moved

I've moved my blog to be part of my web site for the time being. I am going to ask someone clever if there is a way to publish here and there at the same time, because I know some people prefer blogger.

But in the meantime, I am here: www hundreds dot ca

apple mint salad

Fresh green salad with pistachios and apples with a lemon, mint & gin dressing — this is really good with leftover turkey. The original recipe calls for turkey, but this is a good green salad on its own and would be refreshing in the summer. I think next time I will try it with pink lady apples instead of granny smith.

tow head

Someday soon I won't be able to carry him home for more than a few metres. But today it is still possible. Just.

back to life

Early morning lights on the way home. Cabin floor on a rainy day this weekend.

I had the chance to go for a walk in the woods and have a really good think and sort out my ideas — get ready for the new year. I have a lot to do. I've been slightly changing direction for a few years now with my work and I can finally see where I'm heading. Somewhere that's a little less cute and a little more calm and hopefully, sometimes beautiful. But sometimes a little tiny bit cute. I'm not going to start striding around in a black turtleneck or anything, if you know what I mean.

morning car trip

alpenhorn & bhangra

I've just been going through baby pictures and found this one, which was taken by Rick Collins Photography. It's from a beautiful wedding we went to last year. The wedding album is online, however, I am not sure of the etiquette of putting other people's wedding photos on your blog :) So, I'm going to not put any photos with clear faces. However, they are gorgeous sorts of people.

fall leaves colouring sheet | feuilles d'automne à colorier

A new Auggie colouring sheet, in French and English: fall leaves (PDF). This is also a little identification guide to common leaves. We like to go on scavenger hunts for leaves at this time of year. You can subscribe on the auggiebloggie I'll let you know the next time we have a good free printable (it will be class Christmas/holiday cards).

milk ice cream + cornflakes

When Auggie was midway through his second week of preschool, I picked him up from school and found him to be in the grouchiest, complain-ingest mood. So I tried spoiling him. We visited Aberdeen centre, bought a $2 yellow tractor trailer from Daiso and then had ice cream from mazazu crepe. If you order the milk flavour ice cream in a cup, it comes with cornflakes on the bottom. I don't know exactly why that's so exciting, but it really is.

Augs is telling me that it's cold and creamy and crunchy. Sweet, too. That's a lot of sugar. So...

...a lot of dancing around the fountain. Then a very sudden nap. And lasting happiness for the rest of the week. I think he just needed a little party time. (By the way, he's dancing to Footloose and also various Elvis songs — all of which he's convinced are about tractor trailers).

claire fontaine

We stopped by the opening for Carelessness Causes Fire, by Claire Fontaine tonight. Part of the installation was a wire that rings an alarm when stepped on. Auggie loved this (naturally) so we spent a fair bit of time investigating the exhibition. On the other hand he does not like loud or sudden noises.

So:

ballet

bat | cat hat

It's not too late to make this for Hallowe'en. Original zsa mask pattern via smaller and pinterest. My pattern notes below. Pattern was created by Mme ZsaZsa.

nature walk

shell sculpture

This summer I would find shell arrangements like this one in Auggie's room. This one was on top of his book shelf.

Sometimes he doesn't like me to take pictures of his sculptures, and sometimes he does. This one was ok to photograph. My favourite sculpture so far might be a belt on a window.

so sayeth the soothsayer

These guys really like yellow.
— Auggie

you are loved

I don't know what this is from. I titled it just to make you feel good. Some editorial designer did a great job with this. It is so relaxing to look at. A full bleed with no type — really lovely. maggie on the rocks via pinterest.

It's the last day of summer today. Please hold my hand while I cry a little. I just don't feel ready for socks.

alpine grocery

I've been fond of this typeface for a long time, but an appropriate project hasn't crossed my desk yet.

It's very clean and appealing. If only I had a little alpine grocer's, I would use it for everything.

oregano

I guess summer doesn't officially end until the 21st, but today feels like the first day of autumn — we counted 6 yellow leaves falling outside our window this morning.

Ornamental oregano is in season. It's one of my favourite plants. I discovered ornamental oregano on a random blog a few years ago (that's what I like about blogs).

Little pierrot slippers

These little baby slippers — december booties — are from a pattern by maddermade for lark yarn from quince. They are quite sweet without the pom poms, too, I think. This is a very good pattern and worth the $3.50. It's a continuous knit with no seaming and it was very straightforward to make. These are in a washable merino in a dk weight from mission falls. These are for a little boy who is a few weeks old, now.  If you would like help to make pom poms, our pdf instructions are here).

(ps. hopefully the music from Sunny, Snowy & Chinook and Foggy will be  is available here soon. I'm working on updating the blog to hundreds & thousands, as I'm almost finished with Windy-related material.)

Summer herbs

I found some shiso leaves on sale, and I got to make a true version of my favourite summer dish, which is marinated tofu + ricotta + shiso (usually I use basil and mint instead of shiso), from Harumi Kurihara.  

The sauce is 1/4 cup soy sauce + 2 teaspoons superfine sugar + 1 Tablespoon mirin (or sake with 1 teaspoon sugar) + 1/2 Tablespoon grated ginger. Add in a little chili, lemon or lime if you want. Lightly heat the sauce. Then pour over soft or silken tofu topped with ricotta. Sprinkle on fresh shiso leaves, toasted sesame seeds and a handful of bonito flakes. 

This is so good with spinach and feta salad dressed with olive oil and lemon. I also love it with chili oil on top. The basil and mint option is easily just as nice as the shiso version. 

I think this is a good recipe for children to make, as the ratios are very flexible and there is a lot of pouring and sprinkling and little heating or cutting. Or to make yourself and maybe have some beer with lemon as you work away. Maybe the kids are at camp! Summer!

Buttermilk

Buttermilk is a very pretty word. It seems like it should taste a bit better, given the name. Anyway, I feel like whenever I buy a litre of buttermilk I use half and don't finish before the expiration date. This is a list of recipes that, together, use one full litre. Of course, there are always pancakes (Snowy & Chinook ones), too...

Cocoa buttermilk cupcakes, un-iced. I tried some buttermilk icing, it was good, but these are best plain.

Chocolate cherry oatmeal cookies (add teaspoon or two of regular milk if the dough doesn't hold together).

I used the homemade cupcake liners (see below) for these cornbread muffins (via apples & butter) — however, to tell the truth I was multi-tasking and used twice the amount of baking soda on this batch by accident and they were slightly horrible. The recipe is good, though, I promise ^_^

You can make cupcake liners by smooshing a square of paper over a glass. About 6" is a good size of paper for a liner. You can use origami squares, for example. I would try to choose paper that is not too chemically treated and coated — this is parchment paper.