What's Cooking Wednesday - Blueberry Muffins

Blueberries are in season & relatively cheap. This is a home-run muffin recipe!

Blueberry Muffins
by The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1-1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 375°F. In bowl, combine flour, baking powder & salt. In a separate bowl, cream the butter & the sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Slowly stir in milk (mixture may look curdled). Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a greased muffin pan or use paper muffin cups.

Recipe Notes: This made about 14 muffins for me (though the recipe said it would make 12). This was even when I overfilled some of the cups. These muffins are REALLY yummy!

Make sure & check out what else is cooking this Wednesday over at Shan's blog!

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Sleepy!

Evan still is not a "strong" sleeper. I hope he learns how sometime before he reaches high school!

We got a new hot tub in our new back yard. Dewey's been in it every night. I poke fun at him a bit b/c I think he's obsessed.

He said: "I get in the hot tub every night & then I sleep like a baby"
Big Pause

"Well, not OUR baby but you know what I mean"

That, folks, is how it goes at our house. :)

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Evan's Birthday Party - Part 2

Evan's birthday fell on a long weekend this year so we only had family (and a few out of town friends) over for the party on his actual birthday. Yesterday was the party for all his little one year old friends. The backyard was done in time but due to rolling thundershowers, we spent most of the party indoors (at least the women and babies did....the guys were outside most of the time in spite of the weather....I think they were hiding). The house was wall to wall people & kids. We had a great time but learned that kid parties tend to end early....real early. By 8 pm the only people left were us & Shawn & Shawna. Nevertheless, a great time was had by all.

I contemplated serving the monkey cupcakes again at this party but then I realized that I had all the stress I could handle without having to make cupcakes. I gave myself permission to just order a cake. I think the one we ended up getting was very cute. They even made the baby Tarzan look like Evan (I sent them a picture). Here are some pics of the festivities.















Evan was really upset that I wouldn't let him eat his new favorite thing.....rocks!

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Sorry!

I've haven't been blogging much lately. Too much going on these days. Our yard is almost finished...finally! It's been a long process. June was a very, very rainy month this year so it put us about 3 weeks behind schedule. We decided to hire someone to do the landscaping b/c it would have taken us forever & who knows what it would have looked like! Tomorrow is our first party in our new backyard. Hopefully it'll be done! Brian & Brad (our landscapers) promise that it will be done no matter what. I think they're serious b/c it is 8 pm on Friday night & they're still working hard. They will be back at 8 am to finish everything off. I will post pictures of the party & the backyard tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

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All Better!

I won't go into all the ins and outs of what happened with the whole Nanny situation. I just wanted to let everyone know that we now have a nanny & she's great! I'm taking off from work on Monday to make sure that she is comfortable with Evan's routine, etc. I have no doubts that everything will turn out great. To say the least it is a LOAD off of my mind. My stomach hasn't hurt at all today (I was beginning to wonder if I was getting an ulcer)! Yea!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Three Bean Salad

Three Bean Salad
Another great recipe from Simply Recipes. Elise ROCKS!

• 1 15 oz can cannellini beans, rinsed & drained (I used Romano beans instead)
• 1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 celery stalks, chopped fine
• 1/2 red onion, chopped fine
• 1 cup fresh, finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp fresh finely chopped rosemary
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

In a large bowl, mix the beans, celery, onion, parsley and rosemary.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the dressing to the beans. Toss to coat.

Chill beans in the refrigerator for several hours, to allow the beans to soak up the flavor of the dressing.

Recipe Notes: This was a good recipe though it is not my favorite bean salad in the world. It is a simple, tasty recipe for your next picnic, though. I will definitely make it again.

Don't forget to check out what else is cooking this Wednesday at Shan's blog.

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Ack!!!!!

Long story short.....our nanny isn't here yet....don't know when she will be....love Canada Immigration....hired new interim nanny today....thought she was going to start tomorrow.....got text during Steve Earle concert that said that she couldn't work for us b/c we live to far on the outskirts of town.....my mom has been here for 3 weeks and leaves on Sunday....have no babysitter for Monday.....Darn it, darn it, darn it!!!!!


Cross your fingers that we come up with something good soon b/c I HATE this!!!! I don't want to leave Evan AT ALL in the best of times much less in situations like this. I'm going to go try to sleep now. Hopefully the clicking of my worried eyelids won't wake you from here.

