Apple Dumplings

Last night we hosted a gathering of sixteen people for supper.  These were all folks from my former workplace, with whom I like to keep in contact.  We'd been planning to have this get together in January, but it is hard to believe just how difficult it is to coordinate schedules with that many people.  Anyway the date, time and circumstances finally aligned yesterday.

Back in the good-ol'-days, as we now all refer to them, we used to cook our Sunday breakfasts and suppers at work on the weekends.  My friend Bob and I were the chefs by default, I guess.  So for a bit of nostalgia, we decided to recreate that whole scenario again, yesterday. Bob's wife dropped him off at 3:00 and we commenced to cook. 

We had discussed the menu earlier in the week, and decided on roast beef and roast pork as the backbone of the meal.  Garlic-smashed potatoes as Bob refers to them, were the starch.  You can never go wrong with oven roasted vegetables.  For an appetizer, we made stuffed jalapeno peppers wrapped in bacon.  Desert had to be either a cheesecake or apple dumplings.  My former coworkers expected nothing less.

I decided that apple dumplings would be the dessert de jour.

I've made these for quite a few years and thought it was a recipe that I would share with you today.  They aren't difficult by any means, but a little time consuming to make.  Remember too, that I had to make 16 yesterday.  A batch of eight is more the usual and that is the recipe I will give you.  Obviously you can adjust the recipe for the number of guests you have partaking thereof.

Ingredients:

The dough:

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp of table salt
3/4 cup of vegetable shortening ( I use Crisco or Tenderflake)
1 egg
2 tablespoons white vinegar
Ice water

In a large mixing bowl add flour, salt and shortening.

With a pastry cutter, cut the shortening into the flour, until it forms a crumbly mixture.

In a measuring cup, add the vinegar and egg.  Mix them well, then top the cup up with the ice water and mix again. 

Add the liquid to the flour/salt/shortening mix.  Mix quickly and thoroughly to a large ball.  You may have to add a little more water to make the dough stick together.

Flour your work area.  Turn the dough ball out onto the flour and dust the top of it with flour.

Roll the dough out to about a quarter inch thickness.

Cut it into eight equal sized pieces.

Pare eight apples.  I prefer Cortland or MacIntosh, because they cook down to a mush.  If you like crunchy apples in your deserts, try Gala or Spy.

Remove the cores of the apple carefully.  I have a homemade gizmo -- see photo.  Bob and I made a couple of them a few years ago, one slack Sunday morning at work. 

Place a prepared apple on each piece of dough.

Spoon two teaspoons of brown sugar into the coreholes of each apple.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Wrap the dough around the apple.  You will have to shape it and spread it out, so that it covers the whole apple.  Leave a little steam hole right at the top.

Put the prepared dumplings into a glass dish.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown at the top.

The sauce:

1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of margarine or butter
2 tablespoons water
1/4 tsp of rum flavouring

Mix the ingredients together in a sauce pan.  Heat until the mixture is boiling, stirring constantly.  It should somewhat clarify.  If it is still grainy, add a little more water.

Spoon a couple of table spoons over each dumpling and serve.  Serves eight.  I've yet to meet many folks who don't like a warm apple dumpling.

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.

2011 Resolutions Revisited

Since I just did a post on the first month of blogging, I thought I should review my first month of New Year's resolutions as well - a bit of an accountability stick, I suppose.

Let me see, what were my resolutions from a month back (the beauty of blogging, I don't have to wrack my brain, just go back and check). 

The first was to floss with greater regularity.  Well I'm here to tell you that I have kept that one, right to the letter of the law.  I actually had to get the better half (okay I need some more synonyms to refer to my wife as - I'll welcome all suggestions {except ball and chain -- that one from her majesty, herself}) to buy me another bag of those nifty little flossing thingees.  Is there actually a proper term for those?  I hated wrapping two yards of floss around my fingers and sticking both hands down my gullet to retrieve the remains of supper's pork chops (corn on the cob and pork chops are the worst, right?).

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The downside to my flossing resolution and I can't honestly blame the flossing, is that even with my dental regime bumped up to high alert status, I have broken yet another tooth.  This time it was on a frozen chocolate chip cookie, and I have yet to be able to schedule an appointment that does not conflict with my teaching days.  Note to self: defrost chocolate chip cookies prior to eating.

