cupcake revolution

Thanks @Baker Patty Lowry, Copywriter Extraordinaire for baking Rainbow Marshmallow Cupcakes. xo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnTH03x0IcQ

So grateful to Sir George and Tristan for showing up, CP24 rocks!!!!!!! xoxo

Cupcakes 4 Haiti

Collectively we baked, frosted, advertised, advertised, advertised, advertised, advertised, advertised, sold, sold, sold, packaged, sang, clapped, swayed to the music, chatted with media and media, and raised $9800 for MSF/Doctors Without Borders. Our government will match these funds, dollar-for-dollar, and thus, it brings our effort to a grand total of $19,600. This total does not include the money that people have promised...so I'll follow-up with those promises and over the next two weeks our grand total will probably exceed $20,000.


There were approximately 30 bakers; there were some baked goods that we still haven't figured out who dropped them off. The cupcakes ranged from $2 to $437.50. Bakers whose blogs/websites I know of included: Rhondda Nancy, Alexandra, Amanda T-M, Amanda M, Cordelia, Erin, Kathleen, More blogs and websites to be shared as soon as I know. A complete credits to all list to be published as soon as possible. There is so much more to say about our community spirit in the days to come.

Thank you for being a part of such an incredible communal accomplishment.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

family time

As I was walking towards the tent, the kids explained that inside the tent I would not find a huge mess, 'it's just a city' :-)




Beautiful Lake Huron and its dunes.



fire-pit fried cremini mushrooms and fire-pit roasted butternut squash, onion & garlic






cozy al fresco dinner in progress...




we delighted in the wildflower canvasses with all our senses




life's better in fancy pink flip-flops







We were all grateful for the glorious sunsets.

eat love play outdoors

shopping list X 2

We're heading to St. Lawrence Market today. My shopping list is inspired by the icicles hanging off the neighbour's roof which reminds me that our bellies are still in need of warm comfort foods, thus I need ingredients for a root soup and stews.

onions, white/red/yellow
turnips
rutabagas
bay leaves
fresh parsley
fresh cilantro
limes
squash
scallions
dry adzuki beans
yams

The kids' list is more immediate: the items they'd like for lunch.

strawberries
bananas
grapes (I'll have to say no if they've been dragged across the planet)
apples
maple syrup
Easter cookie cutter shapes (because the other hundred thousand shapes we have are not 'just right'...we'll see about these...)

Plus, I'll be sniffing around for a new cheese, some awesome Ontario farm fresh one that my hips will love ;-)

I'm always delighted/giddy to add a new-to-us-yummy item to our list(s), is there anything you'd like to recommend? Pretty please and gracias. xo

scones, soft 's'

I watched a mesmerizing interview yesterday, one of my favourite performers of all times, Sir Elton John spoke to Elvis Costello about his road to success, his favourite performers/the ones who most influence(d) him, and the topic that got me the most teary eyed was the discussion about real talent. How years ago, performers and bands would never get a record deal until they showed they could play live. It reminds me of being a kid in Argentina and having to take written tests one day, and Q&A's with your teacher the next. I loved the Q&A because it felt more normal to me to speak to someone about a topic, instead of being forced to answer a question on 2 lines.

What I'm trying to say is that real/authentic is something that I know many of my friends and some of you that read my blog champion daily. Real/authentic is the quality that Elton John values in music, and it's the quality that I value in food.
It infuriates me to see fast foods selling themselves as 'homemade', but I have no control over that; the only thing I can do is make sure that I continue to teach/model to my children that eating an apple they pick at the orchard is a gorgeous sweet miracle which they are happy to accept as a 'treat'. Speaking of treats, here's an updated version of a scone recipe we continue tweaking:



VANILLA-MILK SCONES
The kids call cow's milk, vanilla-milk, thus this recipe's title


3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks of salted butter or 3/4 cup *room temperature*
1 cup milk (I was using buttermilk, now I use 2%)
1/2 cup vanilla chocolate chips or ANY chip, dried fruit, or grated cheese

* In your largest bowl combine all the dry ingredients (with a fork or whisk)
* Add butter to the dry mixture by mushing/rubbing/it into the flour mixture, it's like meditation, do it until it's sand-like
* Add milk and mix with a fork (I mix with a fork until all milk is dried up, then I keep mixing it by hand)
* add vanilla chocolate chips, and mix
* turn dough onto a large floured surface
* flatten out dough by pressing it with heel of hand and fingers, until about 1/4 inch thick
* I cut the dough into 12 rectangular large-ish pieces, but any geometric shape is fine, you can also use large cookie cutters
* bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes (we have a gas stove and 15 minutes, middle rack always bakes a perfect scone)

Most Sundays I double the ingredients and the results are perfect.

bird poetry

In the last seven days we've visited/hung out at three different library locations. My gratitude for Toronto's Public Library system is unmeasurable. First of all, the number of locations within walking distance from our front door is a testament to the richness and wealth that is the city of Toronto. Secondly, the plethora of well-loved but mostly newish materials is incredible. Third, but not least is the gorgeous architectural renaissance that has been experienced at some of the city's older branches.

One of the books that's stood our from last week's journeys is Wild Birds written by Joanne Ryder and illustrated by Susan Estelle Kwas.
This book is a song, a poem, a celebration, an introduction, a reminder, an art installation devoted to the miracle of the seasons and its birds. We were enraptured in the story, we repeated the delicious rhymes, and devoured the look-and-find art work and devoured the fact that we were invited to mimic the birds' use of space. Honestly one of the best kids books I've ever read.

'y' is for yeast

Today we took the streetcar to and from my mom's house; it's 40 minutes one way, so there's always lots to see. On the way there we played a very simple alphabet game in which each of us picks a letter and then we all say as many words as we can with the chosen letter. One of the best letters we picked was 'b', so many words just whizzing by us: 'buildings', 'bank', 'barber', 'balloon', 'bridge', 'boots', 'backpack', 'brick', 'brown'...the letter 'y' didn't go over as well ;-)

Speaking of 'y', today I bought 4 packages of active dry yeast, a must-have in our cupboards. This week's menu includes pizza (possibly some baked on the bbq), no-knead bread and possibly some chocolate chip cookies.

What urban games are you and yours playing these days? What snacks are you packing? Would love to know what you are up to. xo

fotos de Cuba

how two people became a family

Photo credit: Brian Gahan


HIGHWAY ELEVEN

I say
it looks like a big silver salmon.
You are driving
so it takes you longer to make out which cloud I mean
I grow anxious
thinking you will miss the shape.

As we head north
Ontario flashes by in hues:
pre-historic brown of Canadian buffalo
blazing-afternoon-red on a lonely barn
its planks smelling like a sheet of wind,
a mouthful of torn grass and a lifetime of rain.

The blue sky so bright
I wonder if it’s fake.
I focus on solid tree lines,
on watery mirages of highway
and glassy ponds that stretch forward for miles.

No radio just the car humming.

We barely talk
as we inhale
pine
corn
field of blueberries
a choir of midsummer green
our urban eyes grow soft.

A lazy wind slowly surrounds us,
its arms hang like diluted honey,
trees reach in through the windows
a lullaby of rustling leaves grabbing us.

On trips like these
I know I will grow old with you
because you
participate in this stillness.

from scratch

Yes friends, it's been a while. I'm back to share snippets from my cookbook-in- progress. It's coming along, slowly, kind of like a delicious marinade.

I'm about to bake a dozen carrot scones; created them yesterday, in the late afternoon, and they're already gone. Thus, no photo. Next post will include the recipe and a photo. Can't wait to catch up with you lovely people. XO

Dane Zane @ Harbourfront

Some scenes from the Dan Zane and Friends concert, part of the Luminat'eau Carnival H2O this past weekend.

Five more days until the Summer Solstice! Have a great week preparing for this magical day.

women's suffragist + bike chic

Love this quote:

S/he who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life.
- Frances E. Willard, 1850

Source: Can-Bike brochure


Happy Weekend everyone!

Martha Stewart isms

Last week a mom casually called me Martha Stewart because I had packed lunch and snacks, and I had enough that her kid could feast too. I summed up my behaviour as frugal; but since then, there's so many things I wish I had said, and one question I wished I'd asked: 'what's so bad about being like Martha Stewart'?

So today I googled Martha Stewart, and the wikipedia definition includes 'homemaking advocate'. That term in itself warms by heart, so if that's what people think I'm like, cool - even if they don't think it's cool.

Funny thing is, most mamas I know pack lunches and snacks, and at least some of what they have is homebaked/homecooked. Plus, I know many of them have secret snacks, the kind they know can lure their park lovin' cobras home.

So fellow homemaking advocates, I ask you this: what is the must-have-food-item/surprise snack you will not leave home without, even if you are only walking to the library?

Mine: Sunny Bears (corn syrup and all...)