Friday night grateful moment

How lovely it is to be in Canada on a Friday evening. I have a great love for coming back to this place of my upbringing, as I've talked about it here and here.

Seeing my Grandma Kandt, who will be 94 in April, is always precious. We slid into town last night, had a quick visit and then went back today after lunch for a more leisurely chat. She, Seth and I looked through a number of books and photo albums together, and Grandma shared stories from her childhood, first jobs in teaching, as well as meeting, dating (courting would be her word) and marrying my Grandpa. It is always interesting, learning more about this woman who has seen so much change in the course of her life.

The book above started the conversation off, with lots of notes about Grandma's father's side of the family. One wild tidbit: Grandma's Grandpa Jacob's wife (Caroline) and his brother (Valentine) died in the same general timespan, and so he proceeded to marry his sister-in-law and together they had 18 children (yours, mine and ours). When she died (#2), he married again, to a woman who had three children already, taking the total to 21. When my Grandma's mom (Ida Yanke) married her dad (Reinholdt Bechtoldt), rather than move out on their own, Ida just moved in. She had, after all, been the housekeeper and cook for the family after wife #3 passed away... not so great with long-living wives back then, apparently. So Ida was used to spending her days cooking and cleaning for those 21 kids. Oy. Thankfully by the time Grandma was born, Reinholdt and Ida were in their own home.

Grandma has always done a great job of recording the family tree.

Here's Jacob and wife #2.

I was reminded today that my mom's side of the family (Kandt, Bechtold, Yanke, etc.) and my dad's side of the family (Goerlitz, Simmonds) are actually connected via marriage: My dad's aunt Connie married my Grandma's uncle Adolph. Small world, Alberta. And the certificate above, signed by Elizabeth Goerlitz (my Grandpa Goerlitz's sister) moved Grandma forward from the sixth grade... another small world moment.

I could not resist taking a picture of this gem; that's my Grandma and Grandpa in the navy suits, surrounded by their four girls and families. Circa 1977, maybe? If anyone has a hard date for me, I'd love to hear it. I remember being quite scandalized by my dear auntie MJ's shoulders. Aren't they beautiful? Hot, I believe we'd call them, now.

Seth enjoying reading through some of Grandma's notes this afternoon. I am so thankful for a boy who enjoys these trips with me, who is kind and thoughtful to his great-Grandma, and who will even indulge us in a game or two of Scrabble and Mexican train dominoes.

The boy and I of yesteryear. Takes me back...

Just to give you a sense of the warmth of Grandma's apartment... when I took her those tulips at 2 p.m., they were tightly closed. By 4 p.m. when Seth exclaimed, "Hey, look at the tulips!" they were bloomin' open. Warm is an understatement. Best to wear layers.

There is so much to be grateful for this week, as every week. The love and support of family; safety and good health that is so easy to take for granted; a couple of days off work; sleeping in; the ability to Skype with dear ones; breakfast with friends tomorrow; a son who will drive me home... well, a couple of hours, anyway; Tim Horton's for Timbits, Purdy's for hedgehogs, White Spot, just because...  (Those last few items make it seem like the diabetes tour of British Columbia...) Nostalgia... that's the stuff of life.

I hope your weekend brings you "the stuff" of life, too. Peace.

Walkabout on the weekend

nd, as suddenly as it was hot, it was cold.

Well, not cold cold, but definitely lacking heat. It was as if we went to bed during summer and woke up with an autumn chill in the air. Pleasant, for sure, and made the hike we had planned for the afternoon very doable.

The island my parents live on is rather small, quite remote, and beautiful. But even on this remote island, there are accessible places and a few even-more-remote spots. A favorite hike of theirs happens to be on private property that some very kind people allow access to for hiking, and has a couple of trails that edge the ocean, as well as a big old path down the middle. It all ends at what is called Edith Point. The lucky folks who actually live there have a home at the far end of the big path, and the whole property is rather a piece of heaven, in my humble opinion. I say that with full disclosure that I don't think I could actually ever live on that island, and maybe any small island, as I tend to feel a bit trapped after a bit, being dependent on ferries and such. But IF I were to live on that island, this particular spot at the end of the earth feels really serene. Kind of like "go big or go home," this would be my "I'll see your remote and raise you isolated!" hideaway.

My lovely mother.

I am rather fond of the mossy rocks.

The erosion makes for some unique patterns on the rocks.

Called arbutus in Canada, or madrone in the States, these trees with red skin and greenish innards are always eye-catching.

The house of the kind people who don't mind trespassers is just to the right of the photo frame. While I can be convinced to tromp on their land, I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of their house. Go figure.

Here's where Mayne Island fits in to the Grand Scheme of British Columbia:

And below is a map that shows where Edith Point fits in to Mayne Island. Now you know! (I knew you were itching with curiosity.) See how far that point is from any discernible road? That's about a mile, so that gives you an idea of the overall size of the island.

Note: Just above the red arrow that I oh-so-creatively drew on the map, you'll see a creature that oddly resembles the Loch Ness monster, or in British Columbia/Okanagan Valley lore, the Ogopogo. I have never heard of such a sea creature living in the waters off Mayne Island, and was very amused to find this image on the map I downloaded. I'm still deciding whether it's offensive (diluting the Ogopogo brand, don't you know?) or just map filler and thus, entertaining.

Our time on Mayne is always too short but still very relaxing and enjoyable: full of good food, stiff Wii bowling competition and pleasant Mexican train dominoes games, and of course, lively discussion on everything from the stock market to home renovations to some pretty silly joke exchanges between Grandpa and Seth. (Oh, and afternoon naps too!)

Friday night grateful moment

riday night in Canada, what's not to be grateful for?

It's lovely spending time with Seth, my mom, aunt Bobbi and Grandma. Today we relaxed, and then relaxed some more. Finally dragging ourselves out after a bit of lunch, we went to see Grandma and sat out in the sunshine for a while before going to watch part of an accordian concert in one of the meeting spaces. Such a cute, sweet couple danced through many of the songs. Just the two of them, quite peaceful and unabashed. Everyone else sat around in their chairs and watched. I tried to talk Seth into a polka or two... no luck. :(

Then there was a Scrabble game, and since only four can play, I said I'd sit in the loungy chair and watch and read... and nap, apparently. Oops.

I'm looking forward to watching friends pledge love and fidelity on Sunday. A day of celebration in Canada anyway ('eh?), but doubly so for them. As these events are wont to do, I know I will remember happily back to 2005 when husband and I exchanged vows, and hopefully I'll be able to keep it together--Seth is my date to the wedding and I don't think he'll look very kindly on a blubbery (even if I keep it quiet) mom on his arm! But love is grand, and I'm grateful, ever so grateful, that we found each other.

Tomorrow there's the promise of sleeping in a bit again (Seth, this morning, had a hard time rousing before 10 a.m. Vacation is goooooood.), and then more time with Grandma. And picnic food. What's not to love about potato salad and baked beans in the summer?

The nostalgia of seeing places from my childhood and happy memories associated with the people and places always makes this trip special. Today, I pointed out to Seth the office where my orthodonist practiced when I was a kid. Every time we're visiting it's something else: This is where I... Oh, look they tore that place down... Oh man, I used to love going there!

Not surprisingly, we have a number of rituals associated with this place and our trips. Seth and I dragged Bobbi and my mom to Scandia for a round of mini-golf in the heat (and mosquitos! Yowsa on the mozzies, they were fierce!), and then he and I did our regular burn through on $ in the arcade. Silly but fun. And it's tradition, after all!

Also on the list is White Spot, an oldie from my childhood with their zucchini sticks and sweet potato fries...

Being here reminds me of what a great childhood I enjoyed, full of many great memories, lovely friends and family, in a beautiful setting. If where you're raised has any impact on being launched into life, this is the place to launch from! I adore the Okanagan Valley, very much (as I've mentioned on previous trips here, here, and here). (One downside: summer traffic. Wow, that was thick today...)

This song is an old favorite for me, and fits my Friday night mood:



Hope you have a lovely weekend ahead of you, and your grateful list is long.

