Canning Tomatoes

I have been canning fruits and vegetables as long as I can remember. Even before I left home I worked at it side by side with my mom. People always tell me it is too hard and too time consuming. I don't think it is hard at all. And the joy you get when you open up a jar of garden tomatoes that you canned over the summer... well your palate and your family will love you!. I have given a step by step direction that anyone can follow :) Ready? Let's go can some tomatoes!

 First you get your tomatoes and make sure they are free from blemishes. And even if you got them from a herbal market still wash them in cold water.

 Next get your station ready so everything is in it's place. Once you get started is not the time to go running around looking for your tomato knife!! You will need a large canner or pot to boil water in. No we are not delivering any babies! You will then need another large pot or bowl and fill it with ice water. Last you will need a bowl or container for your skins that you will peel off. Have your jars open, clean and ready to fill

Make sure you pick tomatoes that are still a bit orangey red. If too red they are too ripe and will turn into mush in the jars. Keep the soft over ripe ones for the tomato sauce. 

 Get your first pot boiling

Add only a few tomatoes at a time otherwise the tomatoes will start the cooking process! Leave them in the boiling water for a count of 60...

Then immediately plunge them in the ice water to prevent them from continuing to cook. The skins will come off very easily. If they do not it is because they did not stay in the boiling water long enough.

 Start people those babies!!

 Who says you can't have fun canning? it is easier then peeling an orange!Make sure you take the stem part out of the tomatoes

 This is a canning funnel!. No you cannot just use your husband's funnel that he uses in the shop. You can get this particular set at Zellers, Walmart and most department stores. It is made for canning jars and fits all of them

 1/2 tsp salt in each jar then boiling water up to 1/2" from the top Wipe the lid off then place the ring and sealer on each jar and almost on the home stretch now!

 Here is the 2nd of the 3 doodads that I was telling you that come in the set. The top one is a air releaser. You place it in the side of the jar to release bubbles :)

 Last of the 3 items.. this is a jar lifter out of the canner. And kudos to you if you can lift the jars out without using it and without burning your fingers on the boiling water!!!

 Get the canner going as soon as you can enjoy dinner! You want to can in the water boil method which is to make sure they jars are covered with boiling water.

Place jars on lifter. All canners come equipped with one. You do not want to put the jars directly on the bottom of the pot as they will break. It also helps when you want to get the jars out.

 10 little jars sitting in a row, all canned stewed tomatoes!

Canning and Gardening

Lately I have getting a lot of "flack" (although most were done with love).. there were some that came my way that when I post my accomplishments online it is to toot my own horn and to make others feel bad that I do more then they do and that I am making them feel quilt. Well first of all no one can make anyone else feel anything else. We are all in control of our own emotions and can change them at our will. No one can make you FEEL guilty. You and you alone are in control of how you feel.

Having said that, I just want to go onto my defense. There are three things that I love to do in my role as a homemaker. These things calm me, they zen me, when I do these things I go to a calm place in my mind... when I am stressed I will go to one or more of these three things to calm down.

These three things are ironing clothes, sewing clothes, canning and gardening. I love going into my closet and seeing our clothes all nicely ironed and hanging neatly, seeing things I have made; I love going into our pantry and seeing jars and jars of preserved foods. Our church leaders have always encouraged us to have a year's food storage in place for times of needs. I have been doing this since I can remember. and believe me when I tell you...in over 30 years of being together we have had those time of need several times!

Most people do things that love when they want to relax....read a book...have a bubblebath, watch tv, sit in their hot tub, play games, etc etc..for me when I want to relax I iron, or I garden or I deal with the stuff from my garden and if it is in mid season, I work on planning my garden as I companion plant so I know which vegetables grow best with what vegetable.

When I can or preserve my food it gives me a sense of peace, a sense that I am helping provide for my family even if it is just Keith and I here. It gives me a great sense of pride when I see our pantry shelves filled with food I grew. Is it a lot of work right now? Yup of course it is. That is because food grown all tend to be ready to be picked at the same time. Because of all the rain we had this spring the fruit is really late in being harvested so fruit I normally would have canned in July I am having to do now with the vegetables. But I don't care. When it is January and everyone is having to pay an arm and a leg to eat peaches I can open a jar and just sail away in the aroma of fresh Okanagan peaches.

I have been canning so long that I can do it in my sleep. I can do it with one hand tied behind my back. When I work on it I don't think of how tired I am, I don't think of how sore my back or my hips are, I don't think of Keith and his claim with the government or the fact that he has been off of work for over 2 years. I can vegetate (no pun intended) on what I am doing. I can't be worrying about what is going on in our lives because I have to concentrate on that I am doing...each canner has to be timed, jars have to come out at the exact moment or the food gets processed too long....if I am multitasking such as doing cucumbers in the sink and have peaches on the stove, and beets in the pressure canner I have to be able to concentrate on what I am doing so nothing gets wasted.

So you see....doing this really does relax me, it has a calming effect on me. If after reading my explanations here and still feel I am posting my accomplishments to show you how much more I do with my day then you do and you still feel guilty please feel free to take me off your friends list so I no longer have the power to annoy you.

