Garlic, garlic, garlic!!!

My mouth is pretty much on fire, and I'm sure the rest of my family is the same. Not a complaint from them, though! We are garlic lovers in this house. If you aren't a fan of strong garlic flavour.. this blog post is not for you. If you, like us, cannot get enough garlic... dig in to this super easy and delicious meal!

I made a garlicky pasta (the original is from How it all Vegan, but I changed it a bit) and served it with a caesar-esque salad using this creamy garlic dressing.

Garlicky Pasta

1 box spaghetti

2 tbsp olive oil

15 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

1 tsp chopped red chilies

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 tbsp flax oil

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook the spaghetti noodles according to package directions.

Cook the minced garlic, minced parsley, chopped red chilies, salt and pepper in the olive oil until tender. Set aside.

Once the noodles are cooked, toss with the olive oil/garlic mixture, the flax oil and the parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Dance filled weekend.

What a weekend!

We've been waiting for this weekend for months, and it's hard to believe it's come and gone now. It was everything we had hoped it would be and more. Rhianna had been invited by her dance studio to perform during the Kingston Hospice Charity event. The entire night was very impressive! They had some really great numbers from many different dance studios, but my favourites were definitely the two from Angela Maracle Studios. I'm a little biased, though. Hehe. First they performed an Avatar dance they were doing for comp (and now I wish I had that on video, too.. the kids were awesome!). The costumes and make up were so intricate for Avatar. You can see some pictures of the kids in costume on the Angela Maracle Studios blog. Then the school performed a version of Wizard of Oz called 'Trapped in Oz'. This was the one Rhianna was in, as a munchkin. She was a tad nervous going in, but I'm proud of how well she handled herself. She danced her heart out just like the rest of the AMS dancers! Here are a few pictures of my girl at home before we left. She wanted to go NOW! :)

Once that costume was on I could not keep her still. Who am I kidding.. she's never still anyway! ;)

My pretty little munchkin. ♥

She had her toes pointed perfectly, but I missed it by a few seconds!

A little while after these pictures were taken we took the hour long drive into Kingston. For the first half of the show Rhianna got to sit with Kyle, myself, my friend and fellow dance mum Leanne, and then a few other dancers. She was mesmerized through the entire half... I almost wonder if she blinked.

During intermission Leanne and I ran the five girls down to the change room to get make up and last minute costume changes done. Then the two of us headed back to our seats where we had butterflies in our tummies and our hearts were pounding because we were so nervous for our girls (who are the youngest of the group at 6 and 7 years old). In the end we had nothing to be worried about - they were both so awesome! We traded our butterflies and heart pounding for pride and tears of happiness.

I uploaded the video I took onto my YouTube channel... so if you want to watch it, feel free! Here it is! Rhianna is the second munchkin to enter from the left side. She cartwheels in, and then runs back out to grab another "brick" for the yellow brick road and cartwheels back in again.

After the show I managed to get a couple of pictures with her crazy make up on (and looking rather tired!). A big thank you to my friend Laura for doing the make up and false eyelashes for this newbie dance mum! ;)

Back home, clean faced, and crazy haired. This is what a can of hair spray and a bottle of gel looks like. ;)

Kyle said she looked like Shirley Temple. This made me smile since my Gramma loved Shirley Temple. It's been almost 17 years since we lost her, and I often wish she could have been here to meet my kids. Hearing Kyle say that made me feel like my Gramma was here with us. She would have been so proud.

This morning Tiernan, Rhianna and I headed back into Kingston again for a Hip Hop workshop being held by the Kingston Hospice Charity. The best part was who the teacher was - Jonathan Arsenault from So You Think You Can Dance Canada! We watch SYTYCDC as a family, so this was a huge deal for my kids. What a cool experience. I had a little chat with him, and he's a really great guy. He is so down to earth and passionate about dance. He worked the kids really hard and they were all exhausted by the time the class was over. My two did really well. I loved that Tiernan stuck super close to Jonathan (idol!) and tried his hardest. Rhianna had her swagger on, and shook those hips with all her power. ;)

Here's most of the AMS dancers who came for the Hip Hop workshop (minus two who showed up late).

Showing off their swagger stance. ;)

No pictures taken with Jonathan from my camera, but when I get a picture emailed to me, I'll post it, too.

