Kenya Update

This evening I got an email from the Boy!! The email said only this:

"hey guys, we finally made it to Africa after some rocky landings and what not. the only downside is that none of us have our luggage so it's going to be a fun day tomorrow. say hi to everyone for me.
Christian"

Yup!  Typical teen boy. Give as little detail as possible but still able to instill some amount of panic.  No luggage?  I had this bad thought yesterday when I saw the ticket agents handing out these bright yellow tags that said "group" on them....you know, "so your luggage will be grouped together'.  Perhaps they would have been better if some of them got their luggage then they could share things such as SUNBLOCK....
Have you seen the pictures of the Boy? He is a pale, sun sensitive ginger type of kid.  His hair isn't as red as it used to be but all the freckles and such are still there.

Here's the Boy attaching that lovely yellow tag!

See that pale skin on his arm? He needs his sunblock!!

 EF Tours sent me the number to call for information and they are going to help me out with info regarding the group's bags. (of course I will have to wait until regular business hours to call the number, which they tweeted at me)

I am off to calm myself and continue with household painting projects. (Yesterday was the bathroom, today I'm moving on to the living room.)

Until next time, stay warm and eat well. (and keep an eye on your luggage)

The Boy Leaves For Kenya

I don't think he slept much last night!

 This spring break is going to so incredibly different from the last 3 spring breaks.  Would you believe we the Boy isn't actually playing baseball? There will be no trip south to St Louis or to Memphis this year.  As sad as I am about not going South this spring, I am even more excited for the opportunity the Boy has taken for his spring break.  Today the Boy is left for the adventure of a lifetime! You see, this morning (baring any wildcat strikes from Air Canada) he left with 14 other teens and 3 teachers on a trip to Kenya!  (Dear Air Canada, please don't mess this up for them!)  As long as they can get to Montreal by Monday evening, then British Airways takes them the rest of the way.

The adventuresome group before checking in...no one will miss them in their yellow shirts!

CTV news even came over to the house last night and interviewed the Boy and a few others for a spot about their fabulous journey!  You can see the spot here.

I am soooooo incredibly nervous about this trip. He travels all the time with his baseball team but that's just to cross the 49th parallel. Also, hubby and I drive South to watch so we are generally close by.  This will be such a fabulous experience for all who are going. I am so excited and to be honest, a wee bit jealous a whole lot jealous.

Thumbs up for Kenya!

Preparations for this trip started quite some time ago with fundraising, meetings, and vaccinations....oh the vaccinations.....I knew the Boy meant business about this trip when he was willing to get 4 needles in one appointment with the travel health nurse!  Needless to say, we are very proud of the Boy and everyone going on this trip.  I will miss him and be nervous until he is back home but I was a big girl today.  I didn't cry until we got back to the car!

About to go through security. 

 Travel safe Garden City!
Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Growing Up Too Fast

Warning....this post is a little sappy because my baby is growing up quicker than I'd like....

Consider yourself warned!

Strange Exciting things are happening in the Little Kitchen!! The Boy has earned his learner's permit....he has even been behind the wheel of the car!! A few of his friends have their licenses already and let me tell you, I have a mini panic attack every damn time I hear "so and so said he'll pick me up" or "so and so drove us to the mall for lunch today" (I didn't even know he had money!).  As a mom, it does rattle the nerves. You worry about their safety, their where abouts, the choices they make with their new found independence, have I done my job properly......(see, just thinking about it put me on the verge of a nervous breakdown).

My own mom never let me drive when I was learning so I already knew that I didn't want to be like that.  I took him to get his permit and then took him to an empty parking lot to practice driving around....then I let him venture out on the street and drive us to the mall for dinner. He did such a fabulous job, you know, for his first time behind the wheel and all.

This all really makes me think back to all the little steps of 'letting go' as a parent.  Things like letting him walk to school on his own for the first time, riding his bike around the neighbourhood with his buddies (without me following them around), and sending him to the IGA to pick up a couple of ingredients for dinner on his own are all in the back of my mind these days.  Until he gets his actual license, he needs to have a trusted adult in the passenger seat but I will hold on tightly and do my best to let go when the time comes....if I have to....

Let's get to the food now, shall we?

Since we've been busy, I have been trying to cook up a a big batch of something tasty on the weekend and using it during the week.  This week I got an email from the Canadian Parent website with a slow cooker recipe for Beef Stroganoff that looked so simple and straight forward, I gave it a shot.  Here's the link to the site.  I won't post the recipe here but please go to the website and check it out. There are some pretty neat slow cooker ideas there.

Pile stewing beef, onions, mushrooms, and beef broth into the slow cooker

Reheat in a large skillet on the stove

Boil your pasta

Roast asparagus at 400 for 10 to 15 minutes (brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Guess what, everyone loved it. It smelled soooooo go while cooking but we actually didn't eat it until the next day but it heated up so nicely.  I heated the beef on the stove while boiling the pasta and roasting some asparagus! It really was a tasty meal!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.  (also, drive safe!)

You're Going Where?

It has been such an exciting week in the Little Kitchen! There is news to be told!! While baseball is still officially the Boy's first love, in the wake of his injury, he has been exploring other options.  He came upon an exciting endeavour being offered by his school through EFtours. After much thought and discussion, we have decided that this opportunity now in front of him to just too good to pass up. I am so excited, I can barely contain myself....The Boy is going......to......KENYA!!!! He will be participating in a voluntour with Free the Children and the Me to We people!!!!!!!!!! What a fantastic opportunity for young people! The itinerary looks amazing! He also gets to go to WE day this week as well!

How can I as a parent not do everything to help make this opportunity happen for my child? I wish I could go!! Of course to help celebrate this event, I have been researching some recipes for Kenyan foods!  The one we decided to try first is for a very simple flat bread called Chapati that we found on the internet here.  There some other recipes on this page that we hope to try out over the next few months before the Boy leaves on his trip.

Chapati

1 cup flour
1cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp oil
3/4 to 1 cup water
salt to taste (1 used 1/2 tsp)

Mix the flours, salt and oil in a bowl.

Slowly add the water, mixing and kneading as you go. You will know you've added enough water when it comes together to form a slightly sticky but kneadable dough.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and stiff.

Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and set aside to rest for at least 30 minutes (or longer).

Heat a fry pan or griddle to medium/high.  Split the dough into 6 equal size pieces and dust with flour.  Roll each piece out to a thin roundish shape.

Brush the pan or griddle lightly with oil and lay one piece of dough in the pan. Let it cook for about 1 minute on the first side then flip and cook for another minute.  Each side should have some browning starting on each side.  As you cook the rest of the the Chapati, keep the cooked ones warm.

We find these easy to make flat breads quite tasty and are perfect with hummus and we are looking forward to trying them with other meals.
We are just so excited to be able to help the Boy have this opportunity to travel to Kenya and will keep looking from some regional foods we can make right here in our Little Kitchen.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Fall Check In: Part II

Well things seem to be moving in the right direction now in the Little Kitchen. It has officially been over a week since we've lasst been to an emergency room for any sort of visit (YAY).  We met my sister at the ER yesterday because Nephew broke his arm. The Boy is feeling better, although still on the DL for baseball (disabled list) until his ab. muscle heals. (To be quite honest, he may be driving me a bit batty, but then again, he is a 15 year old boy....who has an injury....)

The boys were all thumbs up and smiles!

 My little baking buddy tripped running to the next activity at gymnastics, d'oh! He is such a trooper.  The Boy came with me to meet my sister and nephew at the hospital and boy did Nephew's face light up when he saw his big cousin! We brought a lego kit with us and the two of them worked on it while we waited.

Things are looking up though for a few reasons:

1) The beloved Winnipeg Jets are back in town and this town is ecstatic! I am not the biggest hockey fan around, but I understand the significance of this event. The villagers were so sad when the Jets left...even though the Jets lost last their first home game (and the all the games since), it still felt like a win here.

2) Another bonus to this fall season is the Yankees have been knocked out of the World Series! As a true Mets fan, I am not happy with play off season until the Yankees are out.  If you don't believe me, you can take note of how I celebrated with last year's Buh Bye Yankees post! I think I will have to bake some pretzels today...

3) This year, not only have the Yankees been eliminated, so have the Phillies! I must admit I am sort of rooting for St. Louis these days. Perhaps because we spent opening day in St. Louis at the festivities and went to a game.  I am also rooting for the Texas Rangers as they have had a rough year and it would be nice to see them win

4) While the fall weather has kicked in and it is getting a bit cooler, overall the weather has been wonderful. The leaves are coming down and the geese are gathering but the weather is still working in our favour. (you know, we can stil BQQ!!!)

I really do need to get baking/cooking for you guys.  Hopefully things will slow down a bit now and we can bet back to basics!

This is my favourite picture of the day. We stopped to pick up his favourite subway sammie on the way home.  He is still a Little dopey from the meds and is wearing my Mets hat! Love the little guy!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Fall Check in

Why is it Friday Sunday already?? Where is the time going? We just celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend.  Usually we pull out all the stops, roast a turkey with all the fixings and eat ourselves into a coma.  With the Boy still recouperating from his gastritis and my family all being out of town, we decided to lay low.  Saturday we spent the day putting the garden to rest for the winter and raking up some of the many leaves that have fallen.  I was able to harvest a whopping 4 wheel barrows full of fabulous compost to put on my garden!!  Yay for compost!

We also had the Boy BBQ some fabulous steaks for dinner on Saturday.  I have been officially given the boot from BBQing steaks because he does such a wonderful job!

Sunday was the day many Canadians had their dinner with their families.  We popped into my Dad's place to help him with his computer issues and to get him packed for a trip.  When we came home, the Boy had cooked up a tray of bacon in preparation for some of the tastiest BLTs this side of the 49th parallel!  Fresh tomatoes from our now sleeping garden where soooooo tasty!

After that, we headed off to the cheapie theatre to see "Captain America".  Quite the great movie, if I do say so myself!!

