Feeling very nervous

So I've got a baking order through my business, Sugarplum Fairy Homebaking, for a birthday cake.  The cake order is for a 1-year old's birthday.  The cake is intended to look like wooden play blocks spelling out the child's name.  

I'm scared.

In general, I've declared that I suck at decorating birthday cakes.  I did very well with the Wilton Dora cake pan but I've had some disasters too.  So, right now, I'm in the middle of a practice cake (I won't be making a lot of money on this order but I will learn a lot so I think it's worth it).  I sure hope it goes well.  Otherwise, I'm in big trouble.

I'm thinking that it might be worth my while to take a course in cake decorating.  I can see a market in this but I want to feel more confident in my abilities.

So, aside from taking care of a sick Emily today, I'll also be working on this cake.  Any tips for successful decorating?  

I'm thinking there may be some liquid courage consumed later to help me through the process.

Quick review of the week

I scrounged up an old and not very good card reader but it did the trick so now I have a few photos to share.

So, last we left my week with Beth, we'd finished a day at home playing in the snow.  On Tuesday morning, we all (Emily included - she took Tuesday and Wednesday off school) got onto the bus and went to Parliament.  Beth (shockingly, given how many times she's been to Ottawa now) had never been inside the hallowed halls so we went in.  We did not do the tour but we did go up the Peace Tower and look around the rotunda.  

After that, we went over to the Tea Store (a must-visit every time she is in town) for tea and treats and to load up on more loose-leaf.  

On Wednesday, dear Julie got us passes to the Museum of Civilization.  We took a (very) quick tour of the totems and Canada Hall before spending the rest of our time in the Children's Museum.  The kids loved it.  We then finished off with lunch in the cafeteria.  Good thing too. Our bus ride home was the longest on memory because of an error by us.  We stupidly decided to take the 8 all the way to Billing's Bridge instead of switching at Hurdman.  Clearly, we didn't know that the 8 past Hurdman becomes a milk run and no kidding it added an extra hour (a full hour!) to our trip home.  The kids handled it well.  Emily declared she had to "hold the poop in her bum" at one point.  But hey, who didn't?

Thursday was an at home day since Emily had a dentist appointment in the morning and chiro after school in the afternoon.  As an aside, the kid amazed me again at the dentist.  At one point I found myself wondering what I did to get such an amazing kid.  She was so excited to get into the chair.  She loved being shown all the instruments.  She got to choose a movie (she chose Dora) and then her attention was taken with that the entire rest of the time.  She didn't even mind the flouride treatment (I remember actually spitting it onto the floor when I was her age).  

My dad and Donna arrived that afternoon and stayed until Saturday.  On Friday, a P.D. day for Emily, we went out to Stony Swamp and attempted to feed the chickadees.  My dad had several land on his hand.  His luck was due to removing himself from the busy toddlers.  Those of us stuck with the under-5 set had no chickadees land on our hands but they came close.   That afternoon Beth and I went to the Chateau Laurier for tea.  We had to beg for a seat as they were all booked up or so we were told.  The hostess made us agree to be gone by 3:00.  We sat down at 2:15.  At 3:30 when we left, the place was still half empty.  Not sure if we were lied to or if there were lots of no-shows but the lesson was two-fold: (1) beg for mercy and you'll get some and (2) make reservations.

On Saturday morning, Emily had swimming and a big crowd watching her from the viewing gallery.  After that we all headed out to Mandarin Ogilvie for Dim Sum.  Awesome!  We ended that Valentine's Day with a nice meal and some chocolate fondue.  Yum.

On Sunday we went down to the canal so Beth could get a taste for Winterlude.  We didn't skate but the ice was pretty nasty anyway.  We pushed the strollers on the canal and ate Beavertails.  It was a totally gorgeous winter day.  A great way for Beth to end her visit.

Smashed stuff, Obama, and birthday cakes

Yesterday I went to upload all my photos from last week only to find that my card reader is a mangled remnant of what it used to be.  Asking around, Hope admitted that she did it but of course couldn't really expand on that.  I don't know what happened but it took a beating and I can no longer insert my memory card in it.  Ugh.  And I can't find my USB cable to hook up the camera so for now, I linger here with no posts about our week with Beth.  

So, we'll move on for now.

Emily is sick.  I'm sick.  John was sick.  Kate was sick.  I guess it was inevitable.  I had a date with a new friend today to go to the Science and Tech Museum but had to cancel.  I'll also have to cancel our chiro appointment which probably isn't a bad thing given that driving across Ottawa today will be a nightmare due to.... you-know-who.

Obama is the big news here today.  He lands around 10:30 and leaves around 6:30 I believe.  The time in between will be a complete frenzy in Ottawa of road closures and hoards of people trying to catch a glimpse of him.  

No, you can't.

We've been told that the best chance is to go to Parliament Hill where, if the mood strikes him, you might get a wave from a car but there is no plan for him to show his face.  Instead, people are just celebrating his arrival with concerts, marches over bridges and the like.  Which I think is very cool.  I'll be at home listening to the radio or watching the CBC when I get the chance.

I have a lot of posts swimming in my head that I need to get down.  I'm determined today to do some of that while my sicky languishes in front of Treehouse or lays in bed.  However, I have to also spend time working on a new baking order.  I've been contracted to do a birthday cake, something I swore I would never do.  Today I'm making cupcakes and doing a trial run on the cake.  I hope it turns out better than some of my other birthday cake attempts (Dora and the sushi cake excepted).

More to come

I realize I have a lot of catching up to do.  I fizzled out blog-wise after Beth's Visit Day 1.  We had a great visit and did lots of fun stuff.  I will document it all.  Right now I'm kind of feeling crappy so I'm going upstairs to make tea and breakfast for the girls.

Beth's visit, Day 1

Oh man, I can't believe my last blog post was on Wednesday of last week.  For some reason, things have been pretty busy around here.

I volunteered in Emily's class on Thursday and Friday last week so my bloggy time was done-for on those days.  On Saturday, we had morning swimming lesson and then a pot-luck lunch at a friend's and then Mike and Cibele were over for dinner.  On Sunday morning, we had church and then Beth arrived on Sunday evening.  Wow, no wonder I haven't blogged in a while.

Beth (and Kate) are here for a week.  Hooray!  It is just a smidge colder here than it is in Texas but so far Kate has handled it well and we even had her out in the sled today.  This morning we went over to the library.  Beth and I made cauliflower-sour cream souffle for dinner (so yummy).  Basically, we eased into our week.  I'm keeping Emily home from school for the next two days so we can venture a little further out (by bus, now that the strike is over!).  Tomorrow we're planning on the Nature Museum and stop at the yarn store.  

What's cooking Wednesday

Around here, supper is often a showdown lately.  Like so many families with toddlers, we battle over food.  I try not to make a big deal of it and offer alternatives but I'm getting pretty tired of the small handful of foods that Hope is willing to eat.  Not to say they aren't healthy choices.  Tonight she asked if we were having broccoli for supper: "Broccoli my FAVOURITE!" she declared.  She's not kidding.  She would easily eat broccoli three meals a day, seven days a week.  So, I can't complain about her vegetable intake.  My complaint is that she won't try anything outside of her comfort zone; she won't try anything new.  

Last night we had a major showdown which resulted in me feeling like a contender for most craptacular mother of the year and her crying in her room and refusing to try what was on her plate in the dining room.   And she is so stubborn that she ended up going to bed without eating anything.  Apparently she has at least one of my traits, according to John.

