Monday, October 25, 2010

I Got Mail! Twice!

6:44 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Okay I will be honest one of the packages was the fabric I ordered. But the other one was a full fledged parcel from home. It was chock full of goodies and had me jumping up and down with excitement.

We only have a tiny pair of scissors so Joel brought out the big guns... or knife

Joel can barely contain his excitement

Oh the joy! Candy, chocolate, quilting supplies and the pastry mat I asked for!!

Had to put that to use right away, here

and here

That is cinnamon raisin bread, not rolled up yet, if you are wondering.

 Just made it this morning so I haven't tried it yet, but it smelled good! 

Last week was not very exciting except for the fabric and package from home. I know you guys are dying to see the fabric (or maybe I am excited to show it because I think it is beautiful). Either way check out the bright colors! 

Almost too pretty to unwrap

But I had to get started on the quilt

even sewed some together

I know it may not look like much right now but I can't wait to see how it all comes together. We had sewing today and we have another session on Thursday so it will be fun to see how much more I can get done. 

Other then that Joel has been studying for exams (again). He had 2 today that he did very well in and 2 on Wednesday. So he has been studying up a storm and I have been trying to read my scuba course material. I am really not a reader though because every time I start I get tired and want to close my eyes. Hopefully I can get through it. I was supposed to go and get certified this weekend but I forgot I had plans, then the next weekend it the Midway dinner. Midway is a celebration of being half way done here!!! Yes you heard it right Joel is half way done which means we only have 10 more months and then we get to come home. I am sooo excited! I hope time continues to fly for both of us. 

I will just leave you with a couple of random photos I thought were interesting....

my purple beans that turned green when cooked, super tasty

my puppy in one of her favourite spots, usually waiting for Joel

a picture of the moon the other night

it is hard to tell here but it was extremely bright

and finally a visual of the changing weather here

it went from this..

to this in a matter of an hour

This took me a little longer then I thought to get posted with all the pictures. Hope you all enjoy! 

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Monday, October 18, 2010

Mushroom Fever

1:31 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

I started the week off busy and productive. Monday I did some things around the house and made a mushroom filled dinner. Yep, they were on sale at the grocery store and I picked up 2 packages before I even thought of what to do with them. So I jumped head first into cream of mushroom soup and stuffed mushrooms. I never realized how easy it is to make cream of mushroom soup and how much better it tastes then from the can. Poor Joel is not a fan of soup or mushrooms but he powered through. I didn't make him take any for lunch the next day because I am nice like that. Here are some pictures of my work, my oh so tasty work.

getting ready to do some stuffing

stuffed and ready for the oven

got a nice little tan in the oven 

our mushroomfest with left over garlic buns

mmmmmmmmmmm

Last week at sewing we had a visitor and an additional student. The visitor was the woman that started the quilting group. Her name is Ruth and she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and I learned so much from her in the few minutes I spoke with her. Her husband was one of Joel's favourite professors but they are now living on Statia. We also had Lauren come to learn a thing or two because she had a week off work. Her mother-in-law got her started on a quilt before she came so she came to hang out with us and get a little help. When sewing was all said and done Lauren came back to my place for lunch and to sit around the pool and teach me a little about blogging. I have not had time to work on any of the things she showed me yet but maybe by the end of the week. I had fun anyways and it looked a little like this. The picture is a little sun drenched but if you can see we have our matching macbooks and we are hard at work. 

Also this week I went and watched Joel play indoor soccer. It looked like it was so much fun I might even join in next time. Plus I like running on flat surfaces so that will be my only chance. Today I signed up for my Scuba certification class so I should be certified by the end of the month. I have my books so I will be doing some studying along with Joel this time. And last but not least..... my fabric came in today!!!! I was sooo excited! I still haven't seen it but I will be at sewing bright and early tomorrow so I can get started on my quilt. I know, little things amuse me but I have never bought fabric for anything before. 

I am off to go cook dinner because I ran out of gas down here so I will head up and get it all done before the crowd comes home. Don't tell Joel but it is a surprise dinner, Sloppy Joe's! He doesn't get a lot of meat so I am sure he will be thrilled. I hope everyone has a fantastic week and if any of you see Amy Harris (Enns) give her a birthday hug for me! 

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving and 10-10-10!

12:01 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful celebration yesterday with all our friends here at The Gate House. Steve's parents came in on Saturday morning to visit and were kind enough to host a REAL Thanksgiving dinner for us last night. I mean 26 lb turkey and all. Which was the only turkey at the grocery store. Here are some pictures from last night. I am not sure why but my camera was pretty blurry some of the time, but you will get the idea.

The buns I made. So good! From the Annie Eats blog soft garlic knots.

