Thursday, September 20, 2012

Right Now:

: I am drowning in laundry.
: And cucumbers.  I have made regular dill pickles and bread and butter pickles.  They are so good!  I am loving the bread and butter pickles on burgers.  Yum!
:  The flowers in the garden are beautiful.  









:  The Little Man is developing such a personality!  He is such a happy boy.  He is chatty and has started grasping for toys and shoving them in his mouth. 
:  We are already talking about all the Halooween costume possibilities!  Ninja, tiger, and ninja princess are at the top of said list. 
:  The summer sunshine has decided to stay for a little while longer.
xo

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Right Now:







:I am feeling the end of summer.  The nights are getting cooler and the days are not quite so sweltering.
:We are getting ready for school.  Grade One!
:We celebrated a 6th birthday.  I cannot believe she is already six.
:We are finding our rhythm as a family of four.  Its a crazy off kilter rhythm but it is ours.
:I am enjoying my little boy and his sweet personality and gorgeous grins. 
:I am struggling to keep my house clean and laundry done and meals cooked.  I am also learning to take a breath and let it go.  This is hard for me.
:I am so excited to sew some flannel pjs for my cousin's little boys!
:We are picking so many cucumbers from the garden.  Hello pickles!
:I am finishing up a sweater for myself, a hat for a special someone and planning a whole lot more knitting projects.
:I am breastfeeding all day long.  This boy likes to eat!
:I am so grateful for all I have in my life.
xo

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Introducing...

Cole Jack Thomas.

 
He was born on the third of June after a fairly short labour.  I was induced three weeks early because my blood pressure suddenly went haywire and as it turns out I was quite ill.  So it was better for me and the baby to be "less pregnant".  I didn't get to have the home birth that I wanted but I am okay with that. 
Cole is tiny but healthy.  We have been having some weight gaining issues so I have been nursing and pumping pretty much non-stop for two and a half weeks.  
G. is over the moon to be a big sister and I have been so impressed with how she has taken this major life change in stride.  She continues to amaze and inspire me every day.  I love that little girl.

 
I will try to post a little bit here and there but bear with me. Life is crazy right now.  I am lucky if I find time for a shower most days.
Off to smooch some baby cheeks!
xo

Monday, May 28, 2012

Made

We had a barbeque last night and I made this amazing salad to have as a side.  I found this recipe on Bon Appetit's website and modified it heavily.  Gosh, it was so delicious I couldn't stop eating it!

Quinoa Broccoli Salad

 

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
2 1/4 cups water 
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets, lightly steamed and cooled
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/4 cup fresh mint, minced
6 Tbsp. olive oil
juice of one lemon, about 1/4 cup
2-3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
salt and pepper

Rinse the quinoa well and drain.  Put in a pot with the water, bring to a boil, cover and turn heat down to low.  Cook for 15 min.  Turn off heat and let sit another 5-10 min., covered.  Transfer cooked quinoa to a bowl and fluff with a fork. 
Add remaining ingredients and season to your taste.  Enjoy!
  
*We had this alongside tamari and garlic marinated strip loin, grilled to a perfect medium rare and grilled asparagus.  It was fabulous!

 


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Good day...

The sun is back!  I hope you all get to go outside and enjoy it!



Happy weekend! xo

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Baaa!

I work with some really fantastic people.  Julia is one of the lovelies.  She and her husband have a farm on the North Shore of Kootenay lake. They were gracious enough to take us for a tour and introduce us to all their fantastic animals. 
Lil'G was smitten with the chicks.  They were a mix of heritage breeds and they were so cute.G got quite good at wrangling them and wanted to show us every single one. 

 
 
 

I loved the alpacas.  Their hairdo's cracked me up!  Did you know that they are related to camels?

 
 
The Icelandic sheep were very sweet and gentle and their babies were gorgeous. 


 

There were also two cows but they were very protective of their babies so we didn't get too close. 
And of course there were the requisite farm dogs.  Sweet and goofy and always up for a game of fetch. 


Thank you, Julia, for your hospitality.  It really made our day!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Making

I did a little sewing today.  It has been way too long since I sat down in front of my machine and made something.  I cannot let that much time pass again! 
I made a simple little summer skirt for Lil'G. 

 

The fabric is from a thrifted men's dress shirt that I had originally intended to turn into a maternity shirt.  Who was I kidding?  I never wear collared shirts and so it went into the to-do pile.  I pulled it out today and started cutting. 
I didn't use a pattern and I didn't take any pictures of the process - sorry.  First I cut off the sleeves.  Then I just cut the shirt under the arms, straight across the chest.  I sewed a simple casing at the waist for the elastic, inserted the elastic and hemmed the bottom.  I used an existing skirt to eyeball the length.  I also stitched closed the button band because it gaped a little.  Then I made some pockets with the fabric from one of the sleeves.

 

They are self lined, have a little pleat and a little band at the top.  Again I just eyeballed placement.  No one is ever going to notice if they aren't perfectly centered when the five year old wearing it goes whizzing past and wants to show you how her skirt twirls.  Not bad for $2.  I can't wait for her to see it!
I also finally took some pictures of another little sweater I made for the Wee Babe. 

 

It is the Coffee Bean cardigan by Elizabeth Smith.  I cannot say enough good things about this pattern.  It was so fun to knit with all the stripes!  It was so easy!  It wasn't boring even though it was all stockinette!  It was so well written! 


It turned out really sweet and I love the buttons.  I am hoping it will fit the baby in the fall. 
Have you been making anything?
xo

Friday, May 11, 2012

Some days....

...you just need a cookie.  Today we made these.


Chocolate chip cookies with dried apricots from the Rebar Cookbook.
So good.
xo

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

We went to...

...the fair. 
A fabulous time was had by all.   Thanks to Miss D for keeping me company while The Wee Beast and the Mister went on the rides!
xo



Friday, April 27, 2012

These days...

...I have been trying to take it easy.  Truth be told, I find it difficult.  I like to be up and about doing things.  But I have been getting some cramping and some pretty brutal round ligament pain so I have been told to do a little less. So...I have finished work ( Woohoo!), have been slowly organizing my sewing area (the Mister built me some new shelves!) and getting everything ready for the Wee Babe set to join us.  This has meant sorting through the things I kept from my first baby, trying to figure out if we need anything.  Turns out, thankfully, we don't.  I have also been gathering the supplies needed for the home birth we are planning.  That has been finished too!
And of course, the knitting has continued.  I just sewed the buttons on this today:


 
 And because we cloth diaper, I have made some wool soakers:

I can't get this picture to flip!
Cute, huh!
I haven't shared very many pictures of my pregnant self, mostly because I feel huge.  Here I am at almost 32 weeks.  Seeing the picture, I don't look as massive as I feel. 

 

 I am off to go do some more organizing and knitting.  I think a cup of tea may be in order as well!  Have a lovely weekend! xo


Saturday, April 21, 2012

So far...

...in this pregnancy I have had no terribly weird cravings.  I have really been enjoying oranges even though I am generally not a huge fan.  A lot of expecting mamas I have talked to have experienced this very same thing.  The other thing I have been wanting to eat is meat.  Lots of meat. 
I am normally a meat eater and eat it several times a week but I want to eat it every day, with every meal.  I would be perfectly happy to sit down to a perfectly grilled steak.  And nothing else. 
Also, I have been craving bacon. 

 source

I made a bacon, broccoli, and mushroom quiche the other day. I had a pizza with pancetta, mushrooms, spinach and roasted peppers for dinner on Tuesday.  I made this sandwich minus the blue cheese for lunch a while back.  I have been contemplating what I could possibly eat with this.  I made spaghetti carbonara.  And this sandwich has been making my mouth water. Don't even get me started on bacon wrapped dates. 
I think I may have a problem. 
xo

Monday, April 2, 2012

Knitting: Beanies

I have finished a couple of little newborn beanies.  They are so fun to make!  I may have a problem.  Maybe some charity knitting is in my future.....
The first one is a little cabled owl beanie in a cotton wool blend.  I modified the pattern slightly (Rav notes) and love how it turned out.  I think I will only sew on one set of eyes.
 The second is a sweet little Leafy beanie in a leaf green cotton. 
The colour just refuses to photograph.  I followed the pattern exactly (Rav notes). I think it came out beautifully. Isn't the little leaf detail sweet?
Baby knitting is so much fun and is almost instant gratification since everything is so tiny.
I'm off to peruse some more patterns and then must get on making dinner.  Tonight I am making Pasta Carbonara with spring peas.  Mmmmmm!
xo

Monday, March 26, 2012

My favourite dessert

I love dessert.  It is the reason I learned how to bake.  I can still remember my first batch of cookies - how I didn't measure the flour properly and they just turned into one big cookie.  But I was 7 or 8 and at that age what is better than one giant cookie?
Since that time I have made a lot of cookies and contrary to the title of this post I would be hard pressed to come up with a favourite dessert.  This one would surely make my Top Ten.
Lemon Meringue Pie.  What's not to love?  Lemon-y filling that's not too sweet.  Fluffy as a cloud meringue.  Flaky buttery crust.  Mmmmmm!
I had the good luck of finding some Meyer lemons at the store the other day.  If you can't find these, regular lemons will do. 

Lemon Meringue Pie


Crust:
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. cold unsalted butter, diced
1 egg
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Put dry ingredients into food processor.  Pulse to blend.  Add cold butter chunks and process until its a rough crumbly texture and you can still see bits of butter.  Add egg and vinegar and process just until dough starts to come together.  Shape dough into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for an hour.  
Preheat oven to 400 F.  On lightly floured surface roll out dough until its about a 1/4-inch thick.  Line a 9-inch pie plate with dough.  Tuck in the rough edges and crimp with your fingers.  Line pastry with aluminum foil and weigh down with pie weights, dry beans or rice.  (This is called blind baking.  I have a jar of mixed dry beans in my cupboard that I use for this.  If you are planning on keeping the beans for re-use, make sure you label them!) Bake for 10 min, reduce heat to 375F and bake 15 min. more.  Remove foil and weights and bake 10 min. more, until center of pie shell has dried out.  
Cool completely before filling. 

Filling:
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. cold water
5 Tbsp. cornstarch
5 egg yolks, reserve those whites
pinch of salt
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice, about 2 lemons
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Whisk sugar, water and cornstarch in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Whisk in egg yolks and salt and cook over low heat for 5 min., whisking constantly.  Increase heat to medium and, still whisking, cook until filling is glossy and very thick.  Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice and butter.  Pour into cooled crust and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours. 

Meringue:
5 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch ( I don't always add this)
1/3 c. sugar

Turn on your broiler. 
Whip egg whites with cream of tartar and cornstarch until foamy.  While whipping, gradually add sugar. Continue beating until whites hold a stiff peak.  Dollop meringue over lemon filling.  Using upward sweeping motions make pretty little peaks that will get nice and browned.  
Stick whole pie under broiler and watch carefully.  You don't want that meringue to burn!  It should just brown lightly, like the outside of a perfectly toasted marshmallow.  Chill pie or eat right away.  

 
 Hope you enjoy this pie! xo