Travel Memories: Santorini, Greece

A Trip to Santorini

How To Get There

Santorini is a beautiful Greek Island and was very popular with tourists when I visited on a cruise stop a few years ago.

When a cruise ship docks, there are two ways to get up the hill.

The first way is by cable car which is a steep ride up to the top with amazing views.

Cable Car up hill

The second way is to take a donkey ride or walk up the steps which takes a while. The donkeys must know the route by memory as they constantly walk up and down the steep slope.

Donkeys and tourists walking up the steep slope to the top.

I chose the cable car because it was fast and also a fun way to quickly get to the top.

Donkeys waiting on steps in shade.

A Special Greek Island

Santorini is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, around 200 kilometers from the mainland of Greece.

It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago, and is a remnant of a volcanic caldera. A caldera is a caldron-like hollow which forms shortly after the magma chamber empties in a volcanic eruption. The walls of the volcano cave in resulting in the cauldron-like appearance of the island. It can also be considered a crater though it looks more like a giant sinkhole structure due to the eruption and the build-up of magma over time.

The Churches

The principal city in Santorini is Fira. The cycladic style are the white buildings built like an amphitheatre on the hillside. The blue domed churches really stand out against the white buildings built with narrow pathways between them. The churches were my favourite part of Santorini because they are so beautiful and I had never seen anything like them before.

Another Visit to Santorini

A return visit to Santorini is on my list to see this amazing island with the beautiful views.

A church dome.
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6 Tips To Reduce Produce Food Costs

Salad Greens

We are all feeling the inflation rise with higher prices for fruits and vegetables.

What Can You Do?

Fresh Strawberries

Here are some tips to help you make wise decisions when buying these items and also help you keep produce safe.

Choose Quality

It’s best to choose produce that is not damaged or bruised.

When buying pre-cut, bagged or packaged produce, such as salad greens or half a cantaloupe, check that the produce is refrigerated or surrounded by ice.

Bagged Kale Slaw

Store Safely

Most of us know to always store fresh fruits and vegetables separately from raw meats, poultry and seafood when taking groceries home from the store. There was a case of raw blood from a torn hamburger meat package dripping onto raw salad greens which caused an outbreak of E. Coli. This was preventable if the vegetables and raw meat had been packed separately at the grocery store.

Separate For Safety

Use separate cutting boards for produce, raw meat, poultry & seafood

It’s very important to keep raw fruits and vegetables separate from raw meats and seafood, and also to use separate kitchen utensils for these items. When finished with food preparation, always wash the knives and cutting boards in hot soapy water or the dishwasher.

Saving Money

Raw Carrots

Tips To Follow

You can save money on produce with these helpful tips:

*Buy produce which is cold and refrigerate immediately when home.

*Use clean and sanitary utensils for food preparation.

*Cut away damaged or bruised areas on fresh fruits and vegetables before preparing or eating.

*Do not wash fruits and vegetables with soap, detergent or a commercial produce wash as these steps are not effective.

*Even if you do not plan to eat the skin of fruits and vegetables, wash with water first to prevent dirt and bacteria transferring from the surface when peeling or cutting.

*Use a clean produce brush to scrub firm produce with water such as melons and cucumbers which will also remove surface contaminants.

Salad

By following these tips, you will reduce produce wastage and reduce your food costs.

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It’s Summer – Tips To Prevent Food Poisoning!

How To Stay Safe This Summer & Prevent Food Poisoning

Now that summer is here, more of us will be camping, having a barbeque and preparing picnic food.

An outdoor picnic is a great way to meet up and share food. However, this is a time when food poisoning can increase.

Hazardous foods left out on the picnic table in the hot sun allows bacteria to grow.

Summer Salad

6 Tips You Can Follow This Summer

Remember the mantra Keep Cold Foods Cold.

Foods such as potato, Greek and Caesar’s salads need to be kept cold at 4 C or 40 F. Do not leave these salads sitting out in the hot sunshine for hours. They will be in the Danger Zone where organisms can grow.

Keep Cold Foods Cold & Use A Cooler When Grocery Shopping

Greek Summer Salad

If you are purchasing foods ahead of time at the grocery store or supermarket, place the frozen or cold foods inside a cooler containing ice packs or ice gels in your car. This will help maintain a constant cold temperature for your products until you are home or at your picnic or campsite.

