Iron Chef Challenge

For the third year, my family gathered today for our Easter event. The last 2 years we've had a blast doing an Amazing Race and this time we had an Iron Chef Challenge. Working in teams of four, we had to create a minimum of 3 dishes using a secret ingredient - TORTILLAS! We were very lucky to use the home ec lab at Jerry's school - the perfect location!



Organizers extraordinaire - my sister, Esther and my niece, Jill. They are a mother and daughter combo - quite the masterminds at dreaming up events!




Every group got an envelope of money (from the entry fee we each paid), with which we purchased our ingredients from the onsite grocery store. Extra things could be bought at the local grocery store uptown.




Elisha created the recipe for our group's Roasted Asparagus and Chicken Pizza with Feta. This one could be published - it was so delicious!




Every team needs a good dishwasher - and my Uncle Gord was ours!




Taste testing by Jen!




Naomi was working on their appetizer, Salmon Filled Cups with Spoons (made out of fried tortilla strips) - the most creatively presented appetizer. They also made a huge Taco Vegetable Salad (with beans, corn, avocados, tomatoes, celery, lettuce and chicken), Quesadillas, and a Vanilla Pie with Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and Pineapple. Her group had my Mom, Ed and Tony in it.




Jerry was part of the all guys team with Bob, Larry and Leo, which was the team with the least experience and could have won a prize for rookie cooks, I think. They made Tomato Cups with Goat Cheese dip and tortilla chips, Shepherd's Pie, Fajitas, and Deep Fried Chocolate Dessert Tortillas, which quite possibly was the best dessert.




This was our youngest little chef-in-training!




Each group presented their creations to the group for judging at the end of 3 hours. This group (Darrin, Pam, Ruth, and my Dad) made a Mexican Dip, Chicken Taco Salad, Enchilada Casserole and Strawberry Tortilla Crepes. Their presentation was awesome!




My group (Elisha, Jen, Gord and me) made Herbed Tortilla Chips with Salsa, Taco Salad, the pizza, and this Strawberry Stack Dessert.

By the time the taste testing was over, we were all stuffed - there seriously was so much good food created today! It's pretty amazing what you can make with tortillas! After judging, the winning team took home some "iron" prizes - a waffle iron, ironman watches, or an iron. And everyone had leftovers to take home too!! It was an awesome way to spend an afternoon making more memories. One of the things I love best about these gatherings is how we can involve the whole group, which ranges in age from about 20 to 75 (not counting Meadow). I am so blessed to spend this time with my family.

Happy Easter to you! May God's love and the gift of grace that He gave us be your celebration this weekend.

365 Project - Happy Valentine's Day

May you be surrounded by love and caring today and every day!
May you be an example of God's love to all those around you!

February 14



A little gift for my husband today. The movie as a reminder of our trip to Europe and the 2 organic chocolate bars because who could resist names like that?!!! And I found them at the health food store - for real!!


February 13



Who would have known it would be so hard to find pillowcases for king size pillows - at a reasonable price? So, I did it myself! And I even have enough fabric left to make matching curtains.

Happy Camera Weekend!

I really had a lovely time with our camera while we were in Vancouver!! It was inspiring to look for unusual and interesting colors and objects. I think I could quite get to enjoy more little trips like this one!



I was surprised at how small the actual Island area was and how twisted the streets were. It all made much more sense when I checked the map. And I can only imagine how busy it gets here on weekends in the summer!!




Oh, my gosh - how funny this one was! We thought of our friend Aime' as soon as we saw it.




I can hardly believe that we didn't even go inside here! Definitely a missed opportunity.



Could it really be? A shop just for me??!!




What can you say about this one? Nothing at all!




If you like angles and straight edges, this one's for you!




This little shop was at the end of an alley and I just loved the look of the open door, the greenery and the color combos. This one totally makes me happy!


You will be quite surprised to hear that we didn't actually do one bit of shopping. We just walked around, window shopped, took a lot of pictures, watched the people and fed the birds - and ourselves!!

Adjustment time

It's a huge change to go from +10 degrees one day to -25 degrees the next!! Oh, my - I'm freezing again. Why did we come home to Alberta???? We should have just continued on our way to the Island and points warm. This is going to take some getting used to again.

We spent a little time wandering around Granville Island (my first visit) taking pictures of signs and people outside. Good stuff! Next time I'm going inside some of the studios and artisans shops - everything was so colorful and artistic. I had fun with the camera - here is a little sample of what we saw.



This cute little aqua bus was ferrying people from one side of the harbour to the other. I adjusted the color in this picture using the curves adjustment in Photoshop. Thanks to Karen Russell, an amazing scrapbook designer in the States, for the instructions.




This big statue was outside the gelato store - made me think of Bob and his love of ice cream!




We found a little guy feeding the pigeons and he shared his seeds with Bob so they could both feed the birds from their hands. He was so sweet! I can just imagine doing this with Meadow and Helayna in a few years.

Sunday Scenes

It was a cloudy, drizzly day in Vancouver today so we hopped on the Skytrain and rode it to the end of the line. It was a fun, crazy thing to do but a cool way to see a glimpse of the city. This was a suggestion from Stacey Julian's U R Cre8ive class last year - and for the second time (the first was in Taiwan), we rode the rails. I think we might add this to our list of must-dos in every city that we visit, like Tyler and Mel. I'll tell you what we did this morning in another post.




Telus Science Centre - I remember when this was a pavilion at Expo 86!




Skytrain bridge

And for supper tonight, we went with our dear friends, Paul and Kim, to the Senafir restaurant and had the most delicious supper ever. It was a cross of Moroccan, Mediterranean and Indian foods served as tapenades. We chose the meat for each course and then it came prepared in 3 different ways and was served in little dishes on a board. My favorite was the prawns - in phyllo pastry, in a rice wrap with ginger vinaigrette, and with a curry type sauce. The desserts were amazing too - an assortment which included baklava, poached pear with gorgonzola cream, a chocolate tart, some pastry stacks, and a green apple tart served with pistachio ice cream and a kumquat crown. It was all just amazing!!!