Tuesday 31 March 2015

The End of Hockey Season


Hockey season came to an end this past weekend.  


Well, sort of.


There's still some school hockey on the schedule.


And one more tournament.


Two weeks after that, try-outs start for next season.


But their regular season has ended.  Each playoff round was tougher than the one before.


They finished the season at the top of their division, undefeated in three tournaments, and finally, regional champions.



So proud of and thankful for these boys.  They provided us with a season filled with the very best entertainment. 



Tuesday 24 March 2015

Sugar Bush


The sap is running.


Which means maple syrup.


It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.



That's a lot of trees that need tapping.





This sugar bush has approx. 6000 taps on 80 acres.  They hope to produce 1000 gallons of maple syrup this season.





Wednesday 18 March 2015

Embracing Routine, and Braised Cabbage


Instagram lately.


Airing out stinky hockey equipment.
Swedish meatballs at IKEA.
A quick trip to Muskoka, where there's still plenty of snow.
Our kitchen, turned into a barbeque assembly area.
Wii, rediscovered.
Food.
Hockey.

I'm grateful that we made the time for a quick road trip last weekend.  Things have been so routine around here, and although I try to appreciate all of the moments that make up our everyday lives, I desperately needed a changed of scenery.




We celebrated another hockey tournament championship.

Number one son decided to make a birthday cake for his girlfriend.  The recipe he chose wasn't a simple one, and a two hour education followed.


Lessons learned:

Unhusked hazelnuts do NOT have the husk removed.  
Hazelnuts are also known as filberts.  
Husks are not easily removed with a vegetable peeler.  
Toasting nuts removes most of the husks with minimal effort.
Hazelnut paste is not Nutella.
Heavy cream is whipping cream, not the table cream I use in my coffee.
The toothpick will never come out completely clean.
Icing a cake with mousse is a pain in the a**.
Mom needs a new stand mixer.

We ate Irish food in honour of St. Patrick.  The kids thought the corned beef tasted like ham, so the ham-haters in the house weren't impressed.  I've never made this before, so I just used the pre-seasoned, packaged brisket from the grocery store.  Next time I think I'll try making a more authentic one from scratch.

Surprisingly, the braised cabbage was a hit.  Until now, I had never even so much as bought a cabbage, unless you count the pre-shredded coleslaw mix.  Growing up, I couldn't stand it.  If cabbage rolls or sauerkraut appeared on my plate, you could bet I'd be at the table for a very long time trying to find ways to avoid eating.  I didn't much like the smell while I was slicing it, but once it started to simmer the smell was amazing.  One of the kids thought it tasted like onion rings.

I will be making this again.


Braised Cabbage

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons bacon fat
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
One half of large head of cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 bottle beer
Red pepper flakes, optional

Directions:

In a large pan, melt butter and bacon fat. Add the onion, bay leaf, and cabbage, stirring to mix. Add the beer, season with salt and pepper, and cover. Braise until the cabbage has wilted, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf, sprinkle with red pepper flakes (optional) and serve immediately.





Wednesday 11 March 2015

Same old, same old


It seems to be my standard response these days.  How's things?  Same old, same old.

Same old weather.  

Same old job.

Same old hockey.  Honestly I love it, but I'm ready for a break from the rink.

Same old packed lunches.

Same old dinners. "Ugh...all we eat is chicken"

Same old laundry.



Number one son and his girlfriend went to Mexico for their reading week holiday, and they had a wonderful trip.  I think that's what I need.  Sunshine and sandy beaches.  


I've been reading:


And discovering:


How to add protein and healthy fat to our smoothies, because we use our blender for smoothies almost every day.

Amazing sculptures, made with recycled farm equipment.

Italian Meatloaf, another recipe to add to 'must try' pile.

March 14 is pi day.  This video demonstrates the pythagorean theory in a really cool way.

Did you know that apple seeds are poisonous?  Along with a few other fruit seeds, yikes.

And, how much sleep do you really need?  Surprise, surprise...I'm not getting enough.






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