Messy

My head is so full of plans and ideas these days that I often forget to take my keys with me when I go out.  Seriously, this head of mine is all over the map.  It would be so convenient to just take an internal snapshot and show it around when asked, "So, what's up?"  The usual answer: nothing much.  Too much hassle to explain it all.  Besides,  most of the time my brain resembles Swiss cheese, so I can't imagine forming coherent conversations to begin with.  It's all a hazy, colourful mess up there!

Incidentally, we baptized the baby this past week.  All last minute and very cozy.  Kind of indicative of where we are right now - spontaneous and messy.  The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that "messy" is the perfect adjective to describe life at this moment.  So for anyone who wonders what life is like with 3 young'ins, the answer is: messy.

With berry season done, we have turned our heads to peaches.  Between you and I, I am REALLY looking forward to the fall fruits and veggies.  Apples, pumpkin, squash.  I've never made pumpkin butter and I aim to try if I can.  That is, of course, after we tackle cheese.  I have decided that for someone who loves cheese as much as I do, it's about time I learned how to make it.  The kids are all enthusiastic enough to try anything, so it's settled.  Cheese first.  Everything else shall follow accordingly.  Speaking of making things, there's this fantastic book by Alana Chernila, The Homemade Pantry.  It's a must read!  Incidentally, she has a simple and lovely recipe for mozzarella cheese within said pages...

My parting thought, and something I think about often: M. is starting school this September.  This mama is not looking forward to it.  Such a little boy.  He is my first baby.  I can't imagine parting with him for that long each day.  He is my helper, my story-teller, my calligrapher, my soldier-king-dinosaur, my fort-builder, my teaser... my son.  My little son, where did all our time go?  When did you turn 4?  Soon you will be itching to get away from me instead of being practically attached to my hip.  Soon you will grow up and "be a man" like you always tell me.  And then, I will miss these small days of innocent childhood.  

Donut therapy

We have been sick.  Oh yes.  First it was strep throat with a little scarlet fever.  Then it was a viral cold.  Now it's hand, foot and mouth disease.  (Gee, it sounds so much more serious with "disease" at the end!)  The viral cold was actually the worst and we all succumbed, though not all at once.

Our bodies are recovering thankfully and the kids are again sleeping through the night, minus little S of course.  Obviously, it was high time for donuts!  The whole process is actually kind of therapeutic for me, and I try to do it when a bit of quiet reigns in the house. Watching spoonfuls of runny dough swell up in the hot oil to little golden puffs.  Noticing each donut's shape is different and enjoying each unique imperfection.  Sprinkling cinnamon sugar over them and popping one in my mouth while they're still hot.  I don't know why, though I suspect it's the comfort factor, but donuts are best when eaten fresh and warm.  

And since she's been filling my days with so much sunshine, I think it's only fair to share.  

My sweet girl.  How much my heart swells when I see you.  How much you are loved.

Weekend reflections

My father-in-law is here visiting from Lebanon.  It's a special time for us.  For some reason, food has an important place in our special moments, so you can imagine I've been a little busy in the kitchen.  In fact, over the weekend I did a lot of cooking now that I think about it.  Spinach pies, stuffed grape leaves, labneh, corn on the cob, cheese-topped flatbread, etc.  It struck me during the preparations for each dish and each meal, how rich we were.  Not, obviously, in the obvious sense, but in the more traditional sense.  Here I was, surrounded by mounds of spinach, onions, grape leaves, watermelon, cherries, pears, strawberries and blueberries.  I felt like a king going through his treasury!  We ate from the bounty of the harvest and it was delicious.

I am thankful for those moments of realization - how God takes care of me (us) through each season.  I also had a feeling of deja vu, as if we were back in Lebanon and enjoying the fruits in their seasons!

Here are some of my happy reflections - perhaps somewhat simple and primitive to be called such, but nonetheless... 

• Washing a bowl of blood red cherries and leaving them to brighten the kitchen as they drained in the colander.
• Chopping up spinach and onions (with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sumac) to make into delightful pies.
• Sneaking the first corn cob and then going back for seconds without minding who saw.  It was that good!
• Tearing up spinach to steam with ground beef.  Extra memorable when eaten over a bed of rice...
• Cutting open a huge watermelon and wanting to lick up the juices that ran over the counter.
• Rolling out dough with M and J as they asked repeatedly for the story of the wise man - the one who built his house on the rock - complete with accompanying song and actions.  

Hope your weekend was full of simple blessings too.  

Update!

Managed to finish one batch of blueberry jam yesterday.  :o)  Oh, and when I said I didn't have a babysitter, I lied.  I do have one.  It's actually one of those baby swings and it kept little S happy as a pig in mud while I stirred boiling blueberry mush on the stove.  Win.

Incidentally, the jam is delicious.  

A smattering of things

 We have a flat of blueberries sitting in the fridge as I write waiting to be turned into delicious jam.  Buying the flats probably wasn't as fun as picking them, but I'm hard pressed to get out these days for diapers much less to blueberry bushes.  Anyhow.  

Our recipe is queued and I am waiting for Tuesday to arrive.  I may have to reschedule to Wednesday, or later, pending the behaviour of three specific monkeys.  You see, two of them currently have fevers and a zombie mom of two invalids and three insomniacs trying to make jam is not a recipe for success.  This time I will not have a babysitter, so I am understandably nervous.  Stay tuned for updates!  :o)

Oh, and here is the finished woodburn.  Not terribly fond of the halo... definitely wiggly in places.  As my art teacher would say, it has character.  

Happy Monday.

PS - Should you ever decide you have a craving for pancakes, I heartily recommend this recipe.  They are by far the best pancakes we've ever tasted - and the fluffiest incidentally.  We modified them slightly by cooking them in sunflower oil not butter.  Yum!  

Jamming

Yesterday and the day before were strawberry jam days.  (It's hard to do it all in one day when there are young and wild children about.)  It was my first try and yes, jam was made with success and aplomb!  My favourite part about jamming is the sweet smell of the strawberry syrup simmering on the stove wafting through the house.  And it profoundly assails every visitor to the kitchen, inviting them to pull up a chair and chat about "the old days" when their ancestors (usually mothers or grandmothers) used to make their own jam.

I'm almost positive that blueberry jam will follow.

While waiting for the finished jars to seal (not trying to brag here), I also did a little number on ghoraybe, a Middle Eastern shortbread cookie.  Delicious little things with green pistachios pressed in the centre.  The secret is butter AND A BABYSITTER!  (And the word is out... I'm not really supermom.)  Not just any butter though.  Clarified butter.  I'm sure I've just shocked a few people.  For a lot of people I know, butter alone is a bad word.  Clarified butter is practically anathema.  However, if you don't inhale these cookies, one or two (incidentally sized to eat in 2 small bites) will do you more good than harm.  Just think how nicely they go with afternoon tea!  Or sitting chatting about the ol' jamming days for that matter.

In other new, we have officially moved into our new dwelling!  I have no idea what awaits us here, except for the mountains of boxes that need unpacking, or at the very minimum investigating.  I say investigating because I have no intention of unpacking every nick-knack in those boxes only to have to pack them up again a year later.  The books, toys and crafts shall be exhumed.  The rest - dishes notwithstanding - are debatable.

What I'm finding tough about the whole process is that I cannot just go through boxes and organize.  I am subject to the needs and whims of 3 little monkeys.  This means my pace of unpacking just hit tortoise.  So, with a newborn rearranging my nights and a hefty amount of work awaiting by day, I am preparing for the worst.  

At least we'll have jam for those mornings when getting up seems like more effort than it's worth.  Then tea with toast and jam will be a welcome treat.  

Sunshine and joy

Our waiting is over and baby 3 (we'll call her S.) has arrived!  She is a little princess, our little rosy girl.  The kids love to hold and kiss her; on her cheeks, on her head, on her little hands.  M is especially serious in his devotions.  He feels some sort of responsibility to little S and always tries to help when she fusses.  Honestly, watching our little ones, our joy is complete and our cup runneth over.  And we thank God for the family around us which supports our (my) sanity in the chaos that is three children.  I will not write any more about family life yet.  Everything is too new and I think we all have to take a wee bit of time to process our thoughts and feelings.  Also, we're moving tomorrow, so our routines will soon be changing profoundly.  More on this later.

Even with the arrival of a new baby, life continues in its familiar rhythms.  Strawberry season is in full force in our neck of the woods.  Our visit last week to Whittamore's berry patch was tasty and enjoyable, especially for the monkeys.  I think they ate more than they picked.  At least we got a few trays out of the deal.  (And I don't mean the sweet little strawberry that has grown so quickly into our family patch...)  I foresee strawberry ice cream in the near future!

Speaking of sweets and food in general, I think it's been a long time since I posted a recipe.  It's not that I haven't been in the kitchen lately, it's just that I haven't had the time.  Also, I've managed a few recipes that weren't very memorable.  Anyhow, I will sign off with a lovely coffee cake - recipe courtesy of my mother-in-law whom I miss very much these days.  

CHOCOLATE ORANGE MARBLE CAKE

3 cups flour

1 cup milk (or orange juice)

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs 

1/2 cup oil

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp orange zest

2 Tbsp cocoa

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease and flour bundt pan.  Blend first 7 ingredients together in large bowl until well combined.  Pour 1/4 of the batter into a separate bowl.  Add the orange zest to the remaining 3/4 and blend.  Take the 1/4 batter portion and add the cocoa.  Add a splash of milk and mix well.  Add the orange zest to the remaining 3/4 and blend.  Pour the orange batter into the bundt pan.  Drizzle the chocolate batter on top.  Take a wooden skewer and swirl around until well marbled.  Bake for 45-55 minutes or until done.  Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes.  Invert to release from pan and then reinvert cake to finish cooling.   Serve as desired.  (Goes very well with summer berries!)