Swap A Card With Me--Still Open

If you'd like to exchange a Valentine's Card with me there's still time. Just click HERE to read all about it.

Vintage Valentines

I was looking through my Valentines decorations and found my collection of little paper heart valentines from the 1920's, so I scanned them in and thought I would share them with you all. Just right click and save them to your hard drive and feel free to use them as you wish. Also make sure to visit my Flickr album to see even more. Enjoy!

I Souffle, You Souffle, We All Souffle

Another week, another set of culinary classes go by. This week's baking class on Monday was a very good one. Learned about pate a choux or pastry dough. Much as I liked the class, my wife probably liked it more. :) For the class, I probably picked the hardest recipe to do that night. It was a 3-step recipe for Paris-Brest:

1. Create the pate a choux and make it into a large donut-shaped ring. Bake it and see the dough rise.
2. Make some praline by using caramel (boiled down from sugar, water and a drop of lime juice) and baked almonds.
3. Make some pastry paste (yummy!).
4. Combine (2) and (3) to make a sort of peanut-y tasting paste that tasted heavenly (at least my wife thought so)
5. Put the filling in between the pate a choux (cut in half horizontally)

In fact, everybody's recipes were all good. Took samples home for the family to taste.

Tuesday was souffle day with Chef Stephan. To tell you the truth, souffle's not my kind of thing--those dang thing deflates way too fast! Learned about bechamel sauce as the base for the souffle. Eddie and I worked on a savory souffle that featured sweet potatoes. Except for some burning on the top of our souffle (the oven's fault), it turned out pretty well--very tasty. Also, we were so efficient that we were the first to finish. Bad thing was, I spent half of the night washing dishes. I was also in charge of kitchen management (together with Alex) and learned about what needs to be done from Chef.

Wednesday's seminar was sanitation (groan!) and it will go on for the next 3 weeks. After listening to Lisa Berger (the instructor), I may not eat out again! Lots of memorization to do in this class. There'll be a certification exam during the last week of this series.

On the job front, I managed to talk to Jeff Pond, a former CSCA grad and now Chef de Cuisine for a new restaurant, Persephone, opening in 3 weeks time. Had a pretty constructive conversation with him--very nice guy. Suggested that I should start with lunch service instead of the more intense dinner service. He's right and lunch service for Persephone would only start sometime in March. So, we're going to keep in touch and he mentioned that I should call him back in late February and see how things are going. Also, I dropped my resume off to a local Maynard restaurant called Blue Coyote Grill. Just called them again to follow up today and Dave, the contact guy said that he should be taking a look at my resume this afternoon. Also sent my resume to a Boston restaurant, Red Sky Lounge.

So that's it for this week. Oh, today's Olivia's birthday (my daughter). We're going to have a joint celebration thingy for both Owen and Olivia tonight (Owen's birthday is on Jan 30th). Owen's getting a Star Wars Lego set of General Grevious and Olivia's getting 3 Webkinz soft toys.

Anyway, until next time.....Allez Cuisine!

Swap A Handmade Valentine Card With Me

Valentine's Day is one of my very favorite holidays! It's also the day after my birthday! So I thought I'd like to do a special Handmade Valentine Day Card one on one swap with my blogger friends.

Here's what we'll do------- Get out your pretty papers, scissors, glue, glitters etc and you and I will make each other a Handmade Valentine Card to swap.

Keep your style to something that is Vintage or Altered Art or Victorian or Antiquety or Shabby/Cottage/Chic--anything along these lines that is handmade.

Sound fun!

Please mail your card to me no later than February 5. I will save my cards--unopened--that's the tough part!--until Valentine's Day and then I'll open them up and share them all here at a Virtual Valentine's Day Party with all of you!

Email me at hazelruthe@yahoo.com with your Name, Mailing Addy and a link to your blog--(that way I can post a link back to your blog along with a the picture of your beautiful card on Valentine's Day). I will send you my mailing address in my reply email back to you, so you know that I received your info. I will also have my cards mailed to you by or before February 5. Right now I'm figuring I can handle swapping with about 30 people, so don't wait!

