Perogie Time

As Daryl's heritage is Ukrainian, his family often enjoys things like perogies and cabbage rolls, especially around the holiday season.  I decided that I should probably learn how to make these, and man, they are so much tastier homemade than the frozen kind you can buy at the store, and really quite simple to make.  Tracy, my friend from work, is also Ukranian and frequently makes huge batches of perogies, cabbage rolls and spanakopita (which I think is more Mediterranean but also DELICIOUS) and when she does, it's an all day affair.  She frequently makes 50 dozen perogies at a time and then freezes them so she can just pull them out, boil them and then fry them up with bacon, onions, garlic and sausage.  (I'm drooling just thinking about it.) you can also boil them prior to freezing so you just have to fry them when you take them out.  These are a few of the girls I work with and we had such a fun day.  The spanakopita reminded me a lot of the mushroom filled savoury treats mom used to make at Christmas time with the phyllo pastry. YUM! These were more like the ones she made with the spinach and cheese.  The cupcakes we whipped up really quickly for her son's Halloween-birthday party.

 

Daryl's Complaint

Daryl recently had a birthday, and wanted everyone to know that Karen made him cook his own birthday supper.  (Karen would like to point out to Daryl that smokies are one of his favorite foods anyway...) Also, he got a really cool picture of a burning log that looks like the side view of an alligator's head poking out from the log at the top of the picture.  Happy birthday Daryl, that's all you get this year!   hahahahahahha!

Quick Ride

This past Saturday, we decided to do nothing and went instead for an afternoon Quad ride (aka "4-wheelers"). Cranbrook is surrounded by hundreds of square miles of crown land with lots of trails that anyone is allowed to use.  The pictures of the two lakes is actually Cranbrook's water reservoir.  The pictures are taken from opposite sides.  Karen is sitting by the Kootenay River, which flows into  Koocanusa Lake, with the Purcell mountains in the background.

New Partio

This last month, Daryl has spent his time digging, filling, compacting and laying pavers for the new patio that we wanted in our back yard.  He dug most of it by hand (in 28+ degree weather), but after three weeks of toiling with clay and rocks, a family friend walked by and asked what we were doing and offered us his tractor to use for a couple of days.  This made the digging and filling simple and saved Daryl a tonne of time and energy.  Note the size of the tree trunk that he and his friend Dave wrestled with for 2 days.  All he has left to do now is put the edging around so that the grass does not cave in on the blocks. So far we have enjoyed it immensely.

Weekend in the "Land Of The Maniacs"

Recently, we spent a weekend in Kalispell Montana which is about 2 hours south of Cranbrook, just across the border.  There are lots of great restaurants, plenty of shopping, and tonnes of good deals on just about everything, literally, almost everything we bought was 40-60% cheaper than the regular price here in Cranbrook. Sigh.  I know we should attempt to buy locally, but really, who can afford to do so?  As well as good deals, there are also a lot of different thoughts on how life should be lived down there (yes, that's a shotgun strapped onto the front of that motorcycle).  During the election, we would see signs to "IMPEACH OBAMA" (for raising taxes etc) right next to massive billboards with the 10 commandments on it.  So bizarre.  At Costco, we saw a man and a women get out of a truck which had 11- 2x3 magnets on it with the 10 commandments written on it.  Also, the man and woman were both were t-shirts and hats with the 10 commandments written on them. (unfortunately, I couldn't get my camera out in time to snap a picture).  The sign was on the door of the Harley Davidson dealership.  Karen decided to dress up in the craft store to fit in with the maniacs.



Our Favorite Lake

 



Since the end of May, we have been camping and fishing at our favorite lake (NorthStar Lake) which is about a half hour drive from our home.  We've spent several nights there and caught many rainbow trout which are delicious both pan fried  and BBQ'd with a bit of garlic, salt and pepper and fresh lemon. Currently, because the lake is so small, the fish are no longer worth catching as they've turned "muddy" due to the lake becoming too warm. However, it's still a beautiful lake.

Spring Break - but late

On spring break, we had planned our holidays hoping that the kids would come for a visit.  However, they had sports and other commitments and so they were unable to make the visit.  We made the best of it though, and each morning, we had our coffee in the hot tub, and frequently had fires in the evening. We also went for a few day trips.  The picture with the snow is at White Swan Lake, about 25 km's up into the mountains.  there was still about 2 feet of snow and the ice was estimated at about 14 inches thick.  It's beuatiful up there and we plan to go back and do some camping and fishing there this summer.

First campimg trip of the year

This weekend was our first camping trip of the season.  We went to Northstar Lake which is a spring fed and therefore very cold body of water.  It also has some great fishing as well as good sized camping sites.  The weather was a bit cool in the evening and on the first day (top picture) but the rest of the time it was in the mid twenties.  The great thing is, this campsite is only about a 1/2 hour from home.  The fish that I caught was about 4 1/2 lbs.  We decided to buy a fish scale so that we could see exactly how big they were but forgot it.  Oh well, next time.....

The Debate Continues

On a recent trip to the the USA, we stopped into Chili's for lunch and Karen decided to put their ribs to the test.  Much to her dismay, they did not stack up to Swiss Chalet or St. Hubert's but she believes that Tony Roma's is still number 1 (sorry Dad).

Christmas is long gone but.....

Well, better late than never......  we just realized that we haven't put in a post for a long time although we keep talking about it.  It's the getting around to it part that's difficult.  Here is our Christmas tree and  stockings (that Daryl picked out)  ...guess which one belongs to Karen.  Sigh.  yes... it's the one that says: "I've been very, very naughty."  while Daryl's stocking says: "Ive been very, very good" and is about 4 feet in length. Due to the Christmas tree in it's spot by the window, the dog's beds got moved, much to the confusion of Logan and Ginger.