As for dinners - they were nothing special on Friday or Saturday! Certainly nothing worth blogging about. Tonight, though... that's a different story. No recipe for this picture... this is mostly to make my friends and family jealous...

Kyle's cheese crepes! Those who have had his crepes know why this would make you jealous. As for those who haven't had them - we need to make dinner plans! YUM.

Funky Cold Medina!

(Don't ask.. it's playing as I type this out... getting my own swagger on!)

This week calls for comfort.

It's been a rough week with Avery being so sick. He's been for blood work and Xrays (and has to go for another Xray in two weeks), he's on antibiotics (although the doctor really doesn't know what she's treating at this point) and a puffer and he's been in the the doctor's twice this week. He spent the past two weeks lying around in bed or on the couch. It's hard to see him like this. I'm hoping we get some answers soon. Because of this, last night was another one of those comfort meals. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to relax while we ate it since Tiernan had to be taken to a playdate and Rhianna and I had to go to the library and then the dance studio for a couple of hours. It was still worth the work, though.

I made a mushroom pie, champ potatoes and some pan fried asparagus (fry them in a bit of olive oil and butter until bright green).

Mushroom Pie

filling:

2 tbsp olive oil

24oz chopped mushrooms (any variety)

5 baby onions, minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup boiling water

1 vegetable bouillon cube

3 tsp corn starch

1/4 cup sour cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

pastry:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup margarine

1 tsp thyme

1/4 cup cold water

Combine 1 cup of boiling water with the bouillon cube and cornstarch until dissolved. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 3 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook until soft. Bring to a high heat and add the wine. Cook until it's reduced by half. Turn the heat to low and add the water/corn starch/stock mixture. Turn heat to low and cook 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the flour and margarine until it looks like bread crumbs. Add thyme and a pinch of salt. Combine. Add the cold water, little by little, until a dough forms. You may not need all the water.

Roll into a smooth ball, cover with plastic and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Remove the mushrooms from the heat and add the sour cream. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a pie dish.

Cut the pastry into two, one slightly larger than the other.

Roll to fit it into the pie dish. Prick with a fork and put it in the fridge for 10 minutes. Roll the rest for the pie lid.

Pour in the mushroom mixture. Seal the lid on my pinching the sides together. Cut an X into the lid. Brush some milk over the top.

Cook for 25 minutes. Let it sit for a bit before cutting and serving.

Breakfast for dinner? My kids say yes please!

I went with a kid friendly dinner tonight. I knew there would be no protests from anyone and that Ave would want to eat, and that sounded perfect to me. I was right. Tiernan and Rhianna ate once before dance, and then again after dance. Haha. To be honest, they had to. Dinner took longer than I thought it would to make, and we were running late to get to the dance studio in time. I basically had the kids eat what they could in a short amount of time, and then saved the rest for later.

I made some pancakes with a really delicious banana pecan topping, some oven roasted potatoes, veggie sausages and bacon and then a glass of carrot, apple, ginger juice. I'm a huge fan of juicers. However, our juicer is not mine. It's actually Tiernan's. He asked for it and got it for his 6th birthday. Yes, he is an unusual child... I love that about him!

Pancakes

(this recipe makes quite a few, but we freeze the remainder for easy breakfasts)

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

4 cups milk

4 tbsp vegetable oil

Whisk all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, but don't mix too vigorously.

Lightly oil a frying pan. Heat it, and add about 1 1/2 cups of batter per pancake. Flip when the air bubbles appear in the batter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Banana Pecan Topping

(from 330 Vegetarian Recipes for Health)

4 tbsp butter

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 bananas, halved and quartered

1/4 cup chopped pecans

In a frying pan, slowly heat the butter until it's melted. Add the maple syrup and stir well to combine. Add the bananas and pecans and cook for 4 minutes, turning once. This should caramelize the bananas. Serve it immediately over pancakes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just chopped up about 6 potatoes into small cube sized pieces, added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of all purpose seasoning (recipe to follow) and cooked them for 20-25 minutes on a baking sheet in a 350 oven.

All Purpose Seasoning

(from Garden of Vegan)

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne

Mix it all together and keep in an airtight container.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carrot Apple Ginger Juice

5 carrots

7 apples

2 inches of fresh ginger root

Put it all into a juicer and voila! Juice that will make you feel alive!

How to make Ukrainian perogies!

