Donuts Donuts Everywhere

At work our monthly production meetings mean one thing: lots of donuts. When was the last time you bought a dozen donuts? I don't think we have since I lived in Montreal in the '80s.


Before anyone in the gang could grab their favourite, I snapped some photos. The colours and reflections on these babies make me want to draw them.


Meanwhile, while I'm not particularly an Ottawa Senators fan, I do watch them from time-to-time. I'm really a Montreal Canadiens fan but when our local Tim Horton's had a special on Sens donuts...and I was delivering the mail on a cold sunny day a few weeks back, it sure hit the spot with a hot coffee. Imagine. I used to have to draw logos with icing back in the day. Now you can buy edible logos. Hmm.

Crumbs Bake Shop

My latest favourite TV show is Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Amazing what you can do with a cupcake! Then I remembered I went to Crumbs when I was in New York City last year. How about we go on a tour together?


First off, let's open the door. Check out the funky handles.


First up. The all-American red, white and blue sprinkled cupcakes, with chocolate and vanilla frosting options.


There are fancy, shmancy pink and purple rose cupcakes.


My personal favourite: Red velvet!


These peanut butter cup cup cakes (get it) look like little radioactive bites.


These PB & J's look like they have cookies pressed into the sides of them. Hmmm.


Neon-coloured lemon and strawberry. I feel like getting out my paints.


Love these little green numbers.


These multi-coloured cakes are called Good Guy. Wonder why? Love how they look.


Never been a big fan of raw cookie dough, but everyone else seems to be. What am I missing?


Caramel apple; now there's something I could sink my teeth into.


I'd have these cappuccino cupcakes with a cup of, er, cappuccino natch.


These candy cupcakes are so silly and fun, covered with m&ms. I'm inspired to bake now. Or paint. Or both!

Inviting Spring

It's almost spring and I decided to celebrate the date by making springy cupcakes.


Red velvet cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. On top of that sits a shredded wheat and coconut nest. Sitting in the nest is a trio of chocolate candy eggs.


Okay Mother Nature, we're now officially ready for spring. Bring it on. Please.

Winter Footprints

A cold sunny day this week -- a good time to slap on the snowshoes, cross over the Mighty Mogelon on a well-placed snow drift and see what's what.


Out in the garden, the crows have been feeding on my compost. They seem to love carrot peelings but don't care much for egg shells and avocado skins. Nice to see the imprints of their wing tips in the snow.


Further back, I found bunny beds; a safe place to sleep under a spruce bow. Oh!

Jen's Sour Cherry & Walnut Scones

My friend Jen makes the most wicked scones and luckily she shared her recipe with me. I've asked her if I could post it on my blog and she said yes! So here we go. Enjoy.

1/4 cup sugar (plus 3 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
3/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2/3 cup buttermilk

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoon sugar with cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, orange zest and baking soda until well blended. Cut in butter using pastry blender until mixture looks like cornmeal with butter lumps no larger than peas. Stir in cherries and nuts. Add buttermilk and stir until no dry flour is visible; dough will be wet and sticky.

Turn dough out on to a lightly floured board and pat into 1"-thick round. Cut into eight wedges. With a spatula transfer the wedges to a lined baking sheet, spacing 2" apart.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.


Bake in a 375F oven for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Let cool on rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Updates from the Back Forty

With the weather warming up and the snow receding, Richard and I know our wood hauling window is closing. There is Richard, waaay in the distance on his way to cut.


A long-dead tree on the edge of one of the fields needed to be cut.


Meanwhile, I headed out back and saw the lovely sight of melting.


Yes, the Mighty Mogelon, my parents' mocking moniker for our tiny stream out back, was coming to life.


Love all the angles of the weeds surrounded by ice and water.


On the way back to the sound of R's whining chainsaw, I noticed a few nannyberries from last year, still hanging out.


They are edible, like a wild raisin, and contain one, flat seed. Richard and I each had one. They almost taste a bit like a prune. I've actually made nannyberry butter (like apple butter) out of them one year. Pretty yummy.

More Kudos For ATC Quarterly!

This time my friend Jen has good things to say about ATC Quarterly.
To read her remarks click here to get to her blog: jenzart.blogspot.com.
Thanks Jen for your kind words!!

Have You Used One of These?

Okay, so if you read this blog, and you're over 40, then you've likely used one of these. If you're under 40, this odd shaped thing is called a PHONE BOOTH. In the days before cell phones (can you believe there were days like this?), these elongated boxes were the only way you could call home. And it used to cost a dime. Then a quarter. Now I think you can use your credit card! There are fewer and fewer of these phone booths around, which is why I labelled this post to go with my other posts on "antiques."

Natalie's Visit

Natalie's husband Gordon was travelling all week, so I asked her over for an impromtu dinner on Saturday night.


Since I think of Nat as the Chicken Whisperer, I made her a special dessert: red velvet mini-cakes covered with egg-laying hens (which were former "Peeps.")


We sat down to watch a movie after supper...


...and both Oreo and Cookie decided to snuggle in with Natalie while she brushed them.


My cats are well trained, eh?

Nice Write-up

Here's a nice little squib from artist Brenda Beene Shackleford about ATC Quarterly. Thanks Brenda! Click here.

ATC Quarterly #22

It's hard to believe that ATC Quarterly is in its sixth year! Here's the spring 2011 issue which is in the mail right now, wending its way to all its happy subscribers. Enjoy!
Fantastic cover art is an ATC by Lois Romeo from Nineveh, New York.

Winter Into Spring

Richard and I took a walk into the woods on the weekend.


Seems that nature is ready for spring. Buds on the trees...


...and the pussywillows are out!


I love seeing Mother Nature doing artwork in the snow.

Dragonfruit Inspiration

A pleasant discovery at the local grocery store. After reading in Natalie's blog post about dragonfruit...


...I decided to give it a try as well.


Really yummy. Very refreshing, tasting a little like kiwi fruit.


But before we cut it in half and ate it, I had to draw it, right?

Academy Awards Supper

I figured since it was Academy Awards night, we'd have an expensive supper. Two T-bones on the grill...


...and roasted potatoes (the last from my garden!), carrots, onions and garlic...


...with a side salad (not seen). Thankfully, the supper was a lot better than the award show. Richard and I gave up on it at 10:15 p.m. Did we miss anything?