Leslie Keelty of Vancouver BC, age 65, died May 12, 2019 in Malaga Spain after complications during cancer treatment. Ms. Keelty was on vacation in Spain with her husband, Vaughn Fraser, when her illness was discovered.
Leslie was born June 1, 1953 in Montreal and grew up in St. Lambert, Quebec. Leslie held a B.Ed. from McGill University (1975) and an M.Ed. from UBC (1987). She taught school in Quebec, Manitoba and BC. In January 2018, Leslie retired after a 23-year career with Kumon Canada as a Field Consultant. Since retirement Leslie has tutored students in both Math and Reading. She has appeared on Global TV Morning News as an Education Consultant and she has written a blog (lesliekeelty.wordpress.com) with the tag “Restless Retiree”. Leslie enjoyed tennis, hiking, meditation, reading and ballroom dancing and was an active member of The University Women’s Club of Vancouver.
Predeceased by her parents George and Doris Keelty. Survived by her husband Vaughn Fraser, sisters Lynne and Glenna, nephews Scott (Catherine) and Richard, great-nieces and great-nephews Olivia, Eva, Liam and Tiernan.
Leslie’s many friends will miss her engaging personality, quick wit and love of laughter. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Condolences can be submitted publicly to this blog or privately to vwfraser@gmail.com.
“Leslie was a remarkable and uplifting spirit.”
“I remember Leslie as a lovely positive person and very accomplished.”
“I was so looking forward to seeing Leslie on the courts this year.”
“I will miss Leslie’s generosity and sensitivity.”
I love desserts, especially ones with fruit. An old favourite is apple crisp. I use a recipe from Laurel’s Kitchen cookbook that was first published in 1983.
Tip: I stopped keeping paper copies of recipes years ago and I rarely buy recipe books. Now most of my recipes are stored on my laptop so I usually view the recipe on the screen propped open on the kitchen counter. That way I have less clutter and I can stay organized.
The Laurel’s Kitchen apple crisp recipe is quite basic with one exception that calls for 1/2 cup of lightly toasted wheat germ. This adds a nutty, rich flavour and goes well with the butter, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar and fruit. I usually just use apples, but this time, I included a pear.
Large Flake Oats Topping (before the butter is mixed in!)
Use slow cooked oats. For the inexperienced, shopping for oats can be intimidating. The varieties are based on how much they’ve been processed. You don’t want the instant, nor the steel cut type. For further information about the different types of oats visit the Whole Grains Council website.
Rum-soaked Raisins
Soak ½ cup of raisins in some hot liquor: I used rum warmed for 20 seconds in the microwave to add a flavour boost! Yum!
Sliced and Cored Apples with Cinnamon, Sugar and Flour
A tablespoon of whole wheat flour and a teaspoon of cinnamon are added to sliced apples (I included a pear too). Enough to fill your favourite dish. Mine is a ruffled Emile Henry. It makes everything look extra-fancy!
Add the topping: 1 cup oat flakes with ½ cup butter, ½ cup brown sugar and spices to taste.
Bake at 375F for 30 – 40 minutes (until bubbly and fruit is soft)The original 1983 recipe calls for margarine but I prefer butter.
I enjoy fruit crisp with some Balkan Style 2% Yogurt, or if it’s summer, some vanilla ice cream! Do you have a favourite fruit dessert to share?
Kathryn Johnson is my neighbour and before I read her new best-selling book The Joy of Obstacles – Celebrating the Silver Lining in Difficult Days I only knew her in passing. Like any of my other condo neighbours, we shared a quick hello in the elevator or out on the street. I could see she walked with a couple of canes but I didn’t know anything about her.
Kathryn’s website InspiredbyKathryn.com explains that she was born with Cerebral Palsy and that living with a disability has given her a unique perspective of the world: She sees this circumstance as a gift and a vehicle for profound understanding of what each experience has to offer.
