Blogmas Day 9

BLOGMAS DAY 9

My team at work normally consists of 1 partners, 8 managers, 11 staff and 2 admins.

But there was a snowfall warning for today so my team actually consisted of 1 partner, 2 managers, 4 staff and 1 admin!

Most were working from home, while others were away on training or already on Christmas break.

The forecast was 5 – 20 cm of snow to fall by end of day today, with us waking up to a blanket of snow.

The blanket never made it … but the day did produce steady flurries. I believe they said maybe 4 cm accumulated in the downtown core in total. When I was coming home, the back alley felt like an ice rink – it had been sleeting all day, not snowing!

I ended up grabbing a nice bowl of ramen noodles from the food court. And I’m sorry to say it was actually my first ever ramen bowl! It was really great and I think I will get it again.

This evening was again pretty mellow. I enjoyed a couple of vodka & sprites, and also made a new batch of mini quiches.

This batch contained spinach, onion, bacon, black & green olives … and topped with a bit of feta ~ damn they are good! Definitely a new obsession!!

Advent Calendar Day 9: Forever Nuts

“It looks all normal when it’s loose. But steep it and you’ll see that it’s nuts. Within seconds, this tempting jumble of almond slices and chunks, apple bits and cinnamon bark starts turning a crazy shade of pink. Why? Because it contains a hint of beetroot. That’s what gives this rich almond tea its earthy depth and its all-natural signature colour. Deliciously nutty, decidedly addictive.”

This is the first tea in this calendar that I’ve actually had before. And this is a tea that I seriously enjoy! I love the hearty nut flavor that this tea emits – it’s really robust and warming. And it’s caffeine free, so I can enjoy it later in the evening, such as tonight.

Tomorrow night is the company holiday party. I’ve excited to go and socialize.

Speaking of socializing … I have bought a ticket to the next Singles Night at The Belmont on Granville. It’s happening on December 22nd and I’m going with a co-worker … the girl who trained me when I first started. It’s the perfect time because, while I do have work the next day, I am assuming it will be a work-less day, and likely a half day!

Blogmas – Day 4

BLOGMAS DAY 4

Happy Sunday! Check out how Vancouver looked this morning (and stayed all day) – absolutely stunning … but in case you didn’t know … cloudless = cold. Kind of – it was still 7 degrees here, but it was breezy and chilly!

I decided to start the day off with my Tea Advent Calendar because today’s tea is listed as a stimulant!

Advent Calendar Day 4: Jumpy Monkey

“This brew gives you a tasty boost with a unique combination of exotic ingredients. It combines freshly roasted peaberry coffee beans with Argentine maté, and laces them with almonds, white chocolate and other roasted barks and roots. The result is sweet, rich and deliciously satisfying. Plus it’s a sweet treat you can enjoy guilt-free, as this blend has virtually no calories. No wonder they say maté makes you efficient.”

I’m not a coffee drinker because I highly dislike the taste. So when I opened this tin and saw coffee beans, my mind was set to dislike this blend. But after it sat in the hot water and did its thing, I was pleased. It was an ok tea – I could taste the mate for sure and a hint of coffee. I didn’t taste any white chocolate, almonds or anything. I felt like it could use a bit of honey or milk, but I don’t use anything in my teas. It’s not a tea that I look forward to having again, but it wasn’t horrible.

I’ve had quite the productive day! I made a list last night of chores I needed to accomplish (not specifically today, but before Christmas LOL) and I have managed to check off all but 2 boxes so far!

I’ve sorted and taken my recycling to the bins. I’ve mailed my Christmas cards. I’ve vacuumed and swept. I’ve cleaned off my window table to make room for recipe ingredients, as well as my recliner to make room for my furries to sleep (although, the clothes that had over-taken the recliner have only ended up on my bed for the time being!)

I also made the 2nd of 2 cookie recipes I wanted to make this weekend. They are the [Vegan] Molasses Cookies from the I Love Vegan site. I put [vegan] in square brackets because I didn’t make them vegan.

After yesterday’s not-so-stellar turn out of sugar cookies, I was a little reluctant, but needed to continue on …

This shows the dry ingredients before mixing. Quite a simple recipe …

And these turned out great! They call to bake for 8 – 10 minutes, so I set the timer for 8 minutes. At that point, they seemed like they weren’t quite baked enough, so I kept them in for 1 more minute. They were great, but now that I’ve tasted them, I think that 8 minutes would be better to hopefully produce a softer cookie.

This recipe calls for the dough balls to be rolled in raw sugar, but I only had regular sugar (as pictured above), so I think I’ll venture out and find some different sugar for next time … something a bit bigger! But these are great cookies and I would absolutely recommend this recipe.

I then moved on to icing the sugar cookies from yesterday since I had the cookies and the icing was already made. I plan on freezing these decorated cookies with hopes they thaw nicely for a work Christmas social in about 1 1/2 weeks. I’ll also be bringing the molasses cookies to the event.

I will make both these recipes again before Christmas so that I can take something to my parents when I go home, and so that I can try the changes in rolling/cutting/baking, etc. Icing the sugar cookies was the first time I iced using a make-shift icing bag! I put the prepared icing into a ziplock bag and cut a small bit off one tip and voila! Piping bag!

Lastly, a co-worker brought quiche to our monthly Breakfast Club on Friday and it made me want more! Then I happened upon a mini quiche recipe this morning … so I figure why not!

I had a small amount of bacon in the freezer, so I thawed and cooked it. And I had some pre-made mini pie shells in the freezer, so out they came to thaw, as well! The recipe claims to make 24 mini quiches, but they also suggest using a mini muffin tin … so they would be much smaller than the mini pie shells I used.

This recipe came from Christmas 2016 edition of the Taste of Home “Holiday” magazine (my changes are listed in BLUE):

Ham’n’Cheese Quiches

Ingredients:

Crust (As mentioned above, I used pre-made frozen mini pie shells)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 jar (5 oz.) process sharp cheese spread
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp water

In a small bowl, cut butter and cheese spread into flour until well blended. Add water and toss with a fork until a ball forms. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Press tablespoons onto the bottom and up the sides of greased mini muffin cups.

Filling

• 1 large egg (2 large eggs)
• 1/2 cup milk (1 cup milk)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper to flavor)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped ham (4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped)
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (medium Cheddar)

In a bowl, beat the egg, milk and salt. Stir in ham and cheese. Spoon by rounded teaspoonful into each shell (I ended up using close to 2 tablespoons each shell). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Now, I have read that these will last for 3 – 4 days, and I’m hoping to have 2 a day for the week (I had 2 today to make sure they were tasty!) and I worry that the last 4th – 5th day could be too long … so I’ve also read that you can freeze quiche. So I think I’ll freeze 2 days worth, just to be sure I don’t give myself food poisoning!

These were very good, and I will make them again. But next time, I’ll also use sautéed onion and some fresh spinach … this will make it so I may only need 1 or 1 1/2 eggs.

No plans this evening, aside from perhaps a load of laundry.