Camping -even car camping can teach you a lot about yourself and the people you go with. For example, we went camping last October and it rained all weekend. ALL weekend. That made me realize that I do not do well in a wet, cold environment (thanks for leaving England mom!). It was during this same trip that I realized R. will sacrifice his own safety to start -and keep a fire going -in any circumstance.

Two weekends ago, we went drove north -two hours from the city with a few friends. Our pregnant friend said that in her family the women don’t cook during camping trips. No coleman stove. No fire. Made sense to me. I’m all for equality, but I’m also for work-load equality too… I followed this rule and took a picture of R, looking very rugged & Canadian in his plaid shirt, frying an egg.

He then took a picture of me doing dishes. In case you’re wondering, that’s my “I’m unimpressed that you’re capturing this moment when I just woke up and haven’t showered in two days” look. And he knows it too. R burst out laughing when he first saw it in the viewfinder.

This past weekend we went up to R’s mom’s place. I am always amazed at the beauty and magic up there. We camped on her property and spent the weekend watching hummingbirds and hawks, picking wild berries, beans from the garden and gathering nuts.

We tried to fish but I was admittedly relieved when we didn’t catch anything. I even cringed when they used live bait on the hooks. If it ever comes down to it I will really have to suck it up. I just remember when I was a kid fishing and we caught a fish that kept moving even though my friend’s dad promised me it was long dead.

R’s mom made a fantastic pie from the berries we picked. Our friend couldn’t sleep out of fear that a bear would unzip his tent and eat him. I, on the other hand, slept and napped for an insane amount of hours. We eventually saw a bear while we were driving home, just outside a vacant tourist information centre. He didn’t eat our friend. Although if he did, that would be a pretty crazy way to end this post.

Last weekend we were up north for four glorious days. Friday brought a series of tears, anger and frustration. A good friend of mine is swapping one province for another. Another (former?) friend of mine’s grandfather passed away. I went into a clothing store (I hate shopping). My world was not right.

I wanted silence. I wanted to forget sadness and be far away from clothing stores, cell phones and city people. But most of all, I wanted to see animals. April up north is great for two reasons: no allergies and no bugs. We walked through the bush and made enough noise to scare off the beaver from his working lunch.

We saw and heard the ruffed grouse, whose mating rituals are far more interesting and pleasant than people in their thirties. I’m looking at you, popped collar-”I’m on the Deloitte golf team” d-bags at the Bier Market (you will never again see me in that God forsaken place).

The best came last. On the way home, a prancing doe and later, a moose cow. No photos of those though… they’re always too quick.

E.T.A. Wow, unless you live in Alaska!

While I’ve complained a fair bit about 2008, the holidays were quite nice, even with the little hiccups that came our way. Our flight to Mexico caused R. to get food poisoning, but overall the trip was wonderful. Two days before we left, we went on a Mayan adventure including a spiritual ceremony, a traditional mayan meal, zip-lining over a crocodile pit and rappelling into a cenote. Incident of note: a relatively young Italian girl zip-lined after me and couldn’t get her break to reach the cord. I looked away before she came to an abrupt halt at the end, but needless to say, it didn’t end well.

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One and a half days after we landed in Toronto, we went to this other snowy-paradise. In terms of scenic value, we had it made. There were also great people, amazing food, board games, bluejays, chickadees eating from our hands, flying squirrels and a fox. I almost forgot what real winter was like until we were sliding through a snowstorm on a highway without streetlights. Up north there’s nothing but fresh white snow and great hiking trails. It’s sad that I now have to go back to my panic-induced resume-sending frenzy. It’s annoying that I have to hear people complain about their jobs when I would love to have one. This is my post-holiday life. SIGH.

I recognize that I have to stop posting pictures of various domestic/barnyard animals. And I’ll really try to limit it from here on out… But we went to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on Saturday and it’s so wonderful to be able to see a freshly-sheared (and somewhat frazzled) sheep.

Because it’s a slower season at work, I’ve had lots of time on my hands, and have been baking lots. I took the following recipe from the All Bran website, and replaced the bran with Kashi cereal. I really like these, and they’re great if you want a snack without preservatives. I substituted honey with Barley Malt Syrup/Extract and a bit of Maple Syrup.

