Pear Butter

It's Raining Pears!!

Our old pear tree is heavy laden with pears this year!

The branches are breaking down from the weight.

I don't recall seeing so many pears in all of our 36 + years here on this farm.

We aren't even sure what kind they are, just that it's a very old tree

that never gets pruned or never sprayed for bugs.

It just gives us lovely shade on our back deck ...

Pears are one of our granddaughter's favourite foods. 

She says "Num Num" when she sees them.

The farmer has crawled up the step ladder as high as it is safe to do so

to rescue some of those beauties.

They are rock hard and keep ripening once picked.

You have to catch that perfect "in-between hard and too soft" stage.

A few have ripened and now what to do ...

Options are canned pears, pear jam, pear sauce, pear pie filling,

or why not pear butter?

Here is the recipe I used:

14 Cups chopped pears (unpeeled and quartered). I cut the blossom ends out and removed the stems. Also cut out any blemishes and bruises.

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger

1 star anise

1 Cup water

Juice from one lemon (save the zest)

Cook this in a large heavy pot till the pears are completely soft (30-40 minutes).

Discard the star anise and press the fruit through a food mill or chinoise to make sauce.

This made approx. 6 Cups of sauce. Discard the pulp and put the sauce into kettle to boil down.

Add:

1 Cup sugar

Lemon zest from one lemon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

You can adjust the sugar to taste but I found that 1 Cup was enough for this small batch. I saw one recipe that recommended 1/2 Cup sugar for each Cup of sauce - a bit much I think?

Cook on medium heat, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning. This takes time (about 2 hours) and babysitting. Ladel into hot sterilized jars and seal. This batch cooked down to about 4 1/2 pint jars of butter. 

Taste notes: The star anise added a wonderful flavour. I am looking forward to trying this on tea biscuits with a spread of cream cheese - Num Num. I would probably make a double batch next time to make the effort more worth while.

Till next time - watching the pears drop/ripen and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of this bountiful harvest! 

Mom's Society Chip Pickles

This tattered and yellowed old recipe was in amongst 

my mom's recipes.

She called these Society Chip Pickles.
I believe she got this recipe from my sister Evelyn many years ago!

Mom's handwriting

I well remember these neon green, super sweet pickles and was

inspired to try them after seeing some at a recent bbq.

In fact, we were invited to dinner where this very jar of "9 day" pickles had

originated from and a new batch was in process there.

So, off to the market I went ... I just had to do it!
I purchased a heaping 6 qt. basket of medium sized pickles,
prepared the spices and was off to the races.

Today was the final day - day 9 and as I type this post, 
the jar lids are popping ...

4 days of boiling water soaks and
then sliced on the 5th day.

a few drops of green food colouring added on day 6, 7, and 8

Canning day #9.

They taste super sweet/sour and very crunchy. Success I hope!

Notes: 

I washed and trimmed the stem ends off each cucumber

I made a batch and one half of the vinegar/sugar juice (enough to cover the sliced pickles).

   (i.e. 12 Cups sugar - divided, 3 Tbsp. pickling salt, 6 Cups vinegar, 2 1/2 Tbsp. pickling spice)

Next time I would add a bit more food colouring to achieve that neon green look or leave it out all together. The colouring is totally optional.

This made 10 pints plus a quart of pickles (I had to run for a few more jars).

Each day during the boiling water baths I scimmed off any foam that floated to the top during the night and rinsed the cucumbers before pouring the fresh boiling hot water on.

Till next time ...... have you been inspired to do some canning this summer? 

Inspired Peach Custard Tart and Travelling

The other week my sweet sister-in-law made us a yummy peach pie.

It had a shortbread crust and was still warm when she brought it.

We could hardly wait for dinner over the next few days as we looked forward 

to this delicious dessert!

Thanks so much Marilyn - what a treat.

You inspired me ....

Peaches are so in season right now and I purchased a little basket

of those rosy cheeked Red Haven wonders at the market.

When there were only a few peaches left and needed to be used up I hunted down a recipe

for a shortbread crusted peach pie and found this wonderful

Land 'O Lakes Peach Custard Tart recipe on line

To keep the rosy tone on the peaches, I scalded them with boiling water

for a few minutes.

