Retire in Style with Lolita

Sunday, May 27, 2012, Fireworks to celebrate its 75th birthday. I was in San Francisco last June, 2008. We did the city tour and that included a visit to Golden Gate Bridge. We sat on the upper/open deck of the tour bus so I can take pictures of the bridge. It was soooo windy. I had to take my glasses off to make sure I don't lose it in that strong wind! We dined at the best restaurants including Alfred's Steak House, a dining destination in San Francisco. We also dined at the Fisherman's Grotto and Scoma's at the Fisherman's Wharf. I enjoyed the seafood dinners and the famous Sourdough bread. To complete the trip we also went shopping downtown malls and Chinatown. Aside from taking the On/Off city bus tour we also did a lot of walking. My travel partner had his pedometer and we made sure we were walking 10,000 steps a day. We dined and wined but we burned the calories too. Make a digital slideshow

Found a fabulous recipe from cdkitchen.com. The first time I baked this the recipe filled two 9 X 5 inch pans to overflowing. This time I baked in a 9 X 13 inch pan and it was just great! Instead of pecans I used raisins. This Pumpkin bread is freezable. YUMMMM ! INGREDIENTS: 3 1/2 cups flour 2 tablespoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 3 cups granulated sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 4 eggs 2/3 cup water 2 cups pumpkin ***Filling*** 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 egg 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup chopped pecans DIRECTIONS: Mix filling ingredients in order listed and set aside. Sift dry ingredients together. Mix pumpkin, water, oil and eggs together. Pour into dry mixture and mix well. Pour 1/2 of batter into 2 greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Next pour a layer of filling in each pan (using all of the filling). Finish topping with remaining bread batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a woode...

This morning I was delighted to find this perennial plant in bloom! This is "Painted Daisy". This plant is supposed to attract butterflies. This year I planted several perennials that are supposed to attract butterflies and some are supposed to attract hummingbirds. The plant on the left is an Alpine Columbine. It is said that hummingbirds likes to sip the nectar from its lavender blooms. Miss Painted Daisy, you are very pretty.

Defining Moments is a new Thursday night feature of momstownvictoria.blogspot.ca owned by my daughter Melissa. I am pleased and proud to share with you all her Mother's day blog. I am just like my mother My mom grew up in the Philippines and was the eldest of five children. She did a Bachelor of Science in Foods and Nutrition, and her first job was as a Food Service Manager. Then she became a hospital Dietitian, then Chief Dietitian and Instructor. She immigrated to Canada in 1971 and did a year of Dietetic Internship at Montreal General Hospital. She graduated, married my dad, and they moved to Toronto where she worked as Head Dietitian of a hospital in Scarborough in 1972. Then in 1980, we moved to High Prairie, Alberta, where she became Dietitian Manager at the High Prairie Regional Health Complex. And her career went on, and up and up. I, on the other hand, am a different story. Thanks to contracts and my husband's professional career taking precedence, I think I hav...