My Red Sauce Inspiration

Over the years I have been trying to create “thee” red sauce based on how I like it. My mom used to make red sauce for spaghetti and it was tasty but I disliked how watery it would be at times. Mostly because she’d used canned tomatoes which made it a bit more watery. It was still tasty don’t get me wrong but I decided I wanted to make it in such a way that it was more along my taste as well as just experimenting with trying to find the right consistency along with it tasting oh so good.
My mom has been an inspiration for a lot of my cooking because she took the time to teach me how to cook many things, how to cut up whole chickens along with some of the not so fun things like shelling peas and beans for endless hours but the fun part was eating them and hearing her yell at me to stop eating what I shelled. LOL That was the best part of all.
Mom (2006)
Okay onward with what I was writing about. Basically I had the right taste while living in the United States because I could acquire all the ingredients I needed to make the red sauce tasty as well as the thick consistency that I have grown so fond of. In the great US of A I could buy anything I wanted to use in the sauce but since I’ve been living in Greenland for the last year, ingredients I am used to getting is either harder to get or can’t get them at all. So because of that I have had to improvise and I’m still trying to get the sauce to taste nearly like I had it tasting when I was living in the United States.
Down below is what I’m currently using to make my red sauce. If you decide to try making it, you will have to improvise because I don’t measure anything when making it. So everything listed will be listed either by taste or by measurement depending on what it is. Also it should be noted that I tend to rotate the kinds of meats I use in it too. Sometimes I might use two or three different meats. Ground beef is the main meat but I usually include other meats as well.
Ground beef (about one pound or half kilo)
Chicken breast without the bone (about one pound or half kilo)
Pork loin without bone (about one pound or half kilo)
Sausage (about ½ pound or ½ kilo) NOTE: I don’t always use this meat because it changes how the sauce taste. So if you’re looking to have a more robust taste of sausage in it, go for it.
NOTE: use any meat you want for this. The above is what I like to use.
3 small cans of tomato paste
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 jar of pre-made pasta sauce
1 jar of sliced mushrooms
1 large onion sliced
3 cloves garlic minced or diced
½ red bell pepper sliced
½ yellow bell pepper sliced
NOTE: You can substitute both half peppers for one green bell pepper, I like to use the colorful ones because they are pretty and because they taste sweeter. 🙂
Spices:
Garlic salt
Rosemary
Thyme
Basil
Oregano
Marjoram
Tastefully Simple Italian Garlic Blend Seasoning
butter
In a large sized fry pan melt a couple of spoon sized pats of butter. Add onion, pepper, garlic and mushrooms into pan. Saute them for a few minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, season breast meat and then dip into flour and get them ready for a precook braise in the same pan as the vegetables. Move the vegetables to the outer edges of the skillet and then put the chicken breast in. Brown on both sides and then remove from skillet.
Prepare pork loin in the same manner as the chicken breast and brown on both sides and remove from pan also. Lastly add the ground beef. While the ground beef is cooking, add seasonings to meat/vegetable mixture and continue to cook till ground beef is done. While this is cooking, open all cans of tomato mixtures and add to very large pot. Also slice the chicken breast and pork loin into strips.
Once tomato mixture is added to pot, add the same seasonings listed in ingredient list. Put the sauce on a low heating temperature. Once it has started getting warm the sauce should start thickening due to the tomato paste. This is where you will be seasoning to taste. Add the chicken breast, pork loin, vegetables and ground beef to the tomato mixture. Cook on low setting or simmer setting and add spices to taste. I tend to simmer for at least two hours so that all seasoning has a chance to do what it’s meant to do as far as taste. Please note that if sauce is tart, just add a little sugar and that will resolve that. The longer it simmers the better it taste.
Cook any pasta you want for the red sauce. I like to cook up a pot full of fettuccine.
Serve pasta & sauce with either a tossed salad or with steamed broccoli and garlic bread.

