save with jamie - crispy pork tacos

Since Clea's arrival we've somehow not skipped a beat with continuing to prepare home cooked dinners. We've dove into our freezer stash on a couple hectic occasions, but cooking our simple favourite Everyday Food staples has been pretty manageable. Now I feel ready to tackle some new recipes. This past Christmas I received several cookbooks I'm really excited to dive into. The first book which seems to have got me really excited is Jamie Oliver's Save with Jamie.

The idea behind this book is to prepare a large meat staple on, say, the weekend and then carry over the excess into one (or several) meals later that week. We already tend to eat on this trend as I'm constantly building dinners off a ham or rotisserie chicken. I find this way of cooking is, as the book's title indicates, a very thrifty way to eat and can really simplify dinner prep. After flipping through this book my initial impression is that pretty much every single recipe sounds delicious and seems relatively simple to prepare. Having said that, we'll need to give this book a test-run to see if this is in fact the case.

Every January grocery stores advertise pork shoulders and legs at a reduced price. And every year we make pulled pork from an entire shoulder and freeze portions which we eat all year. This time around we purchased a pork shoulder to test several recipes from Save with Jamie. To start we slow cooked the pork shoulder in a Cajun rub with Worcestershire sauce on low for 8 hours. Once cooked we used the meat in several recipes, one of which was Crispy Pork Tacos.

The idea behind this recipe is to season the leftover pork, cook the black beans into a simple refried bean, prepare a pickled red onion & green pepper and fill with fresh lettuce and sour cream. It's been years since I've had a hard cooked taco shell, so this recipe really was a novelty and the first time Owen tried this type of taco. Although there were quite a few different steps in this recipe, the entire meal was crazy simple and super quick. Blink and it's done! But the kicker was how delicious it turned out with such minimal effort. All I had to do was enjoy them and all the praise. A big hit with the boys. This recipe totally transformed this pork into something unpredictable and delicious.

past year in music

I'm not quite the indie music aficionado I used to be, but then again the indie music scene isn't what it used to be. It's different and so am I - but I believe we still cross paths and meet in some really happy places. Here is a list of albums from this past year I really enjoyed.

1. Wild Nothing - Empty Estate
Nothing ground breaking nor their best work, but this EP is short, varied and energetic. It makes me want to move so I find it's great to run to.

2. Deerhunter - Monomania
Still sounding the same as their previous releases which is nothing but a good thing. They are noisy, strange and interesting in all the right ways.

3. My Bloody Valentine - MBV
My favourite band throughout the high school years finally releases their follow up to 1991's Loveless. Picking up where they left off decades ago this album can only be listened to loudly though your stereo or with headphones and with your undivided attention. This album was set up for disaster decades ago and could have gone very wrong. I think we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief as this is a fantastic album.

4. Arcade Fire - Reflector
You just don't get bigger than Arcade Fire! I still marvel at their career releasing Funeral on Merge Records, seeing them in a basement club in Hamilton and then excitedly watch everyone else discover what we loved about them, then launch the band to monster concert venues and inflated ticket prices. With every album since they bring it and this album is no exception. It's an easy listen and is a shining example of an album as a complete experience. 

 

5. Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth

Couldn't let a year pass without including a Captured Track release. I'm kicking myself for missing them not only once, but twice this year when they toured and stopped in Buffalo. Music like this makes me feel young and reminds me of similar garage recorded bands like the Aisler's Set in aesthetic, but are actually more akin to Joy Division.  

 

6. Pure Bathing Culture - Moon Tides
My only decent new music discovery this year, Pure Bathing Culture create music similar to 90's dreampop we love such as Lush or the Cocteau Twins.

7. Camera Obscura -  Desire Lines
Another Camera Obscura release sounding just like all their previous releases. And can we possibly complain? They are everything we want them to be and magical when at their best. Their music is heartfelt, genuine and sounds effortless. It always feels so good to listen to albums like this straight through.
8. The Pastels - Slow Summits
Another band I worshiped in high school release new material in 2013. This one was a surprise and only discovered when a video for Check My Heart appeared on the Wedge. They are a fun & sweet listen and Stephen is still adorable in his 50's with his signature shaggy blonde hair.

