Back in Mt Lorne

A new blog finally, sorry for the long dry spell, but we were busy with so many Ontario resident friends and family members.

We came back to a whole lot of Yukon magic!

- big skies that make the atmosphere tinted pink

- acres of untrampled forest all around our cabin

- a kind of snowflake that forms bigger 3D snowflakes when it covers a surface

- the Lorne Mountain community centre’s ice rink is ready to be skated on!

- boot deep powder snow everywhere

- the kind of absolute quiet that takes your brain a while to comprehend

- frozen beards and eyelashes 

rink time

This evening after a two person (and two dog) bikejor, followed by a quick dinner and two absolutely wonderful phone conversations with Ontario friends filled with excitement and terrific news - we spend a couple of hours at the community center putting in a volunteer shift flooding the ice.

What you see in the photos is the work of 7 volunteers (and some staff time too) over 6 days. And we are not at the point yet when we can get the zamboni out there to help. The rink its self is fantastic and we are really excited about trying to start up a co-ed non competitive hockey night for all us rookie players.

Treats from the week

One great thing about friends is sharing tried and true favourite recipes. New friends means new recipes! Here is one from an old cookbook called 'Best of Bridge', that Lauren's manager at work passed along. We made these muffins this morning, and they are fantastic! And you really do use the whole orange, peel included.

Sunshine Muffins

Ingredients:

1 orange

1/2 cup orange juice

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped nuts 

Instructions:

Cut orange into 8 pieces. Put cut-up orange (that’s right – the whole orange), orange juice, egg and oil in blender. Blend until smooth. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend. Add raisins and nuts. Blend just until mixed. Pour mixture into muffin tins and bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes. Makes 16 medium muffins.