Hi everyone,
Just a drop a quick note (a year later, ha-ha) that the continuation of this blog has moved to its new blogger home :)
Keep reading on http://homemadetrialsfiles.blogspot.ca/
Cheers,
Nadia
Monday, December 14, 2015
Friday, November 28, 2014
Advent Calendar - Kid's Edition
Wow, so it’s been AWHILE I posted anything here, but it’s that time of the year again – the festive season! I know that not everyone out there enjoys this time of the year (with the temperatures plummeting and the lack of sunshine outside), but I just love it. Just think about it – hot chocolate, warm socks, decorations and music.
It’s been more than a few weeks now that most of the stores started selling advent calendars, you know, the kind with chocolates in them. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE CHOCOLATE, but I think it’s not what the holiday season is about after all.
So this year I’ve decided to do something different. Miss V is 4 now, so she totally gets the concept of Christmas and gift-giving and such. I decided to create an advent calendar for her that it made up of activities (there’ll be some chocolate eating in there too, of course!). Some will be easy tasks (week nights) and others will be more elaborate (weekends).
There are LOTS of ideas out there, especially if you are a fan of Pinterest. I browsed some stuff, and after getting better acquainted with what this is all about, I’ve come up with something we’ll be doing this year – it’s cheap, it’s simple, anyone can do it!
What you’ll need:
* Festive paper bags – ours were purchased for $9.99 from IKEA; they even come with numbered stickers from 1 to 24, in case, like me, you want to use them for an advent calendar (so we’ll have 24 activities). Of course, you can always make your our bags, socks, pouches, whatever else your heart desires! :) I just don’t have that kind of time.
* Some sort of word-processing application and a printer (alternatively, you can just cut up pieces of paper and write out activities by hand; I did ours in a spreadsheet program and added a small embellishment of holly, I couldn't resist!).
* Ribbon (or something else to hang the activities).
Our activities:
(W designates 6 weekend day activities)
As you might notice, some of these activities aren't really activities (like, enjoying a candy cane, for example) and some are super easy or are repeated (reading a Christmas story), but given that we are busy during the week, we'll do just that - simple things to keep out advent countdown going.
I hope you enjoy our list - feel free to borrow some or all of it!
Happy Holidays everyone! :)
Read my older blog posts on the subject of Christmas here :)
It’s been more than a few weeks now that most of the stores started selling advent calendars, you know, the kind with chocolates in them. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE CHOCOLATE, but I think it’s not what the holiday season is about after all.
So this year I’ve decided to do something different. Miss V is 4 now, so she totally gets the concept of Christmas and gift-giving and such. I decided to create an advent calendar for her that it made up of activities (there’ll be some chocolate eating in there too, of course!). Some will be easy tasks (week nights) and others will be more elaborate (weekends).
There are LOTS of ideas out there, especially if you are a fan of Pinterest. I browsed some stuff, and after getting better acquainted with what this is all about, I’ve come up with something we’ll be doing this year – it’s cheap, it’s simple, anyone can do it!
What you’ll need:
* Festive paper bags – ours were purchased for $9.99 from IKEA; they even come with numbered stickers from 1 to 24, in case, like me, you want to use them for an advent calendar (so we’ll have 24 activities). Of course, you can always make your our bags, socks, pouches, whatever else your heart desires! :) I just don’t have that kind of time.
* Some sort of word-processing application and a printer (alternatively, you can just cut up pieces of paper and write out activities by hand; I did ours in a spreadsheet program and added a small embellishment of holly, I couldn't resist!).
