Who's your mama, are you Catholic, and can you make a roux?

Hi guys! Yeah, I'm still here. Doing not much so it seems on paper, but in reality, we've been busy surviving stomach flu, working a few weekend days for my sister, putting on concerts (it's that time again) and well, just generally surviving. The garden is doing well, you know it's getting good when it take about 45 minutes each night to water (dear Santa, for Christmas, I would like an underground sprinkling system... I've been a very good girl).

So output has been minimal, but the hamster is still running on the old wheel, and I've got things in my brain. Elio's 3rd (WHAT??!) birthday is coming up, so I'm ruminating on ideas for a Bob the Builder celebration. But I've got another month to stage that one, so for now, I'm getting excited for summer.

We've had a couple of hot and sunny days. It gives me the summer itch. Yesterday we stained the deck and fertilized the lawn, today I invited my sis, her hubby and my Auntie Cathy for dinner. SUMMER BBQ. Yumm.... the menu is nothing fancy, homemade hamburgers, BBQ'd veggies in a Baja Citrus marinade, corn on the cob, and something new to me, Potato Croquettes.



Back in April, Ethan took his band to New Orleans on a trip, and lucky me got to tag along as a chaperone. Honestly, I've never had such a great time on a trip. What a city! The architecture, the music, the weather, and Lord have mercy, THE FOOD. We happened to be there during the French Quarter festival- about 15 stages were set up offering the most fantastic free musical smorgasbord, and countless tents were on the streets with incredible local cuisine to offer. I've never smelled anything quite like it. I ate crocodile po'boy sandwiches (yes I did and hmmm-mmm it was good), and praline creme brulee which still haunts my dreams. I had beignes from Cafe du Monde, got an icing sugar mustache in the process. It's all part of the experience.
The people were fantastic and I would go back in an instant. I cannot wait to go again.













In an effort to bring New Orleans home with me, I bought a cookbook. Hang on, after about an hour of deliberating over which cookbook to buy, I finally purchased one- more for its stories and anecdotes about southern living than for the recipes, but nonetheless I'm enjoying it. The selection?
Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux (Book 1) by Marcelle Bienvenu.



I was thumbing through it, as I'm going through my quarter annual crisis of "I'm sick of our usual!". I came across a recipe for Potato Croquettes that sounded simple and interesting. So I thought I'd give it a whirl. Maybe you'd like to give it a shot too?
Here is Marcelle Bienvenu's recipe for Potato Croquettes

Makes 6 servings
3-4 pounds of red potatoes
1 cup of chopped onions
1 cup of chopped green bell peppers
Salt and pepper to taste
Tabasco to taste
3 eggs beaten
2 1/2 cups of bacon drippings or peanut oil
All purpose flour for dredging

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until fork tender. Remove from the heat and drain. Cool, then peel and put them in a large bowl. Mash the potatoes, leaving some lumps. Add the onions and bell peppers, and season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Fold in the eggs, mix well.
With your hands, shape the potato mixture into balls about 2 inches in diameter, or if you prefer, shape into 3 inch pancakes. Heat the oil in a skillet. Dredge the balls in flour and drop them into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown and drain on a paper towel.


I almost never leave well enough alone. So I used a mixture of green and red bell pepper, and they're super pretty. I also used chives instead of onion. I added my own seasonings in addition to the tabasco: Slap Ya Mama (a spice I brought back with me from NOLA), some paprika and seasoning salt. We've just finished cooking them (I found my hands were so mucky from rolling the balls that I needed Ethan's help to roll them in the oil). By the way, bacon fat???! Uh-uh. I used veggie oil.

Here they are.... maybe you'll like them too. Happy Trails!

Meanwhile back at the farm...

Today it happened... the sun shone, and wouldn't you know it, it felt like spring! Definitely, it was a great day to be outside, so outside we were.

