Donut Imposters

I was very intrigued about baked donuts after seeing them on Pinterest.  I bought a 'not so cheap' donut pan from the local  specialty kitchen store and set out to make a few batches.  I made chocolate, sour cream and cinnamon spice.  My verdict is that they are tasty but absolutely do not qualify as donuts.  There's no getting around it.  Donuts need yeast and deep frying!

Berries and More Berries

Another trip to the upick and my freezer is officially full!

I attempted a pie and it was okay.  The filling wasn't quite thick enough and the crust didn't golden up!  I shall try again because I do like to perfect things.

Raspberry Picking

This year I actually did what I wanted to do...U-Pick!  We are trying to be a bit more frugal this year and so instead of paying someone else to pick my berries I figured there wasn't any reason why I couldn't do it myself...and with a little help by the boys.  We chose to pick at Willowview Farm at the south end of McCallum Road.  We really like that place for pumpkins too.  The rows were beautifully maintained and there were very few people.  The bushes were loaded and we picked three pails in around 25 minutes or so.  It was very nostalgic as I picked berries for many summers as a child.  I absolutely hated it and made my mother miserable with all my moaning about it.  My kids enjoyed it but it was just a wee sampling of berry picking!

Summer Cooking

BBQ chicken pizza....always a winner!

Time to Celebrate

 We were very excited to have Sinead and Ceara's visit to Canada coincide with Keith's birthday.  What a treat to have our dear friends around the table with us!

 We had a delicious steak dinner with all the trimmings.  I don't even think you can see my asparagus hiding under my salad.  After not having beef for a month while Daisy was here, that piece o'cow tasted divine.

 Somehow Ceara and Nate are back to cleaning the kitchen just like they were 5 years ago!

 I made Keith a guinness chocolate cake wtih salted caramel glaze.  

The kids played a little bocci after supper.  The evening was so very warm!

 Ahhh...the whole gang.  We certainly missed Darryl, Clodagh and Emma!

 Liam got to bed very late that evening and had a treat with Ceara reading him his bedtime story.

 Even though the hour was late we just had to have a dip in the hot tub.  

It was a great night!

No Room at the Inn

It's rather hard for me to believe but we have another international guest staying at our house.   Every bedroom has a resident now!
Daisy arrived from Thailand last Thursday and will be with us until April 27th.  She is the teacher for a group of 16 students who are at MEI for a cultural visit. 
So far so good!
She is a delightful lady who is interested in getting to know us, further her English (which is already quite good) and be a part of our lives. 
Last night she cooked up a Thai dinner for us.  Sadly, I was all stuffed up with a cold so my taste buds weren't very sharp but it was very well received by all.
She loves Liam and he's enjoying all the attention!
I know we'll miss her when she goes but until then we will enjoy showing her around our beautiful area and learning about her Thai culture.

 Note that Daisy is cooking in her coat.  She is finding it quite cold here as it is 35 degrees in her city right now!

Soup, Thai omelette and pork & veggie stir fry on rice.

Famoso Pizza

Keith and I have been trying to get out for lunch dates about every 6 weeks or so.  It's nice to meet up in the middle of the day....no babysitting required with Liam at school!  Last week we tried out one of the new eateries at High Street.  It was pretty good.

 I had the soup and small pizza for $10.  The tomato bisque was lovely and fresh tasting.  The Margherita pizza was also quite nice but was lacking in basil.  More please!

 Keith had a personal sized Thai pizza that he really enjoyed.  It was very different he said.  I didn't taste it but it looked good!

It's likely we'll be back to try it again.  It's conveniently located next to the new movie theatre so I'm sure they will get plenty of business.  Truth be told nothing quite beats a Chef's Special pizza from Rendezvous...there is just nothing like it, IMHO of course!

Yummy

 

Check out this easy recipe for a tasty party platter!

 

http://www.couponingncooking.com/2013/09/caramel-apple-cheesecake-dip.html

Lunch

I haven't made lunches for years so I was unaware of the 'Bento Box' phenomenon that has taken over packing school  lunches.

 

It's really quite a genius idea of making lunches more appealing to the little ones who can be so easily distracted from eating at school.  Afternoons are probably already hard enough for teachers without having cranky, unfed children to add to the mix.  I am going to be attempting this style of lunch for Liam now that he's starting full time Kindergarten. 

 

 Some of the Bento boxes are extremely pricey....the above set is around $50 US.

 

 

This one is a bit more reasonable at $25 US.

 

 

 

But I found this 'knock-off' at Superstore for a whopping $6.97!  I'm sure it'll do the job just fine. 

Back to What Works Best

Last summer our gas mower died and we had decided to replace it with an electric mower.  There were a few reasons.  I hated the pull cord of a gas plus the inconvenience of making sure you always had gas on hand to fill the tank.  I grew up using an electric so I was comfortable mowing around an extension cord and it was always ready to go!  No gas needed.
Well, we used an electric for a year and found that it was not suited to our yard at all.  The engine simply was not powerful enough to cut through our thick grass (okay, I am a over-generous with the fertilizer!) so you had to walk r-e-a-l-l-y slow so the engine wouldn't bog down.  Our yard is huge so I didn't like the time it took to mow it.
Now we are back to a gas mower.  We got a great deal on a Craftsman with a Honda motor at Sears.  You will think us weird but we 'fought' over who was going to try it out first this morning.  Me, I just like mowing and Keith just likes machines.  So, I graciously let Keith have the privilege because I know for sure the novelty will wear off for him and it'll be back to me and the boys mowing regularly.  Instead I attacked my ever growing patch of chickweed with a vengeance and re-seeded some bare patches.
My parents bought our electric off of us as theirs was decrepit and falling apart.  Dad just happened to stop by to pick up the mower as I was baking so he was the lucky winner today of a fresh cinnamon bun!