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| Print them up & cut them up |
Our activities:
(W designates 6 weekend day activities)
- Decorate the tree
- Take a photo with Santa
- Make Christmas cookies (W)
- Build a gingerbread house
- Read a Christmas story
- Hang stockings
- Make paper snowflakes (here's how I usually do it)
- Buy a gift for charity
- Listen to Christmas music
- Buy a gift for daddy
- Buy a gift for mommy
- Make gifts for your teachers (W)
- Make & send special cards to babushka and deda (our out-of-country grandparents) (W)
- Read a Christmas story
- Snuggle with mom & dad by the fire
- Watch Christmas cartoons
- Enjoy a candy cane
- Give a gift to A (Miss V's special friend) (W)
- Buy Christmas jammies (W)
- Wrap presents
- Make special cards for your teachers (W)
- Read a Christmas story
- Drink hot chocolate
- Make s'mores
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| I lined up the bags into weekly rows and sorted the activities that way :) |
I hope you enjoy our list - feel free to borrow some or all of it!
Happy Holidays everyone! :)
Read my older blog posts on the subject of Christmas here :)
Friday, April 4, 2014
Russian-style Apple Pie
Yes, long-overdue, but here's another post! :D
This is probably the easiest thing you can make, I promise! I've tried a number of different apple pie recipes, but most North American recipes call for the typical crust-fruit-crust type of a pie. Being from Belarus, I'm used to more of a "mixed" pie variety (I might've commented on this before :P), some people would call that a tart.
I've made this Apple Pie before (a recipe from a Russian book I have), but it takes a bit of a commitment and I was feeling really lazy... So anyways, I was browsing on a Russian-language website and found this easy recipe of Sharlotka (aka Russian apple pie, or a Charlotte, if you will). I guarantee it, you'll love it! Minimal ingredients and depending on the type of apple you pick and the amount of sugar you use, it can be tart or sweet, or somewhere in between - the choice is yours!
.jpg)
This is probably the easiest thing you can make, I promise! I've tried a number of different apple pie recipes, but most North American recipes call for the typical crust-fruit-crust type of a pie. Being from Belarus, I'm used to more of a "mixed" pie variety (I might've commented on this before :P), some people would call that a tart.
I've made this Apple Pie before (a recipe from a Russian book I have), but it takes a bit of a commitment and I was feeling really lazy... So anyways, I was browsing on a Russian-language website and found this easy recipe of Sharlotka (aka Russian apple pie, or a Charlotte, if you will). I guarantee it, you'll love it! Minimal ingredients and depending on the type of apple you pick and the amount of sugar you use, it can be tart or sweet, or somewhere in between - the choice is yours!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Barcelona: Accommodations
I started my search for affordable accommodations as soon as I decided I wanted to go to Barcelona... Actually, no, I first considered Paris, and started looking for accommodations there. Prices in Paris are pretty steep (for me, anyways), even for February, so after having searched in vain for affordable accommodations in central Paris, I was pleasantly surprised how much of it is available in Barcelona (and I'm talking walking-distance-touristy part of Barcelona).
The options are plenty - hotels, hostels, inns, condos and so on. Of course, something like a condo might cost $400-500 per night; however, it often accommodates 6+ people, so you're looking at playing max $100 per night, if you travel in a group.
I read reviews, consulted various websites for deals, and eventually ended booking though Expedia.ca, which gave me an option to pay at the hotel (and the ability to cancel 24 hours prior). I ended up choosing Hotel Jazz, a slick and modern hotel just steps away from La Rambla, a busy tourist street, and almost everything else that you'd want to see here. Although this hotel is ranked as 3 stars, I personally feel that is a 3.5 :))) (they could probably make it a 4-star hotel, if they spent a bit of money and gave it a facelift). But we found our room to be comfortable and larger than expected! Even the beds were listed as "single" were wider that one would expect. And the hotel's location is just PRIMO!
The options are plenty - hotels, hostels, inns, condos and so on. Of course, something like a condo might cost $400-500 per night; however, it often accommodates 6+ people, so you're looking at playing max $100 per night, if you travel in a group.
I read reviews, consulted various websites for deals, and eventually ended booking though Expedia.ca, which gave me an option to pay at the hotel (and the ability to cancel 24 hours prior). I ended up choosing Hotel Jazz, a slick and modern hotel just steps away from La Rambla, a busy tourist street, and almost everything else that you'd want to see here. Although this hotel is ranked as 3 stars, I personally feel that is a 3.5 :))) (they could probably make it a 4-star hotel, if they spent a bit of money and gave it a facelift). But we found our room to be comfortable and larger than expected! Even the beds were listed as "single" were wider that one would expect. And the hotel's location is just PRIMO!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Barcelona Aquarium (L’Aquàrium de Barcelona)
So... I'm back! I won't bore you with the details of where I've been for the past 3+ months; as usual, I have too many grand plans, but little time.
