New Year, New Order

Hey everyone!  Happy New Year! 

Sorry I was incommunicado the past couple of weeks - my son was home from University and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

And now it is the end of the first week of January and I am desperately trying to catch up with everything!

I don't know about you, but every time I take down the Christmas tree and decorations - and you know how many I have - I feel an overwhelming desire to purge and bring order to my universe after the chaos and gluttony of the holiday season.

And as is my wont, that typically includes everything in my life - clothing, body, space.

I am about to turn 53, I am about to have my first book published, I am doing things in my life that make me happy and am surrounding myself with people in my life that are of a like mind and all is good, except...

I need to get back into shape. That isn't just weight loss, it's getting stronger. To help me on that journey, Barry bought me a fitbit for Christmas - I love it!

I am back doing my yoga regularly, lifting weight again, meditating daily and walking, walking, walking. I am not snacking. I have already lost 3 pounds and I feel great!

I have also, on top of everything else I've been reading, feng shuing the whole house.  Do any of you use feng shui techniques to help the energy in your space?

Last fall I took an online course from Kate Northrup about Feng Shui and loved it. Her course focuses mostly on the wealth and prosperity sections of the bagua map, but I wanted the whole meal deal, so followed up and read a great book by Terah Kathryn Collins that Kate recommends and since then have been going room by room to make the changes.

I need to keep that good energy flowing in our house! I am nowhere near done, but each room I do gives me a real sense of peace. While I liked the konmari method, it was a bit too Spartan for my tastes. Feng Shui help you focus energy to feel content and prosperous in all areas of your life. Everyone's approach will be slightly different and there's nothing wrong with that.

In particular, I wanted to focus on the health and family and career areas and have been making my own little shrines and removing things that have bad energy.

More than ever, I feel that the transition I have been undergoing these last few years is finally slowing down and I am where and with whom I ought to be. It is a lovely feeling and one I want to cultivate!  I will let you know if the Feng Shui helps!

And  am vowing to buy nothing superfluous clothing-wise this year. I really have too many clothes as it is, and I am getting off the hamster wheel of shopping in 2016, less about my pocket book and more about being more frugal and leaving a smaller footprint on the planet. I will keep you posted on that!

Finally, today is David Bowie's birthday AND the release date of his newest album!  We love David in this house. In fact, we danced to his wonderful song, Wild is the Wind at our wedding many years ago.

So maybe that's where I'll end. Who knows where the winds of life will take us this year? I can't wait to see!



Have a great week!

xoxo wendy





 

A visit to a Port City and a wee bit of Bowie

Last Friday, the whole famn damily, including the girl friend, decided that we needed a back to school shopping trip/lunch out. 

Since food was on our mind first and foremost, Saint John became the destination of choice.

Saint John is only 50 minutes away from our little city by car and it has great sentimental value to me.  My mother was born there, my grandparents lived there, and I can remember many happy trips there to see them. 

Saint John is the first incorporated city in Canada.  It is remarkably like Portland, Maine or Boston, Massachusetts, albeit on a smaller scale.  It is sometimes confused with St, John's Newfoundland, which is also a lovely city, but trust me - they are VERY different!

Located on the Bay of Fundy, Saint John is often plagued with fog, but when the fog lifts - watch out - it is lovely!

Things you might want to check out if you go:

Irving Nature Park - trails located right on the bay, this is a great place to watch the seals or the ferocious tide.

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The Saint John City Market

Those of you who have visited Faneuil Hall in Boston will feel right at home...

Barbours General Store is a sentimental favourite of mine...

Located in the heart of Saint John, right down at the waterfront, this 18th century store was moved down river by barge to its current home.  And the person who oversaw the restoration and the contents was my own Grandmother, Huia Ryder (she was a kiwi, Jody and Ruth!), who was an antiques expert and an author in her own right.

Here she is in a picture for one of the first postcards for the store:

She is being served at the counter and my grandfather, Kenny, is playing checkers and wearing the vest!

Another great spot is the New Brunswick Museum.

The picture below is the original site on Douglas Avenue (where my grandmother actually worked), but years ago, the museum moved down to Market Square on the waterfront and in adjacent to the Delta.

It is a good place to visit for a couple of hours and there are always interesting exhibits.

But I must tell you, now that my grandmother is no longer alive, one of the reasons we go to Saint John is the food.  There is a vibrant foodie community there and one of our favourite spots to eat is an Indian/Thai food restaurant there called Thandi's.

Located in an old building in the heart of downtown, the restaurant has a funky vibe:



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hmmm - butter chicken...

son and girlfriend amazed that Barry still has room...

We love this place and I would eat here every night if I could!

After we are done eating, we like to do a little shopping...

For the women, this means a trip the loveliest shoe shop in New Brunswick - The Urban Shoe Myth!



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Boasting both a beautiful locale and a lovely selection, this is just the greatest shoe shop, run by women who LOVE shoes....

They will even host private shoe shopping parties!! How awesome is that????

