lovely hair

Al's a big sweetie. She likes going up to one of us, give a big hug and say, "love you mom" or whomever. Today, though, she embraced my neck, nuzzled my hair and said: Love you mama's hair. ...okay. Which is true, oddly enough - she really loves to pet or stroke my hair particularly when she's upset. She'll try to pull it out of a hair binder or barrette if it's held back. At any rate: she loves my hair. Apparently I grew it out at the right time.

pretend nighnight fun

her words

Aleida has been slow to speak, in part I think because she's generally quite quiet (she has her freak out loud moments too, I assure you). Her vocabulary is growing all the time and lately I've overheard her say, "oh MAN" when something goes wrong, or "Oopsidaisy" when she drops something. It's pretty cute. And funny that there are so many words she says, including her own name, that don't sound much like the actual word. She has these little expressions down exactly right, though!

Fresh Berry Pie

I combined a couple of my favourite recipes and ingredients to make this one.



The base/crust of this pie is from my Nanaimo bar recipe. I love nanaimo bars, but only because the crust is so damn tasty! I've been dreaming lately of making it the base for a pie. Nourishing Traditions has a delicious recipe for fresh berry pie that I love. I used that for the filling. Good quality vanilla ice cream tops it, and of course, some fine dark chocolate chucks for good measure. Mmm.

Base:
1/2 c unsalted butter
scant 1/4 c sugar
generous 1/4 c cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 c graham wafer crumbs
1/2 c finely ground almonds
1 c unsweetened coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients together in a double boiler. Remove from heat, add egg quickly and mix to incorporate, mixture will thicken. Stir in crumbs, almonds and coconut. Press firmly into a 10" ungreased pie plate. Refrigerate to cool and harden.


Berry Filling:
2 12 ounce packages frozen berries mostly thawed or 1 1/4 pounds fresh berries
1/2 c water or melted berry juice
1/4 c maple syrup
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp gelatin dissolved in 3 Tbsp water over low heat

Place less than half the berries in the pie crust. Place remaining berries in the food processor with water and maple syrup. Process until berries are liquified. Add lemon juice and gelatin mixture while motor is running. Pour gelatin mixture over berries and pie crust. Refrigerate several hours before serving.

a relaxing afternoon

Who doesn't love reading books and eating lasagna noodles?

Artisan bread

I realized I haven't made an obvious post. It's my new love & what I'm telling everyone about: artisan bread in 5 minutes a day. That's a book title, get the book & your life will improve upon baking then eating this bread! I'm serious.

Another table cloth

I love table cloths and table runners. So I thought : why not combine it? The fabric is from one of Joann Fabrics great online 50% off sales. My fingers were crossed that the online colours would be a match and thankfully they were true to what I wanted.

Al's kitchen party

Aleida, for the first time, has set up her babies around the table and is preparing food for them. Pretty cute.

P.s. I downloaded an app onto my phone that allows me to update this blog on my phone, hence the more frequent postings as of late.

Puzzle project

This 12 puzzle project has taken us about a week to complete. Owen did some on his own and most we did together. It was fun and I am glad we can now put away all the puzzles.



Upon seeing this photo, Owen just asked my why there are cheerios all over the floor. I had to laugh; it's just the setting I had on my camera that apparently makes my floor look very dirty. There aren't cheerios all over the floor and on Owen. I promise. (i will add that living in our new apartment with a new floor, I notice dirt a lot more and I happily clean my floor more frequently than I ever have in the past)

Some colour in my life

A new shower curtain and table cloth make me smile. It's the little things for me. Aleida helps her babies go to bed ... in her doll crib. I can hardly bear having to tell her she's too big to be doing that.

Big kitchen cupboards means play happens in the pan cupboard.