Peanut Butter Goodness!

For today's edition of Mmm Good Monday I bring to you two wonderful peanut butter treats! Ron's favourite baked goodie is peanut butter cookies so when I baked him up a batch I had to bake myself something so that I wouldn't eat his cookies. I found a great peanut butter oatmeal bar that was awesome.

The cookie recipe is from Kraft's website and only bakes up a dozen, not enough in my book. But it is fairly low in sugar and high in awesomeness.

1 cup Smooth Peanut Butter (Kraft or a nice natural works well)
1/2 cup sugar (White works best but I like brown too)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325º F.
MIX peanut butter, sugar and egg.
ROLL into 1-inch balls. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets.
Flatten with fork.
BAKE 15 min. (Do not overbake.) Let stand on baking sheets 5 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

And you get twelve of these delectable goodies!



The peanut butter bars were found through a google search for peanut butter and oatmeal. Unfortunately I forgot to bookmark it and I can't seem to find the one I used so for now you just get a picture of the uber tasty bars.



These lasted a few days and were perfect for snacking and taking places when we were in a hurry. I hope I can find the recipe (I printed it out at least just can't find that either.)

As the days get cooler I am hoping to use our crockpot more, maybe next week I'll have a chili recipe to share. :) (Or you could share yours with me!)

Bon Appetit!~

Mmmm squishy!

I first gave Wednesday play dough to play with shortly after last Christmas. I had bought her a Melissa & Doug set that had some dough, rollers, molds and such. The dough she really didn't care for but all the contraptions and the plastic molded packaging that acted like a 3D puzzle had her captured for some time. I didn't give play dough another thought until a couple months ago I was in the dollar store and they had a little six mini containers and some cookie cutters. I brought it out on a rainy day and she played with it for a solid hour and a half. We had a winner.

The next time I brought out the play dough she played with it for another hour. When I had to take her away from it for a nap she was just beside herself. She cried herself to sleep she was so upset. She eventually gave me a couple high fives, but she was weepy when she fell asleep. The third time I pulled out her play dough I found out the difference between the name brand Play-Doh and the cheap stuff. It was crusty and drying quicker and quicker with each use.

I found a homemade recipe that seemed easy enough. Remembering the homemade play dough recipes of my youth I was worried that it would not be vibrantly coloured enough for my tastes. I was very wrong. The recipe I made turned out quite pretty even using the super cheap food colouring I had on hand. I only made two colours because each recipe makes quite a bit but you could make every colour of the rainbow if you have the room to store it. It lasts quite a while too so you will be storing it for some time.

After I made the play dough I realized I needed a place to store it and the bit and bobs we had collected to play with the play dough. We had found a couple small sand molds from her beach toys, some plastic tools from a birthday goodie bag, Christmas cookie cutters not to mention the things to put in the play dough like shells, buttons and feathers! To house the fun stuff I converted an old train case I had laying around by conditioning the faux snakeskin with canola oil and giving the inside a good wipe down. Than I duped in the toys, put the dough into sandwich bags and then a plastic ice cream container and voila! You have a portable play dough station.



She plays with these toys at least three times a day. I think right now she is on her fourth time pulling it out. I put it away in between meals and other childish pursuits to keep the dough from drying out. The dough is great though, even if it does dry a bit you just knead it a couple seconds and you're good.



Also, the train case latch is still in working order and she has not figured out how to open it so she can only play with the play dough when I give the ok. Which is every time as long as I have had at least one cup of coffee in the morning. And now for the recipe. I got this from a book of eco-friendly kids crafts called Green Crafts for Children by Emma Hardy published by Cico Books London & New York.

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add food colouring to water and mix. Add water mixture to pan and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes

This was so much fun. I stopped at two colours because it makes a lot of dough, but if you have lots of children to entertain you could keep going, the colour possibilities are endless.

Have fun sculpting!

So glad to see these finished!

What do you get when you add 240 buttons, 20 pieces of felt and a billion stitches? You get dominoes!



