chocolate gingerbread bars and fish cakes

I made these Chocolate Gingerbread Bars on the weekend. Thumbs up!
And last night for supper I whipped up some fantastic fish cakes. I didn't use a recipe, and they were amazing. I have no idea of amounts for the ingredients, but they're made using mashed potatoes, cooked haddock, lots of dill, a couple of eggs, salt, pepper, a splash of tabasco, and pan fried in olive oil. I combined relish and mayo for a homemade tartar sauce, too. If I'd made the mayo myself, it would be hardcore homemade, but I didn't have time. They were served with roasted broccoli, made like this. Also absolutely delicious.

What did you eat this week that was delicious?

getting in the spirit

This is our Christmas tree, minimally adorned, and quite lovely, I think. It reminds me of Pia and all of her beautiful winter whites. The really strange thing about it is that it's on our dining room table. Um, and in a juice pitcher (which is now covered with a scarf). I am so elegant.
I had a few moment's peace yesterday afternoon after work. I sat down with this month's Country Living, The Herb Companion, and Love in the Time of Cholera (just in case I managed to finish the other two, which I did not.) And, of course, a cup of Egyptian Licorice tea.
I bought a return address stamp from Sweet Papery not too long ago, and card inspiration struck yesterday, so I wrote some Christmas cards. How cute is that stamp? It even has the shape of our house. Most of them have this image enclosed:
If you receive one, you can act surprised and as though you've never seen it before.
I've been whipping up all sorts of things as of late. Above are some custom bath bombs, and below is a fantastic olive oil lotion I concocted the other day for my mother-in-law. I can't say enough good things about it. It turned out exactly as I hoped. You can read more details about it and get the recipe here. As you probably know, I choose to avoid unnecessary and scary ingredients in beauty products, and by making this in small batches I can skip the preservatives. Nice. That's also the reason why I won't be selling it - I would need to be able to control any nasties which might decide to take up residence. I'm eager to see how it holds up.

*sniff* *blowing of nose* *sniff*

I still don't know if we're going to get a 'real' tree this year. This may turn into our tree. It's a few branches from our Quince, strung with a sweet beaded garland. I had a beautiful, simple, modern picture in my head, but now that it's together, it looks a bit too much like cobwebs on the branches. I think the addition of a few ornaments might be called for. More pictures to come.
A better picture of the tealight thing I posted last week.
And we do have a green tree; a tiny little Norfolk Pine. It's on the kitchen table, and when P notices it, he says "kiss-masss... tee!"

I have a cold. Ugh. The kind where my head is completely plugged and fuzzy, I'm constantly blowing my nose, and I generally feel disgusting. And it's been pouring rain all day. Not terribly festive.There. I feel better already.

I had hoped to get some Christmas cards done this weekend, and I still might this evening. I got a few batches of soap made yesterday while P was sleeping, and had a little rest this afternoon. I was perusing an amazing book for awhile, too - Birth: the surprising history of how we are born by Tina Cassidy. I enjoy history - not so much details of wars and conflicts, but how daily life and events differed from what we know today. This book is brilliantly and extremely well written, completely fascinating and objective. I must say that I've read about half the book (beginning in the middle), because I was only borrowing it from the library for one particular section. I started and couldn't stop. Now that's a high recommendation, coming from me. And speaking of birth, congratulations to J&J in New Brunswick who welcomed a new son into the world yesterday! Babies are the best.

new favourite

Some weekend reading for you - have a peek at this lovely blog and website by Jane Cumberbatch. Oh, my. I think I know how my evening will be spent. Photo from the Pure blog, here. Happy weekend!