HOMEMADE KASHI BARS

Ingredients
2 cups Cereal, 2/3 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1 tablespoon margarine or butter, 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1. Stir together the cereal, raisins and nuts. Set aside.
2. In 3-quart saucepan, combine margarine, honey and peanut butter. Stir over medium heat until mixture is well blended. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, cinnamon and cereal mixture.
3. Press mixture into 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray.

Cut into 20 bars when cooled. Store covered, in refrigerator.

I also made carrot cake, because (admittedly) I ate the last 1/4 of the slice R. bought last week. Even though this took most of the evening, it was worth it.

CARROT CAKE

Ingredients
6 cups grated carrots, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup raisins, 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes, then stir in raisins.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Grease and flour two 10 inch cake pans.
4. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the apple sauce.
5. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture and the walnuts. Pour evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake tests done with a toothpick.
6. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.

N.B. This makes a LOT of carrot cake. It could easily be halved. When grating the carrots, it is important to press/strain out juices intermittently (otherwise the cake consistency will be ruined). I saved the juices in order to colour some of the icing for the decorative carrots.

I made the frosting with cream cheese and icing sugar. It was pretty runny but light, which was nice because it didn’t overpower the carrot flavor. I didn’t really measure the ingredients out, but there a bazillion icing recipes online, so they’re easily found.

We just replaced the modded XBOX for a modded Apple TV, which is great because I can now flip through flickr pages (mine & friends) when I can’t find anything to watch on regular TV. I’m excited!

I am in job application hell. I remember this place. It went by the name of “Breakdown, Summer 2004″ when I realized that human resources departments across the globe (I assume?) decided to implement a loathsome strategy by which applicants have to jump through hoops and fill out a million-and-one forms and irritating little drop-down menus which include questions such as “Are you legally entitled to work in Canada” to “If a train is traveling south at a speed of 150 mph would you jump in front of it in order to complete your work assignment in a quick and accurate manner?” Ack. I understand the purpose behind these questions, but some of them border on the absurd.

One of the multiple choice questions I had to fill out went something like this:
Equality in the workplace means:
a) Treating everyone the same, it is a right.
b) Treating certain people in a similar manner.
c) Everyone should be treated like family.
d) Individuals are inherently similar and should be treated well.

I kid you not. But I’m patient, because I know the perfect job is out there, waiting for me, and will hopefully not require “Breakdown - Part Two, premature-hair-pulling-induced-baldness!” So far I’m not there yet! Hooray?!

Last weekend R. & I went to Riverdale Farm which, believe it or not, is only 15 minutes away in the downtown core. It’s a little piece of heaven in the midst of this insane concrete jungle. We saw a cow’s butt, a really cute donkey, hens roosting, and this goat, who took it upon himself to stand on the highest spot of the barn, which consisted of a small wooden box. But you better believe that he OWNED that box, you could just tell that he was as proud as peacock…. only, you know… he was a goat. It was a great mini-trip that should tide me over until the Royal Ontario Winter Fair this weekend.

It was a fantastic day all around. Fall is beautiful, despite the cold, and I’m clinging to the days that are still above freezing… At least until a month from now, when I’ll be on a beach sipping a tropical drink!

This weekend was spent up north with R’s family in Innisfil. We were in cow country when we lowered the windows and reveled in clean air. Going up north reminds me of driving to Vaughan during the summers when my mom still worked up there -back when it was still acres and acres of farmland. It is pretty heartbreaking to see all the new developments that are going in everywhere just outside of Toronto. I feel like Sarah Harmer’s Escarpment Blues plays in my head on repeat when I see those cookie cutter houses.

We went to an antique store on Saturday, and I fell in love with things I would love to own but have no space for. Antique singer sewing machines, old cookbooks, treasured model trains. It’s amazing to think that all of those objects have a unique story. I spotted a Maclean’s magazine from 1957 that I knew I had to buy, even though it was in pretty bad condition. I started watching Mad Men last week, and my mind was already filled with thoughts of the 1950s. It just seems like fate that I saw it.

The cover features a painting of a red-shafted flicker and, from the looks of it, a watermark left by someone who used the magazine as a coaster. Oh, and incase you want to know, Herbert Norman was probably a commie… or so it seems.