Run for the Cure 2013, Surrey, Me and Sadness

Everyone knows that Vancouver hosts the Run for the Cure each year and has done so since day 1. What you may not know is that starting next year Surrey (where I live) will be hosting its own run as well. How exciting!!!! 4-6 weeks ago an email went out to all runners letting them know of this new chapter and that they were looking for Co-Directors. My first thought was YES but then I thought of everything else on my plate and thought nah better not.. Then I got an email from them personally asking if I would be interested. I figured what the heck...it must be in the cards...so I said yes that I would send them my resume and an interview was set up weeks ago. A couple of days before my interview Keith had his accident so I postponed it till this morning. This whole week that still small voice kept niggling at the back of my brain telling me to rethink this but my inside voice kept saying shuuuushhh. This would be such an accomplishment!! Talk about groundbreaking processes. It is just as important of a job to be the Director of the Vancouver one (it is a 2 year position) but anyone stepping into the job already has half the work done although it is still such a huge undertaking...the site is already in place, the Vancouver sponsors are in place etc etc... to have it in Surrey means everything has to be started from scratch. You would co chair with another Director. One would be for logistics- finding the site, sponsors, security, equipment, tents, tables etc etc, the other would be for Fundraising and Staffing.With my experience of doing the Yard Sale for the Cure last year it was right up my alley I love being creative. I love taking challenges and turning them into a finished product where I can look at it and think I did that. Even if it is just canning my fruits and vegetables that I am surrounded with now..I like looking at my full shelves and know all my hard work paid off. I hate it when people tell me to slow down. Slow down to do what?Become a couch potato? Play computer games? Read books all day long? That may be ok for some people and I am not in any way pointing fingers at anyone who does this...this is about me and I choose not to be that way. I live with 2 disabilities and I know my limits. I know if I sit still my muscles seize, my spine seizes and then I am laid up for days. I know by remaining active I am living a comfortable life with my pain. All week as my interview got closer and closer (this morning) that still small voice got louder and more frequent. Last night I became physically sick in the middle of the night and I didn't even question it. I got online and emailed the person that I had been communicating with. I told her what had been going on with my husband and that right now my focus needed to be with him 100% and that if I took this job on I would not be able to do it. I asked that she forgive me for the lateness of letting them know and told her that I would love to help out in smaller ways. I thought for sure they would be angry with me, that they would think that they could have had someone else in place for the last month but she emailed me back this morning with a beautifully touching letter. She said she totally understood, that she had been one of the Vancouver Directors before and knows how time consuming it was and that she thanked me for telling her now and not next year when I became overwhelmed and had to back out at the last minute. She asked if it was ok if they put me on one of the committee's that would still be a part of the day to day detailing but to not the extent of the Director's position!! I was very happy with that. When I look back at my husband I think of all he has sacrificed for me over the years and it shouldn't even have been an issue in my head. I am thankful for that still small voice that guided me to make the right decision. I have family back home that are not doing well and when Keith is finally settled I want to go back and spend some time with them and I would not have been able to do that right now with this new job. So although I am sad somewhat about it, I am happy that I did listen (although it would be nice if that still small voice could be as loud as my inside voice!!). Keith is my whole life. Without him I have nothing. I will be crossing that finish line in Surrey in 2013 though and am looking forward to being a part of this huge excitement!!!

Conversation with a 2 year old

One of our sons was over with his family today and his family comes equipped with a very vocal 2 year old. I just happened to ask him how his day was and if he went to Nursery (where children from 18 months to 3 years of age go at our church kind of like pre-school sort of). And this was his answer..sometimes it's just better to not ask heehee Hey Pumpkin how was your day did you go to Nursery today? Yup but Auntie Lala no there (his Auntie Lareta is one of the nursery leaders) I sad but I had treats What did you have for treats? uh uh uh messy berries uh uh uh lots of them (Strawberries Mommy tells me according to the red stains on his white shirt) Did you have play time in Nursery? Yup but no Auntie Lala I sad Did you have story time and singing time in Nursery? Yup but no Auntie Lala I sad ( I think I figured that already ) So what did you do yesterday? I go baseball game and had big BOOM BOOM and La Lean scared but I no scared I big boy and BOOM BOOM (said quite emphatically in case I didn't hear how loud it was the other time he told me)and big slide and Dadda no picture big slide Nana and cucumber man and apples and I throw apples but Mama said no but Dadda throw apples but Momma said no then cucumber man then Nana I got beet Nana a beet I got a beet Did you get some beets in the garden yesterday? Yes a beet and a cucumber man and big BOOMBOOM but I no scared I get you an apple no bugs on apples Nana I get apples and big BOOMBOOM (as he gets me an apple from the bag they brought over for me) Do you want me to cut an apple for you Conall? Yup but no bugs on apple Nana..ok no bugs Conall I hep Nana I need chair I hep Nana No it's ok Sweetheart Nana is all done peeling your apple I get nudder apple Nana (as he hurries to the bag and brings me another one for me) Nana no bugs in apples (Obviously parents must have been talking about making sure they did not pick apples that had worm holes through them) So what else did you do yesterday? (as we munch on the apples) I go baseball game and go down the slide and big BOOMBOOM (fireworks) It was dark and I go nite nite then go to church and sing song and have bread and water and play with cars then I go to Nursery with Nana but Auntie Lala not there I sad..Auntee Lala all gone! She'll be back soon she is gone camping in a tent.. yeaaaa we camping... uhhhh no just Auntie Lareta went camping and Kloie and baby Jazymm? Yes and Senthia and Britnee and latitia and Darien and Miranda and Uncle Curt but not Conall and Lelean? (Rosaleen) No just Auntie Lareta's family Auntie Lala not there I sad I think he misses his Auntie Lareta :-D