New Cuisine

My parents took Keith out for Vietnamese food for his birthday.  Neither of us had eaten it before.

All I can say is we're in love.

It's absolutely scrumptious.
Oh and I'm in love with Keith too!  Happy Birthday to my ever patient husband who's job in life is to scrape his ever fretful wife off  of the ceiling!!

Bevy

I was introduced to a new beverage last weekend that I want to share with you!  It's a delightfully refreshing and low calorie drink that will be perfect for sipping in summer.  A couple tablespoons of lime cordial in a glass, club soda and ice.
Try it and let me know what you think!

Sushi Reward

We thought that Chad did pretty well in term one but in term two he blew us away!
He upped his GPA from 82% to 87% and landed a place in high honours and received a 'most improved' award.
And so we believe such success must be encouraged and rewarded accordingly.
I give you a sushi extravaganza......

Dad's Surprise Birthday!

I am not the only one in the family to have a milestone birthday this year. 

My dad had a very special 65th birthday on April 1st.  It was a day full of surprises!

It started with a men's only breakfast with his closest pals.  Keith was the emcee and they had fun roasting my dad who loves a good joke.

 Then that evening just us adults when for supper at Greek Islands.  It's consistently delicious there!

 

 My dad opened his cards not really having any clue the surprise inside.
My mother is literally trying not to spill the beans...just look at that effort!

 And the look of astonishment on his face was priceless as he read about his all-expense paid upcoming trip to Bryce Canyon, Utah next week which has amazing photography opportunities due to it's scenery.  He was speechless!

 

And then even though we were stuffed, we came back to our place for dessert.  Guinness Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze.  Oh yes!

 

We're so glad we could make his birthday special....he deserves it because he's such a great guy!

Cereal, How I Love Thee

Have you noticed a new cereal in your grocery store's cereal aisle?  I have always enjoyed the 'bagged' typed cereals when we stay in Oroville during the summer and now it appears they have come to Canada.  These knock-off cereals are extremely close if not precisely the same as the name brand stuff.  At least these 'Cinnamon Bliss' taste JUST like Cinnamon Toast Crunch!  The price was very reasonable as well.
I haven't been eating cold cereal as a daily breakfast anymore due to it's high caloric count but on the weekends I certainly do have a bowl.
Give it a try and let me know what you think!

A Brave New World

These days the kitchen is not solely the woman's domain.    The majority of homes have both mom and dad working outside the home so it's rather important that there is more than one cook in the house.  Nate is fairly keen to cook and has proven himself quite useful when I am looking around for a sister wife to pitch in. Keith fortunately has the excuse of working late most evenings so unless we want to eat around 7:30 or 8:00 pm ( and I certainly do not!) I cook the majority of the meals.  I truly don't mind.  Keith gets Fridays and we cook together on the weekends.
Learning to feed yourself properly is an important skill.  Moms of boys, do them a favour and teach them the basics at least!

Szechuan Shredded Beef Stir-Fry

Szechuan Shredded Beef Stir-Fry recipe at Kraftcanada.com

I made this last night for dinner and I have to say it enthusiastically received.  It was delicious, comforting and economical.
It's most definitely going into my recipe repertoire!
PS.  For our family of six, I doubled the recipe and tripled the sauce.

Slow Speed Blogging

I've lost my blogging mojo.

It's been a heavy few weeks. 

I'll hope to be posting a bit more regularly.

Here's just a bit of an update.

 

 We've been doing family walks to enjoy the beautiful fall colors whenever there's a dry weekend.  Almost all the leaves are down now.  It's such a short but brilliantly gorgeous time!

 

 I made my first ever batch of homemade chicken soup.  Thank you Kori for the recipe.  It was so delicious.  The family just raved and raved about it!

 Liam's having some chest issues and is on two puffers right now.  Sadly his cough is crackly and his breathing is too rapid and shallow.  He's also on an antibiotic just in case of infection.  We received some excellent care at our local clinic and very speedy service at the x-ray department of the hospital last night.  He's been perky through it all which is a bonus.  I think that starting preschool has been a bit of an onslaught on his immune system.  Lots of new germs to fight off!

 These running shoes have had a LOT of kilometers put on them since late August.  I have been walking either on the treadmill or outside 6 days a week!  I can walk very fast now and Keith doesn't really like walking with me so much because he says I go too fast.  Since mid-July I have lost 13 lbs so the weight is coming off VERY slowly but that's okay.  I am committed and not going to give up. 

Nothing magical about it.  Basically, the formula has been 'move more, eat less'. 

 Which leads to me to trying to avoid the last of Liam's Halloween candy!

 

 

Today at work I had to make sure that Marci's skirt was regulation length!  Happily it was exactly 10 cm above the knee and she didn't have to go home and change.  All in a day's work!