I won something!!!!!

I enter blog giveaways ALL the time.

I mean who doesn't like the chance to win something?

Only, I never win.

But...

never say never because I actually won!!!!!

Barbara over at hodge podge had a giveaway of a Hamlet poster from beautiful words.

Me and Shakespeare? Not so much.

But...my sister loves Shakespeare! So, without further ado (get the reference?!) I entered the contest.

Lo and behold...I won!!!!!



One Christmas present done and I didn't even have to get out of my chair!!!! Now that is my kind of shopping!!!!!

If my sister happens to stumble upon this post she'll just have to pretend ignorance come December 25th!!!!

Happy BC Day!

In honour of B.C. Day I thought I would share some photos of my favourite places in this great province of ours!

Vancouver at night from here

Shopping on South Granville from here

Van Dusen garden during the Festival of Lights from this site





Drumbeg Park on Gabriola Island from here



Malaspina Galleries on Gabriola Island from here









One of my favourite stores EVER!!! Stepback on Broadway from this site here

There is nothing like floating around Green Lake on a sunny day! This pic from here

Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC from this site here

Stuffed Eggplant

I don't normally do food posts but there is always a first time, huh?

I am determined to try new foods and recipes in my new gluten-free life. Who knows? Maybe I might even discover that I like cooking? Weirder things have happened!!!!

Yesterday, I saw these lovely eggplants on sale at the IGA for $1.29 each. Yes, you read that correctly. $1.29!!!!!

So, I bought one, got home and then thought, "Now what do I do with it?!?!"

All I can say is thank goodness for the internet and google searches!

My crow had just made a big pot of quinoa in our rice cooker so I decided to look for eggplant recipes that would also use up the leftover quinoa. And I found one (well, actually, I found 1,800,000!) that grabbed my eye. You can find it right here.

This recipe sounded tasty and had the added benefit of not calling for anything I didn't already have in my cupboard. Seemed like kizmet to me! 

The recipe was simple and didn't call for any fancy cooking skills. Sounded like something I could handle! Basically, I hulled out the eggplant, rubbed it with olive oil, seasoned it with salt and pepper and then popped it in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes.

Then I sauteed the onion, added the diced eggplant I had removed, added the garlic, tomato, and corn (I cheated and used a can of corn kernels). Then came the seasonings. I used dry as I didn't have fresh. And I didn't have any basil so I substituted a mixed spice meant for potatoes which had basil in it (didn't change the outcome...it still tasted yummy!) Lastly, I took the pan off the heat, added the feta and quinoa and mixed it all up well.

By then the eggplant halves had cooked part way through. I pulled them out of the oven, scooped the cooked filling into the empty eggplant halves and popped the whole thing back in the oven for 25 minutes. And then, yum!

If you are looking for an easy, delicious, gluten-free recipe that you can whip up in about 30 minutes, then this is the one for you! Just click on the picture above and it will take you right to it!