Halloween and All Soul's Day

On October 31st, we  celebrate Halloween and all the witches and goblins and spooks come out to join us. In Poland, the most significant day to honor those who have died is the Feast of All Souls, or Dzien Zaduszny which is celebrated on November 2nd. November 1st is All Saints Day and is actually a national holiday for travellers to pay respect to their deceased loved ones.

 People travel from all over the country to visit the graves of their dearly departed. They place and light  candles and flowers on graves of ancestors and friends, favorite teachers, as well as those of people who have no one to tend their graves. The entrances to the cemeteries are filled with beautiful flowers and candles for one to purchase and set on a grave. I wish we had those traditions here because they are absolutely beautiful. There are so many candles lit in Polish cemeteries on All Souls Day that a traveler can see cemeteries glowing from a distance.

Well I'm not going to the graveyard after dark and we don't have fresh flowers and candles at Evergreen but I do light a candle. It was so beautiful today that the ducks at the cemetery pond had a chance to play where the ice wasn't frozen all across the pond.  They were beautiful to watch. It is hard to believe but there was ice on this pond behind the ducks.

Started my Halloween with Black Bottom Banana Bread

recipe for muffins and coffee.

But only used 2 bananas and baked 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  Really good.

 and finished the day off with

Glampingbaba's Pork Chops in Mushroom Gravy

 with little potatoes in skin

 parboiled and fried in butter

 with julienned carrots

 and a green salad sprinkled

with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes and basil crumbs. 

Glampalicious

6 pork chops

oil

1 onion

2 10 oz. cans mushroom soup

1/2  cup milk

3 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce

2 Carrots cut in julienne strips

Little potatoes in skins

Romaine lettuce

Rred onion

Italian dressing

Goat cheese with sundried tomato and basil.

Parsley

Garlic if needed

Salt and pepper

Fry chops in oil till browned a bit.  Set aside.  Panfry in remaining pork oil, one sliced onion until browned a bit.  Lay chops in casserole dish, top with browned onions and pour over soup mixed  with water and 3 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce. Salt and pepper t taste. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and turn down heat to 250 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes. Very tender and juicy.

Parboil little potatoes for about 20 minutes. Panfry in butter till browned. Garnish with parsley. Cook julienned carrots for 10 minutes.

Mix romaine, tomato and red onion.  Drizzle Italian dressing and sprinkle goat cheese crumbles over salad.

Even the ghosts will love this one. 

If you don't want them then bring out the garlic. 

Now to wait for all the little monsters. 

Now for Sex and the City#2

 and whatever is left over from

 Halloween treats.

Happy Halloween!!

Glampingbaba’s Best Peasant Chicken and Barley Soup

2 chicken backs with legs attached
2-3 thighs
12 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon chicken broth powder
4 stalks celery cut in big chunks
4-5 carrots cut into big chunks
½ onion chunked
3 red potatoes chunked
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon sage
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley
Cold Beer

This is beer drinkin' cookin'.  No wine. I always buy fresh chicken parts such as these in bigger packages, separate them and bag them together like this so when I want soup I have all the parts frozen in one bag. I choose these pieces for the bone and because I prefer dark meat versus white breast meat. I find it too dry. I take the frozen bag out at night, leave it on the counter and it is thawed by morning. I also refrigerate the chicken in the morning and it is ready to cook if I choose to make soup after work.

Place chicken in 12 cups cold water. Bring to a boil and skim off foam after about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock powder( Knorr’s) and 1 tsp. salt. Simmer covered for an hour. I usually like to strain my broth at this point into a fresh pot, just to get all the junk out of the broth. I also debone my chicken meat, discarding skin and bones and set it aside covered. I find that leaving the chicken meat in the broth, while veggies cook just make the chicken chunks mushy. They are nicer when added to the broth later.

With this soup I like my vegetables cut up quite chunky rather than diced. Peasants didn’t dice, they chunked, enjoying every morsel. Dicing is for diva’s and today I am a peasant. Add all veggies into the broth. Add sage, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Add ½ cup rinsed barley. Bring to a boil and turn down heat and simmer for an hour covered. When veggies and barley are tender, add cooked chicken chunks and turn off stove. Cover and wait 5 minutes, pull out the bay leaf, discard and dig in. Garnish with parsley and pepper. I always like soup better the next day so I make it in the evening and refrigerate it. But I have a bowl before bedtime. This gets better with time. If there is any left by the 4th day it is delicious.

Veggie soup...I've done this when I've had  no chicken. Used veggie broth and substituted chick peas for chicken.  You're still a peasant but the chick peas are canned. You're a city peasant.

Really good soup with rye bread and butter, a blanket and a good movie. 