Yesterdays Quilt Show

It is cold, cold, cold here in Idaho Falls, so what a perfect day to attend a quilt show, which is exactly what I did. My friend Carlene and I went to a wonderful little quilt show in a little town next to us called Shelley. The quilt show was held in their library and let me tell you I've never seen a library with so many quilt books and new quilting books at that. This was their 9th year to host this little show and we enjoyed not only the quilts, but a few classes as well and I even won 2 pattern books in the drawings they held, it was a great day!

This first quilt was my favorite! It's a folded Dresden Star quilt designed by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts . You can purchase the pattern and templates through her site--it's definitely on my list of needs! I love everything about this quilt--the design, colors, fabrics and the technique for the star which was demonstrated in one of the classes looked like a lot of fun! I believe this quilt was made by Kaylene Christensen.



Here's a close up of the Dresden Star. It has a 3-D affect that the picture doesn't pick up.

Here is a beautiful butterfly quilt. I love butterfly quilts.


A close up of the butterfly quilt.


I just love this rag bullseye quilt--another quilt on my list of want to makes.


Not a very good picture, but a really great, fun quilt from jeans and they used the pockets on it as well. Very cute!


A wonderful primitive folkart style applique quilt.



Another rag quilt that I thought was neat. I got my pictures in the wrong order, so you get to see the close up first. This one has small rag squares sewn onto a one piece background.

Now we can see the whole quilt. Isn't it adorable!


This picture just doesn't show how pretty this Christmas quilt really is. I love the appliqued snowflake over the block and the center pieces with the 3-D folded points.

Another favorite is this antique--100 years old I believe--quilt of dainty blue baskets. It's note said that it was found at a garage sale. Lucky for it, it found a loving home to go to!


A wonderful 100 year old doll quilt! It was in great condition for it's age and if I recall the story it was handed down within the family. Oh and there's Carlene in the background--she's even color coordinated with the quilt.


A little house quilt. I love house quilts!


And last, but not least is this dainty and beautiful little basket quilt. Look at the quilting on this one. I would love to learn how to quilt like that.


I also discovered some really cool products while at the classes yesterday. One was the Martelli Rotary Cutter It is an ergonomically correct rotary cutter and everyone who had used it swore by it. They said that it doesn't make your shoulder hurt like a standard rotary cutter does after doing a lot of cutting. Definitely on my list of needs.

A new to me fabric is called Minky. Oh it is soooo soft! It can be used in a quilt or as the backing for a quilt and they said it quilts beautifully and a few traditional cotton quilts had it as their backing. Very soft and cozy--better than flannel or fleece!

It was a great time and I learned a lot and added many new things to my "needfuls" list and I can't wait til the next quilting event--whenever that may be! Happy Stitching!

Vintage Sewing Notions Find & Fun Sites

It all started when I got a newsletter yesterday in my email from Stacy Nash . She has a butterfly thread winder on her site that I admired and then didn't think much about it until later when I was searching for something and stumbled across some other thread winders. Then it hit me! That's that odd thing in my button jar that wasn't really a button.

See it there--the flower shaped thing in the middle. It's made of mother of pearl and the indentions are where the thread is wrapped around. Many years ago the women would buy their threads and then wrap them onto a thread winder like this. What a fun discovery!


The other things in the photo above I'm still trying to find out about. The small square (mop) thing to the left looks like a belt buckle, but is way to small, so I think it may be a square thread ring that would have been sewn into a sewing roll. The 2 round one holed looking buttons are made of bone. I have a bunch of these and still have no clue what they are, but they came to me through a few jars of buttons that I've run across through the years. The key looking thing is a button hole sizer and I only know that, because it says that right on it. I've searched and searched Google, but with no luck at all. Not sure why one would need to size a buttons holes.

I also found some really great sites as I was doing my research and I thought I'd add a few fun sewing images. Feel free to save them to your computer--just please don't copy/paste them from here.

Penelope Primm Antiques &Particulars this site has some really neat scissors and other repros--I must have a black pair of the Wee Bit or Putford scissors! She also has some thread winders, rings, linens and so much more. Be sure to check out her Folkart page and bring your drool rag. It's full of wonderfuls by the Schneemans.


Then I discovered Acme Notions Oh my! I found tons of neat little things I have to have from this site! Make sure to check out each category. While most of this stuff is new there are some really cool things and very inexpensive.


