Little Red House By The Sea

Twas a great marnin’ on da water...I know first hand because I had to go to be the third person in the boat. I didn’t catch the biggest cod fish, but I did catch the first one! We didn’t see any whales this morning, but I was told that yesterday they saw whales and porpoises. I can’t swear to the authenticity of the story because you know men and their fishing stories lol. So I decided last night that I was going to cook fish 'n' brewis today and use some of the fish I hoped to catch. It's necessary to decide you are going to cook fish 'n' brewis the day before because you have to put the hard bread in water overnight. Hard bread, hard tack...whatever you call it and where ever you get it, it was a staple for our ancestors, mainly the men, when they went in the woods or out sealing. I can't imagine living on mainly hard tack for weeks at a time, but obviously history tells us that it can be done. The most common form of hard bread is Purity. Made ...

It's a cold and dull morning here in Eastport. Thankfully there were 3 people lined up to go out in boat so I didn't have to go so that the quota could be caught. I did promise that I would go tomorrow though. I'm hoping it will be warmer! This morning my first job was to clean my sewing machine. I hate doing it even though it is really simple and quick. so that I remember to do it when I should, I wind 3 bobbins at a time, and when those are empty I make myself clean the machine. On a good quilting day I might have to do it several times...aghhh... You can see the lint in the photo, especially the tints of red around the space where the bobbin case goes. There's not a lot of it because I keep on top of it, and that is the way my machine likes it. She gets really contrary when she is dirty! I don't use any fancy equipment. Just a make up brush and a set of gun cleaner brushes. Karl put me on to the gun cleaner brushes and I bought them at Harbour Freig...

It's cloudy and cool here today. Where is the heat wave that they are getting on the mainland? While I don't particularly want it to be 45 C here, 25 C would be nice! Regardless of the weather, we are barbequing. One of our favourite side dishes for a barbeque is Balsamic Mushroom Skewers. You are going to want one of the big packages of mushrooms from Costco. You also need skewers (2 per person). I have the metal ones, but I find that they are hard to deal with on the barbeque because they get too hot, so I use the wooden ones on the barbeque. These need to be soaked in water for an hour or so. Mix 6 cloves of minced garlic, 6 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons of soya sauce, and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme in a small bowl. I know you aren't 'supposed' to wash fresh mushrooms, but given Karl's immune system I err on the side of caution and I wash them. You can peel or wash or do what you want with them! Then cut the mushrooms in h...

Hello all! It's a beautiful day in Eastport. Sunny and warm, although very windy. Let's hope the wind dies down for the recreational fishery tomorrow. Today I'm going to tell you about my Dollarama find...a cutting mat! Yes you read it correctly. It's only small...around 7" by 10" and it is marked out in centimeters (as it should be in Canada even though most of us quilters use inches!), but it was only $4. I was in the crafter's section looking for popsicle sticks for Karl when I spied it. $4, so I thought why not try it. It's amazing. The quality seems to be every bit as good as my expensive brand name mats. (No name on this one!) I bought it to use to cut little pieces at the kitchen table when I am watching tv or cooking. It came with a little crafter's cutting knife. If anyone wants it let me know! I'm only interested in the mat! Lunch time I was frying fish cakes. The last of my frozen ones from last year. After reading...

A blog post two days in a row! A new record for Little Red House By The Sea! I set up a Facebook page this morning with the same name, so be sure to like the page so you won’t miss one of my (often infrequent) posts. My daughter called at 1130 this morning to say that she was coming for lunch along with my favourite son-in-law and my granddaughter. Guess which of the three is sporting two new teeth? lol Now, what to get with such little notice? I was planning to have the leftover wing pieces from yesterday’s Copycat Mary Brown’s Wings, but there wasn’t enough for five of us with just wings. But, if I put together a salad and a quick dessert, I could pull it off. What for dessert? I made some rhubarb shortbread bars a few days ago, and had enough extra cut up rhubarb in the refrigerator, so...a plan was hatched. I was just putting the shortbread crust in the oven when I said to myself, “Take a photo for the blog!” The crust is easy to make. Just put 1/2 cup of butter (...

It has been months since I have posted. Life happens! Other than my granddaughter growing so quickly, not a lot else is new on the people front. On the personal front, Karl gifted me with a longarm sewing machine a couple of weeks ago. It's for my birthday and Christmas and next year's birthday and Christmas and...lol. It's all put together but I haven't started her up yet! A little daunting! (Why is a sewing machine a female?) I'll post a picture of my first completed project when I take the plunge and thread the needle! While the calendar says summer, the temperature doesn't. We've had a few nice 'seasonal' days, but today isn't one of them. I thought I'd make comfort cold weather food for supper, which in this case is copycat Mary Brown's chicken wings in the Actifryer. Then I thought I'd take some pictures and do a blog post. So, here goes...lol I can't take credit for the Mary Brown's mix. That goes to Barry Pars...