Let's Make Krapfen ...

July 4, 2016

Ella wanted to learn and help me with making ...

Bauernkrapfen

(Austrian Farmer's Doughnut) ...

These are one of Oma's favourite treats ...

we were introduced to them when we were in Austria ...

and Oh My Goodness ... they are a favourite of mine now ...

So this day we are learning together ...

as this is my first attempt of making Krapfen ...

Here goes ...

first we need to heat up some milk to melt the butter ...

Then Ella stirred in the sugar ... yeast ... eggs and flour ...

we then kneaded it and shaped it into a ball ...

placed it in a bowl ... covered it to let it rise ...

We ventured out into the garden ... the kids picking raspberries ...

peas and strawberries ...

James just had to taste one of the beans ...

I picked a Kohlrabi ... swiss chard and a Walla Walla onion ...

Ella helped eat the strawberries ...

checked out the cauliflower and broccoli ...

Then going for a quick quad ride ... and playing with Uncle Ian's duck marionette ...

James and Ella decided to go for a quick dip ...

waiting for the dough to finish rising ...

Little did they know that we were going to have a downpour of rain ...

The kids came in the house ...

ready for the next step in the process of making Krapfen ...

First punching down the dough ...

shaping it into a log ...

then cutting it into equal sized portions ...

James & Ella learning how to shape them into balls ...

setting them on the floured breadboard ...

leaving them to rise a bit ...

The two of them did a great job ...

James bailed on Ella and I ...

not sure what he was up to ...

The dough was then flattened ... it took me a bit of trial and error to getting the right shape ...

I decided to use the back of a label to help me shape and stretch the dough ...

Ella helped shape the rest as I was going to start frying them ...

In a pan with peanut oil in it ...

was then placed on the stove and heated up ...

the secret is to place the disc into the oil ...

and ladle hot oil over it to make the centre puff up ... until the underside is golden ...

then flip it over and continue to ladle hot oil into the centre ...

Once the Krapfen was golden underneath ...

it was time to remove it from the pan ...

drain on a rack ...

Then as you can see ... sprinkle some icing sugar on them and enjoy ...

James and Ella thought that Raspberry Jam would be a good idea ...

to put in the middle ... then sprinkle the powered sugar on ...

It tasted like a jelly doughnut then ... MMMMMMM

They loved them ... and thought I should make more ...

PS ... there were a few misfits until I mastered the technique ... !!!

 

 

 

Summer Holidays Begin ...

July 3, 2016

James and Ella were so excited to go swimming ...

they had the pool all to themselves ...

as Craig was with his other grandparents on a canoe trip ...

James loves the hot tub ... taking a few minutes to relax ...

It looks like Ella's goggles were a little tight ... :)

Mitchell and Carter are friends of James and Ella's

they were visiting their Grandma & Grandpa who live in the area ...

with their mom April ...

The kids all go to the same school and Mitchell plays hockey with James ...

They had so much fun ... in and out of the pool and hot tub ...

they only stopped when it was time to have a snack ...

James and Ella continued to play in the pool ...

James finally was able to lay down on the noodles without falling into the water ...

Ella was busy taking some pictures ...

Ummmm ....

I think there was more whipped cream than strawberries ...

I know there were lots of berries cut into the bowl ...

before the whipped cream ...

I have to chuckle with these two ...

they love getting out Grandpas bib ... (it was a Christmas gift years ago) ...

and also our boys bibs from when they were small ...

the only ones I had left were Santa Claus and a Snowman ...

They usually put them on when it is going to be messy meal ...

I just luv it ... !!!

It was a great day playing and visiting with friends ...

 

Assembly Continues ...

July 6, 2016

The motor and transmission ...

have been installed ...

next the new air intake filter was added to the motor ...

 

Ian then put on the radiator with the antiqued cowling ...

to cover it ...

It's a bit strange seeing the gas tank ...

on the outside of the car ...

The floor and transmission cover have not been installed ...

inside the cab yet ...

 

Nixon's First Day of Summer School ...

July 5, 2016

This was Nixon's first day of school ...

in the summer program ... before starting Pre Kindergarten ...

and loving his Ninja Turtle backpack ...

He was so excited ... !!!

Entering into the Redd School ...

and finding his cubby hole ...

with his name on it ...

This is where his items are stored for the day ...

He was eager to have a funtime ...

For information on the Redd School click

here

 

It's Daigen's Birthday ...

June 29, 2016

Hope you had a wonderful day ...

(especially at Chuck E. Cheese's) ...

for your birthday playtime and lunch ...

Love you Lots ...

Grandma & Grandpa

xoxo

Thank you Ian & Kendall for sending this picture ...

 

 

More On The 32 ...

June 15, 2016

Ian made the firewall part for the car ...

this is attached to front of the cab ... separating the cab from the motor ...

