Monday, December 27, 2010

Good Will Towards Men...

Just a little post Christmas Shout-Out to Dr. Smarty-Pants ( You know who you are) The Happiest Of Happy Birthdays To You!! May This Year Bring You Happiness, and Love and May The Good Lord Bless You With All His Wonders!

XOXOXOXOXOXO
-Love All Of Us Here In The Hammer!

Another little message about Christmas Cheer and Good Will Towards All Men that those of you with big hearts  might find interesting...

My sisters and I were just on the way home from the gym ( had a crazy awesome hard workout with my trainer...wooo!) and we were in the van stopped at the traffic light.  There was a woman in an electric wheelchair on the sidewalk two lanes away from us on the left side.  She had many things with her on the scooter and among these was a bag of toilet paper rolls.  My sister in the back noticed that the toilet paper bundle had fallen off.  So after some persuasion my sister who was driving opened her window and shouted, motioning to the lady that the paper had fallen off.  The lady waved a Thank You and tried to reach over and retrieve the fallen item, but she was rather short, and the chair was high up, plus she was on the slope of the corner and she was sadly missing her legs from the knees down so there would be no way she could get off the scooter and pick it up.  We were 3 lanes away with oncoming traffic so we couldn't do anything but watch.  Then! This young man (mid 30's) pulls up in a little car at the stop lights right beside her.  He surely saw my sister pointing and talking out the driver side window and he realized the lady was having trouble SO he got out of his car (left it running but thankfully there were no cars behind him) jogged over to her and helped her with the toilet paper.  As we watched this we were all filled with great joy!  My sister pointed out that someone else in the lane over from them had also opened their car door to get out...  HOOOOORAY FOR HUMANITY!!!! ALL IS NOT LOST!!! 

This is a great example of how just one person (or in this case, a few people) can make a difference.  Usually (statistically proven by sociologists,) only 1 out of 5 people will stop to help someone in need, and the odds are even worse when there is an emergency... Incredible, people will just ignore it, turn a blind eye, keep walking ,and do Nothing.  But in this case, +4 people realized there was a situation and did something about it. either by noticing and making the lady aware, getting out, or  starting to get out to help her.  Thankfully not everyone is a selfish blind person wandering this planet in their own little world (you know who u are!).. So a Great CHEER FOR EVERY DAY PEOPLE!!! 

So to take some words from one of my favorite musicals, "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" , Captain Hammer sang it right when he said that;


Everyone's a hero in their own way
In their own 'not-that-heroic' way

Everyone's a hero in their own way
Everyone's got something they can do
Get up, go out and fly
Everyone's a hero in their own way

Everyone's a hero in their own way
Everyone can blaze a hero's trail
Don't worry if it's hard
If you're not a friggin' 'tard, you will prevail
Everyone's a hero in their own way
Everyone's a hero in their way 


  So I hope you enjoyed this post, and it brought you some extended holiday cheer, or at least a cheery feeling that the world is not completely horrible and if you drop your toilet paper on the street and can't get it by yourself, someone is watching and waiting to help you..hopefully..

XOXO
C

Friday, December 24, 2010

JOY TO THE WORLD!!!

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

~MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT~

XOXO 

Cristina <3

My Family Christmas Week Part 2

So things have been crazy as expected today..  I went to the gym to do a session with my sisters trainer and I am exhausted from it.  We worked shoulders, arms, legs, and abs today.. I'm definitely going to feel it tomorrow but you know what they say - no pain no gain.  The gyms motto is Train Hard Or Go Home!. .I intend to live up to that phrase :)

Within the next few hours I will preparing myself and my sisters to go to our churches for mass.. I am excited and nervous, and I really just want to get it all over with... but the night is young and I haven't much time for wallowing in laziness so onward to glory!

I've got to write some letters before I leave, and I have to straighten my sisters hair and do my own, there is still a few gifts to be wrapped for extended family and of course much merriment to be had! What a Night indeed!

What are you doing for Christmas?

I am going to church, to join my friends, family and loved ones in rejoicing in this wonderful night! Exciting!!!

We celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I am so excited! My family didn't do gifts this year for tonight- as i've said already we are doing gifts after boxing day... but I think we have finally learned what the true meaning of Christmas is no presents, no buying, just giving of yourself 100% unto the Glory of the Birth of Our Lord and sharing the joy with all your loved ones.  Christmas doesn't come in boxes, can't be wrapped in paper and is definitely not bought in a store - though some would argue on that fact..  Christmas is within us- like the Who's from Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas (p,.s i watched my 30 minute old cartoon version of..such a classic!) Christmas Day Is In Our Grasp, As Long As We Have Hands To Clasp!

Here are some pictures for you all to see our decorated trees and our finished Presepio's.. Enjoy!

Family Tree at my House


Tree at my Grandmother's House

My moms Presepio

My moms Presepio


My Nonna's Presepio
 The trees and nativity scenes were done by many family members working together and they might not be store perfect, but to us they couldn't be any more wonderful and perfect as they are!

I Wish you all a Blessed Christmas and I hope the Baby Jesus brings you happiness and joy!

After Midnight mass, our family gathers around the Presepio to sing a traditional Italian hymn/pray type song which goes somewhat like this...
"E Notte Di Natale, Su Nel Cielo Brilla Una Stella, Fra Le Tante E La Piu Bella...  La Stella Si E Fermata Sopra'l Tetto Di una Capanna Do've Bimbo Gesu Fa La Nanna!"

