Okey Dokey Recipe Time Again

I am on an easter egg hunt for a wheat grass juicer for the house that is not going to cost me a fortune. I found one for under $40, but it had about $900 in shipping costs to Canada. .

Roasted Red Peppers with Feta & Garlic

4 Red Peppers - remove seeds etc.

250 g Feta Cheese - crumbled

100 g cream cheese

2 cups (or less) of Basmati rice

3-4 cloves garlic - minced

Salt & pepper

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Chili Powder

After you have finished removing the "lids" and seeds from the red peppers, toss rice with crumbled Feta, cream cheese, garlic and chili powder. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the peppers and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast or broil until mixture inside is hot. Alternatively, you can pre-broil the peppers alone and stuff them and continue to roast them. Um, this is pretty much supper for me. But you can serve along side the rotting flesh of dead animals, if you so chose.

signed, the willow

Open House mania

Yo!

We drove around today. Looking at open houses. In fact we were the first people at one house. It seemed as though the entire city of Burlington was out looking as well. I hear it has become a bit of a past time for some. Others were selling their homes and looking at "comps" in the neighbourhood. We went to one that was a flip. It was an obvious flip. I really wish that flippers would take care of important details like staging and fixing the crooked floors. We went to an old granny house. Poor old lady was spending her last days in that house and it reeked of illness and 40 years of accumulating junk, including an adult child that read comic books in the basement. Then we found a little gem. It had been reno'd in the right spots. It was full of love and life and on a great little treed street. It screamed "Buy Me!". *Mila* fell in love instantly when she found out it had a crawlspace. But it lacked access to let the dog out into the backyard. Important stuff. What I did discover in this little gem was the nice dreamy kitchen with dreamy features of great IKEA cabinetry. Definitely a must for re-doing a kitchen. Sliding out pantry drawers, a pot drawer. Estate agents know how to sequester women into the kitchens right away. Women buy on emotion, I'm sure of it. You see, I am just dying to pick out a house with my family. One that suits all of us. Because in the two homes we have owned, the first I bought before I met *Steve*. (Yes, he moved in with me and subsequently lost his job 2 months after) Followed by this new home that *Steve* picked out for the three of us while I was visiting my parents. The next year, he picked our car. At least I got to see pictures of the house, unlike the minty green car. Oh well. It will happen for us one day. When the timing is just right. I just hope we don't have to live in "Granny's death trap" or "flip-o-rama".

signed, the willow

A Simpler Time

A look at some artifacts at the Customs House in Hamilton. We didn't see any ghosts here...or did we? A mysterious janitor appeared out of nowhere. Where did he come from?

Last night we had the pleasure of turning off our lights for one hour (oh and our computers, hence my Saturday delayed blogging). I thought it was going to be fun for *Mila*. It didn't start to get fun until we heard a strange, yet ghastly, noise to indicate that our house is indeed haunted. Despite what *Steve* wants to tell you. I really believed that *Mila* was going to love it. She started to enjoy herself as she marvelled at me playing with hot wax. Yes, bad example, I know. But I love to dip things in hot wax and mold it around. Okay. Enough! I have never heard her complain more about "turn on the lights so I can see". What I did find most remarkable was that our neighbourhood was dim. 90% of our neighbourhood opts not to use their green bins. But, I'm guessing 90% choose to participate in Earth Hour. I wonder if kids were enticed to pledge their hour at school. Boston Pizza, behind our abodes, dimmed their indoor lights and turned off their outdoor lights while they were still open! Good for you Boston Pizza! Some of the other businesses (Canadian Tire being one) chose to be closed and have their lights turn on at around 7:45 pm as the sun went down. Granted it was probably a timer. But, come on! If a restaurant that specializes in late night snacks and meals can shut off their advertisement of a sign glowing of energy-sucking neon, than so can a Tire store that is closed. Just an idea.

signed, the willow

Chocolate is wasting my time

I have had a blog hiatus. Mostly due to visiting with my mom; my niece, nephew, brother, sis-in-law; visiting haunted mansions, etc.; eating Easter chocolate; running miles to burn off the Easter chocolate; eating chocolate covered coffee beans to stay awake to run; running more to burn off the chocolate portion of the chocolate covered coffee beans; showering longer to clean off the stink from running; vegging out after the shower, the running and the chocolate that created this nonsense while eating more chocolate! If you had a picture of that in your mind, good. You can now burn the image of my rear in your mind's eye.

Family Tree Crap: What happens to your land after you're dead and gone?

