Reintroducing Kay at "An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel"

This week for Wednesday Friends Day I would like to reintroduce you to Kay and her blog called An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel. On Monday I had the opportunity to meet Kay in real life and it was lots of fun for both of us.


Kay and her husband Dick are avid travelers. When you read her posts, you circle the globe many times. Kay lives in Alberta, Canada. She's an inspiration to others, taking on challenges, and is rewarded with a full, active life.

Lindy is an important part of Kay's life. She is a precocious pooch that Kay and Dick rescued from SOS, a "no-kill" society that believes that all animals deserve a health and happy life. They sure helped Lindy find one! From the stories Kay tells, Lindy pretty much rules the roost.

Kay and I met at the the Roadhouse Grille in Surrey, BC. Kay used to live and work near here before moving east. We talked a lot about books, writing and publishing. Kay's father, Gordon Davies, wrote The Living Rivers of BC. We talked about Wayne's books and one Kay is writing called, An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel. You can read several of the chapters and stories for free on her blog.

Coming Someday to a Bookstore Near You

Chapter 1 - To the Reader

Chapter 2 - From the Author

Chapter 4 - Just Accept It????

Chapter 5 - Learning How

There are more chapters and great posts to read, so, head on over to say hi to Kay at An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel. And tell her a friend sent you. -- Margy

Search for a Propane Refrigerator

Our search for a new propane stove was fairly inexpensive and easy because houses sometimes use gas. Refrigerators are a whole different animal. Home refrigerators are almost exclusively electric.

Propane refrigerators are most often found in small sizes for trailers and RVs. When John built our cabin, he got this used 8 cubic foot model out of an old trailer. It served us well for over ten years, but we yearned for more space in both the freezer and fridge.

We looked online and in several stores, but the RV models are too small. They also aren't finished on the outside because they are designed to fit into a modular unit. At Rona here in Powell River, they carry Unique brand propane refrigerators. They are made in Ontario, Canada, but are distributed throughout North America. It's a home-style refrigerator, but runs on propane. And we could get it in a 13 cubic foot model (they go all the way up to a massive 18).

Because it is larger than the space under the stairs, we changed the location to the end of the sink, a good spot for kitchen use. It's also a good place because we (John actually) had to install a new propane line from our tanks on the other side of the wall.

Look at all that space in the freezer, fridge and doors. It fills up fast, but there's plenty of room for frozen meats and fresh foods.

Our Unique refrigerator lives up to its name. Propane refrigerators work a little different than electric ones. I don't profess to understand the process, but electric models use a gas called tetrafluoroethane, a motor, a compressor and coils to contain the gas/liquid cooling process.

A propane refrigerator has a few more steps including a propane flame powered generator to create ammonia gas, a separator, a condenser, an evaporator (where the cooling occurs), and an absorber. It's a closed, continuous-cycle system as long as the propane is burning.

Here you can see the condenser fins that are part of the cooling process at the back of our top refrigerator shelf.

Propane consumption for our 13 cubic foot model is 1.4 pounds per day at maximum cooling. We have ours set lower. Where we live, a pound costs $1.00. We are still in the process of calcuating our actual consumption. We have three 40 pound tanks, so we can run our refrigerator full time (and stove and lights) for over a month without going back to town for refills.

Because burning propane indoors might cause carbon monoxide emissions, the refrigerator must either be vented to the outside or have a monitoring device installed. We opted for the monitoring device. We just have to be careful that the 9 volt battery inside is charged. Otherwise, the propane will be shut off and that would be a bad thing!

If you are in the market for a home-style propane refrigerator take a look. As they say:
It's not just a fridge.
It's Unique! -- Margy

Working Boats of Steveston BC

As you can tell, I really enjoyed my trip to Steveston BC. Today I want to share about the working boats you will find in the harbour. While there are a few pleasure boats mixed in, the majority are fishing boats and tugs.

The Steveston Harbour is a bit unique. It's located in the mouth of Fraser River.

It's close to the Strait of Georgia to get tidal effects, but it also gets lots of fresh water from the river outflow. This is good for boat hulls and engines. Salt water is more corrosive. Plus, the location gives more protection during the fierce fall and winter storms we get with high winds. Here's a short clip I took from Garry Point Park.

Go on weekends during the winter or most any day in the summer and buy fresh fish off the working boats. Can't beat that for taste or price! -- Margy

Kite Buggy in Steveston BC

On Tuesday I shared about my overnight trip to Steveston, BC. While I was there, I went to Garry Point Park where the Fraser River enters the Strait of Georgia. It has a nice trail along the river and ocean's edge. In the middle is a large grassy area with an undulating surface. It surprised me, but here is what I saw.

