I couldn't very well come to Maui and do my own cooking without playing around with some of their amazing local ingredients. I do love a good, light dessert and this was perfect!


Grilled Pineapple with Rum Sauce

1 Maui Gold* pineapple
2 tsp. butter
1/4 cup Macadamia Blossom Pure Hawaiian* honey or brown sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
1 pint favourite icecream or gelato - we used Caramel Cookie Crunch gelato this time

Cut pineapple into 1-1 1/2 inch rings. Core the middle. Grill the pineapple slices on a BBQ a few minutes each side. Meanwhile pour remaining ingredients into a hot pan and slowly heat for a few minutes until a thicker sauce is obtained. Remove from heat. Place a pineapple slice on a plate, a scoop of ice-cream in the middle and then drizzle the sauce over the plate. Enjoy this delicious treat!

*these brands aren't necessary, but what we used in Maui :) 
I am excited to be playing along with Inspired by All The Little Things for the first time. This beautiful graphic inspired me to get out my watercolours. This is the first time I have freehand watercolour painted and I think the end result is not too bad! I love these containers from Art Impressions, too! I look forward to further experimenting :)
Paper - On The Bright Side (My Mind's Eye), Distress watercolour paper (Tim Holtz);
Stamp - WC Containers - Pail (Art Impressions); Watercolour paints and pencils (CTMH); 
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black (CTMH); Embellishments - Metal Brads (CTMH).
March 18, 2016

Spring Hop 2016

It's the annual
I am happy that I got a card made in time to play along :)

I just ordered the new Verve coffee set and I can't wait to get it. In the meantime I used a combination of products from different companies to make this card. To play along with the "retired" challenge over at Heart2Heart I pulled out these springy papers from the Brushed paper collection. I must admit I really wished I had a "Tea" word die for this card and I did contemplate fussy-cutting my fancy "Tea" stamp from Verve but in the end, this "Coffee" word die seems to fit nicely.

Paper - Brushed paper collection; Black, Kraft, White Daisy cardstock (CTMH); Distress Watercolor Paper (Tim Holtz);
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, White Daisy (CTMH); 
Stamps - City Scene Sentiments (PTI), Get Together, Delightful & Delicious, Sweet Scallop Tag (Verve);
Dies - Coffee word die, Sweet Scallop Tag die (Verve);
Embellishments - Black Hemp, Watercolour pencils (CTMH). 

Check out the awesome gallery over at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers!

March 15, 2016 in

Potato Salad for Two

Spring Break is finally here and we are in Maui! My husband and I decided to get a condo this time so that we could do some of our own cooking. I haven't seemed to be doing too much of my own cooking lately, which really is such a shame because I love it and it is a good stress release for me. In thinking about cooking in such hot weather I immediately thought of BBQ which then lead me to things that go with BBQ - like potato salad! I LOVE potato salad and usually pride myself on making a glorious creamy version with bacon; however, in the hot weather I thought we would prefer one that could withstand being out in warm weather. Here is my version:
Potato Salad
serves 2
Fingerling potatoes
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. Old Style Whole Grain Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 green onion, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
2 handfuls of mixed greens (I used a mix of spinach, kale, red and green chard)

Chop potatoes into bite sized chunks and put in a pot. Cover with water and boil until you can easily stick a fork through the potatoes. Drain and allow to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, mix dressing (everything but the mixed greens). When ready to eat, add dressing gradually to potatoes (you may have some dressing leftover). To serve, lay a handful of mixed greens onto the plate and top with potato salad.
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And I don't think I can post from Maui and not include a picture of our beautiful surroundings. Here is a picture of us enjoying the sunset on our deck. Hoping to have some more delicious cooking adventures during this break!

March 06, 2016

Charlotte Love

I got so into my crafting today I made more than one card! I love how easy it is to create cards with the PML cards in the new CTMH paper collections. Here I have used Charlotte and some embellishments with the layout from Freshly Made Sketches. I used jute ribbon to create some texture on my card to link up with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge again, too.


March 06, 2016

nothing is impossible

Today I set out to make a card for someone who has just finished their teaching practicum at our school. It was tricky to figure out what kind of a sentiment I wanted on the card...thank you? congratulations? ... instead I went in a different direction of "dream big" and "nothing is impossible" now that she has almost completed her teaching degree. I finally got to play around with this fantastic hot pink foil my aunt sent me for my birthday and used it along with the Color Throwdown palette. I used the sketch over at Viva la Verve and included 3 brads to link up with the Heart2Heart challenge. I figured with the smooth texture of the foil and the bumpy embossed paper I could also link up with the "touchy feely" challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.
Paper - Free To Be Me paper collection; Black, White Daisy cardstock (CTMH); 
Heidi Swapp 3x3 card set (Minc by Heidi Swapp);
Stamps - Words of Wisdom, Blue Skies (Verve); Dies - All Aflutter (Verve);
Embellishments - Black Medley (CTMH).
Well another month has flown by and it is time to reflect on my monthly goals. This month my focus was on Love and I really worked on being positive this month and keeping my head above all of the busy activities that went on. Here are my top five pictures of the month:

This is a picture of my Mom and I standing on our deck. You can make out the mountain view in the distance on this beautiful sunny day. My Mom is an amazing lady and came to stay with me at the beginning of the month while Chris was away on a trip so I didn't have to be by myself :)
Here are Murphy and Ivory in my parent's cherry orchard. It is so great to be outside with them and enjoy the sunshine.
Natasha, Josie, and I went out for an amazing dinner at "The Shed" in Kimberley and then went off to an Essential Oils course to learn about them and their benefits.
Ski Day! My school stares right at the ski hill and it is awesome when we get to go up and enjoy it. This year we lucked out with fantastic weather on both days and I even got to ski on one of them - yay!
Chris and I with Ivory in the side-by-side at our house. Ivory seems to enjoy spending time with us and chilling out in the back. I really can't wait until we move in and I get to wake up on this gorgeous property every day.

My goals of being positive, smile more often, show kindness, ask for help, and laugh every day were pretty successful this month. Surprisingly, I really worked at asking for help this month. Sometimes I was successful, and other times not so much, but it was good for me to practice different ways to reach out and ask. February has come to be known as my crazy busy time at school. I love Pink Shirt Day and also put on a Carnaval de Québec celebration. I celebrated RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) week both in my classroom and in my personal life. It was a good reminder how these acts can be done spur of the moment without a ton of planning and can really be meaningful to other people. As my focus quote for the month says: Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness. - Leo Tolstoy. We had some delays with our house this month, so that has been frustrating, but I am happy to see things get back on track and resume in moving forward. 


I really need to work on taking photos of layouts - quite different from a card it seems! The lighting in our basement suite is not ideal though, so that doesn't help. Hopefully I will figure it out :).
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March
"When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life." - Jean Shinoda Bolen (Pausitivity)
1. Enjoy Now
2. Create
3. Work Smart
4. Do Something for Me
5. Try Something New
All supplies are Close To My Heart:
Paper - White Daisy, Charlotte; PML - Live Your Day;
Embellishments - Le Pen.
© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS