Pickles

I have been busy both with work and at home lately.  Last week I started riding my bike to work.  It was a nice change from running all the time.  I tried a new route the first day...staying on the road instead of going a little out of my way on the bike path.  I decided I did not like it...too many cars and stop lights to worry about.  So, the next time I rode I took my old route around the small lake in town.  It is a much better way to start the day.  The only bad things was that I think my bike seat wasn't at the right level and now my knee has been hurting since Saturday.  I haven't been able to run or bike and that just makes me feel so blah.  Hopefully I will be able to do something tomorrow.

Over the weekend we went to a movie, The Sorcerer's Apprentice.  It had Nicolas Cage and we always like his movies.  It was a good family movie to go to.  On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, as usual.  We are trying to can at least one thing per week and this week we did pickles.  We bought about 9lbs of pickling cucumbers and 14 heads of dill.  We were expecting about 9 pints.  The recipe we used was from the USDA's canning guide and it called for the pickles to soak in a brine solution for 12 hours.  This meant that we couldn't process the jars until around 11 pm.  It made for a long night.  We started canning and realized we had way more pickles/jars than expected.  The hubs had to take a trip to the grocery store to by dill seed b/c we ran out of fresh pickling dill.  In the end we had 18 jars...double of what we expected.  I think the main reason behind that is the size of our pickles.  We could only fit about 4-6 in a jar.  We have to wait 4-6 weeks for the pickles to cure before we can try them.  I hope they are good b/c we have 18 jars to eat over the fall/winter.

On Sunday we slept in late and then I even took a nap around noon.  It felt good to be lazy.  When I did get up I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and in the kitchen.  I baked a chicken and made roasted vegetables for dinner.  While the chicken was in the oven I made some leek and potato soup (also called vichyssoise).  I used my Martha book.  Martha says this is the best known cold soup.  It is really easy to make and it tastes really good.  I actually got the idea from a young boy at the Farmer's Market who was trying to sell me leeks and potatoes as a combo to make the soup.

This week I hope to get my exercise routine back in order and my body back in shape.  This weekend we will most likely be canning green beans.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world!

Peas and Carrots!

Flowers in the Garden

Flowers are blooming in our garden....hoping they turn into a bountiful harvest!

Pumpkin flowers

They only last about half a day once they bloom, but they are really big and beautiful.

One pumpkin starting to form.  We are hoping to get quite a few and are planning to make pie and possible can some for later use.

Potato flowers.  So tiny and cute.  We could harvest some new potatoes now, but we are going to let all of our tubers grow.  We have to wait until the greens dye before digging them out.

This tomato started growing a few weeks back.  So far we only have three growing.  They should get to a decent size before ripening.

Summer Vacation Part II: Winnipeg

This is the last day of our two week summer vacation.  I had planned this time off before deciding to go to Denver to see my sister.  It has been really great to have time off from work during June and July.  I think it will take me a bit to get back into the work groove...especially that 5:30 am alarm set for tomorrow.

During the last week of June we went up to Winnipeg, MB.  We had never been there before and had just decided earlier in the year to check it out.  I did a lot of research on general info on Winnipeg (the Chicago of the north) and on places to see and things to do.  Here's a little synopsis of our adventures:

We drove up through North Dakota...not too exciting.  A lot more prairie than I would have guessed.  Crossing the boarder was quite easy and there was a friendly Manitoba welcome center on the other side.  On our first full day in the city we went to a nature area called Assiniboine Park.  We went to their conservatory, English garden, Leo Mol sculpture garden, and the zoo.

Day 2 was Canada Day.  We joined in the festivities...downtown market and music, face tattoos, and fireworks.  It was a lot of fun.  Our hotel was downtown in the French Quarter.  We went to the St. Boniface Museum, which is the oldest building in Winnipeg as well as the largest remaining North American traditional oak log structure.  We also toured other historical sites around the downtown area.  There is a lot of history there because of early first nations settlements and because of fur trading.

On our last day in the city we went to a Blue Bomber game.  The Bombers are Winnipeg's team in the Canadian Football League.  Both CFL and US have similar rules but the CFL is a little different with a longer and wider field and only three downs instead of four.  The game was awesome!  It was one of the best parts of the trip.  Our seats were really high up and we could see everything.  The Bombers won so that made it even more exciting!

On our trip back to the states we went through Kenora, ON and Lake of the Woods.  That area is gorgeous.  Definitely want to go back!

For next year's adventures we are thinking about Rocky Mountain National Park and the Calgary area....can't wait!!