What Do You Do With Nine Pounds of Plums?

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…..make plum jam of course

I love plum cake, plum jam and Polish donuts with plum filling.

It’s part of my German upbringing. Every August/September, growing up, my mom would make ‘pflaumenkuchen mit streusel’ and serve it with freshly whipped cream. It was truly special.

Months after my mother’s death I purchased a plum cake from a local bakery situated near the cottage. When I served it, my youngest daughter started to cry because it reminded her of her Oma. No one, in her young memory made a better pflaumenkuchen.

I have tried to recreate her recipe. Of course she didn’t share the recipe with us and we only have our memories of the taste and appearance to go by. My father’s wife makes a wonderful version of this traditional German cake but always makes it with a yeast dough. I’m pretty sure that Mom used a batter made with butter, flour, sugar and baking powder.

http://www.huettenhilfe.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Pflaumenkuchen.jpg

Ah, memories…… however, I am trying to lose more weight and baking a plum cake right now would be counter productive. So most of the plums that we bought have gone into making plum jam and most of the jars will be gifted to family and friends.

My husband found an interesting recipe from a cookbook called My Berlin Kitchen by Luisa Weiss. It uses less sugar than most jams and is baked in the oven for 2 hours. We’ve tweaked the recipe somewhat and doubled the amounts suggested in the original recipe. I also love the name ‘Pflaumenmus’. If you’d like the original recipe go to: http://www.foodinjars.com/2012/09/my-berlin-kitchen-giveaway-spiced-plum-butter/

Eight pounds of plums soaking in sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

Pflaumenmus (Spiced Plum Butter)

8 pounds of Italian plums, washed, quartered and pitted

4 cups of sugar

4 cinnamon sticks

8 cloves or 2 tsp. ground cloves

1. Place the washed, quartered and pitted plums in a large ovenproof pot or baking dish.

2. Sprinkle the sugar and  cloves over the plums and place the cinnamon sticks under the plums.

3. Place the pan or pot in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

4. Put the pan of plums in a preheated oven (350 degrees) and bake for 2 hours.

5. Here is where we tweaked the recipe. The mixture was very soupy so we put the pan on the stovetop and cooked it longer until some of the liquid cooked down.

6. Place the mixture in a blender or use an immersion blender and puree the mixture until you get the desired consistency. If you like a chunkier jam, blend less and longer if you like  it smoother.

7. Place the hot jam in hot sterilized jars. Make sure that the rims are clean and place the lids carefully on top and screw on the rings.

8. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Three of the 14 jars of Pflaumenmus we made with 8 pounds of plums.

 Enjoy!

To Market, to Market…..

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…. and a few wineries to boot

Yesterday on our trip to the Niagara region our intention was to seek out a few farmers’ markets. I really wanted to purchase a large quantity of Italian plums for canning. Our first stop was in Beamsville where the market consisted of 9 vendors. It was rather overcast and everyone was afraid of being rained out.

None the less we found a few things to purchase and the vendors were very friendly and talkative. One thing I learned was that the fruit farmers in the area lost about 85% of their cherry and plum crop earlier in the spring because of frost. No plums at this market. On to the next stop.

Nothing says ‘autumn’ like a cornucopia of gourds, squash and pumpkins.

These radishes look like they’re on steroids.

Our next three stops were at wineries, Megalomaniac, Featherstone and 13th Street. All of them were very busy because we chose to drive to the Niagara Region during The Niagara Wine Festival.

The entrance to Megalomanic. An interesting place because it’s built into a hill.

A close-up of the door handles on those beautiful doors.

The tasting room was very busy today. We didn’t stay to sample but based on past experience they make an excellent white wine.

Our next stop was at a much smaller vineyard called Featherstone. This is where I posted the sign about welcoming dogs on leashes. This was a much more intimate experience and we were able to speak to the staff about the product. The owners actually own a Jack Russell Terrier that has his own doghouse made from a wine barrel.

The tasting room is inside this quaint little cottage.

Bocci is the dog’s name.

We stopped at one more winery, 13th Street. There was a Hand Made Fair going on at this  place. There were hundreds of people there. Too busy for us. We purchased a jar of Horseradish Garlic Pear condiment to serve with cheese or meat.

We made one more stop at the local cheese factory, The Upper Canada Cheese Co., purchased a smoked maple soft cheese and then drove into St. Davids to have lunch at the Old Winery Restaurant. It was already mid-afternoon and we were very hungry. We made some healthy food choices and thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

Before heading home I was determined to find a roadside stall where I could buy plums. As luck would have it there was a stand not too far from the restaurant and they were selling plums. I was a little shocked at the price, $12.00 for a basket, but I decided it was important to support the local farmers.