Happy Birthday Dad

Remembering my Dad

October 25^th is my dad’s birthday.  He would have been 91 years old. It’s been 22 years since we were able to celebrate his birthday with him. I can’t even imagine what he would be like today at 91 years.  As his birthday approaches,  I just thought about which date seems more significant to me , his birth date or the day he died.  His birth date is more significant to me than the day he died even though he died on my birthday.  Twenty two years later it is still difficult to walk through a card aisle and look at "Birthday cards for my Dad " and know I won’t be buying one. But,  I celebrate his birthday in spirit...and with spirit... and am grateful for the years we had, when we needed him the most. I’m grateful for the memories and regret the immaturity to not have known him better as a person, rather than just a dad, when he lived. I’ve learned much in the last 22 years about his life before he became a dad and how I wish I had been able to share my knowledge with him in person. I wish I could have taken him to Poland on the internet and shown him everything there is at a finger's touch today. I wish he had lived to know all his grandchildren and to see all his little great- grandchildren...all boys.  I think he would have been so proud. We've never stopped missing you Dad.......just learned to live without you. 

I’ve learned to keep a watchful eye,

 for his presence is still very much closeby.....

as the memory of  the scent of tobacco from a lit cigarette still touches my nostrils every once in a while.

 His favorite cigarettes which cost him $1.50 a pack and now cost $10.00

 and his old vodka bottle from the days when you could buy a 1.14 liter of wootkee for $18.45, although Potters was not a good brand .

My little Glampereenos

When it's time to let go....

I was at the ECO station "letting go" of all the junk you don't take to the dump anymore and umpteen gallons of paint.  In the drive-thru, the old guy in front of me had this old pink rocker in the hatchback of his car. I watched as he slowly unloaded it and was told to put it outside our lane and a back hoe would come and pick it up. He hoisted it out of the car by himself and I saw memories float by with the chair, as he gently set it in the lane for pickup.  Maybe it belonged to his mother and no one wanted the chair anymore.  Maybe it belonged to his wife and he didn't want it anymore. Maybe he had a new wife and she wanted a new chair. Maybe he had just simply decided it was time to let the chair go, but I couldn't help but think of memories the chair had if it could talk.  There seemed to almost be a silent cry coming from the chair.  There was a day when that pink chair held elelgance and would have held  pride for whoever bought it, as it found it's place in a new home. There would have been a time when a white crocheted, vintage doily adorned the top,  as the woman who owned it would scold the kids about getting cookie crumbs on the fabric. The husband was probably reprimanded for knocking his cigarette ashes on it or spilling his rye and coke. It probably held years of rocked rhythym to the sound of snoring and kids crying. It held miles of smiles as people groaned and settled their big butts into it, while getting off their tired feet. As the years passed, it probably was moved from the main spot in the living room to the basement.  It probably rocked the dad, the mother, the children, and the grandchildren. And without doubt it was somebody's favorite place to sit.  It wasn't as pink as when it was new and the fabric was still good.....but it was time to let it go. It was being discarded with all the memories tucked inside it's fabric. And now it sits all alone waiting for the backhoe.  I couldn't help but feel sad for the pink chair. 

 And so..... I took it's picture.

I had a brand new green recliner once that cost me $49.00  at Zellers in 1970. After many years we had outgrown the chair and had to let it go. It also had many memories when I gave it to my brother.

 I kept the cute kid.

After 15 more years at my brother's house  it came time..... to let it go.... with one last sitting of a 2nd generation child, and  a sad lip at the dump. Again, a sadness for the chair and all the memories that flashed from it,  brought out the camera for just one last shot.

He kept the kid as well.

And the recliner went to Chair Heaven.



Best Damn Cupcakes I Ever Tasted

A male client brought me two of these cupcakes on Saturday for a treat. I'm never one to go to a specialty shop just for a cupcake.  Number one reason is that there is nothing close by worth raving about. But after having this with a coffee ...decadence has taken on a new meaning.  Oh my God are these good. I was so glad I had two of them. They come from a shop called "fuss cupcakes" and I had to drive clear across town today  to Whyte Avenue to buy a couple more.  They use Callebaut chocolate and pure sweet cream butter. It's the cream butter that is infused into the cupcake that  makes these glampaliscious with no commercial after taste. The cupcake itself is delicious even without frosting. They also have Red Velvet with Cream Cheese icing....oh another time for that one.

Soulmate

West Side Story

The Single Girl and Soup

I  love having soup made and ready in the fridge in advance, just to heat up.  Cauiliflower soup is pretty bland by itself but I have glamped mine up a bit to suit my taste buds.Using potatoes makes it a little heavier and I like my soup chunky. This is pretty inexpensive and makes alot. Now that it's chillier outside, a mug of this for a snack is warming.

