Homelife

Andrew's Wedding

I've posted the photos from Andrew's wedding plus some others from our travels in CA.  Enjoy!  Stories from the wedding to follow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gwen.marsh/AndrewsWedding

Greetings from CA

Hello there friends and family,

I'm writing to you from Mr. Toots Coffee Shop in Capitola, California.  We've had a busy few days.  We flew in on Saturday, Jan 5th just after a wicked storm hit the Bay Area.  The descent was a bit rocky and I've come to realize that I really don't like the SF airport especially when it's super windy.

We stayed in Palo Alto on Saturday night after touring the city; revisiting old haunts.  We got caught in the middle of a thunder storm on one of our walks and got totally soaked.  The thunder storm was right overhead of us.  It was obvious that the storm on the previous day had been quite bad as there were trees down and debris everywhere.  One slight glitch with our travel was that Hanna's booster seat for the car was lost in transit.  Apparently it arrived at the SFO airport but never made it out to the baggage area.  We're hoping to pick it up later this week.

On Sunday we headed south to Capitola but first stopped in at the beaches outside of San Gregorio and Half Moon Bay.  The waves were amazing as the tide was high and the storm winds hadn't quite subsided yet.  We drove to Pacifica and met up with Paul, a good friend of ours from Studio Red days.  Then we went south to Capitola to meet up with the rest of the family.  We've rented a beachhouse in Capitola.   It's our home base till Thursday.

Monday turned out to be a gorgeous day given the previous days' winds and rains.  We hung out in Capitola all day, walking the beach and enjoying the sunshine.  At one point, Stephen and I sat outside on the lawnchairs and basked in the sun.  Ahhh, the wonderful feeling of warm sunshine on your face.

On Tuesday we drove south (all 8 of us crammed into a mini-van) to the Monterey Aquarium.  It was as usual fabulous.  The only disappointment was that a good chunk of the kids'; play area was closed.  The kids still got to try to touch the manta rays and starfish and all that good stuff.  They absolutely loved standing under the demonstration wave (it "washes" over you while you're standing in a plexiglass building).  We saw a diver feeding the fish -- and the largest sunfish I have ever seen.  Strange creatures. 

Today, we loaded up the mini-van again and went south again, this time to Carmel by the Sea.  By the time we arrived (11ish), the sun had burned off the fog and it was simply spectacular.  We brought shovels and buckets for Dawson (aged 2) and Hanna.  They spent the good part of three hours playing in the white sand.  I think we all got some good sun and exercise today.  Tonight is pizza night and tomorrow we decamp to San Fran. 

Photos can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gwen.marsh/17MileDriveCA

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful evening. 

Today is Apple Flappen and Oliebollen day at our household.  It's a traditional Dutch treat.  Steve's dad and mom would hold an open house at their place in Summerland on New Year's Day and feed everyone the treats.  We've carried on the tradition by holding an open house at our ski cabin.  Here are our recipes. Photos to follow shortly.

Oliebollen

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 currants
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 3 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

Let yeast stand and foam in lukewarm water for ? minutes. Stir currants,, raisins and salt into flour.  Add risen yeast, eggs and sugar to flour mixture. Stir in milk. Mix until smooth.

Let rise for 1/2 to 3/4 hour or until very light. With spoons shape batter into balls. Drop into deep, hot fat 375 degrees F. Fry until nicely browned.  Drain on absorbent paper. Roll in icing sugar. Eat hot, if possible.

Apple Flappen

• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups sweet cider or flat beer
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 tart apples, cored, peeled, each cut into wedges (we do rings)
• sugar mixed with cinnamon

Preheat deep fryer to 325F

Mix flour, cinnamon, and nutmet.  Combine with cider or beer, and salt to make a smooth batter. Let batter sit for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Dip apples wedges in batter and fry, a few at a time until light golden.  Drain fritters on paper towels in a warm oven, sprinkle with sugar and remove to a warmed dish.

Photos can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gwen.marsh/NewYearSAtApex07

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  We had a delightful one -- starting with the fact that Hanna slept in till 7am.  Not bad! 

We opened presents, drank coffee and generally relaxed.  Stephen and I got out for a short snowshoe around the skating loop here at Apex.  Then we got going on dinner.  After a bit of a discussion we realized we had messed up on putting in the pre-cooked 20lb ham.  Oh well.  It was a little closer to 7pm than we would have liked -- but hey the ham was yummy and the company great! 

