I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas day today, filled with family, good friends and good food!
May 2013 be a year of peace, happiness and prosperity for you and your loved ones.
This is one of my favourite Polish Christmas carols. I hope you enjoy it. :-)
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Starting Anew
Here we are, coming to a close of the first day of 2012 (at least in my time zone). In my efforts to update this blog more often, here's what today has been like.
The main goal of the day was to get Youngest out for a driving lesson. It had been my intention to take her to a nearby mall to practise in the empty parking lot. Alas, the mall was open today, and quite busy, too! So we went on a route march to find someplace else. We ended up at the park we used to go to weekly park days with a local home school group. It was actually busy, too, though there was a section of parking lot that was largely empty. So we went there and I got her do to some parking. Just backing in and out in different directions and moving the van to different spots to park in. I'd thought to let her drive on the road through the park, which has a 20kph speed limit and is one way, but there was a remarkable amount of traffic. After she practised in the parking lot a few times, we were going to go somewhere else where she could do some straight driving.
As we went around the loop to the exit, however, I noticed that all that traffic we'd been seeing disappeared about half way around, and people pulled into various parking spaces. The second half of the loop was pretty much empty. So we went around again, then I pulled over and we switched places.
She was nervous driving, of course. She was also following the speed limit. Which meant that we soon had vehicles coming up behind us, which made her more nervous. Most people take the drive at 30-40kph rather than 20kph. I have to admit, I usually do, too. It's surprising hard to drive that slow. Anyhow, she pulled into an empty parking area for a while to let cars go by, then we continued on. Near the end of the drive there are three little parking areas in a row, and I got her to pull into the first one. That wasn't done particularly well, so I got her to do it again and go into the second parking section. That was a bit better. We switched off and I demonstrated to clarify for her by pulling into the third section. She'll need to get used to the feel of the van and where the tires are, and the more she drives, the more confident she will be. For now, she just wants to do short little drives like we did today. Will have to make a point of taking her out often. She's got a minimum of 1 year on her beginners license to practise before she can take the test for the next level, so it's no hurry, but I still want to give her plenty of opportunities.
Besides that, it was a quiet day. We were all up quite late with our New Year's activities. The BBQing mostly worked. Despite soaking the skewers for the kabobs, the first batch started to burn, so Eldest took them in and did the second batch under the broiler. Then, just to be safe, she put the first batch in for a bit, too, as the shrimps were still looking a little blue. They turned out great. They were a real group project, too. Youngest pre-cooked bacon half-strips. Eldest cut up the veggies. I wrapped scallops in bacon while Eldest put them together - each kabob had a piece of bell pepper, a prawn, a section of onion or shallot, a bacon wrapped scallop, and a chunk of mushroom. Because the food tends to spin on the kabobs once they start cooking, we used two skewers per kabob. When a few were ready, I started brushing them with olive oil; a job Youngest eventually took over. That was all we did with them - not even salt or pepper was needed. My goodness, they were tasty.
Though the kabobs on the bbq didn't quite work out, the steaks sure did. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, only Dh was hungry enough for steak! We'd had a cheese fondue earlier, as well as other small appetizer type snacks throughout the evening, and he'd had less of those than we did, so he was the only one not stuffed by the time the kabobs were eaten. Then, before we could go to bed, the leftover scallops, shrimp and veggies needed to be cooked. Eldest broiled the seafood, and the veggies were pan fried in the leftover bacon grease. Soooo tasty!
Which meant that today, there were stacks of dirty dishes waiting to be done! *L* Ah, well. It was worth it!
With so much steak left over, however, I didn't bother cooking the turkey I was intending to do today. Will have to do that tomorrow.
Looking forward to it! :-D
The main goal of the day was to get Youngest out for a driving lesson. It had been my intention to take her to a nearby mall to practise in the empty parking lot. Alas, the mall was open today, and quite busy, too! So we went on a route march to find someplace else. We ended up at the park we used to go to weekly park days with a local home school group. It was actually busy, too, though there was a section of parking lot that was largely empty. So we went there and I got her do to some parking. Just backing in and out in different directions and moving the van to different spots to park in. I'd thought to let her drive on the road through the park, which has a 20kph speed limit and is one way, but there was a remarkable amount of traffic. After she practised in the parking lot a few times, we were going to go somewhere else where she could do some straight driving.
As we went around the loop to the exit, however, I noticed that all that traffic we'd been seeing disappeared about half way around, and people pulled into various parking spaces. The second half of the loop was pretty much empty. So we went around again, then I pulled over and we switched places.
She was nervous driving, of course. She was also following the speed limit. Which meant that we soon had vehicles coming up behind us, which made her more nervous. Most people take the drive at 30-40kph rather than 20kph. I have to admit, I usually do, too. It's surprising hard to drive that slow. Anyhow, she pulled into an empty parking area for a while to let cars go by, then we continued on. Near the end of the drive there are three little parking areas in a row, and I got her to pull into the first one. That wasn't done particularly well, so I got her to do it again and go into the second parking section. That was a bit better. We switched off and I demonstrated to clarify for her by pulling into the third section. She'll need to get used to the feel of the van and where the tires are, and the more she drives, the more confident she will be. For now, she just wants to do short little drives like we did today. Will have to make a point of taking her out often. She's got a minimum of 1 year on her beginners license to practise before she can take the test for the next level, so it's no hurry, but I still want to give her plenty of opportunities.
Besides that, it was a quiet day. We were all up quite late with our New Year's activities. The BBQing mostly worked. Despite soaking the skewers for the kabobs, the first batch started to burn, so Eldest took them in and did the second batch under the broiler. Then, just to be safe, she put the first batch in for a bit, too, as the shrimps were still looking a little blue. They turned out great. They were a real group project, too. Youngest pre-cooked bacon half-strips. Eldest cut up the veggies. I wrapped scallops in bacon while Eldest put them together - each kabob had a piece of bell pepper, a prawn, a section of onion or shallot, a bacon wrapped scallop, and a chunk of mushroom. Because the food tends to spin on the kabobs once they start cooking, we used two skewers per kabob. When a few were ready, I started brushing them with olive oil; a job Youngest eventually took over. That was all we did with them - not even salt or pepper was needed. My goodness, they were tasty.
Though the kabobs on the bbq didn't quite work out, the steaks sure did. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, only Dh was hungry enough for steak! We'd had a cheese fondue earlier, as well as other small appetizer type snacks throughout the evening, and he'd had less of those than we did, so he was the only one not stuffed by the time the kabobs were eaten. Then, before we could go to bed, the leftover scallops, shrimp and veggies needed to be cooked. Eldest broiled the seafood, and the veggies were pan fried in the leftover bacon grease. Soooo tasty!
Which meant that today, there were stacks of dirty dishes waiting to be done! *L* Ah, well. It was worth it!
With so much steak left over, however, I didn't bother cooking the turkey I was intending to do today. Will have to do that tomorrow.
Looking forward to it! :-D
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Transition
A few quiet moments for a few quiet thoughts.
New Year's Eve is upon us, as we transition into 2012. I hope that the upcoming year will be one full of blessings for you and your loved ones.
The girls have taken on a lot more of this year's preparations. Well, quite nearly all of them, actually! *L* It's been a quiet one. Eldest and I headed out for a while to see what was happening downtown. I had expected to see things going on, as in the past the city had started events in the early afternoon at various venues. This year there's something completely different, and it looks like everything that used to be spread out is now in one area. They were prepping and doing sound checks as we went through, but nothing had started. Ah, well. We found a liquor store that was still open, so we picked up a cheap bottle of sparkling wine to crack open at midnight. :-D
Youngest is all excited to make the cheese sauce for a fondue we'll be doing later - we've already taste tested the two cheeses Eldest picked out. One is a smoked cheddar we've tried before and love, but it rather expensive, so it's a rare purchase for us. The other is a new cheese from Ireland with a bold taste that will be perfect for a fondue. As we get closer to midnight, Eldest will taking on stuff for the BBQ. It's been years since we've done a New Year's midnight BBQ. Steaks are marinading, and there will be seafood skewers as well. I'm looking forward to it.
Dh has been struggling with feeling completely useless lately. Because it's painful for him to stand for any length of time, bend, or even sit without squirming, he hasn't been able to help with anything at all. Frustrating.
It's been an odd sort of year overall. Not a particularly good one. I just got news yesterday that another fixture of my home town passed away. She was only in her mid-60's, too. I knew she had struggled with her health for a long time, but it's always a shock when someone who's been such a permanent part of one's past is gone. She is the second such person we've lost this year. I saw both of them last when Youngest and I went to my brother's memorial on the anniversary of his death. The woman who just died catered the reception for us, along with just about every other event held in our town.
I know that, as I get older, I will be losing the people I know. I expect that. What I didn't expect is for so many of them to be younger. My parents are in their 80's now, and the people who have been passing are all about 20 years younger; sometimes much more. Some are the same ages as myself and my siblings.
Looking back, it feels like this past year has been one of little progress on my own part. It hasn't been for my children. Eldest is doing quite well with her art, and I am quite proud of how things are going for her. Youngest has been going through a slump, but she's enjoying her guitar lessons and just got her beginner's drivers license (I've promised to take her for a driving lesson tomorrow - it'll be the first time she's been behind the wheel since our trip in the summer).
The last few months have probably been hardest on Dh. He's struggled with his back issues off an on for years, but for it to crash on him so badly these last few weeks has been the worst of all. I'm just so thankful that the company he works for is so supportive for him to be working from home.
Other family members have had their struggles as well. Dh's sister's girlfriend was suddenly diagnosed with cancer and has been in and out of the hospital. Who knows how long it was there before they found out about it. Thankfully, she too has an understanding employer who has been really supportive of them (she and her girlfriend work for the same company). I try to keep them in my prayers as much as I can, along with my FIL and another SIL, who have been struggling with health problems that are unusually similar, right down to long term problems from bug bites, of all things. At almost the same time, too!
It all makes me extra grateful for my own parents. Sure, my dad has had a lot of past problems that he's still dealing with. He just got his pacemaker replaced with an upgrade, which is a pretty awesome thing to think about. He continues trucking along, steadfast as ever, even with having to deal with my mother's oddball behaviour. My mother, meanwhile, is barely slowing down. She's staying active and travelling. If I'm still going as strong as she is at 80, I'll consider that a huge accomplishment.
As for myself, I don't know what to think. I've become a crochet instructor, but I'm not sure how to work things out with the store I'm working with. There's a specific type of manager I'm supposed to work through. I'm responsible for promoting my own classes and making sure the registration forms are all up to date, etc. I still have to go to the store itself to do that, but it seems like I'm an inconvenience every time I have to ask to get into the office to use their computer system and print things out. There's a specific managerial position I am supposed to deal with, and 4 people have gone through that position since I started. One was in and gone before I ever met her, and there's a new one now that I've yet to meet. I think the most frustrating part is that I spoke to the previous person about a week before I found out she was gone, and she had never mentioned anything. My family has been telling me to break off with the store completely and just teach independently. I think I should at least finish my instructor's course, though. The first part is waiting at my instructor's office in New York to be graded. The second part is what will give me the official "professional" designation. The curriculum I use at the store is by the same company that I signed up for the course through. I can download and print off my curriculum from their site. However, the registration process, and its accompanying paperwork, is only available through the store's computer system. It's all a bit of a convoluted mess, partly because of their antiquated computers and software that borders on obsolete, partly because of problems actually getting use of those computers and being able to set up classes. I have 6 new classes to start teaching, the registration paperwork is printed out and in the book, but because of the manager change, I haven't got any dates scheduled to teach them. Heck, just picking up my paycheck is more trouble than it's worth. They can mail them to me. :-/ Don't get me started on trying to set up automatic payroll deposits!
I am encouraged by my NaNoWriMo success, though. I did my 50,000 words, which of course is not enough to actually finish and entire novel. I wanted to continue, but with December being the busiest month for us, I decided to take a complete break from writing it in December. My biggest concern was that, if I stopped writing, I'd lose interest in the project and not want to get back to it, or just forget about it in the business of our days. That didn't happen. I've actually been itching to get back to it! I'll start up again in January. I will continue to set myself monthly word goals, though not 50,000, since I have other commitments I need to pick up again, but 25-30,000 isn't unreasonable, I think. Who knows what will become of it. Perhaps it'll even get published and give us the income that will allow Dh to quit his job? *L* Yeah. Not likely. From some of the topics I touch on in the book, I doubt I'll find a publisher willing to carry it. Mind you, the publishing business has changed so dramatically these days, who's to say what will or won't get carried anymore. Lord knows, some pretty horrible stuff is on the bestsellers lists these days. The bar isn't exactly high.
We shall see what the New Year brings.
New Year's Eve is upon us, as we transition into 2012. I hope that the upcoming year will be one full of blessings for you and your loved ones.
The girls have taken on a lot more of this year's preparations. Well, quite nearly all of them, actually! *L* It's been a quiet one. Eldest and I headed out for a while to see what was happening downtown. I had expected to see things going on, as in the past the city had started events in the early afternoon at various venues. This year there's something completely different, and it looks like everything that used to be spread out is now in one area. They were prepping and doing sound checks as we went through, but nothing had started. Ah, well. We found a liquor store that was still open, so we picked up a cheap bottle of sparkling wine to crack open at midnight. :-D
Youngest is all excited to make the cheese sauce for a fondue we'll be doing later - we've already taste tested the two cheeses Eldest picked out. One is a smoked cheddar we've tried before and love, but it rather expensive, so it's a rare purchase for us. The other is a new cheese from Ireland with a bold taste that will be perfect for a fondue. As we get closer to midnight, Eldest will taking on stuff for the BBQ. It's been years since we've done a New Year's midnight BBQ. Steaks are marinading, and there will be seafood skewers as well. I'm looking forward to it.
Dh has been struggling with feeling completely useless lately. Because it's painful for him to stand for any length of time, bend, or even sit without squirming, he hasn't been able to help with anything at all. Frustrating.
It's been an odd sort of year overall. Not a particularly good one. I just got news yesterday that another fixture of my home town passed away. She was only in her mid-60's, too. I knew she had struggled with her health for a long time, but it's always a shock when someone who's been such a permanent part of one's past is gone. She is the second such person we've lost this year. I saw both of them last when Youngest and I went to my brother's memorial on the anniversary of his death. The woman who just died catered the reception for us, along with just about every other event held in our town.
I know that, as I get older, I will be losing the people I know. I expect that. What I didn't expect is for so many of them to be younger. My parents are in their 80's now, and the people who have been passing are all about 20 years younger; sometimes much more. Some are the same ages as myself and my siblings.
Looking back, it feels like this past year has been one of little progress on my own part. It hasn't been for my children. Eldest is doing quite well with her art, and I am quite proud of how things are going for her. Youngest has been going through a slump, but she's enjoying her guitar lessons and just got her beginner's drivers license (I've promised to take her for a driving lesson tomorrow - it'll be the first time she's been behind the wheel since our trip in the summer).
The last few months have probably been hardest on Dh. He's struggled with his back issues off an on for years, but for it to crash on him so badly these last few weeks has been the worst of all. I'm just so thankful that the company he works for is so supportive for him to be working from home.
Other family members have had their struggles as well. Dh's sister's girlfriend was suddenly diagnosed with cancer and has been in and out of the hospital. Who knows how long it was there before they found out about it. Thankfully, she too has an understanding employer who has been really supportive of them (she and her girlfriend work for the same company). I try to keep them in my prayers as much as I can, along with my FIL and another SIL, who have been struggling with health problems that are unusually similar, right down to long term problems from bug bites, of all things. At almost the same time, too!
It all makes me extra grateful for my own parents. Sure, my dad has had a lot of past problems that he's still dealing with. He just got his pacemaker replaced with an upgrade, which is a pretty awesome thing to think about. He continues trucking along, steadfast as ever, even with having to deal with my mother's oddball behaviour. My mother, meanwhile, is barely slowing down. She's staying active and travelling. If I'm still going as strong as she is at 80, I'll consider that a huge accomplishment.
As for myself, I don't know what to think. I've become a crochet instructor, but I'm not sure how to work things out with the store I'm working with. There's a specific type of manager I'm supposed to work through. I'm responsible for promoting my own classes and making sure the registration forms are all up to date, etc. I still have to go to the store itself to do that, but it seems like I'm an inconvenience every time I have to ask to get into the office to use their computer system and print things out. There's a specific managerial position I am supposed to deal with, and 4 people have gone through that position since I started. One was in and gone before I ever met her, and there's a new one now that I've yet to meet. I think the most frustrating part is that I spoke to the previous person about a week before I found out she was gone, and she had never mentioned anything. My family has been telling me to break off with the store completely and just teach independently. I think I should at least finish my instructor's course, though. The first part is waiting at my instructor's office in New York to be graded. The second part is what will give me the official "professional" designation. The curriculum I use at the store is by the same company that I signed up for the course through. I can download and print off my curriculum from their site. However, the registration process, and its accompanying paperwork, is only available through the store's computer system. It's all a bit of a convoluted mess, partly because of their antiquated computers and software that borders on obsolete, partly because of problems actually getting use of those computers and being able to set up classes. I have 6 new classes to start teaching, the registration paperwork is printed out and in the book, but because of the manager change, I haven't got any dates scheduled to teach them. Heck, just picking up my paycheck is more trouble than it's worth. They can mail them to me. :-/ Don't get me started on trying to set up automatic payroll deposits!
I am encouraged by my NaNoWriMo success, though. I did my 50,000 words, which of course is not enough to actually finish and entire novel. I wanted to continue, but with December being the busiest month for us, I decided to take a complete break from writing it in December. My biggest concern was that, if I stopped writing, I'd lose interest in the project and not want to get back to it, or just forget about it in the business of our days. That didn't happen. I've actually been itching to get back to it! I'll start up again in January. I will continue to set myself monthly word goals, though not 50,000, since I have other commitments I need to pick up again, but 25-30,000 isn't unreasonable, I think. Who knows what will become of it. Perhaps it'll even get published and give us the income that will allow Dh to quit his job? *L* Yeah. Not likely. From some of the topics I touch on in the book, I doubt I'll find a publisher willing to carry it. Mind you, the publishing business has changed so dramatically these days, who's to say what will or won't get carried anymore. Lord knows, some pretty horrible stuff is on the bestsellers lists these days. The bar isn't exactly high.
We shall see what the New Year brings.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Our Menu
This is the menu we have decided on for this year's Wigilia feast on Christmas Eve.
Starter: Devilled eggs, with bacon and shredded cheese
Salad: Spinach Salad, with yogurt dressing and quail eggs
Main course: Leg of lamb with fresh rosemary
Broccoli cooked a la Julia Child
Pierogi filled with potato and cheese
Dessert: whatever looks good at the bakery
Drink: Cranberry punch with frozen berries
Red wine
We are going to focus on a few things to make ourselves, then allow others to do the work for the rest! lol For the sake of time and space, we will be buying our pierogi and the dessert. We have never done leg of lamb before, but it is a simple dish to make. The eggs can be cooked in advance. The spinach salad recipe calls for hard boiled eggs, which we will use whole quails eggs for, instead. We have long wanted to try quails eggs that haven't come from a can. ;-) For dessert, I see no point for us to make our own when bakeries can do so much better then us! lol It's just not worth the extra time, energy and stress to do any of that ourselves this year.
Later on,I will share the recipes for the lamb and spinach salad.
Getting Ready
This has been a very unusual Christmas season for us. Dh's back seems to have given up on him entirely. He is in massive amounts of pain and barely able to move. He has been almost completely housebound for about two weeks now, and the rare forays out has taxed him to the limit. Thankfully, he has been able to work from home. I must say, we are really appreciating how supportive his employer has been, though I imagine they are getting pretty frustrated over the situation by now.
Dh is working right now, actually, so I am currently posting this from the tablet. I apologize for any weird typos in advance. lol
Meanwhile, our Christmas preparations continue, if slower than usual. We didn't get our tourtiere done until a few days ago. The temperatures have been too mild to store our pies on the balcony as usual, so we could only do as many as would fit in our fridge freezer. We ordered 12 pounds of ground meats this year, and made deep dish pies. That translated into only eight pies. We have had one so far, and they turned out quite well. We won't be doing deep dish again,though. The meat to crust ratio is better in a regular sized pie.
Our gift shopping is done. We gave the girls some cash from the gift budget, in addition to anything they had saved up themselves. Dh hasn't done any shopping at all, of course, so I have done all the gift buying at our end. Youngest decorated the tree this year, and Eldest has decorated the house. The tree is full of gifts under it, which has been entertaining for the stray cat and her kitten that we have taken in for a while.
All that is left right now is to do the final food shopping, which should be done tomorrow, though I am thinking of doing it tonight, instead. I will post the menu separately. Hopefully, once that is done, we won't have to go shopping again for a good while!
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Let's try this again
I tried to post earlier, but blogger was having technical difficulties. Here's hoping they're fixed, and my post actually keeps... :-/
It's been a month since I last posted, so there's a bit to catch up on, both good and back.
In the good news...
Eldest talked me into doing NaNoWriMo, which has a goal of writing 50,000 words in the month of November. The first day was a very good start, which promptly fell apart after the second day. That stalled me a bit, but I slowly started to catch up. In the end, I completed the goal a couple of days early! Doing her part to encourage me, Eldest agreed that if I completed NaNoWriMo, she would sing at an open mic night. A nearby coffee shop had weekly open mic nights, but they closed for renovations and, since reopening, I haven't seen anything to show they're still doing it. We'll have to figure it out.
In the more neutral news, Eldest has left her job. She liked the work well enough, but there were a couple of issues. One was the surprisingly bad public transportation to the location she worked at. We knew it wasn't good - that's partly why she applied to a different location in the first place - but good grief, it sucked. It's one thing to be driving her in for 3 or 5 am shifts. It's another to be driving her home again because the buses in the area don't run on Sundays. Or evenings. Or that it take 3 times longer to take the bus compared to driving. There were other issues, though, and she did tell one of her managers about it. It turns out there's plenty of reason for this location to have such a high turnover rate. She's going to take a bit of a break, then start handing out the resumes again. The job market has really perked up, and not just for Christmas, so it should be interesting to see how that works out.
