Penny saved...

Image courtesy of CBC

The new federal budget arrived yesterday...  budget day for me is never really interesting but in my previous employment counselling work, budget day often was the first inkling of upcoming change (spending = more client services while cutbacks = less). In yesterday's announcement, only one thing really interested me. I was really sad to hear that this year's budget will leave all Canadians penniless.

I know that Britain, Australia, New Zealand have survived just fine without their 1 cent coins, but I somehow feel that the Canadian penny, emblazoned with our signature maple leaf, carries a bit of national identity with it. I'm going to be sorry to see it go. Jeff is far less romantic about this than I am, reminding me that it costs more to produce a penny than it is actually worth. And in our cashless society, it won't really matter. 

I'm not so sure... it's hard to imagine that our baby nephew will grow up in this country putting only silver coins in his piggy bank. We'll have to save him a few lucky pennies. 

Celebrating Jubilee: The Coronation

Queen Elizabeth was crowned on June 2, 1953 in Westminster Abbey, the thirty-ninth sovereign to be crowned there. Earlier that day, Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest and news of this great achievement added to widespread euphoria across Britain (and the Commonwealth). There are a few other interesting facts and firsts about this day that I think are worth noting.

Photos are courtesy of The Daily Mail, London Telegraph, Getty Images, Corbis, Zimbio and Press Association. Photos of the Gold Coach are my own.

1. The Dress: Norman Hartnell made the Queen's coronation dress- he also made her wedding dress six years earlier. The coronation dress was made of white satin embroidered in silver and gold emblems of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Pretty fancy. You can see a great article with some fantastic photos of the gown at my favourite Royal fashion blog here.

Since the coronation, The Queen has worn this dress six times; twice in for receptions at Buckingham Palace and Holyroodhouse (the Queen's official palace in Scotland) in 1953, and then for official openings of parliament in New Zealand, Australia and Ceylon in 1954 and in Canada in 1957.

Hartnell also made a pair of hand embroidered, matching gloves. I can't find any photographic evidence, however, that Queen Elizabeth actually wore them!

2. The Accessories: On her way to the coronation, the Queen wore the George IV State Diadem - the one she is depicted wearing on stamps. It was made in 1820 for George IV's Coronation and incorporates national symbols: roses, shamrocks and thistles. With 1,333 diamonds and 169 pearls, it's pretty sparkly.

She was also presented with an official coronation bouquet by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners (don't you love that name?!) to take with her on the drive to Westminster Abbey. The all-white bouquet comprised orchids and lilies-of-the-valley from England, stephanotis from Scotland, and carnations from Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, with additional orchids from Wales. The bouquet makes this all seem a little wedding-ish for me... but when you read through the coronation liturgy, it does seem like the monarch is "marrying" the country, so I guess it fits.

3. The Transport: The Queen and Prince Philip were driven from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach, which was pulled by eight grey geldings: Cunningham, Tovey, Noah, Tedder, Eisenhower, Snow White, Tipperary and McCreery. The Gold State Coach has been used by The Queen twice since her Coronation - at the Silver and Golden Jubilees.

Jeff and I saw it in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace in 2008 and it is quite impressive. It was built in the London workshops of Samuel Butler in 1762 and has been used at the coronation of every British monarch since George IV in 1820. When we saw it, the guide described it as a massively heavy, awkward clunk of a thing (4 tons of gold and iron) that is very difficult to maneuver and terribly uncomfortable to sit in. Because of this, it's understandably not used much but I expect we'll see it again this summer.

4. The Timing: The Queen's coronation service began at 11.15 am and lasted almost three hours, concluding at 2.00 pm. Because most of the guests had to be seated in Westminster Abbey by 8:30 AM, many hid sandwiches and food in their robes and under their coronets. The poor folks who had to clean up Westminster Abbey later that day described the resulting mess of wrappers and food scraps on the floor as similar to the mess left at a football game.

The Queen arriving at Westminster Abbey

5. The Officiants: The Queen's coronation service was taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose duty this has usually been since the Conquest in 1066. However, this time, for the first time, a representative of another Church, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, also took part in the service.

6. The Service: The coronation service used for Queen Elizabeth II descends directly from that of King Edgar at Bath in 973. The original fourteenth-century order of service was written in Latin and was used until the Coronation of Elizabeth I.The coronation service fell into six basic parts: the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture, which includes the crowning, the enthronement and the homage.

7. The Guests: A total of 8,251 guests attended the Queen's coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. One hundred and twenty-nine nations and territories were officially represented at the Coronation service. Special grandstands were built in Westminster Abbey to fit everyone in. Several people described the event as a game of sardines (!).

