MAKE A DONATION TO FORESTS ONTARIO Forests Ontario is dedicated to making Ontario’s forests greener. Their ambitious tree planting initiatives, extensive education programs, and decades of community outreach have helped […]
BREAK OUT THE MITTENS AND TOQUES! WE’RE HEADING OUT TO SEE THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! Since we’re closing in on the winter Solstice, we might as well take advantage of all […]
SPA DAY AT HOME Break out the sheet masks and polishes. Today, we’re going to have a spa day at home. And, we’re doing it on the cheap, with whatever […]
PYJAMA EXCHANGE & PIZZA PARTY Today, we’ll be exchanging pyjamas by the fire. Of course we’ll put them on right away! Then, we’ll order pizza, pour the wine or fizzy […]
CHOCOLATE MALT BÛCHE DE NOËL & A BRISK WALK Every year, or close to, I come up with a new recipe or flavour profile for our Christmas Yule Log Cake, […]
IT’S THE LAST DAY OF ADVENT! Here’s my Christmas Eve Checklist for 2017 □ Take another brisk walk outdoors and come home to a hot cuppa! □ Prep the mains and […]
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Return to the Advent Calendar 2017 Monthly View
NEW YEAR’S EVE MOVIE MARATHON Every New Year’s Eve, we order take-out (usually Chinese) and have a movie marathon. These usually have a theme. We’ve done Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter […]
TREE TRIMMING PARTY It’s December 1st and the Scouts have set up their Christmas tree lot around the corner beside the AME Church. We’ve had an artificial tree for years. […]
Today, each of us is going to write a Punk Rock Christmas Carol. Signing bonus if you mention seltzer or incorporate the sound of carbonation. Here are some Ramones lyrics […]
CHRISTMAS COOKIE WARS! Today marks a Battle Royale between the Ancients and the Moderns Today, our favourite Christmas Cookie recipe will go head-to-head with a rookie-newcomer for the title of […]
Adopt and Invent an Animal Tuesdays are traditionally giving days on our Advent Calendar Today, we’re going “adopt” an animal from a favourite charity We’ll be letting the kids decide […]
FRIED CHICKEN TOUR! Today, we’re starting stage one of our Fried Chicken Tour of the City of Toronto! T’s crazy about fried chicken and looking for the best in the […]
We’ve got a late night tonight. So we’re going to spend the tail end of it having… A Late Night Tailgate Party Get out the red and green tortilla chips, […]
Mail the Christmas Cards! With our best wishes to the hard-working folks at Canada Post! RETURN TO THE ADVENT 2018 EVENTS PAGE
Checkered Tablecloth, The Works! Tonight, we’re fixing on an old fashioned steakhouse dinner with steaks & burgers, frites & baked potatoes, beer & whisky + dessert! RETURN TO THE ADVENT […]
Christmas Concert at Roy Thomson Hall Today’s the first of the two Saint Michael’s Choir School Holiday Concerts at Roy Thomson Hall. This season marks a shift from the event’s […]
CHRISTMAS CANNING Today, we’re making some extra special holiday gifts. Alongside my famous Whisky Fig Cranberry Sauce, we’ll be tackling either Lillie O’Brien’s Persimmon, Saffron & Vanilla Jam or her […]
SKETCH THE TREE AND SPONSOR A LIVE ONE Today, we’ll spend some time sketching our Christmas tree. We’re fishing out all of the old boxes of oil pastels and charcoal […]
Pyjama Day + Building the Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich Each year, during Advent, we grab a pair of crazy holiday pyjamas for at least one person in the family (usually Bea) […]
Feast of Santa Lucia Family Book Exchange is ON B & T are swapping titles again this year. They’re hunting gently used books for each other (and an extra for […]
Holiday Game Night with Cocktails for Mom and Dad Tonight, we’re going to play holiday versions of all of our favourite games. We’ll haul out the game of “Christmas Clue” […]
Photograph the City Today, we’ll visit the Art Gallery of Ontario (for Anthropocene) and Allen Gardens (for the Winter Flower Show). Then, we’ll go outside and photograph the city with an eye for […]
Hallmark-Style Christmas Movie Spoof Tonight, we’re going to write, produce, and film our own spoof trailer, meet-cute, or pivotal scene from a Hallmark-style Christmas Movie. Bonus points for “modernizing” Shakespeare, […]
Today, we’re going to make Soft Salted Caramels for the family and for gifting! Here’s a copy of my recipe! Soft Salted Caramels 1 c heavy cream5 tbs unsalted butter […]
Topping Up the Food Bank Box Today, we’re going to pile canned goods into the Daily Bread Food Bank box at our local grocery store. The most needed donation box […]
SEE ALL THE LIGHTS! Our annual tradition lives on! After a holiday event downtown, we’ll cruise the giant inflatable Santas on Inglewood Drive and SEE ALL THE LIGHTS! RETURN TO […]
Toronto Christmas Market It’s our annual tradition! Today, B and I will go have a lunch in the Distillery District and Ride the Ferris Wheel at the Toronto Christmas Market. […]
Holiday Beatnik Coffeehouse As you may have noticed, I took suggestions from the teenagers as to what they’d like to do on various days in Advent. In addition to the […]
St. Lawrence Market Cheese Board This morning, we’ll get up before dawn and travel to the amazing stalls at St. Lawrence Market, gathering the ingredients for our Christmas Dinner and […]
Today, we’re making the Bûche de Noël for our Christmas Dinner! We’ll either be making this amazing Chocolate Mint Buche de Noël or my all-time favourite Lemon Bûche de Noël with […]
Here it is! The annual Christmas Eve Checklist! □ Go for a Brisk walk with our mini-schnauzer, Elvis! □ Make tons of Christmas cookies. □ Live stream Jon Solomon’s 30-Hour […]
Merry Christmas! RETURN TO THE ADVENT 2018 EVENTS PAGE
TRAIN FILMS!!! This year’s New Year’s Eve film fest will consist of movies that take place on a train or which feature a train scene as a main plot-point. Since […]
SSJ’s Advent Love-to-Do List 2019 is now live! Check out the full post, here! And don’t forget: SSJ’S 2019 Advent Calendar begins to populate on December 1, 2019! Follow along […]
MY 2019 ADVENT CALENDAR WILL BEGIN TO POPULATE RIGHT HERE ON DECEMBER 1, 2019! FOLLOW ALONG DAILY BY CHECKING THE 2019 ADVENT CALENDAR MONTHLY VIEW OR HEADING HOME TO SMELLINGSALTSJOURNAL.COM ! IN […]
It’sthe firstday of Advent!Time to trim the tree! First, we’ll have to choose one!This afternoon, we’ll trek over tothe local Scouts lot for a tall, slim fir. Then, we’ll turn […]
Design your own Bookplate! Today’s Advent TBD is a MAJOR THROWBACK to our very first online Advent Calendar in 2011 ! The kids were too young to get involved, and […]
Provide Baby Blankets via Plan Canada Gifts of Hope Today, we’re providing three baby blankets to children in need via Plan International Canada’s Gifts of Hope. How will you be […]
Make Clementine’s Famous Crullers Today, we’re going to be conquering our “fear of frying” by making Clementine Paddleford’s famous crullers. Clementine is the lady with the pencil, above! Her Cruller […]