Author: Lindsay

Bringing Colour to a Winter Day

/ Lindsay / 1 Comment

Although true winter was still three days off, as we know now thanks to the magic of hindsight, Thursday was a bit wintery and greyish feeling. Though it was warm and sunny, something about it felt very…. January. Maybe we could feel the cold snap that was about to roll in from the west.

The night before, I had flipped through science experiment cards from Usborne Books that my mom had given Neko for Christmas, and picked out a couple of projects for the day.

50 Science Things to Make and Do – science experiment cards from Usborne Books

I realized, as I was getting the supplies ready, that these were both going to be really nice, bright, colourful activities! This made me happy.

The first was musical bottles. We all did this as kids, and I was excited to revisit it. Neko helped me dig through our recycling for glass bottles, and we filled them to varying levels with water. I apologize for what will appear to be a bright, shiny Coca Cola ad. My husband has a habit. We added food colouring to the water so that we had a full spectrum of bottles.

As it turned out, only Mairead was really interested in this. Neko and Finn were each off doing their own things. But that’s okay. Mairead, Andie (our Australian visitor) and I spent quite a while experimenting with blowing across the mouths of the bottles, tapping them in different spots with different materials (metal, wood) and arranging the bottles by colour, size and water level.

Our rainbow of musical bottles

Mairead took to the musical aspect and decided that she would like to perform a concert for Nicole (her mom) when she came to pick her up later that day. Mairead spent a lot of time practicing so it would be just right.

Mairead practices her concert in preparation for performing for her mom later.

Still practicing.

Our next activity was planting seeds. Neko and I picked out seeds from our dry food storage the night before – we chose dry kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, barley and peanuts. Each child got two small Mason jars, into which we stuffed colour tissue paper. The card called for napkins, but we don’t have paper napkins. I love the colours the kids chose – each of them ended up with two jars with layers of brightly coloured paper. After watering the paper down, we stuffed various seeds around the edges, between the paper and the jar.

The kids’ seed jars

The jars will live in a warm, dark cupboard until the seeds sprout, at which point we will move them to a sunny spot so the sprouts can grow. Hopefully I will post a photo once the sprouts are growing!

Edited to add photos:

Our big plants! Check it out!

And Then We Learned To Make Cheese.

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Neko and I took a cheese making class this week. It was quite neat! It had never been on my “to do” list to learn to make my own cheese, but when this opportunity came up for Neko to take a class, it seemed like it would be right up our alley. She has loved the different cooking classes we’ve taken in the past, and of course we love cheese.

The class was taught by Ella from Make Cheese here in Calgary. For $40 we got the two-hour class and the cheese-making kit with enough supplies to make cheese 30 times (minus the milk of course)!

Look how cute the little kits are! I really do love her packaging.

It was all quite easy, really. We started by having the kids dissolve some citric acid in water.

The kids mix the citric acid with water.

Meanwhile, we had heated our 4L (each) of milk on the stove. We then added the citric acid mix to the hot milk.

Neko and friends mix their citric acid into the hot milk.

We then heated the milk again, dissolved some vegetarian rennet in water and added that to the milk mixture. We had to count to thirty… we left this to the kids, and they did it very slowly and carefully. As we found out later, it may have been better to just time 30 seconds, as leaving this step too long can throw off the process a bit.

The kids count verrrrrry carefully (and slowly) to thirty.

We let our concoctions sit a while, and curds formed. These are quite gross looking. We strained out all the curds into separate bowls.

These curds would soon become mozzarella.

The process after this was: pack as much curd as you can into a slotted spoon. Lower the spoon into the heated whey for 30 seconds. Remove, and knead the curds about eight times. Reheat once more, and knead until shiny and smooth. And…..

Mozzarella ball!

Now, from four litres of milk, we only got this much cheese:

The whole of our fresh cheese.

Ella said that storebought milk is really hit or miss. She said if you’re using milk from your own dairy, you’ll get to know the qualities of it and what to adjust in order to make it work. At any rate, there are plenty of things you can do with even this small amount of fresh mozzarella.

By the way, it doesn’t taste like much. BUT…

It’s great on pizza!