Raw Food Storage

Skewers Ready for the Barbeque

Raw foods such as hamburger meat should be double wrapped and placed in the cooler as well so as not to leak on other foods. Raw meat juices or blood can easily cross-contaminate.

If you have cooked products such as hamburgers or hot dogs, keep them in separate closed containers so as not to become cross-contaminated with raw juices if stored together in the cooler.

Barbequing

Barbequing is very popular in the summer months. When cooking hamburgers, always remember to keep the raw meats separate from the cooked burgers. Do not place the cooked burgers back on the plate used for the raw meats as cross-contamination will occur. Use separate utensils for the raw meats and the cooked hamburgers. Never eat under-cooked or raw hamburgers as bacteria such as E-coli can cause food poisoning.

Barbeque

Recycling Plastic Utensils & Take-out Containers

When using plastic utensils and take-out containers, remember that these can be recycled.

Take your re-usable dishes with you when camping or having a picnic.

Wash them later using hot soapy water.

Handwashing

Handwashing

Most importantly, don’t forget to wash your hands and/or use the hand sanitizer before, during and after preparing and serving food. It is extremely important to be vigilant on this practice as it will reduce the spread of disease and prevent food poisoning organisms from making you ill. I

If you are ill or experiencing symptoms, do not prepare the picnic foods.

Have A Safe Food Summer!

As we face a summer with many festivals and events, picnics, barbeques and camping in the great outdoors will provide us with outdoor dining and fun with our friends and family.

Keep your picnic foods stored safely at the correct temperature and the risk of foodborne illness will be reduced.

Summer Ready Salad

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6 Facts About Cream Teas That You Didn’t Know!

A cream tea – Cornish or Devon?

It does seem like everyone drinks a large amount of coffee. However, tea is still popular too. My British parents drank tea with milk daily. Coffee wasn’t in our house as tea was the way to go! I always remember my mother, who lived through WW2, saying that she had to give up sugar in her tea, then milk and also get used to plain tea. She was so thankful when she could finally have milk back in her tea. One thing she never had was cream in her tea!

Cornish Cream Tea

What is a Cream Tea?

If you visit Victoria, you will have the chance for afternoon tea in various restaurants from the Oak Bay Tearoom, Butchart Gardens and even the Empress Hotel. Afternoon tea was introduced to England, in the year 1840, by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford. She would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon. The evening meal was served fashionably late at eight o’clock, which left a long period of time between lunch and dinner, so the afternoon tea was born. Others liked the idea and, before she knew it, the afternoon tea had become all the rage which included tea, dainty sandwiches and scones with cream and jam. Cream tea became part of the afternoon tea as well.

Cornish Cream Tea with Scones, Jam and Clotted Cream

Devon or Cornish – Which Is The Best Way?

Tea with scones and jam in Cornwall

What is the Difference?

Definitions:

The traditional cream tea, also referred to as Devonshire cream tea, is a specialty of Cornwall and Devon in England where a pot of tea is served with scones, clotted cream and jam. The scone is a single-serving unsweetened cake, with typical ingredients of flour, butter and milk. Clotted cream is a smooth, thick cream traditionally made in Devon and Cornwall. Unpasteurized cow’s milk is heated and left in a shallow pan for many hours which causes the cream to rise to the surface and “clot”.

Devon Cream Teas

The cream is like the butter. You wouldn’t put butter on jam.

Jam was expensive so you only needed a small amount on top.

You can get more cream if you place it on the scone first!

Devon Cream Tea

Cornish Cream Teas

It’s easier to spread with the cream on top and jam on the bottom of the scone.

You can taste the cream better on top!

You wouldn’t put cream on the bottom of a fruit salad.

Cornish Cream Tea

It Doesn’t Matter!

The main thing is to enjoy the cream tea or afternoon tea and use the cream and jam whichever way you like!

Afternoon Tea at Butchart Gardens in Victoria

I will be including a recipe for scones in my upcoming cookbook.

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Characteristics of the Plot

What characteristics does the writer consider when deciding the characters in a plot? I am working on a future book based on my mother’s experiences in England during World War 2. I know there are a lot of books written about women and the war. However, my mother did something unique. She volunteered in London at the Beaver Club. This was a place where Canadian soldiers could come to get sandwiches, coffee, new socks and maps to get around London while on leave. Of course, I won’t be calling the book The Beaver Club for obvious reasons.