In her book Kathryn describes the obstacles she’s had to
move through and challenges she’s faced along the way. She explains how she’s
built a balanced and joyful life and gives us the encouragement and stories to
read so that we can do it too. How can we recognize when it’s time to move
forward? She reminds us that we all depend on each other and others can provide
support to help us move forward. One of the most important lessons she ever
learned was to focus on one thing at a time to keep moving forward and you’ll
eventually arrive at your destination! I identified with Kathryn’s difficulties
finding her path in school and her career challenges. Like her, I also believe
that the bumps I endured along the way led me to a successful career that I
enjoyed for over twenty years.
I got to meet Kathryn and find out more about her at a
recent book signing in our Strata’s Community Room. After I read Kathryn’s book
and attended her talk, I wanted to learn more. What had compelled her to write
a book and start a speaking tour? The
next week she agreed to sit down with me to explain more about her purpose in
writing her first book.
“The underlying message in my book is that as human beings
everything we do is connected. The impacts of our actions can be felt by others
around the world now more strongly than ever before in history. As such, it is
of paramount importance that we act with our global community in mind. We want
to strive to do the best we can in all situations.”
During our chat she explained that she believes we are given
obstacles for a higher purpose of learning, to evolve into a better version of
ourselves. “We come into this world and things that we find tough are tough for
us because we don’t have the skills developed yet; other people may find the
same things very easy because they’ve developed the skills. Every time there’s
a challenge, at some level, we need to connect with someone else to move
through it. For example; we may do some research, talk to someone, take a
course, read a book, or watch TV. There’s some information that’s external to
us that will help with the answer. We need to connect with others to discover
it.”
Kathryn achieved her accounting designation while at the
same time becoming immersed in studying personal growth. Once she finished her academic studies her
focus shifted to looking within. Kathryn’s
been studying personal growth for over ten years and she has participated in
many retreats in California with leaders in the personal growth movement.
“I think I have a powerful message that people can benefit
from. Regardless of where you are in life, my message is universal. It’s
important that it gets out to the world and is available for people.”
She adds, “I may have been born with a disability. I don’t let it affect my quality of life. I
have an extensive education, a successful career, I’ve travelled the world, and
now I’ve written my first book.”
That’s what Kathryn plans to talk about, “Because whatever
it is, our task in this world is to be the best version of ourselves we can be.
We all have blocks and blocks have to do with perception and the experiences
that we have. Simply reach out, connect and move forward. Do the best that you
can – every day. Both you and everyone else in the world will be richer for it.
People need to stand up and use their voice and just shine, whatever it is that
makes them, if they weren’t needed, they wouldn’t be here.”
After my husband read The Joy of Obstacles it helped him
complete an art project that he had been stuck on for months. When he read how
hard Kathryn worked through her challenges he was inspired. He credits one of
her earliest challenges while still in Kindergarten – learning how to tie her
shoe-laces – as giving him a fresh perspective on tackling his project. Even
though Kathryn was just a little kid, she broke down the complicated task into
small steps and kept at it until she was able to put the parts together into
the final achievement. So too, he was
able to section out his project to achieve small successes along the way. This was
more manageable and it gave him a feeling of accomplishment and the motivation
he needed to complete his project.
I was so impressed with his success that I decided to use
the complementary workbook that accompanies the Joy of Obstacles to help manage
my current challenge: to increase my blog content. I printed out the pdf found
on Kathryn’s website and I’m currently on the last of the nine chapters. At
first, I was reluctant to do the exercises, but I finally admitted to myself
that I’ve been spinning my wheels in the goals I want to accomplish and this
workbook has come along at just the right time for me. It’s providing the
gentle nudge and structure that I need! The questions at the end of each
chapter led me to remember silver linings I experienced along the way in my
life. I remembered leaving a job I disliked to take a riskier opportunity. As I
walked down the hall after giving my notice, I felt over six feet tall!
