Poetry Saturday . . . My Cupboards

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My cupboards white are very fine,
I love them one and all.
Dressed up in coats of gleaming white,
They grace my kitchen wall.

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If only all my cupboards had
Been built down near the floor,
Instead of far beyond my reach,
I could have loved them more.

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My cupboards all are good to see,
They are my kitchen pride;
Although they're much too high for me
I'm glad they're side by side.

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My cupboard shelves are broad and deep,
And long and high and tall;
Oh! How I wish that they were not
So high upon my wall.

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One holds my precious dinner set,
One holds my pots and pans;
Another holds my mop and broom,
While others hold my cans.

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One hides my tarnished silverware,
One harbours all my food;
While at the top another hides
The things that are no good.

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My cupboards all are very fine,
Their beauty I adore;
But how I love the only one
That stands upon the floor.
~Ethel Adelaide Allen

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Don't you just love all the pictures of these country kitchens that I have showcased here this morning? I sure do . . . oh . . . what one could do had they the money, time and resources! Some people are so very blessed!

I tried to find out what I could about the author of this poem here this morning, but came up really with naught, except that perhaps she was Canadian and wrote one book entitled, Hymns and Miscellaneous Musings.

As you know I am a big fan of Coronation Street. I've been watching it for yonks and yonks. I've grown up with it really. The big story line recently has been Carla Connor's rape by Frank and her affair with Peter Barlow. It all came to a head on Thursday evening and the affair came out. Of course Peter's wife Leanne was devastated and the show ended that evening with her getting in a cab and driving away . . . Peter's son, the cheeky little son Simon running after the car, crying and shouting to her . . . Mom, don't go or some such. Oh my . . . the look on his wee little face just broke my heart, and the tears came, and I found myself thinking back to the night before I left my marital home and was tucking in our Bruce for the very last time. He was 11 and I remember his little arms around my neck and him crying and begging me not to leave the next morning . . . oh how my heart broke into a million little pieces . . . I had no choice, or I thought I didn't at any rate. Even now . . . it remains as the single most heartbreaking moment in my life.

I found myself yesterday thinking . . . if you could go back to one moment in time, knowing what you know now, would your hugs last that little bit longer . . . mine would.



*Molasses Crinkles*
Makes about 4 dozen
Printable Recipe

Thick, chewy crackle topped cookies. A family favourite for many years.

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup soft light brown sugar, packed
1 large free range egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
a small bowl of white sugar for dipping

Cream together the shortening, sugar, egg and molasses, blending well together. Sif the flour together with the soda, salt, cloves, ginger and cinnamon. Stir this into the shortening mixture. Cover and chill for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter several cookie sheets. Set aside.

Remove from the refrigerator. Scoop out bits and roll into balls about the size of large walnuts. Dip the top of each ball in the bowl of white sugar to coat and place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, sugar sides up. Sprinkle each cookie with 2 or 3 drops of water. (This produced a crackled surface.)

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until just set, but not hard.

Remove to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.



Over in The English Kitchen today, Spice is Nice Plum Cake.

Summertime memories on a Winter's afternoon . . .

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Todd and I love watching old television shows. We often tune into the Gold Channel on the telly and we have lots of dvd's of old sitcoms, which we watch frequently. (It is surprising that despite having SKY television, there is often nothing on the tube to watch or at least that we feel like watching!) Last night we watched some Country Files that we had taped over the holidays and then we watched an episode of Leave It To Beaver just before we retired for the night. It was the one where Beaver and Wally go camping in the back yard.

It's raining cats and dogs. Beaver says to Wally that Eddie told him that if you touch a tent on the inside when it's raining it starts a leak. He touches the inside of the tent to see if it's true . . . and sure enough . . . it starts to leak. "That's crazy!" says Wally, and then he touches the inside of the tent. Sure enough up springs another leak . . . and then it came to me . . . something I had forgotten entirely . . .

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The memory came rushing back and filled my mind with the smell and sound and all the joys of days gone by. One year, when my brother, sister and I were young children . . . my parents bought us a tee pee. It wasn't a really fancy one . . . with bright colours or anything, or with sticks poking out the top. Ours was orange, and it had the black silouette of an American Indian printed on the outside.