Tonight I decided to ensure that everything we ate was in her list of "favourites": sausage, oven baked potato wedges, and of course, broccoli.  However, I switched it up a little.  I made the broccoli a little differently, in the way my SIL Cibele makes it.  And it was AWESOME.  And so, if you have a broccoli monster in your house and are tired of steaming or boiling or whatever you normally do, I highly recommend you try this week's feature for my contribution to What's Cooking Wednesday.

Scrumptious Oven Broccoli

Take a head of broccoli or however much you think you'll eat and cut it all up in bite size-ish pieces.  Put it in a loose pile on a large piece of tin foil.  Squeeze about half a lemon on top.  Sprinkle on some good sea salt, some freshly ground pepper, one or two cloves of chopped garlic and half of a finely sliced onion.

Cover that tin foil with another large piece of tin foil and create a packet by crimping the sides together so steam won't escape.  Put it in the oven at about 350F.  Check it after about 20 minutes.  I like it firm but not crunchy.  Just keep it baking until it is how you like it.

Delicious!  and simple and full of vitamins.  Hope ate it all up with no complaints of course. Right before she lit the oven mitt on fire.  More on that tomorrow.

Time to do some serious catching up on the best show on tv: Battlestar Gallactica.  Woot!

Muscles I've ignored for too long

Last night I did something wonderful.  I went cross-country skiing in Gatineau Park with a group of women, most of whom I know very well and two who I didn't know at all.  We had a great time.

We skied a trail that was ENTIRELY UPHILL for the 45 minutes or so that it took to reach the cabin.  It was a gradual uphill but uphill nonetheless.  The cabin is one of several in the Park.  There are lots of picnic tables and a woodstove, outhouses, pretty much what you need for a warm break during a ski.  We brought great food for a lovely supper together there including a good amount of wine.  

After filling ourselves, we skied back down the long uphill.  That ski back was a lot of fun and took only about 20 minutes if that.  Thankfully most of us came equipped with headlamps.

By the time we reached the cabin I knew I was in for some pain today.  I was wondering why my ovaries were aching when I knew I didn't engage those muscles for skiing.  It later occurred to me that those would be my groin muscles and they were screaming at me.  

By the time I crawled into the car for the drive home, I knew I was in trouble.  As soon as I got in the house, I ran a hot bath with my wonderful Aveeno Oatmeal Bath stuff and soaked until I could no longer keep my eyes open.  

I did well on the ski considering I haven't skied since Emily was in utero.  Before that point in my life I'd spent a lot of time on my XC skis.  Luckily it came back pretty quickly.  My muscles don't have the same memory (or strength) apparently.

All this blathering to say that I plan to spend way more time on my skis for the rest of this winter and reap the benefits of the beauty of Ottawa in wintertime and the benefits of getting this body back into shape.

The noise! Oh, the noise, noise, noise, noise!

There is something lovely about being in a very warm bed under a thick but light duvet in the dark on a winter morning listening to someone else's snowshovel scraping their driveway of the 25 cm of snow that fell. I actually don't mind being woken up by that sound. It reminds me that this is Ottawa. This is our experience. As neighbours we share it together. But I have the luxury of not having to do that before going to work because my work is right here in this house.

I was dreamily listening to that sound this morning when it was interrupted by the whine of a machine. It was a pretty loud machine and in my dozy fog I wondered why someone was running a chainsaw or a lawnmower at 6:00 in the morning. And it didn't stop. It continued to interrupt the sound of the shovels outside and, more importantly, my sleep.

It took me at least 3 minutes to realize that my neighbour, who recently bought a snowblower, thought it was okay to run it at 6:00 am.

Our street has been free of snowblowers until last week. It was an idyllic existence I now realize. Why do people think it's okay to run thouse things so early? They are helpful I'm sure but they are so downright annoying to the senses. I can see the need for them if you are quite old or at serious risk of a heart attack or if you have a crazy long driveway but if you live on my street, a street of attached houses and shared driveways, the last does not apply.

In too many cases, the snowblower is an exercise in laziness.

This year I've enjoyed shovelling the driveway. On a snowy day I go out there and do it several times and the kids play in the snow while I do it or help me with their little shovels. It's lovely. And would not be lovely at all with a snowblower.

And that is the end of my curmudgeonly rant of this morning. Time for porridge.

The cost of making a swimmer

We had an uneventful weekend, which sometimes is the best kind. Our major event lately on weekends is Emily's swimming lessons. Emily had her second swimming lesson on Saturday morning. Last week went really well, much better than I expected. She's taking her lessons at Carleton. The class is small - just four kids and often two instructors. The kids stand on a table in the water. Emily fell off the table twice, went under, was caught by the instructor and thought it was the best thing that she dunked under water.

This week was a bit different.

She started to get frustrated that she couldn't do everything really well, like swim for example, after two weeks. She started to get anxious about dunking with her instructor. She didn't like the splashing that one of the boys is constantly doing and in her defence, even as a pacifist, I would have given him the 'ole knuckle sandwich at that point. Just before it was her turn to dunk she turned to me and said "I don't want to do swimming lessons anymore." I went to talk to her "poolside" to tell her how important it is to learn to swim and how she had fun last week and just tell G to stop splashing you. And then it was her turn to dunk. She looked at her teacher, started to cry and said "I don't want to dunk!".

It was clear that at that moment, her instructor's heart melted just a little bit. I could see it in her face. She just hugged Emily and said "We don't have to dunk" and then just put their faces in the water instead. Class ended shortly after that but not before Emily got to swim around with her pool noodle. That restored things. A little bit.

Afterwards she seemed to get how important this is in life and that we've paid for these and we'll keep going. I did agree that she can skip the week during Beth's visit (yes, Beth's visit!). I also told her I'll try and take her swimming once this week to practise dunking and floating. Just the two of us.

I have some bad memories of swimming lessons. Although I'm a good swimmer and love to swim lengths for exercise I have a very healthy fear of the water that started when I was a kid. I still get it sometimes when I can't quite get my breath. I spent a lot of my time crying in swimming lessons and begging to go home with my mum. I remember one particular time I was supposed to swim halfway down the pool, turn around and come back with my friends. My mum was sitting in the on-deck gallery at the other end of the pool. I just kept on dog-paddling past the mid-way point right to the gallery with my instructor wondering what the heck I was doing. I was making a break for it.

I don't want Emily's memories to be the same as mine. I want her to have fun and look forward to swimming lessons. I told her about my memories a little bit of swimming and how I was scared and sometimes sad but now I'm really glad my mum made me go because now I'm a great swimmer and really love it. I hope this helps her and doesn't scar her for life.

Hope's first haircut

I know. It's a little hard to believe. Hope is almost 2 and a half and until Wednesday had not had a proper haircut. She'd had a few little snips off the bangs. But that's it.

She has beautiful curls. Gorgeous in fact. She gets comments from strangers whenever we're out. But it was starting to look pretty bad if she had a hat on (which is every day right now) or just woke up or if, ahem, someone forgot to brush it that day. She was starting to look like THOSE KIDS. Those kids whose parents don't realize how bad their hair looks and why don't you just CUT YOUR KID'S DAMN HAIR ALREADY. Yeah, that was me. This parent. This parent with the kid with the really straggly hair that was always in her face and looking totally wild.

