I don’t know about you but it’s bake sale season in my world, with both our employers running United Way workplace fundraisers. Somewhere along the line I got pegged for butter tarts, and now I’m a bit of a November workplace baking celebrity. What is it about butter tarts and the Canadian identity? They aren’t really…
Wanting Less
The older I get, the more I struggle with the materialism of Christmas. I think it’s worse this year than the past because we have a baby on the way — babies are generally considered to require a lot of stuff — and because we moved in the last year, and still have an absolutely atrocious…
Neighbourhood parenthood training
Our house is across the street from the backyard of an adult assisted living facility, run by the Salvation Army. A chain-link fence backs the property, which feels more like a park, because this part of their facility is big open green space with a path running through it. We often lament that we can’t…
Leafy Baby Blanket
I recently finished up this blanket and gifted it to a coworker who is about to go on maternity leave this week. It’s a relatively simple lace pattern, despite looking rather complex. What I found to be most unusual with this pattern was that the lace stitches are worked on both the right and wrong…
Baking up something special
So the cat’s out of the bag as of today! Yup — we’re expecting! I’ve spent the last couple days doing the big reveal at work and online, something that’s had me feeling quite a bit of anxiety. But in the end, it’s been a lot of fun to tell people, and generally everyone has been…
Wish List: Flash Disc Portable Light Modifier
Part of being lazy with my blog over the last year or two has included being lazy with my photography. I’ve been relying an awful lot on my iPhone to take photos. It’s convenient and always handy, and I don’t have to download or do much, if any, post production. I can just upload my…
The brightest veggie of the bunch: the beet
After returning from the land of beef, lamb and potatoes (Ireland) I crave veggies. Lots and lots and lots of them. While it was possible to get yourself a decent salad, and virtually every restaurant or pub had seafood chowder on the menu (and I ate a LOT of that too because it’s way better…
For the love of potatoes
Earlier this year I learned that I won — yes won — a week-long trip to Ireland for four people through a draw offered by Tourism Ireland at the Canada Blooms garden show. Crazy, right? People actually win these things! My Mom had already been working on trying to organize a family trip for next…
It’s official…I’m finally home
So I’ve been living in my new home and cooking with my new kitchen for oh, about 10 months now, and I only just got around to canning my first batch of anything: Vanilla Pear Butter. And now I finally feel like I’ve arrived. We were away most weekends throughout the summer and early fall,…
Baby Burrito Quilt
This post is a bit late in coming. I call it Baby Burrito Quilt because it was a gift for my friend Angie Griffith, who was referred to her baby belly as a baby burrito. Baby burrito was born a little over a month ago now, but I’ve just gotten around to publishing these photos….