8. Little People: Prince Charles made history as the first child to witness his mother's coronation. He received a special hand-painted children's invitation... but that doesn't seem to have impressed him.

Prince Charles seated with his grandmother and aunt, Princess Margaret

9. The Procession: The Sovereign's procession, as it entered and exited the Abbey, was some 250 strong with traditional representatives from Crown, Church and State. It included Church leaders, Commonwealth Prime Ministers, members of the Royal Household, civil and military leaders and the Yeoman of the Guard.

10. The Maids: Queen Elizabeth was attended by six friends -single, blue blooded upper crust girls- who carried her coronation robes and did whatever coronation maids do. There's a cute article about their memory of the day here.

11. The Crowns: Why wear one crown when you can wear two?! During the coronation service, the St. Edward's Crown was the crown placed on the Queen's head. Made in 1661 of solid gold, it weighs 5 pounds (ouch!) and is the "official" crown for coronations, used since the monarchy was restored with Charles II.

For the ride home, appearance on the balcony and official photographs, the Queen changed to the Imperial State Crown - and this is the one we still see her wear each year for the state opening of parliament (see below). I'm not a fan of the St. Edward Crown- it's a little too heavy and clunky for me- so I'm glad she changed into the prettier and sparklier Imperial State Crown.

St. Edwards Coronation Crown

The Imperial State Crown

12. The Orb: After the crown, the orb, also made in 1661, was the most important piece of regalia. It is a globe of gold surrounded by a cross girdled by a band of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphire and pearls with a large amethyst at the summit.

13. The Broadcast: According to the BBC, an estimated 27 million people in Britain watched the ceremony on TV and 11 million listened on the radio.  Since the population of Britain at the time was just over 36 million, that means that everyone who didn't sit on the streets to cheer was watching or listening (and two million were doing both?!?!)- a fact I find most impressive, if not entirely possible or accurate (!). Nevertheless,most of the country tuned in for the event- something I can't imagine Prince Charles will be able to repeat. The Queen agreed that the coronation be televised so that as many people as possible could observe the ceremony.

There were more than 2,000 journalists and 500 photographers from 92 nations on the coronation route. Among the many foreign journalists in London to report on the Coronation was Jacqueline Bouvier (who later became the US First Lady Jackie Kennedy) who was working for the Washington Times-Herald at the time.

14. The Trip Home: The return route taken to Buckingham Palace had been designed so that The Queen and her procession could be seen by as many people in London as possible. The 7.2 kilometer route took the 16,000 participants two hours to complete. The procession itself stretched for three kilometers.

During the procession back to Buckingham Palace after the coronation, the Queen wore the newly-made Purple Robe of Estate. The velvet robe was edged with ermine and heavily embroidered around the border in gold. The embroidered cipher of The Queen and border of wheat ears and olive branches, took a total of 3,500 hours to complete by a team of 12 seamstresses from the Royal School of Needlework. As mentioned above, she also changed into the Imperial State crown.

15. The Balcony: The Queen appeared with her family on the balcony of the palace still wearing the Imperial State Crown and the Royal Robes to greet the cheering crowds.

16. The Chicken: For lunch, the foreign guests all ate "Coronation Chicken".  Because the food had to be prepared in advance, Constance Spry, who also helped with floral arrangements on the day, proposed a recipe of cold chicken in a curry cream sauce with a well-seasoned dressed salad of rice, green peas and mixed herbs. Her recipe was chosen and that's what was prepared. You can try out the original recipe here (or wait for my review on June 2).

17. The Photos: Numerous official photographs were taken in Buckingham Palace after the Coronation, but the most memorable are those taken by Cecil Beaton. For his defining image he posed The Queen in front of a backdrop depicting Henry VII's Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

All in all, I think the whole thing was pretty impressive, especially in post-war Britain where rationing was still in effect. I am struck by how young the queen looked- and what an immense responsibility was placed upon her at such a young age. For some reason, I don't see the future coronation of Prince Charles will captivate the nation (or the world) in the same way but, time will tell. Hopefully, we won't be seeing that for a long time. I'm cheering for the queen to surpass Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch in British history- with just two years to go until that landmark, I think she'll sail right on by.

In bloom

While we're not getting heatwaves like those I'm hearing about from friends in Southern Ontario or Central Europe, spring is certainly in the air. 

What's the point?

Recently, someone asked why I don't hang out or contribute much on Facebook. I struggled justifying my answer- how is it that Facebook does not feel like a safe space to me while this blog does?! In the end, this was the best way to articulate my answer:

That was the wonderful Australian Voices with The Facebook Song.

Different esthetic

Over the weekend, Jeff and I got to talking about what home improvement projects are on the agenda for this summer. In addition to a new garage roof, our main bathroom needs some attention.  We learned a lot while renovating our basement guest bath last year (see our progress here, here, here, here, and here as well as the final reveal here) and feel more confident approaching another bathroom project.