Then there's the bad news. A few days ago, our younger cat suddenly started having difficulties walking and lost all bladder control. We thought she might have had a spine injury or something. It turned out to be massive kidney failure, and she had to be put down. She was not a particularly nice cat, and was really rather dumb. She could be pretty nasty, would sometimes go after the older cat for no reason, and generally didn't like people. Yet when she was in a friendly mood, she could be the sweetest thing. Most of the time, though, she would just lay around like a fluffy black puddle on the floor. I swear, that cat had cartilage for bones! It was sad to have to put her down. Especially so suddenly. She was only 3 years old. She was Youngest's cat, too. This is the second pet we got for her that ended up being put down.
Now, we're not sure what we're going to do. You see, we still have a stray and her kitten around. They had been on our balcony, but when the temperatures dropped, we brought them inside. We're not allowed to have more than 2 pets, so we've been trying to adopt them out. We had a couple of potential takers fall through. I don't think there are too many people willing to take on both mother and kitten. I was just about to contact my friend at the pound to find how to turn them in when we suddenly found ourselves down a cat. Youngest has been wanting a dog for ages, but this kitten has been loving on her like her own cat never did. The mama is pretty high strung, but friendly and playful. We got tacit permission to hang on to them a bit longer. If nothing else, we'll wait long enough for the kitten to be old enough to be separated from his mother. In the end, it will be Youngest's choice.
Aside from that, we're slowly getting into the Christmas mood. We've put the tree up, without decorations, to train the cats to stay out of it. So far, it hasn't been an issue. I really expected to have troubles with the kitten getting into it, but he seems content to leave it alone. Of course, once it's decorated, it might be a different story. So far, so good. Decorating will start this weekend.
We haven't ordered our meats for our annual tourtierre this year. Partly it's because we suddenly don't have the money. Getting the cat to the vet, then put down, ended up costing us over $450. That was money that was supposed to go for Christmas preparations. Not that we could make our usual number of tourtierre, anyhow. It's not cold enough! After a brief deep freeze, the temperatures went right back up again and are now bouncing above and below the freezing level. Our only freezer is the top of our fridge, so we relied on being able to keep the tourtierre frozen outside. It's not cold enough! So I'm thinking we'll place a meat order for perhaps a dozen pies. There isn't room for that many in the freezer, but wee can fit a few in and still have a couple to give away or something.
I haven't done my annual Christmas decorations this year yet, either. I had an idea in mind, but it required access to the kitchen sink, stove top and counter space. Every time they all got cleared, they immediately got covered! So I'm trying to come up with something else that will be quick and fairly easy. I've got some papier mache ornament shapes as bases, as well as some paints and glue. I have other supplies in the craft cupboard to use as well. I'm thinking, for some of them at least, I'll be doing things with spices. I've usually been doing items that reflected light in some way. I think this time, I'll be more rustic. We shall see how that works out.
It's been a month since I last posted, so there's a bit to catch up on, both good and back.
In the good news...
Eldest talked me into doing NaNoWriMo, which has a goal of writing 50,000 words in the month of November. The first day was a very good start, which promptly fell apart after the second day. That stalled me a bit, but I slowly started to catch up. In the end, I completed the goal a couple of days early! Doing her part to encourage me, Eldest agreed that if I completed NaNoWriMo, she would sing at an open mic night. A nearby coffee shop had weekly open mic nights, but they closed for renovations and, since reopening, I haven't seen anything to show they're still doing it. We'll have to figure it out.
In the more neutral news, Eldest has left her job. She liked the work well enough, but there were a couple of issues. One was the surprisingly bad public transportation to the location she worked at. We knew it wasn't good - that's partly why she applied to a different location in the first place - but good grief, it sucked. It's one thing to be driving her in for 3 or 5 am shifts. It's another to be driving her home again because the buses in the area don't run on Sundays. Or evenings. Or that it take 3 times longer to take the bus compared to driving. There were other issues, though, and she did tell one of her managers about it. It turns out there's plenty of reason for this location to have such a high turnover rate. She's going to take a bit of a break, then start handing out the resumes again. The job market has really perked up, and not just for Christmas, so it should be interesting to see how that works out.
Then there's the bad news. A few days ago, our younger cat suddenly started having difficulties walking and lost all bladder control. We thought she might have had a spine injury or something. It turned out to be massive kidney failure, and she had to be put down. She was not a particularly nice cat, and was really rather dumb. She could be pretty nasty, would sometimes go after the older cat for no reason, and generally didn't like people. Yet when she was in a friendly mood, she could be the sweetest thing. Most of the time, though, she would just lay around like a fluffy black puddle on the floor. I swear, that cat had cartilage for bones! It was sad to have to put her down. Especially so suddenly. She was only 3 years old. She was Youngest's cat, too. This is the second pet we got for her that ended up being put down.
Now, we're not sure what we're going to do. You see, we still have a stray and her kitten around. They had been on our balcony, but when the temperatures dropped, we brought them inside. We're not allowed to have more than 2 pets, so we've been trying to adopt them out. We had a couple of potential takers fall through. I don't think there are too many people willing to take on both mother and kitten. I was just about to contact my friend at the pound to find how to turn them in when we suddenly found ourselves down a cat. Youngest has been wanting a dog for ages, but this kitten has been loving on her like her own cat never did. The mama is pretty high strung, but friendly and playful. We got tacit permission to hang on to them a bit longer. If nothing else, we'll wait long enough for the kitten to be old enough to be separated from his mother. In the end, it will be Youngest's choice.
Aside from that, we're slowly getting into the Christmas mood. We've put the tree up, without decorations, to train the cats to stay out of it. So far, it hasn't been an issue. I really expected to have troubles with the kitten getting into it, but he seems content to leave it alone. Of course, once it's decorated, it might be a different story. So far, so good. Decorating will start this weekend.
We haven't ordered our meats for our annual tourtierre this year. Partly it's because we suddenly don't have the money. Getting the cat to the vet, then put down, ended up costing us over $450. That was money that was supposed to go for Christmas preparations. Not that we could make our usual number of tourtierre, anyhow. It's not cold enough! After a brief deep freeze, the temperatures went right back up again and are now bouncing above and below the freezing level. Our only freezer is the top of our fridge, so we relied on being able to keep the tourtierre frozen outside. It's not cold enough! So I'm thinking we'll place a meat order for perhaps a dozen pies. There isn't room for that many in the freezer, but wee can fit a few in and still have a couple to give away or something.
I haven't done my annual Christmas decorations this year yet, either. I had an idea in mind, but it required access to the kitchen sink, stove top and counter space. Every time they all got cleared, they immediately got covered! So I'm trying to come up with something else that will be quick and fairly easy. I've got some papier mache ornament shapes as bases, as well as some paints and glue. I have other supplies in the craft cupboard to use as well. I'm thinking, for some of them at least, I'll be doing things with spices. I've usually been doing items that reflected light in some way. I think this time, I'll be more rustic. We shall see how that works out.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Easter preparations
We've been well into our Easter preparations for the last while. As usual, this includes our traditional Easter basket. We'll be making a few additions to it this year.
For the usual items, we'll have butter, sausage, a small ham, salt and cheese. We've also got a chunk of fresh horseradish root, rather than the prepared paste. Tomorrow (er... later today, I should say) we'll be baking bread and colouring eggs. We'll be making a egg and milk bread that will be baked into some fancy shape. For the eggs, we'll be colouring some by cooking them in onion skins, while others will be made into "dragon's eggs" for the pre-shelled eggs. We're not going to bother doing colouful dyed eggs this year. For that, colour will be from the tiny candy coated chocolate eggs we'll be adding, plus some foil covered chocolate eggs - the only sweets we'll include this year.
One of the traditional Polish items we never really used was bacon. This year we've decided to include prosciutto as a sort of substitute, even though it's really a ham. We also decided to add a small bottle of olive oil and two types of olives. It seemed appropriate, considering how important olives and olive products were in Biblical times.
For my crafting this year, I ended up doing stuffed, crocheted eggs. I'm still doing them, actually. They're quick enough that I can do a simple one in a smooth yarn in about half an hour. I'm making some using textured yarn, some with colour changes, and others are being given a texture through stitch variations. They're all a variation of the free Lion Brand egg cozie pattern (you will need to sign in to see it). I skipped any of the embellishments to the basic cozie shape. Instead of ending it with an open bottom, I stuff it, then add a couple more decreasing rounds, then close up the bottom while sewing in the the yarn end. I'm rather happy with how they're turning out.
We're going to try something different for our Easter dinner. We'll be doing a leg of lamb, which is a first for me. Will have to look up different recipes and decide how I want to roast it. For the dinner, we'll also have some barscz - I'm cheating, having bought it packaged. To go with the lamb, Eldest suggested doing broccoli the Julia Child way, which is always a hit. I'll be doing polenta, as well. Though it's considered an Italian dish, I remember my mother making it when I was a child. We called it by a Polish word that translates as porridge, and it was years before I found out what I knew as a child and polenta were the same thing! *L* I am planning to make the polenta on Saturday, then pan fry slices of it for dinner on Sunday.
We'll likely pick up a wine to go with dinner as well. Hmm... we should probably pick something up for a dessert, too. I'd forgotten about dessert!
For the usual items, we'll have butter, sausage, a small ham, salt and cheese. We've also got a chunk of fresh horseradish root, rather than the prepared paste. Tomorrow (er... later today, I should say) we'll be baking bread and colouring eggs. We'll be making a egg and milk bread that will be baked into some fancy shape. For the eggs, we'll be colouring some by cooking them in onion skins, while others will be made into "dragon's eggs" for the pre-shelled eggs. We're not going to bother doing colouful dyed eggs this year. For that, colour will be from the tiny candy coated chocolate eggs we'll be adding, plus some foil covered chocolate eggs - the only sweets we'll include this year.
One of the traditional Polish items we never really used was bacon. This year we've decided to include prosciutto as a sort of substitute, even though it's really a ham. We also decided to add a small bottle of olive oil and two types of olives. It seemed appropriate, considering how important olives and olive products were in Biblical times.
For my crafting this year, I ended up doing stuffed, crocheted eggs. I'm still doing them, actually. They're quick enough that I can do a simple one in a smooth yarn in about half an hour. I'm making some using textured yarn, some with colour changes, and others are being given a texture through stitch variations. They're all a variation of the free Lion Brand egg cozie pattern (you will need to sign in to see it). I skipped any of the embellishments to the basic cozie shape. Instead of ending it with an open bottom, I stuff it, then add a couple more decreasing rounds, then close up the bottom while sewing in the the yarn end. I'm rather happy with how they're turning out.
We're going to try something different for our Easter dinner. We'll be doing a leg of lamb, which is a first for me. Will have to look up different recipes and decide how I want to roast it. For the dinner, we'll also have some barscz - I'm cheating, having bought it packaged. To go with the lamb, Eldest suggested doing broccoli the Julia Child way, which is always a hit. I'll be doing polenta, as well. Though it's considered an Italian dish, I remember my mother making it when I was a child. We called it by a Polish word that translates as porridge, and it was years before I found out what I knew as a child and polenta were the same thing! *L* I am planning to make the polenta on Saturday, then pan fry slices of it for dinner on Sunday.
