August 2015

July 2015

I feel sorry for my neighbours here in Maitland, because they got the final word the small elementary school will be closed effective June 30th. It was not a shock but a major disappointment. We must face reality the community has declined over the years, and there aren’t just enough students to warrant keeping the school open.

As a result of this situation, a strong message has been sent to other areas where families are abandoning rural life in droves. Instead of waiting until the last minute to fight to keep a school open, look ahead 5-10 years and start to implement to rebuild, or stave off further out-migration.

Get the community to come together working first with your local municipal councillor, get them to mobilize expertise within the municipal structure to then bring in the provincial and federal people. Out-migration could be curtailed, if jobs could be created.

If there is little local employment and churches, schools, gas stations and other community services are to continue to be closed, you can not expect young families to stay. It would be akin to asking them to live off the grid and raise their family in a cabin deep in the woods.

That’s my take on how we can stop or curtail the constant downward spiral of further decline of rural communities from the eastern tip of Cape Breton to Yarmouth and all points in between.

Now back to the kitchen.

This month I’ve chosen "Dutch Cheese Salad". Perhaps we can support the local economy by getting the Gouda cheese from That Dutchman’s Farm in Economy.

Dutch Cheese Salad

• 8 oz gouda cheese
• ½ green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 sweet dill pickle
• 1 cucumber
• 1 apple
• 1 cup diced cooked ham
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tblspn sour cream
• 1 tblspn lemon juice
• ½ tsp grated horse radish root
• 2 tsp chopped dill
• 1 tsp each of sale, pepper and sugar

Cut the cheese into strips, see and dice the peppers, chop the pickle, dice the cucumber, and chop the apple. Mix together the prepared cheese, ham, peppers, pickle and apple.

Blend together the yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice and horseradish. Add the dill and season with the salt, pepper and sugar.

Mix the salad ingredients with the sauce and leave to chill for 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Variation:  Use ½ cup diced cooked ham and ½ cup diced continental sausage or salami.

May 2015 - Pothole season in Full Swing

Now that the snow is slowly melting away without much in the way of flooding, although I’m sure there are many who have localized flooding on the property or too much water in their basements. There was a few days, at our place, when it was a wade of a few inches to get from the parking area to the front step, but nothing serious and no danger of filling the basement.

I find it disturbing Premier McNeil continues to stay on track to do what he has promised, but so far his ministers don’t seem able to implement major program changes without getting themselves or the government in trouble.

Then again we don’t know if the minister is derelict, or if senior management from within the public service is complicating things. As residents of rural areas, we place a very high level of importance upon heritage and culture. Just look at the musical talent from my native Cape Breton. Who has done more to promote the music side of our culture than many talented fiddlers from Cape Breton?

Similarily, many Nova Scotians are proud of our successes making movies and popular television shows. Maybe, the high level of subsidy paid was out of line, maybe it needed to be downgraded. However, when something is a important to our hearts as the film industry, major changes should only be made after consulation and "buy-in" from the industry. When industry jumps on board, they also help sell the changes, which none of us really like.

I keep asking for readers to submit recipes, but very few are forthcoming recently. I’ll put out a plea at the 90th birthday party on May 9th. I’m sure they will respond in kind with several recipes, which will keep me going through the rest of the year.

This month I’ve selected a recipe, sent to be a few months ago, by Sobeys Dietitians.

Psyllium Oatmeal Squares

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup 60 ml Margarine, non hydrogenated

• ½ cup 125 ml Brown sugar

• 2 tbsp 30 ml Molasses

• 1 large Egg, beaten

• ½ cup 125 ml Applesauce, unsweetened

• 1 cup 250 ml Flour, all purpose

• ¾ cup 175 ml Psyllium husks

• ¼ cup 60 ml Oats, quick cooking

• ¼ cup 60 ml Oat bran

• ½ tsp 2 ml Corn starch

• ½ tsp 2 ml Baking powder

• 1 tsp 5 ml Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Prepare an 8"X8" pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Mix the margarine, brown sugar, molasses, egg and applesauce in a large bowl.

3. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Stir the two mixtures together. Transfer into baking pan and pat it down with a wet spoon.

5. Bake in oven for about 15-20 minutes.

6. Allow to cool and cut into squares.

For those who keep track, here’s the nutrition information per serving: Calories 136; Fat 4 grams; Carbohydrate 24 grams; Fibre 6 grams; Protein 2 grams and Sodium 57 milligrams. This recipe serves 16.