For those of you curious what Renata is up to these days, well, I don't see much of her these days. But all for good reason, this is her busy season. Grow and Gather at Trice Farms is buzzing with activity these days. Every couple of weeks, I've been lucky enough to go out and play for an afternoon and pretend that I work there. What a great change from my norm. The store is full of completely beautiful things and there  is even a new fur-baby, a Bernese Mountain dog (with something else that escapes my memory mixed in there) named Tully. If you are looking for a great way to spend an afternoon, you should most certainly tootle on out there, it is gorgeous and you won't regret it. Plus, there are about a million gorgeous things that you could bring home for your mum for Mother's Day that any mother would be happy to receive. I made it easy for Ethan and bought my presents myself (3 hanging baskets in beautiful cedar boxes, and all the fixings to fill my planter pots for the patio: dark red geraniums (I truly think that geraniums are not worth having unless they are red), some lemon drop chyranthamum-sort of things, bacopa and some other draping silver stuff.

Not convinced you need to drive out there? Here's some incentive:

Fancy schmancy new flags are up (not to be confused with upside down, eh Ren?)
























Check out the new cube van... pretty sure that makes life a little easier.

Lots of great gift planters- Muriel Ann is chief master-crafter of these beauties, and she does a fantastic job!

 Succulents...

Lots of interesting things to pick from.

 Pansies are definitely my favourite- humble and unassuming little fellows.

Out in the nursery, things are looking nice and full- amazing the difference some leaves make! 

I love these galvanized troughs that they brought in to show case all their water plants.

 Matteo and Elio head directly for the pond section when we arrive, to check on all the "Nemo"s. Ok, no clownfish, but lots of other fun little fishies.

This is the new furball... his name is Tully. And he never jumped or barked even once. Not even at Elio who was his usual loud mouthed self. Even my petrified Matteo liked to pet him. 

Elio loved Tully, and by the looks of things, the feeling was rather mutual.

The nursery out back where hanging baskets live. 

Veggie options are starting to surface too.

 Look what followed me home!

 If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Mama was happy- seriously, look at those plants and that sunshine!

The rest of the afternoon was spent weeding, mowing and planting. It's nice to get dirty. Then, off to ride big boy bikes (WOOT! Matteo is officially on two wheels, still not sure he loves it, but he's doing it nonetheless), play on the playground and get an ice cream at McDonald's. Here's what we learned: Elio is not ready for the play structure at Mickey D's.... he kind of freaked out (read: SCREAMED his head off) and wouldn't come down. Ethan had to go up after him. It was terribly embarrassing. It turns out those things really aren't meant for 32 year old men. Another proud moment for us. 

This is what spring looks like at our house: 

 Garlic is on its way- not as big as I'd like, but hopefully a few more days of sunshine will move it along.












Veggie beds- all planted and ready to go: beets, strawberries, carrots, edamame beans and sugar and snap peas.

 My bleeding heart has decided it is king of the forest and is completely taking over my shade bed, but that's ok, because I love it.

Ok... one bonus shot for you who persevered through this post. Sorry Ren, there's no such thing as free advertising. Here's the Junior Gardener herself... foreshadowing anyone? If she looks less than please, it is likely because my dad made her stand there for about 20 minutes while he crafted the perfect photo (haha! Just kidding Dad...) I know Ren, you hate me... what are sisters for? 

Happy trails!

Teacher Gifts!

I know this is early. I made the mistake of leaving the job of finding teacher gifts for Matteo's preschool teachers until the last minute last year. Not optimum.

Here's the thing. I really think that it is important to appropriately acknowledge the work of my kids' teachers. They work so hard, and for less than reasonable pay. These people often spend more time with our kids than we do, and they are crucial in our children's development. So I really think it is important to say thank you. But really, how many coffee mugs does a teacher need? At least that is what my parents (who are both teachers) always seemed to get. One rather clever student of my dad's once gave him a meat tenderizing mallet, with the words "For all the meatheads in your class" written on the side. A for effort there- I love a sense of humour. 

