Yesterday and Today

Thanks everyone for your words
on chicken stock
and avoiding freezer burn
on frozen things...
*
I will be using freezer bags more
and will let you know about the chicken stock,
I may try again next week.
*
So yesterday before knitting class,
since I was as done with the bag as much as I knew how
to do before hand,
I baked with lemons that I got a while back
that Mr. Husband keeps asking me to use up...
He also loves the lemon bars I made a year ago.

So I went to the grocery store to get some
margarine; perhaps butter would work too
but my Great Aunt P.'s recipe calls for
margarine and I just went with it.
By the way,
after my mono episode,
just going to the grocery store on a
Thursday afternoon after lunch
is heady stuff.
I am so glad to be able to do this again.

Lemon bars are such a wonderful airy bar.
I had forgotten that the bottom of it is just
powdered sugar, flour and cut in margarine. 

I think my Mom gave me this for cutting in
butter and margarine some years back.
So simple, I love it.

The crust before it is patted down.
Here's the recipe again for those who want it:



I stole my own pictures from a year ago.
Actually I could not find the recipe in my box
and did not remember what it looked like.
So I googled my blog and found it,
realized I did not have it listed in the recipes page and promptly
put it there.
And I found the actual recipe since
I then knew what I was looking for,
paper wise.



So now you have it again also!

I made bread again yesterday.
Actually in the middle of making lemon bars,
I was multitasking.
While listening to more on William Wilberforce
on Audible in the kitchen.
It's a great listen by the way.
So about bread,
I keep forgetting to score the bread.
The bread yesterday I had to bake longer as
I was making three,
hurriedly scored it when it was already on the hot
pizza stone,
lost too much heat and had to rebake....
These loaves are already gone to where they were going
and I do hope they were worth the going...

So the lemon bars.
Beating in eggs and siring in sugar is quite satisfying I must say.

I zested two lemons and used the juice
and saved the zest.
Hoping to do more baking today...
*
Speaking of lemon zest,
do you freeze yours and how?

The crust after it is baked.

The lemon bars after the lemon, egg, flour and sugar topping
is poured on and baked.

So I made bread again today.
Just one loaf.

 

There it is.
I totally forgot to score it,
did not bother putting water under it as
it seemed too much trouble
and just sprayed some water in.
We will see how it is for dinner.
*
I finally had a night sleep that was not interrupted but
was still just a little too late for the bread for lunch,
bummer as it would of been great to eat
fresh out of the oven.
*
I learned how to do the pattern for
the cowl and now I have a lot of work to do on it.
I have more yarn in my stash for scarves and/or cowls.
Any patterns (not too intricate but still with a bit of learning
to be done) that you would recommend?
*
So I am still thinking on that
enameled pot.
Actually torn about it, the 7 quart one
seems to be the one I would get,
bigger than a 3 or 5 but not but almost as large as a 9...
I like this one in blue (and it is cheaper in blue than red,
wonder why?)... it is made in China,
though to have it not made in China, well... more money then.
I've seen them used for bread, for chicken,
for soups simmering for hours on the stove,
for apple sauce, for chicken broth.
Anyway, just not sure.
I have my crock pots.
By the way, this is my favourite cookbook for crock pots,
with a carrot recipe I am hoping to try soon...
*
Mr. Husband found this song online today
and it made me even more ready for Christmas.
*
What are you waiting for these days?

Sunshine again on a Wednesday - with banana bread and chocolate

Before I begin my post
on banana bread
that I made yesterday
while the bread was rising,
may I mention that our table that
I hoped would be here for the house-blessing has arrived!
I just brought it up from downstairs
(we do not live on ground level)
and wow,
that was heavy; but I did it!
*
So I did not know if the bread
I made yesterday would work out
so I made a simple
banana bread in the meantime.
It was easy.
I have the red canisters with sugar and flour and the
red mixer near by...
I used this cookbook
Eet Smakelijk: A Collection of Recipes
that I got years ago at a garage sale.
*
Here's the recipe:

Instead of nuts I added
chocolate chip cookies!

You can see that I followed the directions
for beating the eggs before
putting it all together... 

I love batter.
It's beautiful. 

As you can see,
my cookbook was very loved
by the previous owner!
When I found it
I knew I had found a treasure! 

I grew up knowing these words

Eet Smakelijk

to be said before the meal;

I was told it means

eat heartily

but my sister-friend

who knows Dutch

told me what the cookbook also says

eat with taste. 

Very cool hey?

I love the recipe books cobbled together
by many women and published...
*
I have at least 6-7 church cookbooks like this...

