Chili for a cold day.......

Today Chili just seemed right. It was raining all day and freezing. Turned later to very wet snow. Chili is one of my comfort foods.
I suppose we all have our own way of making it. I like a few different beans in mine and will use anything from black beans, baked beans, red beans, chili beans, white northern beans........whatever I have in the cupboard.
Today I chose a selection of things I had on hand.


I start with meat, I use ground beef. Never use hamburgher its all fat. Use the good stuff and use less to keep the price down. Why pour half of it down the sink in fat just to pay less.?
When that is cooked I drain it if I need to but usually don't have to. I first add a can of diced tomatoes and a can of diced tomatoe with chili peppers.

I then add the beans, undrained. I like baked beans to offset the spices, you need a little sweetness when using Cumin. Add however many you want to add. In this batch I used white beans, and only used 1/2 the bottle. I large can of chilli beans (because I had them) Red beans and a small can of baked beans.
The spices I like are chili, cumin, dried red peppers and sea salt, to this batch I added onion and garlic salt. This is how it looks so far

After its cooked for awhile I add the chopped onions so that they stay crunchy



I also added red pepper flakes



You can see I just threw a palm full in this time as my granddaughter does not like it too hot. The nice thing with this chili is you can eat it right away or cook it all day to better blend the flavours. I might add that I do not measure anything. I go by taste alone.
The end result is a chili that you can add more to make it hot or leave it mild for the family. It depends on the spices you usee. Keep stirring it and cook all day if you want to do it in a slow cooker. Tomorrow it will be even better than today.


Top with grated cheese or more chopped onions .......or crackers.

Lets do something silly............

I love glitter and Fantasy, fairies and all of that. So Let me see what I can find for Pink Saturday.




Sugar and spice and everything nice......that's what little girls are made of.
Not all girls like pink and glitter, not all girls like frills and ballet. I dont think I always did. Not until the computer age when the images that we can now find were available. So I enjoy finding those images and this is somewhere to share them.

Little girls love pink and look so sweet in it




Fairy child




Big girls look good in pink and its flatters most people
I like the very pale pinks





The make up in shades of pink is also flattering







Put it all together and some sweet dresses. I am not a frilly person but some of these things I have found are so pretty.



Some are just romantic


Not casual really but she looks good on the beach

(I can not give credit for the pictures because they came off the web and I have no clue who the artists are. If they are your pictures email me and I can give credit or remove. No copyright infringement intended)


Well I hope you have enjoyed my pink post. I will be sharing it with Pink Saturday, How Sweet the sound

Cooking with kids..............

Well not exactly. I decided to make some home made breakfast bars. Tristen enjoys them and I am not so happy with the ones bought at the store. I wanted something that was healthy, sweet and easy to make. I got a basic recipe and changed it for us. This batch tasted really good, I was not too fussy about how they looked but next time I will do better. I had some butterscotch chips that I did not use at Christmas. I don't like them (was going to make fudge) but I knew Tristen would.



Well he was bugging me and bugging me to try one. He got to "lick the bowl" he has cottoned on to that treat already.......he is my official "potlicker" Gerry says that used to be a bad thing to say......what do I know, I am English. So when I called out that I needed my potlicker he came running.




Next time I will drizzle on the topping instead of trying to spread it. It does not spread easily.
The recipe.............No bake.
4 cups of Instant Oatmeal (Quaker instant oatmeal)
2 cups of rice crispy cereal
1 stick of butter (not margarine)
1/2 cup of honey
2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
crushed walnuts (if you like nuts)
(you could as sultanas (golden raisins})if you want to add fruit, I will next time.
I bag of mini choc chips (or butterscotch). Add some to the mix and reserve some for the topping


Mix the oats and crispies in a large bowl. Add the nuts, fruit and chocolate chips.

In a small sause pan on low heat.....melt the butter, honey and sugar. Bring to boil and cook 2 mins stiring constantly. Low flame.
Pour over the cereals and mix well.
On a large cookie sheet lined with wax paper pour the contents out and flatten. It will cover the whole sheet. Press down so that its compacted. Drizzle melted chocolate (or butterscotch) over and cool at room temperature. Run a knife through to score into the size you want. Pop in the fridge to set about 10 mins. Cut and put into a container. I am keeping mine in the fridge so they dont get sticky.


Then I made some chocolate treats.......probably not for breakfast



Could not be more easy. You need ........
One large bag of chocolate chips.
10 cups of rice crispies.


Melt the chocolate well in the microwave. Pour the melted chocolate over the crispies and mix well.....
You will need a cookie tray lined with wax paper. Pour the chocolate mix onto that.
Spread that out and put into the fridge to set. Cut into squares.

My pictures are of some I put aside to test so are loose not squares.



Well here is my little helper getting cleaned up by her best buddy.



Bodi enjoys her job........


Linking up with Hope in every Season

linking with thanks to Mop it up Monday

Also linking up with Inspire me Monday create with Joy

Men in Kilts.............

