Month: December 2011

A Hike to Our (Future) Strawbale Homesite (And Dressember Day #28)

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My ultimate dream, the fantasy that is always on my mind, the thing toward which I’m always working and striving, is to build a small strawbale cabin on my parents’ land (or rather, the piece of land that will be mine one day). This will be kind of a vacation home, but we plan to make it entirely self-sufficient for all seasons, and hope to retire there one day. I spent a couple of years choosing the site very carefully – taking into account sun, wind, slope, drainage, water, visibility, view and more. We have no planning done on the house yet (well, that’s not true – I know what I want for the floor plan, most of the features, rooms, and so on – we just haven’t met with a designer or started anything concrete), but I go visit the site a few times a year to experience it in different weather, at different times of day. Ideally, I’d like to put a temporary shelter – even a shed or something – on the site so I can camp there once a month for at least a whole year.

Over the holidays, we hoped to snowshoe back to the site. However, it’s been very warm and too much of the snow has melted. So instead, we hiked. Here are some photos from our hike (followed by a photo of my Dec. 28 Dressember entry).

A pretty willow tree in the middle of winter.

On our way to the site. The sun was setting behind us and the light was fantastic.

Grandma and Neko hiking up one of many big hills.

See that light? And that, my friends, is what we call the Magic Hour.

This will be the view from our living room window at winter solstice.

The creekbed (for the spring) in winter.

I didn’t take a photo of the actual site this time out, as it doesn’t look like much more than scraggly grey brush this time of year. However, this gives a nice idea of the look of the land. The thing that I especially love about the site, and was kind of unexpected, is that it always feels about 2 degrees warmer than out on the road. The wind is always lower, the snow doesn’t drift there, and it always feels calm, sheltered, and warm. This is amazing! Such a peaceful feeling there. The creek (spring-fed) runs past the house, just down the hill through the woods, and a grove of poplar trees offers shade in the summer while letting the sun through in the winter. There is a perfect tobogganing hill just a few metres away. The slope of the hill that the house will sit on is perfect to dig into for a root cellar. I could go on and on!

Oh and of course, my Dressember photo for December 28! We are at my parents’ place, so I thought it would be fun to grab an old babydoll dress (from when I was 13!) out of the basement. This is genuine Courtney Love/Hole era!  It looks ridiculous without the belt, but with the belt, I quite like it!

A Merry Dressember Christmas!

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I have slacked off on documenting my Dressember entries online, however, I’m happy to report that I have not slacked on wearing dresses, nor taking photos to prove it! I had thought I’d posted more recently than… the 20th?! Sheesh. So here is a round-up of one full week of holiday dresses.

Dec. 20th – Neko’s birthday, and a work day for me. We had a Solstice party that night, but I changed out of the dress for that.

Years and years ago, I picked this dress up at Value Village. It was too big for me, so I never wore it, but I love the eyelet pattern and held onto it. This was the first time I had worn in. I was sad to discover that the neck is tight and coarse.

Dec. 21st – Solstice! I wore something fancy and fun. Why not?!

Dress: Banana Republic (clothing swap) // Shirt: Nine West (clothing swap) // Necklace: Global Wonders

Dec. 22 – We had pyjama day as a theme day for the kids. Ate breakfast for lunch, stayed in our jammies all day. I wore flannel most of the day, but changed into this piece long enough to take a photo.

Dress: A souvenir brought back from Hong Kong

Dec. 23: My last day of work before the holidays. After work we traveled up to my parents’ place. This dress is an all-time favourite; I bought it at Value Village when I worked there 12 years ago and still love it.

Dress: no label (Value Village) // Tights: Codori (over cheapie tights) // Legwarmers: Sock Dreams

Dec. 24: Christmas Eve, of course! I put on a light dress for lounging in the loft by the fire. Lovely.

Dress: Joe (clothing swap) // Cardigan: Joe (clothing swap) // Belt: my husband’s wedding tie

Dec. 25: saved a simple favourite for Christmas day.

Dress: Ripe (clothing swap)

Dec. 26: A third Christmas celebration, with my mom’s extended family. This is a skirt from Value Village that my wonderful best friend, Nicole, suggested I pull up above my chest and then belt and throw a cardigan over. Actually, I bought the skirt, cardigan and belt all in the same Value Village trip.