It smelled like a strange mixture of canvas, wax and petroleum. We thought it was cool. You could sit in there, in the orange twilight and block out all the outside world. Things seemed quieter in there. Things seemed special in there. In there, we were Indian Princesses and Princes. I remember laying in there with my face pressed against the grass (it wasn't a fancy one . . . there was no floor) and I would daydream about what it would be like to be a real Indian.

Of course it was my childlike imaginations of what a real Indian was like . . . not the reality. These imaginations had evolved from having watched hours of Saturday afternoon matinees at the local cinema, and Cowboy films with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans . . . Hop Along Cassidy . . . and of course Sunday Evening hours spent watching Bonanaza. Some days I imagined myself to be Annie Oakley, pigtails flying in the wind as I practiced my sharp shooting for the imaginary Wild West Show.

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Sometimes I just lay in there and read . . . in my own private orange lit oasis. It made playing house better. We didn't have to stretch a blanket over a skipping rope across the front porch anymore. We had an actual dwelling, and many a salad composed of grass, dandelion heads and chickweed was tossed inside it's confines. . . . plastic babys were lulled to sleep . . . and imaginary husband's were chastised and told to take their feet off the coffee table.

We used to beg our mother to let us spend the night outside in it, but . . . of course . . . we were never allowed. I think she knew it would be a sleepless night for her. A night where we would want to come crawling back into the house at three or four in the morning. Besides we had no sleeping bags . . .

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Every child should have a tee pee to help fuel their dreams and imaginations. Things so ordinary are sadly lacking in today's mad rush of video games, television and computer technology. I suppose a child today would probably find it quite boring actually. The child which lives in my memory though, would love to go back and once again feel the innocence and the lack of urgency that runs our modern lives . . . once again to smell that odd smell . . . once again to be an Indian Princess in a small, small world . . . if only for a day or a moment or two . . .

I wish you Summer memories
To warm each Winter's day,
And all the hope and joy of Spring,
When Winter slips away . . .
I wish you many blessings
Along the path you tread,
And all the love of all the years
To light the way ahead.
~Iris Hesselden

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Isn't the mind a wonderful thing? I do believe that I actually was back in that old orange teepee for a few minutes! Did anyone else have a teepee??? I know . . . I am a big daydreamer and time waster . . . but I can't help myself. I think all creative people are like that, don't you?

I haven't had one of these delicious treats in years. My, but it's so very good to revisit an old friend like this after such a long absence . . . I love delicious friends such as these . . .


*Aunt Ferns Coconut Cookies*
Makes about 4 dozen
Printable Recipe

Aunt Fern was my ex husband's Aunt on his mother's side. She lives in an rambling old farmhouse set amongst huge old oak trees in the beautiful countryside of rural Prince Edward Island, and these cookies are exactly what country cooking is all about. Crisp, buttery, wholesome and moreish as the British say. I bet you can't eat just one!

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped pecan nuts (not in the original recipe, but something I like to add)

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Line some baking sheets with aluminum foil and then spray them lightly with cooking spray.

Cream together the butter and the sugars, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir this into the creamed mixture. Stir in the coconut, oats and pecan nuts. Mix well.

Drop by tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.




Over in The English Kitchen today, a delicious Golden Rice and Chicken Pilaf!

“What we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are — and who we will become.”
― Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The love of reading . . .

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Oh how very much I love books! I would feel most deprived if I woke up one morning and all of my books had disappeared and I was left with nothing fresh to read . . . and I have the greatest sympathy for the man who I heard of whom was reduced to reading the cornflakes packet at the breakfast table. Further . . . I just cannot imagine what it must be like not to be able to read . . .

I think of all the things I was taught at school, how to read has been the most valuable and I have been a voracious reader since day one. My father is a reader . . . he was always reading me stories when I was a young child . . . my mother is not a reader. Oh, she will read the newspaper, do crossword puzzles, read short articles . . . but don't ask her to read a book. They just don't interest her. I get my love of reading from my father and it is not unusual for me to be reading two or even three books at once. (Not at exactly the same time mind you . . . but . . . individually!)