  

a close up of my handy work

the table all ready to go

Steve "helping"

 Steve's dad carving the turkey

everyone always ends up in the kitchen

Steve's mom and Angela, the ladies that made it all happen

The pots full of food.... mmmmmmm

the delicious meal: turkey, stuffing, gravy, carrots, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, squash and buns

we did not go hungry

Steve actually helping this time

dessert, my favourite part

pumpkin pie and berry apple crumble with whipped cream

our happy family

Yesterday also marked Saba becoming a part of Holland. We are not longer part of the Netherland Antillies we are living in Holland! We attended a church service at the Catholic church yesterday that all the officials attended and it was a mix between church and town meeting. It was really interesting to be a part of history like that. 

This is video of the kids playing "when the saints go marching in" on the steel drums, during the service. I am sorry if it is bad quality or hard to see this is my first time trying to post a video. 

Other then yesterday's excitement last week was yucky. It stormed all week, our TV got fried in the storm, Joel had exams and he was sick. But I did pick my first harvest (besides some basil leaves). 

Purple Beans!

Pretty right! Apparently they turn green when you cook them. I will let you know. 

Hope everyone is having a great holiday! 

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Saturday, October 9, 2010

Pizza!

9:04 AM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Margherita pizza is my absolute favourite. Since I have a huge pot of basil growing and I bought like a 10 pound page of mozzarella cheese it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make it. I have been using this dough recipe since I got here and it is pretty good but it is still missing that wow factor. Joel recommends I put cornmeal under the dough when I bake it to give it some extra flavour. I think I will try that next. But if that doesn't work I am going to try the recipe from my new favourite blog of the minute Annie's Eats. Yes I know how appropriate. I thought I would share it with you anyways because it is a great easy basic recipe and you can feel free to play it with how you like. 

Here are some pictures to guide you along the way. 

This is what the dough looks like before it doubles in size. I used all white flour here but I usually add at least one cup of whole wheat flour and it takes great. 

This is what it looks like after 5-10 minutes in the oven

Then you pick your favourite toppings like fresh picked basil 

Bake for 15 minutes and Ta Da! 

The one thing I learned from this is I need about 10 times more basil for my liking. I was just so afraid to pick all my plant and have it die, but there is tons more out there now so I should be okay for my next trial. 

Pizza Dough

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar 

1 1/2 cups warm water (110degrees F/45 degrees C) 

1 teaspoon salt 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. (I use two smaller pans and stretch out the dough with my hands on the oiled pan, hence the finger marks in the picture above)

4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes then bake for 5-10 minutes to set. Let cool a couple minutes then top using your favourite ingredients.

5. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

*Update on Zucchini Chocolate Chip Loaf*

If you have any loaf left over (meaning you are not like my pregnant sister who turned the recipe into muffins and ate them all in one day) you may be interested in making them into super sweet french toast. Yummy! 

Blogger is driving me a little crazy and I am having trouble formatting this post so don't mind the different fonts etc. I am working on it. 

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

New Name, New Look

8:10 AM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Yeah I am not sure about the new name yet. Thought about it last night but I'm not sure it does anything for me. How about the changing look, any comments or suggestions? I am still learning how to do all this HTML stuff and trying to find things I like. Lauren (see previous post) offered to come over and show me some things next week so I am definitely looking forward to that. This is getting kind of addicting.

I'll move on to what is new in my life. Sea and Learn was so fun! I was sad I forgot my camera on Friday because they had all these kids from the drum band do a performance and they were SOOOOO good! And some of them were so little and cute. It looked like they ranged in age from about 6 - 18. Then we listen to this guy talk about over fishing of Tuna, Swordfish, Grouper, Sharks etc. Made me glad I don't really eat fish, see I'm doing my part to save them. Then on Monday night I went to another presentation and we learned about beaches and how they are formed. It was really interesting because they have a beach on the island that comes and goes. It usually comes in August and leaves around the beginning of December. This year with my luck there was no beach. It may have been because of all the large storms she said. Darn.

Friday I went out with some of the wives. Well first Lauren made us homemade pizza that was delicious then we headed down to Scout's Place to watch "Sabaoke" (I think I spelled that right). It is the only place that does karaoke on the island and they do it every Friday. I had a great time with the girls and can't wait to do it again.

It has really only been a few days since my last post so I don't have any picture well except of Sophie (of course). She is ridiculous. First of all she decided to sit on a chair and secondly look at that crazy smirk.

And yes there are a million jackets and sweaters on that chair. We ran out of closet space. 

If I can pull myself away from looking up blogging things I may have another post for you this week involving food. mmmmmmm 

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Sunday, October 3, 2010

Facelift

8:36 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

I was checking out a blog of a friend of mine this weekend and it is sooo pretty (yeah Lauren you know it is you). I asked how she did it and she sent me to a website and now I have decided to give my blog a facelift. This is a learning process so you will have to hang in there till I get it all complete. Things will be moved. Colors will be changed and then changed again, and again till I get it just right. So try not to be too distracted and I will let you know when I have given up finished. Also give me feed back so I know what is best for you, the readers. I just like when things look pretty.

