Bliss Beyond Naptime

Pretzels and Puppies

We've been reading this sweet little book about the world's longest (and therefore the most handsome) daschund named Pretzel who falls in love with a lady doxie but she doesn't care for him because, she says, length doesn't impress her. Funny.

This is definitely up there in their top ten cute list of their kids' book collection. The writer and illustrater team are both the same as the Curious George series' so it offers that blast of hubba bubba flavoured past to me and the story's really adorable (starts with and ends with a litter of puppies ~ not to ruin the ending).

But then we found ourselves with a real hankering for pretzels. And puppies. For the pretzel bit I lucked out and found a recipe in our Baking With Children cookbook for real deal pretzels. Like the kind you drop into boiling sugared water before you throw them in the oven.

If you don't happen to have this particular book kicking around I found a similar recipe here.They turned out really good and chewy. Espcially tasty with with fancy mustard on top. Only problem is I ate one, went for a short ski at lunch, and then when got back after not too long they were all gone! Little stinkers this is my family. That's okay, lucky they're cute.

(And speaking of cute, family, short, long, little stinky...)

That takes care for the craving for pretzels bit. As for the puppy part...

We're keeping the fancy mustard off this one! Welcome home little Angel :)

Much love,

K-Wow

Ack! The bliss here these days is too much at times. Let me share some of this sweet nectar with you! You can read or listen or both to my ebook The Bliss-Filled Mama:Self-care for Soulful Mothering (and Puppy Owning) but then be sure to smother the bliss around!

Vlog ~ Breve New World

I really could write a whole book on this subject, but here I try to condense the secrets to my famous latte to five minutes. But, alas the watched stove top espresso maker never perculates phenomena kicked in so I didn't get to do the grand finale I was envisioning of me pouring the espresso into my magic mug from three feet above - chai style. Please do not try this at home! But everything else - please do :)

 

QAWK-Wow Episode Three 'K-Chow'

This one goes out to Dee today. Thanks sweetie for the flattering posed question! I forgot to mention in the video my love of kombucha. Hardly a lunchtime goes by without a glass in hand. I have a how to over at Curious Bird to whip up your own (super easy and so good for you).  And after the video there's the recipe for my mom's Arroz con Pollo. I don't have a photo of the dish due to it not being the most photogenic grub around, but enjoy!

 

Peruvian Style Arroz con Pollo (Rice and Chicken)

4 chicken legs, 2 chicken breast (bone in, skin on)

small onion

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp tumeric

1/4 cayenne

1 tsp pepper

bottle of beer

2 cups basmati rice

2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups of green peas

1 red pepper sliced 1/2 inch

1 bunch of cilantro

bunch of spinach

1/4 cup of parsley

Take a deep breath and sip of beer. Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add cumin, tumeric, cayenne and ground pepper. Saute for about 3 minutes at low heat without burning (but of course!). Add chicken pieces, adding beer to keep the chicken from sticking and saute for 5-8 minutes. Blend cilantro and spinach in blender or food processor with enough beer to make things paste-y. Add to chicken along with parsley and saute for about 15 minutes. Add rest of beer in there and cook until chicken's tender.

Take chicken out and put in oven (350 degrees). To liquid add the rice and broth (should only cover the rice about 1 cm), then add red peppers and salt. Cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes.

Return chicken to pot, add peas, stir and cover, cooking at low heat for another 10 minutes.

My grandma makes this for me when I go to Peru. Tastes the same. So trippy!

Seven Year Old Wonder

 I totally remember being seven. Six is still a bit hazey, my entire twenties are a complete blur, but seven – crystal clear. And here’s my little crystal child, with freshly lost front teeth, stretching out into a  graceful , shape shifting faced, thoughtful, smart, hilarious little girl entering into this year of many never to forget golden moments.

 

 This has also been the first time Edie has been pretty particular about birthday party details. Many pictures drawn of how she was hoping things would be; all the  friends she wanted to invite, the birthday crown in specific colours and even a to scale replication of her pink birthday cake; including interior shots. Done! With help from my infamous baker friend Peggy I concocted a super clean pink icing.In the food processor I blended:

1 can of coconut milk

1 tbls coconut powder

¼ cup honey

2 tbls beet root powder

Then I slowly drizzled in one cup of melted coconut oil and 2 tbsp of lemon juice. I stored it in an airtight container overnight and iced the cake right before the guests arrived. It was amazing; like pink, unrefined sugar heaven! Only one sweet little girl didn’t care for it much; she whispers her unfinished piece of cake apologetically to me “I don’t care much for coconut”. Cute! But if you care for such things as coconuts you'll love this recipe!

 

For the party favours we got caught up in a bit of a crafty roll. First I made Edie her birthday crown to spec and then thought it would be fun as an icebreaker to have her guests go on a treasure hunt leading them to monogramed crowns. Then, in their loot bag, a teeny weeny bunting was waiting to be hung on their bedroom wall so that Edie will be the last thing they think of before they fall asleep and the first thing they think of as they wake (I call this subliminal friend marketing).

Edie was so thrilled to help me make these. She picked out the fabric from my scrap collection and cut them out into little triangles which I then stitched right sides together, leaving one side open, turned right side out, top stitched and attached in to prefolded bias tape in no time at all.

And then came the request. I usually do a puppet show for Edie’s birthday of how she came over the rainbow bridge (complete with a puppet of Craig with the cargo pants and goatee he was sporting when Edie was sliding down said bridge) but this year she was hinting for a bit more of an elaborate production. I had to call in a professional.

This lovely lady runs a Waldorf homeschool enrichment program in town. She is magic and I notice lately I’m smitten by women with accents; Goddess Leonie, Dottie Angel, my Simplicity Parenting Training coach, Patsy from Ab Fab. Isn't that odd (imagine me saying that in the British accent I’ve been working)?

So there you have Edie’s birthday in a rainbow silk wrapped nutshell. And this is just the beginning of the birthday celebration season for us. This Sunday’s it’s Kale’s (Valentine Day kids!), then Craig’s two weeks after, then Sweet Baby Jesus’s and then finally mine in January. Then I can kick back and resume my sitting on the couch consuming bon bons position once again!

Elderberry and Hair Follicles

After visiting an old dear friend of mine one spring morning we were chatting by her front door saying goodbye and I smelled the smell I detest most in the world. It smelled like cat marking going on. I asked her if she got a cat and she said it was her elderberry tree that was situated right next to her front door. I never heard of such a thing. So just in case, do not plant an elderberry tree by your front door. These trees grow in abundance in our area, all along the roadsides even, and we have about five of them growing wild on our property. But I never noticed them smelling like anything less than heavenly; especially when the pretty miniature flower blossom clusters open in the summer. Perhaps there’s an angry cat in my friend's midst she’s not aware of.

 So in the summer we carefully collect these blossoms that smell like the tops of the heads of newborns and cook up a syrup to use as a concentrate in ice filled glass of water. This is Craig's favourite. I think it talks to the Kool-Aid kid in him.  And then at this time of year we pick off whack loads of the berries to make jelly, syrup and tincture. The jelly is probably one of my favourites of the jam and jelly persuassion of treats but the bonus is it is full of antioxidants and immune enhancing properties that even my naturopath suggests the whole family taking a hit of everyday to keep illness at bay.

For the jelly I followed this basic recipe and it was made in time for when Edie caught that double whammy of nasty soul fever/stomach bug. A little bit of the jelly on fresh baked bread brought comfort to both ailments.  On that same link there are directions to make syrup you can administer to whomever in the family needs a sweet boost either administered straight up or drizzled on yogurt or pancakes.

And the tincture is a cinch; pick enough of the well washed berries off of their stemmy  clusters and fill a quart sized mason jar to the brim with them.  Fill up the jar with enough vodka to cover and then seal tight. Keep the jar on a sunny window sill while remembering to give them a gentle shake every day. In about three weeks, strain out the berries, place the purple vodka into a sleek flask you can tuck into your coat pocket rockstar style (wipe that Smirnoff your face – I was just joking. Any kind of glass bottle will suffice) and give yourself and your adult partner a teaspoon a day and your kids half that dose.  Other health care providers suggested I dilute the kids’ dosage into a glass of boiling water first to evaporate the alcohol content but nothing gets the kids aligned with early bedtimes then mommy’s special ‘movie time with daddy’ medicine. (Again, kidding.)

And totally not related to elderberry fixings but just about the cutest thing I’ve seen all weekend (other than Daisy and Meatballs joyfully jumping through a massive pile of leaves Craig built for them in the middle of their pasture yesterday. Over and over again. I  almost died from the cuteness of it all)! Miss Fab from Fig and Me  shared with me yet another creation of hers that she utilized one of my art yarns, Moe,  in one of the most delightful ways; as hair for her amazing Waldorf-style dolls.

That Fabs is one talented lady. See the before? I never in my wildest dreams thought that this would end up as hair. But it works! Just like the elderberry tincture. See how I smoothly linked these two topics together?

Goddess Green Smoothie

 Right before I had to get up to milk Miss Daisy I had a dream that I totally forgot to pack for Tipi Camp and so I was running around the house in a frenzy trying to stuff my bag with anything that belonged to me. Such a feeling of panic like one of those having an exam and realizing you forgot to attend class all semester long, or waitressing in a giant gymnasium filled with angry patrons waiting for some attention, or those nasty giving birth to puppies doozies (you get those too, right? Right?).

I told Craig of my dream this morning and he told me that it was probably a safe bet that it was a true premonition. So I hope to prove him wrong. I did get caught up with some work to forward to my web designer to accomodate new Sew Camp offerings and official new life purpose annoucements before I go. I have three dishes to cook up to keep family fed and nourish while I'm gone: spaghetti sauce, sheppard's pie and chocolate zuchini cake. Anyone else swimming in zucchini these days? And mountains of mountains of laundry to contend with. I had something else on my list that didn't make the cut (Craig is insanely busy with work today so I didn't dare ask him to help me out with this when he joined us at lunch with his hairs standing on end); I was going to video a part two to my Birth of an Art Yarn series. I promise when I get back from Tipi camp next week I'll show you how the contractions are going. Probably best if I wait. I kind of have the crazy harried look in my eyes that probably would frighten small children looking over your shoulder.

So instead, I decided to show you one of my favourite ladies in all of blog land. Goddess Leonie reminds me very much of someone I know in real life yet she is completely different from her. And has an Australian accent. I kind of have a bloggy crush on her. So much so I signed up for her Goddess circle and have decided to join in on the affiliate program that I'm now privy to. Which translates to I get a share to any sign ups that happen to originate from my blog. I have the same deal for my Sew Campers. Just saying.

 The Goddess circle is pretty sweet because Goddessess get full access to all the ecourses she offers and they're all seriously unique and astounding. I've only had a chance to really sink my teeth into the Business Goddess one but I've dabbled in a few others and all have her warm personal touch to them with concrete yet etheral advice. Here's a little snippet of her making a smoothie with her sweet little girl (I'm pounding these lately too by the way ~ only way I can get some kind of breakfast in me after the latte squashes any morning hunger). Enjoy and I'll see you when I get back from the yoga retreat - stronger, bendier, green smoothie-er!

 

 

Feeling Dandy. Not Lyin'.

The kids get pretty excited when I tell them it's that time of year for their favourite lunch; Dandelion Soup! The yard is amass in a cloak of yellow and fuzzy white halos but we must head up for higher ground for Daisy has been going free range in the back yard as of late (as we figure out pasture management). We took our gathering excursion up Grouse Mountain to get weed without any of Daisy's autograph.

I love how I feel like a cow myself grazing through the tall grass seeking out the bitter sweet stuff. So funny how something so beautiful and nutritous is seen by some in our culture as unsavoury and is usually sprayed to death. Yet dandelion leaves can be found at the organic grocery store neatly bundled up and shipped in from California! Crazy times.

Not to mention they're so darned pretty. Reminds me of a rave party I was at once and this uber tall beautiful woman was dressed up as a giant dandelion ~ weeds are hot! Boots, boots, boots, boots... uh, oh. Got them beats stuck in my head now! Where's my whistle necklace?

And speaking of beats, you can't 'beats' a springtime bowl of Dandelion soup. Here's how I make it:

2 liters of homemade chicken stock (I like to simmer a chicken carcass or two overnight in enough water to cover)

chopped onion

sliced shitake mushroom

slicked burdock root

1/2 cup of peas

couple of big handfuls of freshly picked dandelion leaves

egg (optional)

Saute the onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for about ten minutes without burning. Sprinkle genorously with salt and pepper. Toss in mushroom and burdock root and saute for ten more minutes. Pour in chicken stock and bring to boil. Add peas and dandelion leaves and simmer for about ten minutes.

This part is optional. I skipped it this year because we had eggs for breakfast:

Lightly beat egg and pour into soup while stirring. Turn off heat and contiue stirring for about a minute. Ready to serve! Enjoy :)

Dear Daisy,

 

(image from Fiverr)

Dear Daisy,

So nice to have your life giving cream back in my cup of espresso these mornings - how I missed you sweet nectar! Just want to let you know how proud I am of what a loving and couragous mama you are to your little baby. We might just have to end up naming him Baby because the whole family had all these different names come to them in different psychic avenues. We still have to have a family meeting on whether to answer the angel that whispered 'Chester' into Craig's ear, the dream that announced the name 'Saurkraut' in Edie's deep sleep drama or go with the practical 'Meatballs' that is the farm living reality my pscyhe is preparing me for.

Well, this abundance of milk you have bestowed upon us is something to contend with! Ironic, isn't it that a couple of months after we welcomed you to our home the kids got diagnosed with milk sensitivity? Ha, ha, ha. That was funny. Looks like we may have overdosed on your milk at the beginning of our relationship because we were so excited about finally having you in the family. The naturapath told me that yogurt should be fine for the kids so Craig, the yogurt maker in the family will be making lots of that with your booby juice. Hopefully Kale won't be getting too much breve cream through the breastmilk. Ack, maybe it's time to wean the little man.

So cheese and yogurt making galore it is. That's what I've been up to these days because our fridge could only handle three gallon jars in there at a time. The cheddar cheese recipe I've been playing with, it's the one in my favourite cow book, calls for two gallons of milk so I've been making that every couple of days. It's easy but the instrucions call for weights of up to 50 pounds to press the cheese over night. I didn't know what else to use so I've been using our ottoman for that task which is resulting in some lop sided hunks (not to mention watching Project Runway before bed on my laptop at a slant) so we might have to invest in some kind of cheese press with a cheesy name like the Easycheesy or the Cheesypress.

We also made Farmer's cheese which was more straight forward and tastes excatly like the cheese curds we use to eat with corn on the cob growing up in Montreal (or like the cheese you see on Poutine my friend who tried some yesterday pointed out). There are even more simple recipes that involve adding splashes of white vinegar to milk and, voila, Queso Blanco. But still, now's not the time for too much cheese eating in our household lest we get another ezcema patch. That's why cheddar's where it's at because it has to age for at least two months and we can hoard it forever. By then, hopefully the Craiglettes can hop off of the goat milk and back on to the cow milk wagon.

But of course, the whole family can indulge in butter which I made this weekend and it turned out perfect! We slapped lots of it on our Smokey Sunday pancakes which I made with the buttermilk from that batch. It was incredibly yummy so thank you Sweet Daisy! We're trying not to let a drop go to waste and you and Baby are so wonderful for sharing. Okay I'm just going to pop this in the mailbox now and I'll be out there to milk you in a jiffy.

much love,

Mama

Easter Bliss

 

We had a fabulous Easter weekend in these parts - hope you did too! Ours started on Friday with the annual Easter egg painting party over at our neighbours across the street where we brought our annual batch of hot cross buns and Edie and I whipped up the above creation.

Of course we sported our matching Heid braids because we're still very much obssessed with Heidi here.

Easter Sunday we awoke to yarn criss crossing the house again which that wiley wabbit seems to be into doing each year. He left a trail of blue yarn for Kale to follow around the house and pink, of course, for Edie. Along the trail he left treats to fill their baskets; needle felted bunnies, egg candles and wooden mushrooms to name a few of the treasures.

Last year we turned Edie's angora bunny yarn score into the spring beret you may have noticed she's been wearing everyday since I cast it off the needles. We'll see what this one manifests into. She wants to finger knit, something she learned this year, into something herself. Cute!

And then we dove in to a special Easter breakfast treat. In the spring issue of Living Crafts there is a recipe for Italian Easter Bread. I dyed these eggs using a German natural egg dye kit.

And then, ironically, sprinkled the buns with super not natural and not even close to organic sprinkles. The kids survived. And I think Edie almost self-combusted with happiness when her eyes laid on the techni-colour goodness!

And after breakfast, while were still riding our food colouring high, we went over to a neighbour's to pick up some goat milk (more on that later, let's just say the kids overdosed on Daisy juice and now seem to be cow milk sensitive ~ great!) and get some goat loving in. We hugged them, and squeezed them and called them all George...

And took them for a jaunt through the forest. Yes, Edie and Kale, who have been playing Heidi and Peter the goatherd now for about two months now non-stop, were pretty much jaunting with two feet off the forest floor from sheer bliss...

 

And the heavily laiden with red food dye number 5 cherry on top, they got to bottle feed a couple of kids. Don't mind my insane laughter in the video - I just can't stand the cuteness I'm exposed to sometimes! Happy Easter Monday, everyone. Stay tuned for tomorrow I'm going to be offer an unsual sort of giveaway. Hee, hee (insane sounding hee, hee). 

Snow Muffins

Oh, winter, you wiley vixen! Here I was all set to squeeze in a spring fresh photo shoot so I can put up my spring collection already and look what we have here; a fresh dump covering the whole world with cake mix. Roads were super sketch today making me so glad that Craig and I both work from home and the kids can stay put. I heard the ambulance siren twice; a pretty rare sound in these parts.

But on a happier note, we had much fun playing and frolicking in this deep powder that appeared all sneaky like overnight. We got some good sledding in before lunch on the hill behind the house. Edie was particularly blissed out. She is one of those avid snow eaters.  But since we got Daisy, and I could see the poopy trail left every where with my tainted Sorrels, I've been pretty adamant all winter that she not eat the snow unless it's the super fresh stuff.

It doesn't get anymore poop free than from fresh off a tree (hey, that rhymes!). Little girl was in snow eating heaven. So to give the little cute an extra special treat today we made some Snow Muffins for an afternoon snack.

 

Snow Muffins

3 tbsp butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk or water
1 1/2 cups clean white snow
3/4 cup raisins (or currants/cranberries/chocolate chips)

Mix together butter and sugar.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Add to creamed mixture alternatively with milk or water.  Fold in snow and raisins.  Put in greased muffin tins.  Bake for 10 mins @ 400 and 15 mins @325 or until lightly browned.