On the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving Andrew, Barbie, Ruth, Helmut and I took a day trip to Lancaster County, PA. First stop was a photo op at Zimmerman's store. We didn't go in so I'm not sure if it was a general store or a little grocery store. Then we continued on to the Kitchen Kettle "Mall" which is a Mennonite/Amish shopping area. Helmut had forgotten his cap so that was the first thing we had to purchase. Mostly we walked around looking at the various wares but bought very little. We were in a place that sold hand made furniture and wooden items - it was very interesting. I found the quilt shop very nice to look at but the beautiful hand made quilts were very high priced. No doubt they require many hours of labor.

I had a baked ham sandwich for my lunch and the rest of the family waited until later in the afternoon to eat.

U. S. Thanksgiving 2008

On Nov. 25Th. in the evening we left Winnipeg for the long drive to Exton, PA where our future daughter-in-law's family live. After about 28 hours of driving and riding with tired minds and bottoms we finally arrived near midnight on the 26Th.

The Shorts welcomed us and after a brief time of getting acquainted we all turned in for the night. The long ride had not been very kind to my legs so I had many cramps during the night and didn't sleep very much.

We had a leisurely morning with a late breakfast. Laura and Will had the dinner preparations in hand and their three girls helped a lot. (one of their daughters was away visiting her boy friend in Florida) There were so many items to be cooked in the oven that they had borrowed space in the neighbor's oven so they were running back and forth.

Top picture: Andrew, Barbie, Susanna with the dog Paris, Mom-Laura, Jackie and Jean.
Second picture: Dad-Will, cleaning the patio of leaves.
Third picture: Most of the Short Klan. Will has seven siblings, four of them not in the picture - the youngest sister and her family came later and didn't eat with us. One of the adult men in this picture is a nephew. Laura's Father is also at the table.
Bottom picture: Two "visitors" that passed through the back yard while we were at dinner.

Thanksgiving with the Shorts is like this every year they say but it is their main family get together of the year.

Andrew, Barbie & Ruth went to a football game in the evening while Will, Laura, Helmut & I had a good visit.

Bright Spots

Do you think you could see these guys in the bush on a snowy day?

This particular style is for the avid hunters or parking lot attendants. Especially made by Opa Z.

The three in this picture are "models" - only one is a hunter. Two of the toques are for his friends.

Party Fare

A party is coming up to introduce Barbie to the rest of the family that live here in Winnipeg.

For parties I like to make these two bite size meat buns. They are called Flieshpershki, a traditional Mennonite treat.

The bread dough is cut into little round pieces, the filling is placed inside and the edges of the dough are sealed together to make a little bun. I tend to put too much filling in them so they can be hard to seal.

Recipe for dough:

2 packages of yeast
1/2 cup of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
Mix & let rise

4 cups of scalded milk
1 cup of lard melted
1/2 cup margarine melted
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
Mix these together .

Place 2 cups of flour in a very large bowl and add all the liquid ingredients from above. A cup at a time, stir in more flour up to a total of 10 to 12 cups. Place on flat surface and knead. ( I have to do this in two parts).

Place dough in bowl to rise and keep in a warm place.




FILLING

3 pounds of lean ground beef - browned and crumbled
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Black pepper to taste
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Mix all of these together.
Let cool a while so that sauce isn't so runny.

Roll portions of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut in small circles about 1- 1/2 inches across. Place a small amount of filling in the center of the dough round and then fold over and seal. Place on greased cookie sheets. Let rise a little while. Bake at 375 F. for 15 -20 minutes.

If only one person is making these it takes several hours.

They may be frozen after baking to keep for a longer time. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Garden Notes

A few pictures of the new perennials that we added to our garden this fall to enhance the fall color of our garden.


The pink balls are a type of hydrangea.

The bluish ones are asters.

The wine colored blooms are on a plant that is probably a sedum (I can't remember what the clerk at the nursery called it and it did not have a tag.)

We also got one yellow, one red and one deep pink mum but I don't have very good pictures of them.

It has turned winterish now so the flowers, even the mums, will be going to sleep for the season.

Special News Release

Barbie arrived this past Tues. for a visit.

Her reaction to Andrew's bushy growth was "You look like a homeless man".

Later in the evening Andrew shaved off the bush.

On Thurs. Oct. 30, 2008 Andrew told us "I asked her to marry me and she said ,yes."

Congratulations to both of you.

Views from two angles on the nearly finished drive/patio project.

It is all done now and there is one more row of pads straight out from the back door.

The brown thing in the lower part of the picture out from the back door is the top of the picnic table - it will get moved back on to the drive/patio by the back door for summer time. In the winter we have to use that part to park the extra vehicle which stays on the street in the summer time.