News re: this blog

You can now view my blog using different types of views. Just add 'view' at the end of the url to check it out. www.pastrydish.blogspot.com/view. If you want to see a particular kind of view only, you can add /flipcard, /mosaic, /sidebar, /snapshot or /timeslide to just have a particular kind of view. Check out this link for more information.

Canadian Spelling: Did you know?

In Canada, when do you use practice and when do you use practise? Or how about licence vs. license? Apparently (according to Wikipedia - I know, trusty source) :), practice is a noun and practise is a verb. Licence is a noun and license is a verb. Actually, this seems to be the case in most countries except the United States. In the US, though, they accept both spellings for licence / license as a verb but for practice / practise, they only accept the 'c' version as a noun or a verb. The chart on Wikipedia is actually pretty useful.

And, in Canada, we use colour, manoeuvre, grey (as opposed to gray), catalogue, organization (instead of organisation), theatre, travelling / travelled, yogout / yogurt / yoghourt (yes, all three are correct), instalment, labour, cancelled, defence (instead of defense), and cheque (for money cheques instead of check). Canadian spelling is a combination of British and American spelling for the most part, with the tendency leaning towards the British spelling.

According to a UVic English site, Canadians tend to be 'fair trade' with regards to spelling and there are very few words we feel absolutely must be spelled the Canadian way (which often is the British way). The word noted that Canadians are particularly concerned about was 'metre', which incidentally is a French word. We tend to use 'ise' instead of 'ize'. And a quote from this site: "There is, however, no absolute rule about Canadian spelling. The main thing is to be consistent with whatever you choose."

Everything Patty

On a non-serious note, I proudly wore my nametag today at work ... I called myself St. Patty. :D From hearing comments for years about being a leprechaun (all in good fun, I'm sure), and having a name such as Patti, I think I have the right to call this day mine. :) I even have a pin somewhere that says, "World's cutest leprechaun!" My co-workers figured I should give a speech today when we went out for a birthday lunch in addition to the birthday boy's speech, seeing as it was our day for both of us. Neither of us made those speeches. haha.

Today, I decided to give a bit of a history lesson in this blog entry and share some Irish blessings and prayers (I love those Irish prayers and blessings).

I learned something new today. The story of St. Patrick is a story about forgiveness. It's a neat story. As a teenager, he was captured by Irishmen, brought to Ireland and held captive as a slave for years. This experience changed everything for Patrick. He remembered things he learned as a child about God and, eventually turned his life to God. Although he escaped from his captors, he still held resentment for them. He went through a process of forgiveness and was finally able to release the resentment. He eventually went back to Ireland, as he felt God calling him to do so. Rumour has it, he was the first to bring Christianity to Ireland. Follow some of the links below that tell his story.

Forgiveness: The Story of that Great Englishman St. Patrick

Leadership Lessons from the Life of Saint Patrick

Patrick and Forgiveness

Other facts about St. Patty's Day

- was established as a religious feast in honour of the life and death of St. Patrick
- it has come to be a celebration of all things Irish
- North America has developed traditions of its own - wearing green, pinching people on St. Patty's Day if they're not wearing green, drinking green beer

Irish Traditions

- eating Irish food
- drinking beer
- wearing green in Ireland is apparently bad luck ... I wonder why North Americans think we should wear green.

Irish Symbols
(copied from link)

• 
  

  Leprechauns

  As a St. Patrick's Day symbol, the leprechaun is a smiling, merry little elf. However, legend tells us that leprechauns are always grumpy, untrustworthy and very tricky. Leprechauns are believed to be little old men who make shoes for fairies and are usually about two feet tall. The legend says that if you catch a leprechaun, you can force them to tell you where they hid their pot of gold.
  

  Shamrocks

  According to Irish legend, St. Patrick chose a three leaved clover or shamrock as a symbol of the church's Holy Trinity because of its three leaflets bound by a common stalk. He used the tri-leaved plant to help illustrate the idea of the holy trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. A shamrock is not a four leaf clover, contrary to popular belief. When a four leaf clover is found it is said to represent God's grace. The good luck attached with
  the four leaf clover predates Christianity in Ireland back to the ancient Druid priests.
  

  

  The Claddagh Ring

  The Claddagh Ring features two cupped hands holding a heart with a crown on top. It has been the traditional wedding ring of the Irish since the 17th century. For love, the heart is worn. In friendship, the hands are worn. And, in loyalty and lasting fidelity, the crown is worn.
  If the ring is worn on the right hand, with crown and heart facing out, this symbolizes that the wearer's heart is yet to be won. While dating and under love's spell it is worn with heart and crown facing inwards (still on the right hand.) Wearing the ring on the left hand, with the crown and heart facing inwards, signifies that your love has been given to one and only one, through marriage.
  

  Corned Beef and Cabbage

  Corned beef and cabbage is the traditional meal enjoyed by many on St. Patrick's Day, but only half of it is truly Irish. Cabbage has long been a staple of the Irish diet, but it was traditionally served with Irish bacon, not corned beef. The corned beef was substituted for bacon by Irish immigrants to the Americas around the turn of the century who could not afford the real thing. They learned about the cheaper alternative from their Jewish neighbors.
  

Irish Prayers and Blessings
(copied from link)

An Irish Prayer
May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.

A Wish for a Friend
Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

From Saint Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me Christ before me Christ behind me Christ in me Christ beneath me Christ above me Christ on my right Christ on my left Christ where I lie Christ where I sit Christ where I arise Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me Christ in every eye that sees me Christ in every ear that hears me Salvation is of the Lord.

Said in the morning when rising...