Books have long been seen as a form of instruction, recreation and relaxation. In one of his essays, Sir Francis Bacon wrote: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention."

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In "The Tatler", Sir Richard Steele wrote: "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." Sure you can get along without it . . . but your mind will most likely end up flabby and quite out of shape!

I like most the witty words of Hilaire Belloc, who penned:
"When I am dead, I hope it may be said:
His sins were scarlet, but his books were read."

Raising a glass today to our favourite books . . . and all the pleasure that they give to us. Reading opens up new worlds, and takes us on adventures we could never hope to take without having first learned how to read. Taking the time today also to thank those early teachers of mine who worked hard to teach me now to read, and to my dad who set the example and instilled in me my love of reading!

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Todd's news from the hospital was good news. He has Blepharitis, which apparently can sometimes mock the symptoms of a detached retina. Many thanks for all the happy thoughts and prayers sent his way, they were very much appreciated! It was a great relief to find out it was nothing serious and an important lesson has been learnt . . . I must start driving again, no matter what!



I did another little picture yesterday afternoon. This is my second one of the year. I quite like how it turned out. As usual it is available as a print or a card.

We were talking to a friend last evening who lost his job last year. He's been trying to get a photography business started and has gone to great expense to buy the proper equipment, take some courses, have a web page developed, etc. It is such a difficult time for anyone trying to get a new business off the ground. People just aren't spending and if they are it is with a lot more thought and on different types of things. For instance did you know that one company which enjoyed a great increase in business over the past year is a company who manufactures and sells false eyelashes??? Who could figure that one out! They are selling them around the world and apparently they can't make enough of them! John Lewis, a very expensive store over here, has also made record profits, which is really strange as well. This economy thing is a great mystery to me! Todd thinks I shouldn't be painting more paintings until I sell the ones I've already painted . . . but I explained to him it doesn't work that way. I don't paint because I want to sell . . . I paint because I can't not paint. It is something which brings me great joy and I just have these things inside my head that need to get out. I can't explain it really. It just fulfils a need in me that can't be fulfilled in any other way.

Well, I have prattled on long enough this morning. If you have made it this far, good on you! I'll leave you now with a recipe from my Marie Muse's Archives for a delicious Breakfast Cookie. Yes . . . cookies for breakfast are not a bad thing! What is a cereal bar after all . . . but a cookie in a different shape. These are stogged full of healthy goodies such as oats, nuts and raisins!



*Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies*
Makes 4 dozen
Printable Recipe

Moist and chewy and chock full of raisins and nuts these are just plain wonderful! The recipe makes a lot but they freeze really well and are just perfect for a breakfast on the go!

3/4 cup butter softened
1 cup soft light brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 TBS molasses
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bran
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cup quick cooking oats
1-2 cups raisins

1 cup chopped pecan nuts

Preheat oven to 180*C/375*F. Lightly grease several baking sheets and set aside.

Cream together the butter and the sugar. Stir in the eggs, molasses and milk. Add the flour, bran, baking soda and salt and mix well. Blend in oats, nuts and raisins. Drop by large tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Repeat as necessary until all the cookies have been baked. Remove to a wire rack to cool.




Over in The English Kitchen today a belly warming recipe for Ham and Split Pea Soup!


“You can't go through life on "Borrowed light.”
― Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Wednesday Ramblings . . .

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At the start of each New Year I am reminded of a a piece of writing entitled "The Gate Of The Year" by Minnie Louise Hoskins. King George VI quoted it in his Christmas message to the nation and I feel it is every bit as reassuringly valid today as it was then.

"I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'"

Todd went to the Doctors yesterday afternoon and they were able to get him an eye appointment with the hospital for 9 am this morning. I am sincerely hoping that it is nothing serious. That is his stronger eye and he relies on it a lot. He had a squint in his other eye as a child which they corrected for him when he went into the army, but it has never been really strong, even though he was a marksman. This is another test of our faith . . . which can move mountains if it is strong enough . . . so we will be putting our hands in the hand of God on this one, just as we try to do in all things.