My husband and I are both teachers too. Honestly, it is just nice to even get a card- makes you aware that your efforts have not gone unnoticed. I love giving gifts- there is something fun about coming up with something creative and unique that gives the receiver the idea that you put some thought into things. But this is a tough one as I don't know my kid's teachers on a personal level, so it is hard to appeal directly to their interests. 

Like I said, I left things pretty late last year. I happened to be wandering the dollar store and came across plastic tubs for popcorn (super cute and cheap, with fun popcorn graphics on the side). It dawned on me that it could be fun to gift our beloved preschool teachers a movie night. I purchased movie theatre candy (Fuzzy Peaches, Twizzlers, Glosette Raisins), as well as several packages of microwave popcorn. I also bought gift cards to the local Rogers Video (now defunct, so movie tickets might be more fitting now). I made cards shaped like stars, thanking "A Super Star Teacher". All this was cello-wrapped and tied with a ribbon. Seriously cheap and cheerful- maybe $15 a piece.  The response to these was incredible. They loved it. One teacher sent Matteo a thank-you card in the mail telling him how she had a movie night planned for herself and her granddaughter. She also told me she took pictures of it in case her daughter ever wanted to give something similar her child's teacher. Bingo! Love that she loved it. For about two minutes, then realized the pressure was on for this year. 

I have literally been thinking this through for a year now.  I have come up with several "punny" gift ideas, and this is what I settled on. This year's teacher gifts is a "Ice Cream Float" making set. Again, I stalked several dollar stores for the right components. The base of this arrangement is a little metal oblong dish. On it sits two ice-cream float glasses (you know, like the ones at an old soda fountain, with the pedestal). Inside each of these glasses is a bottle of Coca-Cola (woohoo! Collectors' edition in the old-fashioned glass bottles). I also bought a stainless steel ice cream scoop for each, as well as a package of sprinkles and ribbon tied small package of red and white stripped straws. We have a local ice cream shop that is conveniently enough called "Matteo's Gelato", and I intend to get a gift certificate for each there to include in the card which will read "Thank You for Making my Year "Soda"-lightful!". Again, these stay within my $15-$20 price range.  I've cellophaned them together. I should have bought clear cello-wrap, but was too cheap and wanted to use what I had, so instead it has red lady-bugs all over it, which makes it hard to see all the contents. Whatever. It's the thought that counts right? 

I don't anticipate doing this forever. Really, once the attention span and dexterity in my kids develop enough to actually hand-craft something that will last and be useful, I fully intend to put them to work. Until then, I get to play! 

Happy Trails!

Alter-Egos... what we wish we were

I'm back. Where have I been? Well, New Orleans for one. !!!! Best trip ever- hands down. What an incredible place! That was a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I've been LAZY. With a capital everything. Maybe it is the rain (hello? Um... Mother Nature? I don't mean to be critical, but the saying is "April showers bring May FLOWERS," not "April Showers bring even more rain in May." Sigh. I suppose that's what you get for living in a rainforest climate. Whatever the reason, I've been finding motivation and time hard to come by.

But really, what is more motivating for someone who is "thrifty" (like my euphemism for cheap?) than a school supply list? See, Matteo is beginning kindergarten. I'm not sure when or how that happened, but it did. So we begin getting ready for school.

(Insert old lady voice here) Back in the day when I was in elementary school, you were sent a list of every item you needed for the year, from kleenex to pencil crayons. Now however, at least at Matteo's school, you get a list of cheques you need to write. One of these is for the bulk of his school supplies. They order them and deal with them right at school now. I have to say, that seems to take some of the fun out of it... what was more exciting in late August than laying out all your new gear for school and labelling it all? However, I have stupidly ventured into Staples in August, and have seen what that is like, so probably from a mother's perspective this is a much more appealing method of purchasing supplies. The school did, however send a list of additional items that each child needs that can either be purchased from them, or brought on one's own. On that list was a gym bag. $15 for a gym bag?? Or was it $10? I can't remember now, but I thought it was outrageous. My husband clearly must be rubbing off on me. He goes down in infamy in our house for having, when our toilet was causing us issues, responded to my suggestion that we should call a plumber with "What? Pay a plumber $75 an hour to scratch his keister?... I'm not paying someone to scratch their keister, I can scratch my own keister for free!!". He was 27 at the time. It was a shocking glimpse into our senior years for me. And he didn't really say keister. He said something else which only made him sound more curmudgeonly.

