I am so happy today- I know I’ve been off of the blog for a while more on that later- but today I just wanted to write and say how happy I am to be an American and how much I commit to serve my country and the world right along with President Obama. Nothing is stronger than love, hope, and doing what is right. It’s a new dawn- it’s a new day…. Bless all who are good and who seek to change the world for the better.

My own son came back to America on Saturday- his days in Iraq are now behind him and Hallelujah!- he came back safely and whole. He’ll be home on leave in a few weeks and out of the Army completely by the Fall- hopefully. Knowing what a strain it is for families to have their loved ones away at war -I send my love out to those whose sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers were not as lucky.

xo

Gabi

Once the harvest is over I will be moving the herb bed to another location (hopefully with a knot layout) and preparing the current area for a new dining/entertaining spot under a small gazebo and new taller planting beds for easier access along the sunnier west side. We plan also to replace the bark paths with red sandstone. I am trying to save a spot for a cut-flower garden as well. So it’s a massive overhaul to add to our list of  to-dos. Rick is taking a welding class that should come in handy when it’s time to make the gazebo. (I’m getting away with taking an oil and watercolor painting class- lucky me!)

Here is a little pictorial tour…

Under the arbour is a lovely for place for sitting with a glass of wine or dining with friends

The zucchini plants that take over the earth The red sandstone beds will be recycled into pathways

Ripening Blackberries amongst the violet leaves

A bowl of Blackberries- what should I make now?

Blossoming Garlic Chives

Merlot grapes are ripe over the arbour

Close up of Merlots on the trellis – a little behind the ones on the arbour as far as ripening goes.

A “Johann Straus” rosebud

“Johann Strauss Floribunda Rose in bloom”

The never ending zucchinis

Lovely jewels of tomatoes- BLT anyone?

St. Francis watches peacefully over the flower garden

Did I mention that we just tore out our master bathroom to remodel it? We are committed now - or maybe we should be!  haha 

Scary isn’t it? The pink thing is half of the remains of the cast iron tub that had to be broken out with a sledgehammer and the lathe and plaster has now come out too.

This was the world’s ugliest bathroom- we can’t wait to make it pretty

Out of the hole where the window used to be and to a much lovelier view right now-the grape arbour. 

Well that’s how things are around our snug little house and garden for now. Wishing you a lovely Autumn.

“Autumn

Autumn has come too fast she said

Her great green crown turning softly red

As slowly sets the Summer sun

My days of rest are now begun

I sadly watch the birds take wing

Who cradled in my arms last Spring

Now I turn to Winter’s sleep

My Season of solitude to keep

When once more the world turns round

My roots will stir within the ground

I’ll embrace with stretching limbs

The tiny ones whose songs seem hymns

They weave their ribbons in my hair

 Sheltered nests high in the air

We live with joy while days are long

Every morning rich with song

But far too soon there comes the call

When each Summer turns to Fall”

I’ve written a bit about my Mum’s side of the family (the mostly English-Scottish by way of the South tradition), but I’ve also been exploring another part of my heritage. My Dad’s Mom (Grandma Christine) was born in Canada to Ukrainian immigrants I think by way of Austria. They owned a wheat farm in Manitoba. My Grandma Christine wasn’t someone I grew to know in the same everyday family way of my other Gran. I don’t really know why. When she came to the U.S. she met my Grandfather Karlyle while he was shearing sheep and she was working as a cook on a sheep ranch in Colorado. I’ve heard that my Grandfather’s sisters made fun of her accent and language so she changed her name and never passed the language or customs on to her children- I think that is a shame. I would have loved to have at least some part of that colourful heritage from her.

Karlyle and Christine my paternal grandparents

My Dad talks about the Canadian-Ukrainian relatives now and then and I’ve met my Grandma’s brother Alec, who is an inventor. I think most of her family live in Alberta now and the wheat farm must be long gone. When she married my Grandfather they settled in Southern Utah where his family came from and raised four boys. They owned a sandwich shop for a while. He was a control officer for U.S. Fish and Wildlife and tracked Mountain Lions. He seems a rough and tumble kind of guy. I never knew him- he died when my Dad was still a boy. My Grandma Christine raised her boys by herself and then (at least to me) seemed to retreat into the background. I know she loved us and she was sort of around but not very involved.

My Grandfather’s Father- Joseph was a frontier doctor and town Marshal in the 1890′s- one day I’ll pass on some stories about him and my Great-Grandmother Sarah who worked by his side in the surgery and also gave birth to 9 children. They died when my Grandfather was just a tiny boy and he was then raised by various siblings.

Any way since I’m interested in knowing some of the Ukrainian cooking and customs that I missed out on- I’ve been gathering some recipes over the years. I’m sorry I can’t remember where I got this one or I’d give credit- it’s been stuffed into my recipe file for a while and since I recently bought some luscious pie cherries I decided to make these. I think they’re a keeper. I cut them down the middle before I thought to take a picture.