I saw this man launch his large kite on the brisk breeze, when I looked back he was hurtling towards me. Looks like he was having lots of fun. -- Margy

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Yesterday was a cloudy, blustery day, so I decided to make some comfort food for dinner. The night before we had a grocery store rotisserie chicken, so I decided to make the leftovers into enchiladas.

I'm a dump and pour kind of cook, so this recipe may be a bit sketchy. The trick for me to make easy enchiladas is organization. I get everything ready to go and run an assembly line until it's ready for the oven.

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 dozen corn tortillas
3 cups grated cheese
(cheddar, mozzarella, jack)
1 large can red enchilada sauce
1 onion diced
1 small can sliced black olives

Heat enchilada sauce in a small frying pan. If it gets too thick, just add a little water. Spread a thin layer of the sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish. Heat one tortilla at a time in the hot sauce. Flip once to coat and warm both sides. Remove when it becomes pliable. Don't leave the tortilla in the sauce too long or it will get mushy and break apart.

Use tongs to transfer the tortilla to a plate for assembly. Cover with cheese, chicken, onion and a few olives. Roll carefully around the stuffing, ending with the open end on the bottom. Carefully transfer to the baking dish. The weight of the contents will keep it from unrolling.

I can fit twelve enchiladas in my pan, ten across and two lengthwise. If I have any ingredients left over, I sprinkle them on top. Drizzle with enough sauce to moisten the top of each enchilada. Sprinkle with grated cheese and it's ready to bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling at the edges.

Don't over bake the enchiladas or they become dry and hard. I like my cheese ooey- gooey. Since the chicken is pre-cooked, you don't have to worry about that.

Serve with refried beans, shredded lettuce with taco sauce, and warm corn tortillas. That'll put a glow on even the coldest days. -- Margy

All Fall Down

Fall was late to come and quick to go. After a recent windy storm, the maples let loose of their leaves.

And they graced the surface of our watery front yard just before sunset.

Watery front yard you ask? Yes, we live in a float cabin on (literally) Powell Lake in British Columbia. If you would like to learn more about this type of lifestyle, take a look at my categories Float Cabin Living and Float Cabin Construction. If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I'd be glad to answer them. -- Margy

Return to Steveston BC

Last weekend I went on a short return trip to Steveston, BC. I had three reasons for my trip: 1) a respite girl's weekend out, 2) a chance to meet my blogging friend Susannah from Wanderin' Weeta in real life, and 3) to pick Wayne up early Sunday morning at Vancouver Airport. Don't you just love multitasking?

I made a reservation at the Historic Steveston Hotel for Saturday night. I called them direct and was given several options. I chose the standard room for less that $75. The rooms have all been updated and of course, there are larger and fancier ones. That's my room over the word "Hotel." The rooms are upstairs. Downstairs is a wonderful cafe serving hearty breakfasts and lunches to locals and visitors alike, and a full-service liquor store. Here's a quick tour of my room.

The Village of Steveston is located at the mouth of the South Arm of the Fraser River as it enters the Strait of Georgia. It has a long history as a fishing port, with the Gulf of Georgia Cannery which is now a national historic site. It was built in 1894 followed by what was then called the Sockeye Hotel (apropos wouldn't you say) next door, Today, you will also find the Buck & Ear pub, a great place for a brew, sports TV, and food.

I met my blogging friend Susannah and her good friend Laurie out front. With the drizzly rain, we opted to go into the hotel cafe for coffee and tea. When the skies cleared, we wandered the streets looking into some of the fun shops. Steveston Marine got most of our time, then we went over to wharf to see the boats and the busy fish market.

The next morning it was an easy 20 minute drive to Vancouver International Airport to pick Wayne up. It was a great weekend getaway. Stop by Steveston and see for your yourself. -- Margy

Premier 30" Freestanding Propane Range

During our kitchen renovation, we purchased new appliances at Rona here in Powell River. Andy was very helpful as I was making my decisions and our good friend John took care of the installation. Since we are off the grid, I needed propane appliances.

The range is a 30" Premier freestanding model. It comes in several colours, but at Rona the only choice was white on white. But that's what I wanted anyway. It brightens up the kitchen and matches my white counters. This model operates on either natural gas or propane. It's 3 inches wider than my old range, but fits fine at the end of the counter. And because it dropped into same spot as the old range, all of the propane lines were in place ready for John to hook up.

There are four burners. I cook with the front two, keeping the back ones to store my boiled lake drinking water. Each side has a small pilot for easy lighting. We had to light our old burners with a lighter. It's a habit hard to break.

