Welcome Fall…

…looking forward to what you have in store for us. In the meantime here are some favorites from the end of summer and the very beginning of Fall.

If you missed the recipe for my Pear and Almond Tart on MGCC click away and get it now. You can make this with canned pears.

Our hydrangeas are waning nicely with their colors fading in a pretty way.

Colors are changing on our plants and the leaves are changing and falling.

Our neighbor Pat died this summer and a couple weekends ago there was an estate sale in her home. I ended up buying her drop leaf tea trolley to remember her by. I waited till the last day of the sale when everything was half off to make my purchases. We found a spot for it and we have plans to make a few changes to it. It cost me $20.

Early fall shots of our home from the back of our property. We do welcome Fall/Autumn at this old house.

Thankful for Autumn and all it brings like new colors to enjoy, comfort food, cooler weather, cozy fires, and new adventures.

Thank you Lord for who you are and your love and care over us.

Joining: Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else, Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home and Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

Looking Back…

…before Fall is fully upon us and counting my blessings.

We’ve had some lovely weather lately and when we travel to see our son and daughter in law in Eastern Washington we get some beautiful views of the Columbia River Gorge.

We will travel east again sometime in mid October to help with some projects. We are thankful we can travel and help where needed.

When all the kids are going to be together I make this treat that is enjoyed by all. If you haven’t made this simple Rice Krispie treat you should try it. I posted it again on MGCC this month and you can find the recipe by clicking here.

Anytime of year it’s fun to have an indoor picnic like the one above. Besides the pita crackers we always slice a nice baguette in thin rounds to enjoy the charcuterie and added cheeses, fruits and pickled vegetables. This is an enjoyable meal to have in a hotel room when you are traveling and tired of eating out, too.

We were at our state fair last week and we enjoyed this barbecued pulled pork sandwich. I posted about the fair yesterday. This weekend Dear will be smoking a pork shoulder roast to make our own sandwiches at home. My cousin and my college friend who married my cousin will be with us this weekend before they venture north and across the water to Vancouver Island. We will enjoy catching up and eating together, too.

Last week I also went on a shopping trip with our daughter Katie. After shopping at Nordstrom in Bellsquare we ended up at Crossroads in Bellevue where there is a food court that has a Russian stall. We shared some beet borscht (not the kind that we grew up with) and bought a variety of piroshky. Yum. We shopped some more after eating and it was a successful shopping day.

Counting my blessings:

Being able to travel and help our kids and seeing beauty along the way.
Treating my kids to their favorites and hearing their appreciation.
Simple picnic pleasures with Dear. I love food!
Our trip to the fair and guests arriving soon.
Successful shopping trips with our daughter. Happy she still wants to shop with me.

I’m linking up to three Friday memes that I can relate to.

Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to tell the Story

Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home

I is for Indiana

Later this month all the Mennonite Girls and many of their husbands are headed to Shipshewana, Indiana for …

This is all very surreal to all of us and we are excited to see the show and enjoy the experience. I’ve been reading up on the area and want to respect the people in this community. This article is helpful.

LaGrange County and Shipshewana are home to the third largest Amish community in the nation. This community’s simple way of life is the reason many people visit our area—to observe, learn about, pay tribute to, and purchase items from the Amish.

With the travel season upon us, here are a few things to remember as you travel to our area and interact with the Amish:

1. Upon your arrival, you will notice the roads filled with bikes and buggies; many people will be walking, and kids will be riding pony carts.

Please slow down and take extra caution as you travel. Buggies follow the same road rules as vehicles, so they are allowed to be on the road.

2. Please don’t honk at the horses pulling buggies. The sound easily could spook the horses.

3. The Amish in our area understand the fact that visitors come to get to know them. Within limits, they will visit some with you, but if they choose not to, that’s okay. Even if you don’t get into a conversation with them, they will provide a smile and a nod.

4. As part of their religious heritage, Amish believe photographs are “graven images,” so please do not take photos of their faces…grown-ups or children. It’s tempting, we know, but please honor their culture by not taking photographs.

5. DO stop in at their home businesses on the Amish backroads. Many of these businesses help sustain the Amish way of life. You’ll see many signs on our county roads advertising these small “cottage businesses.” When you see a sign, you’re automatically invited to stop in; you’ll be welcomed.

6. Most shops are closed on Sunday so the Amish can honor the Sabbath with a day of rest and spend uninterrupted time with their family. Plan your schedule accordingly.

Welcome to LaGrange County. We’re so glad you’re here!

After a few days in Indiana we continue on to Ohio for the second location of our play at the Ohio Star Theater (Sugarcreek). Somebody pinch me…but not too hard!