Which isn't totally inconsistent with her personality really.

Wednesday was the big day. We were all booked in. Me first. Then Emily's turn in the chair. Emily is the prefect hair-cutting role model. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this child doesn't move a muscle when she is getting her hair cut. From the beginning she has been amazing at it. Since she had her first haircut at age 1, she only has cried once. And she really loves it.

Hope watched but still was pretty resistant. Of course, knowing Hope, I knew I could force it without too much complaint. She knows now when I mean business and will generally bend to my will (unless it has to do with food or the toilet. Then I'm cooked). So, after pouting and complaining for the token two or three minutes, she agreed to sit on my lap. Her hair-cutting genes kicked in and she obeyed Michel's every instruction and earned herself the coveted lollipop. She didn't let the event go by without giving Michel the evil eye a couple of times. She's an expert at the evil eye and the pouty lip.


Since I was trapped under Hope, Emily was the photographer and didn't do too badly, I'd say. Of course, I gathered some of her baby curls from the floor and tucked them away for safekeeping.

I'm happy to report however that the curls are still there. In spades.

What's cooking Wednesday

Officially it is Thursday morning just after 6:00. The last two mornings Hope has decided to a previous habit of getting up really early. It's not as bad as when she got up at 5:15 or so every morning for about a month but it's still too early for my liking. I got sucked into Lost last night and decided to forgo putting up my WCW post but now here I am at 6:00 with no paper, most of the house still slumbering and having read most of the blogs I read every morning. So, here is my recipe from this week.

I'm into soup and other comfort foods right now. I'm trying to expand my soup repertoire beyond the one recipe I always make (squash soup). This week I tried a pumpkin concoction that I knew wouldn't be a winner with the kids but appealed to John and I. It's from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry.

Gourdian Angel (silky pumpkin soup with apples and ginger)

2 tsp olive oil or butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp grated gingerroot
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups peeled, chopped Granny Smith apples
2 cups canned pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling - that would be very gross)
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup evaporated milk or light cream

Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook and stil until onions begin to soften about 3 minutes. Add gingerroot, curry powder and ground cumin. Mix well and cook for 30 more seconds.

Add broth, apples, pumpkin, carrots, salt and pepper. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Stir occasionally.

Working in two batches, transfer soup to blender and puree until smooth. (I just used an immersion blender right in the soup pot - way easier.) Soup will be very thick. Return soup to pot and stir in milk or cream. Serve hot.

Thoughts: I really liked this soup. It wasn't nearly as sweet as squash or sweet potato soup. I could taste the curry and ginger really easily (so if you don't like those flavours, don't make this). It make a lot so we have a meal (for John and I anyway) in the freezer which is great. One of the best things about this soup is how fast it is from start to finish. You could easily have dinner on the table in 30 minutes.

And now, time for a coffee and a check on the paper again!

A different winter

I realized yesterday how much more I am enjoying this winter compared to last year. It is no surprise I guess. The shear amount of snow we had last year made it difficult to avoid being edgy and a little depressed at how long it would take for the grass to show in the spring.

We have a good amount of snow this year but it is a normal amount. The grass has probably a foot and a half in the back yard. Of course, our front has the usual mountain from shoveling but that's our play area and we had a lot of fun with it last night.

After supper the girls had more than the usual amount of verve and it was driving John and I a bit batty. The driveway needed one more shoveling so John suggested I take the girls outside with me (interesting how he suggested that I take them outside while he stay in the nice warm house. Hm. Nice one!). We had a great time out there. We climbed and climbed and laughed and fell.

I've never taken them out to play after supper before during the winter. Usually that's our wind-down time but I'm going to do it more often. It set them up to have a great sleep and be totally worn out.

Me too, actually.

I'm also finding more ways to enjoy this winter myself. I've developed a nice routine of skating the canal of Monday evenings with Julie and Meredith. Even if the ice conditions are crappy, like last night (there were actually three guys mountain biking on the canal if that tells you anything), we have a great time together and it is wonderful to be outside on a winter night. This weekend I hope to go cross-country skiing for the first time in years. My ass will feel it the next day without a doubt.

How are you enjoying this winter?

Mom Central Review: Special K Crackers

Disclosure: I'm part of a Mom Central blog tour for Special K Crackers. I received a free sample and will receive a $20 Amazon gift certificate in remuneration.

As part of Mom Central, I'm sent a number of offers to try different products. I'm very particular about what I'll try. When the Special K Crackers came up I knew this would be one suited to my main audience of a two-year-old and a four-year-old who both LOVE crackers. I buy a lot of crackers but I'm quite particular about what I'll buy. They have to be whole grain and they have to be made in a peanut-free facility so Emily can take them to school.

I had no real idea what I was getting from Special K. The box I received contained one box of lunch-sized packets of Multi-Grain Crackers and a traditional-style box of Italian Tomato-Herb Crackers. I tore open the Multi-Grain first and handed them over to two ravenous children. Within minutes they were both upstairs asking for more. A ringing endorsement to be sure.

The Special K crackers are small, perfect for a child's hands and to ensure they don't eat too many in one sitting. I also appreciate the snack-size packets. It's a very easy snack to pack when leaving the house. The flavour is great. It is slightly sweet but not sugary and it is crunchy, almost like a Wheat Thin, and has the nutty flavour of whole grains. I'll definitely be buying this for our snack cupboard.

And for those of us trying to lose a few Christmas pounds, a serving is 17 crackers and only has 90 calories. Additionally each serving has 8 grams of whole grains.

The Italian Tomato-Herb wasn't a hit with the kids. I liked it but did prefer the Multi-Grain. However, I think the Tomato-Herb would be an excellent cracker to go under herbed brie or any kind of sharp cheese for that matter and excellent to use with a dip. I'm thinking a warm artichoke dip would go really well with this cracker.

And now that I've got a craving for some crackers, I think I'll head upstairs for a snack. Too bad the kids ate all the Multi-Grain!

My morning laugh

Last night I had a bath and left my discarded clothes from the day in a pile in the bathroom (it was late). This morning Emily found them.

E (letting my bra hang from the end of her finger with her other hand on her hip): And whose might this be?! Shouldn't this be on your boobies by now?

That is a word-for-word transcript. That's exactly what she said. "Whose might this be?" How old is she?

My word, where does she get this stuff?

"People will pay you to be inhumane!"

Yesterday was Emily's first visit to the dentist. Yes, I know, some doctors and most dentists tell parents to take their kids when they turn 1. My doctor and a dentist-acquaintance both told me not to take the kids until they are 4, when they're more likely to sit with their mouth open and listen to instructions.

My plan was to take Emily soon but the date was moved up by her face-plant during our Christmas tree cutting. About a week after that accident one of her front top teeth started to turn grey and she complained of pain in her gums above that tooth.

She was very stressed about the idea of a visit to the dentist. I promised her to find her a kids-only dentist and, on her insistence, it had to be a woman. After an Internet search I discovered Kids and Teens Dentistry in Bells Corners, pretty much the only show in town dedicated to pediatric dentistry. It was a pretty good drive from our house but as you'll see, totally worth it.