Last week something happened that is actually worth sharing: I traveled to the beautiful Barcelona, Spain!!!
I spent 7 nights there and that definitely was NOT enough...
Let me share some highlights with you - up first, L’Aquàrium de Barcelona (Barcelona Aquarium). This place is great (this is my third aquarium) - cost: only €20. I say "only" because it's totally worth it given what it offers. First, its Oceanarium is unique in Europe and is its largest aquarium.
Here are its parameters:
Last week something happened that is actually worth sharing: I traveled to the beautiful Barcelona, Spain!!!
I spent 7 nights there and that definitely was NOT enough...
Let me share some highlights with you - up first, L’Aquàrium de Barcelona (Barcelona Aquarium). This place is great (this is my third aquarium) - cost: only €20. I say "only" because it's totally worth it given what it offers. First, its Oceanarium is unique in Europe and is its largest aquarium.
Here are its parameters:
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| Can you imagine - it holds 4,500,000 litres of water! |
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| My sister and I were able to take our time and set our camera for a nice shot |
Friday, October 25, 2013
Last days of autumn
This is my 15th autumn in Canada (wow... it felt weird writing that, AS IF it's been that long already!), and think this was by far the best fall weather I've experienced here. I figured it wouldn't last long, so we might as well enjoy it a little. Armed with my favourite possession, my camera, we headed just a short drive away to Gatineau Park a few weeks ago.
The colours on the hills and in the valley were breathtaking! We took a ski lift up & down (well, actually we thought of hiking down, but only mountain bikers could get off the lift at the top). Here are some photos for your enjoyment!
The colours on the hills and in the valley were breathtaking! We took a ski lift up & down (well, actually we thought of hiking down, but only mountain bikers could get off the lift at the top). Here are some photos for your enjoyment!
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| View from the ski lift |
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Green Tomato Relish
What can I say... This recipe is simply delicious and VERY unexpected also! Because the fall is upon us and because the temperature was starting to dip low at night, we figured that it was time to pick the remainder (a large remainder) of our tomatoes before they got damaged by the frost (never mind this AWESOME stretch of weather we're currently on!). Aside from a few really nice ripe fruits, we had lots of green tomatoes... lots!
What to do with all of them? The only thing we've ever really done with green tomatoes back in my native country was to pickle them (they are delicious, might I add!). But I felt like I wanted to do something interesting instead.
Once again, I scoured the Internet for an idea... I found 3 or 4 interesting things, but finally stopped at a recipe for a Green Tomato Relish. Although I WAS hesitant at first (I'm not a big fan of relish), but I decided to give it a try, and I was not disappointed that I did! It's sweet, yet soft and mild, there is something about it that makes me want to put it on everything!
Green Tomato Relish
What to do with all of them? The only thing we've ever really done with green tomatoes back in my native country was to pickle them (they are delicious, might I add!). But I felt like I wanted to do something interesting instead.
Once again, I scoured the Internet for an idea... I found 3 or 4 interesting things, but finally stopped at a recipe for a Green Tomato Relish. Although I WAS hesitant at first (I'm not a big fan of relish), but I decided to give it a try, and I was not disappointed that I did! It's sweet, yet soft and mild, there is something about it that makes me want to put it on everything!
Green Tomato Relish
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Homemade Salsa
HERE WE GO!
As promised, and a bit overdue, I'm sharing a recipe of salsa I made for the first time ever. I've never actually made salsa before - my adventures in preserving have mostly been in jams (posted here and here). But this year our garden provided us with an overabundance of tomatoes, so it was TIME to do something about it. After looking around the net for a few simple, but interesting recipe, I stopped at one that I felt would be a) easy to prep and b) easy to modify - I adopted (and tweaked) from the Stop Lookin Get Cookin blog.
