Kung hsi fa-ts'ai!

 

The Year of the Horse galloped joyfully into our house last night.  After all the legends, folktales and stories telling of the Chinese New Year and its customs had been told, the crafts and decorations had been made and hung, music had been discovered, recipes poured over, and greetings and tidings had been recited and learned, it was time for a New Year celebration feast.

We invited family to join us.  We greeted each guest with an orange offering and shouted out a jubilant kung hsi fa-ts'ai!  Noisemakers and tangrams were ready to entertain the little ones while we put the finishing touches on the meal.  On the menu were potstickers, spring rolls (from our ReBar cookbook), roast chicken, Chinese greens and fried rice (from The Young Chef's Chinese Cookbook).  Dessert was oranges followed by peanut cookies.  Yum!  We sent the children home with Lai-See (Chinese lucky money).

May you enjoy good luck, good health, and prosperity in this Year of the Horse!

Mama saver

We're getting put through our paces on Mondays, with less than an hour between the end of Jaelyn's dance class and the time when Nicholas needs to be at hockey.  And did I mention yet that both activities bookend the supper hour?  How to warm bodies up with healthy food, and in a hurry?

I've turned to my slow cooker.  I first cozied up to it when I wanted to prepare holiday lunches for family while having the goal to spend more time with family than with food.  Then we packed it up and took it with us on our holiday ski trip.  I wanted to make warming, hearty meals without asking everyone to wait for an hour after our return from the slopes while I prepared and cooked.  On this trip, I adapted recipes from Long Way on a Little, as some of the recipes call for the "low and slow" method of cooking grass-fed meats.  And then, as luck would have it, I rediscovered my Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook right after the holidays when we were all in need of a little detoxing.  The crockpot has been getting a workout ever since.  Here are just a few of the meals we've had over the last several weeks out of this miracle machine.

  ~ Roast leg of lamb
  ~ Slow-cooked pork roast
  ~ Minestrone soup
  ~ Pho soup
  ~ Vegetable curry
  ~ Maple-baked beans
  ~ Slow-cooked sausage
  ~ Vindaloo vegetables
  ~ Cauliflower and kidney bean stew with coconut milk
  ~ Chipotle red bean and sweet potato chili
  ~ Borscht
  ~ Baked beans with pork hocks
  ~ French white bean and cabbage soup

I'm loving that many of these recipes focus on ingredients that we have on hand through our CSA (community supported agriculture) share, which helps to cut down on our grocery bill.  Onions, potatoes, carrots, beets and parsnips make an appearance in many of these recipes, and are often supplemented by produce we froze during the summer, such as peas, beans, peppers, tomatoes and celery.  And all I have to do is have everything ready to go and the pot turned to "on" by 9:00 in the morning! 

Oh, little crock pot.  It turns out you're more than a mama saver.  You're a whole family saver!

A haunting good time

Ahhh....my little goblins are out haunting the neighbourhood while I stand guard over our stash of Hallowe'en goodies and treats and greet our little visitors one-by-one.  I'm also armed with warm Hallowe'en punch for when the little ones return from their adventures.  I can't remember the last time I stayed home and Chris took the little ones out.  But this is nice.

And what a busy day we enjoyed together too.  I retold the children the story of where many of our Hallowe'en traditions came from...the festival of Samhain that was celebrated by the Celts of long ago.  To honour some of those old traditions, we made Sussex soul cakes and shared them with family.  I have a funny feeling there will be a small plate of them sitting on the hearth of our masonry heater tonight too.  We dressed up right after lunch and shared our small homemade treats with grandparents, then headed over to our local homeschool-friendly and Waldorf-inspired school for a Hallowe'en dance. 

In a flurry of preparation before darkness fell, the pumpkins were carefully hauled to the steps, along with some jar lanterns the children made at a pumpkin festival this year.  Our little tin lanterns donned their wire handles (the finishing touch) and were hung where the hanging baskets of summer used to be.  Candles were lit.  Faces were re-painted.  In excitement, the little ones rushed out the door.  This adult decided to stop being a stick-in-the-mud and pulled together a little of this and a little of that for her own homemade costume (thanks Jaelyn for lending me your playcape). 

We hope everyone had a happy Hallowe'en!

Together again

Despite a rough start to the morning, we found ourselves at 10:00 with our bookwork for the day all done.  I felt myself in a place we hadn't been to before, at least in recent memory - two hours left in the morning and nothing really planned.

Nicholas was already occupied on the computer, finding bird pictures for some scavenger hunt cards he was making for a friend.  There's a great way to build spelling skills!  But the girls were in need of some time with their Mama.  And there was that Michaelmas celebration that I had wanted to play with...to see where we could take it, but didn't have time to do at the beginning of the week when I had originally planned it.  Late is better than never, right?

We are not a religious family.  I had never heard of Michaelmas before reading books about Waldorf education.  There is no real significance to the celebration for us, and in that I struggle a bit.  But new traditions, especially fun ones, need to start somewhere, and I'm game for building our own traditions.  I used All Year Round to inspire the projects we did today.

