Guyanese Cheese Rolls

It’s a lovely day and I’m in a lovely mood, so I bake.  I love pastry food but I have to admit it’s not as easy to make as Ina Garden makes it out to be. Today I tried another favorite of mine, Guyanese Cheese Roll and FYI, it kicked my ass.  It was even more difficult because I had little hands in my flour bowl.

Cheese roll has always been a long time favorite of mine, it goes way back to my grade school days. My friends and I would always try to be first in the lunch-lady’s line just to ensure that we got our cheese roll on our lunch break.  I am yet to meet someone who dislikes the taste of cheese roll, even Josiah loves it.  It’s delicate and cheesy and when made the correct way it melts in your mouth. It’s simply delicious!!!  Every time I make any kind of pastry food I feel super guilty when it’s time to eat it, all that fat is oh so wrong but yet oh so good. Yummy

I found this cheese roll recipe on the Inner Gourmet Website. Here is the link… http://www.inner-gourmet.com/2011/09/guyanese-cheese-rolls.html#more

Cheese Roll!

This was the best I could do. Actually these were the best looking out of the 12 cheese rolls I made.  I will keep working on my pastry making skills.

yum!

Check out the cheese!

Here is a clip of what I was dealing with, while trying to keep my pastry dough from crumbling.  He is everywhere and in every thing. I swear he thinks he is really helping me out. LOL

See... I wasn't lying

Comfort Food for Mommy

I have been a little under the weather lately, a cold, a flu, maybe even a bug. Who takes care of mommy when she is not feeling well?  IF you said “mommy” then you are correct.  Whenever I am sick to the point where I need some TLC I always miss my mommy.  She is known for serving me in bed and cooking the foods I love.  Since she is so many thousands of miles away I have no choice but to be a mommy to myself.

A little comfort food for me!

Dhal

Dhal is one of my favorite Indian dishes made with split peas and a variety of spices, then blended into a smooth creamy like sauce or soup. As much as I love dhal I don’t make it too often. I guess that’s just my way of keeping this dish special to me.  After drinking all those flu medications and packet soups, this comfort food was well needed.

Bok choy with curried shrimp on a bed of rice

My Dhal was made to perfection with all the cumin seeds and spices. I enjoyed it with rice and a side of Bok Choy and curried shrimp.  Yes, leave it to a Guyanese to mix an Indian dish with a bit of Asian.

Scrapbooking… A New Hobby

I developed a new hobby recently, its a way for me to relieve stress and be creative at the same time.  Scrapbooking ; it relaxes me, takes my mind off of any negative feeling and puts a smile on my face.  Its a creative artsy way for me to showcase my pictures instead of  in a plain old boring album, (no offense daddy!)

As simple and fun as scrapbooking is, it can also be an expensive hobby.  To keep the cost of your scrapbooking supplies down you really have to let your creativity fly.  That’s what I did.   Today I will share two pages of my scrapbook with you.  There are of my childhood pictures, which I also call my practice pages.  Take a look!

Model child! I call this my 'child fashion' page

This page was made mainly with cutouts which I did myself and with buttons from my old shirts .

Child fashionista!

I will soon move on to Josiah’s pictures.  I cannot wait to get stared on his scrapbook.

The Cruise Ship Debacle and a Story

Since the latest cruise ship disaster, where the  luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia sank into the Mediterranean Sea leaving about 11 dead so far and about 2 dozen plus still missing. I am seriously reconsidering my decision to take a cruise.  You may probably say that I’m a coward but I have always been afraid of cruise ships.   Being enclosed and surrounded by nothing but water, petrified me. It took me a long time to get to this point of even considering one.  Maybe the fact that I cannot swim or maybe it was my own Titanic-like story that is always in the back of my mind whenever I think about cruising.