And here it finally is!
(Note that I skipped the step of peeling the skins off tomatoes and I did NOT add sugar to the jars before pouring in the cooked salsa, in part because I just forgot, but also because there's enough sugar as it is.)
As promised, and a bit overdue, I'm sharing a recipe of salsa I made for the first time ever. I've never actually made salsa before - my adventures in preserving have mostly been in jams (posted here and here). But this year our garden provided us with an overabundance of tomatoes, so it was TIME to do something about it. After looking around the net for a few simple, but interesting recipe, I stopped at one that I felt would be a) easy to prep and b) easy to modify - I adopted (and tweaked) from the Stop Lookin Get Cookin blog.
And here it finally is!
(Note that I skipped the step of peeling the skins off tomatoes and I did NOT add sugar to the jars before pouring in the cooked salsa, in part because I just forgot, but also because there's enough sugar as it is.)
Homemade Salsa
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Quick update
My poor forgotten blog... well, not exactly forgotten, since I have been thinking of several things to share with you, but as usual, life got in the way!
(*** also, if you're wondering why the number of posts on my blog decreased, that's because I've decided to clean up a little and also to remove some photos of my little miss)
A few good "keeper" recipes ARE coming your way, I promise! But for now... Here are a few photos of this year's harvest :) We're definitely enjoying all of the yummy tomatoes; the biggest one we picked this year weighed in at an impressive 703 grams!
(*** also, if you're wondering why the number of posts on my blog decreased, that's because I've decided to clean up a little and also to remove some photos of my little miss)
A few good "keeper" recipes ARE coming your way, I promise! But for now... Here are a few photos of this year's harvest :) We're definitely enjoying all of the yummy tomatoes; the biggest one we picked this year weighed in at an impressive 703 grams!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Postcard Collection
Hello friends,
Just a quick update to tell you that I started another blog where I'll be sharing my awesome growing postcard collection! I think it's time you see how one can learn a little bit about the world without leaving the house.
Stay tuned as I post the images for my 250+ cards :) and I'll try to keep you up-to-date with weeklies.
Here's the link: Postcrossing World
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Russian Strawberry Compote
I remember when I was a young I used to LOVE when the first harvest of berries came around our dacha. My grandparents always had an abundance of strawberries growing in the yard. So usually, after we would feast ourselves on said berries, there were enough left over to prep and preserve them for the winter. There was LOTS of jam (and I'm making some this summer!), but there were also large 3L jars of berries compote.
This is my first time making this beverage (and if preserved properly, it keeps well into the winter months), so I decided to search for a recipe online. Of course, if you search for "strawberry compote", you will find a recipe for something that has a syrup-like consistency and is meant to be poared over pancakes, ice creams, etc. Though there is nothing wrong with that (yum!), it wasn't what I was looking for.
So instead, I ended up searching for "клубничный компот" and finding what I needed :)
(in Russian, of course). It looks and tastes more like a strawberry juice.
I hope you enjoy it as much I do!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Spring's in the air (and on our skin)
Most people have a bottle or two from last summer, hanging somewhere around the house. But before you slather yourself and your kiddies with that, there are few things that you should keep in mind:
Monday, February 25, 2013
Who doesn't like cake? ("Rotten Tree Stump Cake")
Playing catch-up has been tough so blogging's been on the back burner a little...
This recipe was supposed to be shared with you, oh... about a month and a half ago! But, of course, life got in the way.
While vacationing in Belarus in January, my sister and I (well, more like my sister ONLY, I was mostly taking photos) made a delicious cake, whose name doesn't do it justice.
I do hope you attempt to make it as it is SO so easy! Here's a little preview:
This recipe was supposed to be shared with you, oh... about a month and a half ago! But, of course, life got in the way.
While vacationing in Belarus in January, my sister and I (well, more like my sister ONLY, I was mostly taking photos) made a delicious cake, whose name doesn't do it justice.