Leslie completing her Joy of Obstacles workbook page 16 / 21
I encourage people at whatever stage of life they are in to read Kathryn’s book and check out all the valuable material found on her website. She’s also available to speak to groups on Overcoming Adversity, Seeing the Gift in Any Situation, and Following Your Passion.
The British Columbia student assessment system is being redesigned to align with the new curriculum first introduced for K-9 students in the 2016-17 school year with full implementation in 2017-18.
According to the assessment website teachers will help students learn by exploring their interests and passions. Whether it’s computers, hockey, or art, passion is a motivator for students, and students can connect with their interests to excel in the classroom.
At the base of the new curriculum are literacy and numeracy foundations. A “Know-Do-Understand” model will support this concept-based competency-driven approach to learning.
How will this new approach to learning be assessed? What will student reporting look like?
Reasons for supporting the use of letter grades and percentages included the following:
Grades and percentages are a familiar measure that can be easily grasped.
Students are motivated to achieve a high letter grade or percentage.
These measures help prepare students for the real world.
Post-secondary institutions and scholarships may not recognize reporting that does not contain letter grades or percentages.
Reasons for opposing the use of letter grades:
Letter grades may or may not align with the concepts of the new curriculum.
High letter grades make students complacent and prevent striving for improvement.
There may be a lack of consistency and accuracy of grading between teachers, schools, and districts.
Letter grades undermine self-esteem and foster competition among peers.
Schools will continue to use three levels for reporting overall achievement. But instead of using the old descriptors: not yet within expectations, meets expectations, and exceeds expectations schools are now shifting to emerging, on track and extending.
In addition to comments students start getting letter grades in grade four and letter grades are required up to grade nine. However school districts may use different scales as an alternative to letter grades if they choose but letter grades must be provided if parents request them.
As a retired educator, I continue to take an interest in our public education system and I know parents are very interested in their children’s success in school, and in life!
How about you? What is your experience as a parent, educator or student with school assessment? Comments are appreciated!
Leggings, according to the Macmillan Dictionary, first made an appearance on men in the 14th century:
“Though leggings may seem like a modern invention, the concept of this kind of leg covering goes right back to the 14th century, when they were worn by men and often described as hose, breeches or even stockings. The word legging itself isn’t a newcomer either, dating back to 1763 as a reference to an ‘extra outer covering to protect the leg’”.
In The Measure of a Man, JJ Lee gleefully cites The Canterbury Tales to explain the shocking impact when men started wearing leggings, “They caused a scandal. Chaucer makes the complaint clear through his Parsons …the buttocks of such persons look like the hinder parts of a she-ape in the full of the moon… that foul part show they to the people proudly in despite of decency.”
The first signs that modern leggings worn by women could be pushed off the fashion scene started a few years ago with the introduction of wide-leg pants. Although many boomers will stubbornly cling to their leggings and jeggings, younger fashionistas will eagerly gravitate to what’s new to their eyes and not what their mothers and grandmothers are wearing.
However, age isn’t the deciding factor when we adopt a particular fashion trend. The fashion progression below is adapted from the diffusion curve first created by social scientist Everett Rogers.
Everett Rogers (1931-2004) was a communication specialist, sociologist, writer and teacher. He is best known for his theory about the diffusion of innovations theory in which he introduced the term ‘early adopter’ or pioneer.
Around the same time as Rogers was dreaming up his diffusion theory Edward, the glamorous bachelor Duke of Windsor, was attracting crowds of fans around the world whenever he appeared in public.
The Duke was one of the earliest fashion influencers of the last century. He broke all of the rules: he wore a belt instead of suspenders, he cuffed his pants, mixed plaids and patterns. He favoured American casual style over fussy English convention. His father, King George V, was so shocked and disgusted that he correctly predicted that the prince would ruin himself within a year of his father’s death.
Edward, who was firmly in the innovator section of the diffusion curve, explains his influence on fashion in his 1960 book, A Family Album, “I was in fact ‘produced’ as a leader of fashion, with the clothiers as my showmen and the world as my audience. The middle-man in this process was the photographer, employed not only by the Press but by the trade, whose task it was to photograph me on every possible occasion, public or private, with an especial eye for what I happened to be wearing.”