The title is The Maple Leaf Club. The Club had various women volunteering there mainly with the food preparation and serving. Many of the women have long since passed away. It’s doubtful that their sons and daughters knew much about the club. The book includes a murder in the Club in the life of Olive, the main character, who works as a secretary for a British firm and really wants to start a new life in Canada.

Research is required for this book. The photos I have of my Mother are helpful and the reunion photo is amazing. Many ladies fit into one large photo but all in black and white. I once asked my mother if she had dated anyone at the club. She replied, “Oh no, not me. I was too shy!”

What stands out in this story is the selflessness of the women who volunteered their time to work in the Beaver Club in London in the middle of the war. Life in wartime London was tough enough but these ladies volunteered their time to help Canadians. I’m looking forward to researching this book, learning what my mother experienced during the war and completing this book as a murder mystery.

My mother as a young woman in London, England.

Olive with friends having tea when she lived in Vancouver.

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Tips For Summer Food Safety:

How To Stay Safe This Summer & Prevent Food Poisoning

Summer is Almost Here!

Now that summer is almost here, more of us will be camping, having a barbeque and preparing picnic food.

An outdoor picnic is a great way to meet up with family and friends to share share food. However, this is a time when food poisoning can increase due to leaving hazardous foods out on the picnic table in the hot sun which allow bacteria to grow.

Salad

Tips You Can Follow This Summer:

Remember the mantra Keep Cold Foods Cold. Foods such as potato salad and caesar’s salad need to be kept cold at 4 C or 40 F. Do not leave these salads sitting out in the hot sunshine for hours as they will be in the Danger Zone where organisms can grow.

Keep Cold Foods Cold & Use A Cooler When Grocery Shopping

Greek Summer Salad

If you are purchasing foods ahead of time at the grocery store or supermarket, place the frozen or cold foods inside a cooler containing ice packs or ice gels in your car. This will help maintain a constant cold temperature for your products until you are home or at your picnic or campsite.

Raw Food Storage

Raw foods such as hamburger meat should be double wrapped and placed in the cooler as well so as not to leak on other foods. Raw meat juices or blood can easily cross-contaminate. If you have cooked products such as hamburgers or hot dogs, keep them in separate closed containers so as not to become cross-contaminated with raw juices if stored together in the cooler.

Skewers ready to barbeque

Barbequing

Barbequing is very popular in the summer months. When cooking hamburgers, always remember to keep the raw meats separate from the cooked burgers. Do not place the cooked burgers back on the plate used for the raw meats as cross contamination will occur. Use separate utensils for the raw meats and the cooked hamburgers. Never eat under-cooked or raw hamburgers as bacteria such as Ecoli which can cause food poisoning.

Barbeque
A summer favourite of burger and salad.

Recycling Plastic Utensils & Take-out Containers

When using plastic utensils and take-out containers, remember that these can be recycled. Al better idea is to take your re-usable dishes with you when camping or having a picnic and wash them after meals using hot soapy water.

Handwashing

Most importantly, don’t forget to wash your hands and/or use the hand sanitizer before, during and after preparing and serving food. It is extremely important to be vigilant on this practice as it will reduce the spread of food poisoning organisms. If you are ill or experiencing symptoms, do not prepare any picnic foods.

Have a Safe Food Summer!

Keep your picnic foods stored safely at the correct temperature and the risk of foodborne illness will be reduced. By following the above steps, the risk will be reduced. Have a safe food summer!

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What Is The Inspiration for a Character in a Book?

What is the inspiration for a character when writing a book? Inspiration can take many forms and ends up providing the author with characters that can be used in the book being written.

Inspiration Helps Authors with Book Titles

What Inspires the Name of a Character?

When I first started thinking of ideas for my children’s book The Fairy Hollow Chronicles, I took inspiration from my own children to create the characters. My daughter loved fairies when she was very young so that provided me with the idea for four fairies. Adventures are always fun when you are a child so the idea that the fairies had to go on an adventure was born. Then, the names came easily as I chose names of her friends from elementary school. Now there are three books in the series. The names in Book 3 – The Fairy Hollow Gold Treasure Adventure came from a few relatives including a great niece and nephew! With pirates names such as Captain Bootlace Bill, Lightning Lance and Notorious Nigel, who can resist finding out where the gold treasure is with their help?

Characters from Book 3 The Fairy Hollow Gold Treasure Adventure

What Should Characters Wear?

