Summer Fun

My two weeks off has somehow turned into three. I've been busy enjoying the summer break.

At the end of June, I finished my classes. What a relief. I was so happy to finally finish. I really pushed my limits this time. In my final week I had three all-nighters (almost - I was up until four. When I have kids getting up at 5:30 it feels like an all-nighter). My hubby has been great at keeping the kids quiet while he has been home this week. I feel like I am almost caught up on my sleep. 

Since I last wrote I have enjoyed many things. In addition to lazing around the house reading and watching a few episodes of  the Gilmore Girls and Master Chef with my daughter, I have really enjoyed...

1. Strawberry Season - Oh ~ how we LOVE strawberry season. I rarely buy strawberries from the store and so the entire family eagerly awaits the first red berries of the year.

I get my strawberries from our favourite organic growers. I have been spoiled. I mean, after eating berries that have just been picked and are this red in the centre, how could I possibly eat store bought berries that are usually white, hollow and tasteless in comparison. No offence, but these are really that good. When these are in season we eat a lot. I bought eighty pounds this year. We ate at least twenty pounds fresh,  made jam, strawberry pavlova, pie and our favourite strawberry pyrahi. I also froze quite a few for winter smoothies, pancake sauce, muffins and scones... Did I mention that I love strawberry season?

2. Peonies - big, pink peonies. Along with lilacs, hydrangeas, dahlias, daisies, and roses (I'll stop now), peonies are one of my favourite flowers.

We are really lucky this year to have a large peony bush in the yard. I picked almost every flower.

I know they look great outside, but I really loved having bouquets of peonies on my dining room table for a few weeks. 

3. My baby turning five.

I have heard how traumatic the youngest turning five could be. But, to be honest when he hit five... I felt ecstatic...giddy actually. He also finally learned how to put on his seatbelt by himself. I was pretty happy. I felt ten years younger, really. Nobody told me that would happen. Yes, I do miss my babies at times. I adored them, loved to smell them, cuddle them. I probably spent a little too much time with them...aside from my mother, I have only hired a babysitter once...in almost thirteen years. Hmm...that could be the reason I felt a little like Mel Gibson shouting "FREEDOM" ... or it could also be related to the lack of sleep. His birthday landed on all-nighter night number three. I may have to think some more about this one.

4. watching wildlife.

We have had so much fun this year watching all the wildlife that frequents our yard. This week we have enjoyed watching two does and their fawns. 

5. Hiking

I love hiking the local mountain with my family.

We went for a three and a half hour hike the other day while my hubby was home from work. It was a bit hazy (must be a forest fire somewhere)...

but we still enjoyed the view.

I especially liked watching the farmer haying his field. I used to go haying with my dad when I was younger...it was fun seeing the process from another perspective.

We also had visits with family. We really enjoyed having my brother-in-law's son with us for a few days. He is the same age as my oldest son, he lives quite a distance from us with his mom and so we have only seen him a few times. This is the first time we have had him here overnight. All the boys tented outside for the few days he was here and had a lot of fun. 

My other news is I found out I made the long list for CBC's Canada Writes Creative Non-fiction contest. I was really excited I was chosen. I haven't written much and to have my story chosen was a great honour. (I did not make the short list...but I am still really happy). I'll have to try again next year. 

Which brings me to today. Today, I very happily registered for my final classes. Because I am a little late I can't start until November. But, I have registered for the last time and as of 30 June 2013 (all else going well) I will (FINALLY) be a university graduate.

Good times.

My Ralphie moment...

The hubby has taken the camera to school again. In case I haven't mentioned this before, I really need a new camera. I thought it was bad when I had to use the one I have, it is so much worse when I have no camera at all.

Today, I thought I would share one of my happy moments. I am taking my first creative non-fiction class. Creative non-fiction is my favourite genre to read and as it turns out my favourite to write as well. I was particularly excited when I saw for my first assignment one of the topics I could write about was food. I had to write about my earliest memory of eating food that I really enjoyed and savoured so I wrote about a meal with my granny.

 I was very nervous sending in my first piece, not sure how the marker would respond. I found it difficult to write about a subject so close to me, since I can recollect it all perfectly in my head I was hoping that what I had on paper would enable the reader to imagine it and experience a little of what I experienced. As I opened the response email, like Ralphie in A Christmas Story I was hoping for an A+++, but a little scared to see a "REWRITE" instead. Lucky for me when I scrolled to the bottom to see my mark there wasn't a "REWRITE" glaring at me in red but a lovely little black A+. I am so excited and very challenged because now I want to keep that little A+ for my transcript.

Today I will be working hard at assignment three (assignment two has already been sent in and I am ever so patiently awaiting my grade...)

For fun, I thought I would share my little story on my blog. Enjoy.

As a child I spent my summer holidays with my granny. After a morning in the garden picking raspberries, strawberries and tomatoes we headed back to the kitchen where we started prepping dessert. Two pots were placed on the stove, one half-filled with raspberries and the other with strawberries; each received a sprinkling of sugar and tapioca. When the berries began to simmer, bread was placed in the toaster to begin our lunch. Each piece of toast was spread with butter and a generous swipe of mayonnaise and Granny would very thickly slice the sun warmed tomatoes and place them on the prepared toast. Salt and pepper would be sprinkled over the glistening slices of tomato and then covered by a second slice of toast. While granny prepared a cup of tea, I took the first warm bite with a slight crunch through the toast layers and then sunk into the fresh tomato. The aroma of simmering berries accompanied the flavour of the sandwich adding an additional sweetness to each bite.

After we finished our sandwiches, we moved on to dessert. Granny took the now thickened berries off the heat to cool while we mixed together the cream heavy, pastry like dough of the Russian pyrahi that we rolled into rounds and filled with aromatic, thickened berries. Granny expertly lifted and pinched the dough into perfect little purse shapes that held the berries that would peak through the small opening on top. She shared stories of how her mother taught her to make them as a child and reminded me that one day I too would be able to create perfect little purses that would hold on to the berries tightly in the oven without them spilling over the collapsing sides as mine so often did.

As the pyrahi baked, I watched the berry filling bubbling in the centre of each little purse through the glass in the oven door. When it was finally time to remove the pyrahi, granny lifted out the trays and reminded me not to touch the still bubbling fruit that tempted my small fingers to reach out for a taste. When they were finally cool enough for granny to pick up, she placed one on each plate and reached to the back of the stove where a small pot of melted butter was waiting to be poured over the hot, fruit filled pyrahi. The first bite of rich pastry, sweet-tart berries and melted butter made me forget the long wait. Granny and I sat in silence savouring every bite.

Tomato sandwiches and fresh berry pyrahi taste of summer to me and to my children who love to watch me pinch the rounds of the cream heavy dough into perfect little purse shapes as I tell them stories of my granny and how she taught me how to make our favourite summer treat.

okay...mine aren't quite the perfect little purse shapes that I said they were but keep in mind the genre is "creative" non-fiction and so I am allowing myself a little artistic licence.

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.