Windshield Wipers and Washing Machines

I can hardly believe it has been 6 months since I wrote in here!! Where has the time flown?? There has been so much happening this past while I can hardly keep up with it all. And I will play catch up but what I wanted to write about now was a memory that I had today. I was driving home and it was raining... it went from downpour to drizzling and just about everything in between. I kept changing the speed of the windshield wiper and it finally settled into the right speed. Ever have a smell or sound or something that whips you right back into childhood?? Well that was what happened to me. I was just driving in silence, didn't even have the radio on, and the sound of the wipers reminded me of the sound of my mom's wringer washer. Now if you don't know what that is, you obviously have never had the pleasure of having your fingers and or hands caught between the rollers!!! Anyway in a matter of a minute or so, I was transported to Mondays growing up. Every Monday was mom's wash day, and soup day and baking day. We used to have this small back porch attached to the house and this was where the washer and dryer was held. Not that the dryer was used very much even in the dead of winter. They weren't very energy efficient in those days so Mom only used them to barely dry them they would hang them on the clothesline and then would bring them in still damp (and frozen stiff in winters) to hang them on doorways, backs of chairs and these portable clothes lines that were everywhere. You could smell the bleach, home made detergent, the Sunlight bar soaps used to clean the colors of white shirts etc.. as well as the cold from the laundry as they thawed and finished drying in the house. I loved that scent of wash day.... and it wasn't just the detergent either... All week Mom would save all the leftovers in a container in the fridge. Sunday dinners were always a HUGE deal, a roast of some kind, beef, chicken, pork, ham etc with potatoes and several vegetables, salad, AND dessert.. always dessert.. we hardly ever got dessert so Sunday lunch was anticipated all week long. Monday morning Mom would take whatever the bone was from the roasted meet and start it simmering on the stove, just before it was ready she would add all the leftovers from the week adding some rice or pasta sometimes till it was nice and thick... So there was the scent of clean laundry....and the soup.... And the bread....oh....that was the best...they didn't have quick-rise yeast in those days so it would take all day long. I took over the job of making the bread when I got older so I know there were 15 bread pans and 8 bun pans that got filled with dough. Mom always made more then would fill the pans because for our lunch with the soup was "petit-pains"..... oh heavens.....it was the only time we raced home for lunch on school days....the dough would have just finished the first rising and Mom would be just taking chunks of the dough out of the bread bowl to twist into log shapes before dropping them into hot oil. It would just take a couple of minutes to fry into a golden brown..just long enough for us to race into the house and get to the table.... the soup was ready and hot and the little bread doughs were piling on the plate in the middle of the table along with all sorts of things to go on them...fresh churned butter, different home made jams, peanut butter, syrup etc... we would eat till we had to roll out from our chairs we were so full...oh but they were so goooooooooooooood! So there was the scent of clean laundry...and the soap...and the petit-pains....and then after school... The bread would just be coming out of the oven when we got home and although we couldn't touch the bread we could the buns and we would take them out of the pans while they were still so hot we had to do a "hot potato" with them in our hands trying to keep from burning our fingers...but we finally would get them smeared with anything we could get our hands on and would fill up on them...my mom made the BEST bread and buns... ever...still does.... I don't know how on earth we ever had room in our stomachs for Monday suppers but we did.. So that was where I went today on my way home in the rain listening to the windshield wipers.... to my Moms for Monday lunch..

2011 in review

MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy New Year!!

We can hardly believe it is that time of the year already! Where on earth did the time go? I remember many many years ago when I was still living at home I overheard my mom talking with some of my aunts who were over visiting, how fast time was going. All I could think of was how SLOW time was moving and how I couldn’t wait till I was done school so that I could get out in the real world to LIVE. Now I would like to be back there where our biggest problems were passing our math test and if someone was going to ask us to the school dance 

It has been a roller coaster of a year with many ups and downs through it all. But if we did not have these challenges we would never know if we were growing or not. Although I have to admit some days I would just like to pull up the blankets over my head and stay there!

Our extended family has had many blows this year. Between the two of us we have had 6 deaths due to cancer and still we have 3 more members struggling valiantly to hang on through their battle. Although we know death is a part of life in our heads our hearts aren’t always on the same page and we struggle with our grief. To top that we have had our parents being hospitalized twice each and living this far away from them has really made us feel at times we live on the other end of the planet. We ended up making 3 trips back to Sask this year which was a struggle for us both financially and physically but you do what you have to.

March saw my 3rd year of being cancer free and we celebrated once again by getting together with our children and grandchildren for a pink party! We had all these pink balloons where everyone wrote a message on it and at the right time (the time that I had the surgery) we released them in the air. Many of our family members and friends across Canada and USA did the same release where they lived at the same time frame in their zone and that meant so much to me. Then we had this big food spread that was all pink or variations of pink 


In May I did have to go back for surgery once again which was not expected. But I continue to do what I need to so I can survive. It was supposed to be a simple in and out the same day but I started hemorrhaging in the recovery room a couple of hours after the surgery and the surgeon had to be called back in to find out what was going on so had to go back into the OR. The simple became a 3 day stay.

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation contacted me at the beginning of the year asking me if I would be willing to host the first Western Canada community size fund raiser Yard Sale for the Cure for them in May. I jumped at the chance to do work for them. Of course that was before I knew the extent of the work and how time consuming it was. But it was for an amazing cause and worth every second. The news stations ended up covering the event and we were very successful. We had live entertainment, live auction as well as silent auction, celebrities and of course the yard sale. It definitely was worth every sleepless night leading up to that moment!From January to October I worked hard at their events, raising money, raising awareness, standing on corners at events distributing fliers, being in the July 1st Canada Day parade, volunteer at CBCF booths throughout the year at different socials and events. It was so worthwhile and I loved every second and every pain.