Italian plums next to peaches and grapes.

The irony of all of this is that when I got home I had to make a quick stop at Costco to pick up something for school and while I was there I saw Italian plums for $6.99 (5 pounds compared to the 4 pounds in the basket I bought). I bought them as well. Today we started preparing them for plum jam using an old German recipe (I’ll share with you tomorrow).

Eight pounds of plums soaking in sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Tomorrow the entire pan goes into the oven for 2 hours and then pureed and poured into sterilized canning jars.

All in all it was a great day. The sun eventually did come out. We bought a variety of vegetables, fruit, cheese, salami, a condiment and a few bottles of wine. We supported the local economy but more importantly I got to spend some quality time with my husband.

Cheers!

Confession is Good for the Soul

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…..and for quick results on the scale

Earlier in the week I confessed that over the weekend or at least since I’ve been back to school I regained 3 1/2 pounds. Today I’m happy to report that I’ve lost all of it.

I think sharing my ups and downs helps keep me honest and on track. Not only did I admit to the weight gain but I was able to analyze why it happened. One thing that I’ve learned about my body after all these years is that certain foods trigger my urge to eat. Pasta is a killer for me. I also love corn and pork but my digestive system doesn’t and they tend to slow down my metabolism.

Everything in moderation but when I’m trying to lose weight I know that I have to avoid some foods altogether. Years ago, Weight Watchers used to call these foods ‘red light foods’.

I’ve also gotten more sleep in the last few days. I start getting ready for bed by 11:00 and I’m in bed well before midnight. A huge improvement for me. I’m getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night and slightly more on the weekend. The benefits of course are that I’m far more rested and I have a lot more energy.

My new job at school, this week has kept me hopping as well. I’m doing “Art on a Cart” and this week it involved painting. I’ll explain more in a future post but bottom line is I’m on the move in the afternoon more than ever.

Today I made a list of things I wanted to do with my husband. We decided to check out some farmers’ markets in the Niagara region. On our way we stopped at a few wineries as well and I came across this sign. At first I thought how nice it was that they allowed dogs on the premises but I didn’t the get the humour because I only read the top portion. My husband had to direct my eyes to the signature in the bottom corner.

Sometimes choices come with limitations but as this sign points out there are reasons why!

A Little Yoga, a Little Running

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….life is good!

The day started with a run and ended with a 75 minute yoga class. Any stress I experienced this week just vanished during Savasana.

http://sp.life123.com/bm.pix/poweryoga1

A number of colleagues at work lost weight over the summer. The difficult part for most of us is keeping it off and continuing to lose more. The problem is stress. I personally knew that the first few weeks back at work would be difficult. It’s not eating that’s the problem and I’ve continued to exercise.

So what’s the difference? For starters I know I’m not drinking enough water.  I’m also not moving as much (despite running). A good part of my day is reading to children and sitting in front of a computer. Another factor is that I’m not getting enough sleep. Also the political climate for teachers in Ontario is very contentious.

It’s difficult going to work everyday when the media paints all teachers with the same black brush. Even though we continue to offer extracurricular activities at our school many teachers are angry with the government and some schools have collectively decided to cancel all or some of their extracurricular programs.

At our school council meeting yesterday the parents put me on the spot and asked me during the meeting what my take was on the status of extracurricular programs at our school and elsewhere. I assured them that for the time being at our school programs were running but if other schools opted out there wouldn’t be any teams to play against.

The bottom line is that extracurricular activities have always been voluntary. Ontario teachers do not get paid to run these programs and there’s nothing in the Education Act that says teachers have to offer extracurricular programs. Since our right to negotiate our  contract has been taken away from us, teachers feel betrayed by their government. We normally settle contracts with our school board.

I didn’t plan on making this into a political rant. I felt you needed some background as to why school is so stressful for me right now. I literally gained 3 1/2 pounds over the weekend. I know that I didn’t eat 12 000 more calories than I should have in 2 days. When I’m under a lot of stress my body hangs on to water and my metabolism slows down.

So why did I say “life is good”? Because I feel like I’m back on the right path with my weight loss journey. At yoga tonight I could feel the stress leave my body. During Savasana I was seconds away from falling asleep. That’s how relaxed I was.

So I’m making a conscious effort to drink more water. I’m planning and packing my lunches before I go to bed. I continue to avoid all sweets (except the odd piece of dark chocolate). I’ve asked my husband not to prepare any pasta dishes for at least a couple of weeks. I’m continuing to run with my students 3 times a week and plan to ride my bike at least once on the weekends.

One of the most important changes I need to make is getting to bed no later than 11:00. So on that note I need to sign off so that I can get a big glass of water and get into my PJs. Positive thoughts!

