Summer is here and so am I

So it's been a while.... In case you were worried, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. (But seriously next time if you are worried about that drop me a message or something just in case.)

I have been busy working, worrying, living, baking, creating, skiing, running, moving, listening to music, making music,and an assortment of other activities. Circumstances as they are my original 2 month contract (Jan-Feb) has been extended repeatedly. Often with only a couple days notice before its expected end date. The month-by-month tension wasn't awesome, and the way I dealt with it (blissful ignorance and denial) wasn't the healthiest either. Finally I have the relative security of a 4 month contract but had the urgent need to find a place to stay yet again. I can't express how grateful I am to my church family here. When I express a need they repeatedly do whatever they can to fill it including inviting me into their homes, directing me towards available housing, and providing me with a bed.

Work has settled into a comfortable, if a little tedious, routine. I never expected to be working full-time in a chemistry lab. Initially it was exciting and challenging as I learned new lab protocols, but eventually this settled down into a regular rhythm to the point that I occasionally feel like just another piece of lab equipment. I have found setting goals and keeping track of my "personal bests" in regards to lab production to be effective in keeping me engaged in my work and constantly striving to do my best.

As an added challenge I have been focusing my energies and talents on some of my hobbies. I really enjoyed baking this winter especially fresh bread. I decided to stop buying store bought bread and make all of my bread myself. Which I found relaxing and enjoyable. I even developed my own recipe for a braided apple cream cheese streusel which is delicious and looks impressive to boot. I also started work on a painting for some dear friends and continued working on a painting I started earlier this fall. In addition I received a coupon for a discount on some music lessons; so I decided to get some more instruction on the violin (or fiddle.) Progress is slow but I would say I now am closer to using the violin as a musical instrument as opposed to an instrument of torture.

My music addiction is in full swing and I have enjoyed discovering some new bands as well as enjoying some old favourites. It is possible that I have been purchasing new music at too fast of a rate- you need to live with a CD for awhile to fully absorb and enjoy it. I think I need to go back and savour some CD's I had purchased awhile ago but haven't listened to that much lately. But there is so much good and interesting music out there and so little time! That and the website Noisetrade keeps me fuelled with constant new suggestions and the opportunity to legally download the music cheaply or for free. Their suggestions are consistently top notch! Recent finds include Jenny and Tyler, Josh Garrels, and Ivan & Alyosha. I have included some Youtube clips for your listening pleasure.

Until next time Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbeZwvB8BiE   - some reason can't link the actual video but this will take you to the page on YouTube for a song called Be Your Man by Ivan & Alyosha. Definitely check it out the video is a delight to the eyes and to the ears. It is a ton of fun and an excellent summery sounding song! Kick up your heels and dance!!!

Jenny and Tyler were the soundtrack to my winter Jan-Mar. They are an awesome husband and wife duo. I chose to link a few videos of theirs. I listened to their album Open Your Doors a lot this winter- it had a good mix of music both worship and music that ministered to my melancholy. Their music makes me want to make music too. Their song See the Conqueror was my song for lent- I recently found it is also in my church's hymnal but with a different tune. I like their version better and might try it out with the praise team at my church if I get the chance.

  

Finally the soft sweet and incredible sounds of Josh Garrels. I had downloaded his album Love War and the Sea In between last year sometime but didn't get around to really living with the music until recently. I am consistently astounded by what he does with his voice!! Pilot Me sings to me of the Pacific Northwest and why I want to go back to British Columbia and the Gulf islands. Sailor's Waltz and I'll Fly Away are just fantastic and make me want to go practice my fiddle. Which I think I will just go and do right now.

  

Just a Trifle

My Dad makes a fantastic trifle that we have every year at Christmas. I have loved helping him make this trifle since I was a little girl- especially since he let me sample some of the layers. I save his trifle recipe for Christmas time but since I love trifle so much I have come up with my own Chocolate Raspberry trifle. I love making desserts but since I normally cook only for myself I don't normally indulge unless I have someone to share it with. I made this trifle for a Church potluck where it was enjoyed immensely.  The thing I love most about trifle is that you get an awesome looking dessert that tastes awesome too and is very easy to make. Wanna know just how easy? Here are my simple instructions for chocolate raspberry trifle:

Ingredients:
- 1 box chocolate pudding
- 1 box vanilla pudding
- 1 can raspberry pie filling
- 1 pan of brownies (9x13) Quaker Oats mix is my fave but any brownies will do
- 1 box chocolate mousse
- 1 carton (500mL) whipping cream or 1 tub cool whip
- you will need milk to make all the mixes

Optional but definitely makes the trifle extra delicious as well as gorgeous:
- fresh raspberries (1 or 2 cartons)

Instructions
1. Prepare all the prepackaged mixes according to package instructions, you will need to make some room in your refrigerator for all the bowls of pudding. I also suggest you start with the brownies since they need the most time to bake and cool.
2. Grab your trifle bowl and a couple of spoons and get ready to assemble
3. Trifles have layers (like cakes, parfaits and onions) The order of the layers isn't essential but here is the order I followed to make the trifle in my picture

- brownie

- chocolate mousse

- raspberry pie filling and fresh raspberries

- vanilla pudding

- whipcream

- more brownie

- entire chocolate pudding

- more pie filling and raspberries

- more whipcream

- last of the brownie

- last of the chocolate mousse

- last of the pie filling

- last of the vanilla pudding

- final layer of whip cream

Garnish with more fresh raspberries and some shaved chocolate
(Hershey's Skor Chipits also taste really good in this)
4. After you are done admiring your creation dig out the spoons and bowls and dig in!

