Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Sailing theme and Chicken with Spaghetti Aglio E Olio

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date! Here is my 'Sailing' ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"). Rain is on an indefinite break but I am completing her themes for the year.

 For the dinner date, I pan fried some chicken breasts and paired it with spaghetti Aglio E Olio.

Wednesday Memes

 

Sour Cherry Adventures

I have a sour cherry tree in my garden.  My friend S comes every year with her sister and picks some to make pies and so on.  This year S and one of my sisters pushed me to pick some and perhaps make a sour cherry liqueur, a pie or whatever.

Husband M picked this bowl of cherries and got a bottle of vodka so that we could try making a sour cherry liqueur.  My friend S' sister said we don't need a cherry pitter, a straw will do just fine.  And actually it is true.  We even found a metal straw and it works well too.

 

Here is my cherry liqueur recipe.  I doesn't require the cherries to be pitted, so I used the cup I had already pitted to make a cherry vinaigrette dressing.  I chose a liqueur recipe that uses less sugar.

Here is my cherry liqueur soaking in vodka and sugar.  I will turn these jars over every week for 4 weeks and it should be ready.

My friend S had given me some kale so I made a kale salad.  It went well with my sour cherry vinaigrette dressing.

Here is my sour cherry vinaigrette recipe.  I used 2 tbs honey instead as well as a cup of pitted halved sour cherries in place of the juice.

Having assembled my cherry liqueur jars, I had 2 cups of cherries leftover.  So I pitted them with my metal straw this time and decided to make a cherry compote:

Here is my cherry compote recipe:

It was a day well spent!  Now I might make some mini cheesecakes using a recipe my sister gave me.  This would go well with my cherry compote.

I suppose next year I may pick more cherries, after all these years!  

The First Tomato

 I plucked my first cherry tomato from the garden July 12 2025, I beat the squirrels!  I have been using Miracle Gro powder fertilizer.  The plants had started drooping so I was considering getting trellises.

In an update I did get some trellises from the dollar store and it was a good idea.  The plants are much happier.  I have had 3 more tomatoes from this plant since then. There are 2 san marzano plants doing well, a pear tomato plant and another cherry tomato plant.

I ran into an old friend from the gym, an older lady who lives on her own.  She told me she slipped on ice in her yard this February and broke her arm.  It took 4 months to heal.  Life can suck.

Sunday Smiles - Trichromat vs Dichromat

 Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Chinese Spinach

 A few weeks ago, I was weeding in the front yard and the grandma across the street came over and gave me this bag of Chinese spinach.  This is not the neighbours next door who also give me vegetables. Anyway, I think she likes my weeding work ethic!  She is Chinese and doesn't speak English.  I say grandma, I am also a grandma, albeit slightly younger.

Friday Art - Axolotl

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is an Axolotl ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  Here is how to pronounce this word.  It is an amphibian, a type of salamander.

My 7 year old grand niece taught me how to pronounce this Aztec word.  She knows it having seen it at a zoo or aquarium where my sister-in-law took her.  We were surprised that she remembered this.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - 'Plaid' Theme and Banana Yogurt Cake

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date. The theme is 'Plaid'.  Rain is on an indefinite break.

This is my 'Plaid' ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in watercolour pencil. 

 For the Dinner Date I made a Banana Yogurt cake. It was moist and delicious.

 

Wednesday Memes

 

In bloom

 I was walking through a pathway a few weeks ago and spotted this trumpet vine in bloom.

The next day I happened upon these lilies in bloom.    Don't you love summer?

Here is the trumpet vine a week later:

Handiwork

 

At the end of last month, daughter L asked me if I could widen the neckline on the baby onesie pictured above.  I can only hand sew using a basic back stitch or do some hemming as required as I never bothered learning how to use a sewing machine.  I found this video on YouTube showing how to fix a small neckline and decided to try this method.

As you can see in the 2nd photo I was able to widen the neckline.  It gave me a real sense of accomplishment.  It took under an hour from conception to finish.  The fun was in figuring out what to do.  I still have no desire to learn how to use a sewing machine, not being the most mechanical person.

Sunday Smiles - On the Cornea

 Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Hawkins Cheezies

 

I was in a conversation with some family members and the topic turned to cheezies.  It had been ages since I had these Hawkins cheezies which I loved as a child.  So I went and got a bag.  

And yes, to your comments they tasted just as good.  They are a bit harder and crunchier than Cheetos and I believe originate in Canada.

Friday Art - Bullfrog

 Welcome to Friday Art!  I did a Bullfrog for you today ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in acrylic and watercolour pencil.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Owls and Chocolate Yogurt Cake

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  The theme is 'Owls'. Rain is on an indefinite break.

Here is my Owl ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in watercolur pencil on cardstock.

For the Dinner Date, I made a chocolate yogurt cake.  It is moist and delicious.

Wednesday Memes

 

Changing Times

Brunch Tower for 2

 

Korean seafood soba bowl

Pancake Cheese Burger

Community Burger

We went to Next Door restaurant with some old friends a few weeks ago.  It was a lovely restaurant and here are our food photos.  The brunch tower is a favourite.  The cold soba noodle bowl had lots of seafood but to me it was just okay, perhaps some of the flavouring could be improved.  The good part is that son K ordered a pancake burger as we didn't realize it was literally a pancake burger.  He asked if they could substitute real buns and the waitress just brought him their real burger platter.  There was no extra charge for the substitution.

We were the oldest people in the restaurant aside from son K and one other table (changing times).  Our conversation: implants, crowns, root canals, cataract surgery and travel (oh well).   It was good to get together with old friends.

Summer salad days

 Husband M and I went to a friend's cottage up north in late June for a summer gathering.  There was a blistering heat wave at the time but the lake breezes helped somewhat.  

Salmon salad

Ice Cream with Strawberry rhubarb compote

Our host pan fried some salmon and laid out basmati rice along with various salad toppings so we could all make our own dinner salads.  I had chosen our host's homemade dressing as a topping.  It was so delicious I went back for seconds. It is a great idea to do salads like these in the hot summer.

 The dessert was Kawartha Dairy ice cream topped with shortbread homemade by another guest and strawberry rhubarb compote made by our host.