From me and my family, to you are yours, i wish you all;
Feliz Navidad!
Buon Natale!
Merry Christmas!
XOXO
C

Thursday, December 23, 2010

My Family Christmas Week- Part 1

Christmas for my family is insane...

Forget decorating and wrapping gifts, we're way too busy being in church singing and playing the piano and organ at numerous pre- and post Christmas masses.  Our family individually tends to just take it one mass at a time come Dec 24th 7pm til Dec 26th and we have broken the old tradition which involved coming home after the usual Christmas Eve midnight mass, going over to grandparents to visit and open gifts with all the cousins, aunts and uncles, and then going home by 2am to open gifts with our own 6 person family... Now we just do the church thing, the extended family thing and then home to bed and not worry about "doing" the Christmas gift thing individually until after boxing day- we shop from the day after boxing day onward and pick a day before everyone has to go back to school or work so that we can exchange gifts  in peace without having to bother about previous engagements, being tired, stressed out and grumpy.  We decorate the house inside- who has time to put lights up outside these days!- get a tree and make the customary nativity scene which we call in Italian, Presepio. (Pictures of our decorated tree and Presepio coming up in part 2)

Now as most of you  know (or have already gathered based on my hallow e'en post) my extended family, i.e aunts, uncles, cousins etc. is really more like close family, because we have spent every Sunday, birthday, and holiday (and lots of days in between) together since each member of the 15 cousins was born.  My mom, and her siblings decided that they wanted to stay very close, and as is true of Italians, raise their children all together as one big family unit.  And so, most of my cousins are like older and younger siblings to me which is both wonderful as it is terrible.  As siblings do, my cousins and I tend to have disagreements and arguments over points of opinion, behave meanly or badly towards each other, dislike/hate one another, and get tired of having to be in the same room with them.  Personalities clash, and some days you wish Nonno (i.e Italian for Grandfather) had been in the mafia so you could have them all "taken care of" - kidding... sometimes.. maybe..hmmmmmmm... Sorry. NO I DO not EVER WISH FOR THAT TO HAPPEN!!!

ANYWAY!

What I'm getting to, is that no matter what, my cousins and I are very close, we'd fight and kill for each other, we'd take bullets for each other (some of us..) and each one of us loves every one else unconditionally (most of the time hehe).... And we love to do almost everything together as a family (re: hallow e'en).  The biggest thing we have always done, as a family unit, is to get all or most of my cousins over to my grandparents house the week prior to Christmas so we can decorate their "Albero di Natale" (Italian for Christmas tree) AND help Nonna (i.e Italian for Grandmother)  make 1000-1500 home-made pasta hats, commonly known to us Italians as Cappelletti.

Through thick and thin, bad years and good years, births and deaths, steadfast and never failing my grandmother has continued on this wonderful tradition from her childhood (she's been making Cappelletti for Christmas since she was a girl, when they used to make them with her mother and all of her sisters back in Italy) and we are proud to take it on now that most of the cousins are old enough not to have fun throwing flour at each other (sometimes... and some of us.. haha). 

Cappelletti are little hat shaped pasta stuffed with meat, and This is how we make them:
-We make the pasta itself by hand out of flour and eggs and its called "la sfoglia". You make the dough by making a hole in a large mound of flour and gathering it all together with a fork until it is solid enough to work with your hands.  Then you kneed the dough ball until it is no longer extremely sticky.  After it is the right consistency and can be maneuvered without issue you  roll it out as thin as possible before it begins to break apart, and then you cut it into long strips which then get sectioned off into squares about an inch in length.
- The pasta hats are stuffed with a meat filling called "impasto" which is made up of three types of meat; chicken, pork and beef which are cooked (fried or boiled etc) and grounded together then mixed with Ricotta and Parmesan cheese, and nutmeg (A lot of nutmeg- as it were).  You also use egg yolk to make it stick together and you can add more egg yolk to soften it up if needed.

To Stuff The Squares: 
-You take some of the "impasto" and make a small mound just bigger than 3 peas which goes on top of the square. 
-You fold one corner over onto the adjacent corner to form a triangle, and then fold the two side ends together so that it forms the shape of a old style mens cap (The word Cappelletto in Italian means "little hat").  -You line them up to dry on a flat surface, and once they've hardened you can cook them (or store them) in boiling water and use them in chicken broth (which you'll get from boiling the chicken) and in tomato sauce. 

So now you know how we make these wonderful traditional pasta hats!!! They are quite tasty and fill you up rather quickly, but that doesn't stop each of us from eating 20 of them (or more depending on the size of the person haha) twice during Christmas!  Our number of volunteer Cappelletti folders has fallen quite a bit in the last 5 years but my sisters and I and 3-4 cousins and some aunts are faithfully there making them year after year and it's quite a production line!