Did any of you watch the adaptation of Great Expectations which was on the television over the Christmas period?? We had taped it and finished watching it last night. It was very, very good . . . very well done indeed. It just goes to show you how brilliant those old writers were . . .Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, the Bronte's, Louisa May Alcott, Elizbeth Gaskill . . . Shakespeare even. All that they wrote remains every bit as entertaining and interesting today, as it was in their own days. I expect that is the one great test of anything's value is it not . . . Can it withstand the test of time? Will it be worth as much to me in ten year's time, or more than it is right now?

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I expect that would be a good question to ask ourselves when we are faced with making most decisions in life . . . what is the eternal value of this? Unless it is of great long term or even eternal value . . . perhaps we would do better to rethink the situation, or purchase, or whatever it is we are trying to decide upon.

I have been busy over the past couple of days trying to put together a prospectus of all the Relief Society Extra Meetings for the following year. Arranging monthly activities for the Sister's in my Ward falls under the umbrella of my calling as the Second Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. I have to say I really enjoy my calling. It is a blessing to be able to serve the Sister's in my Ward, and a wonderful opportunity for me to grow and to stretch. I know that some people might think that a church calling is an extra burden, and that some might even be frightened to take one on. I can say, with all honesty . . . any calling I have ever had in my church has been far more for my own benefit and improvement than it has been for anyone else's. I always look them as wonderful opportunities to serve both my Heavenly Father and also my Church. Some of them have seemed a bit daunting to begin with, but I have come to love each of them. I find that as long as one does what they are asked to with love and with strength of purpose, looking to the Lord for help and guidance in all things, then one is quite alright and can even bloom! I have been very lucky in each of my callings to have had the wonderful examples of strong sisters in the church to follow, examples which I have been really grateful for.

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The strong winds of yesterday seem to have died down now. My goodness but it was really wicked! I know that it caused a lot of problems nationwide. It seems odd, coming from a country as wide and as vast as Canada . . . when something happens here in the UK, it pretty much affects the whole country as we are such a small place . . . and yet we have roughly three times the amount of people living here than they have in Canada. It would be unheard of that a Blizzard in . . . say Ontario, would create problems in British Columbia. Here in the UK though, a blizzard anywhere is pretty much everywhere, or at least the whole country would feel the fallout from it.

Well, I am prattling on about not a lot now so I will sign off and get ready to take Todd to the hospital. I say that rather loosely as I am only going with him, my reading student is actually driving us there. Todd would not be able to drive home afterwards, and I am not confident enough in driving our car as I should be . . . so we are prevailing upon our good friend today. I need to drive our car more . . . in truth, I have not driven it once since we got it. I used to be very confident in driving our old car as it was brand new and I felt completely safe in it . . . when we had to give it up and got this really old one, I seem to have lost all confidence and have not driven it at all. I need to give myself a kick up the backside I think!

Here is a recipe for a really tasty cookie! Cookies with jam are my absolute favourite kinds! I know that I have a great fondness for anything with jam in it, but cookies with it are the best! I have endeavored to convert the measurements into North American ones as best as I can.



*Not Quite Jammy Dodgers*
Makes 20-24
Printable Recipe

These lovely shortbread like biscuits have a wonderful light texture and basically just melt in your mouth. Deliciously crisp with a tasty dab of jam in the middle, these are what the British call moreish. You cannot eat just one. I dare you to try!

90g icing sugar (11TBS)
185g plain flour (scant 2 cups (1.84))
60g corn flour (corn starch) (6.5 TBS)
30g ground almonds (1/3 cup)
250g butter, cut into cubes (1 cup plus 1 1/2 TBS)
½ tsp almond extract
Icing Sugar for dusting
Jam such as strawberry or raspberry

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

Sift the icing sugar, flour and corn flour into a large bowl. Add the ground almonds and give it a good stir. Drop in the butter. Rub the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips until there are no visible lumps of butter.

Stir in the almond essence. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured board and knead it a few times to form a smooth dough.

Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. (about an inch and a half in diameter) Using a 3 inch smooth edged cutter place the cutter on top of the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Drop one of the balls inside and push it down to fill the ring, flattening the top slightly with your fingertips. Repeat with the remaining dough balls, placing them about 2 inches apart. You will not be able to fit all of them on one sheet, so will have to do this in two batches.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes until they are light golden in colour. Remove them from the oven and immediately tamp down an indentation in the middle of each biscuit to hold the jam. I use the tip of a wooden spoon and make an indentation about ½ inch in diameter.

Let the biscuits cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

When completely cool, dust the tops with icing sugar and place a dab of jam in the centre indentations. Simply wonderful!



Over in The English Kitchen today, a delicious Meatloaf Pie.

And so this was Christmas . . .

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Oh but we did have a lovely Christmas this year. I was so glad that it all worked out fine and thatTodd was feeling ever so much better on the day than he had been for the few weeks prior to it!! My mother called first thing and I got to speak to her, which is always nice. It just would not seem like Christmas without having talked to my mum. It was also nice going to church in the morning. One of the bonus's of Christmas actually falling on a Sunday!

My Christmas Lunch turned out beautifully. I had done the Simple Turkey range from Piper's Farm and it was quite delicious, and true to their word it cooked in just 60 minutes! We had Doreen and Billy (remember them from our trip to Llandudno last summer?) come to lunch and the four of us enjoyed the feast together and some quality time with each other.

After they had gone, Todd and I watched the Queen's speech, which is another integral part of Christmas day you know! For as long as I can remember I have always watched the Queen's speech on the television on Christmas Day. I thought she gave a really nice one this year, but then . . . she always does!

I had a text from my eldest son to see if I was free and then we both went onto an MSN Video call and I got to see our Gabriel and Luke in their Christmas jim jams playing with some of their Christmas presents. That was really nice! I loved being a part of their Christmas Day. I am so glad that we live in a day and an age where technology allows this type of thing. What a blessing!

I called my father on the telephone after that and spoke to him for a time. He was pleased to get the call. He was all on his own this year. He lives in Quebec and they do something called Reveillion on Christmas Eve, which is midnight mass and an all night celebration. He just didn't feel up to all the festivities this year, what with just having been fitted with his pacemaker etc. and so he stayed home. He just wasn't up to it and says he tires easily. We were so happy to find out also that he didn't have cancer so double blessing and gift to us that we will have him around for a lot longer!

Then Todd and I spent a quiet evening on our own, just enjoying each other's company along with Mitzie and watching a few things on the telly. I am trying to remember now what they were, but alas . . . I can't! I must be getting old!



This is a picture of little Maryn on Christmas Day with her dad Tom. Doesn't she look sweet enough to eat? I thought so at any rate! It's amazing to me that she looks just like I did at the same age!



This is Jonathan and Joshua wearing the jim jams I sent to them! It is really nice to see my grandsons actually wearing something from me! I was very excited about that. All my grandchildren got matching pajamas and a book and some choccies from us. The boys all got exactly the same ones, printed with circus clowns and animals, and little Maryn got Beatrix Potter pink ones with Flopsie Bunny embroidered on the top and ruffles on the bottoms of the pantlegs. She got a board book as well (Goodnight Moon) along with a little pink sock monkey.



Here's Gabriel and Luke visiting Santa with their mom, Anne. Apparently Luke wasn't going to sit on Santa's lap without mom being there. My daughter in law is such a good sport. I love her to bits and Santa looks like he's enjoying her too!



We worked towards it for what seemed like forever . . . baking, planning, decorating . . . and then in just a few short days it was over. The best part of Christmas it seems happens in the planning and the run up to Christmas, or at least that is how it works for me. There is this huge build up, and not enough hours in the day . . . and then, like a sneeze, all of a sudden it is finished and all we're left with are a few Christmas goodies and some happy memories. It always makes me a bit sad when I have to take the decorations down and put them away. Kind of like saying goodbye to a few old friends, and the kitchen here in our cottage always seems a little bit empty for a few days . . . like something big is missing.



