Fat Friday - Lou Dawg's

I like to theme our Fat Fridays, and before we decide to move on to a new theme,  we thought we should finish trying all the pulled pork spots in the area. We had already visited a number of restaurants, and I think we have already found our favourite (Stockyards), but since that one is a car drive away, we should try a more local one. There was one last place on our list to try: Lou Dawg's. The menu is pretty straightforward - Meat and Non-Meat (and a very cool website, actually), so the choice was pretty easy for us. Although, we were very close to just settling on Craft Burger for the night, since Matt left the decision up to me, and I wasn't really in the mood for pulled pork (I think I was tired of it from the large batch I made not too long ago that lasted us for at least 3 meals that week, plus one more for leftovers...).

In keeping with the theme of the night, Matt did order the pulled pork on a bun, and from the few bites I had, it was pretty good. The meat was tender, as most pulled pork is, but the sauce and spices were nothing extraodinary. What sold me on the sandwich was the bun! It was not a standard hanburger bun that tends to get soggy when the meat sits inside, but more of a submarine bun with a crustier outside. If the Stockyards meat were put inside this type of bun, that would be a real winner!! (In scanning through past posts, I realized I have not posted on Stockyards...I should remedy this soon!)

For me, instead of the pulled pork, I ordered up a pound of dry rub chicken wings. I was quite surprised when they put the for a bit of work getting at the meat. The dry rub was just ok... it actually had a more sweet flavour than spicy or savory, and personally, I don't like to mix my sweet with meat. I always lean towards the dry rub over the saucy, but each time I do, I remember that I don't particularly like the dry wings. But my mind keeps telling me that I don't like the saucey kind, either! But one bite of a saucy one, and I remember that I they are the ones that I prefer. So, note to self, "Beth, order the saucy!" Luckily, I have Matt to remind me (and to eat the dry rub ones when I'm finished with them). And luckily, there were sauces available for dipping in, so that helped partly with that problem.

Of course, what is a Fat Friday without french fries drenched in vinegar with a sprinkle of salt? And to wash down all that salty/sour goodness, a cold root beer of course (or black cherry, which we didn't ask if they had, but found it as we were getting ready to leave), and you've got a pretty good meal for Fat Friday. These french fries were probably one of my favourites - real potatoes cut into fries, skins and all. I like when they are a little bit soggy; they soak up the vinegar better...

I think Lou Dawg's wraps up the Pulled Pork category of Fat Friday. I think we'll be moving on to Mexican this week. I know nothing will compare to the Owl Bar Green Chili Burger, but we may come close to finding something equivalent. And speaking of burgers, the quest for the perfect one is still on... we have come very close, but there are still a few burger joints that have popped up in the area that we still need to try. We'll keep you posted on that one...

Penguins!

Some of you may not be aware of my current penguin obsession - I love them! It probably started around the time Happy Feet came out - who can resist singing and dancing penguins? Follow that with the March of the Penguins documentary, and I was hooked. From there on, my adoration of the fluffy creatures just grew, and family and friends were helpful in adding to my collection of Penguin things.

Sarah (my sis) was the first to give me a penguin gift - a dancing penguin from the Happy Feet movie. He sings songs and quotes lines from the movie (in a voice trying to imitate Robin Williams), then breaks into a tap dance (with accompanying tap dance noises) when his motion-sensor goes off. He was cute for a while, but then we grew tired of him. For the most part, he sat in our front hallway of our house, collecting dust, sadly, with the sensor switched to off (these gimmicky toys only hold their charms for so long).  He did, however, make the move to Toronto with me, and now he sits on our television stand with a snowman to keep him company.  I still like to look at him from time to time, and when we have our niece in, she does laugh at his antics. 

The next gift was probably one of the most thoughtful gifts I had ever received, and, of course, it came from Matt himself (he has a great knack for thinking of amazing gifts...it sometimes puts me to shame, quite frankly!). For our first Christmas together, I opened a box to find a stuffed penguin (the little guy to the right), and a note telling me that he had adopted a penguin in my name (insert awwws here)! I think right then and there I knew he was a keeper. Not only did he know that I loved penguins, but now I have one of my very own running around in Antarctica somewhere (he doesn't write very often, but I know he's thinking of us...).  I like to think that my penguin (I've named him Gus - just right now...) was one of the baby penguins being born in the March of the Penguins.