Indoor Plants & what they can do for homes

Chlorophytum comosum ‘Bonnie’
 Today this blog is about something much more different than what I’ve been writing about. I’m going to broach the subject of plants, especially the ones we currently use indoors. Did you know that there are a few houseplants that are in the top ten for purifying the air we breathe indoors? I bet a lot of you didn’t know that.
When I was working on my Landscape design college degree I did a research paper on using plants indoor not just for their beauty but for the use of air purification being so many people work indoors instead of outside.
Back in the late 1980’s NASA along with Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) did a study on particular houseplants that resulted in findings that that common houseplants such as bamboo palms, spider plants and a few others not only made indoors more attractive but also the discovery of them using toxins internal of the plant while returning clean air during it’s cycle. I will have to explain this in a better way once I have more of my thoughts better collected for this.
Basically the trapped air indoors would build up and create what is known as the “Sick Building Syndrome” due to the fact that modern homes and buildings were basically sealed in such a way so that it could be energy efficient. The problem with that though is bad gases that humans give off have no way of escaping these buildings. It is a known fact that plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen through photosynthesis. The testing of 19 plants clearly proved that 17 of them actually removed harmful elements such as trichloroethylene, benzene and formaldehyde from the air.
Because these plants originally came from a tropical area where they were growing as what we would call understory plants, meaning they had to adapt to low light conditions. Because of this, they are great for indoor usage not just because they can adapt to low light areas but also because of their beauty to the human eye. The plants are very efficient with capturing light which means they also are very efficient in processing the gasses necessary for photosynthesis. Some gases are used that are potentially harmful to humans.
Interesting enough NASA’s testing of some plants such as English Ivy, Gerbera daisies, Peace Lily, Bamboo palms, and Mother in law’s tongue were found to to be best for treating indoor areas contaminated with Benzene. Peace lily’s, Gerbera daisies, and Bamboo palms were also effect in treating Trichloroethylene.
NASA also discovered that Spider plants, Dracaena warneckei, Peace Lily, Golden Pothos were great for filtering out Formaldehyde.
Chlorophytum comosum ‘Bonnie’
The following plants are great for cleaning out air pollutants. It should be noted that most of the time we are totally unaware of these gases because we can’t see them or smell them.
  1. Philodendron scandens `oxycardium’, heartleaf philodendron
    02. Philodendron domesticum, elephant ear philodendron
    03. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana’, cornstalk dracaena
    04. Hedera helix, English ivy
    05. Chlorophytum comosum, spider plant
    06. Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig’, Janet Craig dracaena
    07. Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii’, Warneck dracaena
    08. Ficus benjamina, weeping fig
    09. Epipiremnum aureum, golden pothos
    10. Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa’, peace lily
    11. Philodendron selloum, selloum philodendron
    12. Aglaonema modestum, Chinese evergreen
    13. Chamaedorea sefritzii, bamboo or reed palm
    14. Sansevieria trifasciata, snake plant
    15. Dracaena marginata , red-edged dracaena
I thought I would share this information with you being I am trying to slowly get house plants for my Greenlandic home. The other day I picked up a spider plant and I’m so excited about having it indoors because I know how good it is with taking in bad toxins and using it for food through photosynthesis. They are fairly easy to take care of and they don’t produce pollen for those who are sensitive to it. Great don’t you think? Right now I am trying to find in the stores Golden Pothos, Bamboo palms and the light but so far nothing on those avenues.  I can only hope that eventually they will become an item to be sold or I will just have to sneak in some one. LOL
Hoya carnosa
Here is a list of resources for more information on this important study:

PDF files of the NASA studies related to plants and air quality:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ssctrs.ssc.nasa.gov/foliage_air/foliage_air.pdf

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ssctrs.ssc.nasa.gov/journal_mas/journal_mas.pdf

List of NASA studies related to treating a variety of air and waterborne pollutants with plants:

http://www.ssc.nasa.gov/environmental/docforms/water_research/water_research.html