Tip: Sweeten it up by adding some raisins to this recipe

Effective today, March is behind us. Just because it is April Fools Day, we don’t need the weatherman to play a trick on us by providing another major snowstorm. We’ve had enough. I’m done with it!! Yes, we had a lot of snow, but in an overall aspect, this winter was not as cold as it could have been. The snow has helped insulate us and we’ve probably burned less furnace oil than last year.

March was horrible in another way. Maurice’s work computer got infected with A very nasty virus, which corrupted all his data, photos and spreadsheets. Donald Cox at Fail-Safe Computer’s told Maurice it was one of the two worst types and he only knew of three other cases in this area. To unlock the files and de-encrypt the data, they wanted 500$US to be paid in bitcoins through Western Union.

After a lot of agony, Maurice decided it was best to install a new drive rather than pay the ransom and not be assured things would be corrected. He was without a work computer for nearly two weeks, and in all the years I have known him, I have never seen him so discouraged, upset and grouchy. And with good reason.

About the only thing that saved him was he had two trade shows for tshirtsrus.ca, which kept him busy and out of my hair as he was in Halifax and then Moncton on consecutive weekends. He was really looking forward to the shows as we have taken on a new product – RENAPUR. It’s a leather treatment product, developed in Germany about 50 years ago. It can be used on anything in the household or garage, except suede. It’s great for leather, rubber, vinyl, fiberglass, plastics, and wood. I’ll have some at the store for those who are interested.

Considering the hard month he had, I was going to surprise Maurice with one of his favourite meals, "Chicken Cacciatora" which is a bit of a surprise, because he says I use tomatoes in everything. I love tomatoes or tomato sauce, but he prefers more limited quantities and frequency. However, he was not going to be back from Moncton on Sunday in time to have dinner, so I’ll have to wait for another day.

It can be found on Page 230 of the Five Roses Cookbook. I can’t give you the volume number as it’s not in the best of shape as both covers disappeared ages ago.

Chicken Cacciatora

I might as well add my comments to those of many, many others complaining about February’s weather. Thankfully, February is a "short" month, otherwise we’d have at least one more storm this month.

It’s hard to believe a month of three storms each and every week.

The worst by far was Valentine’s weekend. Maurice left of Thursday the 12th to go our sixth consecutive participation at the three day Moncton Motorcycle Show with the t-shirts. All the exhibitors there were watching the weather all day Saturday, and worried about the storm. Finally a number of them got together and decided once the show closed on Saturday evening, they’d pack up and head home before the storm.

Lucky they took such action. A number of them from Nova Scotia, including Maurice, didn’t get home until after 2:00 am Sunday morning. It started snowing here around 5 am. If those entrepreneurs had not been proactive, they would have been stuck in Moncton until Wednesday morning, as the Trans Canada from Moncton to Truro was closed.

Now today, it has moderated and snow turned to rain causing flooding and pools of water wherever there is a hollow. The rain has stopped but it is snowing lightly. Should it decide to freeze, the roads will be massive skating rink.

Last year, we had the driveway plowed twice. This year, we have spent about $150 on fuel for the tractor plus even more bringing in backhoes from local contractors. They’ve been able to pile the snow up to about 10 feet high. Looks like the piles of snow in shopping centre parking lots.

I don’t know where we’ll put it if we get another major storm.

Since he came home from the trade show and the winds were howling last Sunday, we decided to cook the other half of the large turkey we got from The Farm Gate. At over 15 pounds just for this half, needless to say we’ve been eating turkey all week.

The other day Maurice decided to modify some of the recipes, we have for Chicken and Turkey casseroles and simple meals. He was also going to use some to make turkey lasagna, but we didn’t have any frozen spinach, or enough mozzarella cheese.

Here’s his version of a modified Turkey a la King and a turkey-noodle casserole.

Turkey a la King

• ¼ cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 3 tbsp sliced onions
• ½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can Cream of Celery or Mushroom soup
• 2 cups diced cooked turkey
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 oz medium noodles, or adjust to your liking
• ½ cup fine bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp butter or margarine.
• Salt & Pepper to desired taste

Cook noodles in separate saucepan until done.