Some of you might remember our painting session that Matt surprised me with on my birthday last year, in which he painted a very cute penguin. It now hangs on our wall by the bathroom, in perfect view from the couch. I guess we are slowly building quite a collection of these fuzzy guys... finding spaces for them all is a challenge in itself, though. Thankfully, Matt is ok with having these penguins placed sporadically around the house, although I'm guessing that if we ever move to a larger house, the nursery would be the perfect place to put them. Penguins are very gender neutral, after all, and I think both boys and girls can love them equally. Hence the latest addition to my Zoo of Knitted Animals...

In keeping with the theme, let me share with you my latest stuffed creation - this ADORABLE penguin. He turned out even cuter than I could imagine, and even though he took a bit or work to get here, he was well worth the trials and errors. Unlike some of the other stuffed animals I've made, which are knit in a circle (which avoids having to sew up many seams), this guy was knit back and forth. At least that's what the pattern suggested, but I thought I would be smarter and knit it in the round anyway. Well, that didn't work out so well, so I stuck with the pattern in the end and did what they suggested. Well, I have to say, to date, this guy is my favourite! But sadly, he found a new home with my girlfriend and her pending baby boy. It was a gift for the little one, which I hope he will like, and, well, I guess I'll just have to knit myself up another one to add to my collection. Even though I like the standard black and white, I'm tempting to knit up a coloured one, say a blue and white. The possibilities really are endless for this one.

I'll share with one last little gift I received came from my mother-in-law (to-be in 21 days...) at my recent wedding shower. With the theme of the party Cooking and Kitchen, she gave me my very own ice cream spoon. I tested it out last night for the first time with some raspberry gelato - works great, Diane! Don't you think everyone should have their personal ice cream spoon? Hands off Matt! 

Trivia T(hur)uesday

How can we be into the last days of March already?! Is anyone else feeling a little overwhelmed about how fast time seems to be going? Part of me is happy to see the days go whizzing by... the Wedding Countdown is well underway (23 days to go...), but part of me never seems to have enough hours in the day to get everything checked off my To Do list... hence why Trivia Tuesday is being posted on Thursday (the alliteration still works, so I'm ok with that...).

But on that note, let's jump right to the topic at hand. This week seems to be food oriented, so that's right up my alley. Let's start with Tuesday (when this post should have been ready...) - for you people who enjoy a simple breakfast, you might be interested to learn that it was Toast Day. I know, this probably does not help you AFTER the fact, but just know that the good people who randomly assign days of the year to any and everything, they have honoured your dear toast. I, myself, am a toast girl, smothered with butter and peanut butter and, yes, you have to have both! The butter melts into the toast, letting the peanut butter spread over top. I've heard of people putting them on in the reverse order, but that's just weird...

Moving on to Wednesday (which is when I actually started writing this post, but fatigue got the better of me... and frankly, so did Survivor...). Wednesday was dedicated to one of my favourite snacks - Chocolate Covered Raisins! They are my go-to snack when I want to feel healthy about the junk food that I eat - raisins are a fruit, after all, so they are practically healthy. I'm sure Sarah (my health nut sister) would approve...almost.  Some of you might be familiar with a certain oatmeal raisin cookie that I often like to bake. If you have already had the luck to taste these delicious treats, then you might already know the secret ingredient, but for those of you who have not, I am willing to share it with you now...Chocolate Covered Raisins! That probably was not too difficult to guess, but let me just say, if you have picky eaters who don't like raisins, adding the chocolate covered ones to these cookies... well, they just won't be able to tell!

Now for Thursday - another food to celebrate. Today was actually the first time (according to whom, I don't know...), that pancakes were cooked in America - in New York City in 1882. Yes, I know, we already celebrated Pancake Tuesday, but heck, I guess March can have two pancake days! These light and fluffy little cakes are a great way to start your day. Serve with fresh fruit and syrup (a bit of whipped cream for the decadent type), and you've got yourself a great meal. In fact, if you're stuck for what to have for dinner tonight, why not serve breakfast? Toast and pancakes with chocolate covered raisins! Actually, that sounds quite tasty....

Fat Friday - Oh Boy Burger

After much delay, finally... our Fat Friday update!