We'll likely pick up a wine to go with dinner as well. Hmm... we should probably pick something up for a dessert, too. I'd forgotten about dessert!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas
We're in the middle of preparing our Wigilia feast, which seems to be turning out quite wonderfully. The house smells marvelous, and I can't wait to try that goose!
I'd like to take a moment in the middle of all the preparations to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May Christmas be a day of joy and contentment, and may 2011 be a year of health, happiness and prosperity for you and yours.
I'd like to take a moment in the middle of all the preparations to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May Christmas be a day of joy and contentment, and may 2011 be a year of health, happiness and prosperity for you and yours.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Almost ready!
Well, we're almost ready for our Wigilia! The tourtierre are done. We may pick up a few last minute gifts. Otherwise, I've done my wrapping, though the girls have some to do. The goose is thawing out right now, and the rest of the groceries needed will be picked up on the 23rd and the 24th will be spent preparing.
In deciding on a menu this year, we've decided to cut things back a little, even though we've got a 5th person joining us this year. We have a tendency to produce a huge menu that would feed an office party rather than just ourselves. *L* We've dropped the cheese and soup courses completely.
This is what we've decided on for this year.
Appetizers:
Bacon and Cheddar devilled eggs
Fruit plate
Baguette
Salad:
Greek salad
Caesar salad
(we're doing two, as Youngest and I don't like some of the ingredients of a Greek salad, but Dh and Eldest love it)
Entree:
Roast goose, basted with orange juice and red wine (no stuffing)
Tourtierre
Cheesy mashed potatoes
Broccoli, Julia Child's style
Dessert:
Whatever tempts us at the bakery
Drinks:
Cranberry punch (cranberry juice, ginger ale and frozen berries)
Wine; probably a red, but whatever strikes our fancy
Yeah, we're "cheating" with some things. The fruit plate will be something pre-made at the grocery store, and I'm quite content with their bakery offerings. The rest won't require a lot of time or attention. Even the goose won't need a lot, once it's in the oven. The less time spent tending pots and pans, the better! Eldest will be doing the salads and the broccoli. We don't usually cook broccoli, but when I did, I usually either steamed or stir fried it. After watching a Julia Child episode, Eldest was inspired to try out the method (first cooked covered in a small amount of water, then pan fried in garlic and butter). It is SO incredibly good.
I think I'll need to take out those Julia Child dvd's again. We could use some kitchen badassery.
In deciding on a menu this year, we've decided to cut things back a little, even though we've got a 5th person joining us this year. We have a tendency to produce a huge menu that would feed an office party rather than just ourselves. *L* We've dropped the cheese and soup courses completely.
This is what we've decided on for this year.
Appetizers:
Bacon and Cheddar devilled eggs
Fruit plate
Baguette
Salad:
Greek salad
Caesar salad
(we're doing two, as Youngest and I don't like some of the ingredients of a Greek salad, but Dh and Eldest love it)
Entree:
Roast goose, basted with orange juice and red wine (no stuffing)
Tourtierre
Cheesy mashed potatoes
Broccoli, Julia Child's style
Dessert:
Whatever tempts us at the bakery
Drinks:
Cranberry punch (cranberry juice, ginger ale and frozen berries)
Wine; probably a red, but whatever strikes our fancy
Yeah, we're "cheating" with some things. The fruit plate will be something pre-made at the grocery store, and I'm quite content with their bakery offerings. The rest won't require a lot of time or attention. Even the goose won't need a lot, once it's in the oven. The less time spent tending pots and pans, the better! Eldest will be doing the salads and the broccoli. We don't usually cook broccoli, but when I did, I usually either steamed or stir fried it. After watching a Julia Child episode, Eldest was inspired to try out the method (first cooked covered in a small amount of water, then pan fried in garlic and butter). It is SO incredibly good.
I think I'll need to take out those Julia Child dvd's again. We could use some kitchen badassery.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Before I head to bed...
Well, I'm happy to say today's cooking of the tourtierre filling went quite well! Aside from tormenting my eyes with a dozen onions, everything went quite smoothly. After peeling the onions (and keeping the skins for dying eggs at Easter) I had to take a break. Eldest was kind enough to premeasure all the spices and herbs for me while I did, then youngest took care of putting the 24 cloves of garlic through the press for me. I prefer the pressed garlic over the minced garlic for these.
The cooking was actually done by about 6 pm, though it took quite a while longer before it was cool enough to set the pot outside. It was still quite warm, actually - warm enough that I think it would have melted the snow I put it in and we'll be having to yank it loose from ice tomorrow - but it should be okay.
You know, we'd never be able to do this sort of thing any other time of year! For the number of pies we make (I got 24 pounds of meats this year, which should be about 20-22 pies), unless we had a chest freezer, we'd have some serious concerns about safely storing the filling until it cooled down completely. Being able to put the entire pot (or pots, as we've done in the past) outside in temperatures below freezing works out rather well. Then, on baking day, the pies get moved through a series of cooling areas before finally ending up outside. In the end, after they're wrapped up in foil, we put them outside to freeze, leaving them stored in a sealed bin. Without a freezer bigger than whats on our fridge, outside is the only place we can freeze and store them!
We need to decide on our menu very soon. Aside from a goose and tourtierre, we haven't really thought about it. It should be fun!
Before I head off to bed, though (seeing as how it's past 2:30 am as I write this), here are a few photos of this year's Christmas decorations on our tree.
This one was made using glow in the dark yarn and some gold metallic crochet thread twisted together as I wrapped it. The centre is a mostly hidden flower cut out from some scrap booking paper. The stamens are highlighted with gold glitter glue, applied with a fine tipped paintbrush.
This one is made with some leftover alpaca yarn and silver metallic crochet thread. The centre is some blue card stock with a glittery finish, a self adhesive gem and some silver glitter glue to add some extra sparkle.
We made a total of about 30 of these, each one different from the other. Three of them were wrapped "backwards" for an effect I think I actually prefer. I wish I'd thought of it earlier. As it was, I seriously considered cutting out more forms (rather than gluing two squares of cardboard together, as per the instructions at the site I linked to, I cut the start out of foam core) to do more. In the end, I decided we already had more than enough.
We've got so many decorations now, even considering how many we give away every year, we can't fit them all on the tree! I really like our busy, eclectically decorated tree. :-D
The cooking was actually done by about 6 pm, though it took quite a while longer before it was cool enough to set the pot outside. It was still quite warm, actually - warm enough that I think it would have melted the snow I put it in and we'll be having to yank it loose from ice tomorrow - but it should be okay.
You know, we'd never be able to do this sort of thing any other time of year! For the number of pies we make (I got 24 pounds of meats this year, which should be about 20-22 pies), unless we had a chest freezer, we'd have some serious concerns about safely storing the filling until it cooled down completely. Being able to put the entire pot (or pots, as we've done in the past) outside in temperatures below freezing works out rather well. Then, on baking day, the pies get moved through a series of cooling areas before finally ending up outside. In the end, after they're wrapped up in foil, we put them outside to freeze, leaving them stored in a sealed bin. Without a freezer bigger than whats on our fridge, outside is the only place we can freeze and store them!
We need to decide on our menu very soon. Aside from a goose and tourtierre, we haven't really thought about it. It should be fun!
Before I head off to bed, though (seeing as how it's past 2:30 am as I write this), here are a few photos of this year's Christmas decorations on our tree.
We made a total of about 30 of these, each one different from the other. Three of them were wrapped "backwards" for an effect I think I actually prefer. I wish I'd thought of it earlier. As it was, I seriously considered cutting out more forms (rather than gluing two squares of cardboard together, as per the instructions at the site I linked to, I cut the start out of foam core) to do more. In the end, I decided we already had more than enough.
We've got so many decorations now, even considering how many we give away every year, we can't fit them all on the tree! I really like our busy, eclectically decorated tree. :-D
Monday, December 13, 2010
A few brief moments...
It's becoming increasingly difficult to find uninterrupted time to write! I've got a few brief moments now, but from the sounds of things, they won't last long, so we'll see how much I can catch up.
Though I haven't been putting up any library lists lately, it's not for lack of going to the library! Eldest has been going several times a week, sometimes a couple of times a day, even after completing the studies she was working on. As I write this, she and Youngest are there right now and I've got an open invitation to join them for coffee later on, if I want. The branch we use has a Second Cup in the same building, next to their little free art gallery. It's been a great place to get some quality time in together while having all sorts of discussions and doing some people watching, too.
Sadly, in noting the time, I won't be able to join them today. As soon as I finish this, I need to get a stew going. Ah, well. Maybe this evening. :-D
Dh, meanwhile, is home sick today. He seems to have finally caught the stomach bug I suffered with not that long ago. I hope that's not it, because whatever bug I caught, it seems to have completely messed up my digestion on a long term. I'm guessing it effected my intestinal flora in a bad way, because even though I'm feeling fine now, no matter what I eat or how little, I've been suffering from bloat ever since. Dh has enough problems without that on top of it! Either way, he's just gone back to bed.
Raider King is still living with us. He's still looking for work and has a job interview coming up, which is encouraging.
As a family, we're slowly trying to get ready for Christmas. This year's Christmas decorations are based on these instructions. They went over so well that both girls ended up making some, and even Raider King made a few as gifts for his family.
Our tree is up, as well as a few decorations, but very little else; a frustration of mine. We're also behind on getting our yearly group photo that I use to make our digital Christmas cards. It was supposed to be done yesterday, but between people being sick, in pain or just plain snarly, it just didn't happen. It was going to instead happen today, with the girls and I meeting Dh near his office during lunch and getting some outdoor shots, but with him home sick, that's out. So I have no idea when we'll get the photo taken now.
I've pre-ordered the meats for our tourtierre (24 pounds this year) and will be picking it up on friday. We'll be baking like crazy over the weekend. If things work out, we'll freeze a few and mail them to Dh's parents through Express Post. Packed properly, they should still be frozen when they arrive, but even if they're partly thawed, it just means they can eat them faster. :-D
While ordering our meats I looked into getting a suckling pig, having been inspired by watching old Julie Child shows. She recommended a 10-12 pound pig, which would be more than enough for the 5 of us. No such luck! The smallest available was 30-45 pounds. I don't think our oven is even big enough for a pig that size, and it would be way too much for so few people.
So what I'll most likely do, then, is a goose. I've never done goose before, and it's not the same as other birds. One of the things I've learned while reading various cookbooks was that the skin needs to be pierced to allow the fat to drain. The one time my mother cooked domestic goose, we found it so fatty, it was almost inedible. I now suspect she didn't know about the skin piercing thing. Having so successfully cooked a Canada Goose previously, it never occurred to any of us that a domestic goose would need to be treated differently.
Well, I've just lost my quiet time. Oh, well. At least I got this much done. :-P Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up more soon.
Though I haven't been putting up any library lists lately, it's not for lack of going to the library! Eldest has been going several times a week, sometimes a couple of times a day, even after completing the studies she was working on. As I write this, she and Youngest are there right now and I've got an open invitation to join them for coffee later on, if I want. The branch we use has a Second Cup in the same building, next to their little free art gallery. It's been a great place to get some quality time in together while having all sorts of discussions and doing some people watching, too.
Sadly, in noting the time, I won't be able to join them today. As soon as I finish this, I need to get a stew going. Ah, well. Maybe this evening. :-D
Dh, meanwhile, is home sick today. He seems to have finally caught the stomach bug I suffered with not that long ago. I hope that's not it, because whatever bug I caught, it seems to have completely messed up my digestion on a long term. I'm guessing it effected my intestinal flora in a bad way, because even though I'm feeling fine now, no matter what I eat or how little, I've been suffering from bloat ever since. Dh has enough problems without that on top of it! Either way, he's just gone back to bed.
Raider King is still living with us. He's still looking for work and has a job interview coming up, which is encouraging.
As a family, we're slowly trying to get ready for Christmas. This year's Christmas decorations are based on these instructions. They went over so well that both girls ended up making some, and even Raider King made a few as gifts for his family.
Our tree is up, as well as a few decorations, but very little else; a frustration of mine. We're also behind on getting our yearly group photo that I use to make our digital Christmas cards. It was supposed to be done yesterday, but between people being sick, in pain or just plain snarly, it just didn't happen. It was going to instead happen today, with the girls and I meeting Dh near his office during lunch and getting some outdoor shots, but with him home sick, that's out. So I have no idea when we'll get the photo taken now.
I've pre-ordered the meats for our tourtierre (24 pounds this year) and will be picking it up on friday. We'll be baking like crazy over the weekend. If things work out, we'll freeze a few and mail them to Dh's parents through Express Post. Packed properly, they should still be frozen when they arrive, but even if they're partly thawed, it just means they can eat them faster. :-D
While ordering our meats I looked into getting a suckling pig, having been inspired by watching old Julie Child shows. She recommended a 10-12 pound pig, which would be more than enough for the 5 of us. No such luck! The smallest available was 30-45 pounds. I don't think our oven is even big enough for a pig that size, and it would be way too much for so few people.
So what I'll most likely do, then, is a goose. I've never done goose before, and it's not the same as other birds. One of the things I've learned while reading various cookbooks was that the skin needs to be pierced to allow the fat to drain. The one time my mother cooked domestic goose, we found it so fatty, it was almost inedible. I now suspect she didn't know about the skin piercing thing. Having so successfully cooked a Canada Goose previously, it never occurred to any of us that a domestic goose would need to be treated differently.
Well, I've just lost my quiet time. Oh, well. At least I got this much done. :-P Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up more soon.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Friday, January 01, 2010
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Aftermath
Christmas has come and gone, though for us the season continues until Jan. 6. This being Boxing Day, we're making a point of staying well away from stores! ;-)
Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We stretched our Wiglia meal from somewhere before 7pm to past 11:30. During one of the breaks between courses, Dh had time for a short nap. *L* The Scallop Shumai turned out all right - Eldest and Dh liked them the most. I'm not a seafood lover, so to me they were just okay, and Youngest wasn't too keen on them... which suited Dh and Eldest just fine. :-D I managed to NOT cut my fingers off while chopping the shrimp, but not for lack of trying. *L* I have a noteable chunk of my index fingernail missing now, and an annoying little slice on the side of my thumb that keeps catching on things.
Ah, the joys of cooking! *L*
The appetizer course also included a cheese plate. Along with some tried and true favourites (havarti, gouda and brie), we tried a new artisanal goat cheese. Mon âme est aux Terres de Portneuf ce que mon coeur d'artisan est fromage. The goat cheese was coated in ash. I figured the ash might lend a saltiness to it. I was wrong. No, this method brought out the painful side of ash. It was extremely acidic. Strangely, Eldest developed a taste for it, though it needs to be eating rather carefully! *L* We also had a variety of olives to nibble on. Plain black olives, caper stuffed green olives (way too salty!), and cheese stuffed green olives (quite nice). There were pickled onions (very harsh and vinegary: I'll have to remember to stay away from this type in the future) and tiny pickles (much sweeter than I expected!) with fruit, sourdough bread, a baguette and olive and cheedar bread. To drink, we had warm apple and cranberry juice (about a 50/50 mix) heated in the slower cooker with whole cloves, a few cinnamon sticks and some nutmeg. We fished out as much of the spices as we could when it reached a flavour we liked, after a few hours in the slow cooker.
After a break to digest, Eldest made her Greek Salad. We were still pretty full, so it was after this course that we took an even longer break and Dh got his nap in. *L* After that we had the ham (falling off the bone tender!), garlic mashed potatoes and tourtierre, and the roasted leek and apple dish. That was the one thing that could be considered a failure. It was *really* sweet. Even though it used only one apple, it dominated the dish, while the leek flavour just sorta disappeared. I wouldn't mind trying it again without the apple, though.
When we were done with that, we waited long enough for the whipped cream to be made. It was sweetened only with the crushed candy canes. It was all right, but not something I'd want to do again. Probably because we're just not really fans of candy canes in this household. *L* The apple pie, however, was really good. Youngest and Dh didn't actually have any. She doesn't like apple pie or whipped cream, and Dh figured he'd screwed his blood sugars up enough already. *L* So Eldest and I get the pies all to ourselves. Mind you, there were also chocolates (boxed mix), cookies (we actually bought those as much for the tin as for the cookies) and brownies for sweets, too. Those actually didn't see a lot of action. The chocolates are gone by the end of Christmas Day, but there are still plenty of cookies and brownies.
After we finished eating, we relaxed for a while until midnight, then opened our gifts. I am so glad I set up the video camera to film this! The kids were pretty excited about their gifts. We got Youngest a stereo CD player. She's needed one to practise her singing in her room, but we have had the worst luck with basic portable players. The CD players on all of them never seem to last more than a couple of months. The radio's continue to work fine, but we really don't listen to radio. With that in mind, we sprung for a higher end system that I really hope will last her a while. I've been hearing her singing in her room for the past two days now. :-D
As much as she liked that, she was even more excited over the carved rosewood crochet hook and skeins of Peruvian wool yarn we got for her. *L* Gosh, it's so much fun watching the kids unwrap their gifts. With the hook, all she could do was squeak in excitement, and she was literally speechless when she unwrapped the yarn.
Those where the highlights of Youngest's gifts. Eldest was just as fun. We got her several books, including Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and The Zombie Survival Guide (I may be remembering the Zombie title wrong). Then there was the big, hardcover reference book simply called Birds. The remote control spider robot was a hit, too.
Dh's gifts were much enjoyed. Some were hobby related, like the photography book on family portraiture. I think he had the most fun with the Hickory Farms kit Youngest bought for him, with sausages, cheeses, etc., complete with a mini-cleaver. She got it because of the cleaver. It's adorable! *L*
The highlight of my own gifts was most definitely an autographed copy of Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks! I love cookbooks that you can read to start with, but throw in some amazing photography and Pioneer Woman's fantastic sense of humour, and I'm totally hooked! I keep reaching for it and flipping through the pages. I'm really looking forward to trying some of those recipes!
After the gift opening, it was off to bed. In the morning, we had our stockings waiting for us for a few more gifts, then a quiet Christmas day. We've been drinking a lot of tea lately - one of Eldest's gifts was a tea chest, so we're working through all the flavours. The days are sunny and relatively warm - after the Arctic deep freeze and snow we've been having, our current -6C is practically t-shirt weather - so I'm hoping we'll get a chance to head out somewhere and do some exploring and picture taking.
There's still New Year's to celebrate, and finally, Three Kings Day. Dh doesn't even have to go back to work until the 4th, which is kinda nice. :-D
Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We stretched our Wiglia meal from somewhere before 7pm to past 11:30. During one of the breaks between courses, Dh had time for a short nap. *L* The Scallop Shumai turned out all right - Eldest and Dh liked them the most. I'm not a seafood lover, so to me they were just okay, and Youngest wasn't too keen on them... which suited Dh and Eldest just fine. :-D I managed to NOT cut my fingers off while chopping the shrimp, but not for lack of trying. *L* I have a noteable chunk of my index fingernail missing now, and an annoying little slice on the side of my thumb that keeps catching on things.
Ah, the joys of cooking! *L*
The appetizer course also included a cheese plate. Along with some tried and true favourites (havarti, gouda and brie), we tried a new artisanal goat cheese. Mon âme est aux Terres de Portneuf ce que mon coeur d'artisan est fromage. The goat cheese was coated in ash. I figured the ash might lend a saltiness to it. I was wrong. No, this method brought out the painful side of ash. It was extremely acidic. Strangely, Eldest developed a taste for it, though it needs to be eating rather carefully! *L* We also had a variety of olives to nibble on. Plain black olives, caper stuffed green olives (way too salty!), and cheese stuffed green olives (quite nice). There were pickled onions (very harsh and vinegary: I'll have to remember to stay away from this type in the future) and tiny pickles (much sweeter than I expected!) with fruit, sourdough bread, a baguette and olive and cheedar bread. To drink, we had warm apple and cranberry juice (about a 50/50 mix) heated in the slower cooker with whole cloves, a few cinnamon sticks and some nutmeg. We fished out as much of the spices as we could when it reached a flavour we liked, after a few hours in the slow cooker.
After a break to digest, Eldest made her Greek Salad. We were still pretty full, so it was after this course that we took an even longer break and Dh got his nap in. *L* After that we had the ham (falling off the bone tender!), garlic mashed potatoes and tourtierre, and the roasted leek and apple dish. That was the one thing that could be considered a failure. It was *really* sweet. Even though it used only one apple, it dominated the dish, while the leek flavour just sorta disappeared. I wouldn't mind trying it again without the apple, though.
When we were done with that, we waited long enough for the whipped cream to be made. It was sweetened only with the crushed candy canes. It was all right, but not something I'd want to do again. Probably because we're just not really fans of candy canes in this household. *L* The apple pie, however, was really good. Youngest and Dh didn't actually have any. She doesn't like apple pie or whipped cream, and Dh figured he'd screwed his blood sugars up enough already. *L* So Eldest and I get the pies all to ourselves. Mind you, there were also chocolates (boxed mix), cookies (we actually bought those as much for the tin as for the cookies) and brownies for sweets, too. Those actually didn't see a lot of action. The chocolates are gone by the end of Christmas Day, but there are still plenty of cookies and brownies.
After we finished eating, we relaxed for a while until midnight, then opened our gifts. I am so glad I set up the video camera to film this! The kids were pretty excited about their gifts. We got Youngest a stereo CD player. She's needed one to practise her singing in her room, but we have had the worst luck with basic portable players. The CD players on all of them never seem to last more than a couple of months. The radio's continue to work fine, but we really don't listen to radio. With that in mind, we sprung for a higher end system that I really hope will last her a while. I've been hearing her singing in her room for the past two days now. :-D
As much as she liked that, she was even more excited over the carved rosewood crochet hook and skeins of Peruvian wool yarn we got for her. *L* Gosh, it's so much fun watching the kids unwrap their gifts. With the hook, all she could do was squeak in excitement, and she was literally speechless when she unwrapped the yarn.