Dress: skirt by Tan Jay // Cardigan: New York & Company

Dec. 27: Another night spent lounging in the loft by the fire; thus allowing for a summery dress. Wish I had pulled the belt to a reasonable spot before this photo! Ah, well.

Dress: Urban Heritage (clothing swap) // Tank: Old Navy // Cardigan: Joe (clothing swap) // Belt: Guess

*Note: We didn’t kill that elk. It’s a hand-me-down taxidermy. We’re not hunters, especially not trophy hunters. Also, I didn’t mean to pose in front of it but I have to say it’s a bit funny.

Irresistible Black Bean Hummus

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This isn’t a pretty dip, but once you get one taste of it, you won’t be able to stop. Perfect with tortilla chips (we like Que Pasa Stone Ground chips), veggies or crackers, or as a spread, or in burritos or similar. Also delicious spread on a wrap and topped with grated cheddar or Monterey jack, then rolled up as a Black Bean Roll-up.

Irresistible Black Bean Hummus

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup canned (or well-cooked dried) black beans
  • 1 tbsp. Braggs seasoning
  • 1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 4 cloves roasted garlic (or replace with 2 cloves fresh garlic or 1 tbsp. garlic powder)

Combine all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. If too thick, add some of the bean water (from the can) or tap water.

Solstice Celebrations

/ Lindsay / 5 Comments

Happy, happy Solstice to you all. I’ve been excited for weeks about celebrating, officially, for the first time ever this year. Justan and I share the shortest day of the year as our mutual favourite, and of course Neko’s birthday is this week as well, so this time of year always feels special to us. Last year, as we stood outside at 12:30 am to watch the lunar eclipse through our neighbour’s telescope (we had woken Neko up to see it, as it would be her only chance to see a lunar eclipse on Solstice and her birthday), I regretted not having planned more formal or extensive celebrations. I planned out this year’s Solstice celebrations over the following few days, and this year, all the planning was done for me in advance!

I had included plans for a Solstice feast, ice lanterns to be lit at sunset, and a few different craft and activity ideas which we could choose from.

Preparations started earlier this month, with grocery shopping for the feast, and the making of ice lanterns. We found the instructions at Love in the Suburbs.

Gathering materials for the ice lanterns, and Neko standing beside some partially assembled lanterns.

We also made popcorn garlands that we could give to the birds on Solstice.

Then my friend Jen invited us to a Solstice party, where we could make prayer flags to set our intentions for the new year. Her inspiration was this post from Rhythm of the Home.

I spent the week before Solstice preparing any foods I could in advance, and getting the pieces of the prayer flags ready to assemble. I baked the fruit cake, cut out triangles of fabric, chose intentions, chopped onions, and measured spices for mead.

Jen’s party began Solstice, the night of the 20th. We drank sunshine punch and snacked while we painted, cut and sewed. The kids played for hours in the dim house.

Candles, sunshine punch, and prayer flags in progress.

Jen drew, then painted, beautiful Celtic knots on hers with Gaelic words beneath. I wrote my words on in permanent marker (I’m not a perfect crafter, okay…) and sewed up the edges of the flags by hand. My fabric came from a damaged nursing tank; fabric bags from prefold diapers; a clothing swap romper; and an old dress I had bought years ago to make beanbags as party favours for Neko’s third birthday party.

On the morning of the 21st, we lazed in bed for a bit, then Justan made us scrambled eggs (from our hens) while I had a nice, warm bath. We cleaned up around the house a bit, then headed out for a hike near the river to hang the popcorn garlands. It was a beautiful, sunny day (I always picture the Solstice as so dark in my head! But the daylight hours, of course, are just as bright as ever.), but the pathways were icy because we’ve had such variable temperatures recently, and there was a biting wind blowing. We hiked down into the river valley with our popcorn garlands and our warm drinks in hand (hot chocolate for Neko; homemade mocha for daddy; homemade vanilla cafe au lait for mom).

Neko shows off the popcorn garlands we’ve hung for the birds.

In the afternoon, Justan and Neko played Just Dance while I packed for Christmas. Okay, okay – video games are not my idea of something you do on Solstice. But, it was daddy and daughter time, and they had fun. There are worse things.