Anyways, I decided that I could make a gym bag for less, and it would be cooler than the standard issue. When I was a kid my mum made me a gym bag too. It had an appliqued running shoe on it with laces that actually tied. The only thing I liked about gym was that bag. Off Matteo and I went to the fabric store to pick something out. He immediately chose hideous Toy Story fabric which was so bright an obnoxious it could induce a seizure. I immediately used my power of veto. It was $16.98 a metre. Defeats the purpose. But I did have to come up with a suitable, even more fun, alternative. Matteo thinks he's Batman. For a while there, when I asked him what he want to be when he grew up, he responded with "Batman". So another thought occurred to me. We settled instead for some PLAIN and cheap broadcloth, and a promise we could make this a cool Batman bag if I made him a Bat patch for it.

Here's how it went:

 First I found a colouring page (online of course) with the Batman emblem on it. I cut that out of yellow and black broadcloth and fused it together using paper-backed fusible webbing. Matteo was impressed and sold as soon as he saw this- forget the rest of the bag. I managed to convince him that his favourite colour (brown) was a really yucky choice for bag colour, so he humoured me and chose green (Kermit green to be exact), his second favourite colour.

I used a newspaper page as my size template and cut out 4 pieces for the bag (two for the outside, two for the lining). I fused the emblem onto one of those pieces (the front of the outside).

 Next I appliqued around it. It looks ok and is necessary to prevent it peeling off or fraying. I really wish satin stitch didn't ripple, because I know I'd be happier with the look of that, but it does ripple, so this blanket-like applique stitch is the better choice.

 I cut two tabs of gros-grain ribbon about 2 inches long. Each was folded in half and sewn (zigzag for strength) on the open edge. I place these about an inch or so up from the bottom of the bag on either side.

 I sewed the bag up on the sides and bottom, reversing several times over where I was sewing the tabs in the seams. The tabs will take some strain as this is where the straps of the bag will be attached, and I really didn't want them to pull out or fray.

 Here is the outside of the bag sewn up. Next job was to sew the lining in the same way I did for the outside, but this time, leaving a 2 inch opening on the bottom edge (you will pull the back right side out through this hole). I turned the outside of the bag right side out (as in the picture), and I left the lining inside out. I inserted the outside bag, inside the lining matching the raw top edge. Make sure the right sides are facing or you will have a date with your stitch ripper (ask me how I know that... go on, ask me...). Sew through both the lining and the outside bag on the top edge.

 Pull the whole thing through the opening you left. Then hand sew the opening closed. Now, push the lining into place so you've got a lined bag. Next I ironed the thing. On each side of the bag, about half an inch from the top, I made a button hole. This will be where the strings come out. I did this rather than leaving slits in the bag top, it seemed simpler to me.

 Next I made a casing on top side (front and back) on the inside by sewing on wide gros-grain ribbon along both the top and bottom edges.

 Finally, I cut two lengths of cording about 58 inches long each. I fed one through both casings from the right side, with loose ends coming out the right side buttonhole, and one from the left side, with its loose ends coming out the left buttonhole. Each side's loose ends were tide to the corresponding tab, creating a little drawstring back pack. The cording unfortunately frays like crazy, and isn't meltable, so I had to use clear nail polish to sort of seal the raw edge.

All that you do is pull each sides cords and it gathers shut. It is now waiting for some smelly little gym clothes to carry.











Voila! A bag fit for Batman (and his strange little sidekick Dish Towel Boy).

We are one step closer to being Kindergarten ready. I suppose the next step will be buying his uniform in June. As much as I hate that time flies so darned fast, it is pretty exciting all the same.

Happy Trails!