Fall in Yellowknife

This time of year in Yellowknife is simply beautiful. We still have plenty of daylight, which is spent enjoying the beautiful colors of the leaves. Yellowknifers feel a sense of urgency this time of year, trying to cram in as much outdoor time as we possibly can before winter settles in for a 6 month rest.

This team ended up winning the whole event. They were MUCH faster than our Aurora College team, even with Brent's giant quadriceps.

Farmer Sophie on the RCMP Tractor at the Herc Pull for Special Olympics

Sophie was giving us riddles to solve so we could cross her bridge.

On our hike to Cameron Falls with Jason and Sherrif

Maggie was helping me re-organize the linen closet.

Brent's Trip to Fort Smith

Brent had to travel to Fort Smith for work this week, which is about an eight hour drive from Yellowknife. Along the way, he made some new friends. According to all of the radio announcements in Yellowknife, it's Bison season! What is even crazier, is that people can actually shoot them right there on the side of the highway. CRAZY!

A Cleaning Conundrum

According to www.dictionary.com, the definition of the word "conundrum" is:

"anything that puzzles"

There is no other word out there that better applies to my past weekend than the word conundrum. I spent a full day and a half cleaning, polishing, scrubbing, disinfecting, folding, sorting, organizing, and labelling. In my ignorant Friday-night mental fog, I thought to myself "Angela, just think of how clean the house will look Sunday night when you all go to bed!". So how is it possible that last night, as I turned off the lights and looked around the kitchen and living room, that it honestly looked no different than it had on Friday? I mean, come on!

Is there anyone else out there that feels the same way as I do, or is this solely a phenomenon that hovers over me as I move from house-to-house? What I need are some man-chores, like putting the patio furniture in the shed. There are obvious results there:

4:26pm: Patio furniture on the deck.
4:28pm: No patio furniture on the deck.

Rather than:

4:26pm: Dirty toilet in guest bathroom.
4:28pm: Toilet in guest bathroom. Is it dirty? Hmmmm...it's hard to tell from here....I mean, it looks clean....I can't really be sure.

The type of cleaning that we do, the polishing, the ironing (Okay, that one I don't really do), the laundry, the floor washing, the oven cleaning, the dusting, the counter-wiping, it just does not get noticed by anyone other than us. And after you spend the two-hour-afternoon-nap-time window doing all of this, it takes less than three minutes for an experienced and evil toddler to undo most of it. Toys get removed from bins, juice leaves a sticky stain on your carpet, and toast crumbs leave an incriminating trail wherever they go. And don't even get me started on how quickly a man can re-soil a clean toilet.

I will take two things away from this past weekend:

1. I completely understand why people hire cleaners.
2. If you have children, or a furry pet (Sony!), you might as well just give up, and never invite anyone over to your house. You should be good until your kids hit junior high, at which point they will undoubtedly visit a friend whose house does not look like it should be nominated for the TV show "Hoarders".

Texas Caviar




chowtimes.com

I remember back in high school when the Hudson family began to eat 'Bean Salad'. This may be a funny statement, but the truth of the matter is that until recently I could not for the life of my understand why they, or anyone for that matter, would want to eat canned beans. They have a pasty texture, are a bit mushy, and they plain ole look unappealing. But the Hudsons couldn't get enough of the little suckers, so I knew there had to be something there.

Then a few years ago, I met Amy. Amy is married to my cousin Andrew (and therefore my cousin now as well), and she introduced the MacDougald clan to Texas Caviar. I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. We MacDougalds are very set on which dishes are family-gathering acceptable, and it takes a lot for a new dish to make the rotation. But Texas Caviar has been a hit for me. Brent loves it, and it tastes delicious with all of the fresh and lively tastes. So thank-you Andrew for finding Amy, and thank-you Amy for Texas Caviar.

The best recipe I have tried is from www.allrecipes.com. I have adapted it slightly to suit my own personal taste.

NOTE: This recipe makes a gigantic batch. You may want to consider making a half-batch for smaller gatherings.

Ingredients

• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (15 ounce) cans white corn, rinsed and drained
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
• 2-3 jalapeno chile peppers, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
• 1 red bell pepper - cored, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper - cored, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 big bunch cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Mix the black beans, pinto beans, white corn, green chiles, jalapeno pepper, red and green bell peppers, red onion, and cilantro together in a large bowl.
2. To make the dressing, stir the rice vinegar, olive oil, sugar, and garlic powder together in a pan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and cool. Pour dressing over bean mixture, and toss to mix evenly.

Cooking notes:
1. If you cannot find pinto beans, feel free to substitute another bean of equal size.  

George Brighton MacDougald - My Poppy - Chapter 1

My Poppy, as he is affectionately known, is quite the devil. He turned 87 this past summer, and although he seems a bit shorter and shuffles a bit more slowly than he did at 86, his sense of humour has yet to leave him. He is a constant source of entertainment for my cousins and I, and continually reinforces the notion that you simply cannot take the man out in public.

Some of his comments and stories are definitely not "blog-appropriate", for fear of alienating entire social groups from reading this. Others are simply comedic genius, and it would be almost sacrilegious for me NOT to pass along.

Enjoy.

Uncle Peter picked Poppy up one morning, probably to take him to an appointment, or maybe even just a Sunday drive. Peter noticed that Poppy's pants were taking in some air, the zipper suffering a vertical-malfunction. Uncle Peter turned to Poppy and said,

"Dad, you might want to close the barn door before all the horses get out."

Poppy's reply,

"It'd be pretty hard for them to get out if they can't get up."

