Sherkston Shores 2007

This weekend we spent camping at Sherkston Shores on Lake Erie with my sister and her family, husband Willie and sons Brock and Brayden. They were there earlier in the week so when we joined them we simply unloaded a bit of food, set up the tent and were ready to go. We did have some fun setting up the tent in a bit of shower. We did things a bit backwards by getting the fly on before staking the tent and praying a big gust of wind didn't catch the tent while we were all holding it down! And just to be clear I am a fair weather and RV kind of camper. No sleeping in tents for me(except at Kin kamp and then only because my family forces me!)So while the kids slept in the tent, the adults slept comfortably in the RV!

Friday evening we took it easy with a few drinks and a late campfire with smores!

Saturday after a bacon and egg breakfast we headed down to the beach. This beach is one of the few that let you drive your cars on so a lot of people launch their seadoos straight from the beach! There was a brisk breeze that created some nice waves and kept us cool. Unfortunately, the breeze was a bit deceiving and I got sunburned! The kids had a great time on their boogie boards and playing frisbee. We had a mid-afternoon lunch back at the trailer then headed to the pool for a bit before dinner. That evening we enjoyed another campfire and smores. Sherry and the boys played a game of pick up the increasingly smaller paper bag from the ground using only their lips which made for some interesting pictures and a lot of laughs! The park also puts on an awesome fireworks show at 10 pm every Saturday night was really good.

Sunday morning was overcast and a bit threatening so we took down the tent before heading to the beach. The wind was stronger and the kids enjoyed the even larger waves until security came to advise everyone to leave the water due to the undertow. It was strong enough to pick up the sand in the waves! The kids still had at least 45 minutes of good body surfing though. So then we had lunch, packed up and headed home the back way following the Grand River up from Dunnville.

Here's a slide show with just a few of the pics Steve took!

Somewhat Addicted?

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My Daughters Decide to Cook

Today the girls decide to make some recipes my Everyday Food magazines. And they turned out well and tasted yummy!
First are the chive bicuits.Brittany told Brianne where the chives were!



Then macaroni and cheese



And finally shortbread, Brianne's specialty.

Another New Recipe

Tonight with pork tenderloin, we had veggies with poppyseed dip( a new favourite of Britt's).



Grilled cantaloupe. It tasted good but I'm not sure I'd make this again.



And Orzo and Zucchini Salad.


This recipe is from the July issue of Everyday Food and I'll definitely make this salad again. It is light but flavourful! And I used fresh basil from my herb pot outside the kitchen door!



Here's the recipe:
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup orzo
1 T plus 1 tsp olive oil
2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove,minced
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1 to 2 T white wine vinegar

Cook orzo till al dente, drain well, spread on baking sheet to cool completely.
Heat 1 T olive oil add zucchini and garlic, season with salt and pepper, cook tossing occasionally until tendercrisp, about 4 to 6 minutes.
In medium bowl mix zucchini, basil, vinegar and reamining 1 tsp oil. Season with salt and pepper, toss to combine.
If storing, cover and refridgerate up to 1 day, bring to room temp before serving.

Berry Crazy!!

I love long weekends! There is time to actually enjoy the smaller things in life, like breakfast with berries.

A yummy yoghurt, granola and berry parfait.



And then fluffy pancakes with berries made by Steve and Brittany!

The themed slide show is fun but here's a colour pic of the pancakes! Need to show off the berries!

New Recipes

Well, I tried two new recipes today and they are both keepers!

The first is the Watermelon and Feta salad from Everyday Food.
Doesn't it look yummy!


For me the natural sweetness of the watermelon offset the slightly peppery taste of the arugula and the salty taste of the feta.

Here's the recipe:

2 T white wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper,to taste
3 bunches arugula(about 12 oz. total)
1/4 medium red onion,thinly sliced
2 to 3 cups chilled watermelon, cut into small chunks
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled or cubed

Whisk together vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
Combine arugula and onion, toss with dressing. Gently toss with watermelon and feta.

The second is from the July issue of MS Living and is called Tiny Cherry and Almond Tea cakes.
And don't they look yummy too?


It was Brianne's idea to add a dusting of icing sugar. These are good with the cherries just starting to become juicy and soft. I think I would add a bit of almond flavouring next time to give a stronger almond taste. Also I didn't have Cherry Brandy so used Chambord but I think the Cherry Brandy would also have stronger taste.

