after Christmas

hi all
sorry I havent been on for a very long time.
Not sure what there is to give or say at this time of year.
We have lots of things to do, and we plan and plan..
then in 20 minutes its all buried in a mound of paper, boxes and bags..
I said a few years back that I would not spend the money and time on presents,
and such..
Its hard, because you want to give, but at the same time, you dont want to get
sucked up in the commerical end of it all.
My grandchildren are at the age that I have no idea how to buy
for them. So generally they get 50.00 each and maybe it will come in
a bag with perfume, a new razor that viberates, slippers or just some chocolate..
this year I bought a ton of popcorn from the boy scouts, and hot chocolate from st cinnamon.
every person I wanted to just say peace and be happy, they received that..

I have no new recipes, it has been a crazy semester for me, lots has been going on..
one of these days, I will tell you about it.

One last thing, I want to acknowledge at this time
one of the boys in my cooking class at camp menesetung...
Brendon, his mom told me he cooked a meall for 30 people
on his own.. many blessings kiddo..that made me proud..
His mom said he just pulled it off like he was a pro..
she thanks me.. all I can say is that he had it in him, I just happened to be
there when he was bringing it to the surface..
great job Brendon..
until next time,

tonight for supper a co op we made
turkey meat loaf, and veggie chic pea loaf..
mm,
we had mash potaotes, roasted beets, and we thought we would
also roast the carrots..
as always they pulled it off.. there was nothing left
we did have a few potatoes left..
to make things simple, we put sun dried tomatoe dressing
in with the turkey meat, chopped a few onions and peppers
and made a ball and placed them into the muffin pans..
they made a nice single serving..
We cut the beets and carrots n large chunks, coated them both with olive
oil..
the beets had balsamic vinegar and a bit of sugar and orange zest,
toss the beets in this.. salt and pepper, cover and put in the oven
for 1, 1 1/2 hours..
The carrots, we coated them in olive oil, salt and pepper and a bit of maple sryup..
roast them for about an hour..
add a few salads.. there you go.. dinner is served..
we sauted mushrooms to put on the turkey loaf, and potatoes..
nice touch kids..
until next time..

hi there,
just thought I would drop in and see how things are going
round here..
I have a few recipes, for you today, and maybe a story or two.
I work full time at co op this year,
It has a good side to it, and a bad side.
Just like anything in life.. but here the good out weigh
the bad..
I cant tell you all how much the co op means to me.
I have spent about 7yrs there.. and wouldnt trade it for nothing..
The students there, ar elike my chidren.. they live in our houses,
for 4 or 5 years, sometimes for 7 or even 8 years..
I get to know them, know what they like to eat, how they keep there rooms
do there laundry, fold there clothes..wash there dishes and so on.
You hear there love stories, there happy days , and the bad days..
you hug them, tell them its going to be fine.
We laugh and tell stories in the kitchen, some will never be revealed.

I treat the kids like they are my own.
I cater to them, what they want, or need,
I do what I can to give them..
Im not the head of the kitchen or anything, I just give  100%
to them and the co op..
I love that place, its my dream job.. its no big executive job, I definetly
dont get paid top dollar.. but its not always about the money.
I speak to people all the time, some hate what they do.. some do it because of the money..

I was laughed at and told it was a habit..
because when we serve ice cream, I stay out there and scoop it for them..
I like to serve them dessert..
I was thanked by the students for doing it.. because they felt like there mom or gramma
was here doing it..
Priceless...............
I dont think I can ever say how this place makes me feel..
The students are my time away from the real world..
I tank them for that..
until next time..

while Im on this thing..
the first reform church is having a
fund raiser for the nightlight.
roast beef dinner, $12.00, Oct 19th
I will let you how it went..

now we are back at it,
I've traded my bnb hat in for
the fall one I ususally wear..
this is a tough time for us,
trying to train the students
for there jobs, they do for the next few months.
I also have not been very good at keeping the blog going..

the other day we made a great breakfast sandwich
for the croud, we grilled homemade french bread,
through some scrambled eggs, and we made a brushette
put that on top of the eggs,then a bit of cheese,
put it in the oven to melt the cheese..
it was a hit.. serve it with soup.. great for a cold morning..

while Im here, I should let you know that we did our coffee break for
the alzheimers society again on the street corner..
we raised a few hundred dollars and my company I
work for always match what I make..
It was a fun time as always.. maybe I should write a book on how to avoid
a person asking for change to raise money for a good cause.. that effects 1 in 5
its a good laugh..
I want to thank Gillian, our right arm.. to most of us in that place.
as always, students were out to give us a hand..
thank you to Mcdonalds, who gave us the coffee for the fund raiser..
thanks for listening..

In honour of our new and the old.. we had a speed mixer
last night. Once again, Gillian and I pulled it off..
We had finger foods, punch of both kinds, beer
and of course a dining hall full of eager beavers..
It was a huge hit..thanks gilly you rock..
We had the tables turned to resemble a horse shoe..
the chairs were around the table.. the inside people
didnt move around the table.. but the outside people did.. on each table
there was a stack of papers with questions on them..
to get everyone started..
everyone had a name tag.. so it was clear who you were talking to..
except for me..gillian decided she wanted everyone to call me ronnie
by the end of the night.. I removed the name tag, sorry gilly,
I have way to many names now..
until next time..

summer fun

Hi everyone..
I have been neglecting this blog for a while..
I need to be a little more strict about writing
my thoughts, and the great storiesI have accumulated
during my new summer job.. I had a great time doing the BnB
for Co op, as I write I will tell you some of the great people I met,
some were new to the BnB, and some had ben coming since it opened
I learned alot about people, about myself, and things are not how they look..
Anyway, I have a great recipe for you guys..
anyone out there like french toast?
Wel this weekend I had my cooking crew, do up some stuffed french toast.
It was a hit !
First you mix up eggs , milk, cinnamon, nutmeg,maple syrup
and slice apples, and appricots, or cranberries,
and put the apples, appricot, cranberries in a fry pan and simmer..
until the apples are crunchy soft..
mean while, take the egg mixture and place it in a shallow pan or cookie sheet.
take stale bread, and soak it in the mixture..
the thicker the bread the better.. but not neccessary..
place the soaked bread on a hot gridde,( soak both sides ) or grill, fry pan..
and cook both sides,then take your apples and lay them on one slice of bread,
put the other grilled bread on top of the other..
cut in half and enjoy..
this is really good...
a short story of my summer job.. a couple of american guys biked from detroit t boston,
thru canada.. they were awesome guys.. we took pictures, and they had breakast and headed on their way.. they also have a blog..
king brothers hammer canada..if your thinking of biking anywhere, I suggest you give this a read..
they also met som great characters along the way..
until next time..