When I think of Dreamer in Ontario,this recipe comes to mind.It's so easy ,fast and delicious that you'll try them for sure.



Ingredients:
granulated sugar
1/2 lb puff pastry,defrosted

Ok,it was quite small,but our town is quite small too-about 40,000 population. I live on the 8th floor so up here it was quite warm looking the weather.That was just until we arrived downstairs.Two little daughters with myself,little's little in the stroller and we went to the Christmas market.It was cold.Freezing cold,but luckily it's a five minute walk from my home.Initially,we planned to stop somewhere else too,but it was just too cold.
The best thing about the market was that there were no Chinese products,everything was made locally.
Handmade cushions with pretty details.
These things were made by the children and the money went for charity.We got the ornament with the dried orange.Isn't that a neat idea???

You already know by now that it's hard for me to get some ingredients and I manage with most of them,since I joined the zaar I make my own coconut milk,my own spice mixes,I've even made ketchup (it's available,of course,but I got so into making my own stuff).The only thing (so far) that I couldn't find a substitute is sesame oil,but I've still have some from my cousin who sent me a bottle from England.And dear Joy,sent me some cumin from Wales.And my DH brings me dried limes and other things too. Now cumin,maple syrup,turmeric and other things are available as well.
My sister,who visited last week,brought me from St. Thomas some Carribian spice mix and a fat free ginger sauce.

I can so see myself trying this on a whole roasted chicken!

And this looks like a perfect match for iceberg lettuce.
Now I don't mind anymore that not everything is available,makes hunting for stuff more fun and I always get excited when I see a new product in the store. Thai red curry sauce is the last item I saw,but not the real deal,just the one you just really add some chicken in it.But still,it's better than nothing! Oh,I forgot to say that I got nori,sushi seaweed sheets for sushi!!!

I've made this during November's Veggie Swap and this is cookgirl's recipe.I liked the speedy process and I had to leave out the chili pepper so my girls could try it (but unfortunately they didn't like it),but my green Mucho Mas Habanero was on hand.



Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1/4 cup water
1 green chili pepper, chopped coarsely (mild or spicy)
1 tablespoon lime juice or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup morelos' rice - I used long grain rice
2 cups vegetable broth or 2 cups chicken broth
salt, to taste

In a blender combine the parsley, cilantro, white onion, water, chili pepper, lime juice, and garlic.
Process until almost smooth. If necessary, stop blender and scrape down sides.

In a large saute pan heat the olive oil on medium heat. Saute the rice for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Heat up the broth and add to the rice along with the cilantro/parsley mixture.

Cover pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for approximately 20 minutes or unti rice is tender and liquid is absorded.

Once cooking is complete, turn off heat, keep pan on heating element for 10-15 minutes to allow rice grains to firm up.
Season with salt to taste.

I live in a place where raspberries are available in the summer time,it's just a 15 minutes walk from my home.I haven't been able to go much since I have my kids,but my parents's like to spend time outdoors and always bring us some too. This is the only cake that I've made with raspberries and I keep making it even in the winter with frozen ones.It's low in sugar and you can make it low fat too if you go for that yogurt.



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup yogurt
 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 cup  raspberry (fresh or frozen, if using frozen do not thaw)

In a bowl, combine the flour sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine the egg, yogurt, butter, and vanilla: add to dry ingredients just until moistened.
Spoon two-thirds of the batter into an 8-in round baking pan
Sprinkle the raspberries over the batter.

Spoon the remaining batter over the top.

Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched and is golden brown.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

I wasn't keeping it a secret (already posted about it in my Romanian blog),but we already set up the Christmas tree. This year,somehow,everything started so early and I'd rather have my kids feel the holidays spirit now and not after Christmas is over.
In Europe,on the night between December 5th and 6th St Nicholas comes.My Jenifer calls him Santa's little brother. He brings presents for the good kids and a stick for the naughty ones. So we set up the tree that evening.
In our family,we have a tradition:we collect Christmas decorations and share memories about them around the holidays.
I've received these ornaments from Laura,lalaloula as you might know her. It was last year around this time that we 've heard of eachother at the Holiday tag game and she wanted to send me a Christmas package because she thought I was a nice person. Now talk about nice,who the nicest person in this story is? Not a lot of people would do this.These beautiful ornaments were in the package and everybody here adores them.
The photo frame,comes from Toranosuke,my little student from Osaka,from the days when I use to teach there.I left Japan just when the Christmas holiday started and I was overwhelmed by the number of presents I received . I asked this kid's mother why she gave me a present and she said:"Because everytime you'll look at the frame you'll remember my son."And she was so right.

These are the cookies that we've made a couple of years ago with Jenifer.Did you notice her attention to detail? This year we'll try the cute animal cutters and I'll go shopping next week to search for the seasonal ones.

Tree is being decorated now.

Everyone's helping...

But someone got tired!
And here it is our little golden and red themed tree.I'm against having a real tree,I really see no sense in cutting a tree for a few days.

We still look for decorations but haven't seen anything special yet!

I had to share the beautiful cards that I got at the Holiday Card Swap. I decided that I won't send my relatives cards this year,since in the past I didn't even get a thank you. My kids really enjoyed looking in the mail box every day,they were kind of uses after I took part in the post card swap.
This card is from LeahMarie:
And the other one is from 4-H-Mom.

We're expecting even more cards since I signed up at Kittencal's as well,lots of friends there too. My daughter,Jenifer,is working on a couple of surprise cards that she wants to send.
I want to thank to the nice ladies that I was teamed up for their lovely cards.Happy Holidays!