Oh Fudge!

I’ve tried to get Siri and Google to bake for me. I thought I’d try Alexa this year…

No luck. 

In an effort to get started in my festive goodies I made the recipe shared on this page. It’s a gateway recipe before the main frenzy starts. It doesn’t require baking at all and takes a short time to accomplish. Hurray! Because the one thing we all lack at this time of year is time. 

Add to your shopping list the following:

• 1 tub vanilla creamy frosting (I used Betty Crocker)
• 1 package peanut butter flavoured chips (I used Chipits)
• 1 package mini Reese’s pieces (I used Chipits)

The equipment you’ll need:

• A small saucepan
• A spoon
• A spatula
• 9x9 cake pan
• Tin foil

Warning! ⛔️ If you’re allergic to peanuts then obviously this recipe won’t be for you or anyone you know with nut allergies. 

Method:

• Combine Peanut Butter Chips and the container of frosting in a saucepan over low heat until smooth and combined. 
• Cool slightly then mix in half of the bag of mini Reese’s. 
• Spread into lined baking pan
• Top with remaining Reese’s
• Refrigerate until firm 
• Cut into 32 bars but can also be cut smaller as they are very rich!

These fudge squares are super easy to adapt with different flavours of chips or frosting. 

They keep very well in the fridge or freezer. 

Advent Adventures 2023

Every company seems to have an Advent Christmas Countdown Calendar of some kind these days. I really enjoy finding out what little present lies behind each window leading up to the big day. So what calendars did I purchase for this years holidays? Read on!

The first calendar I purchased was from The Body Shop. I had gotten one last year and it helped me to relearn how to relax and take care of myself. As with everything the prices have gone up and this year I purchased the smaller version. It’s called The Advent of Change and comes in lovely blue packaging. The display isn’t as stunning as the larger version but the smaller rings in at $95 CAD. I purchased it back at the end of September and used my birthday rewards coupon for it. It says it’s a value of $181 so we will see when I get to start opening on December 1st. 

The second countdown calendar I got was from Bird and Blend. I TOTALLY splurged on this and for those reasons I’m not going to include all the extra fees I paid. As well I had ordered the Halloween countdown at the same time so charges were a bit more. I LOVED this one from a few years ago. The packaging is 100% recyclable and very festive. The main Tea Advent Calendar is priced at $49 USD. However, the one I purchased was specially curated for the tea lover and Bird and Blend customer. It’s called the Ultimate Tea Lover’s Advent Calendar and lucky comes in at the same price of $49 USD. They also have a Matcha calendar!

That was going to be it, but just this afternoon I found a coffee 12 Days of Christmas. I purchased the Grove Place Market keurig cup coffee countdown at Peavey Mart for $18.99 CAD. It does not appear on the Peavey Mart website but similar boxes seem to be available elsewhere. The cashier said they were also waiting on a hot chocolate one. 

Okay, but what about your husband? You can’t forget your husband! 

Right you are. I have found 2 calendars for him this year. The first is the Walkers Shortbread calendar which is a 24 day countdown. I originally ordered from Tea At The White House but they sold out twice. Since I’ve been informed it can be found at London Drugs and a few other retailers. I spent $40 but apparently they can range in price. 

The other countdown I got for my husband I stumbled upon. I bought it at Canadian Tire for $24.99 CAD.  It’s the National Lampoons 12 Days of Jelly Advent Calendar.  We had the Bonne Maman calendar last year and really enjoyed it. This quirky calendar has repeats, comes with a knife and I’d say the packaging is a real “beaut”. 

There you have it. My countdown extravaganza. 

Only 6 days to go!

Who...Who Am I?

HI!  * waves *

The 2023 Holiday season is here and I thought it would be nice to reacquaint myself with my blog page and you!

I started blogging in another lifetime when the internet was fun and no one was afraid of making new friends.  I did it for fun and to have a bit of an online journal.  It was never meant as a money making scheme nor is my intent to influence you into buying or purchasing anything.

As my life changed, I moved into blogging about my favourite CFL football team and created ABC Football.  That was fun for a long time too.  During this time, sharing on social media changed and I found the pandemic changed not only the people who read what I wrote but I myself changed.  

