A Year From Oak Cottage

The Simple Woman's Day Book . . .

2009-07-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

FOR TODAY, July 20th, 2009 ...

Outside My Window...
All is well. It looks to be a fine day today. The wind was just blowing and blowing last night, but that has all calmed down now. It rained quite hard several times yesterday. I expect that there are a lot of branches laying on the ground that will need clearing up. I am so thankful that I had good weather throughout most of my holidays. That was an added blessing!

I am thinking...
Its back to work today after two weeks off. Why is it always so hard to go back to work when you've been on holidays? I don't know, but I guess that if it wasn't for having to work, my holidays wouldn't mean as much as they do! So . . . that too is an added blessing! (and in more ways than one!)

I am thankful for...
having a job and a home and a family. In these uncertain economic times, there are so many that are losing their jobs. Thankfully I still have mine. My heart goes out to all those who don't. Thankfully it is a job that provides us with a fairly comfortable living and a pretty nice roof over our heads. Even more blessings to count!

From the kitchen...
I baked cookies for Todd yesterday, as well as a batch of bran muffins. I hadn't had a bran muffin in a long time and fancied one. I used a new recipe. They were quite good, however I think I will go back to my old recipe as I like it just a tad better!

I am wearing...
Pink pajamas and my sandles. Checkered seersucker ones . . . the pajamas, not the sandles! They're quite comfy, although they feel a tad large now. That's a good sign!

I am creating...
I did several sketches whilst I was away on holidays. I can't wait to get started on them. I did get one done last week, on the day we had inbetween Austria and Broadstairs. Here's a little peek. I'll be posting her whole on m art blog a bit later on!

As you can probably guess, I am in Christmas mode! I want to have some new designs up and ready for when people want to order their Christmas cards!

I am going...
I have young women's mutual activity this week, and a lesson to prepare for them to teach next Sunday morning. It's going to be a very busy week. What's that you say? No rest for the wicked??? I must be really bad!!

I am reading...

Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See. This is the story of two sisters, Pearl and May. Beautiful, young and carefree, they are living a life of luxury until their father gambles away his fortune and they are sold to pay off his debts . . . sent to America to be married to two strangers. I have only just started it, but it is very good thus far!!

I am hoping...
I hope that I can get everything done at work today that I need to get done before my boss returns from their holidays tomorrow!! It will be a very busy day indeed!

I am hearing...
It's very quiet in here this morning. Jess is still at her holiday home. Todd will be picking her up today sometime. All I can hear is the refrigerator humming, and the odd bird in the garden. Two birds managed to get into our house yesterday. They come down the chimney and end up here in the kitchen where the wood stove is. They are so frightened and it's hard to steer them out of the house before they make a mess. I am so thankful that none got inside whilst we were away. It's happened before and it's always sad to come home to a dead bird in the house . . . thankfully yesterday we were able to get them out quickly.

Around the house...
All is tidy and waiting for me to mess it up again, lol. We've decided we are going to paint the guest bathroom upstairs. We have some paint leftover from doing the kitchen, so, it's going to be a pale yellow with lavender accents. I ordered a new shower curtain in lavender and we have a new bath mat in there in aubergine. I think I may order a set of guest towels in that same colour as well.

One of my favorite things...
Is blogging. I missed it so very much whilst I was away! I was still up quite early in the mornings and was left with a few hours to fill before Todd got up. I do confess, that I did go back to bed a few times and have a real snuggle in. No sleep, just relaxation . . . it's a good thing and I did enjoy it, but I would rather be here talking to you all! It would nice to have a laptop that I could connect up with when we are away.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
Of course there is work, and then um . . . more work and young women's. I also want to work on some commissions I have lined up and I'm sure I'll find a lot of other things to keep me busy with as well. No rest for the wicked and all that!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

When we were in Boulogne last Thursday we came across the most delightful garden within the walls of the Fortified town in the centre of the city. They had taken old cars and other motor vehicles and turned them into flower pots. The park benches were car seats and scattered amongst the various vehicles filled with flowers were these big flower pots, complete with old exhaust pipes sticking out like little sentries! It was most unusual, and pretty in an odd sort of way!

And that's my day book for today! Why not hop on over to Grandmother Wren's to see some of the other daybooks that have been posted. I am sure there will be some really good ones to read and some new friends to make!

*Potato and Green Bean Salad with Dill Pesto*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

I love to make unusual potato salads. This one has a lovely combination of flavours. You get the crunch and colour of green beans, and a lovely dressing made of a fresh homemade dill pesto. Simply wonderful!

1 1/2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes
1/2 pound French green beans (haricots verts),
trimmed and cut into halves or thirds

For the Pesto:
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup lightly packed fresh dill
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 TBS apple cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fill a large saucepan with cold lightly salted water. Add the potatoes and bring to the boil. Cook until they can be easily pierced with a fork, some 15 minutes. Drain well and let cool. Cut into quarters if need be, or if really small, cut in halves. Place in a large bowl.

Steam the green beans for about 4 minutes, until crispy tender. Drain well and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well again, and then put them into the bowl with the potatoes.

Put the garlic into a food processor and process until fine. Add the other ingredients and process until the mixture is well combined. Add the finished pesto to the potatoes and green beans, and mix all together well. This is best served at room temperature.

And for dessert, there's a delicious Gooseberry Crumble. Hop on over to The English Kitchen to see more!

The Trouble Tree

2009-07-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

We all need a tree.

I once hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse. After he had just finished a rough first day on the job, a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one ton truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. Upon arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation.. His face was wreathed in smiles as he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterwards he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children.. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

"Funny thing is," he smiled," when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

I don't know who wrote this, so I can't really give the credit to anyone. I got this lovely little story in my e-mail one morning and I wanted to share it with all of you. Your home is a haven, or should be at any rate. It should be the one place where all the troubles of the world are left at the door and not given entry.

I have learned in life, not to sweat the small stuff…and the big stuff usually takes care of itself . . .“This too shall pass” has been my motto for a very long time now. That’s not to say I am perfect….far from it! I do try, however, not to riddle my life with worries about things I have no control of, and petty things that are not worth worrying about to begin with. It’s called living life abundantly. To coin a phrase from my beloved Martha Stewart . . .”It’s a good thing.”

I made this delicious sandwich for Todd on Saturday at lunch time. He really enjoyed it. I had a small taste and it really was good, if I don’t say so myself, and well . . . OOPS! I just did!

*Le Croque Monsieur*

Serves 4 to 8

Printable Recipe

These tasty little sandwiches might seem like a lot of faff, but let me tell you they are worth every second of time spend in preparation. Pop a few under the grill, put on your sunglasses and a bit of soft accordion music…then pretend you are in France…ahhh bliss….

2 TBS butter

3 TBS plain flour

2 cups hot milk

1 tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Pinch freshly ground nutmeg (I always grind my own nutmeg…pre-ground nutmeg always loses it’s flavour so quickly)

12 ounces Gruyere Cheese, grated

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

15 square slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed

Dijon mustard

8 slices ham

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Get out a large flat baking tray and lightly grease it. Set it aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir in the flour all at once. Stir and cook with a wooden spoon for at least 2 minutes, then slowly pour in the milk, cooking and whisking with a whisk the whole time, until it is thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, nutmeg and ½ cup of the grated Gruyere Cheese. Stir in the Parmesan until melted and set aside.

Toast the bread lightly on both sides and then brush half of the toasted slices with some of the Dijon mustard to cover. Place these on the baking sheet. Top each with a slice of ham and sprinkle with half of the remaining gruyere cheese. Place the remaining slices of toasted bread on top. Slather the cheese sauce over top of each generously. Sprinkle on the remaining Gruyere and bake for 5 minutes. Turn on the grill and grill for another 3 to 5 minutes until the tops are bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot!

For an added twist, top with a fried egg before serving. Your Croque Monsieur now becomes a Croque Madame! Sinfully good . . .

Cooking With Julia . . .

2009-07-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

I got married the first time when I was 19 years old. I hardly ever think about that marriage now, as it did not last very long. I’m quite sad to say that I have been married three times, the first time just two months after I graduated from Vocational school. A union that hardly lasted long enough for the ink to dry on the documents. When I think back on it now, I was incredibly naive and had no idea of what being married was all about. It was a very rare thing in those days for people to live together before marriage, and indeed it was very rare for people to even sleep together before marriage…but then again, perhaps that was all a part of my naiveté and having come from a small town where everybody knew everyone else‘s business.

We set up housekeeping in a small apartment in a University town in Nova Scotia, a whole hour away from where I had grown up. It all seemed very sophisticated to me and so Mary Tyler Moorish! Our apartment was on the ground floor of an old Victorian house and so we had the veranda to use, which was right outside our door. The apartment didn’t consist of much more than two rooms with these huge dark, intricately carved, wooden folding doors dividing the one room from the other. On one side was the kitchen/dining/living area and on the other was the bedroom….plus there was a bathroom…horrors of all horrors, without a shower!

My sum total experience of cooking up until then, had been getting supper started while my mother was at work and the home economics cookery lessons I had been taught at school, and, although I had done it very well, I really was not all that worldly in my culinary experiences up to that point. My experience of home cooking was rather plain and simple, as that was the food my mother had always cooked and my father had always preferred to eat. We had never even had pizza until my later years in high school, and even then it had only been a packaged Chef Boy Ar Dee mix! My first mother in law lived on a farm and she introduced me to delicious potatoes fried in salt pork drippings and lovely and rich chicken stews with dumplings. I had bought my first set of cookery books, a Better Homes and Gardens encyclopaedia, and they were expanding my repertoire somewhat. I probably had half a dozen or so at that point, with titles such as “Stews and Casseroles” and “Chicken”…oh and a personal favourite, “Budget Meals”. Still though, plain and simple cooking….with not a foreign dish in sight.

My first husband had a friend named Geoff. They had been room-mates together their first year in college. Geoff had a girlfriend named Julia and they “lived” together in an apartment up at the top of the hill in this bustling, very exciting University town. It as all very intoxicating to me...this fact that these people were "living" together, like something from off of the big screen...a thought that had never occured to me in my limited existance. Julia came from Montreal, and she seemed so sophisticated to me, very worldly and from a place that seemed so much more appealing and interesting than anyplace in my small town experience. Julia seemed very exotic to me and sophisticated. She spoke with a very upper-class…almost clipped, British accent and it was very evident in the way she spoke and handled herself that she came from a very good family, a wealthy family, and had experienced much more of the finer things in life than I had. I was somewhat of a country bumpkin alongside of her. I expect she was “slumming” it, really…and in truth, was probably somewhat of a disappointment to her parents. The lifestyle she was living at that point, was probably her "rebellion." I revered her and her big city ways, sophisticated manner and her very urban way of doing things. When she came in to a room…she didn’t just come in…she “arrived.” She had beautiful big doe like eyes and these full lips and was tall and slender…just like a fashion model, or so I thought….

Julia liked to cook and appeared to be highly experienced in the ways of the world when it came to cooking. Often they would have us up to dinner and dinner was not plain roast beef or chicken with all the vegetables or the piece de resistance...a grilled steak…dinner was always a three course affair, with exotic sounding dishes like French Onion Soup and Chateaux Briande, with perhaps a Crème Caramel for dessert. She used expensive and unusual ingredients I had never heard of , and had a passion for food and cooking I had never experienced before, other than in my own simple musings and beginnings. I loved the way she spoke of food and recipes and listening to her experiences. She was well travelled and had eaten in France and Germany and foreign places I had only ever dreamt about, or so she said. Nothing in my very sheltered upbringing could have ever prepared me for Julia and I was both overwhelmed and smitten at the same time. She had such flair and sophistication and was so intense about everything she did. Looking back on it now, she inspired my being with the want and desire to go beyond my small town experience and live a life beyond the four walls of my narrow and constricting little world. Heck! My own mother had never even ever had a dinner party and my only experience of eating out in restaurants had been to eat at a Howard Johnson’s as a child, when moving residence (once)…or the Holiday Inn in Halifax while on my honeymoon weekend! (Room service…what a wonderful novelty!)

Dinners with Julia were mind expanding and wonderful experiences that took me beyond anything I had ever known and allowed me to believe that there was something far greater out there than anything I had dreamt of. They inspired me to look beyond all that I had experienced and to seek out new and foreign ways of doing things. They made me want to cook new and exotic dishes from lands far away…..taste things and experience things that I up to that point had only imagined, but never thought could be mine….

I am not sure what ever happened to Julia. I imagine her as the wife of some diplomat, living in a foreign country…still entertaining, still “arriving”, amidst the sound of her swishing skirts and a cloud of expensive perfume…while I…small town country girl, am living a different dream, no less exotic or less dramatic…how could I have ever known back then or ever even imagined that I would one day be living the life I am living…living a dream that “that” naive and inexperienced country girl could have never dreamt of in a million years. I, who grew up on meat and potatoes and two veg…I, have cooked for almost royalty…yes, I have…but then again…that’s another story….

This is my favourite salad. I had never heard of little gems lettuce before I came over here. I love their flavour….sweet and yet bitter at the same time…I think Julia would approve!

*Little Gems With Blue Cheese Dressing*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This delicious salad calls for little Gems lettuce but I have made it with sliced Cos (Romaine) lettuce with excellent results. It makes a wonderful first course! I could eat a big plate of it all on myown with nothing else, it’s that good!

