CREAMY CHEWY CARAMELS

"HOLIDAY TOFFEE"

For the past few years the kitchen in the Place Under The Pine has put out some prize worth food. But, there is one treat that has become infamous - the caramels, the holiday toffee, the 'Mackintosh Toffee'...it is a yet to be officially named. It is so chewy and delicious that everyone who has ever tried it has loved it, wanted more, and asked for the recipe.
Well, the recipe is locked away in the safe. Google 'homemade caramel recipes' and you will see all you need is a few simple ingredients (sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, butter, and vanilla). The trick may be in the actually cooking process - remember to keep stirring for 15 mins and take it off just at the right moment when it looks done. This video will help you see exactly what it will look like as you cook away.

Now remember, when you make a successful batch of caramels you will most likely have to make more, and more, and more...

You will be shocked at how fast a big pan of caramel can/will be eaten

There are a few ways you can package up your caramels - tiny bite sized pieces, small blocks with square indents, small blocks, or gigantic slabs.

After you have divided up your caramel it can be wrapped up in parchment paper.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy responsibly.

CHRISTMAS VACATION 2015

Christmas 2015

Christmas time around the Place Under The Pine?
Busy is one way to describe it. The citizens are busy trimming trees, wrapping present, making cards, baking cookies...when the 25th hits the busy-ness only increases. The Place bursts at the seams with friends and relatives all sharing in the events of Christmas.
Early Xmas morning, before the sun even rose, over a dozen people were busy distributing presents and drinking hot, strong, coffee. The kids were overwhelmed with all of the stuff given to them by their generous relatives. The Place was full of laughter, smiles, and full stomachs.

Over the next week the citizens spent day upon day hunkering down at home; soaking in hour upon hour of quality family time (and playing with all the new toys). It was a much needed break from school, work, and regular life. A great time to recharge for the upcoming winter.

Here is a little video showing some of the things we did over the holidays. Enjoy.

 



Oscar lives up to his Sesame Street personality...

..Grouch :)  (He frowned on purpose at the very last second)

DECKING OUR HALLS

UP GOES THE XMAS TREE

The Place Under the Pine was bustling with activity this weekend - Christmas inspired activity.
It was the second biggest (or maybe third biggest, depending on who you ask) event of the Holiday Season - Putting up the Christmas Tree!!!

For many reasons, from cost to bendability, the PUTP uses an artificial tree. The 'construction' of the tree is an activity everyone participates in.

Lifelike branches are sorted.

Once the tree is assembled and strung with lights the glass balls come out. A nice base layer of green, pink, clear...almost every colour...fragile (very fragile) glass balls are placed strategically on the tree.

Lolli is almost as tall as the tree!

Sometimes the inevitable happens...little hands drop balls.

Action shot!

 

Whoopsie!

Xmas-tree-decorating-with-three-year-olds-tip#53 : Place something soft under the tree. A cushion made of a thick felt tree skirt will ensure glass balls do not break when they fall from a height of around three feet. Help your child learn that glass balls can be their Christmas tree decorating friend.

Bodies of older siblings will also work.

Me? Again? I did it last year!

 After the appropriate number of balls were put in the tree, a photo op was taken.

Photo contains: Sad puppy, middle child, and ?

 Next, giant plastic bins filled with ornaments were cracked open. With an overabundance of décor Jen took control and prevented mass chaos. With her in charge, distributing ONE ornament at a time, the decorating process ran smoothly.
With the classic Christmas songs playing in the background, the tree was filled with memories. It seems each ornament has a story - some dating back to Christmas '79. Every bough was weighted down with some trinket. Lolli focused on getting the top branches, Elliott the middle, and Oskie...well, he focused on one branch and one branch only.

 



 

 

 

 

With the Christmas tree comes the annual advent calendar. This beauty has 24 little pockets each holding a hand crafted felt ornament to be hung above. Every day brings a surprise (what ornament are we getting today? Is it the pink fish!?) and every decoration brings us one day closer to the big event!

WHAT ARE WE READING?

BOOKS ABOUT DOGS ARE POPULAR THIS MONTH

Reading is a major pastime for the citizens of the Place Under The Pine. Bookshelves overflowing with books are found in every room of the house - even in the closets of some rooms (see picture below).

One young citizen is caught hiding in the closet reading Sandra Boynton!

It is a common (and heartwarming) sight to find our emerging readers practicing their new found skills by reading to their younger (illiterate) siblings.

  

 

Reading has always been a part of the PUTP daily life, but, the weekly page counts vary up and down depending on many factors - time, outside commitments, current book choice, etc.

