iron craft 5

Be mine.

That was the challenge this week: to make a valentine. A card, a plushie, a sweet treat... anything. So I'm going to show you the beginnings of what I'm making for my sweetie for Valentine's day. (Ray, if you see this, please at least try to pretend to be surprised.)

This is page one of several. And that's all I'm going to say for now.

Burns' Night

We celebrated Burns' Night this evening with the traditional Scottish meal... haggis with neeps-and-tatties. There was a green salad thrown in as a nod to good nutrition, but tonight was all about the meat (so-called) and starch.

Mmmmm, yum!

I know, I know. The idea of haggis is very off-putting to many. But really, the notion that some parts of animals aren't fit for eating is a fairly new one.

Our grandparents lived through the Depression years, where waste simply wasn't an option. My parents were immigrants, and couldn't afford to be picky.

Even I, a farm-raised girl of the 70s/80s learned the necessity of not wasting food of any kind.

We ate hearts, gizzards, livers... although I believe my mom drew the line at kidneys. Even chicken-foot soup showed up semi-regularly at our house.

Anyhow... I don't know quite where that little rant came from... this evening we ate haggis. And it was really really good!!

But the piece de resistance of our little meal was dessert. Naturally.

This is Cranachan.

It's kind of an unpronounceable name. Lots of hissing and spitting in the back of your throat. Most Scottish words are like that. Kind of like German.

But I digress. Again.

Sorry.

Cranachan is a heavenly mixture of toasted oats, honey (heather honey, if you can get it) raspberries, and whipped cream.

It's not a diet dessert.

But you should make some and eat it. You won't regret it.

And it's easy, too. You almost don't need a recipe. But I'll try to make one up anyhow. I based mine roughly on several that I found online, and it was amazing.

So here goes:

You'll need:

• 2 oz oatmeal (pinhead if you're in the UK and can get it... I just ran regular rolled oats through the food processor til they were not-quite-flour-sized.) 2 oz, for those who don't have a scale, works out to about 1/2 cup.
• 2 cups cream
• 1 tsp vanilla (or 2 Tbsp whiskey if you're not serving it to children)
• 2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) raspberries
• up to 1/2 cup honey

Prepare the components:

• Spread oats thinly on a cookie sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven til they're lightly browned and fragrant. Allow to cool before assembling the cranachan.
• Whip the cream with the vanilla (or whiskey) till thickened. Set aside.
• Mash raspberries til they're chunky. Stir in a dollop of honey.

To assemble:

• Spread 1/3 of the cream on the bottom of the serving dish.
• Sprinkle with 1/3 of the toasted oats
• Drizzle with a bit of honey
• Dollop 1/2 of the raspberries on top
• repeat the layers (cream/oats/honey/raspberries)
• Spread with remaining cream
• Use a knife to slice through the layers and marble them lightly. Don't mix too much. Level the cream mixture nicely in the bowl.
• Sprinkle with the remaining oats, and drizzle with some more honey.
• Cover and refrigerate for 1 - 4 hours.

So there you have it. Eat it. Enjoy.

38 days

Seriously.


There are only thirty-eight days til Christmas. Excuse me for a moment while I run around in circles and tear my hair out.

Okay. Deeeeep breath.
I'm back.

By this time last year, I had a stack of presents already made.
This year I still don't even have a list.

But I'm still committed to making it a mostly-homemade holiday. Am I crazy?

Well, let's just pretend not.

How about I start with an advent calendar?
Here's some links to tutorials that I found.

• a recycled paper-bag box calendar 
• a matchbox drawer calendar
• a little container calendar
• a paper bag village calendar
• a craft stick tree calendar
• a tree quilt calendar
• an indescribably gorgeous artsy calendar
• a paper forest calendar
• a spool calendar
• a scrap-book-y tin calendar
• a recycle-bin calendar
• a button-y tree calendar
• a paper cone calendar
• another magnet tin calendar
• a toilet paper roll and sheet music calendar

 Now to choose which one to make. Aren't they all so gorgeous??

just saying...

Port, cherry and cranberry sauce

adapted from the Gluten-Free Girl, who adapted it from Cooking Light, Nov 2005

1 cup of agave syrup
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of port
1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice
1/2 cup of dried cherries
1 bag of fresh, organic cranberries (12 oz?)
1 teaspoon of grated orange rind
1 small capful of vanilla extract

Put the first four ingredients into a medium-sized saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring, on high heat. Add the cherries and boil for one minute.

Pour in the cranberries and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for ten minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in orange rind and vanilla.

Pour into a container, cool, and refrigerate overnight.

Makes approximately 2 cups.

And it's sooooo good. You owe it to yourself to make some. I'm just sayin'.

making memories

Life with teenagers can sometimes be challenging. Seriously.

After an intensely difficult week, culminating with an extremely unpleasant day, it seemed to me that it would be a good idea to create a happy time.

So, in spite of the fact that attitudes were not good, and chores were not completed, and because the weather was spectacularly pleasant (25+C/80-ishF, with a clear blue sky), we went on a wee ramble through the woods.

Well, it kind of was a bit too much for Ellie, who is 5 and doesn't like steep hills... but she did just fine with a little help from her brother and dad.

 We clambered straight down the mountainside from a logging road, down to the lake. The path was barely marked, and there were downed trees across it in places.

But we made it down without falling too many times, and the lake at the bottom was simply lovely.

We had our snacks and water, and threw lots of stones in the lake, and then made the trek straight back up the mountainside. As we drove away, we saw a bear cub rambling through the trees.

And, strangely enough, now that we're back home, attitudes have changed. Everybody is more relaxed. Life feels a bit better.

sister weekend

I went away last weekend, sans kids and husband, with my sisters. I think it's the first time we've ever done that... but it won't be the last. At least, not if I have anything to say about it!

We took the ferry across from the mainland to Vancouver Island and spent the afternoon in Victoria. I'd have happily spent a whole week there. What a pretty city! Of course, we were blessed with perfect weather, too, which didn't hurt.

And, oh, the cherry blossoms!!!

We had lunch at Rebar, of course. Ever since we were made aware of their cookbook, it's been a favourite. I've made so many things from it, and they've all been spectacularly wonderful.


The rest of the weekend was spent with our cousins up-island. We visited the farmer's market, and walked around town, and went to the beach, and had an all-round wonderful time visiting and catching up on old family stories.




I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would've liked to, and the only one of the three of us that really turned out only included half of my sisters' faces...
good thing they know that I really do love them, hey?

Happy Valentine's Day

This is our 24th Valentine's Day together.

That seems like such a long time...

...and yet somehow it's gone so fast.

I love him so much.

Road trip

Well, I've made it through the first full week of January without actually accomplishing anything. Many thoughts have percolated through my head. I'm contemplating what seems to be the newest New Year's trend - the word-of-the-year. I haven't yet found the word that I want to encapsulate what I want in my life. They all seem incomplete. I will keep pondering.

I took a wee overnight road trip with the husband this week. He had to head up-country to do some work, and I tagged along for fun. The drive up was simply gorgeous. I miss living in snow country.

I got to see the smallest house in the whole world...













... and I got my first-ever letter from Ellie:

"Mom, can you please not forget me."

One down!

I finished the first christmas present for this year's gifting!!!

Obviously, I'm not going to divulge what it is, or for whom. You're welcome to make guesses though...