Sunday, March 21, 2010

A Slow Dinner

Today was a day for a slow food dinner. I made Oatmeal Bread, Pork Roast with Tuscan Salt Rub and Baked Beans. For greens, I had the left over spinach salad from last night.





Cinnamon buns were made later for another day.  Photos above are of the buns before they went into the oven.  First photo has the butter and brown sugar sprinkled on the dough after it is rolled out to size. The middle photo is after the cinnamon spice and raisins have been added and the pieces cut for the pan. The third photo is after the dough has risen a bit and the last of course is the buns right out of the oven.

RECIPES

Oatmeal Bread
This was made in the bread machine and so is simple because all you do is throw all the ingredients into the machine, set it and away it goes until the bread is nice and done.

In case you do not have the recipe here is the one I used.

Ingredients:

9-11 ounces of water
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar or honey 

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
  3 3/4 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons powdered milk
  2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order listed. Select White Bread setting, and Start.

This recipe yields a 2 pound loaf.

Roast Pork with Tuscan Salt Rub

This again was easy. I put the roast pork into a small roaster, sprinkled some tuscan seasoning rub on it and cooked it for about 4 hours, first on low heat of 250 F. oven for an hour and then on 350 F. for the balance of time. I have a pre-mixed rub from Suzanne Somers company. If you don't have such a rub readily available or you like to make your own, you can try this recipe from the blog Eating Well.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

6 tablespoons dried basil

3 tablespoons garlic powder

3 tablespoons coarse salt

2 tablespoons dried rosemary

2 tablespoons dried oregano

    Boston Baked Beans
    I soaked the beans last night and boiled them for about one hour today. When I was ready to make dinner I put them in a glass baking dish along with a recipe I adapted from www.allrecipes.com


    Ingredients

    2 cups navy beans

    1/2 pound bacon

    1 onion, finely diced

    3 tablespoons molasses

    2 teaspoons salt

    1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

    1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

    1/2 cup ketchup

    1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

    1/4 cup brown sugar


    In my version, I omitted the bacon and Worcestershire sauce which I did not have on hand. I added some Louisiana hot sauce in place of Worcestershire. If you would like to use hot sauce, any hot sauce will do. I added the diced onion to the sauce mixture.

    Basically you place the beans in a baking dish and pour the sauce over top. You can add a bit of liquid (from the boiled beans or water) and cover. The recipe says to cook the beans for 3-4 hours on 325 F. oven. I cooked mine for 4 hours and the first hour was at 250F along with the pork roast after which I turned the heat on to 375F for the remaining time. I  had about 3 times the beans so I tripled the other ingredients to taste.

    Cinnamon Buns

    For easy cinnamon buns I made the dough in the bread machine. I then rolled it out to size, placed margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon spice and raisins and then rolled the dough into a log, pinching it together where needed so it didn't fall apart. Once I had a log, I cut the roll into evenly spaced pieces about 1 inch each in width. I set the cut pieces on a baking sheet, covered with a tea towel and let it rise before baking at 350F oven for approximately 30 minutes. You can make a cream cheese frosting, a confectioner's sugar glaze or leave them plain.

     

    Enjoy!


    Saturday, March 20, 2010

    Spring is Joy


    Oh how I love SPRING!


    Taking a lovely walk in the neighbourhood on a sunny day fills me with immense JOY. Spectacular scenery abounds.


    I love Spring 

    when the BLOSSOMS are coming out on the trees.


     when the SNOW stays on the mountain top


     when you see the nannies out with the CHILDREN in the playground


     when I feel like experimenting with a new THAI influenced. dish.  This was called Crunchy Munchy Salad.


    It came with these EGG ROLLS
    when even the COLOUR of the houses can make you smile


    when the fully bloomed TREE shares it's beauty

     

    Tuesday, March 16, 2010

    My World Tuesday ~ Inspirations

    I felt like some inspirational words today.These are a few of my favourite quotes and inspirational thoughts, as well as some new ones I've recently read. I've interspersed them with some beautiful scenes of my beloved Kenya which you can click on to enlarge.

