April Showers Bring May Flowers?!

Late yesterday afternoon we started to get a bit of snow. I took this photo of our vehicles in the driveway before I went to bed because I was sure the snow would all be melted by the morning :)

taken through a window screen

Ol' Man Winter isn't done with us yet. It snowed all night, and we woke up to a beautiful spring morning! My poor van got about eight inches of drifted snow on it. There's a reason we're called The Great White North here in Canada ;)

The driveway needed to be cleared. The poor robins I saw out there were unable to find worms in the soft ground. I saw one sad little thing trying to gobble down a frozen worm he found on the driveway. Robins migrate south in winter, and they've had a few snowfalls to contend with this spring.

After I cleared the driveway and steps, I threw some birdseed and some chunks of apple out for the birds on the driveway. I've seen robins eat apples before that I had tossed out for the squirrels, and soon the spring birds (grackles, robins, starlings) were enjoying the apples as soon as I stepped back inside.

At least it won't last too long this late in the year ... or will it? A nice polar vortex has brought the cold temperatures back to us and with it the snow. Ugh!

Yesterday I made it all cozy inside with the oven on and some more fresh homemade bread! I had to use up the last two yeast packets I had left over from the Hot Cross Buns. I think I'm on a roll now (ha! no pun intended!). My husband made a beef stew in the crock pot and I just wanted to add a little something to the meal. These were as delicious as they look! Rosemary Crescent Rolls (recipe below).

Rosemary Crescent Rolls

* see note at bottom of recipe before you begin

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 envelopes (8 g each or 2 tbsp) quick-rise instant yeast

1 tsp salt

3/4 milk

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup butter or magerine

1 egg

Glaze

1 egg

1 tbsp water

1 tsp dried rosemary

Reserve 1 cup flour. Mix remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt in large bowl.

Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (125 F / 50 C). Stir warm liquid into dry ingredients. Beat in egg. Mix in enough reserved flour to make a soft dough that does not stick to bowl.

Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about six minutes.

Cover with greased wax paper and a tea towel; let rest 10 minutes in a warm spot.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half into 16-inch circle. With sharp knife, cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll up each wedge tightly from wide end. Place rolls, points down, on greased baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents.

Cover with greased wax paper and a tea towel. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size; about 30 minutes.

Glaze:  Beat egg and water, mix in dried rosemary. Brush on rolls. 

Bake in 375 F oven about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from sheets to wire rack to cool.

*NOTE: Be sure to work in a warm kitchen when making bread. All your ingredients should be room temperature. I had trouble previously with the bread not rising enough, and I think it was because I didn't have the egg at room temperature when I mixed it into the bread dough. I had it at room temperature the next time, and the bread rose perfectly. Also, it was a cold day in my house, so I put the oven on for a couple of minutes just enough to warm it up a bit (about 75 F), and then turned it off. I put the dough in the oven to rise. It worked well this way.

Joining Judith at Lavender Cottage for ...

Thanks for hosting Judith :)

After Easter

Well Easter is over for another year. I like Easter since there isn't a lot of  craziness (in my family anyway) to buy gifts and to decorate and to bake months in advance! I do things simply at Easter. A few decorations on the table, dry sink or buffet.

Knitted Easter Egg Pattern

We had our Easter dinner yesterday, with just my little family of four. We did a delicious roast beef with vegetables in the crock pot and a loaf of rosemary bread ... actually my husband did the main meal. My son and I baked Hot Cross Buns on Saturday for Sunday's breakfast. They turned out really well (recipe at the end of this post). I love Hot Cross Buns, but have only made them once before. My mother made them every year and shared them with us, so there was no need for me to bake them until she passed away. It was good to taste that familiar spicy bun once more :) The lemon squares were made on Saturday as well, and they were a hit. The recipe does make a lot, however, so now we're stuck with a lot of lemon squares ... terrible, right? I sent some back with my daughter, but that pan is in the fridge staring back at me every time I open the door :[

