Scheduling Saturday - Or just winging it

A couple of weeks ago I decided to do something on the calendar for our next trip.  First I gave my daughter a chance to do some research as to her work schedule.  Once she has picked some dates then I started checking with some of my BFF's for their schedule.  After a week I had some dates filled up and as the days go by, the calendar was getting full.  Right now it I could add a little bit more, but I am not sure it will be a good idea.  As one of my BFF said, "she gets tired just looking at my calendar" and she does not know how I or we can do it.  Well, neither can I but I know we will try our best to keep to the schedule so we can accommodate everyone.  Part of me was thinking that maybe I should have booked a month for our trip.  Anyway, I just hope that it will all work out and some of the friends that I might not get a chance to visit will understand, hopefully.  I am already excited because it has been almost four years since I have been there.  So we will have to just wing it for some of the days that might be free, but actually I don't think there's any left.  While doing this post, I found on my calendar this quote:

Busy is a choice. 

Stress is a choice. 

Giving yourself to joy is a choice.  

Choose well.

Trio Thursday - If you like Pina Colada

Do you remember the lyrics of the Pina Colada song?  Here it goes, "if you like pina colada and getting caught in the rain".  Well this is how it all began.  I golf with the ladies and we got caught in the rain and only played 9.  This meant I got home early and shortly after my nap, I needed to be useful.  I opened the fridge and found a container with sliced pineapples. Of course my mind got busy and started looking for other ingredients.  What happens when you have pineapples and coconut.  Yeah, pina colada time.  The first idea was a pineapple coconut pie which is a first time for me since I have never made this particular pie.  I have made other pies, but not a pina colada.  What can I make next? There were still more pineapple and more coconut, I had to do something.  Remember those crack cakes?? Luckily I had all the ingredients to make my special Pina Colada Crack Cake.  OMG there's more pineapple and a banana that's turning brown.  Surprise, I know exactly what to make, a Pina colada muffins. LOL.  Most of the afternoon went just like that and it was time to make dinner. Hmmm, check the fridge again.  Ooops, found a hunk of beef that needs to be roasted.  Place in a dutch oven, season, add potatoes, carrots, onions and celery.  Ta dah!  Once cooked, Jeff took all the liquid and made gravy - so yummy.  It was a successful day.

Tastier Tuesday - Someday you can try it

As a follow up from my Sunday post, I decided to share more of my baking/cooking in the hopes that someday you will want to try one of these.  Although not everything is sweet, it

is still about baking.  It has been a while since I made Chicken pot pie and of course Jeff was happy to have it for dinner.  What I forgot to take a photo of was when I made the Chicken Enchilada for one of our friends.  I used the home made chili verde sauce that I have been using for my pork chili verde and of course for the enchilada.  I guess I should just share the photos because just by looking at them, I know you will say, that looks so yummy!!

Jeff made these chocolate chip cooking while we were camping. He cooked it in our convection oven in the RV.

Chicken Enchiladas with chili verde sauce.

Pork Chili Verde

Cassava Cake

Jeff's all time favorite - TIRAMISU.

Chicken Pot Pie

Sweeter Sunday - Baking brings so much joy

My latest baking craze is the Crack Cake which I found on Pinterest.  It was a very interesting recipe so I thought I should try making it.  Recently Jeff got me a bundt cake pan and I wanted to put it to good use.  The recipe is full proof and it's so moist.  One good thing about it is that the finishing is just a glaze instead of frosting or icing.  Of course it is very light and trying different combination is endless.  It has been a few weeks and I have tried several combination of fruits, chocolate, nuts and liquor.  Everything so far has been a hit.  Almost forgot the most important tip of this cake, it is so so easy.  You have got to try it.

Double Chocolate Crack Cake with Kahlua Drizzle

Raspberry and lemon with white wine drizzle.

Cherry sprinkle with lime drizzle.

Blueberry and lemon crack cake.

My very first lemon meringue pie

Peaches and pecan crack cake.

Wet Wednesday - Mother Nature's Fault

The hardest thing to plan is camping but the good part is that we have an RV which makes it bearable in case you planned your camping trip when mother nature decides to water the plants.  We booked our camping days with our neighbor about 2 months ago.  Closer to the date, we noticed that the forecast for the days that we are at the campsite was going to be RAIN.  When we arrived at the RV site, the sun was out and it only rain for a short time and not the hard kind.  The next day it was a bit cloudy to start but then it was sunny for the rest of the day.  Unfortunately for our third day, I woke up feeling dizzy.  This was when the rain

started during the night and never stopped until about 5 pm but only for a few minutes.  Then the rest of the evening the rain continued until the next morning when we checked out.  I felt bad for those who were camping, I mean real camping with their tents.  We are lucky enough to have the RV and we can do almost everything inside without the need to go out.  Here's some of the photos that I took during our glamping as well as the beautiful sceneries along the way.

There's still snow in July but it was a warm day in Revelstoke.

This photo is precious, how a simple task provides a joy to this little girl.

The day before the rainy day.

Looking from our window in the RV, most of the guest has left due to rain.

Another trailer checking in as they stopped for the night as the highway was closed.

My MIL loves these, she calls it the mint marshmallows (hay wrapped in plastic)

Sociable Sunday - Reconnect with friends

The last time I talked to my sister, she asked me why we are so busy entertaining guests/friends.  Well, it's because we do have a lot of friends that have been reconnecting with me since I moved back to Canada.  It's also because the Okanagan is a wonderful place to visit specially during the summer.  When I moved to San Jose after my retirement, we also had a lot of guests from Canada and the USA visiting us.  I guess that's when the Cranberry Portage B&B was established.  We enjoy having people stop by for lunch or dinner or sometimes for an overnight and maybe even a couple of nights.  In our neighborhood, we have a lot of our new friends exchanging dinners at least once a month. We also have made new friends who lives in Vernon but in a different part of the city.  At the end of this month, we will be celebrating our 2nd year of residence in this wonderful city of Vernon.  What is interesting is that when we moved to Vernon, the city was celebrating it's 150 years.  So it became a very special and memorable date to be remembered.  Summer has just began and we've had two out of town guests come for dinner, my BFF and his wife stayed for a long weekend in March, and we are expecting my other girl friend and her family from Ottawa arriving at the beginning of August.  One of Jeff's friend is planning on visiting us sometime in September.  Although our home is not a real B&B, we like the name we picked and our friends love it also.  This year I have updated our brochure which only available electronically.  So it is sociable Sunday because we love our friends and we love entertaining at home rather than go out.

Simona Saturday - The best tennis ever

Today I am making my own declaration as July 13 as my Simona Halep Day.  For those of you who are not a tennis follower, Simona won the 2019 Wimbledon Women's Tennis Championship.  The finals today was one of the most exciting one I have ever watched.  She had a lot of winners and only three unforced errors.  During her interview after the awards ceremony, she was so humble, sweet and very appreciative of her family, training team and of course all the support of her country.  I wish her luck on her next tournament, hopefully she will also win the US Open 2019.  That will make this year an amazing one for her and for her dreams to come true.  There were so many other great things she mentioned during her interview.  Just love everything about her.  Today is definitely a great day for tennis.