My family and I are very happy that we moved out here to small-town-Southern Ontario, but there are certainly things that we all miss about being in Winnipeg. Mostly, it's our friends and family, but we also miss the culture you find in bigger cities. We love taking trips to the larger cities around here - Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal - just for the culture. I miss the little communities of different ethnicities. Where we live it's Loyalist country. The majority of people around here are British or Mohawk. Sure, I know people of different backgrounds, but not like the big cities. I've always considered myself a "country girl" having grown up in a very small town north of Winnipeg, but as I get older I realize I was wrong. I enjoy the diversity, culture, noise and buzz of cities. Believe it or not, this was hard for me to come to grips with. You learn new things about yourself all the time, though, don't you?

In Manitoba there are a whole lot of Ukrainian people, so perogies are not hard to come by. In Winnipeg, there were many different places to get your perogy fill - Mom's Perogy Factory and Alicia's being my personal favourites. Where we are now, I can't find Ukrainian perogies unless I travel out further. They sell Russian perogies at our Farmer's Market, but they add some sort of seasoning salt to them and then fry them, and it just doesn't cut it for me. I've been craving perogies for a while now, so I added it to my menu. I spent a couple of hours making them this morning and let me just say - they are so worth the time and effort!

Here's my little How-To of the day. :)

First, wash and peel some russet potatoes (about 6). Cut them into chunks and place in a big pot of water. Bring them to a boil and cook until tender. Drain then, and then add some milk, butter, salt, pepper and a bunch of grated cheese (2 cups to start - taste it.. add more if you think you need it). Mash well. Set the potato mixture aside to cool.

If you want you can also add fried onions! That's also a tasty way to go. There are countless fillings for perogies, so have some fun.

Perogy Dough

(this makes about 4 dozen)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 3/8 cup warm water

Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, add the oil to the water. Pour over the flour/salt mixture and mix well. Knead the dough until it is soft and elastic. If the dough is sticky add a little bit of flour, but try not to add too much extra or the dough will become difficult to work with. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and set aside for 15 minutes.

Once the dough is ready to be worked with, pull 1/3 of it off and, roll it out thinly (think pie crust) onto a lightly floured counter top. Use a glass, cup or round cookie cutter to cut circles out of the dough. Continue doing this with the remaining dough.

Place a rounded teaspoon full of mashed potato mixture into the middle of each dough disc.

Fold each circle of dough over into a half moon shape. Pinch the edges together to seal the seam.

In the meantime, boil a pot of salted water. Place about 5 perogies into the boiling water, and allow them to boil for about 5 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon, draining off any excess water. Continue until all of the perogies have been boiled.

When they're finished being boiled, you can freeze them on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Once frozen, place them into Ziploc bags. If you're like us, though, you'll have them all eaten within two days flat! I just put ours into this stainless steel bowl and added a bit of olive oil to keep them from sticking.

To heat them up before serving you can either boil them for a few minutes (my favourite), fry them in butter (Kyle's favourite) or heat them in a tiny bit of water and some butter without frying them.

Now go feast on your tasty bundles of hard work. :)

A BBQ dinner without a BBQ.

This long weekend has been the perfect medicine to help re-energize me after last week. I'm feeling back to normal again, and looking forward to the week ahead. I'm also loving that it's only a three day school week! I miss the kids when they're at school. Today was just beautiful out. Warm, but not disgustingly so. There was a big thunderstorm while we sat at the dining room table playing World Wildlife Fund's Photo Safari together. Ironically enough we were answering questions about lightening when it started. Today was the kind of day that screams, "Let's have a BBQ!" The only problem is... we don't have a BBQ. I wasn't about to let that stop me, though. Instead, I cooked up a meal that tasted like it came from the BBQ. I made some Botanical Burgers from the Rebar cookbook that were delicious, but quite soft. None of us let that bother us, though. The only change I made to the recipe was substituting more of the beets, carrots and turnips in lieu of the zucchini because my zucchini went bad on me. It still turned out great! With that I whipped up some roasted potatoes that I sort of threw together and they were addictive. On the side I had some boiled corn on the cob, and some asparagus. A perfect meal for a perfect day. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Botanical Burgers

2 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup grated turnip

1 cup grated beets

1 cup grated zucchini, water squeezed out

2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried dill weed

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 cup hazelnuts, roasted

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tbsp tarragon

2 tbsp parsley

fresh bread crumbs (optional)

Heat oil in a wide bottomed pan and saute onion until transparent. Add the grated vegetables, salt, pepper and dill weed. Stir thoroughly and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Transfer to a large bowl and let it cool.

