Big Green Egg

It seems like we have been waiting forever to the nice weather to get here.  Finally it seems like we will be able to enjoy our outdoor living spaces.  I know I fired up the barbeque a couple of times in April, but I do not think the weather allowed for much barbequing in May.  Last night we had our first hamburgers grilled on our Big Green Egg of the year.  I do not think you can get a better hamburger than one cooked over natural charcoal, using your own ground beef, and homemade barbeque sauce. 

When we first started selling Big Green Eggs I actually resisted getting one for myself.  I could still remember having to wait for my charcoal barbeques to light, and for the coals to be ready to grill.  It seemed like we were always cooking well before the coals were ready, but I was assured that the Big Green Egg was different, and that it can be ready in around 15 minutes, which is not much different than your propane barbeque.  I finally brought one home a couple of years ago, and it is now my barbeque of choice.  Grilling on a Big Green Egg adds flavour to everything you cook. 

So last night on the way home, I picked up a 2 lb Prime Rib Roast, I figured I really wanted to enjoy those first burgers of the year.   When I got home I lit the Big Green Egg.  I chopped up the roast, and ran it through the meat grinder.  I added an egg, some Bad Byron's Butt Rub, salt and pepper, mixed it up and made 4 patties.  By this time the Big Green Egg was at 600 degrees and ready to grill.

The Burgers needed about 5 minutes per side, and they were perfect, nice and moist, and ready for the plate.  I finished them off with a great Barbeque sauce recipe that I found a few years ago.  We used to make fun of our eldest daughter and how quickly she could devour a fast food hamburger.  She would have hers finished before anyone else even had theirs unwrapped, but I think we would have given her a run for her money eating ours last night.  There is something about eating food that is cooked outside, it just seems to taste so much better.

Here is the barbeque sauce recipe

4 cloves minced garlic

3 TBS Olive Oil                                                           

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup water                                                            

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar 

2 TBS Paprika

1 TBS Chile Powder

1 TS Cayenne Pepper

Heat the oil, and then add the minced garlic, sauté  for a couple of minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and then reduce heat.  Simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.

This is great on ribs, or pork, but also works well with chicken and hamburgers.                                      

 Enjoy-Mike vandenHof

Big Green Egg in Action at our 30th Anniversary!

Staying Young

Last night I witnessed my 7 year old in full costume and “stage” make up for her Dance Class photo shoot. I felt like I was in an episode of Tot’s and Tiara’s, surrounded by children ages 4 and up in mascara and lipstick. My daughter was absolutely thrilled to have full permission to leave the house with make up on, I on the other hand looked behind me to see my baby girl in her booster seat with more make up on than I had, and was mortified.

In the days of dance classes, acting lessons and countless other activities our little ones seem older than they really are. I for one am so happy to be in a business that provides family activities that allow kids to act their age. I am all for any activity that allows kids to be just that, kids! Swimming is still the highlight of my daughter’s summer; summer has not officially arrived until she gets to go for a dip in the pool. If we stay in a hotel for the night, the first question asked by her is always the same, is there a pool?

The joy of watching kids swimming and splashing around in the water, having competitions to see who can make the biggest splash always makes me smile. Pool water also has the tendency to revert some adults back into the children! If these youthful adults enter a splash competition the odds of winning tend to be in their favor!  So, this summer I’m voting for activities that keep the young acting young, and have the young at heart joining in!

Talk soon!

-Liana vandenHof Rhodenizer

Sale Recap

It’s Tuesday, May 24! That means we have also survived yet another Victoria Day Weekend sale! As most of you know, this is Holland Home Leisure’s biggest sale of the year! It’s a great time to come in and stock up on your pool and hot tub chemicals, and buy those accessories that just aren’t working like they used to. While the weather left much to be desired, it didn’t stop our customers from coming out to cash in on some great deals.