Here's the recipe:
Makes 30( I made 28)
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, plus more for muffin tin
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for tin
1 1/4 cups finely ground unblanched almonds
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
5 large egg whites
4 teaspoons kirsch (cherry brandy)
30 sweet (Bing) cherries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush 30 cups of 2 mini-muffin tins with butter, and dust lightly with flour.
Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When it begins to sputter, reduce heat to medium. Cook, swirling skillet occasionally, until butter has lightly browned. Skim foam from top, and remove skillet from heat.
Whisk together flour, ground almonds, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add egg whites, and whisk until smooth. Stir in kirsch. Pour in butter, leaving any dark-brown sediment in skillet, and whisk to combine. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Ladle 1 tablespoon batter into each buttered muffin cup, filling about halfway. Push a cherry into each, keeping stem end up. With a small spoon, smooth batter over cherries to cover. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and cakes are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges to loosen, and unmold. Cakes can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature overnight.

Browsing Magazines

This long weekend with no specific plans has allowed me to do something I haven't done in awhile, browse my non-scrapbooking magazines! I bought a Martha Stewart Living magazine, something I haven't done recently, and while I enjoyed it and do find it inspiring, I didn't tab too many recipes or items to try later. I did find lots to try in the MS Everday Food, Kraft What's Cooking, Canadian Living Grilling and the LCBO Food and Drink magazines! And a added bonus is that the Kraft and LCBO magazines are free. So with my extra time I'm going to try a few new recipes, watermelon, arugula and feta salad, grilled zucchini and orzo salad, grilled cantaloupe and Cherry Almond Tea Cakes.

I'll post pics and let you know how they turn out!

Happy Canada Day!

Berries are in Season!

I love berries and there is nothing better(unless its chocolate) than a mix of fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries on angel food cake with fresh whipped cream!

School's Out!

This was a week of graduations! My nephew Brock graduated from Grade 8 and my daughter Brittany had a small graduation ceremony from grade 6. Next year she goes to a Grade 7/8 only school! Here's a couple of pics!

More Garden Pics

Looks like everything is coming up daisies!




A hardy David Austin Rose.




Daylilies are in bloom.




Our Threadleaf Japanese Maple is thriving!



Lavender lining the driveway.



I love this blue spruce and boxwood!






Our clematis is loaded with lovely deep purple blooms!

Brittany's Favourite Fruit

Brittany loves melon of any kind but especially likes watermelon!

Week In Review

Hmmm, what have I done this week?

Monday - went to work
Tuesday - went to work, took the girls to soccer
Wednesday - went to work,watched So You Think You Can Dance
Thursday - went to work, went to the last Kinette meeting till the fall and won Club Kinette of the year!
Friday - didn't go to work, took the girls shopping in Buffalo. They spent their own money and got lot of great summer clothes. Brianne's new favourite store? Kohls!!
Saturday - worked at home cleaning, the girls went and saw Nancy Drew which they really liked, Steve bought some shorts and shirts with a gift certificate he was given at work, had a latte from Starbucks, went to Mohawk to see the horse races with John and Dana, didn't win any money!
Sunday - plan to do a bit of gardening, lots of laundry, play POGO, look at scrapbook magazines, clean up my scrap room, take some garden pics and watch Music and Lyrics! Actually this sounds ambitious, we'll see how much I get done!

Baking Bacon Buns

Well, I did it! I made the Bacon Buns from scratch and they turned out! This was my first try at making bread of any kind from scratch and I think I could get addicted to this making bread from scratch thing! Of course for these buns I needed bacon fat, so this morning Steve had bacon on his egg 'mcmuffin' and for supper tonight we had bacon cheeseburgers. In making the buns Mom mentioned to me to knead until the dough felt silky. Well, according to the recipe directions, the bread hook on my mixer did most of the kneading but I did finish up with some hand kneading and did get a feel for the silky texture. Brianne,my baker, then helped me shape the dough into buns. And they smelled and tasted yummy but despite the bacon fat they don't really taste like bacon.
Update: I tried a bun on its own and it actually does have a definite "baconny" taste. I'd make these again for sure.

The slide show above shows some of the steps in making them!

Brittany's Piano Recital

Here's a few pics from Brittany's piano recital today. She played My Dream without an error! She's not sure she wants to continue with piano lessons but maybe she'll feel differently towards the fall. The lessons every Saturday morning did start to drag on this year.

The 40 and over Club!