Resolutions number two was to blog.  I've done pretty well at that.  Nairy a miss, as Mom would have said.  And, I've really enjoyed the process.  I like being the big cheese, the editor in chief of my own little domain.  I know I'm a bit long-winded.  I think that will solve itself as life gets busier outside.  I kind of sit back and think of the hours I have put into blogging, and wonder how else I would have filled my January.  Yes, I know, my workroom might have got tidied up a bit.  As you know if you've been following, the garbage can in the workroom is now emptied!  That's a start.

http://www.dreamstime.com/cartoon-man-relaxing-thumb15457005.jpg

Third resolution was to relax more.  I'm not sure about this one, but I think maybe I am doing okay in this department.  Mind you, January is not really that difficult a month to relax in.  Besides shovelling snow and going to work, there is not that much to occupy the body.  We have tried to walk most days.  There were only two days that we didn't complete the desired circuit -- just too cold to be enjoyable.  I know a good brisk walk certainly seems to relax and get the endorphins circulating a bit.  Exercise also helps with resolution number four, which was to be happier in  2011.

http://web.uvic.ca/forbiol/sites/default/files/images/people/thumbs%2520up%2520happy%2520face.jpg

So far,  I think I am doing pretty well on this one too.  Yes I've still got some stresses in my life that weigh me down a bit, but there will always be stresses.  I'd have to say that blogging brings me some degree of happiness.  First of all I am trying to keep my blog happy and uplifting for the most part.  In so doing I have several times gone to the photo albums for inspiration.  Have you ever noticed all our photo albums tend to be pretty much filled with happy occasions? 

Secondly I am slowly but surely reading my way through Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project.  This was the book that spurred me to get blogging.  There are things that don't cut it for me in her book, but there are also a lot of excellent ideas -- just a matter of putting them into practice.  I'm in the month of June now, and she suggests going out and making three new friends this year.  Friendship is one of those areas that I struggle with.  Too often, I think I don't have much to offer to another person.  Good old self esteem issues I guess.  So I've been brave, I've asked a couple of people to be friends on Facebook in the last couple days -- does that count?

As I look back on it, I think my resolutions are going pretty well for me.  Now they say you have to do something for 42 repetitions before it actually becomes a habit.  Who came up with the number 42?  Actually as I recall now, that may have been something the missus (not the ball and chain) may have said about eating habits.  Maybe I'll revisit these resolutions a bit later in the year and see how they still measure up.

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.

Aunt Ruth and Aunt Grace

I'm trying to grow clematis and perennial sweet peas together on the same trellis and I think the situation is starting to remind me of my two little old aunts.  Perennial sweet peas, appear lovely for a short season, but they choke out every thing in their path.  Clematis are slow to establish, hate competition and will usually succumb if you try to move or replant them.

Two of Mom's older sisters lived together all their adult lives in Toronto.  In the tough 1930's, two little country girls headed south to seek their fortune in the big city.  Equipped with a grade ten education from a one room country school-house, the girls first found employment as domestic help, probably for relatives or friends of relatives.

Grace

Ruth

Fairly quickly, Ruth, the elder, found full-time, secure work on the assembly line for Bonnie Gray Tools.  Meek Grace, the younger sister drifted from one poor-paying, low-prospect job to another, a pattern she continued through to retirement.

My first recollection was of my two jolly aunts, who came to visit three times a year: Christmas, May 24th, and Thanksgiving, usually carrying some small gift for their youngest nephew.  A set pattern developed, Mom and Dad would drive to Parry Sound on the Friday evening, meet the Toronto bus and return the sisters to town on the holiday Monday, in time to catch the southbound bus.

I soon learned that the jolly exterior was just that, a thin veneer.  Both were very good at masking their true personalities in public.  A weekend with Mom was all it took to bring out the real girls. 

Aunt Ruth was dull.  Her life as a factory worker did not hold much excitement. She was bored and tired when she got to our place.  The sweet, forced gaiety, quickly faded into something, much less appealing.

Aunt Grace was pretty, a dreamer and poor as a church mouse.  She obviously very much looked forward to the holiday weekends, but her enthusiasm and anticipation quickly bubbled  and then it too dissipated.

Ruth became domineering, bossy and critical, not so much toward us, but toward her younger sister.  Grace suffered the consequences and sank into billows of depression which would often last the rest of the weekend.

Ruth didn't have a lot going for her, except her job and her stable income, but then I never saw any signs of further aspirations in life, either. Because Grace's jobs were fleeting, she was often at the mercy of her overbearing sister, to cover rent and basic living expenses.  I know Mom looked forward to her sisters' triannual visits, but I think they were a trial as well.  She had to become the sounding board to the litany of Aunt Grace's trials and tribulations.

As she aged, the theme of life-after-death loomed to the forefront of Grace's existence.  Her great personal insecurity, led her to believe she would be unworthy of heaven.  Of course if you are browbeaten and ridiculed day in, day out, faith and self-confidence can quickly erode. Poor Mom was often exasperated with the constant barrage of tears and sobbing tales of eternal insecurity. I think she felt horribly ill equipped to offer comfort to the poor self-condemned soul. No amount of assurance from family and clergy seemed to alleviate her sense of hopelessness.