As the girls were playing, I gathered up the ingredients for making a harvest loaf.  As the yeast was proofing, I read them the story of Saint George and the Dragon.  Then we made our way over to the kitchen and I read the story of Michael and the Dragon while adding ingredients and mixing them together.  I'm looking forward to enjoying our harvest loaf as part of our afternoon snack! 

 

 

After lunch, while Astrin rested, we decorated candles.  The project gave us two options - we could use modelling beeswax and simply roll out shapes and press them by hand into the candles, or we could use melted wax and paint designs on the candles.  We used leftover pieces of old beeswax candles as our paint.  Here's how we did it:

1.  Gather supplies and prepare the work area: 

  ~ I used an old vinyl tablecloth to catch any spills or splatters, as hot wax can fly off a paintbrush as well as paint can.
  ~ We further protected our workspace from spills by using parchment paper muffin papers underneath our candles, and to pour any unused melted wax into.  These worked great, as the wax, when cool, simply peeled right out of the paper and we could reuse it again in a matter of minutes.
  ~ We found a synthetic paintbrush that I didn't mind never using again for paint.
  ~ We used a small gravy ladle to melt the wax in, again, an item that I didn't mind if we ever used it again.  Beeswax is one of those things that I really don't like cleaning up after!
  ~ A candle and matches, for melting the beeswax
  ~ Candles for painting on.  I found some at a thrift store that were about 2 inches in diameter, and these were perfect.
  ~ Your beeswax.  As I mentioned, we used leftover beeswax from candles.  You could also use small or broken beeswax crayons too.  I wouldn't recommend using a crayon made of a synthetic wax...I don't imagine it would smell too pretty.

2.  Melt the beeswax:

  ~ This was my job.  It's simply a matter of placing a small chunk of beeswax into the spoon and holding it over a lit candle. 
  ~ Be careful not to get too close to the flame - beeswax will start to burn at a relatively low temperature.  I gently swirled the beeswax in the spoon to help it melt faster. 
  ~ Oh, and be aware that the bottom of your spoon will likely turn black.
  ~ Once the wax is melted, it can be removed from the flame and your little one can dip his or her brush right into the spoon.  If it starts clumping, simply hold it back over the flame.

3.  Let the painting begin!

  ~ Painting with beeswax was a lot like painting with paint...dip the brush and paint on the surface of the candle. 
  ~ The wax will harden quickly, so use lots of short strokes, which was my children's preferred method.  I dotted the wax onto my candle in an attempt to give my dragon a scaled look.  It worked great for the red eye, claws, and neck plates. 
  ~ Like painting on a vertical surface, the wax may drip down if too much is put in one spot.  Unlike paint though, I imagine that the beeswax could be chipped off after it hardens if it ends up in the wrong place.

4.  About changing colours:

  ~ I poured any leftover beeswax into a muffin paper, then peeled it out once it had cooled and hardened.
  ~ I was only prepared to part with one spoon, so our colour changes were not absolute or perfect...there was always a little of the last colour getting mixed into the new colour being added.  This worked out well, though, because we only had a few colours to work with.  Each person had the same but slightly different colours on their candles.

5.  Cleanup:

  ~ It is so much easier to cleanup from painting with beeswax than with paint!  Essentially, after the last candle was done, and the remaining wax was poured out and hardened (as in step 4 above), everything we used, from the muffin papers to the paintbrush to the spoon and the leftover wax, was put back into our stash of beeswax stuff.  There was nothing to wash or scrub clean, because it was really about as clean as it was going to get.

By the time we got to the end of the day, which was full of singing, tickle kisses, and laughing just for the sake of laughing, I discovered the key for what this celebration will mean to me.  I mused to myself that our harvest loaf was the first bread I'd made since the weather started getting warmer in the spring.  I feel ourselves moving out of sweltering days and into days where the heat from the stove and oven is a welcome thing.  Perhaps the dragon can symbolize our need for fire to warm our toes and noses as the days get chillier.  Perhaps the bread can symbolize the change in the rhythm of the seasons.  Perhaps the soft glow of the candles can represent moving into quieter, more reflective times.

Club Day. The Nature Version.

A gentle rain drizzled down upon our part of the world for the better part of today.  Many soggy leaves now litter the ground in colours of rust and gold.  Nature Club was cozy and dry, though, as we celebrated the harvest season with homemade pizzas.

We kicked off our meeting with the story By the Light of the Harvest Moon.  It is a beautifully illustrated tale that shares what really happens when the leaves are swept off the trees...leaf people in the pumpkin patch celebrating autumn with a dessert party!  There are lots of pies to be shared, which was the segue into our pizza pie making.

Some of the vegetables we prepared for the pizzas were from the pizza garden the clubbers planted seeds for...tomatoes, onions, green pepper, basil.  I offered a choice of pizza sauces - homemade marinara sauce or homemade salsa verde made from our prolific tomatillos.  I stuck with store bought cheese and crust, mainly because the late night preserving have limited my time and energy for other time-intensive projects which would be nice, but not necessary.  I also supplied other store bought ingredients that are kid tested and loved in our home - ham, pineapple and salami.

