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Grandma Tillies Bakery

Sheesh--it's about time LOL

WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME!

I have been missing for awhile quite awhile from blogging, haven't I?

Sorry 'bout that! It all started when we went on vacation down to our

cabin for 2 1/2 weeks and when I got back I literally had a cake due the

next day, so I just kind of fell out of the habit of writing.

There are some new things happening around here and one of the biggest

is a possible retail storefront for Grandma Tillies Bakery! We are in the

paperwork stage right now and the whole process seems as slow as

molasses in January to me.

It is just a tiny space, only 209 sq. ft, but the good part is it is right in

the downtown area and easily reached by walking. There is plenty of

parking and a nice big sidewalk in front at street level, all important

things to consider in a retail location.

I will not be baking there, but will bake in my health department

approved kitchen and packaging everything there to sell down in the

store. The owners of the building are kind enough to lease me an extra

refrigerated display case they have in storage, so I will be able to sell

things like cream pies and parfait type desserts.

So wish me luck, I will be updating as things move along.

Here is my husband inside the new space (which we will be painting

a nice light shade of vintage yellow) My plan is to decorate so it looks

like a kitchen from the 1950's era.

MONDAY MAPLE SALMON

There is quite an assortment of vessels to watch

out on the water now that everyone is coming

back to town. At any time you can watch mega

yachts driving by next to commercial fishing

boats and the huge Coast Guard cutter.

Today I thought this was interesting:

The first barge had 2 huge mounds of sand or gravel and

is headed towards the airport.

The 2nd barge has a huge crane on it, along with assorted

other vehicles and equipment. We only have one road

through town, so it probably makes a whole lot more

sense to move this stuff on the water rather than

getting out and blocking traffic for miles.

Our part-time neighbor is here now and has been out

fishing a few times. He doesn't keep all of the salmon

he catches, he brings us quite a bit of it. I am always

looking for new ways to fix salmon and came across

this recipe that is kind of a teriyaki that is made

with maple syrup. It is really good and very easy.

It is as simple as mixing a few ingredients

pour them over the fish in the pan, marinate

for 30 minutes and cook for 20 minutes

at 400 degrees.

Delicious!

MAPLE SALMON

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pound salmon

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
2. Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture.
3. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
5. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes,
6. or until easily flaked with a fork.

THE GREAT WEATHER CONTINUES

It has not rained in so long! The weather is unusual

everywhere and we are fortunate enough to be on

the receiving end of unusually NICE weather.

Everyday we come upstairs and see this:

It is so hard to believe that parts of the country are

being pounded by tornadoes!

Check out the eagles on the breakwater in front of

my daughter's school. I counted 36 and that doesn't

include the ones flying around. If you click the

picture it should get larger:

The darker birds are also Bald Eagles, they are just

immature. The signature white head of the Bald Eagle

comes later.

I found this in the store the other day and thought it

was interesting--Beef Bacon. I read the label and there

are no nitrates or nitrites because it isn't made

like regular bacon. There is almost no fat and it

is made down in WA state.

The ingredients are Beef, Water, Sea Salt,

Organic Honey and Celery Powder--that's it.

I bought a package (on sale for $4.99) and it was

really good! I can't stand that fake bacon in the

vegetarian aisle. This texture is almost the same

as regular bacon and it has a nice flavor without

being at all greasy.

I can't remember the regular price, but I will

be buying this from now on when I have a

recipe that calls for bacon.

I leave you with another cream puff from here in town.

This person was driving ahead of us. Although it looks

like he is heading left, he was actually driving straight.

I suppose it is kind of balanced by the way it is leaning

down towards the right...

Have a great day!

DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY...

CELEBRATING SPECIAL PEOPLE POST

It has been a packed week with many, many

activities. First was our younger daughter's

graduation from the 8th grade. It was a

nice ceremony with a few songs by the

younger kids and an inspirational talk

given by the pastor.

Isn't technology great? Here are the scuzzies

(my daughter and 2 nieces) performing a

song during the graduation ceremony. My

brother is holding his iPhone and my mom

and niece are in WA state watching the

whole thing live--so cool!

Then on Thursday a friend that my husband went to

school with visited us from Poland. He works for

one of the cruise lines and this was one of the stops.

He was very sophisticated compared to us! He has

traveled the entire world on the cruise line, even

Antarctica! He showed us a map on his laptop

that has push pins of all the places he has visited

and the map was nearly full except for most

of Africa. He brought us a bottle of red wine

and I made Beef Bourginon with it.

I wonder what he thought after leaving here...

just look at the shirt my husband is wearing LOL

And then that same day it was our older daughter's

20th birthday! I was so slammed with orders that

I wasn't able to make a masterpiece for her, but

I did manage to make a red velvet with cream

cheese frosting that we all enjoyed very much.

Mostly because we got to have actual pieces of

cake, not just leftovers and scraps.

We surprised her with a ticket for her best

friend to come and visit her here while we

are gone in June. They will have so much

fun, play tourist and probably laugh way

too much.

In case you ever wondered what 100 gingerbread

men cookies looks like...

THIS WILL HELP

I received this information from a friend today about fixing the

budget problems the US is facing. It seems to me like all of the

"fixes" that are being proposed don't really make a drop in the

bucket as far as dollar amounts.

If the following ideas were enacted the dollar savings to the

American people would be staggering. I really don't understand

how this all got to the point it is at, but I have read what the original

Founding Fathers wanted for the leadership of America, and it most

definitely was not what we have now.

Congressional leaders were supposed to serve their term and then

someone else would be elected while that person went back to their

life. Somehow it has morphed into lifelong careers with more and

more benefits being voted in for themselves while they control the

entire structure of America.

Please read and if you agree, copy and paste into an email and send

it along.

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only

3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it.

That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to

become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

I'm asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty

people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the

message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. Term Limits.
12 years only, one of the possible options below..
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when

they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security

system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system,

and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay

will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the

same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen.

Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in

Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned

citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home

and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take

three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. It is time.