Tea Towels To Dry For

Have you ever met anyone who dislikes dishwashers, but would rather just wash the dishes by hand.  Yup, that is this Baba.  Until a couple years ago I didn’t have a home that housed a dishwasher.  Thus, growing up I just got used to washing dishes by hand and now something about the process is so therapeutic.  This isn’t just personal opinion, science says so too.  According to Time magazine washing dishes by hand is a stress reliever when done mindfully.

It is the process of washing dishes that has spawned my obsession for vintage or graphic tea towels.  When I am drying dishes with a good ol’ tea towel in my hand, I feel comfort and I feel at home.  Most times, I think of the farm I grew up on and my grandmother.

During family gatherings hand drying dishes was a time to converse with the other ladies in the house.  At times, some of the best conversations were had during this time.  It is an ample place to have difficult conversations with an individual based on the idea that eye contact is almost impossible at the time.

Some of my favourite tea towels come from ToDryFor.com.  Check out their designs, they have zillions and zillions of tea towels for any occasion or personality.  There are tea towels that have cats, Taylor Swift, David Bowie, or a healthy looking herd of elk.  I am in love with this site and these tea towels.

Another great site with cute tea towels (along with some other spectacular gizmos and gadets, not to mention amazing clothing) is ModCloth.com.  This site is by far one of my favourites for absolutely anything.  ModCloth has very reasonable prices and a great return policy.  Plus, the customer service is the bomb.  Buyer beware though, you will have to pay customs if you are ordering from Canada.  So, I propose that Mod Cloth help us Canadians out and come our way!

Love My “Treat Yourself” Tea Towel From ModCloth.com

Dress from Mod Cloth, Make Up by Face By Meagan, Photo by RIA Photo, & Headpiece by Wascana Flower Shoppe

In Regina, I often find the greatest vintage and graphic tea towels at Crocus & Ivy.  Crocus & Ivy is definitely one of my favourite home decor and gift shops.

Tea Towels from Crocus & Ivy

Not only do tea towels give me the feeling of being at home, but each has a different story.  Whether that story is depicted through the graphics, where you got the towel from or depicted through a much deeper symbolism based on who you received that tea towel from.

It’s funny I speak of these “tea towel stories” because if you live in New Zealand right now (or are travelling there) there is currently an exhibition describing how every tea towel has a story.   Get your tickets here from the Rotorua Museum.

All Tea Towels

Home is definitely where you are surrounded by the people that love you, but in my mind home will always be found on my farm just outside of Calder, Saskatchewan.

Stuffing turkey for our last Thanksgiving at the farm.

Do you share the love of tea towels like I do?  What are some items that make you feel at home (besides people)?

GermanPod101.com

I don’t know about other people’s learning projects, but I am definitely learning much slower compared to my expectations at the beginning of the semester.  Thus,  I consider it a success if I am able to learn to properly pronounciate, as well as, identify (visually/orally) one new German word a day.

A resource that has helped me be successful with learning one German word a day is GermanPod101.com.  Now, at first glance this website looks too good to be true, but beware they make you pay for lessons – this is by no means a free resource.  Because I am cheap like Babas should be and in light of our open education class I decided there was no way I should pay for German language learning resources.  So, I am not able to give a completely credible review.

Although, all is not lost because you can sign up for GermanPod101.com’s emailing list.  The website emails subscribers a German word of the day, every single day.  This mail out is similar to the dictionary.com word of the day, for those of you who are subscribers.

Each morning, I love waking up to find out what my new word of the day is.  Included with the word is a visual, a native speaker exemplar, and examples of the word being used in a sentence.  One down fall that I have found with the word of the day is that in the German language each word (noun) is considered to me masculine, feminine, or neutral (DER, DIE, DAS) and GermanPod101.com does not specify which category the daily word is.  On the other hand, this does force you to look up the word again and in turn, helps you internalize your new German vocabulary even further.

Remember GermanPod101.com has sister language learning websites in most major languages including FrenchPod101.com and SpanishPod101.com.  Just type in the language you wish to learn followed by Pod101.com to see if there is a resource that suits you.

If you are a pod cast listener GermanPod101.com also offers several free lessons that I have used to improve my German.  By all means, if you have the geld (money in German) then perhaps buying the lessons from GermanPod101.com would be worth it.

