Homemade and Deeelish

A while ago my husband got a cookbook as a gift from a friend. I'm not sure if he's ever even opened it, but I am absolutely in love with it. "The Homemade Pantry" by Alana Chernila is full of do it yourself recipes. Stuff like homemade pop-tarts, butter, jams and other canning, pasta and graham crackers. It's not just a cookbook. Every few pages, there is a story and pictures of Alana's family. It makes it so much more personal. It's kind of like a cooking diary. Alana also has a wonderful blog eatingfromthegroundup.com.

 Yesterday was quite a chilly day. With our little family loving the cold weather so much more than the hot, we were outside pretty much the whole day. I got to read my new favourite cook book and work on Brian's sock. 

I actually got a little cold sitting there, reading, and felt the need for some tea. I love everything about this tea. It's Fair Trade Black Tea, with some local honey from Davis Honey, in a gorgeous little mug from a local potter, the Wizard of Clay.

So I made a basic stock from "The Homemade Pantry". It's very much like my basic chicken broth but with a little twist. She added garlic cloves and a tomato. Just adding those 2 extra ingredients made such a difference. I also used bones and skin from grilled chicken thighs that I made the night before. Actually, the chicken got a little smoked, so I think it might have added a nice smokey flavour to the soup. Everybody gobbled it up! It was wonderful. I made some orzo for the kids to put in their bowls with the soup. They also added oyster crackers. My little salt goblins.

I scooped out all the veggies and bits of meat and am now planning on making my very own version of pierogi. Woohoo! I wonder how that will turn out. I remember making pierogi as a child so I have a pretty good idea of what to do. I'm just not sure about the flour to water ratio for the dough. Time to do some research in my old polish cook book.

Cooling Off

It's been a really hot July so far. And when it's this hot, just about the only thing that will cool you off is  a bunch of water. It's been great, just hanging out in the backyard, with the kids running around playing with water. Water balloons, sprinklers, watering cans and squirt toys. My kids are loving all this water play. And sometimes, they even water the garden beds for me. Bonus!

                                                           Here is Gabs....cooling off.

Playsilks

Here's something super fun we've been doing. We've been dyeing our own play silks! I love it! It's so much fun and super easy. You never know how it's going to turn out, too. I ordered a bunch of 100% silk scarves and squares at dharmatrading.com. Luckily I didn't have to buy and dyes. My good friend, Cindy, had all sorts of colours and all the tools necessary for the dyeing process.
I wasn't sure if the kids would like them and if I was just wasting my money. Turns out they absolutely love their play silks. They use them is so many ways. The other day, Gabs was using one as a baby sling, one as a skirt, one as a cape, one as a blanket and one as a pretend river for her toy animals.
Here are some pics of the kids just playing with their silks,  on a not-so-hot day out in the back yard.

                                              Oh, and we have new grass and a new fence, too. 

                          Ben is holding up one of the rectangular silks he's been using as a cape lately.

                                                         Gabs showing her square silk.

                                                              My little gypsy child.

                                             Ben was sure the silk was helping him jump higher.

Here Gabby made a little hammock for her doll out of a playsilk. I love all the different ways of using them.

On a walk

I love going on random walks with my kids. A few days ago, Ben and I had a nice little walk around Park Avenue. And we just "happened" to stop at a chocolate store. : )

Stever's has some of the cutest chocolates I've ever seen. I took us 30 minutes just to look at everything and then we had to decide which ones we wanted to bring home. 

They have some chocolate frogs, too. Kind of like the ones in the Harry Potter books. We munched on some of those when we got home, while reading "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." 

Here's just some of our loot...it got much smaller before we even got home. 

Also, while on our walk, we stopped by a cafe...with a decorative bike on the wall. I'm not sure why they chose a bike, but Ben loved looking at it. 

We saw this dress made of newspaper through one of the shop windows. Pretty neat. 

And of course, we had to stop at the bakery, too. Lucky for us, we were just in time to see the men kneading the dough. Gotta love those people. They make the best bread!

Here's my Ben, looking through the bakery window at the bakers kneading the dough. 

I love our city! So many wonderful things to see...and eat!

Zoo Time

The other day I took my kids to the zoo. We had a great time but we spent the most time, underground, looking at the Sea Lions through the window. For some reason my little munchkin would NOT stop laughing at this Sea Lion. It did kind of look like it was dancing for her. It stayed right in front of her window and kept twirling and twirling in the water. Clearly, we need to visit our zoo friends more often. : )

Gabby and the dancing Sea Lion.

 If you look closely, you can see a sleeping cheetah in the back.

 The Polar Bear was sleepy, too. 

 One of the Rhinos at our zoo.

 Even the Meerkats were a bit sleepy.

I forget what this one was called, but it was super cute jumping around from branch to branch. 

Green Volcano

It's that time of the year again...you know...making a green volcano for the kids because it's St. Patty's Day and apparently THAT is how you're supposed to celebrate. Yep. That's what we did. So if you are crazy like us and want to try it...here's what you'll need:

1 small soda bottle (rinsed out)

measuring cup 

funnel 

spoon

1/2 cup baking soda

1 cup white vinegar

a few drops of green food dye

a cookie sheet for spills

      

 Using the funnel, pour baking soda into your soda bottle. We used a green one to add to the effect.

 Add a few drops of green food dye to the vinegar and stir with spoon.

Place vinegar and bottle with soda in it, on cookie sheet to catch the spill (lava). Using funnel pour the vinegar into the soda bottle. Be prepared...it reacts quickly and you'll need to move the funnel out of the way ASAP.

 There it is...our Green Volcano. Short but sweet. My kids loved it and wanted to do it over and over.

Spring

It is way too early for green things to be popping out of the ground, but still, it's nice to see sunshine and new life. 

        Some tulips, I think, are already in my garden. And it's not even April.

Some green onions....or maybe it's garlic. I can't remember where I planted them in the fall.

My little goose was determined to put these little primroses in the ground. I hope we don't get any last snow storms.

                          A view from my lawn chair, looking straight up.

                        Even some green grass over by the base of the tree.

My little boy has now moved on to a bigger shovel. It's a size 3, as opposed to the size 1 his little sister now uses. I thought I'd set him right to work getting the garden ready for seedlings.

The Giant Box

 What could be more fun than making a fort out of a giant cardboard box? Remember those days, when you climbed into a box and all of a sudden it wasn't just a box anymore? A space ship, a bank, a kitchen, a submarine, a house, a tank, a pirate ship, a zoo, a car. I didn't have very many toys growing up, but I did have a cardboard box once in a while. I'm glad my kids are loving it just as much. : )

Brian came home with a giant cardboard box...so of course we made a fort!

Ben and Gabby making windows.

A nice front door.

A Kitty door, too.