Winter Photo Shoot.

Though I remembered to pack my camera, I forgot the manual in London. As I still haven't had a chance to take a photography course, my experimentation continues at the most basic of levels. Here are some of the photos I took over my holiday in the interior.

Fiddling with exposure...

An idea I saw on Pinterest that failed miserably.

Chris' favourite.

Close up of Arson

Winter Song.

A few of our favourite things.

Here are two of our favourite holiday recipes. My family loves these two recipes, and we make them every year without fail. This year we certainly devoured our fair share of the treats. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I had to make both of these twice, as we finished the first round before Christmas Day!

Peanut Butter Slice

Ingredients: 

2 Cups Semi Sweet chocolate chips

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup chopped unsalted peanuts

1 1/2 Cups Graham Wafer Crumbs

1 Cup Butter melted

1/3 Cup sifted icing sugar

Method:

Combine peanut butter, peanuts, graham wafer crumbs, butter, and icing sugar in a large bowl, and press into the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Place pan in fridge to cool.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler then spread over top of cooled peanut butter mixture.

*helpful hint: it is best to cut these into squares before the chocolate completely hardens or it becomes a very difficult task!

And the final product....bet you can't eat just one!

Granny Dorothy's Lemon Slice

(I love anything lemon, so this one is my absolute favourite)

Ingredients:

(Crust and topping)

1 1/2 Cups Graham Wafer Crumbs (yes, if you're making both recipes, just crushing them all up at once saves a lot of time)

1/2 Cup Melted Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

3/4 Cup Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/8 tsp Salt

(Filling)

1 tin Sweetened Condensed Milk (difficult to find in the UK!)

1/2 Cup lemon juice

1 tsp lemon rind

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Combine the ingredients for the crust and topping in a large bowl. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of an ungreased pan.

Mix the filling ingredients together, adding the lemon juice to the sweetened condensed milk, and stirring until the mixture thickens. 

Spread filling over bottom layer of crust.

Cover top of filling with the last 1/3 of the Graham Wafer mixture.

Place in oven, and cook for 25 mins. Let it cool, and then chill in the fridge. This slice is especially yummy / chewy taken directly from the freezer!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to grab a piece of lemon slice from the freezer. Shhh...don't tell!

Christmas day at Black Pine Ranch.

Here are just a few pictures from Christmas day at the ranch. It was definitely a white Christmas, snowing all day (17 inches at last measurement).

On Christmas morning, we woke at leisure, some more leisurely than others (I was pounced on by two brothers and a black spaniel), opened our stockings, and enjoyed yummy plates of eggs benedict. I'm pretty sure we didn't start the tree until close to 2pm. I'm a big fan of a long drawn out Christmas. The longer it lasts the better (others in my family may disagree).

Santa knows what the boys like!

Patrick kept us entertained...

...and so did Granny (Santa brought us all Kazoos...what was he thinking?!!)

When we finished our gift exchange, we had lost the sunlight, but there was still a need to stretch the legs. The boys headed out for a snowshoe, and mom, dad, and I, walked up the road to visit the horses and give them a little gift of some extra Christmas Hay.

View of the back side of the cabin from the road.

Prepping for dinner...

Turkey is out of the oven (16 lbs)

We ended the day with a huge Turkey dinner, a round of 'Guesstures', tea, and treats. After everyone else was asleep, I checked out Christmas day pictures of the Royal Family on their way to Church, and watched the Queen's address (shocking, I know). 

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and happy Boxing Day!

Happy Friday.

Back in Action.

My apologies for the mini hiatus, but I am still recovering from the worst cold I have had in quite a few years. As my friends (who've dared to keep me company watching chick flicks, and generally being lame) will vouch, it's an absolutely disgustingly phlegmy cold. It hit me like a wall, the Monday after my Christmas party, and is still lingering. As a result, I had to fly home sick (not fun), and miss both of the Christmas events I had planned in Vancouver last weekend. Needless to say I was less than pleased.

For this reason, today's post isn't a winner, but more of a warm-up as I get back into the swing of things. Please accept my apologies, as I empty my camera from the last week and a bit. From this point on, it will be nothing but Vancouver adventures until I head back to London on the first of January.

Working away in the studio

The Girls get together before 'Winter Chill'

Happy Birthday Zoe!

Bathroom Mug shot.

@ 'Winter Chill'

Quite the Venu. One Marylebone was the name of place. Check it out here.

Foggy Night walking home from the Train.

Waiting for the train before heading home for the Holiday.

Lastly, getting my wish- Snow in Vancouver!