At sunset, we lit the ice lanterns. They were in kind of rough shape after a full week of thawing and re-freezing, so their candle-spots had largely filled in. I tried to fix this using water, containers, and our freezer, but it only partially worked. They still looked really pretty though. They were lined up right across our front porch, and I kept them lit until we went to bed, to welcome the sun back on the morning of the 22nd. As the sun set, we prepared ourselves for the longest night of the year.

I spent the rest of the afternoon putting the finished touches on the dinner. Our menu was:

I chose the menu to be as local as seasonal as I could, while including foods we don’t eat on a regular basis. I wanted to eat foods that we could have grown ourselves, and I wanted the meal to be special – not something we would have any other time. We ate by candlelight, which was really nice, and Neko loved.

After dinner, we played a co-operative game that we got from Riva’s: The Eco-Store, called Wildcraft. We felt this was appropriately hippy-ish for a Solstice celebration. There was a moment of hysterical giggling when Justan asked me a question about finishing the game and I answered him by shooting back, in a very serious tone, “No, Justan, we each need to gather two buckets of huckleberries before we go back to Grandma’s house!” Justan thought this was hilarious. It may have been the mead, though.

After Neko was in bed, our plan was to play board games, but Justan said he didn’t want to play with just me, because I always beat him. (Note to self: next year, invite friends to join us for board games.)

I finished up the prayer flags and on the 22nd, after the longest night was over, I hung them from the chicken coop in the backyard.

The intentions we set are: transcendence, security, intuition, expansiveness, prosperity, integrity and love.

I’m already taking notes for next year’s Solstice! I will change a few things about the menu – we didn’t love the barley bake, and the recipe for the Mashed Potato casserole made a ridiculously huge amount, even cut down to three portions (it would have fed ten!). I would leave the oven at 500 degree for 14 minutes for the bison before turning it off, as this roast was quite rare. And even though I think fruitcake is perfect for the occasion, maybe next year I’ll make a crisp or something. I also think we could plan more activities for the day – I didn’t, this year, because I didn’t want to pack the day and make it stressful. But next year, maybe a trip to a local pond to skate would be nice. I would like to incorporate friends more, next year.

All in all, it was really lovely to formally observe Solstice for the first time. Tomorrow will be six seconds longer than today, and after that the increase in light will accelerate daily until the summer Solstice, when we’ll be on our second annual Solstice camping trip. I hope that all of you out there are also celebrating the return of the light (or the waning of the light, for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere).

Chevre-Stuffed Crimini Mushrooms with Walnuts and Caramelized Onions

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I needed a gluten- and dairy-free item for a snacky potluck, and had a bag of crimini mushrooms in the fridge – given that stuffed mushrooms are one of my favourite hors d’oeuvres, and you can stuff them with such a wide variety of ingredients, I spent the day dreaming of the tastiest gluten- and dairy-free combinations I could dream up. Originally, I was going to make these vegan, but when I found out there was no issue (for this particular person) with goats cheese, I decided to include that. If I were making them fully vegan, I would just remove the goats cheese, chop up the mushroom stems for extra bulk, and probably increase the walnut and nutritional yeast content.

Chevre-Stuffed Crimini Mushrooms with Walnuts and Caramelized Onions

Gluten- and Dairy-Free

Ingredients (all quantities are flexible; adjust to taste/preferences):

  • 12-16 crimini mushrooms, medium to large (use more mushrooms the smaller they are)
  • 1/3 cup walnuts
  • 4.5 oz. chevre or other goats cheese (feta may be too salty though)
  • 3/4 cup chopped onions
  • 2 tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I recommend Red Star brand)
  • 6 cloves roasted garlic*
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
  • Braggs seasoning
  • Toasted sesame oil

*To roast garlic, wrap a whole head, skin on, in foil and place in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour. Allow to cool. The extra from this recipe can be used in any recipe where you would use fresh or powdered garlic, or spread on toast.

Soak walnuts in equal amounts Braggs seasoning and water, enough to cover, plus 1 tsp. sesame oil, for 1-3 hours (at least).

Melt coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions. Stir often, and when onions start to brown, turn down heat to medium-low. Cook slowly, stirring often, until fully cooked, translucent and golden brown.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Drain walnuts and reserve liquid. Combine walnuts, cheese, caramelized onions, nutritional yeast, roasted garlic (squeeze from the paper by pinching at the top and working down) and herbs in a food processor. Process until the consistency of a thick pate. If it becomes to difficult to process, add the walnut liquid in small amounts until it can be mixed. The mixture should be as thick as possible while still allowing it to be processed.

