Growing up in a Mennonite home, we butchered our own pigs and I fondly remember mom and grandma standing over the Miagrope, (Low German word which means a large cauldron set over a fire used to render lard in large quantities.) One of the the results of this rendering lard was Jreewe (Low German for cracklings). I never really enjoyed the cracklings but there are a few restaurants in Steinbach that you can still find this item on the menu!    I was very surprised when Inge asked me about a year ago if I knew where I could find cracklings and on my next trip to Brandon, would I be able to bring some?    I did find some!   She said that there is a Hungarian biscuit that uses the cracklings (Tepertős Pogácsa) and proceeded to make some.   All I can say is that these biscuits were wonderful and it is something you can’t stop eating! 

This weekend I brought her some more fresh cracklings from Country Smoke House in New Bothwell, Manitoba.   Home of the famous New Bothwell Cheese!  (And interestingly, where my mom was born.)

Today Inge made some fresh Tepertős Pogácsa – and here is the recipe, along with photos.  Enjoy!

Can’t read the recipe?  No problem – it’s in Hungarian.  But here is the English version…

1 Tablespoon Yeast, 1/2 tsp. sugar dissolved in a 1/4 cup warm water.

1 lb flour
1 lb cracklings
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. salt


Mix flour and cracklings and salt and add yeast


4 heaping T of sour cream (enough to make a soft bread dough)

ground pepper

Add eggs, pepper and enough sour cream to make a not to hard or too soft dough


Knead till soft dough

Roll out


and fold top, left, right, bottom



let stand for 1/2 hour
repeat the rolling and folding and resting for 1/2 hour - 2 more times
finally,

roll out dough to about 3/4" thickness and
score top with knife in criss-cross pattern


cut out with cookie cutter


brush with egg yolks




375 for approximately 30 minutes - should be golden


nyum, nyum - enjoy!

When I arrived on Friday, Patty was working on cooking me a fabulous lunch!

She asked me to help and before I knew it – lunch was ready.   Delicious!  On the menu “Joe’s Tuna/Pea Pasta” and some wonderful red wine…

And yes – it was as delicious as it looks (thanks for the recipe, Patty!).

After the wonderful lunch, we started off with photographing each other with window light.  Patty picked up my camera and actually got some very nice images of me!  I was quite pleased…

We discussed window lighting and a whole lot of other topics… we’re both talkers – it’s amazing we let each other talk! 

Patty’s daugthers came home from school while Patty was cooking supper and Sabrina had to share with Mom about the happenings at school that day.  I love this image!

Then I helped Patty with supper.  On the menu was a salad of cherry tomatoes, onions, cilantro and an olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing; steamed Basmati rice, slow cooked Black Beans with bacon and a fabulous dish with Italian sausage, celery, onions and kale.   This is a photo of the last dish steaming on the stove!

At dinner Patty insisted on filling my plate – apparently there is an order in which these different foods need to be presented.  Yum – it was outstanding!

As I’ve mentioned before – Patty loves to cook and she is a great cook.  Patty and hubby, Jascha have a wonderful relationship – it was a joy watching them together.  In their household, Patty is the cook and Jascha does the clean-up.  What a wondeful man!   And Patty definitely appreciates him!  Another photograph that I love…

Patty’s mom and dad were also invited for dinner and we had a very nice evening – they’re wonderful people!

After they left, Jascha left to watch curling with a friend and Patty and I had a typical Brazilian cocktail – Caipirinha.   Nummmmy – this is now my favorite drink! Very refreshing.  Before I knew it it was close to midnight and time for bed.  Sabrina gave me her room for the night.  A typical little girl’s room – what fun – thank you Sabrina!

The lifesize cutout of Hannah Montana at the foot of the bed was a bit overwhelming, but once my eyes were closed – not a problem.

The next morning Patty made some great “Black Pearl” coffee and she knew how much I loved Disney and she served the coffee in this mug.  The coffee tasted even better in this mug!

