Dinner was a spicy one today! I wanted something quick and easy and this recipe for spiced halloumi and pineapple burgers caught my eye. I love halloumi and a burger is generally quick and easy to make. I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients so I winged it. I mixed lime juice, salt, pepper and a pinch of chilli flakes together with a couple handfuls of spinach. I had baby carrots in the fridge and chopped them up to mix with the lime mixture and added a tablespoon of avocado oil.
I was cooking for two so I tossed a couple slices of canned pineapple rings and halloumi into a frying pan with a generous squirt of hot sauce to both sides. I fried it until the halloumi and pineapple were browned on both sides.
The recipe called for chipotle paste on the pineapple and cheese, which I didn’t have, so I used this hot sauce that I already had.
I didn’t have burger buns, but I did have English muffins – good enough. I added the halloumi and grilled pineapple to my English muffin.
Added a handful of the side salad.
And voila – there was dinner. It was okay. I’m sure if I followed the original recipe it would have been way better.
I was craving dessert and since I have been skipping lunches again, I went with it. I picked up a big slice of cake from a bakery and split it with Mr Lobster Shorts. I usually love the baked goods from this bakery, but this slice of cake wasn’t one I liked that much and I only had a couple bites.
Pen and cake: I made them this weekend. The most impressive thing about this cake is that it only has 2 TBSP of sugar! The rest of it was sweetened with orange juice. The recipe (found here on youtube) didn’t call for any salt, but I added 1/2 a teaspoon. It felt strange not having salt, you know? I have never baked with citrus and wasn’t sure how it would turn out leaving the rind on. I peeled half the slices so I could compare and I definitely preferred the rind off. The rind was chewy and didn’t break apart with a fork while eating it, but it wasn’t bitter. If I make this cake again, I would make it with peeled and segmented oranges instead of sliced with rind. It was sweet, but not too sweet. The only sugar was sprinkled over the orange slices. I was so impressed! It was good, but not amazing. Just good. I used Cara oranges from Costco, which are super flavourful, juicy, and sweet. So so good. It took four oranges altogether. Two for the juice (what sweetened the cake) and two to slice.
And look! I’ve made my first pen! I did a pretty good job on my first try. If you zoom in, you can see the barrel is a little ridgy and banded. I couldn’t get it turned very even on the lathe and didn’t have the right sandpaper to fix the mistakes. I’ll know next time.
It was my first time using a lathe. I watched a lot of videos about pen turning and what I would need. I’m glad I did because there were a couple attachments I needed. I’d never heard of things like chucks and pen mandrels before. I wasn’t even aware I could make a pen at home until a lovely friend of mine gifted me a beautiful fountain pen turned by her father-in-law. I went down a rabbit hole. The first video I clicked on from YouTube was The Pen Nook’s How To Make A Fountain Pen. Lucky for me, I believe this YouTuber is a fellow Cannuck and the product links was for a Canadian store. I bought the basic starter kit that was specifically for my type of lathe and a couple other things I needed.
The kit came with enough products to make five pens. I chose this orange block of wood (I believe it’s Padauk). The wood block with the most distrinct stripes is my favourite. I’m saving that one for when I’ve had the most practice.
The first thing I needed to do was cut the pen blank. I don’t have the appropriate saw, so I used a mitre saw I already had. I find this saw intimidating, I find all power tools intimidating, but I want to use them. I’m embarrassed to say I needed a lot of supervision. My spouse had to keep reminding me to take the chuck keys off the lathe before I turned it on. I almost did that three times. They are not attached and would fly off after turning the lathe on. I also forgot to secure the tailstock once. Luckily Jay caught that too before I turned on the lathe. I’m getting better, I was trying to cut this piece of wood in half, but it ended up being way off centre. Both pieces were still long enough to make the pen though and I used the lathe to make the rest of it. Some people use a drill press to cut the holes down the centre of the pen blanks, but I used the lathe to drill it out. The drill bit was super sharp and poor Jay cut his hand while he was moving the lathe into the garage. Now I know why it had a safety tip on the end.
I see beautiful pens in my future. Beautiful pens, beautiful paper. All the more meaningful when I write letters to my wonderful friends. As for my first pen, my spouse is taking it to work with him. He asked if he could have it. He really liked it. That made me so happy and my heart melt. He earned it after all. His blood was literally drilled into this very pen. I’m hoping all future pens are free of blood sacrifices. Just love.