And then, all of a sudden, like a breath of fresh air, a forgotten gift arrives and it's Christmas all over again. A lovely brown paper bag decorated with Santa Claus's and full of little surprises, each one pretty and daintily wrapped and decorated, not the least of which was this beautiful little gold box tied up with a pretty pink ribbon.



Deep inside it's recesses, hidden under some pretty parchment paper folds lays a beautiful sweet Christmas surprise. What pretty colours these chocolates are . . . a wonder to behold and I am a child again . . . I don't want to eat them they are so lovely. I want to hoard them like the Easter Bunny I hid in the book case headboard of my bed for a whole day when I was eleven, only to discover the morning after, that my cousin's had been and eaten it when I wasn't looking. The only evidence of it's having been there a few telltale chocolate crumbs and some crumbled foil . . . Dare I take that chance again?



Oh look!!! A lovely Santa's hat and stocking, even a cute little snowman and a Christmas pudding . . . almost too cute to eat, but who am I to resist temptation. I must nibble . . . before someone else does . . . and we all know who that someone is!



Just another little painting I did yesterday afternoon. I got my Sunday talk all written and so I wanted to play for a bit and I had seen a photograph of two little girls posed just like this . . . it so tempted me to want to replicate it with some of my characters and so I did. As usual it is available as a print or a card. I need to post some of these newest creations in my Etsy shop I think!



After all the excesses of Christmas can I . . . dare I . . . tempt myself into eating just one more?? There is still a tin of Celebrations Chocolates on the counter that beckons to me, making it very hard to resist it's sweet treasures hidden inside. Whoever invented these was surely a genius, imagine all your favourite Chocolate bar temptations tucked into small packages, each one just a tiny bite . . . Mars . . . Maltesers . . . Bounty . . . Milky Way . . . they are too lovely to stay away from for very long. What could possibly be any better than these ???

Why Celebrations Brownies of course! This is a recipe adapted from the Green and Black's Chocolate cookbook, and yes . . . it was impossible to eat just one . . .




*Celebrations Brownies*
Makes 15
Printable Recipe

Imagine a brownie so rich and gooey that you can’t help gasping with pleasure when you sink your teeth into one . . . now add the hidden surprise of your favourite chocolate candy bar deep inside it’s decadently rich, chocolaty depth . . . Yes, you have died and gone to heaven.

7 ounces butter (13.8 TBS)
3 ½ ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces (use really good quality, no less than 60% chocolate solids)
12 ounces dark soft brown sugar (1.69 cups)
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 ounces self raising flour (2 cups)
Pinch of salt
10 ¼ ounce box of Celebration** chocolates, or other chocolates of your choice (Imagine Maltesers dotting the middle or a lovely layer of thin chocolate After Eight mints)

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Brush an 11 X 7 inch tin with melted butter and then life with greaseproof paper. Set aside.

Put the butter and the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering, but not boiling water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. Allow to melt, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir in the chocolate, mixing it in well.

Beat the eggs together with the vanilla and the pinch of salt. Stir this into the chocolate mixture, mixing it in well. Sift the flour and stir in until well combined.

Un wrap the chocolates.

Pour half of the chocolate batter into the prepared tin. Lay the chocolates evenly spaced carefully over the top of the batter, making sure that there will be at least one in each portion that is cut. Pour the remaining batter over top, ensuring that all the chocolates are completely covered.

Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 30 minutes until the top is crispy and glazed looking but the insides are still soft. Remove from the oven and to a rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

**Celebration chocolates are a mixture we can get over here of small miniature chocolate bars such as Milky Way, Bounty, Mars, Snickers, etc. If you can’t get those use any favourite chocolate of yours. Malted milk balls sprinkled over the layer work quite well, as do thin chocolate mints. Chunks of caramel bar work equally as well. Let your decadent foodie imagination run free!



And over in The English Kitchen today, a genius and most delicious way to use up some of all those parsnips you got in for the holidays, scrummy Parsnip Patties with a Cranberry Mustard!

“Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. ... He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken.”
― Dieter F. Uchtdorf

A most unusual story of love . . .