Another success of the weekend: Our very first Splash for CF fundraiser! On Saturday, with the help of some awesome volunteers, we set up a dunk tank and BBQ in the Holland Home Leisure parking lot. The money raised there, combined with your generous donations in-store, made our first CF fundraiser a very successful one! A huge thank-you to all of the customers that donated to a great cause this weekend, and of course to our volunteers that manned our BBQ and sat in the freezing cold dunk tank for what I’m sure seemed like forever. Also, a special thank-you to “Stripes” the clown for showing up and making us all laugh with some of the most ridiculous balloon hats you’ve ever seen! It was just what we needed after a hectic weekend!

Trevor with "Stripes" the Clown

Chris from K-Rock in the Dunk Tank

Dunk tank volunteers warming up in the hot tub!

Leigham, cooking up a storm on the BBQ

So if you missed our Splash for CF fundraiser this weekend, stay posted for our next event, or stop in to either Holland Home Leisure location and drop off your recyclables! We’ll be cashing in our recyclables (and yours) all year long for Cystic Fibrosis!

For the Foody

One thing about the vandenHof family is we like to eat! A good recipe gets passed quicker than any gossip. Pasta, risotto, salmon, salads…mmm YUM!

We all have our all-time favorites, meals that you can barely go a week without, meals that my 7 year old will request every other day, and meals that show up at every single family potluck. I thought I would give you one my little ones all time favorites  (it can not be cooked in your backyard…oops!). I would like to present this opportunity for all of are followers to send in your favorite family recipe! J

Basil Pesto Chicken Pasta (Called Special Pasta in our house)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bottle of Basil Pesto

2-3 tbs of Sweet Chili Sauce

4 (or more) cloves of garlic

Fresh Cilantro chopped

1 box bow tie noodles (or shell)

½ cup Fresh Parmesan

Put water on to boil noodles.

Cook your chicken in a little bit of olive oil along with your garlic, when it is cooked, add your sweet chili sauce, cook for one or two minutes. Put your noodles in your boiling water.

Add the bottle of Basil Pesto to your chicken, keep on low heat.

When the noodles are cooked, add to the pan (I use a very deep frying pan), add the parmesan and the fresh cilantro (I use a large handful of cilantro or more). Stir well/

I serve with a fresh salad on the side and little fresh parmesan sprinkled on top.

I look forward to reading some of your family favorites! You can either respond directly on the blog or e-mail me at liana@hollandhomeleisure.com

Ok, Now I’m hungry J

-Liana vandenHof-Rhondenizer

Returning Summer Staff

Craig started with us in 2009 and is spending the 2011 summer working in the Aylesford location. New Minas misses him! We especially miss him surprising us with our favorite Tim’s order! Craig was our resident pool boy, always vacuuming and tending to our two pools on site. He probably so eagerly volunteered to do these jobs to get away from the constant “girl” talk! Craig is a great team player, always one of the first to volunteer to help someone complete a task. He is always game for HHL outings, and tends to be the life of the party! Craig excels at Above Ground pool sales and follow up, and he is a water chemistry expert. Great job Craig!

Brian started with us in 2007, and unfortunately this will be his last summer! We are so happy to say Brian is accepted to Medical School, and we couldn’t be more proud of him!

Congrats Brian! Brian is our parts room expert; he is extremely knowledgeable with plumbing and miscellaneous parts, and also is our resident BBQ expert! Brian was quick to fit in with the HHL group with his sense of humor and willingness to join in on any conversation! Has been known to have a few harmless practical jokes and always keeps us laughing, we really will miss him! Brian has always been an extremely hard worker and a great team player!

Jessica started with us in 2007, and has worked part time since then while being a full time employee in the summers! She is the one who helps make displays look presentable in the New Minas store; her background in interior design is very helpful in arranging furniture displays. Jessica is trained in most areas of the business including sales, chemistry and event planning, and we are excited she will be part of the Splash for CF fundraising team for the summer of 2011! Jessica is also known to loose a quarter or two to the sarcasm jar!

Evan started with us in 2010, and worked full time last summer in our Aylesford location, this year he is working here in New Minas and we are glad to have him! Evan is a very hard worker, and great at chemistry explanations! Evan is a little bit shy but is slowly warming up to the New Minas staff members and is become a fun member of the team! We are enjoying getting to know him and his quiet sense of humor, and we hope to see him around for many more summers!

