Stratford Festival

This weekend, we are going to get away and relax for a couple days. It is time for our annual trip to the Stratford Festival. We love having time to visit the town which still has the feel of a comfortable small town. One of our favourite things to do is explore the book stores and Stratford has 4 that we visit regularly. I will have to buy at least one book, one of my indulgences.

The weather is supposed to be perfect for lunch at the Avon River, time to walk and then dinner at Fellini's.

The first day, we are going to see two short plays starring Brian Dennehy and then Sunday, Trojan Women is on our schedule.

On the way to Stratford, we will stop in New Dundee and visit the Tea Room. I always like to pick up a treat for the drive and some cards to support the place. Loved it, many years ago when the Tea Room showed silent films and the patrons left their peanut shells on the floor the place had character.

We are lucky in Ontario to have such wonderful places to visit and stay for a break.

Murdoch Mysteries

I don't watch many shows with any regularity because I often have performances or rehearsals. Friday night is one of the few nights that is good and then I am tired and tend not to stay up late and late for me is after 10 p.m. Really!

One of the shows that I enjoy is the Murdoch Mysteries based on a series of books by Maureen Jennings. Detective Murdoch lives in Victorian Toronto and it is interesting to hear or read about places that already exist at that time and follow the characters walking streets that are still here but certainly changed over the years so that the characters would never recognize them. I was pleased to read that the show has been given 14 Gemini nominations.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Television/article/486096The show has been renewed for next year, unusual- usually shows that I like are off the air within a year.

If you get a chance, read the books and watch the show, it was on Saturday evenings this season and sometimes Thursdays but because of regular rehearsals I did not see it that night.

Cell phones and internet creating a dumber youth

Author, Mark Bauerlein in his book The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young American and Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future, Or Don't Trust Anyone Under 30 argues that the younger generation download, upload, network, watch TV and and play video games. They don't read (even when online), follow politics, keep a strict work ethic or vote. His claim is that modern electronics are creating this situation.

He does mention that in the 4th century BCE, Plato in his dialogue Phaedrus, has Socrates lamenting the development of writing, which he feared would weaken minds that used to have no problem carrying reams of history and philosophy in memory. In the 15th century, Gutenberg's printing press caused some observers to fear an oncoming wave of intellectual laziness and an undermining of religious authority.

Evidence that things have changed is that articles in magazines and newspapers are getting shorter and even the The New York Times is now devoting two pages of each edition to abstracts of its articles.

The result is the few people these days seem to be building the complex and intricate understandings of history, art and what it means to be human that was considered de rigueur for any educated person only a few decades ago.

A 1998 survey of teenagers showed that only 41% could name the three branches of of the U.S. government, though 59% could name the Three Stooges.

Bauerlein's fear is that 50 years from now "Education will be oriented toward careers and worldly matters, and its former goal of producing learned and responsible citizens will be completely gone."

Unfortunately, I will not be here to observe where or not he was correct but it will be interesting to watch in the interim. I am certainly always amazed at some of the information that I am able to find on the internet on sites like Wikepedia- wonder who is posting information on that site?

Katsura

On our walk the other tree of interest was the katsura. The specimen that we saw had succumbed to environmental conditions. Reading about its needs, it is easy to understand why. Planting the tree in a meadow with no obvious source of water and with the droughts that we have experienced the past few years it is clear why the tree did not survive. Sad since many of the trees in the meadow have been dedicated to staff at Humber. It would be nice to see a live specimen and maybe someone will think to plant a katsura by one of the ponds. (We saw a heron feeding at the pond.)

Katsura is grown as an ornamental tree for its delicate heart shaped leaves and bright autumn colour, a mix of bright yellow, pink and orange-red. Where conditions are suitable, it is fast-growing, but it is very sensitive to drought and needs deep, permanently moist soil. Under drought conditions, the species will abscise its leaves, however refoliation may occur once water is made available. Of particular interest is the scent produced by the leaves in the autumn, resembling burnt brown sugar or cotton candy. Trees in cultivation, like those in natural environments, tend to sucker from the base when young and become multi-stemmed at maturity; pruning to maintain a single stem is not advised.
Within Cercidiphyllum japonicum, several cultivars with pendulous branches are grown for their unique weeping habit. Two general types exist. Those with a strong central leader, or excurrent growth, are all one clone originating in Morioka City, Japan. This cultivar is known as 'Morioka Weeping' and can reach over 25 m in height. The other type fails to form a central leader and is rounded in habit. There are several clones of this, including 'Amazing Grace' and 'Tidal Wave'.

