Filed under: Holidays, In The Kitchen, My Kids, Random Geekery, Recipes, Things I Do, Things I Make, Things I Overheard | Tags: age 6, birthday, castle cake, Rice Krispie squares
I often joke about how my oldest son is destined to be a foodie — he’s already specific in his salt preferences (Andean rock salt then sea salt, over regular table salt) and his favorite food other than olives in any form is deep dish spanokopita. I harbour no such thoughts with my youngest. He has wonderfully simple tastes — his favorite food in the world is a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat. His second favorite is macaroni and cheese (homemade, of course).
As his birthday is tomorrow, I asked him what he’d like for his special supper and dessert.
Filed under: Get All Mushy, Holidays, Make Lists of Things, My Kids, People I Know, Things I Make | Tags: advent, Christmas, DIY, family, homemade, Yule
When I was a kid advent calendars brought to mind waxy, tasteless chocolates and cardboard depictions of the stable scene: Mary and Joseph, under the guidance of half of a zoo, some foreign dignitaries, and various hangers-on, watching the beatific Christ child sleeping blissfully in the manger.
My mom also did a neat candy cane countdown to Christmas with 2 long pieces of yarn (one for me and one for my bro) tied with 24 loops holding candy canes. This one was my favorite and even now as a grown-up, I can’t get enough peppermint!
Filed under: How-To, Recipes, Things I Make | Tags: Christmas, DIY, frugal, gifts, handmade, Yule
Like to make gifts, but are pushed for time? Want to give homemade, but feel uncreative? Essential oil reed diffusers are easy to make with extra points for presentation — they look so pretty when done! They are also a welcome, more natural way to fill a home with lovely scents!
Diffusers allow you to use essential oils to scent your home instead of heavy chemically-scented products that easily irritate eyes and airways. They are natural, fairly non-toxic (depending on your oil choices) and blend better with a home’s own “scent”.
Filed under: Activism, City of Ottawa, Drama, General, Holidays | Tags: donations, fire, ottawa, shelters, women's services
As all of you know, Christmas is only a little over a month away. Thoughts this time of year turn to gifting friends and loved ones with special presents to show we care, and many of us make extra donations to the Food Bank or other charities in order to give back to our community.
This year our community needs an extra showing of generosity. Due to two recent fires in a downtown women-only rooming house and a women’s shelter, resources for women in crisis in Ottawa are stretched far too thin.
There are a number of organizations accepting donations of money, food and clothing — many thanks to Ian Capstick for assembling and circulating the following list:
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Filed under: Get All Mushy, Holidays, In The Kitchen, My Kids, Things I Do, Things I Make | Tags: burn-out, Christmas, gifts, holiday, shopping, strategies, thrifting
When I was a kid I loved Christmas — I adored the cheesy music, the month-long anticipation of The Big Day had me unable to sit still, I couldn’t get enough of the various preparations for family meals, church services, concerts, and school break. This love of the Holiday was still so strong with me that when I met DH we had to strike a compromise in which I could only start listening to Christmas music on December 1st or as soon as the first snow fell — whichever came first. Given we lived in Nova Scotia, I never got to start early (though the arrangement had to be modified once we moved to Ottawa!).
As an adult, though, I started losing the excitement and joy — there wasn’t any fun in picking out gifts for people, the malls were a torture to be avoided if at all possible, and I even stopped loving the music as much. Christmas had become a chore. I was done. Once the kids were here, we kept it pretty simple but a big part of me craved to recapture the excitement I remembered from my own childhood.