This past Friday, in honour of the fabulous weather we were experiencing, we thought a burger would be the perfect way to cap off the week. And, since we can't currently bbq on our balcony, we headed out to Queen St (our favourite go-to walking street) to try the newest burger joint to turn up there - Oh Boy Burger.

You may remember our other burger tastings - Grindhouse and Craft Burger (which I've yet to blog about, so we may have to head back there soon. Oh, what I do for you dear readers...), so this was the third on our list to try. The Oh Boy restaurant had a very diner-esque quality to it, and when we walked in, we weren't quite sure that we'd get a table. But turns out there was more seating at the back, which also doubles as a night club with live band (they were just setting up when we got there). The front of the diner catered to more of the take-out crowd.

So, after settling in at our booth in the back, Matt ordered the basic burger, minus the mayo, and an order of onion rings, and for myself, how could I resist a cheese burger with fries (we love ordering an side each of onion rings and fries - to share, of course!). Service was pretty speedy, if I remember, which was good, because we were hungry! But sadly, they had forgotten to leave the mayo off on Matt's burger, so we had to send that on back. He was a couple bites into the burger when he realized that they had only taken the mayo off the top of the burger, and forgot the bottom bun, so sadly, I think that spoiled his meal for him. As for my burger, it was pretty good, but not the best we had. We'll probably stick to our other burger joints, but I do believe we have one more on our list to try...

We walked home satisfied but not stuffed, enjoying the last of the setting sun, and prepared to spend the rest of the night on the couch. Matt received an advanced copy of The Blind Side, which I had been anxious to see, so we cuddled together watching Sandra Bullock do her thing. Ah, dinner out and a movie in...a great way to spend a quiet Friday night.


 

BusyBeeBets.... is busy!

Dear Readers,

I know you are all patiently awaiting my next post, and I thank you for your patience. Work is extremely busy this week, and our wedding is quickly on it's way with plenty left to do, but I haven't forgotten about you. Posts about our latest Fat Friday and Trivia Tuesday will arrive soon...

In the meantime, have a great week!

BBB

Spring has Sprung!

It's that wonderful time of year, dear friends, when the sun comes out to warm our faces, we shed our heavy layers of winter clothes, and yes... we eat Ice Cream! That's one sure sign that the weather is warming up. Now, I don't want to jinx anything, because this is Canada after all, and it has been known to snow all the way into May, but I'm crossing my fingers that it won't. Especially because I do not want snow on my wedding day!

I was also informed by my father the other day that spring is officially here in a short but sweet email, as he believes Canada has two seasons: Winter and Construction. 

Dear Beth

Spring has arrived. I know because 4 out of the 5 lanes of the 401 were closed last night due to construction.

LOL
Dad.

(Note: the LOL in Dad's book means Lots of Love, for those of you confused as to what might have been funny....I know I was the first time he wrote it, and I had to ask for an explanation. I like his version better!)

So, let's enjoy this warm weather while we can. Matt and I fully intend to. Last summer we started walking after dinner each night, exploring different parts of our neighbourhood, so now that the weather has warmed up, we're back to our nightly walks. Tuesday night we went out for a walk to digest our meal, pick up a few items for dinner on Thursday, and also pick up a Dairy Queen Blizzard (since it was on the way home). It's kind of like a reward for exercising, at least in my books, and since Matt also agrees, we shared a cookie dough blizzard, extra cookie dough (that's my favourite part of the blizzard, so why not have double?!?).

Funny side story: one of the items we had to pick up were pine nuts for our salad. Matt stopped in at Loblaw's on Monday night, where he also picked up these gorgeous flowers for me, but couldn't find the pine nuts any where. And when he asked, the guy working there wasn't overly helpful. In fact, he told Matt that they had been discontinued! We had a good chuckle out of that, like a grocery store could discontinue something found in nature, but as it turns out, pine nuts are in short supply right now. So I guess the grocery guy wasn't completely incorrect...

