Harvest time

I have been trying to take advantage of the summer by buying as much produce from Lester's Farm as I can while it is available. I popped up there this week during my lunch break and I went a little nuts. I can't believe the variety and quantity this year. If you haven't been lately; go now, because this has to be the height of the season. They had red and yellow onion, leek, green onion, romaine lettuce, kale, carrot, basil, cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, parsnip, potatoes, artichoke and still a few strawberries too! This isn't even a complete list. I can't wait to get cooking this weekend.

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La Leche League Canada -- September

Breastfeeding Support Group
Topic: The Advantages of Breastfeeding to Mother & Baby
Monday, September 10, 7pm
Sobeys Community Room (Torbay Road & Highland Drive)
Pregnant Women, Nursing Moms and Babies Welcome
Members & Non-Members Welcome (Free of Charge)
Info: Jane H 722 5815 Jan H 739 9368
Supporting Breastfeeding Families Since 1961

Dining out with kids: Piatto

I had the worst bug I think I have ever had in my life last week. It was a chest cold that had me coughing all day and night for a week which meant I got no sleep and lost my voice and missed a day of work and also wasn’t able to do the Learn to Camp thing on Signal Hill which sounded fantastic. So Saturday night when I was finally starting to come back into the land of the living we decided to go out for dinner.

We didn’t want franchise family fun food, but with a four year –old dining companion we knew five-star dining wasn’t an option either. So we chose Piatto. I have blogged about Piatto before as a family dining option, but I thought I would mention it again because it lived up to our expectations on all fronts: Service, quality, and family–friendly.

We ordered two salads and three pizzas. One plain cheese and pepperoni for our son, but a tip: the pepperoni or chorizo or whatever it was, was too spicy for most kids palates so we picked it off and my son ate it plain. One of our pizzas was caramelized pears and pancetta with goat cheese and I know that if my son could have been convinced to try it he would have liked it because it was almost so rich and sweet that it could qualify as a dessert.

Although I couldn’t get our son to try the salads, we had a Caprese and a Caesar and shared both. They were delicious, particularly the Caesar. To me a Caesar is like a canary in a coal mine test for a restaurant. A bad Caesar salad doesn’t bode well for the rest of the meal. So often they are drowning in dressing or the lettuce is lazily chosen and full of tough stalks and brown spots.

There were two other tables with young boys seated near us and we started talking with one family and their little boy even came and sat at our table for a few minutes which helped entertain our son while we waited for our meal.

Our waiter was easy going and accommodated our request to bring our sons pizza early with the salad course and brought a straw for our son’s milk. The meal came quickly and all in all it was a lovely time.

Piatto doesn’t take recommendations, but we went before 6PM and that I think helped us ensure a table as well as a short wait for our food.

I would love to hear your favourite picks for family meals.

Healthy (sort of)

I made these the other day and they are well worth sharing. Frozen chocolate, peanut butter, banana bites.


They aren't the prettiest looking dessert, but they kind of have the texture of frozen cheesecake and they are great on a hot day. Find the recipe and a much better picture here.




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Unwined

It's hard to say anything about wine without sounding snobby, so with that as a starting point, I hope you'll continue reading anyway.
I love red wine. A glass of red wine while I am cooking or at the end of a long day is a ritual for me. A signal to my body and brain that it is time to relax, enjoy
a few moments to myself and 'unwined' as it were. I know I am not alone in this because almost every mom I know talks adoringly about their love of wine and at our book club meetings the wine flows.
I am no connoisseur, but I have drunk enough of the stuff to know what I like and what I don't and I have a few rules/tips I try to remember when purchasing I thought I would share.
1. Buying good expensive wine is easy. Buying good cheap wine is harder. I like the challenge of finding something respectable for under $15 bucks.
2. As a general rule I don't buy wines named after animals. There are a few exceptions, such as those with goats in the name. Referring back to tip number 1, expensive wines named after animals are a safer bet.Wines with pictures of animals on the label are risky, but might surprise you.
3. I like to buy single varietals and compare so I can figure out what is it I really like and that helps me choose blends.
4. I talk to the guys/gals at the liquor store and try their recommendations. If I like what they recommend; I talk to them again. They know what is new, what is selling, what's on sale. Whenever we see our guy Paul, we stop to pick his brain.
5. Speaking of sales, I always check the aisle with the specials. Sometimes you'll get a $50 bottle marked down by as much as $25 bucks.
If you have wine tips and recommendations I would love to hear them and especially if you think you know a wine named after an animal (except goats) that isn't awful.
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Learn to Camp on Signal Hill

I heard about this amazing event on CBC radio and emailed for some information and I thought I would share:

The learn to camp weekend is scheduled for this weekend, August 25-26. It starts at 1 pm and end the following morning at 9 am. The cost to participate to the activity is 22$ per person. It includes:
 
The tent for 4 or 6 people
Sleeping pads
Saturday dinner
Sunday breakfast
Workshops on how to cook, use a campstove and how to dress while camping
Zumba, stargazing, campfire, Ghosts of Signal Hill program, etc.

