book worm

I'm so thrilled to say that Lulu is now reading independantly.
Actually she's been able to read for a while now, but these days she's reached a whole new level.
I often find her quietly reading chapter books on her own.
Currently she is totally into Ivy & Bean.
She loves these books and I have to say, that even I find them to be very cute and funny.
Perfect for 6-8 year old girls.
I love hearing her laugh out loud while turning the pages.
Even better, is watching her read to her friends (especially ones that are a bit younger than her.)
It melts my heart to see her reading them stories.
I couldn't be more proud.
I'm glad to know that all those stories that Big Daddy & I read to her every day were not in vain.

As far as my reading goes these days, unfortunately I'm currently in a bit of a book slump.
Nothing that I've read or am reading, I'm loving.
Currently I'm reading The Hungry Ghosts By Anne Berry.
Kind of having a hard time getting into this, but I've been told it's good, so I'm going to soldier on.
Also on my summer reading list is
A Visit From The Goon Squad- Jennifer Egan
Amaryllis in Blueberry- Christina Meldrum
The Story Of A Marriage- Andrew Sean Greer
A Field Of Darkness- Cornelia Read
I'm going to revisit The Catcher In The Rye-J.D Salinger as well.
I recently finished reading How I live Now- Meg Rosoff and A Mountain Of Crumbs- Elena Gorokhova
Both of which I didn't love and forced myself to finish for a book club.
But maybe it was just me?
I also got half way through We Had It So Good- Linda Grant, which unfortunately I also had a hard time getting into.
So basically three duds in a row.
Hopefully some of the books on my summer reading list will be good ones.

How about you, what are you reading these days?

cool as a cucumber

I love all the fresh summer produce available at this time of year.
That being said, I can't say I love spending too much time in the kitchen in July.
A. I would much rather be outside enjoying the weather.
or
B. If the weather proves to be unbearably hot (like it has been for the past couple of weeks) the last thing I want to do is turn on the stove or oven.
And you can only eat so much BBQ.
So my solution to this, is this amazingly simple, yet totally deliciously refreshing cold cucumber & avocado soup.
Usually I'm not a huge fan of cold soups aside from a good gazpacho.
But trust me this one's a keeper.
I've been making it for a few years now and it seems to taste better and better with each spoonful.
Bonus that's it's so good for you too.

Cold Cucumber & Avocado Soup

Ingredients

1 English cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
2 avocados, pitted and peeled
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice + the zest of one lime
1 minced small jalapeno chile (seeds and ribs removed for less heat, if desired)
1/3 cup sliced scallions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
12 medium shrimp (about 6 ounces), peeled and deveined or cooked frozen
Directions

In a blender, combine half the cucumber and 1 avocado with the yogurt, lime juice, jalapeno, scallions, 1 tablespoon cilantro, 1 cup ice water, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Puree until completely smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.

Cut remaining avocado into 1/4-inch cubes. Stir avocado and remaining cucumber into soup. Thin with 1/2 to 1 cup ice water, as desired. Season again with salt and pepper. Chill, about 1 hour.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook shrimp, turning once, until opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish with shrimp and remaining tablespoon cilantro.
If you want you can also use cooked frozen shrimp, which I did this time around.
Even less cooking involved.
It would be nice with the grilled shrimp on a skewer placed on top of the bowl as well.

Enjoy and stay cool..

a good start

I love a good breakfast, and I love it even more when Lulu has a good breakfast.
They don't call it the most important meal of the day for nothing.
We aren't really big cereal eaters around here (aside from late night emotional eating..I mean snacking)
and Lulu isn't really a fan of oatmeal.
I have oatmeal several times a week, she really is missing out on this, but hopefully with time she will love it too.
Ditto with my morning smoothies.
I don't like to give her toast too often because lunch is often a sandwich or soup & toast.
And the past few weeks she has decided that she is over eggs.
Not sure what's up with that, since she never seemed to have a problem with them in the past, but I never like to force the issue.
So with dwindling options, every couple of weeks I make a big batch of these delicious & nutritious pancakes and freeze them.
They are packed with goodness and are super easy to make.
I can use up left over buttermilk (why do they not sell smaller containers of the stuff?)
They are super economical.
And best of all, she loves them.

