What we have been up to

From the country...

The new kitchen

Seed organizing and ordering

cookies of the play dough variety...

fresh batches of soap (lavender and oatmeal/tea tree)

I have been trying hard to be productive this month. I do have a slight case of the January blahs though, so needless to say I have been a bit slugish. I have spent some time planning and organizing the new growing season, taking trips to the second hand stores to purge the house, making countless batches of play dough for the boys (in baking colours), and I had a chance to invite some friends over for a soap making session. I hope to have all our soap made for the year (and for some gifts) in the next few weeks. 

We have been playing around with the new kid's kitchen that I bought for Millie at Christmas. I know she may be a tad young, but I found it here, it was fifty bucks AND it was hand made to boot! It is a really great little prize and I hope  Millie plays with it for many years to come.  

The seed order is done and the decisions have been made for this up coming season. We plan to go big on growing onions, which is exciting for me because they are one of my favourite vegetables to grow. Also on the new list is more culinary herbs, and some more early lettuces to accompany the fiddle head harvest in spring.

We have also been dancing around the kitchen to our advanced copy of My Father and The Hunter by the Strumbellas (one of the perks with being related to a band member).

So with spring in mind, I am trudging along.

Occupy Toronto

photo credit *Lemur*

What more is there to say?

To see a great photo essay from Occupy Toronto click here

Some Pics from my Week

From the City...

 Cherry tomatoes from Diane's tomato patch.  I roasted them as per Laura's directions in a previous post. They are delicious.  We had roasted tomato grilled cheese for lunch.  

 Simon singing to Theo whilst Theo sits in his new big boy chair.  This is his permanent facial expression these days.

 My little kitchen.  It may be small but it cranks out some good food.

We borrowed a bike and a helmet and took T for a ride.  He loved it.  He also didn't mind the pink helmet.  

Hope everyone is having a lovely week.

ab

I dream of Onions.

From the country...

red cipollini onion

white pearl onion

"sturon" onions ready to harvest

green onions and fresh onions freshly harvested

nimble little fingers perfect for cleaning green onions...

freshly cleaned onions ready for market

It wasn't that long ago that I was dreaming about onions and it is nice to see things come to fruition. It is no secret that I LOVE onions (like love, love, love them...). Everything good starts with onions.. and garlic but that is another romance story. I am especially eager to try the cipollini onions which are still finishing up out in the patch.

Here are some really great onion recipes:

 This tart looks amazing for using cauliflowers and onions
This potato salad uses pickled green onions
and these blue cheese and scallion drop biscuits look-to-die for.
This dish combines oven roasted cipollini onions and cherry tomatoes- which I can't wait to try.

Oh! and last but not least, this recipe is for a shallot, and beer marmalade with prunes and cocoa nibs. I have all the ingredients for this- just need the time... can't wait.



special thanks to the recipes from Smitten Kitchen and David Lebovitz- two great blogs worth checking out...