I love the oven. It's 25" wide with two racks and lots of room. There are special settings for propane, but I found it still runs hotter than the dial. I keep my trusty oven thermometre inside to make sure I don't overcook it.

There's a pull-out broiler. This is also where the oven pilot is located.

We don't know how much propane the pilots will take. While we are at the cabin, we leave them running. But when we leave for a long time, the range has a master cutoff valve under the top. It's fairly easy to reach, but we'll have to be sure to light all three pilots when we return and restart the propane.

I love my (oops our) new range. One of the first things I did was can spiced apples. It was so nice to have the larger cooking surface for my canning pots. I know Wayne (he cooks dinner) and I will get lots of good use out of our new range. It was money well spent. -- Margy

Canned Spiced Apples

With a minimal garden this year, I didn't get to do any canning. I was out of canned apples, so I decided to buy a bag at the store and use the same simple recipe from last year. To make them more to my liking, I changed the flavouring from vanilla to spices and added some red food colouring for a crab apple look.

Canned Spiced Apples

10 medium apples
4 3/4 cups sugar
4 cups water
4 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon red food colouring

Fill a large bowl with water then add one tablespoon salt and one tablespoon vinegar. This will be a "bath" to keep the apples from turning brown while you get them all peeled and cut.









Peel, core, slice then put apples in the water bath. Mix sugar (I ended up using a cup less to reduce the sweetness), water, food colouring and spices wrapped in cheesecloth in a large pot and bring to a boil to make a heavy syrup.

Drain and rinse the apples. Carefully add them to the heavy syrup and cook for 5 minutes or until they become translucent. Stay just under the boiling point to prevent foaming. Spoon the apples into clean hot jars, cover with boiling syrup leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal the jars and process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

The syrup is very sweet, making the apples a good side dish or topping for ice cream. I had a lot of syrup left over and hated to waste it. It had a spicy apple flavour, so I tried putting some in 7-Up and it made a tasty fall drink. Later, I got some club soda and that was even better. Do you have any favourite fall apple recipes? I'd love to hear them. - Margy

Sunspots

After the storm, spots of sunshine came out over the Strait of Georgia.

Each time there was an opening in the clouds, it was like a spotlight highlighting the water and islands below. -- Margy

Restoring a Cast Iron Frying Pan

I've mentioned before that my favourite thrift store is the Powell River Hospital Auxilliary Economy Shop. Every chance I get, I pop in to see what's on the shelves and racks. Over the years I've found lots of "treasures." This week I scored big time. I have a regular route. First the caps, next the baskets, then the kitchen items. There on the bottom shelf was an 10 1/2 inch cast iron frying pan.

The price was right at $2.00, but when I picked it up the old oil was gummy. It felt really yucky, but I knew I could take the pan home and restore it.

I looked online and found "The Irreplaceable Cast Iron Pans." It wasn't exactly following the directions, but the first thing I did was get out an SOS pad I knew was hiding under the sink. I also grabbed the Comet even though I knew it was a drastic move. I ran some really hot water, soaked the pan for a few minutes, and then started adding some grease of my own, elbow grease.








Several soaks and scrubs got me down to a clean, smooth surface. The next step was to lightly oil the pan inside and out. Then it went into a 450 degree oven for thirty minutes.

After cooling in the oven, I repeated the oiling and baking process two more times. Now I have a clean, well seasoned cast iron frying pan that will serve me well for many more years up at the cabin. Thank you to whoever donated it to the shop. Both the hospital and I were winners. -- Margy

Introducing Margaret's "Tales from the Rodmay Hotel"

You've met my friend Margaret before. I introduced her as the author of the blog "Thistle Garden." Recently, she's started a new, very interesting blog about the Historic Rodmay Hotel here in Powell River BC.

About Me - A new chapter in my life began with Magpie's Diner located at the Rodmay Hotel. The old chapter can be read at Thistle Garden.

Margaret and her husband Art have a wonderful diner in the Historic Rodmay Hotel called Magpie's. They started out serving breakfast and lunch in a smaller location, but at the Rodmay they've expanded. Now they have dinners and provide the food served at McKinney's Pub. Now she writes about her new location in "Tales from the Rodmay Hotel."

Wayne and I like to stop for breakfast on the mornings we come down the lake from the cabin. Their location in the Townsite is right on our way into town. The meals Margaret serves are tasty, large, and use local ingredients whenever possible.

So head on over to the Rodmay, live or via the blog. And don't miss her post "Ghost Story." It's not just a Halloween tale. -- Margy