I do hope you attempt to make it as it is SO so easy! Here's a little preview:
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Evening at the ballet
Those of you that have seen my list know that an outing to the ballet has made it on. However, it's been such a long time that I didn't even know where to start, whom to ask for company, etc. partly because we don't have a dedicated Opera & Ballet Theatre here, but mostly because it HAS been too long.
The ballet was called Бахчисарайский фонтан (English: The Fountain of Bakhchisarai) based on a poem by the same name written by A. Pushkin. The stage decorations, the costumes, the dancers - everything looked beautiful and well put together. It wasn't your typical classical "Swan Lake" sort of a ballet, it was full of colours and movement; I enjoyed the costumes being non-traditional, it was refreshing. This made me wanting to get back to seeing ballet more often (gotta check out what we have at NAC). Let me know if you're interested in joining me!
Here are just a few shots of what we enjoyed for 2.5 hours :)
(there is a LOT more to see)
Then my sister told me that she got tickets for my mom and I to go to the ballet while I visited them in Minsk. I was stoked! I've always loved that theatre and going there with my mom, just the two of us, would be nice; that too we haven't done in a long while.
Here are just a few shots of what we enjoyed for 2.5 hours :)
(there is a LOT more to see)
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| National Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Opera and Ballet of the Republic of Belarus |
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
North Pole, the New York state's edition :)
So to continue with some more of our trip to Lake Placid, NY... On our way to the Whiteface Mountain we passed a sight pointing to "North Pole". I immediately told hubby that will be our next stop after going up & down the mountain. After a bit of reluctance, he agreed.
(click on images to enlarge)
Only a short ride away, we drove up to the parking lot of Santa's Workshop. I gotta admit, it's a bit weird to be there surrounded by "elves" wearing Christmas hats when it's +20C outside and you're wearing sandals! :) To be honest, I forget how much our admission was, but our under-2 toddler was free-of-charge (which is funny, considering that most of the things inside are focused on entertaining children).
(click on images to enlarge)
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| Welcome to the North Pole! (one of many around the world) |
Only a short ride away, we drove up to the parking lot of Santa's Workshop. I gotta admit, it's a bit weird to be there surrounded by "elves" wearing Christmas hats when it's +20C outside and you're wearing sandals! :) To be honest, I forget how much our admission was, but our under-2 toddler was free-of-charge (which is funny, considering that most of the things inside are focused on entertaining children).
Friday, October 5, 2012
Our trip to Lake Placid, NY - Whiteface Mountain
There are tons of activities at Lake Placid as this is, afterall, a tourist village. The town itself seems fairly small; it feels like it was built specifically to serve the needs of athletes/tourists and be the Olympic village (who knows, maybe it was, I didn't ask). Actually, let me back up a step...
According to Wikipedia, Lake Placid, NY was founded in the early 19th century to help with operations of iron ore mining. A man by the name of Melvil Dewey founded a social & recreation club there (on Mirror Lake) in 1895, which drew rich & famous to the area. The Lake Placid Club was the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee for the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Many of the Olympic facilities are still in operation and offer unforgettable experiences for visitors (of course, some activities are rather $$$). There are also a number of sporting events and other festivals that take place every year.
Some people find it a bit weird that the village is called Lake Placid considering it's mostly on Mirror Lake...
But I digressed... First thing's first!
According to Wikipedia, Lake Placid, NY was founded in the early 19th century to help with operations of iron ore mining. A man by the name of Melvil Dewey founded a social & recreation club there (on Mirror Lake) in 1895, which drew rich & famous to the area. The Lake Placid Club was the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee for the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Many of the Olympic facilities are still in operation and offer unforgettable experiences for visitors (of course, some activities are rather $$$). There are also a number of sporting events and other festivals that take place every year.
Some people find it a bit weird that the village is called Lake Placid considering it's mostly on Mirror Lake...
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Our trip to Lake Placid, NY - Our Hotel
As promised, I'm going to tell you a little bit about our trip to Lake Placid, NY that we took over the long weekend of Labour Day!