Antiquing is a fun adventure. I went to the St Jacob’s Market Road Antique mall. I can spend hours browsing through the stalls. I usually stay in the aisle and peak in. I’m terrified of breaking something. I’m clumsy afterall. I documented the things that caught my eye and that I loved the most. I’m going to post the photos of my favourites. There is one winner in the bunch. I hope you enjoy guessing which one I take home. I’ll post the winning item at the end.
These beautiful paperweights were mentioned in my last post. I love the blue one most of all, the colour is stunning. I’m sure the most sought after paperweights are the ones without air bubbles, but I loved this one. I could stare into that deep deep blue for hours. The purple one is pretty too.
This tomato tea pot set… would I buy it? Not in a million years, but it did make me smile. Adorable, fun to look at, but not my style. I hope someone else more whimsical than myself finds it and takes it home. I hope they laugh about it with their friends whenever they use it.
In this stall it was the two perfume bottles in the back that I liked. Both are very cool. The spikey one has been carved to look like a building inside the stopper and the other I love it for the big chunky stopper. How can I resist a showy stopper?
These pretty peacock feathers
This gorgeous inkwell stationery stand! I believe it’s brass. This would be so beautiful on a desk. As someone who loves writing letters, this would be a great addition. Something I look for in antiques besides being beautiful, is the need to be functional. I want to use it.
I have no idea what these are, but they look neat. The tag said something about wine, or wine glasses. Seriously, what are these?
This super creepy shelf of ceramic serving ware. I can’t really fathom why I find them so disturbing, likely the lumpy shapes. It looks like the stuff of nightmares and I like it.
These beautiful wine glasses. The colour! Whoever put this shelf together is an artist. I love the way they paired everything together, the green and blue, the brass. I want to sit in a room like this and take it all in (sipping wine in one of these beautiful glasses of course).
What wonderfully cool bottles! Also a little creepy. Am I sensing a trend here? Do I like slightly creepy things? Of course I do. I like the way they are grouped together, my favourite being on the far right. The lumpy bottle. I love it.
This clown pin – another creepy cool thing I like.
Glass mermaid candle holders. Do I love them? Yes! Yes I do! I love them. Creepy? Yep. I really want them. I would put them on either side of the silver candelabra I have and they would look wonderful all together. What a wonderful candle light dinner. I REALLY want these.
This pretty perfume bottle with the glass stopper and gorgeous colours.
A beautiful hawk shirt/dress thing. A stunning item of clothing that I would love to own. It’s in fantastic condition and I would love wearing it.
These beautiful bottles. I love the colour of the purple one. I love all the big bottles. I have so many more items I loved and photographed, but this is getting long and there was only one winner… and it is….
This stunner of a perfume bottle! Yes she does have cracks and I love her anyway. The cracks seem to be on the inside only, the outside is as smooth as… well… glass. It’s going to store ink like my other bottle and I’m not concerned about it leaking.
The colours make my heart happy and the stopper has a silicone gasket which should help prevent ink from evaporating. As for the mermaid candle holders, I REALLY wanted them, but alas, they are out of my price range. They were $375 Canadian and they were fantastic. I’m not into mermaids, but I really liked them. One day… if they’re still there.
I love browsing through antique malls and looking at all the pretty vintage items. The things that catch my eye the most are inkwell stands, tea cups and saucers, and perfume bottles (even though I don’t wear perfume). A place I love to browse is Market Road Antiques in St Jacobs. There are tons of stands to look through, which means there is a big variety of items to see. I have been a few times and spotted a purple glass bottle and bejewelled hair pins that I had been thinking about. I went back to the antique store and unfortunately, the hairpins were gone, but the purple bottle was still there. The bottle wasn’t quite right for what I wanted it for – ink storage. The part that holds the liquid was too big and it would be hard to get the ink out or make evaporation problems worse. Storing ink in a perfume bottle is not ideal. Especially if the stopper is glass and doesn’t create an air-tight seal. The ink will evaporate a lot faster than it should, but I went ahead and did it anyway.