Well, as usual, Emily surprised me completely. She was really excited to go. When we got there, the two girls headed into the Kids Room to watch Dora and play with the toys (which included a full Thomas Train Table). By the way, they also have a video game room for older kids and teens with an XBox 360 I'm told. After I completed all the paper work and Emily had her photo taken for their records, she went into the examination room, the Playground Room (all of the rooms have hand-painted murals of different themes). She jumped into the chair ready to go. First thing was x-rays. I personally hate dental x-rays but Emily was perfect. She didn't complain and held perfectly still. When the dentist came in to count her teeth and examine them quickly, Emily held her mouth open and answered all the questions. By this time, Hope had found us and was begging to sit in the chair too. The wonderful dentist put both of them in the chair and gave them a ride up and down.

The x-rays showed trauma to the root but the dentist said that we'll wait and see. It could repair itself; it could get worse. We'll go back in 5 weeks to have more x-rays and a cleaning and find out what's going on.

In the meantime, the dentist recommended that Hope have her first appointment soon. I agreed since she seemed happy to be there and keen to have her turn and so she'll get her chance in April.

The end of the visit meant each girl got to choose a treasure from the purple treasure chest. Why aren't there adult dentists like that? I think a lot people would be more willing to go if they gave us toys out of a purple treasure chest.

Meanwhile, I notice that our insurance company won't cover us for the x-ray of Emily's front teeth. WTF? That's $40 this time and $40 next time. I'll be calling them today to complain. It probably won't do any good, but I want to know the why.

All in all, it was an amazing experience, which I've never said about a trip to the dentist before. I like my dentist but I don't like going at all, like most people. While Emily will now have good thoughts about the dentist, for me, I see the dentist a bit more like this:

Bake me up: a search for some new and not-so-new recipes

I'm back at it in the kitchen. The Fairy is looking through her collection for some new and not-so-new recipes to add to my repertoire for Sugarplum Fairy Homebaking for Valentines and Easter.

There are a few specific things that I've learned through my Christmas experience to look for in a new recipe (and ones that I've made for our family as well). They are:

• price of ingredients: I now know by looking through the ingredient list whether the recipe will be costly to sell or not. I'm willing to have a few higher priced items in there but I do like to keep my costs low so that I can sell for a competitive price.
• fussiness: I'm a good baker and I don't mind a few steps to get to the end product but if there is a high element of fussiness, the recipe isn't likely to make the final lineup. I can't spend too much time on single recipes in the kitchen. I just don't have the time as a one-person operation and that alone eats into my profit.
• good looks do matter: to me, at home, taste is everything but the reality when you are selling baking is that looks do matter. I test every recipe for looks. This is particularly important for squares. If I can't cut it and have it look good, I won't sell it. For example, I made a new square the other day, a chocolate marshmallow concoction. It tasted very good but it was uglier than a hedge fence. It will not be seen outside our four walls.
• freezing capability: I have to make things that freeze well. This is for two reasons: the first is so that I can make a pan of 36 squares, sell some fresh and freeze the rest for another order. If I'm not able to do this, I won't make any money and I'll gain a lot of weight eating my leftovers. The second reason is so that customers can freeze the baking until they need it or freeze their leftovers. I've found that people really value this.

And so, right after this I'll be back upstairs trying out something new. There will be new photos to follow as well and I hope a new logo and, at some point, a proper website. For now though, I'll be focusing on some great spring recipes that will take us through to the fall. I talk about some of them on the website. Should you want to place any orders in advance, just drop me an email (contact info is on the Sugarplum website).

A couple of unrelated updates:

I went and talked to my neighbour about the cat/bird problem. She was really good about it and sympathetic to the birds. Her problem is that one of her cats, the one Emily has named Mr. Sylvester, won't use a litter box and so scratches at the door to do his thing outside. She's tried collars with bells but the cats get them off somehow. She's going to talk to her vet and try to limit their time outside during the birds' feeding time. Summer won't be an issue since I won't have feeders up then. For me it is a winter thing.

It seems Emily has a couple of admirers in her class. Apparently one little boy, Karim, brought flowers to school for her. Emily, being Emily, said she couldn't take them until she asked her mummy if it was okay. When she asked me I tried to get a sense of what was going on here (I mean she's getting flowers in JK?! Maybe they were crayon on paper) but made the assumption that this was all typical cute 4-year old stuff. She assured me the flowers were real and he'd bring them back the next day so she could get them. I told her they'd probably be dead by then. She insisted they'd be fine (Emily knows everything or didn't you know that?). When I asked her why she didn't take them the first time she said that Mrs. B has told them that they shouldn't give away their things to the other kids because then they wouldn't have anything of their own (JK kids are very generous I've noticed. Sometimes.). And Emily is stickler for the rules. Remember her "sense of justice"?

Today I found out more of the story from my neighbour, Selma, who is Emily's best friend Mohammed's mum. She said that Mohammed wants to bring Emily a gift because Karim did and now Mohammed is all put out because Emily sat with Karim on the bus one day and not Mohammed (as is the general practice). Good Lord Almighty, did I suddenly drop into a Sweet Valley High novel?

I found this all hilarious, as did Selma, if not a little odd for JK... I mean I expected this in a few years but not quite yet. What is so funny for me is that I know that Emily is completely and wonderfully oblivious to all of this, to Mohammed being perturbed or even why he would be. I know she would say that "it's nice to sit with different people" or "I like to be friends with everyone." I love that about her. I love that she doesn't get caught up in stuff like this so far. I hope that doesn't change. And she is generally unaware of her own appeal so that she would have no idea that kids would be apt to challenge each other over her attention.

And lastly, the toilet training is on hold. Hope is so far from ready and I promised myself not to relive the showdowns I had with Emily. I'll wait a couple of more weeks and give it another try and then just keep trying that to see how it goes.

It seems that I've significantly eaten into my baking time. It looks like I might have to have a junior assistant at my side today, after she gets off the bus, that is.

A backyard for the birds

During our 24Days of Christmas, one of our activities was to feed the birds. In preparation for that I bought a Nyger seed birdfeeder at Lee Valley. It declared itself to be squirrel-proof and given our resident squirrel population that was a must in any birdfeeder we put in our tree.

And so, I hung the birdfeeder in mid-December hoping for the best. It was chalk full of Nyger seed.

The first three weeks there was nary a bird on that feeder. I was disappointed. Moreso than the girls for sure. When we lived for a short year in Peterborough right along the Otanabee River, one of my greatest pleasures was watching all the birds at the feeders and in our garden. I even kept a journal to record all the different birds that visited. There were a lot. I didn't do any of the work of attracting them. That was due to years of work by the neighbours.

Since then, I've wanted birdfeeders but hadn't done anything about it until this year. And then, nada.

Until a week ago.

I was in the kitchen when John told me to look out the window. The feeder was covered in birds. They were mostly sparrows I thought. Nothing against sparrows but I wanted something more interesting as well. And then, when I looked closer, I realized that many of them were finches, their bright yellow bellies dimmed by the winter sun. Hooray!

And then the squirrels knocked the feeder down. Twice. Off to Hope Depot to buy chain and clips and things that squirrels couldn't break. I re-hung the feeder and put up another one: a suet feeder. Now I was getting greedy. Could I actually attract a woodpecker in my urban back yard?

The suet feeder sat unused for the last several days. This morning a chickadee inspected it but swung back to the Nyger feeder.

To add to the complication, my neighbour's free-to-roam cats parked themselves above the feeder in the tree today scaring off everything for a couple of hours. When I finally hit bottom about the cats, I called the city to make a complaint. As I was on the phone with the attendant, I looked out the window. No cats but lots of birds. And then, lo and behold, a bird came out of nowhere scaring off the small birds. The larger bird landed on the suet feeder, its bright red head gleaming in the sun. My first downy woodpecker.

It must have improved my mood because I told the attendant on the phone that I would go over and talk to my neighbour about her cats before I make a formal complaint.

Let's hope she is reasonable and concedes about keeping her cats inside during the day so the poor birdies can feed without being pegged off. Unfortunately her cats have a killer instinct.

So, today I am celebrating my woodpecker in the city. So lovely.

The new Dr. Chapstick

Emily and Hope are suffering from very chapped lips this winter. The result is that I have a large supply of lip balms stashed in various places in the house, the diaper bag and my coat. Emily has a big preference for the orange-flavoured Kids Kiss My Face Organic Lip Balm in my coat.

She retrieved it herself this morning out of the pocket of my ski jacket. About 30 minutes later it was time to leave for church, I had my coat on and she needed a re-application. We couldn't find it in my pocket where it should have been.

Me: Emily, where is the orange lip balm? Did you put it back in my coat liked I asked you to?
E: Um.
Me: I asked you to put it back, remember?
E: (thinking for a while and then.... ) Put your hand in your pocket. Do you feel something round?
Me: No.....Did you put it back in here?
E: (said as though her eyebrows were fully raised and very matter-of-factly and with great enthusiasm) No!

It loses something in the transcription I think but John and I were almost peeing our pants.

Almost as funny as.....

A protesting body

This week I've done something, twice in fact, that I haven't done in a very long time: exercise. I've wanted to exercise and had grand plans but either I didn't have time or found excuses not to find the time.

On Tuesday I went to a new yoga class that I've registered for at our local community centre. I've taken a good amount of yoga over the last several years and never considered it exercise, per se. This class was different. I was aching by the end, in a good way. I broke a sweat. This wasn't even deemed power yoga. It was hatha yoga. I would not want to be in a power yoga class led by her. I would have been crawling out the door. Having said all that, I did enjoy it. It just wasn't what I expected but it will do me good if not give me the relaxing evening I expected.

And then last night I joined two friends on the canal for a skate. Armed with a flask of Bailey's and dressed in three layers on legs and torso, we had a great time and were fully prepared for the minus 20 temperatures.

I really love skating the canal at night. The canal isn't very busy with skaters, I enjoy the quiet of the city at night (and yes, Ottawa is quiet at night. We're a sleepy city), and of course, I like the risk of the cracks you have to navigate with no lights. Okay, that actually is a bit scary for an iffy skater like myself. And I did have one wipe out but no injuries.

I can't wait to do it again, especially now that the canal is open, as of this morning, almost the full length. Welcome, winter!

What's cooking Wednesday

I made trifle for dessert on Christmas Day. It was awesome but I was left with some scrap pieces of pound cake. Since I had already started to think about reusing things more effectively I put the pieces of cake in the freezer. John pulled them out yesterday and we collaboratively came up with the idea of a Karen and John Pound Cake Pudding, essentially a bread pudding without the bread. Tonight I pulled it all together and it RULED. Here is the recipe:

Pound Cake Pudding

• 3 cups broken up pieces of pound cake (if you don't have that laying around you can use old bread but I think this was WAY better than bread pudding made with bread. Much less mushy but still soft with custard. Heaven!)
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/8 tsp (or so) ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp (or so) cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 500 ml half and half or light cream
• about a 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  

For topping: (I didn't make this but I'm sure it would be good. Instead, I used a caramel sauce made by Emily's teacher that I got as a thank you gift. Delicious!)

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp corn syrup

• 1/3 cup pecan pieces (toasted and chopped) - I didn't use this either. Instead I toasted some pistachios I had left from Christmas baking. It was a great combination.

Instructions:
In large bowl, stir together white sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Measure and set aside 1 tbsp of half and half. Add all but that one tbsp of half and half to the egg mixture and whisk. Stir in cake cubes and cranberries. Let stand 15 minutes.

The recipe that I used to guide me through the custard mixture for this soaks some raisins in bourbon. I elected to leave out the alcohol tonight and replaced the raisins with cranberries. It was a great substitution. Next time however, I might soak them in Grand Marnier which John and I agreed would be great with the cranberries. If you choose to go the raisin/bourbon route, just soak them in 2 tbsp bourbon for about 15 minutes and then add in to the mixture when you soak the cake/bread.

Preheat oven to 325 (300 convection). Pour bread mixture into a greased loaf pan (recipe said an 8x8 cake pan but I chose the loaf pan and it worked great for slicing and serving). Bake 45 to 50 minutes (43 minutes convection) until knife inserted near centre comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 30 minutes.

So to make the sauce above that I didn't make, the recipe says: In 1-quart saucepan, heat reserved 1 tbsp half and half, brown sugar, butter and corn syrup to boiling over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in pecans. Serve pudding drizzled with praline sauce.

As I mentioned above I used Mrs. B's caramel sauce. First, I whipped some whipping cream. I put a thick slice of pudding in each bowl, put a good sized dollop of cream on each piece, sprinkled on the toasted pistachios and then put a spoonful of caramel sauce on top.


I don't think I have to tell you how good this was.

I love anything with custard in it. The pound cake was creamy with the custard but not too mushy. The cranberries offset the sweetness of the pudding and caramel really well and I loved the crunch of the pistachios. This was such a winner that I can see myself making a pound cake to have in the freezer just to make this again.

But first I'll have to get a gym membership.

A smattering of Christmas photos... mostly for John

John mentioned to me that the blog has been sparse on photos for the last while. I realized that I hadn't put up any Christmas photos. Seems almost past the time now but John is needing some for his computer at work so I'll put them up here for all to see. Whether you want to or not.



Hmmm. I think I know why I didn't post any photos. Most of them were crap. The good ones were taken by my dad and his awesome camera putting my pathetic point and shoot to shame. Add to that that for most of Christmas I was huddled in a nauseatic ball of misery and the result was very few photos. And so, this is what we're left with.

That's more like it

I don't know who that kid was the other night that pooped on the potty but she was nowhere to be found around here yesterday.

My very good friend, Shan, just blogged about her potty struggles with her daughter Maya. Seems we may be in the same boat after all as Hope is almost as stubborn as Shan's description of Maya.

Yesterday I pulled out the underwear. Hope was thrilled to wear it but also didn't seem to mind peeing in it and then pooping in some training pants. Too gross for words.

And so, since it was naptime by that point I put diapers back on and gave up for the rest of the day. I know, that is a no-no in the world of potty training but I don't care.

My other problem is Emily, the mother hen to defeat all mother hens. She can't help but scold Hope or give her opinion and continue to tell Hope how to do it or interrupt me when I'm trying to talk to Hope about the potty and how to take underwear off etc. Emily is very excited about this whole process and can't help herself but it really makes it more challenging for me.

And so, Shan, seems we're in the same boat but as the saying goes, misery loves company, right?

This kid keeps surprising me

Hope often surpasses my expectations and tonight was no different.

I've been telling her, almost everyday this week, that she'll be starting to learn to use the potty this week and that if she has any successful deposits, she'll earn Smarties. She's been excited. The girl loves her Smarties.

She has occasionally asked to try the potty but her only successes so far, barring one accidental pee, has been some resounding gas. I keep telling her that toot-toots don't equal Smarties.