As our pizzas cooked we gathered together to read We Gather Together:  Celebrating the Harvest Season.  We talked about the equator and how it divides the Earth into the northern and southern hemispheres, and how the tilt of the earth changes the hours of daylight as it travels around the sun.  The book also contains ancient customs adopted by various cultures, and we pointed their origins out on the globe too.  I think we'll explore some of these customs in more depth in future meetings.

A little bit of science, a little bit of geography, a little bit of sharing, and a lot of tasty food made for a wonderful Nature Club. 

Making yogurt

I've been feeling like we've been missing yogurt here in this little house of ours.  In one instance, I needed some for a salad dressing; in another, we were wilting under the latest heat wave and could have done with a fruit smoothie.  In both cases, I made some creative substitutions and vowed to get around to making some of our own.

We have made yogurt in the past, but we recently switched over to raw milk and I needed to do some research to learn about anything special that needs to be done with this creamy white gold.  And I was surprised to learn that making yogurt from raw milk is even easier than making it with pasteurized milk.  For one thing, yogurt made from raw milk only needs to be heated up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas pasteurized milk needs to be kept at a simmer for 5 minutes.  I've also learned a different technique to inoculate the milk.  This was such an exciting discovery that I just had to share!  Here's what we do:

1.  Gather the following gear:
  ~ clean pint sized jars and lids
  ~ pot large enough to hold the jars 
  ~ candy thermometer
  ~ jar tongs
  ~ slow cooker or crock
  ~ raw milk
  ~ yogurt starter, either yogurt from a previous batch (1 tbsp. for each pint) or starter grains.  We used Yogourmet for our first batch and yogurt for our second batch.

2.  Fill the jars with the milk.  Leave enough space for your yogurt starter.  Keep the lids off for now.

3.  Place the jars in the pot.  I used the same kind of pot as I use to blanch vegetables - the kind with the basket inside that can be pulled out the strain the water.  Fill the pot with water - only up to the same level as the milk.  Be careful not to drip water into the milk!

4.  Put the pot onto the stove and turn on to medium heat.  Place the candy thermometer into one of the jars.  Keep an eye on it, as you only want the milk to be heated to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  This will happen fairly quickly.

5.  Once the milk reaches its required temperature, pull the jars out and quickly add the starter.  If you are using leftover yogurt, use 1 tablespoon for each pint jar.  If you are using the powder starter, follow the directions on the package.  Mix the starter in, then place the lids on the jars.

6.  Transfer the jars to the slow cooker.  Then pour the water from the pot into the slow cooker, again only up to the level of the milk.  Cover with the lid.   I used pint jars because I could keep them standing upright in the slow cooker while the lid was on.  You could likely also use a quart jar and place it on its side in the slow cooker, but perhaps double-check that the lid is tight to ensure it doesn't leak.

7.  Cover the slow cooker with a bath towel for extra insulation.  There is no need to turn the slow cooker on - keeping it this way will ensure the heat is retained.

8.  Your yogurt will be ready to take out of the slow cooker in 8 to 12 hours.  It may look incredibly runny and your heart may sink that you did something wrong (I did this twice).  Don't fret just yet...put your yogurt in the fridge so it can firm up.

And that's it.  No more babysitting our milk as it cooks and having that rubbery cooked milk at the bottom of the pan.  No more needing to preheat the thermos.  No more pouring milk between several containers and spilling it all over the place.  Just tangy, thick yogurt.  And all housed in totally reusable, glass containers.  Perfect. 

So far, we've enjoyed the first batch of tzatziki that we've had in years, and "the best ever" peach smoothies (quote from all three children - I promise!).  Looking forward to many more weeks of yogurt.

Recalibrate

I'm coming off a week unprecedented for preserving in this house.  In fact, I don't think I've ever had so many jars of applesauce sitting in my basement before the end of August.  Yes, there has been drying, freezing, pickling, and canning of all types and stripes here.  The pace has been frenetic, the days long and the nights short. 

There were some high moments...the first sip of the first apple juice I've ever canned...having enough carrots for freezing and dehydrating...the surprise that I could make apple sauce and apple juice at the same time (thanks to the Mehu-Liisa juicer we discovered this winter)...knowing we have more than enough pickles for the pickle-monsters that live here. 

There were some low moments.  Moments where I found myself sucked into a bewilderment of why I was doing what I was doing.  Moments where I was left wondering if I would go from loving food to hating it passionately.  Moments of frustration as I considered the homesteading and pioneering families of the past who would knock off (I perceive) a zillion things more than me, and I tried to figure out what their secret was - what did they know that I didn't about doing this work quickly and well?  Moments when I wondered whether anyone living here cared about the work I was doing, as they complained about the marinara sauce I had made last year.

And maybe they have a point.  After all, it's not as though we need to grow and preserve our food for survival.  Grocery stores are plentiful in our beautiful neighbourhood.  Surely it would be easier on our time if we simply went grocery shopping for an hour or two a week.  I'm sure we could find a balance between conventionally grown and organically grown food that we could afford.  As my family reminded me over pasta with marinara sauce, does it really taste any better?  Lastly, I must admit that I don't feel I've seen as much of my kids.  That makes my heart feel sad.

