Friday, December 31, 2010

Another Year Over...

Christmas has come and gone and I can't believe it's New Year's Eve already. As I look back on 2010 all I can think of is how incredibly lucky I am. We are all healthy and happy, all five of us. I had wonderful opportunities this year to showcase my blog and photography, and for a stay at home mom who hasn't worked outside the home for about 10 years, it gave a real boost to my self esteem. I hope to keep the ball rolling in 2011, work on my photography and find new ideas to upgrade and renew this little webspace of mine.


For now I want to share with you another recipe from Kraft's Recipe for Joy program. These Pecan Bars are an absolute perfect choice to end the year on a sweet note. Gooey caramel and crunchy pecans baked on a sweet cream cheese dough. Wonderful by itself or put it over the top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or even whipped cream! And don't forget, you still have a few hours to send some last minute holiday wishes with some free e-cards. Let's all help
Kraft reach their goal of a $50,000 donation to Food Banks Canada.

Happy New Year everyone!!! Have fun and be safe!!!

For the recipe, please visit the Kraft Canada Website:

Pecan Bars

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Monday, December 20, 2010

Kraft Recipe for Joy

There is nothing like a good cause to get me in a Holiday mood. Well, that and Christmas is right around the corner! If you're like me and you're being pulled in a hundred different directions with cleaning, baking and gift shopping you'll appreciate the Kraft Recipe for Joy Program. You can send your friends and family some free Holiday e-cards and help fight hunger at the same time! That's right, because for every e-card sent, Kraft will donate 2$ to Food Banks Canada. Now, that is one of the best deals ever! Of course, you get some great recipes with that e-card and having tried a few of them I can tell you, they are easy and delicious. Just what the doctor ordered for this busy season! You can even install a nifty virtual recipe box on your computer's desktop for easy access to the recipes.


So far, our 2 favorite recipes are for Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprints and Crunch "Bars". The Raspberry Thumbprints are almost brownie-like in texture and the cream cheese they contain gives them this slight cheesecake taste, they are quite addictive. And they stay moist and tender for days!


The Crunch Bars were also a big hit here. The caramel soaked Premium Plus crackers take on a wonderful flaky pie dough quality and the thick layer of chocolate and chopped nuts totally take these over the top. And they are easy-peasy! Just be sure to watch the oven and have everything ready because mine baked a lot quicker than I expected.


So can I just recommend you try these during the Holidays, please? Make yourself happy! And make hungry families happy too by helping Kraft reach their goal of a $50,000 donation to Food Banks Canada. Go send some e-cards!

For the recipes please visit the Kraft Canada website:

Chocolate-Raspberry Thumbprints
Crunch "Bars"

Please note: I was sent a gift package from Kraft Foods in exchange for sharing the Kraft Recipe for Joy Program and recipes with my readers. The opinions in this post, about the program and recipes, are my own.
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Friday, December 10, 2010

Novica Product Review

Cue the first of my Holiday posts, complete with photos of twinkling lights and presents to boot! One catch though: there's no food involved. Instead I wish to talk to you about Novica, one of the leading fair trade artisan websites, which I discovered recently. Here is an excerpt of their mission statement:

"We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow.

At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe.

We want you to know about who you're buying from. We want you to feel that attachment to the product and to the hands that created it."

In association with National Geographic, Novica gives talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world market. They have thousands of top fair trade corporate gifts and home decor items on their website. Seriously, all kinds of jewelry, bracelets, earrings, gifts for mom, gifts for him, clothing, handbags, I could go on!

I was lucky enough to get an offer to review their products and website, and I absolutely jumped at the chance to do so. What really got me was the uniqueness of each item. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but I am a sucker for huge, unique rings and, although I had such a hard time choosing among the literally hundreds of gorgeous rings on the website, when I spotted Venus Moon, I knew I had to have it! The ordering process is really easy, you can find out the cost of shipping for any country you would like to have your gift shipped to and if you order right now, until December 13th, they guarantee shipping on many items for December 24th.

Whether you decide to shop for Christmas or any other occasion, shipping is quick and the product packaging is flawless. For us folks living in Canada, some international fees apply and must be paid upon receiving the package, but it's well worth it. My items even came gift wrapped, and very cutely so! And I was totally blown away by the quality craftsmanship of the jewelry I ordered. I recommend Novica to everyone who loves distinctive, fair trade gifts. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want something so unique and thoughtful wrapped up under the tree? I know I still have quite a few items on my wishlist so I think I'll forward it to Santa ASAP!

Please note: The nice folks at Novica sent me a gift code so that I could order a few items of my choice from their website (including shipping but not international fees). The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Most Ordinary/Extraordinary Banana Bread

Aaaaah! You guys! I miss my blog so much! I know by now I should be posting Holiday appropriate recipes and photos with backgrounds-full of lit-up Christmas trees and decorations but you know what? I'm not there yet. Soon, very soon, but for now, I will share with you my most ordinary/extraordinary recipe.

Ordinary because, really, does the internet need yet another banana bread recipe? No, probably not. But also extraordinary because it is the only one in my repertoire that I know by heart, that I go to almost every week and also, because we all love it, all 5 of us. So I thought it was time that it got the respect it deserves and a rightful place alongside the other banana bread recipes floating about the web.



Ordinary/Extraordinary Banana Bread

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 medium bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the egg, oil and granulated sugar. Mix the lemon juice with the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture alternately with the bananas, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
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