mmm...apple streusel bars

This was a great recipe to make with a 2 year old. He could stir the dry ingredients and dump in the chopped up apples. It came together really fast. It also disappeared as quickly. Enjoy the wonderful aroma in your house when it bakes. It actually makes me not mind these cooler, dreary days.

Apple Streusel Bars - adapted from Our Best Bites

SWEET PASTRY:
2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. real butter (no substitutions!)
1 egg, beaten

APPLE FILLING:
1/2 c. white sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 c. (about 3 medium) sliced, peeled baking apples (I used 3 Gala and 1 Mac)

GLAZE:
1 c. powdered sugar
About 2 Tbsp. milk (whole milk is best)

To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbles. Gently mix in beaten egg.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish. Preheat oven to 350 and set aside.
To prepare apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples and spread apples out on prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. When finished, allow to cool completely.To prepare glaze, whisk together powdered sugar and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Place glaze in a Ziploc bag and cut off a very small portion of one of the corners. Drizzle glaze over cooled pastry and allow to harden (you can place it in the freezer to hurry things along). Cut into bars and serve.

rain

Our summer temperatures are gone, the rain we so desperately needed came and I actually turned on the heat this weekend. I am definitely feeling the need to get our family prepared for the cooler temperatures. Normally I would have gotten a lot of these things accomplished on the weekend. But I was experiencing life as a single parent this weekend. Andrew was gone on his boy weekend to NASCAR from Friday to Monday and these things just don't get done. Luckily the weather started off as a bit dreary so the boys and I spent yesterday morning inside. I started the task of switching over all the summer clothes to fall stuff. I got through the boys stuff and organized the extra bags of hand me downs that have been sitting on my bedroom floor for the past number of weeks. I just have Abigail's stuff to do. The boys were great and played in the family room the whole time. Jesse dumped almost every single box of toys we own, but they played cooperatively. I kept looking outside at the clearing, sunny sky and was feeling guilty that we weren't outside enjoying the weather. But I was in the middle of boxes of clothes and I couldn't let it go. The boys didn't complain. We had started the morning outside. The boys with their bikes.

They began fighting over whose bike could play in this puddle. Then the wind picked up and shook the raindrops from the trees onto Jesse. He did not like this. The boys agreed to come inside.

Today was also a bit damp. No major rain but a good enough excuse to stay in with Jesse. I am feeling a bit guilty about not signing Jesse up for any activity. When we can play outside all morning I don't feel badly about just hanging out. But when the weather turns cold I know we'll be needing something to do. So, this morning we read books on the couch and made apple streusel bars. We were both happy.

she is

...wishing she was a teenager. Then she "would know what history is."

...needing her own bedroom again. After sharing with Nathaniel for almost 2 years she announced last week that "I feel room sick. I want my room back."

...wishing she had a baby sister to play school with. She has turned our play room upstairs into her make shift classroom. She has organized her own teacher's desk, a daily calendar, made worksheets for everyone in the family and arranged daily tasks for her students. The boys happily call her "Teacher!"

...loving school and adores her new teacher.

...so excited to be learning piano. She was shy during her first lesson but after her second lesson yesterday, her teacher said "She certainly isn't shy anymore."

...now okay with attending another year of ballet. She cried for 15 minutes on the day she was to start dance. After the first class was over and we drove home, she announced "Dance is awesome!"

...insists on walking to school with the neighbour girls. Even on days when they can't wait for us or she sees them pass on the sidewalk, she quickly whips on her coat and shoes and runs down the street to join them.

...upset that we can't participate in this year's Ride for Refugees. Hopefully next year.

...reading up a storm. She needs to read to herself every night before bed to wind down from the day.

...being a great support to Nathaniel at school. She has gone to his classroom to comfort him when he was homesick and seems okay that he needs to spend every recess with her.

...upset if she doesn't have a playdate at the end of her school day.

worms

This is Jesse and my third day by ourselves. Tomorrow will be the fourth. So far things run pretty much like when Nathaniel is here. This morning we went grocery shopping then spent the rest of the morning playing outside. No big surprise that Jesse found his way into the side garden and continued digging his hole. I was selfishly looking over my just delivered scrapbooking magazine when he came to show me the worm he had found while digging. I ran for the camera and took some pictures of Jesse and the worm.

Things began innocently enough.

He laid the worm on the step and was complimenting his worm by saying "Nice worm!"

He was moving it around the step, pulling it when...

Uh oh. Things were not looking good for the worm. Now Jesse had 2 worms. He also realized this by saying "2 worms. One, Two!"

He had to show me the worm REALLY close. Too close to really focus properly.

After trying to squish the worm into the space between the boards and getting upset when the worm got stuck there, he finally agreed to put the worm back in the dirt.

Please tell me that worms are able to survive when pulled apart by an innocent 2 year old. Let's hope that these now 2 worms, will live long and happy lives in our garden, untouched by the chubby fingers of my Jesse.

before it's too late

Peaches are my favorite fruit. I have tried making a number of different peach muffin recipes and have generally really liked most of them. This one tops the list. I realize I should have had this recipe posted around a month ago when peaches were in full swing, but it is not too late people. Although the peaches that may be still lingering out there in your supermarkets are local (for us in Southern Ontario) they have been in cold storage to prolong the season. This doesn't always make for a great eating peach. But they are perfect for muffin making. So, use up those last few wrinkled or just past their prime peaches in this recipe. Or stash the recipe away for next summer. I would even try this recipe with chopped apples in place of peaches. Let me know how they turn out.

Peach Muffins - adapted from Canadian Living magazine

This recipe made 12 large and 12 mini muffins. I chose not to put the topping on the mini muffins so my kids could take them to school for a nut free snack.

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. peaches, chopped

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda and salt. Whisk brown sugar, buttermilk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Pour over dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Carefully incorporate peaches. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin tins. Combine the topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over muffins. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Let cool.

memories of gardening

I used to love dreaming about my future gardens with beautiful perennials and flowering shrubs. I would stand outside and stare at my garden, planning what could go where. I even had a subscription to a gardening magazine for a year. I loved watching gardening shows on tv. I bought some gardening books that I would peruse when I needed some inspiration. Somewhere along the way I lost touch of this interest. It was during a recent visit to a gardening centre and some shared bulb catalogues from a friend that I realized that I had totally lost touch of my interest in gardening. It didn't take too long for me to understand why. My boys. Shovels. And their love of digging. The garden right beside our driveway used to have tomato plants before the boys came along. With all the digging in recent years I just realized that it wasn't worth planning this part of the garden for a few years. We plunked some free shrubs there but obviously there wasn't much of an investment for me to care too much if they get stepped on every now and then. The east side of our house was also cleared out this summer which created another digging site for my boys. I figure I'll give myself another 2-3 years. I'm hoping the compulsion to dig and scoop will lessen by the time Jesse is in school. If not, I'll get him working in MY garden.

Lately, Jesse has found a new pasttime that involves digging.

First he goes into the corner of the driveway garden and scoops the dirt. He carefully walks over to his car and fills up the back till it is completely full. He gets in and drives his dirt across the driveway.
When he find the perfect spot, he gets out. He always makes sure that the door is closed. He goes to the front and tilts the car, allowing all the dirt to spill on the driveway.

To make sure that all the dirt comes out, he knocks the car against the driveway a few times. He returns to his car, drives back to his original spot and begins the process again. We can have 3 or 4 piles of dirt on our driveway at one time. It is usually me that ends up scooping it up and putting it back into the garden. Like I said, gardening will just have to wait.