Is this how you peel your peaches?

Love the colour of these beauties

I think I'll be making this recipe again and again - it was delicious!

We enjoyed it with some dear friends, Dianne and John

while chatting about their adventures and world travels.

Dianne writes a fabulous blog called

20 Years From Now - No Regrets

(click on the above link to view her blog)

They explore the world, house sitting and pet sitting in the most amazing places!

What a great way to travel and make new friends ...

They have inspired us to consider more travelling as well.

Till next time - enjoying this hot, hot summer we are having and thankful for a nice green lawn again after some much needed rains.

Be inspired ...........

Noa's Smash Cake

It made quite a mess in the kitchen but it was so much fun

creating a "smash cake" for Noa's party.

I used the Vanilla Sponge Cake recipe from this link:

http://www.gretchensbakery.com/vanilla-sponge-cake-recipe/

We wanted a smallish cake to "smash" so I cut two smaller circles from the baked layer cakes.

The remaining cake was cut into chunks, frozen,   and will be perfect for my next Trifle!

Okay, now came the icing - oh my.

Here is where my inexperience comes in ......

I totally had the kitchen upside down as I mixed not one but two batches of

butter cream icing - colouring the icing in three stages

to create an ombre look to the cake.

Do you make a mess when mixing up icing or cake for that matter?

This picture does not do justice to the mess!

It wasn't perfect but I hope Noa likes it.

We'll find out tomorrow at her beach party.

Well, tomorrow happened and we had a lovely party.
Our darling Noa had quite an exciting day and the birthday cake was far too sweet for her taste.
Much credit to her mommy who has kept sugar out of her diet.
It was so funny to see the look on her face and the shutter and cough after a wee taste.
She is sweet enough without all that sugar - that's for sure.

"No cake or baby were harmed in this experiment"

Sometimes we can hardly believe the love that we feel for this little person!!

A gal and her best friend ... on her first birthday.

Till next time ......... welcoming August 2016 - how the time is flying by!!!!

Raspberry Custard Pie

There has been a bit of chatter lately on our family Reunion

Facebook page, about raspberry pie!

Raspberries are in full season over here and thanks to my cousin Ruthann I just got so hungry for this pie. She also reminded us of the raspberry crumb pie mom used to make.

That will have to be my next one ...

My mother made the best pies in her "old" granite pie plates

and this one is from her:

I am fortunate to have inherited a few of mom's pie plates!

Years ago I began collecting family recipes for a cookbook

that still needs to be finished - I'll get it done one of these years hopefully.

This pie recipe was submitted for the cookbook by my nephew Nick.

I think my dear mom's cooking is what her grandchildren remember the most.

It was always delicious and made with lots and lots of heaping love.

Grandma’s Raspberry Custard Pie

2 Eggs

Pinch of Salt

2 Tbsp. heaping brown sugar

1 Tbsp. heaping Flour

2 Cups whole milk

Method:

Beat eggs, add salt, sugar and flour

Put fruit in pie shell, pour custard mixture over top.

This is my personal favourite of Grandma’s pies.  I got this recipe from Aunt Evelyn one summer after finding a bumper crop of raspberries in the old barn yard at our place in Kenilworth.  One bite and I thought I was back at Grandma’s house for one of her famous Sunday dinners!

Nick A.

It turned out not too bad.

Although when I opened the oven door - the smoke alarm went off.

I think it ran over a wee bit due to not really knowing what temperature to bake it at, instructions that were sometimes missing from mom's recipes.

I baked it at 475F for 5 minutes and then at 425F for another 30 minutes.

BTW when she said "heaping" she meant heaping!

I love raspberries and especially when they are served in a pie!

Meanwhile today, my little love came for a quick visit.

We had such fun, making homemade noodles and then eating them.

There was even some time to play outside for a spell. A nice way to try to stay cool on this hot summer day.

I am still learning how to make pasta and was trying to figure out how I could hang it up to dry when it occurred to me that the divider rack from our old freezer would do the trick!

