Sturgeon Lake

With not going to Nemeiben Lake for the weekend we decided to head up to Sturgeon Lake for a couple of hours of fishing. They skies had cleared off mid afternoon on Saturday so we had a quick bite to eat and headed off to the lake. Michael, Allan, me and Rocco spent a couple of hours trolling our favorite fishing spot. Well the luck was with Michael that night as he caught two fish that worth while to keep.

Mike's first fish in a couple of years. Yes he was a happy fisherman.

When the fish seemed to stop biting I decided to pick up my camera and try out my new polarizing lens. I am so glad that I invested in that lens as I got some really nice pictures of the sunset.

This picture of my son was taken with the polarizing lens. I love how the sun is reflecting behind him on the water.



I was able to catch the setting sun in these shots. It was absolutely beautiful to watch.




I wish I could have gotten closer to these Pelicans roosting for the night. There was just too many weeds for the boat motor to get through to get any closer.

Change of Plans

When I arrived home on Thursday night with my kids my husband tells me the news that my best friend Brenda's dad passed away. This is the friend that has the cabin on Nemeiben Lake where we were headed for the weekend. Brenda and Jack don't have a phone at the cabin so the big discussion was how do we get word to them about her dad's passing. After speaking with member's of Brenda's family we decided that Al and I would drive up to Nemeiben and tell Brenda of her dad's passing. It was the least that we could do as Brenda has been there for me in so many ways over the years. We all felt that it would just be better coming from someone that close to Brenda and Jack than from the RCMP or Conservation Officers. It would be much more personal and compassionate as well and they wouldn't always have that cold memory of the authorities coming to their door. Brenda was so glad and grateful that we were the ones to come and tell her about her dad's passing. I know I appreciated it when I found out about my dad's passing by someone who cares than from a phone call or the authorities knocking on my door.

North

........to Nemeiben Lake

We are off to Nemeiben for a weekend of fishing and fun on the lake. Life jackets are packed, the tube is packed, the dogs are packed, fishing gear is already in the truck. Get to try out some new tackle that I picked up this week. Camera battery is fully charged and ready to.....can't forget my fishing hat either.

Sunday we are heading over to Stanly Mission to go see the Holy Trinity Church, the Ancient Pictographs and Nistowiak Falls. I will post pictures when I get back, hopefully some of my big catch.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Raspberry Bars
Makes 16 bars

Crust
¾ cup white whole-wheat flour (see Note)
½ cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons ice water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry Filling
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons water
3 cups fresh raspberries, divided
½ cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons nonfat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons low-fat milk
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

1. To prepare crust: Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat an 8-inch-square baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Place flour, pecans, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt in a food processor; process until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter one piece at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition, until incorporated. Add ice water and vanilla and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Transfer to the prepared pan. Press evenly and firmly into the pan to form a bottom crust.

3. Bake the crust until it looks set, but not browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

4. To prepare raspberry filling: Sprinkle gelatin over 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl; let stand, stirring once or twice, while you prepare the rest of the filling.

5. Reserve 16 raspberries. Puree the remaining raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan and stir in 1/2 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat until bubbling. Stir in the gelatin mixture and cook, stirring, until the gelatin is melted, about 1 minute.

6. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Pour the raspberry mixture into a medium bowl and set it in the bowl of ice water. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of loose jam and is beginning to set around the edges, about 30 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, milk and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.

8. Spread the thickened raspberry filling evenly over the crust. Dollop the cream cheese mixture over the filling. Draw the tip of a sharp knife or skewer through the two fillings to create a swirled effect. Nestle the reserved berries into the filling, evenly spacing them so each bar will be topped with a berry when cut. Refrigerate until the bars are completely set, about 3 hours. Cut into 16 bars, one raspberry per bar.

Raspberry Bars Tips
Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

Note: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat. Find it in the baking section of the supermarket or online at bobsredmill.com and kingarthurflour.com.
Raspberry Bars Tips Cont.

Raspberry Bars Nutrition Information
Per bar: 101 calories; 5 g fat (2 g sat, 2 g mono); 6 mg cholesterol; 14 g carbohydrate; 2 g protein; 2 g fiber; 94 mg sodium; 64 mg potassium.1 Carbohydrate ServingExchanges: 1 carbohydrate (other), 1 fat

Blog Candy

Check out the fabulous Blog Candy over at Crissy's Art & Heart . Her blog candy runs from Wednesday July 8th until Wednesday July 15th. The winner's names will be posted on Crissy's Art & Heart Blog on Thursday July 16. Crissy has some amazing cards on her blog for inspiration as well as some good tutorials for those wanting to learn some of her techniques. One bonus is that Crissy has some links to Canadian Scrapbooking and Stamping Online Stores. Don't forget to read the rules for entering for a chance to win some awesome blog candy.

Birthday Cards

Recently I had opportunity to create 2 cards for a cousin's 50th Birthday and a friend's 50th Birthday.

The card that I created for my husband's cousin. I used my favorite Sugar Nellie stamp - Daisy. Skin was colored with Copic Markers and the rest of the card was colored with Prisma Colored Pencils and Mona Lisa. Embellishments used was Prima Flower and a jewelled butterfly from the dollar store.

Front Cover

Inside Cover

Back Cover

For the card that I made for our friend's 50th, I used some of my favorite Magnolia Stamps. This it the first time that I used these stamps. I sprayed the white card with Glimmer Mist in Twilight for the speckled effect on the background. The skin on Tilda was colored with Copic Markers and the remainder of the card was colored with Prisma Colored Pencils and Mona Lisa.

Card Front

Inside Cover

HouseBoat Trip

Over the weekend my husband and I took a trip on a house boat on Tobin Lake by Nipawin with friends of ours Danny and Sandra and their family. The houseboat was rented from Twin Marine located in the Nipawin Regional Park. Thursday night we were able to board the house boat, get settled in and spend the night at the dock. Friday morning after a short orientation we set sail with Steve at the wheel.

The moon beam's reflection off the water on Thursday night was absolutely beautiful.

Above: Al enjoying the sites as we leave the dock for the weekend.
Below: Danny and Sandra seem to be enjoying the sites as well as we leave dock.

We stopped here and there to try our hand at fishing but without towing a fishing boat behind us it wasn't the easiest task as you are really limited on the space on both the front and back docks. Also it is really hard to get the houseboat over the shelves where the fish like to hang out. We did however catch a few small fish. Jeremy did catch the first fish which was released back into the lake so it could grow and a little while later he did catch a fish that would have been a keeper. I was waiting on the back deck by the motor with the net in hand to scoop it up, when it took one look at the boat did a flip and snapped the line. My guess it was about an 8 or 9 lb Walleye.

THE FIRST CATCH

The next afternoon Scott and I were fishing off the front deck when something caught my hook and took off with it. I have never had anything that big on my line in all my years of fishing. Scott was quick to grab the net to be ready to bring it in. At first I thought I might be snapped on a long or some weeds but weeds and logs don't pull more of your line out and zip and zag around in the water. I fought with it for 10 - 15 minutes, we were even chasing with the boat. I had 20lb test line on my rod an it ended up snapping it. My arms were sore from fighting to land this fish in the boat. It was a rush just fighting with him I can only imagine what it would be like if I landed him into the boat.

Some Pictures from our weekend

The smallest waterfall in Saskatchewan.

THE LAST CATCH

On our way back to Twin Marine, Al decided to do a bit of tolling. Well he definitely won the prize for the smallest catch. For anyone that is wondering Al caught a tiny clam on his last cast.

Potato Gnocchi

2 lbs Medium Potatoes (about 4)
1 Tbsp Butter or Maragarine
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1 - 1 1/2 cups flour

In covered pot cook potatoes until tender. Drain. In mixing bowl beat hot potatoes, butter and salt until smooth. Add egg yolk and 1/4 cup of flour. Beat until smooth. By hand stir in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough (I used my kitchen add to stir in the flour). Turn onto floured surface, knead for 4 - 5 minutes with generously floured hands. Shape into balls using about 1 Tbsp dough for each ball. Crease the centre with the handle of a wooden spoon. Cook several at a time in a large amount of salted water for 8 - 10 minutes. Remove, drain. Serve with desired sauce, butter with Salt & Pepper and cheese.

Tip: Epicure Selections Cheddar, Bacon & Chives Dip mix goes really well on top with a bit of butter, salt and pepper.

Note: I know I used more than 1 1/2 cups of flour about 2 cups. I relied on the texture of the dough so that it wasn't too sticky.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

1/4 cup oil
1 broiler or fryer, cut up, or chicken pieces
Flour to coat chicken pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, mashed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons chopped onion
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Pour 1/4 cup oil into 9x13x2-inch pyrex baking dish. Flour and salt chicken pieces and place the pieces, skin side down, in a single layer. Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn chicken and pour sauce over chicken. To make sauce, use the 1/4 cup olive oil and add all other ingredients to it. Bake another 30 minutes.

SERVES: 4 - 6

HAPPY CANADA DAY

This year we celebrate the 142nd Anniversary of Confederation.

On June 20, 1868, a proclamation signed by the Governor General, Lord Monck called upon all Her Majesty's loving subjects throughout Canada to join in the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of Canada on July 1st.

The July 1st holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day. It wasn't unitl October 27, 1982 when July 1st which was known as "Dominion Day" became "Canada Day".

However you celebrate Canada Day, whether you join in some organized activities in your community or you do something on your own have a great time and enjoy the day!

Happy Canada Day!