A wonderful English site-- TSG Emporium She has lots of fun stuff--and this is only on one page. I haven't even looked through the rest of the site yet, however I really, really need a pair of those heart handled scissors!
And lastly, but not least is Wm Booth Draper Lots of cool things there as well--some more unique thread winders and bone lucets and all manner of must haves. I still have to search that site over as well.

I hope you'll enjoy these sites as much as I have. I'm off to look through them some more. No sewie shall be left unturned! Happy Stitching!

The Week That Was.......

Well, it's been a week since my last post. Let's see, last Friday, we had our first Baking class and met Chef Lisa for the first time. She's pretty good and very friendly to boot. This first class was all about fruits and I was assigned to cook the blueberry cobbler. It was a pretty easy recipe to follow, with no cutting involved, just have to find the right ingredients, make the batter and cook it in a pan. I was also the first to finish. I wished I had chosen a more complicated recipe....oh well, next time I guess.

Anyway, the next week, on Monday, snow fell like crazy (a nor'easter), dropping 10 inches in Groton and unfortunately, the Baking class scheduled that day was postponed. Snow day! Yippee! The class would be replaced some time this month. The next day is the regular Food Basics class and the topic for this week was Eggs. Worked on the recipe for poached eggs and grilled asparagus on a mayonnaise sauce. Again, nothing too fancy. I really need to choose a better and more complicated recipe next time. The class ended at around 12:35am and only got to bed at about 2am. I was dead tired from all the standing and cooking. The Weds. seminar for this week was "Tasting and Garnishing," a light topic but still interesting nonetheless. Totally agree with Chef Stephan's take on how to present a dish. the seminar ended early--very early, in fact--at around 7:45pm. Got home before 9pm. Niiiiiceeee!

Also wrote emails to several restaurants/caterers looking for help. Got them from the CSCA website. No replies yet but I'm working closely with Jennifer, who is in charge of student placement at CSCA, to land a position soon. Did get one reply from a caterer in Melrose but unfortunately the position has been filled. Anyway, she has my info on file for when any new positions open up.

Anyway, the pictures of the blueberry cobbler and the poached eggs can be seen above.

Fancy Dress Hire or Fancy Dress to Buy?

When most people are invited to a fancy dress party, their first thought is to find fancy dress shops and to hire a costume, have you ever thought of buying a costume instead?

To make the the correct decision for you, the best way is to go through the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

So what are the advantages of fancy dress hire?
Fancy dress costume hire has the advantage in that you can return the costume after the party, but this can also turn out to be a bad thing because not only do you have to pay for the hire of the costume, but you also have to then have the hassle (and the cost) of going back to the fancy dress shop to return the costume.

What are the advantages of buying a fancydress costume?
If you buy your fancy dress costume from an online fancy dress shop, like Jokers' Masquerade not only do they have a massive selection of fancy dress costumes and accessories (over 10,000) to choose from, so plenty of fancy dress ideas but you also don't have the pain of having to collect the costume and then having to return it afterwards. Remember often when going to a fancy dress party, you'll be going as a couple, the great thing as there are plenty of costumes for couples available these days.

Cheap fancy dress costumes
Most people also assume that fancy dress hire is cheaper than buying, but this is not always the case, sure there are some fancy dress outfits for sale that are not cheap like the deluxe star wars costumes, but there are plenty of cheap fancy dress costumes that could cost you even less than costume hire. At Jokers' Masquerade fancy dress, you can even search for costumes by budget, which is handy.

Sure you can find fancy dress hire online options, but to date most don't offer the huge selection of costumes that you can find when you buy. What has to be one of the main disadvantages of hiring costumes especially online is that you can never be sure what condition your costume will arrive in, buying a costume has to be the better deal because it arrives brand new, in the box.

If you are also planning on hosting a costume party, and are looking for some ideas for fancy dress themes, browsing an online fancy dress shop is a great place to quickly get loads of fancy dress ideas.

And for me here is the final nail in the coffin for costume hire, if you decide that you don't want to wear the costume again, you could always sell it on a web site like Ebay after the fancy dress party, who knows your brand new Pirate Jack Sparrow costume or tinkerbell costume may end up costing you nothing!

You Make My Day Award

Wow! How wonderful is this! Terri my friend and Whatever Fairy of Primtiques is so sweet! She has bestowed the You Make My Day Award to me. Thank you Terri! I echo Terri that it is something special when someone finds you worthy of such a thing. I will now gladly pass along this same award to other special and well deserving bloggers........(and yes! I love Blogland!)