People must register in advance. For more information or to register call (709) 772-6427 or email signal.hill@pc.gc.ca

Casting Call

Want to experience a taste of the spotlight? See this message that was in my Facebook feed today:

Wavelight Productions has updated our casting call. We are now accepting entries from individuals for our TWO upcoming commercials. Full families will still be accepted as well. Rate of pay is $150/person.
One commercial will be taking place on Tuesday, August 28th and the other on Wednesday, August 29th (this is subject to change).

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• 1 brother & sister duo, ages 8-11
• 1 brother & sister duo, ages 6-11
• 2 mother figures, age 35-50
• 2 father figures, age 35-50

Interested? Send your photos and any relevant experience to victoria@wavelight.ca by 5PM on Wednesday, August 22. Please indicate which commercial you are applying for. We thank all applicants!


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DIY Pantry

My first Pinterest-inspired project: turning the top of the basement stirs into a pantry. So much more room in my cupboards now.



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Bean Burritos

We had these bean burritos last week. I liked them. My husband loved them. My kid licked them... hey, it's a start!

They are fast, easy, healthy and flexible, for example I did black beans and frozen corn in mine.

My kid likes beans, cheese, corn, and flour tortillas, but apparently he doesn't like them all in one package. We'll keep working on this one with him because I am pretty sure he'd like them if he'd actually take a bite.








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Swimming upstream

In Canada there are two things every kid needs to be able to do: swim and skate. These are mandatory for fun and safety and also skating is a prerequisite for playing hockey which might as well be mandatory as well. We have been completely negligent on this front. We didn’t do mom and tot classes, we didn’t go to family swims and sit in the pee pool at the Aquarena (well once and my kid wanted to play with the splash boards on the side of the pool not in the pool and the whole adventure lasted 15 minutes.) We tried introducing him to the water this summer at a pond. He was excited about wearing his new swim shoes, but when he got the toes wet tentatively stepping in he promptly stepped out and said: “I have to take my shoes off because they got wet, Mommy.” 

So now we are paying for our apathy. While he has no fear of the bath and splashes happily; our son is anxious about swimming. Any mention of it, even in a theoretical conversation or in a fictional way in a book results in a trembling lip and a firm “I never want to swim.”

So this week we registered him for classes and the people at the pool say they are professionals and are very good at coaxing anxious kids into the pool and helping them overcome their fear. We shall see. Watch for updates in September.

Have your kids taken to the water like fish or are they anxious about swimming? Let me know!

Gad zukes!

I made this zucchini bread pancake recipe from Smitten Kitchen this week because I had a great big zucchini from Lester’s farm that needed using. Wow, were these good. My kid smacked in to them and didn’t even balk at the green flecks of zucchini. The spices and sweetness make these more like a dessert than a savoury dish like a zucchini latke. On that note, these would be just as good with half the sugar and there isn’t even that much to start with. They are super moist because of the zucchini and I think next time I will double the recipe. They would be good with fresh fruit, preserves, syrup or even a dollop of yogurt.

Birthday idea

We weren't sure what to do for our son's birthday this year, but when I passed the hockey aisle at Toys R Us and there was a 50% off sale on; a light bulb went off. For $7 a kid I bought preschooler-sized hockey sticks and invited our son's friends to a little kid style of street hockey in a nearby school parking lot. Best of all, the hockey sticks were also the loot and each kid got to take theirs home with them. After the hockey game we had snacks, cake and beverages back at our place. It was a blast, the kids were active and outdoors which is a bonus, and it was pretty simple and inexpensive too.




I'd love to hear about some of your best birthday ideas, preferably ones that were fun and easy and not too expensive.
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The Nickel Festival Children's Matinee

The Nickel Festival has a children's movie event on August 18th. Check out their web page for the schedule and consider getting a babysitter for the awesome Blow up in Bannerman Park movie nights.


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Get smashed

If you haven't tried it yet, let me tell you what you are missing: bake some small potatoes on parchment paper. When they are just perfectly soft, take a glass out of your cupboard and use the bottom to press or smash the potatoes gently. Put some butter and herbs or compound butter on top of them and pop them back in the oven for 10 more minutes to melt the butter and crisp up the edges. Make a lot of these. More than you need, because they are wicked.



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Drive -in movies!