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

2 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ or ground flax
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
Chocolate chips (optional) or blueberries

Combine buttermilk and rolled oats in a small bowl; let rest for 20 to 30 minutes to soften oats. Stir all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg, egg whites and 1 teaspoon oil in a separate bowl. Add the oat mixture and the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
Lightly brush a large nonstick skillet with a little of the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and heat over medium. Not too hot otherwise they will burn. Using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, pour batter onto the skillet and cook until the underside is browned and the bubbles on top remain open, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the pancakes over and cook until the underside is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Bonus that I'm able to sneak Oats and ground Flax in there.
Oh and make sure to separate each pancake with a small square of waxed paper or parchment to prevent them sticking together.
Enjoy!

ghost town

I feel old saying this, but times sure have changed since I was a youngster.
Okay maybe I'm laying it on a bit thick.
"Since I was a kid".

Summer holidays growing up meant staying in my P.J's watching Captain Kangaroo & The Price Is Right while eating bowls of puffed rice with 4 tablespoons of white sugar until my mom told us to get dressed and go outside for some fresh air.
Back then the air was actually fresh.
I would probably then hop on my red & white Banana seat bike and find some sort of an an adventure with my neighbourhood friends.
Unsupervised.
Gasp! Imagine that?
Maybe it was hanging out by the creek in the woods.
(I was so lucky to grow up surrounded by a conservation area.)
Collecting frogs or making clay sculptures.
The creek had gray clay in certain parts.
We would often have clay fights- a bit Lord of the Flies, but super fun.
This sounds very Leave It To Beaver, but I spent hours skipping stones into that creek.

Every summer we would try our hand at building a fort, tree house or a go-cart.
I loved doing stuff like that.
Or some days were spent just playing on the swings in the backyard, jumping through the sprinkler, having water balloon fights or just hanging out and doing nothing.
Life was so simple back then.
The only caveate was that I always had to head home when the street lights turned on.
Of course we never strayed too far from home and would periodically check back in to be fed and watered.
We really had so much freedom.

In those early years, I didn't go to camp or have organized play-dates.
I'm not even sure that the word "play-date" existed back then.
My dad would take two weeks off every summer and we would go on a road trip somewhere fun.
But other than that, we would stick close to home and just enjoy summer in a small town.
Oh sure, we got bored sometimes, but that's part of being a kid.
Or should I say a luxury of being a kid.
Boredom breeds curiosity and imagination in my opinion.
At least at the age of 6.
I'm sure its a different story when you hit the adolecent years.
Boredom in small town= getting into trouble.
But that's another post.

These days I feel like I have to plan activities for every day of the summer for Lulu.
Not that I really want to, it's just that it seems as though our entire neighbourhood, a.k.a Lauren's play-mates, have either gone away for the summer to the cottage or are booked into camps all summer long.
Sure, I have her signed up for 2 weeks of camp in July.
Those 2 weeks can't come fast enough let me tell you..
Silly me thought this year we would try things old school and just take the first couple weeks of summer to wing it.
Not sure if that was the best plan of action.
I'm already getting the whiny "I'm Bored" & "I'm lonely"
The kid really knows how to pull on my heart strings.
But I don't get that, as I have tried to line up some sort of activity every single day so far.
She's had several play dates, we've gone to the park, splash pads, had a camp fire, gone to the toy store & book store for a few treats to play with, done crafts not to mention I've been trying my best to play with her as much as possible.
And grocery shopping & running errands counts as fun too right?
I wish I could just tell her to go outside and play, but we live in a big city on a relatively busy street, not to mention all the construction going on.
It's barely safe to play on the front lawn as there are giant holes dug up by the city to replace all the gas lines.
Good times.
But even if the construction wasn't going on, I still wouldn't let her play in the front yard unsupervised.
The world just isn't the same.
I do feel bad that she is lonely and for the first time in 6 years there is a tiny part of me that feels bad that we didn't have a second child.
I keep telling myself that this is her reality, and as sad as it can be sometimes, that's life.

I really wanted to try to revert back to "old times" and try to keep things simple this summer.
Like the way things were for me growing up.
Because I'd like to think I had a pretty awesome childhood.
I just want Lulu to have the same kind of happiness and fun that I did growing up.
Because G-d forbid she gets bored and is forced to use her imagination..

Our Home & Native Land

Woke up this morning without any plans and on a whim decided to go to a baseball game.
Lucky for us there were seats available and the weather was spectacular.
So that's what we did.





