Expectatations

Hello?

Is anyone out there?

Anybody?

It's me...Bijoux.

Remember me?

Did you miss me? I missed you.

I know I've been gone for a while.

I have been really busy...working...two jobs.

I recently quit one of them. Now I have one part-time job which I love!

I also had a cold this past week. I tried all kinds of remedies (Cold FX, Vitamin C, Zinc, garlic pills) to keep the cold away but it just reared it's ugly head as soon as I thought I was in the clear.
I'm much better now and I have also rested a lot.

Let's see...what else have I been up to?

I started digging in my backyard garden a few days ago to try and get it ready for some plants. I want to plant some vegetables and also a raspberry bush. I'm not a natural gardener so it should be exciting to see what becomes of the seeds and seedlings I plant.


I'm getting rid of the grass in the front lawn because I dislike grassy lawns. I just don't think they serve a purpose so I will be replacing the grass with rocks, wood chips and some black-eyed Susan's, wild flowers and other perennials. Rock gardens rock!

Painting the kitchen is next on the agenda. I will be priming it this week. The previous owners used oil paint so I need to prime the walls first before I apply the latex green colour I've chosen. I haven't painted anything in over 5 years so it should be interesting to see the results.

I also picked up some great leather boots on sale - a cropped version of the boots in the photo. They have a leather sole and a tiny little rhinestone strategically placed under the sole...such attention to detail and made in Brazil by an Italian shoe company, Corso Como.

I also picked up a few items from Etsy recently like this great print from an Etsy seller called "Black-eyed Suzie." Isn't is pretty? I love Gothic artwork.


About two months ago, in the bleakness on winter and also from Etsy, I bought this hat, which I love! The colour, the style, the fit...it's all good! And just the other day I bought this t-shirt and this wrap skirt, in preparation for the warmer weather.

Oh, and I picked up a great, (inexpensive due to haggling) Schwinn exercise bike from CraigsList which I have been using to try get back into some sort of an exercise regime.

Well, that's my update. I'm looking forward to catching up with you all.

I will try to post on here more often but as the weather is getting warmer outside and we are expecting it to reach 22 degrees Celsius by this Friday, I am compelled to spend more time outdoors. But I will update you all on the kitchen painting results and the garden landscaping projects as they unfold.

Kitchen update

I finally managed to add a little something to the kitchen wall in order to make my life easier and more organized when cooking. As you can see the walls are still that seafoam green shade that I wanted so desperately to change. We didn't get around to painting the kitchen walls before winter set in so we plan to definitely paint them this summer.

Ikea is so great for providing a wide selection of inexpensive, decorative accessories to jazz up your living space. And make it functional too! These kitchen wall organizers have been extremely helpful in freeing up some drawer space. The knife magnet is especially fun as it makes me feel one step closer to becoming a better chef. Yeah, wishful thinking! I think Jamie Oliver has one too in his kitchen.

On my next trip to Ikea I plan to pick up one of these shelves to store some often used cookbooks, hang some additional kitchen utensils, a cluster of dry chili peppers, a strand of garlic bulbs, and perhaps a pot of fresh herbs.

It's a painfully slow process of making a kitchen become functional when you can't afford to totally gut it and start from scratch. And don't get me started on the existing, unimpressive kitchen appliances that came with the house and the lack of modern ones like a microwave and a dishwasher.

My ultra white kitchen

Welcome to my soon-to-be new kitchen. This is where I will be doing my cooking and entertaining come November 15th.

The kitchen is a good size and I'm happy about that but I also feel that it needs some colour. It is just too stark and white. The walls are a lovely seafoam green but I don't think the colour really goes in a kitchen . What do you think?

Also, I have another dilemma. There are four tiles on the backsplash with a fruit medley painted on them. I do not like images of fruit on tiles. For those of you that are 'do-it-yourself' home renovators, I need your advice and suggestions on how to cover up those four tiles. Do I paint over them? Do I take a chisel and chisel them out and pop in 4 new tiles in white? Is this even possible to do? Ideally, I would love to have a professional redo the entire backsplash in a mosaic of black, gray and white glass tiles (see photo below), but that is out of the question for now.

Giddyup: horsepower processor

Since my wedding in 2006, I have made some (long overdue) household purchases to equip my kitchen with the necessary basic kitchen tools and apparatuses. We did not have a wedding gift registry. We told our 15 guests, "no gifts please" as we did not plan to host a dinner reception afterwards. We went to a restaurant. Everyone paid for their own meal. As a result, no wedding gifts meant that we had to start from scratch. Well, almost. My husband and I had a couple of things from our own bachelor and bachelorette kitchens...nothing matched...a lot of it was getting old. We had to start anew.

