I do not make New Years Resolutions… but every January 1st. I do promise myself that I will exercise more, eat better, be kinder, etc. and I really do try. In support of eating better on January 1st I threw the remaining Christmas baking in the compost. All as been well until recently when I started thinking about cake…I don’t know why, because I really do prefer cookies. However, it is cake that has been on my mind. In fact I am attaching a picture of a particularly delicious and festive cake that Michelle in our office made before Christmas to contribute to the department potluck.

 Curious on how she made this…send us a comment and we will send you her secret.

 Of course, posting this picture has once again piqued my desire for cake, but all is well, my daughter reminded me the other night that we have cake occasion coming up…my birthday! I had completely forgotten this…and for good reason. You see my birthday is really December 21st; however a couple of years ago I made the decision to officially...

I confess, for this blog I have ventured out of St. Albert and into Edmonton, and to top it off I am wearing red hoodie and a foam finger. So where does one go where this outfit is appropriate…well the World Juniors of course. I love everything about the World Juniors, I cry when they play the National Anthem, and I cry once again when Team Canada salutes the fans at the end of the game. I marvel at the copious amounts of beer that are consumed around me and the element that has caused me great delight this year is the line-up to the men’s bathroom. Seriously ladies, it is so wonderful to see men standing in a huge line, while I cruise on by directly into the ladies…

 Another thing that has caused me great amusement is the Goal – But! that comes up on the giant screen when a goal is scored. At first I was But What? Then my bi-lingual daughter informed all us Anglophones that But is goal in French. Now every time it comes up on the big screen I laugh.  

 Hockey unites Canadians, and just like the Olympics, at this given time we are not Oiler fans, or Canuck fans, we are Canadian Fans…we cheer, we sing, we drink too much beer and then we can hardly wait do it again the next night.

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Chestnuts Roasting on a Open fire….

This song tends to bring a certain period in time to mind for me.  Not necessarily a simpler time, but a slower paced time when things weren’t so rushed, and how much you spent and gifts weren’t the focus of the season. 

 

A little bit of that time was evoked and shared with my son this past weekend at the St. Albert Grain Elevator and Train Station, where they had a telegrapher send his wish list to Santa in the North Pole via Telegraph!  Man, the Operators fingers sure knew what they were doing as they tapped out this great long list….We opted out writing the list with an old fashioned pen and ink and went with good ol’ lead!  I could see messes happening with ink in a 4 year olds hands and a wandering mind, especially since the great man in red was sitting in the next room waiting to talk and see if you had been good or naughty.

 

We created a couple of crafts and ornaments and decorated a gingerbread cookie (deliciously from Grandin Bakery),...

What a wonderful weekend to head out of St. Albert to the third annual “A Very Cherdarchuk Christmas”; another event that added to the magic of Christmas for our family.   

 

No, no you are correct it wasn’t in St. Albert, but St. Albert sponsored the Winter Garden that included some very intricate and beautiful ice sculptures within it.    Kicking off the excitement was a hayride from the parking field to the nursery.  Kris Kringle and his elves greeted us all from behind a beautiful ice podium with a great big Merry Christmas.  With kid’s passport in hand we found the hot chocolate, wonderfully sponsored by local business and free for those who needed an internal warm up.  The garden centre was transformed into a Christmas cornucopia of wonderful, crazy and delightful items to purchase.  Christmas had exploded! 

 

Outside my son dug for Christmas balls, played candy cane baseball, antler toss decorated a cookie and created another Christmas decoration – gaining a check mark for each...

Last week in Jim Hole’s newsletter he spoke to the fact that carrots can be planted now so that they pop through the ground as soon as spring arrives; ironically reading this article spurred me onto harvest my crop of carrots. As you know from my previous carrot chronicles, vegetable gardening does not seem to be my thing. I discovered the joy of seed tapes this year, but a combination of late seeding, poor soil and who knows what did not lead to a bumper crop. In fact the picture below illustrates my entire crop. The second picture shows the largest and the smallest of the carrots I harvested…yes indeed world hunger is not going to be solved by my growing efforts.

However, I have plans for 2012…a big bag of compost, some manure and a plant date that does not start with J should get me back in the carrot business! Stay tuned.

