Thursday was a wonderful day off. Corinne gave me a tutorial on tapestry crochet. Pics of my mitts, well, at least one, will be forthcoming. Explanations were accompanied by Welsh Cakes and tea. A good time was had by all. Then we took a trip to Little Red Mitten. I had to show off "my" wool shop as Corinne had taken me to "hers" in Burlington, namely, Spun. Then we were off to the mall and Chapters with a stop off at Harvey's for some intestinal disruption...shudder, take my word for it Harvey's has gone down hill. In between the crochet and the wool shop Carl stopped off at the house to grab a free coffee and a hug before he hit the highway. My youngest granddaughter swooned when she saw the Excursion Limo out front of the house. I made sure her feet were clean before we let her sit inside for the mandatory camera op.
Her sister was unimpressed and just wanted to get to the book store.
This morning I watched the odometer on my car roll over to 111111 kms. Yes, I know, "Small things amuse small minds." Other than that a long day stretches ahead of me. That retirement counter doesn't seem to be moving very quickley.
Carl had the whole weekend off. This is practically unheard off. Saturday we went to see Avatar. Carl is not a fan of Fantasy, Science Fiction or anything like that. So, I was surprised when he brought the movie up in conversation. He knew I wanted to go and off we went. It was enthralling and beautiful. I am not going to spoil it for you by giving anything away. It is a long movie, over 2.5 hours, and I could hardly stand when it was over. I may just buy a blue ray player when this comes out on disc, just to watch it again. Sunday we went to the "man" stores looking for a battery for an air pump. Other than that we spent a quiet weekend together. Carl found a recipe on the Internet for Cream of Broccoli Soup that looks really "delish." I am going to make it when I get home tonight. It looks super easy. I will let you know how it turns out.
If she had been a boy...Well, she would have been named David after "Dewi Sant"
The Daffodil
Jean made reference to seeing a man wearing a leek on St David's Day, I have a faint memory of Grandpa coming to the house with a leek pinned on his jacket. We all thought it very funny. The Red Dragon
The above is what I think of on Saint David's Day and a big plate of Welsh cakes...see previous post.
On a trip to Wales I bought my Mom a fridge magnet with the following poem:
To be born Welsh is to be born privileged. Not with a silver spoon in your mouth, But music in your blood And poetry in your soul - Wilfred Wilson
I always called Mom to wish her a Happy St David's Day. This is the first of many celebratory days this year that I will miss talking with her.
Whatever happens today with THE hockey game Canadians everywhere know that we have done the best we have ever done. We have been inspired to be the Best we can Be. We have 13 GOLD METALS! Canadian Patriotism has not been this high since 1967 when we all sang "C-A-N-A-D-A we love you." Now we "Believe."
WELSH CAKES: are a specialty of South Wales. Essentially they are griddle cakes (called a bake stone in Wales), but they can also be cooked in a heavy pan or skillet. 1 lb. (4 cups) plain flour ( I use Brodies self rising flour) 1 teaspoon baking powder 10 oz. (1 and 1/4 cups) butter 6 oz. (3/4 cup) sugar pinch of salt 6 oz. (1 and 1/2 cups) currants 1/2 teaspoon mace 1 egg a little milk
Mix together the flour and baking powder with the salt, then cut in the butter with a pastry blender. Add the sugar, spice and currants. Mix in the beaten egg and just enough milk (about 3 tablespoons) to make it the same consistency as short-crust pastry. Turn out onto a floured board, roll out and cut into rounds about 3 in. across and about 1/2 inch thick. Cook over a medium heat (I use an electric griddle at about 275 degrees) in a very lightly greased pan or bake stone for about 3-4 minutes on each side. If they brown too quickly, lower the heat, for the inside must have time to cook thoroughly so that it has a brittle, sandy texture. Serve either hot or cold. Some people like them with butter, sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, jam or honey when they are a day old. Not that that ever happened in our house. Makes approximately 20 - 25. Welsh Cakes are called Picear y Maen in the Welsh language.
Ever notice how long the weekend seems on Friday? Two days filled with possibilities, plans and ... laundry. The knit together is tonight at Little Red Mitten and as much as I would like to go, I shouldn't. That's all there is to it. I will buy wool, more wool, lovely wool and they stock the yummiest. There is cotton on order from them now for the next table cloth. I have to get back to Sophia's sweater. Actually I want to get back to it before the winter is over. Not that that appears to be anytime soon. On the knitting front I have been busy with the Knitting Olympics. I could actually take an evening off as I am down to the last 2 rows and then the cast off. Go overto Nantyglo to see the latest progress. Speaking of the Olympics I have to say the sight of all those reserved Canadians unashamedly decked out in red and white and flag waving has been a revelation. Almost American-like in our patriotism. So unlike us and about time too, I must say. Carl came across this on YouTube. It is excellent and I would like to share it with you .