I've posted some photos on Picasa for your viewing pleasure.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gwen.marsh/Christmas2007Apex

Christmas Recitals

Tis the week for Christmas recitals -- ballet, school, piano and choir.  Tonight is the last recital and should be wonderful.  Hanna's children's choir is singing with the local symphony.  Viv and I are going and are looking forward to it.

Here's a snippet of video from Hanna's Christmas ballet recital.  It's a small informal recital held in her classroom.  The end-of-year recital is much bigger and takes place at the local theatre.

More Photos

I've added some more family photos to our Picasa album.  You can see them here:   http://picasaweb.google.com/gwen.marsh

Things are gearing up for Christmas.  Next week we have three Christmas showcases to see (one ballet and two choir).  Then it's off to the ski hill to hang out and enjoy winter.  Mom and Dad Marsh will be arriving on the 23rd to spend Christmas with us.  I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a long time....

I can't believe it's been such a long time since I've posted.  Sorry about all that. 

We spent all weekend at the ski hill enjoying the feeling of Christmas and the fresh air.  On Sunday morning, we got out for a short snowshoe and then some downhill skiing later in the day.  I've posted some photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/gwen.marsh/December807WeekendAtApex

Coffee Roasting 101

As many of you know, there's a deeply held affection for coffee in our household.  It has just reached new heights as Stephen and Michael (another coffee aficianado) have decided to roast their own beans. 

Stephen ordered a coffee roaster for the BBQ and then 60 lbs of green beans (yes, you read that correctly -- 60 LBS!).  These guys are serious. 

Their first coffee roast was approached with a mixture of trepidation, glee and beer.    Coffee roasting involves listening to the beans as they "crack" with the heat.  The beans need to come off the roaster and cooled just after the second "crack".   The first batch of beans were slightly burnt -- expresso roast they said. 

The second batch of beans were just right. 

The third batch of beans turned out to be a "learning experience."  Thankfully Stephen thought to put a fire extinguisher on the balcony -- just in case.  During the roast, there was some debate between the roasters as to whether they had just heard the second "crack" or the first "crack".  They decided it was the first crack.  Alas, it was the second crack.  The temperature on the BBQ thermometer jumped.  They opened the BBQ and flames shot up to the roof of the BBQ.   They shut the BBQ and flames came out the back.   Did I mention that Stephen had thought to bring out a fire extinguisher?  Good thing as they needed it to put out the beans. 

The roasters returned to try again the next day.  More updates to follow.

(Photos from top to bottom:  coffee roaster on table with temperature gauges, Stephen installing coffee roaster on BBQ rotisserie, Michael cooling the beans by pouring them from one colander to another).

Ballet

Hanna's been taking ballet this year. She has a Christmas show at her school where she and the other students showed what they had been learning this year. Here's one clip from the show where Hanna (the taller of the two) are soldiers.

Winter Has Arrived

It's easy to know when winter has arrived in the Okanagan.  First, the weather.  It changes and gets colder; in this year's case, a lot colder.  Temperatures dipped into the -28 to -30 zone at the hill while at the valley bottom, it was a warmer -14 or so.  Lake Okanagan is still quite a bit warmer than the air so it was steaming up a storm on those cold days.  The clear, bright day and the steam made quite a beautiful sight.

The second indication of winter is the Santa Claus parade.  Penticton held its parade last Saturday.  Hanna waited in anxiety for the Santa Claus float to go by.  She's been full of Santa Claus questions this year such as "Can Santa see through walls?"  "Will I get coal?"  "Can he see me in the bathroom?"  It's rather fun watching her puzzle it all out. 

At the end of the parade several choirs were invited to sing at the local bandshell (where Santa was also stationed for a while).  By this point in the night, it was really cold out.  The parents were freezing standing in the snow waiting for their kids to sing.   

Finally, the last and most beautiful indication of winter are the poinsettias at the greenhouses.  I simply love walking into the moist, warm, greenhouses to see the sea of red and white poinsettias.  Picking up our poinsettias from the greenhouses just doesn't compare to buying them in the store.  It's a totally different feeling.  Reminds me of the difference between buying a Christmas tree and chopping down your own.  I've attempted to capture some of the beauty of the flowers.  You can see more photos from the greenhouses as well as the lake and Hanna's ballet class on flickr.