I wonder what items I will find to buy and bring home with me from these industrious people.

If any of you have been in this part of the country and you have a recommendation on what to see let me know in comments.

I’m linking up with ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on by Roger and a team of exceptional bloggers!

Five or More from August…

Early in August the Mennonite Girls Can Cook had our book launch celebration at The Mennonite Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C. The turnout was beyond our expectations. We all read from our stories or devotionals in the new book which was the scary part for me but I made it through without shaking too much. Our new book is called Bread for the Journey.

Mid August we took a trip across the Cascade mountain range to Dan and Jamie’s to help build a new pump house. The old smaller one had to be demolished which included getting rid of some significant wasp and hornet/yellow jacket hives. They are nasty and aggressive. My part in this project was to keep the dog occupied and bring out cold beverages. I also was able to escape for country drives, a farmer’s market, antique/thrift shopping, and Jamie and I participated in a Bubble Run in Spokane while the guys continued their project.

While we were in eastern Washington Josh and Laura were in the Los Angeles area and my pop was thrilled to get a visit from them. My pop turned 93 in May and he lives with my oldest sister’s family.

We finished our attic project, adding floor space, carpeting the floor and organizing our bins.

This past Sunday our family was together to celebrate our friend Dave’s life on this earth and to support the Dickinson family in their grief. Beth, Dave’s wife and our dear friend just sent me this photo of her with our son Dan.

dan-beth

Thanks for sharing this photo Beth!

There also were some recipe triumphs and failures during the month of August. The ones that worked have been or will be featured on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog soon. The ones that flopped will just be forgotten.

The bottom right photo is an indoor picnic not a recipe and it never fails us. It’s nice to put a tray together with Charcuterie (cold cooked meats) cheeses, fruit, pickled veggies, roasted veggies, with crackers and a baguette.

So I’m thankful for:

My friends in Canada and our new book.

Our journeys to help our kids and to enjoy new scenery created by God for us.

My dear old pop and our kids honoring him.

That we can still work hard and improve things at this old house.

For the lives of dear friends who are resting in Jesus.

The bonus of good food along the way.

I’m going over the top and joining in with

Amy for Five on Friday

Susanne for Friday’s Fave Five and

Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else

We have had some steady rain showers now that September is here. It’s nice to get a good watering done without a hose. We are low key here with one celebration planned for Sunday dinner with a cousin from California that I babysat many many years ago. I hope everyone has a good Labor Day Weekend.

Final Five Hats for Now…

It’s time for Five on Friday and Friday’s Fave Five again. Thank you Amy and Susanne for hosting these weekly memes.

Here are five more hats I’ve worn or continue to wear.

#1 Self Employed Business Owner of Fresh Start a house cleaning and office cleaning business.

I started this business when we moved from California to Washington State while Dear attended the University of Washington to complete his degree and enter the School of Pharmacy. It was a successful business for the years he was in school and during his residency. Our sons were in elementary school at this time and our daughter was just 3 years old. My mother in law moved to Washington with us and she watched our daughter while I was cleaning during the day. I was usually home by the time our sons got home from school. At night Dear and I would clean a medical clinic and a dental clinic while our kids were asleep and Dear’s mother was home with them. This was a hat I was very happy to hang up when Dear got a full-time job in his new Pharmacy field. Dear was 40 when he completed his studies and got his first job at a biotech company in Seattle.

#2 Homeschool teacher for our daughter Katie.

When our daughter Katie was in fourth grade she began to show signs of stress and anxiety about school. We discovered she was being persecuted by several girls in her “gifted” class. We decided to pull her out of school and I homeschooled her for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. It was a good healing time for her and after these years she announced she was ready to go back to school for the 7th grade. The rest of her schooling went well and she finished strong including being a National Merit Scholar.

#3 Soccer Mom and avid Soccer Fan

My love for soccer/futbol began in the 80’s when our sons and daughter started playing on club teams and school teams. It escalated with the 1994 World Cup here in the United States. I took our sons to the training ground for the U.S.A. team and to their hotel and they were able to get autographs from all the players. We were able to go to a few of the games in Los Angeles and one game at Stanford. Currently we are season ticket holders for the Seattle Sounders. When in Milan, Italy I attended a game and in England we got the great experience of a Man U. game at Old Trafford.

We purchased these two Newsweek Magazines that were published during World Cup and the boys were able to get the player featured to autograph the cover. Later I had them framed.

Understanding the development of the plays on the field are key to enjoying soccer. I realize Soccer is boring for many but not me and I’m happy it’s getting more popular in the United States.

