Sautéed Mushroom Sauce

We use this recipe many ways, as a sauce over paste, chicken or just as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion chopped
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 lbs of your favourite mushroom sliced
• 4 cups of vegetable broth
• Salt and pepper
• Grated parmesan cheese to taste
• Fresh basil

Directions:

1. Add oil to a large frying pan
2. Sauté the onion and garlic until onions are transparent
3. Add mushrooms to frying pan and sauté for 5 minutes
4. Reduce heat to medium low
5. Add vegetable broth and simmer until the broth reduces to the consistency of a thick sauce.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste
7. Top with grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil

From our table to yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Grandma’s Closet

As a child I loved to sneak into the attic room at my Grandfather’s home to explore and play with the wonderful things found there.  I also loved to play with Aunties' beautiful brushes, combs, and blue enamel talcum powder jar, I sat on her bench looked in her mirror and brushed my hair.

What was I doing?  I was pretending to be an adult and getting to know the adults that I loved through their things.

Somethings do not change, when our granddaughters come to visit they often ask to play with my shoes, costume jewelry and scarves.  They playing dress up and playing at being adults.

What memories do you have playing at being an adult?

How do your (grand)children practicing being an adult?

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Growing Among The Rocks

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Crocheting The 2015 Sky

April 2015

April 2015

An April Night

By Lucy Maud Montgomery

The moon comes up o’er the deeps of the woods,

And the long, low dingles that hide in the hills,

Where the ancient beeches are moist with buds

Over the pools and the whimpering rills;

And with her the mists, like dryads that creep

From their oaks, or the spirits of pine-hid springs,

Who hold, while the eyes of the world are asleep,

With the wind on the hills their gay revellings.

Down on the marshlands with flicker and glow

Wanders Will-o’-the-Wisp through the night,

Seeking for witch-gold lost long ago

By the glimmer of goblin lantern-light.

The night is a sorceress, dusk-eyed and dear,

Akin to all eerie and elfin things,

Who weaves about us in meadow and mere

The spell of a hundred vanished Springs.

Compare 2014 to 2015 

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Keeping Mother's Day Real

On Mother’s Day Remember

Source Graphic Fairy

Happy Mother’s Day!

No matter where we look today on social media, in our places of worship and within our communities this refrain dominates.  

This week I have posted poetry about mothers in celebration of my mother and through your comments I came to understand at an even deeper level how lucky I am to have my mother with me, that she still remembers me and that we can continue to make memories together.

On this Mother’s Day I want to acknowledge that for many this day is a day of remembrance.   It is with heavy heart they will look at pictures of mothers who are no longer here.  For others they will sit beside mothers who while still here no longer remember.  And for some it will be to think about an unknown mother who gave birth and then passed them to the mother who raised them.

Finally I want to acknowledge that for some Mother’s Day is not a time of celebration for their experience of mother and motherhood was/is filled with confusion, anger and loss.

So today Mother’s Day 2015 I want to make it real!

What is a mother? 

• She is a flawed human being as all human beings are.
• She carries with her a unique set of disappointments, dreams, shame, perception of life and abilities.
• She was born to experience joy, happiness, surprise, love, anger, disgust, fear, and sadness.
• She has done the best that she could with her lot in life and her willingness to extend herself.
• She is not a super hero though many perform acts of heroism.
• She is not a saint though many today are remembers as such.

Borrowing from Charlotte Bronte 

“I am not an angel,’ I asserted; ‘and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. [Children], you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me – for you will not get it, any more than I shall get it for you: which I do not at all anticipate.”  from Jane Eyre 

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Crustless Cauliflower Quiche Gluten Free

We made this for a church potluck and the smell of parmesan cheese cooking was amazing and there were no leftovers to bring home!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups of rice or quinoa
• ¼ cup of hempseed
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 medium zucchini shredded
• 1 medium carrot shredded
• 1½ cups cauliflower finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon cheyanne pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 ½ cups almond milk
• 3 eggs beaten
• ½ cup grated Parmesan or cheese of your choice Old cheddar is also good

Directions:

1. Cook the rice or quinoa as per package directions
2. Grease a 9 inch pie plate and spread the hempseed evenly over the bottom of the plate
3. Add the coconut oil to large frying pan on medium heat
4. Add the onion, and garlic and sauté for approximately 2 minutes
5. Add the zucchini, carrot, cauliflower and basil and sauté for a further 3 to 5 minutes
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the rice or quinoa
7. In a bowl mix together almond milk, eggs and ½ the cheese
8. Add the cook ingredients to the prepared pie shell
9. Pour in the milk and egg
10. Sprinkle the last of the cheese on top
11. Bake in a 350 °F oven for between 35 to 45 minutes until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean
12. We like to then place the pie under the broiler until the cheese turns brown.
13. Rest the quiche for 10 minutes before eating.