Ohio Buckeye

Today is a glorious day and I had planned to visit a garden with a friend. The garden of choice was the Humber Arboretum. We walked around the meadow, the actual gardens were not spectacular and lacked imagination in our opinion.

As we walked along the meadow path we saw a number of trees that we did not recognize, one of which was the Ohio Buckeye. This tree is the state tree for Ohio and its fruit which is toxic has a treat dedicated to it. The fruit does resemble a chestnut but obviously, we will not be roasting them over the open fire and enjoying them.

Always interesting what you can discover in gardens. Worth a visit.

The tree species Aesculus glabra is commonly known as Ohio buckeye, American buckeye, or fetid buckeye. It derives its unflattering common name from the disagreeable odor generated from the flowers, crushed leaves, broken twigs, or bruised bark. It is native primarily to the Midwestern and lower Great Plains regions of the United States, extending southeast into the Nashville Basin.[1] It is also found locally in the extreme southwest of Ontario, on Walpole Island in Lake St. Clair, and in isolated populations in the South.[2] It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15-25 m tall.

Foliage and Fruit

The leaves are palmately compound with five (rarely seven) leaflets, 8-16 cm long and broad. The flowers are produced in panicles in spring, yellow to yellow-green, each flower 2-3 cm long with the stamens longer than the petals (unlike the related Yellow Buckeye, where the stamens are shorter than the petals). The fruit is a round or oblong spiny capsule 4-5 cm diameter, containing 1-3 nut-like seeds, 2-3 cm diameter, brown with a whitish basal scar.
The fruits contain tannic acid, and are poisonous for cattle, and possibly humans [1], although they are often eaten by squirrels. Native Americans would blanch them, extracting the tannic acid for use in leather.

Symbolism and uses
The Ohio buckeye is the state tree of Ohio and an original term of endearment for the pioneers on the Ohio frontier, with specific association with William Henry Harrison. Subsequently, the word was used as the nickname of the Ohio State University sports teams and came to be applied to any graduate of the university.
The buckeye confection, made to resemble the tree's nut, is made by dipping a spoonful of peanut butter fudge in milk chocolate, leaving a circle of the peanut butter exposed. These are a popular treat in Ohio, especially during the Christmas and NCAA college football seasons.

Corktown

Yesterday, we had a wonderful afternoon exploring Toronto's Corktown which is between King and Queen Streets and Parliament and Sackville. We were led by a guide from Heritage Toronto http://www.heritagetoronto.org/. Corktown is an area where a great number of Irish came from County Cork, corks where made and a Mr. W. G. Cork operated a grocery store which hired Theodore Pringle Loblaw who in 1919 started a cash and carry grocery which was a change from the payment by account system that most stores used up to this time. This area was neglected as people moved further away from their places of employment with the advent of cars and transit systems. It is now being revived as people realize the benefits of being closer to the core of the city.

The Corktown area hosts a number of remarkable buildings like Little Trinity Church, the Enoch Turner School House (pictured above), the Distillery district which housed the Gooderham and Worts distillery and now is home to condominiums, upscale stores and restaurants and a theatre company- Soul Pepper.

We are now planning to return to see some of these buildings during next May's Door Open.

Our next Heritage Toronto tour will be the Weston Area of Toronto. This area hosts a number of remarkable older buildings which we are looking forward to seeing.

Learning Styles and sports

Apparently, Michael Phelps, one of the heroes of the Beijing Olympics has a learning disability. He is ADD which is why he listens to his music before the race and focuses on only what he has to do. Swimming is solitary in its pursuit and once in the pool he can just focus on his race. Some swimmers are able to swim their race and not pay attention to the other lanes.

He does not have to be a team player and become distracted by having interact with others. A sport like basketball or hockey would not accommodate his style and he would not be as successful as he has been in his pursuit of excellence. His mother is an administrator in a school and obviously understands her sons needs and has been lucky enough to have a coach for her son who has been able to work with her son.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if others who have different styles could find a route to excellence and others who could support their goals.

Use less pay more!

This morning one of the articles in one of the daily newspapers, the Globe and Mail mentioned that the residents of the city of Toronto are not using as much water this summer because of the weather. There has been little need to water gardens with record precipitation. The penalty for being frugal? The water department plans to charge the residents of the city more for the same amount of water. There is no incentive or reward for being a good citizen.