Sunday, we jumped in the car and headed over to Hubby's Grandmother's place.  We spent the afternoon with Hubby's 92 year old Grandma and his Mom.  We were going to go to a restaurant but Grandma wasn't up to so we ordered in.  Turkey dinners from the local Smitty's restaurant.  We watched the Detroit/Texas game of the MLB playoffs.  Grandma loves baseball so we always watch a game with her if it is on while we are there. (This totally reminds me, I still have a post to make about celebrating Grandma's 92nd birthday this summer! D'oh!)

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

May The Weekend Be Long: Little Cabin in the Woods

"And just where have you been young lady?"

" Out"

"What kind of answer is that?"

"Ummmmm....well...."

"Well? What to you have to say for yourself?"

Okay, okay, I am so sorry I have been somewhat MIA lately.  Baseball season has officially started and it keeps us busy. I have been cooking and baking but just no time to write. When I am at the cabin I still like to cook and bake but with no Internet (just the data on my blackberry), I don't post while out in the woods.  Now add the demon cold from hell on the top of the pile and well, I am sick so I needed to sleep more.  Without further ado, I give  you:

Little Cabin in The Woods Part I: May Long Weekend

We just had a glorious long weekend here yet I am not posting anything until Thursday...I developed one heck of a  demon cold while at the cabin this weekend.  This cold has completely knocked me on my butt....but enough about the cold and back to the long weekend.  We decided last minute to make the trek out to the cabin.  The weather wasn't supposed to be all that nice and our thought on the matter was that we would rather be rained in at the cabin than rained in in the city worrying about the yard work we weren't doing.

We packed up and left Friday after work, that way we were there already in the morning when we woke up! 

Friday night, I made popcorn the old fashioned way, on the stop top! We watched a movie and chillaxed.

To make popcorn on the stove:

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pot...make sure to heat it first!  Now add enough kernels of popping corn  to cover the bottom.  Once it starts popping, slam a lid on and start shaking the pot around.  Shaking the pot around keeps the kernels moving so they don't burn.

You can add melted butter if you wish but with oil from the popping, you may find you just want to add some salt





Yes, it did rain on Saturday but that left me with plenty of time to start reading Cleo Coyle's "The Decaffeinated Corpse".  The boys played card games, read and even went for their run in the rain.
Hubby and I drove into a small town not too far away to pick up groceries.   Despite the higher cost I think it was worth it for our sanity to do this.  I wouldn't want to stop at the Superstore on the Friday before the long weekend, that would have been nuts!

Our first official cabin supper on Saturday was burgers and dogs with salad, corn on the cob, and potatoes. It really was a meal fit for everyone!

The spread!

Yes, R2-D2 travels with us...he carries the pepper!

The roasted beets! Peel, wrap in foil with some oil, salt, pepper, toss of grill until done!!

Sunday the weather warmed up and the sun came out. We put the dock back in the water, went for a short hike to see the petroforms, and sat on the dock and read our books. (The Boy also fished off the dock for a while).

The boy dons the chest waders with his Mets shirt!

The frame is in and the water is COLD!!

Getting the frame attached to the platform

Apparently I don't take enough photos of the Boy!

Weighing down the frame so it matches the end piece for easy attaching!

Ahhhh....an nice evening shot...reading chairs still in place!

It really was a relaxing weekend, even with the demon cold from hell.

A quick hike at the Bannock Point Petroforms proved interesting. It is always neat to go see the ancient rock formations, the cloth offerings, and the scenery is nice as well.

Turtle formation

 It really was our lucky day...we spotted this guy walking around and then sitting in the woods as tough he was keeping an eye on these ancient grounds!

Hello Mr. Fox, so glad to came by to say hi!

Sunday evening I baked some brownies....S'mores brownies to be exact. I took them over next door as it was Kerri's (from Kerri on the Prairies birthday on Saturday...a bit late but better late than never!

Happy birthday Kerri!

 The neat thing about baking at the cabin is that either I have to improvise or I get to use tools I don't have at home!

S'mores Brownies

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Butter a 9inch square baking pan.  Line with parchment.  (The parchment helps for easy removal to cut the brownies later.) At the cabin I had no parchment so I made sure to oil up the cast iron skillet I used!

Line the pan with graham crackers, breaking them up as you go to make sure they fit.

In a pot (or in a bowl in the microwave) melt:

• 1/2 cup butter and stir until smooth with;
• 1/4 cup of your very best cocoa powder

See?  I only use this beater at the cabin!!

Put this mixture aside to cool slightly

In a bowl beat:

• 2 eggs until frothy

Add to the bowl, but do not mix yet:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• a pinch of salt

Pour the butter/cocoa mixture into the bowl and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

• add a teaspoon or so of vanilla

Pour the batter, scraping out the bowl into the prepared pan.

Shake the pan or use a knife to even the batter out in the pan.

Slice large mallows in half and chop up the chocolate!

Allow the brownies to cool slightly before arranging some halved marshmallows and a chopped up chocolate bar on top.

Place under the broiler until the marshmallows have puffed up and are golden brown....remember to watch closely!!

You really do have to wait and allow these to cool completely before cutting.  Otherwise they will be an ooey, gooey mess and will not cut smoothly at all!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well...and kick any demon colds that may have come your way out the door!