On Tuesday I promised I would write about the Parenting Teens course/workshop series I have been taking since November. When I saw the sheet advertising it: HELP! I Have Teens!, I thought, Hey, maybe this is just what I need. I do nothing in the evenings but laundry, chauffer, cook, clean, supervise homework and fights, grocery shop and work, why shouldn’t I take a course too? And forget belly dancing or yoga, I write the Mom Blog, so so I’ll give my all for research!

I can’t spill everything I learned there, because it’s not what you learn, it’s how you put it into practice. I will now give an example of parenting I’m proud of (more…)

Mochi is a Japanese confection made from a sweet glutinous rice. Traditionally, mochi is made by pounding steamed glutinous rice in a large wooden mortar, called the usu, with a wooden mallet called the kine. Mochi-tsuki is the Japanese name for the traditional ceremony of pounding the steamed glutinous rice. It turns into a dense sticky mound that is shaped and steamed, fried or grilled. The mochi is shaped into a small, round cakes and eaten with roasted soy bean flour, sweet red bean paste, soy sauce dip, or seaweed. Sometimes the mochi is made into ice cream.

Mochi is a traditionally eaten for New Year’s food in Japan. I came across this great video of the ceremony, thought it was cool and decided to share. (more…)

We’re hosting a forum starting on Friday, February 1st, where you are welcome to come and discuss what you would say in a letter to your body. We’ll also be discussing (more…)

It’s Wednesday, and time for a spin on Works for Me Wednesday, a blog carnival hosted by Shannon at Rocksinmydryer.typepad.com. After you’ve read what works for me and left a comment if you like, click through to Shannon’s blog, and you can read “what works for” other blog writers and readers.

TAKING NOTES IN THE CAR
Gone are the days of fumbling in my purse, (more…)

At the gala Friday night the dairy board was sampling cheese to go along with the wine selections. Everything I had was good but the Bleubry was fantastic, I had to refill my glass of Cabernet to savour with this cheese. It is made in Quebec by Saputo. It is a soft cows milk cheese, a bit like a cambozola and very flavourful. It is a blue-veined cheese but it is not overly strong tasting and has a beautiful creamy texture.

Pick it up if you see it – it is delicious. Just don’t forget to pick up your favourite red to go along! (more…)

I know the only reason you are reading this is because you’ve been gasping for the review of the Veggie Tales movie. Well this flick separates me from the kids (I knew something, somewhere, someday, would do this). Seven-year-old Luka and his buddy not only loved this movie, they want to go back again! Last night I must have heard pleadings and wheedlings to that effect 20 times. In the theatre, sitting again in the second row due to the gazillion kids and parent seeing this movie at 5 to 5 on a Sunday night—I assumed people would be eating Sunday dinner—so apparently did a lot of other people—the two little guys sat on the edge of their seats, did not ask for popcorn or pop or candy, laughed their heads off and had a great time. I went spare watching the veggie characters swordfight with no arms (because vegetables don’t have arms!), bounce EVERYWHERE (because vegetables don’t have legs!) and wonder (more…)

I recently have had two run-ins with Peking Duck; out for dim sum last weekend and at the Ice Wine Gala Friday night. Peking Duck is one of those things that when it is just ok you think what is all of the fuss about, but when it is good it is absolutely sublime. That was the case Friday night. They had the best peking Duck I have ever had. The skin was crispy, the duck juicy and the pancakes slightly chewy and made by hand. If you have never had Peking Duck, it is a whole dusk that has been marinated and barbequed Chinese style to have succulent juicy meat and crispy skin. It is served thinly sliced with fresh cucumber, finely sliced green onions and hoisin sauce rolled up in very thin, crepe like pancakes that have been steamed. (more…)

There are two ways to get to the kitchen from the stairs in my house. Take a hard right, and it’s down the hall directly into the kitchen. Take a soft right, and it’s through the living room, dining room (neither of which are really either) and then the kitchen. This morning, because I have loads of stuff to do, I took the circuitous route, stumbling over ice skates and boxes of Christmas decorations (see Friday’s Weekend To Do list, below), stopping first at the computer to call up my email and get going on that Work To Do list. On my screen is this: How to Fry Bacon. A small black cloud begins to form over my head. I cleaned the kitchen last night, stove and all. No dirty pots, pans, dishes, glasses. I haven’t had a dishwasher since August so the washing of dishes has taken on new importance. The small dark cloud is not too dense because I’m proud to see the resourcefulness of the computer user, and there is no proof that this wasn’t part of a school project or aimless computer surfing. I continue my walk through to the living room where the small dark cloud (more…)

Here are some pictures from the gala event in Niagara Friday night; the kick off for the Niagara Ice Wine Festival. We had some good wine and fantastic food. We were greeted with an ice wine martini that packed a real punch. The Niagara wineries were out en masse with more than just ice wine selections. Highlights included Reif Estate’s excellent 2004 Meritage, Flat Rock’s delicious 2004 Pinot Noir and an interesting Shiraz ice wine by Konzelmann.

Here are more yummy food shots from the event. (more…)

Back in 10 BC (BC=Before Children), the weekend yawned ahead from dinner hour on Friday until the latest I could sleep on Monday morning. Some weekends I holed up with chocolate milk, cheese balls (like cheesies, or the all-Canadian Cheezies, with the Z in the name, or Cheetos, from Frito-Lay, the company that I can credit with making me the girl I am today—and the maker of Flat Earth chips, one of THE BEST NEW SNACK THINGS ON THE MARKET:
—on The View two days ago Flat Earth gave product to all the members of the studio audience, sure, but I’m in my house, so once again, in the wrong place at the wrong time!!!—but in perfect bite-sized balls (which I have tried without luck to find, as recently as yesterday. But I did find some cheese balls on “the crunchiest blog on the interweb” and its companion website, which claim to have reviewed 3,772 snacks so far. Mmmm. I wonder if they’re hiring?), and back to the point of this sentence, all the newspapers and magazines I could carry and read. Or I’d clean. Or just hang out with boyfriend/husband and maybe friends.

Now weekends are different.

I have to cram in EVERYTHING. For four people.

This weekend’s list:
1. put remaining Christmas decorations in boxes and label
2. put Christmas boxes in garage
3. make room in garage for boxes
4. reorganize garage
5. finish work project
6. get halfway through new project from work
7. make two hot breakfasts
8. make two balanced dinners
9. teach Luka how to skate (”you want me to go to skating at school? You want me to fall and tear my knees? and BLEED???”)
10. take Luka and buddy to see The Pirates Who do Absolutely Nothing Nada Zip
11. call mum
12. call sister (which one you ask?? maybe both!)
13. do laundry
14. take kids to dance, shopping, friend’s party, another friend’s party
15. clean bunny cage
16. seriously revisit the Chore Chart and see why I am the only one with happy face stickers (I lie. Luka has a few, Graydon 1, Tessa 1)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Have a great weekend. See you Monday.