Thanks for letting us vote!

It's election time again here in Canada! 

Feels like just 2 years ago I voted for the first time... Oh wait... it was! Our previous government was a minority one so when the Federal Budget was released in March and was defeated it caused us to have another election...

I am so proud to say...

It puts a smile on my face to know that while my vote may not be for the candidate that wins at least I can say that I voted! 

I had my say!

Plus I like giving my child a role model that she (and some day they) can look back and remember oh yeah Momma voted! She may not remember this year but I know that some day she will look back and say hey I remember when we were little and we would walk to the poling station and Momma would vote!

Today I told her we were going out to vote and she said "Oh Momma can I go to the voting store with you?" I corrected her of course and then she said "Lets go to the poling station"! She was a hit with everyone she met as usual! She introduced her self to the ladies running the registration table and shook hands with them and everything! (she even went as far as to ask one lady what her favorite color was!) and then as we were walking out after voting she said "Thanks for letting us vote!"

What a great way to put it... Thanks for letting us vote!

If your Canadian get out and vote! 

If your not make sure your vote counts where you are next time around!

Make it Monday! Honey Garlic Suace from Scratch!

My family loves Honey Garlic Sauce! 

Something about the balance of the sweet and the tangy is just divine to me!

But I hate paying money for things that I know I can make for less money, and that will be better for my family... Now I'm not one of those organic mom's or one who doesn't allow processed foods into my home(not that there is a thing wrong with that if it's how you choose to live...) but I do like to limit the amount of canned and bottled food my family eats... 

So in search of a good Honey Garlic sauce recipe I hunted one down on the internet.... I know I know that is where most of my recipes come from and most of the time I do use them the way they are written and they are good but this one while good was missing something... It just didn't have that tang that jar sauce had or enough garlic for my liking either so I switched it up some... ok a lot!

So here you go My Honey Garlic Sauce 

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

3/4 Cup Water

3 Tbsp Soya Sauce

1 Tbsp Honey

2-4 Cloves of Fresh Grated or Minced Garlic 

1-2 Tsp Fresh Grated Ginger

Combine Sugar, Water and Cornstarch in a medium sauce pan. Add Soya Sauce, honey, Garlic and Ginger bring to boil stirring constantly once thickened pour over cooked meat, and serve!

This isn't as fast as opening a jar but its pretty close... and it tastes better. 

This recipe is good for one meal, maybe two but that is stretching it a bit...  it tastes great on meat balls, fried pork, pork chops or chicken but my personal favorite is on slow roasted ribs...

See... Yummy hey!

Robyn was actually told at work the other night that he was hated for bringing in food that smelled and looked that good... Yup HATED! 

It's that good!

Give it a try your family is sure to love it! 

Do you have any go to sauces that your family loves? Or that your hated for not sharing? I'd love to hear all about it!

Book Sale Finds!

I've mentioned before that I love a great bargain....  (AKA I'm cheap!) 

So when I hear gently used at good prices I get excited! 

Yesterday we went to a GIANT book sale in aid of our local Canadian Federation of University Women group!

They hold this every year (this is our second year going!)  We got so many great books and help raise money for scholarships for women to go to college! (In the word of Charlie..... WINNING!)

I know I've said before I'm not a reader but my whole family is! And they are trying to convert me I think... plus I do read cook books... as a matter of fact I love old 60's, 70's and 80's cookbooks... It's almost a sickness! And you'd be amazed how many cookbooks one can accumulate if they try...

So here is my haul!

They have a section where you can fill a bag for $2! 

Here's our bag! 

(we paid $4 because I felt like we had stuffed 2 bags worth of books into 1 reusable bag...)

there are all kinds of books in this section from self help to crafts to religion and fiction...you name it it's there!

Once I opened up the bag and saw what we got I was shocked! 

 Here's what I got from the craft/cooking section!

And a few that daddy and Delaney picked out! (can you tell who was holding the bag...)

Here are  few of the ones I am  most excited about!