I think what I'm confronted with is a week where we've been out of balance.  My thoughts have been focussed on the tasks that need to be done and the schedule limitations I'm faced with.  I've done my best to ensure that my children are out and about but I admit that I haven't been present, whether in body or in spirit.  Little rest has led to a tired and irritable mama.  I keep sensing that demonstrating the values I aspire to live can be powerful, and my actions of late have focused on treading lightly on the earth by growing and putting up our own food.  My family is involved either on the periphery or directly, such as when we pick apples together.  But that "fun" factor has been missing.

So, yet again, I turn to the calendar.  I'll do what I can to carve out time and space for us to enjoy one another's company, whether it be a walk in the park or a game of cards.  I'll patiently remind the little ones here that how we spend our sacred time together is a choice we make together...we all need to work together to spend our time the way our heart truly desires.  I'll be forgiving of myself if I can't do it all or do everything that I had so hoped to do.  I'll be thankful for the bounty that the Earth has provided for us and share what we cannot use ourselves.

Ahhh...that feels better.  


 

Pie

With all of the fruit that has been making its way through my kitchen of late - strawberries, saskatoons, cherries, blueberries, and now the first tart apples of the season - I find that my mind is being pulled back to "pie" on a regular basis.  Surely this will be the year that I master the fine art of making pie.

Yes, it was last year when I took my first stab at making pie.  We had stumbled across some sour cherries growing in the city, that just happened to be in a yard where we were picking apples.  I read somewhere that sour cherries actually make a more delectable pie than their sweet relatives, so I decided to bake a sour cherry pie for my father's birthday.

That blessed man did an amazing job downing one piece of pie.  It wasn't very good.  Sour cherries, I discovered, start sour and finish sour.  We didn't discover any sweetness lurking remotely near those gorgeous red orbs.  And it was a soggy pie...there was a verifiable pink lake melting away the bottom pie crust.

This year, with the help of A Year of Pies, I started out small with hand pies.  Small, individual, no-need-for-a-pie-plate apple pies to be exact.  I had a box of small apples needing something done with them before the weekend, and it's surprising how many it takes to add up to two pounds.  The apples were so small that I didn't bother to peel them...I simply trimmed off any bruises, then cut quarter inch slices around the core. 

I was delighted with the result, all things considered (for I was simultaneously trying to freeze blueberries, make a crumble, whip up a teriyaki sauce, and do the pie all at the same time...or at least it felt that way).  The filling is tart, but not too tart - there is a hint of sweetness.  There was not copious amounts of liquid threatening to drown the crust.  I may have worked the crust a little too much or needed to roll it out a little thinner, but on the whole, I definitely think I'll be making more pie tomorrow!

A week's reflection

I find myself sitting at the table looking out into the dark, dark night, reflecting on the week that was and the week that will be.  Here's a glimpse...

  ~ gazing at the cherry jam that is resting on the counter, which I made this afternoon.  There is a box of canned cherries and dried cherries ready to go downstairs into our empty "open concept" cellar.  I hope we're able to fill it back up again. 
  ~ putting the final few things away from our week away at the lake, and feeling the desire to seriously de-clutter in the hope to make our lives simpler.  I'm thrilled to hear that my husband is taking a couple of days off to tackle the garage, though I was really hoping our basement could get double-teamed by us.
  ~ having mixed feelings about our garden.  The one at home is doing alright...the popcorn has reached the top of the fence and we've been treated to a few cherry tomatoes.  The community garden is looking a little on the sad side...too many weeds here, spotty plants there.  At least the beans are doing well.  I know both gardens have been neglected this year, but I'm not sure what the solution is at this moment.  Working hard to be thankful for what we have been able to grow.
  ~ taking a peak at a lesson planner (I found it free here).  It may be part of the solution for garden neglect.  I'm very much looking forward to writing "plan garden", "plant seeds" and "tend garden" into our days, in the hopes that it may happen.  Also looking forward to penciling in "project time".
  ~  admiring my daughter and how she will refuse to stay bored for long.  She's turned to art during the lulls in the day - painting yesterday and beading today.  Kim John Payne (author of Simplicity Parenting) definitely has it right - something interesting is right around the corner.
  ~ sending thoughts of light and peace to a friend in pain.
  ~ wondering what it will be like with two children away for the bulk of the next week.  Nicholas is attending a scout camp and Jaelyn is in a Chinese culture day camp.  The days will definitely be quieter...
  ~ looking forward to more preserving...blueberry roll-ups and jam, black forest sauce, perhaps some drunken cherries thrown into the mix (check out Put 'Em Up)

Wishing you a week of gratifying work and play!

Fever

Our weekend and the week ahead were planned out months ago.  We were to go to a wedding on Saturday and then head out to a nearby lake and provincial park in the week that followed.  I've been planning and cooking meals to feed 12, with my husband's family joining us at the lake.  I was daydreaming about dressing up and dancing with my loves while packing fishing rods and crafting things, raincoats and swimsuits. 

