April Winter

A sudden unwelcomed blast of Winter in April

has me thinking warm thoughts of just a few weeks ago in the sunny South!

The robins are confused and may even be thinking of heading back there?

I know those thoughts have crossed my mind ...

The bunnies are nibbling at the tulips, the frozen pine tree branches

are groaning in the never-ending wind, my tan is fading fast,

and the "outside" work is at a stand still.

Not these bunnies :)

Spring will come - right?

Never mind, this gives me a chance to catch up where I left off

at the beginning of March and get back at a project or two that puts me

in my happy place.

This quilt obsessed me in January and February

and once I finally

got up enough nerve to start it - it was time to head South.

I may get the piecing done yet this Spring

(it is Spring isn't it?)

however, the assembly and quilting will have to wait.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love trees.

The fabrics for this are absolutely

beautiful and I have the perfect place to

display it - one day ...

The best part about being home is this little person.

She's our love bug and sunshine and we missed her and her mommy and daddy

SO much!

We had some FaceTime with her while

we were in Florida and her daddy

sent us these pictures.

We just saw close-ups of her sweet smile

and teeth and sounds of M-Wah kisses.

This made my heart ache - what a little love.

Glory be - the sun is shining and the snow is melting on the South Side of the House.

It's all good.

Till next time ... I am so thankful for opportunities to travel, to love a grandchild, to spend time crafting, and a warm home to enjoy - never mind the weather.

Those images of Syrian children on the news these last few days has made me so sad. All I can do is pray that the horror will end!

Glamping Breaky II

We have been enjoying our vacation in Florida!

Another great breakfast is pancakes,

especially with some fresh maple syrup we brought from home.

These cakes are so fluffy and yummy.

My sister Evelyn gave this recipe to me some time ago

and it's our favourite.

She calls it their cottage pancake recipe.

I mixed the dry ingredients at home so that only the 

egg, oil and milk needs adding to prepare.

Pancakes at the Cook’s Cottage

1¼ Cup sour milk (if no sour milk, substitute by putting a cap of vinegar into measured milk and let stand for 5 minutes).

1 Egg

2 Tbsp. oil

In separate bowl:

1 Cup Flour

1 Tbsp. Sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

Mix well – add the sour milk and beat.  Let stand till thickened.

Pour onto well oiled hot pan or griddle.   This recipe makes approx. 7 pancakes.

Our little piece of heaven here at one 

of our favourite Florida State Parks.
Morning walks before breakfast couldn't be more pleasant!

Grayton Beach State Park

More about this to come ....

Till next time .... 

Favourite "Glamping" Breaky

Last Spring when we glamped our way westward,

stopping to visit some dear friends in Iowa,

they generously gifted us a huge bag of homemade granola for the road.

It must have been several batches.

Trese and Dale

This recipe has become a favourite and a must have when we 

go on the road with our little RV.

Trese’s Granola

4 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup coconut

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla or almond extract, as desired

¾ cup raisins

¾ cup dried cranberries

Set the oven for 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 1 jellyroll pan, (with sides).  Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk the corn syrup and vegetable oil and the vanilla or almond extract well. Add this to the oatmeal mixture and stir thoroughly with a large spoon.

Pour mixture onto greased jelly roll pan and even out the mixture on the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes for 4 cycles, stirring well between each 15 minute cycle. The granola is done when it has a medium brown color throughout. Place into a large bowl to cool. Stir in the raisins/cranberries and enjoy.

Trese says:

* I make 3 of these at a time, so I always have an extra gallon sized bag of granola to share with those I love.

So glad we received this love gift.

Strawberries are in season where we are right now and this,

with a dollop of delicious organic yogurt

is the perfect way to start every day ...

Till next time ..... hope strawberries will be in season soon where you are too!

Museum Quilts

A recent visit to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates

in Ft. Myers Florida

was a chance to look back into history

about the time that my mom and dad were born - 1916

These beautiful estates with wide porches and immaculate gardens

felt like an oasis from the busy city streets all around them.

We peeked into the windows and listened to the walking audio tutorial

as we wondered around the grounds and gardens.

That's us peeking into the Ford family's Dining Room! Cuppa tea anyone?

The farmer was intrigued by the brilliant inventions of these two men

and stopped to read all the information boards and watch the videos and studies.

I was more interested, it seemed, peeking into the bedrooms with the quilts and antique furnishings.

My favourite one, "Tree of Life"

pattern.

So beautiful in the red and white fabrics!

Another favourite - Red and White Four Hearts Quilt!!!

It was such a lovely day to stroll through some amazing history.

So glad we went.

Me and Mina Miller Edison - she hailed from Akron, Ohio (Menno roots perhaps lol?)

If you ever get the chance, you should see this great museum.

Until next time ....... enjoying some sun and fun.

Rocks and Loaves

On the weekend our curling club held it's annual

Valentine Bonspiel.

The roads were horrid but that didn't stop us ...

It was a fun day and the food, as always, was delicious and

beautifully presented by some of the club member's spouses and families.

This is a day we all look forward to each winter.

Today the weather has turned to icy rain - ugh!

So what's a gal to do on a rainy, icy February day?

Perfect timing to bake some bread ... right!?