 

The Painters Guild Fall Art Show & Sale was last weekend in St. Albert Place. I always look forward to this show, it is a tremendous tribute to all the talented artists we have in the city and the area. This year my husband and I attended together, as in we entered the building together and left the building together, however, we took different paths to view the show. This works for us, as what I stop to admire, at times will only get a passing glance from him, and of course vice-a-versa.

 This year as part of the show they had a “People’s Choice” award. Armed with a golf pencil and a slip of paper we were asked to pick our top three. What a great way to really immerse your visitors in the show. We both took our job very seriously and carefully deposited our votes in the draw box. Of course, the first question you ask each other as you leave the building is “What three did you pick?” We were both very surprised to discover that our second choice was actually the same, a partial nude painting of a woman....

Another ghoulish year is upon us and to kick it off for our family, once again we headed to Hole’s to ‘enjoy’ their Pumpkin Patch and Hallowe’en festivities for their first year in the Enjoy Centre.  Good thing my neighbour was on the ball, otherwise we would have missed it this year. 

 

After getting some supper into our bellies, my son donned his cape, funny face and green Dracula teeth and off we headed to see what kind of scaries we could find.  Full of fright and fun, the pumpkin patch was filled with parents and kids all vying to take their picture with the perfect pumpkin, the ramp outside up to the top of the Centre was filled with kids running and screaming at the ghosts hanging about in the trees, and mothers were warning them to slow down as they didn’t have enough band-aids in their purse to patch up faces should they fall! 

 

The Enjoy Centre had us moving through the complex with a sheet for the kids to obtain stamps from each vendor, who had all altered their shop names...

Christmas Has Come

 I know it is only Mid-October, but the St. Albert Botanic Park has provided us a reason to start celebrating a little early this year. Until October 22nd the gift shop is open and selling everything Christmas. Christmas baskets, ornaments, and end tables adorned with poinsettias are just a few of the items waiting to delight you. As well as a wonderful Christmas shopping opportunity, the Botanic Park complements the experience by providing hot apple cider and a tray of goodies…including my perennial favourite “shortbread” cookies. www.stalbertbotanicpark.com

  I only eat shortbread cookies once a year and I am a purist. I was taught to make shortbread cookies with butter, cornstarch, icing sugar, and flour, topped with a ½ maraschino cherry…and these are the only ones that satisfy me. Recipe below:

1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour...

“ …over the boardwalk…out in the sun...”

 

Okay so I took a little liberty with the words; I took a lot of liberty in actually singing it, but I’m sure it sounded fine as I was outside in the fresh air with my little guy and no one else to hear me other than the odd duck and micro-organism we were reading about on the Ducks Unlimited Boardwalk.  At least I hope that’s all who heard me. 

 

On such a nice sunny day we decided an outdoor activity was required, so we parked at the Bless Shelter at the end of Rodeo Drive in Riel Park, and walked along the Red Willow Trail sidestepping numerous grasshoppers to the viewing platform.  Stopped and looked through the scope to “see what we could see” which wasn’t “the other side of the mountain” but mostly sky and water, and then moved on through a patch of gravel onto the newly finished Boardwalk. 

 

It was a great adventure to clump along and read the well spaced information boards on the different plant species, fish, birds...

On Friday night I attended the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Gala. I went last year for the first time and had a fabulous time so was looking forward to this year’s celebration. St. Albert Place is a delightful venue for a reception, both my husband and I enjoyed a glass of wine and some nibbles. I thought the croissant sandwiches were delicious and my husband literally chased the server across the floor in order to indulge in another meatball. However, the food and wine were secondary; the intent of the night was to celebrate the arts and it was a great celebration.

 

My favourite entertainers of the evening were Anna Marie Sewell and Jeff Stuart and the Hearts. Anna Marie is the Edmonton’s Poet Laureate for 2011-13, her combination of singing/poetry touched me, as did her bare feet that helped to tell the story. Jeff Stuart and the Hearts were upbeat; fun to watch and easy to listen to.

 

Mayor Nolan Crouse also added interest to the night by delivering his welcome in the form...