Comfort Food

My contribution for the potluck supper last night was Macaroni and Cheese. This is a dish that should only be eaten in the most dire of circumstances when indulging in true comfort food is the only form of solace available.


Macaroni and Cheese made with Gouda and Aged Cheddar

It is not a dish to be indulged in if you suffer from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes or are in the least bit overweight! The recipe described each serving as having 40.9 grams of fat, 1087 mg of sodium and 629 calories per serving.
Needless to say everyone loved it!

I found the recipe in the March 2007 Chatelaine Magazine but if you do have a craving for comfort food the recipe can be found here.

And now that I have eaten the leftovers for lunch I am going to go dig in my garden and plant 30 tulip bulbs!

Friendship, Celebration and Song

Last night my circle of friends gathered to celebrate our friend Birgit's 50th birthday. It was a happy and joyful time as we ate a wonderful potluck supper and indulged in a decadent birthday cake

Afterwards we celebrated with song and laughter.

It is these times with my friends that I feel safe, comfortable, loved and that I truly belong. None of these words really express how I feel but at those times I am very happy.

WorldBeat

Last weekend I once again travelled to Regina to participate in a working meeting at the office of the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation (SCIC) to review online global resources for the EarthBeat e-zine. I really enjoy this tiny aspect of social action that I engage in. It indulges my love for finding the perfect online resource to meet a curricular need (I'll always be a teacher-librarian at heart!), my need to make a contribution, if only a small one, and by doing so to make a difference by creating an awareness of global inequity.

And, of course it is just fun to mix a mingle with like-minded teachers from around the province. This day was a full day meeting broken by lunch at La Bodega - a fine meal with a good red wine.

Our task was a little more difficult this time around because we were looking at child mortality and it was difficult to find websites that dealt specifically with this issue. However we did manage to review some sites and make recommendations for uses within the curriculum.

Our last issue was about Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases. These are wonderful, engaging, informative sites that hopefully will create an awareness of global issues amongst our Saskatchewan students.

Mom Again

Here is the boyfiend

News from Mom

Thought I would send a couple of pictures As you can see Marbles is doing great. and that I have a boyfriend

Happy Thanksgiving!

I joined mom and Doug for a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner -- tons of great food, conversation and laughter. It was a lovely way to spend an evening. I made my first pumpkin pie and I think it was OK! It was just the recipe on the can but I use creammilk and molassas.... mmmm - even to someone who doesn't much like pie.












Thanks Mom for a great meal!

Recipe for a great hot dog!

The last sunny afternoons of the fall call for supper in the park - roasting hot dogs and visiting with friends.

















... and the great hot dog recipe:

• roast one hot dog until lightly toasted
• layer in bun with ketchup, mustard and shredded cheese
• crinkle plain chips over the top
• squeeze gently to meld flavours
• enjoy!
  

Leaves, leaves, leaves!

Another fall tradition - not as greatly appreciated as the fresh produce of the Farmer's Market is the annual raking of the leaves. This fall the leaves came down almost all at once and in two weekends I had my lawn cleared. It was quite amazing actually as I sat in my living room and watched the leaves fall like snow. I wasn't so thrilled when I realized that they were ankle deep on my lawn!

It took a few hours until my lawn was cleared.


I now only had to wait for the last of the leaves to fall....

I have the largest trees on the block - my lawn gets the majority of leaves!

However, I do like the shade they provide during the summer from the heat of the west sun and in the winter the absence of leaves allows for a sunny living room in the late afternoon.

Farmer's Market

The days of winter are almost upon us and in a very busy fall did not get the latest pictures and stories posted in a timely manner - but finally here they are!

The North Battleford Farmer's Market is a great place to spend a few dollars for quality, fresh produce that lead to healthy eating - at least for a few weeks!

I enjoy browsing the stalls and selecting a wide variety of vegetables. It is important to get there earlier as many others are as equally eager to get their share of the produce!



Two of my favourites are fresh beans and beets and the following recipes make enough for several meals.

Mustardy Beet Salad
4 medium beats, unpeeled
Dressing:
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS Dijon mustard
1 TBS cider vinegar
1 TBS salad oil
1 tsp sugar
2 TBS fresh dill
Dash freshly ground pepper

Cook the beats in water until tender, peel and slice
Combine all the dressing ingredients
Add the beets and stir gently
Chill for before serving

Dilly Bean Salad
Salad:
1 lb small green beans, steamed tender crisp
2 TBS snipped fresh dill
6 green onions (I use chives from my herb pots)
Dressing:
2 TBS olive or salad oil
1 TBS red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Combine the beans, dill and chives
Whisk together other ingredients
Add the dressing to the bean mixture
Serve at room temperature.

While these recipes taste best when made with fresh fall produce they are almost as good with supermarket veggies or in the case of beets -- canned. Enjoy!

