Prairie Paper & Ink

My Mailing Address

Hello everyone :).

I hope y'all are having a good week so far! I'll hopefully have some cards and maybe a video or two up this week - I've been super busy (as usual) and downright exhausted but there are some creative ideas brewing *wink*.

Anywho - I've had a lot of you ask for my mailing address. Some ideas have been tossed around from y'all about wanting to send cards and whatnot - whether just to me personally, or for me to show on YouTube etc. I thought I may as well post my mailing address and we'll see where it goes LOL! 

If I do get enough cards I can post a "Happy Mail Haul Video" (to whomever gave me that idea make sure to leave a comment so I can credit you LOL! It was perfect) maybe once a month or every other month - we'll see! *Note - if you do send a card make sure to include your "handle" - AKA your username on (if you have one) for YouTube/Instagram/whatever - if you want! You don't HAVE to do that but if you'd like me to mention it I totally will - that plus there are several of you that I've been getting to know more and more lately and I recognize a lot of those usernames (I'm horrible with names - always have been - but I try and I tend to recognize usernames after a while).

Amy Rysavy

Box 906

Rosetown, SK

S0L 2V0

Canada

I'm off to finish my morning coffee - I'm at the point now where I can hardly function without it first thing in the morning *wink*. Have a fabulous day!! :) :) :)

What's On My Wrist? It's a FitBit!

NSR (non-stamping-related) post today - so like I say in the video if these sort of posts don't interest you it's OK to click out and I'll catch you next time with a card-related post/video! ;)

Anwyho - I never planned on sharing all this with everyone, but I've been getting a LOT of questions about what's on my wrist and people wanting more info - so I decided to film a video explaining what this is and why I'm wearing it!

 

You can watch directly on YouTube HERE <-----click!

EDITED to add - new links to Amazon! My old FitBit bit the dust, and now they have several new and nicer versions than the one I show here. My plan is to get one (haven't decided which one yet!) and get my steps in again! :)

If you want to get one for yourself you can get them here on Amazon <-----click!

I mention in the video my hubby now has one too and he loves it, some of his co-workers have one, and several more are interested. Even my mom has one. 

As of posting this I've lost 13lbs in 3 weeks since I started eating less and trying to hit 10,000 steps a day (some days more, some less). It's definitely a lifestyle change and it's hard - but SO motivating to see results!

So that's my story! Totally nerve-wracking to put it out there on the interwebz like this, but if I find this helps even one person out it's totally worth it! And it's working for ME which is the most important!

Do you have a FitBit? Or something similar? Let me know in the comments below whether you do or not and if it's helped you! :)

Smells SO Good

Totally non-stamping-related post here today - I just had to take a picture of this:

That's what my dining room table looks like right now.

I've got several Gold Canyon candles going:

Candy Corn

Warm Apple Crisp

Pumpkin Pie

Spiced Gumdrops

And when they're all lit at the same time the scents blend and OMG does it ever smell GOOD!! This was their "scent blend" from last month and sounded amazing so I had to get the candles and try it for myself - honestly they've only been burning for 20-30 minutes and I can smell it throughout the entire house.

*hugs self* I LOVE fall!

The mini pumpkins, decorative gourds and decorative mini corn I picked up at the local grocery store (the gourds were way over priced in my opinion but my kids thought they were the coolest so I had to get a couple!) to complete my little "fall" decorating.

If I were going in to the city anytime in the near future I'd hit up Michaels and get a few fall leaf garlands and mebbe some other decorative goodies - but for now I gotta be happy with all this!

(FYI the scary eyes cauldron is from GC - it was a hostess benny last month and one of my hostesses didn't want it so I got it - YAY - b/c now it's unavailable! I think it's so cute. LOL Josie kept turning it around during breakfast the first few days b/c she "didn't like it looking at her").

Last but not least I still have a few codes for online orders on my Gold Canyon site - check out THIS POST <-----click! If you're in the US or Canada and are interested as they're only good until the end of this month! 

Nanaimo Bar Recipe

I've had a few questions about the bars shown in the chocolate picture in this post <----click! Well they ARE Nanaimo Bars - I just assumed everyone knew what they were! I guess that they're more of a Canadian thing? Anywho - here's a recipe for them I found online (you can check out the site where I found it here - there's a little tidbit at the top about the history of the Nanaimo Bar) - if you've never had them before you gotta try them out - they are GOOD!! And FYI I've substituted chopped up pecans for the almonds on the bottom layer - really gives it a different flavor (and more texture too).

Nanaimo Bar Recipe

Bottom Layer

• ½ cup unsalted butter (European style cultured)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 5 tbsp. cocoa
  1 egg beaten
• 1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
• ½ c. finely chopped almonds
• 1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
• 2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer

• 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

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FYI I'm feeling better - all the Tylenol I took finally kicked in and I'm not as achy and miserable as I was - here's hoping it doesn't get worse overnight tho......

Sweet Cinnamon Waldorf Salad

Serves 6-8

Salad

• 2 1/2 cups diced apples
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 cup red or green seedless grapes - quartered
• 1 cup chopped red or green peppers (I prefer using red as they give a *really* nice flavor to the rest of the salad - very yummy!)
• 1/8 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup canned mandarin oranges - drained
• 2 tbsp finely chopped pecans

Dressing

• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. In a serving bowl combine all salad ingredients.

2. In a separate small bowl combine all dressing ingredients and mix thoroughly.

3. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

This is best if made ahead of time and left to sit in the fridge for the flavor to ripen and for the salad to absorb some of the dressing. When ready to serve toss well to mix it all up.

It's great as either a side dish of a meal or as a dessert (kids like it too!!) - would make a nice snack too (we have a little left over and Tim insisted we take it home w/ us LOL!!).

This will keep well for 2 days in the fridge (tho it usually gets eaten well before that!)

TIP - for a change you can use a combination of peas and diced apples to make a total of the 2 1/2 cups.

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So yes I made this for our New Years Eve get-together and everyone seemed to really like it! Tim and I LOVE this salad - it has such a neat flavor to it!! It's SO easy to make - it's just the chopping up of everything that takes the longest.

Enjoy!!!