So glad I didn't throw it out ...

Till next time ..... stay safe this holiday weekend and stay cool.

The "kids" are going to the cottage this weekend

and this coffee cake is synonymous with "cottage" to me.

This is my go to coffee cake for many occasions such as,

cottage take along, carry-in meals, the guys fishing trips, and any make aheads for brunch or

overnight guests.

It always turns out, except for one time when I tried making it

in Grande Prairie, AB where my daughter used to live.

I made it in a bundt cake pan and used Greek Yogurt instead of Sour Cream

and it became very dense and almost inedible - weird!

This is one of those cakes that gets better after a few days - the cake stays

moist and delicious.

This recipe also appears in our church cookbook - one of my favourite books.

I think I usually submit this recipe whenever one is needed for a cookbook!

I checked my blog to see if I had posted this recipe before but couldn't find it there

(which surprised me since I almost know it off by heart) so here goes:

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

From my Betty Crocker Card Library!

3/4 Cup Butter Softened

1 1/2 Cup sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 Cup All-purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Cups Dairy Sour Cream (I usually use 5% MF although Full Fat works great too)

Filling:

Mix 1/2 C brown sugar (packed), 1/2 C finely chopped nuts (I always use walnuts)  and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

Heat oven to 350F degrees.  Grease tube pan.

In large mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and then mix this alternately with the sour cream into the batter. I start with 1/3 of dry mixture, 1/2 wet mixture, 1/3 of dry, 1/2 wet and end with 1/3 of the dry mixture.

Spread 1/3 of the this batter into the bottom of the pan, sprinkle with 1/3 of the filling - repeat twice.

First 1/3 layer - repeat two more times

Bake for about 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.  Cool slightly in pan before removing.

Tips: I've learned not to preheat the oven until I'm at the stage where you start mixing in the flour and the sour cream because I'm never ready to put the cake into the oven by the time the oven is preheated - especially on a very hot day like today!

Another trick, so to speak, is to turn your sour cream upside down in the fridge (this keeps it from getting moldy and lasts way past the expiration date). My dear friend Jan taught me this one.

This really works!!

Serve with butter and fresh strawberry jam!!!

Because I'm sending this to the cottage I can't show you how it looks sliced,

but here is Betty Crocker's picture and it really does look like this ....

Till next time ....... July is whizzing by and I still feel like I'm trying to catch up from May and June.

Our sweet little love turned one and we can't wait to celebrate this with the whole family (stay tuned).

Catching Up

How can it possibly be over one month since I've last posted???

My intention was to wrap up our Wild West trip

with "homeward bound" pictures and stories.

I hope I can recall some details as to document our trip.

We spent a few days in Grande Prairie, helping a little with packing

up the family there in preparation for the move back to Ontario.

It was nice to be there for the last time and get our fair share of hugs and cuddles

with this little beauty ...

We bravely hit the road for the long trek (3,800 km/2,360 miles) home,

knowing that our wee family would soon be following.

Our first stop was the Edmonton, Alberta area with a quick shopping trip

to the famous West Edmonton Mall - it's enormous!

The next day we drove into beautiful downtown Edmonton ...

enjoyed Dim sum for lunch and explored the beautiful City Hall.

Over the next few days we visited some friends and family.

It was delightful to pop in on my nephew and his wife who live in Vermillion.

There we met their newborn and 2 year old daughters.

Totally forgot to take a picture.

Soon we were in the next province - Saskatchewan.

There we stopped in on some wonderful friends.

First was a quick visit with Bill and Helen in Saskatoon.

I was Bill's administrative assistant for 10 years while he was the

principal at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate. 

Helen was a teacher at the same school and they were like family to us during those years!

It was so great to see these dear folks again!

That evening we rolled in to the farm yard of another couple of 

wonderful folks whom we had also met during my years at Rockway.

Les and Lil welcomed us with open arms.

The next morning they filled our trailer fridge with homemade bread,

cinnamon buns, sausage and steaks.

We weren't allowed to leave their yard until our gas tank was generously topped up as well.

Such amazing hospitality!

A very special couple!!!!