my kindergartner

Today was the day. Nathaniel started his first day of JK this morning. (For those readers from the States, children are 4 when they enter Junior Kindergarten). I have to say that it went really well. No surprises. Although I have to say that I was surprised by how excited Nathaniel was last night and this morning. I was preparing for a little more hesitancy about going to school. Last night I was feeling like I should have prepared him more. Maybe practised having lunch out of his containers. Before bed we tried on his indoor shoes to make sure there were no problems getting them on. (In the store he kept pulling out the velcro strap and complained that he couldn't put them back in the hole.) With 2 practices he got them on perfectly each time and was even able to put the strap back in if he happens to pull too hard. I labelled his shoes and he eagerly placed them in his backpack. I then showed him his clothes for the first day, nicely laid out beside his bed. I was envisioning that he would wake up at 4am all ready with his clothes on. Thankfully that didn't happen. He was up around 7. When I came out to the family room around 20 minutes later (Andrew was there with Jesse) I found him naked searching for his indoor shoes. Of course he had searched every other zippered compartment BUT the ones that had his shoes. I found his shoes and then he was able to get dressed. He was ready to remind me what he wanted in his lunch. He seemed organized with what he would eat at each of his 2 nutrition breaks. He would have been able to head out the door at 8 am if we let him. I told him he had another half an hour to wait before we actually had to leave. I think it was this waiting time that allowed some of his anxiety to come out. He said that his feet were too hot and stated that he would not be wearing socks to school today. He was itching his legs and carrying on like he hadn't just worn socks the previous day. Thankfully he was back in his socks 10 minutes later and ready to go outside.

He complained that his backpack was too heavy, so he agreed it could just stay beside him for his first day of school picture.

This has been our routine since school started last week. We walk to the end of the street with out neighbours and Nathaniel is able to walk their dog Scruffy. (You can kind of see him in the front of the pack.) This has been great since it was the only way that Nathaniel would agree to actually walk to school. Unfortunately we won't have this arrangement all year, but hopefully he will believe in himself that he can actually walk to school.

Nathaniel giving Daddy one last hug before Andrew had to bike to work.

Nathaniel standing in line waiting for his teacher. There were no tears, no anxious words. He just stood there waiting for what was to come next. When it was time to go in, his teacher asked if he would rather walk in line or hold her hand to go into the classroom. In a quiet voice he answered "Hold your hand." So my little 4 year old walked timidly into the school with a whole class of strangers following behind. Be brave Nathaniel.

birds on a wire

I wish I knew how to put some of the cool clips that can be found on YouTube directly onto my blog. If someone knows how, please let me know. For now you need to trust me and go to this site. Here is a quote from the man who composed a song based on a picture of birds.
"Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn't the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating." - Jarbas Agnelli

The link is a video of the picture of the birds, the music and the score to the original piece.
What creativity!

lunch

Found this wonderful example of nature in my front garden last week. It's hard not to think about the book 'Charlotte's Web' when seeing this poor bee being slowly prepared for lunch. I thought it was kinda cool.

something in the water

Our street experienced a bit of a baby boom in 2007. 5 babies were born in the span of 7 months. It was exciting for the families of these children, but the anticipation also spilled over to other neighbours on our street. I remember walking up our street, very pregnant at the time, and overhearing a 40 something man talking to another male friend about all the babies that were being born on the street. It was surprising and put a smile on my face. I do believe that people love seeing babies and the sign of growth and change in our downtown community. They are all good things.

Our wonderful neighbours threw a baby shower 2 years ago in September for all these new babies. It was probably the first time we had all been together. Of course a photo op was called for so a blanket was thrown down and all the babies were lined up in a row. Since that photo we have been able to get together to capture the growth and changes in all our children. Last night marked our 3rd photo. Everyone is now 2 and much more verbal and active. We weren't sure if they would sit for us last year and I had more doubts this time around. But we luckily got a few seconds before the little ones got antsy and were finished with the photography session.

Here are the pictures from the past 3 years.

September 2007 - That's Jesse in the middle causing a bit of a fuss.

September 2008 - Everyone's in the same position. I think they were all so stunned nobody knew what to do and dared not move.

