Working in the Shop ...

April 18, 2017

The icepack cover that Ella finished knitting ... was for my knee ... I had knee surgery April 11th ... Ella was my lttle nurse maid ... and she took care of me ...

 

Ella went into the shop and approached Grandpa ...

She figured I needed a cane to use outside ...

Grandpa helped her gather the supplies needed ...

he also guided her on the construction of the cane ...

A padded handle and a cane cap was put on ...

then the finishing touches of painting it white ...

I was delighted to have this cane made especially for me ...

It worked really well for outside ...

I could keep my inside cane clean ...

Thank you Miss Ella ... I luv it ... !!!

 

Craig took a selfie showing his fat lip ...

after he wipedout on the BMX track last week ...

He is doing much better now ...

He was happy working on an old ary tank model in the shop ...

James was busy outside getting the little quad running ...

Ella gave Grandpa a hand with sanding ...

the new stand that Grandpa made for the FM radio ...

Once she was finished with the sanding ... 

she came in the house to check on me ...

and help with making icing for the chocolate cake ...

Of course having a taste from the spatula before adding sprinkles on the cake ...

The gang went out to inspect the new track that James had built ...

taking his R/C out to test drive it ...

It'll need a little adjustment on some of the curves ...

Some elbow grease and time will make it better ...

Grandpa gave Ella a hand to make sure her dirt bike was ok ...

(I think Grandpa might be a little too big ... yikes ...!!!)

She was ready to go ... and so was James ...

They were headed down to the neighbours for a visit ... 

and see how long Grandpa was going to be working on the trench ...

It was nice to see Tag and Travis again ...

The kids enjoyed visiting and the treats that Bonnie had given them ...

After a short visit ... we made our way home ... for a nice relaxing evening ...

 

 

 

Happy Easter ...

April 15, 2017

Easter preparations with colouring eggs ...

and getting the names sewed ...

on the coveralls for the grandchildren ...

 

April 16, 2017

Happy Easter to everyone ...!!!

The Easter Bunny arrived this morning ... with a few chocolate eggs for me to find ...

Oma baked an Easter Bread for today ...

It's a beautiful arrangement for Easter ...

 

In the Kitchen ...

March, 12, 2017

Ella helping Alana prepare food ...

for their lunches the next week ...

Looks like they were having fun working together ...

 

 

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 ...

 

 

Cooking With Rosa ...

November 16, 2016

Today I am having a cooking lesson with Rosa ...

learning how to make her famous meatballs and sauce ...

First of all I was sent to Rick's Deli to pick up her "Rosa special" ...

When I walked into the store to place the order ... they knew exactly what I needed ...

the beef mix was ground fresh ... and the rib sections were packaged individually ...

We had been planning this day for quite some time ...

finally going to make her meatballs and sauce ...

The first order of business was to place the ribs into a baking pan and bake it in the oven ...

The hamburger meat was put into a bowl ...

then all ingredients were added ...

mixed together and then set aside for the breadcrumbs to moisten ... flavours to blend ...

The next step was to heat some Olive Oil in a pan ...

add a few slices of onion and saute them ...

Once they were browned ... the onions were removed and the oil put into the large pot ...

Then adding jars and cans of crushed tomatoes .... seasoning ... 

The cooked ribs were then put into the sauce ...

The sauce was brought to a boil then turned back to simmer ...

While the sauce was simmering ... we sat down at the table to make the meatballs ...

Rosa had her own technique on making them ..

I paid close attention on how she rolled them in her hands ...

When the meatballs were all made ... they were placed into the oven to bake ...

The meatballs were finished baking ...

they were put into the sauce ...

Rosa then cooked up her homemade Gnocchi ...

(which I had learned how to make earlier this year) ...

Rosa had set the table for lunch ... made a salad ...

and I was served this delicious dish of 

"Rosa Special Meatballs and Sauce"

All I can say is "Bellissimo"

I enjoy spending time with Rosa ...

learning how to cook real Italian food ...

from someone who has cooked these meals ...

all her life ...

Thank you Rosa ...

 for taking the time to teach me ...

the recipes from your homeland ...

that were passed down thru the years ...

Inside and Outside Activities ...

November 8, 2016

Another busy early morning in the kitchen ...
working with onions ...
grateful for my new dicer ...
It sure prevented a lot of tears ... just cut them up to fit in the dicer ...
and one push on the lid ... chop ... they were done ...
The chopped onions were spread onto the dehydrator trays ...
and put outside until all the trays were filled ...
preventing the onions vapours from taking over the kitchen ...

The next batch of onions ... were sliced in the food processor ...

then spread onto the dehydrator trays...

The chopped onion trays were brought in ...

and stacked onto the dryer ...

The dehydrator was placed in the basement ... as the fumes were still strong ...

Mike and I decided to get another load of firewood ...
down on Oma's property ...
this pile of logs had been there for many years ...
We wanted to salvage what we could ... and the rest would be put onto the slash pile ...
to hopefully be burned to clean it up soon ...

The onions had finished drying ... around 10:00 pm ...

They were left to cool ...

and then poured into large mason jars ... for storage ...

 

 

Working In The Kitchen ...

October 13, 2016

Ingredients gathered together to make "SemmelKnodel" ...

Bread Dumplings ... with the leftover pork from the weekend ...