A friend of ours with a big backyard and a creative mind held a backyard drive-in movie themed party on Regatta night. What a blast! It was warm and windless and the kids decorated cardboard boxes to sit in as their cards, a white bed sheet was hung on the fence and they brought a speaker, DVD player and projector out on the lawn wired by extension cords. Of course the movie was Cars and while the kids enjoyed popcorn in dollar store red and white boxes and watched the movie, the adults mingled and had a drink or two. It didn’t get dark until 9PM, but no one seemed to mind their kids being up past bed time for such a great night. Since that night I have seen some people on Facebook mentioning they went to a similar party in their neighborhoods. I will definitely be stealing this idea and may even try it with a grown up movie sometime. The picture is before the sun went down.

Let's get this potty started...

Wondering why I am showing you a picture of my toilet? Because of this ingenious built-in potty seat. I spotted it at a friend's and went out and got one the next day. $50 bucks at home depot; this toilet seat comes with a seat for grown ups and a seat for little ones that sticks to the lid with a magnet when not in use. Brilliant. Solves the problem of what to do with that little plastic seat that kicks around the bathroom and the problem of cleaning. I was never comfortable with sticking the other seat in the sink or tub to rinse. This one can be cleaned the way you clean the big toilet.
Also no slipping and wobbling which my kid found unnerving. He actually fell off the toilet once or twice with the old removable potty seat. This eliminates that risk altogether. It can be removed when your kid is ready for the big seat.


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It's a bird, it's a plane... no it's a helicopter mom

The other day I noticed that every time my son falls down, whether I ask him or not, he says "I'm ok!" Sometimes it sounds like he is saying it to pre-empt the question he knows is coming. Sometimes it sounds like a reflex verbal response to any type of trip or fall. In either case, he comes by it honestly since any fall is followed by a call from either me or his father of: "are you ok?" It's a call and response habit we fell into as soon as he could walk. No one wants to be a helicopter mom. Some of us aren't, some of us are trying not to be, and some of us are in full denial that we are. I hope I am in the middle group.


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Folk Fest Dance Party

So far, this year's Folk Festival in Bannerman Park lived up to all my expectations. It was T-shirt weather at 10:30 PM last night. Not a breath of wind, an almost full moon, and a crowd of people in a good mood.

My kid went mad dancing at the front of the stage with a big group of girls ranging in age from 2 to 11 or 12. I don't know why there weren't more boys up there, but my 4 year old son had the ladies all to himself for two solid sets, before the Dardanelles' brought the grown ups to their feet too. Then the dance floor got a little more congested, but my husband stayed in the thick of it with our son who basically danced until he dropped. We all didn't get into bed until midnight, but it was worth ignoring Bed Time for the fun we had and the memories we made last night.

We have weekend passes so (pending the forecast) we'll be there this afternoon and likely back for the evening show if our kid doesn't crash first. We'll be going Sunday too.

There were a few people who I know from Twitter (@stjohnskid) who were there last night and were tweeting about the fantastic kids dance party too. If you are on twitter and you are there today and tomorrow, let me know and maybe we can meet IRL.

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Tea Time

I have been making easy iced tea all month long and I thought I would share my


recipe: It's nothing fancy, just buy your favourite fruity tea bags and steep three tea bags in one cup of hot water and then add the concentrated tea to a jug of cold water. I don't like mine sweetened, but if you or your kids do, make a simple syrup by boiling water and adding sugar and then mix this into your jug to taste or try with honey. To keep your tea clear, don't add the sugar or honey directly to the jug of cold tea, dissolve it in hot water first and then mix. You can also add slices of orange, lime, or lemon as you like. My favourite is PC's Raspberry Thriller, but there are so many flavours to try you can practically have a new one every day.


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Buskers

The St. John's Buskers Festival is on this week. The schedule is on line but it is hard to find out what buskers are kid-friendly. If anyone knows where to find a description of the acts, let me know.

Berry Happy

We planted some raspberry bushes a few years ago and we seem to have the perfect little micro climate in our garden for them. Each summer we get a bounty of big, juicy berries.
Since he was old enough to eat solid food our son has enjoyed hunting for the berries hiding beneath the thick leaves, picking them and popping them in his mouth fresh and warm from the sun. Tasting the first berry of the summer is a treat and brings back memories of my childhood berry picking with grandparents now passed. We have enough raspberries to make pies and scones and jams, just from our little bushes, but somehow they never make it as far as the kitchen.
Growing your own food is very trendy these days and with the satisfaction and pleasure that my little raspberry patch gives me; I can see why. I don't have a big back yard or a lot of sunlight, so we are limited in what we can grow in the way of food, and I don't think I am going to become one of those urban farmers with a chicken coop in my backyard, but next year I think I will add to my edible plants.
Do you grow your own food? Do you know anyone with chickens in the city yet?
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Thursday at the Rooms

Thursday, August 2, 2-4 PM

MAKE YOUR OWN GIANT SQUID
Make your own giant squid... with great big googley-eyes. It’s a great way to find
out how the real animal is put together – from tentacles to tail fin.