This quiche can be made a day ahead and reheated without any loss of taste.

From our table to yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Tribute to Mother - Young Mother Poem

Young Mother

by~Robert William Service

Her baby was so full of glee,

And through the day

It laughed and babbled on her knee

In happy play.

It pulled her hair all out of curl

With noisy joy;

So peppy she was glad her girl

Was not a boy.

Then as she longed for it to sleep,

To her surprise

It just relaxed within her keep

With closing eyes.

And as it lay upon her breast

So still its breath,

So exquisite its utter rest

It looked like death.

It seemed like it had slipped away

To shadow land;

With tiny face like tinted clay

And waxen hand.

No ghost of sigh, no living look . . .

Then with an ache

Of panic fear and love she shook

Her babe awake.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Market Day

Wordless Wednesday

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Tribute to Mother - Poem by Robert William Service

The Mother  

Robert William Service

Your children grow from you apart,

Afar and still afar;

and yet it should rejoice your heart

To see how glad they are;

In school and sport, in work and play,

And last, in wedded bliss

How others claim with job today

The lips you used to kiss

(picture of a wedding)

Your children distant will become,

And wide the gulf will grow;

The lips of loving will be dumb,

The trust you used to know

Will in another's heart repose,

Another's voice will cheer . . .

And you will fondle baby clothes

And brush away a tear.

But though you are estranged almost,

And often lost to view,

How you will see a little ghost

Who ran to cling to you!

Yet maybe children's children will

Caress you with a smile . . .

Grandmother love will bless you still,--

Well, just a little while.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

A Tribute To Mother

Mother o' Mine 

by Rudyard Kipling

If I were hanged on the highest hill,

Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

I know whose love would follow me still,

Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,

Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

I know whose tears would come down to me,

Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,

I know whose prayers would make me whole,

Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates

Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates

Words by Georg Weissel, 1642

Score by J. Baptiste Calkin 1872

Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates;

Behold the King of glory waits;

The King of kings is drawing near;

The Savior of the world is here!

O blest the land, the city blest,

Where Christ the Ruler is confessed!

O happy hearts and happy home,

To whom this King in triumph comes!

Fling wide the portals of your heart;

Make it a temple, set apart from earthly

Use for heaven’s employ,

Adorned with prayer and love and joy.

Redeemer, come! I open wide

My heart to thee; here Lord abide.

Let me thy inner presence feel;

Thy grace and love in me re-veal.

This hymns is within the public domain and to be directed the sheet music click here. Note: the word on the sheet music and those in the Hymnal the word were taken from are different.  You can choose which you prefer.

This hymn was found in Church and Sunday School Hymnal Supplement 1911, Mennonite Publishing House, Scottdale PA.  #415

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Tuna Melts

Grandpa’s Tuna Melts

 

This is one of Grandpa’s specialties and the go to meal when comfort food is in order. 

Ingredients:

• Bread (Grandma’s is always made on gluten free bread)
• 1 tin of water packed tuna
• 1 small onion chopped
• ½ red pepper chopped
• ½ cup cucumber chopped
• 1 carrot finely grated
• 1 tablespoon relish
• 2 tablespoons light mayo
• Cheese slices or shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Chop all of the vegetables
2. Drain and add the tuna to the vegetables along with the mayo and relish
3. Mix well
4. Toast 8 slices of bread
5. Divide the tuna mixture on the 8 slices of bread and top with cheese
6. Bake in a 350 °F oven for 10 or until the cheese browns

From our table to yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Growing figs in Ontario Canada

Purchased in 2013

A year ago this week we posted how our fig tree wintered in our garage (click here visit this post) and yesterday April 29, 2015 we started moving out two year old tree outside during the day and back in the house overnight. 

Our fig tree has five figs developing and they brown spots on them and a few of the leaves look as bugs are attacking them.

Here are some great links if you would like to grow a Canadian fig tree

1. Yes, you can grow figs in Ontario it's not that hard
2. Fig Fetishists in Ontario

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Burdock

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

10 Things to Tell Your (Grand)children in April

Let our stories spark the imagination of our children, "creating pictures in [their] heads" of our childhood and in this way strengthening their identity and sense of personal ancestry. 

In April introduce your (grand)children to your memories of:

1) Your earliest memory of getting lost in a book.

