Week 3 Ends on a High Note, Week 4 Begins With Listings of the Large Queens and Thai Recipe

My third week has ended on a high note, with customers purchsing over $400 worth of the Cents and Pence issues that I started listing last week. Among them, the 10c black brown Prince Albert sold yesterday for $170 USD against my asking price of $180. Thanks to these sales, my store rent for July is now covered, and I even have $150 or so to spend on new inventory.

Before I get into what week 4 will entail, I thought I would share another recipe. This time it is a simple Thai stir fry, kicked up a notch. It is stir fried Chinese cabbage or bok choy with peanut sauce and coconut rice. You will need for this:

1. head of Chinese cabbage, or 1 package of bok choy.
2. 3 cloves minced garlic
3. 1/2 bottle of Thai peanut sauce, or 1 packet that can be made on the stove.
4. 1 can coconut milk
5. 1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
6. 1 cup of Jasmine rice

Empty the can of coconut milk into a large measuring cup and add just enough water to bring the amount of liquid up to 2 cups. Add this to a saucepan along with the rice and bring to a boil. When the rice is boiling, turn down the heat and cover for 20-25 min.

While you are waiting for the rice, quickly toast the shredded coconut by placing it in a frying pan over meduim high heat and stirring it constantly. It will turn suddenly, so you can't leave it unattended unless you turn down the heat to low. When it begins to turn brown, take it off the heat and set aside. This shredded coconut will be sprinkled over top of the rice later, when you are ready to serve.

Then cut up the cabbage or the bok choy after making sure that it is fully washed to remove the silt. Heat up 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable in a large skillet and fry the cabbage or bok choy with the minced garlic until the vegetable changes colour. Then add the peanut sauce and heat through. Spoon over the rice and sprinkle the coconut flakes over top. Enjoy!

This week, I am going to concentrate on listing the Large Queen Issue of Canada. This is arguably one of the most popular sets in Canadian philately. When you see the designs, it is not hard to understand why:

                                          

I have only shown the half-cent through 2c values, as that is all I have scanned to this point, but there were also 3c, 5c, 6c, 12.5c and 15c denominations as well. The detailed scrollwork and foliate ornamentation, combined with the crisp colours has captivated Canadian collectors for generations. I have what seems like well over 100 Large Queen stamps to list, so given the complexity of this issue, I anticipate that getting all of this up on e-bay will take the entire week. It is worth mentioning that these were the first stamps to be issued after Confederation, and they were also the first stamps to be printed in Canada, by the British American Bank Note Company at Montreal and Ottawa.