These took me what seemed like forever! In truth I worked on sewing the buttons on and off for a month and spent two hours sewing, stuffing and trimming today. The buttons took me so long because my neck would be sore after just a couple of dominoes so I tried to keep them to a couple times a week. It was great work for keeping my hands busy whilst watching television though. But I don't think I will ever do these again, nor would I think of doing them for selling because of the sheer length of time it takes to sew 240 buttons.

An online friend of mine sent me the felt for the cost of shipping. This plus yards of other stuff I can't wait to do more things with it! The idea came because Wednesday is starting to actually count things, not just recite her numbers. She also loves buttons (she has her own bucket of buttons for sorting and counting etc.). I thought thsi was the perfect way to combine all those things.

Each button is sewed and sewed and sewed again so that none come in mouths or hands. Each domino is stuffed with a batting made from corn and each stitch is triple stitched for both looks and function.

Love these so much. I can't wait to play them with Wednesday.

To be or not to be...homeschooling that is.

Since falling in love with sewing all over again and stalking the blogosphere for tutorials and inspiration I have found that many of my favourite blogs of late are also homeschooling moms as well. As I followed these blogs I noticed that their lives with their children were all that more enriched and rewarding and the gears in my ehad began to creak and moan but the turning began and I thought that maybe homeschooling was something that I should be considering. But as I kept reading these few blogs I thought more and more that maybe I was not cut out to teach my daughter anything more than her ABCs, 123s and colours and it made me sad. I too wanted to share in the wonder that is a child learning.

I talked to a few moms at Livejournal (my favourite place for instant feedback and answers) and my fears were quickly abated. Most importantly I was reminded that children do not start off learning grade ten algebra (seriously, if algebra was a person they would be my arch nemesis) and that was probably what I needed to hear most. After a few discussions I learned that homeschooling was very parent friendly and that not every parent need be a teacher in one of their former lives. *phew* Also I was informed that if I thought it necessary I can buy lesson plans and teaching aides that even tell you when to "point at the board". *phew*

That night during a leisurely drive through the country I (as nonchalantly as possible) asked Ron how he felt about the subject. Since I was expecting him to put up a fight (seriously, I was waiting for him to draw the line at my crunchy behaviour right then and there) I was speechless for a moment (even a little flabbergasted) when he said he was for it. After I closed my mouth and collected my thoughts a moment we talked about all the reasons to do it. We talked about how rewarding it would be for the entire family I had to mention how it would ensure the library I had been building (and moving cross country multiple times) over the last few years would be put to good use! By the time we got home we were both quite excited about it and have even discussed it with a couple friends who think it is a great idea too. *phew*

So, with some reassurance and a little advice I began looking into homeschooling. First exploring the aforementioned blogs in more depth. Then I googled for any support networks in my area (one lonely Christian homeschooling network) and then I started requesting books from my local library network. My first book made it to my hands yesterday. The Homeschooling Handbook (1st Edition) written by Mary Griffith.

This edition is more than ten years old (I realized that when I tried googling a cover image and could only come up with the 2nd edition until I found the one pictured above. Regardless, the book has already given me much food for thought such as theories of learning, learning practices and grading (or not). A definite jumping off point for more research. And although the book is definitely written from a very pro-homeschooling perspective it does give a lot of anecdotal evidence from other homeschooling families who use different techniques, schedules and disciplines.

Particularly interesting is the case for unschooling. At first when I kept coming across this term in my research I shied away from it more and more. I was worried that it was another neo-crunchy term that would serve as yet another pissing contest between parents. I have my own thoughts on the crunchy movement even though I feel that I am firmly entrenched in it. But I digress. This book actually turned me around. A little bit. Like much of my life and parenting 'style' (for lack of better word) I found comfort in knowing there were a lot of parents out there who found a way to blend the best of both worlds (school at home and unschooling). I am of the 'everything in moderation even moderation discipline' in life.

The book is also written for homeschoolers in the United States and although Canada and Canadians are very similar we can be worlds apart when it comes to bureaucracy and laws so I will definitely be researching further into Canadian laws regarding homeschooling most likely through the internet and support groups because I just have not found a lot of Canadian titles on the subject. Expect updates on that area most definitely.