Around the age of 8 my mom, my sister and I were traveling to my Great Aunt’s funeral. A part of our journey took us over the Demerara River( a major river in Guyana). To get over this river we had to take a ferry. About half way through our water ride the ferry made a loud frightening noise and tilted on its side. Everyone on the ferry started to scream and panicked gripped everyone on board. People were running to the side of the ferry that was higher, some were on the floor and others were grabbing for life jackets.  My mom managed to get two life jackets, she quickly put one on sister who was 1 years old at the time.  Then she turned to me and put the second one me. I didn’t speak but my eyes asked the question “what about you, what will happen to you?”  My mom looked at me and said very calmly, “I will be alright, don’t worry everything will be fine”  I remember thinking at that moment that I will survive and my mom will die for me.

My mom grabbed onto a rail above her head with one hand and my sister in another. I held her around her waist. We stood there hearts beating, my little sister totally oblivious to what was really happening but with a blank stare.  I looked around at the other passengers whose frightful stares met mine and I wondered when it will all come to an end.  I do not think I can begin to explain the fear I felt, the fact that neither I nor my mother could swim raced to the front of my mind.  The possibility of me surviving and my brothers, sister and I growing up without our mother left me shaking in my tiny black booties.  “Dear God, please save us all” I prayed.  Suddenly the rumbling that was coming from the ferry stopped and it became a bit leveled.  The Ferry made it to the other side of the shore still a little tilted and we got out.  My mom hugged my sister and I as tight as she possibly could and kept whispering, “thank you Lord.”  I believed it was God who saved us. He had answered my prayers.  No one died because of this incident and this ferry can in no way be compared to the great Titanic or any other enormous cruise ship out there, but I assure you my fears were justified.

Since then I developed a phobia of being a ferry, boat or ship.

Wrecked cruise ship off the Italian island coast

Here is a little joke!

Over the weekend Josiah and I watched the “Titanic”  about three times in a row.  Last night Josiah caught a glimpse of the Sunday’s newspaper above, picked it up and came over to me and asked,  “mom, where is Jack? I can’t find him anywhere.”  That’s not the Titanic honey,” I said. “This is a different ship, Jack and Rose is not on this ship.”  He looked at the paper again and began shouting, ” Jack! Rose! Jack!”  Then he said, “there he is, mom I found him.” When I looked over, he was pointing at an insert below of a man.   I was dying with laughter Kids say the darndest things!

Is It So Wrong If I choose My Daddy’s Name?

As a little girl I dreamed of getting married and changing my last name over into something much more common and acceptable by all others. I was tired of people calling me everything but my last name. The children at school made fun of my last name on a daily basics, until eventually I hated it. By the time my teenage years rolled around I felt like my last name was a curse. My dad was so popular that the mention of my last name made people interested in what I was doing. No teenager wants to be identified by their dads’ associates when they are out trying to have a good time. Now as a young adult I am much more appreciative of the uniqueness of my Family’s name. The name Fyffe is special to me. I like that whenever I hear that name in a room full of people I know it has to be me. I have never bumped into another Fyffe that wasn’t family.

After being married I elected not to take my husbands last name.  At first it was just too much of a hassle and too much work to get it done. But the longer I went on using my maiden name the more I realized that there was a bigger issue. I was not at all eager to let go of my daddy’s name. Its unique, uncommon, unusual and I liked it much more than my husbands last name. I tried to tell him that his last name is very common and ordinary and I am no ordinary girl, he knew this when he married me. Of course he was offended by my decision and applied pressure every chance he got.
So I ask you this: Is it so wrong to want to hold on to my daddy’s last name? Is this what leave and cleave means? Is it really disrespectful if you decide to keep the name you were born with when you got married? I mean isn’t it a little more disrespectful to just discard of your father’s last name? I am sure there is blood sweat and tears in all of our fathers name.

I have grown to love my name and now I am torn between letting go of it and accepting my husband’s name. In the end any decision to change my name will be to avoid questions from my son, such as; “mommy, why is your last name different from me and my daddy’s name?” In this modern world women should not feel pressured to accept their husbands last name, because unless your husband is royalty the only advantage to owning his last name is to appear uniform on paper as a family. That’s just my opinion. With all we as women go through, do we really need the extra paperwork?