The water department is still spending $200,000 to encourage to use less water! Interesting timing. Yes, the campaign may have been planned sometime ago but it could have been shelved for a more meaningful time.

The same situation developed when residents of the province of Ontario reacted to pleas to conserve electricity and started to use less. Hydro's response was to charge more for the same amount because revenue was decreasing. By this logic, we should be charged less as usage increases. There must be a more logical way to help us all become better consumers and help the environment. Punishing users for using less does not seem appropriate.

New Garbage Bins

A bi-weekly holiday has been declared by the city! I just read the instructions that come with the City of Toronto's Garbage Bins- Wheel your bin to the drive-way on collection day. Place the bin on your driveway at 7 a.m. Place the bin at least one half metre (approximately 2 feet) away from the your Green Bin and with 3 metres of clearance above the bin. Wonderful- now all means of driving down the driveway have been blocked unless you are blessed with a double driveway and who in most of the city of Toronto has one of those?

During winter weather, try to find a clear place to put your bin. The collection crew will return it to that spot. Now what are those people who leave for work after 7 a.m. to do. Stay at home until the garbage is collected, take the transit? Who thought of this? Winter is going to pose a real problem. It is already difficult to manoeuvre the blue bin out to the curb without snow if a car is parked in the driveway.

I have a feeling that this like the rest of the bin project has not been thought through very carefully.

Roget and his lists

American journalist, Joshua Kendall wrote a biography of the most famous list maker and author of a thesaurus, Peter Mark Roget. A London-born polymath who trained as a physician,Roget was best known in his day for his respected treatises on the classification of plants and animals. He even laid the theoretical groundwork for the invention of movies, having 'discovered' the eye's tendency to perceive a series of still images as being in motion.

Roget began the lengthy word lists that evolved into his thesaurus as an 8-year old, although the book's first edition was not published until he was 73. (Roget lived to the age of 90.)

Kendall wrote about a person who certainly was a gift to writers but not a person of great historical significance and who himself felt that his autobiography was a list. It is probably worth a read. http://www.themanwhomadelists.com/

Cobourg, Ontario

Just back from visiting friends in Cobourg Ontario. It is a lovely town whose main street has the restored Victoria Hall as its centre piece. Thank goodness, one of the former residents of the town saw fit to launch a campaign to save the building which was going to be torn down for a parking lot. Cobourg's main street has retained a great deal of character and is being renovated with the intention of maintaining the integrity of the buildings.

Cobourg also has a lovely natural beach which the residents and others visit. There were a number of people enjoying the fine weather yesterday and taking a break from the Ribfest. Yes, we finally made it to a ribfest. Since we are not great beef eaters this may not be an experience that we will soon repeat. It was worth doing to get the flavour of the event. (Pun intended!)

We are not sunbathers so we wer not about to join the many people sitting on the beach or laying on beach towels. One innovation that I liked is portable chairs with a canopy, must look into getting one of those. Have a portable chair but not one with the canopy.

Near the beach is a marina which is home to expensive yachts and luxury boats and Elton John's condominium overlooks the Marina. Yes, you read correctly, Elton John and his partner bought a condominium in Cobourg. I can not picture him just deciding to go for a stroll on main street but maybe it will happen.

Imaginative Cupcakes

A friend who blogs often posts wonderful crafts and creations from Martha. I waited before posting these creations. Martha's ideas and creations from her and others are always breathing taking. I love the cupcake craze that has gained momentum. Where I can get cupcakes like these ones? Do I have to try and make my own?

You can find more of these treats at:

http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/cutest-cupcake-contest-winners?lnc=

A friend's daughter is getting today and for her cake she is serving cupcake. Apparently, it is possible to buy stands that hold about 100 cupcakes. My friend did a trial run putting it the stand together before heading up north and suddenly finding out that she was missing a piece of the stand. I hope that someone takes a picture of the creation.

I am off in search of cupcakes.

Kangaroo Farming to cut Emissions in Australia

We are still trying to figure out how to reduce emissions and while people down under are getting really serious about the possible choices. As some of you already know, New Zealand is studying how to reduce methane in cattle, while Australia is looking at ways to reduce Methane kangaroos as farm animals.

