A mixed bag...

Pano - Dec 18, 2009
I seem to have been on a roll this week, making lots of blog updates and panorama photos, and baking too. So this blog entry is more of the same. Tawny was enjoying the scenery on Friday when we took our (short) walk - it was quite cold (-26C overnight) but the wind made it quite miserable. We were walking with the wind on the way out, but when we turned to face the wind when turned around to head home. It was so cold that we ended up running the last 500 feet home. Thank goodness I had on the really nice thick tocque that my mum knitted for me a few years ago. That is my favourite tocque for very cold or inclement weather because it is long enough that I can pull it right down over my ears.

Uh-oh.... When I was baking a few days ago, I had the cupboard door above the fridge open, and then I opened the pantry door. That ended up leaving a scraping of paint on the cupboard door. So I thought I would use the Magic Eraser to get the paint off the door. Wow - that worked really well I thought, after I finished with the Magic Eraser. Then the next day I noticed that it left a dull patch on the door - Uh Oh!!! The cabinet guy came today to pick up the door to respray it, to restore the finish to the even lustre.

And finally, to cap off this blog post, I decided to make another batch of the molasses crinkles (that I made the other day). But this time, instead of the molasses, I put in some of the left over syrup from the candied ginger that I made. I made a double batch which is why the bowl is so full here. I am happy to report that these cookies (and I am calling the ginger crinkles, because there is no molasses in them) passed the Freda taste test!!

Lucky coyote!!!

Imagine you are a coyote. Imagine you are a coyote running across a highway in Colorado, and get hit by a van going 75 mph. Now imagine spending eight hours wedged behind the bumper of that Honda, traveling 600 miles and ending up in California, and surviving with a few scrapes and scratches. I think that is the definition of LUCKY!!

You can read the full story at http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/luckycoyote.asp.

Window replacement #5

This is Jeff, who came to replace the window pane with Andrew (not shown). This window has been a real pain, literally, as this is the fourth replacement (fifth piece of glass).

Because the window was cracked, the seal was broken. This meant the window was essentially a single pane unit. As a result, the condensation on the inside of the glass froze, and of course this meant any water in the drainage channels in the window froze as well. The bottom piece of moulding that holds the glass in was frozen to the frame, and unfortunately broke when Jeff was trying to remove it. You can see all the ice that they scraped off the bottom of the window frame in preparation for installing the replacement glass.

This is the window after the new pane was installed. No cracks yet - cross your fingers! I asked Steve (the owner of the window company) what would be different this time, so that the window would break again. He said that Fenergic, the window manufacturer, said to put a bead of silicone on the glass. To me, that just doesn't make sense because there must be something that is putting pressure on the glass and causing it to fail. That was also Steve's idea, because he asked Jeff to take a look at anything that might potentially be causing the glass failure.

When Jeff was cleaning out the ice, he noticed that there was a very small nub of plastic sticking out at each of the bottom corners. That little bit would have only been protruding about 1, or maybe 2m mm. Since added pressure could cause the glass to fail, Jeff got out his knife and shaved the pieces off. This photo is a macro zoom of the tiny particles of plastic shaved off the bottom corners of the frame. For comparison, you can see a couple of Taz hairs in the photo also :). Hopefully that will be it and there won't be any more glass failures...

Candied ginger - day 6

Yes, I know what you are thinking - why is there a day 6 for this 5 day recipe? Well, I think I covered that yesterday when I said I didn't read the recipe properly.

The ginger was too sticky yesterday , when I put it on the racks, to do anything with it. I left it overnight and today I used two forks to separate the large chunks of ginger into small chunks, or maybe I should just say smaller chunks. It was too difficult with the stickiness of the syrup on the ginger to separate the chunks into individual pieces. This part was quite time consuming, because of the stickiness.

This is what the ginger looked like after I coated the pieces in granulated sugar and put it into a container. I fear the ginger will all congeal into a giant block, as the sugar gets absorbed into the syrup...

Assessment of the ginger: From a taste perspective, I think my first attempt at the recipe was a success, because the ginger is nice and tasty with some good heat in it. From an aesthetic perspective, I don't think I did so well because the ginger is all stuck together in clumps, and not in nice individual pieces like when my mum makes it. Also, the syrup is so very thick - even thicker than molasses - so I am yet not sure what I can use it for.

We are finally receiving the benefit (haha!!) of the extreme cold weather that plagued western Canada over the past week. It was -20C and is supposed to get to -24C overnight. This means that our outdoor freezer (nature's freezer) is having no problem preserving some of the excess soup that I made last week. Here's a photo showing our outdoor freezer. Haha.

Taz feels the cold a lot more than Tawny, partly because he has less insulation (fat) on his body, and partly because he doesn't have a thick fur coat like Tawny does. Freda covered him up when she let him in this evening, and he looked so cute all covered in a towel!

Candied Ginger - day 5

Okay, so I'm thinking that I didn't read the recipe properly yesterday. Or else I did something wrong, like overcooking the ginger. The ginger and syrup was one big lump of stuff, so it would have taken a month of Sundays to "drain the ginger". So I reheated the saucepan a bit, and added a little bit of water to thin the syrup.

Once the syrup was thin enough to actually remove the ginger and lemon, I followed the directions and set out the bits of ginger and lemon on a rack. The bits of ginger were actually more like clumps of ginger... I tasted a piece and it was deliciously hot!