September 2009 - The totally cool thing was how many languages are being spoken to these children. Jesse is the only one growing up unilingual (I apologized to Jesse about this last night). Czech, Spanish, French and Cantonese are the languages that Jesse's peers are learning in their respective homes. So very cool.

so many pictures, too little time

I recently finished reading the book Julie and Julia. I haven't seen the movie yet but the book is written by Julie Powell who takes on a project to cook her way through Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' in one year. She blogs throughout her whole experience. She has gotten a lot of attention with her blog and no doubt will create even more food bloggers. Of course most of us won't be getting a phone call from Hollywood and getting a 6 figure pay cheque in the deal. As a humble blogger myself, I could identify with some of the book. She started blogging when it was still quite new. She started with a small group of people supporting her ambitious goal and religiously kept her bloggies up to date on all of her culinary adventures. I do not have such an ambitious goal nor am I wanting my little blog to reach thousands around the world. But for some strange reason I do feel compelled to sit down and get my pictures uploaded and share what we are up to. I also need to give myself a break when I'm not able to post on a regular basis. I knew I was ambitious trying to post 5 days a week and wondered when I would need to pull back on my frequency of blogging. I do miss it when I don't get to at least post a picture. For those of you who check in regularly, I have really appreciated that you have made this blog a stop in your day. That you are interested in what we are doing. I also love reading the comments that a few of you are brave enough to post.

So, what is my point...I have had intentions of posting so many pictures from the last week. Pictures from the last week of summer vacation, our trip to African Lion Safari, a bonfire we hosted in our backyard with so many good friends, the tearing down of our shed. The list goes on. There just isn't enough time. I am feeling that now that school is back I need to be more protective of my free time. I have papers and pictures sitting on my scrapbook table that haven't been touched in over a month. I need to keep up with my running and next week I start up guitar lessons again. People ask how I do it all. Well, I don't. I rarely watch tv and certainly wish I had more time in the evenings. I was getting excited about the afternoons I would have free when Nathaniel starts JK 2 days a week. I would get 2 hours during Jesse's nap when I could get projects done, get a head start on prepping supper and maybe practice some guitar. Let's hope that yesterday does not become a pattern because this little boy decided not to nap.

I took this picture because by 2:20 in the afternoon, he should be sleeping in his crib, not playing on the family room floor. I am really hoping that this was just a fluke. He is sleeping nicely now, giving me the chance to blog and Nathaniel some Diego time. I do hope that I have some spare time to share some highlights from this week. I'll try my best.

grade two

Like so many others of you, today we are back to our daily routine. No more lingering in bed, lounging in pj's, or taking our time eating breakfast. We are back to making sure everyone's teeth are brushed, that the lunch is ready to go in the backpack and hurrying out the door. Abigail had nervous butterflies in her tummy this morning and barely ate any breakfast. She talked about being nervous but was ready to go when our neighbours rang the doorbell to share the walk down our street (they go to the Catholic school). She clung to my side when we waited for the doors to open and still complained about her nervousness as we waited for her name to be called out. Luckily the school had posted the class lists on Friday, so it was one less surprise to find out who her teacher is and which friends she would be with. Abigail has an AMAZING teacher, one that people refer to as the best in the school. This will be her last year of teaching so we are lucky to have her. Too bad the boys won't have the opportunity to be with her. When Abigail's name was called she walked right up and joined the line. Her nerves seemed to disappear and she waved with confidence as she walked out to see her new classroom. She did amazing.
Nathaniel had his 20 minute interview this morning with his JK teacher and will begin next Thursday. That will be another story for another day.

And for those of you who are just beginning as a parent with school age children, think about starting a tradition of taking a picture of your child in the same spot each year. My kids quickly stand by the tree in our front yard and I get a quick picture before we head for the first day. It's a nice way of seeing how your children have grown over the years.

Here's Abigail over the last 4 years (Yikes, I can't believe it's been 4 years!!)...

Junior Kindergarten

Senior Kindergarten

Grade One

Grade Two (she coordinated her own outfit!)

How my girl has grown!

nearing the end/shedding the training wheels

Last night I realized that today would be my last full day with my kids before school starts. Without Andrew that is. Of course I started thinking about the things we never got to do this summer, the friends we didn't get a chance to visit. I wanted to do something different this morning with them. The kids were excited by my suggestion to go for a hike this morning. Last night when I talked this over with them Nathaniel immediately asked if he could ride his bike. You see, as I went out for my run yesterday after supper, Nathaniel just happened to ride his bike without his training wheels. Earlier this week Andrew had taken off the pedals and training wheels so he could use his "scooter bike" to practice balancing. Andrew put the pedals back on and Nathaniel just got on and started pedalling. I think he surprised himself more than it did Andrew. Well, Nathaniel just started whipping up and down the street showing off his new skill. I am a bit bummed that I missed out on this, but hey, I've basically been there for every other milestone in my kids' lives. Andrew needs to have one to himself. When I came back from my run Nathaniel immediately jumped up saying that he wanted to show me something. So, off he went on his bike. I knew he had the ability to balance, but I was blown away by the fact that he could get himself going all by himself too. I remember Abigail needing to practice getting herself going without me helping her push off. I think it was all the practicing on his "scooter bike".

So, here is my guy tearing up the sidewalk last night. He made a few pretty impressive skid marks too. He was so proud of himself and we are so proud of him.

So, here are my bikers from this mornings hike. Nathaniel was a bit apprehensive to take his bike without training wheels, but I assured him that he had biked here before and that he just needed to practice. Well, he spent most of the time dragging his bike up and down the hills of the hiking trail.

At one point he was fed up and left his bike in a bit of a huff. This does describe my boy. When he gets it into his mind that he can't do something his stubborness takes over. Now, when he believes he can do something he can be very motivated. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot that I can do to shift him from one mind set to the other. Not at this age anyway. I knew that he could have riden his bike without training wheels a while ago, but he just didn't want to believe it.

The promise of a break and snack got Nathaniel back on his bike pretty quickly. We'll have to go back when Nathaniel is a bit more comfortable with his new found skill. We didn't last very long, plus there were a few hungry mosquitos in the forest.

We dropped by this particular restaurant for what ended up being their lunch. I have to say that I have never taken my kids here. And I do not want this to be the first of many visits. But they were happy and it concluded our last summer outting as a foursome.

lunch ideas

One more week and I'll be back to making school lunches again. This year I'll have Abigail and Nathaniel's (only half the time) to make. When I came across this recipe for homemade hot pockets I immediately thought that this would make a great lunch box idea. I've made the recipe twice, both times for supper, and we have never had much for leftovers. So, if you are planning to make these ahead and possibly freeze them, you may want to double the recipe. I also must add that I have not tried to freeze them, but I can't imagine why this wouldn't work.

Homemade Hot Pockets - from Our Best Bites

1 recipe pizza dough

desired fillings (6-8 oz. shaved ham, 4-6 oz. cheddar; or sauteed zucchini (2 small) and red onion (1/4 cup) with 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves added at the end) *Use whatever your family likes I make half zucchini and cheese/half cheese and ham

Prepare the pizza dough.
1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. whole wheat flour
2-3 1/2 c. all purpose flour

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on the humidity) until dough starts to pull away fro mthe sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger. Knead or process with dough hook for 3-4 minutes.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
Here is my dough and fillings all prepared. I had planned on using ham, but it was a bit slimy, so I opted for a bit of tomato sauce instead. Make sure any cooked fillings have cooled.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out into a rectangle measuring 12 inches by 20 inches. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 12 equal portions.

With one individual piece of dough, roll out to flatten the dough. Leaving a bit of a margin on the sides, add toppings with the cheese going on last. Fold the left side over the middle and bring the right side to meet the other edge. Make sure all the edges in the middle and ends are sealed and pinched tightly. Otherwise you'll have a cheesy mess all over your pan. Trust me - this happened to me. Tightly roll the filled dough.

Place on a sprayed cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough. When finished, cover the pan with a clean cloth. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. When oven has heated, bake pockets for about 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. For shine, you could brush butter on the pockets during the last 5 minutes of baking, or you could rub a little butter on top of the rolls while they're still hot.

happy september

I spotted my first fallen leaf yesterday afternoon in our backyard. There was this moment of dread when I realized that the summer was almost over and fall is just around the corner. I had to try not to panic and go screaming out of our backyard (remember the Tim Horton's commercial) but rather focus on the reality that our beautiful sugar maple would soon be turning colour and dropping all her beautiful leaves. It helped that my neighbour's aunt from Columbia was also there picking up the coloured leaves and marvelling for the first time at how beautiful nature is here in Canada. It helps to see the change of seasons from a newcomer's eyes.