I wonder if I will visit here soon..

Lamp Revamp

You may have realized by now that I like to do things myself.  I love to decorate and I love to recreate. So when my son destroyed the lampshade to my cherished lamp my first instinct was to recover it.  I  have been told by many people coming into my home to throw it out and buy a  new one.  The nerve of those people, they have no idea of my budget

Being that I am a girl that is crafty I always think twice before I throw anything out.  I was going to recover my lampshade and make them eat their words.  It was a little difficult to find the perfect fabric for the shade because I went to Walmart instead of a craft store, silly me.  I decided to search my closet and luckily I found the perfect piece for my project. Check out the before and after.

My lamp before

A close up of the lamp shade before

The top that I cut apart to make the new lampshade

I measured and cut the fabric to the size of  the old lampshade then I used a hot glue gun to clue the fabric in place. It was a quick and simple  project. I absolutely love the way it turned out.

MY new lamp, I love how it turned out!

A closer look at the new lampshade. I think its elegant!

After looking at my new lamp for a few days I decided to turn it up a notch, so I added ribbon around the edges. Even better!  Doesn’t it make you want to make your own?

Nicely done!

A bit dark, but that's just so you can see the details

Dining Chair Upgrade…Spray Paint Part 2

A friend of mine was about to throw out this old dining chair.  I figure I could give it an upgrade and a new purpose, so I collected it from her.  It was an old rusty wood color.  I assumed it was lacquer because there were a few shiny spots amidst the rusty worn wood color. The chair was used so much that there was an indentation in the middle . I don’t have a before picture of this chair but do believe me for I tell you no lies. It deserved to be in the trash.  But since I now owned a sander why not get sanding?  With a bit of sanding and the magic of spray paint I transformed this chair.

chair after it was sanded and primed

This cushion was also one of my special finds @Pier 1 Imports

I regretted not taking a picture of this chair before I spray painted it. I was so anxious to get to the final point that I literally rushed out and primed this chair without taking as much as one picture.  It would have been nice to show you the transformation from worthless to purposeful.

Its a perfect fit for my computer desk.

A pop of white is just what was needed to brighten up my dark computer work space.

Chic End Table… Spray Paint Part 1

For the past holiday season, I wanted to give my living room a different look without spending too much.   So I went out to the Home Depot and bought a sanding machine, a few cans of  primer and spray paint.  I spray painted a few old pieces to give my space a new look.

The end table you see below is one of those pieces.

The black end table before.

I spray painted it white and made two interchangeable surface mats. I hope you don’t find it too funny when I share with you how I made them.  I took designer scrapbooking paper and laminated them, then I put removable double stick tape at the four corners of the laminated mat. I lightly pressed them unto my white table and “Voila‘ ” I have a new chic end table.

My chic table

Oh so simple changes… oh such a big difference!

Here is one surface mat

And…

Here is another

I love it!!!!

Childhood Memories Revisted

Family time is very important to me. We now live in a world where technology takes the place of  family time. Don’t get me wrong because I am a huge fan of modern technology. I am always intrigued or fascinated by all the amazing things we can now do from our cell phones and computers. But technology sometimes interfere with interpersonal relationship among family members. Many times we are way too busy watching our high-definition TVs that we don’t even bother to converse with each other. I am guilty of such. I make sure to tell to tell my husband to keep my son away from  me and not to bother me on Sunday nights when my shows are on.  Ah yes! “Dexter” and “Boardwalk Empire” are much too entertaining to be bothered by petty conversations.  There are even times I’m on my iPhone for hours and when Josiah tries to interrupt me I get annoyed. Then when he gets a hold of my phone and begins to play “Angry birds” or “Woodys Wild Ride,” he doesn’t as much as blink at the sound of his name. I can light myself on fire and he wont even notice.  By the time daddy comes in he is so busy on Facebook catching up with old friends that he does not notice us unless I pull a Pillsbury Cinnabon out of the oven Ah yes, this is the world we now live in.