Yesterday I said I didn't think I had 5 cups of anything, although the recipe said it makes 5 cups. I poured the syrup into a measuring cup and I got almost exactly two cups. It is very sweet and quite gingery. I took this photo after the syrup had cooled to room temperature, so you can can see how thick it is.. :)

Canton Candied Ginger
Day 5:

• Drain the ginger from day 4 cooking.
• Reserve the syrup for sauces or gingerbread.
• Put the ginger on a rack over a tray.
• Leave uncovered overnight.
• The next day, (day 5), roll the ginger in granulated sugar.
• Store in tightly covered glass jars.

Rereading this section, it now seems that I should have drained the ginger at the end of day 4. Oh well, will have to see how it turns out.

Candied Ginger - day 4

This is day 4 of the recipe for making Canton Candied Ginger.

Canton Candied Ginger
Day 4:

• Bring to a boil and cook.
• When the mixture drops heavily from the side of the spoon, and ginger is translucent, pour into sterile wide mouthed jars. Seal.
• Makes 5 cups.

Wow - I must have done something wrong because I definitely don't have 5 cups of anything. Maybe I didn't have enough ginger to start with, I don't know. Also, the mixture kept bubbling up like this when it was cooking today. I was stirring it constantly and it was like this for the entire time. I think I may have overcooked it somewhat, maybe...

Candied Ginger - day 3

December 14, 2009

Although the weather has been below 0C, the lake still has a small open patch that you can see in this panoramic photo. Compared to the photos from the previous days, you can see an obvious difference in the lake with it gradually freezing over.

And now, it's time for the Candied Ginger update.

The recipe called for "one seeded sliced lemon" to be added on day 2. Unfortunately I didn't have a lemon yesterday, so I got one today and added it. Cutting up the lemon certainly puts a refreshing scent into the air - it is no wonder that so many cleaning products have a lemon scent to them.

Here are the lemons in with the ginger, boiling once again. And here is the next part of the recipe.

Canton Candied Ginger
Day 3:

• Reboil, stirring frequently to avoid scorching.
• Add one cup sugar, and stir. Simmer 30 minutes.
• Add one more cup sugar. Bring to a boil.
• Remove from heat, cover, let stand overnight.

Candied Ginger - day 2

Before we get to the candied ginger update, I want to include some photos of Tawny, since I am sure you are all wondering what she has been up to.
Sunday December 13, 2009

This panorama photo shows that the lake is still not completely frozen over.

Sunday dawned and it was quite nice. Not too cold and not too windy, although it did pick up a bit later. Tawny enjoyed taking in the air on the deck. Her fur looks darker in winter, although I'm not sure if it only looks darker because of the contrast with the snow.

Both Tawny and Taz were fascinated by this spot in the snow, although Tawny was more so. She completely buried her head in the snow, and pawed at the snow to expose more of the amazing scent, whatever it was.

Here is Tawny, pawing at the snow again. Dogs do this to disturb the snow and grass etc, and dislodge more scent particles so they can figure out what it is they are sniffing.

Well, time for the Candied Ginger again...

Canton Candied Ginger
Day 2:

• Reheat, simmer gently for 15 minutes after coming to a boil.
• Add one seeded sliced lemon, and one cup of light corn syrup.
• Uncover, simmer 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat, cover, and let stand overnight.

I didn't have the lemon today, so I will get one tomorrow and add it in then.

Candied Ginger - day 1

December 12, 2009 - pano

The day dawned on a beautiful winter day. Not too cold, but a bit cooler than I would prefer, especially with the wind.

What to do on a cold day but --- make candied ginger!! (Apologies to Dickens and Scrooge...) It's a five day process, so this is Day One.

The first step is to peel the ginger. Mum says the spoon is the best way, and it made peeling the ginger very easy indeed.

The next step is to cut it up into little cubes. I didn't realize that ginger was so yellow. The aroma of the fresh ginger was really wonderful!

Then you put the ginger on the stove with some water and sugar.

This is the recipe:

Canton Canded Ginger
Day 1:

• Have enough ginger cut into 1/4" pieces to make one quart. (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• Put ginger into a large stainless steel pan, cover with water (enough to cover it, but not too much water, or you will have to boil it away at the end).
• Bring slowly to a boil and simmer, covered, until tender, about 20 minutes.
• Add one cup sugar, stir until mixture boils. Remove from heat and leave covered, at room temperature overnight.

Making soup

So I decided to make a batch of vegetable soup. The comments for the recipe I chose said "filled up both my crock pots", so I figured I would need to use our big stock pot.

This is our big stock pot, after all the peeling and cutting and chopping. It includes carrots, celery, green onions, green peppers, cabbage, squash, parsley, mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, chicken stock, and zucchini. Except for the tomatoes and the garlic, everything else was fresh. The squash was the last thing I put on top, and that was before the addition of the tomatoes and chicken stock.

Freda said "oh my, that pot isn't big enough". So we divided the contents up into another, and then another, and then another pot, so we ended up with four pots of soup.

That is a lot of soup! I also added salt and pepper, and white peppercorns and some chili too. It wasn't ready in time for supper last night, so we ended up having something else. I had it for supper tonight and it was quite yummy.

The downside is that there is so much soup that we don't have room for it in the fridge. We put quite a bit in the fridge, but the rest we put in containers outside, since it is below zero quite handily right now...