A fall 2018 window display features a trend that can be traced back to the innovative Duke who would have heartily approved this bold mix of colour and pattern.
A current example of the diffusion curve is illustrated in this image from a YouTube video featuring business innovator Gary Vaynerchuk and guru Tony Robbins. Gary’s outfit of choice is a collarless sweater with a smattering of beard stubble while Tony is clean-shaven in a suit. Gary chooses fashion that aligns with his innovative, pioneering approach to business. What about Tony, where would he be on the curve? A late-majority or even a laggard? Only time will tell!
What about you? Are you an early adopter obsessed with fashion and worrying you are not on trend?
How do you handle the masses of fashion items tempting you each season? Do you eliminate what no longer serves you? Or do you cling helplessly to clothing that no longer fits or makes you feel good? Maybe you’ve adopted a capsule wardrobe or worked with an image consultant. I’d love to hear about your challenges and successes!
I had a wedding to attend in Ontario so I decided to add on a few more days with a side trip to the Niagara region. But instead of staying in tacky Niagara Falls I chose a bed and breakfast in picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The charming 1860’s Wilson-Guy House is just off the main drag, Queen Street. Although we arrived late, our host Maria took time to greet me and my husband and offer some last-minute instructions. Our room on the second floor had a king bed and a sitting area. Outside on the landing there was another sitting area and a mini-fridge to share with the neighbours across the hall.
After we settled in our room we enjoyed cold beers and some snacks in the backyard garden while listening to a chorus of crickets and cicadas.
At eight o’clock the next morning Maria left coffee and fresh scones at our door on a silver tray. After my coffee and before breakfast, I went out for a walk along Queen Street. It’s not your typical tourist strip, no fast food chains! It was a good chance to take photos without the usual hordes of seniors (like me!) clogging up the sidewalk. I didn’t go into any of the shops although they were inviting (my friend bought a really cute hat!)
Most of the visitors in town are here to attend the Shaw Festival. The festival runs from April to October and after a short break it starts up again in November with a production of The Christmas Carol. Maria told us that things tend to slow down after Valentine’s Day before the new season begins again in April.
Breakfast was divine. After several years hosting, Maria still likes to wow her guests with fancy flourishes. The beautiful breakfast table is set with china and crystal. The fresh local peaches were especially delicious!
Next on our itinerary was meeting up with friends to tour around the falls, visit some local wineries and attend the musical Grand Hotel.
We ended up in a long line-up for expensive parking near the falls so we agreed to give up our goal of riding on the “Maid of the Mist” and we decided to drive up the Niagara Parkway six kilometres to The Whirlpool. I first heard of The Whirlpool in an intriguing book by Canadian author Jane Urquhart. After reading the magical story she spun around the mesmerizing whirlpool I made sure I added it onto my itinerary for my next visit to the area.
There’s lots of free parking at the site and if you go around to the back of the gift shop you can have a great view (also for free)! You can buy a ticket to ride in the Aero Car high over the whirlpool.
Or, you can book a tour in the whirlpool jet. My preference is to watch the churning mass of water from a distance from the back of the gift shop, but maybe next time I’ll venture out in the jet!
After we had our fill of the whirlpool we spent the rest of the morning visiting a few local wineries. We originally planned to rent electric bikes but it was too hot!
Wine Tasting (note the cute hat!)
Relaxing outside a winery
After lunch, we headed back to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a free pop-up concert featuring members of the Shaw ensemble cast. There were many talented singers and musicians giving their time to drum up support for the worthy actors’ fund. Performers took turns passing the hat around the willing audience.
Luckily for us our friend’s niece is a member of the ensemble cast and she gave us a backstage tour after the performance.
A dressing table backstage at the Shaw Theatre
Period glamour photos to inspire the make-up artists
Our backstage tour, I love being on stage, even when it’s empty!
