New Beginnings Await

Well, I better get bloggin' as the last time I wrote anything was at he beginning of February..... and I said at least once a month in 2013 :) I CANNOT believe it is March 1st!!!! Where did February disappear to?
 Lots of changes coming up: In Mid-February I found out that instead of downsizing we are closing our CND offices, where I have worked for the past going on 9 years. So at the end of April I'll be out of a job... for now anyhow. I am quite sad to not be part of an absolutely amazing, international team of friends anymore but super excited about what opportunities will present themselves next.
For now my life is crazy busy... Packing and shipping many things etc, etc.... getting ready to train and hand all my responsibilities over to others who I know will do a fantastic job... Just as Spring is just around the corner so I know God will bring something new into my life :)

A lazy Saturday morning

It is SUNNY outside, down here in the valley!!! No longer is a low cloud inversion covering up the brilliance! In fact it is above 0C and warm enough to have my patio door open and so I am able to listen to all the birds at the various feeders an in the trees chirping away as if it was Spring already.

 I think the birdies might be a little geographically confused as this is the Interior of BC and not Victoria, BC and usually Winter is not over by a long shot... but maybe they are, like me, elated and thankful for the warmth of the sunshine and just singing out their happiness! Well, I needed some fresh greenery in the house and there's nothing quite like a few fresh herbs in your kitchen window (even if the window is a bit dirty) and a bouquet of fresh flowers, plus we were out of milk and cream....

 On the way to the store I made a detour to the V.V. Boutique (aka Value Village) and found a couple of items worth rescuing from the shelf: This silver 'candle flame extinguisher thingy', so now I won't have any more black finger tips from trying to squish out the smoldering wick... ;)

and this lovely silver tong-thing for picking up delectable baked goodies of a tray, I don't know what you'd call that, for a couple of $, nicer and cheaper than dollar store versions of the same things would be:

Last not least I found some stuff for a sewing project.... more on that later if and when I'll get around to that.
So I hope you all are enjoying your Saturday and I hope it's sunny where you are as well. :)

The Birthday Present!!!

Last Sundy, January 20th, was my birthday and it was the first time in three years that I was actually at home for this celebration. Cheryl (who lives with us) and I went next door, well technically 3 doors over, which is like next door to me, to my friend Nettie & my sister's  for a fabulous, ladies only, German Champagne breakfast. Ed was a good sport and stayed home. They kicked the guys (Nettie's husband Hans and their son Tim) out of the house :( and us ladies indulged for the morning in wonderful fresh buns, cheeses and meats, champagne, great coffee and some delicious Poppyseed Birthday cake that my sister had made. I love Poppyseed cake! It's made quite differently in Germany than here and everytime I go to visit my Dad I buy myself a piece at least every few days to get my fill :)
Here is a picture of this delectable morsel:

  It may not look all that yummy but it is, believe me, especially topped with some whipped cream.

Growing up in Germany I grew up drinking mineral or carbonated water all the time; it is just part of the culture and cheap. Over here, in Canada, it's quite a different story. At least lately, since drinking carbonated H2O has become increasingly popular, now you can buy cheaper versions and do not have to go for Appolinaris or Perrier at $2+ a bottle every time you want some. 
But for years and years I have wanted to have one of those water carbonators that so many have in their kitchens in Europe. I would have bought one and brought it over here years ago if it had only been possible to bring the CO2 cartridges on an airplane.... well guess what I got for my birthday?????

Yes!!! a "Bubble Wasser" maker, it's called "Soda Stream" here .... you can carbonate the water and if you like ad flavour after to make a soda but I just LOVE bubbly water maybe add a bit of Lemon juice.... cheap, no more running out of bubble water or having to recycle all these plastic bottles. My niece Julia and her husband came by later and brought me a pack of extra bottles so now I have 4 that will do!!!!! Hopefully these will become more and more popular so eventually I will be able to just exchange these cartridges at the grocery store like you can in many places in Europe. Thanks so much Cheryl, Netti and Carol, what a wonderful present!