In May we also had our 16th grandchild born to our family. Jazmynn Aimee Kamille. She is such a cutie! We thought for sure that would be the last baby in our family for awhile but a couple of months ago we found out our son Kim and daughter in law Mary will be expecting their next baby in the spring! We are ecstatic to say the least! We sure love being grandparents!

In August we went for our family camping trip for 10 days. It was nice to get away and just relax. We had gotten rid of our trailer last year and were back to tenting so that took getting used to. The bending to zip and unzip was getting to my lower back until Keith figured out how to do it. He is such a McGiver when it comes to inventing things. Thank goodness!


In October I did my 4th 5K Run for the Cure to raise money for the CBCF again. Keith was unable to race with me this year as he still has casts on his feet but I pushed him in a wheelchair and he was still able to complete the race with me. Did wonders for my biceps let me tell you lol.Together we did the run along with 2 very special friends Leo and Maria. I was emotionally, mentally and physically drained when we got home that day. With every step I take I see all the pink tshirts (the survivors)but I also see all the signs and people there running for those that did not survive. It always reminds me of how fragile my life is of how short it is. But through it all it reminds me of how much more I can do.

But a few days later I get an email from someone who tells me that my "exuberance" in what I had accomplished was a slap in the face in their family because a female member of their family had not survived her cancer. Talk about being brought back into reality! It tore right through me that people would think that because I was happy I was still alive and able to do the work I do I was putting others down that had not survived. Keith tried telling me to ignore it that it was their problem and what exactly had that family done in honour of that family member? I knew he was right but it was still enough for me to cancel the rest of my commitments for the rest of the year.

That month was also our 16th Annual Finding Your Roots Genealogical Seminar at our Family History Centre which I am the Director of. We had over 350 in attendance that day and workshops ranging from Beginners to Advanced Research and how to search countries from all over the world. Family history is my passion (next to my grandkids) and I thoroughly enjoy helping other people find their ancestors. I am still the Director of the Family History Centre and have been here for 5 years now.
I will be glad when this year ends though.

We went to Alberta to our son Kim’s for Christmas this year as we have not been there for 4 years. They came down 2 years ago so our turn to return the favour. We really miss being with them and their children and so we try our best to get together a couple of times a year.It was a wonderful time and it put me back on track emotionally.


Our Christmas at home the week before had had some off moments. Some family members did not attend for their reasons, others were cranky and ended up having to take a time out in their car. It put a damper on the celebrations to be sure. Keith and I had a long talk on the drive to AB. deciding if we want to continue having big family dinners and celebrations. we thought of letting our children have family dinners at THEIR house, we can show up in time to eat, visit for a short time and as soon as it is time to clean up we can leave to go home. Either that or have one family at a time. Or we can just go away by ourselves but that idea did not go over well. I am just too family oriented to be away. But there certainly has to be some changes. Sometimes a mom just likes to hear thank you, and appreciate all the hard work that goes into a family celebration.

We got back on the 27th just in time for me to go for my next surgery on the 28th. A nodule was found in my right thyroid gland. They did a biopsy a few months back and the pathology came back showing abnormal cells. They could not say for certain that the cancer has come back but because they are abnormal we are not willing to take the chance. They removed the right thyroid as well as the nodule as it was quite meshed in with the gland and they could not take the chance of accidentally nicking the nodule and letting the cells get into the blood stream if it is cancerous. This was my 10th surgery in 4 years and I tire of it. But when I think of what my alternative is I guess it is the lesser of the 2 evils.

Keith is still fighting with WCB for his work injury! It now has been 18 months since the original injury at work and a year since his knee surgery. He had another scan on the opposite knee a couple of months ago and it is showing tears in the ligaments as well. He now only has a cast on one foot but walking with one cast and one shoe puts him at a bad angle and his hip and knee on that leg really aches by end of the day. Middle age really sucks! He has filed an appeal with the court and they called a couple of days ago stating it can take up to 6 months before they decide whether or not to accept the 2nd leg injury (broken bones in foot and tears in the knee ligaments) as part of the original claim. In the meantime we have had to pay for the 2nd cast and costs etc out of our pockets. They will reimburse if they accept the claim but it does not help for now.

Our children are all well and doing pretty good. Doug is busy opening up new branches with his company which pays well but makes it hard to be home to spend time with Dallas. Eugene has just started working at one of the branches. Kim has gone back to University to get his Masters which is not always easy when you have a family. Lareta is busy being a full time mom. Jody has switched roles with his wife and is now a stay at home daddy.

All in all we are blessed in our lives. There are hiccups at times but we just see those as opportunities to grow. Keith and I are both ordinance workers at our new temple and that reminds us constantly that Christ is in charge and that it isn’t enough to have faith in Him but we need to have faith in His timing as well.

Last year I chose the song "Today I'm Going to Try and Change the World" as my "theme" for the year. The words represented how I tried to live each and every day. Treat my neighbour as I would want to be treated, tell my children I love them, live each day to the fullest. I think I did pretty good. The virtue I worked on was patience. That tested my patience no pun intended but even if I was not completely successful with it 24/7 I am better then I was the year before and will continue to use it to work through this year.