Also something to note is how the homes of homeschooling parents are most definitely full of life, chaos and thereby the mess both create! It is nice to know (even if it just secretly) all of these wondermom blogs I read have messy kitchens too. That will just be our little secret though. ;)

I have a few more books to pick up though, I had thought they were to be sent to my local branch but apparently I must go to the next town over. I can't wait though. I am so very intrigued by the entire idea that sometimes I forget that Wednesday just turned two in July!

So, that is where we are right now. Still very early in the research stage but definitely falling in love with it the more and more we look into it. I will leave you with the aforementioned wondermom blogs I mentioned that are truly inspiring (and even a little intimidating).

In no particular order because they are each equally wonderful.

Ordinary Life Magic
Lapaz Home Learning
Collecting the Moments
5 Orange Potatoes

Happy Tuesday!

Blueberry Pie made to order...

Happy Monday my fellow foodies!

Mr. Sweet and I were invited to a birthday dinner this evening and a blueberry pie was requested. At first I was a little trepidatious about making a pie because my experience with pastry is nil. The last pie I made was when I was seventeen, a bittersweet 14 years ago. A cherry pie incident that never really faded from memory. But I digress. I thought it is now or never, if I really want to call myself a baker (and I do, I really do) than I must take on...the pastry.

So, remembering a conversation with my mom about lard and shortening (shortening makes a great crust for those that are experienced crust makers)I bought a pound of Tenderflake (lard) and two bags of frozen wild Canadian blueberries.

The crust was so easy I thought I must have screwed it up. Seriously, I think I had the crust for both pies rolled out in a matter of tennish minutes? Maybe fifteen. The filling was equally easy since it was just sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, cornstarch and...blueberries. Four cups per pie!

The crust recipe is from the box of Tenderflake, I made the three double crusts and froze one of them.

Ingredients........
5 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of salt
1 lb of Tenderflake Lard
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1 egg, lightly beaten
Water

Mix together the flour and salt

Cut in Tenderflake Lard with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse oatmeal or peas.

In a 1 cup measure, combine the vinegar and egg. Add water to make the 1 cup measure full. Gradually stir liquid into the flour/lard. Add only enough liquid to make dough cling together. I used my hands, and had no remaining liquid but I like to keep my surfaces floured.

Gather this into a ball and divide it into 4 portions. Be sure to cover whatever you are not using at the moment with saran wrap to keep from drying out.

Roll out each portion as you need it on a lightly floured surface.

For the Pie Filling I used the recipe from Joy of Baking.

4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch (corn flour)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Egg Wash:

1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon cream

In a small bowl mix together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest. Place the blueberries in a large bowl. Add the sugar mixture to the blueberries and gently toss to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell. Then, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream. Lightly brush the rim of the pastry shell with the egg wash. Starting at the outside edge of the pie, place the cut out pastry stars in a circular pattern on top of the blueberries, making sure the tips of the stars are touching. Once the top of the pie is completely covered with the pastry stars, brush the entire surface with the egg wash, making sure that it does not pool. Place the assembled pie back in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Remove the chilled pie from the fridge and place on a larger baking pan, lined with parchment paper, to catch any spills. Bake the pie for about 20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Continue to bake the pie for about 35 - 45 minutes or until the crust is a deep golden brown color and the juices are bubbling and thick. If the edges of the pie are browning too much during baking, cover with a foil ring.

Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool for several hours. The pie needs time for the cornstarch to thicken and leaving it be (or putting it in the fridge) for a couple to three hours is recommended. We tried to eat it warm and it was good but the juiced leaked out where we sliced into it. We then put the second pie in the fridge to cool completely and just warmed it in the oven at the party and it was perfect. We also chilled the pie we sliced into and waited till evening to eat it and it turned out great as well.



This pie is super simple and super tasty. I am so happy with it that I intend on making tarts with the renmaining frozen dough. I am really happy though because now all those recipes that call for crust (quiche for example) can now be added to the to-do list. Also, with Thanksgiving next week I am now adding pie to my roster of treats to bake! For serious I think Mr. Sweet fell in love with me all over again today. ♥

Zebra Hat

So, I realize the other night that my child is not prepared for winter. But it is not winter yet, you say? Well, it is rear it's ugly head around here. Some more Northern parts of the province received snow just the other day. In a panic I went ot the nearest department store and proceeded to buy her a toque and two pairs of mitts. I got home and nothing fit her properly. Then it donned on me that I have enough fleece kicking around that I could probably wrangle something up.