It’s an interesting and disappointing winter all at the same time. Interesting in that the thermometer doesn’t seem to know where to set itself. I find the up and down cycle of 20-25 degree changes within 24 hours very hard to take. We can’t get adjusted or know what to wear. Just when we get used to the cold up goes the temperature, almost as it spring was just a few days away.

Then a bit of rain and down goes the temperature to create ice everywhere making it difficult for those who like to walk, and treacherous for seniors. But the days are getting longer, so spring is truly on its way and when the sun shines it’s amazing the amount of heat there.

With all the troubles around the world, especially in Paris, and then Belgium, I have to wonder where it will stop. The troubles in Dartmouth with dangerous chemicals in houses and a cottage concerns me causing even more worries as to what comes next. Hopefully no other community especially in Nova Scotia will make the deadlines and be under the surveillance of television crews.

Causes me to wonder where have we or where has the world gone wrong. We should be able to work together with everyone to make the world a better and safer place to live, work and play.

Unfortunately, as things continue to worsen, and more threats are aimed at western cultures, governments have to take action to protect us. In their haste to bring in new laws, there is bound to be an infringement on our civil liberties. Part of the problem is we need to keep aware of our surroundings and not make ourselves vulnerable to the actions of the deranged, but also worry that we don’t do or say something to raise suspicions of law enforcement and be hauled off for questioning.

While Maurice was minding the store on Saturday, I was looking around on the internet for some different recipes. At the same time with Valentine’s Day not far away, I was thinking of chocolate. Then I stumbled on an easy recipe for chocolate fudge. My craving became the best of me, so I decided to leave the internet and try the recipe. It turned out so good I must share it with you.

Easy Chocolate Chip Fudge

• Ingredients:
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 14 oz can condensed milk
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt

Optional: Use a ¼ cup walnut or pecan pieces, or coconut, or whatever you wish to add. (If you have some candied fruit or other ingredients left over from your Christmas baking, you might wish to use that).

Mix chocolate chips, milk and butter in a microwaveable dish. Heat a few seconds, removing to stir, reheat until all melted, then add vanilla and salt. Stir and heat a few seconds again.

Add the Optional ingredients, if you used them, stir into mixture; reheat and stir.

Line a 9" by 13" glass baking dish with tinfoil. Reheat the mixture to ensure it’s hot. Pour mixture into baking dish, spreading around until it’s level. Put in refrigerator and let it sit for 1-2 hours.

Cut into desired size pieces.

Without a doubt this was the easiest and best fudge, I’ve ever made.

January 2015

With all the Christmas shoppers coming into the store at the end of the day, I barely have enough energy to get home, so needless to say very little time has been spent in the kitchen.

Last month I was concerned about publishing a BBQ recipe. Thinking I might have been too late. Then on Saturday, my day off, I called Maurice at the store and told him I might Barbeque, since it was so warm and the pets were all out on the front porch, yes, all four of them. In late summer, I found a partial role of chicken wire, so got one of the tenants to help me wrap it all around the porch, including the entrance.

Now on a good day, when I’m home, I put them out there to see the sights and get some fresh air. If it’s warm enough, like it was on Saturday, I let them stay there most of the day. The porch faces westward, so the afternoon sun shines in there and they enjoy it.

With me working all week and the heavy wind and rain it was their first opportunity this week. I can’t get over the variances in the weather and the massive amounts of rain we are receiving. If it’s a result of climate change, that’s what we’ll have to look forward to each fall. We are on a well, but have lots of water. In late summer some neighbours who have dug or shallow wells were a bit worried as the lower water table. However, they don’t have much to fear now. Since Labour Day we’ve had enough rain the well are full to the brim.

A week ago, I wondered, what I might choose for a recipe more appropriate to the season. Just the other day, someone mentioned War Cake, which they wanted to have over the holidays. Two days later Maurice comes and tells me Hazel Hill had sent along a recipe for Boiled Fruitcake with her MacCaull Villa Notes. God bless Hazel, she always appears to come through even without asking her.

In early May I hope she is feeling fine. We all missed her at the 90 & 90+ Birthday Party last May. Which reminds me, Maurice is already planning for the one this upcoming May. Hard to believe this will be the 5th Annual. Where has the time gone? If you know someone who will be 90 in 2015, or who has never attended, let us know and we’ll send them an invite.

Boiled Fruitcake