Farming kangaroos instead of sheep and cattle in Australia could cut by almost a quarter the greenhouse gas methane produced by grazing livestock, which account for 11% of the nation's annual emissions, said a new study. Removing seven million cattle and 36 million sheep by 2020 and replacing them with 175 million kangaroos, to produce the same amount of meat, could lower national greenhouse gases by 3% a year, said the University of New South Wales study. Methane's warming potential over a 100 year time frame is 21 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. The study said changing farming practices in Australia, which is one of the world's top wool and beef producers but sells by comparison only small amounts of kangaroo meat for human consumption would not be easy. "One of the impediments to change is protective legislation and the status of kangaroos as a national icon," it said. The kangaroo is on Australia's coat of arms, but farmers regard them as pests that compete for grazing pastures with sheep and cattle.

Interesting how we are going to have to change our view of the creatures that share our planet.

Saw a journalist eating scorpion on a stick in a market in Beijing yesterday that an many other delicacies that the Chinese use for protein.

Count Down to end of Summer

It is official summer is coming to an end. The Canadian National Exhibition opens tomorrow. As long as I can remember, the opening of the CNE marked the end of the summer, the last two weeks before things changed and we all went back to school. Since I was always in school either as a student or teacher, Labour Day weekend meant a serious transition. I have not visited the fair for many years, I am almost tempted to visit this year but without the wonderful Food building which offered many opportunities to sample free food and buy Tiny Tim donuts which I think are still available, I am not sure that the attraction is there. I also remember watching the waterfront show with the water skiers. Wonder if that still happens? Maybe it is time to get down to the waterfront.

This fair that started in 1879 as an agricultural fair does not have the same allure that it once did for many people since we have Wonderland with its many rides and people are more mobile and visit Disney World which is a year round attraction and has a different purpose. Hope that children visit and have the same fun that I once did. I remember the summer that a group of us collected Telefun coupons and arranged for neighbours to give us their papers so that we could get extra coupons. We were able to take our Telefun coupons and exchange them for serious discounts on the rides. That summer, I actually rode the roller coaster- that will never happen again- don't know why my motion sickness did not strike that time. I did not ride the Wild Mouse- that would definitely have been too much.

Enjoy these last two weeks of real summer.

Carrot Salad

To complete the meal that I am preparing, I will make my easy and tasty Carrot Salad. Yes, I record when I first prepare a dish and this one was August 11, 1980. Hard to believe that the Sifto Salt cookbook has held together all this time. (Actually, it is slowly falling apart-but all is not lost since I have been preparing a cookbook and it is now 40 pages.) The first one was printed a few years ago, this time, I will be able to attend digital pictures.

Carrot Salad

3 cups coarsely shredded carrot (about 4-5 medium carrots)
2 tablespoons sliced green onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss to mix well.
4 servings.
Variation: add 1 clove garlic crushed and finely chopped or garlic flavoured oil.

I can not believe that I have never tried this variation since we are garlic lovers and have even visited Gilroy, California home of the garlic festival. We have not been during the festival but that is one of future trips.

Greek style Chicken dinner

Time to think about cooking. No left overs today. I left overs and the freedom of not having to think about what to prepare. Today's main course is one of my favourites. Often serve it for guests. Need to start looking for new chicken dishes. Will bring out the cookbooks later this week.

Greek-style Chicken

This colourful and fast-roasting chicken is from Rose Murray’s new Quick Chicken cookbook (Robert Rose). Tucked under a protective feta topping, skinless, boneless chicken breasts emerge tender and juicy.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Roasting time: 25 minutes
Makes: 2 to 4 servings

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
2 small plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tbsp (30 mL) diced sweet red or yellow pepper
2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp (2 mL) dried leaf oregano
2 minced garlic cloves
1 cup (250 mL) crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil

1 .Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Lightly butter an 8-inch (2-L) baking dish or coat with cooking spray. Arrange chicken in a single layer and sprinkle with black pepper.

2. In a small bowl, toss tomatoes with red pepper, parsley, oregano, garlic and feta. Evenly spoon over chicken. Drizzle with oil. Roast uncovered, in centre of 375F (190C) oven until feta is lightly golden and chicken feels spring, from 25 to 20 minutes. Serve scattered with black olives and accompanied by orzo or roasted potatoes, green beans and baklava for dessert.


First cooked this in July of 1999 and it has been a great meal for company ever since.