Last night we walked a couple kilometers to the Eaton's Centre. I was on the hunt for wedding shoes (sadly, I did not find the right pair yet, but I did see some contenders), and Matt had a gift card from Banana Republic burning a hole in his wallet. Plus, he has a coupon for an additional 40% off, and it was only good for that day, so off we went. The walk was also encouraged by the wheel of brie and crackers we had for 'dinner' that night. Matt did find a nice blue button-up shirt, and by the time we got back home, we were ready to spend a bit of time in front of the couch. During the summers, not much is on tv, so we don't feel guilty about leaving the couch, and with PVR, we have that very same luxury even when shows are in full swing! Of course, the walking pulls me away from my knitting projects, but even I need a little break from that sometimes.

Spring also means baseball season is on its way, both the Blue Jays and the Brew Jays! The latter is the co-ed softball team that Matt, Sarah, and I play on. We had a pretty solid team last year, so hopefully we'll get the gang back together this year.

Trivia Tuesday

Today is a great day for those of us who struggle admitting when we are wrong, or for those of us who are hardly ever right! (I probably fall into both categories, if we have to be honest. I love being right, even if means I'm ridiculously wrong...) If you fit into either of those categories, you'll be happy to read that today is.... Everything You Do is Right Day!! Sometimes, when life gets you down, and it feels like you can't every do anything right, take comfort in knowing that today is YOUR day. Yes, I know this holiday might sound absurd, but I don't make them up, I just report on them. If I did get to invent days to celebrate, there would be a lot more days worth mentioning! You could turn this into a really great day for you if, say, you are struggling with your boss about being right. Or your spouse for that matter. I'm not sure how far the argument "But BusyBeeBets told me I'm right today!" will get you, but it could be worth a try. I'll be happy to vouch for you, if necessary.  

And of course you are probably all aware that tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. That means we all get to put on our best green outfits and drink pints of green beer (Irish accent optional!). Matt and I don't traditionally do much on St. Patty's day, and this year probably won't be any different. Instead of drinking beer at a crowded bar, I'll be shopping for wedding shoes. Although I might be tempted to have a pint with dinner, if it happens to be on the menu. We'll be dining out that night, but had I been cooking, I might have been tempted to create a very green meal... Green eggs and ham, perhaps? I love themed dinners, if the occasion calls for one! Maybe next year I'll have the foresight to plan a Green Dinner...

On another note, last night at our little condo was, in fact, a real trivia night. We are big fans of Jeopardy and PVR it nightly. This allows us to fast forward the commercials, as well as the contestant stories (we're here for the trivia, not the people!). Matt and I are constantly shouting out the answers, mine mostly wrong, his mostly right. Except tonight - Everything I Do Is Right Day overrides my wrong answers! 

We had a bit of a marathon last night, and its funny how we pick our players to choose from. If the returning champ is someone we like, we often cheer them on, wondering how far they will get. We also like it if the players are Canadian; we feel some sort of patriotism to cheer for them.  But if the contestants are annoying or act like know-it-alls, well, they get no support from us.

I also like to heckle Alex; he has this thing about talking down to the contestants and viewers, like we all should be as smart as him - you know, the guy with all the answers in front of him! And he likes to highlight how wonderful he is. I find this very funny to laugh at, especially when he's introducing a video clip of himself: "and here's me with the next clue." I do get a kick out of those ones. When it comes to the trivia, thought, it is interesting how some categories, like Russian History, for example, where we have no knowledge of the subject, but that we are surprisingly able to answer some of the questions. Matt does very well in the pop culture categories, anything to do with movies or music (ps: he has auditioned online twice now, so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get to cheer him on one day at the studio!). I sometimes excel in the Crossword Letter categories (the ones where they tell you what letter the answer starts with, so it's sort of like a built in hint...), and some of the science and food categories. Other times, there will be variations of the questions that lead to the same answer, so I do find that we are learning as we watch this show. And when it's Final Jeopardy time, we see the category, and then we'll both shout out an answer before seeing the clue. It's surprising how many times we'll be right! I still remember the time when Matt and I first started dating, and the category was Breakfast Cereal, and I guessed Captain Crunch (Matt's favourite at the time), and it was right!

I would say we are both fairly big trivia buffs. During long drives, we like to play 20 questions, a great way to occupy our time together (plus, I can still knit as we play...). This Christmas I found a board game very similar to 20 questions, where one person reads out 10 clues, one at a time, and you have to guess the answer. It is either a person, place, or thing, and the goal, when playing with more than 2 people, is to see who can guess it before the last clue is read. Well, we played this, just the two of us, last night over dinner, and it was quite fun! It sort of took the work of having to come up with people/places/things. I can see it being a lot of fun with a group of us, so I think we'll try it out this weekend.

