Category Archives: Canada

Embracing the Snow

Embracing snow is hard for me to do. I can appreciate its beauty… for awhile… and its benefit to the environment as our future water supply. Occasionally I will play in it as well. But I’m done. I apologize for this mini-rant to my friends who live in areas that can still expect falling snow for some time to come. But I’m done. I did my snow penance in upstate New York for years where 5-6 months of falling snow could easily be expected. It should be noted that the 5-6 months mentioned does not account for the time it takes the snow on the ground to disappear. The Californian in me simply can’t take it… but I’m trying to.

So when one of our neighbors from the end of the street came over to let us know that their grandson was visiting and wanted to know if Little Man wanted to come over and play in their igloo, I jumped at the chance. These neighbors are also relatively new to our street and live in the original farmhouse for the area. When the snow isn’t ever present, they have amazing gardens and orchards, as well as a wooded area that Little Man calls the Enchanted Forest. We love to visit whenever we get a chance, and throw in the possibility of an igloo… we’re there.

It took FOREVER to get Little Man suited up in his gear, with the inevitable need to go potty right when I got the last piece of snow garb in place. Eventually we made it out of the house and started ambling as quickly as his little snow-panted legs could carry him. On the way there another neighbor saw us in snow gear and offered to loan their plastic toboggan. So into the toboggan Little Man went, and off I mushed like a good sled dog. Who needs a gym membership? Just drag your toddler across and over snow drifts to feel the burn.

We slalomed up and down tractor tread impressions and around a cars, then across their farm house’s front yard, back into the orchard towards the sounds of infectious little kid laughter. When we got there, low and behold, an igloo graced the area where last fall a pumpkin patch stood. As an anthropologist I was immediately impressed with their igloo. It wasn’t the real deal, but after studying Inuit culture, as well as multiple screenings of Nanook of the North and Atanarjuat it looked pretty good. It had the key hole entrance, domed roof, and looked nice and sturdy. Little Man clambered right in and would have stayed in there for quite some time except for the other little boy in there who started poking holes in the ceiling and dropping snow on Little Man’s head. He retreated to better structural safety and clambered around the woods.

It was with the igloo that I realized that my Southern California upbringing, all my time at the beach and hiking around in the chaparral, did nothing to prepare me for how to play in the snow. My goal of embracing the snow for at least short periods of time is going to require some added “research” on how to play in it.

For this day we did good. We played in and around the igloo for a bit and then sled dogged it back home for lunch and nap. Before leaving we made plans to meet up with our friends again after little boy nap times for sledding. Dave was able to be home for that, which was great. Our gardener neighbors had offered us the use of their great sledding slope, and we used it with reckless (almost) abandon. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down we went. Each time at the base of the hill Little Man would gaze off at the distant snow-capped mountain and twice he tried to get us all to walk there, like he had after playing on the frozen pond a few weeks back.

The day ended as all good snow days should. Warm bath. Hot cocoa. Delicious dinner together. Deep sleep. Not quite embracing the snow (please go away snow… please…), but pretty good for me.

Being a sled dog on a blindingly bright snow play day.

My 50th – ish Post

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Somehow I missed the benchmark of my 50^th post for The Sheep Are Out. February has been a miasma of amazing family visits intermixed with flus, colds and other illnesses that we seem to be passing around like potluck dishes. Somewhere in the middle of trying to stay healthy, to get my loved ones healthy, to not make family that visited or that we were visiting sick, and to more or less keep up with life I missed the 50^th mark. So I’m going to celebrate that today with my 52^nd (I think…) post.

I started this blog last summer as a way to create purpose and focus in the middle of our new adventures in Canada. We now feel like we are finally finding our feet… sort of…, but those first few weeks especially were a crazy mix of excitement for our new home, for the ability to be close to family for the first time in Little Man’s life, as well as the intense frustration of immigration issues and missing those we had left behind again. Honestly I floundered for a bit.

This post is about that floundering… more or less… It consists of two short pieces that I wrote months apart. The first was written within the first couple of weeks of the move. I wrote it and then decided that it wasn’t anything I was going to share on the blog since it felt too raw. Then a couple of weeks ago I woke up after a dream and wrote this second piece; sort of a reversal from the earlier writing. Now as I celebrate the 50^th-ish post for this blog, it seems to make sense to share both of these pieces here. If this is where the first 50-ish posts have gotten me, I can’t wait to see where the next lead.

Can this be the same view with sheep munching contentedly just a few short months ago?

“Homemaker”

Today, for the first time, I was described on an official document as a “homemaker.”

That’s a title that I have never worked for; hadn’t even considered it as a possibility or a desire. Then my son was born and I was only able to take off two weeks after giving birth before I was back in the classroom teaching full time. Friends have called me “super woman” for that, but I didn’t feel super or strong or anything near heroic. At that moment I was envious of my friends who had the ability to stay home with their babies. I never thought I’d feel that way.

