Baking Episode #1

Grandma’s Cracker Barrel Cookies

Hello Community!

It was an absolute pleasure to try out Laura Nicole’s cookie recipe and I hope you can too!  Gotta love that I already had most of the ingredients so it was just a quick run to the Bulk Barn for the little extras that we didn’t have. 

I always get a little stressed when I get the kids to help especially with a new recipe.  Trying to read the instructions while you have a child asking you over an over if they can help.  It can be a little trying but ultimately they love to help and it creates such good memories and more importantly, life skills & confidence.  If you have watched the clips, I totally kept my cool but inside I was struggling when S went to crack the eggs into the mixture.  She did great though and I am so glad I let her go for it!

It is not like me to spend hours cooking and baking in the kitchen as it is not a passion of mine.  I find a great sense of satisfaction when I do make an effort though!   This process reminded me about how we need to appreciate the history of recipes and how they evolve or get passed through generations.  It prompted that I could start making new memories of our own!  When I got thinking about it (just now actually…lol); we already do have our own little traditions in our family.  Why would I have to look for new when I have some staring me in the face?

One of them is that my Nan always baked a chocolate cake for dessert when went to hers for dinner...always.  It was especially good when she iced it and covered it totally in rainbow sprinkles.  Admittedly it was from a box (let’s call her Betty Crocker), but we always looked forward to it!  My Mom is now the chocolate cake maker for when we get together for a family meal.  She has raised the bar a little and makes it from scratch.  It was never an intended tradition but it has evolved to be so.  Seeing my kids be just as excited as I can remember for dessert time to commence is kind of a cool feeling. 

This is the story behind the cookies:

Below is my Grandma's Cracker Barrel Cookie Recipe and the story behind it.

Grandma's Cracker Barrel Cookies:
My grandma Lynn got this recipe from her neighbour while living in Merlin.  She used to bake these cookies for her eight children and then she passed on the recipe to my mom who made them for me and my two sisters.  I now enjoy making these for my family. If I'm craving some chocolate I will add chocolate chips to the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1.5 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups Quick oats
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups Rice Krispies

Instructions:
Cream butter and blend in sugars.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Sift together the flour and baking powder and baking soda.  Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then stir in the oatmeal and coconut.  Carefully hand stir in the Rice Krispies so not to squish them.  Form into balls and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

What traditions do you have in your life that give you all the feels?  I’d love to heard about them! 

Yours truly,

NB

Kindergarten

Kindergarten Registration

Spring has finally arrived, so the calendar says, and though the sun is currently shining down in Barrie, I’m sure we’re due for a bit more of the white stuff before it really starts to feel like Spring!  It’s a time for new beginnings, fresh starts and new life!  As the birds will soon start chirping and buds will appear on the trees and begin pushing through the ground, I can’t help but think ahead to the Fall when the youngest in our family will be off to Kindergarten as she begins her new journey.

If you have a child turning four in 2017, have you registered them yet for school for September?  It’s hard to think past summer, but we must begin the preparations now for the new year.  I know I’ve been putting it off a bit, as I cringe at the thought of my final baby entering the school yard that first day, but with every new beginning brings so much growth and possibility.  Just like Spring!

The Holly Community offers a few wonderful schools to choose from, based on your location and preferences. If this is not your first child entering the school system, you likely know exactly where you’ll register your child, and you probably haven’t left it late like myself.  However, perhaps you’re new to the area, or it is your first child beginning their educational journey (it’s ok, Mom & Dad), so here’s a brief run down on the schools in our area.

W.C Little Elementary School

Located at 11 Bear Creek Drive, this school currently has just under 650 students from grades Jk-8, it is a walking school (students are from the neighbouring streets and either walked or driven by parents, no buses), and offers before and after school care.

Holly Meadows Elementary School

Located at 151 Mapleton Avenue, Holly Meadows is conveniently situated right beside the Holly Community Centre!  With 659 students from grades JK-8, this school also offers before and after care, and buses some children to and from school.

Looking for a Separate School?

St. Bernadette Elementary School

Located at 101 Marsellus Drive, St. Bernadette offers grades Jk-8 in a Catholic learning setting.  Students can be bussed if outside the walking zone.

