Random Photos

I've been trying to organize and back up the photos I have on my computer and thought I'd share a few.  Actually I think I'll do this from time to time.

Fresh berries I bought last week...can't wait to pick some locally!!

My rhododendron, 23 of June

Looking up at my lilac tree from the front verandah-at night

Bakeapple Jam on toast---yummy!!

Aunt Charlotte's fresh dinner rolls

Tulips

Roger's brunch creation-eggs in yellow pepper rings, with toast and beans-awesome with some good coffee!!

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Rhubarb Squares

I had a load of rhubarb that I needed to cook or freeze, so I decided to make some Rhubarb Squares.  Here's the recipe I used:

Rhubarb Squares

Base 

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar 

1/3 cup butter or margarine

 FILLING:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups finely chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
  
In a bowl, combine the flour and confectioners; sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into the bottom of a greased 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.   
For filling, combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Stir in rhubarb; pour over warm crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm if desired. Store in the refrigerator.  

This how they looked going in to the oven

 Here's how mine looked.....

This is what you can expect when they come out of the oven

They are very pretty squares, if I do say so myself.

Two more strikes from my Bucket List!!!

Hi everyone

Happy Tuesday!!

I've had an awesome couple of days.  Myself and my mom (who will be 87 years old on August 24!!) drove to the city to spend a couple of nights with my daughter, Rana.  Three generations---cool ;o)

I picked Mom up right after she got home from church on Sunday, and we set out on on three hour journey.  Mom loves to be on the go, still drives her own car and is very active.  The weather was beautiful, and all along the way we both commented as we passed many signs of little towns and communities that neither of us had ever been to many of them.  I suggested the next sign we come upon, if it wasn't too far off the beaten trail, we would drive down.  Mom was all  for that!!  It was a bonus that one of the things on my "summer bucket list" is to visit a place that I had never been.

The first sign we came upon after that was for Little Harbor East---neither of us had ever been there, so we agreed ..."No time like the present".  We turned off the TCH and drove about 12-15 kilometers.  We were starting to get a little worried when we saw houses off in the distance.  Wow, what a beautiful little spot.  Right on the water with a little wharf and stages scattered here and there along the rocky shoreline.  It was picture postcard perfection........

Little Harbor East

Little Harbor East

Mom, standing next to the sign....proof for my bucket list!!

Lobster pots on wharf at Little harbor East

 

As you can very well see....we were not disappointed with this short detour. 

We continued our little journey and got to Rana & Mark's about 5 pm.  Mark barbequed a variety of sinful goodies for our supper, with sides of fresh sauteed shrimp and fried squid.  Rana did an awesome veggie dish of baked asparagus, cucumber, fresh mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and shredded carrots, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar....Yummy!!!  We were all too full for dessert or even coffee......so later that night, to top off the day, us three girls went to Moo Moo's for ice-cream.

 ==================

Next day, we trekked about the city.  Rana did some uniform shopping, then we went 

to Manna Bakery for lunch..................

Let me say that if you are ever wondering where to go in St. John's for a great sandwich or a 

bowl of soup.....this is your spot!!!  The servers were super friendly, the place was super 

clean and the food.....GREAT!!!!  

I will definitely be going back.  When we saw how big the sandwiches were, we decided to 

order just two to share.  Mom had some chicken noodle soup as well.  I swear that 

there was a cup of chicken breast meat in her bowl of soup.  We were not disappointed 

in our sandwich choice...we had chicken breast on pretzel buns with whatever

fresh trimmings your little heart desired. 

(You watch your sandwich being prepared behind a glass panel)  

YUMMY!!!!!!

Mark was working the evening shift, so guess what!!!???!!!  The three of us 

girls decided to go out for supper...ha ha.  

Nan was in the mood for ribs, so we decided on Montana's.  Another good choice.

I had the turkey clubhouse wrap

Rana decided on chicken fajitas...yummm!!

Mom decided on beef ribs...we thought--it turned out to be a huge beef rib, but cooked to tender perfection!!

===========

 

 After that, we popped over to a couple of shops as Nan needed a 

sweater in the brown/beige color family(ha ha).  

We did find a beauty at Pennington's....on sale too!!

It had cooled down considerably, so we opted to go back home early and relax.  We all 

had hot coffees with a little shot of Bailey's and some great little pastries that

Mom picked up at Manna's Bakery.

It turned out to be a great little road trip...looking forward to another, maybe in August 

when my sister and my nieces are here from Calgary and Fort McMurray.

====================

Check below for the two items I checked off my Bucket List this weekend.

My Summer 2012 “Bucket List”

·         Have a few games of Scrabble

·         Sleep in a tent

·         Sit down with mom and get the last bits of information I need to finish her memoirs, that I’ve started

·         Do the Tely 10 (a 10-mile road race in St. John’s -- I’ve already registered!!)

·         Have several fires in our backyard and do “spider wieners” and S’mores

·         Watch the sun rise & set

·         Lie on the ground and watch the clouds

·         Take an early morning (and a late evening) walk on Signal Hill

·         Paint Mom’s toenails, roller-set her hair, and sit out in her lawn chairs with her and drink her homemade slush

·         Go on a date (with my husband of almost 30 years)

·         Spend at least one full day at the beach, complete with red wine, French bread and a variety of fruit and cheese

·         Play Frisbee

 Eat Ice Cream at Moo Moos, in St. John’s

Make a cake mix, cut it into squares and roll it in (almost set)   Jell-O, then roll the jelly soaked squares in coconut (just like Mom used to do for us when we were kids—yummy!!)

·         Walk the old rail bed (from the trestle in Gambo to the Middle Brook Park)

·         Pick blueberries, partridgeberries & bake-apples (Yes…me, pick berries!!)

·         Eat fries in downtown St. John’s (tried it last summer, but before I ate one golden brown, crispy fry from my vinegar soaked brown paper bag, I came upon a homeless guy sitting in a doorway, gave him my fries and 5 bucks and ran to catch up with my sister, nieces, daughter and mom

·         Take a nap in my new gazebo

·         Go on random midnight walk-with Lovey, of course!

  Visit some place new

·         Spend an entire Saturday morning at the St. John’s  Farmer’s Market

·         Do the “lighthouse picnic” at Ferryland

·         Go “zip-lining” on the west coast of NL

·         Go for a walk in the summer rain

·         Make a cream soda float

·         Donate blood

·         Wear a dress

Gazebo Update & Lobster Boil

Here are a few pics of the latest developments with the gazebo.  It is coming along nicely, considering Roger  has been working.  He plans to take a couple of days off later in this week to complete the wood work and mount the screens.

Have a peek.......................

Last night, we got together with a bunch of friends and had some lobster---it was delicious!!!!

Have a great week everyone!!!

Friends, Food & Fun

Well, not much to say today...really busy working outside.  I  do, however, have some photos from last night.

We got together at Dave & Sharon's for a "Wing Night".  It turned out to be a "Wings, fresh cod chunks. homemade fries and onion rings Night"!!  Oh my......we love our food.  I must say, we do not eat like this often...last night was a real treat!!


It was a nice cool night, just the right temperature to take out the turkey fryer and do some outdoor cooking on the back driveway.  First thing in the pot was onion rings...

Yummy...where's that vinegar???

Dave Gill brought chunks of fresh cod, rolled them in flour, then dipped them in his homemade beer batter.....delicious!!!

Then we had a batch of home fries....lots of ketchup and vinegar-----almost as good as at Gambo Days!!!

We even had brown paper bags, cut to size, for our fries, and Sharon

had leftover homemade gravy.

Last thing in the pot was a batch of wings...they were superb!!

After a big lunch, we went into the gazebo and sat around the fireplace.  Good music, warm fuzzy sweaters, and a shot of black Sambuca set the mood for the rest of the night.

Oh well...one more night left to the weekend yet---tonight it's a "Lobster Boil"!!

Cheers everyone--hope you are enjoying your weekend

:o)

Rhubarb Jam & Homemade Granola

Well, things are nice and relaxed here.....summer schedules are setting in and the weather is beautiful!

We visited our daughter in the city for the Father's Day weekend.  That is always nice.  Rana always manages to find the perfect gift for every occasion.  This time was no different, she included in Roger's package a jar of homemade granola from the Farmer's Market.  It is yummy, but as I was reading the ingredients, I was thinking.... I could make this.

Last evening I decided to search out a recipe and give it a shot.  Of course, my first place to look for any recipe is from Ina Garten....a.k.a The Barefoot Contessa.  I just love this girl...she's what it's all about.  I have watched her cooking shows and I feel like I'm right there in her kitchen enjoying a big glass of chilled white wine, watching her work.  She just has that calming effect on me.  If you haven't already watched a show of hers, do yourself a favor, pour a coffee or a glass of wine and settle in to watch one....it won't be your last.

Sooooooo....I did find a recipe for granola from Ina Garten on the Food Network site.  That link takes you right to the recipe for Homemade Granola.   Here's how mine looked.....

Great wholesome ingredients

The aroma from the oats and honey were just dreamy!!

 

Here's how it looked as I prepared to put it in the oven

Yummy....and the smell of that stuff baking was divine!!

I added different berries to each jar

To one jar, I added dried blueberries and white chocolate chips; another raisins and one with dried cranberries.  It is a good recipe.


On to my rhubarb tale.   Roger's brother, Cal, grows the sweetest rhubarb I've ever tasted.  He brings me huge batches at least twice each summer.  When I got my first batch yesterday, I cleaned it all up and made a little batch of jam for Roger.  He likes it cooked for a very short time, so some of the rhubarb holds it shape.  I usually make a small batch a few times each summer.  It is delicious as a topping for vanilla ice-cream, add a couple spoonfuls to your plain yogurt or oatmeal, and of course as a jam on toast or bagels!!

I love to eat rhubarb right out of the garden...it is sweet and tart at the same time.

I only cook until the rhubarb starts to get tender-----2 cups of rhubarb and 1/2 cup sugar

Cheers everybody ;o)

A Friend's Wedding & Father's Day!!!

We had a busy, but beautiful weekend!

We drove to the city to celebrate Father's Day with our daughter Rana and her partner, Mark.  They were attending a wedding reception for one of their friends on Saturday evening, so we took advantage of having a quiet night to relax.  I took a picture of Mark & Rana before they left for the reception...thought I'd like to share........

 On Sunday, Rana made a great Father's Day brunch....Yummy! We spent most of the afternoon outside, doing a little gardening.

After supper, we went for a walk on the Rennie's River trail.  That has to be one of the most beautiful trails in the world....yes, the world!  It is hard to believe that you are right in the middle of a busy city when you are walking along that trail.  Here are a few pictures.....

Rana, Roger & Bailey

All in all, we had a great weekend.  I am so lucky!!!!!!