Sunday, April 29, 2012

Fabulous Fleas!

I went to the 10th Annual Kingsway-Lambton United Church Flea Market this weekend, and needless to say I walked away with many an amazing find! I have been going to this market for the last four years, and it keeps getting better and better! I will be posting more about my deals this week, but here's a taste of some of the finds!

Leather Duffle Medical Bag, Meakin Platter, Burlap and Lace- Grand total $4

Amazing old frame that will be a mirror, or chalkboard or pushpin board- a steal at $1!!!

The most expensive item of the day, a sunny Italian rooster plate for $3


Hope you had a great weekend!



Thursday, April 26, 2012

A Tart Worth Sharing

No, i'm not talking about me or any other lady you know!

I made these tarts for a dinner we went to a couple of weekends back. The recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart Pies cookbook, but you can also find a version here.

At first I was a bit intimidated to make pastry cream, but it was actually really easy. Once made, I just piped it into my prepared tartlet shells (courtesy of Tenderflake) and topped with fruit and a mango jam glaze!

My only recommendation is don't make this recipe unless you're prepared to eat all of the tarts that day. They're really not that great refrigerated and consumed the next day.


Pastry Cream
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup whipped cream

1. Whisk egg yolk until smooth in a large bowl. In small pot mix sugar and cornstarch, slowly add milk and vanilla, cook on medium stirring constantly until mixture thickens and begins to bubble (too me about 8 minutes)

2. Temper the eggs by whisking in 1/3 of the milk mixture into the egg yolks. Pour egg mixture into remaining milk in pot, whisking until mixture comes to full boil and is thick (2-5 mins). Remove from heat

3. Strain mixture through a fine sieve, cover with parchment and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (I did a full day). Right before you use, whisk to soften and then fold in whipped cream to make it extra light!

For Tarts
1. Prepare shells as per directions...you could make your own as well, let cool
2. Rinse and let your berries dry
3. Pipe or spoon pastry cream into tartlet shells
4. Arrange your fruit as desired
5 Sprinkle with powdered sugar or brush with apricot or mango jam (that's been heated so it's of runny consistency)

Ta Da!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Sweet Escape

I was very excited to go to work yesterday, as we had Food Trucks coming to visit us at noon hour. If you haven't heard about the Food Truck craze, you need to look into it. It is crazy in the States and is really starting to catch on in Ontario. To learn more visit Toronto Food Trucks

I had an awesome grilled cheese sandwich from Gorilla Cheese, and then bought some cupcakes from Cupcake Diner. The chocolate one was by far my favourite, it had a chocolate salted carmel bacon frosting that was delicious!


Photo Credit: John Gravely Photography



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Sick Boy


Last night Boy-Cat was not feeling well, he wouldn't even come off his perch for a treat. It was sad, and we learned how worry-wort parents we're going to be one day. We let him sleep on the foot of our bed. Today I came home, and he greeted me at the door with a friendly meow...all is well in the world! (I think he knew we were going to take him to the vet if he wasn't better today!)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Prince Edward County- What we brought home!

Here is a picture of all of our loot from PEC! We visited some great places on our trip, and certainly had to bring a taste of the county home.


We picked up:
1. 2010 Medium Dry Riesling and 2007 Merlot from Huff Estates where we stayed
2. Some Raspberry and mango jam as well as a maple apple butter from Pat's Jams (now Price Edward County Fare
3. Delicious chocolates from Copper Kettle chocolates...the sponge toffee was amazing!
4. Maple Syrup and Old Cheddar Cheese (not pictured) from Black River Cheese
5. Peach apple waupoos cider from County Cider

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Prince Edward County- Antiques and Finds!

Welcome to the second post of three on our trip to Prince Edward County last weekend. Needless to say, I adored everything about this county and decidedly wanted to move in minutes! One of my favourite things we did when we were there was just drive the county roads and happen across many of the treasures this area had to offer. In my next post, i'll share some pictures of what we brought home, but this one shows you some of the Antique-related places we visited.

When you're driving around the county, you're bound to come across a few antique shops, but there was one I had to visit, just based on its name: "Dead People's Stuff". I had picked up their brochure years ago at Christie, and couldn't wait to check it out. It didn't disappoint, they have a great outdoor section, a "Mantiques" room to keep my better half entertained (so thoughtful) and they're currently working on a "Ladies Room" upstairs.

Old crates- I still have visions of making this happen at some point!

I really love the idea of a guest bedroom with two single beds and white picket fences as the headboards! Chris said no...we'll see what I can do to change his mind!



I have seen tons of great spaces with shutters lately like this, this and this


This was another stop along our journey. Be warned this is not an antique store, but I did manage to find a couple old jars, a great milk bottle and a few old books for under $10!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Prince Edward County- The Sights

This is the first of three posts on our trip last weekend to Prince Edward County. This is the Sights edition, I will also be posting about "What we Brought Home" and our Antiques visit. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked because somebody (not naming names) said I looked like a foreign exchange student and walked a number of feet ahead or behind me, hoping for disassociation!



This is the Regent Theatre in Picton. It is a beautiful old theatre (since 1918) that still plays movies and hosts many other local events today!



French Country was one of my favourite stores in Picton! It was absolutely gorgeous, and the shop owner has actually lived in France for many years. They had everything from french linens, scents, glassware and jewelry.




I took this shot for all my MTA/Sackville readers, as we had a Stedmans in Sackville, with a Frenchy's in the basement no-less and it brought back good memories!




This store puts brings the Island and the County together and reminded me of home just a little! Chris and I have a visit to PEI planned in July, and I can't wait to enjoy the Island!


This is the town hall in Bloomfield, erected in 1869! I tried taking numerous shots of this building, and it wasn't until we were in the car, parked in the middle of the road that I got this shot...somebody warmed up to the photo-taking and I couldn't have got this one without him! There's hope yet!


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Favourite Spot

We had a great time this weekend in Prince Edward County, I'm just reviewing my pictures which I hope to post in the next few days. I will be sharing some of the sights as well as sharing thoughts on places to visits and tastes to try. We picked up a few finds along the way which will also get posted!

I did manage to catch a cold on the last day, so i've been battling illness for the last few days, and trying to rest as much as possible.

When I uploaded my recent pictures, this one caught my eye. The brown blanket on the top of the couch is Boy-Cat's favourite spot...turns out Missy felt like testing it out that day!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!

I don't have many Easter decorations, so when I saw this block set on clearance at Winners last weekend, I thought it was just what I needed! Hoping you're all having a wonderful long weekend!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Small Towns

Chris and I are off to Prince Edward County this weekend! I have always wanted to go, so I am very much looking forward to checking out all of the local shops and restaurants. They're having Countylicious right now, so we've got reservations at one of the well known spots East & Main Bistro! You can look forward to the pics and stories next week.

I thought I would start out the week sharing some of the great pics we took when we went to another Small Town a few weeks ago; St. Jacob's Village. I had been to the market but never to the village, and they had some great sights! A tip for Antique Hunters- Hamel Brooms is not just a Broom shop:)







This was a very cool set of shops set up in an old flour silo!


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