Long time, no post!

Hello

It has been quite awhile since we've posted here but we're still around, we've just been busy posting on our personal blogs.  Hope you'll look in on us there, stop to say "Hello" and see what we have all been up to with our sewing, quilting, baking, knitting, gardening, crafting, thrifting, reading, homelearning, white shirt watching, etc.  If you'd like to find us you can follow these links to...



Katherine at Sew Me Something Good

Samantha at Shamrock Wishes

Heather at A Handmade Life

Jacqueline at Hello Beautiful Life

Whatever happened to Shaun Cassidy??

Whatever happened to Shaun Cassidy, you ask?

Well apparently he grew a mustache, got braces, big bags under his eyes and loads of blue freckles.

I found this the other day rolled up into some of my old artwork. We are in the process of moving and finding all kinds of...erm, treasures tucked away in nooks and crannies. This must have adorned my bedroom wall some 30 years ago. Did I do this? Did my boys? W's guess is that Uncle D (my big brother) did it many years ago to torment me. He is quite likely right. ;-0

Just had to share in case the poster might bring back any fond memories for someone else.

No guests for Easter dinner?

Here's the good thing about not having any guests for Easter dinner.You each get 1/4 of the plum pie. ;-)

WSS warning

There I was innocently sitting down the other night to watch an episode of North and South, purely for my own educational improvement in certain areas of historical importance (wink, wink), when what should appear before my eyes but a White Shirt. A fine white shirt! Well...what's a WSS sufferer to do? Surely I couldn't turn it off, after all, we are in the middle of studies on the Industrial Revolution. As a mom to homelearning boys I consider it my duty to know all manner of Industrial Revolution type things...such as the inner workings of cotton mills, the class system of mill towns, what handsome young mill owners are wearing, etc. (turns out that they are wearing white shirts, who knew?) This particular mill owner could give Mr.Darcy a run for his money in the "best scowl" category...if there ever were such a category. (and oh how I wish there were) ;-) So...it turns out, that in the interest of thorough research, the only thing to do is to watch All Four Episodes of North and South in one sitting...and to stay up quite late to do so. That way, I can watch it all over again before it is due back at the library. You see what a dedicated mom to homelearners I am? :-)

The Future of Food and Seedy Saturday

We watched this film a few weeks ago and I keep thinking about it. We already grow most of our veg from heirloom seeds and we also save a lot of our own seeds but after watching this I feel compelled to do more...grow more, save more, share more, do more and talk more.

I want to be sure that more people know what is going on with our food and I want people to see how easy (and enjoyable) it is to grow more of our own. I want to share more seeds and encourage more excitement about growing, preserving and, most of all, eating fresh homegrown vegetables.

This film is full of lots of information on genetically-modified seeds, corporate control and seed patents. It also contains some information about some simple things that we can do - support local agriculture, save seeds, grow your own, etc. The second disc has some special features including an interview with Michael Pollan and a short film called How to Save Seeds from Vegetables by Underwood Gardens.

Just in case you want to get yourself some interesting seed varieties to get started for this year.


Seedy Saturday

Certified organic seeds, plants, many rare and heirloom varieties, especially tomatoes. There will also be music, food, planting kits, artwork, honey, lavender, speakers and more. Kelowna's Seedy Saturday will be at the Rutland Centennial Hall 180 Rutland Road North) again this year from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Remember to bring your saved seed to the seed swap table ~ a chance to perpetuate those family treasures, and acquire some new ones! Admission is by donation at the door to the Central Okanagan Community Gardens.

Many communities have Seedy Saturdays coming up in the next few weeks. They are a great place to meet people, find out more about gardening and get some great seeds or plants.

A fun book

E is really enjoying reading this book aloud to me. It is full of lots of silliness and has really fun illustrations. It is the story of a young wolf going out on a sort of coming-of-age journey; it is filled with all sorts of mishaps (aka - growth opportunities) ;-), adventure and challenges. I enjoy hearing him read Little Wolf's adventures to me but I most especially enjoy hearing the way Little Wolf signs off on his letters - Yours fedduply; Yours tiredoutly; Yours having a good think or Yours chinupply. I think I might start signing my letters that way too. ;-) I also like his little brother's name - Smellybreff. A very fun book.

Clear out your fridge (and freezer) chili

With the Spring sale from Rancho Vignola coming up, I wanted to be sure I had ample space to store my goodies.  I had chili at Heather's not too long ago, and although I ate my fair share, with so much good food to sample from, I didn't get quite enough to quench my cravings, so for this fridge clear out, chili won over soup.  Start with a crock pot and throw in whatever is taking up valuable date storage space is my recipe for this ;-)

In this particular batch, the base ingredient was a few containers of crushed, then frozen tomatoes from last years garden.  Next I threw in some chickpeas, navy beans, green peppers, onion, garlic and lots of chili powder.  Oh, and kidney beans from a can.  Then I left it to sit on low for hours.  In the last couple of hours of cooking, I added some cooked rice and grated carrots.  A yummy, simple meal ready at dinnertime and more room in your fridge and freezer. What a bonus ;-) 

Does size matter?