Check out my Slide Show!

slide show

News from Mom

Great new toy Donna. I tried it yesterday but the sound did not work well. I will try again when I get more time to play around with it. In the vikeo I just wanted to say how much I love all of you.

New Online Toy

Look what I discovered... a site where if you have a web cam and a mic you can record a video message. In this video the light is not very good but what a quick easy way to record yourself... too cool!

news from MOM

Just a short note, Donna I love all the stuff you find to put on our blog. Maybe you should pencil the family in for one of your seminars and teach us how to use all these wonderful things Perhaps when we are in Calgary next August long weekend for Jim's 50th. We cannot only do a star trek mystery but a computer lesson too. Does all the family know to save the August long weekend for JIM Love to all Mom

Flowers

....trying out a new web-based slide program from Animoto

Yummy Feta Chicken

Ramona gave me this recipe which I made this evening... so good!

And, very easy to make.

Placed four chicken breast in a greased baking dish.

Top with a mixture of 1 cup crumbled feta with 2 diced roma tomatoes, 1/2 pepper (I used red), 1 tbs chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1 TBS olive oil.

(I not have parsley so I added chopped basil and fresh oregano and chives)

Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes. I put a lid on the casserole dish but I am not sure you need to.

Here it is plated... so attractive served with rice and veggies

Breakfast special

When I was in Swift Current Pam made some wonderful meals. We had a very tasty spaghetti supper followed by an attractive dessert that is one of easiest dishes to make... I am sorry I don't have a picture but Pam's ice cream sandwich cake is made by layering a cake dish with ice cream sandwiches, spreading them with cool whip and then topping it with chopped chocolate -- Pam used a bittersweet chocolate bar with nuts.... oh it was soooo good!


Equally as good although there was more involved in the prep was the Hashbrown and Ham Quiche she made for breakfast. What a great way to start the day!

Ingredients
4 c frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
3 TBS butter, divided
1 medium onion chopped
½ c green pepper (optional)
½ chopped fresh mushrooms
2 tsp flour
¾ cup diced fully cooked ham
3 eggs, beaten
½ c milk
½ shredded chedder chees

Procedure

• Sauté hash browns w/s&p and 2 TBs butter
• Press into the bottom and the sides of greased 9 inch pie pan (can be made ahead of time)
• Sauté the onion, green pepper and mushrooms in remaining butter
• Remove from heat and sprinkle with flour
• Stir in ham, eggs and milk, pour into curst
• Bake at 350 for 25 minutes
• Sprinkle with cheese; bake 5 minutes longer
• Let stand 10 minutes before cutting

Saskatoon Home Care 25 years of Caring Silver Anniversary Cookbook

A visit with Carter

Actually the visit was with Zane, Pam and Carter but as you can well imagine a charming three year old can be the focus of a visit.

I left Wednesday afternoon for a meeting in Regina. I volunteer with SCIC (Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation) to work on an e-zine project, Worldbeat where we review sites for global education. We not only create the e-zine but connect the web sites with relevant Saskatchewan curriculum objectives. I like this volunteer work because we meet for half a day and then the work is over... no responsibilities until the next time we meet. And... I think we create a worthwhile product that can be used by teachers anywhere. This time we were reviewing web sites that provided lesson plans and activities about diseases in developing countries, e.g. HIV/AIDS and malaria.

After the meeting I drove to Swift Current and had a wonderful visit with Zane, Pam and Carter in their new home.

Carter was exceptionally charming and loved the dinosaur puzzle that I brought him.

Although I must admit it was a little difficult to put together with him sitting on the pieces!



Carter loves the computer, playing with his toys - especially his dinosaurs (amazingly he can remember and pronounce all those difficult names. He also is really into the Cars phenomena and we spent a few tense minutes looking for Bruce (under the love seat!).


And, of course, he loves his books and there is nothing Auntie Donna loves more than reading with her nieces and nephews!

It was a wonderful visit and I look forward to the next one.

Chocolate Carmel Torte

If you need a quick recipe that will really impress people try this dessert that Ramona told me about. It's awesome!

Bake one chocolate cake mix according to instructions. I used a bundt pan. While still hot and in the pan pour one jar of caramel sauce (the kind you pour over ice cream) over the cake. Let the sauce soak into the cake. When cooled cover the cake with tons of cool whip. Top with four bars of chopped skor bars. Yummmmyyy!

I made it for a group of friends and they loved it.

Thanks Ramona... tonight I going to make your Feta Chicken Casserole.

Donna

dave

You're The Great Gatsby!

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Having grown up in immense wealth and privilege, the world is truly at
your doorstep. Instead of reveling in this life of luxury, however, you spend most of
your time mooning over a failed romance. The object of your affection is all but
worthless--a frivolous liar--but it matters not to you. You can paint any image of the
past you want and make it seem real. If you were a color of fishing boat light, you
would be green.


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