My “Faith” in my beliefs, Friendship, family & Other People

I’ve been sitting here for several hours pondering things because of the usual stresses that come along relating to people and the the things they do or do not do for you or to you. “You” is currently generic in nature when writing about what I’m about to write about in this blog.
I’ve been in Greenland for a tiny bit over a year now and I have to say that peoples way of life here varies and is so different than how people are in my own country. (USA)
Over the half my life has tested my faith in people and at some point my faith I guess died or ended up on the back burner because I grew tired of always being treated like crap. I came from a rough upbringing that no child should ever have to experience and then I turned right around and married a man who was just like the upbringing I had been in only at the time I didn’t realize it or I didn’t see it or was to stupid to understand all the bad behaviors were going to lead me into a twenty one year marriage of mostly misery.
I kept thinking and hoping and believing that one day that would all change and things would be good for both me and the beautiful children that came from this first marriage but alas that never materialized. I am only writing about this part to lay groundwork to hopefully shed some light on some of the next things I will write about in this not so great blog.
I think I’m a fairly easy person to get along with and I’d do about anything for anybody especially my kids and my friends. And of course now my new husband whom I love and adore. This blog has nothing to do with him or my children. It’s about other people in general. Anyway lets trudge on with this blog and the writing of it. Over the years I grew up with the understanding that nobody ever did anything for anyone else without expecting some return from it which meant right then and there. So anytime I was invited anywhere it was expected that I help with fuel or food or whatever. Of course when I did the inviting of those same people to go do things with me, well I never asked anything because I feel much differently about this whole idea.
See I believe that when I want somebody to come and do something for me I shouldn’t expect them to help pay for it when I did the inviting or whatever. Of course I didn’t always invite on outings that required a lot of money due to my limited resources but when it came to cooking dinner or whatever, they never had to bring a thing unless they really insisted. It’s just that I think that it never hurts anyone to do things for their fellow being or family or friends. It makes us better people when we do things for others. I believe that God rewards those that do good things for others too. Maybe these beliefs are outdated in this day and age. I just don’t know.
Out of all the friends I have encountered along with family members (not my children or new husband) in the United States there is only one person who has never asked for anything in return when she did the inviting or did things for you or wanted to come and do something nice for you. I have gained a lifelong friendship with “M” and she would be a perfect description of what a good friend is meant to be like. Always there when you need her, does things because she wants to, not because she wants something in return or even expects it. Even when you offer its most of the time no, no need or something like that. She is truly a blessing to all of those who are lucky enough to be around her or even friends with her. I sure do miss her too being separated by the big pond.
I have no problems with helping out when going places and such but I am beginning to think that most (not all) expect something when they do something for you these days though. I just don’t understand why it’s that way either.
Then I come to this beautiful country “Greenland” and get to enjoy the most amazing landscapes and scenery and get to learn about the local ethnic customs and eat new foods and well just enjoy what it means to be a Greenlandic. There has been several things I have learned about the people here. Most of them always smile and don’t seem to have a care in the world or much stress in their lives. Most of them love their country as well and love what nature puts in front of them too. Most of them would do things for their fellow man, family and friends without asking for anything in return or even expecting it. I am having to learn that I don’t have to do things for those that do things for me here or bring things. It’s not expected. What they do expect I guess is for you to enjoy yourself and have a good time.
I have made friends with a wonderful person and her family and they have made me feel so welcome and a a part of them too. I get to go sailing with them often and they always share with me new things, new places and seem to give of themselves without reservation or expectation of anything being given in return other then to have a good time with them. I have grown quite fond of them in fact.
So I’m at a loss here in a way. How is it that people in two different worlds can be so different when it comes to just being human beings. Has my country grown so crazy, and so busy that they have forgotten what it means to enjoy what is around them? Have they forgotten how good it is to give to one another and not expect somebody to pay them back in some way? It seems like so many now are stressed in their everyday lives. Now a days it’s all about politics, money, fuel, and whatever else that might be a huge discussion or interference in ones life.
My husband has been a wonderful influence in my life these days too. He’s always smiling and laughing and teasing and well affectionate and loyal too. He never lets things weigh him down for more than a few minutes and then he moves on and brushes it all off. I hope one day I can manage to learn to do that too. It would be a wonderful thing to learn to let things roll off me instead of bothering me.
The only reason I even wrote this is because I get frustrated at times by how people treat one another. It seems like society has become greedy and no longer wants to do anything without some expectation of something in return. Well that is my vent for the month. LOL I’ll be updating my blog with more fun stuff from the last two, no wait three sailing trips. I still have to finish writing about them all and post photographs as well. I hope you will take the time to read them and view pics as well. I have posted photo’s on here so that one can at lest enjoy the pics despite the nature of this particular blog.
God grant me the serenity to change the things I can and the patience to ignore the ones I can’t.
Mandala
The word mandala means “circle.” Mandala’s often have radial balance. For me I use mandala’s to help improve my concentration and to relax.
I have noticed that it helps me to reduce stress levels to a lower level and sometimes get rid of it all together. Shapes and patterns of mandala’s are added to a clearly calming center point. It is said that they are healing mediums for the soul and help with merging the body, spirit and soul.
It’s all about what you believe it to do and how it may help you as a person. For me it does help me a lot when I’m working on them. They help to uncover inner creativity, to discover the real you from inside and to calm. 
The three mandala’s I posted were done by me at different times with my mood being different each time. I’m working on a couple of more but they are unfinished at this time and have been for awhile. LOL 😛 
This is the book I bought that I got the mandala’s from. 
 