Those where the highlights of Youngest's gifts. Eldest was just as fun. We got her several books, including Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and The Zombie Survival Guide (I may be remembering the Zombie title wrong). Then there was the big, hardcover reference book simply called Birds. The remote control spider robot was a hit, too.
Dh's gifts were much enjoyed. Some were hobby related, like the photography book on family portraiture. I think he had the most fun with the Hickory Farms kit Youngest bought for him, with sausages, cheeses, etc., complete with a mini-cleaver. She got it because of the cleaver. It's adorable! *L*
The highlight of my own gifts was most definitely an autographed copy of Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks! I love cookbooks that you can read to start with, but throw in some amazing photography and Pioneer Woman's fantastic sense of humour, and I'm totally hooked! I keep reaching for it and flipping through the pages. I'm really looking forward to trying some of those recipes!
After the gift opening, it was off to bed. In the morning, we had our stockings waiting for us for a few more gifts, then a quiet Christmas day. We've been drinking a lot of tea lately - one of Eldest's gifts was a tea chest, so we're working through all the flavours. The days are sunny and relatively warm - after the Arctic deep freeze and snow we've been having, our current -6C is practically t-shirt weather - so I'm hoping we'll get a chance to head out somewhere and do some exploring and picture taking.
There's still New Year's to celebrate, and finally, Three Kings Day. Dh doesn't even have to go back to work until the 4th, which is kinda nice. :-D
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
So close!
Just a couple more days before we start celebrating Wigilia. Today, the girls and I did the food shopping. The only thing we'll have left is getting the lettuce for the salad and the fresh shrimp and scallops - though it looks like we'll have to go with frozen scallops, at least. I asked at the grocery store today and was told they won't be getting more fresh scallops until after New Years - the suppliers are out. With that in mind, we'll be picking up frozen scallops tomorrow, rather than waiting for Christmas Eve morning.
We'll need to time some things out rather carefully. The apple pie(s?) will be baked tomorrow. I'll be starting the ham early in the day, as I'll need the oven for the roasted leeks and apple dish. The ham can be kept warm more easily than a vegetable dish. Of course, we'll need the oven to heat up the tourtierre, as well. The hot spiced apple drink can be done in the slow cooker, so all we'll lose there is counter space.
I do still need to look for more stocking stuffers for Christmas morning. I'll make a run out again sometime after Dh gets home from work. I'll have to remember the plug the van in for the night, too - we're dipping below -20C tonight.
I am hoping to post a couple of recipes in the next day or so. If not, I don't expect to post again until after Christmas. We'll see how it goes. :-D
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and health, wealth and happiness in the coming New Year!
We'll need to time some things out rather carefully. The apple pie(s?) will be baked tomorrow. I'll be starting the ham early in the day, as I'll need the oven for the roasted leeks and apple dish. The ham can be kept warm more easily than a vegetable dish. Of course, we'll need the oven to heat up the tourtierre, as well. The hot spiced apple drink can be done in the slow cooker, so all we'll lose there is counter space.
I do still need to look for more stocking stuffers for Christmas morning. I'll make a run out again sometime after Dh gets home from work. I'll have to remember the plug the van in for the night, too - we're dipping below -20C tonight.
I am hoping to post a couple of recipes in the next day or so. If not, I don't expect to post again until after Christmas. We'll see how it goes. :-D
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and health, wealth and happiness in the coming New Year!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Our Menu
The girls and I have worked out the menu plan for this year's Wigilia. Traditional, it's not! LOL!
Here's what we've worked out.
Appetizer: Scallop Shumai
recipe from: The World in Bite Size
It's a combination of chopped fresh shrimp and whole scallops in won ton wrappers that are steamed.
Salad: Greek Salad
(no recipe)
I wanted either a soup or salad for the second course. Usually, we have a soup, then a salad with the entree. The soup we usually had would be something like a clam chowder, which I found too heavy. So my restriction with a soup was that if we had one, it would be something light. Instead, Eldest suggested she could make a Greek Salad. She makes an excellent Greek Salad, so we're going with that. :-D
Entree:
Baked ham studded with whole cloves, roasted with apple juice.
Tourtierre (this year, our filling mix included elk!)
Garlic mashed potoatos with cheese (Youngest asked for this one. :-D )
Roasted Leeks & Apple
The roasted leeks is a recipe from The Philosopher's Kitchen and includes white wine, honey, marjoram and anise seed with the apple and leeks.
Dessert: home made apple pie
I use a recipe modifed slightly from one in Treasury of Country Recipes that is incredible. I'm not actually a big apple pie fan, but this one is an exception! We'll be baking this in the next couple of days. Eldest recommended we try it with a whipped cream with crushed candy canes in it. Should be interesting. :-D
Drinks
hot drink: Spiced apple and cranberry juice
(no recipe)
cold drink: Cranberry and ginger ale punch
(no recipe)
Along with this, we're going to have a cheese plate, fruit, and little nibblies like olives, tiny pickles, pickled onions and whatever else I see that looks good. Hmmm... maybe we can do a fondue? The kids love that. :-D
I'll have to see what nice breads I can pick up, too. The breads, lettuce and seafood won't be picked up until the last minute - Christmas Eve morning, if I can swing it that late. Otherwise, the night before.
I figure by the time we finish the feast, it'll be midnight or so. *L* It easily takes us several hours to finish it, as we take our time with each course.
The family is debating whether or not we're going to Midnight Mass this year. We're not practising Catholics at all, but Midnight Mass is something special. We've got a Catholic church just up the block from us now, but I have no idea what they're got scheduled, if anything. We'll see how that works out.
Either way, I'm looking forward to our first Christmas in our new home!
Here's what we've worked out.
Appetizer: Scallop Shumai
recipe from: The World in Bite Size
It's a combination of chopped fresh shrimp and whole scallops in won ton wrappers that are steamed.
Salad: Greek Salad
(no recipe)
I wanted either a soup or salad for the second course. Usually, we have a soup, then a salad with the entree. The soup we usually had would be something like a clam chowder, which I found too heavy. So my restriction with a soup was that if we had one, it would be something light. Instead, Eldest suggested she could make a Greek Salad. She makes an excellent Greek Salad, so we're going with that. :-D
Entree:
Baked ham studded with whole cloves, roasted with apple juice.
Tourtierre (this year, our filling mix included elk!)
Garlic mashed potoatos with cheese (Youngest asked for this one. :-D )
Roasted Leeks & Apple
The roasted leeks is a recipe from The Philosopher's Kitchen and includes white wine, honey, marjoram and anise seed with the apple and leeks.
Dessert: home made apple pie
I use a recipe modifed slightly from one in Treasury of Country Recipes that is incredible. I'm not actually a big apple pie fan, but this one is an exception! We'll be baking this in the next couple of days. Eldest recommended we try it with a whipped cream with crushed candy canes in it. Should be interesting. :-D
Drinks
hot drink: Spiced apple and cranberry juice
(no recipe)
cold drink: Cranberry and ginger ale punch
(no recipe)
Along with this, we're going to have a cheese plate, fruit, and little nibblies like olives, tiny pickles, pickled onions and whatever else I see that looks good. Hmmm... maybe we can do a fondue? The kids love that. :-D
I'll have to see what nice breads I can pick up, too. The breads, lettuce and seafood won't be picked up until the last minute - Christmas Eve morning, if I can swing it that late. Otherwise, the night before.
I figure by the time we finish the feast, it'll be midnight or so. *L* It easily takes us several hours to finish it, as we take our time with each course.
The family is debating whether or not we're going to Midnight Mass this year. We're not practising Catholics at all, but Midnight Mass is something special. We've got a Catholic church just up the block from us now, but I have no idea what they're got scheduled, if anything. We'll see how that works out.
Either way, I'm looking forward to our first Christmas in our new home!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Getting in the Christmas spirit
Today, the girls and I decorated the Christmas tree. It has actually been up for a couple of days, but we had to get rid of an extra couch - a friend of mine was able to make use of it - and rearrange the living room. While Eldest and I delivered the couch, Dh and Youngest moved furniture around so that the tree could fit right in the corner. Since it's covered on two sides by walls, that meant we only need to decorate the front half. There isn't a lot of room there. We pulled it away from the corner and Eldest helped me put on the lights and garlands, with one of us in the corner and the other in front, passing things back and forth. Once that was done, we pushed it back in, then did the front. I asked Youngest if she wanted to help, but she pointed out there really wasn't any room for her to be in there, too, so she went back to using her bead loom. :-D
Looking at the tree as I write this, I find it seems to be tilting to one side quite a bit. That's never been an issue before. Could our floor really be that much uneven?
Now that the tree is up, we can work on decorating the rest of the house. The tree has LED lights, but I still have my old strings of lights that can go around windows or something. The girls can decorate their rooms, too. At some point, I'll have things organized enough that we can position the couch and armchair in places we won't want to move them from until after the tree is down again.
Today was also the day I got to open my first Advent gift exchange gift. I've become a member of a local crafter's group and a bunch of us signed up for an exchange. The person organizing it paired off the people who signed up for it. Once we had our partners, we filled out questionaires for each other, sharing things like what our favourite (and least favourite) colours are, what kinds of crafting we like to do, what music or books we like, etc. Then we each had to buy 24 small gifts (maximum $5 each) and 1 large (maximum #24) gift. My partner actually numbered all the gifts! Much more ambitious than me. *L* Mind you, she also had 2 others she was collecting for, as she was doing exchanges for her kids, too, so labelling was necessary. I just made sure the last gift had something different about it. I did consider numbering them, but aside from the last gift, it really didn't matter too much what order they were opened in.
Today, I got a set of transparent decorative balls that looked like they would go on a tree, except that the "confetti" inside was meant to dissolve in bathwater for a luxurious soak. What a cute idea! She got them at Michaels and, even though I've been there several times recently, I had never seen them. I look forward to trying them. :-D
Meanwhile, I've been trying to place an order for our tourtierre meats. I want to have the meat by friday, so we can make them this weekend, but I haven't been able to get through to the butcher. I did leave a message saying I wanted to place an order, but no one's called back. Looks like I'll have to do it in person. For this year, I think we'll do Elk for the game portion of our pies. We're planning to do two dozen pies this year, so we're looking at 24 pounds of ground meats. I need to figure out what I'll use to cook them. I might have to buy a new pot. At my in-laws, we'd use my MIL's roaster and lid (which could double as a second roaster on its own), each over 2 elements. I have two roasters, but our oven is bigger than hers, so they can't straddle two elements. I've seen some big, deep pots that should work, but at $80 - and that's the cheap price! - it's pretty expensive for a pot I'll only use once a year. We did 12 pounds of meat last year, and it just fit in one roaster (we hadn't bought the second one yet), with barely enough room to stir it, so I know using what we have now will be a pain. I really do need something else. I just hate spending money if I think I can get away without.*L*
Looking at the tree as I write this, I find it seems to be tilting to one side quite a bit. That's never been an issue before. Could our floor really be that much uneven?
