Sue’s Famous Lemon Pie Bar Recipe

I’ve made these several times for people and always get great compliments!

Lemon Pie Bars
2-1/4 C flour
1/2 C confectioners sugar
1 C butter flavored Crisco
4 eggs
1-1/2 C white sugar
1/2 lemon juice (use freshly squeezed lemons – about 6)
1 Tbsp. lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350. Use 9×13 glass pan
Mix 2 C flour and confectioners sugar together. Cut in Crisco. Mix well. Press into baking pan.
Bake 15-20 minutes
Beat together eggs, sugar, 4 TB flour, lemon juice and zest for 1 minute. Pour over baked crust.
Bake 20 minutes or until set. When cool, sprinkle w/confectioners sugar.

Our Homemade Bread Recipe

broiled bread
Top and bottom of broiled bread

We love making our own homemade bread and I keep forgetting to put the recipe online here in an obvious place. So here goes.

Canfield’s Homemade Bread Recipe

3/4 cup hot water (just boiled)
3/4 cup cool water (room temperature)
Combine

Add 1 tbsp. sugar and 1-1/8 tsp salt. Dissolve and mix thoroughly. Add 1-1/2 tspn. yeast and let set for 5-10 minutes.

Add 2 cups white flour and 1-1/2 cups wheat flour. Add any spices or herbs you may want. Combine thoroughly.

Let rise for 1 hour. Punch down. Shape. Let rise another hour.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

It’s Not a Vacation! We’re Working When We Travel

So we took this whole month of May to travel from our home in Wisconsin down to Phoenix, out to San Diego, up to Northern California, and end up back up June 1. The main purpose is so we can pick up more of our stuff from storage in Roseville, California. However, since we know so many people, friends and family, in Phoenix, San Diego, and Roseville, we are taking time to visit with them as we travel.

But it’s not a vacation! No, we are working while we travel. We are still doing all our usual stuff. I work as a Virtual Assistant managing client’s social media marketing, newsletters, and blogs and am continuing to do so. We have a web design business we are continuing to run and in fact have received new work as we’ve been traveling.

And Joel’s book coaching and publishing business, Someday Box, has continued. We have one client in the final stages of editing her book, another in the U.K. that we’re working on formatting the interior of his book (in fact we had an international call with him yesterday), and yet another that signed up for the Pathfinding Session and Road Map. We had an hour call with her last Monday while here in Arizona and have scheduled another one this next Tuesday while we’re in San Diego.

So for us it’s business as usual – we did spend 18 months living as nomads with no fixed place of residence traveling and working. It’s no different now except we do have a fixed place of residence and travel less than we did.

When we do take a vacation, we’ll let you know. We do take the last two weeks of the year off from work. This year we may just end up in Arizona for most of that time. Perhaps visiting our friends and family here and taking time to see Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, and Jerome. We did spend out honeymoon in Oak Creek Canyon and this December will be our 10th wedding anniversary!

And this trip we are getting to connect with lots of friends and family – in Phoenix it’s been Terry & Virgie, Dan & Annete, Rod on Saturday, and Sunday Sue’s Uncle Phil. In San Diego we’ll see Sue’s mom, Joel’s brother Brett and his family and Joel’s sister Lynn and her family. Also our good friend Ken. Then it’s up to Northern California to see Tom Bentley, Dave Reffkin, Pam & Phil, the Stephens family, and of course Fiona’s big sister Rachelle!

The final four days of our trip heading home Fiona and Sue will get to drive through Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota – all states they’ve never been in before. Oh, and we’re driving through Yosemite. So that will feel like a vacation – though Sue does have a big transcription project she needs to get finished that week as well. That’s when having a colleague comes in handy. Sue is very grateful to Amy in New Jersey for all the assistance she’s providing in that area.

So, don’t ask how our vacation was! We weren’t on vacation! We were traveling and working and having the time of our lives! Don’t you wish you could do this?

Party to Celebrate 500 Copies Sold!

Last night we had a party at Alex Zabala’s home to celebrate 500 copies sold of his book, Treasure of the Mayan King. His co-author, Dyego Alehandro, attended along with his wife.

Joel, Alex, Dyego
Joel, Alex, DyegoJoel, Alex, Dyego

So what is the book about? According to their website:

A violent tropical storm has uncovered a previously unknown Mayan pyramid in the Yucatan Peninsula. On the steps of this temple lies a riddle that leads to the hidden treasure of a great Mayan king. One man, the French linguist Dr. Sova, believes he knows the secrets of the riddle. But his efforts to find it are cut short and the information falls into the hands of unscrupulous people. The race is on to see who will be the first to find the treasure of the Mayan king!

You can download a free sample and buy the ebook for only .99!

