My blog's sixth month anniversary

How French-Canadians celebrated Christmas back in the day

In Québec, Canada where I am originally from we celebrate Christmas on December, 24th. Traditionally it's a religious and social occasion and it's a perfect time for large family to get together and celebrate. People would start preparing foods and presents weeks in advance. Back then, when the only transportation was horses, they would pack their sleigh with bunch of children from the whole neighborhood and whoever else wants to hop in the sleigh for a ride are welcomed, too - more the merrier! It was like a pilgrimage - they would ride through the whole rural area and the village to finally arrive to church by 11pm-12am for the mass (All the people would be dressed in their best garments including fur coats. Back in those days most people were poor, so this celebration was a very big deal for them). After they arrive they greet each other and by midnight the mass starts. It will not end before 1:30am.

After the mass everybody goes to different houses to have a huge celebration, which is called the "réveillon". It usually went on all night, so the actual Christmas Day was spent sleeping. Christmas marked the beginning of "le Temps de Fêtes", a holiday period of visiting and celebrating that ended on January 6 with "la Fête des Rois" (Epiphany). In large French-Canadian families, as many as 60 to 70 people might sit down to enjoy the food at the "le réveillon". Traditional foods would include "tourtière" (meat pie of pork and beef), "cipâte" (game meat and vegetable casserole), roast goose, and desserts such as "bûche de Noël" (traditional dessert served near Christmas) or "tarte au sucre" (sugar pie). I must mention here that it all goes with lots and lots of different kind of alcohol to make the celebration more exciting!

As one person would know how to play violin, the other - to sing, and the rest - to dance, you can imagine that it was a blast of fun and laughter.

Have nothing to wear 2! Here's some sample

As I promised on my previous post, here are the pictures of my outfit for the coming week.

Have nothing to wear!? Here's the solution

Every morning after I wake up I never know what to wear. I have had this problem since I can remember myself. So, few days ago I had my last drop of patience gone and I decided to change this situation.
My goal was to wake up and have 5 outfits ready for me to wear at any time of the week. And this is for all kinds of activities – whether it’s a gym or a business meeting.
First thing I did was I went through the whole wardrobe. I started from my pants - I took them all out from my closet and tried them on to make sure they are right size, right length, have no stains, fit with my shoes perfectly and don’t need any repair. Those that didn’t fit the criteria went to another pile to take care of later (give away to charity, repair, or clean).
After my pants, I did the same with my T-shirts and shirts, blouses, skirts, etc. While doing all this I tried all the things on and organized them by color and by season. By season I mean winter and summer. As it is winter now - I put away summer clothes.
After all this is done, now it’s time to put our outfits for the week together. I would advise you to get your agenda out and see if you have any important meetings to attend, casual days, special events, etc. Most of us have the following agenda: regular business days, special events, cocktail parties, casual days, sports, romantic dinners, nights out, important business meetings, weddings, etc. Now, take some time and think of what occasions you have the most in your life and then adjust your wardrobe accordingly. Have fun doing so and don’t forget to identify pieces you are missing, therefore you can do shopping smartly in future. And while you are doing all this I will prepare some pictures of my selection for the coming week and post them in my next post under organizing category.

By the way, even Carrie Bradshaw in "Sex and the City" had a great time doing it! Why can't you?

My Thoughts on 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011

As these 45 most powerful images of 2011 came out they really made a great impact on me. These images once more reminded me of how quickly one's life can change. We take everything that we own for granted, even when we are trying to be as conscious as we possible can. I can relate to that because this year when I had my ski accident in a matter of second I had to face that I might not be walking again. And even then I realized that it could be much worse, especially when I compare my situation to the images below. So the lesson that I'm learning when seeing these pictures is appreciate and give thanks for what you have and how your life is now, because it can be taken away from you at any moment and there's nothing that you can do about it.

These are the images that influenced me the most. You can see more of them here.

My Christmas Decorations

I finally finished decorating my house! Ta-daaah:

 

Christmas is coming! Ho-Ho-Ho!

It's first of December and finally my porch Christmas decoration is done! And what about you? Did you decorate yours already?

I will take the torch and with it I will...

This is a video that was produced by the Turnbull School where my daughter studies. When I saw it I was so proud of these kids and their awareness and motivation to make this world a better place for everyone.
I want to add my part and say that i will take a torch and with it I will take responsibilities for my own actions no matter what. Keep it going - what will you do when the torch is in your hand?

'Exotic Tropical Fruits' category has grown to a new blog

One of my greatest passions is Exotic Tropical Fruits. I've been talking about it for quite awhile here and it has proven to be one of the most popular topics on my blog. Therefore I've decided to move to another stage of blogging and create another blog that is entirely devoted to fruits. I called it FruitsKings and there I will be talking about everything and anything related to fruits. You are welcome to visit it and give me your suggestions and comments!
See you there!

Five-month anniversary

It's five month now and this blog thing, even though working well, sometimes really gets to me... aaand I feel like this (see below)

Another exotic tropical fruit - Tangerine

Tangerines are my choice to put in a lunch box. I peel them and put them in a plastic container. It's quick and easy snack when you are hungry.
It tastes like an orange, but sweeter. One thing that I like about it is that it's segmented and small compared to other citrus fruits. It's a bite size.

They are easier to peel compared to other citrus fruits and are sometimes called “easy peelers". Tangerines are full of vitamin C and fiber and one tangerine has half the vitamin C you need for the whole day.

Remembrance Day

I would like to join all the people this day in remembrance of those who lost they lives to protect their country, no matter which side it was...

Another exotic tropical fruit - Dates

The reason why I am talking about dates today is the fact is that Christmas is approaching and date squares is my favorite treats to bake. I also like to eat dry dates just as they are. Be cautious not to overeat them though because they are very high in sugar. That means adding extra pounds!

Here's a nice dates squares recipe: 

And that's how they grow on a tree! Most people dot even know that they grow on a palm.

In anticipation to get back to skiing

Here I am at Physiotherapy. I am happy now that I am getting trained to go back to skiing. Who would believe that 7 months later after sitting on my couch with a bloodclot, two torn ligaments, damaged femur, sprained shoulder and not even being able to walk I would be training to go back to skiing!?

I am so thankful for the people who created this skiing device!

After all the exercising physiotherapists tight me down to the bed post to keep my leg bend to the max to stretch my scaring tissue. This is where my problem is right now - my ACL ligament has healed by itself and scaring tissue is really tight, so I need to stretch it to fix it.

Another exotic tropical fruit - Tamarind

 One of the most fascinating things about this fruit is its taste. It tastes very  sweet and sour and that's why it's used a lot in sweet and sour dishes, especially by the Chinese people.
The best way to enjoy the fruit is to make the fresh juice out of it, which is not easy to do, but worth it.
For myself, I buy it already made by Goya. They make really good drinks. The juice is not expensive, easy to find in any grocery store and it's a practical way to try a new fruit anyway.
In the tropics you can find this drink on the beaches a lot. Many sun worshipers appreciate the cool-crisp refreshing taste.  

Tamarind tree is humongous, but can vary in size depending on location and its age.

Home Organization: Meal Planning (Hamburger Patties)

Another thing you can cook to organize your meals better is hamburger patties. And that's what I did this weekend: I chopped finely onions and put them in a bowl, in another bowl I put 1 egg, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce (had to google the spelling of this one, fuf), few drops of Tabasco sauce, and mixed it all together. After, I took ground beef and added chopped onions and the mixture of sauces and spices to it mixing it all well together.

I made few small patties out of it and cooked it well.

To store it, I took a glass container and put patties in it separating them with a wax paper so it's easier to take them out after.