Well, this is what I made. I am totally impressed with myself with the exception of how it fits. It does fit, but just. Really she could do with one an inch bigger circumference wise and maybe some wider ear flaps.

I made the cap part from the Sweater hat pattern in Amanda Blake Soule's Handmade Home. But I made the cap long enough to hide the seam of two ear flaps. I braided three pieces of fleece together for the straps. (Which is why Wednesday calls it her Zebra hat.

I added the matching fleece hearts both before and after I sewed the two cap pieces together. I remembered to do the black one first but forgot about the cream coloured heart until after It was sewn together. I had to both sew the cream heart on and then do the triple stitching afterward. I gotta say, I am getting pretty darn good at that sort of thing.

The hat came together from cutting to finish in a matter of maybe two hours. I spent more time looking for a tutorial (never finding exactly what I was looking for) than I did on actual construction.

I have another hat, scarf and mittens cut and pinned and ready to be sewn but the sewing machine needed some tlc and so it was cleaned and oiled and sitting for the night so my fabric doesn't fill with 3in1 oil odours.

Pictures soon!

More Love for the Market

I tell you what, I have not stopped in a week! We have been zoom zooming all over the place what with play dates, pre-school music classes, sewing, baking and just plain living! I love it. My favourite part about last week had to be the nature walk with Ron and Wednesday. Pictures of that here on Flickr.

Today though, I thought I would bring you pictures of what I whipped up yesterday,because gosh darn it I am ever so proud!



These are my new pretty market bags. I have lots of fabric shopping bags, each from their respective retailers but none that I had made, or thought were aesthetically pleasing. So with my confidence up from the Silky Eye Pillows and Cozy Pockets I thought I would give the Broadturn Bag pattern from Amanda Blake Soule's Handmade Home a try. It was so easy I made two!

I cheated and well I paid for it. Instead of giving the bag two side seams I folded one thirty inch piece in half and only sewed one side seam. Well, when it was time to attach the bottom I had too much fabric. Had I sewed two half inched seams it would have been perfect. Still, it was the bottom and no one will ever notice and I love love love them! They are so pretty and bright and cheerful. Another great excuse to head to the Farmers market(because I need another one lol).

That makes something from each chapter of the book save one. I am hoping to make a couple of the mama bags this weekend as a start to my Christmas gift making. That would make something from each chapter and it also gives me a good base of practice to jump in feet first into both the book and Christmas gifts. I won't scare you buy telling you how many days until Christmas but it is coming too soon for this cat.



Okay, I gotta run and entertain my babe. She has been incredibly patient with me and these pictures and this post. Happy Humpday!

Mmmm Good Monday on Tuesday...

I am a day late and dollar short I know. But the weather here has been sub par to say the least and when the weather is dreary so is the lighting in this apartment. But, today I managed to get a picture of a piece of the delicious cake I made yesterday.



I have been holding on to this recipe all summer wanting to try it but with all of the birthdays to make cakes and cupcakes for it kind of got put on the back burner (no pun intended). With the dreary weather and no birthdays in sight yesterday I was able to buckle down and bake it. Even Wednesday gave me the breathing room I needed to bake up a storm. Gosh that kid is great. The result was a very tasty Berry Coconut Cake from Canadian Living Magazine's website. Recipe and nutritional information to follow.

Berry Coconut Cake

1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, softened
3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1 cup (250 mL) sour cream
3/4 cup (175 mL) each raspberries and blueberries
(I used a frozen mix totaling almost two cups)
Topping:
1 cup (250 mL) shredded coconut (I used sweetened)
1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar (I used 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp (25 mL) butter, softened
1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon

Preparation:

Topping: In small bowl, combine coconut, sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon until crumbly; set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt ; stir half into butter mixture. Stir in sour cream. Stir in remaining flour mixture.