We are lucky to have such great team members here at HHL! Thanks guys!
-Liana vandenHof-Rhodenizer

Who Moved My Cheese

I grew up in an immigrant family, my parents were married in the Netherlands April 17th 1952, and within a week they boarded a ship and were headed to a new life, in a new country.  They ended up in Port Williams for their first year in Nova Scotia, just up the road from where my business partner Brad now lives with his family, and  across the road from where we will be installing a new In Ground Swimming Pool this summer.  They had to endure life in a new country, learn a new language, deal with our harsh winters, and be separated from family and friends.  Luckily there were other Dutch immigrants in the area, and before long they developed new friendships, and within a couple of years had siblings join them in this new life.  For having endured such great change, they held tradition very dear to their hearts.  They did not go out of their way to seek change, and while I had made changes in our business over the first 20 years or so, I continued to hold onto many of the ways I had always done things.

So while on a cruise with a number of my industry peers from  across the country in January 2000 I was encouraged to read the book "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson.  This was one of the first of many books that I started to collect and encourage my staff members to read, but this book more than all the others changed the way I looked at how to run our business.  "Who Moved My Cheese" became my motto for the 2000's.  The next 10 years saw us moving the cheese constantly, we changed the way our company was structured, I hired a business coach who helped us set up new structures and systems within the company, in 2005 we took in a business partner,  we identified staff members strengths and with them developed a middle management team. Most of all I learned how to delegate, and realized that others could not only do some of the jobs I thought I could only do before, they could also do it better.   We expanded and opened a retail store in New Minas, and 6 years later built our new store here in New Minas.  We have expanded our product lines and constantly look for new products that will help our customers and friends enjoy their backyard vacations.

Staff members started to cringe when they saw me come out of my office with that look of "what can we change today" or "I think I have a great idea on how we can do this".   I keep a yellow block of foam cheese on my desk and whenever we hired new staff members had them read "Who Moved My Cheese" ... but then I lost my block of cheese, I claimed for years that it was a staff member who took it and hid it from me, probably because they were tired of always having their cheesed moved, but the other day, I was looking in one of my cabinets at home and guess what I found, my block of cheese, it seems like I must have hid it myself ... maybe I was getting tired of having my cheese moved!!  So now that I have found it again I wonder where we should move it to next??

-Mike vandenHof

Swimming Pool Myths and Why EVERYONE Should Own One

So we’ve all heard the common myths about swimming pools (I’ve probably heard a few more than most) but I’m going to debunk some of the more common ones for you and tell you exactly why everyone should own their own pool! A swimming pool doesn’t have to be a huge hole in your backyard that you have to pour money into. It can be an enjoyable luxury instead!

Myth #1: Maintaining a swimming pool is expensive.

With regular maintenance and proper water care, keeping an average swimming pool running can cost as low as 25 dollars a month. Staying on top of your water care and using quality products to prevent future problems will certainly cost you much less than cleaning up a problem after it happens! Also, Holland Home Leisure does free water testing that breaks everything down step by step for you. Myth completely busted.

Myth #2: Swimming pools are only good for one month.

With easy to install and very cost effective solar panel systems, pools can be used from June to September. Many of our customers with heating systems installed on their pools jump in around the start of June, and don’t stop swimming until late September. If positioned correctly, solar panels can add 5-10 degrees to your water temperature, which can often make the difference between jumping in, or holding off for another month! Want to extend your season even more? Electric heat pumps can help you regulate your pool water to a temperature that’s right for you. Who says you can’t be swimming in late October or even May?

Myth #3: Swimming pools stink like chlorine.

Even with large doses of chlorine, a swimming pool shouldn’t smell of chlorine. We often say that you shouldn’t be able to smell the pool as soon as you walk into a hotel! The smells that you often notice come from what are known as chloramines. These are actually chlorine molecules that have already attached themselves to bacteria in the water, making them no longer available to sanitize the pool water. This means that pools that you can smell are actually lacking in available chlorine, instead of the common misconception that they have too much.

Myth #4: Swimming pools take too much time to maintain.