I grew up with a dad who was a big family man.  He took us to theater shows and movies, and was very proud to introduce us to his friends. We were his pride and joy.  He took us to all historic and cultural events. We visited every museum and national landmarks and he shared many stories with us. My brothers and I were never going to be the children in class who didn’t know to identify a major statue or to explain the reason why something was built. Though annoying at times, my dad was a fun dad, one who made us eccentric looking kites and bought us many board games.  He even invented his own games, some of then with ridiculous rules. I can’t say for sure if we had a particular game night but we certainly played a lot of games as a family. Those are some of the most cherished moments of my childhood.  Spending time with family is indeed important.

For the past few days I have been reliving those moments with Josiah.   He got a box of Lego pieces for his Christmas, so for days we have been building and rebuilding.  It was so much fun, it reminded me of the moment I decided I was going to be an Architect. Of course that was  one of ten things on my list growing up.  However I forgot how much fun creatively putting a few blocks together can be and he seem to get a kick out of it too. He literally spent hours with his building blocks and his mommy.  Technology had nothing on us!

Excuse my dark pictures, they were taken with my cell phone once again!

                                                                              

                                                                               

                                                                               

Goodbye 2011

As 2011 comes to an end how many of you are completely satisfied with your accomplishments? Did you actually get to check everything off your list? Are u planning on making a new list for the dawning of a new year?
I love to make new years resolutions.  I believe that it guides you as well as forces you to stay focus on your goals.  However, In the spirit of doing things a bit differently I will not be making any resolutions for the upcoming year. I will say a simple prayer, that in 2012 all members of my family are blessed with: wisdom, true happiness, love, success, health, a little wealth, perseverance and togetherness.

A simple wish for peace, love and joy!

With a few hours to go I wish you all a splendid New Years Eve, however you choose to celebrate it. I will probably be ringing in the new year in church or right on my living room couch with my family.  Cheers!!!

Magazine Worthy

I love this photo so much that I wanted to share it with you guys. It has such personality and the innocence captured on my sons face is priceless. You would never have guessed that just a mere second ago he was pulling on the car door and yelling at his dad. I was fortunate to snap this shot the very instance his dad spun him around. Maybe that’s the reason for his stance. I’d say that this photo belongs on the page of a Magazine under the heading, “A positive Generation Awaits” or “Through Our Toddler’s Eyes” or even ” How To Raise A Confident Child.” I guess you could say that I am bias but seriously what do you think?

What Was Served on Christmas

Here is a tiny bit of my Christmas menu. I was unable to take pictures of all that was made because I had a falling out with my camera.  These pictures are from my cell phone and all I have to share with you. My menu was “grilled theme” this year so almost everything was grilled.

I made lamb that turned out so good that I acted a bit greedy. I ate two sticks of these in one take. Don’t judge me, its Christmas!

Skewered cilantro flavored lamb

I also made Thai Grilled Cashew Chicken. This chicken is a favorite of mine now. It was juicy and savory and the Cashew give it a crunchy bite.

Thai grilled Cashew chicken with a dark butter glazed

Rice can never be left out when Guyanese are involved.  I made one of my very own wild rice creation. It was super tasty.

Nema's Fanciful Rice!

I took a turn from cakes and pies for dessert, instead I went with an all out fruit dessert.   What’s Christmas without a little bit of rum? I glazed pineapple in a rum sauce and grilled it for a few minutes.  It was the perfect way to introduce rum without in being overpowering. These wedges were delicious.

Pineapple wedges glazed in a rum butter sauce

Holiday Light Fantasia

The Holiday Light Fantasia is a two and a half  miles drive through of whimsical displays of Christmas lights in Goodwin Park Hartford CT.   The fee is $10 per car and all the proceeds go to the Channel 3 kids Camp to provide opportunities to the children in the neighborhood.   The displays are made up of cartoon characters, movie characters and Christmas storybook characters etc. It is said to be over 200 individual displays and over a million lighted bulbs.