Recently, reading time has been fairly high, and one reason may be the current book choices - strangely, all dog related books.

Here is run down of the tail waggin' books.

 

Toddler aged reading - Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey

 

 

This book is popular with the 2 to 3 year old crowd right now (even though it is well past Halloween). Possibly because the protagonist is a wiener dog AND his name is Oscar. Also, this book is written by Dav Pilkey, whom you may recall as the author of the extremely popular Captain Underpants series (which is the number 1 requested book series by six year old boys in the PUTP - see review). Pilkey is good at writing for kids, and that's a fact.

 

Six year old reading - Ribsy - Beverly Cleary

 

 

Ribsy is Henry Huggins dog - Henry is part of the Ramona series (which is another extremely popular series in the PUTP). Ribsy is a dog on the loose. He finds himself lost and has many misadventures as he tries to find his way home. There is just enough humour and just enough action to keep the six year old in your house asking for 'just one more chapter, please'.

 

Older reading - The Dog Who Wouldn't Be - Farley Mowat

 

Another novel full of doggie misadventures. Mowat's writing is full of exaggerated tales that are humorous and heartwarming. This is Farley's account of his childhood dog named Mutt, and as the title suggests he was a dog that did not want to be a dog - it seemed he wanted to be more human than animal. This classic novel, written in the late 50s, is full of old sayings and Canadiana culture of the time - which is a great thing for a young Canadian reader...and even for the older one who is actually reading the story out loud.

All of these canine centred stories have sparked some heavy ready lately, which is saying a lot about these books. The PUTP is not a haven for the dog lover, in fact, some citizens openly admit to despising dogs (or most dogs)...so, books based on dogs have to be very, very, good books to be read in the PUTP.

Happy Reading.

 

 

 



CRAFT SALE

CRAFT SALE KEEPS CITIZENS BUSY

What has kept the citizens of the PUTP oh so busy lately? A mixture of crafting and helping to set up and run a craft sale for the kids' school. The energy around the PUTP has been full of creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and charity as every person (young and old) has gotten involved in this event at some level.
Many hours and countless litres of creative juice were used by local crafters who made a variety of things; felt ornaments, rainbow loom bracelets, playdough kits in jars, and stockings.

Felt owls - natural habitat is a Christmas tree.

Grammy and Elli take their shift at the sale

The day of the actual event was hectic, but, as anyone who has taken on events like this (even for a great cause) know how time consuming and energy depleting they can be. They will also know the great feeling of satisfaction and pride when the events are successful. And, this event was such a success that it will have to be repeated next year! Click here to see more.

In addition to the crafts and baked goods there was a henna artist

Oskie was one lucky recipient of a henna dolphin

COOKING WITH OLIVIA - SCRAMBLED EGGS

OLIVIA SHOWS US HOW TO COOK UP A PLATE OF SCRAMBLED EGGS

There are many, many, wonderful things about eggs:

• Inexpensive
• 6 grams of high quality protein
• 50% of your daily intake of B12
• Pleasing shape
• Source of Vit D
• Can be hard or soft boiled

Another really great thing about eggs is that they are easy to cook. One easy variation is commonly known as 'scrambled'. It may sound a bit..off-putting...trust us, it is delicious.
In the following video Olivia shows us how easy it is to prepare 'Scrambled' eggs.

Many other condiments can be applied to the cooked eggs - hot sauce is one. Ketchup, but that was already shown in the video. Ok, it looks like only ketchup and hot sauce. Enjoy.

HALLOWEEN 2015

IS HALLOWEEN ABOUT THE CANDY - IT SURE IS!

Can last year's Muppet Invasion be topped?

Last Year

YES! The citizens of the Place Under the Pine think so. Maybe if they harness some of what makes Halloween, well, Halloween it is possible - not the scary or the spooky, but, the CANDY!

Candy is synonymous with Halloween, at least in the mind of most kids. So, what better theme to work off than candy?
This year's costume theme winner...(drum roll)...WILLY WONKA! Remember that classic 70's movie all about candy? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The golden ticket? Anyone, anyone?

The original cast

The PUTP version

The kids really took on the roles they were given. Lolli (seen below in Violet Beauregard wear) chomped on her whad of gum while trick or treating.
Elli (top hatted like Mr. Wonka himself) hobbled along on his cane - for the first few steps down the sidewalk.

Oskie (in his Oompa Loompa workwear) hummed that repetitive Oompa Loompa tune the entire night.

♪Looompa Looompa♪