Maple

Both Art and I love maples! The colors, the leaves, the varieties, all the different sizes and shapes.

While serving coffee to one of our senior customers the topic of gardening came up. Flowers, shrubs, trees, veggies and of course maples. Art mentioned that maples was a favorite, particularly Japanese maples. We were further discussing the high cost of trees and shrubs which has prevented us from buying one, after all what if it dies...yikes!

I guess our customer took pity on us because, thanks to her, we now have one....well a seedling anyways!

What a very sweet lady.

Wow what a night....

Well my Italian dinner event was a huge success, Liz, my sister, and I almost pulled it off without a hitch. Truth be told Liz's recipes and work went off without a hitch...mine not so much!

But, before I go any further:

Thank you Liz, I could not have done it without you!!!!!

Here she is, my wonderful sis.

I have three other sisters, just as wonderful and although the evening was already beyond my expectations ... had all my sisters been there...it would have been magic.

So what went wrong? I burned the green beans and my home made pasta stuck together. But again thanks to Liz, who was cool as a cucumber, we averted any real tragedies.

How did everything else go so well? Well very simply, Liz and I work very well together and we were very organized. We worked like a well oiled machine. I am really, really proud of the food we put out.

I had every intention of taking pictures as the night progressed...but once we started food service the camera was forgotten, but I managed to take a few.

So..to recap the menu.

Appy

Pacific white spot prawns wrapped in prosciutto happily laying on a tomato and basil sauce and with garlic crostini, perfect for scooping, dunking and mopping up the sauce.

First course

Crisp green salad made up of arugula, butter lettuce, radicchio, pan di zucchero and frisee in a blueberry vinaigrette and topped with slivered Parmesan cheese.

Second course

Mushroom pasta with porcini, white button mushrooms, portabello and crimini in a cream sauce.

Main course

Organic game hens with *pevarada sauce, grilled polenta and braised green beans.

*We make pevarad sauce with ground beef and pork rather than liver

Dessert

Panna cota with blackberry coulis and amaretto cookies.

No picture...but the panna cotta was served in martini glasses, it was spectacular.

The tables looked amazing, hard to believe it's same place!

And finally...the fearless duo!

What's next? I think it will be a 12 course Roman feast, inspired by my sister's last trip to Italy a few years ago. Yup, that's right, twelve courses....

In the garden...

My day off yesterday and it was sunny and warm with calm winds. Powell River is almost always windy so this was a perfect time to get the veggie garden in order.

For the first time I'm putting down a ground cover, also known as green manure. I decided on fall rye. This will prevent soil erosion, and fingers crossed it will also choke and crowd some weeds. Next spring Art will till it under, the rye will compost and ultimately feed the dirt.

Art was going into town so I asked him to pick some up, he called from the nursery, what did you want, winter wheat....sheesh! Needless to say, he did not come home with fall rye but something better he tells me, what is it? I ask, I don't know but it's better, he says. Alright then, lets move on...

100% unknown seeds.

The garlic my friend gave me is also in the ground, this will be the first time I try growing garlic.

The tilled garden. Seeds are not down yet...I decided to give the chickens a treat and let them scratch for worms. The cover is protecting my garlic from the girls. I left the chard in because...well it's still growing, looking good and it's still tasty.

And a final picture of the poor molting hen, just one tail feather...hehehe!!! She looks so funny, I just can't help myself.

Molting chickens

Have you ever seen a sorrier looking chicken? She and her other sisters are moulting, but by far she has lost the most feathers. While chickens are moulting they don't lay any eggs because all their energy is used to produce more feathers. Seems very traumatic to me.

Trees, trees, and more trees

Dinner, reading and needles

Reading...

The Powell River public library had to make room for new books...lucky me...they had to get rid of old ones, lots and lots of old ones, and all they wanted was a donation. For my $10.00 dollar donation I got three bags of books. I'm looking forward to my bed tonight, where under my warm quilt, I will start one of my favorite authors, Janet Evanovich's Three to get Deadly.

Eating...

I'm so tired of soup, tomato ends (the first and last slice of the tomato) and bread butts ( the first and last bread crust) from the diner....sigh...oh for some real food.

So for dinner...salmon, and I'll bake it in a maple glaze, with some rice and steamed veggies...sounds good.

Well it was awful, I hated the maple glaze, don't know why, just could not eat it. But there is always a good side, the chickens and cats loved the salmon.

On the needles....

A cardigan for Art, nice soft, warm wool. I'm thankful Christmas comes every year because I'm doubtful this cardigan will be ready for the upcoming one...

Dinner Rock

On our way to Lund, BC for fish and chips we stopped at the Dinner Rock Campsite. This is a free campsite with wonderful views for Vancouver Island and of course Dinner Rock.

Dinner Rock. A picnic here seems very appropriate.

Views - left and right from a waterfront campsite...did I mention camping here is free?

The shoreline is made of beautiful pink rock. In his past life my husband was a driller/blaster and he wanted some of this rock. He's never seen anything quite like it.

mom, dad, what's for dinner?

Chicken and potatoes, blah! How boring!

Not this chicken and potatoes.

Look at these colors. Purple, red and white potatoes, a yam, some garlic, some olive oil and some sage. Three leg and thigh chicken pieces, drizzled with olive oil and topped with garlic and sage. Salt and pepper the works to taste.

Roast at 350 to 375 for about an hour, tossing and turning every 20 minutes or so and voila!

Chicken and potato, this is not your regular boring chicken and taters.

Is your mouth watering yet?

And best of all the potatoes (not the yam) and the sage is from my backyard and the garlic is from my friend's backyard about 4 blocks from here. The garlic was given to me to plant but I couldn't resist using it, this time, I promise to plant the rest.

How wonderful!