This year the song I am going to use for my theme is "Where Your Road Leads" Here are the lyrics:

I believe in miracles
I believe in signs
And I believe that mountains move
One prayer at a time

If I could be an angel
I'd make your every wish come true
But I am only human
Just a woman loving you

Where your road leads
I will follow
When your heart bleeds
I'll be there for you
When your night grows dark
And you can't find your tomorrow
Then you can follow me

Someday we'll look back and see
Our footprints in the sand
Sometimes you would carry me
And sometimes you'd be in my hands

If we can love forever
That won't be long enough for me
I want to hold you tender
Be your shelter all you need

Oh, we can be each other's guiding light
Through this long and winding life

Where your road leads
I will follow
When your heart bleeds
I'll be there for you
When your night grows dark
And you can't find your tomorrow
When you've lost sight of your dreams
Then you can follow me"

The virtue I am going to take as mine this year although it really is not a virtue at all is HOPE. I will hope that we will not lose any more family members this year; I will hope that my family dynamics can mend; I will hope that I will not need any more surgeries; I will hope that my children will set an example to their children; I will hope my grandchildren will remain strong in their faith and beliefs; I will hope that I will be a good friend to many, hope I will always be there in their time of need; I will continue to hope to be a daughter of God who is always proud of my choices.


That is my plan for 2012.

december 2nd

Today's cookies is Ginger Snaps..very very yummy!

Ingredients

9 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
7 ounces dark brown sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces molasses, by weight
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
4 ounces finely chopped candied ginger
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, clove and salt.

Place the brown sugar and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the crystallized ginger and using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.

With a 2-teaspoon-sized scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment-lined half sheet pan approximately 2 inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes for slightly chewy cookies or 15 minutes for more crisp cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired, and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all of the dough. Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days. If desired, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough on a sheet pan and once frozen, place in a resealable bag to store. Bake directly from the freezer as above.

12 Days of Christmas

Last couple of years we have done a Reduce Reuse Recycle Christmas for several reasons. I love baking, I love this time of year to do all of my family favourites cause of course there are no calories in Christmas baking :) I thought I would do something different this year and do a 12 days of baking with my fans :) This way I can share with all of you the fun parts of my traditions. Here is day 1:

Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients

3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk, about 1-inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes, until firm but still pliable.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick on a lightly floured surface and cut with a 3-by-1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate after about 5 minutes, return to the microwave in 5-second intervals, stirring, until completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.

Drizzle or dip 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it. Place the cookie back on the parchment-lined baking sheet and let stand at room temperature until the chocolate has firmed up, about 20 minutes.

You can also just cut them in circle shapes or just leave plain sprinkled with colored sugar sprinkles or just plain. Make them your very own. This recipe makes about 3 dozen

The Herbal Kitchen

I bought this cookbook last year and already my book is already very well used and dog eared. A dear friend of mine taught a mini class about 18 months or so ago on starting a herb garden. Mine have flourished and those little 4 little Styrofoam cups have developed into these huge pots that I get to use all year, chocolate mint, real mint, spearmint, lemon verbana, oregano, thai basil, regular basil, purple sage, regular sage, rosemary, Italian flat leaf Parsley, chives, thyme and so on.

I have been using these fresh spices for years and years buying small pots of them or those supermarket foam containers of them but have wanted to have my own. I know what to use them in the regular stream of dishes but I knew there should be something way more that would allow me to make meals using my herbs better.

Hence this book.. I love it...LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!! Any herbalist should have it in their repertoire

Tonight I brought some lemon verbana home and made this awesome lemonade.. it is soo incredibly yummy! I am drying some spearmint right now for herbal teas in a while. Then there is this chocolate mousse cheesecake that I will be using my chocolate mint to make it with... I am salivating as I imagine how great it will taste. GET THE BOOK and try the recipes out.. see if your library has a copy if you want to take a look at it first or find it in a book store, look at the pictures/recipes and copy down a couple of ones you would want to try out, try them at home and then you will be hooked.

Let me know how it turns out!

Cranky and then there is CRANKY

I just want to go on record and publicly apologize for any crankiness I may have shown towards and of you these last couple of weeks. My Rheumatologist has taken me off of one of my medications for the FM as it no longer was giving me the relief I needed. Adding to that was a very wet winter/spring which makes me ache on a normal day, bad pain days with my spine, an unexpected surgery last month and it has turned me into a not so smilesonly anybody :( I have to be off the medication another 2 weeks before I can start the new one and even then it will take a couple of weeks before we know if it works or not.

When I was reading the side effects for the new drug one of the first one was suicidal tendencies... I thought.. wonderful... brings on a whole new meaning to getting up on the wrong side of the bed. So am glad today was the last day for 2 whole months at the Centre. Someone told me today if I was so tired why didn't I just go to bed? DUH.. why on earth did I not think of doing that????

I would like them to come and say the same thing to me in another week from now!

I am my own grampa

Ok now you all know how much I love genealogy even though it sends me over the brink of insanity most days. I came across this poem that I thought I would share with you.. now seriously if you did not even chuckle reading this you are very sad :)

I AM MY OWN GRAMPA!
Many many years ago
When I was twenty three,
I got married to a widow
Who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her,
And soon the two were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life.
My daughter was my mother,
For she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matters worse,
Although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became
A brother-in-law to dad.
And so became my uncle,
Though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle,
Then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter
Who, of course, was my step-mother.
Father's wife then had a son,
Who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson,
For he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue.
Because, although she is my wife,
She's my grandmother too.
If my wife is my grandmother,
Then I am her grandchild.
And every time I think of it,
It simply drives me wild.
For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw.
As the husband of my grandmother,
I am my own grandpa!
Author Unknown

Summer Reads

Considering this is the first day of summer I thought it only fitting that I post my books I want to read over the summer....or I should say HOPE to read.

