Kirsch Pflinzen!

This spring I picked a half gallon of sour cherries from the two trees we planted out front about four years ago. It was our first harvest from the trees and I made sauce for pflinzen (like crepes, also called Russian pancakes). My grandmother used to make a cake-like dessert with the pflinzen layered with sour cherry sauce. It's really yummy! I'm listing the recipe, if anyone wants to try it!

Pflinzen (Crepes or Russian Pancakes)

Combine in mixing bowl:

2 eggs, beaten

2 c. flour

2 c. milk

1/2 t. salt

Beat well together with rotary beater.

Heat a heavy skillet to medium-hot add a small amount of oil and swirl around the skillet. Pour in about 1/3 cup of batter, turning the skillet to coat the entire surface of the skillet. You should end up with a crepe-like pancake. When underside is brown (about a minute) turn over and brown lightly. Repeat steps, adding oil between each pancake. If you don't want to use the sour cherry sauce to make a cake-like "tower" you can also sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, drizzle with honey, or add any other sauce you like!

For the sour cherry sauce, all I did is pit the cherries and cook about 4 cups cherries with about 1/2 to 1 cup water and about 3/4 cup sugar. I added about 1 table spoon of cornstarch mixed into some of the water to help thicken the sauce. You can make the sauce to taste or buy some ready made cherry sauce.

Good luck!

More from Ontario...

Over the river and through the woods to Oma's house we go...


We enjoyed our week in Ontario. We got to spend some time on the beach of Lake Ontario. We visited Port Dalhousie where there is a lovely old-fashioned carousel which offers rides for only 5 cents each. We didn't get a chance to ride this time, but enjoyed the playground and a walk along a dock out to the lighthouse. Katie and August are with Stevie (Otto's son) in the first picture. Bret and August are enjoying the sand on a warm day. We collected sea glass of various colors along the beach. My mom was looking for photo ops for her brag book! :-)







My return trip was exhausting. Me and the kids, no relief driver (Bret) and not a lot of peace and quiet. Bret spent the first half of the week with us and then flew home on Sunday after the photography session (we haven't all been together in a long while). Bret had to be back to work on Monday to complete the last week of his blackbelt training--I won't attempt to explain this, except to say it's work related! The trip was a lot of fun! I'm really glad to be back at home now and into a more normal routine! Yay!

Changes...finally!

Okay, I promised you an update and now--almost one month later--here it finally is! I will be using the newer format and putting pictures in with the text. Hopefully this will work without any problems. Also this will allow those who would like to see closer up to do so by double clicking on the pictures.

So, the first thing I'll do is explain why it's been so long since I've updated this blog...we've been very busy! Okay, I'm sure we all are and this is not a good excuse, but hey, it's true! :-) The kids finished soccer in mid-May with a tournament. They both won trophies (so did all the other participants) and felt proud of themselves, so I suppose it was worth it!

The kids finished school on May 23rd and with great joy and celebration they welcomed summer vacation! It was a happy day, full of anticipation and unplanned time. The next day they were bored. Go figure!

We immediately began planning our first summer trip--to St. Catharines, Ontario (to visit with Angela's mum and extended family). The highlight of this trip was a one year old boy--Benjamin--the kids' newest cousin. You'll see him in some of the following pictures. During our visit we also spent two days at Marineland (amusement park/zoo) and one day at the African Lion Safari (strangely located near Brantford, ON). We also drove by Niagara Falls. One of the rides at Marineland, called Sky Screamer, affords an aerial view of the Falls. (While completely terrifying its occupants!)

Katie got an opportunity to pet and feed a beluga whale. She also enjoyed the company of her uncle Allan when she got tired of all the walking! August was chosen to "teach" a dolphin to sing and dance during a show (also at Marineland). His reward was an inflatable dolphin. I also couldn't resist an opportunity to take a picture of the walrus seeming to chew on his "fingers." The last picture is my brother Stephen and sister-in-law Heidi with the kids on a pirate boat.

The following pictures are from our visit to the African Lion Safari. The cute little guy in the swing is Benjamin. The cute big girl in the baby swing, trying to get Ben's attention is, of course, Katie! I thought it was funny how the primates climbed all over someone else's car (we rode in the bus) in the drive-through part of the safari adventure!

Well, it's late, so I'll try to make another installment tomorrow. Maybe one that won't be like a commercial for southern Ontario! Peace!