It was now time to "make time" and get this rig home!

Let's just say, when the farmer is headed home, there will be some long driving days ahead.

We managed to enjoy seeing some of the almost extinct grain elevators

before leaving this beautiful province.

Before we knew it - we arrived back home - 3 days ahead of schedule!

(not that we really had a firm schedule).

In the meantime here at home - the "kids" have successfully moved back to Ontario, are settling in nicely and live 10 MINUTES - again I say 10 MINUTES from our house!!!

Our hearts are full as we become accustomed to this huge change in our lives. A special little one will be turning One Year old in just a few short days!

Till next time ....... hope you are enjoying a healthy and happy summer so far. 

Awesome Alberta

The Rocky Mountains in Alberta take your breath away!

The snow capped peaks, lush valleys, rocky canyons, and
turquoise lakes are simply magnificent!!

First stop - Banff National Park - what a beautiful place!

After a quick visit with some friends from our area who were vacationing there and 

with a dear childhood friend who works in Banff,

we headed to our rustic campsite near Lake Louise.

Lake Louise never gets old - it's always such a pleasure to see in spite of hoards of tourists.

From Lake Louise on to Jasper Park we used a very interesting and informative

tour app on our iPhone - "GyPSy - Icefields Parkway"

What fun to make many stops along the way as suggested by the app

(once we figured out how to use it .... )

In Jasper National Park we met up with some new friends that we met at the Osoyoos

Rally and they showed us around the park and took us to Jasper Park Lodge and to a great restaurant

where we enjoyed a gourmet dinner and drinks .... what a great day it was!

Picnic on the dock at Lake Maligne

Couldn't resist "Waterloguing" this store front in Banff!

After leaving these beautiful parks - we headed further North to see this sweet face!

Our little love!

Till next time ......... turning this rig around to make the long trek home!

Beautiful British Columbia!

Osoyoos, BC is a beautiful area in the Okanogan Valley

and we were fortunate to attend an "Escape RV" rally there.

This was one of our main reasons for travelling across the continent

and it was well worth being there for this company's costumer appreciation weekend.

More than 140 Escapes were there!!!  There were 13 ft., 15 ft., 17 ft., 19 ft., 21 ft., and 5th wheel

sizes represented.

Our's is the one to the far left

There were wine tours, greet and meet meals, pancake breakfasts, pot luck dinners, and more which helped us connect with other "Escapees" and make many new friends.

After taking our trailer to the manufacturer in Chilliwack (a short trip from Osoyoos) for some small repairs and retrofitting, I was treated

to a garden coffee party by some very dear ladies who live in that area and whom I've learned to "know" from blogging over the past few years.

They are the sweetest people and I felt SO honoured to be able to meet with them.

If you have read my blog posts you know who they are!!!!

A selfie of us taken by Lovella.

Left to right - Judy, me, Ellen, Anneliese, Kathy, and Lovella

This was my first time meeting Judy and Ellen (Ellen drove from Seattle just for this little party - what a gift!).

Kathy arranged the whole thing and made delicious scones with devonshire cream, jam and a beautiful fresh fruit platter.

She set the table, complete with china and silverware and served hot coffee in pretty mugs!

Judy made a delicious fruit dip, and Lovella brought the gorgeous peonies.

It was such fun and I felt like I was home.

They showered me with unexpected gifts and their friendship.

My trailer table never looked so pretty!!

These women have been such an inspiration and blessing to me in more ways than they will ever know.

They are all part of the famous Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog and cookbooks!!!

One day I hope to meet them ALL.

After leaving them, the farmer and I picked up our good as new little trailer and started heading East!

Our overnight campground was breathtakingly beautiful - Skihist Provincial Park

near Lytton, BC

View from the back of our campsite - notice the train track alongside the mighty Fraser River!

From here we travelled through tunnels and mountain passes,

landing in Golden, BC for the first night in June.

June 1st has been a good day - my sister informed us that her 5th

grandchild was born this morning - Lela Sarah Ann.

We are surely blessed beyond what we deserve ........

Till next time ......... feeling the warmth of friendship and family.