Well...if you like chocolate it does. :-)
Have you ever seen anything so amazing? Me neither. I didn't know there even was such a thing as a chocolate bar this big. Thankfully I have a friend who is very smart about such things. Dark chocolate with almonds and local cherries. It's so pretty I can hardly bear to open it. (wha ha ha ha) Thank you lovely friend. ;-)

Popcorn!

Here's a fun book to read if you are a popcorn fan. The boys and I read it and then, strangely enough, we started to feel a bit peckish...we needed a snack.

It seemed only sensible to have popcorn. E decided to try his "Almanzo style" with some milk and a bit of sugar over it. W said it tasted like "soggy popcorn" - surprise, surprise. ;-) E liked it.

I had mine with butter and Herbamare (have I ever said how hooked I am on Herbamare?).

For years we've eaten our popcorn with a seasoning mix that I mix up. We pop the corn and then drizzle it with some oil (usually olive or grapeseed with a bit of flax) and then sprinkle on the seasoning mix. The mix includes nutritional yeast (very yummy!), oregano, chili powder and sea salt. Speaking of which I totally forgot to make it on the last movie night. I can't believe you didn't remind me - especially you, Samantha. ;-) I guess we need another movie night to make up for it.

Quick and easy from the bread machine

And did I mention delicious??

My hands are really sensitive to moisture, especially in the winter, so I try to stay away from things that leave my hands wet for extended periods of time.  This is why I'm so thankful for my bread machine, which mixes and kneads my dough for me - all I have to do is pull it out (knead a tiny bit of flour in if necessary) and plop it in the pan.  I was thrilled to discover a website full of bread machine recipes that actually turn out for me (and that don't cook in the bread pan because I prefer to cook my bread in the oven)

First up is:

Raisin bread.  Filled with sweet, juicy raisins and cinnamon, it makes for a delicious breakfast or snack.  The recipe can be found here.  Did I make any changes to the recipe?  Of course :-)  Instead of softened butter, I used an equal amount of olive oil (I usually don't think far ahead enough to soften butter but oil is always ready for baking).  I also used 1/2 whole wheat flour instead of all unbleached white flour and I always add the raisins at the beginning or else I find they don't mix as well into the bread.  Oh, and sometimes I add honey instead of sugar.  I love the wonderful scent as it bakes in the oven, and we can never resist having a slice (or two) as soon as it comes out.

The other recipe I've tried and loved:
It's officially called Crunchy Wheat and Honey Bread (and is found here) but we renamed it to Our Very Favourite Bread.  Changes I've made?  Same with the butter as above (sub in olive oil) and I omit the slivered almonds (allergies).  Also, I just make my own shape and put it on a cookie sheet - sometimes I do a round loaf, but it's usually oval - and sometimes I add in sunflower or pumpkin seeds.  No matter what, it's always turned out great!  Happy baking!

Things I have been lovin' all January

My family has had the most wonderful month...lots of sunshine, hiking, swimming and snorkelling, fresh eating, outdoor time, beach time and relaxing. It was just exactly what we needed. I have so (ridiculously) many photos so I will share just a few.

Hikes...

Plants and flowers...

Sunsets (and the fact that almost everyone stops what they are doing and watches them - night after night. What a great way to stay present in the passing of time and to really stop and appreciate each day we have on this gorgeous earth)

Beaches...

Cool Canyon

Little critters...

This one needs a bit of an explanation. We hiked miles down an old royal path over a lava field past a black sand beach to a secluded area.And this is what we found. A whole lot of plastic washed ashore. These things are killers for seabirds, turtles and I'm sure many more animals as well. Heartbreaking to see. Although my family has been working on cutting back our use of plastic for years this has encouraged us to do even more.

If you can bear looking at more photos of someone else's vacation then have a peek here for a lot more.

I'd like you to meet Charlotte

I worked on this sweet little girl for many nights leading up to Solstice! She was made using the Wee Wonderful pattern available here. I had never made a doll before and she was not difficult, but it did take longer than I had expected.


Zara was absolutely thrilled to see her on Solstice morning. She immediately named her Charlotte (that was the name of Laura's doll in Little House on the Prairie!). Since that morning, the two girls have been inseperable. I laughed out loud the first time I saw Z go flying by, holding Charlotte by one arm saying "Wait up Charlotte....you're going too fast!" They have so much fun together!

One night last week, I was tucking Z in to bed and I asked if Charlotte was okay in there with her, or if it would be better if she slept on the edge. Z answered, "She keeps my heart warm at night". My heart was certainly warmed that night!