Last autumn and into winter, I found myself wanting to just share again.  I brought Life, Donuts & The Crazy Music Lady back to life.

I hope to continue what I started last holiday season.  I plan to share the places we go, how we celebrate, and maybe some fun recipes and food experiments too.  You can also bet you'll find me sharing the current Advent/Countdown Calendars and Reviews!

So whether we follow each other here, Facebook, Xitter or Instagram, let's celebrate this fun time of year together.

T.Kettle Tea : Advent Calendar Review

I know what you're saying...

It's not Christmas.

True!  While I'm sitting here anxiously awaiting to open the first door on my Bird & Blend Halloween calendar I thought I should offer an update for the future holiday season!  I've pretty much been mute on this blog page for several months and really enjoy sharing in a new/old way what I've been up to.  I really loved catching up with everyone in this format last Christmas so maybe this is a hint as to what's to come... 

T.Kettle is a Canadian "born and owned" tea company.  Their website states their priority is wellness combined with flavour and great tea.

T.Kettle opened in several of the abandoned David's Tea locations and I was pleased to have another Canadian tea retailer easily accessible.  That was until September when I discovered the location I often visited had closed up shop and the only location still open in my city is in a shopping mall I rarely visit.

I've never found their website very current or easily navigable.  I think this company could be more popular if this was updated and had a more user friendly layout.  I don't have a background in this.  I'm just a girl who likes tea and occasionally shops online.  

This Advent Calendar was the 2022 version.  I don't see one available for this year but like I said above, their website isn't 'great'.  It originally retailed for $49.99 but I purchased it in March of 2023 on clearance for $29.99.  The design is very similar to other calendars.  It has 24 days of tea in each drawer.  Each day consists of a small metal container which has a portion of loose tea for about 2 cups.  What I liked most was that each drawer had not only the name of the tea, but the ingredients as well as brewing instructions and caffeine level.

I was very pleased that there was a large amount of caffeine free options in this Advent Calendar.

My favourite flavour was the Fruit Cake because to me those are the flavours which sum up the holiday season.  In September which is when I decided to indulge in this calendar I was sad to find out that a lot...and I mean, A LOT of flavours in this sampler were discontinued so I couldn't find them again even if I wanted to.  That's not terribly unusual but if this was your first connection to the T.Kettle company it would be nice to be able to stock up on your favourites.  How long before I drank them had they been discontinued?  There's no way to tell.

Previous to this, their Gingerbread Cookie tea is the BEST, hands down, that I've ever tasted.

The over all appearance and design of the T.Kettle Advent was very nice and it sat in my kitchen easily and didn't take up a lot of space.  The construction was cardboard or thick paper with a magnetic door.  I'm sure my first David's Tea calendar was similar.  I recycled the whole thing including the small metal cups which held the tea.

Would I buy this again?  Yes I would.  If it were available.  At this time in October when many of the companies have posted their upcoming Advent Calendars you'd think if it was available for this season it would be out there too, but I don't see a mention of it anywhere.  Maybe keep your eyes peeled on their social media for such an announcement.

Ilchester Cheese : Advent Calendar Review

I bought my husband an Ilchester Cheese Advent Calendar for the 2022 Christmas season.  He likes cheese.  I like cheese.  I'd heard a lot about this calendar in 2021 but when I'd found it then it was too late.  This time I found it at our local Co-Op grocery store and it was on sale.

The calendar featured 24 days of cheese but there was only a variety of 9 flavours.  That meant there were several repeats.  The calendar was of cereal box cardboard grade and was apparently designed to fit in the door of a refrigerator even though I didn't store it that way.  The individual doors were perforated for easy removal and each package of single serve cheese was nestled in a light plastic tray.

The calendar price ranged from $36.99 to $29.99.  That breaks down to approximately $1.54 a piece of cheese.  However, when you consider that over half of the pieces were double flavours the cost is more.

What we enjoyed.  Well, Hubby really enjoyed getting a piece of cheese every day with his lunch.  We both enjoyed the information on the different flavours and it allowed us to explore different flavours which we'd never heard of or never had the courage to try before.  We discovered one flavour is aged, one is smoked, one is part of an annual festival where it's rolled down a hill.  We really liked the red Leicester flavour of cheese while the majority were very good.  The only one which didn't go over well was the one infused with cranberries and sage.  I liked it but it was a bit strong.  I realize it's a seasonal flavour so that's why it was included.