St. Nicholas Elementary School

Located at 100 Lougheed Road, St. Nicholas offers grades jk-8 also in a Catholic learning setting. Bussing is also available at this school. Children attending an elementary school in the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board must be either baptized Catholic or have a Catholic parent.  Under certain circumstances, some exceptions may apply so you can speak with the principal for more information.

If you are looking to register your child for kindergarten, the forms are available to you at www.scdsb.on.ca or www.smcdsb.on.ca. You will require proof of age, proof of Canadian citizenship, proof of address, and immunization records, as well as a baptismal certificate if registering with the separate board. Most schools hold an orientation in late spring to help familiarize the new students with the school and program, before September. 

Good luck to all those first time kindergarteners out there, and especially to the Moms and Dads sending them!

-Bronwyn

Winter Awareness

Holly – Winter Awareness

Hello Holly Community!

Wow, we were certainly hit hard on Sunday through to Monday with all that snow!  I don’t know about you but it is all a bit depressing in February.  I know it is still winter but I always expect and hope for Spring to arrive sooner than later.  Wiarton Willie after all did not see his shadow on February 2^nd, so I am depending on that albino ground hog to be right! 

In the meantime, let’s not forget to be triple careful when we drive our streets.  Some of our snow banks are reaching heights upwards to 6 feet which means we can’t see cars when we are walking or people when we are driving.   We start to get used to driving in these conditions and become complacent of our surroundings.  Particularly around our schools…kids aren’t always looking so let’s try our best to look out for them.  The temptation to play in the snow banks by the road is very high and I am the ‘Debbie Downer’ Mom that doesn’t allow this.  It just takes one slip to fall down a bank and into the road.  The schools in our area have students that are primarily walking to school and the peak times to see kids either going to school are between 8-9am & 2:30-3:30pm. 

Kudos to the city for the great maintenance of your streets and sidewalks this year.  Despite the pile of snow often found at the base of our driveway in the early morn (I know you all can relate) it is really great that our city makes sure our streets are made as safe as possible.  It just seems to me that things are done before we even have time to really think about it.  I have not had to trudge through snow to collect my mail from the community mail box and I am grateful for that.  I also know that our fire hydrants will have snow cleared from them in the near future which is another attention to detail to help keep our community safe.  Not to mention, it is nice see where our tax dollars are going!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful February so far…roll on Spring!!

Yours truly,

Natalie 

Zonas

Hello Holly Community,

My daughter, in the morning rush today advised me that her indoor shoes for school are ripped and squish her feet.  At that point my son chimed in to say the same.  Then I remembered that yes, I was advised to get their feet sized again in December 2016…oops Mom fail!  Shoes are not ever an expense I look forward to but I like to get it right for their developing feet. 

Countless times I have entered our big box stores to get a deal on shoes that really don’t last before their feet grow out of them.  Likewise, those same stores I may have spent a little more on a more reputable brand so they last longer, but I always leave feeling stressed from lack of decision making and sorting through boxes to find correct sizing.  Sometimes there are tears from not having their size in the flashing ones but refusing to try another.  Particularly not a joy in the winter as we get hot and bothered from all our winter wear.  THEN I found heaven on earth called Zonas!  Zona’s is our Holly Community’s local children’s shoe store independently owned and operated.  If you haven’t gone…GO!  If you don’t have children…recommend someone who does!

After picking my kids up from school today we were off to Zona’s!  Lucky for us we were the only ones in the store…out came Jenn my angel without wings!  This was the second visit for us and she remembered us which was a nice personal touch.  Some people just have a way with kids and Jenn knows exactly what to do to make shoe shopping a pleasant experience.  Somehow Jenn offers choices to the kids and they listen!  Zona’s measure their feet and keep a record on file to keep track of growth and when to expect growth spurts based on their birth dates and growing patterns.  So helpful and so stress free!  Yes, you will pay almost double in some cases but the service is amazing.  Jenn advised us when to come in again and the best time to buy seasonally so that we don’t miss out on preferred styles.  You can’t beat that.

The point of this article is to encourage our community to shop local.  You can really find some great service that otherwise would be missed by going to the larger establishments.  There is also a sense of community gained when you get to see a familiar face each time you go into a locally owned shop.  Not to mention…close and easy to get to!  

Until next time…thanks for reading!

Natalie Bradbury

Zonas

The Children’s Shoe Shoppe

Unit A20 – 555 Essa Road

705-730-1960