Patricia Cornwell - Port Mortuary
Tom Clancy - Rainbow Six

Tom Clancy - Dead or Alive
Robert Ludlum - The Bourne Objective

That is it.. just 4 this year :) Looking forward to some beach time, suncreen, hat and my book.. no interruptions allowed!

FRESH by Anna Olson

I got this signed cookbook by this author who has had several shows on WNetwork about a year and a half ago and use it so much that it never gets put away. Just sits on the counter from one day to the next. She breaks it down into 4 seasons. Everyone knows what to do with salads in the summer but what do you do in the middle of the winter when all you see is carrots and cabbage?

I work really hard at only buying produce from my 100 mile radius (although I do admit bananas and avocados are the exception to this rule) and she makes it very very easy.

Tomorrow we are having friends for dinner and this is on my menu :)

Tender Greens with Marinated Cherries in Almond Vinaigrette
Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken
Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta with homemade vegetables and Parmesan
Homemade Berry Sorbet made with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, goat yogurt

Every single item is organic right down to the spices and oil... I am salivating just thinking about it!

Round 2

You know how I posted a while back that I had fallen and banged my head on the car frame and cement hard enough that I gave myself a concussion? Well my doctor had sent me for a cat scan to make sure I didn't have a skull fracture and they noticed I had a nodule in my thyroid gland. Which in itself is not really abnormal but because of my previous cancer they had to investigate. They sent me for a nuclear scan. I actually had one large nodules and a couple of little ones. The dye went through the small ones with no problem but not the large one so they sent me for a fine needle aspiration biopsy.

The radiologist warned me that because of the sheer amount of blood in the gland that they don't always know if they got enough tissue until pathology gets it and I may have to go back for a 2nd one. Which was what I was expecting would happen. He said 5-7 days. 3 weeks later I was still waiting. I finally got called in my doctor's office for the results yesterday. The confirmed the nodule, they confirmed it was a solid mass, they gave the size of 1.6 X 1.3 X 1.2cm. It went on to say that although there were not enough cells in the biopsy to positively say the cancer was back, there were enough to say there was something very abnormal there.

So now I am on the wait list to see an Endocrinology Surgeon. The good thing is he is at St. Paul's hospital in Vancouver which is the best in BC. My other surgeon is also the Chief of Surgery there and I know she would not have slackers on her team so that is really good as well. My doctor said what will probably happen is they will go put me in surgery, remove the nodule and half the gland so that they can actual do a thorough dissection and biopsy. She said I can live on half a gland without taking any medication. If they find the cancer has come back then they will go in and remove the other half of the gland and will reevaluate at that point.

End result: back to waiting once again... I have mentioned how little patience I have right?... I have no idea how long it takes to get an appointment to see this type of specialist and I would imagine everyone that sees him has the same urgency. Will have to wait and see. Will keep you all posted.

I am thankful for my family who continue to rally around me and just keep stiff upper lips just believing in faith and that I am totally invincible :)

Sask vs BC

We have now been here for 21 years. In some ways it seems like just yesterday, in other ways it seems like a lifetime. We have tried over the years, to go back to Sask to visit family every year or year and a half. We have tried countless number of times to convince our families to come and visit us for a change instead of always us going back east. We keep telling everyone that gas costs the same, it takes the same amount of hours to drive, it takes the same planning to save money and book vacation time away from work etc. But it never seems to work.

This year alone these are family events that have come our way to go to Sask:
-I went back to my mom's in February to help her get to doctors etc as she had been ill and I was very worried
-Keith's dad's 80th birthday party May long weekend
-one of our nephew's wedding August long weekend
-One of my uncle's and aunt's 50th anniversary September long weekend
-the daughter of a very close friend of ours wedding mid September

Every time we fly back it costs us over $1000.00 between airfare, hotels, food etc. Because of my spine and FM, I do not do well in other beds. I don't even do well in my own bed. I pace a lot most nights..it hurts to lay down so after an hour or so I am up for a couple of hours then back to bed for another hour or two and the night goes on. Because of that, it is very difficult to sleep at someone's home and stay quiet. Which means hotels so I can move around without waking up other people.

No matter how we work it, we are going to hurt someone's feelings at not being able to attend something. We are going to get "well you went to that one why can't you come to this one". And that is not even taking into consideration our own immediate family's needs. We have not seen our one son and his family since May of last year.

In an ideal world we would all live in the same small town with everyone within walking distance. In the real world Keith and I continue to play the eenie miney mo game and wait for family to switch roles with us and come west for our family events.

Who Am I?

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I won't look back, let up, slow down or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, positions, promotions, plaudits or popularity, I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on my presence, walk with patience, I am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast and my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed. I will not flinched in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, phone at the pool of popularity, and meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, and work till He stops me. And when He returns to His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. my banner will be clear. That is who I am.