What we didn't enjoy as much was the repeat flavours.  So this calendar is all one brand manufactured by Ilchester Cheese.  Bravo for them creating a calendar!  However, when you end up having the same flavour a couple days in a row it becomes a bit "meh".  The other thing, which is not their fault at all, is that the brand isn't stocked here.  The only flavour that the grocery store tends to have is the Applewood smoked cheddar and in my opinion, there are other brands that supply that which we'd buy first in larger quantities.  Ilchester is a British cheese company and it seems that Cathedral is a more widely supplied brand.  So when I did want to purchase some of the flavours we'd tested - we couldn't.

It's worthy to note that while the advent calendar is adequately constructed, that by the time Christmas Eve arrived, the box had not stood up to the test of time.  The doors were torn and falling apart.  It went straight into the recycle bin.  If you are one to enjoy packaging then this probably isn't for you.

Do you have a cheese lover in your family or group of friends?  This does make a great gift for the holidays.  We did thoroughly enjoy it and I hope it continues to gain interest and that they include more flavours to make the calendar even more interesting.

Music Teachers | Teaching in a Time of Covid

I contemplated writing a blog about the Blizzard of '07 but honestly there wasn't a lot to tell.  It was a huge blizzard which shut down the city.  We canceled our music students for the day (it might have been two days) and we did make up lessons later on.  It's an event a lot of people recall.  I think it was a Wednesday.  That's really all there is to that story.

Tuesday March 17th will always be a date I remember. Not because it was St Patrick’s Day, but because it was the first time ever that I had to teach piano lessons virtually and boy, was it a steep learning curve. 

The previous week the first case of Covid19 was announced within the city.  That evening I stopped at the Shoppers Drug Mart on the way home to pick up some milk.  There was a sign on the door that said they were already sold out of hand sanitizer, masks and toilet paper.  It was surreal inside the store.  There was a man with a shopping cart looking for the sold out items and kept badgering staff because it seemed like he didn't believe they were actually sold out.  I got my milk and continued on home.

The next day at work, parents were already concerned and students were cancelling lessons.  Rumours were circulating that the schools were going to be shut down the following week.  It was a very odd time.  Us teachers stood distanced from each other in the showroom talking about what was going on.  Over the weekend, there was a discussion about the Academy closing its doors or how this was all going to be handled.  At the time we believed it might only be a couple of weeks but minute to minute and hour to hour things changed.  I suggested we attempt to teach via Skype as I'd heard others were doing it.  Sunday night it was decided that Monday the 16th would be the last day we'd teach in person and we'd begin notifying our students that Tuesday lessons would be moved online.

Over the course of 3 days over 600 students were notified by phone call and set up with skype accounts.

I had gotten an iPad for Christmas and had subsequently purchased a tripod which would hold it.  My digital Technics piano was in our home office, also known as the Star Wars room.  What complicated everything was that Hubby was also sent home to work for the first time on the same day.  We couldn't work in the same space as our hours overlapped.  We moved his computer to the basement and purchased all the necessary equipment he required.

It took me a week to bring home all the materials I needed from my classroom.  That first week, I took a ton of notes and transcribed them all onto my laptop.  What became very apparent was that I had taken for granted the ease of phrases like "play that part again" "look for bar 10" or just being able to count along with students playing.  I couldn't just point at something.  Students had to become so much more self sufficient and be ready with pencils and markers and highlighters to make corrections for themselves.  They also had to take the homework notes.  Some students did very very well but it was also really hard for others.  Sometimes calls would drop or they wouldn't be online on time.  It was crazy but then wasn't everything.

School had been cancelled so I saw students suddenly practicing who hadn't worked very hard before.  I heard from parents how grateful they were that we had online lessons to look forward to because as wild as the times were the piano lessons gave a sense of normalcy.  The feeling was mutual.

We taught virtually from March 2020 through the summer until the end of August 2020.  In the summer because my schedule was reduced we moved my piano to the basement and Hubby moved his office to the Star Wars room, where he still works to this day.  At the end of my work days, I'd come upstairs and holler "I'm home!" and we'd laugh.

