Sint Maarten in the park

At the end of dinner tonight I hear my daughter humming. The tune is a Dutch children's song. I smile. She learned it back in Toronto but it's in her head because we'd been to the Sint Maarten parade in Vondelpark last night.

The parade is a casual procession of children carrying lanterns behind a band around the park. The lanterns are as varied as the people. We saw ones made of leaves, ones that looked like gnome house mushrooms, ones made from recycled milk jugs and even the older traditional jack-o-lanterns carried by a rope handle or in a arms.

The band played children's songs like the one my daughter was later humming, Het Matroosje, and jazzy (sometimes even a little raggy) tunes guided by two tall lanterns. The music was great, the mood serene as a huge mass of people walked in the lantern light with their kids, and sometimes their bikes too.

Later in an Italian restaurant we laughed as a bunch of kids came joyously through the door singing loudly, lanterns swinging expecting candy for their tune. Although the candy collecting is not part of the walk it is part of the door to door singing part of the evening's traditions. (Although usually done at the doors of peoples homes) The waiter, a non-dutch speaking Italian with a smattering of English, was quite ruffled by it and clearly did not have a clue why they were doing what they were doing. A group of American parents and their little kids who seemed to also have been at the parade and were sitting near where he was standing explained the custom in English and the need to give them candy for their efforts. He hastily grabbed the mints by the cash and doled them out as quick as he could, so very funny the whole restaurant enjoyed the spectacle.

Our ride home was a leisurely  bike ride down quite main streets with the kids perched on our back racks tired and full, holding their lanterns. My son looks forward to next year when he will know enough of the songs that he too can go door to door for candy.

I can't wait to hear him sing for it.

Grootjes from Amsterdam,
B

Filling up with Joy

This is our Joy Jar.

We started it back in the new year. There was a lot of sadness in our extended family last year and we decided it would be good this year to mark all our joys down to remind us of all the wonderful things that happen.

We colored it with markers and I cut different sized strips of origami paper to have ready to jot our joys down.

OK so it is really a Joy Vase but that doesn't sound as nice.

We all added our own touches.

I thought that the kids would help decorate but maybe not think about marking memorable moments without reminders. I thought that I would be the one filling the jar, finding our happy and recording it for us all to look at the end of the year.

I was wrong. The jar is filling up and we are all recording our joys it seems. Even the odd trinket reminder has found it's way into the jar. I can see my kids writing but if I can't read it thru the glass I'm making myself wait to the end of the year to see what they thought worthy of recording. That way I know next year my first strip of paper will be about the joy of seeing their notes.

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by,

Barb

Mid-Week At My Place - Making bread the easy way.

I am very much enamored with homesteading. If you haven't heard the term before, homesteading is about getting back to basics and among those basics are making food from scratch and clothes yourself. While I love the idea and dream of my very own plot of land where I can have chickens and food gardens I live an urban life in the heart of Toronto. Chickens are not allowed (yet) and my backyard's a shaded postage stamp. Even if I could have chickens (to my husbands horror I've planned in my head how to use some of our garage as a coop) I'm pretty sure the racoons would dispatch my flock lickety-split. And like many other working urbanites my time to make food and sew my own clothes is limited - about as limited as my sewing skills!

But one thing I am able to do on a very regular basis is make fresh baked bread and one of my favorite breads to make comes from Michael Smith from the Food Network. I saw him make this "no kneed bread" couple years ago by chance and have become a fan of his since.

This month I got to tell Chef Smith how great his bread it when I met him at Blissdom, a social media event held annually in Toronto where he was promoting lentils (*yumm*). I was so excited to tell him how much we loved his bread. He was excited to see what my green streaked hair would do with the green screen he was posing for pictures in front of. In case your wondering it went from this

Me with Chef Smith. Green hair and green screen

to this

I'm blue!

But back to bread!

