Category Archives: Potpourri

Come with me on a magic carpet ride

Posted on January 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

Almost everything I know about magic carpets I learned from the book Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? In the book, which I’ve almost memorized from reading ad nauseum, Elmo gets sucked up into the air by his kite, plummets into a pond and finally gets deposited on a magic carpet that waggles, glides, takes off and rides him to outerspace.

In other words, magic carpets are pretty cool. So it’s no surprise the nifty little conveyor belts located in learn-to-ski zones at ski areas are called magic carpets. Basically, they are moving walkways that transport ski-wearing toddlers up to the top of the bunny hill. They’re like magic for Aussie instructors, who no longer have to tote crying three-year-olds up the hill for more parent-imposed ski lessons (“Aww, c’mon Billy, quit whingeing and let’s get a move on!). Ask any little kid what he likes about skiing and he’ll tell you, “I got to ride the magic carpet.”

It's a kind of magic, for kids.

Since Avery learned to ski by doing laps on the magic carpet at Fernie, we decided it was time Bennett got in on the fun, without skis, of course (don’t want to rush things here). We lodged his feet into his ski boots, popped a helmet on his head and tried to cajole him into walking to the bunny hill. Since ski boots weigh as much as concrete blocks, he refused to budge. Blake carried him halfway there and he grudgingly walked the remainder, only because the magic carpet was in sight. Since no one appeared to be supervising, I hopped on the miracle munchkin mover and rode to the top behind Bennett.

Pretty sure a three-person pileup on the magic carpet is frowned upon.

At the top there was a worker sitting on a bench whose job, I gathered, is to make sure no little kids fall off the conveyor belt or get sucked under when they reach the top. He was also in close proximity to a red emergency stop button, just in case there is a kid pileup or some other magic carpet hazard (hard to imagine at a velocity of about three clicks per hour. Yes, it’s as slow as the airport ones).

Look ma, no hands!

Bennett rode up the magic carpet about four times before turning to me and saying, “I want to ride magic carpet, Mommy.” “We’re on the magic carpet honey. Isn’t this fun?” “No, that one,” he said, pointing quite clearly to the three-person chairlift next to the bunny hill. Even Bennett knew he had a way better chance of getting to outerspace on a chairlft.

Cheap & cheerful Christmas gift idea for the kids’ teachers

Posted on December 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

If you’re like me, you pat yourself on the back in early December because the Christmas shopping is done. But wait! If you’re like me you also forget about the service people until the 11th hour — in my case, the day before the last day of school. By “service people” I mean the wonderful bus drivers, teachers, aids and babysitters who look after my kids while I’m eating bonbons, watching Days of our Lives and otherwise having fun.

Now you’ve remembered them, the big question is, what to get them? I used to go for gift cards until I received a Starbucks card as a thank you and realized what a pain it is to go there and actually use it. So this year I got the kids involved and we baked a lot of cookies.

Cookie presents: simply bake, pack and deliver.

First we made my oatmeal craisin white chocolate chip cookies (very festive). The next day we baked traditional gingersnaps (see recipe, below). Avery did the mixing and Bennett dumped in the ingredients after I measured. When they cooled we packed them into some holiday tins I picked up at Dollarama.

Buy $1 festive tins at Dollarama and voila! Done.

Just make sure you bake enough cookies so there are some left over for the little helpers.

Bake extras so the kids can indulge too. And don't forget about Santa!

Here’s the gingersnaps recipe I used from Betty Crocker. Enjoy!

Gingersnaps

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup shortening (or substitute butter)

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour*

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

Granulated sugar

Mix brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375F. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Dip tops in granulated sugar. Place balls, sugared side up, about 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake cookies until just set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Yield: about 4 dozen cookies; 85 calories per cookie.

*If using self-rising flour, decrease baking soda to 1 tsp. and omit salt.

Get “Sledgehammered” with this wine for men

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 1 comment

With a motto of “No Sipping. No Swirling.” a new Canadian red wine by Treasury Wine Estates called Sledgehammer is hoping to win over the scores of Canadian men out there who like wine but worry about its reputation as a “woman’s drink.” Earnest about cementing its reputation as a manly wine, the wine label even had Leger Marketing conduct a survey to find out about perceptions surrounding men and wine.

First, it helps if the wine label is manly. No pictures of chatueax or cute Aussie animals, please.

The bottle means business. Courtesy, Sledgehammer.

But the real meat of the survey revealed that 76 per cent of Canadian men like drinking wine, as compared with 73 per cent of women. Also, nearly four in 10 men agree there is a stereotype that wine is a woman’s drink. What’s more, 76 per cent of men believe that “some men fake their wine knowledge” (you know who you are), and nearly 60 per cent of men admit to feeling pressure to drink a “manly” drink when they “come of age.”

The arrival of Sledgehammer on the Canadian wine scene is also welcome news for fledling bromances as the survey found men would be more likely to give a “fella” a bottle of wine if they knew it was “made for guys” (no more awkward moments when your pal removes the bottle from the gift bag because — finally! — something other than pink Zinfandel).

As interesting as all this may be, I have some alternate solutions. First, you could just show up with a six-pack of Guinness. Most people agree that’s a beer for dudes. Second, try ordering an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, two very masculine classic cocktails (the Don Draper character from Mad Men prefers an Old Fashioned, if that helps). Finally, if it must be wine, check out Sinister Hand, a red blend from the Owen Roe Winery in Oregon. No one would dispute its label is “manly.”