Things sometimes don't turn our exactly as we planned, though.  My son became sick and is still laying on the couch with a fever and no appetite.  So instead of wedding festivities, I got dressed up anyway, did some crafting and dined on takeout with a girlfriend who came over to keep me company.  Instead of heading out to the lake with the rest of the family today, Nicholas and I are hanging out at home, listening to the football game.  There's a pot of chicken broth on the stove, when he's up for taking a sip or two.  I'm enjoying a simple meal of the little odds and ends that happen to have been left behind after the others left.  Hopefully we will head out tomorrow on the bus.  If not, we'll keep on waiting this fever out until it breaks.    

It's been amazingly quiet around here.  And in the midst of the quiet has come the space to experiment in new territory...

   ...playing with shibori as I prepare a birthday present (instructions from the Living Crafts summer 2012 issue, silk scarf from Thai Silks)

   ...trying out quilting as I make a floor mat for our kitchen or bathroom (the Little River Rug pattern from Reinvention, material from our old holey jeans)

   ...reading up on beekeeping, as we've discovered beekeeping is legal in our city (cozying up to Beekeeping:  A Practical Guide and Urban Beekeeping while sipping on iced tea on the porch tonight).

I'm hopeful for a healthy week ahead of us.

Club Day. The Nature Version.

When we awoke this morning, things looked a little on the grey side.  I hurried over to the weather network and received a prediction that there would be rain in the morning - thundershowers, in fact.  Hmmm...that forecast wasn't what Nature Club called for this morning.  I headed over to Environment Canada's website, where they predicted rain in the afternoon.  Much better news!  And within ten minutes of reading that news, the skies did clear up and the sun was shining down upon us.  It was like an omen telling me to simply trust the latter prediction.

Now that it's summer and our Nature Clubbers are available morning or afternoon (or evening too, I suppose), we're soaking up the opportunity to be outside before our little part of the planet heats up too much.  I learned from last year's summer club days that the beautiful little people in our Nature Club tended to wilt under the sun's hot, hot rays.  We also have much more time to do an activity and have free time, so we can plan more elaborate outings.  Today's outing took us to a little berry patch just outside the city limits to pick some saskatoons.

Yes, our family has already picked many saskatoons this season.  Soon my freezer will be full and I'll be wondering where I can store the blueberries that will come in the next couple of weeks.  But the children who joined us today aren't as familiar with this humble berry, being from another province where they don't grow.  So what better way to learn about local, seasonal, good foods, diversity, and the joys of simply being outdoors than to experience it?

For those of you who aren't familiar with saskatoons, they look similar to blueberries but have a taste that is all their own.  They have a small seed inside them and while the seed is quite fibrous, it is edible.  Here are a few of the ways we enjoy saskatoons...

   ~ saskatoon berry muffins
   ~ mix fresh or frozen saskatoons with yogurt, cereal, oatmeal or granola
   ~ saskatoon crisp or crumble
   ~ dropped into pancake batter, or served on top of freshly cooked pancakes
   ~ saskatoon berry jam
   ~ saskatoon berry syrup (we will be mixing our syrup with club soda, as an alternative to pop.  A recipe for berry syrup is in The Homemade Pantry).
   ~ in fruit smoothies (but make sure there is a lot of liquid in your smoothie, as the saskatoons tend to absorb liquid and thicken the drink considerably
   ~ fruit popsicles
   ~ pie
   ~ just eaten by the handful!

The only thing I do not do with our saskatoon berries is dry them or make fruit leathers with them.  For me, the seed tends to take centre stage when they are dried and they do not seem to keep their sweet taste when they are dried.  Perhaps I dry them out too much, as I've read that others have successfully dried them.

If you're still not sure what to do with your saskatoons once they're picked, here are a few sites with recipes to get you started:

   ~ Recipes for tarts, scones, saskatoon berry loaf, crisp and syrup
   ~ Recipes including muffins, pudding, tea, vinaigrette, bars, squares and pancakes, just to name a few
   ~ Recipe for jam

The fruit farm tour

I feel like right now we are in the midst of whirlwind tour of u-pick farms.  For we have been blessed with the time, energy and support to make our way out to several farms to pick berries in the peak of the season.

Our first trip was on Friday, and was a drive into a picturesque valley overflowing with the summer's bounty.  Our sights were set on saskatoons, the very berry that we were so eager to pick last year, but were so bitterly disappointed with.   Alas, last year we didn't make it out until the end of the season and had hard picking, with mainly wizened berries to choose from.  No saskatoon berry jam last year.  But what a contrast this year!  The berries were big and plump, juicy and sweet!  With the help of my sweet, sweet parents, the children and I found jackpot after jackpot (as Nicholas and Jaelyn call the spots with lots of berries for the picking).  We soon had eight pails filled between the six of us (though my parents had a head start and picked most of them on their own).  Thankfully, most of my crew did there part to help out too.

Our second trip was today, with an hour's drive to the east for strawberries.  Yes, that's right, we found strawberries, and they were closer than we thought they would be.  Eight must be the number this year, as we worked together to pick eight buckets of these beautiful, sweet, red orbs.  Nicholas was such an eager picker that he picked three and a half pails by himself and wound up with a job offer to pick berries for the rest of the summer.

Now, I find us in our warm kitchen, doing the first of the processing of 2013.  Saskatoons have been frozen and poured with abandon into fruit crumble.  Our experimental recipe for the year is strawberry maple jam with vanilla (from Taproot).  If the few tastes I got are any indication, it is wickedly good.  Strawberries fill my dehydrator and my freezer.  I'm dreaming of what I can whip up with the berries that have not yet found a home.

Amid all this making and dreaming, I made some new discoveries too.  Like that my husband wrinkles his nose at strawberry pie and strawberry crumble.  That's okay...I still may pop into the library tomorrow to pick up A Year of Pies by Ashley English.  I also discovered that it is so much easier to remove jar lids from a pot of water with a magnet secured to a butter knife.  So long tongs!  And I rediscovered the simple joy of mashed berries on ice cream.  Yum. 

Let the fruit farm tour go on! 

Camping food

There was a time, about a year ago, that I vowed we would eat well on our next family camping trip.  My husband whispered in my ear of all the merits of camping foods from our youth...Kraft Dinner, Pro Stars or Alphabits cereal, and lunch meat.  He talked of how convenient and easy the meals are to make (just add water!), and how it lessens the number of coolers we need to shuffle around and fill with ice every so often.  Oh, and the kids would be happy with a treat for a change.

Despite his best efforts, I just can't bring myself to buying it, let alone making a meal with it.  My rebuttals to he arguments went along the lines of, "Where are the vegetables? Do you know what is actually in that stuff?  Isn't camping a treat in itself?"

But he does have a point.  I would rather play at the beach or sit around the fire than cooking a gourmet meal over a Coleman stove.  I would rather spend less time searching through the several coolers that travel with us trying to find what I'm looking for.  I would rather go on a nature hike than stop at the camp store for more ice.

So out came The Complete Trail Food Cookbook.  Yes, the promise of "just add water" appeals to me.  As I flipped through the pages, it dawned on me that I in fact needed to have dehydrated many of the ingredients before assembling them together.  Which would have made sense to do as we were harvesting last year.  Which I now remember us vowing to do last year.  And I find myself making the same vow now.  No, I will not get tired of putting up food and will do just a wee bit more to have a fully stocked pantry of dehydrated fruits and veggies.  Next year's camping will be awesome.

And as for this year?  I just shrugged my shoulders and found a couple of things that we could make at home instead of buying from the store.  Like syrup for making our own soda. And marshmallows.  (Recipes from Alana Chernila's Homemade Pantry).  Totally not that far off of Kraft Dinner or Prostars or Alphabits or lunch meat in terms of nutritional value.  But I think we score stars for sharing a treat with the kids for a change.

Rhubarb ginger syrup - just add club soda...

The process of turning water, gelatin, and sugar into marshmallows...

Future happy camper!

Keeping cool

I confess...while we have a fairly clean diet, I do have a couple of weaknesses - chips in the winter and ice cream in the summer.  During weeks like this, when the days are scorching hot and everyone feels as if they are melting by the time supper rolls around, I clearly hear the breezes softly whispering "ice cream" in my ear. 

While I know I could gather up ingredients to make home-made ice cream in individual portion sizes, as the kids have made with folks from the science centre, I wanted something a little lower in fat and with less refined sugar that I could simply pull out of the freezer.  Something less expensive.  Something that we truly could eat every day and not have an ounce of guilt over.  Something that had the creamy consistency of soft serve.

And then I stumbled upon this recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free ice cream sandwiches.  While I may not actually go all the way to make the sandwiches (though they do look super-good), I most definitely did find the time to make the "ice cream".  What's not to love about a recipe with only one ingredient...bananas!  I made up a double batch and have a stash of it in my freezer for those days when we need a little something to help us cool down.  I did stray from the recipe just a bit, by adding a bit of homemade vanilla flavouring while the bananas were pureeing in the food processor.  Maybe next time I'll see what happens if I add a touch of cocoa.  And if that works, we just may never need to buy ice cream again.

The happy news is that my entire family seems over the moon with bananas disguised as ice cream.  My son will more than happily volunteer to take it out of the freezer to thaw just a touch before serving, and he will be my right-hand man when it comes time to scoop the "ice cream" into bowls or dollop it on top of fruit crumble (at least two servings of fruit in every serving - yay!).

How are you keeping cool this summer? 

Meals to go

The end is in sight for our busy, busy season.  As I look at the calendar, I see that there was not a single day in the last two weeks that someone wasn't off somewhere doing something in the evening.  Getting a home-cooked, fresh and nourishing meal into a youngster before he hops on his bike at 5:15 pm to head off to a ball game, or packing a supper for the rest of the crew to enjoy at the game, can be a challenge.  I thought that today I would write about a few discoveries we've had while adapting to a schedule that has been sped up faster than we've experienced before, in hopes that I can return to it next spring for a refresher.  Hopefully they can provide inspiration for your family too.

