My favourite things . . .

 

These are a few of my favourite things.  Maybe some of them are your favourites too! 

 

Inspirational Quotes. I collect them.  I have a notebook filled with them. All handwritten by moi. I love them. In different coloured inks. Someday I am going to buy myself a quote book.  Someday  . . . 

 

Fountain Pens. I bought my first one when I was in Grade Five at school, so ten years old. I saved up my money for a while to get it.  It was one with a bladder that you squeezed to fill the pen with ink and it was orange in colour.  I also bought myself a bottle of turquoise ink. I loved that pen. Last year on my birthday I bought myself a Parker Fountain Pen. I paid a lot for it and have never been able to get it to work properly.  Sigh  . . . a huge disappointment.

  

Wrap Sandwiches. I love them. I would rather have one of those than a burger. In fact when we go to McDonalds I always get their Sweet Chili Chicken Wrap Sandwich. Eating a wrap is like you are eating a nice big present just for you. 

 

I don't eat ice cream very much. I hate scooping it.  Even though the lid will say soft, its always hard.  When I do eat ice cream however, my flavour of choice is always vanilla.  I adore vanilla ice cream. It goes with everything.  When we were kids my mother used to spoon some of her homemade strawberry jam over top. It was soooooo good! 

 

One of the things I loved most about Summer was always making my own jams and jellies.  I used to make all different kinds  . . .  strawberry (of course), blueberry, blackberry jelly, raspberry, peach,  apple butter, crabapple jelly,etc. No fruit was safe from my jam pot!  I have not made any jam in years now. With there only being two of us in this house it doesn't make economical sense to make my own jam. We don't eat enough jam for it to be worth my while.  I treat myself to Bon Maman when I buy it.  I like the jars and I love the jam.

Raspberries.  I adore them.  I made myself sick on them when I was 11 years old and so could not eat them for a long time. But I can eat them now and adore them.  Did you know that each globule on a raspberry it a single fruit?  It has its own seed and can grow into a plant. They come from the rose family and spread via their root system, sending out shoots beneath the ground. So far we have not had any lucky growing them in our garden.  They always die, but we do have great luck with blackberries and tayberries.

  

Sweet or savory.  If I had to pick between the two I would pick savory every time, but truth be told my favourite combination is a combination of the two.  Think chocolate dipped potato chips here, or chocolate pretzels.  If you were to put a bowl of potato chips and a bar of chocolate on the table I would be really hard pressed to pick one of the two . . .  I would want both.  But if I could only, ONLY have one.  I would choose the potato chips.

 

I love potatoes, but I adore sweet potatoes.  I could eat one every day given the chance and they are sooooo good for you!  They are considered to be a super food and are a source of four essential micronutrients: vitamin C, thiamin, potassium and manganese, which between them have a whole range of properties that our bodies need to keep us ticking over, and unlike regular potatoes, they count towards your five a day!  I love them mashed with some garlic, and a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese.  Soooo good.  I mostly roast them until soft and then squeeze them out of the skins and mash them with a fork.  Roasting them in the skins brings out all of the tastiness.

 

I love salads and could eat one for supper every day and nothing else and be quite happy. Seriously.  If you put a good salad down in front of me, I am a happy camper.  Over here they don't do salads in restaurants very well.  I have more often than not been really disappointed by any salad I have been served in a restaurant.  A few limp leaves, a slice of cucumber and a wedge of tomato and no dressing.  What's with that?  A salad deserves a good dressing and by that I don't mean salad cream.  Sure, Salad Cream has its uses and I like it, but I would much prefer a tasty vinaigrette if I am paying good money for a salad, and I would like the salad to be interesting and not an after thought.  It takes skill to create a good salad and choice vegetables.

  

This is one of my favourite cookbooks. It proves that Salad is not just for summer! 

Stoneware. I would rather have stoneware than china any day of the week.  I love the feel of it. I love the heft of it. I love the way it looks with food on it.  It doesn't have to be fancy or colourful.  Plain white is good, with speckles and perhaps coloured edges.  I like this one in the photo very much as well, but would love it better in an Ivory colour with the brown edges.

These drinking glasses from Duralex are my favourite all time drinking glasses.  They are sturdy and simple but also a bit fancy at the same time.  They stack neatly in the cupboard.  It doesn't break your heart if one gets broken because they are easily replaceable.  I have simple tastes.  I do rather like them in pale pink however  . . .  or pale blue . . .

 

Silk flowers.  If you buy really good ones, you can have a lovely floral arrangement on the table all the time without it costing a fortune. You can even buy different ones for different seasons.  I think a vase of flowers on the table looks really nice, but buying fresh flowers can get really expensive.

 

Little white cherubs.  I love them.  I have 4 sets on my fireplace mantle, each in a different pose.  I think they are so sweet. Look at those dimply knees . . . and chubby toes.

  

Old black and white photographs. I could peruse them for hours, thinking about the people in them, wondering about their hopes and dreams.  I find them very interesting and intriguing. 

And those are my favourite things for this week.  I am thinking I have a lot of favourites!  Maybe I am just an admirerer of all things in general! 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.° ˛°. .Ships don't sink because of the water around them.

Ships sink because of the water that gets in them.

Don't let what's happening around you get

inside you and weigh you down  . . . .° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

Spiritual Enlightenment

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  a delicious Tuna Melt Tart. So simple. So good.  Quick and easy to make. 

Have a wonderful Thursday.  I hope it is filled with a few of your favourite things.  Don't forget along the way . . .

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And I do too!