The recipe so simple it's insane. I can recite it by memory, and here it goes:

In a big bowl I add 3 cups white flour, 1 cup whole wheat, 1/2 cup other grains (which I blitz in my magic bullet for the sake of my texture sensitive kid), 1/2 tsp active dry yeast, 1 1/2 tsp salt - I use ground sea salt, and 2 1/4 cups warm water. My grains and flour are all organic but you can use conventional of course. Mix until it's all a goopy glob, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in a quiet place in the house for 18 or so hours. Once  the waiting game is done the goop/dough doubles in size and I take it out of the bowl onto a floured surface and with floured hands knock it down. It's quite the wet stringy dough - don't worry about that. At this point you have a couple choices as Chef Smith describes in his recipe. You can either let it rise again in a loaf pan or on a Silpat with a floured tea-towel on top. After 2 or 3 hours it has doubled again and can be baked. If you've gone the loaf pan route the oven should be at 425 and the bread goes in for 45 minutes. If you've gone with the Silpat you'll need to heat a cast iron or enamel pot with a lid in a 450 degree oven then flop your dough gently into the pot, bake for 30 minutes with the lid on then 15 minutes with the lid off.

The finished product looks like this

I would have showed you the whole loaf but it doesn't last very long around here!

The bread is dense, a bit moist, keeps well and really really good. I was asked to bake bread with my daughters class as they are learning about pioneers. I brought this recipe and it was a hit - I've even had parents come to me asking for the recipe after their kids came home raving about it. So if you've ever thought of making bread but haven't had the inclination to try I recomend you try making this bread or heck, it's so easy, get your kids to do it!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm going to go have some bread now.
Barb

Pika-Boo!

There's a Pikachu hiding somewhere in here...

 

sew   sew    sew                                

                   cut   cut   cut    

      

                                                        paint    paint   paint

getting closer to finding him.........

Here he is!!!

And there he goes!!

Happy Halloween Folks!

Barb

Little Footprints Top Eco Friendly Cottage Toys

There's nothing my family likes more every summer than finding a sweet cottage and hanging out by the lake. We can spend hours playing in nature but we also like to bring a small selection of cottage play favorites with us when we go.

Here's our Little Footprints family favorites, 5 things you can be sure will be in our cottage toy box this summer...

We love blowing bubbles at the cottage. New to us this year is this Artterro Bubble Wand kit and with it we plan to have an even better time! Made in the States by a company big on sustainable fun just like us and filled with enough for a pair of wands, complete with how-to's, fun shaped patterns and even a recipe for home made bubble solution - all in one wee recycled content box. Ages 8 and up.

For years now this is my little guys 'go to' take along toy - ask him to pick something to bring and it will be this - a  Zoom to the Moon play set perfect for the kid who loves imaginary play and as a mom I love that when the fun is done every thing stores in the spaceship. Ideal to keep track of everything when your away from home. Made from renewable rubber wood and child safe paints. I can honestly say after years of play I'm impressed with how well the paints hold up.  Ages 3 and up

Shut The Box is a true favorite in our house. Sometimes played alone but best against each other - we've even make it a tournament - we race to turn our tiles down before the other can. One of those games that gets you to enjoy doing maths even without realizing it. I discovered it at a family friends when I was little and am now thrilled to have this sustainably produced one available. Perfect sitting by the dock or on a chilly rainy day. Ages 5 and up

My son playing with the families Shut the Box.

We started family quizzes by playing 20 questions and now that my kid is starting to read she loves to play them. Betting on Nature, an animal card game, is the perfect go anywhere challenge for us all. Skills, laughs and learning, what more can you ask from fun you can fit in your pocket? Perfect for ages 7 to 107

Paints at a cottage are a must have. No matter if it's painted rocks, pictures, fairy houses or found art - it all benefits from a splash of paint! And the cottage benefits when its all natural. Nothings better for that than Clementine Art's natural paints. The colours are fabulous and they're perfect for the artistry of any age.



These are our faves for this year. We love to hear if you have others you think are great. In the mean time thanks for stopping by and I hope your enjoying your Spring day!

Cheers,
Barb

Fun While it Rains.

While one of my kids might actually be getting sick and tired of rain the other is beginning to muse aloud that it might be nice it it *always* rained. Course she does see the problem that presents to dream #1: to live somewhere where she can swim outside all year round.