Because not much ever really bothered Aunt Ruth, she enjoyed a healthy retirement, a good pension and died quickly and quietly in her sleep from a heart attack.  Not so poor Aunt Grace, who developed cancer, which like her spiritual ailments, ate away at her until it fully consumed her and she died miserably and utterly unfulfilled.

I look back with some regret on my relationship with these aunts.  Ostensibly they were kind to me.  They did bring gifts and kept me somewhat fashionably clothed. I was young and busy sorting out my own issues in life. They lived a fair distance away.  But I do wish I had phoned a bit more often or written some letters.  I think I was nervous though of being drawn into something that I too, was ill-equipped to handle.

I think if Aunt Grace had met the right soulmate, she would have been a wonderful wife and mother, but I think her potential was squashed, toadying to the bullying older sister.  Aunt Ruth, I think was quite happy to have someone beholden to her, someone to keep under her thumb, someone to boss and dictate to.

My sweet peas and clematis are just nicely establishing.  I have to wonder how they will bloom this summer.

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener

Professional Development Day - Smartboard Technology

I'm going to return to this blog later on today, but for now I am off to an Occasional Teacher's Professional Development Day at a local high school.  The topic of the day is Smartboards.  Unfortunately I think this may be a little late in the game.  I found last spring and the first part of this fall I had quite a few lessons planned for me, to use the Smartboard, which I was able for the most part to muddle through.  However, lately I have not had a single day, where the Smartboard is anything more than a big white board, covering up all the available writing space on the chalkboard.  My feeling is that regular teachers have encountered too many supply teachers who have limited ability to handle a Smartboard lesson, and have returned to preparing day plans using more traditional technologies.

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The other unfortunate thing I note as I roam from school to school, is that I see very few teachers using a Smartboard in their classrooms as anything more than a WORD program screen.  There have been huge numbers of taxpayers dollars being poured into having this technology in most classrooms, and I think the teaching potential is rarely being realized or achieved.

When I return, I'm sure I will have plenty of new ideas.  It will also be a good session to get together with other supply teachers and compare notes on what is transpiring in their lives.  Sometimes, as a supply, you feel you lead a very isolated life, professionally.

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I'm back, professionally developed and all!  Actually it was a pretty decent course.  I was able to sit with the missus, so it was a good all round day.   Our instructor was bright and peppy, without being too much so.  I do seem to be able to attract the winners though.  We had one seat left at our computer pod, and a latecomer blew in, and not just your normal, average, everyday late comer -- oh no.  It had to be Mrs Negativity herself and at top volume.  "Sorry I'm late, but I just feel like turning around and going back home.  I had to witness an accident and wait to give the police report, and the police was mad at me because I didn't get a good description of the runaway vehicle and on and on and on........."  And that was pretty much the tone of the day.  Nothing worked on her computer, none of the buttons were the same as anyone else's, even though the instructor seemed to be able to find everything for her immediately.

I certainly learned a lot of interesting techniques on Smartboard.  We spent a bit of time investigating  www.smarttech.com which is a site promoting Smartboard lesson plans and ideas.  It is amazing what is out there, a click of a mouse, away.

As always, they fed us well at the workshop.  Our Occasional Teacher executive is able to stretch their budget quite well.  I am always surprised there are not more OT's taking advantage of free training, good eats and pleasant environments.

It was good talking to other OT's as well, about day to day issues.  I gather I am pretty fortunate to be teaching every day, as some were complaining about their lack of days this fall.

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.

We Celebrate Our First Ever Chinese New Year

One of the perks of having foreign exchange students is the fact we get to  enjoy some different customs and foods.  Having two Asian students with us this year has given us the opportunity to experience Mid-Autumn day last fall and now in February, the Chinese New Year.  It is also the end of the first school semester, so the girls were all off for a couple of days, to prepare for their festivities.

Several of the school chums were invited, but in the end, only one other Chinese girl, and a German fellow were able to partake with us. 

Cherry, our Chinese student, spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen, preparing traditional Chinese dishes for us to enjoy.  I have asked her to be my guest blogger, naming and describing the various dishes she prepared.

The chef and her dishes

Jiao zi: boiled dumplings with meat in them. We had two types, mutton and chicken, with the soup. The sauce you may add on is made of hot pepper, vinegar, soya sauce and sugar.

Xi hong shi chao ji dan: stir-fried tomatoes and eggs

Xi qin xia ren: shrimp and celery chunks

Suan la tu dou si: potato julienne, with vinegar and pepper 

Zhu rou hu luo bo: stir-fried pork and carrots, cut in slices and cooked with soya sauce

Dou jiang: soy milk, the beverage of choice

Banana pancakes: this was not a traditional Chinese dish

P.S. We had green onions in every dish.