We started out on the high: things were packed in advance and we actually left on, if not before, the time tha we were planning. The drive was smooth until we merged onto the Hwy 417 and stopped... for an hour and a half!... because some dummy rear-ended an OPP cruiser pulled over on the shoulder. Anyways, apparently there were no fatalities and after a long-ish detour we were back on course to the Canada-US border.
We eventually got to our hotel, tired and hungry, at around 5 pm. Let me tell you, the hotel was beautiful!!!
We stayed at Crowne Plaza Resort & Golf Club on top of the hill. Yes, it's pricier than other places in town (there are TONS of places at Lake Placid) - 2 nights here would've paid for 3 nights somewhere else - but we thought it was worth it!
Let me share some photos of this place:
We started out on the high: things were packed in advance and we actually left on, if not before, the time tha we were planning. The drive was smooth until we merged onto the Hwy 417 and stopped... for an hour and a half!... because some dummy rear-ended an OPP cruiser pulled over on the shoulder. Anyways, apparently there were no fatalities and after a long-ish detour we were back on course to the Canada-US border.
We eventually got to our hotel, tired and hungry, at around 5 pm. Let me tell you, the hotel was beautiful!!!
We stayed at Crowne Plaza Resort & Golf Club on top of the hill. Yes, it's pricier than other places in town (there are TONS of places at Lake Placid) - 2 nights here would've paid for 3 nights somewhere else - but we thought it was worth it!
Let me share some photos of this place:
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| The Great Room |
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Cherry Bomb Jello Shot
Past weekend, we finally had an adult party at our house, which to me means LOTS OF BOOZE, he-he :) Of course, there's your usual selection of beer, wine and hard liquor to mix with various juices... BUT I wanted something fun! Like the good old days when parties had jello shots, remember?! Also a kick-ass punch (stay tuned for that one).
I scoured the Internet in search for a perfect recipe... Finally, I came across 2, which I sort of combined (they had different quantities of ingredients, and only one of them had instructions)... Anyways, here is it!
I scoured the Internet in search for a perfect recipe... Finally, I came across 2, which I sort of combined (they had different quantities of ingredients, and only one of them had instructions)... Anyways, here is it!
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| Cherry Bomb Jello Shot |
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Russian Meat Pie
Let me start this post by saying that I've never done anything like this from scratch. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever having a truly homemade meat pie before either. Usually it's one of those prepared from frozen meat pies (which we don't often), and those are alright, but I've always found the top crust a bit... tasteless...
Now, I don't know whether this is a truly Russian recipe (it's probably not), but I found and translated this recipe from a Russian-language website. What intrigued me about it was the use of eggs - 6 eggs to be exact! (I know, what???!!!) - also the dough for its crust, which is a basic non-sweet pastry dough. One of the more important outcomes from this was that hubby liked it!!! Oh and did I mention that he does NOT eat eggs?
So, without further ado, here's the Russian Meat Pie recipe.
(as usual, click on the image to enlarge)
Now, I don't know whether this is a truly Russian recipe (it's probably not), but I found and translated this recipe from a Russian-language website. What intrigued me about it was the use of eggs - 6 eggs to be exact! (I know, what???!!!) - also the dough for its crust, which is a basic non-sweet pastry dough. One of the more important outcomes from this was that hubby liked it!!! Oh and did I mention that he does NOT eat eggs?
So, without further ado, here's the Russian Meat Pie recipe.
(as usual, click on the image to enlarge)
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| Meat pie, complete with delicious moist crust! |
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Mini stay-cation
Last weekend we were camping at Ivy Lea Campground at a Thousand Islands. What a beautiful place it is (not necessarily the campground itself, but rather the area it is in)! On our second day there we decided to be tourists for a day and go on one of those day cruises (well, 5.5 hours actually) and visit the Boldt Castle as well. What I didn’t realize, of course, is that this castle is located in the state of New York! Thankfully, I thought ahead and brought our Canadian passports as everyone getting off the boat at the island is required to go through passport control.
Let me tell you a little bit about our trip…
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