On our last day in town, we drove a couple of blocks to Lake Ontario where we took a short, but interesting, walk on the beach.
On our way we passed the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Course. Established in 1875 it has the distinction of being North America’s oldest golf course!
One last stop to visit my cousin and her husband. They had graciously invited us to their new home when they found out we’d be in the neighbourhood. We had a lovely visit catching up on family news from the past 50 years or so!
I hated to leave this delightful region!
The Wedding
We completed our itinerary with a visit to our family near Sarnia to attend a wedding. When I heard it was going to be on the bride’s grandparents’ farm I wasn’t sure what to expect. At the beginning of the summer pictures appeared on Facebook showing the couple with their friends and family clearing out trees and brush to prepare an arbour for the ceremony and space for guest seating. The result was spectacular and worth all the effort to create a magical setting worthy of the occasion!
The Head Table
Maids relaxing after the ceremony and formal pictures
Back Home
We ended our trip back where we started five days ago at YVR . It’s the first look I’ve had at the newly renovated domestic gate.
The Rivers Monument is part of the Sea to Sky theme, one of eight themes featured throughout the airport. YVR currently houses the largest collection of Northwest Coast Native art in the world.
I love being away on vacation but Vancouver is pretty hard to beat! Don’t you agree?
I’ve been thinking about how much time I spend reading, “Is it an escape from goals I want to accomplish? Could all this reading I do be a bad thing?”
After some soul-searching, I’m slowing down my reading consumption and shifting gears to include more writing into my day.
How it All Started
Reading has always been a big part of my life. One of my fondest memories is lounging in our suburban backyard during summer vacation with a good book. I had eclectic tastes and I remember the librarian peering at me over her readers as I checked out the salacious Backstreet by Fanny Hurst (Queen of the Sob Sisters). The librarian asked me if my mother knew what I was reading. She did. I remember her disgusted look and raised eyebrows, “You like this trash?”
I became an expert on our local library’s inventory. As a little girl I would have to go to the library to check out a heavy armful of books for my mother when she wasn’t able to go for herself. I was under a lot of pressure to remember what she’d already read!
My Habit Includes Both Fiction and Non-Fiction
In the 1980’s and early 1990’s I read mainly for self-improvement. Barbara Sher’s Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want and Ernie Zelinski’s The Joy of Not Working and many others helped show me the path to reach my financial and personal goals. After I started working at Kumon I read mostly fiction as ‘reading for pleasure’ was a big part of our programme’s curriculum so I had to lead by example! I used the Kumon Book List to track my efforts by checking off each book as I completed it and then writing a short summary to remember the contents. It was a satisfying part of my job that I enjoyed!
After I retired I ramped up my reading. I devoured many best sellers in business and self-help: Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Dorrie Clark, Jim Rohn, Lisa Nicols, Scott Stratten, Dan Pink, Judith Glaser, Alan Weiss, Robert Cialdini, Mari Kondo, Judith Glaser, Simon Sinek, Liz Wiseman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Byron Katie and many more.
A Typical Stack of checked-out library books
Starting a Blog
One of my goals in retirement was to publish a blog so I began a daily writing practise after being inspired by the teachings of Writing the Mind Alive: The Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice,Writing Down the Bones, If You Want to Write and The Artist Way. I started a weekly publishing schedule but I never developed a routine strong enough to keep me going and things started to fall apart after a couple of months–I just wasn’t enjoying writing and instead I sat in my recliner reading more books from the library!
I remembered a chapter in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron where she suggested cutting out an activity, like reading, that you enjoy so you can free up your creative space. As I thought about how hard it would be to stop reading for a week I remembered what people used to say about my mother, “She reads too much!” At the time I couldn’t fathom that reading could be a bad thing. But now, I realized how she used reading as an escape from the world. Now I was continuing the pattern with my own reading addiction. I had dozens of books in my Vancouver Public Library ‘For Later’ folder, several books checked out with a bunch more on hold. Since I retired in January the library had taken over my life. I was spending hours each day reading my checked out books, logging into my library account to reserve more books and several times a day I’d check the status on my holds and remind myself of my upcoming due dates and also made frequent trips each week to my local library branch.