My expression of "Kiss The Bride"

My expression of “Kiss the Bride” designed by Melinda Miller Designs.  I found this pattern to easy to follow and fun to create along with giving me a chance to express myself with using colors in a more unconventional manner.  The only thing that I really have to remark about is that the crossing over of double crochet stitches don’t seem to evident when looking at the finished product.  More than likely that is because my crochet stitches tend to be a bit tight.  I’m not sure if there is a way around this or not unless one wants to use a different color on one stitch while using another on the other.

Needle and yarn

Hook

5.5 mm (I)
Yarn

Red Heart Super Saver

in stash

Colorway

0718 – Shocking Pink
Purchased at

Herrshners
Yarn

Caron Simply Soft Solids
Colorway

Celestial
Dye lot

0011
Yarn

Red Heart Soft Yarn Multi
Stash

in stash
Colorway

Plummy 9940
Dye lot

K1217-493685
Color family

Purple
Purchased at

Herrshners
Yarn

Red Heart Soft Yarn Solids
Colorway

Off White
Yarn

Red Heart Soft Yarn Solids
Stash

in stash
Colorway

9518 – Teal
Color family

Blue-green
Purchased at

Herrshners

Greenland (Sailing from Qaqortoq to New Places – Day 2) August 17th – 19th 2012

Warning: More photographs that might be to graphic for some who are against hunting in nature for food. Do not post anything negative on my blog about this. This is a way of life here in this country.
August 18, 2012
Today we got up not to early and started our day. Torben had already been up for some time and had checked the salmon nets and removed the salmon caught on the nets and cleaned them and prepared them for freezing or another process where he fileted the meat off the bone and put them in a type of brine solution for soaking. I’m not sure how long this process last but I’ll probably inquire into that at a later time.
I am so amazed by how these people in this country live their lives. Most live it simple and with less extravagance to those that live in United States. Yes, my country although I’m not against having some extravagance within reason anyway. It’s just that these people are happy with their way of life and this happiness trickles down into each generation from the oldest to the youngest. I have to say that I find them quite refreshing and kind. It’s like when they invite you out on outing or dinner or fishing or whatever, they just expect you to bring yourself. I am learning this myself because I’m so used to having always had to pay my own way for every thing when I was invited out for an outing or for dinner or whatever. It just amazes me how unselfish most are here.
So after we had breakfast Torben went hunting again with some other men that had arrived the night before in a boat too. There was three of them in fact sneaking up the side of the mountain because they had already spotted reindeer coming down the side of the mountain.
Hanne and I found a good spot to watch this and sat down so that the deer didn’t notice us watching them. The deer came all the way down to the smaller lake and it was too funny how they all got in the water to have a morning bath and then got out to shake themselves off. Then they started moving again and headed in the direction of the three men that had continued to a good location while stalking their prey. There were five deer in this group slowly moving their way along the side of the mountain.
I was just in awe of this whole thing because when watching a distance, there is this group of deer moving right towards the hunters totally unaware that they are about to become somebody’s next meal. Once the deer were in range the hunters took down four of the five. The one remaining deer had run in another direction but it was strange to watch him because he kept stopping and turning to see what was going on behind him. This gave the hunters time to reload and try to get off a shot at him but he was just to far from them and that gave the one deer left a chance to escape from becoming supper for somebody. LOL
Over all the four taken were healthy and there seemed to be some age mixtures in this small group. There was a older buck that had quite a huge rack on him in comparison to the other three.
So Torben and Hanne butchered 1 ½ of the four deer taken down that day. The rest was divided up between to other two men who would take their meat home to their families. As I said in my previous blog, two deer can feed a family of three or four for an entire year. The racks that were on the deer were put in a place so that when the year was up, one of the hunters would return to pick the horns up for processing into jewelry and other types of things that people use everyday here. Most of it though is used for jewelry and knife handles and things like that.
When Hanne was butchering the deer she gave me a small part of the spine and a small part of one of the legs so that I could take it home to give to Ichi. I have given her the spine already and she spent about three days enjoying the raw meat and bone. Very nutritious for dogs. I put the leg bone in the freezer for future snacks for Ichi.
So once all the deer was cleaned, butchered and moved to a rocky area near the water, we went and had lunch and then I went exploring while Torben and Hanne went kayaking for awhile. Once we all returned, Hanne continued butchering the deer meat and prepping it for bagging and placing on the boat to take back home for more cleaning and freezing. All of the butchering is done on rocks. It seems to keep the meat fresh and free of bad things.
On another note, Torben took down some foxes as well. It seems that the Kommune will give a monetary reward for every fox tail that is turned into them. They then send the tails off for testing due to rabies and it’s potential to become an issue. Things are done so differently here at times.
I have to say that every time I go to a new place to explore I end up in more awe. Nature had created so much beauty here and it’s so untouched by the rest of the world mostly. Each day is different in some way or another. I love sitting in the sun and taking in all the breath taking views. The smell of pure air is intoxicating and makes me not want to ever leave. Today when I was exploring, I was sitting on the ground taking in the view, inhaling the clean fresh air, listening to the sounds, feeling the slight breeze on my skin and the warmth from the sun. It was so relaxing that I fell asleep on the ground for awhile and woke up a while later.

I also spent some time picking Greenlandic berries as well. I just cannot put into words just how beautiful it really is here or how it feels to be sitting here taking in all the views and enjoying the smells, and the sounds. Just everything about it is alluring and relaxing and well Kusanaq!!!

Stay tuned for day three of my sailing trip along with a recap blog as well of more photo’s that I want to share.  I hope you enjoy the photo’s as well as the blog. I believe this country is so beautiful and I can’t imagine anyone not seeing it’s beauty and all that it has to offer. 🙂 

Bean N Bacon Soup

Bean & Bacon Soup
Basically I am learning to make this particular soup by trial and error. The last time I made it I wasn’t sure of what I was doing and it didn’t come out to bad, however, it seemed to not taste quite like moms either. So today I am trying again for the second time to see if I can master this yummy soup that I used to eat as a child.
These particular beans are high in protein and good for anyone who eats them. So yesterday evening around midnight I put one package of Navy beans in cold water in a bowl and covered the bowl and left them sitting on the counter to soak over night. Well today Nikolaj and I went out to do some things. I had to have multiple x rays of my back and hips to hopefully give the doctors some ideas of what is causing the issues I’m currently having that is becoming a real problem for me.

Then after that we took a nice walk around Qaqortoq and ended up visiting our friends Torben and Hanne. They are such nice people and I have enjoyed becoming friends with them. We had dinner with them as well. Turns out they wanted me to teach their daughter Helenne how to make a sweet and sour stir fry like the one I made one night on their boat when we went sailing together. I will have to write the recipe about this dish as well and how I came about creating such a concoction.

So we were there till late in the evening and came home to find those beans still in water soaking on the counter. Of course the first thing that occurs to me is that I can’t just leave them sitting in water a second night or stick them in the fridge over night either. I’m not sure what would happen if I did that after such a long soaking. Initially they are only supposed to soak 8 (eight) hours. After that I’m not sure if that would be a bad thing or not. They seemed to be fine considering they had been soaking a good 12 (twelve) hours instead. They didn’t sour or anything like that so I’m thankful for that.
Now here is what I did to start making the soup.
I used a large stock pot and started out with diced ham pieces, diced onions, I sauteed them in a tiny bit of butter due to the fact that there was no fat in either item placed in the pot for precooking. In a small skillet I cooked ¼ pound of bacon till it was crispy and set that aside. Once the onion and ham were cooked, I poured 9 cups of water into the pot. I added four cubes of chicken base into the water and brought everything to a boil. Once the water was boiling I chopped up the crispy bacon into small pieces and added that to the water as well. Next came the beans I had soaked over night and most of the day. Once the water came to a boil again, I turned the heat down to a low setting, covered the pot and let it cook on a low boil for over three hours. Yes, that is what I wrote, three hours. The reason for this is because I cannot buy a slow cooker here in this country so the stove top is where even things that would be perfect for the slow cooker is cooked. After three hours of cooking the water had thickened to a nice rich, semi thick soup sauce with the beans and things in it. Turns out that the soup is very tasty but it seemed just a “tiny” bit salty but not overly salty. I will have to figure out how to get it less like that.
So basically that is what I did to make this soup. I don’t measure anything to be honest so I’ll just write a brief ingredient list for this soup.
One package of Navy Beans
¼ pound bacon
¼ diced ham
one onion
4 chicken base cubes
9 cups water
Enjoy!

Greenland (Sailing from Qaqortoq to New Places – Day 1) August 17th – 19th 2012

Sailing – August 17th – 19th 2012 (Qaqortoq)
WARNING: There is photographs of reindeer being used for food. If the reader has issues with this, then leave this particular blog. Do not post any negative comments on my blog if you’re against hunting for food. This is a way of life in this country.
This blog will be about my 3rd sailing experience with my friends Torben & Hanne. I will write more blogs about the first and second trip when I get around to it. LOL
Day One:
We sailed out of Qaqortoq sometime after 3pm like we always do. I didn’t know where we were going this day either. Each time I’ve gone with them, we’ve camped at a new place and new things were experienced at each place. Torben and Hanne are both native Greenlanders. It turns out that I have a lot in common with Hanne and because of that we have struck up a new and good friendship. 
She has been tutoring me in Greenlandic which at times turns out to be a laugh here and there at my expense but it’s all in fun and I’m having a great time with it. Other times I find it frustrating due to the fact that my Southern American accent is getting in the way of me learning this fascinating language and challenging language.
The Greenlandic language belongs to the Eskimo family of language. It is a “poly synthetic” language which means that words are formed with a root, one or more affixes and a suffix. Because of this a Greenlandic word can be very long and can mean what corresponds to a whole sentence in other languages.
There seems to be different dialects depending on where a person is in Greenland. There is four dialects: South Greenlandic, West Greenlandic, East Greenlandic and the Thule dialect. Being I am living in South Greenland, South Greenlandic is what I’m learning.
Anyway being I find myself sidetracked writing about the language, lets get back to what I was writing about to start with. I think it will be awhile before I can become fluent with Greenlandic but I’m not going to give up on it. I have been giving some thought to learning Danish though. I am beginning to think it might be beneficial for me to learn it long before I learn Greenlandic due to the fact that this language is also spoken in Greenland and it might make my life much easier if I did and I shouldn’t have as much trouble with it even with my southern accent. I don’t really know until I give it try though. 
So we started out trip with exceptional weather and light winds. The waterways seemed to be choppy though and it made it difficult for me to get many photographs while we were traveling to our destination. I did get a couple of video’s and a few photographs on our way there. We past a small settlement on our way there called “Qassimiut.” There is only about a hundred people that live there. From what I understand, they tend to leave this settlement during the fall, winter, spring months and return back to Qaqortoq so that children can attend school. It is more or less a summer place for most that live there. I’m not real sure if any of the remain during the winter months though.
Much to my surprise, the first thing we all saw once we got to our destination were reindeer. Six of them in fact. Torben decided he’d have to try and get a shot off to take one of them down if possible. Two of them was laying down sunning themselves and the other four were standing around eating the local fauna. Torben took one of them down and got off the boat using the dingy to go and see to the deer to make sure he wasn’t suffering or anything like that. It was a good kill and the meat will be tasty. Greenlandic people hunt reindeer, muskox, seal and sometimes polar bear. Polar bear hunting though only can be hunted by licensed hunters and even then there is only a small amount of them taken for meat. So Torben and Hanne got the boat tied off and settled in for the night as far as the boat and things that have to be done.
Once we were tied off and could get off the boat we all went to have a look at the reindeer. Hanne and her mother (who had joined us on this sailing trip) started the process of getting the deer ready for butcher by gutting him and removing body organs and things that were not edible for food consumption. Things were handled in such a way that nature was not disturbed and the leftover parts of the dear were placed in a particular fashion so that the local predatory wildlife could enjoy what was left but at same time didn’t cause any negative impact on the environment. It was interesting to watch them work on the deer and it brought back memories of when I was a child. My father used to hunt deer in Florida himself. He’d bring them home and gut them and dress them and get them ready for butchering. So this process was nothing new to me, just haven’t seen it done in a long, long time.
It seems that the men do most of the hunting in Greenland. The women do the gutting, skinning, butchering of the meat. One of the first things that was removed from the deer was the heart. I found that to be interesting. Apparently this is a special delicacy for Greenlandic people.
The reindeer was cleaned and moved to a closer area so that it could be further butchered on the rocks nearby as well as kept cool by the current Greenlandic weather conditions. After that was done we went back to the boat and I made dinner that nice. We had a nice stir fry that consisted of Teriyaki marinated chicken and beef, bell peppers, onions, snow peas, pineapple, mushrooms, broccoli and rice. Once I had all of it cooked, then I used a special kind of soy sauce and sweet and sour sauce to complete the taste I was trying to accomplish. I have discovered that most who haven’t ever had this style of dish end up loving it and it was a big hit that night too. Everybody was full after that.
I thought it’d be fun to mention some of the following Greenlandic words at the end of day one blog.
Reindeer – tuttu
Thank you – Qujanaq
Your Welcome – Illillu
I love you – Asavakkit
a lot – assut
I miss you – maqaasivakkit
I will mention more over time as I write more blogs relating to my living in Greenland. I am not sure if I’m happy with how I wrote this blog so it might be possible that I rewrite it.

