If you and yours are looking for something absolutely fun, wonderful and magical this holiday season, visit the small village of Warkworth!
Friday evenings beginning with the Festival of Trees and the Santa Claus Parade on December 1st, the village will be transformed. December 8, 15 and 22 there will be free wagon rides from S.O.S. Lounge located on Old Hastings Rd and they will proceed down to Church St and turn on to Main St. Here you can visit the quaint little shops which many will be open till 9pm for your late night shopping experiences. Children's activities will be held at The Town Hall. All sponsored by generous patrons within our community. There will be cookie decorating, face painting, a magician, ornament decorating and much more! Mulled wine will be served in the Metaphorhome parking lot and Santa will be at the Mews all bedecked for a Winter Woodland Wonderland! Our Lucky Stars will be hosting their famous pizza nights on Fridays and don't forget about Jeannine's Friday Night Dinners, Sper's chef Douglas Hope will spoil your palette with his delectable dinners. Justine at S.O.S. Lounge will surely entertain your soul with live music, spirits and yuletide merriment. Oh, cannot forget the pop-up shops, Oliebollen, hot cocoa....There is just so many activities... you will just have to visit Warkworth! I promise, YULE LOVE WARKWORTH!
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Last week I hosted a Paper Wreath Workshop and it was so much fun. The wreaths that I made for demonstrations are now available to purchase in the store. They are quite a hit, so I am planning on making a couple more in various sizes. In case you wanted to attend but missed it, no worries, below is a step by step tutorial. ![]() As with most things, we need to start somewhere. I found that in a lot of online tutorials, there was a lot of steps left out so one had to use their imagination to get to the next step. My hope here is that I can make this as easy as possible for y'all! First you find some cardboard which will become the backing for your wreath. Make sure it is clean and not from a pizza box! Take your cardboard and draw a circle on it for you to cut out. The bigger the circle the bigger the wreath. This tutorial is for a double layer wreath. You can make a smaller one, but I'm a fan of go big or go home! Once your circle has been cut out, make a smaller one. Like a doughnut and a hole! Put the cardboard aside as the fun part now begins. It's time to start rolling the paper into cones. I have used anywhere between 50 cones to over 100. Just depends on how big the paper is you use and how tightly you roll them. Please remember to be consistent with your sizes as it will appear on your wreath. I am using a large print Art History book for this wreath. It has lots of art pictures and with the contrast of the white, it will pop! Once you have rolled and rolled, and even rolled some more, it's time to add them to your cardboard. Apply some hot glue to your rolled piece of paper and position it on your cardboard doughnut. I like to glue mine on in a compass style. North, East, South and West. Then fill in the points between until it is filled in completely. The next step is to add another layer over this row by gluing a rolled cone in between each cone. This way it covers the gaps. Once your second level is done, it's time to start on your doughnut hole! Here I rolled the papers slightly tighter and started in the compass style again. ![]() Once one side is filled, I flipped over the circle and glued the cones on, but this time overlapping the points to make a tight centre. ![]() Once done it will look like a tight flower. Take the finished top layer of the wreath and hot glue it to the larger bottom portion of the wreath to make one large wreath.
![]() For the back, I glued on a bit of ribbon and some scrap felt. The felt reinforces the backing and gives the hanging ribbon a bit more strength. When finished, hang your masterpiece and enjoy! Made with an older book with the centre made of burlap and an old book cover. A smaller wreath made with only one layer. I used a small red burlap and a little stag toy.
Quick little rainy day table.