Miraculously, I myself only lost a handful of students.  In September, donned in mandatory masks and with cleaning protocol in place, we returned to in person teaching while some students and teachers chose to remain online.  I was so thankful to not have to deal with technology anymore.  

On one particular day my mask was snug and I complained to my student how it was flattening my nose.  I said "what will you say when we don't have to wear masks anymore?"

He replied, "my, you have a flat nose".

Spoiler.  He didn't.

We adapted so quickly and now working virtually is a way of life.  We jump online through Skype or Zoom with ease.  We held festivals and concerts online and while that's fading away working virtually will always be an option now.  Those few months changed everything.

Music Teachers | The Time I Broke A Piano

 

All was fine until I went to work. Over that weekend, the piano that was in my classroom was loaned out for an event, an accountant’s convention apparently. I didn’t have an issue with that, after all I didn't OWN the Technics PR54 which happily resided in my classroom, but I felt like it was mine. I used it every day.  I no longer teach anyone who would remember that music rest Christmas paper wrapped piano, but if you do, you must be very special.

What I am about to relate to you will no doubt surprise you as much as it did me!

With that in mind, here is what happened on that Monday when I arrived at work to my classroom. My piano was not in its correct location.  There were two windows separated by a length of wall. I simply preferred the piano to be centered on that wall. I don’t think that’s a crazy demand. Things should be symmetric, that’s all. I barely needed to move it a foot.

This had happened before and even now isn't unheard of. When the piano wasn't in the rightful symmetric-wall-centered position I'd simply push or pull it back into place. It wasn't a heavy piano since it’s an electric/digital piano. I’ve helped move pianos in concerts and festivals for years! I am not new to moving things to and fro. 

Another tidbit of information which you need to know is that I am not a very strong person. I can lift some things. Move some furniture about in my house. But I don’t have what you could call brute strength. I am not Bam Bam. Nor Paul Bunion. 

So I grabbed onto the end and tugged. I did not turn into the Incredible Hulk when I pulled on the piano. But do you want to know what happened? Maybe I shouldn’t tell you….  The end of the casing of the piano came off in my hands! 

AHHHHH! I am so fired, I thought. 

At first, like Ralphie trying to get away with icicle broken glasses (oh my gawd, I shot my eye out) in the Christmas Story, I thought I could just push it back on and no one would be the wiser. Nope, it didn’t work. I stood back and surveyed the damage. The end of the piano had been held together with simple doweling.  The wires were hanging out the end.  It looked really bad.  REALLY BAD.

 
I am so fired.

I went and got Sharon from the front desk. Sharon was the receptionist, book keeper, maintenance man, carpet cleaner and all around handy-man, but I have to stress she is a very good friend. 

“Sharon, can I talk to you in my classroom for a minute.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, you really have to come here.”

“Can you just tell me?”

“Um….” Me, trying to spit it out. “I kind of wrecked the piano!”

She walked with me to my classroom. Her assessment of the situation? “OH MY GOD!”

Luckily, I was able to teach in another room that day. Also luckily, the academy director, boss and owner and her husband were away and wouldn’t find out until the next day.  Did they ever find out?  I guess they will when or if they read this! 

But here is just how good of a friend Sharon is. It bothered her so much that she couldn’t get a hold of the piano repair person that she went in on her own time, dismantled my piano, crazy glued it and put it back together again. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men did put the wrecked piano back together again! I didn’t know that she did this until a while afterward. Sharon retired twice, maybe three times and probably didn't get a lot of the glory at the Academy, but she was the glue that held so many things together.

Literally.

Just like the Mom in the Christmas Story when Ralphie got in the big fight and had to wait until the Dad came home. Sharon softened the blow. Ralphie didn’t get killed and I didn’t get fired. By Friday we were all able to laugh about it and now many years later it barely seems like it happened. 

What I know for sure is that I will never ever EVER touch that or any piano to move it again. If it is sitting in the middle of that classroom I will teach in the middle of the classroom. I will not pull, push or tug. Will I cringe?  Oh yes I will!  Because just recently, I went in to work, a Tuesday this time, to find a new Roland digital piano in the middle of my 2023 classroom.  

Was I going to move it?  

Heck no.  Not on your life.