Tonight she walked over, sat down, grunted a few times and dropped a bomb in there. Like it was an everyday occurrence. And excuse me, but where is my Smartie?

You could say I was floored. You could also say that no toddler has every received such praise and adulation.

For her, she was more interested in why that Smartie was not yet in her hand.

And so perhaps it won't be the trial that I experienced with Emily. I'm not making any bets though. I'm expecting some hard times ahead but so far, as with most things, Hope has surprised me and surpassed my expectations and made life a little easier.

What a gal!

Resolving to reuse

I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions. Every year in public school, I remember having to write New Year's Resolutions in January and racking my brain to think of something worthwhile to write down. It seemed to me even then that if I needed to change something in my life I would just do it when needed. I didn't need the start of the year to tell me that.

And so it has gone since I was in public school. I can't remember any year in which I made a New Year's Resolution.

That all changes in 2009. I have one this time.

Just one.

It dawned on me as I read an article in the Ottawa Citizen in late December that Western culture has lost the practice of reusing. We're pretty good at recycling. We're getting better at reducing (although still need to work a lot harder in that department). We used to be good at reusing before recycling or reducing were given any thought.

The article I read was about the 1930s and how families, particularly women, dealt with the depression. Although it wasn't a main point of the article, what spoke to me most was how much better families were at reusing clothing, food, anything they had that could be used another day or for another purpose.

I often recycle tin foil that could easily be reused. I'm good at reusing plastic ziploc bags but not good about saran wrap. I have very neat piles of fabric that I could be using to make clothes for the girls. I have a set of curtains that will make two very cute sundresses. I throw out too many leftovers that would be great in soup or make a nice meal for the birds and squirrels. Too many craft materials are put in the recycling bin when I'm sure we could use them for another craft.

I'm really very poor at reusing water. I let the tap run to get the hot water going when I could be catching that water for use in the cappuccino maker or to water the plants or make the next pot of tea.

I'm sure there are ideas I haven't thought of yet and if you have some, I'd love to hear them.

And so, I resolve to work very hard this year to reuse. I'll do my best to keep track of my successes and failures here so I can review next December. Please feel free to throw your ideas or your successes and failures in reusing my way.

Two nights, two movies

Being the social animals we are, living the high life here in Canada's capital, frequenting all the hippest, coolest parties, rubbing shoulders with Canada's political elite, you KNOW that we had to turn down all kinds of invitations for last night in order to stay home, put the kids to bed and watch a movie. And that the movie must have been GREAT in order for us to say no to so many great chances to ring in the new year. And so, I must tell you about the movie we saw last night as well as the one we watched tonight (which we watched right after getting home from a great family-style party at our friend's, Pete and Julie's.)

Last night we watched Run, Fat Boy, Run. It was lighthearted and hilarious but had a great heart. A perfect New Year's movie. And, to make it that much better, it had that guy in it whose name John always has to tell me and that I could find on IMDB for you but really, who wants to do that? He's that guy from Hot Fuzz and Spaced. Not the fat guy. The other guy. You know. He's realized that the girl he left pregnant at the alter ten years earlier was the ONE and to prove to her that he has changed and is responsible he decides to run a marathon. Cue hilarity.

The movie we saw tonight was Ghosttown. It had one huge thing going for it: Ricky Gervais. He plays a similar character to the one he played in Extras. Almost as big a dink and just as funny. Maybe funnier. No, that's not possible. Anyway, he's a guy who undergoes surgery, dies for a few minutes and wakes up to find that he can see all the ghosts of Manhattan. The ghosts figure it out quickly too and start asking him to get closure for him. It's absolutely hilarious and sweet. Very sweet.

So, there are two great movie recommendations for you for the next time you have to come up with an excuse not to attend all those parties that I know you too have all over your calendars.

Happy New Year

I did this little meme last year and it was fun so I'm doing it again to ring in the first day of the year.

Below is the first line of the first post of each month from the last year.

January
As I was glancing over my large cookbook collection just before Christmas, I had one of those moments I occasionally have, an angst moment, when I wish I spent more time in more of my cookbooks.

February
That has to be my most unoriginal post title so far.

March
Tonight John and I are going out.

April
Hope has a little Jerry Seinfeld in her or so I thought.

May
Last night was the second of three birthday parties we have been to or will be to this week.

June
John left very early yesterday morning for his big annual conference "The Learneds."

July
I'm sooooo frustrated!

August
All right, so today is actually The Civic Holiday.

September
And my brain doesn't really move that fast.

October
First off: Beth and Kate are coming tonight!

November
We've been sick around here.

December
First, I can't let the news develop any longer without commenting, knowing as you do what a political junkie I tend to be (although I don't mention it or discuss it here very often).


And what did I learn from this year's exercise?

I really need to work on my opening lines. YAWN!

And now vacation starts....

As of December 27 I felt like myself again mostly. The other adults in the house were much better too. So, the last day of Omi's visit was more energetic.

In the midst of some nasty rain, we drove around Parliament to look at the Christmas lights. The following day we went for a long walk beside the canal and out for lunch to one of our favourite burger places, The Works.

On Monday morning, Omi left Ottawa quite early. Knowing the girls would be in a funk for the day because of that, I took the lot of us (minus John) to the Nature Museum. Last year we spent a lot of our mornings at museums or swimming pools or preschool or the library. Since Emily started school we haven't done much of that. A 12:00 start time means there isn't time in the morning for big outings. Even a trip to the library makes it difficult for her to get to the bus on time.

It was so nice to spend the morning seeing a museum again. We had a great time. This was the first time Hope has been able to walk around the entire museum without being held or pushed in the stroller (clearly it's been a while since we've been there). We lingered in the cafeteria and checked out all the bugs and creatures that had been watching us snack. We watched the movie about the asteroid that led to the demise of the dinosaurs. The girls made a jelly-fish craft. They spent time playing in the wild bird rescue centre. All in all, it was a blast.

And as much as they missed having Omi around, they were happy as could be.

Yesterday morning we had a play date with friends. It meant that I got to drink lots of coffee with my friend Dawn while our girls played.

Today I think we'll head to the swimming pool after a stop at the fabric shop for me.

I do love having no afternoon obligations! And Emily hasn't mentioned missing school in days.

Christmas under a rock

It seems I spoke too soon. This flu is still in full swing although I feel marginally better today. Yesterday, Christmas Day, was not what I had hoped it would be. In most most wallowly moments I feel that I ruined Christmas. More for me than anyone else though I suppose.

There are a few good moments I want to share however. On Christmas Eve, the girls put out the milk and cookies and carrots for Rudolph. After they were in bed, one of the logs from the fire rolled forward and smashed one of the glass doors on the fireplace. We decided to blame it on Santa, wrote a note from the big fellow apologizing to Emily and Hope and thanking them for the cookies. Christmas morning we all came down and I put on my best actress and was shocked by the state of the fireplace door. Emily ate it up. She was amazed that Santa's fat tummy broke the door. I think we'll talk about this for years to come. It was great.

The girls loved their gifts and we had a good time opening them as usual. The girls' favourites were:

• the water colouring book from Beth
• The Leapfrog LeapPad from Santa (I actually bought it used)
• the princess wand and dress-up jewellery from Omi
• the pirate ship from Papa
• the cash register from Papa

The grown-ups did well too. In fact, I'm still wearing my new pyjamas which I love, love, love. Not only because they came with a scarf!