So while the sun struggles to make an appearance today we look back at the past 11 out of 18 days where it rained and find lots and lots of opportunities for fun indoors.

You can only get so soggy after all.

Here to help with some indoor inspiration is Little Footprints Top 10 Rainy Day Things for Fun.

Get your Boom Boom on! This ultimate deck of Family trading cards inspires to do good in meaningful and achievable ways and calls on you to pass on the goodness online. From planting flowers for others to enjoy, to telling old stories to younger generations these cards make random acts of kindness fun for the whole family.

Brand new to the shop this 51 piece Tyrannosaurus 3D Dino puzzle can strike about 20 different poses keeping Dinosaur Aficionados busy for hours! Made sustainable and responsibly by French eco fun maker Bioviva, a company committed to the environment since they started making fun in the mid-90's.
Ages 6 & up

Create masterpieces on a rainy afternoon with is Paint With Wool kit. A box full of wool canvases, lots of brightly coloured roving and even 3 felter's needles! Everything you need to make 4 amazing works of art, you just bring a suitable surface to work on. Once your done turn the box into a frame. Full instructions and inspiration included.
Ages 8 & up



More a sculptor than a painter? Clementine Art's Modeling Dough is just the ticket to bring cheery colour to a drab overcast day. They look lovely, smell lovely and feel lovely - what more to you need to sculpt the next masterpiece?

Get active indoors and no batteries required with this Balance Board. Made in the USA from sustainably forested materials, this formaldehyde free plywood board has a challenging maze to keep you coordinated and on your toes. Try the rolling the balls inward for a beginners challenge but if Daddies think rolling the balls out is just as easy they just might loose the family bet! Available in 2 sizes. Perfect for 3 to 93

A bit of drizzle can make examining nature even more fun. Grab a pair of galoshes and head out with this Naturebag full of ways to look at nature around you and record what you find. There's even a blindfold for a all natural guessing game. Canadian made this eco friendly award winner is full of wonderful stuff. Ages 3 - 12

Outside in the puddles or inside in the bath this tug boat is totally fun. Made from recycled milk jugs by Green Toys it's a fantastic water toy, available in 3 colours and dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. Ages: 6m & up




Stuck inside with the wee one? Enjoy a game of eye spy wildlife right outside your window with this set of Backyard Buddy Blocks. Perfect size for little hands. Learn basic colours and animals with this set made from responsibly harvested rubber wood and child safe paints.

At under $10 this game leaves you change to get something yummy at your own Farmers Market. A game about looking out for each other and problem solving to make the market a success. A wonderful game made in Perth Ontario perfect for ages 6 to 12 with two sets of rules for basic and more complex play.

I always think the funnest things to keep you busy on a rainy day are things with more than one thing going for it which is why I love these puzzles you get colour yourself. Made from plantation rubber wood they are available as a Sea Turtle, Butterfly or Train paint them up then try to put them back together again!
Ages 3 and up.



Course it's easy to beat the rainy day blues so long as your having fun so I hope you get a chance to have some fun today!

Mid Week at My Place: Earth Week

Earth Week and Easter in one week makes for one very busy gal indeed. Course I'm right on top of it hopelessly behind in my to-do's now that they are both right behind us. Well they are not really, not for me anyway - we are still celebrating both at Little Footprints till the end of the month with a great sale that's keeping me busy - but I digress!!!!

The thing about busy is we always are busy. When Earth Week comes around I'm reminded to slow down a bit, admire this lovely planet we are on and try to do something, no matter how small, to at least keep it this nice  if not make it a little nicer.

This year I might have been reminded but things have felt very busy of late and sadly it feels kinda tough to take on even one new little task. There seems to be so many other tasks lined up already waiting for their turn.  But I have a plan and it's as simple as deck of cards.

