Long Live the Long Weekend!

Happy Victoria Day!

Notoriously, Victoria Day weekend is full of rain here in Ontario. This year, however we have completely lucked out and have enjoyed warm temperatures with sunny skies, and rain has been minimal.

Yesterday we loaded up the van to take a drive over toward Lake Huron. The plan was to just look at the lake and maybe dip our toes into the water. With the cool wet spring we've had so far, I knew that the lake was still going to be pretty cold. We enjoyed a lunch out and spending precious family time together. But, what I really love about Victoria Day weekend is reconnecting with neighbours, the sounds of kids playing out in yards, and of course, the wonderful smell of barbeque filling the air.


My husband got up at 5:45 AM this morning to start up his charcoal barbeque to slow cook a brisket for our Sunday supper. All day long we enjoy the tempting smell of a brisket cooking on indirect heat. As the day goes on we get hungry in anticipation. Finally, supper time came and we enjoyed our brisket served on Wonder+ SimplyFree Hamburger Buns.

New Wonder+ SimplyFree Hamburger Buns are super soft white buns. Wonder+ SimplyFree has no artificial colours, preservatives, or flavours, and they are free of high fructose corn syrup. If you are a hot dog fan, Wonder+ SimplyFree also has hot dog buns. We had them earlier in the week for soccer night supper and they were great. The kids gobbled them up, never questioning the fact that these buns were good for them, they have the same great taste and quality which we have come to know and respect from Wonder Bread.

Be sure to take a peek at Wonder+, where you will find a progressive coupon for Wonder+ SimplyFree rolls. The more likes they get, the better the value of the coupon...and who doesn't love coupon savings?

The iconic magazine, Canadian Living is forming a summer-long series of recipes using new Wonder+ SimplyFree Rolls. There are two burger recipes right now, and as the summer progresses they will be adding eight more recipes. My pit-master-in-training loves to make his own burgers, as well as his brisket. His famous recipe is adding bits of cooked bacon right into his meat mixture. Now, that is a real bacon burger!

If you are a pit-master-in-training, (just like my hubby) you may be interested in the history of barbequing in Canada. You never know, you may be the next Diva Q!


Long Live the Long Weekend!

Do share, I would love to hear your way of celebrating Victoria Day and maybe even what you enjoy on your barbeque grill.

Disclosure – I am participating in the Wonder+ SimplyFree program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Weston Bakeries. I received a gift card and free product coupons as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Gather Around the Christmas Tree

You know you are a country bumpkin when the Christmas tree at Grandma's house is a drying rack!

Make a Holiday Collage with Shape Collage

Here is an idea for those hard to buy for people, or the person who has it all!



Shape Collage ~ is fun and addicting. You can quickly and easily take your digital pictures and turn them into works of art. Shape Collage allows you to take your photos and with a few clicks of your mouse you have transformed your pictures automatically into a collage.

Shape Collage is the only collage maker that:

• optimally arranges photos
• creates collages in different shapes
• can handle thousands of photos
• generates super high-resolution images (up to 200 megapixels)
• makes collages in just seconds
• exports to Photoshop PSD file format

This holiday season take all those family pictures and using Shape Collage make a keepsake which can be printed as a poster, or even a calendar, or a mug!


Check out Shape Collage and maybe even make a collage of your holiday photos!






Disclaimer: I was given the opportunity to try out the product for myself. Opinions expressed are mine, yours may differ.

Here Comes Santa Claus...

Phew! Are you ready for Santa's visit?

Iams Home 4 the Holidays

This time last year I helped to spread the word about Iams Home for the Holidays, {and I am happy to report that they are doing it again this year!} This is a fabulous program where Iams is helping to find forever homes for 1.5 million orphaned pets this holiday season.

Iams is helping and hoping to find loving homes for loving pets.


Last year I was a supporter because of our beloved cat, Claire being a rescue cat. This year we no longer have our Claire. She lived with us for 14 years and just this Fall we were sad to say good-bye. However, we have tonnes of pictures and memories and know that she will live on in our hearts for a long time. That being said, we are big cat people and have enough love for a *new* cat. Our plan is to go to our local SPCA shelter and bring home a new family pet, the week after Christmas. We figure it would be a great time to introduce a new pet since the whole family will be together. Plus, we know that there is a special kitty just waiting for us to bring her home!







Please visit Iams on facebook or Iams Home 4 the Holidays to learn more and how you too can effect the life of a homeless animal this holiday season.

Smiles by the Spoonful ~ Share a smile with Snack Pack

I have been celebrating the holiday season here on my blog for the whole month of November, spreading the word about great gift ideas and hopefully putting the smile on people's faces as they receive congratulation emails from me telling them that they have won a giveaway.


Is there any other time of the year that brings as much joy to people's lives as the holidays? Seeing children giddy at the excitement over Santa, attending parades, parties and lunch with Santa, all are things that put a smile on my face. But, I am not naive enough to say or know that everyone is smiling as the holiday season quickly approaches. There are many people who aren't able to afford the luxury of special gifts, or even food this holiday season.

SnackPack has come up with a great way to share the smiles this holiday season! Join Snack Pack Canada on facebook and help put smiles on the faces of your fellow Canadians this holiday season. It really doesn't get any easier than this to give back. Every day visit Snack Pack and click on the smile button, accept a smile and Snack Pack will donate a dollar to Canadian Foodbanks. Also, you can be entered to win some great weekly prizes. I was just there and they are doing terrific...they have already raised $14 500!!

Visit Snack Pack to learn more about the program and about all the yummy snacks at Snack Pack! I am already pretty familiar with them. {smiles}




Disclaimer: I am participating in the Smile Pack program by Mom Central on behalf of Conagra Foods Canada. I received a gift card for my participation. The opinions expressed on this blog are mine.