2 comments

Friday, October 1, 2010

Sew Disappointed

8:47 AM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

I hope you all enjoyed my first recipe post. I am going to try and be a little more diligent on taking pictures when I am baking and cooking. Also I don't know if you noticed but I ended up using my point and shoot camera for all the pictures but the last one for 2 reasons. 1) I am not very good with the digital SLR yet and 2) it was very bad lighting and because of reason 1 I didn't know how to make it work. Anyways still working on the camera thing as I have time.

I am trying to remember what I did last week because I did not take any pictures. Oh well I took one.

That is my lazy puppy taking a nap on my bed. Good thing I just shaved and bathed her this week. She made some new puppy friends last week and we went on a hike together. She is so small compared to them I think she could walk under all 3 of them. 

This week I had sewing on Tuesday and Thursday morning and movie night on Wednesday night. To be honest most of my week had me looking for fabric online for the quilt I am starting soon (when I get the fabric). I looked for ages and found the fabric I REALLY wanted from this Amy Butler line

But long story short it did not work out so I am using fabric from this line

It is still very nice but I kind of have an obsession with Amy Butler lately. That was my slight disappointment this week. Not I am patiently awaiting my package in the mail. Oh, on that note if anyone feeling like mailing me anything a letter, pictures, candy, fabric... here is my address 

Anne Scott-Herridge c/o Joel Scott-Herridge

Saba University School of Medicine

The Church Street

The Bottom, Saba

Netherland Antillies

Caribbean

Yep exactly like it is written. 

Sorry totally side tracked for a minute. What else did I do this last week. We had a meeting for SOS (Significant Others of Saba) which I am the new co-president of so that was interesting and we planned out a few events for the next couple weeks. We had church at the school on Sunday which keeps growing in number every week, love it!  Sewing I talked about, movie night I mentioned, more sewing, oh yesterday I learned how to make pita bread so I may have another recipe for you next week but I will have to figure it out because I was shown how to make it without a recipe so I think I may have to practice a little first before I show you. Tonight I am going to Sea and Learn a month long event put on by the local diving shop and we are learning about sharks. Fun! I have been meaning to learn how to scuba dive but I seem to have things planned almost every day so I will have to look at my calendar and decide on two days that work. Have to get it done before December so I can go scuba diving in ARUBA! I saw a commercial for Aruba the other day and it got me so excited "You may think the biggest export is aloe, but it's not, it's happiness!" Can't wait! 

I have a list of things to do today a mile long so I am going to get them started. Until next time.....

1 comments

Whole Wheat Zucchini Chocolate Chip Loaf

7:47 AM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Sorry it took so long for me to get this blog post done. I have had a busy week, and with the camera not wanting to load the pictures it put me really behind. So I thought I would start you out with a recipe then do another post with an update on our lives.

Okay so I am really bad at remembering to take pictures while I am making food so this is a combination of 2 different attempts at one recipe. I did make a modification but it was small. Please do not try and compare me to any food bloggers you may have read (ie. Bakerella or Transplanted Baker,  yes I know I am drawn to baking blogs). This is a disclaimer because I am not a professional. Also so you know I get most of my recipes from Allrecipes.com because I can search by what ingredients I can find here. Let's get started!

Start off with some grated zucchini, but don't forget to squeeze out the liquid so it does not make your batter runny

 Combine your dry ingredients and set aside. I have played with the flavours and made it with just cinnamon or with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger for more of a Fall flavour in my opinion. Also I know this does not look like whole wheat flour and that is because it is not. I could not find any at the store the last couple weeks so we have been having a lot of white flour, but don't fret I found some yesterday.

 The second time I made it I substituted some pureed pumpkin I had left over from another recipe for the vegetable oil. I think it made it extra moist and I should have baked it for longer. I didn't have a toothpick to check it so it was very batterlike near the bottom. And yes this is pumpkin not roasted peppers (obviously) but this is the only container I had for the left overs from the can.

Combine the wet ingredients

This is what it looks like when you use pumpkin instead of vegetable oil (or olive oil in my case)

Start mixing the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients

Till they look like this

Fold in the grated zucchini

Then the chocolate chips and the nuts. In my case nuts are to expensive so no nuts, besides we are nutty enough. 

Mmmmm chocolate chips

Place them in the nice loaf pans (I doubled the recipe)

And voila! The finished product with a piece already sliced off because I couldn't wait any longer. 

Whole Wheat Zucchini Chocolate Chip Loaf
(www.allrecipes.com)


Ingredients:

  ● 1 cup whole wheat flour
  ● 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  ● 3/4  cup sugar
  ● 1 tsp  baking soda
  ● 1 tsp cinnamon
  ● 1/2 tsp salt
  ● 1 egg, lightly beaten
  ● 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  ● 1/4 cup milk
  ● 1 tbsp lemon juice
  ● 1 tsp vanilla
  ● 1 cup zucchini
  ● 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  ● 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)


In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.
or
Fill greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until muffin test done.


Please let me know if you make it and if you like it!

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