Pocketful of Memory Cards

You might be surprised to see that this post is not about a house on the lake that's stolen my heart.   Regular readers might also be shocked to see that it's a STORE that I've fallen in love with. I've told you I hate shopping, but as I look back on my blog posts I'm discovering that's not the whole truth.  My  aversion to shopping seems to be strongest when it comes to groceries or clothes.  And then there's the fact that I don't like parting with my money unless I really have to.  I don't like shopping in chain stores and I don't enjoy shopping in stores that carry the same items as every other big box store in the country. I do enjoy shopping in one-of-a-kind stores, stores that recycle and re-purpose items, stores that carry things that you don't see everywhere, stores with friendly, helpful staff.   I've visited Lakehouse twice in the last two weeks and discovered that this lovely shop at the corner of Bernard and Ellis mee...

No, not that one.  I'm talking about a word that makes me cringe every time I hear it, especially when someone calls me one. No, it's not "feminist", I wear that one with great pride.  It's a word that has become ubiquitous in certain circles, a word I can hardly bring myself to even type....f**die.....Yes, it's foodie . I loathe the word.  It just sounds so diminutive and childish. Why is the media so bent on destroying the beauty of the english language.  Why do these things catch on?   There are perfectly good words already out there to describe us...food lovers, chefs, gourmands, epicureans...ok perhaps a little pretentious but foodies!!? ?  That's how I call my dogs to dinner.   "Max, Pitou...foodies!"  I am not part of a dog's dinner. As a food lover and a wordie  word lover, I can hardly bear it. I was thrilled to discover that someone with a much more impressive cooking and writing pedigree than I feels the same way. ...

To be perfectly honest, as I write this I don't have a very happy feeling about the last three days.  There were things I wanted to do and unfortunately they all had to be done within a short period of time.  I would like to have spread them out, but cancellations happened, two things were re-booked, and didn't have much choice in the matter of the dates.  And to top it off I am suffering terribly from either spring allergies or a cold. By coincidence it's Gratitude Monday, and I can't think of a better way to remind myself of the enjoyment I got out of those busy days and what I accomplished. 138.  I'm grateful that I didn't have to go to the Golf Tournament Saturday night, and instead attended the UBCO BFA grad show to see my friend and award winning artist Laura Widmer's latest works along with other up and coming Okanagan artists. 139.  I was grateful to be asked to review the cooking class at Poppadoms on Sunday.  I love Indian food and ...

I can never resist photographing a mess of chopped vegetables.  Here we have the holy trinity of Cajun cuisine:  onion, celery and peppers... all ready for tonight's Creole Chicken & Okra with Parsley Rice.  Bon Appetit!

Today I googled " Chef at Home Spicy Chili " after watching Michael Smith prepare a fantastic dinner for his poker buddies (guess what we're having for dinner on the first cool day next week). After I made my list,  I headed to Abby's Spices and Tea Store to find some dried poblano peppers, and few other spices I was low on. Abby didn't have any poblanos but she tempted me with some ancho peppers that smelled amazing.... they should be a great substitute.  She also had some interesting hot sauces that I thought I'd share in this post.  Michael Smith says it's the adrenaline rush that draws people to the super hot sauces - I think that's too much adrenaline for me!