    The truth shall make you free. -- John 8:32

    Success is never found. Failure is never fatal. Courage is the only thing. -- Sir Winston Churchill

    Life isn't easy for any of us. It is up to us to be cheerful and strong, so others may draw strength from us. -- Rose Kennedy

    The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. -- Lamentations 3:22-23

    [En route to Lake Naivasha, Kenya.]

    It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart. -- Unknown

    Be a blessing to someone today -- Proverbs 11:25

    If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart. -- Arabian Proverb 

    Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others? -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. -- Thomas Jefferson

    Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime. -- Ancient Proverb

    He that waits upon fortune is never sure of a dinner. -- Benjamin Franklin

     [Overlooking Lake Naivasha, Kenya.]

    A politician thinks of the next election - a statesman, of the next generation. -- James Freeman Clarke

    No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished? -- Lee Iacocca

    People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily. -- Zig Ziglar

    If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place. -- Nora Roberts

    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -- Mark Twain

    I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.  -- Abert Schweitzer

    Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. -- Charles Dickens

    [Naivasha Golf & Country Club grounds.]

    When we hurt each other we should write it down in the sand, so the winds of forgiveness can make it go away for good. When we help each other we should chisel it in stone, lest we never forget the love of a friend. -- Christian H. Godefroy

    Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. -- 1 John 3:18 NRSV

    No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel important. -- Mary Kay Ash

    If you're sincere, praise is effective. If you're insincere, it's manipulative. -- Zig Ziglar

    Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they're on the same side. -- Zig Ziglar


    Only when we give joyfully, without hesitation or thought of gain, can we truly know what love means.--  Leo Buscaglia

    You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God's wise plan, when you married, the two of you became one person in his sight. -- Malachi 2:15

    I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.-- Dr. Jonas Salk

    If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.  -- Chinese Proverb

    [Birds singing on my patio "spring is here".]

    I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self. -- Aristotle

    He who is filled with love is filled with God himself. -- Saint Augustine
     [Photo credit: Edit Free Zone]
     

    More Images of Kamloops

    It's been a week or so now since I returned home from Kamloops. I didn't get a chance to post some of my photos when I was there. I am always too busy when there to do much sightseeing or blogging in the way I would like.

    Hopefully these snap shots I captured on my errand days will give you a good sense of the area. Maybe I can get some photos of different areas next time. You can click on any of the photos to enlarge.



    I also found this wonderful and short video tonight. I am not a mountain biker but Kamloops is a well known area for mountain biking so for those fans, you might really like this. I think it also gives a good view of the surrounding terrain. Isn't it beautiful?


    Click here to learn more about the city and surrounding area.

    Click here to visit some Kamloops webcams

    Click here for a map to see where Kamloops is located.

    Sunday, March 14, 2010

    Scenic Sunday Sunset


    A beautiful sunset in Kamloops, BC, Canada. Even the telephone poles are a scenic part of this snap shot.

    Click for more scenic sunday photos.
    Scenic Sunday

    Tuesday, March 9, 2010

    Those Pesky Pills

    Those pesky pills that appear on clothing are equally annoying with towels. I recently purchased 4 new towels on saturday, two dark blue ones and two tan coloured ones. In my rush to launder them I put them in the washing machine together. Big mistake! All the towels have pilling all over them.

    Thankfully I have a trusty gadget which I purchased many years ago. I am not sure the name of it so I will simply call it a pill remover. Usually these are small gadgets that fit in your hand but this one is rather large. I am so glad I purchased it. Though I don't use it that often, it has more than paid for itself over the years.

    I took a photo of the pilling on my dark towels and the pill remover. You can see that the pills are rather large.

    After several minutes of moving this gadget all over the towel (as if you are mowing the cotton threads), the towels are looking better. I have completed removing the pills from the tan coloured towel and have half finished the darker ones. I will continue in the morning with the better light.

    You can see in the photo above that the "catcher" in the pill remover has captured all the dark blue fuzz.

    I am so happy for having this gadget. It not only saved me the frustration of removing the pills painstakingly by hand (or with some sticky tape wrapped around my hand) but also saved me from losing the clean look of my new towels.

    I would be interested in knowing what method you use to remove pills from your towels or sweaters.

    Early Skywatch

    This is an early post for Skywatch Friday . It seems I'm sometimes late but never early until today, lol. We've had a spectacular fe...