This is what happens. They cremate people on the fertile soil that you once grew your livelihood on. I just uncovered an old picture, that is a photocopy from one of my creations (not cremations). It lists Pink's Farm - once occupied by my ancestor, William Atwood - is now the site of Kew Crematorium. So, I googled "kew crematorium" and found Mortlake Crematorium. This location makes more than perfect sense in my family tree. I think Kew and Mortlake were probably once the same land. Somewhere though, there was a story told that the family sold land, or donated land to the royal family for the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew. I guess they just sowed it for a bunch of dead bodies and a furnace.

signed, the willow

She fell for the last time in the Apple Orchard

Once upon a time there was a girl named Anne-Marie. Anne-Marie was an orphan and somehow had found gainful employment in an apple orchard. (However, I am starting to wonder if this young girl was actually a slave at this orchard as she had this terrible ability to faint from exhaustion climbing apple trees and plucking ripe apples.) Anne-Marie fell so many times from these apple trees (which resemble my staircase a great deal) that her colleauges at the orchard had to carry her body to a museum, where they laid it to rest in a gold case because she was so perfectly dainty and sweet. Only a kiss on her arm from herself (since boys are disgusting) would awaken her from her slumber. There she lay, all but 4 years old and her heart beat so slowly that it kept her vital signs in check, but her body was left lifeless in the museum.

'Anne-Marie' is a little concerning to me as she has consumed my daughter's body for the past 4 days. In fact, that is the only pretend game she has played with her grandmother. This morning, *Mila* apologized to me for pretending to be Anne-Marie and said "Mom, don't worry. I am not Anne-Marie anymore. I will go back to being *Mila*." "Oh that's good", I replied. "I was getting a little sick of Anne-Marie and I'm happy to have you back. Who is this Anne-Marie? Why is she possessing your body? Do I need to call an exorcist? Just curious." I have had to exorcise the dramatic recreation of 'Anne-Marie' with the threat that TV time will be lost for a week. Now I notice she has been holding her grandmother hostage in her bedroom, locking the door. Are we going to torture Gramma with a pile of teddy bears and forcing her to read 'Gulliver Mickey' for the 917th time?

Are all little girls so active with their imaginations? Did I create these elaborate story lines, scripts and plots? Maybe I should sign her up for Roman Polanski's school of dramatic screenplay writing 101 next fall.

signed, the willow

When I bought this light fixture for *Mila's* room, she was situated in the smallest bedroom of three that I painted vanilla milkshake (aka white). Now that she's in this dramatic chocolate room, this chandelier has taken on a new form. I think I'll take it with us when we move. If we move. If there is a possibility that I can talk *Steve* out of buying the old farmhouse down the highway that needs over $100,000 worth of work. I was willing to settle for something that just needed a new kitchen. I don't want to have to call the exterminator, humane society and have chickens in the backyard. No chickens! I repeat: No chickens EVER!

signed, the willow

Soup that is not for *Steve*

Last night I dreamt of Michael, a boy who was dead and just 12 years old. He was trapped behind a wall in an old house. Whether or not my dream had anything to do with the Customs House I visited this past week in Hamilton, it was very disturbing and I was glad that the barking dog woke me up at 12:49 am.

I have been married for 6 years and have been using ginger readily in my many recipes. Just yesterday I learned that *Steve* does not like ginger.

Whatever.

Save Bessie Soup

2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup soya sauce
1/2 cup chopped fennel
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red pepper

some frozen Asian mix veggies also work well in here with snow peas, baby corn etc.
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ginger (dried)
1 egg
1 handful of rice noodles (wide)
2 green onions chopped


Boil stock, soya sauce, veggies, lemon and spices. Taste. Drop egg in while boiling. Allow to cook. Top off with green onions. Serve.



signed, the willow

IKEA purchase for the week

IKEA. Can I stay away from that place? NO. I was at IKEA a total of 3 times this past week. Scouting mission and lunch, Scouting mission, and bed purchase. We picked up a new bed for *Mila*. I managed to spy a $500 latex mattress on sale there for $179! No kidding. So we scored her a single bed for $69 later that same day and some sheets, mattress cover etc. My brother and family were here, so he and his wife put together *Mila's* bed for her.

The greatest things always come to life at IKEA. I get *Mila* to eat meat in the form of 50 cent hot dogs. I ran into my best friend from high school there that same day this week. Remember, we grew up about a 26 hour drive from this IKEA. I live just 10 minutes away from it now and she lives just an hour's drive from it. Life is funny that way. Our children were born days apart too. Although, mine would have nothing to do with hers. One of those uncooperative poopless days. I swear to God that this child holds it in for 3 days and becomes completely miserable by the third day so that she can save it up to not only plug up my toilet and the city's sewer system, but she also will find a way to destroy a chance meeting with an old friend who has known me my whole life and now has the fortune of meeting my impossibly weirded out kid.

*Steve* decided that we should get *Mila* an Aneboda box to roll under her bed. She happily helped to put it together with her uncle and then filled it up with all sorts of treasures. I have yet to see what she's got going on it yet. I'm sure there will be something that was once considered to be foodstuffs, something that resembles dog hair and a few hundred stuffed animals.


signed, the willow

O C D - it lives and breathes

This may not be so clear in this picture what was going on here. *Mila* carefully piled up her blocks organized by shape, when she put them away. I worry that she'll pick up the nasty habit I have of organizing, sorting and categorizing instead of playing with her toys. *Steve* doesn't seem to worry about how the toys are put away. He seems to think that it is perfectly okay to stick Polly Pocket's cell phone base in with Barbie's dinnerware. NO! One day, I am going to try to hide a couple House & Home magazines amidst his Car & Driver collection that dates back to 1982 and see if he notices. I doubt that I could do it. The neatly organized collection that he's agonized over and catalogued. I think he has an Access database of every issues, every car within every issue, every spec of every car within every issue for every month of every year that ever was back to the year he turned 15. I have no more funnies left for this day.

signed, the willow

We have more love to share

There is so much more to share with my daughter and niece. I wonder about what they will become, what they will look like. I also wonder is *Steve* ever going to stop bugging me while I am trying to catch up on my blog.

signed, the willow

I can't believe I'm sharing this as a craft

Not exactly a craft of mine. But I did a minor "reno" on this old vanity. It belonged to my great grandmother, my grandmother, my aunt, me, and now my daughter. I painted it up nice and added some new knobs. *Steve* shaved down the drawers, since they have swollen over the years. signed, the willow

Hunny Bunny

With Easter around the corner and some spare candy left over from *Mila's* birthday pinata, we all have to participate in an early "egg" hunt. I think I want one of these. Wouldn't you agree?

signed, the willow

Style Tuesdays on Sunday

German Fairy Tale cards. I have borrowed some of these from my mom, and stolen her idea of framing them in an IKEA frame as well. A stack of these cards that arrived in their original box at the local Salvation Army many moons ago. We pored over them for many years and it took us about 30 years to actually do something with them. They look delicious in this frame in *Mila's* room.

signed, the willow

Recipe Monday again

Veggie Nachoes for a Birthday Girl

nachoes

maple syrup (or pancake syrup)

chili powder

kidney beans - I fry them quickly with chili powder, salt and pepper

corn niblets

red pepper

green onions

jalapenos

PC Organic mild salsa

old cheddar cheese

plain yogurt (gelatin free)

Sprinkle nachoes with chili powder and maple syrup. Broil in oven for a few minutes until slightly brown. Take the chips out and add salsa, beans, corn, and red pepper. Top them off with cheddar, broil. Then serve with green onions, jalapenos and yogurt (or sour cream).

signed, the willow

IKEA Sundays

Yes, Ikea on Sundays. It is what Sundays are all about. Okay, not this Sunday. We have family visiting and with March Break on for the kids, a snowstorm yesterday, I am afraid to go there. Then again, maybe I could just sneak away and absorb my thoughts in a coffee at the cafe and drool over what new hacks I want.

*Mila* is ready for a single bed and I'd like to get her dolls up in her room as well. I'm thinking of an Expedit bookcase with drawers. I see someone did it with a Bonde.

signed, the willow

Saturday Alive

signed, the willow

A tree with many branches

I am short on time and brain activity this week. So, a clickable for you.
Icelandic Families that are now Canadian.

Craftable Thursday

Title: "At sea with *Mila*"

Description: a book not yet finished

signed, the willow

My Girl

Today. Four years ago. Around this time that I write. It was 9:30 pm and it was not snowing, in fact there was no snow. The windows were open in the hospital and *Mila* came into our world that night in Oakville during a balmy +18 degrees Celsius on March 5th. She wrapped her little hands around our hearts and we have never spent a night apart. Well, her and I haven't. In four years, I have slept within 30 feet of her. A part of me can't let go of that. She has become more and more of a kid and less and less of a baby. She is her own person now and I am proud of the decisions and choices she is making. She's a wonderful little character and her voice is like a song that rings inside my head every moment of my life.

It is so difficult to explain what it is like to be a parent, until you are one. Nothing prepares you for it. Nothing. I remember thinking to myself around 5 years ago..."Well, I don't go to the bar any more. How hard can this be?" Not quite the same. It's not as if you just one day jump off the couch and open the door and say "Out you go, kid! I've had enough of you and your ketchup stained clothes and your messy room. Get your own place now."

The past four years have been both challenging and rewarding. How many times have you heard those sickeningly sweet words? Every mother utters those words. We try to explain how hard its been for us, but we love our little dears so much that it really was nothing. Ok. That is a big fat lie. It has been hell. The past four years have been hell. I worked on a trading floor with fund managers. The energy in that room was nothing compared to this. I never once had to balance a pencil on my head, standing on one foot with a barking dog behind me whilst changing a diaper that was still being filled. Nope. And I didn't have to have an argument with a three year old about attending an hour's worth of art lessons. Nuh-huh. I did once have to share lunch with someone who sputtered and wore a bib during a regular business day. True. For that I did get a pay cheque. Oh, I am not bitter. No one put me here and told me to do this. *Steve* and I agreed that we would be the ones to provide the first 4 or 5 years of nurturing to our child. She'd be the only one and no one can give her that same level of love that we can at home. Well, maybe Gramma could. But Gramma just endured a 24-hour traveling adventure to land on our doorsteps in the midst of yet another snowstorm. She doesn't exactly live next door. And we've tried to guilt her into moving, but it hasn't worked for my brother or I over the past 8 years.

It's now 4 years on the nose since I breathed my last breath of laughing gas, felt numb from the epidural bliss and wondered what the hell I had just done. Sure, it is challenging. But no one can tell you how wonderful it feels when someone who loves you and needs you more than life itself holds your hand as she falls asleep beside you. That is just beyond words and just far beyond rewarding. It's divine. namaste

signed, the willow

Style Tuesdays

This could actually belong under the category of IKEA Sundays (you'll have to wait for that!), but because the towel came from Zellers I can post it here. Alfred Sung makes these great, super durable, super soft bath towels and you can get them at Zellers. I have a hand towel of his as well, that is equally as great/super/fabulous! Gramma is coming to visit us, so we picked up a few items for her guest room. Until she arrives, we have to keep the door shut to her room since the dog will spy another bed to sleep on. Yes, Ikea slippers. C'mon, for $3.99, wouldn't you? They are the shade of strawberry ice cream that made me do it. A guest should be made welcome with some goodies. Tomorrow we get the flowers and meet her at the airport (after the snowstorm).

signed, the willow

Gut Busting Recipe Mondays

Trying new things this week, as I think I actually smelled Spring. But I'm not quite sure. It was +10 degrees Celsius today, that's 50 degrees Fahrenheit for our American friends. In fact, it warmed up just enough for *Mila* to spot a bug! She shrieked like a little girl (hey, she is a little girl) and we had to run home from the playground (which was too wet anyhow, so it was a sense of relief for me and the panting dog). What am I going to do with her this summer in NW Ontario? I know for a fact that there is one mosquito for every cell inside of every human body to have ever roamed the planet earth there. It's true. I think that they should film a season of Survivor in Northern Ontario....in the summer. The bugs have driven people insane. Maybe my brother's hockey friend, Survivorman, would consider filming an episode up in my home town? I'm sure they'd entertain him in style up there and my brother would definitely drop him off in the middle of "nowheresville", as it still exists up there. No hum of progress. Just the occasional buzz of a float plane or two at 5 a.m.

Now to Recipe Monday. Since I am making these for *Mila's* birthday on Wednesday, I thought I would share. I'm not sure if this recipe came from the Winnipeg Free Press years ago or what. But it's delicious and deserves to be topped with fudge topping and ice cream! I'd go for the gusto and get something with white chocolate in it if I were you.

White Chocolate Fudge Marble Brownies (I know!)

Fudge:
1 cup semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter/margarine
1/4 cup cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Brownie:
1 1/2 cup white chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Fudge: Melt chocolate and butter in microwave for 90 seconds. Whisk until smooth, cool. In a large bowl, beat cream, egg & vanilla. Beat in chocolate mix.

Brownie: Melt chocolate and butter in microwave. In a large bowl, beat sugar, eggs. Beat in cream, vanilla, salt. Beat in flour. Beat in white chocolate. Mix.

Pour 2/3 of brownie mix into pan. Spread fudge over. Then pour in the remaining brownie mix. Swirl with a knife. Bake for 45 minutes.

signed, the willow

She will be 4

Yesterday we celebrated *Mila's* birthday bowling with a bunch of monkeys. It was fun. We went glow bowling and braved an hour of bowling followed by an hour of pizza, cake, presents and then that was it. It was enough. There was so much icing on the cake that I think we all woke up this summer grouchy after our sugar coma. Yes, that is Tinkerbell suspended overtop of the cake.

signed, the willow