                        

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I was most impressed that a sixteen year old, who has never really prepared an entire meal by herself, was able to do such a bang up job, especially with invited guests hovering as well.  Her parents would be most proud of their daughter. I must say, all the dishes were most tasty.  Firstly, we had been shoveling snow for several hours in the fresh air, and secondly we didn't have to do any of the preparation work. 

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.

It's a Snow Day

Okay, so it is officially a Snow Day here in Eastern Ontario.  I was booked to teach Grade 3/5 (yes that combination is right!) and got canceled and then  re-booked at another school in the same breath.  I think I'm probably the only supply teacher working in the district.  So I am definitely not sure what my day will hold.  I will post more about it when I get home.

Until then its happy shoveling.

                                              











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So I'm back from my supply snow-day.   There were actually two of us booked today.  I had sixteen, grade 4, 5 and 6 students.  The other teacher had 23 Kindergartens to Grade 3.  Apparently most of the teachers at this particular school drive great distances and were unable to navigate the roads this morning.  The other issue is that it was a city school, and on the last snow day, over half the student population walked, although buses were canceled.  This morning was a slightly different case, as most students were not adventurous to head out in the storm, or at least their parents were more lenient and allowed them to stay home.

I've only actually ever taught one other snow day and that was 24 kids from Kindergarten to Grade 6.
It's a hard line to draw with a snow day.  The juniors are well aware its is a bit of a make-work-project day.  So they are not willing to really buckle down and do a lot of work.  On the other hand, teachers and administration don't want the day to be too much fun, because then everyone will want to come the next time.

I was able to get a fairly good Literacy lesson this morning.  I read my old favourite, Dear Mrs LaRue, about a dog who is sent to obedience school by his master.  The book is a saga of the letters the dog writes back to the owner, pleading his case to come home. 

I had the students write another imaginary letter from the dog to his master.  Most of them probably didn't realize it, but I was getting them to practice good formal letter-writing skills.  It always amazes me how little some students can accomplish in a two hour literacy period.  But then I am often very pleased with how creative and productive some student can be in the same time frame.

After recess, we had a good extended gym period.  I combined both classes, so had 40 plus students in the gymnasium.  We played PIZZA and Scooter/Octopus Tag.  I am so impressed with gym periods where there is great age disparity.  The older students tend to be so protective and nurturing of the little ones.  Yes they are still competitive, but they are more like little parents.

Next I got my prep period.  The French teacher came in and put a movie on.  Why is it that I was the poorest paid person there, with the most creativity expected?

After the second recess we went to the computer lab.  Some of the students had a research project that their teacher had assigned.  The rest basically had free time on educational websites.  I'm afraid at this point, I was not a great chaperone.  I found a textbook on Canadian pioneers and pretty much lost myself, until dismissal time.

So when I got home, my family was all out shoveling the driveway.  They had all been home for the day, and my understanding is that they had spent the better part of the day removing snow.  I helped finish up and then I tackled the greenhouse.  There was at least a foot of snow perched atop, which I knocked down.  Then I shoveled a lot of it away.  I was getting nervous that the weight might buckle some of the steel frame if I didn't do something fairly quickly.

I did one more quick pass over the driveway before coming in for supper.  It looks like there may be enough to warrant another go before bed time.

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.

Three Pairs of Pants

Three pairs of pants stand out in my memory and they all stemmed from that wonderful era we so politely call adolescence.  Puberty and poverty both struck about the same time.  For a couple of years, new clothing was a luxury that I coveted and other families took for granted.

When my uncle died, a package of his clothing found its way to our place.  There was one pair of pants, made of stretchy navy material, definitely old man's clothing.  They were probably too short for my brother, or perhaps my need was more dire.  For two years they were my school pants.  In the fall of grade eight, I recall falling and scraping my knee, ripping the pants in the process.  Mom patched them to the best of her ability and they saw me through the rest of the year.  They were ghastly and their bagged out knees didn't help my self esteem to grow at any time I wore them.

For my great eight graduation, Mom must have squirreled away a few shekels.  We made a trip to the Met store and I came home the proud owner of a pair of brown plaid polyester dress pants.  Looking back on my graduation photos, they were loud and did nothing for my pudgy physique, but I saw myself as the king of fashion.

That's me second from left, front row

That summer I had my first summer job and actually earned some money of my own.  With my new financial independence, I purchased my first pair of wide leg Levi jeans, to start my high school career.  It is amazing how quickly I forgot the stigma of wearing old worn out clothes.  The first necessity with new Levis in 1975 was to bleach them in Javex about five times before you actually wore them in public.

And that's about all I have to say today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.