Seasons

Seasons Change
by: Kathryn Oglesby Douglas Joelsen

Seasons
Days bright and cool
Shortened daylight hours
Nature’s signal for subtle change
Color

Native legend says
Hunters in the sky killed the
Great bear each autumn
Dripping his blood on

The earth, turning leaves deep red
Roasting bear meat from
A celestial kettle
Turning other leaves yellow

Copyright ©2012 Kathryn Oglesby Douglas Joelsen


Bruschetta ‘n Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts


Bruschetta ‘n Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Prep: 15 min           Total: 1 Hour
1 Can (14 ½ oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 ¼ Cups Shredded Low-Moisture Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Basil
1 Pkg (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
8 Small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2 lob.)
1/3 Cup Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. To prepare stuffing, combine tomatoes and their liquid. ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese; basil and dry stuffing mix, stirring until just moistened.
Put 2 chicken breast halves in a large, freezer weight resealable bag. Pound the chicken with the side of a heavy can, rolling pin or meat mallet until chicken is ¼-inch thick. Repeat process in the same bag with remaining chicken breast, 2 at a time.
Place pounded chicken breast, smooth-side down, on a cutting board. Spread with 1/8 of the stuffing mixture.
Roll chicken breast, starting at the narrow end. As tightly as possible around stuffing mixture.
Place in 13×9-inch baking dish with seam side down, as this allows the chicken to hold together nicely. Pour dressing evenly over chicken and bake for 40 minutes.
Sprinkle with remaining ¾ cup cheese and bake 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted and chicken is cooked through (internal temperature of 170 degrees F) .

Makes 8 servings, 1 stuffed chicken breast each.

Chicken Gnocchi Veronese

Chicken Gnocchi Veronese
Servings: 4
 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced (julienned)
1/2 zucchini, sliced (julienned)
salt to taste

4 chicken breast, slicked in 1/2″ strips
2 small branches of rosemary
1 garlic clove minced
juice of 1/2 lemon

Veronese sauce:
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
14 fluid ounces heavy cream

Veronese Sauce:
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
14 fluid ounces heavy cream

Gnocchi:
1 quarts water
6 ounces all purpose flour
2 eggs
2 pounds potatoes
2 tsp salt
        or
1 pound gnocchi (potato dumplings, cooked according to package directions)

Gnocchi:

Wash potatoes and place in water. Cook potatoes until soft, (cook time will depend on size of potatoes)

Remove potatoes from water and cool in refrigeration

Peel cooled potatoes and push them through a fine grater (rice grater) until mashed;; do not over mash potatoes or they will get tough

Combine potatoes, flour and eggs into a mixing bowl.

Mix well until dough does not stick to hands (add small amounts of flour at a time if needed)

Divide dough into 4 sections, roll out each section into a long rope.

Cut each rope into 1/2 inch pieces.

Push fork tine in each piece for the classic gnocchi appearance.
Bring water to a boil in a sauce pot, drop in gnocchi and cook until they float.

Chicken and Sauce:  combine garlic, lemon juice, rosemary and chicken slices in a mixing bowl.  let marinate for at least two hours.

Combine Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese and heavy cream in a mixing bowl and set aside.

Heat saute pan on medium high, add olive oil, onions, bell peppers and zucchini. 

Saute until onions are translucent. (do not brown)

Add marinated chicken slices and cook until slices are brown on all sided and internal temp is 165 degrees F. Reduce heat and add sauce mixture.  Bring to a simmer.

 

Let the Creativity Flow

Okay, I’m slow sometimes with doing things I intend on doing.  Like working on my blog, writing in general.  I hate writing at times because it requires me to articulate something in a more understandable manner so that most that “might” read it can understand it.  I don’t really expect many to look at it but it does give me a chance to share things and if nothing else, maybe my kids will take the time to look at it from time to time.  I also noticed that there is potential to make books from these blogs and it might be something I do later down the road for my kids.  I will have to give that some deep thought I guess.  