#4 Blogger

In March of 2007 my brother Steve ~~forced~~ helped me start up a blog. I didn’t know how to upload, download, or attach anything. I didn’t know what a URL was. I was afraid to punch a publish button. Little by little, step by step, I learned some of the ins and outs of blogging. At the time I started blogging Dear and I were living in a condo in Camarillo, California. I had lots of time on my hands with a home I could clean in 45 minutes tops and no yard to bother with.

In February of 2008 I met my first bloggy friend in Camarillo, Willow from Willow’s Cottage. We met for coffee and after we figured out we were comfortable with each other we made a plan to start walking together. We walked 2 or 3 times a week for 1 hour until 2010 when Dear and I moved back to Washington State. Willow shared how she had been praying for a walking buddy. I still miss my great walking buddy, our conversations, our tea times, and the support we gave each other. You’ll find a link to Willow’s Cottage on my side bar. And I need to mention she’s a master knitter.

Bloggers I’ve met in person are Willow (California), Sara (California), Cori G! (California), Pondside (Vancouver Island), Jill (Utah), Ruth (California), and Wreathmaker (Millie) in Manitoba. Hope to meet more in the future.

#5 Cookbook Author with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook

This last hat is one of those surreal things that has happened to me because of blogging. While connecting to different blogs around the world I stumbled upon Lovella’s blog and noticed Paska (Russian Easter Bread) on her side bar. I wondered (note the name of my blog ~ The Happy Wonderer) why a Canadian who didn’t have a Russian name was baking Paska. Well come to find out this group of Canadian Mennonites had ancestors who settled in the Ukraine from Germany and through the years added Russian recipes to their heritage recipes and passed them down to their children. Lovella started a cooking blog and in time asked me to be a contributor to the blog since I am full blooded Russian and many of my mother’s recipes are the same as their mother’s recipes. In time our blog, Mennonite Girls Can Cook, became very popular and a publisher asked us to work on a cookbook for them to publish. The ten of us met all together face to face for the very first time to sign the contract for the book in September of 2010. Our first cookbook was published in May of 2011 and our second cookbook was published in Spring of 2013. All proceeds of our author royalties go to feed or help widows and orphans in the Ukraine and Africa and other countries. This was a decision the ten of us were most comfortable with.

The fun hasn’t stopped yet. We are now working on a Devotional with some recipes included. This book will be published later this year in time for a play (comedy) called Mennonite Girls Can Cook that hits the stage at the Blue Gate Theater in Shipshewana, Indiana. This one really caught us by surprise. More news on these events to follow.

Thank you for visiting and reading my hat posts. Hope you are all doing well. I just found out my neighbor Pat has stage 4 cancer (just diagnosed today). I caught her adult girls outside to ask if something was wrong with their mom. They shared with me about their mom’s diagnosis. Hug each other and love each other well. You never know what tomorrow brings.

Friday the 13th!

So happy I’m not superstitious. I still have to share 5 more hats I’ve worn or am wearing but my creative juices aren’t flowing these days but rather they are dribbling. I’ll get back to those hats at a later Friday. So here are five favorites from this past week.

#1. Mother’s Day brunch with my kids that are on this side of the mountains.

#2. A few hours with these girls on Tuesday in Canada. The tall blond on the left that you probably don’t recognize is a writer who is writing a play about the Mennonite Girls Can Cook that will be staged later this year in Indiana and possibly Ohio.

#3. Lovella opened up her home for our meeting with the writer and cranked up her oven to treat us to coffee and these delicious rhubarb rolls for our morning coffee time. Delicious!

Then Lovella and the B.C. girls that were free to come for lunch offered up these delicious salads and other goodies.

#4. Our new book is in the works and we got a preview on what it is going to look like. I’ll share more about this soon.

#5. Today (Thursday) Dear and I worked outside mowing and weed whacking and then we brought down our deck furniture and set it out for the season.

We are thankfully heading into a quiet weekend. We have been processing lots of emotional things this week in our extended family and quiet is good to look forward to. Of course we know that just because we think it will be quiet doesn’t guarantee it. The other thing we know is that God is in control of everything that is allowed into our lives.

I’m linking up with Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home and with Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Birthday Five!

Monday the 14th was my medicare and concessions birthday! When you reach my age you should celebrate for more than a day and as I write this post I’m on my 5th day of celebrating! Today I’m sharing 5 wonderful birthday encouragements I received.