Angela's Slow-Cooker Beef and Barley Soup

This is a recipe I have come up with on my own over the last few years. It goes well with a nice, hearty loaf of multi grain bread. Sometimes I vary the veggies that I throw into the pot. I've been known to put in many combinations of the following: frozen peas, frozen corn, carrots, frozen baby corn, yellow beans, green beans, onions, garlic.

My other tip for the success of this soup is not to add too much barley. It is tempting to put a big portion in there, because it doesn't seem like 3/4 of a cup is a lot, but adding too much changes the texture of the broth from soupy to sludgy. However, I like my soup soupy, and you may like yours a bit thicker, more like a stew than a soup. The choice is yours, my dear.

Picture from kalofagas.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

• A splash of olive oil
• 2 small packages of pre-cut stew beef cubes. (Brent likes his really beefy....feel free to make fun of this comment)
• 1 whole onion, diced 
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• Freshly ground sea salt & pepper
• 1 + 1/2 boxes of low-sodium beef broth (the 1L tetrapaks are what I use)
• 3/4 cup of pearl barley
• 2-3 cups of any combination of veggies that you like

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat
2. Pat beef cubes dry with a paper towel. Toss is a bowl with salt & pepper
3. Brown the cubes in batches in the frying pan.
4. Once all of the beef in browned, place in slow-cooker. While the pan is still hot, add the onion and garlic and saute until brown, about 5 minutes. Stir often.
5. Meanwhile, in your slow-cooker, add the beef broth, bay leaves, a sprinkle of salt & pepper, barley and veggies. Add the onions and garlic.
6. Turn your slow-cooker onto low and simmer for about 4-5 hours, or 2-3 hours on high.
7. Serve hot with a big hunk of bread for dipping, or some crackers on the side.

Suppertime Stress

Last year, I was a part-time worker, full-time Mom. That was actually a pretty sweet schedule because it meant I was done work by 3pm everyday. I would often stop at the grocery store on my way home, start supper, and then pick up Brent and the girls by 4:30. This worked fabulously. The girls were always starving by 5:00, and I avoided meltdowns daily.

This year however is quite different. Everyday I am so excited to pick the girls up and chat about our day, but this year I am working until suppertime. I really look forward to that quality time together since I have the Mommy-guilt about working. I try to cram a day's worth of quality-time into the 5:00-7:30 time slot. And the girls always have different plans. "I'm hunnnngryyyy! ", is often heard. It is turning out to be quite a cranky, whiny, non-fun-filled time of the day. I have really being racking my brain with ideas on how to make our precious evening time together more pleasant.

Ideas I have come up with so far, and feel free to make suggestions. I am really open at this stage in the game:

1. Slow-cooker. Enough said.
2. Bring a small snack for the girls to eat after I pick them up. It will tide them over until we eat supper at around 6:00.
3. Rediscover your love of grilled-cheese sandwiches.
4. Do all my next-day supper-prep the night before, which sounds easy, but God it is the last thing I want to do at 9:00.
5. Save the big meals for the weekend. This is also hard to do, given my love of cooking.
6. Stick with what you know. Don't try new, elaborate recipes during the week. The better I know a recipe, the faster I can make it.
7. Have a well-stocked pantry. There is nothing worse than thinking you have a much-needed ingredient for supper only to remember you finished it off last week.
8. Double-up on recipes that freeze well, and serve one portion tonight, and freeze the other one for another day.
9. Sneak-out of work early..........this one is a questionable suggestion.

Stay tuned for recipes that are targeted for us working Moms out there.

Vi's Sweet Potato Thanksgiving Casserole

I work with the most wonderful lady in the world, Vi Shevkenek. Last year we had a Thanksgiving Potluck at work, and the hit of the day was this recipe. It is simply delicious, goes really well with a turkey dinner, and feeds a crowd. It can be made ahead of time and popped in the oven while the turkey rests and is then sliced. The smells coming from the oven while this bakes are unbelievable.  



Photo from www.recipetips.com

 Vi's Sweet Potato Thanksgiving Casserole

1. Peel and cube yams or sweet potatoes. Cook and mash. (You need at least 3 cups mashed.
2. Add:

• 1/4 cup butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs (beat with a fork in a small bowl, and add some yams. Then add all to yams in the pot. This way the eggs don’t immediately cook from the heat of the mashed yams.)

1. Place in a casserole. Sprinkle with Topping (mix together):

• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup flour
• About ½ cup (or more to taste) coarsely chopped pecans

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

The Fall Crunch

This may sounds crazy, but I have already started thinking about Christmas. The summer always seems to lull me to sleep, and then BANG! Fall comes, and things sneak up on me at a feverish pace. There seem to be quite a few fall birthdays in my family and friend bubble, extra-curricular activities start-up again, Thanksgiving dinner needs to be planned in advance, not to mention the tornado that is back to school. And just when you least suspect it, Christmas is only a few weeks away and that Canada Post parcel deadline has already passed. Darn it.

Which leads me to this self-observation: I have become that crazy-Christmas lady. You know that lady that begins buying Christmas presents in the summer, or even at last Christmas' rejects from the sale bin? I am that lady. Maybe it is the control-freak in me that seems to shine this season of the year. There is something about Labour Day weekend that kicks me in the ass with planning. I have already purchased two Christmas gifts! TWO! I blame it on retailers, really. Halloween candy and costumes have been on the shelves for weeks now, which seems a bit excessive if you ask me.

So if you happen to receive a Christmas gift from me this year, I hope you appreciate it, because I have been planning it for months!