Place cooled vegetables, rice and hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely combined. Transfer to a large bowl and add the mashed potatoes, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, tarragon and parsley. Season to taste. If the burgers are not holding together add some bread crumbs (I added 1/3 cup). Shape into patties.

Heat some olive oil in a large pan, and cook both sides until browned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roasted Garlic Rosemary Potatoes

1.5 lbs yellow baby potatoes

3 tbsp olive oil

7 cloves garlic, minced

some fresh rosemary, minced

(I snipped a couple of shoots off the side of my rosemary plant, and used all of those leaves)

coarse salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Wash the baby potatoes, and then cut them in half. Mix the cut potatoes, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss to coat the potatoes.

Place potatoes on a baking sheet, turning each potato cut side down. Cook them in the oven for about 20 minutes until tender.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for Avery, he seems a teeny bit better today. I called the doctor's office, but of course it wasn't open since it's Victoria Day. Hopefully I can get ahold of them first thing in the morning and I can get him in then. I have my fingers crossed that he'll be even healthier by morning!

Tiernan is 10, and the world's best cinnamon buns!

Today, my baby boy turned ten. This kid is incredible. He could win over anyone's heart. He has the kindest heart - for everyone he meets. He's so wise beyond his years and had been from day one. Tiernan was always a very serious child; you could tell he was always thinking deep thoughts. Ironically enough, he also has an awesome sense of humour - one much like my own. ;) He and I share so many inside jokes that have us laughing so hard we're crying. We really get each other, and I just love that about him. It's a pretty special relationship and I am thankful each and every day for my Sunshine.

As per tradition, the kids got to eat cupcakes for breakfast this morning. Sounds like a great way to start your day, hey?

Avery is still very sick, and we're thinking it's mono since it's going around their school. We're beginning to think that's what Tiernan had when he was sick in April. Apparently you can get pneumonia after having mono. The rest of the symptoms are spot on. Avery has been so tired all week, barely being able to make it out of bed or off the couch. He has wicked headaches, and no appetite. I took him out with me, briefly, on Friday and halfway through our very short trip he was throwing up. Of course this is a long weekend here in Canada, but I'll call our doctor in the morning to see if the office is open. If not, I'll take him in on Tuesday.

The point to that little story (besides updating on the state of my guy) was to explain that we had our little family party outside on the back porch instead of inside where there are likely higher concentrations of germs hanging around. I don't want to infect my parents with mono (or whatever else it is), and the day was perfect for sitting out there. We had our garden party over lunch hour, feasting on the meal Tiernan chose. He requested pepper jack soup, VBSTCs and corn on the cob. Everyone gobbled it up, and still had room for some rainbow cupcakes (well, except for Avery who ate a few bites of his sandwich and almost all of his corn on the cob.).

I was planning on making some more werewolf cupcakes for Tiernan's family birthday, but the last week has been painfully busy. I've been far from inspired in the kitchen, and too exhausted to make anything too exciting. Instead of the werewolves, I decided to make rainbow cupcakes, and Tiernan asked if we could add a layer of Smarties inside the batter.... what a great idea! They were delicious! The best was when they first came out of the oven and the Smarties' chocolate was all melty and warm - oh my!

She picked this dress out just for her big brother's birthday. :)

And my poor Avery. He was in tears this morning because he really wanted to be healthy for his little brother's birthday.

Birthday boy with his proud grandparents!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I mentioned earlier, I've been feeling uninspired in the kitchen this week. I haven't been cooking anything new, and instead going for quick and easy. Last night was Date Night In, though, and that calls for some inspiration. I whipped up some cinnamon buns for us to eat while we played Settlers of Catan, and I must say - they were the best cinnamon buns, ever! Hot from the oven... oh yes. Would you like that recipe? Oh, I bet you do.

Best Cinnamon Buns, Ever!

dough:

1 tsp cane sugar

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cane sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups flour

topping:

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup cane sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter

Dissolve 1 tsp sugar and yeast in the warm water, whisk, and set aside for about 10 minutes until frothy.