Thursday 13: Oh, Canada!

omorrow, July 1, is Canada Day. As you may (or may not) know, I was raised in Canada by wonderful Canadian parents--! wasn't born there (that was Northern California), but happily reared in Beautiful British Columbia. Super, Natural British Columbia. It was lovely, and I still (very much) enjoy going to B.C. to visit family.

In honor of Dominion Day (which is what I remember calling the holiday as a child...), I thought I would post 13 images of Canadian "things" for my Thursday 13. It's a pretty random collection, but I found all of them on two of my favorite internet places--Etsy and Pinterest, and they're all items, frankly, I wouldn't mind having! (Well, except for the last one... not sure *anyone* needs that! But I had to include just for the humor factor. Or, I should say, humour factor!)

Enjoy these images, and happy Canada Day to you!

Canada pillow

Maple leaf pendant

Maple leaf vintage belt

Acorns

Maple marshmallows

Canada boots (Roots, eh?)

Maple leaf map

Canada geese

Maple leaf beanie

Mountie flask

Tartan high-tops (RCAF plaid)

Canada land poster

Beiber revenge

Well, if you didn't know much about Canada, you would now think it's all about maple leaves, geese, mounties... there is of course much more to it than that... much, much more!

When you think of Canada, what do you think of?

To play along with other Thursday 13s, go here. And have a great Thursday!

Poutine convert in the house

y first memory of poutine was seeing it in the cafeteria at the ski lodge where we spent a great deal of time in my adolescent years. The mountain was called Last Mountain (it's since been renamed Crystal Mountain, whatever, we don't talk about that) and it was about a half-hour from our home. I was in line to get some hot chocolate, probably, and maybe some french fries, but the pictures of the french fries in gravy with some cheese in the mixture looked pretty revolting to me.

That image stuck. From then on, whenever asked "gravy with that?" when ordering fries in Canada, I would automatically say no, and try and keep the edge of my lip from curling in disgust.

So why did I decide to add poutine to the Olympic menu at work this week? I think somewhere along the way in the past couple of decades, while I never actually ate poutine, I decided it really couldn't be THAT bad, right? My brother loves it, and even makes it at home for himself. And my husband stepped out and ordered fries with gravy (he's not so into the cheese part) this past Christmas in Canada and pronounced it yummy. His rationale was that we eat gravy with our mashed potatoes, why not with french fries? Sort of makes sense to me. And, since I have a fundamental belief that cheese makes everything better, poutine definitely seemed like something I would finally need to try.

Here's Wikipedia's take on poutine:
The dish originated in rural Quebec, Canada, in the late 1950s. Several Québécois communities claim to be the birthplace of poutine, including Drummondville (by Jean-Paul Roy in 1964), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and Victoriaville. One often-cited tale is that of Fernand Lachance, from Warwick, Quebec, which claims that poutine was invented in 1957, when a customer ordered fries while waiting for his cheese curds from the Kingsey cheese factory in Kingsey Falls (now in Warwick and owned by Saputo Incorporated). Lachance is said to have exclaimed "ça va faire une maudite poutine" ("it will make a damn mess"), hence the name. The sauce was allegedly added later, to keep the fries warm longer.

And it gets international press, too... from the New Yorker, Nov. 23, 2009, article by Calvin Trillin:
Poutine was invented in rural Quebec. In recent years, it has rapidly widened its range. National franchise restaurants in Canada like Harvey’s and New York Fries and Burger King now have poutine on the menu even in provinces that are overwhelmingly Anglophone. Canadian chefs with national reputations often do gourmet takes on poutine. Commenting on the results of a nationwide survey last summer, Roy MacGregor wrote that one of the more surprising discoveries was the possibility that “the national food of Canada is now poutine.” Poutine might be an appropriate national dish for a country that prides itself on lumpy multiculturalism.

So how could I not have poutine on the menu?

It was pretty easy, after all. Bought the french fries. Bought the cheese curds. Made the gravy. There's some discussion on the gravy--chicken/turkey stock or beef stock? I went beef stock. And used Emeril's recipe from Food Network:

Poutine gravy
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups beef stock

In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the butter and flour. Stir until incorporated. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes for a dark roux. Stir in the stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

To serve, mound the fries in a bowl or soup plate. Spoon the gravy over the fries and crumble the cheese. Serve immediately.

