Valentine's Day ...

February 14, 2017

 

Happy Valentine's Day ...

It's a beautiful ... loving day ... !!!

A special morning ... showered with gifts ...

mainly CHOCOLATE ... !!!

Mike and I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast ... and then I made my way into town ...

to spend the afternoon with Oma ...

After running a few errands ... some shopping downtown ...

we decided to go for lunch ...

Oma wanted to go to DQ ... we shared a meal ...

so that we could have our own Sundae as our treat ... !!!

It doesn't take much to please the two of us ...

love spending time with mom ... wherever it is ... !!!

I also received a goody bag from Oma ... special made cookies from Rosa ...

a resident at Joseph Creek Village ...

I knew exactly what my gift was ... from the aroma of anise seed oil from the bag ...

They were homemade ... and are one of my favourite cookies ...

PIZZELLE

 

Pronounced“pit-sel”

"Pizzelles are the oldest known cookie. It isgenerally believed they originated in the Abruzzo region of south-central Italyin ancient times to mark an annual celebration. The name comes from the Italian word Pizze for round and flat. In someparts of Italy, the irons were embossed with family crests and passed down toeach generation. Over time it became tradition to use pizzelles to celebrateany holiday or festive occasion. "

 

 

Last of the Baking ...

December 13, 2016

 

The cookies were rolled out and cut out with the gingerbread cookie cutter ...

then baked and left to cool ...

It was nice to see the elk by the fence again ...

 

December 14, 2016

The cookies were going to be iced ... and finished today ...

as they needed to be packed and sent to Daigen ...

The last batch of cookies to be made were the spritz cookies ...

This batch was going to be shortbread cookies ... with sprinkles for decoration ...

These are another favorite of mine ...

Shortbread made with cream cheese ... orange rind and a pinch of cinnamon...

pressed out as a flower and a little piece of candied cherry added to the Centre ...

These cookies melt in your mouth ...

mmmmmmmm

Daigen's box of Gluten Free Gingerbread men were packed ...

Ian ... Kendall and Nixon ... were getting an assortment of my Christmas cookies ...

The card that Ella created and the small packages of Smarties (the boys love Smarties ... they cannot get them in the USA) ...

were packaged up ...

All of these items and more were put into a large box to be sent to Texas ...

for Christmas ...

 

 

Cookies ... GT Racer ... Car ...

December 11, 2016

We were up early this morning ... ready to seize the day ...

after breakfast we set the table to start icing and decorating ...

all the cookies that were baked the day before ...

Nathan came in to inspect the creative decorating of the cookies ...

Hey ...!!!!

There are a few cookies missing ... Nathan ...?????

We had a fun time decorating ...

The kitchen was cleaned up and the cookies left out to dry ...

before they were packaged up to be taken home ...

James was feeling better ...

they all went out to go sledding ... being pulled by grandpa on the quad ...

hmmmm ...

where did that extra GT Racer come from ...

I thought we only had two ... ???

The kids had a blast outside ... it was still very cold ... so they were not out for very long ...

It was time to have some lunch ... finish a few projects and get things packed up to head back home ...

Ella finished creating the Christmas card for their cousins ... Daigen and Nixon ...

so that I could send it in the package being mailed to Texas ...

Oma's car was cleaned out as well ... Nathan found a pair of Opa's flip-up sunglasses ...

and they all took a turn in trying them on ...

They sure got quite a kick out of them ...

The car was packed up ... ready to take Oma's car home ...

Everyone was excited and happy for this awesome gift ...

Safe travels ...!!!

 

 

Let's Have Fun ...

December 10, 2016

Ella wanted to make a Christmas card for Daigen and Nixon ...

and send it in the package with their gifts ...

Ella then snuggled up to Craig ... shhhhh ... she was on a mission ...

she was sweet talking him to go outside and play ... and it worked ...

The two of them went out with grandpa ... and he towed them around with the quad ...

those GT racers were flying ...

James was feeling under the weather and did not go out ...

he was relaxing on the couch ... hoping to get better ...