Wipe down mushrooms with a damp cloth, and gently remove stems. Fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of filling – this should be heaping. I used my hands, because I had discovered by this point that this stuff was incredibly delicious, and I wanted an excuse to lick my fingers afterward.

Bake in a covered dish for 30 minutes.

Any excess filling is wonderful on crackers. Or you could just make it as a pate or spread in the first place. Enjoy!

The Night We Built Terrariums as Gifts

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In case you missed it, adorable little terrariums are all the rage this gift-giving season. After seeing them featured on Inhabitat, and for sale at Market Collective (here in Calgary), I had decided that they would be an easy and cute gift for the mothers (mine and Justan’s).

We needed:

  • small or medium sized glass containers (with or without lids)
  • pretty stones, gravel, shells and other such embellishments
  • small succulents
  • sand

I bought the containers for $2-4 each at a thrift shop, along with a $3 bag of mixed glass “rocks” and decorative shells. Succulents were $5 each for 2-inch containers – we got a selection of four different types. Sand came from the backyard.

All the materials laid out.

We got a cute book from the library called Terrarium Craft, by Amy Bryant Aiello and Kate Bryant, and used this as our reference for assembling.

Here are our finished products!

Nana’s single-plant, lidded terrarium with shells arranged by Neko.

Grandma’s multi-plant, fishbowl terrarium, complete with umbrella.

Neko wanted to make her own, so I bought her a Venus Fly Trap for her birthday and we transplanted it.

My very own little terrarium with glass inukshuk.

I hope these go over well! I’m quite in love with them.

Of course, it’s Dressember the 19th. Here’s today’s ensemble:

Dress: no label. I’m guessing handmade. Clothing swap. // Cardigan: Kersh // Necklace: made by me // Tights: Joe // Socks: American Apparel // Shoes: El Naturalista // Background: My store, Babes in Arms!

A Christmas-y Weekend in Dressember

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I’ve had more fun with Dressember this weekend. I’d also like to thank the weather for cooperating with this Dressember experience – it’s been so warm! This weekend it hovered around freezing.

On Saturday, we went to a Christmas market, then set up the tree while watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (our annual tradition).

Yes. Our tree is tiny. Dress: Recycled button-up shirt dress from a store on Main Street on Vancouver (with American Apparel tank underneath) // Cardigan: Etnies // Jeans: Lucky

Today, we had a two-part Christmas party to attend – the first part was at a local historical attraction called Heritage Park, and then we went back to the hostess’s house for food and the rest of the party.

I tried the dress-over-skirt option today. I had never considered this, but saw some other Dressemberists doing it and thought it was interesting.

The outdoors version of my outfit. Dress: Joe // Skirt: No label // Scarf: My BFF made it for me // Coat: Bench // Tights: Joe (under), Codori Crochet Tights (over) // Legwarmers: from Sock Dreams // Boots: Keen

The kids at the party playing with a Lite Brite.

The indoor version of my outfit (wish it showed the tights!) Dress: Joe // Sweater: Roxy // Necklace: my sister’s from the 80s // Skirt: No label (Value Village) // Legwarmers: Button-up Legwarmers from Sock Dreams // Socks: Joe

The next few days of posts will be fun – terrarium building tomorrow; prayer flag making the next day; and Solstice the day after that!

A Downtown Holiday Adventure (And Dressember Day #16)

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We don’t have much time for spontaneous family days in December (it’s true!), but I’ve been taking mental note of downtown festivities as I see them pop up on Facebook and Twitter – a gingerbread replica of the beautiful Fairmont Palliser Hotel, ice sculptures on Stephen Avenue, carolers, fiddlers, and pretty lights, to name a few. I had decided it would be fun to take an afternoon and head down there to enjoy as much as we could all in one day, since I knew making it down more than once wouldn’t happen.

I looked up some of the attractions on advance and made it into kind of a scavenger hunt, so we could cross sights off the list as we went.