Crisps

I love to cook and am a very good baker and prepare good and sometimes great desserts. One of my all time best is my Apple Crisp from the Nova Scotia cookbook. Another one is this one:

Autumn Pear Crisp

The best "apple crisp" I've ever made is this pear crisp. Luscious and juicy. For this recipe, I like to use Bosc or Bartlett pears.
Bonnie Stern Eating In

6 ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 375 mL
1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar 375 mL
3/4 cup butter, cold, cut into bits 175 mL
2 tbsp coarse sugar 25 mL

Topping (optional)
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp vanilla paste (or mix 1tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract with
1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar)

1. Butter a 9"X13" 3 L baking dish. Spread pears and apples in the dish.

2. Combine flour with granulated sugar in a large bowl or food processor. Cut butter in until its in tiny bits.

3. Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit. Then sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake in a preheated 350F(189C) over for 50 minutes to one hour, or until its crisp and browned and the fruit is very tender.

4. For the topping, whip cream until soft peaks form. Beat in the vanilla paste.

5. Spoon crisp into serving bowls and serve with a spoonful of topping.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Yesterday, I tried what I hoped would be an excellent combination and was disappointed with the Peach Blueberry Crisp from Smart Cooking by Anne Lindsay. Have some more to try and hopefully one of the recipes will be a hit.

Fiction is good for you!

Finally, I can read my novels and maybe even my guilty pleasure novels knowing that they are making me smarter.

"For the first time in history there is now scientific evidence that reading fiction has psychological benefits" writes Keith Oatley in New Scientist. Oatley is a professor of psychology and the leader of a Toronto Team of researchers at the University of Toronto. He is also the award winning novelist (The Case of Emily V.). On the phone from the University of Toronto, he explains that reading fiction appears to stimulate parts of the brain that govern empathy. "What you're doing when you're reading fiction is you're allowing yourself to become another person for a short period of time.... It loosens up your personality, your rigidities."

Oatley freely admitted to many questions that his findings do not resolve. Will a short story by Chekhov produce the same result as a Tom Clancy airport thriller? In which is one more likely to gather knowledge about people; a pop novel or a literary memoir?

Oatley concedes that it's possible his research applies, if not exclusively than at least especially to good fiction. But what is good fiction? Guess that guilty pleasure might not help me after all.

Rain,Rain everywhere!

Today, one of the papers lists 10 reasons to be grateful for rain. After more rain, I definitely had to find out the reasons I should be grateful:
1. Trees are greener and less stressed. Last year was very stressful for trees and humans as we waited and hoped for rain. This rain is good for the urban canopy!
2. Lake levels are up which means that shipping loads on the Great Lakes are up. Apparently each 1cm increase means an increase of 50 tons of shipping- good for all of us.
3. Air quality- the air is cleaner which is definitely good for all of us. Toronto has only had 10 smog-warning days so far.
4. Apples, Peaches and Pear are all going to be larger but there is a point at which the rain will be too much of a good thing. The 2008 pear crop should be double last year's. We now need heat and sunshine to increase the sugar content in the fruit.
5. Irrigation has been reduced due to the increased which is good and off sets higher fuel costs.
6. Forest Fires are down, the lowest season in 50 years!
7. West Nile Virus- there have not been any reported cases of West Nile in either humans or birds and only two mosquitoes have been reported with the virus.
8. Power consumption has been reduced because of the increased cloud coverage and the increased water levels have resulted in increased hydro power
9. Wildflowers are thriving and plants like ferns are thriving.
10. Gardeners are thrilled with the plants, trees that seemed to need replacement are recovering.
There are some draw backs but with so many positives I am not prepared to complain even when another one of my tennis matches gets cancelled.

Olympics

Taking a quick break from watching the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Quite stunning as the ceremonies always are. The Olympics will certainly take time away from my blogging during the next two weeks but it is always interesting to see history made. Some events are more interesting to watch than others. Have my schedule ready. Back to the show.

Honouring people

While trying to get organized, I came across an obituary for a friend who had been honoured in a number of National Papers. I wish that she had received her due during her lifetime and while she could truly appreciate the honors that she so well deserved.

I have always felt that we need to try to acknowledge people in our lives while they are alive. I know that it is hard as we try to keep up with our lives . For example, people send fewer notes and cards to others.

