Another sunny day

This morning my friend Joyce and I went to Mill Bay to do some grocery shopping. Afterwards we went to our favourite coffee shop for a great cup of coffee. When I came home I had to rush to fix lunch. We had a very easy chicken dish. I like making that when we have company too. It is simple and does not need finishing touches so that I can have fun with my friends and not hang around the kitchen :-)
Maybe someone would like the recipe:

Easy Chicken

3 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 cup Ketchup

3/4 cup Salsa

1/3 cup Honey

1 1/2 tbsp. Dijon Mustard

1 1/2 tsp. Chilli powder

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

1 1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

Whisk together all ingredients except chicken in 9 x 12 baking dish. Place chicken in baking dish, turning once to cover with sauce.

Bake uncovered at 400 F approx. 45 minutes.

If using a glass baking dish you can serve the chicken in the dish.

This can be prepared early and baked later on. It freezes great.

The day was so nice and sunny that I decided to go to Duncan to finally buy a pair of jeans for myself. I absolutely hate buying pants, they never fit right but I think this time I got a pretty good fit. They need to be shortened though. So far that is in the "planning stage" ;-) The sales girls at the Jeans store were pretty unprofessional. They were trying on tops and pants themselves and the heck with the customer but when I asked for something they complied cheerfully, so it was not too bad.  
I also hit a few other stores and did quite a bit of walking. I usually park at the Mall parking lot and walk everywhere from there. Now I am pretty tired.
Good night everybody :-)

A drab day

It did not rain but it certainly was not cheerful out there. Other than walking to the mail boxes I stayed inside.
Yesterday, after the stormy night, the snow plough came down our road!!! It had the blade down. The only thing I can think is that it was trying to get some branches off the road. Crazy to bring the plough I think, it should have been a brushing machine. Mind you, I did not see too many branches on the road even before the plough came around. ;-)
Other than cooking I spent my day at the computer. I had to make a few birthday cards. February is heavy with birthdays and anniversaries. Another busy month is November.
Tonight I mad a rice stir-fry with some of our great prawns. It was quite yummy.
Today was Cabinet shuffle in our Federal Government. We were warned that the Government will tighten the belt to get the deficit down. I hope they will succeed without too much heartbreak for the people.

Good night everybody :-)

Great Weather

After quite the storm last night the sun came out in full force and it was quite warm too. Our power went out sometime during the night for a few hours. This morning I had the task of setting all the clocks again which really is a pain in the neck. The DVD recorder needed the settings changed too. Whenever the power goes out it reverts back to Jan. 1. 2001. I have done that so often now that I don't even have to look in the manual now. That is at least one plus. We also have an electronic picture frame. I always have it set to the clock rather than pictures. I like it that way because it has hour, minutes and seconds. I like the seconds part. Changing the time on that is a little more involved.
I was busy with all kinds of little jobs and it is amazing how quickly the time goes. While I was doing that I finished one of my audio books. Kept the little jobs from being too boring.
We are still keeping the rec. room fire going all day but let it burn out later on in the evening. What a difference from last year when we kept it going all night long.
Hope everybody is enjoying life.
Good night everyone :-)

Sunday Evening

It rained last night but during the day it was not too bad. I was busy getting things ready for our company this afternoon. As always we had a great time. My croissants were a hit and we had Sour Cherry tart with whipped cream for desert.
I still have to do the dishes but maybe I'll just wait until tomorrow morning.
Now I will kick back and watch a bit of TV.

Good Night everybody :-)

 

A sunny afternoon

After lunch we went for a walk and this time Cliff reminded me to take the camera. Shawnigan Creek is almost up to the road. 

In the summertime it is only a trickle but now it is flowing furiously.

Later on we went to Duncan to pick up another part for the Pink Elephant. On the way we saw the Prawn Truck parked and I was hoping it would still be there when we got back. It was and I bought one bag of cooked prawns, one bag of raw prawns and one bag of scallops. I am looking forward to cooking with my loot.
Since I had defrosted some chicken broth already for Soup, the prawns will have to wait. I don't think I ever prepared scallops, so I have to look for a recipe on the internet. Sometimes that does not work out so well. I have had a few failures when I thought a recipe looked scrumptious and it really was not as tasty as I had hoped.
Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow so there will probably be no walk.
Good night everybody :-)

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2nd post

Gypsy asked if she could make the croissants without a food processor. I think it can be done although I did not do it yet.
I would cut the cup of butter in with a pastry cutter and beat up the rest with a whisk and proceed as described in the recipe. It should come out just fine. For the mixing I use a large spatula and do not knead it.
I mixed up a batch early this morning and kept it in the fridge until 2 PM. Used 1/4 dough and made 4 plump croissants which we had for supper/lunch tonight. We have our big meal at lunchtime so this hit the spot.
We visited our friend in the hospital in Victoria. He is doing better but has to stay for awhile longer. On the way there we went around Shawnigan Lake and were astounded by the many waterfalls coming from the mountain. In places the water ran across the road.
Just after lunch the sun came out and a little later there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a sight for rain-sore eyes. The forecast is for another sunny day. We can sure use that.

Our 4 croissants

Now go ahead and make a bunch :-)

Goodnight everyone :-)

Fresh Croissants in the desert

Here is a recipe that you might like. It is very easy to make. If you have a food processor and electricity, either in an RV park or with generator, it is twice as easy as by hand. I love having fresh buns and make these quite often.

Quick Butter Croissants (Food processor)

4 c flour

1 c hard butter (230 gr.)

pulse in food processor to peas or bean consistency. Put in large mixing bowl.

In food processor pulse 2 x:

1 c warm water

1 T dry yeast

add:

¾ cup evap. milk (1 sm. Can + whipping cream to ¾ c)

1 ½ tsp. salt

1/3 c sugar ( ¼ )

1 egg

1 c flour

¼ c melted and cooled butter (60 gr.)

Pour over butter flour mixture, fold in with spatula until moist. Cover w. plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours up to 4 days.

Turn dough onto floured board, press into ball, knead briefly to release air. Cut into 4 pieces and process each.

Put on ungreased baking sheet 1 ½ “ apart. Cover lightly, let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 2 hours. Brush with egg-water mixture (1 egg, 1 Tbs. Water)

Bake at 325 degree F for 35 min.

Enjoy :-)
It is still raining here but I see some blue sky so that is good.
Nothing earth shattering is happening here, so this is all for now.
Goodbye everybody :-)