Sabrina is the ‘cuddly’ daughter according to Patty.  I often saw Sabrina in Patty’s arms or lap throughout the weekend.

Gabriela is a bit quieter, but gorgeous!   I learned that she’s very creative and it was so interesting watching her.  At the breakfast table she disappeared under the table and I grabbed my camera…

After breakfast and working on a slide show, I picked up my camera and proceeded to show Patty what fabulous window light opportunities she had in her home!  We never did use any studio lights – who needs them with such fabulous window lighting?!  I proceeded to photograph her alone throughout the home as well I got some great images of Patty and her daughters.  Here are the photos taken throughout the afternoon.

The first one is one of my favorites!

Patty loved this image.

Love the following images!!!!!!! 

Patty is as beautiful inside as she is outside!

Then we ended up upstairs and used the bedrooms and master bath for some photos.  Like I said – there were fabulous photo opportunities everywhere!   And this is the point were it hit me!   I have been wanting to introduce something new in my business – photographing in people’s homes – and viewing these images I realized that Patty had just given me the opportunity to do so – if you are reading this and like the idea of having me come into your home to photograph you and/or your family in your own environment – please give me a call!   204-326-1813

The next two images are so Patty – I love them, too!

At this point Gabriela got my attention sporting her shades and, of course, I had to get a photograph of her… she finally warmed up to me!

A few more shots before I had to leave…

Look at the fabulous lighting on this image!

Too soon it was time for me to leave.  Patty and I were arguing about who got the most out of our time together and we both agreed that we both benefited!  We both ended up being the teacher and the pupil!  I hope there will be another “Patty” day in the not too distant future.  To end, my very favorite image taken – doesn’t she look fantabulous?!???!!!!!!

Thank you Patty!!!!

Once again, Christmas celebrations for me took place in Brandon, Manitoba with my very best friend, Inge and her husband, Michael. (Note: I went to Africa with Inge and Michael.) I left home on the 23rd of December and headed on out to Brandon. The weather was breathtaking.

When I arrived the dogs greeted me with much affection for “Auntie Marlene”. They are joy to watch and I spent many an hour cuddling with them!

Hunter was the first to arrive in the Skliros household!

Then came, Grissom… (The boys like to play and spend time together – my favorite shot is the one of the two of them on the ‘forbidden’ sofa – isn’t it hilarious?

Inge and Michael had the place beautifully decorated…

Inge has an extensive Hippo collection and she ended up displaying some as ornaments on her tree – I loved it!

More photos – see the bottom right image? That is a photo of the house on the corner – this fellow really decorates the outside of his house – and the cars kept coming throughout the time I was there just to see the house – it is pretty amazing!

Christmas Eve dinner was wonderful… (The menu was fresh salad greens and Shrimp Quiche – fabulous!)

Christmas Day we enjoyed another hot tub – wonderful!

Here are some images of Inge – doing what she does best! Cooking and photographing! We had Christmas Pudding for dessert on Christmas Day and she doused it in alcohol and lit it – the dogs loved it! What a sight!

Christmas Dinner – Roast Turkey, Baked Yams, Potato and Carrot Roasties, Brussels Sprouts, Stuffing… and yes – we were stuffed!

It is wonderful to spend time with your best friends!

Desi and Lucy were excited as well! Many of you may not know this, but another good friend, Daphne Carlyle, from Edmonton, Alberta is one of the best child photographers in Canada and she has a lot of ‘animal friends’ and last August when I went to visit her – she gifted me with some special friends. She suggested I name them and have them become part of my studio family. So, on the drive home I decided they would be called Lucy and Desi. Okay – long story – but Lucy and Desi go with me whenever I go on vacation – they came to Disney with me last December and of course, they were really excited about going to Victoria Beach!