I have vivid memories of being curled up in the corner of my bedroom curled up in a nest of pillows forgoing lunch on a Saturday afternoon not willing to leave Anne alone in her struggle to belong to a family ~ Anne of Green Gables

2) Your favourite childhood toy and what you cherished about the toy and if you still have this toy bring it out and share it while you tell your story.

3) Describe your childhood Easter traditions.

4) Discuss the Easter traditions that you have established for your family remembering that no tradition is a tradition and your reasons.

5) Any memories you have of mud and spring.

I was 8 years old when playing with friends at the top of a favourite sledding hill I slipped and slide down the length of the hill on my back. I returned home covered entirely in mud except for my eyes - a mud monster.

6) Your favourite spring flowers.

7) When you think back to your childhood what activities was/is associated with spring take time to talk to your (grand)children about these memories.

8) Share any childhood family activities associated with spring.

Collecting pussy willows is a family tradition from my childhood and one I have continued. We would as a family drive the countryside looking for pussy willows and more than once Dad lost the muffler on the car on muddy back roads.

9) What your favourite Easter candy or food treat was/is.

10) Bunnies factor large in North American spring culture. Share your memories of spring rabbits.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls 

Sunday Dinner and a Hayride

As a child Sunday afternoons were either spent having a family over for dinner or being invited over to another church member’s home.  If we were lucky they would have children around our age and a wonderful afternoon would be spent playing.  This custom has for the most part disappeared in favour of going out for dinner at restaurants which are now open Sundays.

 Today we revisited this old custom when we were invited to break bread with members of our church.  The meal was wonderful and for Ruth, Emily and Haley the real treat happened after dinner when they were invited on a private hayride.

As a child what were your families Sunday afternoon traditions?

When was the last time you went out of a hayride or wondered around in the woods on a Sunday afternoon?

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Sour Cherry Dumplings

There are those recipes that bring back childhood memories of kitchens, sweet boiling syrup, and windows steamed over with the moist rich mist coming off the stove.  Sour Cherry Dumplings is just such a recipe.  We have adapted the recipe to be gluten and dairy free and as requested we have included the original recipe as well.

Ingredients:

Dumplings

• 1 cup of gluten free pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup almond milk (or your favourite none dairy milk)

Sour Cherry Sauce

• 2 cups water
• ½ cup coconut sugar (this made the syrup brown in colour you can substitute with any sweetener of your choice)
• 2 cups cherries
• 2 drops almond extract

Directions:

Sauce

1. Place all ingredients for the sauce in a medium sauce pan with a tight fitting lid.
2. Stir until the sauce begins to boil and then turn the heat down to low

Dumplings

1. Mix the dry ingredients
2. Add almond milk to the dry ingredient just until combined do not over mix
3. Drop the dumplings one spoonful at a time into the sauce
4. Cover and let boil on low for 15 minutes

Note:  if the sauce is too thick do not be afraid to add more water

Original Recipe

From our table to yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Horse and Plough

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Crocheting The 2015 Sky

March 2015

March

“The cock is crowing, The stream is flowing,

The small birds twitter,

The lake doth glitter, The green field sleeps in the sun;

The oldest and youngest, Are at work with the strongest;

The cattle are grazing, Their heads never raising;

There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated, The snow hath retreated,

And now doth fare ill, On the top of the bare hill;

The Plowboy is whooping-anon-anon:

There’s joy in the mountains; There’s life in the fountains;

Small clouds are sailing, The rain is over and gone!”

~ William Wordsworth

For my yarns I go to Docknits in Port Elgin and now they have an online store that we all can shop from.  

Click here to be directed to Docknits

I have a problem that I am hoping you can help me solve,

What should I make with 52 granny squares that measure 6 inches square?  

What are do you suggest?

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Planting Grandma's Coleus

I can remember my Grandmother and Aunt Marjorie over wintering coleus and geraniums plants.  All winter I would watch the coleus get bigger and more spindly and the geraniums hanging in the basement gets dryer and more dead looking.

Then in the spring these wise women of my childhood would cut the coleus into small pieces and shake the dry dirt off the geraniums and plant both in fresh new soil.  Soon to my amazement both would grow and once again bring beauty to the gardens of my childhood.

Last year we took our spindly coleus plant and with the help of our granddaughters cut the plant into small pieces making many new beautiful plants for our gardens (Click here to visit that post).  

Today Ruth and Emily in search of something to do spied our large spindly coleus and so began our Sunday afternoon cutting and planting frenzy.  If they all grow we will have 73 separate coleus plants our summer garden.  I think there maybe a plant give away in our future.

What do you remember from your childhood gardens?

How are you sharing a love of gardening with the children in your life?

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls