Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Ramblings – at Grandma Camp

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Since Reid is at Grandma Camp for three weeks, I have to rely on people to send me updates on what she has been up to. Occasionally – very occasionally – we manage to speak with Reid on the phone but she doesn’t like to tell us much. What happens at Grandma Camp apparently must stay there. This post comes courtesy of Aunt Karin.

On Sunday Reid and I walked up to Jacks for lunch, I voted for Car Barn but lost.  She had a chicken and bacon snack wrap and fries and cranberry juice to drink.  Before arriving at Jacks we had to go in the dollar store to look around.  She got a pair of flip flops like Sulienne and Lacey’s and a Canada Day fold out fan.  She could only eat half her wrap because she had to save room for triple chocolate ice cream in a cup for desert.  Uncle Dave was grateful for the left overs.

We came home and the heat and humidity were horrendous so Reid thought she should watch some TV.  Her and Dave immediately started watching some Science show on Public Television.  I said if they were watching TV I was going to lay down for an hour.  When I got up an hour later Dave had her on the computer playing games from tvo television about all the places in Ontario.  He said she wanted to do crafts but he told her he hasn’t had crafts in his house in 20 years.  She then asked him for a snack so he gave her a bear paw cookie and lime aid.  She was thrilled with the snack but only ate half the cookie and drank half the drink.

Dave had to go fix his mom’s computer and asked Reid if when he got back she would want to go for a drive along the lake all the way to Windsor to Suli and Ry’s, since she hadn’t been in the car long enough on Saturday, she thought this would be a cool idea.  We left our house at 3:30.  Before we left Wheatley, Dave stopped at Hillman Marsh beach (by the shoe tree) and Reid and I went wading while Dave skipped some rocks for her and found her a hundreds of millions of year old fossil (which they looked up on the computer the next day)  They found a great big yellow smiley faced Wal-Mart ball which they took turns kicking far out into the water but it kept coming back.  Dave showed her Point Pelee from this vantage point then it was time to move on but not far, we stopped in the thick of the marsh to admire some cranes then on again we went.  We tried to see Pelee Island when we got to the Municipal park in Leamington but we couldn’t make it out.

We meandered on to Kingsville where we had to get coffee at Tim Horton’s and of course Reid thought she should have another snack because it was already 5 o’clock and we still had a long way to go and maybe many stops to make before we made it to Windsor and Dave’s promised McDonalds supper (barf!)  So anyway she had a blueberry muffin and a small raspberry lemonade.  Not far out of Kingsville Dave again pulled over at a beach to show Reid Old Hen Island and explain to her about the Hen and Chicks Islands by Pelee Island.  He also pointed out Point Pelee from this vantage point.

On we go down back roads hugging the lake, through Colchester and by Aunt Pam’s house where we saw Donald’s new black car and Uncle John’s yellow truck but not Aunt Pam’s car.  Approaching Amherstburg we stopped at the mouth of the Detroit River where it spills into Lake Erie so Dave could show her a lake freighter and tell her how when they come up the Detroit River they displace so much water that were she standing at the rivers edge the water would rise past her knees as the freighter went by.  He showed her how strong the current in the Detroit River is that all the buoys are on an awful slant.  Finally into Amherstburg and Reid and Dave decided since it was 6:30 already we should just eat our supper at this McDonalds.  Reid ordered a Hamburger Happy Meal with her hamburger plain, it came with everything on it and she said “Oh well” and ate it without complaint, Dave and I were impressed.

We got back in the car and headed straight for Suli and Ry’s, where we visited on the back deck, played Holey board and got Reid’s bangs cut by Sulienne.  It was a late night but she survived.

Monday morning I had to take Carmel to the vet for a check-up (drop her off and pick up after work) and Reid to Uncle Chris’s. Boy did that bring back memories of having to drop kids at daycare and school before going to work.  Forgot her car seat in my car so her and Cheyenne had to walk to Melissa’s to play with the boys.  I took her car seat to Chris and Dar’s after work and she couldn’t even give me the time of day because she was too busy.  (A good thing that didn’t bother me in the least)  She stayed at Chris and Dar’s Monday night and Tuesday night and went to Melissa’s everyday with Cheyenne.

Tonight after work, I went to Timmie’s and got her a blueberry muffin to have her candle in because I know she doesn’t like cake, this made her happy.  She got a delicate watch with a picture of a dog on it from Sari, (Sari said she tried to find one with a cat but couldn’t), stickers from Linda and Jerry, a book, a Crayola craft thing and a journal from me, (she was impressed with the journal and immediately asked me for a pen)  The book is Diary of a Dork or some such thing, hope it meets with your approval.  Everyone else gave her money which I sent home with Mom along with all her cards.  I left the party before Reid did, but she is off to Aunt Pam’s till Saturday when Roger or I will go get her, oh and she misses you both terribly, lol, lol, lol.