Glamping Baba's Cauliflower soup

1 head of cauliflower cut up in chunks

2 carrots diced

½ cup celery diced

2 potatoes diced

½ onion diced

1 clove garlic diced

2 strips bacon

5 cups water

3 tbsp. chicken or veggie broth

2 cups milk or cream

¼ cup flour

Put chunks of cauliflower into a pot and cover with 4-6 cups water depending on the size of your cauliflower .  Add broth powder and stir. Add diced potatoes and carrots. The water should just barely cover everything so it can simmer. You’re going to be adding milk later so you don’t want too much liquid at this point but you also don’t want it to boil dry. Fry bacon, onion, garlic and celery until softened and add to cauliflower mixture. Simmer 30-40 minutes or until veggies are soft. You can mash your veggies with a potato masher into the broth or blend them.  I prefer mine mashed a bit into chunks rather than blended. Add ¼ cup flour to milk or cream, stir and add a bit of hot broth to mixture and stir. Pour slowly into simmering cauliflower pot and stir while soup thickens a bit. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with parsley. I always like soup better the next day. This is great to have in the fridge to come home to after work, when the days are chilly. Veggie soup..just omit bacon. I've done it with veggie broth as well.

Thanksgiving Weddings

Basia and Ron....32 ?

 Brandy and Rob....Lucky 7



Dollarama Glamarama

Dollarama has these hanging witches for a buck and pumpkins are $1.50.  Put them together and you have a great Halowe'en door picture.

Apple Dumplings with Mountain Dew Canadian Style

2 Big Granny Smith Apples
2 cans crescent rolls (8 oz. size)
¾ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp.vanilla
8 oz. Mountain Dew
Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice into the 16 crescent roll pieces. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.
Melt butter, then add sugar and stir till just blended. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges and centre of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
I tried using the standard recipe that calls for 1 ½ sugar and I decreased it to 1 cup…still way, way too sweet. These are easy and look great and brown nicely.

Thanksgiving Blessings

Hey ...let's be little doodle shiesters

Hee Hee....is this the face you want?

We are little goblins

Chilean Miners Almost Free.

Rescuers finished drilling an escape shaft today for the Chilean miners that have been trapped underground for 2 months.  Thank God!

 Let's open the Bubbly for them!
What a great Thanksgiving this will be for them.

Happy Birthday Ron and Raegan

Feel like a little Italian??

Wait until the sun goes down before you start cookin'.

No need to be real organized but.....Make sure your sausages have an expiry date...maybe even change brands that do.

Exhale and sip on your Vino.

You can't beat an electric frying pan for dishes like this.

Add veggies...have some more wine

Glampingbaba's Italian Sausage Fry with the Devil

1 pound Italian Sausage(mild) with Expiry Date

3 tbsp. Oil

3 cloves garlic chopped up(or more if the devil is present)

1 onion diced

1 green pepper diced

1 red pepper diced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes with spices

1 tsp. Basil leaves

1 tsp. Oregano

½ tsp. Red pepper flakes

Pepper and salt to taste

½ cup Parmesan Reggiano Shredded

3 glasses Red Italian Wine( or more)

Pour 1^st  glass of wine and start dicin’.  Get your electric fryin’ pan out and pour in oil. Add diced onions and garlic and sauté. At this point.... I had to turn everything off and run back to the store because my Italian  Sausages had no expiry date and I didn’t like the colour when I cut them up.


 Geez!

Okay I’m back on track.  Big slug of wine now! Turn frying pan back on. Slice or cut sausage in 1 inch chunks and add to sautéed onions and garlic until browned a bit.  Add sliced mushrooms, and peppers until stir fried a bit. Mix crushed tomatoes with diced tomatoes and pour over sausage and veggies. Sprinkle the spices, mix, cover with lid and simmer at 275 for about 30-40 minutes. You should be on your 2^nd glass of wine now. Put a pot of spaghetti on and make a Caesar salad.

If you're out of oil go to your neighbors.  If they are Italian they will always have oil.

If you're out of wine...go back to the neighbors.  They will always have wine, regardless of nationality.

 If your sausages are still simmering after all of this - go read a book or something.

Or like me...decorate you daughter-in-law's Halowe'en dress, but switch wine glasses.

Pour cooked Italian sausages over spaghetti or any pasta you prefer and sprinkle with Parmesan Reggiano Shredded, Caesar salad, and garlic toast.

Don't worry about making a mistake.  If you drink enough wine you'll think you're in Italy. 

Molto buono paisano!



What a Difference A Day Makes

Window on Thursday

Window on Friday

Never, ever let your neighbor think he has rights to cut your tree from your side of the fence....especially when not asked, notified or let in the gate. I think my budha must have cried as well.

Good neighbors don't do this to beautiful trees. 

Absolute butchery!

 Where's James Cameron when you need an enviromental issue with a dumb ass solved?

This is my home.