My grandmother used to make all the dough herself, rolling it and cutting it as well, while the grandchildren stuffed the hats, but in the last 5 years she started slowing down due to her advancing age.  She was in her early to mid 70's when she finally decided she'd teach someone else and Allow them to "help" her and she chose me! I was the only one old enough at the time and I wasn't on exams or anything from school.  I would go during the days before Christmas to help stuff the hats as she made rolled and cut the dough, and one day she was getting tired, with her arms and shoulders in bad shape, so she asked me to roll out the dough, and by the end of those short days I was making "la sfoglia" by myself while she sat next to me forming the little hats and imparting much welcomed grandmotherly wisdom on to me.  From then on, I've become the dough maker, and only recently two of my younger cousins have been trustworthy enough to roll out the dough, and Nonna is the boss who comes around to check on production and make sure it is all up to her "old school" standards.

So now the family tradition has officially been passed down the generations from grandmother, to grandchildren and we are proud of our Italian heritage, and especially of this great tradition from Nonna's Romagna- one of the only places in Italy where they make these Cappelletti.
Our Cappelletti making extravaganza this year took place between 6 and 11p on December 22nd and I have taken pictures so you can see what it is we do from start to finish.. Enjoy!

Beginning of the "Sfoglia"


Folding the eggs and flour together to make the "sfoglia"

"Sfoglia" coming together

Knead that dough!


Ball of dough!!


Rolling the "sfoglia"

Cutting the rolled dough into strips

Cutting the squares..

Pasta square with meat "impasto" on it

First attempt at folding the square into a triangle... It fell into the glass of water before my cousin or I could save it. *fail*

Second and successful attempt at folding the triangle :D

A finished Cappelletto!

Regular, white flour Cappelletti up close and personal :D
Egg and flour... all you need for great pasta dough!

Sfoglia made out of whole wheat flour

Pasta hats- Cappelletti made out of the whole wheat flour for my sister


Around 250-300 Cappalletti

Around 300-400 Cappelletti

Just over 250 Cappelletti, plus 40 whole wheat flour ones



Tuesday, December 21, 2010

My First Session

Today I attended my first gym session with my sisters trainer -who is now my trainer- and it was rough!

But So Satisfying!!!!

As you all know by now, I've got a cold, and this made working out quite challenging as throughout the hour session I had to continuously stop or pause to blow my nose, or at least wipe it as it was definitely running, but my trainer (weird to write/think/say that) was patient and pleasant with me about it, and was deeply concerned with my over exerting myself if I had a fever or body aches and pains-which I did not have thankfully!

I was able to survive this first session, but it was challenging.  I haven't worked out since January of last year and though I've noticed my body changing and the numbers on the scale increasing, I hadn't realized just how much i was out of shape! Well all that is going to end and I've proudly taken the first step to initiate this wonderful change!

I never thought in a million years that I would be working out with my sister though, as she was previously not the type to be found sweating it out in the gym.  But she decided it was time to get healthy and change her lifestyle and feel better in her body, and she was so successful I am so very proud of her achievements!  She never thought she'd be in the gym working out with me either, as I always seemed unmotivated especially when she nagged me about it ( haha jokes T. <3) but I went today - thanks to her wonderful gift of 4 training sessions for my b-day- and I am now so pumped and ready to go for this!  Thanks SIS!! XOXOXO

Although my night last night was difficult- as it is always impossible to sleep when you have a cold- I was able to suck it up, put on my track pants, strap down my chest and get moving.  And you know what? My cold was temporarily relieved during the session, all but the randomly running nose.  I didn't cough, or sneeze once, and my head felt better. 

There will be more to come about my sessions, I'll try to give more detailed reports of exactly what I'm doing in my workouts..

I am definitely going to feel the pain tomorrow morning though.. i was forewarned by my sister and my trainer, and I know it from past personal experience too.. so.. that will be fun.. let's see how much sleep I get tonight and if I can at least move my fingers tomorrow then it will be okay.

I'm going to listen to some music- currently hooked on Celtic woman singing Christmas carols...here's a link if u want to check them out- I intend to eventually figure out to upload videos but for now I will simply post links and if you are truly interested then I'm certain you will check it out

XOXO
C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKrx-4Awe70

Good-Bye Winter Exams!

I'm finally free! My Exams for 2010 are over and I am so relieved.. want to know why?

I'm the lucky owner of a wonderful shiny red nose, sniffles, a fairly bad cough and running/stuffy nose! Yes that's right! I've caught a wonderful winter cold! Ugh!

I'm so exhausted because as i'm sure you all know, sleeping with a cold is next to impossible... and this day seems like it went on forever!  My brain in friend from this exam and being sick I am just so burnt.. Thankfully it is all over for this term :)

I am looking forward to Christmas, as I am sure you all are too!  I have so much present making and buying to do, and we're still decorating around the house but it will all be fabulous very soon, I promise i will upload pictures ASAP!

I also want to upload a little Christmas cheer for all my faithfuls out there! So look forward to an upcoming surprise!

My lovely sister got on a health kick a while ago and she's lost 70 pounds and now she's trying to get my other sister and I motivated..so she bought me 4 sessions with her personal trainer for my birthday/Christmas and she got me a session tomorrow at 12! Ah! and now I'm sick! Ah! Let's see how  I feel in the morning.. Ugh! right now I feel sick, but I hope I can pull it together for tomorrow cuz I really wanna start on this training thing and get my body back into shape.. I hate running the stairs and being out of breath!

So i'm gonna go get some rest now and I'll hit you all up later!

XOXO
C

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Twelve Days of Exams...

The Twelve Days of Exams

On the first day of Exams
My professor gave to me
A migraine that won't go away.