Swimming pools don’t have to eat up your valuable family time. Many of our pool systems take as little as 15 minutes of your week. With new advances in pool chemicals, you no longer have to shock at night, wait 12 hours before getting in the pool after shocking, or even pre-mix your chemicals before adding them. If your swimming pool is taking up too much of your valuable time, there is probably something Holland Home Leisure can make easier for you.

So I may not have covered them all, but I hope that I have convinced some of you that pools can be great investments! On those hot days when the kids are driving you crazy, open up the back door and throw them in the pool! Doesn’t that sound easier than trying to make it to the crowded beach this summer? For those of you who I HAVE convinced, come in and see myself in our New Minas store, or visit the girls at our Aylesford location and get your name on that install list! We’re booking up fast!

Until next time,

-Katie Mclean

Fun Fact for you-Part 3

We are so excited that Katie McLean has decided to join us full time on the HHL team. She started off as a summer employee in 2007 and became full time of May 2010! Now she is keeping very busy in many different areas of the business. Katie is our resident warranty girl, so make sure to contact her for your warranty needs. On top of that she is #1 in Above Ground Sales! WOW, great job Katie!

           

Katie has been quick to become involved in some of the behind the scenes operations at Holland Home Leisure including using her skills on our marketing team, and her creativity is an asset in both special event planning and the Blog! We are “thrilled” she has fully embraced Holland Home Leisure and helping the company grow.

           

“Katie understands the importance of customer service.  She is our above ground specialist, and is very knowledgeable in helping the consumer in their buying decisions.  She also understands that service after the fact is very important, she is always willing to help the consumers enjoy their leisure products.”-Mike vandenHof. 

Katie is known amongst her fellow staff members for cracking hilarious, sometimes a little random jokes! She also enjoys dancing mid showroom floor when her busy schedule permits, and I am very happy to have such a talented dance partner. Katie is also just a touch concerned that all products on the floor are in straight lines, because straight lines make Katie happy! Katie gets extremely excited in marketing meetings when a good idea is brought to the table, (she even makes her HHL happy face, ask in store for details!) and I know her enthusiasm helps get the whole team on board!

            Katie is an asset to our team in so many ways and she is greatly appreciated! We are looking forward to see how she grows within the HHL Company! She is a very well rounded employee and she excels in customer service, sales, and is great with parts (unlike myself-as my mother clearly stated, thanks mom!).

Keep it up Katie,

-Liana vandenHof-Rhodenizer

Celebrating Spring at HHL

Spring is in full force here at HHL! Pools are being opened and installed, new staff are trained and starting to settle in, and planning has begun for our summer events! As you may already know our events committee has expanded to include fundraising and this year we are dedicating ourselves to support Splash for CF. Splash for CF is a charity that is promoted by one of our chemical providers BioGuard, and goes towards helping raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis! We are excited to use this opportunity to work as a team and see what we can accomplish!

           

The first event on the calendar is our annual Victoria Day Weekend Sale! In New Minas on May 21^st we are hoping to have the Dunk Tank set up again.We are just in the process of talking the service guys into taking the plunge again! Everyone had a lot of fun with the dunk tank at our 30^th anniversary, and I am really hoping we have enough volunteers to “get wet” for a good cause! So, if you have any of our service tech’s at your home to open your pool or have a product installed encourage their participation!! J

           

We also have a clown doing balloon animals who will spend time at both of our locations! Stripes the Clown is volunteering his time for us and we are so appreciative for his time and effort! Tim Valillee (the man behind the make-up) was our guest speaker for Splash for CF and one of the major reasons we are so excited to be fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis, Thank you Tim! Here is Tim’s website if anyone is looking to book a clown, magician or band! http://varietyentertainment.ca/page2.html

We have also started collecting bottles in both locations for our Splash for CF bottle drive, everyone feel free to drop off any refundable items to HHL J We have many other fun events planned for the summer season and we can’t wait to see all of you out to help support Splash for CF, and if you have any suggestions on who should be dunked in the tank let me know J I know I have a few ideas!

           

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mothers Day weekend!

