The Mystery of Easter

You will be aware from previous blogs how "big" the holidays are here - Halloween was huge, in the shops weeks before and so much stuff it was incredible.  As soon as Halloween was over, the very next day, Christmas was in the shops.  Straight after Christmas we started with Valentines Day.  So you would assume from all of this that the retail world would take full advantage of Easter too but NO!

There is very little Easter regalia and no chocolate Easter eggs, you know the large hollow kind with the treats in the middle.  The only places I've even found anything Easter is at Walmart and Druggers Shop Mart (whoops Shoppers Drug Mart), where they had only a small selection.  I found chocolate bunnies, dogs, cars, chickens and even Dora the Explorer but no large chocolate eggs.

What's with this??  The only explanation I can offer is that it is a religious holiday and so therefore not commercialized as much as the others although last time I checked Christmas too is a religious holiday.

The other thing that I find hard to understand is that the schools get Good Friday and Easter Monday off but Andy only gets Good Friday.  The shops are closed today (Friday) and on Sunday.

I'm busy making Hot Cross Buns (gluten free of course).  I'm wondering how they will turn out because for some unfathomable reason my gluten free bread is nowhere near as good in Canada as it was in New Zealand.  With that in mind I'm posting the recipe below if anyone has a hankering for making them.

In other news, the weather here has been amazing.  We are expecting 25 degrees today and I'm being optimistic wearing my shorts - it's 11 now at 9.30am so here's hoping.

Andy started his new job at Mosaic this week and is loving it.  He's feeling challenged and excited about the work.  Good to see him so happy.  They seem to work long hours though so will have to keep an eye on that.

Yesterday Jenna and I went into Toronto on the subway to St Lawrence Market where she used to work (yes she's unemployed again but that's a whole other story).

Was a beautiful day so we decided to walk to the ribbon shop which Jenna said was about 10 minutes walk away.

I learned a very valuable lesson - never trust Jenna when she says something's 10 minutes walk.  40 minutes later, in the burning hot sun (me wearing my thermals, carrying my cashmere coat and a woollen jersey) we finally found the ribbon shop.  Of course, after I'd done my shopping we had to find our way back to the subway.  Needless to say that by the time we got home my feet were so sore I could hardly move.

In the evening we picked Andy up from work, got fish and chips and sat on the grass by the lake at our local park to eat them.  Was a beautiful evening.

Well, here's the recipe, I hope you like them.  I make them in the breadmaker but you could make them by hand if you wish.

GLUTEN FREE HOT CROSS BUNS

Ingredients:

1 egg

350ml warm water (may need a little more)

2 tablespoons oil

3 cups gluten free flour mix*

1½ tablespoons guar gum

½ cup buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon active yeast

Add 15 minutes into mixing:

75g chopped peel

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon mixed spice

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup sultanas

½ cup currants

Crosses:

¼ cup gluten free flour mix*

Enough water to mix to a paste

2 tablespoons melted butter or dairy free spread (Olivani)

Glaze:

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoons hot water

*2 parts rice flour, 1 part potato starch, 1 part tapioca flour

Place the ingredients into the breadmaker in the order listed.  Turn onto the dough cycle.  After 15 minutes of mixing add the fruit and spices and ensure they mix in well (I have to get in with a spatula and mix them in with my machine).  You may need to add a little more water to the mixture, it should be sticky and not lumpy.

When the dough is ready, turn out onto a well floured board.  With floured hands roll into a long sausage and cut into 12 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and place in a greased swiss roll tin. 

Put the flour for the crosses into a zip lock bag and add enough water to make a paste.  Squish it about a bit to ensure there are no lumps.  Snip off the corner of the bag and use it to pipe the crosses on.  Brush the tops of the buns with melted butter.

Leave to rise for 30 minutes (they should fill the tin).

Bake at 200ºC for 20 – 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and brush the glaze over the tops immediately.  Cover with a tea towel for 10 minutes.  Turn out onto a cooling rack.

Freeze well – especially if placed in freezer while still a little warm.

Jesse's Experiment

It's March break (also called spring break) and Jesse has been off school for two weeks.

I must admit that we haven't done much. Jesse was sick last week, a left over from the previous weeks where he managed to have a week off school with a bad cold and then a tummy bug.  On Monday last week he had a bad asthma attack, something he hasn't had for ages, so all in all a quiet time was really what was called for.

The weather over the break has been great (except for a few days over the weekend) so we have been trying to get out and about a bit, exploring our neighbourhood and enjoying the afternoon sun on the back deck.