On the second day of Exams,
My professor gave to me
Two big fat pimples,
And migraine that won’t go away.

On the third day of Exams,
My professor gave to me
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the fourth day of Exams,
My professor gave to me
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the fifth day of Exams,
My professor gave to me 
FIVE EXTRA POUNDS!
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the sixth day of Exams
My professor gave to me
Six chapters of reading,
Five extra pounds,
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the seventh day of Exams
My professor gave to me
Seven cups of coffee,
Six chapters of reading,
Five extra pounds,
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the eighth day of Exams,
My professor gave to me
Eight tears-a-rolling,
Seven cups of coffee,
Six chapters of reading,
Five extra pounds,
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the ninth day of Exams,
My professor gave me to
Nine pencils breaking,
Eight tears-a-rolling,
Seven cups of coffee,
Six chapters of reading,
Five extra pounds,
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the tenth day of Exams,
My professor gave to me
Ten nails-a-biting,
Nine pencils breaking,
Eight tears-a-rolling,
Seven cups of coffee,
Six chapters of reading,
Five extra pounds,
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples.
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the eleventh day of Exams
My professor gave to me
Eleven mental breakdowns,
Ten nails-a-biting,
Nine pencils breaking,
Eight tears-a-rolling,
Seven cups of coffee,
Six chapters of reading,
Five extra pounds,
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away.

On the twelfth day of Exams,
My professor gave to me
Twelve shots of vodka,
Eleven mental breakdowns,
Ten nails-a-biting
Nine pencils breaking,
Eight tears-a-rolling,
Seven cups of coffee,
Six chapters of reading,
Five extra pounds,
Four hours of sleep,
Three term papers,
Two big fat pimples,
And a migraine that won’t go away!  

SHOUT-OUT TO ALLY'S BREAK-UP BLOG FOR POSTING THIS AND ALLOWING ME TO BE ABLE TO POST IT ON MY BLOG!! KEEP DOING YOUR THING ALLY!! 
XoXo
C

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

2 Down 2 To Go

It's the end of day 1 of my exams, so far I am two for two, in that I've  successfully completed two exams.  I have two more remaining that I am not looking forward to..  Friday morning and Monday evening and then I am finished!!

I'm going to get some sleep now..I've a lot of studying ahead of me tomorrow for Friday and i still have sewing to do tomorrow which needs to get done so I can pack up my machine and take down my table before we can put the Christmas tree up cuz we got it today from IKEA!! Yeah unfortunately my sewing machine does not have a permanent place of residence.. yet.. just waiting for one of my sisters to move out so I can put it up permanently in my room hehehe muahahahahahah!! don't hate me sisters (lol) so yeah, gotta do some living room remodeling so we can stick the tree up and then decorate it just in time for Christmas.. I will have picks up once it's up and finished...

Good Night one And All

XOXO
C
 

Sitting In The Library...

Sitting In one of the university libraries and secretly wishing my Gender and Sexuality prof might come down with some rare disease which puts him in the frame of mind to give everyone a perfect grade on the final exam... Also praying i remember everything and that the clock I'm constantly staring at said 6:14 rather than 4:14..ugh

Half tempted to sleep for next 2 hours...

wish the universe banned all exams!

loathing the next 3 hours...

totally angry at self for having forgotten headphones at home... way to loud in here to study effectively..

so mad at self for putting more effort into previous exam last night....

kid sitting beside me looks like he's 14..they just keep getting younger and younger....*sigh's for own lost youth*

going to stop complaining now and get some work done... might post again after tonights exam..maybe

Be happy you don't have to write exams..

XOXO
C

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like.. Exams!

And no that is not a typo for Xmas - perish the thought of spelling Christmas like that .. *shudders*


I've got two exams tomorrow (Dec 15th), and I've been studying all day..and my brain is feeling overstuffed with words, names, dates, titles, descriptions, key terms and examples! Ugh!

The first exam is at 12:30pm for my Contemporary native Literature in Canada course which sadly has come to a close (but I am happy to announce I will be taking a course this upcoming term on contemporary native lit in America with the same professor!!! So stoked!). 

My second exam tomorrow is at 7pm, for two hours, to bring about the close of my Gender and Sexuality; Queer Theory, Queer Lives course which though it has been tough, I have enjoyed it greatly and am sad to see it end...

I just hope I can get home before 10pm tomorrow night... I have a feeling my hand is going to be cramping along with my head hehe... and then its on to studying for exam 3/4 which is 9am early morning Friday... eeep!

I hope you will all pray for me, I'm going to need it so I can do really well and maintain the averages I need for this year..

So until tomorrow night, I've got to get back to filling up the leftover empty spots in my head so I don't fail..

XOXO
C

Monday, December 13, 2010

First Snow Fall Of The Year!!

On December 12th, it began snowing and the snow stayed on the ground for the first time in our little part of ON and I was really excited!! I decided that the first snow fall of the year would be something fun to blog about therefore around 10pm (Dec 12th) I took pictures of it, as well as on Dec 13th around 3pm so you can all see what lovely snow we got (and keep getting).  The first three pictures I took during the late evening, and the following two were taken earlier today. Enjoy!