Memories

I’m sure we all have experienced that music, certain smells or words you read or hear can instantly bring back memories. For example a while ago I was reading the back jacket of a book where the “Journey to the Center o the Earth” by Jules Verne was mentioned. In my head I instantly heard the music and then the lyrics from the beginning of Rick Wakemans album of the same title… “By horse, by rail, by land, by sea the journey starts….” I had not listened to this for a very looooong time but here it was, the whole orchestra and all.  
When I was 19 I lived in the suburbs of Paris in a place called Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, a nanny to 3 kids. One evening they were all sound asleep in their beds, the parents off to some function (Yoplait Executives) and I was listening, for the first time, to Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony of the New world…. Just as the second movement was starting the full moon was slowly rising through the leaf-less branches of the wintery trees in the backyard, illuminating the frosty ground outside, casting a silver glow over the entire yardscape. The Oboe escorting it’s rise, the flutes and violins guiding it above the trees….. I opened the Patio door, deeply breathing in the crisp Winter air caught up in a magical moment, forever imbedded in my memory and to this day every time I hear that piece of beautiful music this image comes back to me as if had just happened. I’ll be 56 tomorrow.

Cooking/Baking Therapy

We’ve all heard about “Shopping Therapy” but I really needed some “Cooking/Baking Therapy” tonight so after making some Moroccan Lamb Stew for dinner and having a little R&R on the couch enjoying the fire in the fireplace I wanted something sweet. My friend Linda recently showed me the Damyhealth site.THANK YOU! what an amazing amount of deeeelicious recipe ideas and healthy ones to boot. Not the kind that substitute Carob for Chocolate… YUCKKKK!!! No, really yummy treats and other recipes. Once you are able to navigate past all the pictures of ladies in Bikinis with before and after weight loss pictures… you can access these yummy recipes.

So I decided to make Blackbean Brownies…. Normally I take every recipe as a guideline but almost always adapt it a bit to my own liking. As this was the first try I thought I'd go by the recipe…..

Black Bean Brownie Ingredients:

1 Can Black Beans (540 mL)

1 Egg

1/4 Cup Eggwhites (or 3 Eggs in total)

1/3 Cup Pumpkin Puree (or unsweetened apple sauce)

1/2 Cup Natural Cocoa Powder

1/4 Tsp Sea Salt

2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 Cup Coconut  Sugar (or 1/4 Cup Agave, Honey or Maple Syrup)

2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 1/2 Tsp Instant Coffee

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips (more if you wish)

Peanut Butter Swirl Ingredients:

1/3 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Tbsp Agave (Maple Syrup, Stevia or Honey)

Pinch of Salt

Dash of Vanilla Extract

More detail @ http://www.damyhealth.com/2012/05/black-bean-brownies-with-peanut-butter-swirl/

Here all all the ingredients ready to go in the food processor…. I used Hazelnut butter for the swirl as I prefer that over Peanut butter:

 

 

ready to go into the oven:

 

A snap to make and they turned out looking good, I just could not resist to add a frosting as I had an almost empty Nutella jar in the cupboard that was begging to be used up, a good thing I used Hazelnut Butter :)

I put the whole thing outside to cool off swiftly (Winter temps outside are presently cooler than the fridge…)

Of course you need a glass of cold yummy milk to go with this:

 

I know my food photography skill is quite lacking. I wanted to do a food blog with pictures long ago but never did and now everyone's doing it.... one more reason not to do this for me.... but what the heck, who really cares if you do what 50,000 other people do already.... 

Overall I would call it a success though they lack a bit of Gooeyness. But yummy. Now I am debating whether to tell my hubby that they are sort of healthy or not….depends on how many I want to eat…. I guess that will be the deciding factor hehehe

 

Tolerance & Love

 

This is a bit of a ramble but had to get this off my chest...

More and more we are told these days, directly or indirectly, that we should tolerate everyone and just about everything. Are we called to be tolerant or to be lovers… first lovers of God and Truth and then lovers of our fellow men?

