It's SATURDAY!!!!!!! WHAT'S HAPPENING??
Happy Saturday, everyone! We had a minor snow storm last night, enough to leave all the yards and roofs completely white. Our younger son, Derek, was out at 3 am to check all of his properties to make sure everything was safe and to see which lots needed salting. This afternoon, not a snowflake in sight! AND the dandelions are blooming. As I type, JB is out on his John Deere tractor mowing the grass! Crazy weather!! This weekend is my family’s Annual Sugar Bush –Maple Syrup Weekend Party up in Quebec. One of my million cousins, Mike, owns the old family homestead where my great great grandparents made their maple sugar & maple syrup, and he hosts the weekend party every year…he taps the sugar maple trees and boils the sap into maple syrup. They spend most of the days outside in the bush and eat traditional pioneer foods like sea-pie. Sea Pie is a very old pioneer recipe: FIRST:Dig a hole in the ground about three feet deep, build a huge fire and let that burn HOT, adding stones that hold the heat. THEN: Take a cast iron “Dutch Oven”, liner it with pie pastry, add a layer of cubed meat (wild game meat or beef & pork) and seasonings, add another layer of pastry, continuing until there are about six-seven layers, the top being pastry again. Add the tight-fitting cast iron lid. (Some people add root vegetables, chopped) NEXT:When the fire dies down, place tight-lidded Dutch oven into the hole and set on the hot stones, bury the pot in the dirt & coals…build another HOT fire on top of the dirt and let that burn down and let the Sea-Pie cook overnight for twenty-four hours. Then dig it up and enjoy!! Believe me, this is TASTY! I usually skip the crust but the rest is so tender and juicy! Sadly I cannot handle three days out in the bush at this time (truth be told, not ANYTIME- Holiday Inn is “roughing it” to me). However, my cousin promised me my annual quart jar of maple syrup (we refer to it as liquid gold). I sleep fitfully a lot, darned bone pain & hit flashes from the Arimidex makes me so restless and poor JB either gets sweated out of bed after I toss all my blankets over HIM, or I toss so much that he cannot sleep after a point. I can certainly see the merit of separate beds! I’m looking forward to Sunday dinner out- JB and myself, Dan & his wife, Amy, Derek & his lady, Kathy and Kathy’s parents, Mike & Liz.. I chose a place where I know all will find something on the menu that they like. Kathy said I need to choose my own favourite place but Dan & Amy don’t eat seafood and Amy is so picky, that, I cannot feel comfy to go to the Mandarin at $30.00 plus a person and she eats a tiny salad and then dessert. I’m not cheap but I do believe in getting value for your $$$. Besides, I have a number of birthday lunches & dinners that I am being given for the next few weeks. Seems like every year, I end up with about six different birthday events…what matters most to me is just to have us all together in one place at one time. I see Dan’s plane lifting into the air over at the airport so I’m headed out to sit on the porch with my tea to watch him.. The airport is miles away but we have such a clear view from here (no houses /bldgs between our place and the airport) that we literally can see for miles and miles. Though we live in what Dan refers to as “restricted air”, we can still SEE his plane. *s* Sending love and hugs to all in need,Nancy B
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