I am hereby passing the You Make My Day award to..... (please post your award on your blog and don't forget to pass it along)......

Kelli of There is no place like home

Diane of Tomato Soup Cake

Susan of Penless Writer

The first 2 days

Hello......back again.

Well, I just completed my first 2 days in culinary school. On Weds (1/9/08), attended the "Knife Skills" seminar, an intro into using the chef's most versatile tool, the French chef's knife. We were asked to choose one that would be suitable for each of us. I picked the 10" regular knife (as opposed to 10" wide knife) and were shown the various cuts used on vegetables. Julienne, batonnet, brunoise, etc. all the French names....sigh! Pretty good class, learned a lot and got to know my chef's knife, which I am christening, Norman (after Norman Bates from Hitchcock's Psycho). I know.....weird but it seems appropriate and Janet Leigh would be proud.

First class is a Food Basics class with Chef Stephan. This is a class of "Vegetables and Herbs." Learned about blanching vegetables (never done this before in all my years cooking) and had a hands-on on all the usual herbs like oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc. Tasted, smelled and learned what each herb is normally used for. Then we are divided into groups to cook one dish from the various recipes for the class. My group was tasked to cook a Pasta Primavera. Learned Mise en Place, a term used to mean "everything in place" meaning getting all the ingredients ready before starting to prep and cook. Class started late because Chef Stephan was late due to a graduating class having their practicum final exam. Anyway, class only finished at around 12:20am and we all shared the food that everyone cooked. It was a pretty late dinner.

Attached is the pic of the pasta primavera...........time to sleep....zzzZZZzzz

Show & Tell Friday--Raggedy Ann Colorforms

Do you remember Colorforms? If you were kid of the 60's or 70's you do I'm sure. This set is from 1967--I was 6 yrs old and I do remember having a set of these as well as a few others.
A few months ago my husband and I were in a thrift store when he found these and I got so excited! They were $5 and I told him--no that was too much. Hey I was in a thrift store and in cheap mode, so they should have been a buck! When we got in line I noticed he had them tucked in with his stack of stuff. Wasn't that sweet! I have now come to m senses and realized that $5 wasn't so bad after all. LOL!


I scanned in Annie and her clothes, so if you click on their pictures they'll come up bigger and you can print them out and have a cute little set of annie paper dolls. Raggedy Ann does have some tape on her to reinforce a couple of areas, but she's so cute you won't even notice after a minute.



Click on the Show & Tell banner at the top and it will take you right to Kellis place where you can enjoy many more Show & Tell Friday blogs.

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Deena at Altered Stuff , so now I'm to name 5 random things about myself and then tag 5 other people.

5 Random things about me.....

1. I always thought that I would grow up and live in a house just like the Vanderbuilt Mansion--I'm still waiting. (although I really like the house I live in now)

2. Even though I thought I'd live in a Vanderbilt Style Mansion I really have no need to be rich--just to have enough to make me happy.

3. I always wanted to an Ice Dancer.

4. I'm still waiting on my husband to propose to me--even though we've been married for 26 years.

5. I love brussel sprouts!

Exciting stuff huh. LOL!

Ok the 5 people that I am tagging are......... (now they get to list 5 random things about themselves and choose 5 people to tag and feel free to save the I've Been Tagged Tag to use on your blog).

1. Carol of Boxwood Cottage
2. Marion of Crazyhaberdasher
3. Scottie of The Urban Cottage Designs
4. Frannie of Freedom Valley Farm
5. Terri of Prim Creek

And speaking of tags, I thought I'd share a few fun sites where you can find tags to use..........................

This one is really neat, because you can download their Free Ware and print all kinds of tag templates......

Red Castle Inc

Printable Primitive Tags with sayings

Vintage Child tag

Olde Thyme Prim

Seneca Pond Crafts Click on the Surprise tab

Ewe N Me Printables

地鐵西港島線拍板 政府注60億

地鐵西港島線拍板 政府注60億
要聞社評P02
信報財經新聞
2007-10-24
頭條
地鐵西港島線拍板 政府注60億
　　行政會議批准地鐵（066）興建西港島線，造價八十九億元，其中約三分二將由政府支付。　　此外，西港島線一改以往由物業發展補貼建造成本的做法，改由政府直接注資，外界普遍認同有關安排，但質疑支付的公帑過高；學者指出，儘管物業發展為地鐵主要收入來源，但由於集團可減低資本開支，使西港島線的營運回報率相應提高。
鄭汝樺：不會成為先例
　　地鐵署理行政總裁梁國權【圖】表示，地鐵作為上市公司，各個鐵路項目須取得合理回報，西港島線的商業回報率以加權平均資金成本（Weighted Average Cost of Capital，ＷＡＣＣ）加百分之一至三計算。鑒於西區已高度發展，鐵路加物業發展模式並不可行，因此地鐵西港島線拍板 政府注60億，政府選擇以現金填補工程資金差額，注資已符合當局所設準則，包括項目帶來顯著的社會、經濟及環保效益。
　　根據政府及地鐵公布，二○○九年動工、最快二○一三年啟用的西港島線造價八十九億元，資金差額約六十億元，反映若地鐵要取得按ＷＡＣＣ計算的回報率，資本投入約二十九億元。
　　運輸及房屋局局長鄭汝樺強調，西區為發展密集區域，可用作物業發展的用地較少，因此選擇以補助金形式推進西港島線。她強調，今次政府注資不會成為一個先例，將來其他新鐵路項目將獨立研究，須視乎每條鐵路的發展空間、潛力及特點，始決定融資方案。
　　由政府資助上市公司發展新項目的做法有機會引起社會上的迴響。
恐被評補貼地鐵股東
　　中文大學財務學系副教授蘇偉文憂慮，政府將被批評變相補貼地鐵小股東，這先例也將成為日後地鐵發展新鐵路時討價還價的理據。鄭汝樺回應指出，若地鐵僅單一評估有關項目，將不會進行西港島線；在對本港整體交通及經濟帶來裨益的前提下，政府認為以補助金形式支持西港島線做法恰當。
　　政府消息人士指出，過往准許鐵路公司發展車站或車廠上蓋物業項目，某程度上也屬於資助；政府對其他交通工具也提供補貼，包括資助的士小巴的燃油費、為巴士興建交通總滙等，因此今次注資只屬於形式上的分別。
　　理工大學土木及結構工程學系副教授熊永達指出，西港島線屬於政府基建投資，加上項目單靠營運收入進行發展，並不可行，因此，政府有必要注資。儘管地鐵不能透過發展西港島線沿線物業賺取利潤，但他認為，由於集團僅出資二十九億元，變相提升鐵路營運的回報。
有利發展南港島線
　　此外，南港島線將以西港島線大學站為轉車站，意味發展西港島線將使地鐵網絡更完善，有利增加南港島線可能出現的物業收益。
　　政府為西港島線注資約六十億元，城市大學經濟及金融學系副教授李鉅威認為比例偏高，由於項目將由地鐵擁有，代表政府無法收回所付資金。他認為，過往地鐵發展沿線物業以帶動客量，但西區已人口密集，客量充足，既沒有必要給予地鐵車站上蓋發展權，也毋須大幅注資。不過，地鐵作為公用事業機構，政府注資也無可厚非。
　　立法會交通事務委員會主席鄭家富認為，政府注資有助加快西港島線落實，也減少批地引起的爭議。他指出，六十億元並不是小數目，因此政府應向地鐵爭取為新路線的乘客減價，以為政府動用巨額公帑提供理據■ 地鐵西港島線資料
路線 由上環站向西伸延至堅尼地城、途經西營盤及大學，整條鐵路均建於地底下。
車站 3個（西營盤、大學、堅尼地城），共14個車站出入口。
長度 約3公里動工日期 2009年落成日期 2013╱2014年工程造價 89億元政府注資 60億元預計行車時間堅尼地城至上環 8分鐘堅尼地城至銅鑼灣 13分鐘堅尼地城至尖沙咀 14分鐘各界意見 運輸及房屋局局長
鄭汝樺 西港島線將大大改善西區的交通情況，屆時往來堅尼地城與上環只需約8分鐘，較目前路面車程需15至25分鐘快捷；德輔道西一帶的車流量亦可望減少約10%。
興建西港島線符合當局一向以鐵路作為主要骨幹的運輸政策 地鐵署理行政總裁
梁國權 西港島線可為20萬在西區工作及居住的市民提供方便可靠的鐵路服務地鐵西港島線拍板 政府注60億。項目的規劃採取社區鐵路的概念，可為舊區注入活力，並提升及改善社區設施。
民建聯立法會議員
張學明 目前庫房儲備充裕，認同政府以注資形式補助地鐵興建西港島線，反映行政長官在施政報告中提出以基建推動經濟發展的理念。
立法會交通事務 委員會主席
鄭家富 政府注資有助西港島線早日動工，但為確保公帑運用得宜，西港島線的票價須較其他路線減價一成，政府也要交代批予地鐵的營運期年限。
中西區區議員及 立法會議員
郭家麒 西港島線可解決西區交通不便的問題，但由政府注資，必須提高財務資料的透明度，將來票價不應太高，否則是政府貼錢讓地鐵賺錢。
西港島線事件簿
2000年5月 當時的運輸局發表《鐵路發展策略2000》，把西港島線和北港島線納入港島線延線範圍內。
2004年5月28日 立法會交通事務委員會通過動議，建議政府暫時擱置規劃中的西港島線及南港島線，議員質疑地鐵高估有關路線的經濟效益，並憂慮對其他公共交通的營運構成影響。
2005年2月 地鐵徵詢立法會議員及公眾對西港島線的意見後，完成分段興建的可行性研究，並把方案遞交政府審議。
2005年6月30日 政府原則上批准地鐵興建西港島線2005至2006年 地鐵就西港島線的初步設計進行首階段諮詢，收集公眾對項目的意見；第二階段在2006年年初至年中進行。
2006年8月30日 據了解，地鐵提交西港島線最後定案地鐵西港島線拍板 政府注60億，決定不在堅尼地城站發展上蓋物業，改為以換地方式，要求在加惠民道警察宿舍發展物業。
2007年10月23日 行政會議批准興建西港島線，造價89億元，政府將注資60億元。
2007年10月 政府就項目按鐵路條例刊憲2007年年底╱08年年初 展開詳細設計工作2008年年底╱09年年初 按鐵路條例批准方案2009年 展開工程2013╱2014年 落成啟用

