Confessions Of An Epicurean Snob

Some Night Time Shots!

Well, i took a couple but they were awful compared to these. So feast your eyes on this talent!

Holy moly it has been a long while.
Christmas was a whirlwind, we set off for Canmore on the 21st and got home on the 29th, quickly did a load of laundry and then went to the lake for the weekend.
When we got to the cabin it was -25 inside, and after John got the wood ready the fireplace got the house up to a whopping +12 which felt like Mexico, and then +25 which was a sauna... haha there was really no happy medium. BUT it was like a blast from the past, our friends Tiff and Josh and their dog Memphis came with us and we all talked about how people had to live 50 years ago and we had a new appreciation for things such as electricity and running water.
On the 31st John decided that fireworks were a must for the evening so he built a pile of snow on the lake to set them up on. By about 11 we had all gotten into way too much alcohol and lighting fireworks probably wasn't the best idea, but at the time it seemed like a great idea! I will show some secret footage of the fireworks because I find them quite humorous.... John had no fear and was holding on to them and sitting a foot away from them while they went off, I am happy to report that my future husband still has all of his limbs.

The New Year Gang!

Oh Christmas Tree

Virginia would like to say Merry Christmas! haha
Just a quick update...
Finals are done officially, for me and John both... so refreshing to just drink wine and watch Christmas movies!!!
John and I have found our wedding photographer!!! :D Which is kind of a big deal since I have been pulling out my hair trying to find someone to fit our ridiculous standards ;)
Her name is Cassie, you should check out her site cassiescamera.com she is very good!
We leave for Canmore on wednesday, so tomorrow is catch up day, preparing to leave town.. and we will be back on the 29th. I am going to be on a photo hunt so I will hopefully have some fun shots to share after this week!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas, and has plenty of rum and eggnog!

La la la la

So the dreaded finals are almost over, I should probably be studying right now but I am sitting in my comfy chair gazing at my cute little family on the couch. :)
John and I made sugar cookies tonight and it was so much fun, I was trying to change a flight over the phone with a man in Cairo Egypt (crazy right? that's the call centre for Expedia) while John was making outrageous noises and singing in the background, the man on the phone was quite concerned about what was happening and soon enough he was joining in with us. He gave me instructions on making icing! ah ha ha ha
We finally have a wedding venue booked, and it is not changing... now we get to enjoy all the fun details! I am so happy, finding a venue was absolutely draining. If anyone has cool DIY ideas they would like to throw my way I would delighted to hear them.
Also, I am going to have a partylight party (redundant) at my house in the early new year and am wondering who would be interested in coming or just plain buying candles from me? I am planning on getting all of my wedding candles for free by simply hosting a party, how neat!

This is from a yard that Rugosa (our company) landscaped this summer.

Well I will stop the rambling now so your eyes can stop screaming from boredom, hope you have a wonderful countdown to Christmas.

xo

December Already?

Little Rose Bud got her head stuck in the bee hive... he he he Photo Credit to Monsieur John

She could not figure out why it wouldn't come off! Photo Credit to Monsieur John

Charlie Brown Tree!

HOW CUTE ARE THEY!?!? Photo Credit to Monsieur John

Tired Puppies

You must understand why I am posting so many pictures of the girls - it's finals!! And my life is so incredibly boring right now, so my apologies I will be more creative in a week or so.

Naan Bread ala Crab

Okay so this was delicious!!!
- Naan bread (however many you can eat)
- spinach
- tomatoes
- crab (or king crab the flavoured stuff)
- feta cheese
- olive oil
- oregano
- basil
- pepper
- turkey bacon
Do these things:
- mix olive oil, pepper, oregano and basil together and brush it onto the naan breads
- if the turkey bacon isn't pre cooked you should cook it, if it is cut it into bite sized bits and sprinkle on the naan
- cut or rip spinach, crab, turkey bacon, and tomatoes and place them on the naan breads
- sprinkle with feta
- cook for 10 mins at 450
- a broil setting would also work
- finish it with coarse salt and a splash of olive oil

... yum
the only thing it could have used was some red onion and black olives.

Seafood Linguine in a Chili Buerre Blanc sauce

Ingredients:

- Package of fresh linguine
- 1/4 cup of butter
- a splash of white wine
- a splash of white wine vinegar
- Parsley
- fresh ground pepper
- salt
- 1/2 tsp of onion powder
- chili flakes or chili powder (to taste, but approx 1/2 tsp)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Seafood (shrimp, scallops, you can add clams or other shell fish)
- 1/2 a bell pepper chopped (yellow is nice)

- melt butter, toss in chopped bell peppers
- sweat peppers on med heat for a couple minutes
- turn heat up to med/high
- sprinkle pan with white wine and then white wine vinegar
- toss in seafood and chopped garlic
- add parsley, salt, pepper, chilies and onion powder
- toss everything together, or mix thoroughly, keep the seafood moving at all times
- after 2 mins seafood should be cooked
- linguine should be done at this point
- toss linguine in the pan and get everything covered in the sauce
- plate
- you can top with shredded asiago, parmesan, or romano
Enjoy!
This recipe was created by John and was divulged much to his 'shigrin'
Also, this dish was enjoyed by my mouth this evening.

sweaters

Big sister is starting to warm up...

V's sweater came with a matching tuque but she hid when I put it on her :)

The Stork Arrived!

This morning we received little Rosie!

Oh my!

Finals are beginning and so are my thoughts about wedding planning, please oh please mind just focus on the goal at hand! I am so terribly distracted and wishing that after I write down my great ideas about the big day that my mind can go back to learning about sociology but it just does not seem to do that... sigh. Tomorrow is the day that we get our new little Rosie, so expect numerous amounts of photos to be appearing in the next couple of days! Also, let's hope that Virginia isn't too terribly jealous of the new addition!