I didn't hear from any of my other family this year, although I did see dear ol' Dad on Saturday for a visit in the morning. His memory was on a one-minute loop that day. Conversation was difficult with the repeating questions. I finally brought out a couple of photo albums to look through with him. He gobbled up the pictures eagerly, as we strolled down "non-memory" lane. The only people he remembers now are his own mother and father. I had to repeatedly tell him they had died many years ago. It's bad enough to have to break the news to him that his parents are dead once in a visit. On Saturday I had to break the news to him about ten times! He took it rather well, but was surprised at the news every time, "Oh, I didn't know they had died". Ever see the movie "50 First Dates"? It was like that. I love that movie. It makes the whole dementia thing a little lighter to bear without demeaning people who have it. 

We drove my daughter back home yesterday after our early supper. There's still snow in the woods alongside the highway there. It was a gorgeous day yesterday, and I was able to have the patio door opened a crack while our roast cooked. It was nice to hear the birds singing all day :)  Today started off with a thunderstorm really early (before I got up). Now it's raining steadily.

I've written out the recipe for the hot cross buns here if you're interested. I realize it's a bit moot to post this recipe after Easter, but maybe you'll keep the recipe for next year. I've not made bread very often, and found this recipe quite easy. We couldn't get candied peel at our grocery store (?!), and then we forgot to buy the raisins. My son and I opened up the pantry cupboard to look for raisins, and saw the box of Raisin Bran cereal sitting there. We looked at each other and silently agreed that we would steal those raisins ... and we did! Thank goodness for those "two scoops of raisins"!! Here's hoping you're better prepared if you make these.

HOT CROSS BUNS

Buns:

4 cups all-purpose flour

8 g pkg quick-rise instant yeast (I used Fleischmann's)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves or allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup raisins (steal them from your favourite cereal if none on hand)

grated rind of 1 lemon

1/4 cup chopped candied peel

1/4 cup water

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

Glaze:

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp water

Icing:

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 - 2 tbsp lemon juice

Set aside 1 cup flour.

In large bowl, combine remaining flour, undissolved yeast, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, raisins, lemon rind and candied peel.

In small saucepan, heat water, milk and butter until very warm to touch (120 - 130F). With wooden spoon, gradually stir into dry ingredients. Mix in egg; beat mixture smooth. Stir in enough of remaining flour to make a soft dough that pulls away from side of bowl. Turn on to floured surface, knead dough  five to seven minutes until dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour if dough is too sticky. Cover with tea towel; stand 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 12 equal pieces, Stretch and shape each piece into a smooth ball, pinching at bottom to seal. Place seam-side down on greased baking sheets about two inches apart. Cut crosses in each bun with sharp knife. Cover with tea towel and put in warm place. Let rise 35 - 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Mix egg yolk with water, brush over surface of buns. Bake in preheated 375F oven 15 - 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cool.

In small bowl, combine icing sugar and enough lemon juice to make a good consistency to drizzle. Beat until smooth. Brush or drizzle icing on top of each bun (I used a decorating tool).

Makes 12 hot cross buns.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Wendy

Linking up with Judith of Lavender Cottage and Mosaic Monday

Photography, Sparrows and a Lemon Dessert for Easter

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We had some great weather, sunny, sunny, sunny. Still a little too chilly for garden work (for me anyway). My weekend was full with visiting my dad and then errands. While with Dad, my sister arrived unexpectedly, so we took the opportunity and went out for lunch once Dad was settled in his own dining room for his. 

First off I want to share some photos I took recently. Now I am not a manual camera person. I prefer putting the camera on automatic and clicking away. I just find it quicker because I'm usually with little kids, or the dog, or I'm taking wildlife photos and don't want to miss the shot. Sometimes it gets annoying when the flash continually want to go off, but I work around that in my own way. My camera, however, does have manual capabilities! Now with Soma's help in her Wandering Camera series, I am challenging myself to do more. Soma recently spoke about setting the ISO properly. This morning I played with that a bit, and here are the results. Nothing note worthy, but it shows you really do have to play around with the camera ... and again I can't say how thankful I am that these are digital :)

The photos were looking a little better as I kept changing the settings. These are shown in order of taking them. The lighting wasn't great this morning with clouds moving in, but with a beautiful sunrise first thing. What do you think Soma?

