Making Juice

This year Mom bought a Mehu-Liisa Juice Extractor & Steam Cooker. It has three essential parts to it: the top pot has a colander in the bottom and holds the berries, the bottom pot holds water which produces the steam, and the middle section is the juice container with the drain tube:


Step 1: Start with fresh, washed softskin fruits or berries. Place fruit in the steamer and layer with sugar if desired.


Step 2: Fill the water kettle and bring to a boil. Set the juice container and juice kettle on top and steam over continuously boiling water for approximately 60 minutes. Here you can see the waste from the fruit and the pure juice in the juice container:


Step 3: Have sterilized bottles and caps hot and ready for sealing. Drain the hot juice into them and seal!


Finished product:

News Update

I've been in the news lots lately if you haven't noticed ;)... wreaking havoc on the east coast! Back in 2005 it was my niece Hurricane Katrina who was splashed over newspapers worldwide. It must be the Roth blood in us. But yes, back to Hurricane Irene - she's going to be making quite the impact on Canada as well apparently. The last hurricane to do so was Igor (terrible name wouldn't you agree?). The Weather Network reports that “Our concern at this point is that Irene takes an 'Earl-type' track staying just off the shore of the US coast and then affecting the Maritimes in a more significant way than it affects the US.”

Call us Organic

I love the fact that my parents have a good sized vegetable garden - this year my dad planted pole beans, several kinds of lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, swiss chard, snow peas, and zuchhini. All this bounty equals a lot of hard work of course: weeding, picking, washing, preparing, canning etc... but my mom is champ when it comes to it!

We also have raspberry bushes (in the background) and two pear trees and an apple tree (not ripe yet of course). Another bonus is that we get to reap the rewards of our neighbour's Concord grape vines that cover the fence that separates our properties:

We've picked 4 pailfuls of grapes already:


Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make juice from Concord grapes!

As Now, So Then

"As now so then. Don’t spend your [time now] talking about how you will follow Christ in the future. Follow Him now the way you want to follow Him then."

I came across the above quote in this article here and it really struck a chord with me. I find myself thinking like that ALL THE TIME! First I need to straighten out my life in this area, then I will be a more effective witness of Christ/be able to follow Him more closely. First I need to get through these next few busy days (weeks, months) and then I'll be able to sit down and focus all my energies on following Christ. But no, Christ wants me NOW - in the midst of my troubles, sinful backslidings and failures. I want to do it all myself - I want to fix my life up first so that I can present myself as a "more acceptable sacrifice" when I come before Christ... But that's what the grace of God is all about isn't it? That there is nothing right that I can do and yet God takes me back anyways. That in the midst of falling away from Him, He chooses to shower me with blessings. Praise the Lord for that!

These are my moments, days in the sun

Have you ever had moments/events/circumstances in your life that have really made you stop and think? How cliched that sounds. But how true! I experienced something recently that has made me realize how naive I am in a sense, and how sheltered I've been from a life of abuse (physical, verbal, substance). This is a good thing of course. But my "innocent" happy-go-lucky life has also made me alot less sensitive and mindful of the hurt and pain that many are faced with all around me. [Outwardly], I've done everything in my life right. I graduated with good grades from high-school. I studied hard in university and finished with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing. But think of how many teens/young adults there are who aren't as fortunate as I've been. Or who from one (or a series of) poorly made choice(s) are now faced with a criminal record, perhaps jail time, enormous debt, and a life full of regrets. If they ever want to rebuild their life, do you know how monumental of a job they are facing? I'm 25 years old and single. I can literally "do anything" with my life. If I choose to travel the world, I can freely with no hassle. If I choose to work in a different country, no big deal. I come across so many different people in my field of work - many who wouldn't be in need of receiving care if it wasn't for substance abuse. But how often have I laughed off or secretly jeered at those "pot-heads" or drinkers with others?

Everyone has their own life story and I think it's time I was more sensitive to the crosses, fears, and grief that that person could very well be faced with, every day, every moment, while I live my carefree life. I've been inspired with a desire to in some way help those who are REALLY in need. Not just stand impersonally behind a counter of food in a soup kitchen, but personally, one on one. Although at the same time, that thought does strike fear into my heart. Because who am I? I'm an innocent, and I don't have a good way with words...

But, Jesus didn't go with the message of Salvation to the affluent who had it all together, He went to the destitute, the down and out, those who had made poor life choices. What are we doing with our life to emulate Jesus?

Country Road Take Me Home

What an absolutely spectacular day to be driving the back roads with the windows rolled down and country music on the radio!

I love lazy summer days!!



Photo Credit Google Images

The Darkness Rolls Away

As I drove into work this morning, the way the fog hung in the gulleys and valleys along the way, it was beautiful. Mist, what a wondrous thing to behold as the newly awakened sun stretches it's arms and rolls it away with it's shining rays.

From darkness came light. From dim obscurity, clarity.





Photo Credit Google Images

There's the Dream of Someone Else!

Kathleen Kelly is positively enviable in You've Got Mail... her Just Around the Corner bookshop, her hair, the way she pulls off her classically cute outfits, her shabby chic apartment... the list could go on. Would you not agree?

Pink Please!

Attention all older women: please don't wear dark lipstick. I don't think I've seen anyone over the age of 50 who could pull off a dark shade of lipstick. Looks to harsh in my opinion!