Cheese curds are certainly encouraged, as authentic poutine flavor relies on the texture of the cheese curds melting. But a good shredded mozzarella should come close. For the lunch on Monday I gave mozzarella  and monterey jack as options along with the fresh cheese curds, which I found online at Beecher's Cheese in Seattle.

So what can I say? I tried it and now I'm in, big time. It's rich, gooey and filling--perfect winter food. And now, post-poutine, it's time for a walk!

Nanaimo bars!

elebrating the close of the Olympics at work (and in Canada too, I suppose), we had a Canadian-themed lunch yesterday. Figuring out what to make for lunch took a little figuring, given the multicultural breadth of the country. Would Asian-fusion work best? Or Eastern European (my love for all things pierogi is well documented)? Maybe a little Indian food? Well, after a rousing discussion with my very Canadian parents over the holidays (yes, I do occasionally think about food months in advance. Not that there's anything wrong with that.), we decided that a straightforward burgers and fries lunch (fries a la poutine, post to come tomorrow) with all the fixings, followed by Nanaimo bars, would suffice. I added in a few other dessert options--maple leaf sugar cookies, maple cream sandwich cookies (from Costco, thanks husband!) and "Timbits" from a local bakery, and we were good to go.

Amazingly, I've never made Nanaimo bars before. I've never even been in the room when Nanaimo bars were being made. That's not very raised-in-Canada of me, is it? But I conned the recipe from my Canadian friend, Ginger, and was immediately struck by how simple it really is. The whole thing came together quite quickly, and I made WAY too many. With this dessert, a little goes a long way. These are rich babies. But yummy rich babies.

Nanaimo bars
Bottom layer
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. cocoa
1 beaten egg
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Middle layer
1/2 cup butter
3 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
2 cup icing powder

Top layer
2/3 cup or 4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 Tbsp. butter

Bottom layer: Melt first three ingredients. Add beaten egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 9x9 pan.

Middle layer: Cream ingredients together. Beat until light and spread. (Quick tip: Chill the pan now. Get the buttery layer good and frozen-ish before you spread the chocolate topping. That way it will not melt. And move quickly. That helps too.)

Top layer: Melt chocolate and butter. Cool and spread.

Chill and use sharp knife to cut into squares.

Of course I forgot to take a picture at home, so this is a quickly snapped iPhone shot at the lunch itself. You can see the remnants of the Timbits and sugar cookies scattered around. Those doughnut holes were my downfall yesterday... but in all the best ways.

The theory is that the buttery center can be customized and flavored...  mint, coffee, peanut butter... Next time I make Nanaimo bars, I won't be able to help myself but to experiment... and the flavor I think I want to fiddle around with is peanut butter... just a thought. A happy thought. If you could pick any flavor of Nanaimo bars, which would you pick?

Oh Canada!

Here's a little song in honor of my "other" home-country! I do love me some Dwight!

Feeling Olympic love

-minus 2 days... and it's already building... That full-on fanatical, medal-counting, Canadian- (and, yes, American too...) anthem-singing Olympic fever. And I'm soooo ready to roll with it. I need to snag back the Olympic program I stuffed in Seth's Christmas stocking and get the dvr fired up for my favorite sports!

Here are a couple of videos to get you in the mood. This first one is a Vancouver time-lapse. Kind of dreamy.



This second video came my way just this morning (thanks, Ma!) and hit a real sentimental nerve with me. The whole "Super, Natural British Columbia" concept was really hot when I was a kid (it's kind of subtle in this ad, but I'm glad they haven't done away with it entirely), and boy did we have fun with the "super, natural" part of it. (In case you don't go immediately to a tween sense of humor, think natural = nekkid. Yeah, pretty tween of us.) But I actually got a little choked up seeing Michael J. Fox in the ad, since I have a real soft spot for him from way back too.



I'm so excited for the Olympics to start!