Jesse resurrected his bike from the shed, with freshly pumped tyres, we were off.  We walked to the mall but there just happens to be a park on the way so we had to stop there for a play.  Unfortunately, whilst proving to me how far he could jump from the high swing, he landed hard and banged his chin on his knee, biting through his tongue.  It bled all the way home but did not prove to be fatal.

Yesterday, after a walk down to the local high school and a few laps of the track, we decided that some science was in order.  Jesse dragged out his copy of 501 Science Experiments and we chose the chemistry section.  First up on the agenda was some invisible ink - you know the lemon juice kind you've all tried as a kid.

Next up was an interesting one which I had never done before.  We poured 2cm of milk into a bowl, then added a drop of several different food colourings, one colour on each side of the bowl.  We added a small squirt of dishwashing liquid into the middle and waited.  What happened next was quite amazing.  The dishwashing liquid moved in circles and as it did it picked up the food colouring.  Here's a photo of the result.

We left it for quite a while to do it's thing but then couldn't resist so moved it around a bit.

It was fun and it took up at least 30 minutes.  If anyone has any other exciting experiments we can try, let me know.

Galaxy Golf and Brick City

While returning from the border on Saturday, we decided to stop at Niagara to have some celebratory fun.  It was raining and miserable so we decided that indoor activities were on the cards.  Jesse's choice was to play Galaxy Golf - an indoor mini golf course which is lit by blue lights.  It's actually really hard to play golf in this light because you can't see the small bumps and crevices so your ball does not go where you expect it to.

We also went to Brick City - a mini city made completely from Lego including the portraits.  It's amazing.  It was made by one guy (obviously didn't have much else to do) and it took him five years.  There is the CN Tower, Niagara Falls, ACDC playing a concert including sound.  Really worth a look if you're ever in the neighbourhood.

I've uploaded the photos for you at http://gallery.me.com/carolkarl#gallery, username is friends, password is karls1234.

New Job

On Saturday we went to the border to get a new work permit for Andy.  He has been offered a job as Multimedia Project Manager at Mosaic Interactive, a large company servicing some rather big clients.

He accepted and handed in his notice on Monday.  He starts his new job on the 29th.

He's very excited about this new job.  The money's much more and it's less than 10 minutes from where we live.

He's looking forward to working with a team again, especially because there is another Kiwi on staff.

Gluten Free Spicy Potato Fritters

Jenna has been telling me that she's missing hashbrowns so I decided to make something similar.  This recipe was also created simply because there was not much in the cupboards.  It's tasty, easy to make and cheap.  Jenna always puts sweet chilli sauce on her hashbrowns so I decided to put it in.

1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
500g potatoes peeled
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water
2-3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper

Boil the potatoes, peeled but whole, for 3-4 minutes.  Drain and fill pot with cold water so that they cool.  Once cool enough, grate the potatoes.

Whisk the milk and egg.  Mix the flour, baking powder and guar gum.  Whisk into the egg mixture.

Fold in the rest of the ingredients.

Fry in oil over a moderate heat until cooked all the way through.

If you don't need to worry about them being gluten free use plain flour and leave out the guar gum.


I hope you enjoy making these.

Day Lake at the Lake

Yesterday was such a lovely day, it was 14 degrees here (spring has sprung I think) and Jenna's day off so her, Jesse and I went down and spent the day by the lake.  
We found a lovely sheltered spot on the edge of the lake where we could sit back and enjoy the sun.  
We took a picnic lunch and just spent the day poking around in the rocks and feeding the geese, one of which I got extremely friendly with - it was eating out of my hand although that scared me a bit, thought it might bite me.

It was one of those really special days you want to remember forever.  
The lake was perfectly flat like glass too.  We all got a good dose of vitamin D, much needed I think.  
When I couldn't wait to use the little girls room anymore we headed off to Starbucks.  We then took our drives off down to the lake again.

They actually love each other!
I have uploaded more photos at http://gallery.me.com/carolkarl#gallery, username is friends, password is karls1234.
Enjoy!

The Nation Stopped

At 3.15pm today our time, the Nation stopped to watch the Ice Hockey - Canada vs USA.

Everyone yesterday was making plans where to watch the game.  We watched it on TV at home.

Of course the Canadians were winning right to the last 24 seconds when the USA team equalized at 2 all.  They went into overtime and after lots of yelling and screaming, coming from our couch, the Canadians scored the goal to win the Gold Medal.

It was the most exciting game I've ever seen.

We may not be true Canadians but we certainly were supporting them.  We are proud of the Canadian team.

Well done!