Monday

So here is my todo list for today: My time is so limited and every minute is consumed with this Yard Sale for the Cure I realized I had not posted in here for awhile so here I am :)

-take granddaughter to Noisy Reader at school - check
-spend time with grandson - check
-change bedding from winter gear to summer gear - check
-finish laundry - check
-find a generator
-convince truck rental companies that I NEED a truck for the 27th and 28th for my event to pick up tents, tables, sound equipment and all the stuff from the lockers and to do it for free at month end
-find a place that I can get walkie talkies from, my sound place does not have them
-follow up on calls to potential sponsors
-contact the volunteers who signed up to see if still available as no answer from emails sent
-get handouts ready for meeting tomorrow afternoon
-get an assistant - check (see photo below)
-try and undo what new assistant did on my laptop as now every time I go to do something it asks me to allow it first..ugh

Pain in the Neck

Well you guys that thought I was just a big pain in the neck hehehe here are the results of my cat scan from my fall(which is NOT the results of the scan for my cancer check up)

C2-3 Only the inferior margin of this level was included on the study and there is a small posterior disc bulge or disc protrusion seen at the superior margin of the scan

C3-4 A moderate sized disc complex ix seen at this level. To the left of the midline, this abuts the left anteriolateral margin of the cord and there is some mild stenosis as a result. There is mild left neural foraminal narrowing.

C4-5 A small central disc protrusion is seen at this level and minimal associated osteophyte formation is seen at the superior margin of the disc protrusion. This is causing mild mass effect upon the anterior margin of the thecal sac

C5-6 There is a small focal central disc protrusion at this level as well, causing mass effect upon the anterior margin of the thecal sac

C6-7 A small broad based central disc protrusion is seen at this level causing mild mass effect upon the anterior margin of the thecal sac

C7-T1: The canal is partially obscured by artefact from the shoulders. There is mild osteoarthritis in the left facet joint

and my day begins...............Now I just need to find someone to translate that into English

3 Years and Counting

On Friday March 18th at 8am it made 3 years that I have been cancer free... 3 years and counting. I have an appointment with my surgeon on Tuesday and if that goes well, I will be able to stop my 6 month checkups and do them once a year now. I have spent a lot of time thinking of these past 3 years and I realized I never talked about the surgery, my thoughts at the time or sharing of myself.

I had (being a Cloutier and all) closed myself off pretty good after I heard the "you have breast cancer" words. It is not easy dealing with cancer in my family more so then most other families. Our success rate is not that great. I lost my dad to it, my only sister a few years before I was diagnosed. It was difficult having to tell my mom that I had been diagnosed as well.

As I lay on that OR table trying to remember to breathe while the anesthesiologist was unsuccessfully trying to start an IV, I promised the nurses that I had better wake up after the surgery otherwise my sister in law who is an OR nurse would come back and kick some serious butt.

As the drugs started to work and I could feel myself sliding under I thought of my sister...it would have been her birthday that day...it was so young to die at 37 and I silently told her I wish she was still here. I felt that she was watching me and that she would make sure I was alright to not worry.

The blackness kicked in and I went under. What seemed like just seconds I had closed my eyes I was hearing people telling me to wake up. I felt immense pain in my chest. I tried to speak but there was some tube in my throat which was bothering me a great deal. The nurses would tell me to settle down, that I was going to be fine but I needed to settle down. They said the airway tube was to help me breathe as my one lung had collapsed during the surgery. I made a sign that I wanted to write something down. They got me a clipboard and paper. I just wrote in big letters KEITH. They knew he was my husband but told me that I was in recovery and that he would not be able to come in. I was getting increasingly agitated, from some reason for not being able to move my legs, from the pain in my chest, from my not being able to breathe on my own. I wrote his name on the paper again and put several exclamation marks next to his name.

They told me again I was in recovery and I needed to calm down. I tried pointing at my legs..I guess they understood I was asking why I couldn't move my legs. By this time the nurses had gotten one of my surgeons to come in to talk to me. She explained to me about my lung, about the fact that the veins in my arms kept collapsing on them plugging the IV fluids and that they had to start them in my feet and when I kept thrashing around and had snagged the lines on the bedding a couple of times they finally had to strap my feet down to keep the lines in, she told me I had started hemorrhaging on the side that had the cancer in and that surgery took a couple of hours longer then it should have.

This did nothing to calm me down..nothing.... I was expecting to go in, spend a couple of days and go home. Again I pointed at the clipboard..and she just looked at my face then told the nurses to get Keith. He came in very worried expecting the worse. He just took my hand, kept brushing my hair off my face, and told me he loved me over and over again. I finally knew I was going to be ok if he was there to stay beside me. When he told me nothing would get him away from me I fell back asleep...that and a couple of very strong shots of narcotics.

By the time I came to again I had been transferred to a private room. I was still hooked up with my airway and the pain was still intense but Keith was still sitting there holding my hand. I went in and out for several more hours. It was early morning when I finally woke up for real. I had written a note to Keith a few hours earlier telling him to go home. I laid in the bed just thinking when I realized I was feeling very wet. I thought it was from perspiration but I was only wet underneath me so I rang the buzzer. The nurse came in and I pointed at my sheet. She turned the light on and saw I was laying in blood. She called the other nurse to call in the surgical resident and got some dressings. My dressing, which went completely around me, was soaked in blood. Not a good sign. The resident came in and noticed my right side was very swollen and assumed some of my stitches had given way.

They brought in an ultrasound machine and saw that I had developed a hematoma that was 6cm X 4cm. It had plugges up the draining tube so all the blood had to go somewhere so it just kept backing up till the area was so swollen it popped my stitches. He called in the surgeon who came back in. She has a wicked sense of humour and walks in after getting the scoop from the resident and says "You are just determined to go down in my history books right"...yup that is it exactly!