 We have these Boom Boom cards, ours at home is the Family Edition. It's this great deck of cards full of easily achievable things to do that bring some good and once you've done it you then get to share the card and tell your story to inspire others. We've loved trying them out, having had fun planting flowers for others to enjoy which you can read about over at our profile at Boom Boom but we could use them more. In fact their one of those things standing in line waiting to be done so I've made a promise to myself we will do one card a month and pass it on till next Earth Day. Since their full of easy to do acts of altruism I'm pretty sure we'll have left a happier vibe on this lovely planet of ours and done some good for it along the way if we do. And hey, if we document it back on the Boom Boom site where we can share the great things we've done we can track our progress and share it with others.

If you would like to join me in my quest to do a wee bit o' good once a month we just happen to have the Boom Boom Cards Green Deck on sale for 20% off at that great little sale I mentioned at the shop. That makes them under $10! How's that for a green deal? There totally full of great little ideas and totally fun to do. :)

If you've made your own promise to your self to do a bit more good this Earth Week I'd love to hear about it!

In the meantime,

BHappy and have fun
Barb

Fridays I'm In Love: With These Chicks

Easter is right around the corner. Tomorrow the neighborhood festivities kick off around here with Easter Egg Hunts, visits with family and a parade on Sunday.

There's lots of chocolates and treats to be had and hid but when did it become all about chocolate? Don't get me wrong I love the stuff, more than I should, but does that mean I need to hop my kids full of it for the sake of a bunny and a basket? So since I know that the neighborhood and family will provide tonnes of energy amping sweets we are going to hide crafts and toys instead and if the item is too big we will put a ticket in an egg for them to trade.

What won't need a ticket when we hide them is this set of 3 puzzle Chicks. Each of the 6 pieces will fit nicely in an egg to be hid and once found the kids can trade with each other till they each get a complete chick. Since I know they are also made sustainably with rubber-wood and child safe paints I also can feel good knowing their fun is also planet friendly.

Mid-Week at My Place: Tie Dye Eggs

We've been in the Easter spirit this week over here. The kids decorated the house and I've been trying too remember to blow out the eggs rather than crack them each time we use eggs to collect a few for dying. Truth is, I don't remember very often and I'm not the kind of mum who turns round and bakes a cake or something when she finds herself in need of a bowl full of eggshells. And while I love getting crafty I'm a lazy mum I try to gear the craft to the abilities of my young kids so we don't all get frustrated.

So last year I found a few people talking about how to dye eggs with old silk ties and I began to experiment with it. I was hooked. The kids too. And the bonus, no one is getting their fingers covered in dyes that last for days. We love this craft so much the kids both asked me to make kits to share with their friends and since that was easy enough I happily obliged.


This year we have done a bunch already and we plan to more still and since I did remember to blow a few eggs out we might even try a few more traditionally dyed eggs.

If you want to know how to tie dye your own eggs here is a little how to. It's real easy and you gotta just love how they turn out.

Tie Dye Easter Eggs

Cut apart old silk ties and cut out squares big enough to cover an average egg.  

 

 Wrap a raw egg with a piece of the patterned silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg. Silk can still be used if it doesn't fit perfectly around egg and you can wrap the egg with 2 swatches of silk too if you like. 

 

Place the silk-wrapped egg in the piece of white sheet and secure tightly with a twist-tie. Make sure it is good and snug.

Place the egg(s) in an enamel or glass pot.* Fill pot with water to cover eggs completely. Then, add three tablespoons of white vinegar. Do not overcrowd the eggs. 

*do not use a metal pot, it may react with the vinegar.

 Bring water to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer for 20 minutes.Remove eggs from water with tongs or spoon and let cool.Remove silk from cooled egg.

 Additional Ideas:

• For shiny eggs, wipe with vegetable oil
• Silk squares can be reused.
• Any silk goods such as ties, blouses, and boxers can be used to make more squares but the heaviest silk and brighter/more intense patterns tend to have more ink and that seems to work better.
• The white squares are sheets and tablecloths. 
• Make gift sets to share with friends. Tie the bundles together with a strip of the white fabric. 

BHappy and have fun!
Barb

Mid-Week at My Place: Colourful Hang-Outs

We had lots of fun painting bird houses for our local feathered friends this week.