That being said... we have different perspective on a "dream" bathroom. While Jeff was studying last night (he has a major professional exam mid April), I started looking at some bathroom ideas. The most unusual photo I came across was of this bathroom, designed by Antonia Martins, from October 2010 issue of California Home. 

Photo by Drew Kelly

When I showed Jeff, the only word he could whisper was, "Beautiful!!" Me, on the other hand, could only imagine the number of times I would stub my toe on this contraption. And wonder, where I would hide the toilet bowl cleaner. 

I'll admit, it is certainly a conversation piece. Despite Jeff falling in love with this, I think we're headed back to the drawing board. 

Toward Easter Part 5: Looking inside

The last part of Lent coincides with a lot of reflective questions I've been asking recently- questions that probably always accompany big transitions in life. Several months ago, I came across this arrangement of the old gospel hymn "I've Got Peace Like a River". The lyrics were so familiar, I'm not sure I ever took the time to actually listen to them. It's a good question- asking what's in our souls each day (joy? pain? love? peace?)- that bears asking more often than just during Lent. 

I hope you enjoy the University of Utah Singers, under the direction of Dr. Brady Allred,  with Ronald Staheli's arrangement of "I've Got Peace Like a River". 

Namesake

I started this blog when I moved here to Nanaimo as a way to keep in touch with faraway friends and family. I knew almost nothing about this city when I moved here- it was on the east coast of Vancouver Island, and was famous for its namesake dessert. That was the extent of my knowledge. When I registered this blog's address right after moving here, it seemed only natural to choose one of these two facts as inspiration for this blog.

People ask me all the time if Nanaimo Bars were really invented in Nanaimo. Legend has it that they were the invention of a housewife, Mabel Jenkins, in the early 1950s. Mabel lived south of Nanaimo in Ladysmith, but somehow they became known as Nanaimo Bars. According to Wikipedia, there are also claims that Naniamo Bars originated in New Brunswick or New York, but us locals don't pay attention to such nonsense (!).

In 1985, the mayor of Nanaimo held a contest to find the ultimate Nanaimo Bar recipe. The judging panel unanimously chose a recipe submitted by a local woman, Joyce Hardcastle. Her recipe is the one I use and I thought it was high time to share it here.

 

yield: 12-20 servings (1 8x8 pan)

½ cup unsalted butter or margarine
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
½ c. finely chopped almonds or walnuts
1 cup coconut
½ cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream (or almond or soy milk)
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
2 cups icing sugar
4 squares semi-sweet dark chocolate (1 oz. each)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margerine

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. In a small bowl, beat the egg until frothy and pale yellow. Add a tablespoon of the hot cocoa mixture into the egg and stir well, then add the egg into the pot as well. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan and refrigerate until cool.

When first layer is cooled, cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

For final layer, melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool to warm (but still liquid) and pour over second layer. Store in refrigerator and enjoy!

Note- I often cut down the amounts of chocolate and butter on the top layer by a third to a half, as I am not a great fan of chocolate. Jeff loves the whole amount so adjust according to your personal preference.

First day of the rest of my life

Yesterday, I finished the final piece of my thesis project- a report and presentation to the organization where I did my research project. With that, I am DONE. 100% done. I've already heard back from Royal Roads that my thesis was accepted and I have been invited to put on a cap and gown at convocation on June 14. It all feels rather surreal. 

From flickr

My view... yesterday

I'll be honest- in order to get the post up in time for readers in the Eastern time zone, I always take the "My View Wednesday" photo the day before, on Tuesday. While I have gone ahead for several months with this deception, I no longer can. I just can't put up a Tuesday photo, pretending it is Wednesday. To solve this ethical dilemma, I'm renaming this Wednesday feature "My View...Yesterday". It feels much better (!).

Yesterday, it snowed. And then the sun came out. I was going to go outside and hunt around for what is blooming in my garden, when it started snowing again. So, I made a chai latte instead. While waiting for the water to boil, I caught a peek of an early Easter bunny hiding on one of my kitchen shelves. This is no doubt, the work of the resident chocoholic. He was quite deflated when I suggested last night we not hunt for (or eat) Easter chocolates until it is actually Easter...

Pineapple cupcakes

As promised, here is the recipe for pineapple cupcakes I made last week. I guess with the coconut, they were actually piña colada cupcakes (minus the rum). 

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups crushed pineapple (drained slightly- reserve juice for icing)

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes). Reduce to low speed and add apple sauce, oil and vanilla until blended. Add in the pineapple and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated. Then add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners and fill about 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes at 350*F oven for about 22 minutes.