2 TBS cider vinegar

2 TBS double cream

1 TBS sugar

3 ½ ounces good olive oil

2 ounces Stilton cheese or other blue cheese (I usually use a good Danish blue)

2 little gem lettuce

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Make the dressing by whisking together the vinegar and cream, along with a little sea salt and black pepper. Whisk in the sugar and gradually whisk in the oil until emulsified. Crumble in the cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning if required.

Cut the lettuces into wedges lengthwise and arrange on a plate attractively. Drizzle over the dressing and scatter the spring onion over top.

Dinners with Julia were mind expanding and wonderful experiences that took me beyond anything I had ever known and allowed me to believe that there was something far greater out there than anything I had dreamt of. They inspired me to look beyond all that I had experienced and to seek out new and foreign ways of doing things. They made me want to cook new and exotic dishes from lands far away…..taste things and experience things that I up to that point had only imagined, but never thought could be mine….

I am not sure what ever happened to Julia. I imagine her as the wife of some diplomat, living in a foreign country…still entertaining, still “arriving”, amidst the sound of her swishing skirts and a cloud of expensive perfume…while I…small town country girl, am living a different dream, no less exotic or less dramatic…how could I have ever known back then or ever even imagined that I would one day be living the life I am living…living a dream that “that” naive and inexperienced country girl could have never dreamt of in a million years. I, who grew up on meat and potatoes and two veg…I, have cooked for almost royalty…yes, I have…but then again…that’s another story….

This is my favourite salad. I had never heard of little gems lettuce before I came over here. I love their flavour….sweet and yet bitter at the same time…I think Julia would approve!

How Will You Fix Your Hair Today?

2009-07-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
Looked in the mirror,
And noticed she had only three hairs on her head.
Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."
So she did
And
She
Had
A
Wonderful
Day.

The next day she woke up,
Looked in the mirror
And saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M," she said,
"I think I'll part my hair down the middle today."
So she did
And
She
Had
A
Grand
Day.

The next day she woke up,
Looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her
head.
"Well," she said,
"today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."
So she did
And
She
Had
A
Fun,
Fun
Day.

The next day she woke up,
Looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on
her head.
"YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Looking back on my life, I can clearly see that I make the best lemonade. Thankfully, I have been able to take something positive out of all the so called tragedies I have experienced. Sometimes it seems that I've experienced one setback after another...you know the feeling.....one step forward and two steps back... Sometimes it's like life keeps hurling lemons at you and the only solution left is to make the best of it.

One step forward, one step at a time...that's how a journey starts. At first you may have to physically lift each leg with your arms and drag yourself forward...but then your muscles limber up and each step becomes a bit easier. Soon you don't need your arms, but you keep them pumping anyways. Each step becomes wider. Each step becomes stronger. Next thing you know, you are running. Some days it feels like a marathon and others like a pleasant jaunt. The important thing is to keep moving forward. Don't let the potholes and ruts in the road knock you back. When the road leads uphill, keep moving forward ...even if it is a struggle. One foot in front of the other soon brings you to the top of the hill, and then you can look back and think to yourself..."Yayyy! I did it. I got past that!" There is a great strength to be found in adversity, you only have to choose to grab it. What's the alternative? Naahhh. I don't think so....I'm too stubborn to give up. Today, I'm gonna wear a hat....and drink lemonade!

While I'm drinking all that lemonade, I might as well have cake with it. I made the most wonderful, fabulous, fantastic banana cake yesterday you could ever imagine! (Why oh why do I keep doing this to myself!)

*Banana Caramel Cake*

Serves 10 - 12

Printable Recipe

This just may be the best, most delicious banana cake you will ever chance to eat! In other words….this is to die for….full of scrumptiously moist pieces of banana, pecan nuts and chocolate chunks with delicate undertones of spice…all topped with a decadent caramel glaze which soaks into the cake creating the most heavenly experience ever found in a cake…

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp salt

1 tap baking soda

3 large eggs

1 ¼ cups sunflower oil

1 ¾ cups caster sugar

1 TBS pure vanilla essence

¾ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecan nuts

3 ounces good chocolate, broken into chip size pieces (I favour Green and Blacks)

3 ripe bananas, peeled and diced

CARAMEL TOPPING:

1.2 cup of firmly packed soft light brown sugar

1 TBS milk

1 TBS double cream

4 TBS unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Grease and flour a 12 cup tube or bundt pan, shaking out all the excess flour.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Beat together the eggs, caster sugar and oil with your electric beaters on medium speed until the sugar is totally emulsified, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla essence. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl to make sure it all gets mixed in well. Fold in the pecan nuts, chocolate and banana chunks very carefully with a rubber spatula taking care not to mush the bananas up. Scrape into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 minutes. Test with a wooden skewer to see if it is done. It should come out clean if it is. If not, bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

In the meantime combine all the topping ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until the butter and sugar are melted and it begins to boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes while you are waiting for the cake to finish.

Remove the cake from the oven and poke holes all over the hot cake (without removing from pan) and spoon the caramel glaze over the top, stopping every now and then to let the cake absorb it. If it starts to pool, poke some more holes in the cake. Let cook completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and unfolding it onto a plate. I then put another plate on top and flip it over until the right side is showing again. Delicious!

Lessons Life Has Taught Me . . .

2009-07-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is a picture taken in our front garden when I was about six and my sister was three. I absolutely love this picture. As you can see from the very beginning we were the best of friends! Yesterday I got this e-mail from a good friend and like a good friend decided I wanted to share part of it with you. I've also added my own two cents worth to it. How could I not!

Lessons Life Has Taught Me

Age5: I learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing “Silent Night.”

Age 7: I learned that our dog doesn’t want to eat my broccoli either. It's also no good hiding minced beef under the carpet when your mother isn't looking.....she's bound to find it the first time she hoovers.

Age 9: I learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back.

Age 12: I learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it all up again.

Age 14: I learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up.

Age 15: I learned that, although it’s hard to admit it, I’m secretly glad my parents are strict with me.

Age 19: I learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice.

Age 23: I learned that brushing my child's hair is one of life’s great pleasures.

Age 24: I learned that nothing can beat the feeling of two little arms around the neck, accompanied with the words "I love you mummy."

Age 25: I learned that wherever I go, the world’s worst drivers have followed me there.

Age 29: I learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.

Age 30: I leaned that there are people who love you dearly but just don’t know how to show it.

Age 31: I learned that you can make someone’s day by simply sending them a little note, or giving them a quick call, or even something so simple as a smile and a hello.

Age 32: I learned that the greater a person’s sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others. (I lived that reality for 22 years before I escaped)

Age 35: I learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it willbe better tomorrow. Time indeed heals all wounds.

Age 36: I learned that singing "I stand all Amazed" can life my spirits for hours.

Age 37: I learned that motel mattresses are better on the side away from the phone.

Age 38: I learned that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. (None of which my ex husband handled very well)

Age 39: I learned that keeping a vegetable garden is worth a medicine cabinet full of pills. Digging in the earth is good for the soul.

Age 40: I learned that making a living is not the same as making a life.

Age 41: I learned that if you want to do something positive for your children, work to improve your marriage. I also learned that it takes two to make it work. One can't do it all by themself.

Age 43: I learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance....or a third or a fourth...never give up.

Age 44: I learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You sometimes need to be able to throw something back.

Age 45: I learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people and doing the very best you can…happiness finds you.

Age 46: I learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision. If all your actions are tempered with love, you can't go wrong.

Age 47: I learned that everyone can use a prayer, and that being able to pray helps me most of all. It's a win/win situation!

Age 48: I learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

Age 49: I learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch-holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

Age 50: I learned that the birth of a grandchild is even sweeter than the birth of your own child. There is something very rich in knowing the circle of life has begun yet again.

Age 52: I learned I still have a lot to learn.

Over in North America a pudding isn't just another name for dessert...it's what we call a deliciously rich and sweet flavoured custard that's cooked on top of the stove. It comes in all kinds of flavours....vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, banana, coconut...and best of all butterscotch. You can buy packets you can cook yourself at home....you can even buy instant packets that you don't have to cook at all...but I think the best version of all is the one you make yourself, using your own two hands and throwing in a pinch of love. That's a flavour that can't be beat!

*Creamy Butterscotch Pudding*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

There is something about butterscotch pudding that speaks to the soul. It is home, love and comfort all rolled up into one sinfully rich and creamy dessert that smacks of wonderful buttery and caramel flavours. Deliciously pleasing on any level, it‘s worth all the trouble to make.

3/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup double cream

1/2 cup (packed) soft light brown sugar
1/3 cup cornflour
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole fat milk

4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence

OPTIONAL TOPPING:

4 bananas, sliced
Whipped cream
1/2 cup English toffee bits

Mix the caster sugar and the water together in a heavy medium sized saucepan. Cook, stirring, over low heat until the sugar completely dissolves. Turn heat up to high and boil without stirring until the sugar turns an amber colour. Watch carefully as it turns very quickly when it starts and you don’t want to burn it. Take it off the heat as soon as it begins to turn amber. Carefully stir in the cream right away. It will bubble up furiously, so be careful. Stir until smooth and set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, cornflour and salt in the top of a double boiler. Slowly whisk in the milk. Set pan over simmering water and cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat. Whisk in the caramel sauce. Beat the egg yolks and temper them whisking in 1 cup of the hot mixture, then gradually whisk it back into the cooked mixture. Set back over the simmering water and bring the mixture back to simmer whilst whisking. Cook for a further minute, then whisk in the pieces of butter and the vanilla essence. Remove from the heat and divide amongst 8 dessert dishes. Chill until cold, approximately 6 hours or up to one day.
Serve garnished with banana slices, whipped cream and toffee bits. I prefer mine unadulterated and plain….ahhhhh…. bliss.

Daisy, Daisy . . . give me your answer, true . . .

2009-07-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

This time of year the grassy areas here on the estate are just covered with daisies, their little white and pink heads, with the yellow centre popping up all over the place. They're so very pretty and sunny looking.

I was just saying to my Todd the other day, how perfectly lovely I thought that they were, and, he had to agree . . . they're so prolific and they grow wild all over the estate . . . up stone walls, along stone stair cases . . . they are so very hardy and seem to grow just about anywhere.

I would never want to be one though . . .

Silly thought . . . you may be thinking . . . but, think again . . .

When the sun shines . . . they are open . . . but as soon as the sky turns grey or it gets dark . . . they close back up again and you don't see them until the sun decides to once more shine.

You can't live your life like that . . .

We are off to Broadstairs this morning, with a brief stop in Canterbury along the way. Broadstairs used to be the summer home of Charles Dickens, and you can see his home standing up on a cliff overlooking the ocean. We're looking forward to long walks along the seaside. You can walk all the way to Ramsgate along the front and it's all done proper-like, with a cement walkway and all. We often walk down there for the fish and chips, which are very good. We're also popping over to Boulogne in France for a day whilst we are there as well. Let's hope the weather improves! It's cold, windy and wet today!!

I made us a lovely salad for our lunch yesterday called Fattoush. It's a wonderful way of getting rid of some stale pita breads and makes good use of tomatoes and cucumbers which are quite abundant this time of year. Add a few herbs and you have a most delicious lunch for two, or three or even four or more, depending on how hungry you are!

*Fattoush*
serves 6
Printable Recipe

I love the fresh taste of this delicious salad, with it's herbs and vegetables. Crispy pita bread and a tangy lemon and olive oil vinaigrette make this one of my favourite summer salads!

2 pitta bread rounds
6 large romaine lettuce leaves, shredded
1 large Lebanese (short) cucumber, peeled and cubed
4 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
8 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
4 TBS finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 TBS finely chopped fresh mint
2 TBS finely chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro)

Dressing:
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
100ml (3 1/2 ounces) extra virgin olive oil
100ml (3 1/2 ounces) freshly squeezed lemon juice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Split the pitta breads in half through the centre and bake on a baking tray in the heated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown and crisp, turning them once halfway through the baking. Set aside to cool, then break into pieces.

To make the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.

Place the bread, salad vegetables and herbs into a large salad bowl. Toss to combine. Drizzle with the dressing and toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve immediately.

For a really tasty vegetable gratin, hop on over to The English Kitchen and see what I came up with for my glut of courgettes!

A Wonderful Time . . .

2009-07-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings Everyone!

We arrived home, safe and sound, from our Austrian Holiday last evening, after almost 24 hour trip! Boy are we zonked! We had a truly wonderful time in this stunningly beautiful country. Clean, gorgeous and very friendly. I took some 300 + pictures, that I still have to vet and categorize, and the holiday is not over yet, as we are off to Broadstairs tomorrow to visit some friends for a few days! But fear not, I will have a complete travelogue for you at the end of it all.

In the meantime, here is a little teaser of some of what we experienced!

A really COMFY hotel room, which became our home away from home for the week that we were there. Lovely shower, much better than the one we have at home and beautiful views from the window of the gorgeous Austrian countryside!

A wonderful coach crew, that were helpful, very informative and wonderfully entertaining. This was Steve. (Note the cheeky grin! This fella was a real character!)

Gorgeous mountains and flowers . . . everywhere we looked!

Beautiful Baroque churches, filled with stained glass, gold, stunning statuary, gilt and gorgeous painted murals.

Gorgeous wooden chalet type houses, draped with stunning window boxes, just filled to the brim with beautifully coloured flowers.

Ardent admirers that dogged my every step . . . (It wouldn't have been so bad if I had the type of allure that attracted Bad Pitt look alikes, but . . . as you can clearly see . . . I'm not quite that alluring . . . )

Life sized Pinocchio's . . . . wait . . . . I think that's Todd getting all Austrian on me. (Note the hat!) Apparently the size of the feather on the hat has something to do with a Male's prowess with the females. Todd removed his before he was told that little bit of information and then promptly had to go out and buy another one to replace it, lest he be found as lacking in that department!

Wonderful new friends made on the coach. This lovely couple, (the two Phil's, Philomena and Philip) are Irish and hail from Blackpool. We really enjoyed their company and will be popping up to visit them and see the Blackpool Illuminations later this year!

Fantastic food . . . Bratwurst, Schnitzel . . .

And these totally delicious fruit dumplings, which I was fortunate enough to get the recipe for!

*Germknodel/Yeast Dumplings*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Todd had this one day for his lunch. It is a typical Austrian fruit filled dumpling, which they served nestled in a delicious pool of vanilla custard.

9 oz ( 1 cup and 1 TBS) flour
1/4 cup (2 oz) milk
1 oz fresh years or 1 TBS dried yeast, plus 1 tsp sugar
pinch salt
1 egg yolk
1 oz butter, softened
4 oz plum jam, 1 tsp rum
pinch cinnamon
2 oz ground poppy seeds
2 1/2 oz icing sugar, sifted
2 1/2 oz browned butter

Sift the flour into a large bowl. In separate bowl, blend lukewarm milk, yeast and sugar; add to flour. Add salt, egg yolk and soft butter. Beat with dough hooks until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Mix plum jam with rum and cinnamon. Divide dough into 4 to 6 equal pieces. Put one teaspoon of prune filling in the middle of each piece, fold dough over filling and roll in floured hands to form dumplings. Let rise for 20 minutes. Simmer dumplings in salted water over low heat, turning after about 6 to 8 minutes. (total time 12 - 16 minutes) Drain gently, serve and place in bowls. Sprinkle with ground poppy seeds, and powdered sugar. Drizzle with browned butter.

Now, that, folks . . . is a really happy face!
(I'll be re-posting some of my inspirational thoughts from my old blog to fill in the time whilst we are away.)

Psst . . . and I did it all without gaining an ounce!!

The Concert

2009-07-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

“The Concert”

“When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive

Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."

Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child, and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience.

The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't recall what else the great master played. Only the classic, " Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Perhaps that's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't always graceful flowing music. However, with the hand of the Master, our life's work can truly be beautiful.

The next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit." "Keep playing."“

I found this story yesterday amongst the many bits and pieces I like to collect, thinking that they may come in handy one day. I don’t know how true it is really. I mean, how many mothers, in this day and age, would leave a child unattended anywhere?? Not many! However, I did love the sentiments it expressed about the voice of the “Master.”

It reminds me that, no matter what problems I may be facing in this life, or challenges . . . the Master is always with me, encouraging me, prodding me on, helping me to face the things I don’t have the courage or the strength to face all on my own.

With Him, “All things are possible,” and through Him “I can do all things.”

When I used to work at the Care Home I often went about my duties humming hymns beneath my breath and when nobody was about I often sang them out loud. They helped me to pass the time and reminded me constantly that, even if the job was not something that I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life, for the time being it was what I had to do, and I could do it to the Glory of God, and to please Him. It gave me the extra strength I needed to clean countless bathrooms and toilets and bedrooms in a place where it was not always the nicest place to have to do that sort of thing, and it helped me to be able to do it with a cheery disposition and a song in my heart. I think that was really important, as those people that lived in that home really needed people that were uplifting around them, not people who really wanted to be someplace else.

I can look back on quite a few times in my life where I can clearly see, in retrospect, the Master’s hands at work in my life and I can hear His voice clearly whispering in my ear. It is only when I ceased to listen that I ran in to trouble and my ship ran aground. Thankfully, He is the forgiving sort and has always been there to pick me up, no matter how many times I may have fallen!!!

What do you make for dinner when you’re totally lacking in time, inspiration and it’s getting near to the end of the month and your wallet is looking a bit slim??? Why . . . Tomato Dumplings of course! These are great as a side dish to almost anything or even great on their own, which is how we often have them. They’re totally delicious!

*Tomato Dumplings*

Serves 4-6 Printable Recipe

Lightly and fluffy and wonderfully savoury dumplings floating on a delicious sea of a robust and tasty tomato sauce. What’s not to like about these lovely taste tempting babies?

½ cup peeled and finely chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped green pepper

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup butter

1 bay leaf, broken in half

28 ounces of tinned chopped tomatoes, in their juices, undrained

1 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the Dumplings:

1 cup plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp of Italian garlic seasoning

1 TBS cold butter

1 TBS snipped fresh parsley

2/3 cup of milk

Melt the butter in a large skillet (with a lid) over medium high heat. Whenit begins to sizzle add the onion, pepper and celery. Cook, stirring, until they are tender. Add the bay leaf, tomatoes, brown sugar, basil, salt and pepper. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Make the dumplings as follows.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and garlic seasoning together in a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the parsley and then finally stir in the milk, mixing it only until mixed together and all the dry ingredients are uniformly moist.

Remove the lid from the simmering tomato mixture and drop the dumpling batter onto the top of the simmer liquid by tablespoonfuls. Cover tightly with a lid and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes without peeking, until a toothpick inserted into one of the dumplings comes out clean and they look set and somewhat dry on top. Serve immediately, spooned out onto warm plates.

Mother's Maintenance Manual . . .

2009-07-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

Many of us take better care of our cars then we do our mothers and yet we only expect our cars to last 5 or 6 years, but we expect our mothers to last for a lifetime. Maybe we need a maintenance manual for mothers so we would know how to take care of them at least as well as we do our automobiles. Here are some items that might be included in such a manual.

•Engine: A mother's engine is one of the most dependable kinds you can find. She can reach top speed from a prone position at a single cry from a sleeping child. But regular breaks are needed to keep up that peak performance. Mothers need a hot bath and a nap every 100 miles, a baby-sitter and a night out every 1,000 miles, and a live in baby-sitter with a one week vacation every 10,000 miles.

•Battery: Mother's batteries should be recharged regularly. Handmade items, notes, unexpected hugs and kisses, and frequent "I love you's" will do very well for a recharge.

•Carburetor: When a mother's carburetor floods it should be treated immediately with Kleenex and a soft shoulder.

•Brakes: See that she uses her brakes to slow down often and come to a full stop occasionally. (A squeaking sound indicates a need for a rest.)

•Fuel: Most mothers can run indefinitely on coffee, leftovers and salads, but an occasional dinner for two at a nice restaurant will really add to her efficiency.

•Chassis: Mothers run best when their bodies are properly maintained. Regular exercise should be encouraged and provided for as necessary. A change in hairdo or makeup in spring and fall are also helpful. If you notice the chassis begins to sag, immediately start a program of walking, jogging, swimming, or bike riding. These are most effective when done with fathers.

•Tune-ups: Mother need regular tune-ups. Compliments are both the cheapest and most effective way to keep a mother purring contentedly. If these instructions are followed consistently, this fantastic creation and gift from God, that we call MOTHER should last a lifetime and give good service and constant love to those who need her most.

My friend Elly, from Canada. makes the most delicious parsnips in the world. I love parsnips. It’s one of my favourite vegetables. I always add them to my stews and soups. They give a lovely flavour. And, to be honest, a roast dinner just wouldn’t be complete without some lovely roasted parsnips on the side. These, though, just have to be the most delicious version of parsnips a person could ever want to eat! Elly gave me permission to share them with you here. They go beautifully with Roast Pork!

*Parsnips With Gorgonzola*

Serves 4 - 6 Printable Recipe

This lovely recipe showcases perfectly the wonderful flavour of this lovely vegetable. The first time I made them, I was a bit afraid that the gorgonzola might be somewhat overpowering, but my fears were for naught, as the wonderful flavour of the cheese perfectly enhanced their delicious sweetness. This is the perfect combination.

6 parsnips, peeled (top and tail them as well)

2 TBS butter

2 spring onions, finely chopped (both green and white parts)

7 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pre-heat your oven to 230*C/500*F. Lightly grease a shallow casserole dish and set aside.

Put the prepared parsnips into a pot of lightly salted boiling water and cook them for 15 to 20 minutes until they are just knife tender. (Leave them whole for now)

When they are tender, drain them well and then cut them in half lengthwise down the middle with a sharp knife.

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Once it is hot and foaming (be careful not to burn it) lay the parsnips in, cut side down and lightly brown them, turning them over once they are browned sufficiently and browning the other side. Remove to the casserole dish as they are browned, placing them in top to tail so as to fit them snugly together, cut sides up.

Once you have all the parsnips browned and in the dish, tear up the gorgonzola cheese and scatter it evenly over the top of the parsnips and then finally sprinkle with the chopped onions. Grind fresh black pepper over the top to taste.

Place the dish into the heated oven and bake for about 1o to 12 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve and enjoy!

Romancing The Present . . .

2009-07-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

“There is only the moment. The now. Only what you are experiencing at this second is real. This does not mean you live for the moment. It means you live the moment.” ~Leo Buscaglia

“We all cling to the past or long for the future, making us unavailable to the present.” ~Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

How many of us do that . . . spend our days thinking about what we are going to do when our ship comes in or dreaming about the summer holiday that is awaiting us several months ahead, or worse yet . . . worrying about what is going to happen in the future if this or that takes place??? When we spend all our days worrying about or worshipping what may or may not be tomorrow, or in regret of the past or what has already been, we risk losing our today.

I may look like a dawdler when I walk to and home from work each day. I walk rather slowly, and I try to take in each moment of the journey, each step of the way. My eyes and ears are ever alert to all that is happening around me. Nothing escapes my watchfulness and my life has been blessed tenfold by the observation of something even as minute as a small feather caught up in a branch of the hedgerow which borders the small lane that leads down to our cottage. If I listen very carefully I often can hear a woodpecker off in the distance hammering away and indeed, it will not be long now before I hear the distant tell tale sound of the cuckoo, which really heralds the arrival of spring.

I breathe in the air about me. Some days it smells fresh and clean, especially after a rain . . . other’s there is the tell tale smell of wood smoke in the air, especially if it has been a cold night . . . then I know that they have had a fire burning in one of the many fireplaces up at the big house, and I think to myself . . . how wonderful.

As I walk home in the dusk at the end of a day, I can hear the birds twittering away as they get ready to bed down for the night. I can almost hear the mother birds cajoling the wee ones into the nest, nagging and making sure that they have brushed their teeth and taken their baths before they settle in. Oh, I know that is a fanciful thought, and that birds really don’t have teeth, but I do like to imagine it so. Sometimes on a summer night the air is filled with the whoosh of bats as they come out in the dusk, playing out their magical aerial ballet over my head . . . their day is only beginning as ours is starting to wane. I love to look up at the darkening sky and see the branches of the trees in relief against it. It is a pattern that changes with the seasons . . . right now it is all bare branches and the odd errant dry leaf . . . leftover from the autumn, dry and wrinkled and stubborn. Soon it will be unfurling buds and then a cacophony of leaf. They make such pretty patterns against the dusky sky. The colours of the sky are magical ranging from deep purple to reds and golds, all depending on the day we have had.

I guess it is age that has taught me to relish every moment and squeeze it for all the delight that it holds . . . even the tears. Although I am not a really old woman yet, I am old enough to know the sting of regret and the pain of should have’s and did not’s. You cannot change the past, nor can you predict the future. All we have is the here and the now . . . and if you make the here and the now the very best that you can . . . if you be the very best person that you can be right now . . . if you make the very wisest choices and decisions that you can make today . . . if you cherish every moment for what it is and who it is and where it is . . . then the future will take care of itself.

Let it be. . . Live now.

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” ~Matthew 6:25-26

Here’s a tasty dish that is not only delicious but very low in fat and calories. This is for all you people out there who are watching their weight!

*Barbeque Pork With Mop Sauce*

Serves 6 Printable Recipe

Wonderfully lean pork filet covered in a deliciously spicy rub and then roasted in the oven just until done, so that it is moist and flavourful, this dish is a real winner. I love the tangy spiciness of the sauce which accompanies it. Any leftovers make a delicious hot sandwich when shredded and heated in any leftover sauce.

2 TBS dark soft brown sugar

1 TBS paprika

1 TBS mild chili powder

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 pork tenderloin fillets (1 ½ pounds), trimmed of all visible fat

For the Sauce:

1/3 cup tomato ketchup

¼ cup cider vinegar

2 TBS molasses

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Pre-heat your oven to 230*C/450*F. Line a baking tray with foil and spray it with cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, cayenne and pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Rub half of the mixture into and all over the pieces of pork. Let stand for 15 minutes.

At the end of the 15 minutes rub the pork with the remaining spice mixture. Place on the baking tray and bake it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, until just done. (this all depends on the thickness of your pork. It may take longer or shorter time) The end result will be beautifully moist pork, just pink in the middle, which is perfectly acceptable. ( Any more done than that and it is too dry. Most people overcook their pork) A meat thermometer will register an internal temperature of 71*C/160*F.

Make the sauce while the pork is roasting. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat down to very low and keep it warm while the meat cooks.

Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into 12 thickesh slices. Serve with the sauce.

I am a Child of God

2009-07-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

“There is something about spirituality that is central to the life of a woman. Not the kind of spirituality that only takes you to church on Sunday. I am talking about the kind of spirituality that makes you behave like a child of God.” ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I think most people would concede that we have a spirit, even if some might say that there is no God. I wonder then, where do they think our spirits come from, if not from God, but then again, that’s a whole different question and topic.

I can remember, as a small child, sitting in a chair and looking at my hand. Around the outside of it I could see a glow, an aura . . . and I can remember thinking to myself, that’s my spirit. Even today, when I look at my hand I can see the same thing. My spirit still looks the same to me now as it did to me back then. It’s the very essence of my being, the part of me that makes me, well . . . Me! It’s the part of me that comes from God. My parents here on earth gave me my body, that part of me which will one day die and be no more, but it’s God, my Heavenly Father who gave me my spirit, the part of me that was with him before I came to earth, the part of me that he breathed into my body at my earthly conception and the part of me that will leave my body when my body is no more. My spirit is that part of me that is eternal and will go on forever in one place or another. I knew that even as a child. It was not something anyone had to ever tell me.

Knowing that you are a literal child of God makes a big difference in how you think of yourself and how you behave in and of yourself and towards others, because, let’s face it . . . if I am a child of God, then so are you and so is everyone else here on this earth. We don’t just happen to all know it. I think if we did, we’d all be behaving in a much different way, and earth would be a completely different place . . .

This is a precious knowledge to me. When I look in the mirror every morning yes . . . I see the me that is getting older, a few more wrinkles around the eyes, those extra pounds that I have to lose, grey hairs appearing at my temples . . . I also see the me that shines out from behind my eyes and that me is not any older than I was when I came here to earth. I still feel the same way inside that I did when I was sixteen or six, except I like to think I am a whole lot wiser now. All my experiences here have taught me things I did not know before and I continue to learn and experience new things every day.

I hope that most of the time I behave like a daughter of God, a daughter he would not be ashamed to call his own. I know that once in a while I fall down and I must disappoint him, and probably at some times more than others, but I like to think that as I get older and experience more, learn more, those moments become far and fewer between. I hope that when people look at me and watch the things that I do they see a difference and that they see a good person, that they see a reflection of my Heavenly Father and all that is good about people, and the good things they can do.

I am far from perfect, and I still have a long ways to go to be the person that I truly want to be. But with each day that passes I get closer and that’s a good thing. I see so many people around me struggling with the problems of life, and in the struggle to find their place in it, and I’m so glad that I have this knowledge of who I am and why I’m here. It makes things so much easier, and it helps me to feel so much better about myself. How can you not love someone you know is a daughter of God? How can you not respect them? That is how I feel about me, and how I feel about each of you. When I see a young girl struggling to find herself in this crazy world, someone like Britney Spears for instance, my heart breaks and I think to myself, if she only knew who she was, what a difference that might make in her life, in the way she behaves and the things that she does. Instead they have bought into the hype of the world, which tells them who they ought to be and they measure their worth on a scale of unrealistic proportions and distorted opinion, instead of trusting on that quite still voice inside which will tell them who they really are and what they're really worth. . . if they would only be still enough to listen and wise enough to hear.

We are not here by accident. There is a purpose to all of this and to these lives that we live. I am so blessed to know that. I wish everyone did.

I was so tired yesterday when we got home from church. I could have slept for England. I expect it was that “all-nighter” catching up on me. I often struggle several days later and find myself so bone tired I can hardly move and so it was with me yesterday. All my plans for cooking Todd a full Sunday lunch went out the window and all I could manage was this, which was quick to put together. Not the best picture in the world, but . . . it is mighty delicious, all the same!

*Chili Dog Pizza*

Makes 1 12-inch pizza Printable Recipe

All kids love this, both big and small. It’s very easy and quick to put together, and oh so very delicious! All you need is a tossed salad on the side to make your meal complete.

1 ½ cups plain flour

2 TBS caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco, Trex or White Flora)

½ of a beaten egg

¾ cup of milk

1 (410g) tin of chili with beans (as spicy as you like)

½ of a package of frankfurters, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

To serve:

½ medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

Mustard

Pre-heat the oven to 205*C/425*F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet or a 12 inch pizza pan and set aside.

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tart and salt in a bowl and mix well together. Cut the shortening in with two knifes or a pastry blender until it resembles bread crumbs. Mix the egg and the milk together with a fork and then stir it into the dry mixture, mixing with the fork until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times.

Pat the dough into a 12 inch circle with a slightly raised edge on the prepared baking sheet. Alternatively pat it into the pizza pan to fit. It’s important that you make a raised edge on it so that the filling doesn’t spill out over the edge of the pizza.

Spread the chili evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the cheese over top and then scatter the hot dog slices over top.

Bake in the heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is nicely browned and done on the bottom and the chili is hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly and the hotdogs are starting to brown a bit.

Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes before cutting into slices to serve. I like to scatter the chopped onion over top and drizzle my piece with some mustard for that real chili dog experience!

Dreams . . .

2009-07-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Dream . . . . Dream often . . . . Dream Big . . . .

I don’t think there’s a person alive who hasn’t had one, doesn’t have one and won’t have one . . . a dream that is! Something wished for, hoped for, some aspiration. We’ve all got ‘em.

I’ve always been a dreamer. As a child, my daylight hours were filled with imaginations of things I wanted to do, see, have . . . some of them quite realistic, other’s so far out of my reach that I could never have possibly achieved them. But dreams are dreams, and dreams are hope, and hope springs eternal.

What little girl does not dream of becoming a ballerina, nurse, teacher . . . very few I would think, although today, it’s more likely that they dream of becoming a pop star, film star, model . . . I don’t think very many young people today have realistic ideals, and we can largely blame the media and shows on the telly like Pop Idol for that. Still . . . They have a dream and who can blame them for that.

When I was a child, all I seriously ever wanted to do was to grow up and become a wife, mother and homemaker. I didn’t really aspire to much beyond that, except that I also wanted to be a writer, and you could do that at home, so it really fitted in with the life I wanted to live. I didn’t want to become famous. I only wanted to write words that people wanted to read, words that drew people to them, words that wove a spell in people’s hearts like the words I so loved to read myself.

I started to write my first novel when I was nine. I borrowed a friend’s typewriter. It was the type of children’s typewriter that had a plastic dial in the centre with all the letters on it and you had to turn the dial to whatever letter you wanted and then press down on it for the letter to go onto the paper. Very laborious indeed. It did not take me very long to lose interest in that exercise. Writing in long hand was a lot quicker and more satisfying.

I wrote anything and everything, poems, short stories, plays . . . anything that came to my fertile and very active mind. I wish that I still had some of those writings. They’ve all been lost through the years. About all I still have are some prayer journals that I have kept through the years, and a paper I wrote at university on poetry, which includes several pieces of my own poetry. They are almost embarrassingnow, or maybe that’s just naturally the way it is for people when they read their own writing. I can never read something I’ve written, without wanting to change it in some way . . . improve it, enhance it. I finally just have to walk away from it or the fiddling would go on forever, and I think that sometimes if you mess with something too much, you can ruin it in the end. Most of the time, I just leave things as they are after a few read through’s, and it takes a real effort to leave it at that. (for instance I’ve gone back and changed this paragraph about six times now, just now adding this last sentence! Make that seven. )

I carry a pen, notepad and my camera with me just about everywhere I go. I am always jostling down notes to myself, ideas for future stories, little poems, stories to share with what were once my children and now my grandchildren, titles of books and stories I would love to write . . . Inspiration comes to me in many shapes and forms. It could be a lone feather caught up on a leaf of the holly bush outside our gate, or a round smooth pebble that suddenly appears on the pathway, that I just know was not there before, a hole in the trunk of a tree that invites a story being told about who might live there and what happened next . . . I’m the same way with my camera. I am always seeing a picture that needs to be taken, each picture holding a story of it’s own. You don’t know how many times I have seen something wonderful and regretted not having my camera with me, as without capturing it in the lens of my camera’s eye, the sight is then gone forever. The other evening when I was at work, as I was dusting in the conservatory, I looked out the window to see the most beautiful sunset I have seen in a long time, and in the next moment I was disappointed for I had forgotten to bring my camera with me when I came to work that day. Lesson learned, for I’ll not forget it again. (Todd calls me Mrs. Canitakeaphoto. )

I do think that I’ve achieved my childhood dreams and aspirations for the most part. I have been a wife, no less than three times, and am hoping that this time I’ve finally gotten it right! I raised a family of lovely children, who have grown up to become pretty special adults, and are now becoming parents themselves. I took care of a home for many years and still do, although, now that I work full time, Todd mostly bears the responsibility of the “making” in our home. (and he thought he was retired!!) I may notbe published, but I am a writer and people do read my words and hopefully gain some measure of joy and pleasure from doing so, however small. Words just fall out day after day, and I could no more prevent that from happening than I could stop my breath from coming in and out of my chest. It’s as natural to me as that.

I still have dreams though. I’d love to go to Tuscany and sit under a tree, amidst poppies in the setting Tuscany sun, and allow it’s fading warmth to bathe my face in it’s glory. I’d one day like to have a small place that I could call my own, that doesn’t belong to anyone else, with climbing roses on either side of the doorway and a stone garden path to the front gate. I’d love to see my words in print . . . on paper . . . In a book, written and tangible proof that I am what I feel I am, and to be able to run my fingers across my name on the dust jacket, slightly raised like Braille beneath my fingertips. I want my parents and children to be proud of me and what I’ve achieved, and to know that I have pleased them, and that I do please them. When I move on from this plane of existence, I want to leave something of worth behind for future generations, some mark on the world that tells people that I was here, that I was real and that I counted for something. Something that they can treasure and that will still be making a difference in someone’s life long after I have gone. I guess that is any writer’s dream . . . and so, I dream . . .

This is a tasty soup that is so easy to make and so delicious once it’s done. I made it Saturday night for our lunch on Sunday when we came home from church. With a toasted cheese sandwich on the side, it was absolutely lovely and very satisfying.

*Roasted Root Vegetable Soup*

Serves 4 Printable Recipe

With a few vegetables from your vegetable drawer and a little bit of stock you can have a delicious meal on your table in no time at all. It will taste as if you have slaved over a stove all day, but really all you’ve done is peel a few veg . . . who knew?

1 pounds carrot, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

2 TBS olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 ½ litres of hot vegetable stock (approximately)

Olive oil to drizzle on top

Pre-heat your oven to 205*C/425*F. Put all of your prepared vegetables onto a large shallow baking tray. Drizzle the olive oil over all and season with some salt and black pepper. Using your hands, stir them around a bit to make sure that they are all coated and seasoned. Put the tray into the oven and roast the vegetables for about 45 minutes, until tender, and starting to brown in a few places. Give them a stir about half way through. Remove them from the oven and put them into a large saucepan. Add the vegetable stock and then give it all a good blitz with your stick blender until the mixture is smooth. You may need more or less. You don't want it to be just a vegetable puree, you want it to be a soup. (Alternatively put them into a blender or food processor and carefully blitz them until smooth.) Place over medium heat until well heated through. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Serve in heated bowls with a drizzle of olive oil on the top if desired.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star . . .

2009-07-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

“If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and adore.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you the type of person that marvels at the stars? Or are you the type that takes them for granted? Myself, I am a star marveler, but it seems to me that they are not as many or as bright as they were when I was a child.

Mind you, that could be because of where I live. Down here in the South East of England, although my particular area is quite rural, there is a vast population, so there is probably too much light pollution to be able to see a lot of the stars with any clarity.

I can remember though, when I was a young girl in Southern Manitoba, being able to look at the night time sky and it being literally peppered with stars and constellations. As first a Brownie, and then a Girl Guide, I studied the stars and earned merit badges. I could have told you one constellation from the other at that time, and I would have also been able to guide myself home just by looking at them, so well were they known to me. Now I think I can just manage to pick out the big dipper and the small dipper, and maybe even the Milky Way, but I cannot remember what the others are.

Stars are magical things. Throughout the history of mankind they have both mystified and mesmerized. At one time they were the only instruments available to use for navigating the seas and the land. On a clear night, when I look up at the night time sky I often think to myself, these stars have been here forever. These are the same stars that Magellan looked at when sailed his ship around the world, and they are the same stars that were hanging in the sky when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and discovered the Americas. That same milky way that I studied as a girl is the same milky way that I marvel at as an adult.

When someone has done a particularly good job or pleased us in an astonishing way we call them a “Star” and who hasn’t wanted to be the “Star Pupil” of the school. What little girl has not dreamed of one day becoming a “Movie Star” or “Pop Star”. Indeed, the walkway down Hollywood Boulevard is filled with hundreds of bronze stars commemorating the rich and famous elite of Hollywood set down into the pavement, and mere mortals can walk where “Stars“ have walked before them.

There is a measure of comfort to be found from the stars when you are separated from loved ones, for you can look up to the heavens and think to yourself that hundreds or even thousands of miles away your loved ones can be looking up at the same night time sky and seeing the very same stars, at the very same time. Its magical.

It was a star that announced his birth and led the Wise Men to the foot of the Saviour over two thousand years ago, and I would imagine it was by the light of the stars that Joseph and Mary escaped into Egypt with him a short time later.

Poems and stories and songs have been written about stars, too countless to list, and many a wish has been voiced and set upon the first star of the evening by many a hopeful soul, perhaps since the beginning of time.

When I lived in Southern Ontario for a number of years, right at the base of the Georgian Bay, we used to sit out in our back garden on late summer evenings and watch the stars over head. They were so clear there and the sky was literally peppered with them. You could see millions of them up there twinkling down and every so often you could even see a satellite moving overhead on it’s silent trip through the night sky.

It’s amazing to me that something that is millions and billions of miles away can still be seen by me here on earth, and I have often marvelled at the sight of a falling star streaking across the sky. Each year in August I tell myself I am going to stay awake until very late at night and watch the meteor showers, but each night I am too tired to do so. I know that technically these are not stars, but I marvel at the thoughts of seeing them just the same.