I just want to point out that it was VERY COLD  and continuously snowing both times I was taking these pictures so I hope you all enjoy them and appreciate my sacrifice...hehehe

Shout-Out to Dr. & Mrs N.P.G and Faffelonia!!!  Not as much snow as you all have in "ipeg" but we had -20 below with the windchill and that snow was a-whipping everywhere! 

Hope you are all enjoying the weather,

Stay Frosty

XOXO
C <3   

Friday, December 10, 2010

A Tribute To Some Great Candy :D



So today when I was in the local Rexall buying Toblerone chocolate that was on sale I discovered these packs of candy which you see above, and upon looking at it thoroughly was delighted to see that it held many old favorites of mine and even some old fashioned sweets I'd never tried before but had heard of.  It cost me $2.99 so I bought it.

The discovery prompted me to do a little picture taking and internet scouring to give you all some insight into the world of candy that anyone from my generation ('89) and older would definitely remember and recognize, along with some personal faves of mine.. If you want to comment about this post feel free to, I'd also love to know what candy (chocolate included) everyone else is fond of (past or presently) so don't hesitate to mention your personal faves and share your memories...

Enjoy!
The inner workings of the "70's Funky Candy" package I bought

LeMoNHeaD Candy
Lemonhead's were named and formulated by Ferrara Pan Candy Company.  The formula was developed in 1962  using the cold panned process.  The Lemonhead was created in an attempt to make a round sour candy and is the most successful candy of its time. Currently, Ferrara Pan produces approximately 500 million Lemonheads per year.  Millions of people around the world are bridged together as they enjoy eating the round sour candy known as the Lemonhead.
ATOMIC FIREBALL
The famous Atomic FireBall candy was created in 1954.  Nello, the son of owner Salvatore Ferrara had the idea to develop a spicy candy. The "Atomic Fire Ball" gained world-wide recognition shortly after the product was introduced.  The round, spicy, hard candy that was once a dream, had become a success. An estimated 15 million fireballs are consumed per week by people all over the world and the number continues to grow.

POPEYE CANDY STICKS (Formerly Popeye Cigarettes)
Popeye Cigarettes marketed using the Popeye character and were sold for a while with red tips (to look like a lit cigarette) before being renamed candy sticks and being manufactured without the red tip. World Candies Inc.  produced Popeye-branded "candy cigarettes", which were small sugar sticks with red dye at the end to simulate a flame. They were sold in a small box, similar to a cigarette pack. The company still produces the item, but has since changed the name to "Popeye Candy Sticks" and has ceased putting the red dye at the end.
DUBBLE BUBBLE -Twist
Dubble Bubble  was created in 1928 by Fleer Candy Company accountant Walter Diemer (he claims he stumbled upon the recipe by accident), the gum featured comic strip featuring brothers Dub and Bub (replaced in 1950 by Pud). It grew in popularity, and was even distributed as part of military rations during World War II. It also was part of the first-ever gum five-pack (1957).
RAIN-BLO- Bubble Gum
Rain-Blo is a brand of bubble gum that come in a variety of fruit flavors, introduced by Leaf Confectionery in 1940, and acquired from Hershey Foods by Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. They are bubble gum balls containing an internal fruit flavoring that is colored to match the coating on the outside.
SWEETARTS
SweeTarts  (SweeTARTS) are sweet and sour candies invented by J. Fish Smith, the owner of Sunline. The tablets were created using the same basic recipe as the already popular Pixy Stix and Lik-M-Aid products, in response to parents' requests for a less-messy candy. In 1963, SweeTarts were introduced with the same flavors as the popular Pixy Stix: cherry, grape, lemon, lime, and orange. The Sunline company was later bought by Rowntree Mackintosh, of the UK, which was, in turn, taken over by Nestlé who rolled the SweeTarts family of candies into the already-existing Willy Wonka Candy Company family of brands. The current flavors in the SweeTarts roll are: blue raspberry (blue), cherry (pink), grape (purple), green apple (green), lemon (yellow), and orange (orange). In 2001, Nestlé replaced the original lime with green apple. In 2009, Nestlé stopped making lemon (yellow). Also, the flavors are more tart now than in the past.
BOTTLE CAPS -The Soda Pop Candy
Bottle Caps are tart candies made to look like metal soda bottle caps in grape, cola, orange, root beer, and cherry flavors. They are sold by Nestlé under their Willy Wonka Candy Company brand. Bottle Caps have a sweet but slightly sour taste to them, but with soda flavors and altered shapes. In the past, Bottle Caps contained a lemon-lime flavor instead of the current cherry flavor. There was also a time when Willy Wonka Co. made Fizzy Bottle Caps (called Fizzy Jerks in the UK). These were like the original but contained ingredients to make them fizz when eaten.In early 2009, each individual piece of Bottle Caps candy was made much smaller than they had been in the past.
PEZ- Candy
Pez (trademarked PEZ, in capitals) is the brand name of an Austrian confectionery and the mechanical pocket dispensers for the same. The confectionery itself takes the shape of pressed, dry, straight-edged blocks, with Pez dispensers holding 12 Pez pieces. The name Pez was derived from the letters at the start, the middle and the end of the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminz, the first Pez flavor. Pez was originally introduced in Austria, later exported, notably to the U.S., and eventually became available worldwide.Pez was first marketed as a compressed peppermint sweet or candy in Vienna, Austria.It was invented in 1927 in Vienna by a confectioner named Eduard Haas III. Haas invented peppermints using family owned baking powders, and decided to serve the mints in small, hand-size containers. He manufactured a small tin to hold the mints. The first Pez mint dispensers, known as "regulars," were similar in shape to a cigarette lighter, and dispensed an adult breath mint marketed as an alternative to smoking. They were invented by Oscar Uxa. Haas Food Manufacturing Corporation of Vienna, Austria, was the first to sell Pez products.
LONG BOYS CHOCOLATE
Traditional old-fashioned southern treats, Long Boy's originally are chewy caramels blended with flakes of real coconut and rolled. Originating in New Orleans more than 50 years ago, they are now made using the same recipe and cooking techniques perfected all those years ago. Long Boys are made out of chocolate more recently.
MAPLE CANDY
Maple syrup, this candy dates back to a time in north American history before European settlers.  Candy has been made out of the syrup since post-colonial days and continues to be a large tradition and sweet favourite all over Canada and the US.
MARY JANE Candy
'Mary Jane' is a peanut butter and molasses flavored taffy-type candy with peanut butter in the center, originally made in 1914 by The Charles N. Miller Co., later by Stark Candy Co., and now manufactured by Necco. It is similar in style and packaging to Bit-O-Honey.
B-B-BATS Flavoured Taffy- Chocolate
BB Bats Assorted candy is a delicious taffy lollipop and an old-time classic candy. They were first manufactured in the 1920's, and though very hard to find, continue to be a chewy sweet treat today!
SALT WATER TAFFY
Salt water taffy is a soft taffy originally produced and marketed in the Atlantic City, New Jersey, area beginning in the late 19th century. Despite the name, it does not contain sea water.

