1000 Years Of Peace

These Olive trees, plants of Peace, grow for 1000 years and guess what.... there is a person growing them on Pender Island right here in British Columbia. I believe the tree doesn't have to be big before it bears fruit.
and it is also good to prune like a Japanese Bonsai, so the trunk widens while the tree stays the size you want it to be.
For our lifetime it can be grown in a box and taken in every winter.

Olives are very healthy for you and they were known to nourish people right off the tree, when food was scarce. They contain iron, fiber ,copper, vit E,are anti inflamatory, function as an antihistamine, fights allergies, fights high blood pressure reduces cardiovascular disease,
aids the respiratory system, nervous system, musculoskeletal system, immune system, and digestive system.

So this in itself is a tree worth considering keeping at your side and now we know they do not just have to grow in a certain climate. We can winter them in our garage.

AND .........we use olives as a topping for PIZZA lol

YES! for Pizza!!

Not only do we get excellent olive oil from them but gardening is very good for the spiritual as well as psychological well being of a human,
cause then, we can sit and joke about it too.


What do you call it when worms take over the world? Global Worming.

The research assistant couldn't experiment with plants because he hadn't botany.

What does the letter "A" have in common with a flower? They both have bees coming after them.

What do you get when you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by the diameter? Pumpkin Pi.

What do you call a country where people drive only pink cars? A pink carnation.

New gardeners learn by trowel and error. (hardy har har)

Have a great day!

Try Cooking Day.

I really do not like cooking.

I like eating but I can do without pots and pans to scrub.

Although every one volunteers to eat, no one volunteers to clean up and if they cook, well the disasters around the counters and stove they leave behind is enough to make you want to cry.

I look at peoples homes and always wonder how they live in their spotless kitchens.

And why do you need a modern kitchen if it is only for show?

I know many people have two kitchens, one for show and one for the actual messy cooking of sauces, frying, baking.

I personally would love a kitchen outside on the patio which can be hosed down daily down a drain into the sewer. This would be my ideal kitchen and it could also have a franklin stove or a wood fire place which could be used to make excellent pizza.

I so seldom make blintze's or potato latkes or cheese knishes.

but once in a while I get into the mood and go all out.

We used to have excellent Jewish bakeries on St Lawrence street and the cooking was to die for.

The bagels were the best in the world and once you get used to the best, its hard to go to Safeway or the Superstore and buy bagels which except for the doughnut shape, do not taste like what bagels should.

In College I had a job working at a Jewish Senior Citizens Home.

The cook ,was an older woman and a very generous one at that.

She made the best food for these somewhat particular people.

Sometimes I felt sorry for her because she had varicose veins causing her a lot of pain and eventually she had to stop working but her food????????

How can any one live without cheese knishes the way she made them, I don't know. lol

Then in Miami, we found a place called Rascals, which also had the best seafood breakfast anyone could want, along with bagels and lox.

Each table also got a basket full of different baked goods which you could not eat after the big breakfast, so you took it home.

Needless to say, the place was always full and at times there would be lineup going round the block, mostly old people.

Can you imagine old people, standing in line ups?

It had to be worth it although there was nothing fancy about the place.

At lunch they served home made turkey legs with boiled potatoes and veggies. The turkey leg was big and at that time, one plate cost $ 5.00 US. So an old couple shared one plate between them since they do not eat much, plus they took home the basket of baked buns with them for later.

The public at that time was not children friendly, so when we came in with our son they would make faces as if to say Oh my God! Noise. lol

We got our son a space gun.

When you shot it, it made a noise like someone blowing bubbles into a glass, through a straw.

We were sitting eating and my son took out his gun and pushed the trigger. It kept going and going and going until the whole restaurant stopped and began looking at our table.

It made us feel uncomfortable to see every one stop eating and looking like that but then they burst out laughing.

One man explained that they thought my son was blowing bubbles into a glass and when he didn't stop, they wondered where he got his air? lol

That space gun became a popular item in that restaurant as everyone wanted to have a look at it.

They were amazed at what they made for kids and probably would be looking to buy something like it for their grandchildren. lol

So ....people who didn't like kids....began to like kids again lol

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Potato Plus Latkes

• 1 pound potatoes
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Potato-Latkes-104406#ixzz1e6OkWyib

To mine I added garlic , white pepper, shredded cheese of choice, 1 carrot and a cup of flour.

I spooned mine into an olive oil greased pyrex tray and placed them into the oven at 400 degrees and baked till slightly browned.
They turned out great!

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Spinach Mushroom Potato Soup

Today I took out a small can of mushroom soup. I put it into a medium sized pot of boiling water to which I added some chicken broth.

I used an electric chopper to puree more fresh mushrooms, spinach, small tomato and 5 cold medium boiled potatoes.
I put it on medium heat and stirred it. Then I chopped some shallots and added them also to the pot along with a few spoons of sour creme.

Salt garlic and pepper seasonings to taste
and the soup tastes fantastic.
Almost like a hot vichyssoise,
except it's NOT. lol

The reason I made it all puree is because it is soo good to come inside from the cold and drink a nice, hot, cup of soup. For the kids it's better than a snack with all the vegetables you may want to put into it.

It's the best way to make kids eat spinach
without knowing it.
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Now what's this about Pizza not being healthy food?

Pizza is very healthy. You do not need a thick crust and it is full of onions, green peppers, any kind of meat, be it chicken, minced beef, pork, tomatoes, mushrooms,ham, cheese etc....
You name it , you can put on pizza. It can be all vegetarian if it needs to be.

Kids need cheese for their bones and teeth especially if their diet is not good at home.
I think Pizza is a very healthy meal for school lunches

Yes!! for pizza at school.

Well the dishwasher is packed after washing everything by hand and I am not cooking anymore stuff today. lol

Have a Great Day!

pizza -----oh amore

Sunday dinner at Nonna's

The table was set with everyday dishes. It doesn't matter if they don't match. They're clean; what more do you want?

All the utensils go on the right side of the plate and the napkin goes on the left.

A clean kitchen towel was put at Nonna's & Papa's plates because they won't use napkins.

Homemade wine and bottles of 7-UP are on the table.

First course, Antipasto... Change plates.

Second course, macaroni. All pasta was called macaroni... Change plates.

Third course, roast beef, potatoes and vegetables... Change plates.

THEN, and only then - NEVER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEAL would you eat the salad drenched in homemade oil & vinegar dressing... Change plates.

Next course, fruit & nuts - in the shell - on paper plates because you ran out of the real ones.

Last was coffee with anisette espresso for Nonna, 'American' coffee for the rest - with hard cookies (biscotti) to dunk in the coffee.

The kids would go out to play.

The men would go lay down. They slept so soundly that you could do brain surgery on them without anesthesia.

The women cleaned the kitchen.

We got screamed at by Mom or Nonna, and half of the sentences were English, the other half Italian.
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Ate All the Candy

Ah! Compliments de Chef

click to enlarge

Some one heard me and fixed the Picassa Blogger. Now the collage can be seen better lol


The weather today is very blah outside. Rainy chilly dark. Its the kind of day you could sit beside a window in a lazy boy, with a good book, a nice warm blanket and hot tea.
My yard is filling up again with leaves which need raking and I think next good bit of weather we have I will have to go out with fiskars and prune down all the plants since I let everything over grow.
Learn to appreciate the rainbow after cursing the rain. It’s just like loving again after experiencing the pain.


Hope you all have a great day!And Remember
You cannot teach what you don’t know. You cannot give what you don’t have. You cannot forgive what you can’t forget. But you can love even if you’re not being loved back.
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Wine Tasting