I hope that I am never the kind of person that cannot stop to hope and marvel at the sight of the stars or find the magic there. To me, they are just another proof that we have a God who cares, and they help me to wonder at his wisdom and majesty . . .

Today, I leave you with this delicious recipe. I made this for our supper one night this week. Todd had never had it before but thought it to be quite delicious and I found myself wondering why I don’t make it more often . . .

*Beef Stroganoff*

Serves 6 Printable Recipe

Who wouldn’t love tender strips of beef in a light and tangy mushroom sauce? Named after a nineteenth century Russian count, this dish was very popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I really think it should have a revival because it is really very, very good, and quite easy to make. Impressive enough for company! I like to serve this with steamed white rice or buttered noodles.

2 pounds beef round steak trimmed of all fat and cut into 2 by ½ inch strips (across the grain)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Garlic powder to taste

2 TBS vegetable oil

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

¾ pound of fresh mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced

2 cups beef broth

1 ½ cups sour cream

Season the steak strips with some salt and pepper and a sprinkle of garlic powder. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add the oil. When it is hot add the steak strips and cook for a minute or two, just until they are no longer pink. Reduce the heat and add the onions. Cook, stirring often, over low heat for four or five minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes, and then stir in the beef broth just to barely cover the meat. You may not need to use it all. Pop a cover on the pan and simmer over low heat for 35 to 45 minutes until the meat is very tender. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.

Whisk in the sour cream and allow to heat through without boiling. Serve at once with some hot steamed white rice or buttered noodles, and a green vegetable on the side.

Note - This is a repost of one of my muses from my old page on AOL, Marie's Muses. I will be posting some of my better ones in the coming week while I am away on holidays.

The Funny Papers

2009-07-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

My parents had a newspaper delivered to the door of our family home, almost every day of my life. (Or at least for as long as I can remember anyways!) When we were children, we were not all that interested in the newspaper itself, but we did take an active interest in the comics section, which, on a weekday, consisted of about two pages. On the weekends though, there was a whole comics insert that could be removed like your own little magazine. The three of us loved those pages, my brother, sister and I, and we've been known to silently argue over them. (Silent only because if we had actually argued out loud we'd have been denied the priviledge of reading them by our parents!) On Saturdays we didn’t have to wait for my dad to finish reading the paper before we could look like we usually had to during the week. We took turns on who would be first as well. Each week it would be another one of our turns and we all looked forward to it being our very own turn first! Sometimes there would be a bit of a debate on whose turn it actually was, which is where the arguing would come in. We used to get a weekly magazine as well called “The Star Weekly,” which not only had interesting stories and a cookery section in it, but also a pull out comics section as well.

Back then, it seemed like the funny pages were . . . well . . . funnier! There was Blondie and Dagwood, The Born Loser, Lil Abner, Peanuts, Garfield (you just have to love Garfield), Life With Father, Andy Capp, Family Circus, Prince Valiant . . . just to name a few. Last summer when I was home I read the newspaper with my mother every morning. (Old habits die hard and it’s amazing that when we find ourselves in certain situations we always revert to type) It seemed to me that the funnies just weren’t funny anymore, well, all except for some of the old favourites that they still print, but which are few and far between. Or maybe it’s just me, maybe I have not got a sense of humour like I used to??? I don’t think it’s that . . . though . . . as I still laugh at jokes and such, and quite heartily at times . . . I just think the funny papers aren’t all that funny anymore.

During the week, all the funnies were in black and white, but on weekends we got glorious colour pages, which only added to our enjoyment of reading them. Little Orphan Annie always wore her trademark red dress and her vacant eyes. Daisy Mae her tight black shorts and colourful man’s shirt, tied up at mid-drift and busting out at the seams, and Mammy Yokum always had her corncob pipe tightly held between her lips, and all in glorious colour. What joy we got out of those half a dozen pages or so and oh how we revelled in taking the longest time to read them when we knew a brother or a sister might be waiting for their turn, relishing every word and nuance just that tiny bit longer.

I didn’t quite get the political satire cartoons that would be printed in the Editorial section every day. But then most children didn’t. I have, however, come to appreciate them now as an adult and I still enjoy the Family Circus. To this day, back home, you can fine The Family Circus cartoon printed on it’s own near the beginning of the Classified Section on week days. It never seemed to matter to me whether it was in colour or in black and white, it was always enjoyed and read with relish! As a child I could always relate to the things the children got up to. As an adult I could always relate to the way the parents were feeling. And . . . It never seemed to matter that the parent’s never got old, and the children never grew up. I suppose that was all a part of the charm and it spoke to the child in all of us. I guess you could say that The Family Circus is my all time favourite funny paper cartoon, which leads me to ask a question.

Here’s a totally delicious salad dressing. It’s got a delicious sweet and sour tang and goes very well on most salads, even, amazingly enough, Fruit Salads. If you are looking to really cut the fat down you can substitute about half of the vegetable oil with water.

*Tangy Tomato Salad Dressing*

Makes 2 cups Printable Recipe

Is it Toe Mae Toe or Toe Mah Toe? I love this salad dressing. Very similar to one that you can buy in the shops back home called Catalina dressing it has a lovely and tangy sweet and sour tomato flavour with just a hint of spice. It keeps very well in the refrigerator for weeks and weeks. This is my absolute favourite. A little goes a long way!

1 cup caster sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 dash sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon mild chili powder

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder

grated onion, to taste

1/2 cup white vinegar

2/3 cup tomato ketchup

1 cup vegetable oil

Measure all ingredients into a blender, or into the measuring cup that came with your hand held stick blender. Blend well until completely amalgamated. Store in a jar in the refrigerator. Give it a good shake before using.

*Note - I usually have this on the table when I have people over for dinner as I like to offer them a choice of salad dressings to put on their salads and this is, hands down, the one they usually pick. You can also marinate chicken breasts in it before grilling and it gives them a lovely flavour!

The Simple Woman's Day Book . . .

2009-07-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

FOR TODAY, July 6th, 2009 ...

Outside My Window...
It looks like the weather is changing . . . I think rain is in the forecast for today. It's not as muggy as it has been this past week at any rate. I know we need the rain too, as well as the sun, so I'll not complain. It seems to be feast and famine over here sometimes. You are either getting bucketloads of rain, or no rain at all! We checked out the 10 day forecast for Austria one day last week and it looked to be rain, or showers, the whole time we are there! Fingers crossed that we'll get at least a few days of sunshine! We are bent on having a good time no matter what though . . .

"Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."
– Henry David Thoreau

I am thinking...
About my sister. It is her birthday today. She will be 51. It seems like just yesterday we were mere girls and had all the promise of our tommorrows sitting before us. Now here we are, each of us in the prime of our middle age, ready to slip into old age. Where has the time gone . . . where has it gone . . . so much water under the bridge has passed . . . I hope that she has a lovely day and that she knows how much she is loved. That is the best gift of all I think . . . knowing you are loved. If you have that, then everything else is just the icing on the cake. Sis, I love you!

I am thankful for...
A good husband who loves me, family, friends, my faith . . . being able to live in such a beautiful place and all my many other blessings, such as good health etc. I think one needs to be ever mindful of even the simplest things and not take any of them for granted. I always think to myself when I hear of another's troubles . . . there, but for the Grace of God, go I . . . and then I give a silent thanks to my Heavenly Father, and a silent prayer for those who suffer . . .

From the kitchen...
Because we are going away today, there is absolutely nothing sitting there waiting to be eaten. It seems strange!

I am wearing...
Pink pajamas and my sandles.

I am creating...
I must not forget to take my sketch book along with me and some pencils! I won't have a computer to pop on to in the mornings so I'll have to fill my hours with other things. I am always awake at the crack of dawn, no matter what!

I am going...
I'm am going to have a fantastic time, I am sure! Just imagine, being able to see the sights from The Sound of Music in person. Imagine being able to twirl around in a mountain field . . . will I hear the hills come alive? Oh, I am sure that in some way I will, even if it's only for my own ears!

I am reading...

The Commoner, by John Burnham Swartz. I am about halfway through it. A GREAT read!! I have a few other books I am bring on holidays with us, such as Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. I do love books about Oriental Cultures, but then . . . I already told you that!

I am hoping...
to get a few posts done up ahead of time for when I am away this morning. I am mostly packed, except for my toiletries so I don't have a lot to do while we are waiting to go to the place where the coach is picking us up. So be sure and check in once in a while over the next week to see what I have waiting for you!

I am hearing...
It's very quiet in here this morning. Jess is at her holiday home away from home. It always seems odd to be here without her. She is such a vital part of our lives. I know she loves to go to her holiday home though. All those children to play with and lots of activity. Not like us boring old fogies!

Around the house...
All is tidy and waiting for our departure. I always like to have everything in it's place and dusted before I go away anywhere. I hate the thoughts of coming home to a messy house. I expect I am not alone in this!

One of my favorite things...
Is watching documentaries on the telly, especially ones with a historical bent. I just love history and often read novels that are based on true history as well. That is something Todd and I have in common. You can keep your reality television and give us a good historical drama any day, or docu drama!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
Austria! Austria! Austria! I'll be yodeling and slapping my thighs, off in the Austrian Tyrol! Hopefully eating some lucious Austrian Pastries, and Schnitzel, and generally enjoying my time away!! Life is indeed very good!

We went to see Terri yesterday afternoon as I wanted to spend some time with her before we went away. Her operation went well, and lasted about 3 hours. She is doing very well for an older person! I am well impressed, and she thanks you all for your many kind thoughts and prayers. Her daughter is going back to Holland tomorrow, and she (Terri) will be having some home care coming in twice a day for a while. I hope that she will be ok.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

What a beautiful thought!!! I'll miss you all! See you soon, and, hopefully, armed with lots of pictures!

Why not hop on over to Grandmother Wren's to see some of the other daybooks for today!

I got some lovely filet steak at the store the other day. It was marked down because it was on it's last day. Oh, I do love me some steak! I think it's one of my favourite foods, next to potatoes! This was delicious!

*Pepper Steak with a Creamy Horseradish Sauce*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

I've tried to eat Vegetarian several times in my life, but I'm afraid I've not ever been able to stick to it for very long. One of my absolute favourite things to eat is a good steak . . . no chance of that on a vegetarian menu! This is lovely and peppery and has a delicious creamy sauce, with a bit of a bite from the horseradish!

4 X 7 ounce filet steaks
2 TBS oil
6 TBS black peppercorns crushed
40g (1 1/2 ounces) butter
For the sauce:
1 cup hot beef stock
1 cup heavy cream
3 TBS creamed horseradish
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Rub the steaks on both side with the oil and then press the peppercorns into the meat so that they don't come off when you cook it. Melt the butter in a heavy large skillet. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes on each side, depending on how well you like your steaks done. Remove to a warm place and keep warm. Add the stock to the pan and cook, stirring for about a minute to deglaze the pan. Add the cream and stir for a couple minutes, until it begins to thicken somewhat. Stir in the horseradish and season to taste with some sea salt and black pepper. Place each steak on a heated place and spoon some of the sauce over each.

To see what we had with it, why not pop on over to The English Kitchen!

Marie's Sunday Six . . .

2009-07-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here it is the first Sunday of July, 2009! I have lots of smile makers this week, so best get started!

Hooray for the "Dog Days" of summer. Yes, we've had a really hot and humid week this week, which might be cause for complaint as I don't do humidity really well. But . . . it's been dry and the sun has shone, and the garden has grown by leaps and bounds! Our two fans have been working overtime, but that's ok. It will be back to rain and cold soon enough!

Yay for Facebook! I was able to get back in touch with a couple of friends from High School this week, which was great! It's been real fun catching up on all that has happened in their lives and sharing with them all the news of my life. I don't really spend a lot of time on facebook actually. I mostly just swoop in and then out. Mostly I just use it to scoop pictures of my grandsons and to see what my kids are up to, so it was really nice to find these two gals on there! I also ended up doing a "How Mormon Are You" Quiz on there, which came out that I am 100% Mormon. No surprise there!!

Yay, too, for losing weight this week and getting in more exercise. It's no secret that I have a rather rotund figure and I have been working hard these past few weeks on taking some of it off. I know, the food I post on here doesn't look like the food a slimmer would be eating and the simple answer is, I'm not eating it! Oh, I taste a lot, but Todd is the main eater, and my friends. I like to bring something special up to them at work for their elevenses, and Todd, well . . . he's the original stick man. He could eat for England and never gain an ounce, lucky man! Anyhow, I'm down about a stone now and have been taking nice long walks every day. It's a good thing . . . as Martha would say!

Yay, for the monthly Scripture Study group that I belong to. We had our monthly meeting on Friday last and, as usual, we had a wonderful evening together. It's so much fun getting together with like-minded people that you love and sharing thoughts and ideas together. We've been doing this with the same crowd for about 2 years now and Todd and I both really enjoy it. It's the highlight of our month, or at least one of them at any rate! Todd really loves to study scripture and bible prophecy anyways, and he really enjoys getting together and sharing the things he's discovered in the past month. I am not so great at studying scripture, probably because I don't have as much free time, but I do love to read scripture and I like to talk about it with people, so, really . . . it's a win/win situation!

We're all going on a summer holiday, summer holiday . . . lalala . . . (Darn . . . now I'll be singing that song all day in my head!) Yes, I'm going on my summer holidays, TOMMORROW! Yay!! I'm really looking forward to them. No surprise there either! I think when you happen to live where you work, well . . . it's really important to get away. If you try to take holidays and stay home, you only end up being called upon to do stuff anyways, so going away is the best thing really. As I have said we are off to Austria tommorrow and then when we get back from there, we are off to Broadstairs to stay with some friends for a week. It will be really nice to just relax and not have to worry about anything at all. Jess is going to her holiday camp as well. She always stays with some people from our church. They have six kids and so she will get lots of attention and activity for the next fortnight, and then, it's home to boring old us again!!

I finally got another piece of art done! That really made me smile. My fingers have been itching for weeks to get at some and I was so happy to finally get one done. If you want to see the whole piece you'll have to go to my page at Blossom Time Creations. I think she will make a really sweet Christmas Card, what do you think? I added word verification to the comments on that page and so far this morning I have not had any porn links dropped on it. So far, so good, fingers crossed. I think it's despicable that people go around doing things like that. How small minded and warped can you be? Anyways, this little gal really made me smile and I hope she makes you smile too!!!

I made these lovely little Madeleines the other day to serve with a lucious Lemon Mousse. It was the first time I had made Madeleines and I was so surprised at how easy they were to make! I don't know why I waited so long!!! The hardest part was having to wash the madeleine pan so often in between baking each batch. It's probably a lot better if you have two pans. Oh, and any batter that you can't use as madeleines bakes up great as cupcakes. (Yes, I got tired after about 3 batches. This recipe makes rather a lot!)

*Lemon Madeleines*
Makes quite a lot
Printable Recipe

These are like tiny baby lemon sponges, each one a heavenly bite just for you!

5 large eggs
200g (7 ounces) caster sugar
finely grated zest of one lemon
200g (7 ounces) plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
185g (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Icing sugar to dust

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Whisk the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk until they are pale yellow in colour and fluffy. Stir in the lemon zest. Fold in the flour, baking powder and melted butter. Leave to rest for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into well buttered madeleine trays and bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or a little bit longer until they test done. Repeat as necessary. Cool on wire rack and dust with icing sugar before serving.

You can find the recipe for the Lemon Mousse, over here, on The English Kitchen. It really was fabulous! Nice and light . . . the perfect recipe for a hot summer's day!

Summer Memories . . .

2009-07-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light,
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

~Robert Louis Stevenson, Bed in Summer

I found this poem and it reminded me of when I was a girl. My mom always had us in bed at the same time, come Winter or Summer and I can remember laying in my bed at night in the summetime, with the blinds pulled low, but light still peeking in around the edges . . . I could still hear other children playing outside and I remember thinking it was very, very unfair that I should be in bed!!

Ahh . . . summertime. The days seemed to stretch on forever and our summer holidays seemed like they wouldn't ever end. The days were hot and long and filled with popsicles, Kool Aid (In coloured alumnium glasses that somehow made it taste even better) trips to the beach, playing games with friends, lazying around on lawn chairs (until some grown up chased you off!) picnics with friends, berry picking, catching fireflies, sun showers, running barefoot through the grass . . . We didn't seem to mind how hot it got back then.

There would be nature hikes in the woods and finding natural lady slippers and columbine . . . the sunlight pouring down on our heads all dappled and flickering beneath the leaves of the trees . . . Playing house on the front porch with my sister and friends . . . the walls of our house, a skipping rope strung up between the porch posts with a blanket strung over it.

Plays put on in a friend's garage for all the neighbourhood kids . . . our seating comprised of every lawn chair that we could find and our curtain another old blanket strung across on a rope. My, but we did think we were something . . .

Early morning swimming lessons, when the water would still be freezing cold from the night before and we'd still be tired and wanting to have slept in . . . the morning light not yet warm and steam rising from the water . . .it was cold and invigorating, to say the least!

Oh my, but is it a sign of old age to be reminiscing like this? The images and smells and sounds are still all so clear in my mind . . . and I thank you for putting up with them this morning! (I think I'll run around the grass in my bare feet this afternoon!)

Some idiot keeps peppering my art blog with comments that include links to porn sites. Each and every morning this week I have had to go and delete them all, only to wake up the next morning having to do the same. I have not ever wanted to have to put word verification on my comments but fear I may have to in order to stop it . . . why are people such idiots! I wish we had a block feature on this!!! They're all in chinese letters too, so I don't really know what they say, it could be something quite disgusting!

OH, it was so hot the other day that I couldn't face cooking a hot meal, but I had some beef that I needed to use before the date ran out. It was a rump roast and so I just cut it into slices and threw it into the slow cooker! I have always loved Sauerbraten and so did a crock pot version . . . a kind of sauerbraten swiss steak . . . as if that makes sense. It was really tasty and best of all the kitchen stayed cool! I can't remember where I got this recipe from, I have had it for a long time. It's a real favourite around here and satisfies my Todd's meat and potato cravings! (It didn't photograph very well, but then I have always found it very hard to take photos of meat for some reason!)

*Crockpot Sauerbraten*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

I love the flavour of traditional sauerbraten with it's sweet and sour and slight spiciness. The only thing that puts me off it, for the most part, is the long marinating time needed. Now you can have all the flavour without having to marinate it for days. Tasty and tender, this is simple and goes together really quickly, leaving your hands free to work or relax out in the garden.

2 pounds top round beef steak
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 pound of carrots, peeled and sliced
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
3/4 cups crushed gingernut cookies (about 15)
2 TBS soft light brown sugar
1 cup sour cream
3 TBS flour

In a large slow cooker, combine the meat, onions, brothm vinegar, bay leaves, carrots, and potatoes. Mix well, then cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours, or medium for 5 to 6. Once it is tender, remove the cover and turn the heat to high. Take out the bay leaves.

Add the gingernuts and brown sugar. Stir and taste for seasoning. You may need to add more gingernuts or brown sugar to get the right sweet and sour balance. Stir together the sour cream and flour and add that to the crockpot, stirring well to combine. Cover and cook for 30 minutes until thickened and heated. Serve hot over cooked noodles or spatzele. (we usually have it with some boiled or mashed potatoes)

If you'd like to learn now to make the best scones ever, hop over to The English Kitchen. I've done a whole tutorial there!

The Love of Books . . .

2009-07-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Between the ages of five and 10 I lived on a small airforce base in Manitoba, Canada. During the summer holidays I practically lived in the base library. I didn't often get there during the main school year, except on Saturdays, but in the summertime you could find me there just about every day. You were only allowed to take out one book at a time if you were a child and I was a voracious reader, so I'd be back and forth every day for a new book. I am sure they were quite sick of seeing me!

There is something really special about a library. They all seem to smell the same . . . a mixture of leather, paper and glue. The air is heavy with an aura of respect and reverence, quite like entering a cathedral in a way . . . everyone speaking in hushed tones, dulcet whispers and pages turning the only sounds, periodically interrupted by the heavy tap of the librarian's date stamp!

To get to the library of my childhood you had to travel down a long pathway that ran alongside of some railway tracks that were carefully set apart by a tall wire fence, topped with barbed wire. I can remember seeing bats hanging by their toes all along this fence and would ride my bicycle very quickly past them, my hands trembling and one arm desperately covering my long hair, the other hand clutching on to my bicycle hand bar tenaciously, as I was very afraid that they would fly into my hair. It's a wonder I ever made it past them without falling down or worse! I had read somewhere that bats will get themselves into your hair and get all tangled up . . . and I was taking no chances!

As a girl, I loved the tales of Enid Blyton. Her fairy stories were marvelous. I devoured them like a hungry man at a banquet. I also loved her tales of the Famous Five and Secret Seven. All her books carried my child's mind on adventures to faraway places that I could only ever dream of seeing and her characters got to eat wonderful sounding food, such as cherry cakes, ginger beer, and cheese and onion sandwiches. As a child growing up in Canada, these far off places sounded very exotic and it seemed quite wonderful to be able to have your very own parrot named Kiki!!

I also loved Nancy Drew and I believe I read just about every book in that series, some of them several times. She was my hero. She was pretty and smart and there was no mystery she could not solve. I fancied being just like her when I grew up.

Then there were the Bobbsey Twins, Nan and Bert, Freddie and Flossie . . . they lived in a bit house and had a cook/housekeeper and a handyman/man of work, something very far removed from any of my own experience in life. They got into adventures and scrapes too, which also helped to fuel my childhood dreams and aspirations.

Trixie Beldon was another one of my lives as were the great classics such as Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, and one of my all time favourites, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.

When I ran out of books to pick from the library, I would read our own encyclopaedia, the Book of Knowledge. It sat in a corner of the living room in our home in it's very own wooden bookcase. I believe I must have read it from cover to cover more than once. It was full of wonderfully interesting facts and loads of fascinating pictures. As well we had a small series of books on all the countries of the world, full of all sorts of pictures and information. I devoured these as well, their pages taking me to far off places in my mind that I one day hoped to be able to see in person . . .

As a teenager, I fell in love with the adventures of the British temptress, Amber St Clare in the novel entitled Forever Amber, and I used to eat up Harlequin Romance books as quickly as they could print them.

My love of books and reading is something I have carried with me my whole life. I am always reading one, or two or sometimes even three books at a time. Todd can't understand how I can keep track of so many plots. I guess I'm just a genius!! hahaha. I think the truth is that I get bored very easly and so my mind likes to skip around a bit. Perhaps it's my love of the written word that inspires me in a way to want to write my own words. I don't know. I only know for sure that my life would be a life only half lived without the written word to inpsire and enthrall me, and the library has always been the best and cheapest way of fueling my voracious appetite for reading.

I think I remember reading somewhere at one time that it was Benjamin Franklin who invented the lending library. Is this true? I guess it doesn't really matter who invented them, it only matters that they have brought countless hours of joy into my life and the lives of many others. Kudos to them, whomever they may be!

I am a great lover of Mexican inspired food. Tacos, nachos, burritos, enchiladas . . . when Mexican in on the menu, I'm one very happy camper! I'm slowly converting Todd as well, or at least he never complains when I make something of that nature for dinner. He's quite good really, he eats pretty much everything I set down in front of him and very rarely complains . . . unless it is pasta. Then he always reminds me he is not fond of Italian food . . .

Chicken Enchilada Lasagna*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

I just love this Tex Mex favourite! Don't let the long list of ingredients put you off from making it. It's quite easy to make and very, very delicious. Well worth the effort and time!

2 TBS vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
2 cups chopped peeled tomatoes (or use canned)
1/2 cup canned chopped green chilies (can roast and chop your own)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
salt and pepper to taste

For the bechamel:
3 TBS butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup canned chopped green chilies (can roast and chop your own)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (Can use mild cheddar or gouda where Jack cheese is not available)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt and black pepper to taste

In addition:
12 (6 inch) corn or flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (can use mild cheddar or gouda)
2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
sour cream and tomato salsa to garnish, if desired

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup of onion and the garlic, and saute until soft. Add the tomatoes, 1/2 cup green chilies, cumin and coriander and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken pieces and simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and keep warm.

To make the bechamel, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When it is foaming, add the 1/2 cup onion and the garlic, and cook for about five minutes until the onion is translucent and soft, stirring frequently. Do not brown. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add the chicken broth and the milk and cook, stirring constantly, until thick, about 5 minutes or so. Add the 1/4 cup of green chilies, sour cream and the cheeses. Season to taste and set aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Cut the tortillas into quarters. Place a layer of them in the bottom of the baking dish. Spoon on 1/2 of the chicken mixture, spreading it out evenly. Pour 1/3 of the bechamel sauce over top. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheeses. Add another layer of tortillas, the last half of the chicken, 1/3 of the bechamel and another 1/3 of the cheese. Top with a final layer of tortillas, the last of the bechamel and the last of the cheese, sprinkling it evenly over top. Bake in the heated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until it is heated through and bubbly, and lightly browned on top.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve. Garnish each serving with some salsa and sour cream if desired. Delicious!

PS - This also freezes very well. As there are only the two of us, I cut it into individual servings and wrap each one individually in strong plastic wrap. Then I pop them into a bag and into the freezer. I can then take out however many servings I want at a later date, thaw them out and heat them up. You can either use the microwave or the oven. I prefer the oven, about 160*C/325*F for 25 to 30 minutes, covered, and uncovered the last five minutes of cooking time.

To check out what was for dessert . . . mosey on over to The English Kitchen. Scrumdiddlyumptious!!!

A Smell Is Worth a Thousand Words . . .

2009-07-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

"Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived." ~Helen Keller

There is something really special about smells. They have the power to grasp your mind and take you back to any memory in your experience, to make you feel really safe, or afraid, or comfortable or sad.

My mother's old wooden cooking spoon has absorbed the smell of many a year, and no matter how many times it has been washed and scrubbed, time's compelling odour abounds. The smell of garlic, onion and tomato paste permeates it and whispers golden memories of evenings shared with loved ones now miles apart.

The smell of molasses cookies always takes me back to my grandmother's ample lap and the feeling of warmth and love as I cuddled there, the creak of the rocking chair and crinkling sound of linoleum as someone walks across it.

One time when my children were babies I opened a bottle of gripe water and was instantly transported back to a time that was long hidden in the recesses of my mind. I can't even begin to describe the way I felt, but I felt instantly comforted and safe...

Occasionally when I am in a chemists, I will encounter a smell that in my memory reminds me of being a teenage girl, getting ready for Saturday night, washing my hair and rinsing it with this pink hair conditioner that I can't even remember the name of, but I remember the smell and it always makes me feel excited and warm inside.

The smell of Ma Griffe perfume always takes me back to my mother's bosom and the memory of watching her as she got gussied up to go out for a night on the tiles with my dad.