Now that the tree is up, we can work on decorating the rest of the house. The tree has LED lights, but I still have my old strings of lights that can go around windows or something. The girls can decorate their rooms, too. At some point, I'll have things organized enough that we can position the couch and armchair in places we won't want to move them from until after the tree is down again.
Today was also the day I got to open my first Advent gift exchange gift. I've become a member of a local crafter's group and a bunch of us signed up for an exchange. The person organizing it paired off the people who signed up for it. Once we had our partners, we filled out questionaires for each other, sharing things like what our favourite (and least favourite) colours are, what kinds of crafting we like to do, what music or books we like, etc. Then we each had to buy 24 small gifts (maximum $5 each) and 1 large (maximum #24) gift. My partner actually numbered all the gifts! Much more ambitious than me. *L* Mind you, she also had 2 others she was collecting for, as she was doing exchanges for her kids, too, so labelling was necessary. I just made sure the last gift had something different about it. I did consider numbering them, but aside from the last gift, it really didn't matter too much what order they were opened in.
Today, I got a set of transparent decorative balls that looked like they would go on a tree, except that the "confetti" inside was meant to dissolve in bathwater for a luxurious soak. What a cute idea! She got them at Michaels and, even though I've been there several times recently, I had never seen them. I look forward to trying them. :-D
Meanwhile, I've been trying to place an order for our tourtierre meats. I want to have the meat by friday, so we can make them this weekend, but I haven't been able to get through to the butcher. I did leave a message saying I wanted to place an order, but no one's called back. Looks like I'll have to do it in person. For this year, I think we'll do Elk for the game portion of our pies. We're planning to do two dozen pies this year, so we're looking at 24 pounds of ground meats. I need to figure out what I'll use to cook them. I might have to buy a new pot. At my in-laws, we'd use my MIL's roaster and lid (which could double as a second roaster on its own), each over 2 elements. I have two roasters, but our oven is bigger than hers, so they can't straddle two elements. I've seen some big, deep pots that should work, but at $80 - and that's the cheap price! - it's pretty expensive for a pot I'll only use once a year. We did 12 pounds of meat last year, and it just fit in one roaster (we hadn't bought the second one yet), with barely enough room to stir it, so I know using what we have now will be a pain. I really do need something else. I just hate spending money if I think I can get away without.*L*
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Belated Happy Canadian Thanksgiving
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians.
The family and I were away for Thanksgiving this year. Thanks to having a reliable vehicle and the generosity of family members, we were able to make a road trip back to our old stomping grounds, with three nights in a resort hotel, and take part in double family reunions! We haven't seen most of our family members in over 4 years. The handy thing is that my parents and my in-laws live in neighboring towns, which made getting together easier. One of my SILs was able to come out from Toronto, and the other family members had no more than an hour or so to drive out.
Unlike us. It's a 16 hour drive for us, and for the drive out, we decided to leave later and drive through the night. With two drivers to take turns, this should have been relatively easy. Unfortunately, we drove right into the teeth of a storm. Through most of Saskatewan and part of Manitoba, we were driving on roads slick with ice and driving snow. At one point, we found someplace safe to pull over for a while to wait things out. That in itself was a bit of a challange. We didn't dare just pull over onto the shoulder. Firstly, because we weren't quite sure where the shoulder was. Secondly, because oncoming traffic might not see us in the near white-out until it was too late.
In the process, we discovered that there are a lot of insane truck drivers out there. I have no clue how they can keep driving so fast in such poor visibility. I also wonder if they have any idea how dangerous they are to other drivers. Every time we saw the lights of a semi through the snow, we had to prepare ourselves for the initial buffeting of wind as it past us, followed by complete lack of visibility due to swirling snow kicked up behind the truck. After a few second of blindness, we could only hope that the road hadn't started to curve on us, or that there wasn't another vehicle behind. More than a few times, the snow would clear, only to reveal another truck barreling down the highway, kicking up even more snow.
As if these vehicles weren't challanging enough, some suicidal drivers would actually pass us. What sane person passes another vehicle when you can't see where the lanes are, where the sides of the highway are, whether or not there's a curve ahead, or if there are any vehicles coming?
There was some pretty white knuckle driving going on!
When we finally got to Winnipeg, things had cleared up. We met up with an old friend for breakfast before heading North and our hotel. As we left the city, the rain started coming down. In minutes, the rain turned to snow and we were driving in conditions not much better than they had been before, though no where near as dangerous as in the dark.
We sure were glad to get to the hotel, that's for sure! My in-laws had booked adjoining rooms for us, so the girls could have their own rooms. As much as we wanted to, we didn't nap. We knew that if we did, we wouldn't be able to get up again to visit Dh's parents! So we all just spent some quality time with showers and toothbrushes before heading to the in-laws for supper. My SIL was already there, so we got to spend some time catching up with her. She and Eldest really hit it off. After all this time, the kids have to get to know everyone all over again.
We didn't visit for very long, though. At least not as long as our visits used to be. We all needed to get some sleep in! None of us - not even the girls - were able to get much sleep while driving through such ... interesting weather.
The hotel wasn't the most comfortable we've been in. With two double beds in each room, Dh and I ended up sleeping in seperate beds. The mattresses were rather soft, with little support along the outer edges, so there was this constant feeling that we were about to roll out of the bed, solved only by sleeping in the middle of the bed. Then there was the fact that the bed frames wobbled. A lot. Not that any of this stopped us from sleeping for 10 hours straight!!! I would gladly have slept longer, but I had a date with an old friend from high school for breakfast. That was another enjoyable reunion. When I got back, we all headed back to my in-laws, where the rest of the family had a late breakfast and a brief visit before the girls and I headed out to visit my side of the family (Dh stayed behind to spend more time with his own family).
They, of course, promptly fed us. Because that's what my parents do.
It was so good to see my parents again. Even my mother, who was on much better behaviour than usual. That was a big concern of mine. My dad seemed to be doing well. He was walking around with just one cane, rather than 2 of them or his walker. Later on, Eldest and I wandered around the farm, looking at the "graveyard" of old cars and farm equipement, log buildings, sheds and the remains of my mother's gardens. My youngest brother and his son made it out, too, and my nephew brought his Xbox. He and Youngest were soon esconsed in my dad's bedroom (my old bedroom, as it's the warmest room in the house, and right next to the bathroom), playing Halo together. My brother gave us a tour of the workshed he's been putting together in a building that used to be attached to the house we lived in before leaving the province. Though it was used as a storage shed, it's the size of a small house. He build a furnace for it, as well as installing the old wood cookstove we'd had but had never been able to install, due to the cost of having another chimney built for it. He can do that stuff himself, so he just needs to aquire the materials. This brother of mine is one of those people that seems to be able to build or make anything.
Eventually, we headed back to the in-laws, where they fed us again. Though their cultures are different, the act of feeding everybody is a custom both sides of our families share! *L* This time, my BIL and his family made it out and we had the first of our reunions. It was a lot of fun, though we were reminded of just how different our own family dynamics are from theirs. We home school, they don't. We parents our kids differently, and have completely different interests and priorities. It can make for some interesting conversations. Some of the things the kids do that are "cool" are a bit confusing to us. Like making this hand gesture while tilting the head to one side, opening the mouth and lolling the tongue off to one side. My niece did that to Youngest. When asked what was, the resonse was "you know!" and a repeat of the motion.
Hhhhmmm.... No. No, we don't know. Not at all. And apparently, she didn't, either. She just did it. *L* Just a bit of culture shock, there!
For this evening, I brought along a whole bunch of crocheted gifts I'd made for the families. Most of them, I didn't make for anyone specific. I just pulled them out and let people pick for themselves. Since my BIL and his family were late, my SIL and her parents got first dibs. ;-) I made useful things, like hats, scarves, mitts, and slippers, as well as more decorative items, like jewelry and a stole. I was glad to see they were well recieved by all. :-)
The next day was split up between the families again. A morning visit with Dh's parents, then a family reunion with my family. By the time we got there, they'd just sat down to eat (we weren't sure when we'd make it, and had expected to be doing brunch, though that changed at the last minute, so they weren't going to wait for us). Somehow, we managed to fit 15 people around the tables! Then, because one of my brothers had to leave for work, we hurried to get some family photos taken outside. Shortly after that, Dh headed back to his own parents while the girls and I stayed and visited for longer. I brought out some gifts I'd made specifically for my parents - a sweater for my mother and a blanket for my dad - as well as the rest of the gifts I'd made, while Youngest brought out some hunter orange toques she'd crocheted herself. I have several hunters in my family, and all of them spend lots of time outdoors, so there's no such thing as too many warm hats! I was glad to see that the sweater I'd made fit my mother just right, and it was exactly the sort of style she liked (open neck and 3/4 length sleeves). Even the colour, a deep, sparkly purple, suited her well. I had some concerns, since the only size references I had were from my sister, who'd sewn clothes for my mother a number of years ago. I had no idea if my mother had lost or gained weight in that time.
Over all, things went quite well. My mother did try to through out some weird stuff - a few rants about how the Canada has become such a terrible place, and it's because we took prayer and God out of the schools, and let all those Asians and Muslims into the country. We're all kind of used to distracting her to other things when she gets like that. She also insisted that I need to cook more soup, because if I did, I'd loose weight. When I pointed out she has no idea what I eat or how much, she tried to guess that I eat lots of pizza and drink lots of pop. Sorry, Mom. I'm not fat because of what I eat, and eating soup isn't going to change anything. Funny thing is that my mother is also fat, had just had her regular physical and is in perfect health, except for some osteoarthritis in her knees. She's coming up on her 80's. Even funnier is that she's giving my sister and her husband a hard time for being too skinny! *L*
All in all, though, things went really well. Everyone just sort of spread out into conversational groups. The alcohol was flowing (my youngest brother and my mother getting decidedly tipsy), more food was brought out, and we all swapped stories for hours. We didn't leave until Dh called because the cousins were asking about the girls, and would have enjoyed staying longer.
After Dh picked us up, we went back to his parents - just in time for their turkey dinner! *L* They don't have quite as much room, but the girls and I happily waited to take second shift eating, having just eaten not that long ago. Three meals in one evening! And it was all amazingly delicious.
Still, we couldn't stay for too long. We had to leave fairly early in the morning, swing by our old house to pick up boxes we had in storage, and manage a last visit in Winnipeg before heading home. We finally got to meet our friend's son - we weren't sure his ex would allow an "extra" visit or not - and he is such a sweetie! Totally adorable.
It was hard to cut all these visits short, yet at the same time, we couldn't wait to get home. The drive back was MUCH more pleasant. We considered getting a hotel partway through, but decided against it. The drive was made extra interesting with all our boxes in back. We were actually able to fit all our boxes of books, plus a couple of storage bins or stuff, and still be able to see out the back window. Dh estimates we had 400 pounds of books alone back there. The back end was so low, it tilted our headlights. We kept getting drivers from the opposite direction - even semi's - flashing us because they thought we were driving with our brights!