Last night we made an impromptu trip to see the lights and it was well worth it.  There were displays after displays, many of them I didn’t recognize but were beautiful all the same. It was magical to look at as we cruised on by.  We did this drive through for little Josiah but I think my husband and I enjoyed it more than he did.  I felt like Charlie in the chocolate factory. It was our first time visiting but I am 100 percent sure that we will be making this a yearly thing.  I wanted to take pictures of every display but that was not possible since we had a line of cars cruising behind us and there is also a no stopping rule.  Take a look at some of the magical beauty I experience.

Holiday lights

Magical Journey

Gingerbread House

Look it's the three wise men on their Camels

Clifford the big red dog

That's Harry Potter

Through the tunnel we go

The Sweet Shop

This year the sweet shop at my house was sorta closed.  I think I played it lazy when it came to baking. I bought the all the necessary ingredients to make an assortment of cookies but somewhere along the line I decided not to make them. The reason being that I was too busy playing the handy carpenter girl around the home.  I did, however, make a fruit cake and some brownies. I know shame on me, but I made up for what i didn’t have with candy.

To die for brownies, excessive chocolate and walnuts in the mix!

.

Rum-less fruit cake with limited fruits...still yummy!

.

The mini sweet shop!

There were a whole lot more store bought candy and chocolate, such as my favorite, Ferrero Rocher.  I also stumbled on some Eggnog flavored Almonds covered with creamy white chocolate  from Trader Joes, that were extremely additive.

Uses For My Special Finds

This needs no explanation, they were bound to end up on my dining table.  These napkin rings added glamor to my dinnerware.

Dinnerware glamor!

Now for my snowflake place mats… It was my intention to paint something for the wall facing my dining table, but with such little time on my hands I guess it was not meant to be. I intertwined these snowflakes place mats and hung them on the wall. They were a big conversation piece. It was a great statement piece for my wall and it took me all but five seconds.

Wall Art!

Hung over my dining table, this wind chime was a great addition to my kitchen it pulled the colors from my kitchen curtains and also created a chandelier-like appearance. Another great conversation starter!

Ceiling art!

Thank you Pier 1 Imports you made my Christmas better. I now love my tiny kitchen.

Christmas Shopping At My Favorite Store

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a lover of Pier1 Imports, If you don’t you haven’t been paying attention.  For the holidays I absolutely must visit that store for my cup of holiday cheer. It inspires me and I always manage to find beautiful and unique pieces to enhance any decor project I may have.

Check out my  these cute but inexpensive pieces I was able to find at Pier1

Caribbean inspired wind chime $2.48

This delightful wind chime was originally $24.99. I felt like a winner when I walked out of the store with it. There was noway I was leaving it behind.

Super cute Floral bud napkin rings $1.88

I am in love with these napkin rings. Its classic and the colors make sense. It can be incorporated into just about any color I choose to use on my dining table.

Felt snowflakes place mats $2.95

When I saw these place mats a light bulb went off in my head, I had to have them. I immediately went  down to the store, but by the time I got there there were only three remaining. I still got them!

Leopard print Sunglasses $4.00

I’m someone who likes to splurge a bit when it comes to eye ware. But I would certainly take a break from my Marc Jacobs sunglasses for these fabulous leopard print sunglasses. So yes, you got that right, these are a keeper for me!

Reversible dining chair cushion $19.99

I have plans for all these pieces so do stay tune to see how best I worked them into my home.

Hello Again!

Merry Christmas and  Happy Holidays to one and all.  I know I have been gone for a very long time but being that it is my favorite time of year I feel compel to return to my neglected blog. My apologies to those of you who consistently visited hoping to find new post.  The truth of the matter is that I have felt a little like a failure lately. You see I have been trying to potty train my two-year old, which for me seemed like the hardest thing to do. It also didn’t help to be judged and to be put under scrutiny by family and friends.