In my mind I define myself as “University Professor.” That’s who I should be on that blasted form, that’s who I am, or at least I was. I spent a decade working on my graduate degrees, finally completing my dissertation and doctorate only a couple of years ago. I am just now getting comfortable with introducing myself as Dr. Hopwood. Now, with the great job offer for Dave that brought us here in the first place, and the expiration of my contract at the college where we taught in the States, now I am a “Homemaker.” I am a Ph.D. who cannot work at the local coffee shop because I don’t have my work visa yet, and in fact cannot even volunteer in a position where a Canadian would be paid. So who does that make me?

About a month or so before “the move” I was chatting with a dear friend about this; about what it meant to step back from or give up even temporarily a career that defines us. What I was going to do? We talked about the fear of losing the spark that makes us attractive to our husbands. But we both married some pretty stellar guys, so that wasn’t really the issue that concerned us. Then we talked about the even more pressing fear; that with the loss of career how would we stay attractive to ourselves? For that we had no easy answers and drifted into silence.

So today was the first time that I was officially defined as a “Homemaker.” It won’t be the last. Who do I become now?

A nice view from our kitchen window while making dinner.

A Dream of Different Days

While it is not unusual for me to remember a dream, it is not common either. I once kept a dream journal containing memories of dreams written down immediately upon waking. Rereading those entries was amazing, and many of the dream I never remembered even having.

This morning I had a teaching dream. I haven’t dreamt of being in the classroom for a while… at least not that I remember. In the past I’ve had the stress dreams of teaching, never naked in the lecture hall, but instead having to deal with troublesome students; or lecturing in class and suddenly not having a clue about what I’m supposed to be saying; or realizing that my entire lecture is blatantly false and everyone knows it. These were dreams not of my body being laid bare for all to see, but my inadequacies. Or so they seemed at the time. My dream from this morning, however, was not that kind of dream.

In fact, this was the most at peace I’ve ever been in a teaching dream. I was in a small room in a modern university building. Only one student. It all felt right. I don’t remember the course I was teaching or the lecture topic, but for some reason First Peoples of the Americas feels right too.

I woke up from the dream a bit blurry but peaceful to the sound of Little Man waking through the monitor, singing one of his favorite Imagination Movers songs. It wasn’t until later, trying to remember the dream and the feeling of rightness that it left with me, that I realized my one student was quite short. In fact he was exceedingly short for college, and he had a short mop of blond curly hair. He wore a nice pair of black dress pants and a long sleeve white button up shirt. He was calm and respectful in class, asking good if simple questions.

The dream shifted at some point to the same room, same class, but now full of normal-sized university students. We were discussing a lecture and each student spoke in a slightly high pitched, and distinctively whiny voice. They are getting nervous here, worried about how much they had to learn. I was unperturbed, finding this a normal part of their learning process. I answered their questions, worked through different misunderstandings, and we forged on.

Later something in my day triggered memory of this dream, and I recognized my one student, as well as the multiple whiny students, all as representing Little Man. This thought stopped me in my tracks, and I sat down trying to remember more of the dream. I came to realize that my current “teaching gig” has outrageous hours, an irascible student body, and a complete lack of school holidays or teaching breaks. Yet it’s my favorite “job” so far, even if the pay is lousy. This dream left me smiling for days. While I can’t vouch for tomorrow, for today at least I’m at peace with my “career.”

A short walk down the drive.

Stocking the Pantry 2: The Bread Edition

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After publishing his seminal work entitled An Eater’s Manifesto in which he lays out many concerns over the modern production of food, Michael Pollan found himself deluged with questions regarding what was actually safe (or good) to eat. His response was In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto where he writes that we should “eat food, not too much, and mostly greens.” Sounds simple enough, except for the fact that what many of us consider to be “food” are actually highly processed, food-like products. To specify what he meant by “food,” Pollan wrote that it should be recognizable by our grandmothers (or great-grandmothers) as “food,” even when we read the ingredient list. In short, you shouldn’t need a Ph.D. in Nutritional Science to understand the contents of what you are going to eat. Pollan’s iconic example of this is the ingredient list from a brand name “bread” product that had an astounding 20 ingredients when bread truly only needs four; flour, yeast, water and salt.

It was through readings such as Pollan’s that I realized I really didn’t know how a lot of the basic foodstuffs were made. Don’t get me wrong I knew what was in some of these things, but I didn’t know how to go about making them for myself. I had the theory, but not the practice. Much of my cooking before that time had been focused on either making really fancy food or really quick food. There were the fancy meals for friends where I tried out new ideas and tastes that until that time I’d only read about, and then there were the weeknight meals as a young married couple trying to balance graduate school and life. The basic foodstuffs, the types of things that I liked to keep in my pantry like spaghetti sauce, pizza dough, even muffins, were things that I only bought in packaged form and hadn’t really thought about making them at home.

Around the same time of Little Man’s arrival I had started teaching anthropology of food courses at the university where I taught. The research I was doing for my courses, as well as our desire to feed our family well, led me to start tinkering with making some of these basics, like pizza dough and soup stock. Now these things are so basic for me to make that it irks me if I run out and have to buy them from the store. The basic food that I’ve recently added to my repertoire to make at home is whole wheat bread.

Now before you get nervous and start mentally listing off all the ways that you live a super busy life and can’t possibly fit making your own bread into an already crazy schedule, don’t panic. Take a deep breath. This recipe is a fun Saturday afternoon project and makes enough dough for you to make three loaves of bread, two of which can hang out in the freezer until you are ready to eat them. That is the beauty of stocking your pantry; you make things periodically in bulk, freeze them, and then use them as you want them over the following weeks or months. You can choose what types of staples you would like to have at hand, and make them at home. And for all of these basic foods, like pizza dough, bread, tomato sauce, etc., there is something immensely satisfying knowing that not only do you know the entire ingredient list, but you actually made these things. They weren’t made in a factory by extruders and people garbed in sci-fi plastic clothing, but these foods were made by you, with your own hands (and your kids’ hands), and that makes it all taste that much better. Have fun!

Whole Wheat Oat Bread

Adapted from: Girl Versus Dough

Ingredients:
2 cups water
2 cups milk
4 ½ tsp. (2 packets) active dry yeast
3 tbsp. agave
4 cups whole wheat flour
5 cups whole wheat bread flour
2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
½ cup olive oil
2 tbsp. salt

Directions:

Combine half of the milk and water in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 45 seconds or until very warm (not more than 115ºF). Pour this into the bowl of a stand mixer (or mixing bowl) and add half of the yeast and agave. Stir to combine and let rest for 10 minutes or until foamy.
Adding the yeast to the milk mixture in the stand mixer.

The yeast starting to proof and get foamy.

The rest of the dry ingredients.
Add half of the flours, oats, olive oil and salt to the bowl and mix/stir to combine. Once the ingredients are incorporated, mix at Speed 2 on your stand mixer for 6 minutes. If kneading by hand, dump ingredients out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (about 15 minutes).
The mixture just getting fully incorporated and starting to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

The cohesive dough has been “kneaded” by the machine and is ready to proof.
Oil a large bowl for the dough to rise in. Place the dough into the bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside.
The first batch of dough resting in a proofing bowl.
Repeat the previous instructions with the remaining ingredients. Once the second batch of dough is completed, add it to the first. Roll the dough quickly in the oiled bowl so that all sides are slicked. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and then with a towel. Place the dough in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
The second batch of dough has been added to the first and set in the bowl to rest.

Covering the dough with plastic wrap.

Tucking the dough in with a towel.

A big, beautiful bowl of proofed dough.
Gently press down on the dough to release some of the gases. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
There’s no need to brutalize your dough by “punching” it down. Just give it a nice press to release some of the gasses, then let it rest for a bit before proceeding.
Divide the dough into three pieces. On a lightly floured board shape one piece of dough into a roughly 8×6 inch rectangle. Tightly roll the rectangle into a long cylinder, tucking the ends in as you go. Seal the cylinder along its base so that no seams are visible. Set the cylinder aside and repeat this step with the remaining two pieces of dough.
Form the individual pieces of dough into rough rectangles.

Then roll the rectangles into tight cylinders, tucking in the edges as you go.
To bake immediately: Place each piece of dough into its own oiled loaf pan. Cover the pan(s) loosely with plastic wrap and a towel. Set the pan(s) aside to let the dough rise for about 45 minutes. The dough should be more or less the shape of the finished loaf. Proceed to baking instructions.
If you want to bake a loaf immediately, place the formed cylinder into a well oiled bread pan.

Cover the prepared dough with plastic wrap and its towel, then set it aside to proof again.

This dough is proofed and ready for the oven.
To freeze for future use: Place each piece of dough into its own large, resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag and place it in the freezer. The dough can be frozen for 2-3 months. Remove the dough from the freezer and thaw in a well-buttered loaf pan, then proceed to baking instructions.
Any dough that you want to save can be tightly wrapped in plastic and then sealed in a plastic bag and frozen. This dough will last in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Baking Instructions: Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. The bread is done when dark brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, or has reached an internal temperature of 190ºF. Cool on wire racks and enjoy!

	Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread http://www.thesheepareout.com adapted from: Girl Versus Dough
Ingredients: 2 cups water 2 cups milk4 ½ tsp. (2 packets) active dry yeast 3 tbsp. agave 4 cups whole wheat flour 5 cups whole wheat bread flour 2 cup rolled oats (not instant) ½ cup olive oil 2 tbsp. salt
Directions: Combine half of the milk and water in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 45 seconds or until very warm (not more than 115ºF). Pour this into the bowl of a stand mixer (or mixing bowl) and add half of the yeast and agave. Stir to combine and let rest for 10 minutes or until foamy. Add half of the flours, oats, olive oil and salt to the bowl and mix/stir to combine. Once the ingredients are incorporated, mix at Speed 2 on your stand mixer for 6 minutes. If kneading by hand, dump ingredients out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (about 15 minutes). Oil a large bowl for the dough to rise in. Place the dough into the bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside. Repeat the previous instructions with the remaining ingredients. Once the second batch of dough is completed, add it to the first, and shape the dough into a tight ball. Roll the dough quickly in the oiled bowl so that all sides are slicked. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and then with a towel. Place the dough in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Gently press down on the dough to release some of the gases. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into three pieces. On a lightly floured board shape one piece of dough into a roughly 8×6 inch rectangle. Tightly roll the rectangle into a long cylinder, tucking the ends in as you go. Seal the cylinder along its base so that no seams are visible. Set the cylinder aside and repeat this step with the remaining two pieces of dough. To bake immediately: Place each piece of dough into its own oiled loaf pan. Cover the pan(s) loosely with plastic wrap and a towel. Set the pan(s) aside to let the dough rise for about 45 minutes. The dough should be more or less the shape of the finished loaf. Proceed to baking instructions. To freeze for future use: Place each piece of dough into its own large, resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag and place it in the freezer. The dough can be frozen for 2-3 months. Remove the dough from the freezer and thaw in a well-buttered loaf pan, then proceed to baking instructions. Baking Instructions: Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. The bread is done when dark brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, or has reached an internal temperature of 190ºF. Cool on wire racks and enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the Whole Wheat Oat Bread recipe.

I woke up to the snow…

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I woke up to the snow, but didn’t really give it much attention (other than groaning at the delay of Spring) until I tried to step outside for a quick jaunt to visit “the ladies” to gather some eggs. I say that I “tried” to step outside since at first I couldn’t tell where the steps up from our basement were. The three squat steps from our basement door to the driveway had been reduced to a fluffy hill of snow, with no indication of where each individual step might be. I stood there for a moment, confused, as if trying to remember what the landscape was supposed to look like. In my defense I hadn’t had any coffee yet, and my only goal was to get the eggs quickly so that I could make breakfast in time for the gold medal men’s hockey game between Canada and Sweden.

So I girded myself, clutched my egg basket tightly, and plunged outside into what I hoped was the path to the hen house. I more or less found the stairs and with my sorely abused pink Uggs, plowed my way up the low rise. With each step my boots disappeared into the 2+ feet deep drifts, and with each step some snow made its way into my boots. Who needs coffee, a little snow inside your sockless boots will get you going in the morning. Snow hat flopping. Egg basket dangling. Balance swerving with each step into where I hoped the path to the chicken house lay. I was a picture of beauty and grace, and hopefully I was the only witness to my progress.

My poor, abused boots disappearing into the snow they were not designed to handle.

Once I retrieved the eggs, I realized that I hadn’t considered the difficulties of returning to the house through the deep snow with a basket full of eggs. Luckily both the eggs and I returned to the house unscathed, if a bit frozen around the edges. With the eggs secured for breakfast I put together a “fancy” version of Eggs-in-a-Hole. In the spirit of the gold medal game I used a maple leaf cookie cutter to cut the Canadian symbol into our toast. Little Man got the more traditional torn out hole for his toast to accommodate his Scrambled-Eggs-in-a-Hole.

A fancy version of Eggs-in-a-Hole in honor of the Canadian men’s gold medal hockey game against Sweden.

Alas my yolk broke for this picture, but in my defense my fingers were still frozen and I really wanted to get the food served so I could watch the game. Little Man’s toast was torn to accommodate the volume of his Scrambled-Eggs-in-a-Hole.

My well-intentioned ode to Canadian hockey.

After breakfast and with two gold medals in hockey for Canada we donned whatever snow-sort-of gear that we had (we are still woefully under equipped for weather) and ventured outside. The snow came up to Little Man’s hips, and he was not impressed until we got him out onto the “sort of plowed” road where he could run and move more easily.

The snow came up to Little Man’s waist, yet his dad doesn’t seem to mind.

Trucking down the “sort of plowed” road.

Hoops, anyone?

When we couldn’t take the cold anymore, we retreated back to the house. Little Man had a well deserved warm bath, and then we all were treated to steaming mugs of Auntie Erin’s Hot Cocoa. The past present to ourselves on our Big Snow Day was an afternoon nap. Bodies tired out from playing in the snow. Bellies warm and filled with cocoa. Toddler snoozing in the other room, and us sprawled gracelessly across the bed. It was heaven.

A fairytale wilderness

A Bad Heidelberg Sort of Day

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Let me begin by stating that I loved my study abroad experience in Heidelberg, Germany. It was world changing. Paradigm shifting. Everything was different for me after that. But even if amazing study abroad times, a bad day comes along now and then.

This bad day in Heidelberg was the first day where it felt like Spring. I didn’t have to wear my much-hated winter jacket. The scarf and mittens were in the hamper. Even the stone steps… ah, the stone steps… leading down from our haus were free from snow. I stepped out of the door to make my way down the hill to town where our classes were held. The air was fresh and green; invigorating. I took a deep breath of air, filling my lungs and spirit with Spring, and went skipping down the stairs. But skipping didn’t match my exuberance at being freed from that jacket. So I started ski hopping, slaloming one way and then the other down the stone steps until the last few where I didn’t see the ice. Yes… Gravity got between me and my Spring day.

I tweaked my knee that day, sliding into home down the icy stone steps with one knee bent awkwardly behind me. A few years later I would exacerbate that injury practicing tae kwon do and dislocating my patella. Now my yoga instructors all look curiously at my Warrior 2 pose as my poor knee shakes like a banshee, trying to get into and stay in correct alignment.

That is the back story for my “Bad Heidelberg Sort of Day” story. Fast forward to last week when we got a not necessarily unusual snow fall for this time of year, but one that was followed almost immediately by rain and then by freezing temperatures again. The rain melted the snow overnight, and the sun shone in a turquoise blue sky that I hadn’t seen in a long, long time. It was still cold, but not cold enough to require the much dreaded heavy winter jacket. I was, however, wearing my scarf and gloves because they are too cute to retire for the season just yet.

We were heading out the door, running just a hair late as usual, and rushing. Little Man didn’t want to walk to the car and asked to be carried. So I picked him up, opened the door, smelled the early Spring air, filled my lungs with the green smells, and glanced down at the four short wooden stairs leading from our door to the sidewalk. Something about the scent of the air, the feeling of imminent (hopefully) Spring, and the sight of the steps brought back to mind that bad day in Heidelberg. Eyes widened, arm tighter around Little Man, I moved carefully to the side of the steps and gripped the handrail, taking slow, measured, careful steps. All to no avail.

The last step was slicked with a veneer of ice, looking exactly like the rainwater that adorned the stairs before it. I stepped on the stair and suddenly found myself falling both forward and backward at the same time, trying desperately to keep Little Man from going down hard too. I almost succeeded. I hit the ground, he was set down abruptly as I then slid backwards turtle style over the other edge of the sidewalk into an ornamental garden bed, and he tipped backwards bonking his head. In the end we were both in tears, mostly from shock, but also from our bumps. Dave wasn’t sure who to comfort first or more, rightly picking up Little Man and giving boo-boo kisses where ever he could.

Once again gravity and the laws of physics had gotten between me and a nice Spring morning. It took a couple of days before Little Man was willing to let me carry him to and from the car, and it was slightly amusing to see him battle with himself over whether or not he really was tired enough to want to be carried and risk a “bad Heidelberg sort of day,” or if it was a safer bet to walk on his own.

The whole experience got me thinking about my time in Heidelberg, especially when I saw a few Facebook posts from former students reminiscing about their times in study abroad programs. I’m going to have to do a little research to see if I can’t recreate one of my favorite Heidelberg dishes… I need to replace the bad sort of day memory with a good one, and the best way to do that is through food. So keep your eyes peeled… It will be coming your way soon.

On a Frozen Pond

Chinese New Year – Nanaimo Style

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One of the fun things about our move to Canada has been learning about all the different holidays celebrated here. Like the differences between American Independence Day and Canada Day; the fact that Boxing Day has nothing to do with the sport; and holidays that are even new to the province like BC Family Day. Many of the holidays that are new to me on Vancouver Island have a decidedly British flair to them, so while I find them fun to celebrate I’m no longer surprised to find them here. I was surprised, however, when I learned that the Chinese New Year is celebrated on the island.

I have celebrated Chinese New Year in a minor way whenever I’ve taught one of my anthropology of food courses during a spring semester, but I haven’t lived in a place where it was celebrated in the community until now. Nanaimo is a city of malls, and people give directions to places in town based on which mall it is closest too. This gets a bit interesting since a number of the malls have old names and new ones that can be used interchangeably. In this case, the Nanaimo North Town Centre has an annual Chinese New Year celebration that is free to the public. Combine the words “celebration” with “free” and it is a good bet that I’ll do my best to attend; especially if there is the possibility of snacks.

Welcoming the year of the Horse at the Nanaimo North Town Centre.

The Chinese New Year celebration at Nanaimo North Town Centre (and yes, I do keep having to go back and respell “center” as “centre” since even when I focus my fingers feel like that is backwards spelling) lasted from 11am-2pm and consisted primarily of the traditional Lion Dance. I had read about this, seen versions on TV and in movies, in fact Little Man (and his parents) just learned about the Lion Dance in one of his favorite cartoons Justin Time, but I had never had the chance to view one live until this year.

One of the lion dance costumes.

The Lion Dance is iconic and highly symbolic in Chinese culture, and I know very little about its intricacies. In short, each costume is worn by two people (front and back) and there are certain moves that are always included. Around the dancing area there are generally hung pieces of lettuce (or other greens) that the lions eat and other items like oranges or red money envelopes that the lions chew on but do not consume. All of this is done to a strong drum beat. The students from a local Kung Fu studio, Hup Ging Do, practice throughout the year to perform here and at other venues.

Entrance of the lion dancers.

Unfortunately between the rapid lion dancing and the loud, reverberating drum, Little Man was not interested in staying around for long. We came, we celebrated, and we retreated to one of the stores in the mall where Little Man “bought” a birthday present for a friend (and a corresponding one for himself) of a cool Chinese style dragon complete with Warrior. I’m hoping that next year we can last a little longer at the dance, and maybe even try some of the Chinese-inspired snacks set out by the Fairway market.

Now, what I am really excited about is a hybrid event related to the Chinese New Year that I would like to attend next year. The event is called the Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Celebration. Yes, in this amazing melting pot place there is an annual event where they combine to celebrate both the new year in Chinese custom, but also the birthday of beloved Scottish poet, Robert Burns. My only sadness is that I didn’t learn about this event until it had already passed, but they had me at “haggis wontons.” From all accounts this is a fun event complete with traditional Chinese celebrations and highland dancers. I can only imagine how great this would be and I can’t wait until next year!

A Sick Snow Day

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This week dawned bright and sparkly on a few inches of unexpected (at least to us) snow. These were the sights that greeted me when I stumbled out of the house on Monday morning with an old cardboard box to gather wood from our shed for the day’s fire. I’d forgotten to tuck my pants legs into my sorely misused Uggs, and would have wet, cold ankles for a bit once I got back inside, but the beautiful pink light from the morning sun coming over the dusted pines made me forget about that. The farmer’s dog hadn’t been let out yet, so our snow was still pristine, without dog footprints or other offerings.

Snow-frosted fencing curled up around the border of our back yard. Just waiting for Spring so the garden beds and “real” fencing can be put in place.

Unfortunately this was not just a snow day, but a sick day with our toddler totally knocked out with the flu. It was almost with tears that we had to turn away the farmer’s daughter when she came to see if Little Man would like to go sledding. He, of course, said “yes!” through a fit of fevered coughing, and almost succeeded in rolling off the couch towards the door. We’ll have more chances for sledding later, once he’s fit as a fiddle again.

A view of our little summer “gazebo” bench, and the lone Canadian flag windsock. A nice punch of color for our white and black landscape.

In the meantime, when Little Man did have enough energy to roll off the couch he decided he wanted to “decorate the floor.” He’s done smaller versions of this on the dining room and living room tables, but nothing quite to this extent before. If anyone had the audacity to walk into the living room while he was working, they were greeted with a firmly outstretched toddler hand and a croaky “don’t step on my cars!” warning. We’ll get back to practicing kind words later, but on this sick day we let the mini-artist have a bit more leeway as he looped and swirled his cars and other precious toys around the rug.

Little Man’s rug “decoration.”

All in all, it was one of the best sick snow days I’ve had… especially since it wasn’t me being sick. Now that we’re in February, we enter the anxious waiting period for Spring. I know I can’t expect it to come too soon, but I keep waiting and plotting the things I want to plant in the garden this year. Little Man has already requested that we plant carrots for his stuffed fox and Cheezies for his stuffed bear. For some reason I think we’ll be more successful with one than the other. I’m just trying to figure out something else we can plant that will get him excited to eat things from the garden, even if it won’t produce artificially cheese-flavored snack chips like he hopes.

Birthday Party Food for Kiddos… and Their Very Patient Parents

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We are still relative newbies to the world of children’s birthday parties, and the terror that can be instilled in the heart of a parent when s/he sees a precious child return from a friend’s party with a goodie bag so chock full of candy that it rivals Halloween. I cannot speak to how other people’s children act (well… actually I could, but that isn’t polite) when hopped up on that level of sugar and pizza-party junk food, but I can attest to how my lovely, precocious little boy turns into a whirlwind of high pitched cackles and rule breaking that I can only describe as temporary insanity for all involved. As fellow parents, shouldn’t we want to set our own children, as well as their friends and parents, up for success?

I’m not suggesting that all birthday party food must be reduced to carrots and hummus (although that would be tasty!), but we can create amazing birthdays while still feeding people well… and inexpensively. The food that I include here isn’t necessarily healthy. This is celebration food, not something that you would include in your diet or eat on a daily basis. Nor is it filled with preservatives or the nearly obscene amounts of sugar found in processed foods. These are all dishes that can be made a couple days (or more) in advance so that the day of the party can be spent enjoying the birthday boy or girl, not panicking over the stove (I’ve been there too). So let’s have a party, and not feel sick to our stomachs by the end of the feast.

The foods and drink that I am posting here are actually the same recipes that we’ve used for all of Little Man’s birthday parties so far and many of the recipes are not my own. For those dishes I’ve included the links to the original sites, so all you have to do is click on the dish’s highlighted name and a window will open with that recipe from its original site. It’s unlike me to recycle exact menus like this for recurring celebrations, but we’re still finding our way in how to throw great kid parties. I wanted recipes that I knew would turn out great, that could be done in advance, and that wouldn’t break our bank account or my spirit to prepare. I might break out and try something different next year, but then again if it isn’t broken…

So here’s the menu:

Rainbow Fruit Platter
Jungle Juice Punch
Amazing Mac n Cheese
Zebra Cake
Snacks and Goodie Bags

Rainbow Fruit Platter

Rainbow Fruit Platter served on a rectangular bamboo cutting board.

One of the most commonly re-pinned items from my Pintrest boards is this Rainbow Fruit Platter. The original site I pinned it from does not exist any more, but similar images have popped up across the internet. I don’t know what it is about this simple dish (maybe the avoidance of the tasteless cantaloupe and honeydew melon that so often “graces” fruit plates), but every time I serve this at a child’s party it gets eaten up faster than anything else. For best results, use fresh fruit. It seems silly to state this for a fruit platter, but having lived in places where during the winter months you sit back and watch the price of fresh produce skyrocket it can be tempting to go for frozen. To put it mildly, the texture would be a bummer. It doesn’t matter what shape platter you use for this, I’ve used both rectangular (above) and circular (below). Just be sure to give enough room for each color arc to be well represented.

Rainbow Fruit Platter (and Pooh Bear) at the party in 2012.

Rainbow Fruit Platter (and Pooh Bear) served on a circular metal platter.

You can use any combination of your favorite fruits, but here are the ones that I keep coming back to both for their great colors and taste.

Rainbow Fruit Platter

Ingredients

Red: Sliced Strawberries and fresh Raspberries

Orange: Mandarin Oranges, peeled and divided into segments

Yellow: Pineapple, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

Green: Green Grapes, halved

Blue/Indigo: Blueberries and/or Blackberries

Directions:

Find a large serving platter and set it near your work station. Depending on the platter’s material, you may want to cover it with plastic wrap before putting the fruit down.
Prepare the different fruits and set them aside in individual bowls.
Begin with the red (and largest) arc of your rainbow, and arrange the strawberries on the platter.
Then fill in each succeeding arc with your chosen fruit. You may need to adjust the size of your arcs as you go.
Add the most delicate fruits, like the raspberries and blackberries (if using) last.
Once the platter is complete, roll up a small paper towel and place it in the void between the blueberries or blackberries to preserve the arc’s shape.
Cover the platter loosely with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until the party. You can do this the night before, but I don’t suggest doing this too early since the texture of the cut fruit can get mushy.

Click here for a printable version of the Rainbow Fruit Platter recipe.

Jungle Juice Punch

Finding a drink that is both suitable for kids and enjoyed by adults can be tricky at parties. For my part, I don’t allow Little Man to drink pop (or soda for those south of the border) or any of those popular punches made out of flavor packets that are little more than sugar and food coloring. Instead I use one of the iced tea and fruit juice-based punches published by Giada De Laurentis on the Food Network website. For kid-based parties my favorite is Giada’s Apple Mint Punch, which I call “Jungle Juice” for the parties because of its golden green color. I make a double or triple batch and serve it in a large bee-hive shaped glass beverage carafe. In Giada’s recipe she makes simple syrup with fresh mint as the sweetener. It pains me to pay for fresh mint in the store (especially in winter), so I often use dried mint. If you use dried herbs, just use half the quantity that the recipe specifies. Dried herbs are much stronger than the fresh, so you don’t need quite as much. If you are making this when your garden or local farmers market is full of fresh herbs, use whatever mixture of herbs you like best. My favorite version of this was actually from last summer when my mint had been severely hacked back in a fit of mojito making, so instead I used fresh basil and tarragon. The punch was delicious!

Amazing Mac n Cheese

Since Little Man still takes naps, I like to have his parties in the morning so that things are breaking up right around the time for him (and his friends) to settle down for nap time. That means that I want the kiddos and their parents to have something good for lunch, so that they have energy to play, none of us are feeling sick from too much junk food, and the kids can leave feeling happy not completely pooped and grouchy from sugar crash. My favorite dish for this is an amazing Mac n Cheese from the Pioneer Woman (aka Ree Drummond) also on Food Network. I make a double batch of this in the morning, pile it into my largest lasagna pan and set it aside until I’m just about ready to serve lunch. Then I top it liberally with grated, sharp cheddar cheese and broil the top until its melted and golden brown. I’ve also made this the night before and reheated it for a party the next day. Just be sure to give yourself ample time to rewarm the casserole in the oven, and hold off on adding the cheesy topping until you are just about ready to serve. Every time I serve this I have parents’ asking me for the recipe. Now you have it!

Zebra Cake

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the cake, but if you want to see the cool, zebra-print pattern check out the link that follows with the cake’s name. The first time I can across Zebra Cake was from the DIY Queen website. The original post consists just of cool pictures of the process, but I found a number of other sites where the process is described in greater detail. Check out Fae’s Twist & Tango for a great example with detailed explanation of the steps and sample cake recipes. It’s astoundingly simple, and gravity does much of the work for you. Simply choose your favorite white cake and chocolate cake recipes (or box mixes) and prepare the batters. The batters need to be of pourable consistency, so if they are too thick you might need to thin them out a little. Then you start by pouring a small scoop (about 1/3 of a cup) of the white batter in the middle of your prepared (butter and parchment paper) cake pan. Then add a similarly sized scoop of the chocolate batter, and repeat. Try to save the last scoop for the chocolate batter. With each scoop, gravity will slowly push the other rings out towards the edges of the pan. Then bake, cool and decorate as you would like. Little Man’s party was animal-themed (hence the cake I chose), so we used a delicious chocolate frosting, simple candles, and a ring of non-toxic plastic animals for decoration. Once the candles were blown out each child (birthday boy first) got to choose an animal to add to their goodie bag.

Snacks and Goodie Bags

Beyond the Rainbow Fruit Platter and the Mac n Cheese, I like to keep the rest of the offerings simple. For this birthday, Little Man’s sole request for food at his party was for Cheezies, a Canadian cheese-puff that is similar to the American Cheetos. One word of advice, don’t start a discussion with a Canadian about which brand is better. They are very passionate about their Cheezies… So to honor Little Man’s one birthday request, and to celebrate our new Canadian home, a good sized bowl of Cheezies appeared next to the Mac n Cheese casserole at his party.

Little Man’s sole request for food at his party was Cheezies.

The Goodie Bags for Little Man’s party were relatively simple in that there wasn’t a ton of stuff, and we tried to keep sugar to a minimum. Each child got a small bag (gotta love the dollar stores) with their name in puffy paint. Inside each bag was an animal foam magnate kit to do at home another time. Then we’d also gotten animal-themed stickers and handed those out after the kids did a great dance party. Each child also got a handmade animal mask (see next week’s post for more information on those), and two stacks of miniature homemade cookies (Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin). We wanted the bags to be fun and special, but not filled with candy or expensive to make/buy. They were also fun for me to work on over the week prior to Little Man’s Party.

A tray filled with the Goodie Bags and things to go in them.

On the whole, I think the party was a success. For the next week Little Man kept asking to have his friends over for another dance party. The streamers finally came down, and now we’re settling in to these new adventures with a little boy who is one more year older. It’s fun to day dream about the new adventures we’ll have together over this next year… and what he’ll want for his next birthday party.

A Changing Landscape

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Things have changed for us, here on the island. Where we moved from, the heartland of the States, the land is flat, and that is a generous statement. The first time I landed in the Great Plains, it was disorientingly flat. The vista was so extensive it felt like you could see the curvature of the Earth on the horizon, like you could simply tip off the planet. I grew to see the beauty of the fields of corn stretching as far as the eye could see, but mountains and ocean always felt like home to me. Then when we first moved to Vancouver Island with its immense forests and at least suggestions of mountains, driving along the highways felt like the trees were arching inward over our heads. You could only see as far as the clear cut highway would let you, vistas shut off by trees at every curve of the road. It was stunning, but after the vastness of the plains the forests of the island gave a slightly claustrophobic feel.

A little Little Man on a farm in the prairie.

But like I said, things have changed. I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but the other day as I was driving down the highway I noticed that it felt different; more open. The trees stretched straight up to the skies and made you want to stand up taller, like you too could touch the sky. Where before they felt constricting, now they felt like life, like wanting to fill your lungs to bursting with fresh air. More like home.

Out for a walk

Now we just need to be able to start putting names to the new faces of our landscapes. Like the name of the hills/mountains that we live in. Learn more about why/how the nearby lake was drained for the mining industry. Figure out the names of the trees new to us on our walks. We’ve learned Arbutus, the Eucalyptus looking tree in the above picture, but that’s the extent of our botany. It’s fun to think that as Little Man expands his vocabulary at an alarming rate, we too are expanding our homeland vocabulary and learning how to speak from/about “home.”

Remember the moai from one of the first posts? Here’s the long promised picture.

The Sheep Are Out…

I'm a mom, an anthropologist, and a food lover finding her way on a small farm on Vancouver Island

Category Archives: Canada

Embracing the Snow

My 50th – ish Post

Stocking the Pantry 2: The Bread Edition

I woke up to the snow…

A Bad Heidelberg Sort of Day

On a Frozen Pond

Chinese New Year – Nanaimo Style

A Sick Snow Day

Birthday Party Food for Kiddos… and Their Very Patient Parents

A Changing Landscape

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