So much food and laughter and pride.

Hopefully you all had a weekend as fabulous as mine! I'm really sad to see it end.

I started the weekend out right with my first Fishbowl Friday! I headed over to Boston Pizza with a bunch of my lovely AMS ladies for a Killer Koolaid fishbowl (the red one is mine!). The night was completely filled with laughter... so much so that my cheeks were in pain for hours after I left. There was much chatting about life - often ending up with our topic of the week - boobies, haha. No, I'm not kidding. :) I'm waiting and ready for the next Fishbowl Friday.

Saturday morning started with a Ballet dance exam for Rhianna - her first one! She was feeling pretty nervous that morning saying she had a sick tummy and a headache. My poor girl. She practiced a few times at home, and then felt much more confident and ready. Coming out of the exam she seemed confident and proud of herself, and that was really all I could ask for. Later that afternoon she also had her first Jazz exam, and felt much less nervous going in. We have since found out her marks, and she got the highest mark she could get for her Ballet exam... I am, once again, so proud of my girl!!! She did very well in her Jazz exam, too, but that one isn't graded at this age. It's a pass or fail, and she passed. You go, my Starshine! I can't wait to read all of the comments the examiner left for Rhianna!

This weekend was also full of playdates for the kids. Between exams, all three kids headed over to the house of their friends'. Kyle and I took Tibbs for a walk around the marina, and down the North Shore Trails. It was really nice to have some time to chat about life and our future without little voices interrupting every few minutes with a new conversation. We were even surprised to see that Tibbs jumped into the Bay! He hated the water last year, so we have hope that this year he's going to come swimming with us at Bon Echo. *fingers crossed* After we got home I headed straight to bed with a terrible pressure headache that wasn't relieved until it started thunder storming. No wonder I love the rain so much!

Today Tiernan headed over to another friend's house, while Avery passed a playdate up because he wanted to be with his family. Awww. ♥ We took another walk by Quinte Bay to show the kids all the houseboats that we drool over, and once again, Tibbs went into the water! Shocking. It was such a gorgeous walk - breezy (but not cold), warm (but not hot) and the sky was blue with beautiful puffy white clouds. When we got home the four of us played some Settlers of Catan to pass time until Tiernan got home (at which point Tibbs ran around in circles with excitement that his whole family was together again - he is such a family dog!). That was the second time Kyle and I played Catan this weekend. We also played last night for Date Night In, and followed it up with a couple of episodes of Being Erica. We've been hooked since the show first came out, but we often don't have the time to watch it when it's on.

And onto the other important stuff - food! We ate lots of good food the past two days that I can share with you. Saturday I made an easy dinner from the Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook - Vegetarian Reuben sandwiches with the roasted garlic potatoes I wrote about in this entry. Date Night's snack was a five layer dip that I got from The Garden of Vegan and de-veganized. Haha. Tonight's dinner was Kung Pao noodles from Rebar and some dry fry tofu marinaded in barbeque sauce from The Garden of Vegan.

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Vegetarian Reuben

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp ketchup

2 tsp white vinegar

pinch of salt

black pepper to taste

pinch of sugar

8oz package of coleslaw mix

8 thin slices of pumpernickel or rye bread, toasted

4 tomatoes, thinly sliced

8 oz thinly sliced swiss cheese

Mix together the mayo, ketchup, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Add the coleslaw mix and mix well.

Place some of the coleslaw on eat slice of toasted bread. Top with the sliced tomatoes and the slices swiss cheese.

Broil in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is nicely melted. Serve open faced.

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Five Layer Dip

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cups refried beans (I made my own since most canned refried beans include lard)

3/4 cup salsa

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Saute the onion and garlic in oil, in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the red pepper, and saute another minute. Add the beans and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, spread half of the bean mixture on the bottom. Layer it with the salsa, sour cream, remaining bean mixture, and cheese.

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BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp Braggs

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tsp vegetarian worchestershire sauce

In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients, and bring to a boil while continuously whisking. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until desired thickness.

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Kung Pao Noodle Sauce

2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp dry sherry

2 tsp sesame oil

1 pod star anise

2 tsp sambal oelek

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1 tbsp cornstarch

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the cornstarch, in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover partially and cook for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 1 tbsp water. Add to the sauce and stir to combine. Cook for 5-10 minutes longer until the sauce thickens. Remove the star anise and use the sauce for any of your favourite vegetable in a stir fry.