Why am I doing a post on men in kilts? Because I can (smile).......I have found some awesome pictures on a Facebook page that have to be public domain so I do not feel I am infringing on them in that way, but sure thank them for the collection.
Some of my favourite actors are of Scottish, Irish or Welsh ancestry. Here a some yummy selections..........not all will be in kilts but you will get the theme......
King Arthur ....AKA Clive Owen

Rob Roy ....AKA....Liam Neeson

I guess I like them dark and brooding.

how about Gerard Butler

This guy has great teeth



Lets take a walk


I have nothing to say................

A nice leather kilt, looks nice on the right person.


I hope in my own small way, I have proven that men in skirts look very healthy and well, masculine. What more could one ask for.??????

old pictures............

This is a picture I did a long time ago. An English Robin. Its done on a regular piece of paper with a box of kids water colour paints.




OK so I have no idea what the heck I was doing here. This in my art journal


This one I did in a class, I didn't like the one the instructor did. He painted in a black background. I prefered my own and I actually like this one. I don't usually like things that I do



This is a picture I did of Betsy Lighthouse. A local lighthouse. While I can see a lot I did wrong, I also can say that I like the overall effect. I could probably do it better if I did it again. I may do that someday.



Something a bit different.......this is a mini quilt that I did. Its got tiny buttons of each joint.....it was fun to do.



This I made for my youngest granddaughter Reina. I had not done sewing for awhile and this was fun to do.




...and a bear to go with it. I may have shown this before when I first started the blog but its so cute I had to show it again





All for now

Another page.............

Another page in my art journal.......I have not really done a lot yet. I have been working on small projects that needed to get done. I have also been reading, something I don't get to do very often. I have set a goal of one book a month so I need to get this one finished.
Anyway.........this is another page that I did get done



I also had another go at a fairy........I have been trying to do some different things to my normal watercolour. I found the product on someone's blog and sent for some to try out. They are called NEOCOLOUR



and are crayons that can then be gone over with a wet/damp brush, that makes them work simular to watercolours. I have not done anything ambitious yet, I am just learning how they work. If you would like to see some work by someone who knows how to use them, please visit this blog. Dion Dior




Meanwhile, my own efforts are much less ambitious but I am enjoying doing the work. I may try something a bit more tricky next. Meanwhile at least this one has a verse with it.



Thats it for today........I find I have no imagination. Some days just come up blank. Other days things just come to me and I can get it down on paper or maybe its a poem. In any case I have learned I cant force it. It's only for fun so........ho hum.

I am sharing this with create with joy, inspire me Monday

Knickerbocker Glory........

When I was a little girl mum would take me shopping with her. One of the ladies stores she happened to like had a tea room. The tea room had a garden with nice tables and chairs in a pleasant setting. I would get a Knickerbocker Glory every time.
So what is it? There seems to be no real recipe but there are certain things that just have to be in it. That is fruit, syrup, ice cream and wafers. Best of all chocolate.
From what I remember this is what I would use to make one. The glass is everything. It has to be one of those old fashioned stemmed glasses. Cut up fruit like rasberries and strawberries, grapes and peaches cut up small (or mixed fruit canned) cover with a fruit syrup. Top that with a couple of small scoops of vanilla ice cream. More syrup just drizzled on and more fruit. A scoop of strawberry ice cream. Top with shaved chocolate or better yet a cadbury milk flake. A few nuts like almonds or walnuts crushed. Stick a fan shape wafer in the side. Top with real cream either from a spray or real cream top with a cherry.


I have seen them made with vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. I suppose much like the banana split it is something that tastes good no matter the combination. This has a different taste due to the fresh fruit and cream and syrups.


This delight we got in tea rooms where I am sure here in America it was known, maybe by another name in the ice cream parlours of the 1950s............for me it was a childhood treat and the smell was divine. It was a part of tea in the garden, fairy lights and summer afternoons.


Enjoy on a sunny afternoon in the garden
I am linking with I should be mopping the floor....Mop it up Monday
I am also linking up with Make the Scene Monday

Linking with The Life of Jennifer Dawn at A Little bird told me.

Oatmeal?......

Whats your kind of oatmeal?
I just tried Steel cut oats. Not that keen............


I got these at the Amish store. I thought they might be healthy. Well I know they are healthy but do I like them? I love porrige. I love oatmeal. I don't like cooking it so usually get instant. Well I thought I would get some of the real stuff. So here's todays breakfast. Tristen liked it.
Cover the oats with enough water to soak in as it boils down.



Cook it down until it thickens and when the spoon is used to mix it, the oats do not feel hard





It will thicken and should be mushy, well it was not mushy enough for me. I dont like sugar so I used honey. When I get the Scottish oatmeal I will use the natural (raw)sugar I bought awhile back for topping cakes.



It looked good.......just pour on the milk and honey and give it a taste. Not bad but just not for me.



Well it was an experiment but I think I will buy some Scott's porridge oats tomorrow.
Or Irish oatmeal.