(Someone who I had not been in the habit of sending mail was recently added to my mail list. The list is not a formal list- I just send articles, brochures, notes to people who might be interested in them. She called to thank me for the mail that I had sent and mentioned that she appreciated being thought of. What a small gesture on my part! It certainly spurs me on to send more mail and some of you just became frightened for the mail person- I bought 20 more stamps yesterday! A day without mail does not seem complete. I did not get mail for two days and panicked. Luckily a large bundle of mail arrived yesterday. None of it personal so I did not have to respond to any of it- no bills either.)

I have a 96 years and 11 month old friend who is in the hospital. He is recovering from an infection and we are hoping to celebrate his birthday in a month. We are visiting him at least 3 times a week and trying to find things to cheer him up. He has never been ill this long before and finds it frustrating- a birthday celebration with friends and family seems like a fitting way to recognize him.

Good to think of ways to acknowledge people and celebrate who they are. Thankfully, there is much to celebrate. Not all of them will be worthy of articles in national papers but their lives deserve recognition. Think of some today.

Misplaced 3-year old?

An Israeli couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free purchases and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport, police said.
The couple and their five children were late for a charter flight to Paris Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost.
Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfield said a police officer found her wandering in the duty-free area at Ben-Gurion airport, Israel's bustling main international air portal.
The parents were unaware they had boarded the aircraft with only four children instead of five until they were informed by cabin staff after 40 minutes in the air.
The child accompanied by an airline staffer took the next flight to Paris, where she was safely reunited with her parents.
Rosenfeld said police would question the couple when they return from vacation, on suspicion of parental negligence.
Hopefully, the family returns with all the children in tow.
How do you forget a 3 year old child? You remember to purchase duty-free and collect it for the flight but can not keep track of your children. Didn't these parents make sure that all the children were in their seats and checked their tickets to confirm that they were in the correct seats? These parents must really need this vacation!

Ribfest

On Sunday, during our visit to relatives in St. Catherines, we took time to explore a happening that Michael and I had not seen before- a Ribfest. We just wanted to take a walk after lunch and a 3 1/2 hour drive to St. Catherines to visit our relatives. Normally, the drive is 1 1/2 hours at the worst but this Sunday from Mississauga, outside the city until St. Catherines we never got up to 100 km per hour. Most of the drive we cruised along at a breathtaking speed of 30 km. per hour. I managed to finish another one of my scarves during the drive.

We were not eager to visit Ribfest since we do not normally eat ribs and eat red meat only a couple times a year. Our digistive tracts have trouble with red meat because we tend stick with chicken, fish or purely vegetarian dishes. We changed our minds about ribs once we were close enough to enjoy the aroma of the ribs being barbecued. The number of people and festive atmosphere was a pleasant surprise.

This is really serious stuff, we decided when we saw the trophies on display and also the banners declaring where the particular group was from and what categories it had one. A participant can win for best ribs, chicken, sauce and I am sure there are other categories that I did not notice.

In two weeks, we are visiting Cobourg to go on a ghost walk in the evening but I am sure that we will manage to get to the ribfest in the afternoon. Hope that I am ready for this.

Peaches

This past weekend, my husband and I visited relatives in fruit belt country, the Niagara area and they gave us a basket of peaches, wonderful fruit. I had brought them one of my blueberry cornmeal breads which I had baked that morning for them. I am already planning to bake a few more and freeze them so that we can enjoy the berry season a little longer. My husband suggested that we try peach and blueberry crisp. When I did an Internet search for a recipe, I was astounded to find not just a couple but at least 100 variations on the recipe. I will certainly be making that this week before the peaches become too ripe and ready for compost.

I was surprised to find the peaches are not native to North America and originally came from China , they certainly thrive in the fruit belts. I can not imagine August without peaches. The article that I have included mentions putting peaches in a paper bag to ripen them. I have never found this necessary, they seem to ripen well on their own. My only regret is that I do not seem to be able to eat them fast enough, I want to know how to stop some of them from ripening so quickly.

Peaches are believed to be native to China. They are cultivated throughout warm temperate and subtropical regions of the world. In the peach fruit, the stone is covered with a fleshy substance that is juicy, melting, and of fine flavor when matured and mellowed.The popular division of fruit varieties into cling stones and freestones-referring to the relative tendency of the flesh to cling to the stone-is by no means accurate. These two classes merge in different varieties, and even the same variety may be freestone and cling stone in different seasons. The nearly 300 varieties of peaches grown in America have been classified into five races, each with outstanding characteristics, ripening season, and uses.The nectarine is a variety of peach. The principal peach-growing state is California. World production totaled about 5.5 million metric tons annually; the United States and Italy were the leading producers. How to Store:To ripen peaches, store in a brown bag at room temperature. Ripe peaches can be stored in the crisper bin of your refrigerator for up to five or six days. Nutritional Facts:· Fat-free· Saturated fat-free· Sodium-free· Cholesterol-free· High in vitamin A· A good source of vitamin C Detailed nutritional information can be found by searching the USDA Nutritional Database . Enter "Peach" (no quotes) as the keyword and select the link and report of interest. Scientific classification:The peach belongs to the family Rosaceae. It is classified as Prunus persica.

