Recipes and Technology
Recipes and Technology - September 13, 2023
And here goes another year of a pandemic. Who would have thought we would ever see a pandemic? Let alone one that has lasted over 2 years. And another variant that is changing travel plans for many people around the world. And where has this year gone? As I am writing this, we are down to 4 sleeps until the magical day of Christmas.
For those of you that have followed my blog for the past 6 months I am going to do some reminiscing. Let’s start with June – what a great month. Can’t wait to have it back again. We are in the shortest days of the year right now vs the longest days of the year. Can’t wait for longer days. I love the light and the sunshine.
Bandwagons? We all jumped on the Western final bandwagon, hoping our Saskatchewan Roughriders would pull through and make it to the grey cup final. Although making a great effort we fell short. Next year the Grey Cup will be held in Regina. Our Roughriders will be there (we all hope).
Aging Backwards and exercising every morning. Well, we got a puppy and that threw my morning routine out the window. Fell off that bandwagon I did. I haven’t been stretching every morning, but I walk our two dogs every morning. As my little puppy acclimatizes to our Saskatchewan winters, our walks become a little longer. And part of my new year resolution (if you want to call it that) is to get back into my morning stretching routine – Aging Backwards. I can tell my body misses it – it truly does make a difference.
I wonder if George the goose and his fine wife Henrietta and the rest of his family made it south to their destination? Climate change will be affecting their final resting spot for the winter months as well. They keep flying until they find food and no snow! And there would have been many a snowbird leaving Canada this fall as well, looking for a warmer climate and no snow.
One of the things I noticed one morning when I was out walking was the wind. The wind is often there, but do you actually listen to the wind? Our yard is protected by trees on 3 sides. So very often when I step out of the house, I don’t notice the wind. It is simply calm and quiet. As I walk further down our lane, I start to hear this rustling, bustling noise. How do you describe the sound of the wind? I’m not sure. As I step away from our majestic 100-year-old pine trees the wind starts to chill me. I wrap my coat tighter around me. The wind doesn’t bother my dogs. They keep running and playing and sniffing the new smells from the day before. We spend a few minutes out there in the open howling wind and return to the protection of my trees. They feel like a warm scarf wrapped around my neck or a nice cuddly blanket to wrap myself in. I had never thought of my trees as being a security blanket, but they are. They protect me as I step outside every day. It can be a horrible whipping wind out there, but within my yard it is a peaceful place. Protected by my trees. When you have your own property try and make sure you have trees to protect you and place your security blanket around you!
And for those of you who are in your 60’s you probably remember “Who Has Seen the Wind?” by W.O Mitchell. I loved making a joke about this, most people don’t get it as they don’t know anything about this book. But I still love asking the question who has seen the wind? Why it’s W.O Mitchell. And then I must explain that this was a book that we were required to read in grade 6. Mr. W.O. Mitchell is a Saskatchewan author, so it was a required read and from what I remember we enjoyed it. My joke makes me laugh every time I tell it. Lol!
Now, out with the old and in with the new. What does 2022 have waiting for you? Are you ready to travel? Or like myself so happy to live where I do and just enjoy the simple life I lead? It has been a crazy year from a pandemic to weather systems causing major amounts of damage.
Are you a superstitious person? I googled new year superstitions and there are lots. All countries have some kind of a superstition at new year’s. Here are a few I liked.The Midnight Kiss is to bring you good luck in your love life. Kissing your loved one at midnight will bring you good luck in your relationship for the next year.
This one is from Columbia – running around with an empty suitcase, even if it’s just around your house will bring you a year filled with travel and adventure.
Remember to put cash in your wallet before midnight to bring you prosperity for the new year and the next 12 months. I am going to remember this one. I haven’t tried it before, might as well try this year.
Spain says to eat 12 grapes. One grape for each month to bring you good luck for the upcoming year. But they must be eaten before 12:01 to Ok, here's what I have to say today.
I am really excited about finally finding a new app to save my recipes in. I was using the app Recipe Book and then it was no longer supported by the company that designed it. Because of this I could no longer do updates on my iPad, and it would not work at all on my IPhone. However, my iPad has now quit working when it comes to using other apps because those apps need the IOS updates.
I have been searching for a few years for a replacement and I have finally found it. The new app is called Recipe Keeper and it does everything my old app used to do. I am super excited because I can transfer all of the recipes from my old app into the new app. Then I can update my iPad and my apps that are not working will start working. Such as YouTube and other various apps that are on my iPad.
Why is this important you might say? Mainly because wherever you travel you can make your favourite recipes if you have them on your electronic device. Or perhaps a child phones you and says, “mom can I have the recipe for yadda yadda yadda”. And you can instantly respond with yes because you can simply go to your app called Recipe Keeper and email it to them.
Recipe Keeper does many of the things that I wanted a cookbook app to do. I can add my own recipes and photos, import recipes from a website, scan my handwritten recipes or take pictures of recipes or PDFs.
I can also change the quantity of the recipe. If I want to make it a double, bam, done! Some of these things may not seem important to you but they are very important to me.
I am thrilled to say that the Recipe Keeper also syncs across all of my iPhone / Ipad devices including my Mac. This app is exactly what I was looking for. Was it free? Yes and no. If you only want to store 20 recipes it is free, but if you want more than that (which I did) it is around $20 for life. Not every year like some apps. And it can make your grocery list, create your own cookbook of your favorite recipes as well as meal plan. Very well thought out app in my opinion. And it is also works with Android devices. It can’t cross over between IOS and Android, but if you have an Android phone there is a good chance you have a PC and not a Mac.
In closing, I was extremely saddened the weekend of September 1st to hear that Jimmy Buffett passed away. He was on my bucket list to go see in concert, and I somehow never managed to go see him before he passed away. I was in New York August of 2014, and he was playing the day I flew in with my daughters. Better planning and I would have gone. My daughters didn’t really want to go and I felt that was a concert I should see with the husband (as he was a big fan too). I didn’t like to do things alone (silly me). Oh, how I wish I had stepped out of my comfort zone and gone and watched that concert by myself now. He was my true idea of living the dream and enjoying life to the fullest. Rest in peace Jimmy, I know you are up there on a sandy beach with a Margarita in your hand wasting away again in Margaritaville. Take care my friend and “Bubbles Up”.
Bubbles Up is the song I will leave with you today. Jimmy wrote it and it was released posthumously on September 8th along with 2 other songs “Like my Dog” and “My Gummie Just Kicked In”. The Gummie song is worth a good laugh – let’s say it expands your mind. Enjoy!do any good. Gobble those grapes!