The top dresser drawer of the high boy dresser in the spare room at my mom's still smells like a combination of leather, tobacco, cork grease and butterscotch wafers, or in other words, my dad. He was a consummate clarinetist and used to keep a hidden stash of butterscotch wafers in that drawer along with his cork grease and wallet. He's not been there in that room for a very long time, but the smell lingers on and reminds one of secret forays into the forbidden stash of buttery sweetness.

Evening in Paris, burning leaves, a freshly sharpened pencil, a wood fire, musty moth balls . . . these smells and others all hold the keys to magical moments in time, known only to me, little treasures and gems hidden in my mind just waiting for me to take them out and hold them in my hands again, if only for a moment . . .

Some of you were wondering yesterday about the differences between English and North American measurements. Over here, we bake a lot by weight, so a good set of cookery scales is a must. I am so used to using scales now, I much prefer baking with them than by any other method. I did do a post about measurement conversions very early on, which you can access HERE. It may be a good idea to print it out so that you can reference it more easily when you need to. I am quite happy to answer any questions that any of you have, either on here, or via e-mail. My e-mail address is MarieAliceJoan at aol dot com!

I am happy to say that Terri came through her operation safe and sound. She was in the operating room for 3 hours and when I spoke to her daughter, she was still in recovery. I am sure your continued prayers would be more than welcome. I am not sure when she will be allowed home, but it will probably take some time for her to completely recover and I doubt that she will be back to work ever. I did joke with her about her being the bionic woman with her new shoulder, but in truth I doubt she'll be able to withstand hours of ironing ever again, but at the ripe old age of 84, I reckon she has earned some rest.

*Blueberry Pancakes*
Makes 12 to 14
Printable Recipe

During the summer when I was growing up, we all headed in to the woods and fields surrounding our home, ice cream buckets held aloft, to pick the proliferation of wild blueberries that grew there in abundance. My mother usually only ever made blueberry pies with them. Once I had kids of my own I used to treat them to these delicious blueberry pancakes. I like to think that in doing so I created for them some very happy memories.

2 cups flour
2 TBS sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
pinch ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
8 TBS butter, melted
1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries (wild are best, but alas not always available, so just use what you can find)

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl, until frothy. Beat in the buttermilk, mixing in well. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the dry mixture, mixing well to combine. Stir in HALF of the melted butter.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat (if you are lucky enough to have one) or a large non stick one (if you are not.) Grease the skillet with some of the remaining butter. Make 2 to 3 pancakes at a time by ladling 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan for each pancake, keeping about 1/2 inch between the pancakes. Scatter some blueberries on top of each. Cook until bubbles form on the tops of the pancakes and the bottoms turn golden brown, some 2 to 3 minutes. Flip over and continue to cook until the other side is golden and the centres are cooked through, some 2 minutes longer. Repeat the process, greasing the skillet each time with some more butter. Keep pancakes warm in a slow oven until all are cooked. Serve warm with butter and Maple syrup. Cooked bacon goes very well with these!

What crunchy and spicy on the bottom, and creamy and delicious on the top??? Check out The English Kitchen to see what I'm on about!!

Wednesday morning thoughts on beauty . . .

2009-06-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why some of us are quite plain and ordinary, or seem to be, and yet others of us are strikingly beautiful in comparison? One might be tempted to think that it just isn't fair. why should some get burdened by being plain and ordinary, whilst others have the gifts of being pretty, talented and seem to have lots of money to go along with it! (Insert stamping foot and pouting mouth here!)

We must take heart though, and remember the old gardener whose garden plot was a riot of beauty and colour, except for one small patch of the original old stock of polyanthus . . . plain and quite drab.

"Why do you keep those when there are so many other brightly coloured and modern plants to choose from?" he was asked.

His reply??

"Ahh, but it's the plain ones that set off the rest and help them to look prettier."

How true, and how very applicable to life that statement is. We may not all be pretty and showy, but we and our various talents do have a special purpose in life, even if it is only to help set off the rest!! It's nice to know we come in handy!

Personally, I like to think it's what's inside that really counts. The plainest of people can be found to be quite beautiful, especially when you see that they have an honest, sincere and lovely spirit. I've known some people who were very attractive physically, but were made quite ugly because of their insides. I think I'd rather be pretty on the inside . . . how about you?

My Todd is a real meat and potatoes man. I love a salad myself, and could quite happily eat salad for every meal, especially on these dog days of summer. Todd could really take or leave salad and, although he would never really complain, I know he'd rather have sausage and mash. I like to think I've taken sausage and mash to a higher level though. Even Todd had to agree that this was mighty tasty!

*Grilled Sausages with a Rustic Pesto Mash*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is comfort food at it's tastiest best! Quick to make and it uses things that I have in my larder and fridge most of the time. It's quite, quite delicious!

800g of potatoes (use a good mashing or baking potato)
4 fat pork sausages (Use a full flavoured one such as a Cumberland)
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced finely into half moons
200g bag of baby spinach leaves, washed and dried thoroughly
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS good quality pesto (make your own or buy the refrigerated kind, that stuff in the jars is nasty)
the juice of one lemon

Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Put them into a pot of lightly salted water and bring them to the boil. Cook for about 15 minutes, until tender. Drain well.

In the meantime heat the grill (broiler) of your stove and cook the sausaged under it, until thoroughly cooked, turning them frequently until they are nicely browned all over. Alternately you can grill them in a lightly greased non-stick skillet on top of the stove. Set aside and keep warm whilst you finish the mash.

Roughly crush the well drained potatoes with the tines of a fork, leaving them quite rustic looking. Tip in the spinach leaves and the sliced onion, carefully folding them into the hot potatoes until the spinach begins to wilt slightly.

Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice and pesto. Carefully stir this dressing into the potatoes, adding a touch of salt and black pepper for seasoning. Gently toss it all together to mix and coat well.

Serve hot with the grilled sausages piled on top. A heated crusty loaf goes very well with this!

All this heat and humidity we've been having this week calls for drastic measures, such as a cooling, yet spicy fruit salad! Check out The English Kitchen to see how I deal with a heat wave.

He was the treasure . . .

2009-06-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

"Measure wealth not by the things you have,
but by the things you have for which you would not take money."
~author unknown

One day a little boy sat in the family sitting room twiddling his thumbs. It was raining outside and he was so very bored, not being able to go out and play like he usually did. His father was at work and his mother was busy in the kitchen. As he sat he looked up at the mantle over the fireplace. Sitting on the mantle, just out of the reach of his little hands sat a vase, one of his mother's dearest treasures. It had belonged to his Great Grandmother and his mother had told him now very special it was to her . . .

It was a pretty thing, all white porcelain and gilt trimmed with a beautiful rosebud border . . . and his little five year old hands itched to pick it up and see if the beautiful roses went all the way around to the back. The more he stared at it, the more he wondered . . . and before too long he had pulled a chair over next to the fireplace and was standing on it stretching his little hands up to touch it, not realizing of course, that a little boy's hands are often clumsy and not at all meant to hold delicate porcelain treasures. The vase fell to the stone floor in front of the fireplace and shattered into a million pieces . . .

He began to cry and was soon sobbing, each sob becoming louder and louder. Before too long his mother came running in from the kitchen, her footsteps echoing loudly and quickly down the hall and around the corner. As she entered the room, she stopped and looked at him, taking in what he had done . . .

The little boy sobbing, managed to get out the words . . . "I broke it . . . the vase . . . I broke it."

And then . . . his mother gave him a gift.

"Oh thank goodness!" She said with a look of relief, "Thank heaven's, I thought you were hurt!" And then she held him close to her tenderly in her arms, until his sobbing stopped.

In doing so, she let him know that he was the treasure . . . not the vase. As many years that have passed and however old that little boy has become, this is a gift he still carried in his heart . . . he was the treasure . . .

There is nothing I like more on a hot summer's day than a lovely burger, either cooked outside on the grill (doesn't the smell of a barbecue get your taste buds tingling!) or on a grill pan or skillet. Any way you choose to cook these delicious burgers you will be pleased. These are real winners! My Todd eats them with a knife and fork, and I suppose that just makes sense, as they are a real mouthful!

*Tasty Cheese and Bacon Burgers*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Delicious and moist beef burgers topped with a mixture of three lovely cheeses and sitting on a bed of shaved onions, lettuce, tomatoes and crisp bacon. What more could a person ask for??

1 pound of lean ground beef
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
salt and black pepper to taste
8 slices of streaky bacon
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
4 slices medium cheddar cheese
4 TBS good quality mayonnaise (I use French mayonnaise)
1 medium onion, peeled and shaved
lettuce leaves
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
4 large burger buns, sliced in half and toasted

Combine the blue cheese and the cream cheese in a small bowl, mixing them together well. Set aside.

Mix together the ground beef, garlic and a little salt and pepper. Shape into four round, flat patties. Let sit for a few minutes for the flavours to melt together while you slice the onions and tomatoes.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Fry the bacon slices in the heated skillet until they are nicely crisped. Remove to some paper towelling to absorb some of the fat away. Keep warm while you cook the burgers. Cook the burgers in the same skillet, browning them well on each side and cooking them until they are done to your taste. Once they are cooked, top each with one fourth of the blue cheese mixture and lay a slice of the cheddar on top.

Spread the mayonnaise onto the bottom half of each toasted bun. Top each with two slices of bacon, a slice of tomato, some lettuce and the shaved onions, laying these ingredients on top of the bacon. When the cheese has melted on the burgers, carefully place one on top of each dressed bun bottom and then cover with the top halves of the buns. Serve immediately.

To see what I got up to next . . . pop on over to The English Kitchen. You won't be sorry you did.

The Simple Woman's Day Book

2009-06-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

FOR TODAY, June 29th, 2009 ...

Outside My Window...
It's very early and the sky is that indescriminate colour of greyish early dawn, but rumour has it we are going to have a stinker of a heat wave this week! Not bad . . . not bad . . . I am not really a lover of heat waves, but then again, beggars can't be choosers, and it will be nice to have the sun and heat for a time. It does rain an awful lot over here. Todd will absolutely love it as he doesn't mind the heat at all. Myself, I find it just drains my energy to nil . . .

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."
- Russel Baker

I am thinking...
About all the hooplah re Michael Jackson's passing. I know he was a big star, and I agree that he was close to genius when it came to music and his videos, but, for crying out loud, we are not talking about some great political leader here, or someone who did something great to help and change this world we live in! I just don't get it.

I am thankful for...
Two feet that are firmly planted on the ground and in reality.

From the kitchen...
There is some leftover blueberry tart on the counter, a banana bread, and some cheese scones . . . but not a lot of anything else. I do have plans to do a bit of baking this afternoon, but a lot depends on how hot it really gets.

I am wearing...
A white cotton nightie with pin tucks down the front and some embroidery across the yolk. It's one of my favourite nighties. I only really wear it in the summertime when it gets very hot. I always feel really feminine in it and a bit like a princess. I know . . . me<===wierd. I am creating...
I am still working on something really special that I hope to be able to tell you all about really soon. I hate that I haven't had time these past few weeks to pick up my paints and brushes. I am just itching to get some painting done! I have 3 comissions that I need to get started on and soon!

I am going...
Only a few days more of work and then I am on my summer holidays for a few weeks! I can't wait! I have Young Women's on Thursday evening and then our Scripture Study Group on Friday evening. I think we have a picnic planned for Saturday to kick off our holiday. We will probably go to Sissinghurst for it, or maybe Bodium Castle. It all depends on what kind of mood we are in. We're so lucky to live relatively close to some of these wonderful historical sites. Perhaps we'll go to Battle. We went there with some friends a couple of summer's ago, but it was a very rainy day when we went and we didn't get to see as much as we would have liked to see.

I am reading...

The Commoner, by John Burnham Swartz. Set in the year 1959, this is the story of a young woman named Haruko who married the crown prince of Japan, the heir to the Crysanthemum throne. She is the first non-aristocratic woman to do so in the history of the most secretive and mysterious monarchies in the world. It's both interesting and fascinating and I am quite enjoying it. I do love oriental culture and find it very interesting to read about.

I am hoping...
My play list stopped working for me a couple of days ago, something to do with the titles on it not being available to listen to in this country. I have gone to the site and can find no imformation about this at all and in fact nobody's play list works for me, and I can't seem to be able to listen to any of their music at all. I wish I could find a site that had music on it that I can listen to. I miss it, and I don't understand the why's and wherefore's at all!!

I am hearing...
It's very quiet in here this morning. The birds are being very quiet, which usually means a very warm day and the fridge is humming away. I can hear the clock ticking on the wall and Jess snoring by my feet. A couple of mornings ago I heard a sound like a small humming bird beating itself against one of the windows down here, only to discover that it was one of those huge French Hornets that come over here in the summer from France! I hate those things. They scare me to death, but my hubby the hero took care of it for me.

Around the house...
yayy!! We got the kitchen painting finished. Now all I have to do is get some new curtains made for the windows. It doesn't look much different actually, but it does look a lot fresher.

One of my favorite things...
Is visiting other people's pages and reading their blogs. I have not had a lot of time these past few weeks to do that. I don't know where the time seems to disappear, but it just seems to fly by. I miss visiting them. They become like old friends and when you haven't had a chance to read their words for a time, you really do feel a sense of loss. I know that my readership has dropped in these past few weeks as well and I am wondering why . . . mayhap everyone is busy and feeling a lack of time just as I am.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
There are a few more days of work until my holidays to get through and then I must get all packed for our trip to Austria. I have to get my mother's birthday present packed up and into the post as well. Speaking of my mother, she had cataract surgery last Thursday and could really use some prayers. It hasn't turned out that well and she has almost lost her sight in that eye altogether now. She had Shingles down that whole side of her head and face for most of the past year and a half, along with a type of infection in that same eye, which has really given her a lot of problems. If you could spare a few prayers for her, I would really appreciate it, as would she.