Talk soon,

Liana vandenHof-Rhodenizer   

 Service Crew Member Sean

 Service Crew Member Sebastian

The 1990's a decade of change and growth!

The 1990's started with one great change for Holland Home Leisure.  My dad who had been my business partner since 1979, retired at the end of the 1990 pool season.  It was time for me to go out totally on my own.  Dad had already stepped away from the day to day business dealings a few years earlier, but he was still always there to bounce ideas and decisions off of, and while my parents would always be there for me in the years to come, I was determined not to burden them with the day to day burdens of running a small business.  So what did I decide to do after the 1991 season, open our first retail store!!

In the spring of 1992 we opened our retail store in Aylesford, and another change occurred.  My wife Debby started officially working for the company in the store.  In the years before opening the store, she answered most of the phone calls, took messages, served customers who came to our back door, all while raising our four children, now she also wanted a new challenge and started working full time in our retail store.  When the store opened it was just 800 sq ft of retail space, and in the next decade it eventually grew to over 2000 sq ft.  We expanded product lines, bringing in Hot Tub, and BBQ's plus a wide range of pool and hot tub accessories.  It was amazing at how fast we were able to fill the store each of the 3 times we expanded the retail space.

Our staff was growing also.  Tim had already joined our staff in the mid 1980's and was now leading one of our installation crews.  Mike joined us in 1991 and soon found that service was what he enjoyed  and was good at, so we started to have him focus in this area for us.  Rick also joined our staff in 1992, leading another construction crew.  Jim joined us the next year, and continued to learn different aspects of construction and service.  Jack started working in the store with Deb, and stayed with us until he retired in 2004.

As a family we moved into a house where we were finally able to install our very own backyard pool  Of course I wanted it to be different so our pool was the first Roman End Pool that we as a company installed.  It combined style with function, and now our house became the place to hold all of our family gatherings.  We also installed a Hot Tub in our back deck, and now we were not only able to enjoy quality family time together around the pool during the summers, but we found another way to reconnect with family and friends all year, sitting in Hot Water!!  It became a great way to end each day, with a quiet moon lit soak in the tub, or what better way to find out what was going on in my kids lives than to spend 20 minutes in the Hot Tub catching up on what was new in their lives. 

-Mike vandenHof

Michael vandenHof Sr. Celebrating HHL's 30th Anniversary!

Join Holland Home Leisures Facebook Page, and email a fun pool or Hot tub Picture to liana@hollandhomeleisure.com check out the Spring Photo Contest note for details! You could win a $25 HHL gift certificate!

Life is better when you’re WET!!

            ….Come on now, get your mind out of the gutter!!

We are talking about water, either in a cool refreshing pool or a warm relaxing hot tub! Our theory on this whole being wet thing is actually a proven fact! Water is even being prescribed as a form of therapy all over the world… or should I say hydrotherapy!

Hydrotherapy-the use of water as a form of pain relief and treating illness (go ahead Google it…clearly I did!)

I could go on and on about the benefits, techniques, history and the different forms of hydrotherapy, but I will let you do your own research.  No matter what water you prefer, cold or warm, you will find benefits you didn’t know existed that can actually change how you feel on a daily basis.

It amazes me how enjoying a soak in the hot tub can relieve stress and tension, help you sleep, relax your body and loosen your muscles which overall can help you enjoy your life more! A soak in the evening can help the mind settle, create a romantic retreat, and it is a peaceful way to wind down for the evening.

On the other hand, a nice cool refreshing dip in the pool can give an amazing workout that utilizes so many parts of the body without the weight of your body tiring your joints! Swimming can also be a form of relaxation by allowing yourself to float and your mind to wonder and it can be wonderful family recreation all while building endurance and strength.

Both of those appetizing options are a wonderful way to escape reality and spend quality time with your loved ones, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I recently heard a poll on the radio that stated a large percentage of people spend more time on their computers or smart phones in the evenings than talking to their significant other, (maybe they are texting each other from opposite rooms?). Water can help your family connect in a different way, not around the TV!

Think about how water can change your life…because life is BETTER when you’re WET!

Talk soon,
-Liana vandenHof-Rhodenizer