The Zoo is growing!

A zoo.... you ponder? Well yes, a zoo indeed! Of course, you may realize that I don't actually mean a zoo with wandering wild animals, but a zoo of stuffed animals instead. I have been busy knitting away, creating birthday gifts for family and friends, and each time I finish a different project, I like to add them to my virtual BusyBeeBets Pet Zoo! You might remember the blue elephant that Matt and I gave to Ava, our niece, which I think was a hit.

Well, today's new member to the BBB Zoo is a Pink Hippo! Knitted in a pink/white cotton blend, she's very soft and very plump. Doesn't she look happy in her little herb garden, pictured above? Well, she won't be spending all her time there, as this was a gift for my girlfriend's daughter who turned one on the weekend. Chloe happens to be a big fan of the Backyardigans (her dad is partial to them, too...), so I thought this hippo would fit in nicely and make friends with her other stuffed toys. Shannon assured me she would love the texture - she loves knitted things! I'm not too worried.

In honour of Chloe's first birthday, I volunteered to make some cupcakes for her to enjoy. Cupcakes are a great treat at birthdays - no plates required, and you can mox and match flavours and icing colours. Since the theme of the day was Backyardigans, I opted for purple, green, and pink, and baked the cupcakes in two different sizes, so people had options. Shannon served a purple one with a candle to Chloe, and, like many kids on their birthday, she mainly enjoyed smearing the icing on her face. As an added twist, she also found that using a Dorito helped get more icing into her mouth! Not sure I would have thought to try that flavour combination, but some people enjoy salty/cheesy with their sweet. In any case, she liked them.

I am already working away on new animals for the zoo, and these will be posted later. I'm finding so much enjoyment in mixing up the colours, and personalizing the gift to the person I'm giving it to. One challenge I am having right now is being able to take some really great photos that show off the finished animal - I just don't seem to have the right touch yet in creating photos like the pros do, but I certainly am learning a lot trying. I don't claim to be a photographer, so I hope you'll bear with me.

Hmm... maybe the zoo needs a bear.... =)

This and That

A few random thoughts for today...

Firstly, Matt and I discovered a new place to add to our Best Croissant search. This past weekend we wandered down Queen Street again and stopped by a little cafe called Quaff. Inside was very spacious, with extra seating at the back, and fresh croissants to boot! I admit, I was a little unfair to them at first, judging by (gasp!) how they looked on the outside, but one bite and we were hooked! They have probably moved up our list to second place, and since they are in the neighbourhood, we will most likely revisit. They also had good coffee, plus other delectables to nibble on. I would recommend checking it out if you're ever in the area. Plus, with the ample seating, we had room to sit and enjoy the morning paper - the perfect way to start a Saturday. It's also conveniently located to Romni, my favourite yarn store, but  can you believe it? I didn't need any new yarns! I think Matt was just as shocked as you are. Don't worry, it's only because I am already working on three new projects and fully stocked with yarn. I am adding to my BusyBeeBets ZOO! (More on that later...)

We also enjoyed a few nice weekend meals together that I thought I would share with you. Feel free to be inspired and try them out yourselves. They really don't take much time. The first was a very nice grilled steak with a tasty peach sauce (I have to say that I was at once very reluctant to include sweet ingredients when cooking dinners, but adding just a touch of, say peach or apple, is really quite enjoyable! Thank goodness for cooking recipes, because I probably would NOT have come to that conclusion on my own. I can be a stubborn chef sometimes...) This meal was oh so easy to make. I simply minced some fresh peaches, added olive oil and a dash of chipotle pepper for some heat, and warmed in a small frying pan. I think drizzled atop two freshly grilled steaks. Served with grilled potatoes and a side salad, and there you have a nice, quick, easy Saturday dinner.

