We are truly blessed by good and true friends from around here – not only does Chloe and I get gifts all the time – we also get specially made cookies from Kim every year.  I think it is a priceless gesture and wished I had the time to do the same for all my friends too – alas, being so busy with my own work and work at the store – and of course Chloe – it doesn’t leave me a lot of time.  But my friends are steadfast and they understand it and never hold it against me.

And every year we received fruit baskets from friends as well – this one is from Lynette and Josh.  They are so thoughtful – even when they were just getting over their illness – they came by with gifts for Chloe for her birthday and Christmas and a fruit basket for us.  In everyone’s life – we have  lots of friends but those who are with you throughout the good and the bad times and never jealous of your achievements – those are hard to come by.  I’m glad I have friends who are never envy or jealous of our successes and celebrate them with us.  Thank you for your friendship Kim and Lynette.

A gourmet fruit basket from a customer.

And another 3 more from friends of the store too.

As a food blogger, we are constantly looking out for good food – and good food at a good price, so when a customer who moved into town from Germany asked me where can I get the best piece of steak – I show them the way to Emin’s Meat Market down on South end.  No one makes meat like Emin’s and you’ve gotta love the friendly and personalized service at the Emin’s.  So we headed to Emin’s but not before we went to check out some beauty stuff that we had read about – eyelash growth product reviews said that we could look out for them at our local pharmacy as well. So after we had done that – we headed to the best meat market in town.

Alas, Fred wasn’t there – but his staff working were just as friendly and knowledgeable – and we bought not only pieces of steak but Slovakia pork, sausages and stuffed pork as well.  My new found customer was really impressed with what Emin’s had to provide and she told me – the steak she bought – melted in her mouth and the apple cinnamon and the maple sausages that she had for breakfast the next morning  – were the best she had ever had.

Asked me anything about food – I’m the expert in it – but we did make out pretty well with the beauty department too – after all – which woman don’t know a bit about beauty products right?  I had a fruitful day !  food and beauty products – I’m a happy girl alright!

For those who’ve supported Chloe in raising funds for her school – thru’ the lobster tickets sale – I’m sorry to say that no one from our group won the 25lbs of lobsters – it was someone else in town that we didn’t the name at all.  But since Chloe won for bringing in the most money for the school – a total of $725  – Chloe won 5 lbs of lobsters that was delivered by her principal to our store.

The zhu’s cooked the lobster for me – and I’m forever grateful because I wouldn’t know how to cook them or how to break them into pieces.   And the Zhu’s stirred fried them with ginger and spring onions for me – it was very yummy!

I haven’t had lobsters for a long time – whole lobsters like that and I’ve almost forgotten how whole lobsters tasted like.  I wished I had some sambal to stir fried it with – but the ginger and spring onion was just as good – yummy!!  thanks to everyone once again!  We are forever grateful!

For those of you who are not aware of this – we’ve put Chloe into horse riding classes since last year – and we get all her equestrian apparel online but when it comes to getting the saddle and tack, we are always try and get them locally if the price is right.  So a few weeks ago, we headed to Shelburne to look for this. This is a FQHB 16 inch Stallion Tack – I loved that it has lots of silver it  – they were asking for $650 and it was a very good price – but alas, it was a little too big for Chloe – so we didn’t end up getting it.  Guess we will continue to look for it online.

It was an hour drive back, so we stopped at Austrain Inn to eat – and it always makes us hungry after sending her for horse riding classes but we get to go out and eat – which is our favorite.

The Austrain Inn looked small from the outside but it has a huge capacity inside as you can see.

It was very spacious and we went late for lunch – therefore, you don’t see many customers at this time.

The service was good and the food was good too.  We had a hard time deciding on what we wanted.

The soup that came with my meal wasn’t something i liked too much – so I didn’t drink it.

Chloe as you can see loved this place a lot.

Her chocolate milk came first.

Chloe had fish and chips – they dont have this in the kid’s menu – I think they don’t have a kid’s menu to be honest. But the next time I have to remember to ask them not to put the green stuff.  I think it was basil if I am not wrong.

I had the most wonderful BBQ schnitzel chicken with some buttered rice and carrots – they were such a healthy combination if you asked me.  By far the best meal I had here in Canada.

PB had the chicken cordon bleu – he likes it  – the chicken is good – but the ham and cheese inside were different from what he likes – but he said the chicken was really tender.  We always have a hearty meal after Chloe horse – riding and she enjoys it so much – we really want to get her the right apparel for classes next year.

So tell me what food would you order if you don’t know what to eat ?  or when you are not too full nor too hungry for you just had breakfast not too, too long ago.  My recommendation is omelet  – you cannot go wrong with that  – and when I am not too hungry I order some omelet – but of course I asked for only 2 omelet instead of 3 and I don’t eat the potatoes they offer and very little bread.  What about you ?  what do you eat when you are out in a restaurant with family and friends but don’t know what to order or too full to eat too much.  Pray tell.

And here we have chloe – her only food when she eats out is fish and chips – as long as they have fish and chips – we are all safe.

I’ve always wanted a cookie jar – but never bought them – because I didn’t really think they were practical.  But this year – I had to buy it because it’s one of the things I had been longing for in my kitchen.  I loved my very first Christmas cookie jar and I want to be able to bake lots of cookies with Chloe and her friends when they come visit.  The cookie jar was a wee bit expensive – but what the heck ! it’s Christmas!  and every home must have a cookie jar right?