Two loaves of our forever favourite "Miriam Bread"

(I looked back in my blog recipes and couldn't believe

that I had never posted this delicious bread)

My cousin Miriam makes this bread recipe all the time

and generously shares it with our church family and friends

at potlucks, family reunions, and such.

She even bakes many, many loaves to distribute to her neighbours

and friends on Hallowe'en along with the children's treats!

Can I say, she is almost famous for this yummy bread.

And why not make a savoury kringle bread as well!

You will see a past post on this bread if you click the above link.

This time I changed up the filling a tad (since I didn't have any fresh herbs on hand to use this time).

2 Tbsp. Ground Flax Seed

1 Tbsp. Poppy Seeds

1 large garlic clove - minced

1 Tbsp. chopped sun dried tomatoes

1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Before baking I sprinkled the dough with some coarse salt and sesame seeds.

Some baking to warm the hearth and home.

Now I might bake a carrot cake - just because I've been craving it.

Till next time ... stay safe where you are - so many storms passing through these past few days!

Butter Tarts and Celebrations

In celebration of Canada's 150th Birthday Year,

I've been gathering up some of my "uniquely Canadian" recipes.

Butter Tarts are quintessentially Canadian - right? eh?

As much as they are also considered a Canadian Mennonite tradition.

This is my attempt at making some butter tarts.

I will also try to make my sister Evelyn's butter tart recipe next time,
which is quite different from this one.

One can never have too many butter tart recipes!

Aunt Sarah’s Butter Tarts

Aunt Sarah (Gerber) Leis – Dad’s youngest sister, who just passed away in June of 2016. These were my favourites and I remember having these at Aunt Sarah’s while hanging out there with my cousin Doreen. The pastry is unusual, rich and almost cookie like made with brown sugar. My Mom had this recipe written out on a scrap piece of paper as “Tarts from Sarah L”.

Cream together ¾ Cup Lard and ½ Cup Brown Sugar. 

Add 1 egg and ¼ Cup Sour Milk

Mix into 2 ½ Cups Flour, ½ tsp. baking soda, and ¼ tsp. salt

Roll out and line tart tins – approx. 2 doz.

Filling:

½ Cup melted butter

½ Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup corn syrup or maple syrup

2 eggs

Vanilla

Mix in order given. Fill tart shell and bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F for another 15-20 minutes.

“She puts some raisins and pecans in each shell and then fills with filling”

Hint: I rolled the dough (which is quite hard to handle) into two logs and then refrigerated them for a good 1/2 hour. I was then able to cut each log into 12 equal parts/disks for easier rolling and handling. The shells were cut with a glass bowl which is 4 1/2 inches in diameter and it worked out well with less handling and waste.

The filling only filled 20 of the 24 shells? I have an idea that Aunt Sarah's tart tins were not quite as deep as mine.

I made them plain - without any raisins or nuts.

Another very Canadian celebration happened a few weeks ago.

Our friend Ali became a Canadian citizen!!

We felt so privileged to take part in this special ceremony and  it

made us so thankful to be a citizen of this fine country.

Ali was thrilled and had worked so hard to achieve this special reward!

This past weekend

a fancy customer appreciation dinner for the farmer's 
branch office was held at the beautiful

Langdon Hall in Cambridge - what a treat!
Well done Oak Tree Financial ...

Our menu included amazing beef tenderloin, trout, flavourful squash soup and the most interesting chocolate mousse dessert!

The appetizers were so pretty - dips for beet chips and veggies

and a cheese tray with piles of raw nuts and dried fruit - so delicious.

Canadian Cuisine at it's best!

I think there will be many more Canadian celebrations to come

during this special year 2017.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Till next time ...... do you have a favourite butter tart recipe?

Sew Blah ....

The January Blahs have set in ...

Instead of bright snowy days over here, we have been having

unusually dreary, mild and muddy weather!

"Sew" why not do some sewing ...

There were a few unfinished projects calling my name in my sewing stash!

Finished this "quilt as you go" project that I started last May - eek!

I think it will be great as an extra blanket in the RV trailer and also
as a wrap on cool summer evenings on our back deck.

It took about 3 spools of thread but the great thing is that it's completely
quilted when it's done.

Even before the quilt was done I was already planning my next project.
I need to learn to actually finish things before my mind wanders to the next one.

My nephew and his wife just had a sweet baby girl a few weeks ago
and I could hardly wait to start this flannelette rag quilt for little Kate!

It only took a few days and was so much fun to make - again a quilt as you go project.
Hope she likes it.

O.K. one more project to finish - I've almost forgotten how dreary and blah it is outside.

This is a free snowman table runner
pattern and fabric from a local
"shop hop"
before Christmas which also needs to be finished,
even tho' Christmas is long over.

It isn't finished yet - I'm experimenting with
free-hand machine quilting - a technique I'd love to master.




















Clearly, as you can see, much more
practice is needed.
Question is - will this get finished
before next Christmas???
Time will tell.






















Needless to say, I have a package of beautiful fabric that 
was recently delivered with a quilt or two in mind ....

Maybe the January Blahs aren't so blah after all.

Till next time - what projects are you finishing, starting or hoping to do this Winter?