Of course, for the big Gold Medal Match a few weeks ago, we dined on (what else), Sunday Chili, served with warm cheesy garlic bread and beer! The perfect meal to watch the Canadian Team beat the US... but not without a fight! Watching those last few minutes in the third period, we were both on the edge of our seats (our meals were long done by this point... and we were probably into our third beer...). Then, as the US tied up the game, we readied ourselves for overtime... It sure was a tense few minutes, but hopefully you all know how it ended. If you've been listening to the news lately, you might have heard that some of Syd the Kids hockey stuff went 'missing', or, as the news are reporting, were stolen. They were even offering up a reward to get it back to him. Well, they just reported today that they were actually misplaced, and accidently shipped somewhere. Whew! For a minute, I thought Syd might have had to get a new glove and stick! (This sentence should be read with a lot of sarcasm...).

Anyway, off now to prepare some left over pulled pork sandwiches before heading out to watch Matt's weekly Wednesday night basketball game. I'm the designated score keeper, water girl, and cheer leader - I wear many hats, you know...

Trivia Tuesday

I don't want to alarm you, but today is Panic Day! Ok, you might have been better served if you were informed of this earlier today (but I panicked and couldn't blog this morning!), but at least now you can continue your day in whatever stress- or panic-induced state you are in and feel justified in doing so. Heck, you can even let people know about it

For example, perhaps you are panicked (paniced? It just doesn't look right...) about work; there's never enough hours in the day to get to everything you need to done, and the more you keep saying, "I'll do it tomorrow", the more tomorrow fills ups and you have to keep pushing your items "To Do" to the next day. And then you panic about that! It's a vicious cycle, and while I do not have a readily available solution, I do know that keeping a To Do list is actually quite helpful. So is beer or wine.

I don't really have much more useful information than this to share with you, but I did find it interesting that there is an entire day dedicated to Panic. I guess people build panic rooms for a reason, though...

As there is not much to note about today (other than it also being No Smoking Day, and Barbie's Birthday), I thought I would share with you a bit of trivia to keep in mind for the coming days:

• March 13th is Good Samaritan Day. Perhaps a kind gesture or a nice deed for a stranger would brighten someone's day, and make you feel better, and surely it would be appreciated. My kind deed for the day is baking cupcakes for my girlfriend's daughter's first birthday.
• March 14th has a slew of great things to celebrate. To name just a few, it's Albert Einstein's birthday (born in 1879). Who doesn't love math and this guy?!?! Ok, probably a lot of people. But.... wait for it.... I'm sure plenty of you will also be thrilled to hear that it's also Potato Chip Day! Ketchup, sour cream, salt and vinegar, bbq, plain... the list is delightfully long and enjoyable, and new flavours seem to be always popping up on grocery shelves.

In honour of our salty, deep-fried potato friends, I've selected a quiz with no right or wrong answers. Grab a bag and click away!

What Potato Chip Flavour are you?

Apparently I'm a Ketchup with a hint of Plain...

Fat Friday - Old Spaghetti Factory

It has been several years since I had been to the Old Spaghetti Factory. I went with school mates one night after work and met there for drinks, and prior to that, I had dinner there and thought the meal was pretty good. So this week, that is where we headed out.

Sometimes, dear readers, not every Fat Friday can be a success, and today I share with you one of our more dismal meals. The picture above of the sign outdoors might have served as a warning for how the rest of our meal might go. I was optimistic that I had remembered the food to be equivalent to that of East Side Mario's, for example, but I think I might have been remembering incorrectly. It could also be that we are now spoiled with having tasted some really great pasta meals in the past, and that might have also spoiled our meal a bit.

Matt had never been to the OSF before, and I think he was kind of intrigued by the decor, especially when they sat us in an old railway car with the base of old sewing machines as tables (it was a pretty tight squeeze, however...). Other decorative items included a phone booth, and a carousel with horses. I think it would be a great place to bring your kids for a unique experience, but don't head there if you're looking for top quality food.

For our dinner, Matt ordered the spicy sausage penne, and I went for the traditional spicy meat sauce over spaghetti. Before hand, we received fresh bread with garlic butter and a house salad, but neither were anything special to write home about. On the plus side, however, I thought the portion size of our mains were perfect! We didn't leave feeling overly full, or at least we wouldn't have, if we didn't also indulge in the ice cream that was also included in our meal. But who can really turn down ice cream at the end of a meal? Not us!