Bittersweet Symphony

Well, it was a bittersweet day for me yesterday (Tuesday 1/8/08).

First off, I would like to say a prayer for my grandmother who passed away in the early morning of Wed. (1/9/08) Malaysian time. She had suffered a debilitating stroke many months back and had been bedridden ever since. She was really suffering and I'm happy that she finally passed away and is in a better place right now. I had not been back home to Malaysia since her stroke and I did not have the chance to see her and say goodbye. But just knowing that she is not suffering anymore leaves my heart at peace.

Goodbye, Ah Mah........

Yesterday was also orientation day at the culinary school. Got the news of my grandmother's death just as I was getting ready to leave for CSCA. Perhaps it's her way of saying, don't worry about me and just concentrate on what you are trying to accomplish with this new endeavor. Anyway, the drive down to Cambridge was horrendous. Traffic was bad and finding a parking space on Mass Ave was even worse. Got to the orientation a few minutes late and it had already started. They were in the midst of introducing themselves. There were roughly 30-40 students there, from 4 different programs: Culinary (certificate and pro) and Pastry (cert and pro). Got all the relevant stuff squared away, got my binder full of class material (notes and recipes), got my picture ID taken, paid the first half of my tuition, etc. Got a chance to speak to Chef Jim, who would be teaching the Knife Skills class that I would be having later this evening. Got to go get myself a pair of sturdy, comfortable, black shoes this morning for the upcoming classes.

Anyway, that's my story for today. Will do an update again tomorrow.

Mary Engelbreit Paper Doll Calendars

I had a few people ask about the Mary Engelbreit paper doll calendars, so here are a few pictures........... I just love this animated picture of ME's girls playing paper dolls. (If it's not moving left click on it and it'll come up by itself and it's animation should work then).



The ME paper doll calendar is the hardest for me to find and I'm not sure if she puts one out every year. I Googled for a 2008 paper doll calendar and only found one for 2006. The one here is from 2002 and I bought it--unused at a thrift store for $1 . Anyway this is what they look like---they come with a set of paper dolls (next picture down) and each month has 2 flaps that fold out with doll clothes to cut out for your little paper dolls.


These are the paper dolls & dog--that came with this calendar. They're on a nice heavy cardstock.