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles. Remove from the heat and mix in 1/4 cup cane sugar, 1/4 cup butter and salt. Stir until melted, and then cool to lukewarm.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, the milk mixture, the eggs and 1 1/2 cups flour. Use an electric mixer to combine. Slowly add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Continue mixing with dough hooks on an electric mixer. If it isn't smooth and elastic, turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough.

Oil a bowl, and coat the dough with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let it double in size, about an hour.

While the dough is rising, melt 3/4 cup butter in a saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and mix until smooth. Pour it into a greased 9x13 pan and then sprinkle with half of the chopped pecans.

Melt the remaining butter and set aside. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and second half of the chopped pecans in a small bowl. Set aside.

Roll the dough into an 18x 14 rectangle. Brush the dough with half of the melted butter, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the butter. Roll the dough up from the longer side. Pinch the seam to seal. Cut the roll into 15 pieces, and place them into the prepared 9x13 pan. Brush the tops with the remaining half of the butter.

Cover the pan with the damp towel, and let it rise for one more hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake the cinnamon buns (uncovered) for 25-30 minutes until they begin to go golden. When you remove them from the oven, immediately invert the pan onto a serving platter. Make sure to scrape out all the butter/sugar mixture from the bottom of the pan and spread it over top.

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The best part about making those cinnamon buns? It felt so good to be back in the kitchen! I'm ready for the week ahead... I'm going to make some serious messes in there. Watch out, husband of mine. ;)

How to make basic sushi rolls!

The past few days have been pretty hectic. Avery has been horribly sick all week and has yet to make it to school at all. He got sick on Sunday afternoon/evening, and basically spent all of Monday, Tuesday, and most of Wednesday in bed. He's barely eaten anything in days, so I've been trying to force him to eat as much as he can today. He's weak and tired and still coughing, but the fever seems to be keeping at bay. My poor big kid. The days have also been busy with errands, taking kids to dance classes, Rhianna getting her competitive dance invitation for next year (we are all very excited about that!), and watching Tiernan during his track and field meet. He rocked that shotput! He always was an arm strength kind of kid. I can still picture him, clear as day, army crawling around the house. He didn't even try to use his legs when he crawled! It was all arms dragging him around.

Needless to say, dinner has been nothing special for the past couple of days. Yesterday it was fried egg sandwiches, the day before? Frozen pizzas! Certainly nothing to blog about. Dinner for today is made and ready to be eaten, thankfully. I'm looking forward to something a little more nourishing to feast on.

As you can tell in the photo, I made some veggie sushi. This is a favourite around here for dinner. It's also a favourite for the kids' school lunches. I promised my friend, Karen, that I would do a step-by-step post about sushi making, so here it is. This is very basic sushi rolling, and it can get a lot more fun and exciting as you get good at it.

I prep my vegetables before I even start the rice. (This picture shows far more veggies than is needed, but we like to snack on them over the next couple of days.) Here I have some thin asparagus that I trimmed and cooked for a very few minutes in some boiling water (making sure to keep it bright green). I took a yam and sliced it into fries. I tossed it in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and cooked it on a baking sheet in a 325 oven until tender. I have some thinly sliced coloured bell peppers (yellow, orange, green, red). I also have my favourite vegetable - mushrooms!

Sushi Mushrooms

large container of cremini mushrooms

2 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp white wine

6 tbsp soy sauce

Slice the mushrooms thinly. Mix the sugar, white wine and soy sauce in a wok and heat it over med-high heat. Bring it to a boil, and then leave it on a low boil until it reduces by about half. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender.

Try not to eat them all before you get to making the sushi rolls... like I do! ;)

Rinse your rice thoroughly (about 3 times) and then drain completely (15 minutes). We use 3 rice measures (3 cups) for this. Once it's cooked, let it sit in the rice cooker on "warm" for another 10 minutes. While the rice is cooking, mix together your sushi vinegar.

Sushi Vinegar

(for 3 rice measures)

8 tbsp rice vinegar

4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together in a glass measuring cup. Heat slightly in the microwave to dissolve the sugar. Set it aside until ready for use.

After the rice is ready, add the vinegar slowly while using a spatula to separate the rice a bit. I don't use quite all of the vinegar mixture.

When the rice is room temperature, the rolls ready to assemble!