Christ be with me, be after me, be before me, and be at my right and left hand. May everything I do be for Christ.

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

*********
If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes.

********

May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.

********

May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smile of the people you love.

Zombie Walk

Today, while roaming my community, I came across the Zombie Walk. People were dressed like zombies, walking like zombies. White faces. Faces that were made up to look bloody. Ripped and tattered clothes. Scroll down to see some pictures (some are a little blurry as I couldn't get in close enough to get proper pictures).

A few links about Calgary Zombie Walk:
2006: gives a description: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/117451/
2008: The Dead Mile
Dead End Days - zombie comedy
Zombie costuming


The official T-shirt:




Anatomy of an Outbreak:

Make-up tips for the fashion conscious zombie.
Yes, you do have to dress like a zombie. Those who do not do so are welcome, but risk having their brains eaten by confused zombies. You have to admit - they’re not all that smart, but they know a good living brain when they smell it.
Potentially useful things to keep in mind:
Causes of zombie-ness:
As everyone knows - or should know - zombies are usually attributable to one or more of the following:
- voodoo
- science gone astray - chemical or biological accidents, experiments, viruses and the like
- the apocalypse
Of course, there are many more possibilties. Be creative. Corpses in all stages of decay are encouraged.
For the low-budget zombie:
- Oatmeal and liquid latex works wonders.
- Food colouring and corn syrup makes convincing blood, but sticky. However, also delicious.
- Bloody entrails can be easily made by stuffing pantyhose with old sweatsocks, then soaking the whole thing in a bowl of fake blood.
- Value Village - but I’m sure it’s hardly necessary to mention that. I’ve heard that burying your clothes in the backyard for a week or two can help them look (and smell) extra zombie filthy.

[copied from linked site]



This guy (to the right of the lady) was by far the best dressed up as far as I'm concerned. Too bad I couldn't get a picture of his face. When he was facing me, it freaked me out a little. I didn't get my camera ready in time.






(A little blurry, I know ... but it captured what some of the people looked like)

Even the kids get in on it:



Front and back

White Water Rafting

Yesterday, I went White Water Rafting through work. We had about half staff and half guests (clients). It was a lot of fun. Honestly, I was a wee bit scared before going, but I knew the guides were experienced and would do what they could to keep us safe. A few times, I had to hold on to not fall out. There were a number of people in other rafts who fell out. At one point, the guide had to call "High Side". She told us before we started that she has never had to call that yet, so I think we were close to dumping. We were going through a particularly rough set of rapids. When "High Side" is called, everyone needs to quickly jump to the side that is high to prevent a flip.

It sounds like everyone had fun, though. And, it was SO good to get out of the city. I need to do that more often. Definitely! I have some plans to do so, though, already.

As I didn't take my camera with ('cause I didn't want to lose it in the water if I dumped), these pictures are taken off the site for the company we went rafting with. These pictures are actually what it looked like. We rafted the Red Deer River west of Sundre. The rapids are apparently between Class 2 & 4. I understand it makes a difference how high the water is.

If you want to learn some of the terminology and the River Class system, click on this link.

Latin festival and lulo juice

Today was a beautiful hot day. After church, I went to the Seed to go to the service, as one of my guests was getting baptized. Then, I went out to enjoy the beautiful day.

I came across a Latin festival complete with music, Latin American food, kiosks selling Latin American made products, and a booth with juices/purees from various native Latin American fruits. The juice I decided to try was Lulo juice. I know this flavour from somewhere ... a flavour I enjoyed as a child. They also had mango, guava / guayaba, tomate de arbol / tamarillo, passion fruit / maracuya, curuba/bananca passion fruit, and mora / blackberry. Don't be surprised by my ability to remember this list - I only remembered half of them and only by their more common names. The rest I looked up on the brochure. :)

Lulo fruit is known by other names as well such as naranjilla or naranjita. In Mexico, it is known as lulun. The picture above is of lulo fruit.

Mexcan market .... ok, more like a Mom and Pop store

Today, I went to a Mexican food market today. It was really a small store - a corner store, or a 'mom and pop' store. But it had all kinds of Mexican imports. I thought it was cool that I saw this box in the store of De la Rosa and remembered it, more for the box colour and the shape of the rose. I used to love that stuff. It's kind of like candy, kind of like a cookie. I believe it's pressed peanuts with lots of sweetness. I didn't buy a box, though, because I knew I'd never eat the whole thing before it would go off. The box was 1 kg, I believe.

They also had any kind of pepper you might want - dried or canned. For example, they had whole dried Habenero peppers. The dried peppers were all in baggies. They also had angel hair noodles in packages and dried beans next to them - I wonder what that's for. :D

They had 'fresco' cheese for $3 and change. A good size chunk too. And homemade tortillas the kind my mom makes. I bought 3 dozens of these and froze them. I also bought a bag of tostadas. The have Mexican vanilla (both real and a mix of real and artificial). The price seemed fairly cheap when I saw it but I don't remember. They also had cast iron pans for making tortillas. I think there was even one of those things that you roll the dough onto and it cuts the circle. I think those were both around $25-30. They had both Maseca flour and Tamales (what I assume is another kind of flour). They had 'dulce con leche'. And much, much more.

One thing I was wondering about, though .... what is 'Cajeta vainilla' - not sure if I spelled that right. It looked to be a spread of some sort. I was quite tempted to buy it but I didn't know what it was or how to eat it. It was next to canned guava.

This place is also a deli, so I bought 2 empanadas for my supper. The salsa they gave with it was amazing. I really enjoyed that supper.

By the way, they have a phone card there for 2.5 cents/min to Mexico. That is Cheap!!!