1.  Love thy slow cooker:
I really didn't think I would be leaning on our slow cooker now that we are out of the cold, frigid months of winter.  But we are.  And it's been a great way to get a flavourful, nourishing dish on the table right when it's needed.  Plus, the roasts we usually make will provide leftovers for lunch the next day.  Luckily, we've had an opportunity to experiment with new recipes when cooking our grass-fed beef "low and slow".  Below is a recipe for a simple dish I've made several times.  Check out Long Way on a Little for other slow cooker and grilling inspiration.

Slow-cooked roast beef:

 ~ Gather your ingredients:  roast, 2 cups stock, 2 bay leaves, freshly ground pepper, sea salt, thyme leaves, chopped garlic, and rosemary (to taste), 1 tablespoon olive oil

 ~ Place stock and bay leaves in slow cooker.

 ~ Place pepper, salt, thyme leaves, garlic and rosemary in a mortar and grind until it forms a paste.  Stir the olive oil into the paste.

 ~ Rub herb paste over roast.  Place it in the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

 2.  Cook extras:
We've had a few days where we've transitioned from an afternoon activity straight into an evening activity.  Having extra leftovers waiting for us has helped us to ensure our meals are balanced and provide all the nutrients and energy we need to do our activities well.  We have a couple of standby recipes that we love and that are easy to double.  Our tomato and bean salad from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian is one of them.  Cabbage salads also require relatively few ingredients, can be stretched for more than one meal, and require no cooking time.  We usually slice our cabbage thinly, then mix in some sliced carrots, peppers, scallions and raisins (to increase the allure of the dish for our littlest one).  We often finish our cabbage salad with an oil-based vinaigrette, or we will mix mayonnaise, yogurt, salt, pepper, poppy seeds and a wee bit of vinegar to make a creamy salad dressing.  Another unusual but popular option is popcorn - check out my favorite recipe here.  This recipe makes a lot - enough for lunch and an afternoon snack. 

3.  Love local:
Our local farmer's market already has quite a selection of veggies that we stock up on.  Cherry tomatoes and cucumbers are incredibly versatile and require little prep work.  A wash, a couple of chops with the knife, and a snack is prepared in less time than it takes the little ones to clear off the table.  Add a freshly baked loaf of bread and some market chevré, and we have the makings of meal - all we need to add is some fruit.  And there is very little that is quicker to cook than asparagus quickly stir-fried with butter and garlic.  Salad greens can easily be tossed with any of these ingredients to ensure we get a serving or two of veggies in our meals.  Yum!

4.  Preparing ahead:
When we are in a true rush and there are really only moments to grab and go, we send our little ones out the door with something we've prepared ahead of time.  Granola bars from Homemade Pantry and hard-boiled eggs are two items that have walked out in the hands of our little ones this week as they head out to ball games.  As an added bonus, the kids can make their own hard-boiled eggs, and they seem extra motivated if they can dye them, too.  Other ideas that have been popular in our house include homemade trail mixes or granola, combined with some type of fruit.  I make sure to stock up on dried fruit and nuts so the children have plenty of ingredients to choose from when they make a big batch.

5.  Soul food:
Most people need some down time...the folks in my household included.  While soul food isn't something we can literally eat, it is just as important for nourishing and reenergizing our bodies.  I can tell when my little ones have had enough and need to retreat from the rest of the world and the busyness.  And I earnestly try to make sure they get it.  They may hole up in their room or sit on the couch and read for the better part of the day.  They may take up a craft and work with their hands.  Whatever it is, I trust that my children know what they need to balance themselves and I try to give them the space they need to recalibrate during the day so they are ready to go if need be in the evening.

What do you do to nourish your family when you're on the go?

Brown sugar

We are starting to prepare for a family get-together and our first task, at Jaelyn's request, was to make chocolate chip cookies.  After discovering our handed-down recipe was not where it was supposed to be and a phone call to grandma later, we gathered our ingredients, only to discover we were short of a key ingredient - brown sugar. 

Not wanting to make a trip to the grocery store, I mused that we would simply make our own brown sugar.  I don't know what caused me to even think such a thing, but once we were off the phone with recipe in hand, I grabbed Homemade Pantry.  If I were to find how to make such a thing without turning on the computer, it would be there.  And it was!  All we needed was sugar and molasses - easy peasy!

As we poured those two humble ingredients into our stand mixer and watched the molasses clump into a gooey blob with the sugar, we talked a bit about where sugar comes from and how it is processed.  As we scraped the bowl down, we started to get a glimpse of what our brown sugar would look like.  Eyes were glued to its progress, and mouths were anxious for a taste.  What patient babes I had in my kitchen this afternoon!

Soon, in not too much time, our brown sugar was ready.  It looks just like the store-bought stuff, except it has such a lovely soft, moist quality to it.  I don't think I will ever go back to buying store-bought brown sugar again (especially when it costs more for less)!

Just as quickly, our chocolate chip cookies were in and out of the oven.  We've solemnly sworn that we will share just one before we hide them away in the freezer until the weekend.  Wish us luck on that front!