I thought providing my whole list of daily words for this blog would be to overwhelming so here are the last ten days worth of GermanPod101.com’s words of the day:

1. stark – strong
2. chefin – boss
3. nuss – nuts
4. fertig – finished
5. uberarbeiten – revise
6. gewurz – spice
7. hochhaus – skyscraper
8. hund – dog
9. teller – dish
10. druckbleistift – mechanical pencil

Presto Pesto Pizza

So, one thing I love is using the products that you have in the fridge (this reduces waste and saves money – something that this Baba likes).  Also, at times I just forget some ingredients, so you make do with what you have, ya?  Thus, I will post the original recipe, but the picture certainly does not look like the recipe because of substitutions I have made.  I have included those substitutions in the recipe, as well.  If you ever get stuck needing a substitution for an ingredient Recipetips.com has a list for all your cooking needs.

PRESTO PESTO PIZZA

• 1 round-ready made-baked-thin crust pizza of your choice
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 1/2 boneless skinless chicken breast chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 1/2 red pepper chopped
• 1/2 yellow pepper chopped
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 3 tbsp prepared pesto
• 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (used nacho cheese instead)
• 1 large sliced tomato (forgot and didn’t use)
• drizzle of sriracha sauce or tzatziki sauce (depending on preference)

In a large skillet, over medium heat cook chicken, peppers, onions, and mushrooms in olive oil until chicken is no longer pink.

Place ready made pizza crust on pizza baking sheet.  Spread with pesto.  Top with chicken and vegetable mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.  Remove pizza from heat.  Top with sliced tomatoes and bake for another 5 minutes or until the crust and cheese are brown.

Cut pizza into 8 slices and top with tzatziki sauce or sriracha sauce depending on preference of fresh or spicy taste.

Presto Pesto Pizza with Substitutes (because I forgot to buy some ingredients, but this only made me save money and save the earth).

Want better pizza?  Take a trek to Rio Maggiore Italy where you will find some of the best Margherita pizza in the world (also some of the most amazing views).

Rio Maggiore

Adapted from Taste of Home Recipe.

Greek Baba Bowl

There’s no fibbing, this Baba loves Greek cuisine thus, I have combined my baba bowl recipe and added a Greek flair.  This recipe is fresh as the sea air on the island of Folegandros.

GREEK BABA BOWL

This recipe makes one serving.  Do the math to make more servings for your guests.

• 1 cup romaine lettuce
• 1 cup cooked basmati rice
• 1/2 cup diced cooked chicken breast
• 1/4 cup cucumber
• 1/4 cup red onions
• 1/4 cup grape tomato
• 1/2  of an avocado
• 2 tbsp feta cheese
• 2 tbsp tzatziki
• 2 tbsp greek salad dressing
• 1 tsp pitted Kalamata olives

Place lettuce on one side of bowl and warm basmati rice on opposite side.  Layer diced cooked chicken breast on top of basmati rice.  On top of lettuce place cucumber, red onion, and grape tomato. Place avocado slices between lettuce section and rice section and top with olives.  To finish, drizzle tzatziki on chicken; greek salad dressing on lettuce section.  Top entire bowl with feta cheese.

I tried my hand at one of those time lapse recipe videos.  It didn’t turn out as well as I would have hoped, but the app (Lapse It) is very easy to use.  Next time, I will be sure to make a video that is longer than 3 seconds.

I encourage you to take a trip to Folegandros .  The Greek cuisine is much better there.

The bus stop in Folegandros, Greece

I Kiss Swiss Hot Chicken Sandwiches

I love Switzerland and that’s what makes these kicked up hot chicken sandwiches even better.  These sandwiches are super easy and super satisfying.  I haven’t met a person yet whom doesn’t like ’em.  In the picture of the recipe, I substituted a wrap for the bread so that Baba get a start on shedding her winter coat.  Also, the food was half eaten before I thought to take a picture.

Go take a peek and adapt for you liking.  Make sure you let me know if you make any changes to your recipe.

I KISS SWISS HOT CHICKEN SANDWICHES

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• sprinkle of salt
• sprinkle of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups diced and cooked chicken breast
• 2/3 cup minced celery (here’s the healthy part)
• 1/2 shredded Swiss cheese
• 6 slices of bread or some type of fancy bread (italian/cheese etc.) if you are not so cheap like me
• 12 think sliced tomato slices
• 3/4 cup shredded lettuce
• small amount of butter
• drizzle of Sriracha

In a large bowl, combine the mayo, salt, cayenne, and lemon juice.  Stir in the chicken, celery, and cheese. Spread butter on each slice of fancy bread; top each with 1/3 mixture.

Place on baking pan.  Broil for 4 – 5minutes or until heated through.  Make sure to keep an eagle eye on these because depending on your oven, heating time may vary.

Top with lettuce, tomato, and Sriracha to suit your liking.

Now go Kiss a Swiss.  Mwuah!

*adapted recipe from Taste of Home

One more thing, if you want to take this recipe further book a trip to Switzerland and go sky diving at Interlaken.  Make sure to eat your chicken sandwich after you jump.