House Rules

Do you have house rules? Did you have a house rules when you were a kid?

I don’t specifically remember having a list of rules we had to follow or could refer to growing up but I’m sure we did have rules….

I’ve seen a bunch of cool ideas incorporating the ‘home rules’ list into home design.

So I thought it would be fun to make my own list.

Show someone they were missed

Compost & Recycle

Be kind

Eat your veggies

Say please & thank you

Clean up (or at least try)

No licking

Give love freely & with wild abandon

Show someone they were missed – since Cameron and I don’t always see that much of each other it’s important for us to put down what we’re doing and greet each other in a big way when we see each other for the first time in what can be a awhile. Having someone come to the door when you get home, take your bags and welcome you home with a hug is a seriously great feeling. It works for us.

Compost and Recycle – do I have to bother explaining this one?

Be kind – duh.

Eat your veggies – This is a .5 vegetarian house (.25 if you count the pups). Cameron eats vegetarian with me at least 2 nights a week and even more in the summer. Veggies rock, this is an easy rule.

Say please and thank you – Oh this is such a great rule. My ‘nephew’ and all around favorite little guy say “Hah-Hoo” for “thank you” right now and it is the cutest thing you have ever seen. He’s teaching us all about manners right now. Anything and everything gets a very enthusiastic “HAH HOO” … it’s adorable.

Clean up – I feel like maybe if I make this a rule it will inspire me to keep a cleaner house. If I really want to clean up I’ll just throw a dinner party. Nothing gets me to wash the floors faster..

‘No licking’ - this rule is for the dogs. Hawksley is a great non-licking dog and Amos is trying his best… it’s a work in progress. I can’t stand dogs that stand there and lick people… ugh.

Give love freely and with wild abandon – This is the most important rule. And certainly the most fun.

I’m sure this list would change once we have children to speak of… but maybe not…

All the happiness on earth - C

Recipe Review: Raspberry Breakfast Bars

Raspberry Breakfast Bars

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/raspberry-breakfast-bars/

The recipe at the bottom of this post (in bold) is taken from smitten kitchen. Have you been on Smitten Kitchen? If you have you know it’s genius and if not, hurry over to that fantastic, seriously delicious blog.

My lovely friend Ashley and I went raspberry picking on Thursday. She treated me to a huge basket of beautiful naturally grown raspberries from a very sweet farm about half an hour outside the city. This is a family run operation that doesn’t spray their berries or bushes at all. I love to meet directly with farmers and feel that connection with my food.

Back to the recipe, it’s amazing. I LOVED these bars and would make them again in a heartbeat. YUM. Cameron would have preferred if they were a bit sweeter but I liked that they weren’t desert. The only changes I made to the recipe were substituting whole-wheat flour for half of the white. I try to do a lot of my baking with at least a little of Red Fyfe Wheat. It’s beautiful heritage wheat that’s grown all over Canada. I buy it from the Ukrainian Village here in Edmonton. It’s delicious stuff.

Don’t try to skimp on the berries, you need the full pound to make a nice layer. The bars were a lot softer then I thought they would be but they did get a lot more ‘ bar like’ once cooled in the fridge. This isn’t a one bowl, whip em’ up in 5 minuets breakfast option. They are a bit time consuming for an everyday recipe. But I’ll make them again for sure, double the recipe and freeze one full batch. My guess if that they would freeze/thaw beautifully.

Raspberry Breakfast Bars

For the crust and crumb:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the raspberry filling:
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Make the crust and crumb: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.

Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until combined. Add the butter and pulse until loose crumbs form.

Reserve 1 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. (Note: The book suggests you reserve one cup only. My gut told me that was too little, and I upped it. I wanted to make sure the top of the raspberries were mostly covered, at least for packing purposes, and was glad I had changed it.) Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hans or the back of a large wooden spoon to push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. The crust should touch the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool. Keep the oven on while you make the raspberry filling.

Make the raspberry filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and flour together. Add the raspberries, lemon juice and butter and use your hands to toss gently until the raspberries are evenly coated.

Assemble and bake the bars: Spread the raspberry filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly on top of the filling.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan every 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble around the edges.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into squares and serve. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.

Make these you won't be disappointed!

All the happiness on earth - C

Still Water August 2011

I really do enjoy being alone. Maybe not alone alone (dogs don’t count) but I really need time by myself. And for some reason, being along only counts if I’m in my own home. I can’t escape to a coffee shop to be alone. I need to be parked on my sofa or in my kitchen… alone.

Is this a depressing topic to start a blog with? I don’t mean to be depressing I’m trying to be honest. It’s been a busy summer. With friends, family and even strangers descending into my house. On Sunday I’ll be alone in my house for the first time in what feels like forever.

I don’t mean to sound winey or ungrateful for the amazing people in my life, I just believe that everyone needs some solitude in their life… an opportunity to check in with yourself and find on what’s going on. I feel that I need this more then some people. Right now I feel rather desperate in my need for peace and quiet.

"When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

— Wendell Berry (Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays)

This is a lovely quote by Wendell Berry. I’m not by any means suggesting that having a house full of people compares in any way to what WB is talking about in this quote. I simply love the tranquility of his words.

There are a few things that happen to me when I know that I’m not quite ‘right’ what I mean is when you know you may go off the deep end at any moment or get mad at your husband for no apparent reason (or at least not a good one). For me the first thing is that I loose my appetite. This is really a sad thing because I love food. Seriously that doesn’t even come close… I have a relationship with food… with ingredients and with cooking. I feel like my kitchen is a dear friend. And I cook… a lot. I haven’t stopped cooking (Cameron would starve to death) but I have stopped enjoying myself in the kitchen. Not only am I not making dinner tomorrow night I’m not even going to the market.

I love the market. I can’t remember a Saturday when I haven’t jumped out of bed to go to the market early (before all the strollers show up and no one is there to buy groceries). I’ve planned not to go to the market tomorrow… I’ve planned to sleep in…

The second and much less distressing thing that happens to me is that I get weepy. Seriously teary eyed… all the time. Can’t find a pair of sweat shorts I borrowed from a friend = water works…. Gnochchi turns out badly = sob fest… writing this post….

I need a minute….

See what I mean? So I’m taking this weekend to relax and reconnect with myself. I’m going to walk the dogs, do some writing, do some laundry, watch some bad TV and be alone…. Doesn’t that sound magical?

Maybe that’s why blogs appeal to me so much. It’s very quite out here. What I mean is that no one is really going to read this, no one cares what I write and it’s only me here… even taking stock and writing this out has been very therapeutic. Maybe everyone should have a blog. So far I highly recommend it.

All the happiness on earth – C