Pizza and a Movie

About a year ago we started a Friday night tradition of take out pizza and renting a movie. Despite the challenge of finding a movie suitable for everyone, we look forward to our family night together.

Gone are the days where we are pumped about it being Friday night, where we whip off the work clothes and throw on something a little more fun and head out to a friends house for a party or wine and dine the night away. Now-a-days, we look forward to the end of the week where we can put our feet up and relax for an evening. I am not sure where we got the idea for pizza and a movie. I 'm sure there are lots of families who do the same thing, but it has become a tradition that we all look forward to at the end of long week.
In an effort to Live Right Now, we have made a few adjustments to our ritual. Instead of getting takeout we make our own pizzas. I gotta say, it is more fun & creative and we have made some pretty amazing pies. We also stopped renting the movies from BBV and pick one from the On Demand Choices on the tv. This has saved us about $20 a week. I suspect our homemade pizzas are probably a few hundred calories lighter, definitely less salty.

I remember as a kid, no pizza parlour in the small town of Hartland, Mom would make us pizzas. One of my favorite combos was sliced hotdogs and dill pickles. Dill Pickles. I know. We ate dill pickles with almost everything so it only made sense to us to throw them on as a topping and it was good.

My tastes have changed a little. My favorite homemade pizza so far has been the shaved ham, fresh basil, black olives and 3 cheeses on a thin crust. I love the sweet basil leaves. The G's tend to make a meat lovers style on a thick crust, and black olives. There always has to be black olives on it. yum! I guess my tastes haven't changed that much, I've just switched the choice of fruit pickled in vinegar and brine.


Last night, lil' g made the pizzas while I threw together a ceasar salad. Mmmm extra cheese, way to go lil' g. And the movie? Well there is nothing funnier than Canadians making fun of the system and themselves. Dave Foley in The Wrong Guy was just the kind a humour we needed to end this long week.

Yes, It's a Good Day for singing a song

There are some songs that just make me feel good. Not necessarily new songs but songs that are infectious and no matter the mood I am in they always turn around when I hear these songs. One of my fav's is It's a Good Day by Peggy Lee. I can't help but feel great and all smiles when I here this song. Could it be the big band mixed with a bit of jazz? Could it be Peggy Lee's incredible voice. I can picture the band just hopping with excitement as they each take their solos.

Have you ever had a song make you feel that good? Sometimes it is an unusual suspect like His Eye is on the Sparrow when you here the chorus ..."so I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free..." I love singing this song and I love hearing it sung. Check out Lauren Hill and Tanya Blount's version.
Some feel good songs bring back happy memories like Feelin' Groovy by Simon and Garfunkel or Do Re Mi from the sound of music. Now if you really want to put a smile on your face, watch the flash mob version.
And then there is Ray Charles. I always hit repeat on Ray Charles tunes. I was driving home from Moncton the other day listening to CBC's shift program and they played Ray Charles singing You Are My Sunshine. You remember this from your childhood? I do. Kindergarten or preschool all of us little kids holding hands, standing in a circle singing, probably even swinging my arms back and forth.
So what is your favorite feel good song? Maybe it is Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobbi McFerrin or is it I'm Into Something Good by Herman's Hermits? What about Footloose by Kenny Loggins. That song always had people on the dance floor. And then there is The Proclaimer's I'm Gonna Be (500 miles). you may not know the words to the verses but you will shout out the chorus everytime...
"I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.
Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles
to fall down at your door"

The next time you are driving in your car and your feel good song comes on the radio or your playlist. Crank up the volume and sing like no one is listening. Guarenteed you will feel good.

Asparagus doesn't only come in a Can

Cream of Mushroom soup on toast, served with canned asparagus. That was a common meal at our house growing up. I didn't know asparagus could be bought or served any other way. It wasn't until my 20's when I moved to the city that I saw asparagus sandwiches served at social functions. ew.
These memories came to mind as I was pulling into Sobeys to pick up some missing ingredients for tonights dinner. Namely, Asparagus. I had the luxury of working from home today and I decided to soak in some of our new HD channels. Still in my pj's, I got comfy in my big red chair, turned the volume down low and worked on the quarterly return. The whole point of having the tv on in the first place was so that I could peek now and then to see what was on the telly. Most of the time it was white noise but then a cooking show came on. Yum. Stuffed chicken and pasta, eggplant parmegiano and you guessed it, asparagus.
I love to cook, I just don't seem to have time most days. (that sounds bad, of course we eat, but it's usually a quickie and out the door we go). I may not have followed the recipes on the show but I did whip up a pretty yummy meal. Basil Pesto Rotini and grilled chicken, slices of eggplant in bread crumbs and seasoning covered in parmegiano cheese and fried in a pan and roasted asparagus basted in balsimic vinegrette covered in pepper and asiago. In my mother's words "it was the best I ever made!"
When I told little g about the cream of mushroom on toast meal she curled her face up pretty tight. I actually liked this meal growing up in rural NB and I haven't had it since I moved out on my own 20 yrs ago. Hmmm, I wonder why? I wonder if I would still like it today? I'll let you know.

A cozy day

Well, the weather man was right. We got hit with another "weather bomb". We closed the store early and events all around the city were cancelled. The roads were nasty and I was happy to finally be home, safe and warm. Today the sun is shining and it is a winter wonderland outside. My g's just came in from shoveling, while I sit and write, curled up next to the woodstove.

The temperature dropped today, it's windy and cold. Why would I want to go outside when it is so cosy in here? It feels like the perfect day to do some baking. Simmer some applesauce, bake a pumpkin cake, and some biscuits too. They will go great with corn chowder.MmmmmCorn Chowder. A perfect winter meal. My mom gave me this recipe a few years ago and it has become a great hit. What's cool about it is that it is so creamy and yet not a drop of cream or milk in it. Add a little rosemary and cheddar to the biscuits and voila, the ideal winter meal.

Well, enough sitting here thinking about it, time to get cooking.