And this is what the little flaps look like with their clothes. Aren't they just the cutest!


I've never taken mine apart, because I haven't figured out just what to do with them. I think if they were laminated--but still bendable would be nice and I'd like to figure out a way to display them without any permanent damage.

For more ME paper dolls check out this awesome album I found on Flickr--too cute!
Click HERE to go to album.

Opening Post

Hey All!

My name's Hock Guan and welcome to my blog!

I've just created this blog to document my upcoming journey into the culinary world. For on January 9th, 2008, I start my first ever class at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts (CSCA), a local culinary school here in Massachusetts. It's been a strange and arduous journey for me to get to this point in my life.

You see, for the past 13 years, I've been working as an ASIC design/verification engineer. I've worked for Intel Corp., Fujitsu and Avid Technology Inc. Since getting laid off on July 24th, 2007, I've been out of work and kind of floating around wondering what to do with my life. Went for a bunch of interviews but nothing came out of them. Even went as far as Colorado for an interview! Anyway, I dug deep into myself and wondered if I could do something that I really love. Cooking came to mind because I've always had a knack for it. My Mom is a great cook and some of her talent might have rubbed off on me. So I started toying with the idea of going to culinary school. After some searching, I decided on CSCA and here we are.

On Thursday, January 3rd, 2008, I went to CSCA to get fitted for the chef's uniform. I also picked up a bunch of stuff, like a set of culinary tools (knives and other cooking implements), books and other stuff. Yesterday (Friday), I went back to Nashoba Valley Medical Center to get the result of my TB skin test (required for admission into CSCA). To my horror, the test was positive! I panicked as I've never showed any symptoms or has ever had TB before. The only explanation was either I was once exposed to someone with TB or it could have come from the BCG vaccination I had when I was a kid. The test checks for antibodies that my body produced to fight off the TB virus. So either situations could have an effect. So, to clear me, they had to take a chest x-ray and see if I was really infected or not. Thankfully, that came out negative and the doctor signed the consent form clearing me for culinary school. Phew! That was too close for comfort! So right now, I'm back on track to attend the orientation at CSCA on Tuesday (1/8/08) and the 3 classes that are to be held this week on Wed, Thu and Fri.

Show & Tell Friday--Mary Engelbreit Collection

Kelli our wonderful hostess of Show & Tell Friday has a beautiful new banner for us to use. I love it! Thank you Kelli!

So what do you suppose is in this big ol' basket that sits under an old treadle table in my dining room???................


....My collection of Mary Engelbreit calendars does! I have about 10 years of ME calendars of all sorts--wall calendars, desk calendars, planner type calendars and paper doll calendars! Her paper doll calendars are the hardest for me to find, so I only have about 3 of them--and 2 of those I found in a thrift store, but that's ok, because I want them for the paper dolls--not to use as a calendar.


I absolutely love all things Mary Engelbreit and every year my family buys me her calendars for Christmas and then on New Year's day I have my own little tradition of sitting down and putting stickers on all the holidays and family birthdays. Her calendars have such awesome artwork in them and I will quite often pull out pages of the old calendars and hang my favorite pictures in my sewing room, so I can enjoy them every day. I've also used the artwork from the small daily desk calendars to decopauge onto file boxes to make them pretty. I get a lot of practical use and even more enjoyment out of my ME calendar collection and I plan to collect them as long as she makes them and I hope to find more of her darling paper doll calendars. I'm off to a thrift store later maybe I'll get lucky and find a poor cast off ME calendar to take home and claim as my own!

Don't forget to visit Kellis' place and enjoy all of the other Show & Tell Fridays. Just click on the new banner and you'll be right there. Happy Friday!

Happy New Year Everyone! May it be one of the very best yet!

This is one of my favorite quotes by Sarah Ban Breathnach and my wish for every one of us.

"..time is the New Year's bountiful blessing: three hundred sixty-five bright mornings and starlit evenings; fifty-two promising weeks; twelve transformative months full of beautiful possibilities; and four splendid seasons. A simply abundant year to be savored."

I look forward to a new year of blogging, meeting new friends and enjoying old friends, to more decorating, creating and discovering new things. I also plan to do more tutorials and to have some give aways and to host a few swaps. Thank you for a wonderful 2007 and now onto a even more wonderful 2008!