{WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO}

* WORKING ON A NEW WEBSITE FOR PEACHLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WEBSITE
(HUGE LEARNING CURVE)
http://www.peachlandchamber.bc.ca/

* PEACHLAND BUSINESS 2 CONSUMER EXPO
http://www.peachlandchamber.bc.ca/business_2_consumer_expo_2011.html

* KANAAN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
* DAD'S TAXES
* PERSONAL TAXES
* INCORPORTATED TAXES
* SICKNESS
* KEEPING UP WITH THE KIDS
*WESTSIDE CURB APPEAL INC.
http://www.westsidecurbappeal.com/

.........AND DREAMING OF A OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL THROUGH SICILY!

Sugar Gang Convoy to Bear Creek!

This is on my Must try list!

Homemade laundry detergent



Having a family of four means having scads of laundry to do. Which means spending a pretty penny on laundry detergent. I decided it was time to make our own detergent; it was much easier than I'd anticipated. The hardest part well be scouring the town for ingredients.

Found the recipe on this blog (www.marigoldroad.com)
You will need:
--1 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated (amounts to approx 2 cups)-use smallest grater size so it's super fine (found bar at Ace Hardware for $1.29)

--1 cup Borax (found box at Ace Hardware for $5.49)

--1 cup Washing Soda (found box at Dillon's for $2.85)

--1/4 cup OxyClean (not necessary, but can be added) *I didn't use it*

Mix all of it together with a spoon; will look bumpy, granular, and probably not all-mixed (that's ok).

Use 1T for a light load and 2T for a large or really dirty load.

Drea has some helpful notes on her blog about the cost-effectiveness of homemade versus store-purchased laundry soap. She makes a strong case!

The smallest grater hole on my grater caused the soap to stick. I had to use the next largest size, and the soap came out in little curlie-cues. I'm not too worried about it because it's still pretty fine. I've heard food processors can grate soap down pretty fine as well, but I don't have one.
I doubled the recipe to make the effort worth it (Drea mentions a double-recipe lasts up to 6 months!!), and used Ivory as the second bar of soap. For storage use a GladWare reusable storage container (8-cup size).

few of my FAVS

MINTAIDE

This is a new favorite in our house!
Takes a few minutes to make with all freshly squeezed fruit!
You can feel good letting your kids gulp down this drink!


Mintade

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, strained

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, strained

6 cups icy cold water

1 cup fine granulated sugar*

1 cup fresh mint leaves, torn

lots of ice

Combine juices and water in a pitcher. Stir in sugar, until dissolved. Stir in mint leaves, smashing leaves with spoon to release mint oil. Pour into ice-filled glasses.

*I like to use fine granulated sugar, however regular sugar works okay too. It will just take a little longer to dissolve. You may enjoy using more or less sugar, depending on your taste.

Grilled Vegetable Puff

Grilled Vegetable Puff

This one is surprisingly simple, but looks nicely impressive. I had a recipe that called for a white wine cream stock but I didn't end up doing that, I kept if simpler, and it was divine.



1 package puff pastry

1 egg, beaten



Filling:


2 Tbsp olive oil

1 leek, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, sliced Julienne

1 orange bell pepper, as above

1 green bell pepper, as above

]1 yellow green pepper, as above

3/4 cup mushrooms (I forgot these!)

1 zucchini, sliced on a diagonal.

1 Tbsp VE Vegetable seasoning.

1 tsp Vegetable bouillon (not prepared)

VE Giardino salt and VE 4-Pepper blend to taste.



I just grilled these veggies very simply in oil, on medium-high for a couple of minutes, till they were slightly softened with very bright colours. You can also grill them and then add some flour, vegetable stock, a smidge of white wine and milk, and bring it to a boil and thicken. I'm sure it's lovely, but I kept it really simple.



Roll half of the pastry puff (they come in 2 blocks) on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 13 X 6.



Roll out the other pastry puff into a slightly larger rectangle, and score it on a diagonal.



Place the first pastry puff on a cookie sheet lined with dampened parchment paper.

Spoon the grilled vegetables onto the bottom and then roll the scored one up onto a rolling pin and roll it out over the bottom and the veggies. Make sure you've left a decent "border" along the bottom.



Brush the edges of the bottom rectangle with the egg, and place the larger one on top, and then seal the edges with comfy pinches. This is nice stuff to work with, very elastic and user-friendly.



Brush the entire piece with either egg or cream to let it brown, and cook in a preheated oven at 400 for 30-35 minutes (mine took 40), until risen and golden. (For the record, I did NOT use egg to bind it shut, and it sealed up just fine.)



This was beautiful, and very tasty. I'm sure the wine sauce is great, but even a simple veggie grill was just lovely. I'll be making this again for sure. Substitute any veggies that are nice for grilling. Eggplant would be yummy, too, I'm sure!Add a captionGrilled Vegetable Puff

PEACHLAND'S BUSINESS2CONSUMER TRADE EXPO