I'm no Julia Child...

…but thank goodness I can cook. My Mum taught me well. However, with our life style, hubby and I rarely have time to pull out the stops and cook big dinners. That’s when I have to rely on some standbys like my Mum’s Egg & Bacon Pie…

It is one of the EASIEST recipes so I thought, since we are having it for dinner tonight, I would share. Over the years I’ve found short cuts which make it even that much quicker to make!

First the pastry – yeah Pillsbury! When they introduced their premade pie pastry that you could “roll” out (and two in a pack!) I knew exactly how I would use it! I could have kissed the genius who figured this one out...
Now I know it says Egg and Bacon but since Mr. Jewels went all veggie on me I’ve had to leave out the English style bacon (as some call it – sigh, I miss those days).
Pre cut mushrooms (I really am lazy) are another time saver – and I think it is hilarious that the mushrooms in my local grocery store come from Canada!
Green onion, parsley and pepper top it off.
Throw that crust on top and you are done Sister! And 45 minutes later voila …
…Mr. Jewels likes it with Heinz Salad Dressing (don’t ask me why). A little salad on the side and you are all set! Here is the whole recipe. If you try it, let me know what you think…It got Miss Gwendoline's sniff of approval. Enjoy!

My Mum's Egg and Bacon Pie
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line pie dish with pastry – I use Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust
Cover with English style bacon (ham would do to)
Break 5 eggs on top – with fork prick yolk
Add chopped green onion, mushrooms, parsley ( as much as you like of each)
Put crust on top – cut air holes
Back in oven for 45 minutes until crust is golden brown

Only A Paper Doll REVEAL

Well here are the rest of my ATCs for this month - one for each of my ATC Peeps...

Deb Claire
and of course Carol (aka Fun Old Hag)... you can check out her cards at her blog (I got Jane Arden) - what fun! Next month - Jungle Boogie!

In The Attic

WARNING: May offend animal lovers..

Don't get me wrong, I like mice, I reallly do...

...in Beatrix Potter books

..those these two look like hoodlums to me

And other sweet fairy tales...Narnia's Reepicheep was kinda cool...

..but when they are "doin the dance" in the attic above my headboard at 11pm at night I have to draw the line...

Unfortunately, that particular part of our attic has not been looked in since we bought the house in 2000 (gulp). And hubby, not particularly fond of playing the role of assassin (some how my family thinks I'm better at it - ask my Sister about the chipmunk slayings) left me to do the dirty deed.

So equipped with my "packets", long sleeve shirt, hat, safety glasses and flashlight (heh, you never know what might fall on your head !)...


I entered the black hole (man I've got to lose a few pounds). Astalavista micey friends - the party is officially over (she laughed wickedly)...now if I can only get them to vacate the Garage!

Only a Paper Doll...

Well November's Guild meeting is coming up in less then a week and this month our ATC theme is paper dolls.

I pondered a lot on this one - certainly lots of neat graphics on the web. Vintage and contemporary.

I actually have a stack of McCall's magazines from the 1960s in my basement with good ole Betsy in them.

I definitely wanted this months ATC to be "all paper" befitting the theme! Which mean't doing some things different for me. I ended up combining things I found in boxes (what is it about things in boxes, they are like the mice in my garage, they seem to just reproduce themselves without me knowing it - mind you the fact that I have a bad habit of tossing things in the first container I can find and then not revisiting it for months probably has something to do with it - of course they are going to reproduce themselves 'cause I'm certainly not paying attention - but I digress....).

Anyway, here is the end result - I'm only previewing the one that I am going to keep (hence the J) - I'm torn between I love it (vintage photo meets Mary Engelbreit) and I'm not so sure (some kind of Bride of Chuckie thing going on)... Anyway, let me know what you think!

Can Anyone Tell Me....

..what happened to October? Did I just not post about it being my favorite month? Don’t blink ‘cause I have a feeling November will go by even faster! I don’t know about you but it always feels like the last three months of the year go by in such a hurry and then we have the beginning of a new year to recover (sigh)! Oh well, here is some November poetry from one of my recent book purchases to get you in the mood…




November is a quite month
That holds its breath, it seems,
While Mother Earth prepares the land
For winter’s lengthy dreams…
Carice Williams

You Know You're Old When...

Hubby and I went to a concert last night! I mean a real good ole' rock and roll concert. What a hoot - poor hubby did not know any of the acts but was such a trooper and came along anyways (it's the little things that make me love him more). Well to make it even "worse" (depending on who you talk to) our tickets were for the Pit! If you know anything about concerts that means we were right up to the stage (AWESOME) but had to stand the whole time (MY ACHING BACK)...

The two opening acts were okay - the second band, Theory of a Deadman, is Canadian and you might recognize some of their songs...

But THE reason we were there was Daughtry (American Idol reject, World Class Rock Star). Love their music...but now to the "old" part. Yes we were in the Pit. No I was not the oldest person there (whew). Yes there was both Beer and Pot being indulged (oh my). And young ladies coming close to fist fights (oh my more). And young men who I wonder last had a decent bath. And some very colourful,permanent hair styles (yellow and red anyone?) It was some what hilarious to watch all of this but, frankly, I think I'll stay home and listen to the DVDs (better control of the volume too). AND (yes I'm old) I wore earplugs which hubby thought was very amusing. Oh well, you only live once and this will be another "remember when" stories for us. (Hope my nephews are not reading this - still would like to be the "cool" old Aunt, LOL)

Cheers, Jewels

Book Sale!

Don’t you just love this card! I found it at a bookstore on our mini vacation two weeks ago.


Which brings me to the topic of “book sales”. The local American Association of University Women (AAUW) holds a Spring and Fall book sale at the mall. I managed to get to the one this week and found a few “treasures”. Mind you, the professional “collectors” are there right at opening and pretty quickly sweep through grabbing the really good stuff (I heard one customer very loudly complaining about their tactics). I guess I can’t really blame them if it contributes to them making a living … but it does kinda spoil the “hunt” for the rest of us.



Anyway I did manage to snag all of this for less then $10.00.



The BHG Garden Book is from 1954 and has some lovely graphics.



These old Ideals magazines have some great pictures and poetry that can be used in projects.



I know I will enjoy looking at all the Movie Stars from the Golden Years.



But my favorite has to be this Build a Boat book from 1941.


Because now I can dream all winter about constructing…


…my own sweet Bicycle Boat for the cottage (LOVE that jaunty cap dude, hilarious!)

Cheers, Jewels