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Where Will I escape To Next?

8/27/2017

Where will I escape to next?

Opening the fridge door, gather up some ingredients and voila, I have become a chef extraordinaire to all who sit at our table.

Easy transition from chef to chauffeur. Ball cap, rain coat, and mini-van. Go. Stop. Wait.

Laundry, shopping, cleaning and making beds. The new uniform is jeans and t-shirt. The singing maid dances around the room, dust wand mic in hand.

The day ends but not the imagination. Travels to places unknown, in the pages that I write. Dozing off to thoughts of where I will escape to next.

Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Prompt - August 24, 2017 - write a story about an escape artist.

Ann Edall-Robson
Author, Photographer, Lover of Life
"Capturing moments others may never get to experience."

4 Comments

Berry Syrup

8/15/2017

5 Comments

It’s the season of harvesting produce and picking berries to create all kinds of goodness to enjoy over the long winter months.

What you make with your berries is as versatile as the various types of fruit you have available. Every year produces different quantities and selections. Wild berries seem to have the best flavour; but, they take the most amount of time when it comes to picking and cleaning. A local farmer’s market is a good source for your choice of berries.

Choose your fruit, turn on your favourite music and make some of our yummy Berry Syrup.

Berry Syrup

8 cups of berries - fresh if possible, but frozen/thawed works too
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup corn syrup - white or golden
2 cups white sugar

Process berries in a blender. If you don’t want seeds in your syrup, strain the puree through a cheese cloth or sieve.

Combine the puree with the other ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat and boil gently for about five minutes. Stir every so often and remember to scrape the sides of the pot.

Pour into hot, sterilized jars. Seal with metal lids and screw bands. Make sure the bands are secure. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Place on the counter and let them cool. You’ll know their sealed when you hear the tinny pop and the lid no longer springs back to the touch. Store in a cool spot. Remember, this is syrup, so it should be runny not thick like jam.

Recipe makes about 5 cups.

Tidbits
- Berries - Use blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries. 8 cups is 8 cups not matter what kind you choose.
- Lemon Juice - It’s OK to use bottled juice.
- Freeze the fruit in 2 cup bags and make the syrup or other fruit goodies when you have time.
- Tastes good cold or warmed up.
- Use on ice cream, pancakes, waffles, sponge cake. Use your imagination.

Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Prompt - August 10, 2017 - write a story that includes music and berries.

Ann Edall-Robson
Author, Photographer, Lover of Life
"Capturing moments others may never get to experience."

5 Comments

Jack Pine Wings

8/6/2017

4 Comments

She rides the chestnut mare across the wild hay meadow. Her gaze takes her to the trees and the remnants of her father’s youthful memories.

The grass is deep. No longer belonging to the summer harvest, the wind ripples across the expanse of the once cherished feed. Now left to the seasons and nourishing the creatures who come to enjoy its bounty.

The wings are visible. Old, weathered morsels left behind to pay homage to the moonlit hunt. Her mind allows the story to unfold. Playing out the details of chasing wild horses her Dad has shared. The tales of young men in search of new mounts. A way of life from not so long ago, yet slowly being forgotten.

The wind in their faces, the full moon above. Always upwind of the unsuspecting herd feeding in the quiet, illuminated darkness at the meadow’s edge. Spooked to a dead run by the young men moving ever closer. The fleeing sound of pounding hooves, branches snapping, voices yelling. Escaping the open to the trusted sanctuary of the trees, only to face barriers built by those pushing from behind.

Jack Pine pole wings guide them into the funnel opening of the corral. Held in the stronghold, wild-eyed, snorting, blowing. Squeals of defiance fight the ropes settling around sweating, heaving necks.

Not all will have made the journey into the trees and down the wings into the unexpected, camouflaged pen. Some will not run to the trees, eluding the riders and capture. Some will have been here before, their wiles tested, not to be repeated. They are the ones to run free along the meadow’s edge, under the moonlit night. Never to feel the tug of the rope.

The meadow sings their song. The wild horses and the young men who prized their capture. The flight taking them both to the outreaching wings of the wild horse corral. Their memory plays on the imagination of those who ride the wild hay meadow and find the weathered remnants. Taking the journey back in time. Reminiscing the tales of the young at heart as they tell of the hooves flying high under the moon.

Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Prompt - August 3, 2017 - write a story using sound.

Ann Edall-Robson
Author, Photographer, Lover of Life
"Capturing moments others may never get to experience."

4 Comments

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Where Will I escape To Next?

Berry Syrup

Jack Pine Wings

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