Cheers!

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The Joy of Buying New Clothes

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….in smaller sizes

It wasn’t that long ago when I was so happy about getting out of plus sizes and into x-large.   Today most of the tops I bought were large.

I have to admit that I am a bit of a shop-aholic. Today wasn’t the only day that I bought new clothes. Last week after a stressful day at work I headed for my new favourite store, Marshall’s, and tried on at least a dozen tops. Many of the extra larges were too big and I actually went back to the racks to find the same garment in a smaller size. I bought 3 sleeveless tops and I’ve already worn all 3 to work.

I don’t think I’ve ever had as many compliments about what I was wearing as I did last week. Not only were the tops pretty but they actually accentuated my new figure and people really noticed how much weight I’ve lost.

Today I convinced my husband to go with me to Marshall’s again. We had spent hours today making ketchup, cleaning the kitchen, washing the floor and organizing all our newly made canned goods. I really needed to get out. Come to think of it I more or less left it up to K to decide where we would go. I guess Marshall’s was the lesser evil of all the other suggestions that I made.

I spent most of my time looking at the large size rack and took 8 items with me to the dressing room. Only one top was too small and the pants were a little snug. I ended up with 5 items.  I spent just over $100.00. Not bad and all of these tops will take me into the colder weather.

When I got home I knew that I needed to clean out some more of my old clothes that were clearly too big for me. I used to think that looser fitting clothes would look okay but the truth of the matter is that they only make you look bigger than you are. Out with the old!

“Out with the old”…. I’m sure the pile will become bigger. These are only the clothes that were on hangers. I haven’t gone through my dresser drawers and then there are all my winter clothes that are packed away and stored under my bed.

 

 

 

 

I used to reward myself with food. I think I prefer my new reward system.

” In with the new!”….. they look much nicer on me. Maybe I can convince K to take some pictures for a future post.

Images From My New Bike

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…. I finally got out for a long ride on my new bike today

It started out as a beautiful day. I wanted to go to a market and pick up some more fruits and vegetables to can but my husband had other plans.

It would be a shame to let such a sunny morning go to waste by getting in the car and driving to a market. Out came the bikes and the panniers were fastened to the racks on the back of each bike.

We opted to head east toward the city. There are good bike lanes for most of the route. Good thing because traffic was heavier than normal due to road closures this weekend. As always there’s a lot going on in the city of Toronto. Getting there by bike is probably one of the best options to choose. Not only does it give one a good workout but we also didn’t have to worry about the heavy traffic and parking was a breeze.

The other benefit is being able to enjoy the scenery along the way and stopping to take pictures. At the Humber River we have a great foot bridge that on its own is wonderful to photograph but recently a piece of installation art was added that makes it even more interesting.

As you can see from the photos, our beautiful sunny day was quickly becoming overcast but we decided to continue our journey and we rode north to Bloor West Village to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the Ukrainian Festival.

A good part of this ride was all uphill but I’m happy to say I made it all the way without getting off my bike. I put myself in the same mindset when I’m running and just focused on my breathing and only concentrated on the road in front of me.

When we got to Bloor St. a parade was underway. We locked up our bikes and started walking down the street.

The sky got darker and darker as the morning gave over to the afternoon.

When the parade ended we found a relatively quiet cafe and ordered a couple of cappuccinos. We timed it well because the place filled up quickly. After finishing our caffeinated beverages we headed back out on to the street to enjoy the colour and din of the vendors that lined the centre of the road.

We made very few purchases this morning. I’m sure that some of the regular vendors on this strip lose money on weekends like this. We did buy a couple of loaves of fresh bread from Cobbs which we carefully packed into our panniers. We were debating whether to head home or wait out the impending rain. We decided to risk it and ride back. Good thing!  The rain still hasn’t materialized.

As we were riding down the hill (much easier) we became quite chilled so we stopped and put on our fleece jackets. We stopped at the bridge and took some pictures of the city skyline and a lone kayaker coming down the Humber River.

When we got home I checked gmap.pedometer and calculated that we travelled a total of 24 k today. Not bad for the first time on my new bike.

Cheers!

“You’re an artist, Mrs. Cormier!”

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…why do I have such a difficult time seeing myself as an artist?

I love art, I teach art, I appreciate many styles of art and I occasionally create art. I’ve even sold my art; however I find it difficult to describe myself as an artist.

Today during one of my art classes with grade 3s and 4s I showed them some examples of work I had done to demonstrate an art technique that they might want to use in their first art project. The children oohed and awed over my examples and insisted that I was this amazing artist.