We did buy a couple of things:


Girlfriend and Daughter both picked up the Steve Madden Troopa boots, which I can tell you are gorgeous in person:

 and I bought a pair of Steve Madden studded loafers, which were on sale for very cheap!

After that we popped in next door to the great little boutique Silver Daisy.  The girls oohed and aah-ed over everything and dropped a little money.  The store also has a lovely blog.

After that we had spent all our money and headed home, Starbucks in hands, Barry at the wheel, everyone feeling quite full and content...

It is definitely worth a visit and a lot of large cruise ships now stop in Saint John!

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As promised, I did wear my David Bowie tshirt today, which I purchased at HMV for $15 about a month ago.  I love Bowie - such an icon.  His song, Wild is the Wind, was the first waltz at our wedding.  I have only seen him in concert once, but he was amazing.  So when I saw this t-shirt, well, I knew I had to have it!

Me and David Bowie in the bathroom.  Where is the blow?  I mean, that is probably how he spent the Thin White Duke Years, right?  Too cool... sigh...

Hope you have a great day and stay safe out there!
 

Mixing Things Up in Meal Planning, The Masters and David Bowie

Well we are officially at the Ides of April. 

Yesterday was quiet, though I did watch the last two hours of The Masters and got to see Adam Scott win in a nail biter!  Congrats to Australia!  I thought of you, Ruth!

Oh, and Game of Thrones had a shocking ending, so had to stay up late reading to get over the adrenalin rush!

This is a busy week for me - I have my final meeting to sort out my retirement details, am off to Moncton to attend an evening event featuring Deepak Chopra and Thursday evening, Barry and I have tickets to see a Classics Album Performance of the Ziggy Stardust Album.  Bowie has always been one of our favourite and we have seen him in concert before, and apparently these Classic Albums events are quite fun and the musicians do the album note for note (I have never gone to one of these, but Barry has seen a Pink Floyd one and a Supertramp one).  I will let you know what I think of all of these things. 

I have not yet heard all of David Bowie's new album, The Next Day, but it is getting a lot of buzz, much of it good, and so I have decided to download it this week and have a listen, since in advance of this Thursday's event, I have been listening to Ziggy Stardust, which would be one of my favourite albums.

Oh, and tomorrow I am taking son to order his tuxedo for Prom.  This is fraught with peril.  His idea is to get a silver suit with a black shirt.  His girlfriend is wearing a pale pink chiffon gown with roses appliqued on the back around a pale pink tulle faux back.  She does not want him to wear a silver suit and black shirt.  Given his penchant for being a diva himself and since i am paying, I am helping them get it ordered and since she is planning on a Downton Abbey kind of look with this dress, I am hoping to find something in that vein that lets him be a peacock but not overwhelm her.  Sigh..

But I digress on all of these things.  Today's topic is supposed be about mixing up my supper/dinner menus (what you call it is dependent upon where you come from!).  I was in the winter cooking rut.  We seemed to be eating the same things over and over again.  I am also challenged because son is vegan, Daughter and Husband would eat meat and potatoes at every single meal if that was at all possible (it is not) and I am eating less and less meat, but have food allergies that limit some of the things I can eat (fish, nuts, peas/beans - the latter are in the legume family and while I am technically not allergic to them as I will not get hives or an anaphylactic shock, they give me terrible pain and are just not worth it) - in other words, we are pains!

So the last two weeks, in order to get out of this rut, I have sat down with my cookbooks on Thursday night and done up the menu for the entire next week.  This is proving to be not only helpful in ensuring that I am cooking some new and different recipes, but it is also significantly reducing our grocery bill as we are only buying what we need now, not what we think we might need to cook with!

Last night was particularly good: two recipes by Ina Garten - Lemon Chicken Breasts (and Tofu!)  and a Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad, paired with grilled flatbread.

The chicken was some  of the juiciest I have ever eaten and the salad was excellent so wanted to share these recipes:

Lemon Chicken Breasts

2010, Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?, All Rights Reserved

Prep Time: 15 min

Inactive Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 35 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 1 lemon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad

2010, Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?, All Rights Reserved

Prep Time: 15 min

Inactive Prep Time: --

Cook Time: --

Level: Easy

Serves: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 10 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 1 pound ripe tomatoes, seeded, cored, and 1/2-inch-diced
• 1 hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and 1/2-inch-diced
• 1 can or jar (12 to 16 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/3 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 8 ounces good feta cheese, 1/2-inch-diced
• Toasted pita bread, for serving

Directions

Place the scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, parsley, mint, and basil in a large salad bowl and toss to combine.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the dressing over the salad, tossing gently to coat all the vegetables. Add the feta, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss gently. Serve the salad with the toasted pita bread.

I left out the chickpeas for mine and those who wanted feta added it at the end so that it stayed within the vegan category!

How about you?  Do you find you get into terrible ruts with your cooking? Please share and inspire me! I am so looking forward to local berries and veggies!

Have a wonderful day and stay safe out there!