Christmas Gift Yummies

Each year I like to have a little 'homemade' something on hand for guests and hostess gifts.

Mixed roasted sugar nuts were my choice for this year!  Don't they look yummy?

While baking these tasty little morsels of goodness, our home was filled with the aroma of warm cinnamon and brown sugar!  Soooo easy to make!  I picked up all the ingredients at our local bulk food store, including the cone bags. 

Add your mixture to the bags when cooled, tie with a festive ribbon and attach a label of your choice.  These labels and more can be found here, at one of my favourite sites http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

And because good things should not be kept secret, I'm sharing the recipe with all of you ...enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water
•  4 cups of mixed nuts
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add nuts to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

Cottage Visitors

This little cutie is known to our golden retriever as Mr. Chippy.  He and his friends keep our dog Gracie very busy running from tree to tree in hopes of catching one of them. Thankfully, they are too quick for her to catch but oh how they love to tease her with their playful nature.

This lovely couple have been hanging in our bay for a while now, they seem to like Gracie, wish we had pics of them swimming around her...you've got to see it to believe it.

we all need a little alone time. No worries, his little lady is not far away...

she would be crazy to leave a handsome fellow like this for too long. 

It's always an adventure out at the lake, maybe next weekend our family of otters will drop by or our old friend Mr. Turtle !   

Cozy Shabby Chic Handwarmers

Fall weather has long since set in and winter is on it's way!  I thought it fitting to make myself these little cozy hand warmers to celebrate the changing of seasons.  Of course I had to add a couple of old vintage buttons from my stash to add just the right amount of flair.
  

Warning: When wearing, happiness may occur!

My Cabin Journal

Garage sales were FANTASTIC this weekend ... I found so many treasure but this one was particularly special!!!

I've been searching for the perfect journal to record  special times shared with family and friends at our lake house.   You can imagine my SURPRISE when I spotted this beautifully crafted journal.  Could it be the very same journal I had picked up awhile back at a quaint little boutique about four hours from here?  I've been regretting putting that journal back ever since... kicking myself for not spending the $31.95. 

Well I wasn't going to let that happen again, I picked that journal up and held it close making my way to the previous owner and happily handing him my payment of .50 cents.   

Love the sweet little saying carefully placed on the front...

and this little note written on the inside cover!

                                    I couldn't be happier... I love it to pieces !!!

Yummy Custard Strawberry Tarts

I've invited my daughter Emma's friend, miss Darian for dinner tonight.  She's a sweet girl and forever making my Emma laugh... music to my ears :) I've made these especially yummy tarts for the occasion.  Hope she enjoys the tarts as much as we enjoy her company. xooxoxox   

1 pkg Tenderflake Tart Shells

2 egg yolks

¼ cup (50ml) sugar

3 tbsp corn starch

1 cup (250ml) whole milk

2 tsp (10ml) vanilla extract


Freshly sliced strawberries



Method:

12 Bake tart shells in oven for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

To make custard: In medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and corn starch until thick and pale; heat milk in saucepan until almost boiling; remove from heat. Slowly dribble hot milk into egg mixture, whisking continuously, until all of milk has been added. Return custard to pot and cook, over medium-low heat, until custard has thickened.

Spoon custard into baked  tart shells and smooth. Place sliced strawberries attractively over tart.  Serve with whipped cream.  YUMMMMMMMY    Refrigerate any leftovers.

You Asked For Pics...Here They Are!

After posting pictures of the outside of our saltbox cottage you asked to see the inside. It's not perfect but it's our little piece of heaven.

This is our bright and cheery kitchen. I recycled these cupboards from an old school house being torn down. After putting bead board on them, painting them yellow and redoing the counter tops they turned out to be more beautiful than I had dreamed. As you can see we still have so much to do...I'll post pics of the lofts and other rooms when they are complete. To be continued...

These were definitely a labour of love! It took me and entire summer scavenging through yard sales to find the perfect combination of plates to create not one but six of these stepping stones! Although they turned out beautifully, I will never attempt this project again. It wasn't as easy as I had thought! I'm glad I tried my hand at these though, I've always admired other crafters stepping stones.

I painted this sign for our cottage!

Wanted to try something a little different...

Coming back to the cottage!

I'ld forgotten~I do every spring~ how beautiful our coveside cottage is. I often wonder if I lived here year round would my eyes grow numb, my heart incensitive to all the beauties that surround us at our lakehouse?

It's the coming back each spring the renews the memories of last summer. When our red chevy turns onto Soapstone Point and I see the ripples on the water glistening like diamonds across the water, it's then that I realized I've been holding my breath and wondering will the magic be here again like summers past?

Coming back to the cottage is what I like to call a labour of love. It's love when you first turn into the gravel driveway and see the white squeaky screen door and the beautiful cedar trees surrounding our cottage. It's labour when you walk inside and realize the winter has dulled the wood surfaces and it's time to mob dust and clean windows. Not to mention strip all the beds and replace them with clean linens. Outside, the grass will need to be cut soon and the driftwood that has found it's way into our bay will find a new home piled up on the bank creating a buffer for the waters edge.

The joys always outweigh the labour and we will never grow tired of our little soapbox cottage on the lake!!!! Life's simple little pleasure... these are what I live for!

A Day At The Cottage With Gracie

Well if you haven't already figured it out Gracie is my golden retriever. Yesterday we went out the the cottage to do some spring cleaning and get ready for those lazy days at the cottage with family and friends. What a gorgeous day it was...nose is red shoulders are red but I'm not complaining I've been waiting all winter for this. Our winters here in Northwester Ontario are bloody cold -40 on some days so do you see why I cherish every day of summer?

A little something for the Cottage

Went garage saling with my girlfriend last weekend and found a sign that was pretty outdated... brought it home reinvented it! Wanted something a little festive and fun, I think this will be perfect for the cottage!