A reprint of a dress making book from the 1870's (If nothing else I will be framing a few of these pages and putting them on the walls!)

Sheet Music.... already have a few crafts in mind to use these for!

Great Cooking Ideas.... They weren't kidding when they named this baby, this book is huge! And there is a recipe on every page! (sure to show up on future Make it Monday's!)

This one I am flipping out over still! James Beard! YES PLEASE!

And this one I got to try some things for Miss Delaney! I may have to YouTube some video's on how to do needle point as I have no freaking idea how I mean experience... 

We also got a  few other books in the regular sections of the sale... 

A few for Delaney... a couple for Daddy and a couple for me to try... My Sister is a good influence what can I say... (she secretly wishes me a reader I think)

Daddy also nabbed us a World Atlas...

It's a bit out of date... as in it still has the USSR... but hey it suits our needs... 

and Delaney is already in love with it!

All in all a great day, we got so many great books, had so much fun looking through everything over and over and everyone went home with a few new reads at super cheap prices! (not to mention that we helped raise money for the Canadian Federation of University Women Scholarship Fund!) 

Have you picked up anything at a great price and gotten a little too excited about it lately? Any great books you've picked up or any great crafty reads?? Please Share it in the comments I'd love to hear all about it!

Photo Friday! Our day with Auntie!

As I mentioned earlier this week we spent the better part of the day this past Saturday with my sister...  and we had the most amazing day! 

We played and acted foolish, we went to a great craft sale (where I spotted a lot of lovely hand-spun yarn) we shopped and walked down town had a treat at Tim Hortons and then went back to her house for a supper that I didn't make (you have no idea how great that was), we sat on the porch swing in the SUN (that was great too) and had a grand old time just relaxing! 

But I did snap a few really nice photos that I thought I would share for this Photo Friday!

A look at my favorite part of downtown! (if you look close you can see the purple building... We used to live on the top floor of that building...)

These two statues are part of a water front park, they are a Labrador Retriever and a Newfoundland dog...

Not a bad view from your own "back yard" hey...

And finally one of Me and Delaney... (Can you believe that this is the first picture of me that I have posted... other than wedding photos)

We had so much fun!

Happy Friday! Hope you snap some great photos of you and your family hanging out!

Tell the Truth Thursday! 2 for 1!

Yup you read right... 

Today you get two confessions for the price of one!

The first is obvious if you scroll down just a little and see the videos that are part of this post!

I AM A GLEEK!

The second isn't quite as obvious....

If you watch Glee you will know that this weeks episode was called "Born this Way" and of course they sang the new Lady Gaga song... and I actually like their version better than GAGA's...

And it was all about the kids in the Glee Club accepting who they are and what they are... 

So each had to make a shirt with a word or phrase that tells something they are ashamed of or something they can't change...

They put things like "Butt Chin", "Nose" or "OCD" and it got me thinking what would I put on "my" shirt?

There are a few things that popped into my mind...

but the one that stuck out was 

CURLY HAIR!

Yup I have naturally curly hair and as nice as it is, I hated it for a long, long, long time! And even now some days I would tear it all out if I thought that it would grow back straight. When I was younger I was called so many names and made fun of so much because of my hair... so much that I would do anything to straighten it... I can't count the burns I got from our iron, or from any of the countless hair appliances I have owned.

Sounds silly right or at least I think it sounds silly. I mean really when does hair make the lady? 

Yes I have learned to embrace it, well deal with it at least but at many times even now it's just easier to forget about it and pretend that it doesn't matter, even if it does...

And most days it does, I do care how I look (show me a woman who says she doesn't and you've just showed me a liar)  but some days its just not worth the hassle of caring so much that I have to fuss and deal with it. 

So truth is that I have curly hair and it bothers me sometimes and it is a pain in the butt sometimes but it was how I was born and it makes me... well me...  

So what would your shirt say? Leave it in comments... I'd love to know!

And because I am a true GLEEK I have to add my favorite song from this weeks episode...

Somewhere only we know- as sung by the Warblers...