Echo of warm space

Shortly before the snow came, we went out on an explore...

Hands Warmed by Love

The rational is that I am protecting my family from the elements. But really I love to knit.

 It is true that I can buy a pair of mitts that will keep their hands much warmer then it costs to buy the yarn. But come on, are these not better? And even with all the bravado that -19 is not really cold, they do like having home made mitts. I can tell, even when the big ones try to hide it.

Eat your peas to level up!

Last night we pulled the kids away from Wii Fit up-levelling  to come to supper.

Everyone was OK with at least a partial mix of peas to macaroni except vegetable-phobe Teresa. The deal was to eat some peas before a refill of pasta. Not pea in the singular. And I don't want to hear any whine.

Teresa crosses her arms, frowns, pouts, and says, 

"Congratulations. You've unlocked superwhine."

Pride comes before the fall

Order and organization do not come naturally to me. But I thought that after years of parenting I at least had the basics down. Well, pride goes before the fall.
Thursday I was volunteering at the school book fair. This seemed like a good idea before the cold snap. The temperature that morning was -19. That sound ok until you factor in the windchill. It felt like -30. That is cold. Not just a little cold for the wimpy west coasters but real cold.
So I have to get not just the three school kids ready for the walk to school with all the gear up also my self and the little one. So far so good. I added ten more minutes onto the morning routine and we were all out the door in time. Mitts, hats, snow pants, coats, scarves and all.
I get to the school on time and all is well. Until the little one poops in her diaper. This is not the problem. She is 2 and not toilet trained. I expect this, right.
We go off to clean her up. Oh wait, I totally forgot to bring diapers. By some miracle I have wipes in my bag, but nothing to wear after. There is still 2 hours in my volunteer shift. Plus as I mentioned before it is -30! There is no was I was going to run home to get more. It takes ten minutes just to get all the gear on!
What to do!?
The only thing I have in my bag is a maxi-pad. I stick it to the inside of her pants and hope for the best.
It actually worked fine. She was a little uncomfortable and needless to say I have restocked my bag. But you all need to know that I really do not have it all together!

Top Reasons to Not Shovel Snow

1: It's still snowing
2: I am sure it's going to melt tomorrow
3: I am sure it will snow again tomorrow
4: I am going to buy a snow blower tomorrow
5: It is too cold, I will wait until it warms up
6: the Riders are playing, I will wait until after the game
7: I am teaching my kids responsibility by letting them do it
8: I can't do it on an empty stomach, I will wait until after super
9: Now I am too full, plus it is to dark.
10: Ahhh, I'm late for work

Forgive me, I'm new here

Oh my!
My neighbour just came by to tell me that I was flooding the whole street and turning it into a skating rink! You see, we have an underground sprinkler system and I had no idea that it had a turn off switch, or for that matter that you had to turn it off for the winter. It has been below zero here for the last week and a half, but today it warmed up. I think that the line to the underground sprinkler must have frozen and then defrosted and popped off spraying water by the gallon full down the street. I was in my happy, cozy home totally clueless. Yes, I saw the water in the street but I thought that must be the melt. How should I know, I have never lived in a winter wonderland before!
Well, with the help of my very nice neighbour the water is off now and I hope that I have not ruined my sprinkler for good.
I really feel like a new Canadian. It's me and all the other new immigrants that have no idea how to do these things. But at least they know that they don't know. I thought I knew winter, but I really had no idea.

Yes, you can eat Jack

What to do with your Jack-o-Lantern? It seems to me that most people just compost them, or thought them out, but pumpkins are food and food is yummy. So here are two of my favourite pumpkin recipes. 

To prep you pumpkin you can either cut in halve and bake it in a 350 degree oven for about half and hour or so. Let it cool and then remove as much of the skin as you can. But don't get to worried about it, just take what you can off. Cut in up into chunks and blend it up. Because pumpkins are very watery drain as much water as you can off the pumpkin puree. Now use it as you would canned pumpkin.

The other way to prep it is to cut it up raw and cut off the skin with a knife. You will lose more flesh this way but you can freeze the raw pumpkin until you want to use it.

Pumpkin Cake

(This is great as is or with cream cheese icing. I served it few nights ago when we had our new priest over for dinner and it was a big hit!)

4 eggs
1 2/3 cups white sugar
1 cup oil
1 3/4 cups mashed pumpkin
2 cups flour (I have used white, whole wheat, or spelt and it has always worked)
2 tsp backing powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin. In another bowl mix dry ingredients and then add to wet and mix thoroughly. Put in a 13x8 pan and bake for 30-45 mins at 350.



Three Sisters Stew
2 cans pinto beans
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chopped tomatoes (do not drain)
4 cups pumpkin cut into chunks
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 cup frozen corn

Fry onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add oregano, cumin, and cinnamon and salt to onions and cook stirring for one minute. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, beans and chili powder and simmer until pumpkin is soft (about 20 mins). Serve with crusty buns and grated cheese if you wish.

Snow day

Wow, getting four kids ready to go with a foot of snow takes a lot more work and time than I thought!