One of the first things I longed for was a food processor. (And, just to digress - the second kitchen item I have been longing for is one of these.) Although not really a kitchen "must-have" I had been eyeing the Cuisinart and KitchenAid line of kitchen processors and admired them for their aesthetic appeal and selection of funky colours. It's their design that won me over. Of course, I expected the device to also kick ass in the kitchen! I trusted that Cuisinart or KitchenAid would make me a happy homemaker. It also had a good reputation to back it up.

I never did get my 'fancy-schmancy' Cuisinart or KitchenAid food processor because I could not afford the steep price. A few months ago, I purchased a Black & Decker 10-cup food processor in stainless steel and black - and I am enamoured by it's strength and power. Vrooom!! It has MEGA horsepower. It pulverizes food with its blade and creates the most amazing, smooth and creamy garlic hummus and black olive tapenade in the blink of an eye.

Granted - it's not as pretty as a Cuisinart or a KitchenAid and does not come in a choice of red, or pink or blue but aesthetics aside, I am very happy with this purchase. The good thing is that it only has 3 blades that you can use...not a lot of excess parts to fuss over which means, not a lot of washing afterwards. Hurray! The first blade slices and grates. The second blade minces and mixes and the third blade is a dough blade (!) That is all. I can certainly live with this simplicity. Like I always say: keep it simple and you can't go wrong.

Oh yeah, one more thing: the price was good to my bank account too!

My rating for this product: 4.5 out of 5

• Convenience (1)
• Durability (1)
• Functionality (1)
• Aesthetic (0.5)
• Safety (1)
  
  
  
  

A friend indeed.

Okay! I have a confession to make. I do not like raw apples. I know what you are thinking. What an odd ball I am. I can explain. It’s the sour factor. I can’t handle sour fruit. On the rare occasion, when I have bitten into an apple, I shiver and cringe as the sour juices attack my palate. And the texture – it reminds me of a raw potato. Apples, in a pie or a strudel with cinnamon and brown sugar, on the other hand – bring it on!!

Despite my aversion to apples, I still challenge myself by eating them every now and then. I have tried many varieties of apples and my favourite has got to be the humble McIntosh apple: proudly Canadian!

Here’s why I like it: It’s small. Not too sour. Crispy on the outside. Juicy on the inside. Fresh flavour. Done in three bites.

My husband on the other hand, loves apples. We always have an abundance of them in the refrigerator. A couple of times while searching for a piece of fruit to take with me to work, I have reluctantly grabbed an apple. Very reluctantly. At work while eating an apple, I have often imagined and daydreamed about how this apple would taste better - dipped in caramel sauce or chocolate sauce. Hey – I’m always thinking…

This year, I am making a conscious effort to eat more apples. *gasp*

You know what they say: “An apple a day...”

But seriously now. What factor (or tool) made me change my apple aversion? Maybe, just maybe, I can change my aversion to apples by making it ‘effortless’ to eat an apple. You know, getting rid of the yuck factor, i.e. seeds, core, stem, slicing it into uniform pieces...Eureka!!!

One day - not too long ago, while I was browsing at Canadian Tire, I came to linger - somewhat obsessively - over this tool:

An apple cutter and corer. Now I ask you…who owns this tool? Does anyone actually feel the need to shell out $6 for this instrument?

Well, I did. And I love it! If you bake or cook with apples a lot, you too will enjoy this kitchen tool.

After washing the apple, I whip out this tool and ha-ching!! Apple cored and sectioned lickety-split. I throw the wedges into a small container pop it in the fridge and it’s ready for work the next day.

Yes - a knife can certainly do what this apple cutter/corer can - but it’s not the same. The safety issue is foremost in my mind. Knives cut fingers. The apple cutter/corer doesn’t. What about the efficiency of this tool? A flawless execution folks!! One downward movement with the apple cutter/corer takes care of several movements with a traditional knife. Brilliant!

Despite the use of this kitchen tool, the apple is still not my favourite fruit. Having this little "tool" however, brings an element of fun into the arena. It's clean and simple design makes it easy to use and to understand it's intended purpose. The symmetry of the apple cutter/corer and it's combination of simple curves and lines, combined with it's high chrome finish lends a simple, aesthetic appeal.

For more information about apple cutter/corers - follow this link:

http://recipes.suite101.com/blog.cfm/apple_corers_peelers_and_cutters


I'm giving this product a 5 out of 5 based on the following criteria:

• Convenience
• Easy to Use/Functional
• Durable
• Safe
• Aesthetic

This product review is based on the following criteria:
Usability/Functional
Safety/Comfort
Aesthetics
Convenience
Durability