Authors need to describe their characters. In The Fairy Hollow Chronicles, the four fairies are tiny so it was easy to have them dressed in ballerina tutus with their hair in buns. Ballerinas always wear buns. Young girls who take ballet enjoy wearing the tutus and having their hair in buns. The mayor in the book needed to be in a suit as he means business. The idea for the toad came from various stories I read as a child and also the toad character fits the mayor character perfectly.

The four fairies in tutus from Book 1 – The Fairy Hollow Chronicles
Character of Mayor Dayle from The Fairy Hollow Chronicles

For my future book on my Mother’s work with Canadian soldiers during WW2, I can draw inspiration from the photo below which shows her dining out with friends in Vancouver. Three women drinking coffee or tea and eating pastries while smiling with their hats on! The hats are quite fascinating and also all appear to be wearing dresses. All these clues help an author when writing a story to place the characters at a specific period in time. This photo was taken on my Mother’s arrival in Vancouver after the war ended and she had volunteered at the Beaver Club in London. This photo will help me decide on the ending of the book!

My mother having tea with two friends.

Photographs

Ideas for other books that I am writing came from photographs. Sometimes a photograph can inspire an author to write a story based on what might be happening in that photo. The photos from WW2 in England are an inspiration and ask me to write about what the young men and women in the photos are laughing about, worried about, thinking about and how the war affected them. As the daughter of parents who went through WW2, I am intrigued to include in my book these points to round out my characters.

My mother and her friend in 1935 – A photograph for inspiration – What is going on in this photo?

Inspiration is the Summary of Many Ideas

The inspiration for characters in a book comes from everything including family, friends, photos, artwork, current fashion, and the author’s imagination. By using all these ideas, the characters come to life which makes enjoyable reading for all of us.

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Tips for Food Safety at Easter

Easter Foods

Easter is a wonderful time of year when we gather and share a meal or hunt for Easter eggs! Who can forget the exciteent of an Easter Egg Hunt with the kids?

Safe Preparation

Egg Safety

I remember dying eggs as a child and watching the changing colors. Another fun thing to do was an Easter Egg roll where hard-boiled eggs were painted and rolled down the kitchen floor. This was not food safe but fun to do.

When working with eggs for a meal or for decorating, do not let them sit out at room temperature for more than two hours.

Remember to keep hard-cooked eggs in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

All cooked egg dishes should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 74 C as measured by a food thermometer.

If you plan to eat the Easter eggs you decorate, use only food-grade dye. One suggestion is to make two sets of eggs. Children can decorate and hide one set. The second set can be saved for eating. You can also use plastic eggs for your Easter egg hunt, though the chocolate ones are everyone’s favourite.

Main Meals

Traditional Foods

If you are serving ham or poultry this Easter, here are some important tips for safe preparation.

Easter Hams

Ham is a popular meat for the Easter table. Different types of ham require different preparation methods. Ham is either ready-to-eat or requires cooking before eating. Be sure to read the package instructions carefully.

  • Fresh, uncooked hams must be cooked to reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 74C.
  • Ready-to-eat hams are cooked at the plant and can be safely eaten right out of the package and can be served cold or heated to serve warm.

Chicken & Turkey

1. Properly defrost the poultry in the refrigerator or in a sink with cold water.

2. Prepare the poultry for cooking. Either place the stuffing inside the bird before placing in the oven OR cook the stuffing separately. The stuffing acts as a sponge and can hold in bacteria such as Salmonella if not cooked properly.

3. Cool the poultry after serving and cut into smaller pieces and place in the refrigerator.

4. Do not use the same plate for raw poultry and cooked poultry. Keep raw and cooked utensils separate.

Easter Display

Happy Easter!

Have a wonderful Easter safe meal with the foods you choose to serve.

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Social Media Is Really Anti-Social

When Social Media first came out, I thought the name wasn’t appropriate. There isn’t anything social about it. As human beings, we need to interact face to face with others so we can have conversations, watch our facial expressions and understand what we are saying to each other.

Using the Ipad for business

Are We All Addicted?

Social media has positive and negative outcomes. Our brains are bombarded with so many images at once. We tend to veer towards the photo or video of the car crash as opposed to the vase of flowers. The car crash video is captivating to our brains. The rest becomes clickbait. The companies on social media have made a fortune.