So once again I turned to books for help. Conveniently my hold on Ann Handley’s Everybody Writes became available. It’s is geared towards content marketers but it has useful tools for anyone who wants to writes. Handley suggests setting goals for the number of words written rather than for the amount of time spent writing. This was something I could get my head around. I like setting and achieving goals and thought this approach could work for me. She suggests you churn out 500 words then go back and do your editing and tweaking.
Managing My Habit
I have now decided to treat my blog like a job. I tend to be a morning person. (It helps that I have a construction crew jack-hammering across the street starting at 7:15am Monday to Friday.) With a schedule in place I’m starting to look forward to writing and I’m keeping a lid on my reading habit. Now it’s like a yummy desert I can indulge in and enjoy!
How about you, do you have a guilty pleasure you can share? Does it impact other activities you may be avoiding?
I was sitting on the patio of the Diplomat Bakery at the end of my bike ride from Steveston Village when I noticed a steady stream of bikes, motorcycles and convertibles rounding the bend in the road coming from the other direction. My husband remembered a stinky waste processing plant from years ago but we concluded that maybe things had changed, so we decided to get back on our bikes and continue our ride. Indeed it was a pleasant ride along the Fraser River and we appreciated the clean air as we passed the new, modernized treatment plant.
As we biked along, I spotted a sign for a heritage farm and tea room so I kept that in mind to visit on our way back after we’d explored the length of the road.
London Farm Family Family Home
The museum, circa 1880’s – 1920’s has 6 display rooms, a tea room and a gift shop. The Tea Room is open on Saturday & Sunday from noon to 5 pm (last seating is 4 pm) with extended days during the summer. Check their website to plan your trip. The entrance to the farmhouse is by donation and the grounds are open to the public every day all year round from dawn to dusk and entrance is free.
Blackberries Ready for Canning
The gift shop has a wide selection of jams but I only bought one jar of strawberry rhubarb and I ended up giving it away. I’ll plan another visit soon so I can buy some of the blackberry jam they were preparing the day I visited!
The tea room looked inviting but we arrived too late for the last sitting. The server looked so pretty in her starched, white apron!
In the hallway around the corner from the tearoom, I admired a display of dainty underpinnings and aprons. What a lot of work on Blue Monday for women before washing machines were widely available! It’s interesting to look in the bedrooms upstairs to see artifacts like curling irons and sewing kits that the three London girls and their servants would have used for grooming and mending chores.
To end our visit we headed outside to roam around the grounds. The gardens are a welcome oasis in the summer heat, the thermostat showed over 40 degrees Celsius!
Apple trees bursting with late summer fruit, yum!
Rows of Fruits and Vegetables Waiting for the Harvest…
Now that I know about the London Heritage Farm I’ll plan to visit for high tea soon with some friends. What about you, do you have a favourite hidden secret tea room to share?
I’ve been buying soup at the The Stock Market for years. Although the original owners sold their business several years ago, the new owners kept many of the original recipes including their popular chicken noodle soup. Starting at 11 am there are three daily soup selections giving you a healthy option for a quick lunch at the market. You can make your choice and then find a spot to sit inside, or outside, the market to enjoy your soup which includes a tasty piece of fresh bread. However, I prefer to buy the take-away soup bags, especially the frozen options. For six dollars I can buy a frozen bag to take home, defrost and enjoy that day, or I’ll pop it in the freezer for what I like to call “emergency food”. Here’s the selection of frozen soups from last week. I bought a mushroom and a lentil, both were delicious and at three to four servings in each bag it’s a very good value indeed!
Check out this giant-sized soup pot and stirring spoons! You can watch the staff chopping up mountains of fresh vegetables. There can be line-ups but the service is efficient and friendly.