Thank you Tom and the P.M. is right we will probably apologize for our exuberance when all is said and done. A few more pictures in the summer when the temperature gets over 30C would have been a little more realistic. A typical Canadianism is "Thank you" we say it all the time. I caught myself at the Tim Horton's drive thru. The conversation went like this: :Welcome to Tim Horton's me: I would like a medium steeped tea with milk and a tea biscuit. : Will there be anything else? me: no thank you : that will be $2.08 please drive thru me: thank you at the window. : passes me the tea me: thank you : passes me the the biscuit me: thank you : gives me the change me: thank you : Have a good day. me: thank you That's 6... SIX thank yous all for a cuppa tea. Shaking my head. I had no idea. I started listening at the check out at the grocery store. I am not the only one. Who knew? See we do have something else beside "eh" and I am not going to count the number of times I say THAT word in a day.
Yesterday, all day, I pondered the age old question: "What to have for supper? "Then it hit me. Pie, chips and beans.!! I thought about the flaky pastry, crisp golden chips and the steamy goodness of maple beans...I swoon. My man is Canadian to the core and I knew "Mr. Meat/Potato and Veg wouldn't be thrilled but he would survive.
Carl wasn't going to be home until about 7:30 pm so I calculated when to cook the pies, when to turn the chippy on and when to heat the beans. He was home right on time. The pies came out of the oven, the chips were simmering and the beans were hot. I was almost drowning in saliva and fainting from hunger. I prefer to eat much earlier.
After heating the beans, I turned the heat off the burner on our black cook top a few minutes before I got out the "Corell" dinner plates in preparation for dishing up this wonderful nosh. The pies slipped onto the plates I had put on top of the a fore said cook top. I dished out the beans, the mapley aroma wafted around my head. I was lifting the chips out of the oil when there was an ungodly BANG. Carl came hurrying up the hall to see me standing frozen in front of the stove. There were chips and beans everywhere and shattered slivers of white glass. Nestled in the middle of this were 2 beautiful "sparkling with shattered glass" meat pies.
Herein lies the science class: Untempered glass will shatter when applied to direct heat. Corell dishes are glass. Cook tops are still hot even when they are no longer glowing red. Give me a gas cooker anytime.
Back to the story: I only wept a little as we threw everything into the rubbish. Corell may not break if you drop it but believe me when it shatters there was glass everywhere even in the hot oil of the chippy. It is a marvel that I wasn't cut as the dinner plate had split into wicked shards of glass. Not only was the cook top covered in glass but it had exploded across the counter top and across the kitchen floor.
About 45 minutes later, after we had vacuumed up glass, dumped the oil, washed counters, rounded up the chips that had flown into the air when the plate exploded and disposed of the remnants of glass and the dinner, I threw together a cesaer salad and thawed and heated up some leftovers from the freezer. Then I had heartburn.
Canada did win a gold medal right before this fiasco so the evening wasn't a total loss.
Tonight it is going to be "take away" I am on strike!
This recipe came from my friend Jacqueline in the mid 1970's.
I used to make this cake in heart shaped pans every Valentine's Day. My children loved it. So here you go........
Thoroughly cream 1/2 cup Crisco ( vegetable shortening) and 1 and 1/2 cups white sugar.
Add to above: 1 small bottle (2 oz) red food colouring and 2 well beaten eggs. Beat together.
In a separate bowl mix together 2 cups (Brodie's) cake flour and one tablespoon cocoa.
Add the flour mixture to the cream mixture alternately with 1 cup of butter milk.
Mix in 1 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon of wine vinegar.
Bake in 2 - 8" round pans (greased and floured) 350F for 30 to 35 minutes. Frost as desired. Enjoy with someone you love. I daresay that this cake will find a whole new following with the "Twilight" crowd.
Thursday was a wonderful day off. Corinne gave me a tutorial on tapestry crochet. Pics of my mitts, well, at least one, will be forthcoming. Explanations were accompanied by Welsh Cakes and tea. A good time was had by all. Then we took a trip to Little Red Mitten. I had to show off "my" wool shop as Corinne had taken me to "hers" in Burlington, namely, Spun. Then we were off to the mall and Chapters with a stop off at Harvey's for some intestinal disruption...shudder, take my word for it Harvey's has gone down hill.
Her sister was unimpressed and just wanted to get to the book store.
