Wednesday, September 25, 2013

A Mouse In the House.

Yesterday Joe spotted a mouse downstairs and immediately asked for cheese to set traps.
He was a little worried as the creature seemed a little on the chubby side. We do not want a nest in our home.
After setting the traps, Joe saw the mouse sitting on the trap eating the cheese without consequence.
When Joe went upstairs, I walked over near the trap and heard a noise. The cutest little mouse looked up at me. I decided to open the door and see if it would run out. It climbed on top a piece of insulation. I gently picked up the insulation with mouse in tow and put it outside. Saved by the Belle!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Three Deer Under The Apple Tree

                                                Please....feel free to indulge..
                                                I see you peeking around the tree!

Monday, September 23, 2013

St. James... Treats or Mistreats

Whenever I cook for family or friends I take notes on what worked & what didn't.
My most beautiful creation the Fabulous Plum Cake was kind of a flop. The taste was good, it looked great until it was cut....then it was a crumbling  mess. My first thought was knife not sharp enough.
 My second thought was the fact that they had been in the freezer for a few days but I don't think that would do it.
My final decision is that the nectarines were not ripe. And so, I mention this on the recipe for next time.

The Onion/ Veggie Tart was another disaster...but all was eaten so can't sweat that one.
I already took notes on the Tart. It was the crust...I have no idea what I did wrong but it took me 30 minutes to get the tart out of the pan and most of the crust was lost. So, a tasty but soggy dish.
I have a few photos. I should have taken a photo of the failures but I am too proud!
The Turkish Delights that Nick brought back from his trip to Turkey were quite a hit. So thoughtful of him to think of the choir.  I'm enjoying his coffee as well. He gave me a bottle to take home. Notice the boxes under the table. so classy.
Glen loves to have each person have food of their heritage. So, in order to obey his wish....there was a taste of Italy in every dish.  I'm sure Turkey was once part of the Roman Empire...Close enough!

           

                                         Before the Crumble

                                             Delightful Delights!
                                       Pasta Salad....( kind of obvious)

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Treats for Choir Family

It's that time again...I have begun the journey from kitchen to freezer to the St. James table.

So far I have an Italian veggie onion tart, and  an Italian nectarine up side down cake. The cake still needs a glaze. I'll do that Sunday morning.

Follow-up.  I had a bit of difficulty with the cake. Without going into boring details..I repeated the sugar browning three times until I finally got it right. The first two times the problem was the sugar..I used Baker's sugar...did not work...I blamed the pan..second time did the same thing...then I used granulated sugar and voila...it worked. Next problem was a mess in the oven. I used a pan with leakage problems..so when I finally figured out all my errors, I was compelled to try again. In closing to this boring epistle...I now have three upside down cakes in freezer..2 nectarine and one plum.
I know....I'm a little crazy, but the results are yummy.




Cousin Signe Has a Birthday party Yum!















Friday, September 13, 2013

Another Dr. MacKenzie in the Family

We are so proud of Tricia Mackenzie, daughter of our son Joe  and his wife Deb.
It is difficult to believe that the little girl I watched in a ballet production is a Dr.
I remember Tricia sitting on the stage with her big blue eyes staring at something, thinking that ballet wasn't exactly her thing!




Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Reservations

We just made reservations to camp in Yellowstone next year.
Yellowstone is one of my favorites.  That being said, I have reservations about our reservation.
Joe may change his mind. For this reason I am not allowing myself to get excited about the trip.
We have so many great photos and memories of Yellowstone that I really can't complain if this trip doesn't happen. But my positive self is having a tough time not  getting extremely excited!!!!!!

Monday, September 9, 2013

In the Future.....

Is there anyone out there who can invent a camera that would take photos with the blink of the eye?
It should be placed carefully in a person's head so it would not get in the way of any important items
contained there.
Yesterday is a perfect example of the necessity of this invention.
I looked out the window at about 6:30 a.m. to see a beautiful doe crashing through the woods in the back yard. Yes, I have many photos of deer but this one could have been special. It may have been related to Bambi.
Going down the hill on our way to St. James I saw a peacock on the side of the road. Yes, I know they are raucous and irritating, but a photo would only show the beauty of the creature.

We drove out to Joe & Deb's Sunday afternoon to see the handiwork of our son, Joe. He did extensive work in their downstairs. I would have loved a photo of his excellent work.

We originally told Joe, that we would be out after I fixed  my husband (also Joe) lunch.  Somehow, this message was not given to Deb and she had prepared a beautiful photo-worthy lunch. It was also delicious. After waiting a short time we decided we were hungry.

Joe & I had eaten some of the food prepared by Michelle & Paulette for choir. The Torte with the cross commemorating their Pilgrimage, was unique. I wanted a photo!

Backing up a day, I rode home from St. James with one of the choristers.  He is very kind and an interesting person.
I would have taken his photo as he drove with his left hand on the steering wheel and eyes turned away from traffic as he made conversation. Then, I could've shown him the photo, and perhaps saved him
from a future accident.
So now you see how important this always ready camera would be....get busy all you inventors.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Sleepless In Renton

Last night was one of those rare occasions when I had trouble sleeping.
Was it the thunder, lightening? 
 Worrying that rain would pour down
 on me while I carried treats to Room 1?  Was it the excitement of seeing all our music family?

Or was it because I saw a sad accident on the way home. I saw a slowing down of traffic and thought I would be there for hours..then cars started going around this stalled semi and I became brave and followed them. As I passed the semi I saw a crumpled car with people inside...it was so dramatic.
People were outside the car  reaching in to try to get the trapped persons out of the vehicle.
I had to keep going but said a prayer and couldn't stop thinking about what the future held for those trapped in the car. I hope it was not as bad as it looked and I pray that all survived.

It puts things in perspective.  It no longer matters whether or not  people liked my cookies!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

I am at Peace

I am so relieved that I passed my drivers test today, that I felt the need to post a photo that
shows how I feel. I took this photo from our deck.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Zoe....Zoe...Zoe

I think Zoe needs another party!
We all had a great time at the party. Food was great. It is always good to get a chance to visit our children and catch up on what's been going on in their lives.