Terri, is having her shoulder operated on tommorrow so a few prayers for her would be much appreciated as well. Todd and I went to visit her yesterday afternoon and it was so nice to see her. She's doing quite well, considering she has had a shattered shoulder and arm for almost two weeks now and all the pain involved!! I cannot believe that they have let this poor woman go for so long without doing anything about it. That is the National Health Service for you! Millions of pounds get pumped into it each year, and yet the services go down, down and further down. Where is all that money going to I wonder. It's quite disgraceful. There has to be a better way.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

The Hollyhocks are all in bloom and so very pretty. I just love cottage garden flowers like hollyhocks and larkspurs . . . the garden is at it's prettiest right now. Oh, I do love this time of year . . .

Why not hop on over to Grandmother Wren's to see some of the other daybooks for today!

I went to get some bread out of our bread bin yesterday to make Todd a sandwich and it had all gone mouldy. What is it about the bread today that it goes mouldy so quickly??? It doesn't seem to last any time at all! Anyways, I quickly made him up some of these really delicious cheese scones. You can have them put together, in the oven and on the table in less than half an hour!

*Hurry Up Cheese Scones*
Makes 10 to 12

Printable Recipe

These are so quick to do and very, very tasty. Best of all, they use ingredients which I always have in my store cupboard.

2 cups self raising flour
2 cups of grated strong cheddar cheese (I use Cathedral brand)
1 1/3 cups of whole milk
pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 225*C/425*F. Lightly butter a large baking tray. Set it aside.

Mix the flour, cheese, salt and cayenne pepper together in a large bowl. Pour in the milk and stir all together just until combined and equally moistened. It will be a very moist and sticky mixture. Drop by heaped soup-spoonful's onto the prepared baking tray, leaving a good two inches between each. (about 1/4 cup full each)

Bake for about 10 minutes, then turn the tray around and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until well risen and nicely browned.

Serve warm, split in half and spread with plenty of cold butter.

If you'd like to see what I got up to with the last of my strawberries, take a peek at The English Kitchen. Delicious! (Who says simple has to be boring?)

Marie's Sunday Six Smile Makers

2009-06-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Sunday Six for this, the last week in June. Hasn't the month passed by quickly? I don't know where it has gone but I sure have had a lot to smile about!

We've had some gorgeous weather this past week, with very little rain. The gardens are at their most beautiful. Everywhere you look there is a riot of colour and fragrance. It's so very soul enriching. I just love nature, as you know. This past week we have been able to go for a lot of long walks across the orchards that surround us. Most of the way we can look right out over the Kent Weald and the views are breathtaking. You can see for absolutely miles and miles. It's amazing!

Getting to go to the Temple. I just love to go to the Temple and this past week was our Stake Temple Week. The youth were there on Wednesday night doing Baptisms and then on Friday Night Todd and I were able to go and do some work for ourselves. It was a really special evening. I had a very emotional and inspiring time. It was very precious to me. I just love being able to go to the Temple and doing work for those who have been waiting for so long to have their work done. If you aren't LDS you probably don't understand how special it is or how I might feel, and I'm not sure I could explain it to you. Just know that it is a very good feeling. It feels even better to be able to go there with the man I love. To be in such a Holy Place with your partner is very special indeed.

Yesterday was Helping Hands day for our church Stake. People from all over our church area gathered together at the Stake Centre to do some service for our community. There were several projects that we were able to participate in. It's always a great day and we always get a lot of work done. I love that our church is able to reach out into our communities and make a difference. God is love, and love is about service and serving others. It's just wonderful!

Yesterday there was also a Baptism at our Chapel. I just love Baptism's. It's always such a special time to be able to witness someone making this decision. There is always a very holy and spiritual feeling that abounds when someone is being Baptised. I suppose that is because it always takes you back to the day when you made this very same decision for yourself and how you felt at that time. There is always a really special feeling in the air and it is a most joyful occasion. I can honestly say that I have never been to a Baptism where I didn't feel the presence of the Holy Ghost very strongly. It's all quite wonderful!

Having friends for dinner makes me smile. I just love having company. Last evening we were lucky enough to have some friends over and I got to cook a special meal, one of my absolute favourite things to do! We relaxed over a tasty dinner and got to enjoy each other's company for several hours. It was a lovely time. Food somehow always tastes better when it is shared in good company!

Each one of you make me smile. I am so very grateful for your faithfulness in coming to my page each day and reading my words. You are all so very special to me. Your love and support mean the world to me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I tried out a new recipe yesterday. Isn't that one of the best things about having company for dinner? Getting to try out new recipes? I know! What am I like! (treating my dinner guests as guinea pigs!) It was totally delicious. The original recipe called for chicken legs, but I couldn't find any that I liked the look of and so I used breasts instead. Very brave, as breasts can often dry out and be quite tasteless. I used cornfed organic chicken breasts and they were meltingly tender. Everyone counted this as being delicious, so this tasty recipe got a two thumbs up all around the table!!

*Roast Chicken with Herbed Cheese*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

The chicken in this recipe stays moist and delicious, whilst the cheese melts out to form a delicious sauce over the vegetables. I used breasts and they were wonderfully tender and tasty, not dry at all, and the vegetables, well . . . they were just scrumptious!

150g herbed cream cheese (Philadelphia cheese, with garlic and herbs, or Boursin)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
4 whole chicken legs (thigh and drumstick joints) OR
4 chicken breasts, skin on
2 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and cut into chunks
2 large parsnips, peeled, trimmed and cut into chunks
2 tsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 20-0*C/400*F. Mix the cream cheese in a small bowl with the lemon zest. Loosen the skin from the whole legs or from the breasts, and spread about 2 TBS of cheese in between the skin and the flesh on each. Press the skin back down over the cheese and season the meat with some salt and pepper. Set aside.

Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the parsnips and the leeks. Cook for 4 minutes. Drain well and then place them in a single layer in a baking dish. Drizzle with the olive oil and season well. Place the chicken pieces on top.

Roast for 40 minutes, by which time the skin on the chicken should be nice and brown and the cream cheese should have melted out to form a sauce on the vegetables. Make sure the vegetables are tender and the juices from the chicken run clear. If the vegetables need a bit longer, remove the chicken and keep warm and return the vegetables to the oven for a further 5 minutes or so.

Serve the chicken and vegetables portioned out onto 4 heated plates.

For dessert I had made the most delicious Blueberry Tart ever!! This was sooooo good! Hop on over to The English Kitchen to see more and get the recipe!

Everyday Miracles

2009-06-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
~Albert Einstein

I like to think that from the moment we awaken in the morning and hop out of bed, until the end of the day when we close our eyes at night, that we are witnesses to a myriad of miracles. Sprinkled throughout the day, we'll find them if we only take the time to look . . .

A spectacular sunrise . . . birds singing . . . a helping hand at just the right time . . . a beautiful piece of music that inspires . . . the feeling of sunlight on an upturned face . . . bees humming amidst the lavender . . . all simple joys, all free for the taking, all soul uplifting and heart enriching

Our days are just filled to the brim with simple pleasures such as these and miracles that are ours for the taking, if only we have the eyes to see . . . They paint our days with glorious colours and are all around us, quite simply waiting to be noticed . . .

We had occasion to go to our Temple last evening, and it was lovely to be able to end the week in such a Holy Place and frame of mind. I just love being at the Temple and being able to be there with the one I love and cherish is just the most special feeling ever. As we drove up, through winding country lanes, they seemed to sparkle with golden sunlight that dappled down, filtered through the leaves of the many trees that hung above us across the roadway . . . kind of like driving through a green fairy tunnel. It truly was beautiful.

Afterwards, at the end of our evening and before we left to drive home, we took the chance to wander about the grounds, hand in hand, just drinking in of the special spirit which dwells there. It was quiet and peaceful and oh so very lovely. We hated to have to leave to come home. I wish everyone could feel these things . . .

For those of you who have asked, Terri is doing alright. She is still waiting to have her operation, and is in a lot of pain, but the painkillers they have given her help to keep it at bay somewhat. They need to give her a new shoulder. She is having her operation on Tuesday so please keep her in your prayers. An operation can be a traumatic thing at the best of times, but when you are 84, well . . . I told her we would be able to call her the bionic woman afterwards, and she laughed. We'll be going to see her after church tommorrow.

We had an early supper yesterday and I threw together a tomato salad using some tomatoes I had ripening on my countertop. Oh, but it was good. I just love tomatoes. I always keep them on the countertop and let them ripen at room temperature. There is just no comparison in flavour when you do this. When you bring them home from the shops, they are hard and tasteless, but after a few days on the countertop, they are sweet and juicy and full of flavour.

*Tomato Salad*
Serves 3
Printable Recipe

You could roast the tomatoes before using them in this salad, but why bother. If your tomatoes are lovely and ripe and juicy they taste lovely just the way they are.

3 ripe tomatoes
1 tsp capers, rinsed and drained
3 fresh basil leaves, torn
1 spring onion, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 teaspoon honey
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut the tomatoes into quarters and lay them on a plate. Scatter with the spring onion. Whisk together the capers, basil leaves, olive oil, vinegar, garlic and honey. Season with some salt and pepper and drizzle over top of the cut tomatoes. Toss gently and serve.

If you'd like to see what we had with it, hop onto The English Kitchen to see what I cooked next!

Let's Dilly Daddle . . .

2009-06-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music . . . the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself."
~Henry Miller

What would you like to do if you ever had the time to do it? Spending time alone to nurture yourself, develop your own unique creativity, to enjoy personal pursuits that bring you great personal pleasure and contentment can seem on the surface quite impractible, inconceivable and on the surface, quite selfish!

A lot of the time, as women, we are made to feel that if we want to pursue something fun, just for the sake of having fun, then we are over induldging ourselves and neglecting more important things in life. Especially if we have bought in to that misguided feminest idea of having it all, ie. careers, families, etc. The truth is that somewhere over the last twenty years or so, in between having the family and the career, most of us have lost an essential part of who we really are, and feel that something very important in our lives is missing.

I think that missing quality is called "zest" and no, I don't mean the soap here. I mean our "Joi de vivre," our love of life, the heartfelt happiness that comes when we are doing something that gives us deep and keen pleasure. Something that is just for us, and us alone.

I think that once upon a time it used to be called a hobby.

I have heard it called moodling.

moodling - noun
1. puttering
2. dawdling
3. happy idling
4. rewarding reverie

It may have been so long since we have consciously set aside time for our own solitary pleasures, that most of us won't even have an idea of what it is that we could do. Just know that it is more than merely taking a bath, alone, with no distractions, or even a nap. It's completely immersing ourselves into a pursuit that seems totally and utterly like "play." Sewing, needlework, painting, writing, cooking etc. . . . all for the sake of the "pure enjoyment" of doing whatever it is that we enjoy and want to do that is just for us.

I think that today we should, each of us, spend a few minutes dawdling or puttering, being happily idle . . . playing, re-discovering the long last art of moodling, and feeding our "Joi de Vivre." Let's bring back some of the magic that life can and is supposed to hold for each one of us. It's not selfish, it's not self indulgent . . . it's healthy.

When I really want to indulge myself I like to make soup. I know it's summer. I know it's hot, but this doesn't have to be a bad thing. You can roast these vegetables in a pan on top of the stove, which technically is sweating them, but what the heck, delicious is delicious, and this be mighty tasty all the same!

*Roasted Root Vegetable Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

With a few vegetables from your vegetable drawer and a little bit of stock, you can have a delicious meal on your table in no time at all. It will taste like you have slaved over the stove all day, but really . . . all you've done is peel a few vegetables. Who knew?

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 TBS olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 litres of hot vegetable stock (approximately)
olive oil to drizzle on top (good quality, extra virgin)

Pre-heat your oven to 205*C/425*F. Put all of your prepared vegetables onto a large shallow baking tray. Drizzle the olive oil over all and season with some salt and black pepper. Using your hands, stir them around a bit to make sure that they are all coated and seasoned. Put the tray into the oven and roast the vegetables for about 45 minutes, until tender and starting to brown in places. Give them a good stir about halfway through the roasting time. Remove them from the oven and put them into a large saucepan. Add the hot vegetable stock and then give it all a good blitz with your stick blender, just until the mixture is smooth. (alternately put them into a blender or a food processor and carefully blitz them until smooth) YOu may need more or less stock, depending. You don't want a thick vegetable puree, you want a soup. Place over medium heat and heat until heated through and hot. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve in heated bowls with a drizzle of olive oil on top if desired.

Note - Often in the winter when the weather is cooler, I roast large amounts of these vegetables and then pop them into the freezer in bags so I can just take them out and use them in the warmer months to make this soup without heating up my kitchen. You can also roast them on the grill, where technically this will not be a roasted vegetable soup any longer, but a grilled vegetable soup. Roasted, grilled, no matter, it's delicious all the same. You can also pan roast them, in a large dutch oven on top of the stove. Just toss them into the heated olive oil and saute them until they start to caramelize a bit and then turn the heat down, pop on the lid and let them sweat until tender, then proceed as for the recipe.

What's for dessert?? Hop on over to The English Kitchen to see what's cooking there! I know chocolate . . . Todd's nemesis, but a home teacher's friend.