We’ve been invited to several Christmas parties this year and Chloe and PB baked some sugar cookies to bring to our hosts – we thought it would be a nice gesture since most of our friends have everything and insist that we don’t bring anything except ourselves.  We had to turn down some parties because we were afraid that the weather may not permit us to travel to and fro for the parties – plus in previous years we’ve seen many accidents on the highway – even when the snow wasn’t so bad – it’s the ice on the road that causes these accidents.   Of course,  medical help would be there when the need arises but why court trouble when you don’t have to right – so we only attend parties right in town and the time has to be right too – because of Chloe’s food – she is a fussy eater.

PB always insist that he is a careful driver – and I always remind him that it’s not him I’m worried about on the road – it’s those that are drinking during their parties or those who’ve ate too much – and falling asleep on the road.  You can never be too careful – so this Christmas season – for those who drink – don’t drive and if the weather is bad – don’t go out – because you may be a cautious driver – but the person riding down the highway – may not be – or the road conditions just may not be the best.  Be safe this Christmas and always have an emergency kit with you in the car and a number to call for Medical Emergency Assistance.

Thanks to Jenn from Toronto – I’m having some food from home – a huge box came in for me and Chloe last week.  Jenn – who blogs like I do – had been sending me lots of food and gifts  – and even though she is pregnant, she is still taking care of us.  Thank you so much Jenn and Chapman!

I bet you want to know what is in the huge box that arrived right?  well, here is a glimpse of what is inside.

From jewelry to angpow and of course lots of food that I liked from home.

Wedding favors from her wedding earlier this year – so thoughtful right?

How cute right?  Chloe had one too – that she carries with her to school everyday.

Pork floss to go with my pineapple rice.

Cute ang pows for Chinese New Year in January 2012

Lychee jello that chloe loved.

Yummy Taro Mochi!!  I loved it so much!

Red bean mochi  – yummy to the max.

Pickled mustard aka hum choi for my soup.

A lovely Christmas card – really thoughtful.

And laksa!!  what i was waiting for !  i want to cook this for Chloe’s teachers.

Yummy spicy cuttlefish !! it was so yummy!! i finished it in 2 days. Thank you so much Jenn – i truly appreciate all your effort and thoughtfulness.  God bless you and Chapman!  both of you got a heart of gold! and thank you for donating to Chloe’s lobster fund!

We always celebrate Chloe’s birthday early – to avoid the bad weather, so after that year – we always do it earlier – so the kid won’t be disappointed if her friends don’t show up due to bad weather.  But this year, we decided to let Grammie do the birthday party – afterall, she is the only grand daughter right?

So Chloe is turning 8 yrs old in another 10 days – we cannot be more proud of her – and yeas! grammie made the cake and we had bought her a toy – to make it look like a real birthday cake.

Chloe being silly for her birthday party – which consisted all her aunts and uncles – we didn’t invite any children because I just want her to be with family and loved.

So finally after being here for about 12 yrs – I get to go to Austrian Inn – I had wanted to go for a long time – but people keep telling me that they served loads of fried food only but they were wrong!  they have all kind of food!  See ! you must not listen to people – you’ve gotta give them a chance and try it out yourself.

We didn’t have the buffet this time – because we were pretty late for lunch a few Sundays ago.  But the buffet spread was pretty awesome and I’m going to go with my girlfriends again – but this time we are going to try the buffet.

They had loads of food and I would really loved to try a bit of everything but since PB don’t eat that much – it’s best to go for lunch with my friends instead – those who really enjoys food.

I wished they had a place card on the dishes though.  Some I could make out but others I don’t know what they were.

Fried shrimp and rappie pie and lots of other dishes.

Rappie pie is a favorite for the Acadian french here in Canada.

Fried chicken nuggets I think on one side.

And here comes 2 table full of desserts – heaven for some people but I can’t eat so much – darn right!

Fruit tarts and eclairs.

Log cake, dates pie, mixed fruits and more fresh fruits.

Pumpkin pie, jello, vanilla and chocolate mousse – yummy to the max.

Look at the jello on the fruits – the honey dew and cantaloupes.

More assorted cakes – I will get a sugar coma you know that right?  I look forward to going back to try the buffet.  Buffet I heard was about $25 – 28 + tax, a wee bit ex.  but worth every penny.  Now if only they had some oysters fresh – that would definitely make me go back every week.

Ti’s’ that time of the year again and loads of treats and baking goods like these cupcakes are on sale at the local supermarket/grocery stores.    They are all very sweet – luckily, I don’t like sweet stuff like these – else I would faint due to sugar overdose.  I don’t like buying stuff like that to eat – but PB – well he’s another story – he loveeeeesss his sweets alright!  Thank God – his blood sugar is good even after eating loads of them.  I try not to feed Chloe a lot of junk either – she gets to eat one of them but not more.  What about you ?  do you let your kids eat cupcakes everyday?

Every year during this time of the year – we try to find something meaningful to give to Chloe’s teachers – whether they are a teacher’s assistant – or the school secretary – as long as this person makes an impact in Chloe’s life – I would try to thank them during Chrsitmas.  This year – I also have to remember to thank the janitors.

So I decided to get them these – they come from the local Farmer’s market and I’ve tried it myself all summer – a bottle of apple salsa and some home made BBQ sauce for her teachers in school.  But the janitors are getting chocolates this year.  What other suggestions do you have for me – for gifts for Chloe’s teachers?