Domesticity

I am not an overly domestic orientated person. Sure when I was a kid I went through a Little House on the Prairie phase but my housekeeping skills leave much to be desired. Lately however, perhaps due to sheer boredom I have found myself willingly performing several domestic activities.

One being knitting- I am making a hat, I have actually been working on a hat for my younger sister for quite some time but can't seem to get it right. It has been described as a broccoli, a unripe pumpkin, a fungus and a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. Perhaps I should have followed a pattern instead of trying to make one up as a went along. That technique might work for scarves but hats are a bit more complicated.

The other domestic activity I have been up to is making applesauce. I remember once as a kid making applesauce from the wild apple trees that grow in the valley on my parents farm. The apples aren't perfect like the ones you may get in a store or from an orchard, they are bumped and bruised and covered in scars from insect attacks, but they are still good enough for applesauce.  I took a few pics of the process, must say the results were quite delicious!

Apples I found in the valley

Cooking the apples, leaving the peels on makes the applesauce pink

Pushing the cooked apples through the sieve to make apple sauce!

End result, YUMMY

I like to leave the peels on when I make applesauce, I think it improves the flavour, it also makes the applesauce pinkish. Since the apples in our valley aren't very sweet I had to add some sugar, and then I put the applesauce in some containers and stored them in the freezer. The process was kinda labour intensive, but also kinda fun.

The other day I was thinking about how I don't mind baking, and making pastry and such. I briefly considered switching careers to become a pastry chef. Briefly being the key phrase. Although I think I could do it and excel, it really isn't my passion. I think the idea came because I am craving a delicacy from my favourite bakery (Culbert's cream puffs!!!) that is closed right now due to damage from the tornadoes that recently hit Goderich Ontario. My brother is friends with the owner and apparently the historic ovens in their bakery may have been damaged and it will likely take longer to repair than originally anticipated. They are also concerned that the new ovens might affect the quality of their pastry. Tragedy of epic proportions if you ask me!!! My longing for this delicious treat, and its subsequent unavailability may have led me to want to be able to create such delicacies for myself but I don't think I would be fully satisfied with this as a career. So instead I will channel any urges to bake towards my friends and family- aren't they lucky.

However my domestic skills really haven't increased that much so I might need someone to take care of the resulting stack of dishes.....

Contrasts

My Dad often reads the news online, I often read over his shoulder.
In a newspaper articles are separated by topic. Sports, Entertainment, world events, local events etc. are all given their own section in a news paper. The sections themselves are like tiny separate newspapers and you can choose which news to read. Online news is entirely different in that sense, although articles are still sorted they all appear on one browser page.

There is something surreal about having all your news on one browser page.

Sometimes the contrasts are convicting.

Like today for example:

An article for a new Doughnut cheeseburger and an article about the famine in Somalia appeared close together.
I already feel guilty for needing to spend time in the gym several days a week just to prevent too much of my food from sticking to my stomach and thighs. All the while knowing there are people struggling to receive enough calories to survive.
Items like the Doughnut cheeseburger or KFC's Double Down disgust me. No one in North America needs that amount of calories in one meal. Nor do either of these food items provide any real nutritional or taste benefit. (I have heard the Double Down is gross, and assume the doughnut cheeseburger would be similarly so.) These items only exist as a novelty- a "hey look at this disgustingly unhealthy thing I am eating" sort of food. They scream of a culture that has forgotten how incredible of a blessing it is to actually have our daily bread.

I'm not saying that we can't enjoy the occasional ridiculously unhealthy high calorie meal, or that we should try and ship a bunch of Doughnut cheeseburgers or Double Downs to Somalia. I am just saying that perhaps we should be more intentional and grateful for the food on our plates. Bon Appétit!

Packing and Preserving

So the decision has been made and my move-out day is set.
I will be heading back to live with my parents (saving myself the expense of rent) until I can find a job someplace.
So naturally I decided today would be a great day to start.... Preserving.
I hate packing so naturally I won't do that until the last minute. Instead today I decided to enjoy the nice weather by going strawberry picking. I went a little overboard and came back with faaarrr too many berries. I then spent the day making two batches of jam and five pies and still have berries left over. YUM!

Anyhow all this preserving got me thinking about packing-go figure. I have a bad habit that before I leave a place I mentally put up walls and choose to focus on the frustrations and things I don't like about a place. As a survival mechanism it is pretty good, it is easier to leave a place if you can only think of the negatives. However as a general rule it isn't that great- although with some distance I am able to remember the good things and times of a place I have wasted so much time with my morose thoughts and sometimes friendships of memories suffer because of it.

 

I think it is time I change this habit and start something new. My jam making made me realize I should focus on PRESERVING the good memories and good friendships, rather than just rushing on to the new opportunities. Yes new exciting opportunities will come along (hopefully,) but I have had a good time here and made good friends and have many good memories. I don't want to suppress them just to make moving easier. Besides the results of preserving are pretty amazing. So I start/ pretend to start packing with a clear head and fresh mindset choosing to rejoice for the friendships and memories I have had here. I truly am blessed and believe those memories, just like my jam, will definitely sweeten my future adventures.