Ice with your favourite icing. Because we live dairy free, I used this recipe and used the reserved pineapple juice instead of milk (soy in our case - and I cut the cool whip in half). With a few drops of coconut flavouring and yellow food gel, it was down right tropical. 

Bowls

I'm not sure what I would do with all of these bowls but for some reason, they make me smile.

Image from Martha Stewart

Year-round Salad

I am SOOO ready for spring and a change from our winter diet (lots of soups and stews, especially this year with me writing a thesis) to our summer staple of salad or grilled vegetables with some sort of grilled meat. We do eat a lot of salad during the winter as well.... but it's just not the same with imported vegetables. One of my favourite winter salads is this Asian Cabbage Salad- a standard at most church potlucks.

adapted from All Recipes

Serves 10 (although I usually make it in 2 serving batches!)

1 cup  slivered almonds
1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, crushed (optional)

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3/4 cup vegetable or coconut oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
2  Tbsp soy sauce

In a medium skillet over low heat, toast almonds and ramen noodles until they just begin to turn golden brown. Add sesame seeds and continue toasting until almonds are browned. Remove from  heat and cool (I usually make this without the ramen noodles).

In a small saucepan bring vegetable oil, sugar, and vinegar to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool for several minutes. Add soy sauce, and mix very well to combine. 

In a large bowl , combine shredded napa cabbage and chopped green onions. Add the toasted nuts and dressing. Toss to coat and serve immediately. 

NOTE- because the dressing will make the almond mixture go soggy, I usually make this salad in as large a serving size as will be consumed. The dressing keeps very well in the fridge for several weeks, and just needs to be shaken well before adding to the salad. Enjoy!

Toward Easter Part 4: Making the old, new

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. For our Sunday music today, we have a worship piece that takes an old Irish tune, Londonderry Air (better known as O Danny Boy), and combines it with new lyrics by Kristyn Getty.  With an updated arrangement and orchestration by Keith Getty, the result is the beautiful "What Grace is Mine".  I love the reinvention of an old, familiar, secular tune into worship music. Brilliant.

Twitter

This is the only way you will find me "tweeting".

A junior member of our small group had a birthday, and I made these pineapple cupcakes to celebrate at our weekly dinner last night. They were a hit- I'll share the recipe next week. 

Celebrating Jubilee : The Accession

Back on February 6, I wrote a little about the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. This year marks Queen Elizabeth's 60th Anniversary on the throne, and official celebrations are scheduled to take place the first weekend in June. In honor of this remarkable milestone, I thought it would be fun to examine different official and personal aspects of our Queen each week leading up to the big celebration.

Photos are courtesy of The Daily Mail, London Telegraph, Getty Images, Corbis, Zimbio and Press Association. 

In 1952, Princess Elizabeth was a 25 year old naval wife with two young children. The young couple had just finished a two year post in Malta where Prince Philip had been stationed in the British Navy, and were transitioning into full-time royal life.

The new Queen with Prince Charles and Princess Anne, summer 1952

On January 31, 1952, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip departed on a Commonwealth tour of Africa, Australia and New Zealand. As this was their first major tour and they were to be away for more than six months, Elizabeth's parents and sister went to the airport to see them off. We now know that the King was not well, but I can't imagine that anyone predicted his death would occur just one week later.

King George, far left, Princess Margaret and the Queen Mum at the airport

Elizabeth and Philip flew to Kenya for the first leg of the trip. The tour was filled with the usual events- hospital visits, speeches, a polo match, garden parties. Film footage of their visit to Nairobi can be seen here. The couple also paid their first visit to Sagana Lodge, which they had received as a wedding gift from the Kenyan Government.

with Sir Philip Mitchell, Governor General of Kenya, at a Garden Party

Watching Prince Philip play polo

Philip and Elizabeth were at Sagana Lodge when news reached them of the King's death. Their plans to sail from Kenya to Australia and New Zealand were cancelled and they immediately returned to Britain. While only a week had passed since Princess Elizabeth left, I think the photos of Queen Elizabeth returning to England show a very different woman. 

Three Queens in mourning (Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) 

I can't imagine the pressure Queen Elizabeth was under, all while grieving her father's unexpected death. That's one of the rather morbid aspects of royalty, I suppose- having to wait to start your "job" (that  you have trained for your whole life) until one of your parents passes away. In that respect, the Dutch Royal Family, who has a tradition of abdicating the throne at about retirement age and passing it on, are on to something. Elizabeth also had two kids under the age of 3, and a husband who had to give up a successful naval career that he loved. While there are undoubtedly, many perks of being queen, I have a hunch there were still many challenges.

Next, we'll look at the coronation.