Place your nori sheet on the edge of a bamboo placemat. Spread your prepared rice over 2/3 of the nori sheet, leaving some space at the end furthest away from you.

Add your veggies to the nori sheet & rice. Try not to add too many or your rolls will be too stuffed and they won't form properly. Now it's time to start rolling!

Take the bamboo placemat, and use it to start rolling the nori over the veggies. Take your fingers and lightly press the nori around.




Pull the placemat forward a bit, and continue to guide the rolling, using your fingers to press it together.

Ta-da! You have successfully rolled a sushi roll! To cut the sushi rolls, start by cutting them in half. Then take those halves and cut them in half. Do that one more time with all of those halves.

Now go enjoy your rolls! Scrumptious! :)

Farewell, little buddy.

Today we brought Stonewall to a wildlife rehabilitation centre called Sandy Pines just outside of Deseronto. I spoke to the coordinator this afternoon, and she suggested that the best place for him would be with her at the centre. It's too cold for him outside right now, so I brought him into the kitchen for the day and he so sweetly snuggled up in the towels enjoying the warmth. The centre we took him to was amazing. When I pulled in I immediately got a great feeling from it. There were animals everywhere looking happy and healthy. The two girls who were working there seemed caring and capable. One of them walked out with a baby raccoon in her arms and was feeding it a bottle. I'd never seen a baby raccoon before! They were not at all afraid of Stonewall, and scooped him out to hold him. Eventually she placed him in a tuque and kept it near her body for extra heat. I felt safe leaving him there, and it made me less sad to leave. Tiernan was the most heartbroken, telling me he wished I would have taken Stony there during the day while he was at school because he hates goodbyes in person. He cried his heart out, but seemed to calm down when we explained to him that it was okay to be sad, but that we would have to say goodbye eventually anyway. This is his best chance at a normal, happy, healthy squirrel life.

I think I'm going to call the director and see if I can volunteer with them. I didn't want to leave today, at all! I've been ooohing and ahhhing over the website, and cried my eyes out about all the good they do. I really want to be a part of this beautiful, nonprofit place.

Dinner plans changed for tonight. It was going to be West African Peanut Soup and Harvest Herb Bread (which I would have loved), but because of our trip out to Sandy Pines, my very sick eldest son (who slept the entire day away), Tiernan's Tap class and a rebate cheque that I really wasn't expecting, we opted for take out. We let the kids have Burger King, and Kyle and I got Montana's. It was so very good, and the best part is... there are leftovers for my lunch tomorrow! I love that. Something to look forward to. :)

Sometimes you just need comfort food!

As I mentioned earlier, we caught Stonewall! It took him quite a while to relax in the cage, but he is now curled up and sleeping in a bed that Kyle made for him (out of the Erdinger box you see in the photo). It's pretty cold out there right now, and very rainy. I worry about him being by himself, but we haven't seen Shadow around at all today. I'm not sure if that's because he's too cold and small - smaller than Stonewall, so he's sleeping the cold and rainy days away. Or, he could have been caught by some cat or crow. It's also possible that he got too cold overnight. Or maybe Stonewall is warning him away from our yard after having been caught. I wish I knew the answer to where he is. I keep hoping he'll show up and I'll put him in the cage with his brother (or sister... whichever the case may be). Tonight Stonewall will be spending the night in our garage in the cage. Apparently it's better to keep them somewhere that still feels the change in temperature so that they can get used to it. I worry about him, though.

On my dinner menu I had a Thai Salad from a Moosewood cookbook that I don't have (but found online). My friend Kim mentioned it recently and I just had to have it. She was right about the garlic in it! Very strong, but oh so good! I'm glad Kyle ate it along with me or I wouldn't be getting any kisses for the rest of the night. ;) Anyway, back to the menu. I was planning on making it with the tofu it called for and serving it with a side of leftover potato chips. Instead, I had an emotional weekend and was craving comfort food like you wouldn't believe! I wanted creamy and heavy and warm. I fought the urge to go out and eat... and was quite cranky about it. And then I remembered that I had a container of whipping cream that I bought to go with the fudge brownie, but ended up opting for ice cream instead. And what's my favourite thing to do with whipping cream? Fettucine Alfredo, of course! This is the same way we've been making it since we were living in Paris in 1998/99. It's so easy to make, and everyone in the family loves it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thai Salad Dressing

6 tbsp natural peanut butter

1 cup boiling water

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp crushed red chilies

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Mix the peanut butter in the boiling water until it's dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fettucini Alfredo

1 box fettucini noodles (we usually use spinach, but used cracked black pepper today since that's all we had)

6 tbsp butter

6-8 cloves garlic, minced (amount depending on size)

350 ml whipping cream

salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes being careful not to brown the garlic. Add the whipping cream and bring to a boil. Lower the temperature, add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until the pasta is finished, stirring often.