Ella came back in from sledding ... and Craig went to the shop to work with Grandpa ...

James was feeling a little better ... so we decided to make a batch of sugar cookies ...

Ella loved all the cookie cutters ... and did a great job placing them on the baking sheets ...

 

James had his turn with rolling out the cookie dough ...

placing the cookie cutters ... and putting them on the trays to be baked ...

Once all the cookies were baked ... they were left to cool ...

to be decorated tomorrow ...

James went to lay down and have a rest ... poor little guy ... hoping his fever would break ...

Ella came outside with me to check the boiler ... and add some wood ...

She then thought she would make a snow angel ...

as there were no tracks of any kind on the deck ...

It was perfect ... so beautiful this little angel ...

After an evening of working on remote control cars ... and whatever else needed fixing ...

the three crazies decided to slip into the hot tub ... which was set at 39 C ...

brrrrrrrrr ... it was -18 C this evening

They sure ran in quick to the house once they got out of the hot tub ...

 

Baking All Day ...

December 7, 2016

Wow ... another beautiful day ... a chilly one though ...

just luv seeing the ice crystals on the glass ...

 

Well ... the frigid weather won't affect me today ... 

as the oven will be on keeping our home toasty and warm ...

withthe next few batches of Christmas cookies baking ...

 

Baking colourful sugar cookie flowers ...

 

Rolling out the vanilla and chocolate dough to make pinwheel cookies ...

The kids all luv these cookies ...

The first batch of cookies have cooled ...

it was time to decorate them with icing and sprinkles ...

 

The kitchen was definitely warmed up with this days activities ... 

Time to clean up ... grab a cup of tea and put my feet up ...

oh dear ... not going to happen yet ...

we needed to have dinner ...

Anyone deliver out here ...?????

 

More Cookies ...

December 6, 2016

It was a busy day ... decorating all the gingerbread men and angels ...

it warms my heart to see them smile back at me ...

 

It takes a bit of time to decorate all of them ...

grateful the this was a job I could do sitting down ...

 

After the cookies were done ... and a lunch break ...

Mike and I proceeded to drag in this 14 ft Christmas tree ...

Old sheets were placed on the kitchen floor ... the butt end of the tree was placed on my shoulder ...

Mike took the top of the tree and we squeezed it thru ...

the sliding glass door opening ... 

We then turned the tree around to have the top end go into the living room ... under the log stringers ...

to be stood up in its place ...  

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the sun setting on the mountains ...

While Mike was busy fixing up the tree ... tying it up to secure it ...

I started baking another batch of cookies ...

Once these snowflake cookies had cooled ... 

they were then decorated ... 

Sitting down at the island ... the little lines were piped onto the snowflake ...

It was another busy day ... 

and I enjoyed every minute of it ... luv the decorating touches on all the cookies ...

 

 

Cookies and a Christmas Tree ...

December 3, 2016

My morning started out with making the Gingerbread dough ...

dividing it into four discs ... then placed them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours ...

After the dough was cooled ...

it was time to roll it out and start cutting out the gingerbread men and angels ...

placing them on prepared cookie sheets and putting them in the oven to be baked ...

 

I decided to make a double batch of Vanille Kipferl (Viennese Vanilla Crescents) dough ...

while the Gingerbread dough was in the refrigerator ...

The dough was divided into sections ...

the pieces were then rolled by hand ...

into small logs and shaped into a crescent ...

Once they were baked ... they were taken out of the oven ...

cooled for one minute ...

then rolled into vanilla flavoured icing sugar ...

The cookies were place on cookie racks until cooled ...

then rolled in the icing sugar mix again ... and stored in a airtight container ...

These cookies are one of the families favourite ...

 

 

We decided to go out in search of a Christmas tree today as well ...

after the Vanille Kipferl cookies were baked ...

The weather this afternoon was perfect ... plus there was a snowstorm ...

in the forecast for the next couple days ...

We headed out down the road ... to Oma's place ... to find a tree ...

