Peas, sir. I want some more.

Last year, we planted peas in our balcony garden. We followed the instructions on the back of the packet of seeds. "Sow 10cm apart." My coworker was appalled. He never follows that. Apparently we should have sown the whole darn packet and packed the peas in as much as we could.

This year, we used the rest of the packet of seeds from last year and we also planted a whole other packets. 4 times the seeds as last year!

We'll see how it goes. I feel like there was some method to their madness when they provided a guideline of sowing distances, but I guess there's only one way to tell.

From garden

They started sprouting after the intense rainfall that we received just over a week ago and are about three inches tall now. There doesn't appear to be as many little sprouts as there were seeds, but I'm hoping for lots more in the next few days!

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My very own Green Gables

Okay, so I don't have a Green Gables.

I have a greenhouse.

From garden

But "gables" rhymes with "stables" which is essentially a "house" for animals. So I've come as close as I can to having my own Green Gables where in my imagination, I am Diana Barry (since I have black hair) and I'm spending time at Green Gables with my bosom friend, Anne.

I apologize for the misleading blog title.

I must also apologize for implying that I have my own green house; it is, in fact, not "my very own". Quite the opposite, actually. It's a community-shared green house.

A month ago, I ordered a copy of "Grow Great Grub" by Gayla Trail, author of super-awesome-blog: You Grow Girl. On her blog, I learned of an opportunity to share some space in the community greenhouse in downtown Toronto.

From garden

Dustin and I are in charge of going to the greenhouse every Monday to water the seedlings. We all take turns. Isn't it all so harmoniously charming?

Although we have limited space in our balcony garden, we went nuts and got seeds for anything that we would enjoy having an abundance of. We would worry about the space later.

We planted some zucchini (this one's still got the seed stuck to it):

From garden

some cucumbers:

From garden

and to make my mom proud, some Chinese Veggies (菜心):

From garden

We also planted some garlic, basil, dill, and cherry tomatoes. All in the greenhouse. It's incredible how quickly everything grows there. Gayla was smart and got us a shelf in the sunny corner.

From garden

In a couple months, all our little babies will be big enough to leave the warmth and shelter of the greenhouse and enter into the real world. Some will not make it out the door; others may perish in the harsh (and unpredictable) conditions of an Ontario Spring/Summer, but the strong will prevail and fulfill their destiny to be cooked into something unfathomably delicious!

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Spring Birdie Sling!

Spring came early! I think it was trying to make up for how long it took me to make a birdie sling for my friend Debbie. Sometimes I don't meet -- er, find the perfect fabric for a very long time. I feel a little like a matchmaker: Emma Woodhouse... but without all the drama... I do sometimes feel as though I've chosen to give away my Mr. Knightly... I digress.

From sewing

My sister actually found this beautiful Amy Butler fabric of springtime greens with a touch of pink. I paired it with bumblebees and lined it with pears. It is my first official birdie sling that is "handmade & dunwell". Doesn't it just scream spring?

From sewing

From sewing

The great news is that I have enough fabric left to make myself a shirt. I'll have to remember never to wear the shirt around Debbie...

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To Cushion the Blow

From sewing

As my darling friend Rebecca pointed out, I've been dilly dallying with patchwork. Not quite a blanket or quilt yet, but some cushion cases.

I will one day sew a quilt. Hopefully several, but for now, I started small and made some patchwork pillows. The one modelled by my nephew, Max, was made last year. Not great, so you may only see a corner. It was made from the colour scheme of my mom's birdie sling.

From sewing

I've since made a few more, but this was my favourite. I used a "log cabin" design, which is so easy to do! I followed a tutorial from the first issue of Uppercase magazine, but you can find tutorials anywhere.

From sewing

I plan to make several more. Whether they are worthy to be shared on my blog is another question...

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Max of many faces

From Maximus

I haven't done much sewing as of late. Little projects here and there. Some pillow cases. But I had a valid distraction: my cutest nephew, Maximus.

My sister and her family came to visit me on the weekend to help pass the dreary Toronto rain. We spent the weekend eating and relaxing and playing with Max until he gave us the face of utter melancholy. Usually a happy baby, there was moments when he was happiest exercising his lungs.

From Maximus

I wish my stories about Max were longer and more exciting, but until he can do more than eat, poop, and drool, a couple "oooo"s and "ahhhh"s of his cuteness will have to suffice.

From Maximus

I have recovered from his love spell and will soon tell all about some more sewing adventures (could it be?! Another birdie sling?) and some ambitious plans for my garden.

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Pretty in Pink

From Food

As mentioned in my last beet post, I've found a way to cook beets that is truly delicious.

My Polish friend, Magda, loves beets. How could someone love a vegetable that I'm so "iffy" about? I must know the secret. "Vinegar," she says. She goes off listing beet dish after beet dish that she loves, all with a common thread: "... with some balsamic vinegar" "... with a little red wine vinegar," ".. pour a little bit of pickle juice in it; not the dill pickle kind, the salt brine kind..." A little tart to compliment the beet. Genius.

She raved about a soup that her dad makes. I told her about my attempt at a beet soup that did not turn out so well. I eventually got to taste some of the soup and I could not believe how incredibly different it tasted! Delicious! I just had to replicate it. "My dad doesn't really use a recipe..." she admitted. Why was I not surprised?

Since I was used to being in this predicament (my mother only keeps recipes for baking) I was confident that I'd get along just fine. Just taste your food every so often and adjust for flavour.

I started with a recipe from Lucy Waverman's book "A Year in Lucy's Kitchen" and went from there. The biggest difference is that I did not puree the soup. This soup was essentially a beet broth, full of flavour and colour. If you feel bad about tossing the strained beets, you can use them in a salad, or as garnish. Beets still win the "prettiest vegetable" award.

From Food

1 1/2 lb beets (I used any and every colour)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced onions
6 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper

Wash and peel the beets; slice as thin as possible.

Add olive oil to a large pot and heat to medium high; add onions and lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add sliced beets and chicken stock. Bring to at boil over high heat; reduce and let simmer 20 minutes or longer, until vegetables are tender. Add both vinegars. Salt and pepper to taste. Add more vinegar if desired.

Set a colander over a large bowl; pour soup into colander, straining all beets and onions. Serve warm.

From Food

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Quinzhee!

From Out and About

I've only played "Yahtzee" once, but I remember that you get to yell "Yahtzee!" when you win!

I like that "quinzhee" sounds like "yahtzee" so that I got to yell "Quinzhee!" when we worked the better part of an afternoon last weekend to build a snow hut. It's a nice yelling word: "Quinzhee!"

A quinzhee is a cross between a snow cave and an igloo. It is made by piling snow into a (very) large mound and then digging out a roomy hole. The science works. It's incredible. The hardest part for me was shoveling snow into the pile. The whole left side of my upper back was sore the next day; apparently, I'm not an ambi-shoveler.

From Out and About

We managed to sleep in it for 2 hours that night until we decided that our dog was too cold, and that my sleeping bag was *just* not warm enough to be comfortable all night. (I think Angela could have stayed all night if she hadn't been so lonely.)

From Out and About

If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend you try to build yourself a quinzee. If not just to have the opportunity to yell "Quinzee!"

(I just realized this was my 50th blog post!!! 50! Yay! "Quinzhee!!!!!")

From Out and About

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