Aug 6-7 - Megamallows ?

Have you ever seen marshmallows that are two inches cylindrical rather than 1 inch ? Well, they exist in Mexico. When we were down there with Arlene in April she brought some home and we thought that they would be so much fun that we packed the bag to come back to the cottage, intending to use them when all the kids were here during the summer. I also asked her to bring some more, which she did, six more gigantic bags of gigantic marshmallows ... guess what the "kids" did last night ?

I'm getting ahead of myself ...

On the 5th, according to plan, we had additional guests during the day and I spent much of my time driving the boat so that the kids could tube and wakeboard. They (and I) had a great time. I always enjoy time in the boat. We had burgers for dinner and a specially-baked cake from the bakery in Port Loring with "Happy Anniversary Phil & Ruth" on one side (coming up soon) and "Happy Birthday Arlene" on the other side (coming up tomorrow). The weather was perfect ... we had a great visit -- could not ask for anything more.

On the 6th, not according to plan, I came down with a head cold. Doping myself with cold remedy I went for a bike ride with Aaron anyway. I wasn't going to feel any better sitting around. All day long I took non-drowsy Tylenol Cold ... non-drowsy perhaps, but it still leaves you feeling a bit spacey (or at least it does for me) and you replace the headache from the cold with a headache from the dried sinuses ... enough of this !!

The weather started out (when we were biking) kind of cloudy/misty; warm and humid. By mid-day the misty part had gone and it was mostly sunny all day. There were no boat rides that day -- I didn't feel much like it -- and everyone seemed to take a bit of a break from watersports. The kayaks got some use, however.

David spent the bulk of the day washing our windows -- that's what he does for a living -- and it made a huge difference. He noticed a couple of places that I have to attend to in the fall where there is caulking missing. Not a big deal but I will have to remember to address it. Remind me will you ! ... I need to start keeping a list, rather than mental lists.

Sandy, Stef, Aaron, Kylie, Lauren ... perhaps I'm missing someone ... went to the French River Trading Post -- it's about 10 miles north on highway 69, half an hour away from here. It is full of local, well somewhat local ... let's say "native" crafts ... from clothing to artwork to nick-nacks etc. "Good stuff" ... "expensive" ... They took two cars -- Aaron needed to run his car and ensure that the battery was working properly and 5 (or was it 6) people in their car is too many. All went well.

I got the cooker ready for dinner. We were trying, for the first time, deep fried turkey. I wanted to have a solid base, away from the deck as much as possible, so leveled a spot with a brick, a couple of short pieces of wood and a concrete 2x3 patio pad. I already had the cooker from a beer-can turkey setup that I'd purchased two years ago. That cooker (or rather, burner) came with the usual hose to connect to a propane tank but I had replaced said hose with a long hose / quick disconnect assembly to attach to a propane outlet under the deck that runs to our 3000 liter tank. It's a great setup -- one 30,000 btu burner -- we used it on the day that Arlene arrived to cook corn in a big pot outside. I have two gas disconnects on a T so that I can run the barbecue and the burner at the same time.

The turkey frier also came with a burner, a simpler affair that cannot be attached to anything other than a propane tank. Jason might find a use for it. The frier also came with the pot, turnkey holder and carrier, thermometer etc. -- and loads of instructions that are mostly dire warnings about fire & death if you don't follow the instructions.

Well, it certainly is a quick way to cook a turkey. 3-3.5 minutes per pound meant that we cooked the 13.5 pound turkey in 45 minutes. Sandy prepared all the accompanyments -- mashed potatoes, turnip, salad -- as if we were having a "regular" turkey. She likes "regular" turkey with stuffing etc. better -- but this was certainly good, moist, crispy in spots as you might expect ... and fast !

We had invited Jason et al for dinner as well -- he and I have been talking about deep fried turkey for a couple of years -- and everyone came over as I lowered the turkey into 4+ gallons of peanut oil. I had a fire extinguisher close by, but did not need it. One thing about deep frying turkey -- the turkey is cheaper than the oil -- but the oil is reusable for up to six months as long as it's kept in a cool dark place aka wine cellar !

Jason's guys also wanted to try some French Fries so they cut up a few potatoes, made a basket out of some galvanized screen (the stuff with 1/4" holes, not window screen) and we cooked up some fries after I took out the turkey -- they too were good. The screen was not exactly sterile, but I guarantee that after it went into the boiling oil, there were no more germs. We need one of those big aluminum ladles to use with this setup -- the ones that are 18" to 24" long and have a 4-5" semi-flat operating end. I've seen them -- have to keep an eye out for one now.

Remember the oil -- well of course it's expensive if you only use it once, so we have to make additional plans to use it before we head south for the winter. Jason is going to bring up a couple of ducks -- that should be interesting -- the other thing that would be good is pork loin, wings ... hmmm. At least peanut oil is better for you than many other oils -- and a "solid" meat like a pork loin would not absorb any oil. Most of the oil went back into its containers, probably short about 1.5 quarts -- some spattering but I think mostly evaporation -- with all the boiling the hot oil must vaporize. The turkey actually shrinks -- which makes sense because all of its fat would liquify and again, the meat does not absorb any more oil/fat. French fries, however, are probably a different story !

After dinner -- 21 of us all told -- we had cake and ice cream, cake courtesy of Lorraine, followed by the marshmallow roast. Jeffrey & Ernie had cut a few sticks for said roast, which I broke in half because more than little kids roasted marshmallows. We used the same burner to do our roasting -- not as "campy" as a wood fire, but certainly safer with 5 small kids. Kids ? -- include David, Kim, Jeffrey, Gavin -- everyone was killing themselves laughing over these marshmallows. Were 7 bags enough ? We didn't even finish one bag !! It was a riot. The things are huge !

Let me digress for a minute -- this is what we envisaged when we decided to buy the original cottage from my Mom & Dad -- not the marshmallows per se -- but family get-togethers, friends etc. -- with enough space for all. It is a wonderful environment -- the pleasures are simple -- and you have more time to enjoy one another's company than you do in the city. The group is also semi-captive. Toys get well used -- ATC's, boats -- and with this gang, computer access is a must. We made the right decision. We will continue to invest in toys -- a TV downstairs would be usefull and everyone is still pushing for a pool table.

It's clear though that we'll have to get some sort of solid folding table for when the gang gets large -- my 4x8 sheet of 5/8" plywood with 2x4 legs etc. is doing the job, but it's not portable, foldable or permanent ! I could probably make something ... hmmm. I could lighten it up a little by ripping the 2x4's to 2x3's, switching to 3/4" plywood from 5/8" but narrowing the table to 36" from 48" -- I would need hinges on the legs ... I'll figure something out. I have a few cedar 2x4's up in the barn that I could use for the purpose -- a lot lighter and strong enough.

Today ? -- the kids (small ones) want to go into Trash & Treasures in Port Loring; Sandy may go to Parry Sound to pick up veggies -- probably taking Kim for the ride (not sure). I'll get her to pick up the wine that is now waiting at the liquor store from the Opimium Society (5 cases). They are calling for thunderstorms later today but if the doppler looks clear I'll take a boat ride with the kids down to Lost Channel for ice cream.

Jason's construction is coming along. Most of his guys go back south today but Gavin is staying to help Jason. He'll be ready to tile soon, which is the plan, before the end of the week, and then, with fixtures installed, the dirty work -- connecting the drains to the existing plumbing. It's dirty work because it is all under the house in the crawl space, and I really mean crawl space, on the dirt, in areas that are mostly 2-3 feet clearance.

My head cold is a bit better today which is fairly typical -- one warning day (day before yesterday, scratchy throat, uneasy feeling); one bad day (yesterday, cold remedies not quite able to stop the sinuses); a residual day (hopefully that's today, cold remedies keep things at bay), then recovery. Of course Sandy has not had this one yet so she'll get it a few days from now. I expect that the source is Lauren or perhaps Kylie, just based on timing -- probably something that they already had recovered from or just carried -- symptoms are always magnified in adults and the older the worse they get. We don't get many instance of cold/flu being in the wilderness -- and exposure happens -- kids, airplane rides -- the good news and the bad news, right ? As long as you're reasonably healthy and don't have some sort of auto-immune problem these things are just annoyances.

Well, it's that time of day again -- breakfast for me and Abby !

Cheers !