(1) Dear and I were able to celebrate with the B.C. Mennonite Girls and their husbands on Sunday in Bellingham, Washington for brunch/lunch. The British Columbia girls came across the line. It was enough for me to celebrate over a meal but they showered me with gifts, too. These girls have been such a blessing in my life and I thank God regularly for each of them. I received many wonderful encouragements in the cards they gave me.

(2) On my actual birthday we met our kids on the western side of the Cascades for dinner. Our middle son and his bride live 5-1/2 hours away so they couldn’t join us. Dan called me before dinner to wish me a happy birthday. I love the cards I got from my kids with a good page full of words that always mean so much to me.

Josh and Laura gifted me Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life and a Peter Rabbit bunting kit. They know I love all things Beatrix Potter. Katie made that card and wrote a page full of thoughts that blessed me dearly.

This same six were together last year for my birthday. I forgot to take a photo this year.

(3) These two are my youngest brother’s kiddos and they are my youngest niece and nephew. They called and sang happy birthday to me. They live in Texas.

(4) My dear old pop called to wish me a happy birthday. He lives with my oldest sister in Southern California. We talked about the jigsaw puzzles I sent him and I thanked him for the cold hard cash he sent me. This black and white photo is taken in the 50’s during a camping trip probably at Big Bear in the San Bernardino mountains in Southern California. I’m the one with the buster brown hairdo and my oldest sister Kathy is standing. Jigsaw puzzles have become my pop’s favorite thing to do again at 92 soon to be 93 to pass the hours away. He reminded me again that he prays for me every day.

(5) I received many birthday wishes on Facebook and one of my dear old friends from junior high/high school messaged me and her sentiments made me cry. Another dear friend called on my birthday morning and expressed her wishes and love for me and I cried again. Good tears…

I’m writing this post from our hotel room in Vancouver B.C. where Dear and I continue to celebrate my birthday with an overnight trip. Vancouver is about a 2-1/2 to 3 hour trip from our home in Washington State. It’s always fun to cross the border into another country where English is spoken! Tomorrow we will take a ride on the hop on hop off trolley to take in much of what this grand city has to offer before we head home. I’ll come around to visit you all when we get home…

Linking up with Amy for Five on Friday at Love Made My Home and with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five.

Susanne’s daughter is getting married next weekend so I’m wondering if she’ll even have time to post for Friday’s Fave Five…

Thank you ladies for hosting!

Signs, signs…

This was a sign at the grocery store I frequent and it was enough to motivate me to buy the ingredients and throw them in the slow cooker the next day. I didn’t go wide enough on my photo to show a little tag sign that said “Take a photo”. I thought this was a smart marketing idea. They also positioned the sign over a case full of the ingredients just as you entered the store.

I changed the method up a bit and added some ingredients and it turned out good. What I did differently…

I seasoned the meat and seared it on all sides. I put all the vegetables including 2 stalks of celery cut into thirds into the pot, set the seared meat on top of the veggies. I mixed 3/4 cups beef broth, 1/4 cup red wine, the Worcestershire, salt and pepper together and used this liquid to de-glaze the pan that I seared the meat in and then poured all this liquid over the beef and veggies in the pot. I left out the cornstarch and water but after 6 hours I took the meat out of the pot and I added a mix of 2 Tablespoons flour and a couple tablespoons of water (mixed well) to the pot mixed it in well and let the pot stay on high for another 30 minutes. Then I put the pot on low and added the meat back to the pot and let it sit till we were ready to eat. We had good crusty bread with the pot roast.

Since this is a food post I’d like to share two other recipes that I posted recently to Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog.

Chile Relleno Breakfast/Brunch bake. Click to see recipe. The second time I made this I added a layer of cooked Chorizo on top of the chilies before baking and that was a nice addition.

Today on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog I posted this simple Tuna Noodle Skillet meal.

Hope you are reading this post on a full stomach!

Thank you to Lesley for signs, signs. Click over to join in!

Happy Homemaker Monday

I’m trying something for the first time and joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday.

The weather…..
31 degrees and mostly cloudy and foggy with rain to follow.

Right now I am….

Watching the news while I start this post. The big news that is trending is the shocking win by the Seahawks yesterday in Minnesota. Ouch. And the other worldwide trending news that David Bowie lost his battle to cancer at 69 years old.

Thinking….

About the three birthdays we have this week in our family. Two of the birthdays will be celebrated without us in northeastern Washington state and one will be celebrated on this side of the mountains at this old house on Friday night. Gifts have been sent, cards will be sent and meal will be planned. Birthdays belong to #1 son, #2 son, and # 2 daughter in law.

