Feeling Blessed

I am loving the daisies growing in the backyard and have been enjoying bunches of them on my kitchen table.

This week I am really enjoying the small blessings in life.

My hubby was unexpectedly out of work for a week and a half which unfortunately caused some severe budgeting changes right at the beginning of cherry season. Very disappointing...until a friend who is the lucky owner of five cherry trees called. She had too many cherries and wanted to know if we would be interested in two trees to pick! YES PLEASE! Not only did I get what I am sure was over a hundred pounds of cherries for free, but my husband was also home to pick them while I processed.

I spent three days in the kitchen canning cherries, three kinds of jam, and two ice-cream sauces: cherry almond and chocolate cherry (which I like mixing with some whipped cream and using as a filling in chocolate cake). For three nights I pit cherries until very late while catching up on some movie watching...and froze two dozen bags of pitted cherries. We've eaten cherries by the bowl full, made pie, and I even tried making cherry pyrahi, a flavour I have never made or tasted.

They were really good (although strawberry is still my favourite). I was able to process way more cherries than I was planning on buying. My canning cupboard is starting to fill up already! 

Last night, I was able to head over to one of my parent's neighbours who were away for a few days. Before they left they asked if I would be interested in picking their raspberries while they were gone! The boys and I have been eating raspberries all morning (my daughter is away at her first girl's summer camp this week). I was able to freeze six bags of raspberries for our favourite raspberry, lemon muffins this fall... 

In between my picking, processing and eating the yummy goodness of summer I was able to read "The Dirty Life" by Kristin Kimball which I loved. "Farm porn" for us would be farmers. In the book she talks about her husband's "magic circle" luck that seems to follow him and gives him a belief in the human tendency towards goodwill and kindness. I have witnessed a little of that this week and am very grateful...

Thank- you so much. 

berry season

I was so happy to receive a phone call from my local organic farmer to tell me they had three flats of Raspberries ready for me! I have been waiting so patiently for the rain to stop (the okanagan has had the rainiest, coolest summer that I remember. We haven't even topped 30 degrees yet! I think this is mother nature's way of preparing me for my move to Vancouver). The berries finally managed to dry off long enough to be picked and I jumped and ran out the door as soon as I received the call.

We have been snacking on berries all week and it has been wonderful. I really try to buy a lot of fresh berries when they are in season. I feel so bad for my kids who do not have the pleasure of picking berries in the backyard. When I was growing up my granny had a large garden and every summer I used to pick strawberries and raspberries by the ice cream pail full and I could always eat as many as I wanted. We also had a large row of blackberry brambles running across the front of our property and I would do the same in late August with those. Even though we don't have our own, I try to recreate the excitement of berry season by buying as many flats as we can eat. My kids look forward to berry season every year and we all dream of the time when we can just step out into the backyard for our yearly fix.

All the berries around our house has also kicked off canning season! This week I have made over thirty jars of jam: strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, raspberry, raspberry strawberry cherry, and apricot. The smells coming from the kitchen have been amazing! I have frozen bags of rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries - cherries are coming later this week. I always feel so content looking at what I have stored away for winter.

I also surprised my kids with another treat from my childhood...while the two oldest were out with their grandma for the afternoon, I whipped up a double batch of granny's pyrahi (learn about granny's pyrahi here). I used the last of the strawberries for one batch and the first of the raspberries for the second...so good! I love being able to pass on a family tradition.

They taste of summer and happy childhood days.

I love berry season.



vintage apron

Yesterday my mother brought me a belated Valentine's Day present...

a really cute, vintage, crocheted apron and since I love all things that combine vintage and kitchens I was really excited...

But, she brought an even bigger surprise. This was not only a cute vintage apron...this was made and worn by my great auntie Millie!

Millie was my granny's sister and I think her best friend.

My granny on the left and Millie on the right

Millie was amazing...

One of the last times I saw her, she was in her 90s and she told me her mother always called her the girl with the golden hands...

Millie was an excellent gardener, cook, knitter and crocheter (and I am sure she was good at a million other things but these are the things I remember best).

My mother always called Millie's garden the garden of Eden. Her entire back yard was a garden.

It was immaculate.

It had everything. I especially loved a huge apricot tree...there was nothing like picking sun warmed, sweet apricots off of that tree...

Everytime I went to her house she was pulling fresh baked bread out of the oven and she had a pot of borscht or some other soup on the stove bubbling away making her kitchen smell amazing!

 I think she knitted or crocheted every day. She did amazing work with thread. She had a beautiful, very large framed copy of Psalm 23 (the Lord is my Shepherd or it may have been the Lord's prayer I believe she made copies of both) crocheted with the finest white thread hanging on her living room wall.

She was so fun to talk to (especially since she could hear; if anyone spoke loudly to her she was quick to remind that she was the sibling who could hear!) She also was quick to share what was on her mind and tell it like it was even to me as a child which always made me feel very grown up. I loved listening to her stories. One of my favourite Millie stories was how she was in love and wanted to marry but...she had to wait until her older sister married first! She thought that was very unfair but she did wait and Millie and John married on the same day her sister Polly got married...

My Granny on the left with Millie and John. In a lot of pictures I have of

Millie and John they are always looking at each other instead of the camera...

isn't that great!

Millie loved to can and preserve produce from her garden and share it with her neighbours.

She loved to fish even though she was a vegetarian and she would share her catch of the day with others as well.

Everytime we went to her house she insisted on feeding us and feeding us well; no matter what time of day it was. I can still picture her waving her hand at us if we claimed we weren't hungry. She would not hear of it. My granny used to do this as well and I can still hear her voice saying "eat, nah...punyamyish" (now I have no idea how to spell that; all I know is that it is Russian for Understand?) and then she would follow with..."do you want people to think your granny doesn't feed you!"

I think my love of good food was nurtured by my granny and great aunties. Growing up in the 70s and 80s  my meals consisted of primarily processed foods as I am sure many others in my age group did as well.

But, my granny and my great aunties were from a different time; a time when all food was fresh, in season, organic and made from scratch.

I was able to experience some of that when I was with them.

I never saw Millie cook anything that was premade (unless it had been premade and preserved by her).

Millie taught us how to make Blintze and fresh pasta. She taught my mom how easy it was to make a pot of soup from whatever was fresh in the garden. I still do those things. I still think of her everytime I pull out my granny's old cast iron pan to make a batch of blintze for breakfast.

I feel so honoured and a little inadequate to wear her apron...even though I am sure she would roll her eyeballs and wave her hand at me for saying so...and be a little annoyed that I put a picture of this apron up as a public example of her work. But, I love it and wanted to share...

gratitude on a snowy morning

It is a grey, snowy morning here in the Okanagan...

and the kids and I are cozied up in our little cottage for the morning....

(I think the afternoon will be spent tobagganing)

Since it is so cold and snowy, I thought it would be a perfect morning for some apple spice muffins to warm us up...

Like many people at this time of year we are a little short on cash and while we are awaiting the first paycheck of the year I just thought I would mention how grateful I am that I have learned how to cook!

even with little in the fridge I was still able to make a yummy breakfast of apple spice muffins (using apples that I chopped up and froze in the fall) and delicious canned fruit from this summer...

I am grateful that I love to be in the kitchen (I always feel so sorry for those who view cooking as a chore) and my husband is grateful that when he sees nothing to eat and "no food" in the house that I am able to put something on the table that is just as good if not better than what we would eat if we had money to spare.

I really do love eating in season and in Canada without the aid of greenhouses the only thing that is in season right now is food that was stored up for winter during the great harvests of summer and fall...and so during this time of instant gratification and endless supermarkets...I am very thankful to have a closet full of summer canning and a freezer full of chopped fruit and the side of grass fed beef we purchased in the fall...life is good!

photos! again....

There seems to have been a glitch with my last post...so I think I have fixed it
and am reposting...(sorry for the repeat!)

So, we are well into our small home experiment and we are still working out the glitches!

The biggest one is our internet connection. We are sharing wireless internet access and our "cottage" has a tin roof which seems to be blocking the wireless signal and so far we have had internet only a few times over the past three months. We have moved the computer (again) and so far (about three hours) it is working! hurray! I am keeping my fingers crossed and while it is up I thought I would share a few photos as my blog has been looking very black and white.




our vehicle heavily weighed down (notice how close the uhaul is to the tires!) in Quebec

Interior view...can you find the kids? As I said we were VERY weighed down.

We didn't make many stops this trip (see above for explanation) but we did stop at the parliament buildings
 in Ottawa...
I love them!