But there was some highlights of the meal. The first: the giant glass of raspberry lemonade we ordered with our meals. We have recently switched from ice tea to lemonade when we go out to eat (when we aren't ordering beer...), and this raspberry one was a great twist! Plus, you can tell from the size of it that it lasted the entire meal! The lemonade, I find, is great to cut across the saltiness that some meals have, and the raspberry is just darn refreshing! And the second highlight? The above mentioned bowl of ice cream served  with a cup of hot tea. While I stuck with plain old vanilla, Matt ordered the spumoni - chocolate, vanilla, and pistachio. Both were very good!

So, while our meal might not have been that outstanding, it was still a lovely night. The weather is turning - I can see spring in sight! So a walk outdoors was the perfect way to finish the night.  And hopefully next Fat Friday will be a little better. I think there's a new burger place that we want to check out.

The Sweetest Valentine

Although this post is a little tardy on my part, I wanted to share with you all the sweetest Valentine's gift that my fiance bought for me this year (despite us saying we were not going to exchange gifts...I guess I can't really be mad at him for thinking of me...). In any case, while we were browsing one of our favourite little stores on Queen St, Outer Layer, he spotted this book and, before I had a chance to see what caught his eye, immediately told me to leave him alone and go wander another part of the store. Part of me really loves when he does that, because it was obviously something that made him think of me (yes, I am one VERY lucky lady).

So, when we finally exchanged gifts, only a week late, I was very delighted to find the above book in a gift bag: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business. Not only was the gift such a sweet gesture to show that Matt supports my crafting addiction, but he also encourages me to try and make some money at it!

Sure, there a lot of good stories out there of crafty entrepreneurs (and bloggers...) who have succeeded at doing what they love, and I certainly day dream of one day actually being successful at selling my work (almost as often as I day dream of winning the lottery. I'm pretty sure that's going to happen tonight, FYI.). But as for opening my own business, this might be something I will aspire to down the road. For the time being, I think I need to hold on to the paying gig that I already have (because it also pays for the yarn...).  But, that's not to say that I can't start planning for that day to one day come; I'll just keep knitting away and begin building up some inventory.

It has been suggested to me by several people that I consider entering some craft shows in Toronto, which might be good starting point to see if my items actually sell, and to determine price point. For any of you out there with children and/or grandchildren, I know you've seen the price at which knitted clothes, toys, and accessories sell for...it's definitely a lucrative business.  Perhaps with this book, I'll find out exactly how to succeed...

On a Valentine's related note, even though we did end up exchanging gifts this year, we have now decided that, come all following years, instead of gifts (which we are going to stick to), we are going to donate blood instead. It's the gift that comes directly from the heart. Plus, free cookies!

Crafty Wedding...

I know not all of you will be attending my upcoming wedding, but the beauty of this blog is that I can still share with you some of the planning and crafty ideas I have in mind. Matt and I were sure from the beginning that we wanted something small and intimate, celebrating with our closest family and friends, and so far, the planning has been going along really smoothly!

I, of course, really wanted to incorporate some of my crafty ideas into the wedding, and Matt was kind enough to let me design away (really, how could he argue...). I started with our Save The Date cards, pictured here to the right. I had a lot of fun searching websites (I'm sure only I would find this fun...) to get a general sense of what one might look like, and in the end, designed this one. I thought the teal and black were great contrasting colours, and the style was simple and reflected the style of our wedding. I decided to add a cute picture of the two of us together (I even slightly tinted it teal to match... Matt, hope you don't mind me sharing our photo...), added some basic info, and Voila! You've got yourself a Save The Date card. (On a side note, I read an article of a woman who designed such invites and cards on the side, and became so popular that she turned it into a full time job! Feel free to pass my name along...) We emailed these to friends and family, and then it was on to the invites. The colour palette was a great starting point, and we've decided to use the teal as a main colour theme at the wedding. 

When it came to the invites, at first we were going to do e-vites for the cocktail party and send them out electronically, but the more we thought about it, the more I liked the idea of making our own and sending to our guests so that they could have something to put up on their fridge as a reminder. While browsing the Paper Store, we found teal cards in the perfect size, envelopes to fit, and the patterned black and white paper (pictured left) to add a bit of contrast. I think we'll also use this paper again in another wedding project. Again, a simple idea for the invite, but I really like the effect. The cards ran through the printer just fine, and so all I really had to do was put together the information, print, cut the strips of paper, and glue. Matt left the cutting and gluing part to me; he says he's scissor-challenged, being a lefty and all. So far we've had some really nice comments on them.