Make your selection whether it’s a ready-to-eat soup for lunch or buy your bag to take home!
Eating soup has been shown to help keep you feeling satisfied and full so you can avoid over-eating. There’s lots of research (some of it funded by Campbell Soup) to show the health benefits of eating soup. Of course, exercise is the other important part of staying healthy. I’m lucky I can easily walk, or bike, to most activities in my South Granville neighbourhood so that helps me to stay healthy!
If you want to avoid the summertime crowds head to the Stock Market at 8am for a helping of their oatmeal porridge. That way you can begin your day with a wholesome breakfast and you’ll be ready to start your shopping at 9am when the food stalls open. Before you know it you’ll be finished shopping and you’ll be on your way before the hoards descend!
The porridge is $5 for the small size and $6 for the large.
I prefer the small size with cream, topped with apricot & peach compote.
Yum! Although I must say, my made-at-home porridge is better!
I was asked recently why the need to focus on reader identity. Won’t that develop normally if we just focus on skills and all of the things we do within our reading communities? In the past, I would have said, maybe, perhaps reader identity develops no matter what we do, now, however, my answer would be a little more complicated than that.
Yes, reader identity develops in whichever way with whatever we do in our classrooms. This is how we end up with the difference in readers. Those who love to read, those who tolerate it as a means to a purpose, and those who cannot wait to tell us just how much they hate reading.
But to develop a meaningful reader identity, one that goes beyond the obvious questions of are you a reader or not, we have to have teaching opportunities where students can explore what their reading…
I’ve made this savoury polenta pie, adapted from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook, several times but this version was the best so far! The crust was thick and rich (the addition of Parmesan) and the novelty of whipped baked squash filling took this savoury pie to the next level! I topped it off with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, yum!
I use a 10-inch Emile Henry pie dish to achieve the chewy, thick crust. The pie dish has built-in fluting so even an amateur like me can impress my family and friends with my pie’s presentation! You can find the original recipe here: Mollie Katzen’s Polenta Pie
Earlier this week I satisfied my love of sweets with this Applesauce Bran Loaf adapted from my brother-in-law who says it’s adapted from a weight-watchers recipe! I prefer to make my own baked goods to control the amount and type of sweeteners and fats included. Here’s the recipe:
Applesauce Bran Loaf: Grease a standard loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine and beat thoroughly: 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 1/2 cup applesauce (or mashed banana or combination), 1/2 cup molasses
Add and mix until smooth: 2 cups flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup wheat bran, 2 cups oatmeal
Press into baking pan pushing dough into corners and leaving a depression in the middle (this will rise during baking). Bake about 70 minutes until done (check that a knife comes out clean).
Every time I make this loaf it’s a bit different, depending on what’s in the cupboard! This version included walnuts and dried apricots. I ran out of wheat bran so I included a cup of toasted wheat germ. Instead of using the two cups called for in the recipe, I prefer only using one cup, this results in a moister loaf. I like a thick slice toasted with a dab of butter!
Of course, all that eating has to include some exercise! Here I am dancing at the Kitsilano Showboat on Canada weekend and working on some tennis drills at our local courts, whew time for a snack!
How about you, what are you doing this summer to stay fit and fed?
I asked our oldest daughter, Theadora, how many books she thought she had read this year. Crestfallen and quiet she answered four. Four? I asked, confused. How can you only have read four? She reads all of the time, never without a book, always asking to read just one more page before the lights are turned off.
Don’t you mean real books, mom?
Real books? I said. What are real books? I mean all books, graphic novels included.
She lit up. Fifty, Mom, maybe more, at least fifty though.
Fifty books for a child who didn’t think they would ever be a reader because reading was just too hard.
Fifty books for a child who has been in reading intervention for four years.
Fifty books for a child who wasn’t sure that she would ever get through a whole book on her own, at least not one with a lot…
Leslie Keelty 