TWIZZLERS
 


Twizzlers are a popular brand of fruit-flavored candy in the United States and Canada (often called a licorice candy). Twizzlers is the product of Y&S Candies, Inc., of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, now a subsidiary of The Hershey Company.  Y&S Candies, the manufactures of TWIZZLERS candy, is one of the oldest confectionery firms in the United States. The company was established in 1845 as Young and Smylie, and adopted Y&S as its trademark in 1870. National Licorice Company was created in 1902 through the merger of three small firms: Young & Smylie, S.V. & F.P. Schudder and H.W. Petherbridge. The company changed its name to Y&S candies Inc. in 1968 and was acquired by Hershey Foods in 1977.

NERDS-Rainbow
Nerds are a form of candy currently sold by Nestlé under their Willy Wonka Candy Company brand.
Nerds were first created and then launched in 1983 by Kevin Ruby Deering, Nerds became the "Candy of the Year" in 1985 by NCWA. Nerds are small irregularly-shaped sweets that come in a variety of flavors and are usually sold in a box that has two separate flavors, each with a separate opening mechanism. Nerds are anthropomorphized on the cover of its distinctive box package. The separation of two distinct flavors in one commodity has generated success for Nerds, likely because consumers can control their experiences.Nerds are of varied flavors and varied colors, ranging from extremely sweet to extremely sour; often the two flavors in one box will contrast, and a single flavor may even exhibit both extremes. They are thickly glazed with carnauba wax, which gives them a hard bite and a gloss. The nucleus of each candy is composed of one or more complete sucrose crystals.

WAX STIX 



Wax Stix  are another childhood fave of mine, but I was unable to find a history about it.  Anyway, they are made out of wax and contain a syrup type  fruity flavored liquid that I remember fondly as a child and still enjoy today (right now actually :D )


       Well there's a blast from the past.. I hope you all enjoyed taking that trip down candy memory lane with me and maybe you learned something you didn't know about the candy we all know and love..

Remember to comment, or e-mail, or at least smile when you come to the end of this post.. It's supposed to be fun! and I hope it brought back all the good memories for you that it did for me :)Please let me know your favorite candy too!

XOXO
Cristina

Thursday, December 9, 2010

UPDATED AND EDITED!!! Poetry.. Good or Bad? You Be The Judge!

The Road Not Taken - by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

       Just thought I'd share some poetry with you from American poet laureate (national poet) Robert Frost whom I love so very very much.  I'm definitely open to having some ongoing conversations, debates and discussions about this particular poem or any others by this poet ( or any other poet for that matter)..  I'm interested in what you all have to think about it... in my next post I will certainly give you all my opinion, thoughts and feelings on it and you can comment on those as well.. but first I want time to mull it all over in my brain so i can get a good critical reading of it.. just because the semester has ended, doesn't mean I should stop doing what English majors do.. read and critically analyze.. WOOOOOOOOOOO!

      Anyway, hope you have all been enjoying my posts so far, THANKS! To those of you (Ange&Faffles) who have taken the time to leave me a comment (P.s I know profs have just as hard a time as students do with essays, even more so as I only have to write mine once, but they have to read the same or similar topics over and over and over again..My heart goes out to you Dr. NPG hang in there!!!).. I look forward to more comments, so look forward to more posts ASAP! and don't forget you can always e-mail me!

THANKS TO THOSE YOU WHO'VE MADE ME AWARE OF MY MISTAKE!! ROBERT FROST IS INDEED NOT CANADIAN, BUT AMERICAN AND I AM FORCED TO SUBMIT TO HUMILIATION AND SHAME FOR NOT HAVING CHECKED MY SOURCE PROPERLY BEFORE  POSTING!! Thanks to A&F for having hope but regretfully Dr. Smarty Pants is correct.. this time... *sad face*  I will never make such an error again.

