace of the book. And there were a few plot lines that were dragged into the story that never seemed to get developed and just left us scratching our heads.

The next book club selection is The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. I've heard fabulous things and look forward to reading it.


Book Description
Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle - a string of slaves - Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic "Book of Negroes". This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to find that the haven they sought was steeped in an oppression all of its own. Aminata's eventual return to Sierra Leone - passing ships carrying thousands of slaves bound for America - is an engrossing account of an obscure but important chapter in history that saw 1,200 former slaves embark on a harrowing back-to-Africa odyssey.



Another book I read last month was The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. I also listened to it on the audio book as I drove to work and back. I loved the story, the writing, the characters............ and absolutely hated the ending. But that said, I would read it all over again and recommend it to my friends. :-)

I'm a little behind posting about this, but in our house we are still trying to pick a cookie recipe a week to try. I've renewed my Martha Stewart cookie cookbook from the library for another three weeks. All of the recipes are actually available on the internet, but the boys just love sitting down with the book and picking a cookie to bake. The photography is just gorgeous, a full page photo for each cookie, but especially useful, there is a photo index in the front of the book which breaks the cookies down into categories - rich and dense, cakey and tender, and so on and shows a small photo of each one. It's a fabulous way to find a cookie quickly!

Anyway, it appears that Marty always picks chocolate cookies, and Ben always chooses cookies with nuts. The latter I can't send to school in their lunches, so that's a pain. When it is their recipe, I get full partipation from each boy in the kitchen. This makes me very happy, since as they grew older, they were not inclined to help bake at all.

So we tried Buttery Pecan Rounds (just press the cookie title for the recipe) and Giant Chocolate Sugar Cookies.


These were totally delicious to eat, but they didn't have a very appealing appearance. They spread so thin and flat during baking that my husband asked me if something was wrong with the recipe. I don't think so, it's because of the very high proportion of butter in the recipe, but they just don't look that good because of the very thin edges.
This cookie was very delicious and I will definitely make it again. Easy to bake and filled the house with the most amazing chocolate aroma! :-) I didn't make the cookies 'giant' - I shrunk them down to regular size so had to reduce the baking time a bit.

I think I will pick the cookie recipe this weekend. I have some cool Halloween cookie cutters and some themed sprinkles! Stay tuned..........

If you are a cookbook lover, there are two new ones out (or almost out) that you might want to pick up! These are both authored by ladies that blog about food - The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond and A year of Slow Cooking by Stephanie Odea. I have tried out some of their recipes from their blogs before and can't wait to get the cookbooks! If I buy both I should get free shipping from Chapters online, where I buy most of my books actually. It seems to be much cheaper to buy online, and the selection is a lot bigger. If you want to check it out, you can just click here chapters.indigo.ca for their website.

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie Odea collects more than 300 recipes that provide affordable, delicious, and gluten-free meal ideas. About $17 at Chapters Online




The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond, released on October 27, about $23 at Chapters online

Just thought I'd post some of the scrapbook layouts I had published in the reprint edition of Canadian Scrapbooker Basics Volume 1. The first edition of this book sold out, so a second edition with completely different layouts was published September 1. It's a great idea book to have around for almost anybody. The layouts use only basic supplies such as paper, ribbon, deco scissors, plastic templates, stickers, rubons, brads, and circle and square punches. As a designer, doing 'basic' layouts was initially a bit of a challenge for me. I am so used to stamping on everything in sight, inking every edge and using chipboard and diecut machines for my titles that it took a little while to get into the groove. But once I did, I really enjoyed myself and like the way projects turned out!



This one was submitted for CSB #1 but was not published. I love the way it turned out and it has invokes bittersweet memories for me because my uncle died several years ago - circular diecut paper is GCD Studio, with some 7 gypsies brads, and I used a Crafter's workshop template and a white pen to dress up the corners a bit.


This gorgeous little girl is the daughter of a friend of mine. Supplies are mostly Karen Foster paper and stickers, with a bit of ribbon from my stash.


This layout makes me laugh every time I look at it. Simple, but turned out nice. Again, featuring Karen Foster paper and rub-ons.


This layout uses Stampin Up paper, stickers and ribbon and was inspired by a ribboned layout display board at my local scrapbook store. I liked the idea of tucking little photos in under the ribbon. I have posted about Bull River Guest Ranch before - I just love the place!!! Heaven on earth, with food to die for! This was the first year I went, and I finally got around to scrapbooking about it.

On a side note, for those of you who blog and have endless frustration with blogger more or less randomly changing the orientation of your photos as you try to post them, I have finally figured out a solution. If I save my files as *gif* rather than *jpg*, they are posted as they are supposed to be! Apparently it has something to do with Canon cameras only, but it was driving me nuts.

If you click on the blue underlined words "Surprise Cookies" in the previous blog post, they will take you right to the recipe on the Martha Stewart website. I don't watch much TV, and haven't really been a big Martha fan over the years, but I just subscribed to one of her magazines, Everyday Food, for a school fundraiser. While I was looking for info about this magazine, I discovered you could sign up for 'Cookie of the Day' emails, and recipes for "Dinner Tonight" on the Martha Stewart website. These emails have been great so far, lots of ideas, and they all look very doable!

I am totally inspired by my friend Rhonda Steed and her desire to make every single thing in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook cookbook. It totally makes sense to me that if you are going to buy a cookbook, then you should USE a cookbook! I know that I, at least, am guilty of buying things and not using them to to their full potential, whether it be cookbooks, kitchen gadgets, scrapbook supplies, whatever. And so I just love the idea of personally challenging yourself to fully use one of these under utilized 'things' in your possession. The methodical and fulfilling feel of the concept just seems right. Anyway, this week, why not pick something in your stash to use more fully? Let me know if you do! It would be very inspiring! (and when I get down to my scrapbooking room, I solemnly swear to more fully utilize my Making Memories tag maker tool to get my money's worth out of it)!

Anyway, I don't own any Martha Stewart baking cookbooks, but the photos on Rhonda's blog looked scrumptious, so I took the MS cookie cookbook out of the library last week. I had Marty, my 7 year old, look through it (it has amazing photos of each recipe) and pick the cookie he would most like to eat. And then we made it together. Marty picked Surprise Cookies. He was influenced by the fact that there was delicious marshmallow on the top of each cookie, and he LOVES marshmallows.



They turned out very good. I find them way too rich for my taste, but the kids loved them! Ben has already picked out 'his' recipe for next weekend (the next time I can possibly squeeze in cookie baking), and it is a completely different type of cookie. Interesting what this says about my children! ;-)

in Edmonton. I'll be there for Friday and Saturday, either in the Canadian Scrapbooker booth or helping teach classes. If you are not registered for anything and are just coming to shop and look around, make sure to bring a friend and use the 2 for 1 coupon on the Canadian Scrapbooker website. And remember to bring layouts to enter in the contest! There are great prizes to be won!

I am so looking forward to this event - it is so fun and inspiring to be surrounded by so much creativity and people that love the hobby as much as you do! And although I don't sew fabric, I just love looking through all the quilting and creative sewing booths. So beautiful to see all the fabrics and threads!