My sister Sherry joins me in the over 40 club later this week and so her husband Willie threw her a surprise birthday party on Saturday. And she was surprised! Her friend Lisa who was in on the planning got her out of the house by suggesting a golf game with their sons. So while she was golfing Willie got everything ready and the guests arrived. Fortunately it was a great day weather wise so while the adults talked and had a few drinks in the sun, the kids swam in the pool, played badminton, shot hoops and rode bikes. Sherry's childhood best friend Marie's son Eric(follow that?), had great fun walking in the back ravine and picking wild flowers for all the ladies and some men too! Lisa brought yummy jello shooters! I only had a couple though! Mom brought her trademark potato salad and Sherry's favourite cake from Spicers(a bake shop in Aylmer). Actually, Sherry prefers the icing over the cake! Willie bbq'd up some burgers and hot dogs that went great with the potato salad. Then once it got dark and after a few technical difficulties, Willie showed, on big screen he rigged up outside,a brief slide show of pics of Sherry through the years . The slide show was really fun with lots of great pictures and was set to the tune of Sherry Baby and Celebration. It was a fun day!

I've posted more pics from the day in the slide show below.

Mellow Yellow

Swaps are such fun! I recently participated in a 'yellow' swap through the Scrapping Bug message board. Each participant had to send in a yellow item of their choice.


Look at the great stuff I received. I will have to come up with a yellow layout and post it to show how I've used everything.

Father's Day

Oh I have so much to blog about today but will do so over a series of blogs.

First of all Happy Father's Day to my husband Steve! He is an awesome father(and Husband)!


For breakfast the girls and I made him his favourite, homemade egg and bacon 'McMuffins'!


And we gave him a rotisserie for his new bbq. Can't wait to post some pics of a yummy roast being bbq'd on it!

A Summer Pleasure

Outdoor Dining

Pork Fat

I think it is Emeril who praises the virtues of pork fat in all of his cooking. And really, who doesn't like eggs fried in bacon grease?!

I recently found another blog, A Year in Bread, and todays entry is Bacon Buns using, you guessed it, bacon fat! And for some reason that appeals to me. They just have to taste good, don't they?

I have never made bread except in a bread machine. I know my Mom has made bread the traditional way and I think she commented that the process of kneading, letting the bread rise then punching it down is therapeutic. (Must be the punching part that is the most therapeutic.)

So here's a goal for this weekend, I am going to make the Bacon Buns! Yes, you heard it here first, I'm really going to! And I'll post the results. Stay tuned.

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by my Mom.

The rules are;

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3.People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight
things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. 5
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Random facts about me

1/ I've always wanted to be 5 feet 6 inches not 5 feet nothing!

2/ My comfort food is tomato rice soup with soda crackers and butter. And guess what, my girls like it too.

3/ My Mom's comfort food when I was growing up and which I never serve to my family(no offense Mom lol) was( and I think it still is) sausages cooked with stewed tomatoes.

4/ As a teenager I was a member of 4-H Homemaking clubs and loved them! I learned all kinds of home making skills from cooking to sewing and embroidery. I still make the potato cheese chowder recipe I got in 4-H.




5/ I still keep in touch( although not as much as I would like) with a friend( Hi Lori!) I met when I was 8 years old!

6/ I have an honours B.SC in Geology and my first job was for the "Rock" (Prudential of America).


7/ I love to try out new recipes(although I don't try them as often as I would like) and have a great collection of cookbooks.




8/ Both my daughter have blue eyes and I have brown.............

I am now tagging

Kathryn

Karen L

Nancy

Brenda

Holly

Tammie

Karen E

Brianne

To Market I go

Yesterday, after I dropped Brianne off at work at 7 am, I decided to go to our local market. Surprisingly(or maybe not), I was not the only person there although it was not yet packed.

The produce all looked wonderfully fresh and colourful. I got some fresh local asparagus that we had for dinner tonight. There were Ontario strawberries that always taste much better than the imported ones. I got a great deal on raspberries, 3 of the small containers for $5(I usually pay almost that for one in the grocery store!). There were lots of beautiful flowers and plants and I couldn't resist the cut peonies. And of course, one of my favourite bakeries has our favourite apple strudel! I can't wait to go again next Saturday!

Brianne At Work

Brianne is not going to be happy with me but here is a picture I took of her working yesterday. She got her first job at a Tim Hortons a couple of months ago. She is definitely liking the paycheque and the tips(yes she get tips)! And she tells me they are soon getting redesigned uniforms too!