This beautiful amber-coloured glass bottle was locked in a glass display case. I’m quite sure I said out loud “I want that” the first time I saw it. It came with a hefty price tag, $75 Canadian dollars. That seemed on the expensive side for a glass bottle. I found out that it was this price because it was part of a two-piece set. I walked around browsing all the booths and kept circling back to the display case wondering if I was really planning on buying a $75 bottle. There were so many beautiful bottles to look at, most of them clear glass. The clear glass bottles were priced way better (around $25), but the amber glass one, was just that much more beautiful to me. I spotted a spikey triangle glass bottle that I was trying to find again, but for the life of me, I could not find it. If you’re ever in a large antique mall and see something you like, take a photo of the booth number, because that spikey bottle went missing despite my searching.
The third and final time I passed the display case one of the agents saw me drooling over it and offered to open the case so I could see it better. I knew I knew if she opened that case, this bottle was coming home with me. Well, she did and I found out the bottle was part of a two-piece set. That did make the price a little more reasonable. I told her I was planning to store ink in the bottle and how I was obsessed with fountain pens. Turns out I’m not the only one. We have the same book and love some of the same stores.
She showed me photos of some of the ink she had made out of the book, I had always wanted to make the blue ink, but hadn’t yet. Hers turned out crystal clear and beautiful. I can imagine how pretty it would look on brilliant white paper. I can’t wait to make it. I feel like I’ve met my crafting hobby soul twin. So of course I bought the bottle. The ink will likely not store very well, so I was sure not to use a favourite ink. I put a really pretty purple ink in it that didn’t have any shimmer or other properties, it was a straight-up solid colour without any extra pizzazz. It looks pretty cool too. I love this bottle and have no regrets (I’m also hoping beyond hope that I don’t knock it over. There is nothing to prevent a spill).
The other bottle I’ve gotten recently was a birthday present from Mr Lobster Shorts. This is the Twisbi Diamond 50 Inkwell. I’m not sure if he got it from Amazon or Wonderpens, but I absolutely love it. This bottle should prevent inky fingers (the video at the top of this post is a demo on how to use it) one of the frustrating parts about fountain pens. Filling your pens can be messy if you don’t use cartridges, like me. I love it.
As for the second part of the glass items. My guess…. ashtray? It’s going to be used to store my fountain pen converters. I have a couple of them loose floating around in a drawer in my desk. This will bunch them together nicely and double as a paperweight. They had gorgeous paperweights at the antique mall, but they are not something I’d use, yet stunning all the same).
I’m going to use this pretty green pen and fill it up with the converter on the bottom of the photo, from the Twisbi bottle. The converter on the top part of the photo will work perfectly to get ink from the glass inkwell. You could also just stick your pen nib right in there and fill it up that way, the opening was large enough, but I prefer filling directly from the converter.
As for the two empty ink bottles, I’m saving them for when I make my own ink and the samples you can buy at the pen stores.
Secret mission number three of giving my spouse a Winter he loves was a dinner date at The Village Biergarten in St Jacobs.
For only $10 extra you can rent a heated outdoor igloo on the patio. The fee is incredibly low and you can rent the tent for up to eight people for around two hours.
To start, we ordered a tray of mac and cheese croquettes – they were okay. For drinks, Mr. Lobster Shorts ordered a beer and I a white wine sangria – yum!
We both ordered vegetarian burgers for the entree, which were really good. I would definitely go back if I was craving a burger, we both loved them. For a non-veg restaurant with a fairly small menu, it was really fantastic to see two veggie burger options. I got the falafel burger and he the portabello burger. We are both wearing our coats in these photos, but the igloo was pretty warm and toasty. I was not cold. There were only two of us and we were there for under an hour. You can see a lot of condensation on the inside of the igloo(we are full of hot air). When we were ready to leave, the condensation was beginning to drop down. It was starting to rain indoors. If you were a larger group and were planning to stay in the igloo for the entire time you rented it, you might get a little damp.
It was a fun experience and for only $10 extra it was defiitely worth it. I would do it again.
The town of St Jacobs is an incredible place to visit. The whole town looked like it was a movie set for a Christmas movie. I loved it. While we were there we picked up some hot sauces from Taste The 4th Sense, to do a spicy sauce challenge. I posted the video above if you want to watch us challenge ourselves to some spicy delights.