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Crawling.....Fast!

Evan finally figured out how to crawl properly (up on his knees). Now he is moving quickly in any and all directions. He's usually headed toward something he shouldn't be playing with, touching, etc. His favorites are the audio tuner & the stairs. He climbed all the way to the top yesterday with me right behind him. I figure he'll be walking soon & then we'll really be in trouble.

We headed out to Nana and Papa Don's house on Sunday. Here's some pictures I took while we were there. Evan LOVED playing in the grass and playing with the cat. I enjoyed getting to take some pictures with the "big" camera again. The tiny point and shoot is all I've been using for the last few months.

P.S.....I lived through stampede....not that you were worried. :)

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We're Sorry

to interrupt the regularly scheduled programming on this blog BUT it's stampede week here in calgary. I've been on my feet for the last 12+ hours & I have to be back at work at 7:30 am to do it all again tomorrow. Why oh why do I do this to myself??????

Oh well, things should be back to normal by Sunday at the latest. Until then....have a great week!

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Stampede Breakfast

Today was the Stampede Breakfast at the company Dewey and I work for. We got up at the crack of dawn (for me anyway) to get everyone up, in cowboy gear and at the office by 7:30am. Boy, I'm glad that most days I'm only responsible for getting myself there by that time. We had very yummy pancakes, got to see other small cowpokes & got to hear a live band. Lots of fun considering it was over before 9 am! Evan really enjoyed some prime flirting time with all the girls. He is the biggest flirt I have ever seen. Dewey keeps trying to teach him to say "How YOU doin'?" just like Joey from Friends. Thankfully, he hasn't succeeded yet!

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Banff

Even though my mom has been to Calgary to visit us at least 4 times, we've never taken her to Banff. I know, I know, it is a very tourist-trap town but it's still pretty. Plus, she got to buy some postcards & souvenirs that she couldn't get in Calgary. The weather was a bit iffy. We got rained on a couple of times but all in all it was a good day. We stopped in Canmore on the way out & had brunch at Chez Francois. It is sooooooo goood! Yum! We then headed to Banff, shopped a little & drove around looking for wildlife. We ended up seeing an elk and some deer (and a clueless man walking up to the elk trying to feed it weeds.....brilliant!). Here are some pictures from our day.

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Just a Quick Hello

to tell you that we're all still here. I have a feeling that my blogging will be spotty at best for the next few weeks while I'm getting settled back into the working world. Evan is not really loving his Mommy being back at work. He is still a bit clingy & fussy. He also had a delayed reaction to his shots (we think) one night last week. He was up screaming every 2 hours all night. It has been an exhausting week. I am NOT used to getting up at 6am & I am not used to having to go to bed early enough not to be exhausted when I get up. Ick! Okay, enough complaining. I am going to bed soon so that we can go visit Banff tomorrow with my mom. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures to blog tomorrow.

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Grilled Corn Salad

This recipe is from one of my all time favorite recipe blogs - SimplyRecipes. If you haven't visited Elise Bauer there, you must. The photography is beautiful and the recipes are divine. Without further ado:

Grilled Corn Salad
by Elise Bauer of SimplyRecipes

4 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 5-inch long zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup crumbly feta
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Coat the bottom of a large, sturdy, relatively stick-free (can use cast iron) pan with a little olive oil. Heat the pan to high. Spread out the corn kernels on the pan. Don't stir them that much, just let them cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to toast. When they get a little browned, remove them from the pan to a bowl. Lay the zucchini pieces on the pan and brown both sides, do not over cook, remove from pan.

Place corn, chopped bell pepper, chopped zucchini, red onion and cilantro into a large bowl. Add the cumin, olive oil, lime juice and feta. Mix gently. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 8 to 10 as a side dish.

Recipe Notes: There are further instructions for this recipe on the Simply Recipes site. Basically, you can grill all the bits and pieces but I didn't do that. I only included the info above for the technique that I actually used. This recipe was AWESOME! I will definitely be making this again and again.

Don't forget to visit Shan to see what else is cooking this Wednesday!

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Tomorrow is the Big Day!

After a year off, I'm going back to work. I'm not happy about it either! I will try to uphold a bit of self respect by not kicking & screaming while being drug back to my desk. Just know that inside I'll be kicking and screaming. Well, maybe it's not that bad. I'll just miss my baby alot. :(

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