9. Sigur Ros - Kveikur
Beautiful and haunting. Just bought this for Nuno's birthday in December so it's still very new to me. But after several listens it's the perfect soundtrack to the winter.

 

10. At the moment I can't seem to recall any other noteworthy albums. I did revisit some oldies I never really enjoyed when I first listened decades ago. Namely Pavement's Wowee Zowee and Brighten The Corners. I had gotten over them by those later releases and never gave those albums a fair chance. What a mistake! They are gold. I was also just a few months late with Allo Darlin's - Europe. Simply loved that release all this year as well. 

Any album recommendations out there? Let me know what you loved!

due in five days

We'll be at 40 weeks this coming Saturday December 14th which is our baby's official due date. Not that I expect to have this baby right on her due date but we'd be more than happy to welcome her on time. I went into labour with Owen at 5am the day after his due date and was so pleased with the timing because he was 'officially due' on Friday the 13th which seemed even just a little unnerving for someone as logical & scientific-minded as myself. The funny thing is, this coming Friday also falls on the 13th, and our baby is due exactly four years and one month after Owen. But the OB has no plans of inducing me early since the baby is doing well and I'm reasonably comfortable. He said if it comes down to it and an induction is necessary we can expect a "Christmas baby". Now, myself, I'm born December 23rd, so I know all about being born before the holidays. I'm thinking I'd like this baby to be more on time than late. But as long as she arrives healthy and happy I don't think we could ask for any greater gift.

We had our official last date night before the baby to Nuno's work Christmas party this past Saturday. Because we were dressed up, Nuno snapped a 39 weeks photo after the party. We somehow never take the time to get photos when we are looking our best, I always regret it after the fact. I'm wearing a black party dress from RW & Co. that I've been wearing ever since the first trimester to weddings and events. It's not a maternity item but loose fitting so it's crazy comfortable and with the sheer draped fabric down the front it's so super-flattering for an expectant mom.
We came home from the office party with a prize of a Keurig Platinum. Not sure if anyone reading this has one of these machines. It wasn't high on my wish list until our Cuisinart Coffee Maker broke 2 weeks ago. Since then we've been using our single cup cone filter. But even after only a couple days I've been really enjoying this machine. I like the option of having the My K-cup reusable filter so I can continue to grind my favourite beans for my morning coffee.

2 weeks to go

Well, as of yesterday we are 2 weeks from our due date. You'd think I'd have posted "we're close to the finish line" by now, but the end sure has crept up on me. Not to say we're not ready to bring this baby into the world. More like, there are still a million things to do which would be ideally done before she arrives. I'm thinking the most pressing issue is to get my bags packed. We will be delivering in a brand new hospital and after taking a tour I'm really looking forward to the big day. We're also attempting to figure out details of how Owen will continue along to school while dealing with the prospect of Nuno not being able to take much time off. And did I mention I'm working up till the day before my due date? I might have to rethink that one.
Things (as far as comfort) have changed drastically since my 35 week post of desperation. The discomfort I was dealing with subsided after only a few days. I think I needed to learn that this is a time to stay off my feet and put the heels away. I'm feeling great and this baby feels quite huge managing to kick parts of my body I didn't know existed.

Anyhow, one photo to share with you all now at 38 weeks. We're entering the not so flattering/freak show size territory of pregnancy here. But I was pretty excited to get a chance to wear this grey knit sweater dress I bought for a couple bucks at Target 5 years ago. It was always too big, but now that I'm big, it fits! I promise, I'll do one more photo and update one week before my due date if I don't go sooner.
And one last thing, this post marks my 1,000th! It feels like quite a blog landmark pressing 'publish' today. Thanks for reading and sticking with me.

making sculpted cakes

Since our first sculpted cake (for my 30th birthday party), we’ve come a long way and have learned a whole lot. All the credit needs to go to Nuno who can take anything his imagination comes up with and bring it to life. I’ve also discovered a couple cake recipes that hold up to stacking, sculpting and resist crumbling when coated. 