These next two were a couple of photos from the automatic setting, and then I touched them up on the computer (which is my normal lazy photographer method). Please note the snow. It was -4C this morning ... ugh.

Obviously, I need more practice, but I've dipped my toe in now and will force myself to continue.

And now a few shots of a sweet little song sparrow that I took through the back patio door. Not great photos, but I don't see this guy very often. If I had opened the door, he would have flown away. (automatic setting ... these were taken a few days ago)

And lastly, I'd like to share a favourite recipe of mine and my daughter's. Now this recipe is light tasting, but it is not light in calories. We happened upon this recipe many years ago, and although it's a bit of work, it's very easy and delicious! It keeps for a few days in the refrigerator (if it lasts that long). If you like lemony desserts, I've got to say, this one is superb! The real lemons make for a very mouthwatering lemon taste. I'll be serving this after our Easter meal of roast beef & Yorkshire pudding :)

LEMON HAZELNUT SQUARES

Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (filberts)

Heat oven to 350F. Spray 13 x 9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine flour, powdered sugar and butter; mix well. Press dough evenly into pan. Sprinkle with hazelnuts; press lightly into dough. Note: I chop the hazelnuts very fine and add them right into the flour mixture instead. Also, if you want to enhance the flavour of the hazelnuts, spread them on a cookie sheet and set in the oven no more than 10 minutes at 350F.

Bake at 350F for 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely; about 30 minutes (I often set it in the fridge before the next step so the filling doesn't melt when you put it on.)

Filling:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

1/2 cup lemon juice (I use about 2 lemons for both the peel and the juice)

1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened

yellow food colour, if desired

While the crust is cooling, in medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water; blend until smooth. Cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice.

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly stir in hot filling mixture and food colouring (just a few drops) until well blended. Cool 30 minutes.

Spoon filling over cooled crust; spread evenly. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour, or until chilled.

Topping:

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

   whole hazelnuts (filberts), halved, if desired

   fresh mint leaves , if desired

In medium bowl, beat whipping cream and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Spoon over cooled lemon filling; spread evenly. Cover; refrigerate at least 4 hours or until serving time. Garnish each serving with hazelnut halves and mint leaves. Note: I don't bother with the hazelnuts on top, or the mint leaves, and you can still taste the hazelnuts in the crust. 

15 servings

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

Linking up with Judith's Mosaic Monday, thanks for hosting Judith.

Mosaic Monday

Linking up today with Judith of Lavender Cottage and her Mosaic Monday.
Thank you for hosting Judith.

Today was Family Day here in Ontario, so we were able to relax with this long weekend. My husband and I ditched our son ;) and went for a lovely walk down and around Second Marsh. Again, this is part of the wetlands that border Lake Ontario, just a bit east of the previous marshes I have shown you here.

Second Marsh is a wetland that has been preserved through the efforts of General Motors of Canada who have their head office on the border of the marsh. There are quite a few trails around the marsh, and it's a beautiful walk. I would like to come back again in the spring time to see what sorts of birds are around.

GM Head Office

Our temperatures had dipped way down on Friday to -30C with a wind chill of -40C. It quickly froze the marsh, and there is a huge area that is quite popular with skaters. It has warmed up considerably today, and was only -10C, but there was a steady, brisk wind whipping in off the lake! Isn't this a great setting for an outdoor skate.

The families out here were really enjoying themselves, but I'll bet they were feeling the cold after a while. We walked across the ice and it was cold! Hearing the ice crack as you walk across is a little unsettling, but we could see that the ice was quite thick.

This marsh is a sensitive area and dogs are not allowed on the trails. Did we see any dogs? Of course we did because there's always someone who ignores the rules! A couple were walking their two large, and rather scary looking dogs without a leash on either of them. The dogs charged up to us barking and wild, and the look in one of the dog's eyes honestly made me feel like he was going to attack me! Of course the owners called to us (from quite a distance away), that the dogs were friendly. Rather than get into an argument with this couple, we didn't point out that this was a dog-free area. Maybe they couldn't read.