We sliced it up and put it on pizza when our wonderful Australian friend Andie rolled into town. And just because I feel like bragging, the crust is made from my homemade bread dough, the sauce from my canned tomatoes, and while this one shown is asparagus with caramelized onions, the other had turkey marinated in my handmade harissa, with homemade, oil-packed, roasted red peppers. Yum!!

On Crying-it-out Experts, But Not On Crying-it-out

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And now for a slightly off topic vent.

If you’re a parent, especially a parent who has spent any time at all on Facebook or online parenting forums, I’m sure you know just how controversial the topic of sleep can get. Not your sleep, of course, though that is directly affected here (either by your baby waking up in the wee hours of the morning, or by your fuming over forum posts you read the night before) – but your baby, toddler or child’s sleep. Where should they sleep – in their crib, in their own room, in your room, in your bed, in a bassinet? And how should you put them to bed at night – nurse them or feed them a bottle; lay them down and let them cry; rock them to sleep; lie with them until they fall asleep? And then! What to do if they awaken in the middle of the night? Do you pop a boob in their mouth and go back to sleep? Walk down the hall, feed them in the rocking chair, and put them back to bed? Bring them into your bed? Give them a soother or teach them to suck their thumb? Let them cry while you watch on a video monitor? Let them cry but it doesn’t matter because you’re oblivious because they’re two stories away and you’ve shut off the monitor? It about makes your head spin, even if you were well-rested in the first place (which, and let’s be honest here, most parents with kids under 18 months are not, regardless of which of the previous options they may choose on any given night).

BUT – this post is not about which of these options is right. That is because 1) I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know your baby, and even if I did, I’m not your baby’s mom (or dad – dad’s have instincts too!); and 2) there are tons of great articles and studies out there already, and I don’t need to reiterate all of that (see: Babies and CIO from Ask Moxie, potential affects of crying it out from Dr. Sears’ webpage as a start).

No, this post is about the experts who teach cry-it-out, “extinction” (is it just me, or is that the most unfortunate name? If I were a “sleep training” teacher, I would choose a different word for PR purposes!) or controlled crying.

Now, parenting experts are… well… erm… Well let’s just say you want to be choosy. They’re a dime a dozen, and it really boils down to what their methods are based on and whether science backs them up, plus, most importantly, whether it matches your instincts and your particular baby’s needs (keeping mind that just because it worked for your first child… and/or second… and/or third, and so on, that doesn’t mean it will work for subsequent children). But no matter the day and age, whether it’s due to uncertainty in our abilities as new parents, nagging from friends or family, or even, sometimes, post partum depression, there will always be parents who are really looking for guidance, and when they find someone who makes a convincing pitch, they may go right against their instincts and follow the advice of that expert.

So as a first step, like I said: trust your baby, trust yourself. But, failing that…

Be careful when choosing an expert, and when choosing whether or not to follow their suggestions. In this post, specifically, I’m talking about the nature of the relationship they set up between you and your baby. Whether reading a book or taking a class, here are a couple of red flags to watch for:

1) Talk to other people who have used the method. How do they speak of their children? Is it the type of relationship you want with your child, especially long-term? If you hear other parents who are currently following the method referring to their child as a “monster” (though many of us joke about this on bad days, is it an overarching theme to their relationship?); or saying things like “we’ve been enabling this habit” (is your baby a tiny heroin addict?), “Don’t let him win the battle” (uhhhhhhh) or “She knows just how to get away with this,” I’d say it’s worth asking yourself whether you’d feel okay saying that about your spouse or a close friend. And…. if you would… well, you might want to look at the health of that particular relationship.

2) Read the language used in the literature or on the website. Is this expert setting you up to “win”? Do they use language that is reminiscent of war, coercion or training an animal? Again, these are things to consider in advance.

3) Then again, of course, you may not see any of this language on the website (they may use terms like “the gift of sleep” or other things that sound perfectly wonderful, and it’s difficult sometimes to tell just what these marketing terms are referring to), or hear it from their graduates (oftentimes, similar to an abuse situation, disturbingly, these experts will advise their students not to tell anyone that they have taken their class, are using the method, or even use the language around people – GIANT red flag right there!) – in which case, you have to watch for it in the actual class.

