Label maker

My mother is even more of an organizational freak than me.

So last Christmas, I bought her a label maker - the Brother PTouch. It's amazing. At the cabin last week we labeled everything in sight. It is particularly good in a linen closet, and to label electronics and cords (I did my camera, IPad, Blackberry, etc.). Now I'm walking around my house thinking about all things I'd label if I had my very own label maker!

OCD

Yes, I have OCD.....and I have no desire for recovery. I revel in it.

Check out the 'ribbon' drawn in my newly purged office. ...more photos to come now that the purge is complete.

Now I can't wait to wrap a gift!

Valentine's gifts for a foodie father

My husband and I tend not to buy expensive Valentine's gifts. Instead, we like to give gifts that are personal and sentimental. So here is what we gave my husband:

1) A framed piece of art: kids' handprint/footprint.

To make this, I used a piece of canvas paper (available at any art store, like Deserres on the Danforth), and two different colours of acrylic paints. To finish it off, I wrote each of the kids' names and age with a silver pen. I still need to take a picture of the final product in the frame...it turned out quite well. The kids loved doing this, though it was obviously a bit messy!

Note- I initialy tried using finger paints since I thought the clean-up would be easier, but they don't have enough pigment to make the prints stand out.

2) My husband is an avid cook. He had admired this cookbook in the window of Circus books (a great used bookstore at Jones and Danforth) so my daughter and I snuck back and got it for him. The cheese cloth is to age his own beef...apparently you can buy unaged beef and age it yourself in the fridge quite easily with a zip lock container and some cheese cloth. Who knew?...I'll let you know how it turns out!

What did you give your sweetheart? Did you receive anything special?

Matters of the heart

Have you started thinking about Valentine's Day? It just makes me feel all gushy to think about having a day when the clock stops and we all take a moment to tell that special someone how much we love them...I know, I know, we should do it without the Hallmark holiday, but it's a good reminder to do so.

I have been looking at this heart shaped cookie cutter, trying to think of how I can use it to make a special meal for my husband on Valentine's Day....heart shaped tartar? Quinoa salad in a heart shaped nest of grilled red peppers? We are going to go out to officially celebrate at Libretto the following week (when my sister can babysit!) but I'd like to do something special on the actual day as well, once the rugrats are sleeping. Do you have any romantic recipes?

I've started pulling together his gift as well. For celebrations like Valentine's Day I try to pick special sentimental gifts that don't break the bank. ....I should keep my ideas a secret in case he's reading this, but I'll let you into the fold soon!