Make the most of your time
Our family and friends surprised us with a 40th wedding anniversary party.
The day began by taking friends from Lethbridge, who had come to visit for the weekend, to the petroglyphs at Herschel. We know now that their visit was planned to keep us at home. A crop tour accompanied the hour-long drive to our destination. Crystal, our guide from the Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre, told us of the theories about the carvings on the rocks, and about the many other signs of life here more than 5,000 years ago.
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Even though it was a hot day, we thoroughly enjoyed the walk through the prairie grass. From the hills one can see many miles of fields, and we also attempted to identify towns and farm sites in the distance. In the foreground, a coulee had chokecherry, saskatoon and other shrubs, water and cattle. After the hour-long hike we returned to the centre for iced tea, saskatoon berry pie and ice cream.
A phone call told us to return home as we had company coming out from Saskatoon. So we headed back to the farm. We wouldn’t have been so relaxed and would have cleaned up a bit if we had known what was in store. It wasn’t one friend who had come to visit, but a yard full. Bob and Pam, our son and daughter-in-law, along with other family members, had an anniversary party for us. They had worked and schemed for days and managed to keep it a secret. Even seven-year-old Ben didn’t tell. While we had an inkling something was in the wind, we had no idea what it was. What a wonderful day.
I know many of you will also be attending weddings, anniversary parties, homecomings and family reunions. Never miss the opportunity to attend these events. They are great fun, often very emotional and leave memories that will last forever.
What time do you have left?
Just imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,000 and carries over no balance from day to day, then allows you to keep no cash balance and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during that day. What would you do? You would draw out every last cent.
Everyone has such a bank. And it’s name is the First National Bank of Time. Each morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as “lost” the time you have failed to invest toward a good purpose. It carries over no balance or overdraft. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.
More about time
To realize the value of one year, ask a student who has failed an exam.
To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who has given birth to a stillborn baby.
To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one day, ask a day laborer who has 10 children to feed.
To realize the value of one second, ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one milli-second, ask the person who won an Olympic silver medal.
Wild cranberry vinaigrette
This vinaigrette has been made many times this summer at our house. It was developed by Gerard Dakeniewich for a chef’s cooking competition sponsored by several commodity groups and the Association of Saskatchewan Home Economists. His recipe won first prize in the canola oil category.
I have found that berries such as raspberries or strawberries, fresh or frozen, can be substituted for the wild cranberries. Also, I have used regular white vinegar for the red wine vinegar.
1/2 cup wild cranberries 125 mL
1/2 cup red wine vinegar 125 mL
1/2 cup canola oil 125 mL
1/2 cup honey 125 mL
1/4 teaspoon cumin 1 mL
Combine above ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Use as a dressing on chilled lettuce salads.
Quick cooking
Kraft Kitchens has introduced a twist to home cooking. People are busy with families to feed and households to run, in addition to jobs, so Kraft has come up with a way of cooking that takes little time and fuss. It is called Cooking Undone and has few steps, takes little preparation and uses a limited number of ingredients.
In the Cooking Undone methods there are recipes for burgers, salads, marinades, barbecuing meats, fruit pies and summer dips. Here are some of its ideas.
Fruit pies
- Dissolve one package (85 g) Jell-O jelly powder in 3/4 cup (175 mL) boiling water. Add two cups (500 mL) ice cubes. Stir until jelly begins to thicken; remove any unmelted ice.
- Fold in two cups (500 mL) thawed Cool Whip whipped topping and one cup (250 mL) fresh or drained canned fruit. Chill 10 minutes.
- Pour into a nine-inch (22 cm) ready-to-use crumb crust (vanilla, graham or chocolate) and chill until set, approximately three hours. Garnish with more whipped topping and fruit.
Use any flavor of jelly powder and fruit you like. Some suggestions: lemon jelly powder with apricots; orange or pineapple jelly powder with peaches; strawberry jelly powder with bumbleberries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries); and cherry jelly powder with pitted cherries.
Crumb crust
2 cups graham cracker, 500 mL
vanilla wafer or
chocolate crumbs
1/3 cup sugar 75 mL
1/2 cup melted butter or 125 mL
margarine
Stir ingredients together and press into pie plate. Bake at 325 F (160 C) for 10 minutes.
Double pie and crust recipes for a
9 x 13 inch (22 x 33 cm) dessert.
Great Canadian cookouts
Stampede beef: Marinate sirloin steak in equal parts of Kraft Onion BarBQ Sauce, red wine and a few spoonfuls of dijon mustard for at least one hour, preferably overnight in fridge.
Grill over high heat to seal in the juices, then reduce heat to medium and grill.
Laurentian pork: Marinate pork chops in Kraft Chicken & Rib BarBQ Sauce and a few spoonfuls each of soy sauce and smooth peanut butter for at least one hour, preferably overnight in fridge.
Grill over high heat until cooked through.
Muskoka chicken: Marinate chicken pieces in equal parts of Kraft Sweet & Sour BarBQ Sauce, orange juice and a dash of ginger for at least one hour, preferably overnight in fridge.
Grill over high heat until cooked through. Try removing the chicken skin. The flavor of the sauce will absorb better and you’ll have fewer flareups on the grill.
Maritime salmon: Marinate salmon in Kraft Regular BarBQ Sauce and a few spoonfuls each of dijon mustard and maple syrup for up to one hour. Grill over high heat until cooked through.
When using salmon fillets there is no need to flip. Just barbecue your salmon skin side down and close the lid until they are done.
For additional Cooking Undone recipe ideas look at www.kraftcanada.com or call 800-567-KRAFT or pick up a copy of What’s Cooking, Issue No. 31 at the grocers.
Washing fruits and vegetables
In the August 2000 issue of the University of California, Berkeley, Wellness Letter we are told to wash fruits and vegetables with cold water, but not soap, detergent, or any of the special produce cleansers now being marketed.
Scrubbing with water and perhaps a brush will remove nearly all dirt, as well as bacteria and some pesticide residues, if any are present on the surface of fruits and vegetables.
There is no evidence that soap is better than plain water at cleaning produce. In addition, soap can leave its own residues, and soft items such as mushrooms or strawberries may retain a soapy aftertaste. The wax used on cucumbers, apples and other items is harmless.
If you worry about what might be under the wax or trapped in it, you can peel the items or wash them in warm water, which will remove some of the wax.