However today I am feeling mighty fine and I have a chipper in my step.  Christmas is a few days away and it seems I have made the most progress in this potty training task. Josiah has been asking to go “pee pee” and he does so with much excitement. One of my wishes for Christmas was to have him potty trained. It appears it’s only taken me four days to get him to this point.  Of course I was struggling with him for months, reading him books and even talking to him about being a big boy. I even use his favorite characters in these little talks, but I guess he just wasn’t ready. I would try for a few days in a row then give up with frustration.  It’s true what they say; you have to look for signs of readiness, I realize that now.  That has proven effective for me hence I am a happy mommy. My work is not done but I am motivated to move forward.

Happy Holidays!

Happy To Be A Mom!

Today I am not going to complain about being a mother.  Today I’m going to celebrate being a mom.   Today I’m happy being a mommy.  I say this because I adore my son.  He really is a blessing and such a joy to be around and I’m amazed that this little boy can pull me out of any slumber or awful mood I may be in.  Lately I have been feeling a bit drained and overwhelmed by all the stuff in my life that is not perfect.  But whenever I look at his little face I think about how much I have to be thankful for.   He reminds me everyday of how lucky I am, how truly blessed I am to have him in my life.  His little hugs and kisses warms my heart and his embrace really does act as a shield for any pain.   He makes me exceedingly happy and I’m proud to be his mom.

He makes me so happy!

Sleep Issues

One accomplishment that I have been awfully proud of was Josiah’s bed time routine.  I would read him a story before putting him in his bed.  Then once in his bed I say a prayer with him, kiss and hug him and tell him goodnight and leave the room.  He would call out “night, night” to me and turn over and go to sleep.  Once in his bed he stayed there.  Of course there are those nights when he comes out repeatedly, but with some stern warning and equal determination from me, I would eventually wear him down. I was so proud of him. I boasted about how mature he had become.

Lately it seems he is stepping backwards or maybe it’s just the need he feels to be up under his mommy.  I am not at all sure what it is, but he no longer makes it easy for me at nights.  I really dislike this bedtime ritual.  There’s always a battle between him and I every night, and it seems all of my techniques fails.  I  read him a story, I sing to him, say a prayer and cuddle with him for a while, but even then he will not stay in his bed.  I find myself telling him goodnight about 10 to 15 times in one night. I tuck him in and kiss the same amount of times and each time he comes back out.  Now he is the one who wears me down.  Many nights after battling with him I am too worn out to make myself a cup of tea.  The very pillow that he refuse is the one that I long for.  This is very fatiguing and tiresome.  I want bedtime to go back to the way they were.  Can anyone help?

Sleep like a child peaceful and deep

Is It Time For A …

Remember how I was telling you how clingy Josiah has been?  Well, it has me thinking that maybe he needs a companion, a friend, a little someone around his age group.  Someone whom he can run and jump and play with. A sibling !!! Gasp! Yes, I know.  I certainly didn’t have this on my radar people because look at me.  I can’t even catch my breath up to now.  Nevertheless, a few days ago while I was  packing my closet when it dawned on me.  Maybe if Josiah had someone else to play with it would free up more time for me. Instead of him pulling and tugging at me like I’m his playmate, he would pull that other little someone. Right now he is thinking that I’m his friend.  He wants me to color with him and read his books with him and ride his bike and his tiny ass little car.  He expects me to hide in the closet with him and stand on boxes when those boxes that hold his 28 lbs just fine is no match for my 100 and something pounds.

Yes I was thinking maybe its time for another, how ironic because only a few days ago I was telling a cousin and friend of mind; there is no way in hell I will be making another, and that I was saddened by the fact that he was going to be an only child.  Now here I am feeling guilty that I may be subjecting my “people friendly” child to an only child way of life.  “Does that make me a bad mommy, or do I get points for thinking about it???”

lets get it started mommy! Go!

Trying to push me

and another one

and here we go again