Bonus that we live 10 minutes from the Sky Dome.
Even better, we had no problem finding parking or with traffic & crowds.
Lulu loved all the pre-game activities outside the stadium.
Big Daddy & I enjoyed the cold beer, hot dogs & fresh peanuts.
Why is it that hot dogs taste that much better in a ball park?



The game was a close one (even though the Jays lost to Philly 7-6 boo...) but we had so much fun.
Going to a Blue Jays game wasn't officially on my summer to-do list, but I'm so glad we went.
We really have to do things like this more often.
Being spontaneous made it an even better experience.
It was one of the best Canada Day's that I can remember.



Those of us born in Canada often take for granted the physical beauty of this country and the amazing freedom we enjoy.
So happy 144th birthday Canada!
I'm very proud to call you my home.

Summer to do List

Every summer, sometime around August, I kind of go into panic mode realizing that it's half way over and I haven't done all the fun things that I love to do.
This year I am making a list and am going to do my best to do at least half of what's on it.
Even better if I manage to do it all.
So here it is- my summer wish list for 2011.

1. Have a campfire and make s'mores. A bit of an obvious one- but definitely top of our must do's.
2. Have a picnic in a park with a group of friends. Re: 2 posts ago.
3. check out a few farmers markets. ie. Riverdale, Dufferin Grove, Brickworks and the Distillery.
4. Make pickles & peach jam. see above.
5. go canoeing.
6. go for a walk after dinner with Lulu and get ice cream. who am I kidding? we already do this frequently.
7. mini golfing
8. check out Art in The Park at Nathan Phillips.
9. Canada's Wonderland. Lulu's never been and I promised.
10. Marine Land. see above
11. collect bugs with Lulu and identify them.
12. day trip to my old home town and show Lulu where her momma used to sneak beer in the woods...err I mean where I went to church.
13. have a few of lulu's friends over for a ice cream make your own sundae party.
14. Visit my parents in Niagara On the Lake and bring our bikes to cycle the amazing bike paths.
15. Check out some Shaw Theatre. see above
16. have a pretend camp out in a tent in the back yard.
17. lie back and watch the clouds go by.
18. go to Sugar beach and then have a cold beer on the new patio in the Corus building.
19. go cherry picking
20. book babysitters and go out on the town with big daddy
21. have sex more often. see above.
22. did I actually just write that?
23. watch some fireworks. see above too. I wish...;
24. possible road trip to NYC to see Uncle P and the cousins
25. help Lulu keep a summer journal.
26. play badminton in a park
27. teach Lulu how to ride a bike without training wheels
28. stay fit and work out
29. go to a movie on a really hot day
30. have a puppet show
31. play cards
32. work on my "summer cook book"
33. go swimming often
34. make homemade lemonade
35. do lots of crafts with Lulu
36. read great books
37. keep getting lulu to read to me every day
38. have friends over for a BBQ.
39. take my mom for a special lunch
40. take a mini vacay- maybe Taboo or something up North.
41. Check out some music festivals in the city.
42. work on a few creative shoots with big daddy.
43. Blog more frequently.
44. go on a nature hike.
45. organize my music & make some great playlists.
46. have a home spa day with Lulu- cucumbers on the eyes and all.
47. sit on the front porch and watch the sun go down. (if the construction on our street is finished before the summer is over)
48. cat call and whistle at the construction workers on my street. hey if they can do it, so can I.
49. feed some baby ducks...oops already did that. see above photo.

and last but not least..

50. savour every minute of it because before I know it will be over.

at last

Well summer finally arrived yesterday.
Though it has been summer-ish weather for a while now, at least now it's official.
I'm really looking forward to the end of school and having fun in the sun with my little barnacle.
Yes I said barnacle.
The girl has been stuck to me like glue these past few days.
Nothing really that new there actually, she follows me around from room to room like a little puppy most of the time.
Especially the second I go to the bathroom.
I thought they were supposed to out grow this.
What's up with that?
She is constantly chattering in my ear.
Never wanting to watch T.V.
G-d forbid.
Am I the only parent on the planet that begs their child to just watch a little bit of television each day?
Please? Pretty please?
Or to just hang out by herself and play.
Definitely one of the draw backs of having an only child.
No one to play with other than me.
I get that, and am doing my best (most days) to be sympathetic to this.
It's a constant struggle to remind myself that I should embrace this and that before I know it, she will want nothing to do with me.
Though I hope this never happens.
With the exception of when I'm in the bathroom.