This weekend we celebrated our puppy’s first birthday and the weather turned towards real Winter. It’s still technically Fall here, but November is usually when the real cold starts. It was -5 today, which is not bad, but it’s also windy, making it feel colder.
I had a cavity repaired on Saturday which brought us to the city, and we decided to go shopping for Winter coats. Sport Chek was having a huge sale and I got the coat I wanted for 40%-45% off! I was so happy and it is so warm. Mr Lobster Shorts found one too.
I was in the mood for warm and hearty when we arrived back home. I made soup from yellow lentils (moong dal), potatoes, cauliflower, vegetable soup cubes, potatoes, spinach, and a heaping scoop of curry powder. It was my intention to put a can of coconut milk in the soup, but it was fine without it. It was delicious. I turned off the lights, lit the candelabra, and loved how cozy it made the table. The bread was a multigrain loaf from the grocery store and it was delightful. It was a romantic, cozy ending to the day. We curled up on the couch together to watch a movie but were both falling asleep before it ended.
Sunday started with this super simple, delicious breakfast made with sweet potatoes, I got the recipe here. It was yummy and easy! We made one for the dogs too (minus the blueberries for Otis. He gets explosive diarrhea from blueberries. Although I’m pretty sure after all the sweet potatoes and cupcakes, we’re going to be waking up to something horrible tomorrow morning). Sunday is usually pancake day for the whole family and the dogs love it. They circle the table and kitchen like sharks until it’s their turn. They are not patient. Today we had something a little different. We all loved it, puppies too. Aren’t blueberries and sweet potatoes such a pretty mix of colour?
After breakfast, we took the dogs for a trek through the woods and tested out the new Winter coats. They did really well! We were both toasty warm. Otis still fit in last year’s boots thank goodness. For a street dog, he’s got sensitive little toes! Oliver doesn’t need them unless there is a lot of salt. The pups had fun in all the snow and didn’t seem bothered by the cold at all. I figured Otis would be okay, with his thick golden retriever fur, but Oliver is half-spaniel and his coat isn’t very thick. No coat, no shoes, no problem. He wasn’t cold at all.
Lunch was the leftovers from last night’s dinner (minus the candlelight). Isn’t soup always better the next day?
Oliver was wondering why we weren’t sharing lunch with him! He IS the birthday boy.
Doesn’t Otis look adorable in a birthday hat? This only lasted long enough to snap the photo, then he pawed it off his head.
Oliver was less chill about the hat. His expression here says it all. He took off running with the hat in his mouth after the photo. We had to chase him down before he ate it. Good times little buddy!
Birthday shenanigans ended with mini vanilla cupcakes (from the grocery store) and a new toy. Both dogs are currently having a late afternoon nap sleeping off their treats and morning walk. I’m sitting in a beam of sunlight enjoying a hot cup of tea, content.
The first snowfall and the second mission. My next attempt to secretly have my spouse fall in love with Winter was very delayed. Every weekend we had an event or obligation to attend. It kept us very busy. This last weekend we had zero plans and we were so excited to stay home. No driving, all relaxing.
This weekend just so happened to coincide with the first snowfall of the season. It wasn’t supposed to snow until Sunday, but Saturday I saw the first flakes start to fall and hollered for Mr. Lobster Shorts to come outside and give me a smooch. I highly recommend smooching your love during the first snowfall. It’s romantic, exciting, and gives the warm fuzzies.
Our relaxing weekend involved dinner dates, working on personal projects, and spending time together. Secret mission to make my spouse love winter – number two, was a romantic walk through the woods. How perfect for the first snowfall! It was a fantastic snowfall too. Usually, the first snowfall melts as soon as it touches the ground. Not this one! It snowed enough to accumulate. The woods were beautiful! It was above freezing during our walk and the snow was falling out of the trees. The sound of it was splendid and the air heavy and muffled like a comforting blanket.
I loved it and my spouse had a nice time too. I know he doesn’t love Winter yet, but perhaps he hates it just a little less? I already know what the next Wintery surprise will be and I’m sure he’ll love it.
Secret mission to have my spouse love winter. Mission one: infusing the Halloween spirit
I wasn’t sure this one was going to fly. My guy thinks some of my ideas can be over the top. I thought building a giant spider for Halloween would be one of those ideas that was “too much” for him. I am so thrilled I was wrong. He loved the idea and we built Esther together out of tarp, a beach ball, and yoga ball. She turned out pretty good! The eyes light up and the mandibles are hot glued on. I’m so keen to see it lit up.