Calgary Stampede breakfast in Ottawa

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

We were invited to a Calgary Stampede breakfast at a friend’s house last Saturday. I’ve never had pancakes and bacon cooked on a barbecue before but I think those westerners onto something! Many guests brought fruit as their contribution to the meal. Our hosts laughed and said that fruit didn’t usually appear at Stampede breakfasts. That’s Ottawa for you.  The food was great and the company was wonderful – as dozens of kids wandered around the front lawn, stopping sometimes to dance to the country music. Our hosts hired the Cow Guys (of course) to entertain as well. The show was funny and impressive and was truly fun for the whole family.

Cow Guy with a rocking horse in mouth

Reid’s thoughts on vegans, vegetarians and such

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

Reid’s been thinking about food a lot lately. She asked one day if people only ate meat. I said, “No,” because I wouldn’t want her to decide to be a carnivore (though it’s hard to imagine her giving up bread).

On Saturday, as we left the CHEO Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Reid wondered aloud what the people who were just arriving would eat since the pancake breakfast that we’d enjoyed was finished. She decided they would probably have sandwiches – chicken and ham and something, maybe cheese, for the vegetarians.

Vegetatians made her think about vegans and then, of course, about LeeLee. Reid noted that vegans were vegetarian but not all vegetarians were vegan. My girl thinks in Venn diagrams, it seems. And then the conversation took a turn for the weird. Reid said, “It would be weird if a vegan picked their nose and ate it.” To which I replied that no one should do that! After a couple seconds, I caught up with Reid’s thought process. “Because vegans are supposed to eat any animal products?” “Yes,” said my little lady, delicately sipping her lemonade. Ewww!

What a serving of fruit is … or isn’t

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

While Reid is staying with Grandma Joyce, Ken and I rely on others to tell us about stories. This one came from Aunt Karin.

I went to Mom’s tonight to take Reid for a walk to get a freezie at Captain’s Corner and then I was to have her bath and let me wash her hair (hence the bribe of the freezie or icecream). Before her bath she was having trouble having a bm and I said “It’s probably from your lack of fruit and veggies”, because today her lunch came home today with all her fruit and veggies still in it. Quick as a wink she said “I ate fruit today! I had pizza with pineapple on it tonight for supper!” So you can tell her mom she is eating healthy lol!

Three reasons life is better at Grandma Joyce’s

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

I took Reid to Wheatley last Friday for two weeks of “Grandma Camp”, as she calls it. Reid cried a bit when we left Ken and told me that she was missing him a couple of times on Friday. Aunt Karin told me about a conversation that she had with Reid:

Aunt Karin: So, you’re not going to see your mother for fourteen days.
Reid: know and I don’t care

I’m sure that she does care, at least a little bit, but not in a worried she’ll miss me kind of way. In any case, there were at least three points where I noticed that life would be better at Grandma Joyce’s. 
 

  1. Grandma buys ultra-soft, super-deluxe toilet paper. Don’t think, “quilted”, think “duvet”. The first tme she touched it, Reid exclaimed, “Mom, it’s so soft!” and then she added, “it’s fresh.” (I didn’t understand that, really.) If Will and Kate use softer toilet paper, it’s made of actual cloth.
  2. Grandma serves grilled cheese sandwiches on white bread. They’re golden brown, made with higher fat cheese and available on demand. Reid’s mama buys whole wheat bread and light cheese. She is boring.
  3. Grandma’s world is populated with many teens and adults who have, between them, lots of time to dedicate to Reid. She loves adult attention and having a teen talk to you is like having a rockstar speak with y0ou, when you’re not-quite-seven.

Life is better at Grandma Joyce’s. I hope that Reid still believes this at the end of 14 days. It’ll be okay if she is at least a bit glad to see Ken and me when we arrive, though.

A silly girl with a messy face and hands

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

Guest post written by Reid, photographs by Barbara

Blowing eggs The beginning of the story: how it started. One day Reid was blowing eggs at her Grandma’s house for Easter.

Dipping eggs in dye Reid likes to hold the eggs in the bowl of dye instead of using the dye thingamajigger.

Dying eggs Once the eggs were dyed and dried, Reid painted them.

Painting eggs Look at how messy her hands are.

Cake batter After Reid was done dying eggs, she helped Aunt Pam with the cake for Easter.

Decorating the egg cake Reid put icing over top of the white icing that Mama had put on at first.

Egg cake is decorated The icing that Reid was putting on was the colours that are primary and one colour that was secondary and one colour that was tertiary.

See Reid’s hands and face! In the end, Reid was very messy.

From sap to taffy – Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Sap

Taffy

View More Wordless Wednesday Participants, look at my previous Wordless Wednesday entries, or check out the cute babies and kids at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Making pie with Aunt Karin

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Ever since Reid was small, she has looked forward to “helping” Aunt Karin make pie dough and the pies themselves. I think that Reid may actually be lessening the work now. Aunt Karin says that she is investing the time so that she won’t always be the one who must be “rolling out the dough” (like that guy in Perfect Strangers).

To be sure that the knowledge lives on, I’m offering Aunt Karin’s pie crust recipe and a how-to video.

 Pie crust

  • 5.5 cups all purpose flour (use 5.5 toothpicks to keep track of the flour as you put them in the bowl)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 cup sugar
  • 1 lb Tenderflake lard
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • cold water
  1. Mix together flour, salt and sugar.
  2. Cut in Tenderflake lard with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal.
  3. In a 1 cup measure, combine vinegar and egg. Add water to make 1 cup. Gradually stir liquid into lard mixture. Add only enough water to make dough cling together.
  4. Gather into a ball and divide into 6 portions. If desired, wrap unused portions and refrigerate or freeze.
  5. Good tip: Aunt Karin freezes the dough in pie-size portions in sandwich bags.
  6. Roll out each portion on lightly floured surface. If dough is sticking, chill 1 to 2 hours.
  7. Transfer dough to pie plate. Trim and flute shells or crusts and bake according to filling directions.
  8. For a perfect, golden crust, mix a bit of milk with coarse sugar and paint the crust carefully.

Here is a video of Reid demonstrating the most important steps.
 

It’s a loose tooth, not an amputation

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

 Reid complained about one of her teeth on Monday morning. I checked the tooth in question but all was well. The next tooth over, however, was wobbly. I told Reid that her tooth was loose and she was ecstatic. She stared into the mirror and poked her tongue around. I had to confirm which tooth was wobbly, since it wasn’t an extreme case – it’s on the bottom, just to the left (stage left, as it were) of the gap in the middle of her bottom teeth.

At breakfast, I was told to serve only soft food “because of my …[insert drama here] tooth.” I packed an apple for an afterschool snack because (a) I always do and (b) loose teeth creep me out. I don’t like to watch them be wiggled, I don’t like to touch them and the idea of dealing with a freshly-freed tooth makes me shiver and make a face.

I told Reid that she should stop wiggling her tooth and keep it in her mouth until her dad comes home. Reid didn’t like the idea. Not even when I explained that I wasn’t ready for her to be a big girl who lost her teeth. Reid tried to reassure me that adult teeth would soon replace the lost baby teeth. That only makes it worse!

Reid must have spent the day wiggling her tooth because, by supper, it was noticeably looser. She wondered how long it would take for her tooth to come out. I have no idea. With all of the drama, wiggling and soft food requests, I’m warming up to the “not that long” school of thought.

We called Grandma Joyce so that Reid could share her news. Reid said, “I have a loose tooth!” (which sounds like toof, I’ll admit, and Reid *was* talking on the speaker phone) Grandma Joyce said, “You’re having stew?” Reid repeated her original statement and soon Grandma Joyce understood the excitement. She also told us that her mind was on stew because that is what she was having for supper. I was sad to miss out on Grandma Joyce’s stew but it turned out Aunt Karin and Uncle Roger were there and so Reid got to tell her story a couple more times.

At bedtime, Reid was worried that her tooth would fall out while she was asleep. My confident pronouncement that teeth don’t fall out like that was not believed. I wouldn’t mind if it did, though. She checked her tooth as soon as she woke up this morning as was pleased to find it present and accounted for. Reid is hoping that the tooth falls out at school because she’d be the first grade 1 to have that happen to her. I’d send my wishes that way, too, but what if it falls out and gets lost, all before I see it. Reid would be very upset.

All in all, this first loose tooth has provided for a lot of drama, on Reid’s part and on mine. I’m becoming resigned to the ickyness of a bloody tooth and (I hope) that Reid is finding the whole thing less worrisome than yesterday. Remind me how many more teeth she has to lose? On the other hand, please don’t.

A party because *you* are here

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Grandma Joyce brought her old punch bowl for me when she came to visit recently. Reid loved unwrapping each of the small cups and hanging each on its hook around the rim of the bowl. Since we were having Melissa and her kids to supper on Saturday night, Reid asked to make punch. Grandma Joyce washed all of the pieces and Aunt Pam provided the recipe and supervised preparations. We set the tables with good china and fancy silverware (but plastic glasses, because they’re less tippy than wine glasses). Reid loves getting out the “good dishes”, as Grandma Joyce calls them. They make an ordinary meal a bit more
special.

When Melissa saw the punch bowl, she asked what special event I was planning. I told her that having dinner with her family *was* the special event. If your best friend’s family isn’t worth getting out your best dishes, who is?

Disclosure: Grandma Joyce taught me that one should use one’s good dishes despite the risk of breakage. rather than keeping them “safe” and unappreciated in a cupboard.

Aunt Pam’s punch recipe

4 cups sherbert – lime or rainbow, if you’re feeling fancy(1 litre)
4 cups ginger ale (1 litre)
4 cups pineapple juice (1 litre)
1 lime

Mix all these together. (Originally served for st pattys day, pretty green colour)