a kindness

We survived 10 days without Jamie! He got in last night and we were all super psyched to see him again. I love watching my boys love on their Daddy. Seriously. Is there anything more adorable?

And this morning it was as if my body knew Jamie was home and I woke up feeling nauseous and with a migraine. I slept for a bit and now I'm feeling a bit better, but honestly I don't have time to be sick! I want to enjoy every last second of this season and I also have a bit {okay a horseload as my friend Tamsin would say} of baking to do before our neighbourhood Christmas party on Friday.

Also my brain has gone completely mushy and I totally thought yesterday was Friday and almost wished Jude's teacher a good weekend. Goodness. And then because I was all mixed up, I forgot that we had made plans to visit our neighbour who has chickens. But being the sweet lady that she is, she came over with six lovely eggs for us! I felt so bad, but we're going to try and head over there on Thursday during the day some time and meet the chickens.

We had scrambled eggs for breakfast!

Yesterday I lost my phone and I almost had a full-on cry in the parking lot. I had Blaise with me and had thought my phone fell out of my pocket and so there I was, walking around staring at the snow and slush covered parking lot for my white and brown phone. Awesome. I must have traced and retraced my steps three or four times. And I wasn't really upset about the phone itself. I meant I would have been sad as it was expensive and I've only had it for a few months, but it was everything else! Lists, to-dos, people's numbers, pictures, videos; everything is on there! Eventually I went into a store and asked to use their phone so I could call my phone. And then mercy of all mercies, someone picked up! A man had found it and had come inches away from running it over. He was working in the pizza shop and I could pick it up there. Thank you Jesus!

I have just experienced the sweetness and love of God in so many ways this past week and it's been in the little things and some unexpected blessings. One thing I've wanted to do forever is pay for the person behind me in drive thru so while the boys and I were picking up hot chocolate for a friend we were about to see, I decided I would do it. Well the lady at the window was such a sweet heart and ended up giving me three large cookies for the boys for free {especially cool as we were able to share a cookie with our friend's son too!}! It was so sweet and a cool way to show my boys that sometimes when you show kindness to those around you, people often will show kindness to you.

So all that to say, I'm hoping that our neighbourhood party would be a kindness to the people we live near and that this would be a fun first step in building a true community of people who look out for one another and freely show kindness to each other.

If you remember, pray for our little party this Friday night between 7-9pm!

sugar-free citrus & cranberry scones

So I randomly felt that I needed to cut sugar out of my life for the next little while upon returning from Spain. I definitely indulged myself while in Spain {they served these things for breakfast that can really only be described as crumbly cookie-dough. I ate a lot of them.} and felt the need to detox.

I also like a good challenge when I'm baking/cooking.

My boundaries for "sugar-free" were such:

no refined sugars

So things like pure maple syrup, honey and fruit are perfectly acceptable. Last week I made sugar-free chocolate cupcakes {for our Oscar party where we watched Zero Dark Thirty and not the Oscars because that would've meant waking up at 4am for us. Although I'm sad I missed this. I think I have a girl-crush.}. I think I'll make a few changes, but they were still really good. I've made pancakes with no sugar in them. {They were amazing. Check out the recipe here.} I've been snacking more on nuts, fruit, and drinking heaps more water than I already do.

Today I made sugar-free scones and they were amazing. I will share the recipe, but only if you promise to make them, eat them warm and give someone you love a hug. Promise? Okay. Here ya go.

{Refined} Sugar-Free Citrus & Cranberry Scones
adapted from About.com

Yield: 18 scones

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter, cold and chopped into pieces
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup orange juice
zest from 1 lemon and 1 lime

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter using two knives or a pastry blender. Add the cranberries and walnuts and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the honey, orange juice and zest. Combine with the dry ingredients to form a thick dough.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop the dough onto a cookie sheet, slightly flattening the scones with your palm as you go. Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

You can even make an Orange Honey Butter to go on these if you like.

our christmas favourites: traditions

the other day i remarked to jamie how excited i was when i was a kid to open my chocolate advent calendar each day. then we discussed {as adults do} how much better and thicker and bigger the chocolates used to be {in the good ole days}.
we didn't have them last year for the boys {as they don't sell them here}, but some friends sent us some this year so the boys get to participate in the "chocolate-after-breakfast" tradition of the chocolate advent calendar.
but what does advent mean? and is eating a tiny piece of cheap chocolate the extent of which we want to teach our kids about it?

this year we're doing some of the same things we started last year. you can check out the books and resources we use in this blog post.

i also found a fantastic guide to reading your way through advent using one of our favourites, the jesus storybook bible. you can find that reading guide here. {i think we might do this next year as the storybook bible is one of our favourites.}

we're doing our advent envelopes again and so far we've opened some new {to us} christmas books {thanks, mom!}, purchased a new nativity set from the craft market, decorated gingerbread cookies and so many other things - i have to admit, though, i'm behind on filling the envelopes and we've been switching around different activities depending on the day. such is life with three little guys.

the boys having a picnic in front of the tree!

i also was ambitious and bought the truth in the tinsel ebook and while i don't think we'll get around to doing a craft every single day, it's good to have the resource for this year and years to come. check out the truth in the tinsel here on their website or on facebook.

we'll keep up our tradition of a daily reading of luke 2 with the boys - i've seen and heard how they can memorize ridiculous conversations from movies and songs, so it's my hope that perhaps they can memorize this small part of luke 2 as we read it to them every day for the month of december. noah can already say the first 7 verses with a bit of prompting.

i always had a tradition of opening up one present on christmas eve and it was always a new pair of pajamas. we'll be keeping this tradition with our boys {this year they'll get batman pajamas!}. who doesn't love new pajamas?

and when talking traditions, you can't forget food! i've compiled my list of holiday baking that i'd like to do. there are about 13 recipes. we'll see how far i get. so far i've made gingerbread cookies {and decorated them this morning}, lemon-pecan shortbread, chocolate gingerbread drops, peppermint patties and earl grey tea and jam cookies. left to make are still almond biscotti, cheese stars, layered fudge, buckeye bark, cran-crazy cookies, chewy molasses spice cookies, christmas sandies and chocolate crinkles. whew!

this year will be our first year doing a birthday cake for jesus on christmas morning. i haven't figured out what  i'll use for the "cake", but i am thinking something like some sort of coffee cake or loaf. we'll have candles and sing happy birthday and everything. i think the boys will like it and it will help us all to focus on who christmas is really all about.

jamie and i have been going through the free advent devotional put out by desiring god. we're only 1 day behind now, but so far it's been a great selection of thought-provoking short articles by john piper.

anyway, so we have lots of traditions and more that i'm sure we'll develop over the years but for now i'm trying to soak up these moments of the here and now. when i'm missing out on watching national lampoon's christmas vacation because i'm rocking blaise to sleep in the other room. when i've got two little boys who insist on fighting with each other or giving me some sass. trying my utmost to lean into HIM and show them the grace and love that i've so freely been shown.

what are some of your traditions? how do you embrace the messy while still enjoying the wonder and anticipation of it all?

earl grey tea and jam cookies

the sounds {grass cutters, birds chirping) and sights {green trees, sunny blue skies} outside right now tell me it's summer. and summer does not equal christmas.
however, the calendar says it's december 8th. what's up with that?

a few years ago i introduced my closest friend, jen, to the wonder that is cheese stars. i make them every christmas. they are delicious. make them and then grab a few and enjoy with a large glass of red wine while they're still hot. you're welcome.

anyway, in return, she introduced me to these beauties; earl grey tea and jam cookies. as i recall, we made a triple batch and had dozens of these cookies sitting on every surface in her kitchen. {i miss you, jen!}
so yesterday i made them. i didn't make them last year, but this year i wanted to. they're so delicious. almost like a shortbread cookie, but not quite. and not too sweet either. if you like tea and cookies {who doesn't?} these are the perfect cookie for you.

do see the flecks of tea? amazing.

here's the recipe:

earl grey tea and jam cookies

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp earl grey tea leaves {approximately 2 tea bags}
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup jam {any flavour will do. i chose strawberry and apricot}

beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. beat in the egg and the vanilla.
in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, tea and salt. then stir it into the butter mixture until just combined. the mixture will be a bit crumbly so feel free to get in there with your hands and shape into a ball. {if they're just way too crumbly, add some water, a tablespoon at a time until the dough is a bit more manageable. this dough is not a sticky dough, so don't add too much.}
refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
using a tablespoon, roll about 1 inch balls place on a cookie sheet.
using the tip of a wooden spoon handle, make indentation into the centre of each ball, almost to the bottom.
bake in the top and bottom thirds of a 350F oven, rotating and switching halfway through until light golden {15-18 minutes}.
transfer to racks and then spoon 1/4 tsp of jam into the centre of each cookie. let cool.

alternately, if you want to make these ahead of time, let them cool and then freeze in an airtight container and then add the jam before you want to serve them.

i froze just over half of them {mine made just over 3 dozen} and we enjoyed the rest of them last night.

and while we're on the subject of keeping things real {see previous post}, here's today's attempt at making cocoa roasted almonds. epic fail. i really need a temperature gauge in my oven. and to pay more attention when i'm baking things. and to set a timer. especially when i have guests over. jamie says they're okay and not to throw them out. but they're pretty burnt. oh well.

creative can be easy

on friday i posted the friday links and then ended by saying that me and the boys were going to bake some chocolate chip cookies.
they had so much fun holding the hand mixer and dumping in the chocolate chips. but then when the dough was ready, i didn't feel like scooping out each individual cookie so i asked the boys if they had ever had a cookie pizza and if they wanted to make one with me.

of course they did!
all i did was spread the dough onto our round pizza pan and throw it in the oven for the amount of time it took for me to blow-dry my hair {15 minutes? it was still pretty wet.}, pulled it out and muah! perfection. and so much easier and less time-consuming than doing several sheets of cookies.
the boys loved it and were so excited when it was done that they insisted on having a cookie party and surprising jamie up in his office {he's moved his desk up to the "party house" now that we've re-arranged furniture for baby B}. we each took a plate up and gobbled up our pizza slices of cookie.
delicious!

sometimes thinking out of the box and being a little creative takes less work than doing things the old-fashioned way.

what's something creative you've done lately that's been easier than your usual way of doing things?

when in uganda...

...make pineapple coconut banana bread!

oh yes.
i'm feeling very bake-y these days what with the rain and cooler weather {oh hello jeans and socks and sweaters. in africa! crazy.} and some lovely guests arriving soon. and so, my freezer is as full of muffins and breakfast breads as i can cram - which isn't a lot because our fridge/freezer is about the size of 2 bar fridges. i kid you not.

our house girl doesn't "get" these breakfast breads i make. she says they look and taste and smell like cake. i told her that it's true. they pretty much are cake, but if we call them "breakfast bread" then it's okay to eat for breakfast. works for me.

i hear that the weather isn't much warmer in ontario {where i'm from} so make yourself a cuppa and get baking!

pineapple coconut banana bread
recipe adapted from Laura's Best Recipes

ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
5 very ripe bananas, coarsely mashed
6 oz. canned crushed pineapple, drained liquid {or if you live somewhere like me where the fresh pineapple is out-of-this-world-amazing, use that instead. i just used my kitchen scissors and snipped the pineapple into little tidbit-sized pieces - about 1 cups' worth}
5 oz. canned coconut cream {not coconut milk although you can use it if you can't find coconut cream, just add an extra 1/4 tsp of vanilla}
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped nut of your choice {the original recipe calls for macadamia nuts which would have been amazing, but i already had pecans so i used those}

this is how we do it
preheat oven to 350F. grease and flour 2 loaf pans
cream butter, 2 of the mashed bananas and sugars in a large bowl.
mix in eggs.
in a separate bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients.
mash remaining bananas thoroughly in another bowl and fold in pineapple, coconut cream and vanilla.
fold both banana mixtures into the dry ingredients - don't over mix!
fold in coconut and nuts.
pour batter into your prepared pans {i always forget to "prepare" the pans first so i'm usually greasing and flouring my pans at this point}.
bake for about 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
let the bread cool on a rack and turn out of the pan after 15 minutes. let cool completely.

enjoy!

*professional food taster, noah strickland gives this bread two thumbs up and asks "why do i only get 1 piece of bread? why can't i have another?" {because mommy is mean and i'm saving the rest of this loaf for breakfast tomorrow. and freezing the other loaf.}

the one with the christmas baking

it's surprising what you can and can't find here in terms of cooking/baking.
to be honest, i can find most things i need for baking/cooking. but when it comes to specialty baking items, sometimes i have to scour a little harder.
so do ya wanna know what i'm baking up for christmas this year?
of course you do.

i've blogged about my cheese stars that i've made every year since jamie and i were married. i'm still planning on making them this year {i can't bear to break with tradition, even though cheese costs a fortune here} and i did go for the less expensive cheese so hopefully they turn out.

i've also already made gingerbread house-cookies and they turned out quite nicely. the one thing i really miss? my big fridge/freezer and my deep freezer to store baked goods. so we just eat 'em. not such a shabby deal, after all.

i tried a new recipe this year - jam butterballs. they turned out nice enough. not sure if they're a keeper for next year, but yummy.

the amazing 3 pepper spiced cookies i made last year are also on the dock for this week. they were amazing. i'm making them again. even if i haven't found dark chocolate yet.

martha stewart's chewy molasses-spice cookies are also a must. so simple. so delicious.

then i'll probably throw in some of this delicious-looking buckeye bark, chocolate raspberry almond rugelach, lemon shortbread squares and maybe some christmas caramel popcorn.

i made candy cane cookies with the boys. it was fun and also gave me an opportunity to share the gospel with them through the telling of the story of the candy cane. these we also ate right away. they were also gigantic. good times. lots of sugar. that should be our family motto.

yesterday the boys' advent activity was to pick out something from the world vision catalogue to give to a family in need. noah thought we would get to pick out the piglets and chicks ourselves and deliver them like we did the gifts to the babies' home. i think it was slightly less exciting than he had envisioned. but still...

today's activity is to make some hot chocolate and watch the polar express! noah's really excited to watch it. and drink hot chocolate. jude might just be excited for the hot chocolate. but either way...fun!

1 week 'til christmas!

being

life here is full and yet quite simple and slow-paced.

i reflected the other day that my life may appear to be boring and mundane.

but we are happy and well-fed, not worrying about where our next meal is coming from or what would happen if we got sick and had to go to the hospital. 

a care package from "gramma"!

we are blessed but the tricky part is to not become comfortable. 

i told jamie i don't want to become comfortable in my life here.

the view i will never tire of.

i want to be challenged.

i want to sacrifice and give and find joy in the everyday. 

i think when you stop giving and being challenged then life stops being an adventure.

i made bagels. they were quite the process {make the dough, let the dough rise, make the bagel shape, let the bagels rise again, cook in boiling water, then bake} but they were worth it.

i'm so grateful to be living this slow life. 

nowhere to dash off to, and no jam-packed schedule to keep up with the joneses.

i'm finding it's more about being than doing here.

and i like it.

cherishing each moment as it comes.

finding the joy and laughter in weddings next door that blast their awesome 90's hits and songs put to reggae beats.

singing at the top of my lungs that this is the good life on our way to church and being unable not to smile at an incredible men's a cappella singing group.

having impromptu photo shoots with my two littles and marveling at their gorgeous eyes. how can they both have "green" eyes and yet look so different? amazing.

being at peace with mess and chaos and continuing to learn patience and grace.

taking a "sick day" and watching movies and eating popcorn and recognizing the blessing of electricity and power.

learning to take nothing for granted and to always give thanks.

Ginger Snaps

what does one do after sleeping off a massive migraine?
make ginger snaps, of course!

i got this recipe from my delightful friend, kelly. i think she got it from her mom. moms' recipes are the bomb.

here's the snappiest of ginger snaps:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (i actually found some here!)
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses (called black treacle here)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cup flour

cream the butter, brown sugar, egg, molasses & vanilla. this is much easier done with a blender or mixer than by hand, but very doable by hand, let me tell you.
add in your spices.
blend in the flour.
roll cookies into little balls - i made mine just shy of a tablespoon each but feel free to make yours however big or small you prefer.
then roll in some white sugar.

yum.

then bake for 9-12 minutes at 375F.
now, my oven is a gas oven and has no temperature gauge. at all. so i guesstimate for the temperatures. so mine baked at 7 minutes and were perfect.
also, it could just be my Ugandan-bought baking sheets, but a little baking spray helped to get them off (as the first batch stuck to my sheet). it also helps to remove them right away onto a baking rack.

(this was the batch that stuck. but a picture and a hug from jamie in the kitchen was worth it. don't they look perfect?)

if these don't say fall/winter i'm not sure what does.
make sure to nom on these with a nice warm cup of tea.

or just nom. either way.

saturday morning

starbucks coffee and strawberry jam muffins.

my first experience with my gas oven was a bit scary, but i figured out how to light it.

these muffins turned out pretty good.

there's definitely room for improvement, but good for a first attempt {and with no measuring cups}. 

it was certainly nice to enjoy coffee and muffins for breakfast.

i've been listening to page cxvi's version of 'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus on repeat the last few days.

'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus

just to take him at his word

just to rest upon his promise

and to know, "thus saith the Lord"

Jesus, Jesus, how i trust him

how i've proved him o'er and o'er

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus

oh, for grace to trust him more!

i dream

i dream of:

romance

adventure

sitting at a bay window, cozied up with a good book and a wool blanket

opening up my own bakery

- in Europe somewhere (or the beaches)

singing in front of small but crowded venues

being skinnier

being healthier

being closer to Jesus

adopting 5 (or so) kids

giving birth to a few more, too

living downtown Toronto

travelling across Canada (in one of these) and then down the west coast of North America

running a marathon

peonies, lots of peonies

acting again

summer

owning a piano

the tattoo i never got

reaching out to my neighbours

making friends in uganda

doing something BIG

living on the east coast

living on the west coast

living in new zealand

sailing around the world

having a closet full of beautiful summer dresses

never having to shave my legs again

throwing caution to the wind

i dream.

what do you dream of?

*found this video (03.25.2011) and it fits so perfectly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKfDwChOoHI

zucchini

today the boys are at my parents while i take some time to do "moving" type things like work on sorting through and organizing our garage (what to keep and bring, what to keep and store, what to throw out and what to sell). 

i took a break this afternoon to do some baking because, truly, i love to bake but it is difficult sometimes with my sweet boys running around needing and wanting my attention. 

so i baked joy the baker's zucchini sweet potato bread and i had left over grated zucchini so i made zucchini muffins. i also got to use my agave nectar for the first time in these muffins.

the first batch is out and i already ate one two.

YUM.

nothing beats a homemade baked good. (the bread smells AMAZING by the way. it's got 15 more minutes so the jury is still out on how it turns out, but come on...joy the baker? i bet it's ridonculously delicious.)

 edited the next morning: ps the bread? utter deliciousness. i want to eat it all.

you can find joy the baker's bread here.

and the weelicious zucchini muffins here.

valentimes

last night i made marshmallows. homemade marshmallows! i feel like i got a years worth of use out of my kitchenaid just from last night! it was whipping those bad boys up on high speed for 15 minutes! oh yes, i put my tangerine beauty to work.

but anyway.

they needed to sit overnight so i set my alarm so that i'd wake up before the boys. now usually they aren't up until sometime after 7:30. but who did i hear shortly after 6:30? jude. and then noah around 7. they were happy enough in their room so i let them be so i could quickly set up the table, cut out heart and star shaped marshmallows and put in the first batch of their favourite muffins - banana chocolate chip.

then i went upstairs and we did the whole routine (diaper changes, getting dressed, etc.) and i gave them their little baggy with a heart-shaped marshmallow.
noah was thrilled and quickly gobbled it up proclaiming, "they're sweet, mommy!"
oh yes. yes they are. in fact, they are pure sugar. and you are eating this gigantic heart-shaped marshmallow at 7:20 in the morning. right.

i brought them downstairs and noah quickly gobbled up the other heart and star marshmallows, ate all the little heart sprinkles out of his cereal, slurped down his smoothie (thank God for the nutrition he got from that smoothie) and declared that he was full and done his breakfast. okay then.

jude was pretty happy with the muffin but wouldn't touch the gooey marshmallow.

it was a good morning. we avoided tv. i packed an overnight bag and then we dropped jamie off at work. we quickly played "valentine elf" and dropped off some goodies at a few peoples homes

and then zipped off to toronto where i left the boys with my parents until tomorrow evening (so i can get some uninterrupted packing/sorting and also have a little date tonight!).

later on in the afternoon i set to work on our at-home dinner:
twice-baked potatoes
steak marinated in chipotle sauce
spinach salad with pecans and strawberries
with (as you know already)
white russian cupcakes for dessert. yum!

then we had a delicious, wonderful, cozy dinner together and talked (uninterrupted) and ate (uninterrupted) and enjoyed ourselves.

we had free coupons to the movies (thank you cereal boxes!) so we went to see the green hornet (not what i was expecting, but i definitely laughed out loud. so we were both happy).

it was a lovely day.
oh and here's my mantel. i decided not to add a bunting or anything. mainly because i was lazy and had a billion other projects i wanted to do.
so i added jude.

hope your day was filled with smiles. and love. and sweets.

1000!

i love sweets. jamie is more of a savoury man. but when i came across this recipe, i just knew i had to try it out. who can say no to a white russian? in cupcake form? not i. and apparently not jamie, either. 

hope your day was lovely.

white russian cupcake. 
recipe adapted from Baked Perfection
for adults only.

1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter, softened
1 large egg and 1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup Vodka
1/4 cup Kahlua, divided

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your cupcake pan with pretty paper liners.
Beat together the sugar and butter until combined. Add your egg and egg white. Then add the vanilla, Vodka and 1/8 cup of Kahlua. Gradually add the dry ingredients {i just alternated between flour, baking powder and salt) alternating with the milk.

Bake 17-20 minutes {depending on how hot your oven is}. While the cupcakes are still warm, brush the tops with the remaining 1/8 cup Kahlua. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Kahlua Buttercream
recipe from Baked Perfection

1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
3-4 tbsp of Kahlua

Beat the butter until creamy. Add salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add Kahlua 1 tbsp at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

And then enjoy!

*PS this was my 1000th post!