So what am I going to write about in this blog.  Well I thought I would share a few photo’s of some of the projects I have been working on, currently working on or even have finished.  I don’t know if I will take the time to write about each one as I place photo’s of them here but at least I will give the pattern name, who the designer of the pattern is.  Got to make sure people get their just due acknowledgement due to copyright laws and stuff.  

So without further adu lets get on with things.  

First project I want to share is: 

I made this scarf for the love of my life.  It has a polar bear placed on it too. I am thinking about going back to change the outline thread color to white though.  I’m not sure i like the black around it.  It seems to take away from the polar bear itself.  
This was the first time trying to make something like this with the bear. I used a pattern but modified it so that it could work for the desired effect I was looking for.  It seems that the original patter is now missing but I didn’t really go stitch by stitch by the pattern because I had something in mind and the pattern doing it the way it wanted just didn’t fit that criterea. I think my husband is very happy with his new scarf too. I’m excited about seeing him use it this coming winter too. 
I used two different white colors to give this effect and I used black to make the eyes and the nose. As I said I also used black to attach it to the scarf and I’m not real happy with it.  SO I probably will change it out to white and deal with there being white on the back side of the scarf. 

Okay onward to project 2: 

                                                 Wedding Square – 12″ (Melinda Miller Designs)
                                                    http://mocrochet.blogspot.com/

I did this square as a tester for Melinda Miller.  I enjoyed doing it and it was a little challenging but I also think it was challenging a little because of all the mixture of colors I put into it.  There is only one variegated color used in this.  The rest are solid colors that I rotated.  It was a lot of fun. 

Onward to Project 3

                                                   Cherry Dishclothby Lily / Sugar’n Cream 

The title of this design says dishcloth but I decided it would be a hot pad instead.  It makes more sense to use it for that and besides, it will look pretty hanging on a wall hook.  I enjoyed making this pattern and it turned out pretty good.  I again only used one variegated color while rotating with one other solid color. 

The next blog I write relating to my crocheting hobby will have more about projects.. I am closing this one for now.   Hope you enjoyed the shared items. 

The Beauty of Qaqortoq, Greenland

I like to take walks around Qaqortoq and take photo’s.  Some photo’s might be of blossoms, while others might be of brightly painted houses, icebergs and whatever else that might catch my eyes.  I also like to go to the flower shop and take photo’s what might be interesting there as well. 

                                                      Achillea ptarmica – Sneezewort
I saw these cool little flowers on my way to the library.  I thought I wasn’t going to get to write much about this particular plant because I couldn’t seem to put an ID on it but looks like I have located the name of the plant. Yay! This particular set of photo’s of this particular blossom seems late in blooming to my observation. These seem to be the first ones I’ve seen since the late spring season started.  There has been lots of blossoms but I haven’t taken one photo of this particular Genus since I started this season.

This is an attractive, erect, medium sized perennial which grows in damp grassy places and marshes. The daisy-type flowers (12-20mm) are made up of broad, short rays (petals) and the center is a disc of tubular florets.  They are borne on tall stems (to 60cm) in flat clusters from July to September.

 The leaves of Sneezewort are stalkless, narrow and have finely serrated edges.  I am not sure if this is a native plant to Greenland however this plant belongs to the family Asteraceae. 

I’m amazed at the amount of flowers I see all over this small town.  Despite the rocky areas, and the subarctic terrain, plants seem to thrive here.

This plant, which is highly valued by insects, is poisonous to sheep, cattle and horses.  The dried leaves were used to make a type of snuff and a sneezing powder, as the name might suggest, and also the dried flowers were used to make a tea, which was a remedy for head colds and headaches. 

There doesn’t seem to be enough information locally to learn more about this particular plant of the so many other ones that I have taken multiple photo’s of.  The language barrier also prevents me from learning more as well so it’s possible that I will make mistakes with identifying some plants.  So if you’re reading this and you know more than me and feel that what I have given an identification to is incorrect, please feel free to notify me and direct me to the site of the correct identification of plants I may mistakenly identified.

Down below for more information of these plants as well as I wanted to make sure there was links from where I gained the information to identify these plants. I think they are very interesting to look at.

http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/plant_detail.php?id_flower=240&wildflower=Sneezewort

http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/sneezewort