Thanks to those who commented beyond my mistake and left questions and analysis..  I will get back to you with my response to it shortly... My Deepest Apologies once more for having led you all astray! I hop you can find it in your hearts to forgive me..  Though i blame the Canadian education system that led me to believe that Robert Frost  (and Robert Munsch for that matter) have links to Canada or are Canadian.. *haha*
 
XOXO
Cristina



Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sew What?

This morning I got up around 10.. I had breakfast and watched some shows on television that have been airing since waaay before I was even born and are about stuff I have no working personal memory about.. but hey, its always good to reflect on "the good ol' days" right.. right??

Any who, I watched Emily of New Moon, a Canadian television series based on the novels written by wonderful Canadian authoress Lucy Maude Montgomery who is famous for the Anne of Green Gables series which has become a Canadian phenomenon (P.s can you believe Anne is 100 years old?- insane right?).  Emily of New Moon is set out in the East Coast of Canada in the early 1900's.  The story is about a little girl, Emily, who goes to live with her relatives in, yes you guessed it, New Moon- which is the name of the Murray family manor- because her father can no longer take care of her and her mother passed away.  She is a bright whippersnapper which a creative and overflowing imagination and the books and tv series take the audience through her daily life with all of its colorful antics and quirks, commotions and troubles, joy and sadness...  Emily wants to be a writer when she grows up- maybe thats why I connect so well with her....hmm...

Every day she writes a letter to her father explaining her life at New Moon (though, she doesn't send them..) in delightful detail and her writing tends to get her into trouble with family members and friends... It's all very thrilling.  There is enough drama in each one hour episode to make you die laughing, cry your eyesout of their sockets, scare you, anger you and keep you wanting more! and the best part it, there is little to no violence and blood involved! Ah! Now that's good television!  Call me old fashioned but I just love spending an hour of my day curled up on the cough under my afghan seeing what hilarity or trouble Emily and her best friend Ilsa will get into.

For a more recent turn of things, my family and I LOVE watching M*A*S*H, an American show based on a mobile army surgical hospital in Korea during the war in the 1950's.  With the gang of zany doctors and nursing staff, the likes of Captains BF Pierce AKA Hawkeye, John McIntyre AKA Trapper,  BJ Hunnicut AKA Bje,  Majors' Margaret Houlihan, Frank Burns, Charles Emerson Winchester, Colonels Henry Blake and Sherman Potter, Enlisted men Walter AKA RADAR O'Reily, Maxwell Klinger, Fr. J. Mulcahy and the lot, This show really shows the insanity and destructiveness of war and the hilarity of the human condition.  If you have yet to watch an episode of M*A*S*H I suggest you do so now.. It'll have you in stitches within the first 10 minutes and you'll be so sad to see it end...

Beyond watching TV, I decided to be nice to my sister and fix some of her clothing which no longer fits her after having lost over 60 pounds! I worked tirelessly on taking-in tee-shirts for her yesterday so that she didn't have to wear tents to work-out in the gym, and I raided her closet today and took out everything and anything shirt-wise that needed to be or could be altered.  I spent 5 hours turning 12 shirts from 1X or 2X size into XL or L so that she can wear them right now instead of worrying about having no clothes to wear to work anymore and having to shop for new stuff that won't fit in a few weeks anyway once she drops more weight..  Now I'm no professional seamstress, I have a sewing machine and I know how to use it enough to make table cloths, pot holders and place mats and curtains, hem jeans and dress pants, shorten skirts or dresses, attatch decorative material,  repair rips and fallen seams but I am no where near advanced enough to be altering clothing.. but surprise surprise, with al ittle imagination and a whole lot of patience I was able to do it! and if I may say so myself, the shirts look pretty dark good! My sister couldn't believe how professional they looked, and trust me I had to take it in 2-3, sometimes 4 inches on each side, and work with sleeves and all kinds of fabrics and shapes but I was able to do it and she couldn't tell the difference!  I was able to make her happy and feel better about how she looks because it was eating her confidence.. and you cannot face a full day of being a supply teacher if you are worried about ill- fitting clothing and when you wear the same purple dress shirt to 4 different jobs it starts to get on your nerves...  So anyway, we're both happy and that's what counts! Good deed done for the day! Go ME!

Sorry, A little pat on the back and a high-five to my ego there ... i'll try to let it get to my head again.. soon..

So, that's my rant for tonight.. hope you all enjoyed my post from last night..and you get a chance to read and comment on this one too.  As always, feel free to comment on my posts about anything, or e-mail me if you want to know more or discuss something/anything i've posted about.

By the way, if anyone needs their pants hemmed, shirts taken in, skirts or dresses shortened, or is interested in some table cloths or curtain for the new year please e-mail me and I will be happy to work something out with you.. I assure you my prices are the lowest you will find any were, virtually under a dollar. Cheers & Thanks

XOXO
Cristina

All my posts just seem so far away...

So this past month has been totally disastrous for posting and I apologize to my lonely faithfuls who have been checking every day, or maybe multiple times a day.. maybe.. so thanks to all of you who have been checking and I apologize for the giant lack of posts..