It turned out well!
*
After conferring with a wonderful
bread baker about
pizza stones
(thanks if you are reading this!)
and now keep the one Mr. Husband and I
have in the oven
to keep the temperature even in the oven.
So this is now one of the things
I am doing for baking and cooking... 

A simple bread
and a great way to use up bananas that are
going a bit soft and ripe!
*
PS: just realized about the bread recipe
that cranberry bread 
that I forgot to mention that I opened the oven to spray water
in for moisture a few times...
*
Oh, and look at this cake recipe that I was given -
I know!!
It looks very enticing!!
I am going to make this God willing for this
Friday, house blessing day...
*
Meanwhile,
I am going to see about a recipe for small oranges
and maybe pears...
while doing laundry...

Other Accomplisments - icons and stores and prayer request

By waning daylight and then flashlight
I got my icon corner in the bedroom up!

It's almost done...

It is such a comfort for me to see
my familar icons...
*
I of course still miss my beloved Ottawa and
having the icons up,
many of which I got while I was in Ottawa
the last seven years...

I made a special area for St. Nectarios and others for
special prayer requests...

Many of my icons are either
from my church,
from my two monasteries
Holy Dormition in MI and
The Mother of God the Consoler
in Quebec
and this is also a great comfort.

Once the power was back on
I wasted no time in making apple crisp.
Mr. Husband helped with the apples...
We were blessed to even find some ice cream
on Sunday...

I got my icons up in the kitchen.

Finally I have the icon of the Mother of God
in a proper place in my kitchen...
*
This post from my beautiful Ottawa apartment
of one year of my life a few years ago
shows the icon well...

We are seeing lots of reconstruction and cleaning
vans and trucks...
*
Yesterday drywall from downstairs was being knocked out
cleaning has already been done by professionals in
our garage, getting ride of the smells and contamination...
*

This is what our local store on Sunday looked like. 

 

I've heard that a bigger store a bit from here
was underwater...
*
Another storm is in the forecast for tomorrow.
*
We do ask your prayers.

Day 1 of Hurricane ~ a day of blessings

Up early this morning.
Then they were predicting a 'squall' for 6 hours.
I gather that this is when wind is over 39 mph.
Has been downgraded to heavy rain/wind.
High tide is at near 10 pm tonight
which could mean some flooding.
*
We are not in a flood zone per say
and hope all will be well.

By 9 AM I had roasted an organic chicken
and had chopped up the apples
for apple crisp.
*
I wanted to have something made
esp. if the power went out...

The mail lady was really
kind today and called up to say we had two
packages for us.
*
The above table cloth and napkins
from Ukraine;
a wedding gift that had to wait as
the trip to Ukraine was after the wedding.
I am really love this gift!
*
Saturday the Madeline L'Engle book came
and begins with the main character
facing a hurricane with poise and courage;
it has been so wonderful to slowly begin reading it.
*
And this book came as well,
which is such a beautiful book of icons,
I highly recommend it.
*
A gift of two beautiful Ukrainian shirts came as a
belated wedding gift last week
and two cards in the mail.
*
So many unexpected blessings
in the midst of transition and periodic homesickness...
*
I do not think I will quickly forget all of these
blessings in the midst of the
hurricane and preparing for it...

The apple crisp turned out well,
though next time I will use more apples,
as this batch of apples shrunk down considerably.

Apartment across the way
taped up their windows.
Everyone is navigating their way through
this storm...

The winds have really picked up as the day has
been progressing...

Still enjoying our orchid.
I think the colours have slightly paled
but it is still beautiful.

I've been having fun taking pictures
of the tree outside our
kitchen window
of the wind and the leaves.
It is amazing that those leaves are still on the tree!

 

Candles lit in prayer and for protection...
*
Mr. Husband has been working from home
as no one can get into NYC.
*
Someone on FB said that
cars are not allowed on the roads
at all by us now.
*
We don't have a TV and are not catching
all the news that others are,
though we are monitoring things closely
via the Internet.
*
We've gotten emails and phone calls
seeing how things are.
So far, so good.
Just a lot of wind and rain;
I had not noticed the power lines by us
as much as I have now
and over 30 thousand so far are without power,
though not in our area,
from what I have gathered.
*
May God protect us and keep us all!

Soup ~ Take One

I made my first vegetable soup
as Mrs. Wife yesterday.

Softened the carrots and onions first in
some water.

Added some Lenten soup broth.