Office Meeting

From the time we wake up until we go to bed, we are constantly on our cell phones or other mobile devices. Addiction explains why people still drive and use their cell phones. They are addicted to know who is calling. They have to make another call or send another text. Everyone knows not to use a cell phone when driving because the driver must concentrate on the road at all times. However, addiction has taken over. People can’t top using the cell phone when on the road which has caused tragic accidents from the loss of focus.

On the cell phone while studying

I’ve also noticed people on cell phones who walk down the street and sometimes never look up. I had a near crash with one person who wasn’t looking where she was going but madly texting away on her phone. Fortunately, we both didn’t get hurt. She should have paid attention to where she was walking instead of being so distracted.

The Proof of Addiction

Computers for Office Staff

Adam Atler, a professor at NYU, has written a book called Irresistible. He lays out the evidence for the hidden danger in our lives called behavioral addiction. From tracking social media “likes” to constantly counting our steps, we are being guided by the technologies we use.

Instead of letting addiction rule our lives, we can take steps to live more productively. This behavorial addiction is preventing us from forming meaningful relationships, raising empathetic children, and separating work from sleep and play. Who would have thought a decade ago that Facebook would attract 1.5 billion users? As the author suggests, many of these users wish they spent less time on the site. Also Instagram users spend hours uploading and liking sixty million new photos every day on the app. More than twenty million people daily count and monitor their every step with a small wrist-bound device.

Suggestions he makes include workplaces shutting down at six pm and disabling work email accounts between midnight and five am the next morning. Games, similar to books with chapters, can be built with natural stopping points. Social media platforms can demetricate which is removing the numerical feedback allowing damaging social comparison and chronic goalsetting. Children can be introduced to screens slowly under supervision instead of all at once. Our culture needs to make space for a work-free, game-free, screen-free downtime to make it easier to resist the lure of behavioral addiction. This will result in us communicating with others directly which will make us happier than any screen time or device could ever do.

SOURCE: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology And The Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter

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Children’s Books Mean So Much

Reading Clubs at local libraries are a fun and provide challenges to children to read different books and receive prizes! Children’s books are meant to challenge their imaginations, provide stories they can relate to and improve their literacy. Books can accomplish this in many ways and promote a life-long love of reading.

Illustrations Are Important

A young reader with my first book The Fairy Hollow Chronicles

As a children’s book author, I know how important it is to have illustrations with the story. The story comes alive when children see the characters which ignite their curiosity. Movies and videos for kids don’t always allow them to use their imaginations. Imagination is a powerful tool and helps the child create or use their mind to imagine what could be or what the characters could do.

The third book in the series The Fairy Hollow Chronicles – The Fairy Hollow Gold Treasure Adventure

In my Fairy Hollow Chronicles series, my illustrator, Barbara Warwick, used vivid colors and attention to detail to bring the characters to life. What children see on the above book cover are three pirates. However, look at the details which bring them to life. The Captain has a sword and a skull and crossbones on his cap. The second pirate is tall with a black eye patch cover over his eye and is barefoot. The cat looks interesting with the tiny pirates hat on the cat’s head. The third pirate is wearing the large gold buckle on his belt, high top boots and a black eye patch cover on his right eye. Now the reader has a visual description of what the characters look like which helps to understand the story.

Writer’s Tool Kit

Writers of children’s books really need to appeal to children and can do so by challenging their imagination and use of descriptive words. Books can have simple wording or use more complex phrases again to challenge the child’s mind. One tool for the children’s book author is the use of colorful illustrations. Children are fascinated by different color images. In the story above, the child is not just walking down a path but is wearing bright-colored shoes, pink overalls, with flowers, her pet dog and cat, her doll and last of all her baby brother all at once. There is a lot going on in this scene. The reader can discuss with the child when reading the book together which is what the author had in mind.

Stories That Children Can Relate To

Rupert Bear in his famous yearly annual for children

Happy Endings

Children like stories with happy endings. With Rupert, children can look at the world of adventure and fun through different animals who are dressed in brightly colored clothing. These animals would not be like this in real life. However, the characters are helpful to children to think about the world they live in and their friends and family in a different light. They will want to join Rupert and his friends on adventures too.

Sally with her children’s book The Fairy Hollow Chronicles illustrated by Barbie Warwick

The Best Part

By making children’s books colorful, interesting, challenging and fun to read, children are off to a great start in the world of books. They will enjoy reading as they get older and venture into longer books with no illustrations. Most importantly, children’s books help children begin their journey into literacy which will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Another young reader with her Grandma reading The Fairy Hollow Chronicles

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