 

 

When baking and poetry meet

Funny how some things fall out of the sky and grace us with their presence.  Like when we do a bit of baking for the weekend and the chocolate chips become something we use to count the syllables in the verse of a song.


The magic is spun and we drift into talk about the couplets we learned from the morning and write out a few of our own.  We brainstorm words that rhyme.   We talk about stanzas and the types of poetry we like the best.

Oh, I'd like to have more afternoons like this.  The tricky thing about magic is that it is sometimes elusive, and sometimes there but hard to spot.  In either case, simply showing up and being a part of my children's world is the prerequisite for both.

Healing ourselves

We've been battling a bit of a flu bug here for almost a week.  Fortunately, it's only hit one person at a time, so while it feels slightly prolonged, there have also been moments where we have all been well enough to escape the house and enjoy the wonderful outdoors.

Now, though, the last of our stash of homemade apple juice is gone.  And authentic soup stock for home made chicken noodle soup was non-existent.  So, I roasted up a chicken for supper last night (which two of the five Selingers happily ate), then started on making a stock.  I am aware of the irony of cooking up a Sunday night style supper simply to get to those bones, but it made sense at the time (particularly since the chicken had been thawing in the fridge since Sunday, when I thought most of us had escaped the flu bug).

I'll be honest, soup isn't my favorite thing, and neither is making stock.  To me, it smells horrific and I'm convinced the smell was fuel enough for a headache last night.  But when I strained it into jars, I imagined all the healing goodness that would soon be entering those little (and big) bodies.  My mind also wandered off to consider other little things we can do to strengthen our immune systems, like reducing the amount of sugar we consume and adding fermented foods.  While we won't be eating sauerkraut everyday, I just might pull a small bag of it out of the freezer for sampling.

Our Hallowe'en

Ahhh, the evening of ghosts and goblins and witches is coming to an end.  We had a little too much going on today, and were much to distracted by the solar system this week to really focus on all that could be Hallowe'en.  But we did honour a few Hallowe'en traditions today. 

I must confess, I have a love-hate relationship with Hallowe'en.  I love the idea of creating a costume, decorations and treats, especially when the littlest ones we love come calling.  I love the idea of dancing around the living room to Werewolves of London.  I love a night that exists for fun and fun alone.  I could do without all the processed stuff and commercialism and not-quite-from-nature part of it.

So today, we hauled up the pumpkins and Nicholas and Jaelyn had their go at designing them.  They felt confident enough to carve them, and so after a quick tutorial (keep the blade straight, cut away from yourself, etc.), they were off.  I think they came up with beautiful designs and did a really wonderful job carving them.

Next up were some healthier, home-made treats, made especially for our little niece and nephew, plus any of our Club friends who know us and trust us.  Nicholas made the candy apples that were coated with a mixture of coconut oil, honey, and our favorite dried fruits and seeds.  Jaelyn made some banana ghosts dipped in a mixture of cocoa and agave nectar, then sprinkled with coconut.  Yum.

And finally...trick or treating.  Our children donned their costumes (Nicholas in his handmade British soldier costume - McCall's pattern #M6143 - and Jaelyn in her hand-me-down Davey Crockett costume) and grabbed their flashlights.  Our first stop with the neighbourhood recreation centre, where they were serving up spooky crafts and snacks.  We made dolls, lanterns and decorated cookies before heading for home the long way.  The children wandered up and down a couple of streets trick-or-treating before they made their way home.

They came home with quite the haul.  Fortunately, they were eager to trade most of it in, as is our tradition, for simple toys and books.  We brought out the candles for their rooms again, too, and tucked them in with a kiss and a Hallowe'en poem to cap the day.

Happy Hallowe'en wherever you are!

First tries.

We've been trying to rely only on our masonry heater and keep our main source off for as long as possible.  We've run into a bit of a snag, as our firewood delivery guy hasn't come yet!  So, when it was particularly chilly one morning, I decided it would be a baking day.  Nicholas grabbed the chocolate chip cookie recipe, Jaelyn and Astrin made some marvelous saskatoon berry muffins, and I decided I would try to make bread, and we'd get in a little science while we did it.

We experimented with yeast.  First, we learned about what yeast actually is (a fungus).  Then, we prepared three bowls with water of different temperatures - one cold, one warm, and one hot.  We watched, smelled, and learned how the temperature of water impacts yeast.

I've tried to make pizza dough from traditional yeast before - more often than not its been a flop - but never bread.  In the first few attempts, I didn't know anything about the science of bread or yeast and didn't pay attention to water temperature.  The recipes weren't that helpful either, as they mentioned "warm" water, which is open to interpretation (just ask my daughters if they think "warm" is the temperature that I draw their bath at).

Now, armed with a candy thermometer, a book devoted entirely to bread, and newly found resilience, we tried again.  And while the bread erred more on the heavy side, it did rise a bit and was satisfying.  After it all, the house was warm, it smelled marvelous, and we had home-made bread to fill our bellies.

The yeast experiment

Fresh bread!