 

Green beans
white Navy beans
orange and red tomatoes
a couple of tomatillos
potatoes.
Salt, pepper and a bit of curry powder.
Garlic.
*
I was hoping to make the vegan biscuits
but ran out of time;
I did however make a great fast-friendly
apple crisp!
This turned out really well.
*
The soup itself turned out pretty well for the first try.
I was going to add some lemon juice to it at the last bit
but forgot,
will have to try this for the left overs!
*
I have a lot to learn yet in
cooking
and am already thinking of
the Christmas fast and
what foods should be made...

Tuesday ~ Rainy Day ~ Lots to do

 

A nice dinner my beloved and I had
upon coming back from
the monastery.
*
Today I went on a shopping trip with
one of my new friends
and went to a grocery store in town
that I had not been to yet.
It is a lot nicer than the one
that is a bit closer to us.
And they do delivery,
just like my grocery store in
Ottawa did.
Slowly I am getting to know more
about where I live
and what it is like...
*
My husband and I talk about my blog sometimes
and we thought it would be fun to
have these blog names,
so simple really:
Mr. Husband and Mrs. Wife.
:) So it may be...
*
Mr. Husband and I have a weekly
date at the Farmers Market
and today I am getting new glasses;
the old prescription was incorrect...
at the Farmers Market we get
local produce,
including apples...
*
I am thinking of making
the blueberry muffins
by my long time blog friend Mat. Emily
had posted in the past...that
another friend and sister of Mat. Emily
referred me too...
*
Am also thinking of biscuits these days;
saw these vegan ones
and these ones take sour cream...
*
I bought some frozen organic blueberries
at the store and am going to make
I hope at one point
blueberry coffee cake that
my Mom would make
I think my Grandmother's recipe...
*
My new friend told me she uses flax seed and water
in place of egg for baked goods
in the fast periods...
so lots to try out in the future, DV.
*
It is very good to be here
but as I told Mr. Husband,
I find it tiring in terms of taking in a lot of
new information daily about my
new environment.
*
I realized I forgot to get eggs at the store.
A women's work is never done,
it seems.
*
I am thankful
and look forward to baking again this week...

Monday, monday...

 

It was such a nice weekend trip.
I just wish I knew
how to process the grief of leaving Ottawa
plus the joy of all I have now.
*
I know we cannot go back in time
and I can't tell you all how
happy I am to
have my husband
but I miss my close Ottawa friends.
*
Today is my dear friend's birthday.
A year ago we had her birthday party
right after I had lost my second to last job.
A job I can assure you
was a blessing to lose...
now this dear friend has lost
her father
and
she and I are both not in Ottawa,
she to go home to her father before he died
and I to marry the husband of my heart,
who I can't tell you enough
how thankful I am for.
*
Well,
I am so glad for my blog community.
For each of you.
Transitions are always a bit bumpy
and thank God I have someone
to see or things to do for the rest of this week
which makes it a bit easier.
It's just every day there is something new,
something that in Ottawa
was one way and now in the States where I live
is another.
*
It's nice to look through my blog;
and remember the good, the beautiful
and how I went through some years of real trial
with job searches and job loss;
and then came meeting my husband;
I met him in person for the first time
just weeks before I lost that job a year ago.
Of course then I could not tell you all about it
it was too new,
my relationship with my husband;
but here I am a year later
married to him,
my wonderful man and that first weekend
he came to visit me
I had this dinner party
and we had such a good weekend
and walks in sunshine...
*
Now we've been married just under two months...
and soon I am going to start on dinner.
Speaking of dinner;
I have extra sour cream
and am on the hunt for something to bake with it;
anyone know a good recipe?
Maybe biscuits or something else to bake?
Would love your ideas!
*
Just being able to write a bit
about the loss of Ottawa
makes me feel a bit better...
*
Now on to make my beloved a yummy
warm hot meal,
one of my favourites...
*
Do tell me if you have any sour cream ideas! :)

Lemon Bars ~ Friday Afternoon

In the States butter and margarine
are in sticks
(like the above picture)
instead of in half-cup cubes
as they are in Canada.
Can you believe that it takes two sticks for one cup!
Wow...

I made lemon bars!
They were a success!
the first layer,
with sugar, flour and margarine cut in
I did in the 9 x 13 glass Pyrex pan.
*
The second layer I mixed up in my new mixer
and it worked really well!
*
My Great-Aunt gave me the recipe:

 

As you can see from below,
I used powered sugar for the topping,
just like my Mom did when
she made lemon bars...

 

My Ortho-husband confirms that
they turned out well :)