Birthday Cakes, Pies & Imaginations !

I was just thinking how wonderful yesterdays are, as when I am in the day at hand I am usually and hopefully having good memories of my yesterdays, and going ahead in my journey of life to making myself some new memories.......there I go being all melancholy again !

Back to my yesterday....here is a website that is guaranteed to start your day off right and put you into a good mood, as it did me when I first seen it, and it still does:

http://thedesigninspiration.com/articles/70-cutie-baby-animals-bring-your-a-good-mood/

I can't imagine one person out there in the World going into this site and NOT having a little smile put on their face !!! 

..... then there is this other one I found through our friend, Ralph, which put a "WOW" look on my face.....so much that I had to run it through Snopes.com to see if it was "true" or not.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/giantgeorge.asp

Yep it is not only unbelievable it is also true !  and again, WOW !!!!  LOL, fun is nice...we all need a few belly laughs, more smiles and good feelings in our lives more often, as it all makes me feel good inside and out.

I did make the French Leek & Ham Shepherd's Pie recipe yesterday which I had posted, and um mm good it was.  A great way to get the Fall "Comfort" Food off to a great start .....

"It all began in our garden where these Ontario leeks just happened to be growing...."

"....ending up on my stove top in a pan along with some other delectable items."

"Right out of the oven....."

"onto our plates.............."

....and the rest is history !!!  LOL.  It was very very good, Rob and I both really enjoyed it.  I made a a couple little minor adjustments to the recipe by using 1/2 & 1/2 creamer for the heavy cream, omitted the nutmeg and egg yolk wash, & I sprinkled Kraft Italiano 4 cheese as it was what I had open in my fridge at the time, oh and I didn't remove the seeds from the tomatoes.  NOTE:  1 1/2 lbs of leeks is approx. 4 cups cut-up.

The following link describes how to select and store Leeks, along with other very useful "leek" information and recipes:

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodstorage/a/leekstorage.htm

After our fantastic Dinner, I headed over to my brother Alan's place to have some Birthday Cake with them and our Mother, Stella.  Our Mother celebrated her 84th Birthday yesterday.  In honor of her birthday, Alan had taken her out for lunch and back to their home for cake.

"Happy happy birthday, Mother !!!  Mom does love getting her picture taken."

"Here we three are, Alan, the only boy, Mother, and me, the baby of the family"

All I can say is, I am sure glad I took after our Father in the respect I got a little bit of height, and Alan got the most out of all four of us children....lol. 

I made my way back home to where Rob was all ready to head out to our friend's place in Southampton, as he had promised to drop around with some stuff for them.  Off we went ....

Okay this was my same girlfriend, Fran, we had been to see the day before who I had made a beet drop to.  At the same time, Fran had asked me if I had any crab apples which I don't, but what were the chances of being on our way back there and having an apple stand erected the very next day, just as you are going into Hepworth?????

"Low and behold right there in the old Duffy's Hotel Parking lot was an Apple stand, and they had crab apples !"

Barbetta Orchards of Meaford have setup shop in Hepworth for the next two months, or so I was told by the chap who was tending the "fort".  This will certainly save us a drive to Meaford when we are ready to purchase a bushel of Spy apples later in the Fall, as Hepworth is only a hop, skip & jump from Wiarton.

The surprise on Fran's face when I showed up with a basket of crab apples was priceless.  What were the chances of that all coming together???  Anyhow we couldn't have arrived at a better time then we did, as I caught Fran in action with her baking talents ....

Oh man, look at that those pumpkin pies just out of the oven, and that Lemon meringue !  I would die to be able to make my meringue like that...trust me, she will be teaching me...lol....and there is that basket of Crab apples, can't wait to see the finished product from those."

 I absolutely love our grandsons, but what I would do to have a granddaughter close to me, as I am in total envy on Fran's relationship with her sweet little granddaughter, Lily.  Grandma had made her some Rapunzel hair, so they had been playing "Rapunzel" when we had arrived on the scene.

"Just look at that lovely "Rapunzel" hair Missy Lily is styling !"

 LOL, imaginations are wonderful, it is just too sad there is not more imagination being taught to the majority of children now a days ...... sad.

I, once again, enjoyed my visit with Fran.  Two days in a row is record for us when it is usually once or twice a year....lol, but I will be making a point of us getting together very soon, especially since she is going to be teaching me how to make meringue the way she does, but does not know it yet...lol.

By the time we got home it was after 7:00 p.m., but supper was made easy by having leftover Shepherd's Pie, and Rob enjoyed some homemade Carrot Cake as well, since Auntie Gladys had sent home some with him Sunday night....the "suck". 

I am hoping the weather is somewhat better then the constant downpour of rain we had yesterday, so let me have a look see....

Today:

A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming sunny this morning. High 19. UV index 5 or moderate.

Tonight:

Clear. Increasing cloudiness after midnight. Low 11.

Looking much better for today !!!  Yeah !!!  Looks like it would be a perfect Keady Market Day.

*Sigh* I must be getting myself off to a "kick start" this morning, as I have made plans with my cousin, Suzanne, today and need to get some things done before her arrival, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".