I showed them how easy the technique was and with practise they could produce their own amazing pieces. I feel all children have artistic ability. Some of them just need more encouragement than others.

I believe that children should be given a certain amount of artistic freedom but I also believe that it’s okay to show them how they could improve on what they’ve done. I give them suggestions and demonstrate techniques that they can choose to use or not. Often they come up with even better ideas.

Today I wanted to make the lesson about them and what they could do and were capable of. I didn’t want it to be about me. I think that I provided some inspiration for many of them today and much of the work that they produced was exceptional for 8 and 9 year olds.

The children used photographs of themselves in their art work today so I am unable to post them on the internet. The theme was “I’m a star because…..” and the children posed in positions that demonstrated what they were good at. They wrote, in a pre-made star, why they were a star and then filled it in with colour. The star and the photograph (trimmed around the student’s body) were glued onto a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of white card stock. The last step was to create a scene around the pictures. Some of the scenes included performing a dance on stage, meditating while sitting on the floor, slaying a dragon. doing the splits at a gymnastic competition and playing golf on a putting green.

Am I an artist? My students think so. My colleagues and friends think I am. Aren’t we all artists at some level? Here are a few of my pieces. I will try to capture some work done by my students without revealing their identity for another post.

16 x 16 acrylic, “Fern”

8 x 10 acrylic monoprint, “Autumn Grass”

5 x 7 acrylic on yupo paper, “Abstract Landscape”

8 x 10 mono print, acrylic, “untitled”

Who Looks Forward to Going to the Doctor?

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…. apparently I do!

It took me over a year to find a new doctor when the last one I had decided to retire. Not that I begrudge anyone the decision to retire. Quite the contrary but when both your doctor and your husband’s doctor decide to leave the medical profession at the same time (no relation to each other) it makes the search doubly hard.

My husband was definite about wanting a male doctor and I didn’t care one way or the other. My former doctor had her own business but for some reason no one wanted to buy it from her and consequently all her patients had to look elsewhere for a new medical facility to meet their needs.

My husband’s former doctor on the other hand was quite young and we’re not quite sure why he left the profession. His office was in a clinic shared by numerous physicians. It was always curious to me why his patients weren’t divided up amongst the other partners.

More than a year after losing our family doctors I went into a tail spin and started to panic about not having my own personal physician. I know that the walk in clinic up the road would do in a pinch but there’s nothing like having a doctor that knows your personal history and recognizes you when you walk in the door.

You may recall my experience of having a feeling of dread the day after my first 5 k race. I felt like I was about to die. It turned out to be an anxiety attack but it spurred me on to find a doctor for each of us.

I called the clinic where my husband used to go on the off chance that someone in the office had taken on some of Dr. S’s former patients. They hadn’t but they did have a new doctor that was taking on new patients and another clinic down the road was also taking new patients. I couldn’t believe my luck.

My husband got his male doctor and I chose to see the female doctor in the other clinic. We both had appointments the following week. Our experiences were quite different, even though both clinics were part of the same organization. We were interviewed by our new doctors and my doctor arranged for me to see a specialist right away for a minor problem that I’ve had in the past. My husband was given numerous tests right away while I had to make another appointment for a full physical.

After one cancellation by my doctor I finally made arrangements to take the day off for 2 separate appointments that were to take place today. When I got home last night there was a message on the phone from the medical clinic’s head office. Not a good sign.

I couldn’t believe my luck. Not only was my appointment cancelled again but this time it happened because the clinic closed down on the weekend for good. No one could tell me if my doctor was relocating or even continuing to practise medicine. After voicing my disappointment I made some inquiries as to whether my husband’s doctor was still taking patients. Apparently he was so I booked another appointment with him for later in the day.

I called my principal and we decided to cancel my supply teacher. I still had my second appointment with the specialist but it was scheduled over the lunch hour and I could easily get to that appointment and back again without too much disruption in my school day. The new appointment was after school hours.

At the end of the school day I attended a budget meeting and then I headed over to meet my newest doctor. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t get my physical today but I knew that I had to get the process started again.

Dr. V is very young. I’ve always felt that the next doctor should be younger than me so that I wouldn’t have to worry about him or her retiring as I enter into my twilight years. Did I really say that? Anyway the first words out of his mouth were that he wouldn’t be staying at that location for much longer. I was gobsmacked but the good news according to him was that with this organization I could go to any of their clinics and would be looked at by anyone of their doctors.

I was and still am dismayed. The whole reason for this journey to find a new doctor was to establish a personal relationship with one individual who would know me as a person, not as data on a medical chart. The other kicker was that before I can make an appointment with him I have to find my old medical records and bring them with me to my next appointment…. if he’s still there.

What am I to do????????????