Once the pasta has been cooked and drained, return to the pot. Add the whipping cream mixture. Cover the pot with a lid and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it thickens a little bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now I'm off to watch the season finale of Survivor with the family!

My Saturday... squirrels and food - shocker!

I typically love Saturdays, especially now that we have more down time to have our own adventures. Yesterday we had the kids' bowling wind up - ten pin bowling, plaques and pizza. It was fun for all who came. I'm going to miss everyone from the alley - they became such a regular part of our Saturdays! It was also date night last night. Kyle and I watched an episode of Glee, rented 'Unstoppable' (loved it, and found myself screaming at the television on multiple occasions) and ate the yummiest homemade potato chips (from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook) and onion dip. Not boring old onion dip from a container.. or made with the chemical laden boxed onion soup mix. This was real caramelized onions... and it tasted better than any onion dip I've ever had before. It's not exactly a light dip with the cream cheese, mayo and sour cream, but how many dips can claim they are truly light? I found the recipe on Eat Me, Delicious, and almost kept it same. I decided I didn't need to oil, though... it has enough fat in it! It worked wonderfully. Yummy!

Unfortunately, yesterday had a terrible feeling lingering above it all day long. In the morning, as I was eating my breakfast, I heard a sound that made me leap from my chair and exclaim, "The babies!". I ran out the back door to see the two baby squirrels I was just visiting with were still there... but there were three crows circling overhead crying out a horrible sound. The babies seemed pretty safe for the time being. I ran to tell Kyle about the crows, and he came up while I ran upstairs to get dressed. My plan was to run out and scare the crows off. I had just gotten into my bedroom when I heard him curse and say "The crows got two of them!" I admit that I did not handle this in the most mature manner. I flipped out. I cried. I screamed. I got mad at Kyle (and feel awful about it!). I cried some more. I couldn't breathe. The two babies the crows got were in my neighbour's driveway. They weren't the ones who were in our backyard feasting on seeds, they were the other two in the litter. I assume they were trying to get up to, or down from, their nest since it's in the tree in front of my neighbour's yard. One of the babies was still twitching, and Avery wanted to run out and save it. How heartbreaking! Kyle gathered the bodies in a box, and took them out to the woods at the end of our street. I cried some more. I stood in the backyard in the pouring rain, prepared to chase any crows away. I, with the help of my mother and husband, came up with a plan for saving the remaining two squirrels. In the Fall I got a big cage from the local Humane Society. Kyle pulled it out of our shed and we tried to coax them into the cage with food, but that didn't work. Then I pulled out the kids' nets and tried to catch them that way. I was successful at trapping them, but they both managed to get away. I could barely sleep last night knowing they were on their own. I am determined today to get them to a safe place. I will then call a wildlife rehabilitator and see if they can help me deal with this in the right way. I feel so much for these babies - they're defenseless, having not been taught the squirrel rules yet. I really don't want to fail them; they deserve a fighting chance. Wish me luck today!

Edited to add! Guess what we just did? We caught Stonewall!!! Well, my hero husband caught him! I could not be happier that we finally have him in a safe place. He has some of the rat food, and we plan on buying more food later. We also have water and a bed in there (complete with towels) as well as a bunch of sticks he can chew up. I've been reading that a lot of items from nature should be left in the cage, so we have plans to gather some. Happy, happy, happy! One down, one more to go!

For dinner last night I made a slow cooker Dal from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I served it with basmati rice, naan bread and some samosas I made from Vegan with a Vengeance. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Dal - it was pretty bland for me, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy it. Kyle and Avery both added Rooster Sauce to add some heat. I love, love, loved the samosas. They were just little things, but so very satisfying.

Dal

2 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, cut into pieces

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1 1/2 cups dried lentils, washed and picked over

1-15oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups water

salt and freshly ground pepper

Pour the oil into the slow cooker, and turn the heat the high.