Since my birthday on November 15th I have had every intention of submitting posts, and had hoped to churn out a decent sized wonderfully written something at least a few times a week but that didn't happen because I had so much school work to do I was so out of words every week I just couldn't bother myself to lift a finger to the keys even for the sake of fun or writing contest (which I didn't finish by the way :( oh well there's always next year...)

I've decided to give you a list of all of the written assignments, essays large and small that I have submitted this term (so from September-December 2010) mostly so that you have an understanding of why I stopped posting around the times I did and also so I can finally compile it all together and look on it in wonder..

So, where has the term gone you ask? how much work does a 4th year English an Cultural studies university major do in a semester??

Well...
From October 5th until November 3rd I wrote and handed in 3 small 500 word assignments or- as one of my professors fondly named them- "Very Short Papers" (VSP for short).  I also submitted 15  responses of 200-250 words two courses which were written and turned in weekly all term.  From November 3rd til December 6th I wrote and submitted major essays of varied lengths and values which span across many a topic and have left me absolutely spent!

So you can see how insane my months have been I will lay out each essay by due date and give you the exact topic and length.  If anyone would like to see my papers on any of these topics please e-mail me and I will gladly send or post (depending on demand) OR if you wish to discuss or have me discuss any of these topics in a post I will oblige just comment about it or e-mail me at bilichc@hotmail.com... Onward!

My Academic Writing for 2010: (By Due Date)
OCT 5th - English 2I06 (Modern British Literature); 500 words (VSP) discussing the theme of Masculinity in the novel Prester John by John Buchan.

OCT 6th- English 3Wo3 (Contemporary Native Literature in Canada); 500 word essay:  In the video "If The Weather Permits"- Inuit youth are shown as being caught between contemporary Canadian society and traditional cultural values and beliefs- Briefly discuss the significance of these conflicting ideologies as presented in the film.

NOV 10th - English 3R06 (Post-Colonial Theory, Culture and Practice); 1500 words explaining the following quote by Edward Said, "The Orient was Orientalized not because it was discovered to be "Oriental"..., but also because it could be- that is, submitted to being- made Oriental".

NOV 16th - Cultural Studies 2S03 (Spectacular Bodies); 2500 words discussing the following quote by Michel Foucault, "One had to study what kind of body the current society needs", explaining how power functions to produce specific kinds of bodies in a particular socio-historical context.

NOV 22th - English 3W03 (Contemporary Native Literature in Canada); 2000 words: Spirituality and religion are predominant themes in many of the words we are looking at this term.  Discuss the impact of Christianity on Aboriginal communities as portrayed in Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing and at least one other poem, short story or video. What effect has it had on traditional beliefs and contemporary Aboriginal identity?

NOV 24th - English 2I06 (Modern British Literature);  1500 words Focusing on Mrs. Dalloway AND Jessie Pope's "The Call"&Siegfried Sassoon's "The Glory of Women", discuss war as a gendered sphere of action & experience. How is was, both as it is conducted and as it is experience, shaped by ideas about gender (i.e femininity and/or masculinity) & gender relations? How does war shape gender relations & ideas about gender?

DEC 6th - Cultural Studies 3AA3 (Gender and Sexuality: Queer Theory; Queer Lives); 2500 words that Compare and contrast the analysis of queer life in two thinkers of the course.  Engage their positioned with an eye to bringing out how and why there are these differences. 

I know, your overwhelmed just looking at this list and the various and challenging topics.. or you might be laughing at me behind my virtual back as you finished scanning through the list.. either way.. Yes I successfully wrote to the finish of each word limit for every aforementioned essay/topic.  On top of this daunting list I wrote 1 short response every week for English 3R06 (Post-Colonial theory...) AND 4 responses for Cultural Studies 2S03 (Spectacular Bodies) which were submitted to the same Professor, whom i love so very much and am thrilled to be able to continuing dealing with into next term! Take a bow Dr. Chakraborty!!!

Now Thankfully, my exams for semester one do not begin until December 15th so I have some time off now in which to rest and gather together the bits and pieces of my shredded imagination, dust off the old creative brain and get into some good writing :D

Come November 15th I will be writing final exams for English 3W03 (Native Canadian Lit)@ 12:30pm AND Cultural Studies 3AA3 @7pm.  A short days later on November 17th I will write the winter midterm exam for English 3R06 (Post-Colonial theory).  Then finally, on December 20th at 7:30pm I will write my final exam for Cultural Studies 2S03 ( Spectacular Bodies).  And I CANNOT WAIT to be Finished!

I know I was all excited come November 1st to compete in NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month, but alas! my essays and readings got in the way and tapped me out of words.. I scarcely wrote  3000 words for my 50 000 word month long novel, thus making November 2010 my worst year for the competition since I begin it in '08.  But I will continue to strive to achieve this impossible goal and hopefully I will be able to blog about its success in 2011.. maybe. Who Knows...

So now you know where my days have gone and where my days will go before this term officially ends and 2010 as well. 

I will try to keep posting more regularly now since I have the time to get back into my nightly posting habit..  So please, keep reading and keep commenting and e-mailing.. you know how I love feedback!

Thanks again to all of you who do read my blog, to my 2 followers and to my nightly faithfuls (you know who you are ^-^)... time for some sleep.  Night

XOXO
Cristina <3