Systems Help

After dealing with the death and illness of several parents and relatives and I am now trying to help friends who have both appointed me as Power of Attorney (my husband is joint Power of Attorney for one of the two), I wish that there was a document or list with explanations of all the papers that a person should have completed and where they should be stored so that the appropriate people have access to them. As the laws change, I do not think that everyone understands the nuances and from what I am seeing in the documents not all lawyers are careful to make sure that their clients have the documents needed to allow others to work in their best interests when the time comes.
Somewhere, I read that in one Scandinavian country, Denmark if my memory serves correctly, everyone is assigned a case worker upon birth. It is that person's job to help the individual navigate his/her way through the social network system when aid is needed. That is a wonderful idea. While trying to help a relative, I learned from someone at social services that some people do not collect their Canada Pension because they do not know to apply. How does this happen when the government has records about our births and in most cases where we live if we file income tax reports?
My next project is to find information about the nursing home system in Ontario. It will soon be imperative that I understand what needs to be done for my very elderly friends, 97 is a good age. These systems are certainly a challenge.
Time to start making lists and hopefully checking what needs to be done. What a learning curve!

What I learned!

This afternoon during our travels, we visited a bookstore. We love them. I am excited that a McNally Robinson store is scheduled to open near us this fall. A lovely old mall was torn down to the dismay of many people who depended on this particular mall; especially the seniors who live in the many apartments surrounding the intersection. I am still not sure that I am going to enjoy the big box stores but I will stop by to visit the book store. Book stores are one of my addictions.

Today, I was able to leave the store with only two magazines. I was able to control my buying impulses today although I noticed a number of books that I would like to read. Hope that I can order them from the library or find them at the talking bookstore where we have a lending account. I did notice a magazine about blogging. Curious, I had to take a look. The purpose of this magazine was to help me and others make our blogs more attractive. Another form of style over substance since the magazine did not seem concerned about content or writing style both of which I think are more important although as some readers might have noticed I am not above including some photos if they will help with the blog entry.

After browsing through the new and some old titles, I came to the conclusion that if you pick a skill or hobby, you can write about how this hobby taught you life lessons. Who has not learned patience from gardening- waiting for plants to grow, tomatoes to develop and flowers to bloom; patience can be learned from learning a skill -tennis, knitting: a big favourite right now, playing a musical instrument, cooking, writing well. There are many skills and in this instant age, many of us need to learn patience and the joy that comes from taking the time to learn to do something well.

Given a choice, I am not sure which skill I would pick but I certainly learned from all of these activities. Time to get out and plant some more hostas; practise my instrument and knit yet another scarf. Cooking can wait because we are going out to a restaurant to enjoy the wonderful weather are having and not heat up the house with the heat from cooking.

Candy Freak

Every once in a while I like to read a book that focuses on what would be considered a very unusual topic. Flowers is obviously one of those topics as those people who have read my blogs have noticed. I am fascinated by plants and their history. My latest find is Candy Freak by Steve Almond. In his book, he chronicles the history of the chocolate industry during the past 150 years. Did you know that the Mars, Hershey and Nestle companies are actually named after their founders? Hershey does not surprise me but there was a Mr. Mars?

Almond describes the change from small independent chocolate stores to large conglomerates. Technology such are refrigerated truck allowed for these changes. And now the discerning chocolate lovers seek these small independents with that special flair for flavour.

Do you know that companies pay stocking fees to have their bars at the cash register in grocery stores and other vendors that sell their goods. Small companies that do not have the finances to pay for this positioning for what is often an impulse buy have difficulty competing.

Almond chronicles the history of many candies that have disappeared from the market. There are actually others who have written books about the history of chocolate bars and collect wrappers.

It is interesting that a love of something can result in a literary work.
http://www.stevenalmond.com/content.php?page=candyfreak&n=3&f=2