My Kitchen Helper

We've had a busy week in the kitchen!  Packing things up to move has left me in a conundrum.  I like to bake to procrastinate (which is not so good) but I also NEED to bake to use up some of my dry ingredients before the big day.  And so - some days baking wins out over packing.  Here are a few photos of the goodies we've been creating.

Miss Mae's Coffee Crisps from SouleMama

A wee taste :)

And this very yummy Perfect Berry Pie from The Knitty Gritty Homestead.  I actually made this twice this week.  But our apartment was so warm the second time I had to re-roll the pie crust dough a dozen times.

 Above are some homemade granola bars from Rhythm of the Home.  They are made with Almond butter and are chewy and delicious!

 

These caramel bars are my favourite.  The recipe  calls for walnuts, but I typically don't use them if I'm unsure of food allergies.  The recipe is from allrecipes.com

 I wish Lucy was eating in the kitchen in this picture.  It would have been much easier to clean up. 

 Isaiah helping me make the Almond Butter Thumbprint cookies from Childhood Magic!  We used Crab Apple Jelly in the middle.

 

Naturally, this is only one of the small messes that occurred while all of the baking was taking place :)

A Day at the Almonte Fair

As we prepare for our big move to Matthew House, we're trying hard to make sure we still do some fun (and somewhat relaxing) activities with the kids.  It can be easy to spend all of our spare time packing boxes, sorting clothes or, in my case - knitting :)

Isaiah and Lucy really enjoyed the cow competition.  I was interested to learn what the judges were looking for in prize livestock. As it turns out, it is much like a beauty pageant; graceful movement, good posture, nice lines, symmetry, shapely figure.

Getting outside to enjoy the sunshine,eat ice cream and give the kids opportunity to run off some energy has helped the packing and preparation process seem less daunting.  I hope we can keep this same sense of balance once the ministry work of Matthew House Ottawa begins in earnest.

This Moment

this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

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Keith's New Kicks

Well, they've arrived.  Keith's new shoes.  Shoes are one of the toughest things to buy ethically.  It is not easy to find Fair Trade shoes or even ones manufactured in Canada.  Keith has the widest feet I've ever seen and he finds buying shoes an arduous task.  However, back in April we were at a handmade craft bizarre at Landsdowne Park and Keith met a cobbler from Quebec. After some deliberation, Keith decided to ask him to make some custom black dress shoes for him.  He even got to help design them.  They arrived yesterday, and we were not disappointed.  These are some snazzy shoes.    If you're interested in exploring a more ethical approach to clothing your feet, let us know and we'll pass along the contact information of our cobbler.

The Return

 I fully intended to blog our vacation  while away these past three weeks, however my parents' computer is a bit older and I didn't have the right cords to upload pictures.  Since I always find blogs more interesting when they have pictures, I figured I'd just wait.  Here are some highlights from our trip!

Strawberry Picking

 Birthday Parties

 Breakfast for Two :)

 Ice cream for three :)

 Beaches

 Big swings

Family visits (wink wink)

 Precious moments

 Curiosities















Amazing reunions

 Peace

Comedy











Celebrations!

 Relaxation

 Community

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