I love being able to delight my family with holiday treats that include a twist. Traditionally, my family would serve sinfully delicious ice cream in special dishes reserved for entertaining. The kids would sit at a special table, fully decorated for the festivities. I get giddy just thinking about melding tradition with new recipes and décor that are more on trend and appropriate for my family at this time. We all grow, change and develop, and this year I will be cooking and entertaining without using dairy. The beauty of this type of change is that you don’t have to alter much in order to change a lot. Using the right products, traditional dishes can be morphed and elevated to something exquisitely better than the original. That’s what growth is about.
I love taking photos of my family and of all the exciting things we do throughout the year. I love sharing them with my friends and family on social media, but for really special photos, I love the idea of sending the best holiday photo gifts to share our memories in a lasting way. Some moments are just too good not share and having something tangible to hang onto is special. These are some great ways to “think outside the screens” this holiday season and turn your digital images into the best holiday photo gifts.
My kids are big and active, but it seems like not so long ago they were just babies. I listen to their excited voices talking about the holiday season and I remember before they could speak, when I would delight in holding them close and rocking them in my arms to help them off to sleep. Bedtime can still be challenging some days, but I remember how they felt in my arms, how their skin smelled, what it felt like to feel their chests expand and contract as they breathed deep in slumber. I recall looking at their perfect little faces and thinking, “I want to remember this.”
I never met my husband’s mom, and it makes me sad every day. I wish I could thank her, cherish her and appreciate her in person, but the family lost her to cancer before we met. I have seen photos and heard stories, but that’s not always enough. There is, thankfully, one holiday tradition she began that I can continue. Every Christmas morning, we make her special German Omelette recipe. Through the flavours of this delicious strata, I connect with her on special occasions every year, and am able to share in some small part of the blessings she bestowed on her family.
Toys!!!! My problem in choosing toys is that I want them all! It takes me forever to select gifts like this when I just want to keep playing. Here are some of my favourite hot holiday toy picks:
Try as we might to slow down and enjoy a quiet holiday, the festive season can be chaotic as we try to squeeze every ounce of fun and joy into the month of December. We book and double-book ourselves, running from one outing to the next in a flurry of Instagrammable artisanal hot chocolate and snowflake selfies.
Wondering what to with all the ripe and delicious tomatoes you harvested from your garden this year? Tired of canning your tomatoes whole or making the same old boring pasta sauce? Making the same thing all the time with tomatoes can get boring, but when you live on an island like me, you need to be able to maximize the produce from your gardens.
My sons do sports and run around every chance they get, and most of the time, are so passionate about play that they are too distracted to eat. Our family has tried so many things in order to give them continuous energy on school days, but the very best solution has been to make sure they eat eggs in the morning. (We’re still working on finishing school lunches but at least they have some sustained energy from breakfast!) The only problem with this lofty egg goal is that Mommy doesn’t always hear her alarm…. The truth is that eggs aren’t just for weekends. Sure – you can reheat ‘weekend eggs’ during the week, but it’s amazing to make them fresh – and fast – every day. I’ve come up with easy ways to ensure they get this amazing protein each day – even when we all have a wee sleep in.
There are a few reminiscences I have from when I was small that always give me comfort. I remember watching soap operas while sitting in a laundry basket when my Mom ironed clothes. I remember the yellow plastic mugs that always held hot chocolate on chilly days. And I remember the smell of JOHNSON’S® baby lotion after my nightly bath.
When was the last time you explored your own backyard?
Recently, I was invited to test drive both the 2018 Lexus NX 300 F Sport and the Lexus NX 300 Hybrid under the magnificent gaze of the snow-sprinkled hills of the Okanagan with Lexus Canada.