Spread in greased 9-inch (2.5 L) square cake pan. Sprinkle with raspberries and blueberries. Sprinkle with topping. Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for 60 to 75 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack.

Nutritional Info
Per serving: about -
calories 425
protein 5 g
fat 21 g
carbs 54 g

A couple notes:
I don't know if my oven is baking hot these days but I used frozen berries and still baked it for 15 minutes less than the recipe called for (55 minutes instead of 60-70).
The same thing happened with the lemon loaves I baked last week so it could be my oven. But it could have been the glass cake pan I used for the cake. All I can say is watch your cake and start checking it at 55 minutes. (I use a wooden skewer.)

I only had sweetened coconut and was not about to go out to buy a lowly bag of unsweetened. So I halved the brown sugar amount in the topping. It was good, maybe a little sweet but not too sweet. Good. But if you have unsweetened I would probably recommend it.



There is one last piece sitting in the pan on the counter as I type this and it will take all of my will power not to eat it.

Bon Appetit ~!

Soothing, yes. Fun, definately.

I have not been posting any crafty bits lately because I had to take a break from sewing and crafting due to some neck pain. And by neck pain I mean almost debilitating headaches due to the strain I was putting on my shoulders and neck whilst sewing and crafting.

But after a much needed break (both physically and mentally) I have returned with a finished project and another in the works.

Today I bring you Lavender/Flax eye pillows made from instructions in Amanda Blake Soule's Handmade Home. Slowly but surely I will make all of the projects from this book!



These were simple and fun and really are immediately soothing. My mom is under the weather and I plopped a finished pillow on her eyes and she just kind of sat there sniffing away. Good stuff. I am sure I will be using one this evening after crafting in the near-dark. (Long story full of inadequate lighting.)

The blue floral material is a silk scarf I bought at a local thrift shop for just this purpose and it conveniently made exactly three scarves with no inches to spare. So I made one for my mom, one for my mother-in-law et moi aussi.

The inside sachet is made from a thrifted cotton remnant and the lavender I dried myself from a neighbor's garden back when I was living in Kelowna. It all came together so well. I have never used flax in it's whole seed form (for eating or crafting) but I can see why she recommends it. It i s a perfect weight (much lighter than rice) but still heavy enough to keep your eyes closed and yet there is a fluidity to it that makes it most comfortable.

Good stuff! If you haven't purchased the book I cannot tell you how happy I am that I did over and above the many books on my Chapters wishlist. Go now, buy, make, love.

Love my work too. Here are some photos four your viewing pleasure.

Colour of Grey is A-Ok

Today is absolutely gorgeous. We have already been to the park, had a nature walk and back. Wednesday is just winding down for her nap while I type this. But most of the week was under the colour of grey. The skies were full of dark clouds and sometimes rain. So we pulled out the big guns. Glue sticks! And markers of course.

I put down a table cloth and let Wednesday go to town with the glue stick (which rarely actually glued anything down) and markers which she rarely gets to play with. She was easily entertained and quiet for a good forty five minutes. Long enough for me to make four loaves of lemon zucchini bread.

Although she loves colouring in her ever expanding collection of colouring books she also likes to colour different pages printed up sometimes with her favourite characters, sometimes pictures of things she loves like butterflies and sometimes just random papers that need colour. This is a great way to use up scrap paper and don`t forget to print on both sides of the paper!

Here is some of my favourite links to free colouring pages.

Toopy and Binoo activities here. Some colouring, some finger puppets some activities. Right now Wednesday`s favourite show is Toopy and Binoo so needless to say these go over well.

Here is a link to some great Sesame Street pages. Wednesday likes the show Play With Me Sesame so Ernie and Grover are always welcomed.

Treehouse TV is the equivalent of Nick Jr. (I am assuming since many shows on this channel are Nick Jr. labeled) and they have a host of fun stuff at the website. For now I just print up these colouring pages which are very plentiful.

Here is a site for very simple one dimensional (mostly) drawings of animals and flowers etc, This is where I print up the butterfly pages for Wednesday to colour.

And finally here is some art history colouring. I like these pages in particular in the American Gothic couple.

Happy colouring mamas (and babes)!