Tolerance is a big word today. I have heard that tolerance will not tolerate intolerance. To most to be intolerant means to be bigoted, narrow-minded and exclusive and no one wants to be thought of as belonging to that category. We all want to be known as people who tolerate others and their opinions and beliefs.

Say something that in even a slight way opposes a belief system or viewpoint of someone else and you are “intolerant”. People automatically seem to think that if you are intolerant you will be quick to condemn and to judge another person for their ‘choices’ in life and that such “intolerance” eventually will lead to abuse, hate and all that history has shown us in the light of fanatics who have at one time or another ruled the land and treated other human beings as inferior and not worthy to live.

What is truth and what is true love? I believe that there is an ultimate Truth (hence I guess I am labeled intolerant by all those out there with belief systems that proclaim to be true based on man-made facts or myths) but does that mean I do not care for or love people who do believe differently than me? Absolutely not!!! I have a diverse group of friends and some, to be honest, believe and practice things that I believe are very wrong and will ultimately lead to death and eternal destruction but that does not mean I cannot love these people, nor does it mean that they are not loved and cannot be forgiven by the Creator once under the Blood! On the contrary!!! If I care deeply for someone I will try to sound a warning if they are about to be run over by a train! I will speak Truth to them BECAUSE I care, even when running the risk of being thought of as intolerant and narrow minded. If I just tolerated them wanting to drive of a cliff…and not shout out a warning, would that be right and caring????

Every Human being is worthy of respect and love due to the fact that they are created in God’s image. I am not to judge but I can voice and believe what is true and agree to disagree with others. Shouldn’t those who preach tolerance be ‘tolerant’ of me, even if I do not agree with them???? and not agreeing does not mean that I don't "tolerate" them or their beliefs.....

The enemy has ALWAYS been a liar. He is the FATHER OF ALL LIES. Of course he does not necessarily tell a blatant lie, lest he be found out immediately, but he will always mix truth with a little dose of lies and thus try and deceive and make feel guilty all those who would stand up for truth.

We are to love those trapped in darkness and bring light into the darkness. How can we do that, if, for the sake of peace, we agree with a lie and falsehood? Religion is one of the biggest lies out there but when we turn our back on religion, lets make sure we turn our face towards the One who calls Himself The Way, The Truth and The Life and not into the wind of the world that wants to lull us into tolerating everyone and everything. We are not called to tolerance but to love and true love lays down one’s life for one’s friends.

True Love is patient and kind. It is not jealous, it does not brag. It does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and love endures all things, true love even loves one’s enemies!!!

2013 will be my year to learn how to blog...

Well a whole three posts in almost two years... obviously I am not a fast and furious blogger but that is about to change. My plan is to blog at least ONCE a week in 2013. Maybe I should start by trying once a month??? I'll be trying to convey my thoughts "out loud"... Like almost any female I can talk a lot if absolutely necessary and given the opportnity, but mostly I think a lot, about many things but really I don't talk about what's going on in my head very much. SO, I will try and change that and since so far nobody is reading/following these ramblings it might actually be fairly safe.

It's January, month of my birth, my favorite season for this time of the year ;) There is snow outside. I love the stillness that comes with the snow falling, reminding me of Christ's shed blood that washes me white as snow so God, who is all-knowing, actually forgets my sins, Selah! The sky has that blue that it only has in the winter, the air is crisp and when cold enough, freezes the inside of your nose when you take a deep breath and something in me is just filled with thankfulness that God created four seasons and that I am blessed to live in an area of the world where we actually experience four seasons and where I do have a warm place to retreat to when it is very cold outside.
My favorite colour is blue, all sorts of shades of it and Winter has so many different, amazing hues of blues!

This shot was taken not far from Regina, SK in December 2012

Here is another one of a beautiful prairie sunrise :)

These trees are dressed to impress :)

Frosty kitchen windows

I could go on and on but won't, aren't you glad ;)
Well enough of this for now... Castle is on soon and I don't know how to tape TV shows, and even if I did, my TV is too old for that anyways......more blogging to come soon, I promise!