I took the opportunity when the girls’ room was pretty tidy one day to take some pictures of it. They have been living under the gabled roof for a month now, but it still has that “new room” mystique.

So this room used to be our guest room. Even though our adoption has been delayed, we didn’t think it fair to the girls to delay their move upstairs. So in December we started shopping and constructing, and just before Christmas they moved in.

There are still a few things left to do – like Ena’s murals, a couple of pillows and peg boards, but you get the idea.

Some sourcing notes!! I really like using previously loved furniture, but there was a scarcity of decent bunkbeds in our area. So we bought the bunkbeds, desk and cubbies from IKEA. The chairs we ordered and received from Target last summer. Besides that, though, the rest of the furniture was repurposed or refinished. Jrock built the shelves (he’s good at shelving!) with a big lip on the side to hold animals and stuff. I refurbished and painted their dresser (not shown – it’s in the closet) as well as the desk chairs. These were antique highchairs that I sawed off and strengthened and refinished. The dolly beds I turned into bunks and stenciled the lot to match. The rug and curtains were from the old guest room.

I hope you enjoy the pictures – the girls certainly love it, and I’m so glad with the way it turned out! (The plans here.)

he he – Probably not something that our girls will remember when they grow up, but over the holidays their dad and I were there for their first brush with the law!

We went skateboarding in my office, which was closed for the holidays. We have this awesome smooth cement floor – perfect! for skateboarding. And there wasn’t anyone else in sight.

But after 1/2 hour or so of boarding and a bunch of awesome action shots, the security guard came in and gave us the boot.

We’ve been there before, and the other security guards never cared. But this one was adamant that there was a “no skateboarding” policy on the property.

As we exited the building, one of our juvenile deliquints looked up at me with wide eyes and said “was that a policeman??”

“Naw, honey,” I replied. “Just security. Police wouldn’t care.”

he he

It looks like my little turkeys are having a good time in Creston! According tot he daily reports, they went to watch a figure-skating competition, went swimming, played outside, did their homework (not really homework, just read the same book as they are missing in school,) and have done lots of colouring! I’m so glad we have such good grandparents to take such good care of my special treasures!!

We’ve had so many requests for this recipe, I hope my sister doesn’t mind me posting it. I do make a couple of small changes when I make it, so the version of the recipe below is with my slight modifications!

                Chicken pieces (flat of thighs)

                Juice of 1 lemon

                2 tsp salt

Mix in a bowl and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.

                 2 onions

                 3 cloves garlic

                 2 tbsp fresh ginger

Mix into a paste using a blender or food processor.

                  ¼ c niter kibbeh
                  (or ¼ c butter with ¼ tsp each fenugreek, basil & black pepper)

                   2 tbsp paprika

                   ¼- ½ c berbere paste or 1-2tbsp powder

                    ½-2 tsp cayenne

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the paprika, stir, and cook for 1 minute on med. Add berbere and cayenne and stir to cook 2-3 minutes. Add onion/garlic/ginger puree and sauté on medium until onion loses it’s raw smell, about 5 minutes.

                   ¼- ½ c red wine

                   3/4c stock

 Add wine and stock to taste.

Place chicken pieces in a large crockpot. Cover with sauce and stir. Cook on high for 1 hour, low 4+ hours.

                     3 tbl flour

                     2 tbl tomato paste

15 minutes before serving, take bones out of crockpot and return the chicken meat. Add 3 tbl flour to tomato paste and a little cold stock to make a roux, then stir it into the pot to thicken the sauce and add colour. Season with salt and additional berbere to taste. Let the mixture sit with the heat off for 10 minutes to thicken and settle. If desired, add 4 hard boiled eggs (peeled but whole) 10 minutes before serving.

What do we do on a winter day off? Probably one of our favourite afternoons is to go for a hike .. ok, hike is maybe an ambitous term. Walk. A walk, up and down an trail somewhere. Then, there is the manditory warm-up, with good food or good drinks.

This winter day we went up Mission Creek, beyond the city’s greenway. The dogs just had a wonderful time and we enjoyed our slippery route as well.

Then, a wonderful meal at the Woodfire Bakery, which is a must-visit when you come to Kelowna. They make hearty and delicious carnivorous German food from scratch – yum!

We ended up having three days of celebration for Ethiopian Christmas. The day after our own party we went to a friend’s house and eat and visited with our Ethiopian friends. Then on Monday we had an Ethiopian day in kindergarten, complete with stories, food and music.