First was the gingerbread replica of the Palliser. Truthfully, I also wanted an excuse to go into the Palliser and see the Christmas decorations. Here is what the Palliser really looks like (today):

The real Fairmont Palliser

And here is Neko with the fully edible version:

We took to the +15 walkway system to get partway to TD Square, where we would find the fiddlers performing. On our way, we walked for a bit down Stephen Avenue, and came across the ice sculptures in front of Winners. I hear that other years, they’ve been destroyed really quickly, so we were glad to see them still standing and in perfect condition.

Unfortunately, even though the Downtown Calgary website said the fiddlers would be performing 11:45 – 1:15, and we got to the right spot at 1 pm on the dot, they were already finished and packing up their things. Too bad – I was disappointed.

Thankfully, we had Food Trucks to cheer us up. My YYC Food Trucks app told us that Alley Burger was parked down at Eau Claire, so we hoofed it down there to grab a couple. Good thing we walked so fast! After we ordered, the woman at the till told the next customer there were only four left. We were starved, and so glad to have our burgers and fries. We walked back to TD Square to sit and eat them.

YUM! Highly recommended.

A touch-up for my haircut at Ginger Group and a latte from Caffe Rosso were the perfect end to our adventure.

Tonight, we attended a Christmas party at a friend’s house, and I donned Dress #2 of the day. It’s too big – I nabbed it at a clothing swap earlier this month because I think it’s cute and I wanted another dress for Dressember.

Mid-Month Dressember Slump

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Ouch, pretty bad couple of days. Yesterday was really tough, as we had to bus to childcare and then I had to get from there to work, and then another bus adventure at the end of the day. At least that was the plan. I really wanted to wear a dress but, very long story with a lot of calculations short, I decided the easiest way to make the schedule work in the morning would be for me to run from where I was dropping Neko off, to my store. So…. I needed to wear something that I could run in, without any extra pieces to carry, warm enough for below freezing temperatures and layers so I could take off the inner, sweaty layers when I got to work and not stink all day.

I came up with tights, covered by tights, covered by yoga pants, with wool socks, a tank top with a built-in bra, a long-sleeved tee-shirt, and a light dress. And a light running jacket. Needless to say, I looked… interesting.

Dress: Joe // Shirt: Calvin Klein (Winners) // Pants: Karma // Shoes: Saucony

Yep, that’s right, there’s my entry for Running Dress.

It gets worse. I’ve been so tired this week, I haven’t put any effort into the outfits. I apologize to all you proper Dressemberists out there. I hope it’s just a mid-month slump, and that today I’ll be back on my game.

Dress: No label, Value Village // Shirt: Suzy Shier // Jeans: Lucky

A Conversation We Had Today

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On the walk home from the library tonight, Neko and I were talking about her impending 6th birthday. We discussed what she might get for presents, and whether she minds having a birthday so close to Christmas.

She said her legs were tired, and asked me to carry her. I said, “I’m sorry, you’re going to be six now. I can only carry you in emergency situations.”

“Sometimes I think about the old times, and feel sad,” she replied. “I wish I could still ride on your back.”

“I think about the old times sometimes and feel sad, too. Getting older can be exciting, but it can also be sad, because you have to leave some things behind. I loved carrying you on my back, and feeding you bubby (our word for breastfeeding), and snuggling you in our bed,” I told her.

“But we’ll always do that,” she said, “Even when I’m grown up.”

“What? Snuggle in bed?”

“Yes.”

“Of course. And when I’m old and frail, and can’t walk on my own anymore, you can carry me on your back,” I suggested.

“Mommy! No I can’t! I’m not carrying you on my back!,” she laughed.

“Oh, come on! I carried you around for years! You can’t carry your poor, old mother?” I pleaded with her.

“Who’s ever heard of someone carrying a grandma?!” she exclaimed.

“We can be the first,” I said. She giggled.

A few steps later, she told me, “Mommy, sometimes I get sad when I think about when I’ll be a teenager and I won’t love you anymore.”

Oops. We’ve told her that she won’t always listen to us like she does now, and that when she’s a teenager she probably won’t want to be around us as much.

I reassured her that she’ll still love us just as much, hopefully, but that she just won’t want to spend as much time with us, and she will probably think we don’t know much about anything. I told her that I hope we’ll have a good relationship and that even though she won’t want to spend as much time with us when she’s a teenager, hopefully she’ll still want to hang out with us sometimes.

“I’m going to keep living with you when I’m older, even if I save up enough money to buy a house,” she told me.

One day I’ll look back at this post and shed another tear like I did tonight.