Anyway, after the dog scare, and after I tripped over a large rock and fell down hard on my knee onto another rock (ouch!), we had a really nice walk along the easy trails, and headed down to the open water of Lake Ontario. Crashing waves and roaring wind greeted us. I love it, but my husband ... not so much.

My husband got a soaking when he was walking around this little tangle of branches. He miscalculated the size of the waves coming in and and got caught by a "rogue" wave ... right ... soaked up to his knees! He refused to follow me any further, so I was forced to turn back to the safety of drier land. I have to treat him nicely or he'll never come out with me again (but secretly I was annoyed).

There were lots of interesting ice formations on the branches.

These trails are through an old farmstead that was operating until the 1980s. These informative signs were placed along the trails. "Cool Hollow" would be a very refreshing trail on a hot summer day. Today is was very quiet and much warmer away from the noise of the waves and wind on the lakeshore.

I took some birdseed down with me in case my little friends the chickadees were present ... and they were! These birds weren't quite as tame as at the other marsh, but a couple of them came to my hand. There were quite a few bird houses set up along the trails for springtime nesting. Some birds have made their own nests of course. The line of old maples along this portion of the trail (see bottom right photo below) would be gorgeous in the fall.

This must have been a beautiful farm, but I'm glad it's now been reverted back to a wildlife refuge.

Would you like to hear a horrible story now? Okay :)

I used to come here more often, with my kids and the daycare kids. But one time we had walked down to the lake on a hot summer day. On the return trip along a pretty tree-lined trail, we were suddenly attacked by red ants! I'm telling you, it was like a scene out of Indiana Jones! Red ants were biting our bare feet (we were all in sandals & crocs), crawling up and biting our legs and arms! When we looked at the ground, we could see the swarms of red ants coming up out of the ground. It was awful! I think they were all aroused when we first walked down to the lake along this same path. I yelled at the older kids to run ahead, but I was left carrying the smallest boy and then one little girl fell down right in the swarm. I was yelling at her to get up! get up! but she just lay there screaming as the ants crawled over her. I ran back, grabbed her up in one arm, the other boy in the other arm and hurried along the path as quickly as I could. When we finally reached the van, everyone had bites. I checked the little guys' feet and there was a carpet of red ants inside their crocs and sandals. We finally shook all the ants off of us, and I drove to a water park where we all cooled our bites in the water. I have never been back to these trails in the summertime! Although today was quite cold, I still preferred it over the ants ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

Birthday Weekend in Algonquin Park

For many years now, I've spent my birthday weekend (or as near as we can get it) in Algonquin Park. The last two weeks in September are usually the best weeks to head up there to see the fall colours at their peak. This year the weather was lovely ... warm and sunny ... but the fall colours had only just begun. A bit disappointing because I was hoping to blast some colour into my camping post, but it just didn't happen.

Before we left for camping on Friday, I had been receiving birthday cards from my a new card exchange group I joined. It was a real pleasure to receive cards from people I have now known for a few years, and from some new people in this group.

It's a tea & card exchange, so I received lots of new flavoured teas tucked into the cards, together with fun little gifts on the side. It made my upcoming birthday a bit more fun :)

And there were other very special cards received that were not part of the exchange ;)

Thank you all so much for your kindness in sending these lovely cards and all the little surprises of tea and gifts. It really made my day to visit the mailbox and find another card waiting inside!!

My weekend away with my husband and son was really, really nice. We hiked and canoed for two days in idyllic weather. We climbed to a cliff top to get this view (below). And then we hiked back down and took the canoe & kayak out across this same Rock Lake to a new area we hadn't explored before. That's what is so nice in Algonquin Park, you will never have finished exploring all the beautiful hidden areas! This time we went to the right of the island you can see and down a long stretch that eventually ended at a portage. The day was getting late by then, and we were forced to turn around and paddle back.

I'll do a separate post with more photos, but for today, just a quick peek. 

And here's Cody  riding shotgun in our canoe ...

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wendy

Linking up with Judith at Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday