Branches and Twine Place Card Holders

Nick and I made a resolution a couple of New Years' eves ago, to begin having more people over to our place for dinner. We both like to cook so that seemed like a fun way to see our friends more often. And I'm glad to say that we followed through and have indeed hosted a number of small dinners at home since then. With that practice under our belts, we now feel like stepping up our game and having more guests over at the same time, during the upcoming year.This is a post showing some Place Card Holders I made in anticipation of these larger dinner parties to come ... I made 10 of them, which might be ambitious, but we'll see how it goes!Aside from wanting to make these to use ourselves, this DIY might come in handy for people in the United States hosting Thanksgiving this week, or for any upcoming holiday gatherings to come. This same technique can also be used to make table signs or signs to identify items on a buffet table. (See a larger one, used to display a vintage post card, in this post.)

At a Friend’s Birthday Party

Our buddy Chops was honoured on Sunday evening, with a nice birthday party hosted by his lovely lady, Leslie, and his brother. I know these pictures are not so good, as the lighting wasn't ideal for photo taking, but I feel that badly lit photos still trump ones taken with flash. Anyway, regardless of the quality of the shots I hope the love that was in that room shines through.

Chops is a fun, funny and kind person, who deserves to be celebrated. He's also a really good drummer, who we first met through the music scene. The three of us used to be in a band together, (which we're technically still in but currently taking a break from), so we've spent a lot of time in this man's company, and we still like to hang out with him. He's a good one!

The party was held in a dedicated section of a place called Louis Cifer Brew Works, located 417 Danforth. We took the subway and got off at Chester Station.

Pictures Throughout A Day : Our Anniversary

It was our 15th anniversary last week! Since we had already been out for dinner that same week (as mentioned in this post) we decided to cook at home. We both like doing that so it was fun.The day began as they usually do, with Nick making some cappuccino. (He heats the milk in the microwave and makes the foam with the little gadget described in here post, and tops it with a sprinkle of mixed spices as described here).Then we had grilled cheese sandwiches made with Nick's homemade bread, some aged cheddar and sliced tomatoes.

A Cabaret Performed by a Chorus of Teens

Last Tuesday we were treated to something special, when we went to a nice dinner at a fancy hotel, after which we were entertained by a talented group of teenagers. They are members of a youth chorus who rehearse together regularly, and are lead by an experienced (adult) musician.The person who invited us is a long-time friend, whose daughter was one of the singers. In fact, the young lady was actually at our wedding, 15 years ago last week. She wouldn't remember it though, as she was the bump under her mother's dress at the time. Seeing her this grown up has made me realize that a lot of time has passed since Nick and I were wed, even though it feels like it was not so long ago.They performed a Cabaret of show tunes, that included favourites like 'Anything Goes', 'All That Jazz', 'If I Were a Rich Man', 'Summertime', 'Come Fly with Me', and a bunch more. In all, they sang 14 songs, including two where they all performed together as a choir.

Marie Hélène’s Apple Cake

Now, although I had a beloved aunt named Hélène and my middle name is Marie, I don't actually know anyone named Marie Hélène. However that didn't stop me from making her apple cake.Armed with some nice local Empire apples, and a friend coming over for lunch (see this post about that fun visit) I went in search for a dessert recipe calling for apples. I found this one on Epicurious, which was prefaced by a charming story about the writer sampling this cake made by her French friend, and then, upon asking for the recipe, being told that it was a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It turned out that Marie Hélène had winged the cake.So the writer, Dorie Greenspan, who found it too delicious not to repeat, went about creating a recipe for what she had eaten, a treat that contained more apple than it did cake. I am glad that she went through the trouble because the cake was very nice, indeed. Oh, did I mention that it has rum in it, that adds a great subtle layer of flavour?I followed the recipe exactly except used only one kind of apple, versus the variety called for in the recipe. Also, my springform pan was 9 1/2 inches across, rather than the 8 inches called for, so my cake was decidedly thinner than the original. It was still very good, albeit reminding me of a big apple pancake. This change will not be necessary in the future however, as I've already gone out to get the right size pan, in anticipation of making this lovely cake again.These pictures were taken in the dimming light of a fall evening, before we had our dessert, therefore they're dark.