Our kids minus our son-in-law Andrew. Katie, Josh our oldest with a birthday this month. Top row is Laura our DIL who is married to Josh. Our son Daniel who celebrates his birthday and our new DIL Jamie who celebrates her birthday this month, too. Katie and Laura had birthdays in December.

On my reading pile….

The Songs of Jesus by Timothy Keller and A travel Guide on San Francisco for an upcoming business trip that I’m tagging along on. I need to choose a good read for our plane travel and my hotel stay later in the month.

On my TV…..

The shows I’m watching this month are Biggest Loser, Top Chef, Masterchef Junior, Fixer Upper, and Downton Abbey. On Netflix we have been watching a British series based in Scotland called Monarch of the Glen aired in the early 2000’s. Our daughter and son in law have the Netflix account and since they are living with us right now we use it, too. We DVR most shows and watch them earlier in the evening since Dear and I hit the sack real early. I also enjoy watching Barclays Premier League Soccer games early on Saturday mornings.

Favorite blog post last week (mine or other)….

My posts titled Still Praying and Z is for… were my favorites from last week.

Something fun to share….

This is the Amiable Guinea Pig from my collection of Beatrix Potter figurines that I started acquiring on a trip to England back in 1973. Beatrix Potter is a favorite of mine and her animal characters make me smile so I thought this would be fun to share.

There once was an amiable guinea pig,
He brushed back his hair like a periwig-
He wore a sweet tie,
As blue as the sky-
And his whiskers and buttons were very big.

Blog hopping (newly discovered blog)….

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom is a newly discovered blog. This being the new year and because some of my oldie blogs are biting the dust I need to peruse and make some changes to my blogroll.

On the menu for this week….

Don’t judge but I don’t usually have a daily plan for meals and I’m more of a fly by the seat of my pants cook on most days. I do know that every Tuesday is Tequila Tuesday when Dear and I go to our little Mexican joint for a meal together. Our favorite waitress serves us well.

Generally we have soup on a given night, a good hunk of meat on a given night, and a pasta something dish, a Mexican easy meal, and I’ll throw in some kind of Chicken dish.

Friday this week will be a special meal to celebrate our firstborn son. There will be 6 of us at the table and I’m going with a couple traditional Russian dishes. We will enjoy Lopsha (Russian Noodle Soup) for our starter soup. For the main course I’m making Golubtsi (stuffed cabbage rolls). I’ll throw in something green, too. Chocolate Birthday Cake for dessert.

On my to do list….

I’m a list keeper and I love crossing things off of it. So far today I was able to cross off brush my teeth, just kidding, but I am amazed that I finally ironed and put the fresh linens on the guest bed. Note to self…never buy bedding again that needs ironing.

In the craft basket….

Not a craft person… I do like to be creative in setting a table so I am gathering things to set the birthday table for Friday night.

Looking forward to this week…

The birthday celebration and hearing that our northeast kids got their gifts in the mail.

Looking around the house….

thinking about getting rid of some of the clutter that has piled up here and there after the holidays.

From the camera….

This little plaque is a gift from Marg, my friend from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. Translated from German to English it says God Can! It’s a motto we use with each other when things seem hard or impossible.

On my prayer list…..

See my favorite post link for a couple specific things on my prayer list. For each month I like to use a notebook page to list all the birthdays and anniversaries in the month and I’ll say a little prayer for each person or couple that is celebrating in that given month. I have my list of people who still need Jesus. I have my praise column. I have my illness and healing columns and there are enough of those that I have them under headings like Cancer, Leukemia, Heart, Emotional, Mental, Chronic Pain. I also pray for some children of broken homes. I have a widow and widower list and a single but would like to be married list. I also have a they need a job list. Now I don’t want to give you the impression that I sit in a comfy chair and pray for hours. I don’t. I like to use this page method so I don’t forget and so I have a guide and list to pray through.

Bible verse, Devotional….

My verse on my Prayer page this month is Psalm 4:1

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

Thank you Sandra for hosting this weekly meme. I better publish it before Monday is gone. It took me a big longer than I thought to crank this out. With all the talk of homemaking I felt compelled to take a break to iron those blasted linens and it took a very long time. I hope to get around to others who are participating sometime today or tomorrow!

Blessings on your Monday!

Riding our Sleigh North…

…for our first Christmas Celebration this year.

This collage is from some of our Mennonite Girls Can Cook parties from Christmases past.

This year we are meeting up in Chilliwack, B.C. We are experiencing something new and I’ll share more next week.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site. All my photos that I stored and uploaded from that site are now big ugly black and grey boxes with a message to pay big bucks to get them restored to my blog. It will take me a long time to restore thousands of posts.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Mennonite Girls Can Cook