After lunch things turned sour for me health-wise. I was in a lot of pain. I limped through Christmas dinner but didn't even taste the turkey or stuffing which looked awesome. I was in bed by 6:30 and slept until 8:00 this morning (save for 2 wake-ups by Hope. Grrrr.).

I'm trying to dwell on yesterday's good moments. However, the downer of today is that Omi has now contracted our illness making us all feel doubly worse. I guess misery loves company.

Let's hope for a better Boxing Day.

Out from under my rock

One by one we have fallen. First Emily. Then John. Then me. Last night, Hope. We just weren't strong enough to battle this one. The stomach flu won.

And in fact, there still seems to be some sort of minor battle going on. Mainly in colons and what not.

Happily it seems we'll all be well enough by Christmas Day and you can bet none of us will be putting on the typical Christmas poundage.

I'm better now. The kitchen and other house surfaces are disinfected and life, and baking, goes on.

Rose, my MIL, is arriving by train as we speak and I am going to go upstairs and do a bit more cleaning and some gift wrapping. And likely have a cup of peppermint tea as well.

I hope that you are all winning your battles, colon-related and otherwise.

Christmas underway

Last day of school? Check.

Basement cleaned? Check.

Upstairs mopped? Check.

Kitchen and main floor tidied? Nope.

Presents wrapped? Nope.

Baking completed for home and for sale? Nope.

Father and wife currently on their way to my house? Check.

Yikes!

What's cooking Wednesday - Ultimate Party Meatballs

I pause in this moment of baking to re-join, at least for this week, Shan's wonderful What's Cooking Wednesday club. I haven't been a stellar member lately, but I'll be back once the baking slows down.

But this week, I'm posting on behalf of Mom Central. I've been asked to review the Ultimate Party Meatballs (disclosure: I am receiving a $20 Amazon gift certificate for this and also the free ingredients to make the meatballs - minus the frozen meatballs. That would have been a pretty nasty treat in the mailbox.)

This recipe is definitely intended for cooks short on time but high on guests or needing a quick (really quick) but yummy meal or hors d'oeuvre. I'll give you the recipe first and then let you know my thoughts below.

Ultimate Party Meatballs

1 16-oz can Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce
1 12-ounce bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
1 2-pound bag frozen, pre-cooked, cocktail-sized meatballs (I used PC Angus Beef meatballs)

Combine sauces in large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth.
Add meatballs (frozen). Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally.

There is also a slow-cooker method: place meatballs in slow cooker. Combine sauces and pour over meatballs. Cover and cook 4 hours on high.

Makes 30 appetizer servings.

That's it!

I'm not normally a fan of frozen pre-cooked meatballs but the PC ones I chose were actually pretty good and the sauce really made this dish delicious. The sauce is sweet but a bit tangy. Heinz Chili Sauce is one of my favourite condiments so I knew I would be a fan. The thing about this dish is how fast it is and how great it would be as an appetizer for a crowd. Throw in some toothpicks and you're done. I expect that you'll get rave reviews and won't stress about getting something hot out to your guests before the main event is served.

As for the kids? Hope is all about the ground meat. She devoured these.

John and I also commented on how easy it would be to tinker with the recipe for different tastes: add a bit of vinegar for a sweet and sour meatball dish, add a bit of dried chilies for something zingier.

You can find more recipe ideas from their website: http://www.ultimatepartymeatballs.com/

Our first school Christmas concert

Yesterday afternoon was Emily's first school Christmas concert. It was simply billed as the Kindergarten Concert, understandably, as Emily's class is so wonderfully multicultural, at least half of the kids being Muslim. The songs focused on winter, hibernation, bears and gingerbread - all themes they've explored recently. It was everything I hoped for and more, with that perfect kindergarten moment of one kid stealing the show.

That kid wasn't mine.

Emily's usual modus operandi in situations like this was in full play. She sat without moving, eyes glued to Mrs. B, singing really well but not doing too many actions to the songs. She was just so intent on singing and listening. She was very serious through it all. She's always been very serious in these kind of situations. If you didn't know better, you'd think she was scared or unhappy but no, she's just really focused. She was having a great time.

Not quite as good a time as her little friend Rebecca though. Rebecca is enthusiasm personified and I love it. Let me give you two videos to show you Rebecca's influence on the group. The first video, you'll notice they are all very serene. In the second video, Rebecca picks it up and the crowd follows. It was a great, great moment.

I laughed, in spite of myself.







The concert followed with a party in the Kindergarten room. It was really nice to have all the families together celebrating our kids and their achievements so far. At the end of the day, when it was time to go, Emily, the creature of habit and full-on bus-lover, insisted on taking the bus home. Since we're only a few minutes away, I decided to let her have that and not argue about it at all. And so, we left her there to climb aboard the bus.

This and that

It's been quiet in this space. You know why. Bake, bake, bake around here. It's going well but this week is my busiest so I will likely maintain a bloggy silence for a while.

However, I will have a post up for tomorrow as I'm part of Mom Central and was asked to review a meatball recipe that I will post for What's Cooking Wednesday tomorrow.

Today is a big day for Emily and for me. Today is her first school concert. The Kindergarten kids are performing for parents/grandparents etc in the library today at 1:30 and I am so excited to see her up there. I fully expect to be weepy and hope I won't be the only one. I get very emotional when I see Emily successfully doing something new. I can't explain it but I also know that I'm not in a minority when it comes to this. Shan has talked about it herself with her daughter a few times.

Hope's sleep in the big bed has improved. She's sleeping great at night and in the day, if I stay in the room until she is asleep, then she'll nap. I hope to be able to start to sneak out before she falls asleep. For now, I bring a book light and something to read.

And now, a sink full of baking dishes awaits me upstairs.

Taking the easy way out

I'm about to head upstairs to start rolling truffles, icing squares etc before I start cutting and boxing five orders of baking to be delivered to the other end of the city in the middle of a transit strike to a location that is heavily targeted by striking transit workers. So, I'm taking the easy way out of a post.

One hundred things done or undone. Done are in bold.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped (and never will)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch ~ knitting (with help from Beth and Dawn)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (every summer since I can remember)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (not difficult to achieve when you grew up 20 minutes away)
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language (enough so I could read what it said on the Russian street signs anyway)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted (drawn by one of those Disneyworld chalk artists. Does that count?)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (okay, not the top. We weren't willing to pay the 20 euro but we stood at the bottom for a long time)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (very recent!)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen (sadly, no and I plan to change that)
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (didn't see any)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish, does that count?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Eartha Kit. Kind of B-list)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person (no but I will in the next year or so)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

Exam and baking business equals offline

Yikes, I have a lot of little things I should be blogging about but instead my time has been spent either baking, baking, baking or studying for my exam. I was taking one course this term towards my Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language. The exam was yesterday morning at 9:00. Yesterday morning at 9:00 the city was sitting under 27 cm of snow and in the first hours of a full-on transit strike. It was not the ideal time to be making my way to Carleton to write an exam.

Luckily, the student union arranged school buses to pick up students (I guess I am one) at locations around the city so I was able to enjoy a school bus ride up bank street with thousands of other cars through crazy amounts of snow.

School buses were cancelled yesterday due to the snow and freezing rain so John drove Emily to school and I walked there with Hope in the stroller to pick her up. We walked on the street since the sidewalks weren't passable yet. Apparently I'm a bit faster walker than I thought because we arrived at Emily's class fifteen minutes before we should have. Hope was thrilled to go into Emily's class and play with some of the toys and games. Emily was less impressed.

