The Week of Birthday Begins

Around our house we like to celebrate the "Week of Birthday". Such fun! This year the celebrating has started a bit more than a week early, which is fine by me!

Part one: my getaway staycation (and first ever night away from Luke, now 16 months old). The fun involved:

• a successful kid-free shopping trip to give my lackluster wardrobe a boost.
• scones at Merritt's with Becky
• late night movie and beer at Beck's, and a gift received - a copy of the cookbook that started my cookbook obsession.
• a sleep-in!!
• Egg Factory breakfast
• more lovely shopping
• a girl's trip to the salon
• dinner with 9 lovely girlfriends
• New Moon

Part Two: post movie, I arrived home to find a rather large gift-wrapped boxed sitting in the front room. A birthday gift from Casey & Luke! I was more than happy to open it early! Meet my new best friend. Hello, friend. I have dreamed of you for years....

Welcoming Winter

Our weather is pleasant, I've only scraped car windows once or twice, and we've had one skiff of snow that lasted about one minute, yet winter has arrived. Know how I know? Because spontaneous game nights have begun!

There is something about the early nightfall that inspires Casey and me to revert to log-cabin style entertainment (well, if you ignore the iPod playing in the background). TV off, mug of hot drink at hand, crouched over the kitchen table embroiled in a cut-throat game of Carroms.

Carroms! Have you played that game? Love it! Hate that I can't win, but love to play it! Just one more reason to love my hubby, because it was a childhood game for him too. Funny how we grew up living these parallel lives in two different countries, developing the same attitudes toward family fun and traditions. It's just a game, but it's part of a lifestyle. Can't wait until Luke is old enough to get in on the fun!

When I grow tired of losing at that game, we switch to scrabble. Then I win. Grin.

No thanks, Mom.

My son is a vegetarian.

It's ok. I can admit it now. Well, maybe not quite a vegetarian. He will eat hotdogs and processed chicken nuggets and the meat-ish slime that fills canned ravioli, but I'm not quite convinced that any of that is really meat, so he might still qualify. Sadly, the family-raised extra scrumptious beef and home cooked chicken that I so lovingly prepare in all sorts of tempting ways holds no appeal for him. I really try not to take it personally!

Thankfully, he has developed a little beyond just throwing it on the floor. He now very politely seeks out the offending ingredients and hands them back. Today my husband left me a voicemail telling me that he had tried to sneak part of a meatball into a grilled cheese sandwich. Our kiddo took it apart, found the meat, and gave it back.

On a side note, he also refuses to eat potatoes, pasta (unless it is canned pasta mush), or any veggies other than broccoli slathered in cheese sauce or the occasional green pea.

This stings for me. I wanted to be the proud supermom who home-grows and home-cooks and home-bakes everything and thus ensures the glowing good health and happiness of my lovely little family! Oh well. I'll still garden and cook to my heart's content and hope he eventually grows up to have a more (or less?) discriminating palate. If not, I'll have grilled cheese sandwiches developed to an art form. At least he'll eat my home-baked bread!

A Little Light Reading

It all started when I was a preteen and discovered my Mom's copy of this wonderful book:


I poured over this book for hours, days, years! Through these photos I traveled Canada from the Pacific through the prairies, across the Canadian shield, all the way to the Atlantic. The photos introduced me to people, places, and ingredients far beyond the reaches of our cozy kitchen table.


Despite the fact that I rarely follow a recipe as written, I now have my own cookbook collection. It isn't extensive, but the collection has been lovingly acquired, with cookbooks selected based on their readability, beautiful pictures, and (silly but true) cover appeal. A favorite from my collection, and highly recommended, is this most beautiful book:

My Favorite Time of Year!

I loooooove holidays of any kind! I really don't need an excuse to invite people over and stuff them with food, but it's nice to have one. Mental preparations have begun for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the social opportunities that come with the season.

One of my favorite things: the dishes! I love my crisp, white tableware and serveware, am itching for a chance to bust out the teapots, dessert serving tiers, carafes, individual salt and pepper shaker sets for each place setting, the soup turreen, punch bowl, and on and on and on!

Next on my list of things-that-I-want-but-don't-really-need:

A flatware set that can be tidily stashed in its lovely little box until needed. The only thing limiting the number of guests I can entertain is flatware (well, space, too). I might have plates for 30+, but a good many of them would be eating with their hands! Oh well, it's about the people, the fun we're having, and the food we're eating, right?

I still want the flatware. But it would take me years to pick out a pattern!