Life With Scotty: Feeling Sorry for Himself

I am starting a new post theme called "Life With Scotty." It will feature the little life moments that make him who he is and can make me want to laugh and cry; rip out my hair and hug him all at the same time. 

"I hate school, I'm quitting"

-scotty, a minute before I took this shot

A Perfect Autumn Bite

Now that the weather's getting cooler and the days are getting shorter...

...it's time to stay inside and eat.

While on the island a few days ago, I sampled the most amazing and easy snack/appy at the Qualicum Foods grocery store. It was so good, in fact, that my mom and I HAD TO buy the two ingredients to make it and eat it that night (as an appitizer before my mother's and mine "World Famous Meatcakes").

The two ingredients are: 

This amazing cheese:

I did a little research on white stilton courtesy of Wikipedia. Stilton is either blue or white. Blue is the more common form. The white version has not had the mould introduced to it, so it doesn't have that pungent taste. Some people liken it to plain yogurt- it has somewhat of an unfinished taste by itself; therefore, white stilton is often mixed with dried fruit, so it should not be a problem tracking this little slice of love down in any grocery store. It is nothing like brie cheese with fruit or a cream cheese spread. The texture is soft, yet crumbly and it has a slightly tangy flavour.

Just be careful when eating it:

A 2005 survey carried out by the British Cheese Board reported that when it came to dream types, Stilton cheese seemed to cause odder dreams than other cheese, with 75% of men and 85% of women experiencing "odd and vivid" dreams after eating a 20-gram serving of the cheese half an hour before going to sleep. [Wiki]

And thin, crisp gingersnaps. The less sweet, more gingery kind. The mixture of the tangy cheese, pears, apples and ginger is unbelievable and is full of perfect fall flavours.

Paired with concord grapes and an english-style apple cider, such as that found at the Merridale Estate Cidery  in the Mill Bay area of Vancouver Island (yes, I went. Yes, I will gush about it in a later post), and you've got an autumn party in your belly.

It doesn't sound like much, and it certainly doesn't cost much, but if you are having or going to a get-together and have no clue what to bring- than pear stilton gingersnaps is it. I am a sweet-tooth and loved it. My mom and brother prefer salty snacks and they loved it. Try it. Love it.

Back In The Saddle Again

My computer is full.

While I deleted a bunch of files and freed up 4 GB of memory, that disappeared in one day.

I hate computers.

I did manage to squeeze some photos on it, so now I can begin posting again! So much to show... where to start?

Yesterday I boarded the ferry and came back to the mainland after a blissful 3 days with family and friends.

My older brother is turning 29 this coming Monday, so we had a wee celebration for him on Wednesday.

I had told my sister-in-law that I was going to make Thayne a meat-cake for his birthday. She laughed as if I told a joke. I was dead serious. 

My mom put in the grunt-work of man- handling the flesh and shaping it into lovely little cupcakes.

Like any self-respecting vegetarian, I made the salad.

I also took the time to lay out his gifts: a mustache and gory tattoo wounds.

If I haven't said it before: Thayne is one lucky brother.

Tiana really appreciated the mustache. There are SO many uses for a fake mustache.