I had pictured Z treating her fairly gently as she's a handmade doll, but I don't know what I was thinking! I may need to sneak some extra stitches around her arms and legs at some point. Ahhh, she's well loved and that's what I'd hoped for.

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year!

Lentil Quinoa Soup

Yummy!  I found this slow cooker recipe last night in the January 2009 Alive Magazine and happily had all the ingredients to make it.

I made it first thing in the morning, so the delicious smell wafted through the house all day (very welcome after shoveling more snow!)  It's filled with lentils, quinoa and tomatoes from the garden (that I crushed in the fall and froze).  So good!

I checked on the Alive website and they don't have it listed in their recipe section yet, so I thought I would post a copy for anyone who wants to make it but doesn't have access to the free magazine.  Unfortunately, blogger decided that it should be posted on it's side...
I highly recommend this recipe (if you click on it to make it big, it should be easy to read.  The flash didn't really cover anything important up)  I have a fairly big slow cooker, so next time I would add more broth and quinoa, and more tomatoes too (I don't think I used as much as they suggested).  I omitted the carrots in my version and added a bit of Braggs (a tamari/soy sauce) to it as well.  It's definitely a great starting point and a delicious way to warm up after a day in the snow!

A whole lotta stomping

About a month ago we all watched the DVD Pulse, A Stomp Odyssey. We really enjoyed it and E stomped around afterwards making his own rhythms. We ordered Stomp Out Loud from our library and finally got a chance to watch it last night. Both boys were fascinated - there was nary a peep nor a wiggle during the whole show. They were riveted. I'm a little concerned about the fate of my garbage cans though. I have a feeling when the snow melts the boys will be outside seeing what kind of rhythms and sounds they can create with all manner of things. After watching the DVD I feel inspired to make a little music while I chop my veg too. ;-)I think I'll make a point each day of stopping what we are doing to take a break and say, "Let's make some noise!"

In case you want to see a little bit of it you can check it out here. You'll see what I mean about the veg. ;-)

The crafting elves are busy!

We have been busily preparing for Solstice around here - 2 more days to go! Last night I went into the den and Z said "You can't come in here Mom!" So I went into the living room and sat down and started working on her present. She came in awhile later and I said "Oh, you can't come in here!" There are many little secret projects in the works and the suspense is building!

Here are a couple of the things I've been working on:

This apron is for one of my nieces. It's the first time I've used this pattern and I'm quite pleased with the results.

This is a colored pencil roll for Z.

I found a tutorial for one similar here and then I made this one using that general idea. Well, back to the crafting!

Toy flashback

I have a weakness for toys from the early seventies. The boys and I were out sledding in town the other day and decided to pop into one of our favourite thrift stores. They immediately spotted this - Ringa-majigs.

It is quite similar to the Ji-Gan-Tiks that I bought years ago at a church rummage sale for W.

Do we need more toys in our home? Certainly not. But I love that someone has held onto these toys since the early seventies. I love that they remind me of my own childhood. I love the simple container that they come in - cardboard cylinder with a tin lid. I love that my boys enjoy building all sorts of things with them. And...I love that they were $1. (plus I wanted these old toys to go to a good home - somewhere they would be appreciated. Weird, I know.) ;-)

One thing I notice about all the old toys and games that I have from the sixties and seventies is that the packaging always has pictures of children playing the game or toy. The container for the Ringa-Majigs also says *Teaches Coordination * Stimulates Imagination and Creativity. I always get a kick out of things like that...cuz just having fun isn't good enough? ;-)

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. This is what it looks like right now and it is still coming down like crazy. You can see how high the snow is piled on our birdbath. I had to post a picture for Katherine so she could see that, as much as I like to tease her about our good weather, we are actually under a pile of snow right now too.

Now...off to go play in that snow. ;-)

Favourite Tiger Butter Recipe

Last year E made tiger butter to give as a gift to some of his favourite males (we always find it easy to think of gifts for the females in our family but the guys prove a bit tougher). He loved making it and has already made one batch this year to give as a birthday gift. It was well received so I thought I would share the recipe here. ( this is in his words as he also wrote it out as a submission for a newsletter)



Tiger Butter
About 1 lb white chocolate pieces ( from the bulk bin in your grocery store)
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter
bit of dark chocolate to make stripes

Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler or very carefully in heavy pot. Add peanut butter and blend until smooth.
Pour white chocolate/peanut butter mixture onto an oiled cookie sheet and spread out a bit. Let set for a bit. While you are doing this start to melt the bit of dark chocolate in a separate pot. Drizzle the melted dark chocolate over the white chocolate/peanut butter mixture in small lines. You are making this look like tiger stripes. Cool in fridge. Break into chunks. Eat, share or give as gifts.


**We are calling it white chocolate here because then people know what we are talking about but in my house we would say that with much scorn in our voices - how can it be called chocolate when it isn't even chocolate??? I like to refer to it as white confection...it certainly has its place and it is delightful in this recipe...but chocolate it is Not!!