And, I must add that a very special person that I met in August 2005 inspired me to take my camera with me wherever I go (which, because of the nature of my business, I had stopped doing a long time ago) – and so Lucy, Desi and my camera hopped in the car at 11:15 am and we headed to Victoria Beach. An hour and a half later we arrived at the parking lot and we searched for a parking spot. You cannot drive into Victoria Beach after June 20th. Ingrid and Grant said I could take a cab or walk to their cabin – about a 20 minute walk they said. Well, I hadn’t counted on it being +30 degrees and pulling my suitcase and bag with swimwear and my camera slung over my shoulder made it end up being 30 minutes before I got to their cottage.

It didn’t take long and we were on the beach.

This is a photo of Lucy and Desi enjoying the beach. (Desi and Lucy are stuffed little mice.)

Joone and her friend decided to cover Grant with sand. I don’t think he minded as it was, apparently, quite cool.

The view from the beach was breathtaking – the sailboat on a lake sparkling like diamonds and the seagulls and the wonderful clouds in the sky made the day and a half I spent there magical.

Joone is obviously a photographer’s child because she loves to ham it up for the camera!

But, she is a young chef it seems, as she made the dessert for Sunday night’s dinner (and it was delicious!).

There were countless things to photograph in and around the cottage. The iris flowers were gorgeous!

I was drawn to a wall hanging outside the front door (I love grill work ornaments!)…

The cottage inside had a fabulous piece of art on the wall – I just loved it and did quite a few different photographs of it.

This my favorite image of the wall art…I really enjoyed the shadows from the setting sun.

And two ‘just washed’ apricots drying on the counter drew my eye as well…

On Monday morning I helped Ingrid and Grant at two photo sessions. Because there is no vehicular traffic – we needed to bicycle to the cottages for the sessions. Oh my, what an experience! I haven’t been on a bicycle in years and my poor back side can still feel it!!!

Ingrid is a fabulous photographer (she has been Manitoba’s Photographer of the Year recently) and I loved watching her with the families. There was one extended family that had some very busy little children that Grant had to help her with – aren’t these great?

I love this shot – it looks as if Ingrid is ‘conducting’ the waves.

The first family we photographed was from California. It was a wonderful family who laughed a lot and you could see how much they cared for each other.

The husband went to pick a yellow flower and presented it to his wife and this is another one of my favorite images – who needs to see someone’s face when this tells a wonderful story!

By the way, the first person we met was “Jake” and we immediately realized he really didn’t want to be there. He said he would rather be anywhere else than there and having to put on a white shirt on a vacation wasn’t what he wanted to be doing!

At the end of the session, Ingrid took a photo of grandma and the two grandchildren – okay, I’ll say it again – I love THIS image – probably my favorite one!

Does the look on Jake’s face say he doesn’t want to be there? I don’t think so. When we were done and walking back through the cottage to leave, Jake was sitting in the family room (he’d already changed and was relaxing). He looked up at us and said “Thank you – you made my Mom very happy today.” Wow – wow – coming from the same young man that wasn’t happy to be there at the beginning of the session – it really touched me!

The next session was a larger group and this little girl was a wonderful subject. I love both of these images.

This was the first time I saw this type of color on a tree – I’m wondering if this is called a Silver Birch. The sheen of the bark and the color were outstanding!

And, of course, two images of the unbelievable sunset which we could see from the cottage. Pure bliss.

Too soon my short stay came to and end and I headed home. The time I was there was filled with sitting on the beach, taking a dip in the lake, eating lasagna and a bbq’d roast pork loin prepared by Grant and some banana pancakes prepared by Ingrid, playing Poker till 1:00 am, the two portrait sessions, playing a foursome of a game that I’d not played before – a cross between horseshoes and lawn darts. The two red-heads played against Grant and Joone – and, well – we lost both games – but it was tons of fun! Oh yes, and we talked a lot.

After another long walk back to the car I headed home. But, of course, my camera was on the seat beside me and driving through a little area called Ladywood, I saw this beautiful old yellow building with the old truck…