 

 

Meeting Alex Zabala, Author of Treasure of the Mayan King

This weekend we get to stay with Alex Zabala and his wife in Arizona. Alex is the author of Treasure of the Mayan King. Joel worked with Alex on his book and we’ve been friends with him for about 25 years. This is a photo I took at their house.

treasure of the mayan king

Tonight we’ll be making our usual Saturday pizza for Alex and his family. We appreciate their hospitality and it’s great to be able to visit and catch up with them.

If you’d like to learn more about Alex and his books, visit his website, Arcani Arts.

What Clothing Should We Bring?

What clothing should we pack for our month-long trip? We’ll be leaving Wisconsin with snow on the ground it seems since we just had 17 inches on Thursday! We’ll be arrive on Wednesday in Phoenix, Arizona where the high that day should be 85 and by Saturday it will be 100. And the temperatures will be much warmer in California than we’ve seen in Wisconsin for a while.

So we’ll probably start off driving away with our long-sleeved shirts on, a jacket, and maybe even boots. We’ll be coming back wearing shorts, tank tops, and sandals. Swimsuits! We’ll have those along for all the swimming we’ll be doing.

It’s About Time for Something New Here!

Since moving to Rice Lake, Wisconsin in April 2012, we haven’t done a whole lot of traveling that we’ve written about. I’m going to try to make sure and write about our travels this month though in May 2013.

This month’s trip will take us out of the snow we just had on May 2 to a nice hot 100 in Arizona.

Goodbye snow!

Snow Rice Lake May 2, 2013
Snow Rice Lake May 2, 2013

We’re taking the month to eventually get the rest of our stuff out of storage in California. That will be near the end of the month. Here’s our basic itinerary:

  • May 6 – Leave Rice Lake, WI and drive to Kansas City, MO; stay overnight at a hotel we’ve already booked.
  • May 7 – Drive from Kansas City to probably Delhart, TX where we’ll stay at a hotel we stayed in last time we were through that part of Texas.
  • May 8 – From Delhart drive to Phoenix, Arizona and be warmly welcomed by our very good friend Terry Wilson and his lovely wife Virgie. Go swimming in their pool in 100 degree weather! :)
  • May 9 – Visit with Terry & Virgie and that night Joel will get to play music with Terry and his band.
  • May 10-12 – Stay with our friend Dan and his family in another section of Phoenix.
  • May 13-18 – Back to Terry & Virgie’s to visit more, play music, swim, swim, swim.
  • May 19 – Visit with Sue’s Uncle Phil & family in Glendale, Arizona. Sue hasn’t seen her Uncle in about 30 years.
  • May 20 – Drive from Phoenix to San Diego, California. Stay at a hotel in Chula Vista that has a pool.
  • May 21 – Visit with Joel’s brother and family
  • May 22 – Visit with Sue’s mom; possibly go to Balboa Park.
  • May 23 – Visit with Joel’s sister and family (read about their recent road trip); stay overnight with friends Ken & Kelly in San Diego
  • May 24 – Drive up to Northern California and visit with Tom Bentley.
  • May 25 – Drive to San Francisco and visit with David Reffkin.
  • May 26-28 Stay with good friends Pam & Phil in Roseville, California. Pick up stuff still in storage. Fiona spends two days with her sister Rachelle.
  • May 29 – Leave California for Idaho
  • May 30 – Drive through Montana
  • May 31 – Drive through Wyoming, North Dakota
  • June 1 – Arrive back in Rice Lake, Wisconsin

Of course it’s all subject to change. I plan to take pictures and keep a written journal and hopefully post often here. Fiona may post at her website as well.

We plan on having a blast!

“Ramblings in Ireland” Brings Back Memories

When I found out my husband, Joel D Canfield, was going to be working with Kerry Dwyer to get her book, Ramblings in Ireland, published, I was very excited to read it. We were able to spend a month living on Valentia Island in Ireland in the winter of 2005 when our youngest was just 11 months old.

ramblings in ireland by kerry dwyer

If I hadn’t already visited Ireland, reading Ramblings in Ireland would have made me want to go. Since I have been, it brought back many memories of the time we spent there. Since the book mentions many of the spots we visited, I was able to relive it all again.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking my time reading the book. It’s the perfect book to read while sipping a cup of tea. It takes you on a fun and interesting journey. Whether you’ve always wanted to go to Ireland or want to relive a trip you’ve taken there, this is the book for you to read! You can buy it on Amazon.

Turning Over a New Leaf

I know – it’s cliche! Six months ago today we drove away from New Jersey to head to our new home in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. It was the beginning of a new phase in our life – turning over a new leaf.

bridge near Fiona's school

In two days we will have been in our new home for six months. I must say I’ve enjoyed living here and plan to do so for a while yet. Sometimes the itch to travel comes on and we have to take a long drive. It’s time for one now as a matter of fact. Maybe this weekend.

We have had beautiful weather the whole time and fall is now here. All the trees changed colors and then a couple of very windy days brought down most of the leaves on our trees. However, there are still some beautiful colors to be seen.

fall colors on the trees

I wonder what winter will be like….? Will keep you posted. :)