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Vegetarian Party Food : Three Quick Crostini Toppings

All things Green! (Swipe and Click)

    Food Friday : Fresh Spinach Soup
    Happy Vintage St. Patrick's Day : A Look at an Old Greeting Card

    Keith Haring : Art is for Everybody, at the AGO Toronto

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    I saw the Keith Haring show at the AGO recently, with my friend Julie.

    This is the only Canadian stop for this touring exhibition. It is on until March 17, 2024. Details can be found on their site, here. It’s so good.

    Vintage Barbie Dolls Get Dressed Up for Valentine’s Day

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    Hello! If you celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday, I hope you had a good time.

    The Barbie doll gang had fun getting all dressed up and going to a special concert, performed by their friend Barbie herself.

    Recipe : Nick’s Fruit and Nut Dark Chocolate Treat

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    Hello! With Valentine's Day this week and Easter coming up next month, Chocolate season is upon us. So, here's an easy recipe for a delicious chocolate concoction that is as healthy as it can be while still being called a treat.

    This recipe has been developed by my husband Nick, who has a great interest in cooking nutritious food. He tested this until he got it just right. I was the lucky taste tester and can attest to the fact that it is very good. It's not very sweet, though, so, if you find it not to your preference, play around with the kinds of chocolate you use. It's best made with bars of chocolate intended for baking but chocolate chips will work in a pinch.

    There are photographs of the process following the written recipe.

    Frosty Winter Decorating

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    Greetings! I hope 2024 is off to a good start for you.

    I've realized that since I began using Instagram last January, I've been posting a lot of the decorating photographs, which I used to post here on the blog, over there. But I know not everyone is on Instagram, so I'm going to begin to also share some of the images here, where there's more room to chat a bit more about the items in the displays.

    So, here are recent photos of a few spots in our home decorated for winter. Long time readers will know that I love thrifting, therefore a whole lot of the items in these shots are from the thrift store. Nothing else gives me the thrill of a great thrift store find!

    We'll begin with the snowmen! Something that the vintage/collecting community does on Instagram is give people a theme to consider when setting up their items to be photographed, and I've enjoyed playing along with many of them. For "Snowman Sunday" participants were asked to include a snowman somewhere in their shots. This has been going on for the months of December and January, so with three weeks of January already passed, here are my three contributions.

    Vintage Barbie Dolls Get Decked Out for Christmas

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    Hi! Earlier this year, a kind online friend sent me a generous gift of some vintage Barbie dolls and clothing for them. One of the dolls was the Skipper (Barbie's little sister, from 1963) in these photos. Also, years ago, an old friend gave me the gift of the other doll, Francie (Barbie's modern cousin, from 1965) and some amazing outfits for her. So, these two pals of mine started me down the vintage Barbie trail!

    I've since discovered a whole world of vintage Barbie on Instagram, where collectors set up elaborate and wonderful scenes with their dolls, dressed to the nines in pristine vintage clothing and accessories.

    So, for a few months now, I've been spending time on ebay admiring the beautiful (and quite expensive) old dolls and clothing. One item I kept my eye out for was this red velvet coat for Skipper. The coat originally came with a hat, purse, gloves, socks and shoes, but all I "needed" was the coat. I eventually found it for $15 Cdn, including shipping, which might seem like a lot to pay for something like that, but, trust me, I'm a frugal shopper and that was a very good price for the tiny garment made in 1963, which still included all of it's original buttons and snaps. So, while I didn't spend a dime on clothing for myself to wear over the holidays, Skipper got a new/old coat!