Author: The Cedar Journal

Friday Floral

January 15, 2021

Cold, gloomy and a chance this weekend of snow makes for a ho hum sort of walk, until you see these.

These happy daffodils put a smile and sunshine into my gloomy walk.
Bright in the gloom.

Now, inspired, I looked for other signs of brightness in the gardens I passed.

This periwinkle is protected by the rock wall.

The shrubs in this moderate climate provide colorful eye catching berries.

Bright red berries pop color from this garden.

© The Cedar Journal, 2021, all rights reserved.

In Everything There is a Rainbow

January 12, 2021

Nope, I am still in shock from what happened last week. Which makes the fact that for two days I have seen the following even more spectacular.

A rainbow from my walk on 9 January 2021.

The rainbow can only be seen when conditions are just right. Light, water, angle, and being in the right place at the right time are all elements to being able to witness such a thing.

From a dark sky full of gloom to be suddenly blessed to see all the colors that are contained in each rain drop, a spectrum of color. What a simple joy!

So many only want to see only the dark sky, the rain clouds, the windy conditions that keep them inside (ok, a virus is also keeping many inside), or only see what is binging on their phone. As we all put down our phones, and look at the sky I hope we all see are rainbows in this darkness that has invaded our world in the last year.

My hope is that each of my blog followers will also enjoy a rainbow of any sort in your travels today. Be kind to one another and be safe.

Another rainbow from my walk this morning 12 January 2021.

Same rainbow but a faint second rainbow.

© The Cedar Journal, 2021, all rights reserved.

New Year’s Eve Dutch Style

December 31, 2020

This year will be different than most as we celebrate at home and not camping like we did in 2019.

The Dutch government made it unlawful to shoot fireworks this year. I celebrated the no fireworks rule! Hopefully a new tradition as it would be better for the environment and better for those of us who suffer from PTSD.

So instead we decided to make some traditional Dutch treats. Oliebollen and appelbeignets. Known in English as oil ball donuts and apple donuts.

We did take the shortcut of making these from a box.

Apple donut mix

We started with the apple donuts.

Slice and cut centers out.
Mix in the milk.
Coat the sliced apples with cinnamon and sugar.
Dip the slices in the batter and coat the slices entirely.
Place in 190C hot cooking oil

We decided we would use our CADAC cooking system outside for this part of the process.

Fry until brown or for about 4 minutes.
Nice amount for two people.😂
Add a nice dusting of powder sugar and eat! Yummy.

Then after we ate enough of those we just had to stuff ourselves with the next traditional donut. Oliebollen!

Mix, 300ml of water, and two eggs.
Now the dough is ready for the hot oil.
Into 190C cooking oil.
The fun part of these is watching them turn on their own in the pan.
Close to being done at 5-6 minutes.
Beautiful oil donuts
Again add a good amount of powder sugar and enjoy.

There is a reason we only eat these treats once per year. When we eat a few of these on New Year’s Eve we are really sick of them until the following year!

Happy New Year to our followers, friends and family. We wish all of you a healthy and happy 2021.

© The Cedar Journal, 2020, all rights reserved.