4) As mentioned earlier, try reframing: if you said, “My husband is a monster and I can’t seem to break him of this behaviour,” “My grandmother seems to think it’s okay to bother us in the night when she needs to use the washroom, and we just really need her to know who’s in charge,” or “My best friend is not going to win this battle with me,” would any of those sound okay to you? And again, if these are things you’re saying, I advise you think pretty deeply about the health of your relationships.

I know I’m going to get responses saying that it’s clear that I’m saying not to cry it out, as this is the type of language you hear from certain extreme sleep trainers. However, as I said earlier, this is not the case. I know lots of people for whom sleep training was very effective. I also know plenty of people who have been very successful with co-sleeping, and lots of ideas in between. But I don’t think, regardless of what you choose to do, this is appropriate language or framing for any loving relationship. So before choosing a class or book to follow for sleep advice with your child or baby, it’s worth asking yourself where you stand, and checking that their views are complementary.

I’m Running Again (!)

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I’ve waffled on whether to write a post about running, as this isn’t a fitness blog. However, running is one of my loves, and here is my rationale for including it as a topic on an “unschooling, unjobbing” blog: this blog is about simplicity, and simple solutions to life’s big questions. Going with the flow. Loving what you have, enjoying your surroundings, doing what just makes sense instead of striving to live up to someone else’s standards, or getting in over your head.

Running is all those things. With a pair of running shoes (or barefoot, except not in a Canadian winter), you can get in a workout, a therapy session, some stress release no matter where you are. No special equipment required. It’s affordable, it’s simple, and it’s good for you. And really – Neko is already in love with running, and we count it as a large part of our “unschooling phys. ed.” She ran the Calgary Kids Marathon last year and will again this year. It makes me so happy and proud to see her learning a love of running at such an early age, as I know it’s a love that will serve her for the rest of her life.

Anyway, I run. Sometimes. I also go on long breaks from running. I have only been running for about two years. I mean, I did run track a bit in junior high and high school, but never for pleasure. I had tried to get back into it a few times throughout my 20s, but it felt awful. Then a friend told me about the Cool Running Couch to 5K program. I downloaded the iPod app (which is awesome!) and took a whole… I don’t know… five months (?) to complete it. It’s supposed to be eight weeks, I believe. But I finished it, and at the end, I could run 5K without stopping – and it felt awesome!

Since then, I’ve run on a regular basis, most of the time. However, during especially busy times, I take breaks… and getting back to it after a break of a month or more is HARD. This is what I’m doing right now. I hadn’t run since late October, and right after Christmas, when all the craziness of the season was over, I was determined to get back to it. The first run out was horrid. The second was even worse. I felt defeated. However, something very important (and obvious) dawned on me on that second run – this is why I can’t quit! I can’t take so much time off, because coming back hurts! Even running a few kilometers a week, taking an hour or less out of my entire week, would keep me conditioned – and of course, help me in myriad other ways as well.

The past two weeks, I’ve learned about the importance of icing muscles after a hard run, stretching, not pushing myself too hard, running through the pain (not injuries!) to break up the lactic acid, and taking walk breaks as needed. Also, positive self talk. It’s amazing how repeating “You’re strong, you’re fast, you’re doing this, you’ve come so far,” etc, in your head can get you through that last kilometer. But I’m up to 25-27 minutes of running and just over 4 km. By the end of this week I should be up to 30 minutes, and nearly 5 km.

I’ve decided to set monthly goals and rewards for myself all this year. In January, my goal is to run 60 km. My thinking was that if I run 5K, three times a week, that would be 60 km… Now to reach 5K! It’s going to take a lot more runs at 3-4K per run! Still achievable, though. My reward for reaching 60 km is to go out dancing with friends. Yes, it’s something I would do normally, but I haven’t actually gone dancing in months, so at this point it would be a fun reward. And healthy! And cheap.

In general, I like to keep my fitness life simple. I feel like running and yoga plus pushups (and some other strength moves mixed in) is the perfect regimen, at least for me. I really enjoy adding stairs every week or two as well. There is a set of 167 steps in Sunnyside here in Calgary, and ten sets of those is a great workout for the quads and butt! One of the best parts is that Neko and I can go for runs up to 1K together, and do yoga together (I recommend the YogaKids DVDs)!

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

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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!