Stiletto Diaries

Caramel Apples And Butterfly Wings

Posted on February 25th, 2009 in Are You Gonna Eat That?, Bucket List, Does All Her Own Stunts, Made In Ontario, Photos

We are already two months into 2009, and I’ve managed to cross half a dozen items off of my mini list thus far :)  To summarize quickly, before launching into photos and details for most of them, here they are:

296. Watch all of the Harry Potter movies in a row

301. Take my kids to a Rainforest Cafe

317. Make caramel apples

324. Visit the Wings Of Paradise Butterfly Conservatory

471. Visit a science center

483. Read The New Bottoming Book by Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy

Obviously there isn’t much to say about some of them.  The Harry Potter movies, for instance.  Jack gave me the complete set (well, up to year 5, which is still ‘current’) for Christmas in 2007, and I hadn’t managed to watch them all until the beginning of this month when I was down with the flu.  I spent most of several days in bed, and between naps, I watched all 5 of the them.  Yes, I am a HP junkie

The New Bottoming Book was a birthday gift from my friend, Nia. I greatly enjoyed reading it, and I learned a thing or two from the witty combination of information and humor. If you’re in the lifestyle, and identify as a switch or a bottom or a sub, it’s worth picking up.

The caramel apples were a creation I made on a whim one evening.  I’d seen a cooking show in which rather than dipping the entire apple, the chef had used a melon-baller to create bite-sized caramel apples.  How adorable!  And brilliant!  That allows one to enjoy all the goodness of caramel apples, without having to eat a great big portion.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of experience with making caramel from scratch, and I overcooked it just a bit.  The results were not what I’d hoped, but that just leaves room for improvement!

Last week, while my relations were in town for a few days, I took them to the Wings Of Paradise Butterfly Conservatory, since my aunt was eager to check it out. As small as the place is, that only provides tons of opportunities for photographing butterflies. There is also a lovely cafe there, and a gift shop. If you’re in the area, it’s a place I would suggest checking out. You can actually watch butterflies emerge from their chrysalis, and then dry their delicate wings and fly for the first time.

During another day of their visit, we took the children to the Ontario Science Center, and the for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe afterwards. The former was a wonderful experience, and I can’t wait to go back. The latter, I doubt I would ever visit again. Do you know what it’s like to wait for a table with a cranky and very hungry pregnant lady, and 3 tired and overly-hyper children?

Do you know what it’s like to do that for AN HOUR???

Well I do, and let me tell you, I’d sooner have my pubic hairs plucked out with tweezers one at a time.

The staff was rude, careless, uninterested in the fact that we had be told the wait would be 25 minutes, only to have it stretch to 45, and then an hour. I debated turning the children loose in the gift shop to trash the place entirely, before taking them to eat at Pickle Barrel.  I’ve never received such poor service in my life, and I would certainly not recommend that any of you ever visit that location (Yorkdale Mall, Toronto).

It was an eventful day, at any rate. The kids enjoyed all but the wait for the table, and I managed to hold it together until I got home and went directly to bed.  The whole day, and time they were here, was quite an adventure at any rate.  It was good to be able to achieve a number of list items as well.