If you want to see the rest of the decorations I’ll post a video below. I will get a night video closer to Halloween with everything lit up and the fog machine going.
It was a ton of fun for us and I’m we’re so looking forward to the trick or treaters coming.
I like Winter. I love it in fact. It’s a source of endless fun and beauty. My spouse doesn’t see past the frigid temps and dark days. I strongly suspect this stems from his dislike of winter clothing, therefore he’s cold, wet, and uncomfortable outside. You need to dress for the weather people! Layer layer layer!
My mission this Fall/Winter season is to show the guy a good time. I’ve got a list started of all the things I think we would have fun doing. Some of them we’ve done before and others we’ve never tried. I’ve added snowmobiling to the list. I’ve never done it before and I’m not sure he has either. Sounds like a good time. I’m sure you could go out and rent one somewhere. I’ll need to do a little research. It’s a good idea to give google a shot. I’ve discovered outdoor patio igloos (plastic igloos, not the snow kind – sadly) at a craft brewery, here in Ontario. Yes, please! That sounds like a hoot! There are some typical winter activities on the list too, like skiing, snowshoeing (never did this as an adult), and Winter hiking. I’m probably going to skip skating, but it’s not completely crossed off. There is an ice wine festival in the winter I’m looking forward to as well. There are so many fun and exciting things out there waiting to be discovered.
Not everything is outdoors. I’ve added the Value Village date to the list of things to do. If you haven’t heard of that one, it’s where you take your partner, or friend to Value Village and pick out each other’s outfits (show no mercy) and then wear them out (maybe to brunch!). Holiday decorating and baking cookies is for sure on the list of things to do. And as it’s currently still October – there will be some scary movies to watch together. The traditional Christmas Eve at chez Lobster Shorts is watching Krampus.
The plan: to get a fun Fall/Winter activity in on the weekends and a few mixed in mid week. I’m not going to tell him what we’re doing, I’m going to tell him what he needs to wear and where to go and it will be a surprise. Maybe, just maybe, by the end of the season, he’ll love winter as much as I do
Disclaimer. I am not a medical professional, nutritionist, or anyone with any business giving diet/nutritional advice. This is my own personal journey. When it comes to yourself, seek the advice of a medical professiona
Shark week started today. I mean it sort of started yesterday but wasn’t really fully committed yet. Today it came full steam ahead, but with only minor cramps. I’m pretty sure there are fewer cramps because of all the lattes I’ve been drinking lately. More calcium seems to make a big difference for me. This evening I had a delicious matcha latte sweetened with maple syrup while working on the 3000-piece puzzle. Still not done yet and I miss my table.
Today’s fine dining pleasures consisted of an English muffin with egg and avocado, black coffee, lots of tea and sparkling water, a can of chili, apple sauce, and a granola bar. I had a bit of time before I met up with Mr. Lobster Shorts so I headed to a local gourmet shop (Vincenzo’s) looking for rosewater and espresso beans. They grind their beans for you at the shop while you wait. I kept smelling the bag on the way home. I love the smell of coffee beans. I picked up the rosewater because I want to make some sort of floral cookie this weekend. I don’t even know if I’ll need that, but I probably will and if not, I’m sure I’ll find something to do with it.
I was feeling worn out from shark week and walking the dogs, so my spouse offered to make dinner. We both love gnocchi and he’s been super excited to try the gnocchi dinner from Hello Fresh. He followed my request and gave me a 75% smaller portion than his. The calories on the bag per serving were 690 calories. Since I didn’t make dinner and I forgot to ask him if the gnocchi was in a separate bag with a separate calorie count, this could in fact be way higher in calories than I think it is. I left the calorie count as a full serving to try and make up the calorie difference if there was one.
Wednesday
Calories
english muffin
140
egg
78
avocado
160
chili
400
apple sauce
45
granola bar
150
apple sauce
45
hello fresh gnocchi
690
matcha latte
205
orange juice
50
total calories
1963
Here is a chart with my calories for the day. Again it might be way higher. I wanted something comforting before bed and that’s when I had the matcha latte. I was also thirsty and had about 1/2 a cup of orange juice.
Lobster Shorts 