Puree the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor until smooth. Place them in the slow cooker and put the lid on.

Stir in the spices (but not salt and pepper) and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.

Turn the setting to low and add the lentils, kidney beans and water. Cook for 6-8 hours. Add salt and pepper before serving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Samosas

dough:

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

about 3 cups all purpose flour (I only used 2 1/2 cups!)

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

filling:

3 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 tbsp vegetable oil plus more for brushing

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp mustard seeds

1 yellow onion, very finely chopped

1 cup carrots, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger root, minced

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup frozen peas, water run over them to remove any freezer ice

Boil the potatoes in water for about 20-25 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375.

To make the dough:

Pour the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add two cups of the flour, turmeric, baking powder and salt. Begin kneading the mixture, adding more flour gradually until a smooth not sticky dough is formed, about 10 minutes.

Set dough aside and cover with a wet cloth. Begin preparing the filling.

To prepare the filling:

In a large skillet (I used our wok) over medium heat, add the oil, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. The seeds with begin to pop. Allow them to pop for 1 minute, but be careful not to get hit by these popping seeds. Add the carrots and onions and saute for 7-10 minutes until the onions begin to brown. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice and saute a minute more. Add the potatoes and mash it all together. Heat it through, and then add the peas and mix well. Set aside.

Divide the dough in half and roll it out thinly. Using a cookie cutter, or a glass upside down, cut 3 to 4 inch circles out of the dough. Place about a 1 or 1 1/2 tsp of the potato mixture into each dough circle and fold it over so it becomes a half circle. The recipe says to wet the dough with water around the edges to make it stick, but mine didn't need it. Continue with the rest of the dough.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the samosas onto the tray, and lightly brush oil on both sides of them.

Cook about 12 minutes on one side, flip them, and cook another 8 minutes. Allow them to cool about 5 minutes before serving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oven Baked Potato Chips

3 Yukon Gold potatoes

salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

Wash the potatoes and then slice them paper thin (very important!). Put them into a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to remove some of the starch. Lay them out on a towel, and dry the slices completely.

Place them onto the prepared baking trays, taking care not to overlap any of them.

Cook them for 10 minutes on one side, flip them all, and cook another 1o minutes on the other side. They should be starting to brown and be crisp. Serve them right away as they are best eaten this way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pan Fried Onion Dip

2 yellow onions, cut in half, and then sliced into 1/8 inch half rounds

4 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 oz cream cheese, left on the counter for 15 minutes to half an hour

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Heat the butter over medium heat, and cook the onions, cayenne, salt and freshly ground black pepper for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature and continue to cook for another 20 minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onion to cool.

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise with an electric mixer. Blend well until there are no lumps. Add the onion and mix well.

Flour tortillas... and more squirrel talk!

I know, more squirrel talk! I imagine there will be a lot of squirrel talk for the next week or two. I'm obsessed! Today there were three babies hanging out in my backyard. I worry about them because they obviously haven't been taught about the rules of being a squirrel. They lay around in the sun in the middle of the grass, not even blinking when I walk out to see them. I worry about neighbourhood cats and big birds and any other animals who may prey on the little guys. Kyle made a makeshift house for them that we sort of shoved as far under the hedge as we could. We put old towels in there, and hope they figure out it'll give them protection and shelter from the rainy week ahead. I've already seen changes in them, though, so I have my fingers crossed that their instincts will kick in and keep them safe. They're just starting to climb now, and it's so cute to watch them.

I love this one!

The littlest guy, who we've named Acorn, was sunbathing and napping right out in the open!

I made flour tortillas for the first time today and they were a huge hit! I didn't realize it was so simple, but this is definitely the way I'll do it from now on. I pretty much love making anything that requires me to knead dough. It's so therapeutic! At any rate, I made these so we could have the kids' wish for Fun Food Friday - tacos. I used the taco method I wrote about here.

Flour Tortillas

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup very hot water

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the shortening, and use a pastry cutter to mix it in until it's crumbly. Add the hot water, and combine well.

Put the dough on a lightly floured counter. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise for 15-20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 16 balls. Roll them in your hands until they are smooth. Roll them out with a rolling pin on a clean counter.

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Do not add oil of any kind! Dry fry them for one minute on one side, flip it, one minute on the other side and then flip it again for a final minute on the first side.