June 23, 2016

Here Ian was doing the finishing touches on the frame ... dragging it outside ...

to get it ready to paint ...

It looks like he had done some grinding and sanding the frame ...

 

June 24, 2016

Ian then took large sheets of plastic ...

and made a paint booth in the garage ...

He decided to paint the frame this shade of green ...

as the body is a lighter green colour ... with a darker green colour on the trim ...

Ian spent a few hours in the garage ...

painting the car frame ...

June 25 & 26, 2016

Once the paint was dry ...

Ian started to put all the body parts back ...

Ian also installed new disc brakes instead of the old drum brakes ...

 

 

Houston Camping Trip ...

May 22, 2016

Ian & Kendall decided to have a little holiday ...

taking the boys on a camping trip ...

and a chance to ride their new dirt bikes ...

Ian riding on the back of the dirt bike ...

teaching Daigen how to ride his new bike ...

Eventually Ian was able to just go for a ride ...

as Daigen drove him around the sandy area himself ...

Kendall was on the quad and giving Nixon rides ... following Ian & Daigen ...

It was time for a break ...

a what better place to be than up in the tree having a snack ...

After their break ...

it was time for the gang to go out riding again ...

They're looking pretty cool in their outfits ...

Daigen was totally exhausted from riding all day ...

and it looks like Nixon still had some energy to burn ...

Love that they were having so much fun ...

It was time to cool off in the man-made lake ...

while daddy was enjoying a cool beverage and watching his boys in the water ...

Ian spending some time with "Meatball" ...

and Nixon taking his turn taking "Brutus for a walk ...

They had a great holiday ...

and also celebrated Kendall's birthday ...

 

A Couple of Busy Days ...

June 21, 2016

We decided to have BBQ salmon for dinner today ...

the salmon was put into the FoodSaver marinating dish ...

in a combination of soya sauce ... brown sugar ... lemon pepper ... garlic powder ...

oil and water ... for a couple hours ...

then grilled on the BBQ ...

It was so flaky and delicious ...

This recipe is a keeper ... !!!

We had quite the storm this afternoon ...

and once it had passed ... the sun shone behind us and displayed this beautiful rainbow ...

Mike had a resident Robin ...

that was insistent on building its nest on top of the light fixture by the shop ...

After I took a few pictures ... these young birds had flown the coop ...

Now Mike can clean up the nest and build a cover over the light fixture ...

We also received the picture of Ella at her dance recital ...

then it wasn't a few days later that Ella had a spill ...

from riding her scooter to pick up the mail ...

Nathan ended up spending the evening at the hospital ...

while Ella received a few stitches ...

June 25 & 28, 2016

Mike was busy sprucing up the quads ... fixing a few minor issues ...

except for Ella's quad had a motor mount broken ...

so Grandpa had to weld it up and put it back together ...

as the grandchildren were planning on coming for a visit ...

On June 28 ... already summer ...

Nathan drove home from work in a snowstorm ...

the roads were covered ... wet and a mess ...

and Grandpa was swimming in to pool at the same time ...

It's strange how different the weather can be from one place to another ...

 

 

Fresh From My Garden ...

June 11, 2016

It was great to see how much the garden had grown while we were on holiday ...

Mike had his hands full ... thinning the apples ... there were so many of them ...

needed to get them to a good spacing to grow big apples ...

Another sweet potato clipping was ready to be planted ...

We'll see how they will produce ...

Love seeing the growth of the potato plant in the potato boxes ...

June 15, 2016

A little TLC ...

water and sunshine does wonders for my garden ...

 

 

Kendall's Car ...

May - June 2016

Ian decided it was time to work on Kendall's car ...

They were given this 1932 Ford Model B Mustang ...

from Kendall's dad ...

which originally belonged to Barry's grandfather ...

It was going to be a big project ... but Ian was excited to get it done ...

In May Ian and his family also received their Green Cards ...

these give them permission to stay in the United States as long as they want to ...

no more worrying about getting Visa's to work in the USA ...

Ian is very talented in the fabrication of parts ...

He ended up making custom bent spindles ...

and the rear end mounted with trailing arms ...

When Ian had sent these pictures ...

this is what he had written ... and it touched my heart ...

"Thought you would like to see Opa's hammer ...

I've been using to build the car as well as his plaque always looking over the build."

On June 11 ... Ian sent these pictures ...

"Finally mounted the rad, utilized some new old stock clips from Ernie's Auto body. Also made a mount for the power rack and pinion."

On June 21 ...

Ian had made custom shock mounts ...

We are so excited for Ian & Kendall ...

can't wait to see it done ...

Of course it still has a long way to go ...

I do believe he will get the 32 done before Mike finishes the VW ...

they both love tinkering with cars ...