My whole idea yesterday of walking during Hope's normal nap time comes from the fact that aside from the first day in Hope's new big-girl bed, she has refused to nap in there. She climbs out, bangs on the door, plays with her toys and books and generally wreaks havoc with the room and my nerves. On Tuesday I gave up and said that from now on I would walk during her nap and she could nap in the stroller and I would get some exercise (much need exercise).

Is anyone surprised to find out that Hope fell asleep on Emily's shoulder five minutes before we reached our driveway yesterday? and then again last night in the stroller when we we for a walk to look at the Christmas lights? Ugh.

Today I'm going to try her bed again but have no hopes for success. Any ideas? I've tried taking away things she likes, I've tried laying in bed with her, I've tried sitting on the floor, I've tried being very stern with her, I've tried everything I can think of. I'm ready to call it quits, walk with the stroller and not care too much whether she sleeps or not.

The Griswald Family Christmas continues. This time with mouth injuries.

The weekend started on a huge high for me. On Friday morning I had my first ever parent-teacher interview. Without patting Emily on the back too ferociously, it was a huge love-in. In Mrs. B's words: "Emily is a delight to have in the class. We all just love her so much." I almost wept right there. Not that I was expecting much different, to be honest. If a kid loves to go to school as much as Emily does, chances are she is doing really well there, having a great time, and is being shown a lot of praise and love from her teacher(s).

She is doing really well in all of the usual kindergarten stuff: writing and phonetics and playing well with others and participating. Apparently she is the kid that Mrs. B turns to if no one else has the answer. She said it is great to have a student like that in the class, the one you can count on. That was nice to hear. However, my favourite part was this: Mrs. B noted that Emily has a "strong sense of justice." I had to laugh and tell her that that is much more diplomatic than the way we put it: bossy, mother-hen, battle-axe. Mrs. B said that she keeps Emily in check but has to laugh when Emily is telling the other kids to listen or get in line or clean up.

So, that day was a good one.

On Saturday, as per our 25 days of Christmas instructions, we went to get a Christmas tree. Emily wasn't herself. She looked a bit pale and was tired from the get-go. We drove south of the city to Thomas Tree Farms. It was beautiful. The snow was lightly falling; we were taken out to the field on a tractor-drawn wagon; we wandered through the trees looking for the perfect one; Emily cried and complained the whole time. It kind of sucked. Hope had a great time though and loved it all.



We headed back with our tree. John went to load it on the car while we had our free hot chocolate and homemade cookies. Emily spilled hers. She cried. Finally we headed to the mecca: the playground. I thought this might turn things around. I was sooooo wrong.

Emily had been whining wanting to go there the whole time. Emily took her first go down the slide, took a step away from the bottom, hit shear ice and her feet went out BEHIND her, her teeth, chin and lip hit the ice. I grabbed her right away, scooped her up and saw the blood pouring our of her mouth and skin lodged between her top front teeth. It was yet another moment when my heart was in my throat. I couldn't have stopped it from happening but I wish I could turn back time at that moment. Her teeth were all there, thankfully, but it was awful. She was in a lot of pain, crying terribly and Hope was about to come shooting down the slide. I grabbed the closest mother, who was a bit shell-shocked from watching all of this and asked her to catch Hope and escort her off the treacherous playground. We then walked to the car as quickly as we could and I nursed Emily out of her tears, out of her snowsuit and into her car seat where she fell asleep. The poor girl. Not only was she under-the-weather, now she also had a serious mouth injury and was caked in blood. She has a terrible scab on her lip and has only started to eat again tonight when we bribed her with her favourite food: pizza.


Getting the tree had the potential to be one of those perfect family days but it turned into one of those should-have-been-perfect-but-of-course-it-wasn't kind of days that are inevitable when you have two kids under the age of 5. Next year John and I might leave the kids with someone else and make a date of it. Or maybe we'll just go to Ikea.

Things got better that night when we decorated the gingerbread house. It was good fun and the girls sailed into the evening on a sugar high.


On the Hope front, it was a big weekend for our littlest family member. On Sunday afternoon, John took apart the crib and put together her big girl bed. She was beside herself excited. Of course, it took me until 8:45 to get out of her room but miraculously she stayed in bed all night and even napped in there today (a downright miracle; I thought she would never stay in the bed during the day but she surprised me again). Tonight was better. All was quiet by 8:30.


Today we had a great day. We put the tree up and decorated it. We played Christmas music. We were all happy. I hope it lasts beyond today and Emily doesn't get too much attention tomorrow due to her lip. That would make things difficult for her.


And now, onto more cookie baking. I've actually had to stop taking orders for Christmas because I can't handle anymore and still enjoy time with the girls. I have 23 orders to complete by Christmas Eve! Amazing! I've decided to only accept new pie or tourtiere orders now for Christmas and start accepting New Year's orders (and beyond). I never expected this kind of response. Now I have to figure out how to repitch things for post-Christmas.

And how was your weekend?

Our few days of Christmas so far

I decided to go ahead and participate in Andrea's 25 days of Christmas. I came up with a bunch of fairly low-key activities, typed them up and put the slips of paper into each box of our Playmobil Advent Calendar. Since we were away on the 1st and 2nd, the activities started yesterday.

Yesterday was mistake number 1. It actually felt a bit Griswaldian, truth be told. I made the mistake of thinking that a 2 and 4 year old would enjoy watching me decorate the house for Christmas. Uh, no. They did not.

I saved it though by having some cookie decorating at the end of the day.


Today our activity is to hang up the Christmas lights. Given that I feel like crap, I'm not sure it will actually happen.

However, to make things more festive and buoy up the decorating fiasco, I received my wreath last night that was part of a fundraiser for a girl's hockey team and I love it on the door. So big and full and piney. Very nice.

Home

Home.

Great weekend.

Great, great, great to spend time with friends and family.

Glad to be done driving.

Glad to sleep in our own beds.

Laryngitis.

So many Sugarplum Fairy Homebaking orders to get in the book and start baking for. Big thanks to Andrea and the little elf who posted an ad about me on the City of Ottawa ad board!

So much news to read.

Ingredients to buy.

But just one thing to really say:


If you can, please be there.

A couple of important notes noted from away

First, I can't let the news develop any longer without commenting, knowing as you do what a political junkie I tend to be (although I don't mention it or discuss it here very often). The stuff going on on the federal political scene is (a) inspiring (b) a long time in coming (c) scares the shite out of me because I'm afraid, deftly afraid, that the Conservatives will pull the stuff we've become accustomed to and prorogue Parliament simply because they are unwilling to allow the will of the people to become reality. For those of you who will argue that a coalition government made up of the Liberals and NDP with the support of the Bloc that declares that Parliament no longer has confidence in the government is not the will of the people or democratic let me say this: about 54% of Canadians voted in the election of October 14. More than half of those people voted for a party other than the Conservative Party, proven by the fact that the Conservatives have a minority.

And yet a number of callers, commenters, pundits and Conservative Party members call this move by the new coalition and those who support them undemocratic.

Really, it is the most democratic move I've seen in Canadian politics in years.

Second, Andrea at A Peek Inside the Fishbowl posted a review of my package Christmas Done For You that is for sale through my business Sugarplum Fairy Homebaking. Go check it out!