Snow Falls

The gate to Sicamous Street

Mattie's view.

This was a very busy day We had two telus guy's at two poles working on the lines. And across the street lots of city trucks and such working on a water leak. Our water was off for hours.

Mattie on the shoveled back porch.

Hay bale fence heavy with snow.

Veiw from the kitchen window, the sky had a hint of pink.

In the back yard leans a Willow.

Snow can be seen piled high, this one looks to be almost as high as the building. I have also seen the snow being trucked away.

Riverside park picinic tables.

Steve, Mateo and the monster snow heap.

River Walk in the fog.

River Walk

Woodpicker along River Walk.

It has certainly snowed a lot and my arm hurts from shoveling the beautiful white crystalline stuff.

Jazz

Jazz two weekends in a row. Steve and I finally made it to the Vernon Jazz Club with our friends George and Allana. The club is member run and the staff is all volunteer. The place is big and can seat 150 people with a nice dance floor. January 8th 2011 Jon Treichel's Scattered Atoms played to a full house. Shows sell out if you don't have a ticket you might not get in even if it was reserved, that is how popular it is. For more on the club visit their web site 

http://www.vernonjazzclub.ca/Home.html

For more info on Jon Treichel's Scattered Atoms 

http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_2512120

Friday the 14th Steve and I walked up the street to the Cliffs Cafe and enjoyed The Sandy Cameron Jazz Trio. This is a more intimate venue and we can walk to it. The trio Sandy Cameron on sax, Bill Lockie on stand up bass and Jorden Dick on guitar are very good, we enjoyed the show and are looking forward to seeing them again. Sandy plays on Thursday nights at the Saga Public Art Gallery in Salmon Arm. For more info on the Cliffs Cafe

http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/thecliffscafe

For more info on The Saga Public Art Gallery 

http://www3.telus.net/saga/events.html

Bringing in the New Year with a Hammer and a Saw



flooring neatly stacked according to size

  Steve and I spent the weekend of the New Year with hammer and saw in hand. Steve did the sawing and I did the hammering. Our visions as to how the floor was going to go together were at odds, so I stepped back and let Steve figure it out. I just really wanted it done. A lot of time was spent moving boards around to get the best fit and color combinations. If I had done my math right I would have bought enough wood for the whole floor. By the time we realized we needed two more boxes(a box is 20sqft, we needed 42sqft) I could not get the same flooring so we had to go with something else, the dark narrower boards seemed to be the best choice. Saturday evening when the floor was all done we sat on the new floor sipping tea by candle light, contemplating wood grains and how wonderful it was to have the floor done. Next trim, baseboards, and the closet racks and things. Hoping to have a closet by next weekend.

Steve hard at it.



Detail of corner entrance



Looking forward to the finished closet and getting the living room back.

Recipe Request

Rye Shortbread ready for the oven.

I had a request for recipes, I thought I would give you my oldest favorite and my newest favorite cookie recipes. I'll start with my newest Rye Shortbread. This recipe was given to me by the women who sells Wolfgang"s Grain and flours an Enderby company. 

Rye Shortbread

I changed the recipe from 2 cups rye flour to 1 cup rye flour and 1 cup oat flour, I love oat shortbread and I like the change.

Pre heat oven to 300 F. Line two 8" cake pans with parchment paper.

1 cup butter, softened (My preference is Earth Balance, soy free)

1 cup brown sugar

1cup rye flour

1 cup oat flour

1/2 cup corn flour

Icing sugar (Wholesome sweeteners has a sugar without cornstarch) Optional

Place butter and brown sugar into a bowl cream thoroughly. Mix the flours together and stir into the creamed butter and sugar. Divide the dough into two pieces. Press each piece of dough evenly into the prepared cake pans. I cut each into 12 pieces and poked each piece with a fork. Sprinkle Icing sugar on the centers. Bake in the pre heated oven until the tops of the cakes are golden brown, and the edges turn a slightly darker brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour. In my oven 50 minutes is good. 

Cut the shortbread again while it is still warm and cool, sprinkle more  icing sugar on top and store in a tightly sealed cookie tin or container lined with parchment or waxed paper 

Viennese Nut Balls( Christmas)ready for the oven

The recipe Sue Ellen wrote 33 years ago, now covered in batter with torn and crinkled edges.

 When I was a kid in Cincinnati Mom would buy the most delicate cookies at Christmas time, we called them crescents. Sometimes they were shaped like a crescent moon and some times they were balls covered in icing sugar. I loved those cookies. In 1978 I lived in the very small village of Oona River on Porcher Island. One of my neighbor's Sue Ellen had a recipe for my favorite Christmas cookies and she was willing to share it with me. 

Viennese Nut Balls (Christmas)

Set the oven for 300 F

Cream thoroughly 1 cup of butter

Add

1/4 cup of sugar

11/2 cups flour

1 cup ground nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts or black walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well. Shape into balls the size of large marbles Roll in Confectioner's sugar. Place on cookie sheet . Bake 35 minutes, cool and roll in confectioners sugar again makes 36 cookies.

Viennese Nut Balls and Rye Shortbread all ready to eat.

Enjoy.

Organic Produce and Crafts in Enderby

Today was a great day for shopping in Enderby. We had a Christmas crafts show at the Enderby Seniors Hall. It's also on tomorrow December 4th from 9:00am till 3:00 pm.You  can buy:

knitting,

finely carved wood ear rings,

pickled vegetables,

apples,

Reindeer and mice,

Lampworking glass beads and pendents, by Back Porch Beadery,

wooden angels,

A great selection of the best cotton dish clothes.

Garlic in the form of wreathes, vinegars, and pickled. Woven baskets, by Skye Farms,

Lobo's pet treats, even little muffins,

Christmas cookies of many shapes and sizes, all wrapped in plastic,

Jewels by Lynn

book marks to go in those books you bought for the kids( of any age)

 When I was done at the crafts show I walked over to the Legion where they have a Farmers market on Fridays. One in the morning 10 am to 1-pm and one in the afternoon 3 to 6 pm. I go to both morning and afternoon for the variety.

I bought Rye flour and she gave me a receipt for rye shortbread. I have made it a few times and it is very good.

Icelandic wool knited and felted.

Tocino Alpacas, knights and yarns

Plum balls, fruit cake, scarves, etc.

Helge Hodal and his beautiful wood laminated boxes with exotic woods.

I walked home through the wet snow with a bag full of goodies. Now I will be off to the afternoon Farmers market to get my baking and more organic produce for the week.


http://www.tocinalpacas.com/

Winter Cold

Winter is upon us and this morning the thermometer in the Smart said it was -16c. My feet have been toasty warm in my old purple gigantic felt packs. My "hand me down" snow pants that I got from Yolanda after she grew out of them years a go (She was bigger than me at 11 years old) along with pants, long johns, thick socks, vest, coat, scarf, hat and mittens all keep me warm out of doors. Only my face gets cold and sometimes my fingers. Mateo has a new jacket, but seams to love the snow, when he gets in it all he wants to do is run. Or his feet are cold and running keeps his feet off the grown. He didn't want to linger outside this morning.

Now that this rock face is covered in ice Mateo refrains from his role as Mountain Goat.

The moon has been amazingly beautiful.

A simple seasonal decoration for the front porch. The cedar boughs filled the house with a wonderful scent as I was making it. 

Today the sun keeps peeking in and out and it feels good on my skin and my soul. Keep warm and safe on these cold dark days.