As an added bonus, I even got to design a wedding website! This was more for adding information about the day, but I still got to customize and add my own pictures. This is the fun stuff of planning a wedding that I really enjoy. And just think, now I'll get to make Thank You cards, too!

Trivia Tuesday

With the beginning of March upon us, not only are the days growing longer, and hopefully warmer, but we also get to appreciate a new full month of trivia! What is in store for us this month, you might wonder? Well, to peak your interest, first let me tell you that March is National Craft Month! What could be more fitting for us, dear readers? A month dedicated entirely to the art of crafting all things big and small. (I wonder if this means that I have to craft even more this month? I can try, but I'm not sure what my professors would think about me knitting during our sales calls...) And hey, even if you don't think you're crafty with either knitting or sewing, or cooking and baking in the kitchen (which I consider to be a kind of craft), I know a lot of you are crafty in other ways...

But perhaps some of you might be more interested to know that March is also National Noodle Month. I'm a fan of noodles, but I'm not sure I'll be eating them month-long. The good thing about noodles is that you can put some many different sauces on them, and they come in so many different shapes and colours, so really, you probably could eat a different noodle every day of the month... any one want to take that challenge on? I'm happy to supply suggestions of what to eat and possibly even put together a monthly menu, followed by an extensive workout plan. You might need it after so much pasta... but I digress.

Ok, if you're neither a fan of crafting nor noodles, what else happens in the month of March (we here at BusyBeeBets try to appeal to everyone! We are an equal opportunity blog...)? If you're a fan of the freezer section at the grocery store, then you might be happy to hear that March is also National Frozen Food Month (really!?! Who comes up with this stuff?). I hope this includes all frozen foods, like ice cream, ice cream bars, sorbet, gelato... because really, why would I want to celebrate frozen beans and carrots all month long?

In honour of National Crafting Month, I have selected a quiz that will test your knowledge in various crafting techniques. It's a fairly simple one - I scored a perfect 10, and I think you can, too! Enjoy!

What Craft is This?

I almost forgot! It's Dr. Seuss's Birthday today! He's 106.

"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you."

Dr. Seuss

Fat Friday - Dunn's Famous

You might remember that there was a hockey game on Friday (seems so long ago now that we've already taken the gold, but the game to determine it all was still to be played). You might also remember that we had just gotten a fair amount of snow in the past few days (again, hard to imagine with the sunny weather we are having today). With both these things in mind, we wanted our Fat Friday to be some place close, and some place that wouldn't be packed with sports fans.

Turned out Dunn's Famous, known for their smoked meat sandwiches, fit this criteria nicely. It's generally a theatre crowd sort of place, so actually, we had no troubles finding a table. As you may recall, we have already sampled some pretty good smoked meat sandwiches, with Schwartz's probably topping the list. But Montreal is such a long way to go for just a sandwich... So, instead, we ventured out to Dunn's, merely steps away from the  condo, for a sandwich, some fries, and a pickle (well, on the pickle front, to be honest, Matt had none, I had two...).

It was a good sandwich, but probably ranks third on our list for smoked meat. I found the slices of meat to be rather thick, and some what chewy, giving them a more processed feeling than that of fresh smoked meat. But all things aside, it was still a good meal. Especially after we've been good about eating salads most night; the fries were the real treat. Would we go back? Probably not for the smoked meat; we would rather head up to Caplansky's for a better sandwich, but we wanted to make sure to explore our options...

On our short walk home, we couldn't help but notice the many people crammed into bars, anxious to get a seat for this very important game. It was only an indication of the crowds to come on Sunday for the REAL game. Gretzky's Restaurant, which is right outside our balcony, was packed on Friday, but on Sunday, a huge line-up had already begun to form when we left for brunch Sunday morning. With CTV filming for fan shots, I'm pretty sure this is one of the reasons why fans swarmed here. But both Matt and I agree, it was pretty cool to be watching the game in our little condo and hearing the fans outside after each goal. It certainly added to the experience.

And what a way to end - Crosby scoring in overtime to win the Gold medal in men's hockey (which always seems to be THE event to watch), and making it our 14th and record setting Gold medal overall. It was a great finale to a wonderful Olympic games. We were proud supporters and dedicated fans, and Canada, you did us proud.