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Once upon a time, what seems now . . . like long, long ago . . . my sister and I used to make Teddy Bears, and from time to time get together at Craft Sales and sell them at a booth we would share. Happy times . . . Our bears ranged in size from a tiny 3 inch bear right on up to a bear that was large enough to wear size 3 children's clothing, each one being a real labour of love on our parts. The best part though . . . was in the doing of it together.

I recently read about a woman named Frannie Pew Hayes. She had a rather large family, which included an abundance of grandchildren and so one year the family came to the decision that it was just not practical anymore to buy Christmas Gifts for everyone and so they would draw names . . . each person then only having one present to buy and exchange.

Her grandson, David, who was only five at the time drew her name and inquired of her what she would like to receive. She chose elastic bands and paper clips. He didn't like that idea, wanting her to pick out something nicer and so, realizing that it was the Chinese Year of the Bear, she finally requested a Teddy Bear.

Source: threeoclockbears.typepad.com via Marie on Pinterest

That very first bear she received from her young grandson delighted her so completely that a Teddy Bear Collection soon began and multiplied . . . with Teddy Bears acquired as gifts from family and friends . . . and collected from her own travels.

Soon there were bears of all shapes and sizes and requests from people of all ages to come and see them began to pour in. This the idea for a Teddy Bear Museum was born.

The Teddy Bear Museum in Naples Florida opened in 1990 with a collection that had expanded to around 5,500 individual bears until the museum closed in 2005, a year after the death of Mrs Hayes.

When I read this story my heart was warmed . . . indeed big oaks from tiny acorns do grow! What began as the tiny gift of a M&M's bear from a young grandson to his much beloved grandmother because something that brought joy and pleasure to so many visitors worldwide. It's a shame that it had to close . . .

Source: threeoclockbears.typepad.com via Marie on Pinterest

I have always loved teddy bears myself. I had a lovely one that I carried with me throughout my life from my infancy . . . but which sadly disappeared during one of my many military moves in my last marriage. I now have three . . . a bear that the young daughter of a friend gave to Todd a few years back, one that I bought for one of my grandchildren, but which ended up too big to post and so I kept it (Winnie the Pooh in a cute sweater) and a lovely little smooshie pink one that my dear friend Lura gave me, each one special and unique in it's own special way. Kinda like us I guess! Unique, special and very much beloved!


These lovely squares have always been our Amanda's favourite treat. She may watch her weight really closely but the girl does have a bit of a sweet tooth. She comes by that honestly as her father has the biggest sweet tooth in the world. It is a Ramsay trait as my ex MIL also has a big sweet tooth. I remember going to a Brunch Buffet with her once and she had no less than 6 desserts. In fact that's all she had . . . dessert!



*Butterscotch Mallow Bars*
Makes about 36
Printable Recipe

These are so easy to do and quick to throw together as well. They are quite sweet, but a real favourite of children. They look really pretty on the Christmas cookie tray though!

1 (12 ounce) package of butterscotch chips (or an equal amount of milk chocolate, good quality, cut into bits. I recommend Green and Blacks)
¼ cup butter
1 cup smooth peanut butter (you can use crunchy if you want little bits of nuts in them. I prefer the smooth myself)
1 package of small multi coloured marshmallows (about 4 cups)
*Note if you are making the milk chocolate ones, white marshmallows are the best to use.

Combine the butter, peanut butter, and butterscotch chips in a saucepan over low to medium heat. Stir until melted and completely amalgamated. Remove from the heat and let cool to warm before stirring in the marshmallows. Pour the mixture into a 9 inch square cake tin that you have lined with cling film. Spread evenly into the pan and press the mixture down. Refrigerate until cold and then cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.



Over in The English Kitchen today a delicious Marzipan and Mincemeat Tea Loaf!

There was a song in a film years ago with the line “Have yourself a merry little Christmas.” Well, you can give a great and wonderful Christmas if you remember the gifts God has given you and, as best you can, offer them to others as He would. That is the spirit of Christmas and of true happiness every day.
~President Henry B Eyring, The Gifts of Christmas 2011