A few will be cooked up for dinner ...

and the rest will be sealed in bags for the freezer ...

 

We were heading back to Mazur Meadows ... this weekend coming up ...

I decided to use some of the zucchini from the garden ...

Zucchini muffins ... mini zucchini loaves and chocolate cupcakes were baked ...

They were put into containers to take up to the mountain ...

 

The dumplings were cooked in boiling water ...

then browned in the frying pan ...

We had a delicious dinner ... with the dumplings and gravy ...

Blau Kraut and fresh garden tomatoes ...

I promised Oma ... that I would bring her a few Semmelknodel ...

the next time I go into town ....

 

Getting Chores Done ...

September 27, 2016

This morning was spent with ... "apples" ...

thought it would be the perfect day to make applesauce ...

I like to pre-freeze the sauce in individual containers ...

then pop them out and pack them into vacuum sealer bags ... there is always room in the freezer ...

for these small packages ...

When needed ... the discs serving is enough for our meals ...

 

 

September 28, 2016

Once again ... looking out the kitchen window ...

a flock of wild turkeys were out on the grass ...

My first thought was ... "where were you turkeys?" ...

when Nathan and his buddies were here hunting for these birds ...

I did send Nathan a picture ... and he had said the same thing ...

in wondering where they were ...

They are smart these birds ... thinking they must read the hunting regulations ... !!!

It was such a beautiful day ... to head down to the garden ...

and get some fresh potatoes ... for our dinner ...

These were the red skinned potatoes ... an early variety ...

I was also pleased to see a few worms ... working the soil ...

 

September 29, 2016

There was still a tray full of plums ... to be dealt with ...

Today two batches of plum jam were made ...

one batch of sugar-free jam for Mike ...

and a traditional one for others ...

These plums were so sweet and delicious ...

a few were consumed while preparing the jam ...

The weather was supposed to be nice in the afternoon ...

so it was decided to close up the swimming pool ...

It was also time for the hot tub to be emptied and fresh water put in ...

Once the hot tub was emptied and scrubbed clean ... and the pool vacuumed ...

we proceeded to empty the pool water into the hot tub ...

That's our way of recycling the water ...

When the hut tub was full ... we drained the pool ... to the level needed for winterization ...

All the pool accessories ... ladder ... solar panels etc. were cleaned and put away ...

The winter cover was placed ... the filter cleaned and all the lines blown out ...

Ready for the next season ...

 

 

September 30, 2016

The sun was shining ...

and it was time to get a few more loads of firewood ...

into the wood shed ...

We were excited to see how our new log splitter would perform ...

It was amazing ... while Mike was cutting the logs ...

I was splitting and loading it into the truck ...

When Mike was finished cutting ...

we worked together splitting and loading ...

 

 

It didn't take us long to get a couple loads of wood ...

The nights were getting cooler ... we needed to spend some time filling up the wood shed now ...

We both had mentioned that we miss our cousins Klaus and Resi ...

who were here visiting from Austria last year ...

and helped with getting firewood and filling the woodshed early ...

We're just a little behind ... because we're out enjoying life ... travelling and fishing ...

 

 

 

The Boy's Birthday ...

September 1, 2016

A special birthday for the boys ... Daniel and Timothy ...

these Cabbage Patch dolls ...

were "born" on September 1, 1986 ...

It's wonderful to see the grandchildren play with them ...

knowing they were their dad's toys ...

Mike helped in the kitchen today ...

with filleting the Kokanee ...

We loved the last batch of smoked fish ... so we decided to make more ...

Once the fish were filleted ...

they were put into the brine ... then placed in the refrigerator for 8 hours ...

While the fish were marinating ...

there was time to work with the Huckleberries ...

and make a batch of Huckleberry jam ...

The Kokanee were finished marinating in the brine ...

It was around 11:00 pm ... the fish were drained ... patted dry ...

and placed on the racks to set overnight in the refrigerator ...

They would be ready first thing in the morning ...

to be placed in the smoker ...

It was a productive day with all the jobs accomplished today ...

 

Garden Time Again ...

August 11, 2016

The beginning of August ... and the garden was exploding ...

with produce that was starting to ripen ...

A new recipe was made ...

with my Kohlrabi ...

a little oil ... salt and pepper ... sprinkled over french fry sliced Kohlrabi ...

then bake in the oven ...

until the Kohlrabi was tender ...

Parmesan cheese was tossed in and bake for a few more minutes ...

until they were golden brown ...

They were delicious ...

perfect for our side dish with dinner ...

October 18, 2016

Today mom came out to hike up ...

to dads quiet ... peaceful resting place ...

It's been 8 years since dads passing ...

We spent time talking about dad ... and the life they had together ...

so many memories and good times ...

Mom & dad ... spent a lot of time at their favourite spot ...

He will be forever in our thoughts ...

and in our loving hearts ...

XOXO

 

Beets & Beans ...

August 9, 2016

The beets were picked ... washed ... pealed ...

and packed into cannon jars to be processed ...

Next on the agenda was to deal with all the beans ...

yellow and green beans ...

packed into jars and ready to be processed as well ....

Canning process completed ...

and ready to be stored in the cold room ... with the other jars of produce ...

The shelves are filling up ...

to be enjoyed thru the cold winter season ... !!!