Lessons from the Kitchen

Today, I learned some very important lessons. The first is that I am not Canada's next baker. Actually, that's an overstatement. If there is a gene that makes baking things easier, mine has been altered slightly. Or is possibly missing.

The second important lesson I learned today is that plans, even solid, well-thought-out plans, can go awry. Fast.

The third lesson I learned today was that it is indeed possible to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it can make you believe in miracles.

All of these lessons were learned today in the kitchen, as I and my entrepreneurship class spent a feverish hour and a half baking for our bake sale. As the first few sentences suggest, all did not go as planned; actually, it would be fair to say that little went to plan. I blame the marshmallows. No, wait, I blame the internet site that stated the marshmallow recipe was quick and easy. It was quick, for sure. It was anything but easy.

The task seemed relatively simple: 4 no-bake recipes. A little mixing, some chocolate dipping, and we would be good to go. How amusingly naive. The chocolate wouldn't coat, the marshmallow wouldn't cut, and the time ran away from us as fast as it could.

While things didn't work out as smoothly as I hoped, the end result was better than I expected, and we are on track to make some decent profit for our efforts. The Nutella cookies were awesome, as were the chocolate chip coconut cookies. The peanut butter truffles sold out in a heartbeat, and the cake batter truffles fared almost as well.

Despite everything, our project was a moral success, if not quite a commercial one. Next time we will focus on easier and more profitable choices like cupcakes. And to make sure they bake well, I'll ask my wife to make them. :-)

-J

You Know You Live In The North When...

I found a funny list in the teacher's break room at the school, so I've decided to re-post it here. Believe me, it's all true.

You Know You Live In The North When...

1. You instinctively walk like a penguin for ten months of the year.
2. You think nothing of drilling through 13 feet of ice and sitting there all day hoping that dinner will swim by.
3. Your suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of your forehead.
4. You have had lengthy conversations with people who dialed you as a wrong number.
5. You measure distance in number of flights it takes to get there.
6. You can drive a snowmobile through four feet of snow in a raging blizzard and not flinch.
7. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a parka.
8. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes on your dirt road are filled with snow.
9. Going "down South" means Winnipeg.
10. Your four seasons are 'almost winter', 'winter', 'still winter', and 'mosquito.'
11. You find -20C on the warm side.
12. Your 1st of July picnic was moved indoors because of a blizzard.  

Just another reminder not to complain to us about how cold it is. We are unsympathetic. :-)

-J

Guest Post: Secret Agent Alert

An entertaining installment in our guest post series from my sister - who has a fond, fond obsession/appreciation for James Bond movies and the secret agent genre. This is what she submitted when I asked her to write a post about my moving to the north.

 

 CLASSIFIED

ATTN: EYES ONLY   

VIA: OPEN LINE, SOMEWHERE SOUTH (MAYBE) (A LIKELY STORY)  

Author’s Note: As secure missives have a woeful history of being compromised, I’ve taken it upon myself to hide in plain sight. Names and relationships have been sufficiently altered; oceans of salt would do readers good.

Swap & Sell

There's an online group for Baker Lake that allows people to post things they are selling/looking to buy/giving away, and so on - and for the most part it's a really handy place to pick up/unload anything you can think of. The posts have ranged from baked goods to handmade items to cars and trucks...the list goes on and on.

I've noticed that it's not only for items, but really, it's a community forum to see what is going on in town. The airlines may post when they have a sale, or a flight is cancelled - or the church group will post when a flea market is happening in the rec center for a fundraiser, etc. It is the online hub for the community, and from what I understand, each community seems to have a similar outlet.

I like going on it to read the posts because I find some of them entertaining and admit that I spend at least a little bit of time every day reading through the posts. When someone says that something is "brand new...only worn a few times" or "laptop for sale, nothing wrong...may be missing a few buttons" - it makes me giggly. Where else can you sell small cups of Jello for $1 each, or a homemade pepperoni pizza for $25? It's definitely a lucrative business if you want it to be. The majority of the posts revolve around food that people are selling/looking for, and Jeff has mentioned on more than one occasion that I could make a profitable side-business by selling the things I cook/bake. I don't think I'm quite there yet, when I'm enjoying being a lurker too much.

-L

Relatively Speaking

It's funny how quickly we've adapted to some of the changes that come with living in a community so different from home in Ontario - we find ourselves saying the strangest things, bearing in mind it's all relative to our situation here. Here are some of the things we've said recently that made us stop and laugh. Hopefully you get a kick out of these too!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Lily!

We started this morning with phone calls and texts from Lily's parents and mine, and our friends, which was really nice. I sneaked downstairs first and got her breakfast ready (we pre-make our oatmeal, so I pulled it out of the fridge, and voila!), made her a cup of Chocolate Rocket (which is one of 12 flavours from Davids Teas that she received from her sister in a care package last month), and stuck a candle in one of the cupcakes I made for her at our neighbour's dinner party on Saturday. Lily liked it so much, she made me take a photo: 

Farewell to Summer: in Haikus!

Goodbye to summer!
We barely got to see you;
a fleeting affair.

It’s been cold with rain.
The locals say summer’s gone -
at least the bugs left

I packed up my shorts,
tank tops and flow-y dresses.
Why’d I bring so much?

My husband is mad;
he could have sent up more books
in lieu of my clothes.

If he thought that’s bad,
don’t tell him about the shoes!
Our little secret.  ;)

Farewell, summer 2012 – it seems like we were just starting to enjoy you. With the move and finally settling in, it’s now time for you to go. It’s only August and we’re not ready to say goodbye yet!

Come back soon! We’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing you next year!

-L

Delicious

When we were up for a visit, Jeff got to go on the Baker Lake tour with my co-worker who's been living there for a few years. While driving around, they stopped the car to let some cute birds cross the road. They reminded him of a partridge, but surely they could not have made it so far North. Here's how the conversation went:

Jeff: Those are cute. What are they?
Co-worker: Delicious.
<pause>
Co-worker: Nice looking things, but they're incredibly stupid. And delicious.


Well then.
Welcome to the North! :)


Note: Turns out they were ptarmigans - kind of like a partridge, or other small gamebirds. They change colour depending on the season, but they really are kind of cute!

...I'd still probably eat it. Probably. ;)

-L