Friday Musing

Around Here on Easter Sunday

Somebody asked me how do we celebrate Easter without kids in the house? If I want to be defensive I can simply say "when did Easter becomes a children-exclusive-celebration?". But the fact that in the Western world Easter Sunday is synonimous  to egg hunt and endless chocolates {all fun stuff for kids}, I know the person meant well. Believe me, a child-free household like ours is as busy as yours {with kids} on this very special day. However, ours is more centred on celebrating the core of our Catholic faith - that the Lord is risen and we are saved!

Around here on this blessed Easter Sunday : celebrating Easter Mass is on top of the list. no compromise there. The house is also adorned with spring flowers {Ii have tulips this year}. And  oh, food {lots of them!}and wine are always part of the celebration. There are times that we celebrate with some friends' family doing the traditional egg hunting but most of the time we celebrate at home - just the two of us singing "Jesus Christ is Risen today .... A-a-a-alleluia!"

Child-free we may be, but .....

WE ARE STILL THE CHILDREN OF EASTER AND OUR SONG IS ALLELUIAH!

Project Life | Weeks Eleven and Twelve

Week Eleven

I love colors on my layouts. For this week's spread, I experimented on working with just a couple colors. I guess I like it too ....colors or not its the memories that count ©©©

Week Twelve

I got a bit crafty this week  so I took out some of my spring-themed wood stamps and embellished my otherwise plain journal card. I am also fond of using beautiful restaurant business cards as embellishments.This one (on the left)  from El Catrin is one of my favorites.

Easter Sunday

A Reflection

Lavender and Honey Panna Cotta

Hubby and I were exhausted this weekend after conducting due diligence on a small property we are interested in. By late Sunday afternoon, I was ready to put my feet up and just enjoy a nice cup of herbal tea. I took some lavender flowers from my stash {I harvested these flowers last fall from the garden and dried them in a dark room}, crushed it a bit to release the soothing scent , placed it on a tea cup and poured hot water for an instant lavender herbal tea. Ahhh, pure bliss!

Then I remembered I have a jar of delicious wildflower honey I bought from Jon, a local bee farmer here in our neighborhood. So, instead of just having lavender tea, why not a panna cotta with wildflower honey and lavender flowers.

The cooking only took 10 minutes but I have to wait for the panna cotta to set for a least 2-4 hours in the fridge before I can truly enjoy the fruit of my labour. While waiting, we attended the  Palm Sunday service at church and as soon as we get home .... voila! Honey and lavender at its best!

Honey and Lavender Panna Cotta

 Adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin (I used Knox}
2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup cream (or half and half)
1/4 cup wildflower honey
1 teaspoon dried lavender
1 cup milk

Procedure:
In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 tablespoons of water and let soften for at least 5 minutes. Lightly oil 4 5-ounce ramekins with baking spray or flavorless oil. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan heat the cream, honey, and dried lavender to a light simmer then turn off the heat. Whisk to incorporate all the honey evenly, then strain into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the gelatin. Whisk for at least a minute to make sure it is very evenly distributed and that no lumps remain. Whisk in the milk.
Pour into the ramekins, and put in the fridge to set. The panna cotta will need at least 2 hours to set; we prefer to wait at least 4, especially if the puddings will be unmolded.
To unmold lightly run a knife around the edge of the chilled pudding and invert onto a chilled plate.

Bites and Nibbles @ Owl of Minerva

A lot of things have been said about this hole in wall Korean restaurant. My favorite list of affordable but delicious food will not be complete without a blog post dedicated to owl of Minerva. My fingers and toes are not enough to count the number of times we've been here and every time feels like the first!

No matter what the season is, you will be served with a steaming Korean rice tea that goes well with any meal. More often than not, you will see KamJa Tang (pork bone soup) in every table (including ours, since this is the reason why my hubby loves this place). Big bones are boiled for several hours in a special hearty soup with potatoes, cabbage,onions, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, red chilli pepper and soy bean paste until the meat is falling from the bones.  KamJa Tang comes with boiled white rice and a variety of kimchi.

Their Bibimbap is served in hot dolsot (stone pot) is also a favorite - you have a choice of just plain veggies or with ground meat. Service is always fast and friendly!

Come hungry as the food truly satisfies. However, prepare to wait specially in the winter - the place is always busy with KamJa Tang seekers!

Chasing Sunset in Port Perry

No words can match the beauty of sunset. A gift freely given to those who open their hearts to God's great creations!

Shared with Rurality Blog Hop

Project Life | Weeks Eight to Ten

Here are the pages of my Project Life weeks 8 to 10!

Week 8 : Left Side

Week 8 : Right Side

Some tips for page inserts and journals:

1. Cut print ads  of special events to embellish your page

2. Write messages even on the most usual "canvass" {like what I did on the flour when I was making pancakes} 

3. Keep those gift cards .... a lot of them have great designs and messages you can use as inserts.

Week 9

Week 9 : Left Side

Week 9 : Right Side

Week 10

Week 10 : Left Side

Week 10 : Right Side

To embellish some inserts, I used washi tape as banners and also kept this square coaster from a recent visit at Kelseys Bar and Grill. There's a lot of free things you can get in so many places that can be used to enhance this project. I am loving this!

Bites and Nibbles @ El Catrin Destileria

I had an assignment in downtown Toronto a couple Saturdays ago. Since we live in the suburb {bordering some farm lands, we always take advantage of the trip downtown by mixing work with pleasure. Hubby picked me up after work and had a late lunch date in El Catrin at the Distillery District.

The design of this Mexican restaurant is awesome - from the murals on the wall {created by Mexican artists} to the design of the bar! 

For late lunch, we sampled the Ensalada Destileria (papaya, mango, cilantro, pecans and grilled shrimps with tajin sour vinaigrette} Torta el Santo {braised beef short rib with queso and guacamole on Mexican bun}and Tacos el Pastor {shaved pork with pineapple and cilantro}. The papaya salad was delicious and refreshing. The rest was just OK.

For the price of the food, I expected a complimentary serving of fresh tortilla chips with salsa or guacamole like other authentic Mexican restaurants we have been. But there was none. For another 10 dollars you can have the Guacamole En La Mesa {they will make it on your table!} with chips.

By and large, it was a nice dinning experience. And oh, the drinks were great. Cheers!

El Catrin Destileria
Distillery District
18 Tank House Lane
Toronto, ON