We made it home by 3 am, which was really good time. Our cats were so glad to see us! We'd hired a friend's kids to cat sit for us (two or her kids run a pet sitting business), so they were care for while we were gone. Even Youngest's cat, who is usually quite aloof, was all over us. Even today, she's still really cuddly, though she seems to be slowly going back to her old stand-offish self. *L*
The van didn't get unloaded until this evening, though. We just took in our suitcases on arrival. With the girls' help (Dh's back injury meant he was banned from even touching any of those boxes), we got them all on. Twenty three boxes and 2 large bins! Granted, the boxes were rather small, but with all but 4 of them filled with books, they were all quite heavy. The girls once again have their two encyclopedia sets, which Youngest has already taken upstairs, and I have my craft and cook books again. :-D Going through the boxes was like being reunited with old friends! We still don't have the bookshelves to properly unpack them all, but we can at least access them.
It feels good to have our library again.
We definately won't head out to visit family again next Thanksgiving. If we manage the trip again, it will be in late spring or summer, not in the fall! I'm glad we were able to do it, even though it was quite exhausting. It was worth it.
And now... time for me to go to sleep in my own familiar bed that doesn't wobble all over the place when I get in. :-D
The family and I were away for Thanksgiving this year. Thanks to having a reliable vehicle and the generosity of family members, we were able to make a road trip back to our old stomping grounds, with three nights in a resort hotel, and take part in double family reunions! We haven't seen most of our family members in over 4 years. The handy thing is that my parents and my in-laws live in neighboring towns, which made getting together easier. One of my SILs was able to come out from Toronto, and the other family members had no more than an hour or so to drive out.
Unlike us. It's a 16 hour drive for us, and for the drive out, we decided to leave later and drive through the night. With two drivers to take turns, this should have been relatively easy. Unfortunately, we drove right into the teeth of a storm. Through most of Saskatewan and part of Manitoba, we were driving on roads slick with ice and driving snow. At one point, we found someplace safe to pull over for a while to wait things out. That in itself was a bit of a challange. We didn't dare just pull over onto the shoulder. Firstly, because we weren't quite sure where the shoulder was. Secondly, because oncoming traffic might not see us in the near white-out until it was too late.
In the process, we discovered that there are a lot of insane truck drivers out there. I have no clue how they can keep driving so fast in such poor visibility. I also wonder if they have any idea how dangerous they are to other drivers. Every time we saw the lights of a semi through the snow, we had to prepare ourselves for the initial buffeting of wind as it past us, followed by complete lack of visibility due to swirling snow kicked up behind the truck. After a few second of blindness, we could only hope that the road hadn't started to curve on us, or that there wasn't another vehicle behind. More than a few times, the snow would clear, only to reveal another truck barreling down the highway, kicking up even more snow.
As if these vehicles weren't challanging enough, some suicidal drivers would actually pass us. What sane person passes another vehicle when you can't see where the lanes are, where the sides of the highway are, whether or not there's a curve ahead, or if there are any vehicles coming?
There was some pretty white knuckle driving going on!
When we finally got to Winnipeg, things had cleared up. We met up with an old friend for breakfast before heading North and our hotel. As we left the city, the rain started coming down. In minutes, the rain turned to snow and we were driving in conditions not much better than they had been before, though no where near as dangerous as in the dark.
We sure were glad to get to the hotel, that's for sure! My in-laws had booked adjoining rooms for us, so the girls could have their own rooms. As much as we wanted to, we didn't nap. We knew that if we did, we wouldn't be able to get up again to visit Dh's parents! So we all just spent some quality time with showers and toothbrushes before heading to the in-laws for supper. My SIL was already there, so we got to spend some time catching up with her. She and Eldest really hit it off. After all this time, the kids have to get to know everyone all over again.
We didn't visit for very long, though. At least not as long as our visits used to be. We all needed to get some sleep in! None of us - not even the girls - were able to get much sleep while driving through such ... interesting weather.
The hotel wasn't the most comfortable we've been in. With two double beds in each room, Dh and I ended up sleeping in seperate beds. The mattresses were rather soft, with little support along the outer edges, so there was this constant feeling that we were about to roll out of the bed, solved only by sleeping in the middle of the bed. Then there was the fact that the bed frames wobbled. A lot. Not that any of this stopped us from sleeping for 10 hours straight!!! I would gladly have slept longer, but I had a date with an old friend from high school for breakfast. That was another enjoyable reunion. When I got back, we all headed back to my in-laws, where the rest of the family had a late breakfast and a brief visit before the girls and I headed out to visit my side of the family (Dh stayed behind to spend more time with his own family).
They, of course, promptly fed us. Because that's what my parents do.
It was so good to see my parents again. Even my mother, who was on much better behaviour than usual. That was a big concern of mine. My dad seemed to be doing well. He was walking around with just one cane, rather than 2 of them or his walker. Later on, Eldest and I wandered around the farm, looking at the "graveyard" of old cars and farm equipement, log buildings, sheds and the remains of my mother's gardens. My youngest brother and his son made it out, too, and my nephew brought his Xbox. He and Youngest were soon esconsed in my dad's bedroom (my old bedroom, as it's the warmest room in the house, and right next to the bathroom), playing Halo together. My brother gave us a tour of the workshed he's been putting together in a building that used to be attached to the house we lived in before leaving the province. Though it was used as a storage shed, it's the size of a small house. He build a furnace for it, as well as installing the old wood cookstove we'd had but had never been able to install, due to the cost of having another chimney built for it. He can do that stuff himself, so he just needs to aquire the materials. This brother of mine is one of those people that seems to be able to build or make anything.
Eventually, we headed back to the in-laws, where they fed us again. Though their cultures are different, the act of feeding everybody is a custom both sides of our families share! *L* This time, my BIL and his family made it out and we had the first of our reunions. It was a lot of fun, though we were reminded of just how different our own family dynamics are from theirs. We home school, they don't. We parents our kids differently, and have completely different interests and priorities. It can make for some interesting conversations. Some of the things the kids do that are "cool" are a bit confusing to us. Like making this hand gesture while tilting the head to one side, opening the mouth and lolling the tongue off to one side. My niece did that to Youngest. When asked what was, the resonse was "you know!" and a repeat of the motion.
Hhhhmmm.... No. No, we don't know. Not at all. And apparently, she didn't, either. She just did it. *L* Just a bit of culture shock, there!
For this evening, I brought along a whole bunch of crocheted gifts I'd made for the families. Most of them, I didn't make for anyone specific. I just pulled them out and let people pick for themselves. Since my BIL and his family were late, my SIL and her parents got first dibs. ;-) I made useful things, like hats, scarves, mitts, and slippers, as well as more decorative items, like jewelry and a stole. I was glad to see they were well recieved by all. :-)
The next day was split up between the families again. A morning visit with Dh's parents, then a family reunion with my family. By the time we got there, they'd just sat down to eat (we weren't sure when we'd make it, and had expected to be doing brunch, though that changed at the last minute, so they weren't going to wait for us). Somehow, we managed to fit 15 people around the tables! Then, because one of my brothers had to leave for work, we hurried to get some family photos taken outside. Shortly after that, Dh headed back to his own parents while the girls and I stayed and visited for longer. I brought out some gifts I'd made specifically for my parents - a sweater for my mother and a blanket for my dad - as well as the rest of the gifts I'd made, while Youngest brought out some hunter orange toques she'd crocheted herself. I have several hunters in my family, and all of them spend lots of time outdoors, so there's no such thing as too many warm hats! I was glad to see that the sweater I'd made fit my mother just right, and it was exactly the sort of style she liked (open neck and 3/4 length sleeves). Even the colour, a deep, sparkly purple, suited her well. I had some concerns, since the only size references I had were from my sister, who'd sewn clothes for my mother a number of years ago. I had no idea if my mother had lost or gained weight in that time.
Over all, things went quite well. My mother did try to through out some weird stuff - a few rants about how the Canada has become such a terrible place, and it's because we took prayer and God out of the schools, and let all those Asians and Muslims into the country. We're all kind of used to distracting her to other things when she gets like that. She also insisted that I need to cook more soup, because if I did, I'd loose weight. When I pointed out she has no idea what I eat or how much, she tried to guess that I eat lots of pizza and drink lots of pop. Sorry, Mom. I'm not fat because of what I eat, and eating soup isn't going to change anything. Funny thing is that my mother is also fat, had just had her regular physical and is in perfect health, except for some osteoarthritis in her knees. She's coming up on her 80's. Even funnier is that she's giving my sister and her husband a hard time for being too skinny! *L*
All in all, though, things went really well. Everyone just sort of spread out into conversational groups. The alcohol was flowing (my youngest brother and my mother getting decidedly tipsy), more food was brought out, and we all swapped stories for hours. We didn't leave until Dh called because the cousins were asking about the girls, and would have enjoyed staying longer.
After Dh picked us up, we went back to his parents - just in time for their turkey dinner! *L* They don't have quite as much room, but the girls and I happily waited to take second shift eating, having just eaten not that long ago. Three meals in one evening! And it was all amazingly delicious.
Still, we couldn't stay for too long. We had to leave fairly early in the morning, swing by our old house to pick up boxes we had in storage, and manage a last visit in Winnipeg before heading home. We finally got to meet our friend's son - we weren't sure his ex would allow an "extra" visit or not - and he is such a sweetie! Totally adorable.
It was hard to cut all these visits short, yet at the same time, we couldn't wait to get home. The drive back was MUCH more pleasant. We considered getting a hotel partway through, but decided against it. The drive was made extra interesting with all our boxes in back. We were actually able to fit all our boxes of books, plus a couple of storage bins or stuff, and still be able to see out the back window. Dh estimates we had 400 pounds of books alone back there. The back end was so low, it tilted our headlights. We kept getting drivers from the opposite direction - even semi's - flashing us because they thought we were driving with our brights!
We made it home by 3 am, which was really good time. Our cats were so glad to see us! We'd hired a friend's kids to cat sit for us (two or her kids run a pet sitting business), so they were care for while we were gone. Even Youngest's cat, who is usually quite aloof, was all over us. Even today, she's still really cuddly, though she seems to be slowly going back to her old stand-offish self. *L*
The van didn't get unloaded until this evening, though. We just took in our suitcases on arrival. With the girls' help (Dh's back injury meant he was banned from even touching any of those boxes), we got them all on. Twenty three boxes and 2 large bins! Granted, the boxes were rather small, but with all but 4 of them filled with books, they were all quite heavy. The girls once again have their two encyclopedia sets, which Youngest has already taken upstairs, and I have my craft and cook books again. :-D Going through the boxes was like being reunited with old friends! We still don't have the bookshelves to properly unpack them all, but we can at least access them.
It feels good to have our library again.
We definately won't head out to visit family again next Thanksgiving. If we manage the trip again, it will be in late spring or summer, not in the fall! I'm glad we were able to do it, even though it was quite exhausting. It was worth it.
And now... time for me to go to sleep in my own familiar bed that doesn't wobble all over the place when I get in. :-D
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Happy 4th
Wishing my friends and visitors from the US a Happy Independance Day. I hope you have a great time celebrating. :-)
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Happy Canada Day!!
Just taking a moment in between outings to wish my fellow Canadians a Happy Canada Day.
I hope you're having as wonderful a day as we are! :-D
I hope you're having as wonderful a day as we are! :-D
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)