Using yummy smelling all natural paints from Clementine Art and some funky pre-made wood bird houses we picked up recently we got stuck into an afternoons fun of pattern making and serious paint splodging.

 The paints are great. Hand down - of course - it is fabulous that Clementine Art makes these paints with all natural ingredients, they're completely free of chemical dyes and petrochemicals - just the kind of stuff I like my kids playing with. It also means I don't mind being lazy and using a kitchen plate and egg spoons as artists equipment. But the Interior Designer in me also loves how the set is comprised of a balanced palate, made with Mayan mineral earth pigments, the colours are beautiful and work so great with each other.


Today one of us was a master blender of colour,

While another was working much more meticulously on her pattern making.

No matter how we came to our finished creations we were really proud of our results and just couldn't wait to hang them up outside.

Hope the birdies enjoy them as much as we've enjoyed their Spring songs!

And hope your having a great day too!
Barb

Sowing for Spring

Sun's shining outside and I'm transferring my wee little seedlings to bigger digs. We've sowed 6 different kinds of veggies and hope that something will grow into yummy eats but for now it's a fun family project.

The tools are my sons gardening set, perfect size for the task.

It's a bit of what I'm up to this weekend.Hope your enjoying a sunny Spring like day yourself!

Have fun!
Barb

One in the Hand Equals Three On The Tree

We went on a pear pick the other day. Last year I signed us up as volunteers for Not Far From The Tree a local charitable organization that gleans local trees for their fruit and shares the bounty. Without clobbering them over the head with it, they are only 3 and 6 after all!, I have been looking for ways to teach my kids to understand where their food comes from as well as to be socially aware and giving. I must admit my family did bring me up to be very self sufficient but not very philanthropic - I hope to do a bit better with my kids.

Anyway....

Back to the trees. After patiently waiting a whole year to be called to pick and missing a few chances we finally made the picker cut and the three of us went a' pickin'. The kids loved it! My daughter was a dab hand at the picking tool as she gleefully picked any pear she could reach. My son, a wee bit smaller, was quite happy to collect the fallen fruit into a separate bag - an occasionally eat a few . Their chatter kept everyone laughing and it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Fun as it was it was also wonderfully productive. NFFTT is a food share program. The owner of the tree lists their tree with the organization and when the fruit is ready to pick a team of 'gleaners' is dispatched to pick the tree as clean as they can, as well as tidy up any fallen fruit mess and debris from the pick. The bounty is divided into thirds; 1/3 for the tree owner, 1/3 divided among the pickers and 1/3 goes to food banks and organizations that feed those in need. Pretty neat, huh? Over 6,000 pounds have been picked so far in Toronto alone.

For our pick we weighed in at in excess of 250 pounds of pears and since no one took their full share over 100 pounds of fresh ready to ripen pears were taken to a local food bank that evening. All the while a gentle lesson in community, sharing and ecology was passed onto my kids that afternoon.

Pretty fruitful day if you ask me ;)
Sign up your tree if you have one - we'll happily come pick it for ya!

Thanks for stopping by for a read, BHappy and have fun.

Yummy Chocolate Beet Cake

Hello sweet chocolate beet cake, where have you been all our lives? It has taken my daughters extreme pickiness about fruits and veg for me to learn to cook and bake with nutritional foods mixed in 'for good measure' - and I'm beginning to think I might actually have to thank her for it one day.


After all, why not cook with good healthy ingredients baked right in to foods we find yummy?

And by gawsh this is one yummy cake!

And so I came to beetroot cake and my version of the recipe. There are no less than 5 beets in the mix which is enough for 2 cakes or a double decker and honestly probably more beets than our enire family has eaten in their whole lives (until now that is).

And now if you dare, and you should - the recipe:

Sweet Valentine Chocolate Surprise Cake

the ingredients:
for the cake:
oven preheated to 375


wet ingredients:
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs -room temp
1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate (bittersweet or unsweetened you choice)
5 medium beets prepared into 2 cups pureed beets
1 tsp vanilla extract

dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
cocoa and butter to grease and dust the pans

the frosting:
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tbs cocoa
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 - 4 tbs heavy cream
few tbs hot water as needed

the making:
beet root puree:
In a large pot simmer in water 5 beets, tops and roots removed and quartered. I use local candy stripe beets from the ever awesome farmers market hosted by My Market & the DECA but any beets should do. Don't worry about the skins, you will peel them off with ease after.

Simmer for about 50 minutes till just fork tender.

Drain the beets and let cool to handle. The skins will peel off very easy now.

Cut into smaller pieces and puree with your blender, or handy magic bullet. you can make this well in advance, even freezes well. pink pancakes with leftovers anyone?

the cake:
cream together the sugar with 3/4 cups of the butter, add the eggs and mix well and set aside.

microwave on med-high the chocolate with the remaining butter until melted. let cool slightly.

while the chocolate butter is cooling mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

butter and dust with coca 2x 8" pans and tap the remaining cocoa into the dry ingredients

add the cooled choco-butter to the beet puree along with the vanilla, mix & add into the butter/sugar mixture.

mix it well. it will look grainy but have faith.

add the flour mixture, ending with a throughout mixing on medium high to bring in some extra air. it will be the most fabulous pink colour now.

split mix into the 2 pans and bake for 35 minutes or just until a toothpick comes out dry.

surprise! it's now a purply chocolate colour. let cool and turn out onto a cooling rack.

*do not try the cake now if you don't want to taste the beets* warm you can taste them a bit, I don't mind it myself but my daughter would probably protest it seemed odd at this point if tasted. My son eats the mix raw - clearly he's fine with it... you are your own judge.

the frosting: easy. add all the ingredients except the water in mixer and beat till mixed well adding drops of water as needed to get a smooth creamy consistency.

As an after dinner cake we make 2 iced single layer cakes in our house. One for us and one to share, but there is more than enough frosting for a nicely frosted double decker for sure.


Now let your family have at it!

...I'm already thinking about my midnight snack/second helping!
hey wait my hubby beat me to it!

BHappy!

I scream, you scream we all crank our ice cream

My first born refused to try ice cream till she was more than 2 years old and now extols its virtues in song, my second is a connoisseur from a very early age. So since I've been itching for one for a while now - we bought an ice cream maker. Oh how wonderful it has been.

Our machine is a hand crank and my kids clamor for their turn to crank. We bought a manual one on purpose to involve the kids in the process and the activity. 'Turn 3 times and wait 2 minutes' is quickly becoming a mantra in our house as we watch our fresh ingredients go from liquid to creamy yumminess in 20 minutes of cranking and a dinner-times worth of chilling in the cooler bucket. Then it is ready for desert!

Now I'm all sweet on finding great recipes and so far the best have come from my 2nd hand book buy. The Old Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream Cookbook by J&C Dueker was published in '74 and sold for $3.95 new. I bought it 35 years later for the same price and it has been money well spent!

There is a whole section devoted to coffee ice cream which I love and an entire chapter on Hawiian ice cream, which thanks 'speedy air travel' for the ability to find some of their fruits on the 'mainland'.

So far my hybrid mocha espresso, plain vanilla and most recent vanilla Clodhopper ice creams have been the favorites in the house. But for me, I have been super happy to not taste the greasy taste & aftertaste I've been noticing in the store bought ice creams lately and I'm also loving the fun family activity it has become.

There is no going back to store bought for us now. Ya gotta give it a go!

BHappy

Eureka!

My kids love what we call Dutch pancakes - crepes - with Nutella. It has been real fun watching them make their own Nutella roll-ups but the pancakes end up with way too much in them and that I wasn't too happy about.

Today I made the pancakes but this time rather than a butter knife and the jar I pulled out 2 silicone basting brushes and warmed the Nutella in a small bowl in the microwave.

Viola! Warm gooey melty Nutella easily painted on lovely round pancake canvases. Oh what fun it was! Kids were thrilled, mess was a minimum and just the right amount of Nutella was applied to please all!