Sugar and two of her older friends… she has just blossomed and now feels much more comfortable with attention from Ethiopian women. She still squirms when she gets kissed and hugged, but doesn’t hide behind my dress anymore!

A bit of a funny story… we were on our way out to the party, and the girls were decked out in some traditional Ethiopian clothes. Spice looks up at me and says “why do you get to go to the party, Mommy? You’re pink!” Notice the “you are pink” instead of “you have pink skin.” I think they are starting to develop racial contructs. Anyway, I just replied “well, because I’m with you, honey!” She sort of squished up her nose at me and then decided to take me at face value.

 The girls’ classroom event was pretty fun. I read the story of “Kaldi and the Dancing Goat” which we bought when in Ethiopia. It tells a fictional story of the discovery of coffee, and then to solve the mystery we looked at and smelled raw coffee beans and roasted coffee grounds.

We played Ethiopian music and instruments, and then the brave kids (most of them!) tried some lentils and injera. Finally, we finished with colouring sheets photocopied out of the “A is for Addis Ababa” book that my mom bought for the girls in Ethiopia. Props to the girls’ teacher, who just let us come and do our thing. We even demonstrated haggling (after a question about where we bought our clothes,) much to the delight of her students.

The girls were so proud! And it was so nice to see them showing off their culture – with positive attention form the other kids. A great experience!

Well, we ended up having a really nice Christmas – and my friend M was SO impressed by the food. Whewf! She really was surprised by the azita – which was pretty easy to cook and a refreshing contrast (it’s served cold and has jalepeno and lime flavors) to the rest of the food.

A little pre-supper dancing to Ethiopian radio…

Doro Wat was the favorite as usual… but my injera was VERY respectable. Jrock said it’s the best I’ve made yet. The only trick is that it was sticky. I asked M about this and got kind of a convoluted answer, so I’ll press her further to fin out why. But the texture was right, it had a bit of shine, lots of eyes (bubbles) and a really nice flavour. Yeah!

The injera looks small, but I have a really huge mesob (basket).

J and C and their daughters Tigger and Chuckles joined us on short notice – I figured we always get to go to Harvest Moon Festival dinners and the like, it would be nice to share with them too. So we had a big meal and the five kids played until late. And now I have leftovers for many many frozen meals.

Azita

The crockpot doro wat – always a crowd favourite.

Alesha lentils – very mild and garlic gingery – everybody likes it

Aib done by Suagr – it was a few people's favorite!

Beef tibs

Melkam Genna! Today is Ethiopian Christmas and I’m cooking up a big feast of Ethiopian dishes for supper. Usually we go to our Ethiopian friends’ house, but M is working a night shift and can’t cook, I volunteered for them to come over here. What was I thinking???

Jrock came down from the TV room to check in on the action.

“Smells like onions,” he grinned. It always smells to high heaven like onions for an Ethipian feast, since I’ve chopped 9 onions today.

“Heh – you must be a little nervous having the best Ethiopian cook we know come over and try your food!”

Thanks, honey. I was trying not to pay attention to that.

M is seriously an amazing cook – that’s one of the reason all our community celebrations are at her house. And her injera is better than most Ethiopian restaurants. Luckily, I know she isn’t judgemental and will just appreciate my effort. Still – a little nervous.

On the menu tonight – Doro Wat (Chicken Stew; Auntie Ena’s amazing recipe,) Alecha (mild yellow lentils,) Azita (lime and green pepper black lentils,) and Beef Tibs (like a beef stir-fry.) Oh, and I can’t forget – Sugar made her first batch of Aib, Ethiopian fresh cheese today, with fresh herbs. Her dish will be well received no matter what! lol but it actually is tasty too.

Wish me luck!

Poor Jrock – this year he went out and chose the Christmas tree with the girls sans moi. He was so proud when he brought it home… I knew something was amiss right away – but little did I know it would be the WORST CHRISTMAS TREE EVER.

I have no idea if it was the type of tree, or that it was harshly pruned, but that tree was so stiff and prickly. The girls and I had welts all up and down our arms decorating it.

Sugar – non too impressed with the ailing tree.

Then, even though we watered it faithfully, it stopped drinking and dried out right away. I don’t know if Jrock didn’t cut enough off, or if it sucked the water dry the first night and got an airlock – or simply if the tree hadn’t been cut fresh. But it dies right away.

By the time we got home from Christmas, you couldn’t touch it without the needles falling off. In fact, when we tried to take the ornaments off, ALL the needles came off with them! I kid you not – that miserable skeleton of a tree was all that was left to go to the tree graveyard.

Off to the tree graveyard…

Next Christmas, I pick the tree.  A nice, soft fir…..