She had to go back in and clean the site up and redid the stitches. The anesthesiologist and she decided that my lung was re-inflated enough to take the tube out and just keep me on an oxygen mask. I woke up again in the recovery room but wasn't nearly as anxious this go around. I slept in and out most of that day and when I woke up I noticed Keith was there. We talked for awhile and he just sat with me when I dozed off and on. I remembered forcing him to go home. At one point in the middle of the night I called the nurse to tell her I neede3d to go to the washroom.She told me I had a catheter in there was no need and I told her she had better check it because I NEEDED to go to the washroom. She checked and sure enough that tube had blocked itself out. She said she would remove it and put another one in. Uhhh thanks but no..I did not need any more tubes in me I already had the oxygen mask, 2 draining tubes, an IV and a blood bag in my feet. She finally agreed. I had to sit at the edge of the bed for a few minutes to get my bearings and that was when I noticed a hard cover pink journal sitting there.

I figured the hospital gave it to all breast cancer patient and asked the nurse and she said it wasn't theirs. So when I came back I asked to sit on the chair for a bit so they could change my bedding and I went through the journal. I have been writing in journals for decades and here was this pink one with the pink ribbon emblem on it. Inside was a very long letter from Keith. It was so heart warming and touching that the nurses were crying when I was reading it out loud for them. He told me how much he loved me, that my breasts did not define who I was, that this was just another blip on our relationship radar.

4 pages of thoughts and words and pure love that came from his heart, mind and soul. Now you have to understand that Keith is not a writer, he is lucky if I can get him to sign his name to cards that I send out. I decided I was going to use this journal just for my journey, the good as well as the bad. All my cards, emails, and notes would go in here. That journal became so fat at the end of my first year it became my source of sunshine that first year when I had to have 6 surgeries in 10 months.

My family never gave up on me. My daughter, my mom and sisters in law came with me for my surgeon visits. my 4 year old granddaughter that I babysat would tell me when my drainage bags needed to be emptied and on days when I could not keep my head out of the puke bucket she was there with tissue and wiped my face cause she said she was my nurse. The women from church came day after day to clean my house and bring me meals. When I kept telling them I was fine and could take care of myself they ignored me and just came anyway. Not easy as a woman to accept help. For some stupid reason I felt it made me weak if I accepted help.

The people at my work (considering I had only been there 2 short weeks) never batted an eyelash as they covered my shifts. I was too stubborn to believe how badly I was. I refused to give into this disease. It was not going to take me down. I tried a support group once and never went back. I don't know if it was just this particular group or if all were like that but I have never been around so many negative people at one time. I could not see how being with so much negativity was going to help me in my recovery. I knew I had a huge support team that would bring me so much more positive reinforcement I left and never returned.

Every six months for the last 3 years I have gone for checkups and tests. This past Wednesday I had one lest nuclear scan and if all goes well, I will have graduated into a yearly maintenance and tuning checkup. I took this disease and turned it into a positive thing by helping others going through this process. I started volunteering with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. I started fund raising...every dollar I brought in meant one more day that my mom, my daughter, my granddaughters, my sisters in law, my nieces would not have to be sitting in their doctors' offices and hear those words "You have cancer". This will be a fight that I will continue with my every breath.

People tell me all the time that I need to slow down, that I do too much... well in the words of Tim McGraw..."Live like you were dying". My life is too short to be spending it in bed, sitting around worrying about what might be, will the cancer return, what if I die...that's not me. I was at a Breast Health Series this past month and one of the speakers who was a Radiology Oncologist stated that people who say they are cancer free are not being honest with themselves. She went on to say that once you have had cancer you can never be free, you can be in remission but you will never be free from it.

I beg to differ. My grandchildren believe I am cancer free and that is good enough for me. If anyone wonders what it is that gets me through my day through all I have been through..what motivates me, what makes me beleive...see the pictures below and you will get your answer to that. Thanks for listening and letting me unwind.

Calling All Talents!!!

Hello Everyone!

I am putting out a call to all you wonderfully talented people out there!! I am hosting the city's very first community wide Yard Sale for the Cure on Saturday May 28th at Hawthorne Park in Surrey (10550 144th Street) to raise money and awareness for breast cancer! It is going to be a day filled with so much activity that you will want to bring a chair to hang out with us so you don't miss a single thing. In fact never mind bringing the chair...you can just buy one there hehehehe.

I am looking for volunteers to assist...

-volunteers for the actual day to help set up, sell items, take care of the cash, take down etc (I need about 30)
- volunteers to be a part of the Executive Planning Committee (no experience necessary just need a willingness to learn and execute the plans (I need 5-6)
-someone who knows how to call an auction, you don't need to be able to do it at lightening fast speed just be willing to auction off items that will have been donated from businesses for us
-are you in a local band or know someone who is looking for some free play time and have a captive audience to listen to them that would be willing to play for part of the day or throughout the day
-do you have a clown costume or know someone who would love to dress up to entertain the children
-volunteers to do some face painting for children

If this is something you want to get involved in or want more information or know someone else that I can contact please just message me through here or call me on my cell 604-644-9934 or email me at shaysom@gmail.com

Thanks!! This will be such an awesome day!! This event is actually going to be the template to market throughout Canada and I get to be the pioneer to start it all :) Must be all my experience with talking hehehee. Right now people have just been doing their own private yard sales to raise money as I have for the last 2 years but now the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation wants to work at this so that it is ONE large one in one central point and we will be the founding city! Doesn't that just excite you?? And want to make you want to be a part of this amazing event?? You know you do.. just pick up that phone and call me for more information! There will be media coverage there interviewing us taking pictures of us and who knows you might be the celebrity of the day!!