Ukrainian Cherry Bars Chereshnyanyk

• 2 cups sifted AP flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 cup light cream
• Sugared pie cherries or a can of cherry pie filling
• a bit more flour to thicken fresh cherries if needed

Sift the flour with the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter. Combine the lemon juice, zest and cream. Add to the flour mixture and mix lightly. The dough should be soft. Spoon it into a buttered 9 x 13 cake pan and pat gently, elevating the sides to hold the filling. Fill with the sugared cherries (well drained and a little flour -1-2 Tb- added to thicken if juicy) or a can of cherry pie filling and bake at 375F for 35 minutes or until done. Cool and cut into squares.

I hope you enjoy!

Diakuiu! (Thank you in Ukrainian)

Two weeks ago Sunday, my Mom and her three sisters and most of their children gathered for the first large family party we’ve held in a while. The occasion was a visit from my Aunt Sallie and Uncle Jim who live in Michigan.  (Hi there -it was great to see you- glad you made the trip!) I had fun seeing younger cousins who are suddenly grown up and who (WOW!) now have children of their own.

My Mom and her siblings have all become grandparents and even great-grandparents now. It’s funny how families ebb and flow- sometimes towards and sometimes away from each other. With my own grandparents’ death their children moved apart and reformed into smaller family units with each child as the new head. I’m sure this also happened with my grandparents and their siblings when their own parents passed on. The family gatherings around my Gran and Gramps’ table for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals ended and new traditions were formed in smaller circles.

If you sense I have a certain wistfulness about this all- I admit it is true. I miss our  family sitting around the yellow Formica and chrome kitchen table or the long (with leaves added) wooden dining table discussing life and savouring my Gran’s good cooking. I miss Gramps cracking a joke with razor sharp wit from his chair in the corner of the living room while I watched Gran cooking in the kitchen. I miss them singing duets together and the whole family gathering around the piano to sing after dinner and dishes were finished. I miss tagging along after Gramps while he did the chores, delivering milk to the creamery and getting up early to watch him eat his breakfast with fascination -waiting for painted scene at the bottom of his oatmeal porridge bowl to appear. I think of hard candy in glass jars (no one ever ate any) my Gran’s fruitcake (they were actually heavenly) at Christmas and endless games of four handed Canasta-laughing so hard that I even hyperventilated once.  I feel the loss of the family centered around my Grandparents still -even though they both passed on over 20 years ago and in the same year as my Grandma on my Dad’s side.

Gramps in the Army WWII

Gran at 13 years old

I knew only two of my great grandparents, both on my Mom’s side -my Great-Grandpa George was around well into my adulthood  but I only remember visiting my Great-Grandma Olive a few times shortly before she died when I was five.  At the party my Mom gave me a CD with pictures of my ancestors clear back to six generations from me. I think it’s amazing to see the faces on my family tree.

A portrait of Great Grandma Olive

My Gran’s parents- Eudora and George

There was also a  family reunion “another branch up on the family tree” on my Gramps’ side being held about four hours drive to the  South of here the following Saturday- unfortunately I couldn’t make it because we were hosting our neighborhood block party that same day. The family reunion marked the birth-date of my Gramps’ mom- my Great-Grandmother Olive (see her picture above) I’m very sorry I couldn’t make the trip

For the  family party we could attend,  I volunteered to make the dessert. …And I can never make just one. I blame this tendency on my maternal genes -so in some ways the four desserts I made are a just a celebration of being fledged from this family I made Pecan Pie Bars, Ukrainian Cherry Bars, a fudgy Texas sheet cake, and Cinnamon Bars. Since I lost the disk from my camera with the pictures - I’ll have to recreate them here and there.

The first recipe I’ve made again is the Pecan Pie Bars. My nephew, Tyler, asked me to post the recipe (and if- by chance- I had brought any more) when I saw him a couple of days ago so they must have been a hit. I made a new batch last night so I’ll send some his way and here’s the recipe:

Pecan Pie Bars

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cake pan (13x9x2) with a sheet of parchment paper and grease the paper and the sides with a little butter.Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter pieces and pulse until it starts to stick together in small clumps. Quickly press the mixture into the pan evenly and tamp down with the back of a measuring cup or a spatula. Bake for twenty minute. While the crust is baking make the topping:

• 2 cups of chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the Brown sugar, honey and cream and stir in well. Bring to a simmer and simmer for a minute and then mix in the vanilla and the nuts. Pour over hot crust and return to oven for 20 more minutes. Cool completely, remove from pan and parchment and cut into serving pieces.

Wishing you all many happy moments to remember!

xoxo