When I downloaded my pictures I realized almost all of my cross-Canada photos were of hay fields through the prairies...
I love driving through the prairies even though many people warn me of how boring they are...I think they are beautiful;
must be in my blood or something...
Our trip seems so long ago now. I would love to do it again without all of my worldly possessions in tow.



When downloading I also discovered I had taken way too many photos of my canning ( I was SO happy
to be able to get to the Okanagan in time to can). In the end, even though we didn't arrive until the end of August
I still managed to put away 250 jars of produce. Just wait until next year!!!


Here are a few of my favourites...



We arrived just as cherry season was ending...I didn't get any canned but did manage to pit and freeze a few large
ziploc bags full...and have since made the best cherry, chocolate chunk scones...which were eaten too quickly to get
a photo...next time!

We also caught the end of the green beans and with those I made....

Dilly Beans

Which I have never had...and I couldn't believe how crunchy they are! I only made seven jars
but next year I think I will make a few more - the kids love them!

I was able to get a lot of tomatoes and so I canned some (first time canning tomatoes and I don't know
why I didn't do it before...so easy!) I froze tomatoes pureed with fresh basil in large ziploc bags for sauce,
I also made ketchup, BBQ sauces and Salsa...

and I oven-dried tomatoes...very time consuming, but well worth it - they are delicious!

Peaches were one of the things that I missed the most about the Okanagan. Store bought peaches
are just not the same as those purchased from a local orchard.

and I made three kinds of pickles.

I really love having a closet full of canned goods! And I love that everything turned out.

Our small home experiment is still going well most of the time. Our biggest problem right now is the amount
of condensation in the house. There is no fan for the stove and there are six of us breathing in a small space...
we are starting to try and combat mold on the windows and in the front entrance. We have had to shuffle things
around and I've had to pack away some items to reduce clutter but I think we may now have that under control....
I hope!

I am missing having all of my books and dishes out. And my daughter is not too excited about sharing a room with her
brothers. The kids are all in the loft (largest room) and we have curtained off an area for my daughter, but it is just not
the same as having a room to oneself. We are creating a curtained off room for my oldest son today as well... and
hopefully that will satisfy for now. Other than that it is all good and I am learning that very little space is needed. I think
the problem lies not in the amount of space each person has but in the amount of stuff we have accumulated and now we
don't have room for it. That may have to be our next experiment! I have been homeschooling the kids and have noticed
a HUGE difference in the way they are getting along. I am loving all the extra family time (minus dad). The oldest three
have all learned to play chess and have been having competitions. With the snow arriving this past week we have also
been able to get in our daily tobaggan run and for the first time ( I think ever!) I am loving our Canadian winter...

so far, so good! I'll keep you posted!

 

unpacking and canning an interesting combination

Just thought I would post a quick note...I am still here...but I still have no internet in the house
and I am trying to repack and sort and fit everything into the cottage.

It will be good when it is done, but it is also nearing the end of canning season and so I had
to get some canning in which has meant slow going on the unpacking front!

I am still living in boxes, but I have canned dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, peaches,
peach jam, peach butter, peach butterscotch jam, peach barbeque sauce, stampede barbeque sauce,
sweet and sour barbeque sauce, ketchup (yes - I made my own ketchup and it is yummy!),
grape juice, fruit cocktail (peaches, pears, grapes and cherries), three kinds of salsa, I have also oven dried tomatoes, and frozen tomato sauce, peaches, cherries, blueberries ( I was lucky and caught the very end of the blueberries and cherries), nectarines, a few apricots (again the end of the season), watermelon (for a nice mid winter slushie), cubed tomatoes, and I think that is it so far....

today I am canning the rest of the tomatoes and drying the last few romas and then tonight and tomorrow I will tackle dilly beans and pepper jellies and then I am taking a week off to finish unpacking and then comes the apples....Fall is looking busy for me but the cottage is looking good and smelling great and I am so excited to be all cozied up for winter!

I have also ordered a side of beef and a lamb and am working on my dried fruit and nut order with a local wholesaler who brings in amazing fresh products every fall! I can't wait to find my little house on the prairie books - I think they will make great winter reading with the kids this year!

As I have been enjoying the harvest, I have been looking at farmland around me and wishing it was mine so next year I could grow my own....but I think that dream will still have to wait. In the meantime, I am LOVING the local farmers markets and orchards! I have missed the okanagan!

Can't wait to get my computer up and running so I can post some photos!