We found a beautiful ... tall tree ...

Mike proceeded to cut down the tree with the chainsaw ...

While I stood aside and watched ... taking a picture as it was falling ...

Mike stepped out the length of the tree ... marked it and cut the top of the tree off ...

I sure hope he marked it correctly ...

It took the two of us to pack it to the small flat deck trailer ...

to be hauled home ...

It was a good thing that we had built the new car shelter ...

Mike backed the trailer in to store the tree ... to protect it from the deer and elk ...

from eating it ... until we could bring it into the house ...

Once that was done ... I continued to bake Gingerbread cookies for another hour ...

 

The Baking Begins ...

November 27, 2016

It was the perfect day to start on my Christmas baking ...

The first batch that was baked today ... are the ...

German Pfefferneusse

(Pepper Nut Balls)

Once the cookies had cooled ... the special icing was made ...

A few cookies were placed into a bowl ... with a couple tablespoons of icing ...

then tossed around to coat ...

The cookies were then placed on the racks to dry ...

This process was done until all the cookies were coated ...

They were stored in an airtight container ... when they were dried ...

for the flavours to blend ... until Christmas ...

 

 

Ready For Houston ...

January 6, 2016

Getting the last of the baking done ...

Gluten-free gingerbread men for Daigen ...

before heading down to Houston, Texas ...

for our family Christmas together ...

The rest of the family will be receiving a supply ...

of my other Christmas cookies ...

We were informed that Smarties are not available in Houston ...

so we decided to pick up a few pounds ...

to take with us on the trip ...

They will be so excited ... I know Kendall already is ... !!!

While waiting for Mike to finish up with his meeting in Calgary ...

I made the boys a few more Paracord bracelets ...

once they are fitted to the boys wrists ... and no further adjustments needed ...

I will finish them off for them ...

 

January 7, 2016

The weather had changed drastically overnight ...

a snowstorm ... blizzard ... moved in ...

We headed to the airport ... arrived in plenty of time ... boarded the plane ...

and had to wait for the plane to be de-iced ...

before we were able to take flight ...

This was the first time that I have had to experience this ...

It was kind of gave us an eerie feeling ...

The flight was good once we left the Calgary area ... it was quite turbulent to start ...

We arrived safely to our destination ...

and were so excited to be seeing Ian, Kendall and the boys ...

 

Daigen and Nixon were just as excited to see ...

grandma and grandpa ...

They were so helpful ... giving grandpa a hand ...

with the luggage ...

We had a good drive to the house ...

takes a bit of getting used to all the traffic on the Houston highways ...

Once we were settled in ...

there was a gift basket full of goodies ...

waiting for us to snack on before dinner ...

It was a great day ... all the way around ...

seeing Ian and his family ...

It's going to be a wonderful holiday ... !!!

 

Special Gifts ...

December 21, 2015

These few gift packages were delivered to Joseph Creek Village ...

to share with a few of the special people in my life ...

Oma was so excited to have a received her package from Austria ...

she waited until I came to her place to open it ...

We couldn't wait to open them up and have a taste of Resi's strudel ...

and her Austrian Kletzenbrot ... (hopefully I'll get her recipe) ...

The filling can consist of dried pears, apples, prunes, apricots, peaches, raisin ...

and other ingredients ... put into a yeast dough ... rolled and baked ...

It is sooooooo delicious ... !!!

I also received moms fruit strudel, poppyseed strudel and her nut filled strudel ...

Always grateful at this time of year for these treats ... !!!

Joe's gifts were delivered this day as well ...

bringing him his favourite Irish Cream coffee beans ...

and a bottle of Irish Cream syrup to be added to his decaffeinated coffee ...

for him to enjoy at any time ...

I loved bringing him a few of my cookies to have with his coffee ...

Joseph Creek Village was having an Ugly Christmas Sweater competition ...

at this night's dinner special event ...

Joe was happy to participate in this activity ...

and

he was fortunate to have won ...

hmmmm .... still have not heard what his prize was though ... !!!