I accidentally broke the top of the table and it needed a small repair. Once glued with Gorilla Glue, I felt like it needed a new life. When raining outside and you are a wee bit bored, bust out the sandpaper and paint. I chose a cherry pink colour called Full Bloom. Once it was painted I put a graphite glaze on the flat surfaces and it is looking quite spiffy! She's all ready and available for her forever home. Truth be told, I cannot make a pretty pie. Try as I might, the crust is beyond my ability. I have made them with lard, shortening, butter...then thought maybe it's the type of counter or rolling pin. No, it was the handler each and every time. I usually stick to press-in shortbread crusts or really cheat and but the pre-made crusts that I can unroll and put into my own pan. You know, to make it look like I made it. Add a little bit of flour dusting to my apron and hair, and voila. That said, I hardly ever use canned fillings. I love making the blueberry fillings, the cherry, raisin... even the cavity inducing butterscotch filling. Last year I absolutely forgot about the Perfect Pie Contest and missed submitting one. This year.... I made it just in time to their cut off of 10:30 am! I submitted my entry at 10:20. As I said earlier, I do not make pies. My entry was not pretty. It was Perfectly Imperfect. Delicious, but not pretty. I made a Toasted Coconut Cream pie with a meringue top and a coconut shortbread crust. It was submitted into the Meringue Category. Fingers crossed! Either way, I enjoyed making it with my daughter who kept me entertained with her antics, except for when she dropped all the sugar onto the floor and my dog got a sugar high. Next year... I'm thinking one of my pot pies (which I am actually good at!) and a fruit one. As they say, practice makes perfect. Just in case you want the recipe: Coconut Custard Filling: 4 egg yolks 1/3 c. plus 2 tsp cornstarch 3 cups of whole milk (1 can of coconut milk + enough milk to equal 3 cups) 3/4 c sugar, plus 1 TBL 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla 2 TBL butter 1 c shredded coconut* I like mine toasted but either way works Whisk the yolks in a bowl, set aside. Stir cornstarch, sugar, salt together in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the milk carefully to avoid lumps. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat. Let it boil one minute, then add half the filling into the yolks, whisking to temper the yolks. Add the mixture back into the pan and cook over heat, boiling for another minute. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, butter, and coconut. Cool the filling slightly (about 30 minutes) and pour into a baked pie shell. Cover custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours until set. To toast coconut: spread sweetened, flaked coconut over a cookie sheet and put into a 400 degree oven. Stir occasionally and shake around until coconut is golden brown. Don’t walk away (I’ve burned many, many sheets of coconut walking away.) Cool before using as a topping. Pie Shell 1 cup all purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup confectioners sugar(powdered or icing sugar) 1/2 cup butter, cut into small chunks 1/4 cup reserved toasted coconut (can be left out) In a bowl, place the flour, sugar, coconut, and salt to combine. Add the cold butter and mix until the pastry starts to come together and form clumps. Transfer the pastry to a pan and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (Can use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the pastry.) Gently pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. (This will prevent the pastry crust from puffing up while it bakes.) Cover and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. (This will help prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust until golden brown, about 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. It is now ready to be filled. Meringue Use the 4 reserved egg whites from the coconut custard A dash of cream of tartar 1/4 tsp of lemon juice 1/4 cup of granulated sugar **I always use glass or metal bowls as plastic can retain a residue and your peaks will be limp. Add the lemon juice and using an egg beater, beat the egg whites until frothy. They should form what’s called soft peaks. Peaks are the "hills" that pull up when removing the beaters from the foam. You’ll know your peaks are soft when the tips gently fall over. Gradually add the sugar, 1-2 tbsp at a time until it is all incorporated and the peaks become glossy. Continue beating until the foam forms stiff peaks and all of the sugar has been dissolved. To test if the sugar has dissolved, rub the beaten meringue between your thumb and forefinger. If it feels gritty beat the eggs a few more seconds until smooth. Pile your meringue onto your warm dessert and bake at 425˚ F (218°C) for about 4 or 5 minutes - just enough to gently brown the peaks. |
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Hi, i'm jodi!I am a wife to a railroader, mother to two daughters, caretaker of two Golden Retrievers and a Himalayan cat. I live in a small town with a big heart. I enjoy antiquing, furniture re-habbing, D.I.Y's and painting. |