I have a bunch of far more interesting things going on at the moment, and I just got my computer back after almost a week.
Oh how I missed you my sweet apple.
Hopefully I'll get the chance this summer to write about something other than just my little shadow.
speaking of which.

"Yes sweetie I'll be right there to play camping with you"
"sure I'll check and see if we have marshmallows"
At least it's not barbies.

sigh...

the bigger picnic

I love cycling through the city parks with Lulu & Big daddy on the weekends.

But somehow after passing by all the picnics in our local park, I always end up feeling so melancholy.

The park is filled with huge groups of people and families having so much fun.
And by the aromas wafting through the air, enjoying so much delicious smelling food as well.
I'm not just talking hot dogs & hamburgers either.
These are by and large "new Canadians" cooking a multitude of flavours from around the world.
There has been many a time when I have wanted to just walk up and ask them what they are cooking.

I love that you see all the generations together spending time together as a family.
Young, old and even the teenagers don't seem to mind hanging out with all the relatives on a Sunday afternoon in the park.
Everyone looks like they are having such a great time.
Nothing fancy or styled out- just good food,family and friends.
And how cool is it that Toronto is so amazingly culturally diverse?
I saw huge families from all over the globe, just hanging out, and enjoying our beautiful green spaces.
Toronto does have so many lush park spaces- we are very fortunate.

So why do I feel so blue when we ride past these make shift park parties?
I guess you could say I'm a bit envious.
I wish we had a huge family (that wasn't neurotic) and that all lived in the same city (country) and loved to spend time together.
I wish I had several generations to help out with the kid(s) when they are (were) babies.
and more importantly, I wish I had all those delicious smelling recipes!


That being said, I do have two first cousins that live here in the city.
One of them is married with a 2 year old and the other just got married last summer.
We get along just fine, but for some reason we are not close.
We didn't grow up together and I guess our families all just do their own things.
I wish it was different, but what can you do?
Maybe I should make more of an effort to try to coordinate a picnic of our own this summer.
Someone has to make the first move, maybe it should be me.

But for now it's just Lulu, Big daddy & I.
I suppose I have to just be grateful for our little family of three.
Or maybe one of these days I'll muster up enough courage and walk over to one of those groups and ask them what exactly is on their grill?
Best case scenario- they ask us to join the party.

lighten up

Spontaneity is really under rated.
I am sad to say that around these parts, it happens far too infrequently.
We tend to plan things in advance and rarely veer from the "schedule."
But summer is here, and it is short and it really needs to be embraced.


I am happy to report that lately I'm trying to change my control freak ways and just go with the flow.
Last week I think we were out every single night and Lulu stayed up several nights way past her usual 8 o'clock bedtime.
And you know what?
Everything was just fine.
No melt downs or any real attitude changes.
We had last minute BBq's- nothing fancy, no Martha Stewartesque recipes.
Just some frozen burgers, president's choice ribs and bagged coleslaw.
And surprise surprise, it was delicious.
Another night we were stopping by a neighbour's lemonade stand and it turned into a bit of a backyard pool party.
The kids were having so much fun (grown ups too) that we just let them play until it got dark out.
No harm done (minus my mild hangover from too many glasses of wine)

My point is we have all winter to deal with schedules, being on time, rushing from one thing to another.
I need to just remember to have fun this summer, not sorry so much about plans and goals and ultimately not be so up-tight.
Because if I'm completely honest, I do have a tendency to be a wee bit wound up when it comes to the daily grind.
Lulu is at an age now where she can cope if she's a bit tired.
If things don't go as planned each day, who cares?
Life is short and summer is even shorter.

be in the moment

The other day Lulu & I were walking hand in hand down the street, and bunch of teenage girls walked past us.
Of course they were all wearing the ubiquitous SHORT shorts, tank tops with bra straps showing, long straightened hair, flip flops or moccasins, talking extra loud about who knows what and all in their own little teenage bubble.
shudder...

I wistfully said to Lulu "one day you won't want to hold my hand in public and maybe you won't even want to hang out with me all the time...sniff sniff..."
She then said to me
"awe mommy, don't worry about tomorrow, just think about today and enjoy every minute of me while I'm six"
"besides, I would never wear shorts that short!"
not only is she profound, she's a mind reader as well.