Spring/Summer 2012

Spring is such an exciting time...tender new leaves, fresh smell of cut grass, plants and flowers bursting through the earth and the potential of what is to come. Breathtaking flowers, warm sunshine and birds tweeting and chirping with happiness. I love sitting on the porch in the evenings when all is quite. I love to watch the planes and stars in the sky and feel the warm breeze on my skin...Our 'Tiger Eyes' plant shields and offers privacy from walkers and strollers passing by.

This summer was also my 40th birthday..sigh..but on the positive side, closer to collecting my sr. citizen benefits. My parents and sisters and Karen made it special by celebrating it with me (not to mention the fabulous gifts-clothes). Keith's birthday was a quite celebration. He started the day by taking Yohann for Lacrosse and we headed to Whittamore's farm to pick fresh Ontario strawberries http://www.whittamoresfarm.com/fun-farm.html. On the way to the farm, Kyren asked to see the map, I was so impressed that I started looking for the map but  we only had directions to the farm, so I told him next time we would print out maps for sure. He replied..'mom, that's fine, I am going to get an app on my DS instead". uh oh..anyways, if the battery on his DS dies out, he'll know maps are the way to go.  The boys, Kim and I were so excited to pick, my instincts made me want to protect our picking territory by putting a fence around it..Kimberly eagerly picked the baby strawberries and after a while when she got tired of picking and eating (her mouth smeared with red), she plopped herself between the plants and just picked what she could reach. It was so cute to watch them. Kyren was mostly giving directions to Yohann and asking to hurry up because after, they could go on the giant slides and play in the corn maze. Yohann and myself could easily have made a career in picking. we did not want to stop but our bucket was full so we reluctantly made our way to the cashier.  They had tons of activities apart from strawberry picking..but we couldn't do it as Keith wanted to watch the world series soccer match and it was his birthday so we headed back home. However, not before we first sampled all of their freshly baked pastries filled with produce from the fields, Strawberry Cheese and blueberry Cheese Danishes, Rasberry Coconut Tarts, Raisin Tarts and Yohann's favorite Cinnamon buns. The boys also had cotton candy icecream? cotton candy? but Kyren reasoned it is not very easy to find cotton candy flavour..umm, ok. whatever.

Kyren: I am so proud of my boy, he gave his first public performance at a recent community event. He sang 'bad moon rising' by CCR. so many people came up to us and said 'he has such a wonderful voice. all of the band members came up and congratulated him on his performance. One of the organizers said 'Kyren, my heart stopped beating when I heard you singing'..'you gave me goosebumps'..that is the same reaction I have when I hear him singing..his voice is like an angel.

Kyren's birthday-was a blast as usual..We all had so much of fun. He had 10 boys over and they all came at 1:30 p. and left by 9:30 p.m..He had a pool party followed by a soccer match and then we headed home for some bbq and water gun fight..we slept that night exhausted and with happy feelings.

 Camping - was more like a party than camping but neverthless so much fun. shilps and family, ayesha and family and giselle and family came with us. the cuzzins in the end looked like they lived the forest all the time...tired, happy and wanting more of it :-) we spent lots of time at the beach..the lake was warm and beach 3 at Awenda Park was awesome....the lake had sandbanks in various places that means that kimberly and kyle could wade further into the water and still have the water only come up to their hips. 

We also brought tons of food to feed an army- ayesha thought of everything ;-) lots of snacks and fun food for the kids (popcorn packs, jelly cups, fruit bowls, PC chocolate covered biscuits which we used to make smores)..Ships brought awesome chicken wings and giselle brought achari chicken to bbq and pulled pork which we did not get around to tasting. Keith made his signature beef chillifry which was appreciated by everybody. 2 days was certainly not enough to devour the food. Awenda is a beautiful provincial park in Ontario on the banks of the Georgian back. It is encompassed by Lake Huron which is connected to Lake Michigan (one of the 5 great lakes). We camped at Turtle campsite which was perfect. Lots of privacy but a drive to the beach. Here is the link to Awenda and I am also including a link from trip advisor that I found very helpful.
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g678572-d1549175-r117089362-Awenda_Provincial_Park-Penetanguishene_Ontario.html


Kimberly- every night we go through the ritual of her saying 'goodnight mommy' and I'll say 'goodnight darling'..and she'll say 'no, say goodnight angel'...so we try again.'Goodnight mommy' and I'll say 'goodnight angel'...then she says 'see you in the morning mommy' (and I have to say exactly these words and in a specific tone..otherwise we go through the ritual at least 5 times before I get everything right) 'see you in the morning angel' and she'll say.."no, 'say, see you in the morning Kimberly'..if i do lose my cool, i have to start all over again. so I remain calm and focussed and concentrate on getting it right.

Summer Fun

Sponge Cake with Pastry Cream and Berries Recipe

Sponge Cake with Pastry Cream and Berries Recipe

• Basic Jelly Roll Sponge Cake (recipe follows)
• Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
• Sliced Berries
• 1 cup 35% whipping cream
• 1 cup toasted sliced almonds

Basic Jelly Roll Sponge Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sifted all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

How to Make the Jelly Roll Sponge Cake:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 15 x 10 x 1-inch with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
2. Beat eggs in a small bowl with electric mixer until very thick and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes at high speed. Add sugar gradually and beat very well after each addition. Turn mixer speed to low and beat in water and vanilla.
3. Sift the flour before measuring, then spoon it lightly into a dry measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. Sift measured flour, baking powder and add to egg mixture. Beat on low speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.
4. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly with a rubber scraper.Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in the centre. Loosen cake around the edges.
5. Place a clean tea towel over a large cake rack and invert the rack and towel on top of the cake. Turn the cake, towel and rack back over and carefully lift the pan off the cake. Strip the paper off the cake. Let cool.
6. Position cake horizontally and cut into three equal parts.

Pastry Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk, divided
• 2 strips lemon rind
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

How to Make the Pastry Cream.

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 3/4 cups of the milk and the lemon zest to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup milk and the cornstarch, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the yolks and the sugar. When the milk mixture has come to a boil, pour it through a strainer onto the beaten yolks-sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Return this mixture to the saucepan and whisk in the milk-cornstarch mixture. Over medium heat, bring to a boil again, whisking all the while, and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Add the vanilla, remove from the heat, and scrape into a bowl.
4. Cover the surface of the cream with plastic wrap to prevent it from forming a skin.
5. (The cream keeps for up to 3 days, tightly and refrigerated.) Chill before serving.

How to Assemble the Sponge Cake with Pastry Cream and Berries Cake:

1. Whip the 35% with whipping attachment of electric mixture until soft peaks form.
2. Place one third of the jelly roll cake on plate..
3. Spread with pastry cream.
4. Top with berries.
5. Place the second layer of jelly roll cake on top.
6. Spread with pastry cream.
7. Top with berries.
8. Place third layer of jelly roll on top of berries.
9. Spread whipping cream on top layer.
10. Add sliced berries and sprinkle with toasted almonds.
11. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

http://liliana-tommasini.suite101.com/berry-sponge-cake-with-pastry-cream-recipe-a66453