Two nights ago we went over to our friend L and her family’s house for a winter solstice party. Being from the frosty North, I have been to many a Summer Solstice Party (can we say party all night long?) bu this was a much more family-oriented, low key affair.

The picture above was drawn by yours truly (be amazed at my talent) and coloured by Spice – it’s of the girls and I at the park looking across the lake.

Some of the kids, setting out towards the lake.

We ate soup and breads and goodies and then walked as a troupe to the lake with candle lanterns. L just lives a couple of blocks from us and it’s only another block to the lake, so it was the perfect-length winter walk with two girls.

It reminded me of caroling when I was growing up! A lost art.

When we set out, Spice found it “a bit scary” walking at night, but with lanterns and singing and Christmas lights everywhere, it warmed up her soul and both girls enjoyed it immensely!

Here’s to longer days! Yeah!!!

We’re all getting in the Christmas mood – enjoy the holiday pictures from the last few weeks!

Ok, so most people know them as rope braids. But Sugar wanted twisty braids like candy canes… so this is what she got. They are yarn extensions, with four threads of yarn in each braid to give bulk to wrap the twists around.

It turned out really well… even though my hands were SO sore from all that twisting! Let’s just hope it lasts through the holidays, since she is my “hard on hair” daughter.

I think this is one of Daddy’s favorites.

A couple of weeks ago (just around when I was getting really sick) we had friends from Alberta visit. My friend J and I went to business school together eons ago. We at first made an unlikely pair: she, a fitness buff putting her way through uni selling her cattle, and I, a environmental consultant and domestic goddess. But we grew to really appreciate and enjoy each other’s company.

J would come over to my house and run accounting and math homework with me, and I would cook for her. Back then she was an accounting whiz (I still am not) but she couldn’t cook much! lol She has the funniest story about us meeting in a math class the first day. Apparently I ran in almost late (never happens - ) and plomped down beside her wearing a big flowing scarf. I turned to her, stuck out my hand and introduced myself, and then we’ve been friends ever since. That’s the way she told it at Jrock and I’s wedding, anyway, when she was a bridesmaid.

She ended up marrying and settling down right in the same rural Albertan community she gre up in. So when her husband J(male) and J(female) came to visit, it was a little like a bit of a trip home for us. We talked cattle and farming and house-building and kids… and it reminded me why we were such good friends in the first place! And Jrock enjoyed a bit of “back home.”

I hadn’t met her youngest son and her oldest was only 2 last time I saw him. So our kids essentially met for the first time… and got along famously. I can’t wait to take my urbanite girls back to Alberta to play with her farm boys next time!

Well, J-female) emailed me after our visit and asked for my granola bar recipe, since I had shipped them off with some homemade granola bars for the trip. I have diligently not replied – until now.

I have to admit – because she reads this blog – it’s my sister’s granola bar recipe. And I’m happy to share with all of you. I make a batch pretty much every Sunday night, and have some in the oven right now. From our BC home to yours in Alberta – Happy Baking my friend! We won’t let it go that long next time.

Easy Granola Bars

MIX:
3 cups quick oats
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 cups other stuff

Other stuff can be seeds, nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips, etc. If you only use 1/2 cup chocolate, apparently it meets the “healthy schools guidelines” (whatever those are.)

Press down into a cookie sheet. Mine fill about 3/4 of the cookie sheet, and I use a sheet liner for easy removal.
Cook at 350 for 20 minutes, or until they are just a little brown at the edges.
Cut them right away, before they cool. Let them rest in place to cool. Then break apart to store and eat!

Daddy started helping out with the girls’ new room too – he’s very good at hanging shelves! So I still have a few things left to do, like sewing lining into the drapes, building posterboards, sewing a few cushions, etc. but soon the girls should be able to move in.

We noticed how many toys they have accummulated. Much of it is second hand, so it’s not that we’ve invested a lot of money or anything! But all those little trinkets and Sally Ann stuffies sure do add up.

So we made a deal – he girls would donate five stuffies to the Sally Ann, and then they could pick out a new one. Sounds crazy – but now we’re down a net 12 stuffies.

When they move upstairs, Sugar and spice are prepared, in theory, to do some more weeding. Then again, we’ll have to see when we move if they actually will put anything in the donation or “for little brother” piles! lol

When the girls helped me put the shelves together, I impressed upon them that they should never rely on a man to help them – that girls can do anthing boys can. I figure you are never too young to learn how an alland wrench works. And never too young to be empowered to use your own power tools. The power drill lessons continued upstairs.