Now we have Owen helping us. He helped a whole lot with his birthday cake this year in particular by baking all the cakes with me (5 for the ground and 4 for Michelangelo’s head). When baking together I have Owen add all the measured ingredients calling them by name with each addition and then stirring. This time around I added an extra task for him - he got to turn the stand-up mixer on and change the speeds. Boy, was he ever thrilled!

And who could forget licking the bowl and spatula? That’s a very important job as well.

For Owen’s Ninja Turtle cake we had two different cakes. The sewer was 2 layers of vegan chocolate cake with the centre cut out. The brickwork border were broken graham crackers covered in a layer of melted modeling chocolate set over crumpled parchment paper (to give a uneven texture). The idea worked out pretty well and tasted pretty good.

Mikey’s head was 4 layers of 8” Versatile Vanilla Cake.

This was one of Nuno’s easier sculpting jobs because the general shape just needed to be cut away from the cake tower.

One thing that has made cakes a lot easier is to have some non-edible elements. This helps by saving time because sculpted elements made from foam can be made weeks in advance. Last year Owen’s Rex cake had a long tail that was made of foam and then covered with fondant.

This year Nuno made the sewer plate was sculpted from a foam disc. It was then painted and the underside (which actually touched the cake) was covered in paraffin wax to keep it safe for everyone. The really great thing about having these elements means Owen gets a keepsake from his cake to play with. This is important to Nuno because he also hand made his birthday candles but had to abandon that effort. Wiser choice for sure!

Although at times in the past things get a little hairy with these cakes, problems and issues are now down to a minimum. And the cakes are coming together quicker and with more ease. Best of all they are making for memorable birthdays for our kids.

owen's 4th teenage mutant ninja turtle birthday party

This Sunday Owen celebrated his fourth birthday party and asked the theme be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.


It’s really funny when your kids are interested in some of the same toys and cartoons you grew up with. Case in point being Ninja Turtles.
 
My husband was a huge fan as a kid so it didn’t take much arm twisting to have him get on board with this theme.

Nuno came up with an idea on how to make the cake and we all loved how it turned out! (my next blog entry will detail the cake construction). 

Owen’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all came down to celebrate with us and what a blast it was!

Nuno came up with an idea of how to turn our punch container into a lemonade dispensing Mutagen Tank.

Yes, Owen LOVES lemonade, but no surprise because he actually sucks on lemons and claims to love the flavour.

Many of the elements of this party glowed. The mutagen splatters on both table cloths were Martha Stewart’s Glow-In-The-Dark paint and the interior of the Lemonade Mutagen Tank glowed (courtesy of glow sticks adhered to the top of the tank).

I baked the platter of cookies with the recipe for soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies from Martha Stewart’s Cookies book but with mini M&M’s substituted for chocolate chips.

Being in the last month of pregnancy and holding events (as I learned with hosting Thanksgiving at the exact same time in my pregnancy with Owen) can be exhausting, so this was the year of scaling back. The main way we scaled back was to not make as many handmade decorations and ordering in food. What Ninja Turtle party would be complete without pizza?

We also ordered Dim Sum from Asian Legends. It really made such a difference. I think we’ll end up doing this from now on simply because the cake construction is a huge undertaking in itself.

This really looks like a junk food & sweets overloaded party, doesn’t it? We make exceptions for special occasions in our family. But there were a few healthy options including a veggie tray and fruit skewers on watermelon turtle shells.

We had a Michelangelo piñata smash for the kids which was wild, luckily no one got hurt. And after being showered in taffy and lollypops from the piñata we had cake!

Hopefully the sight of a mutilated Michelangelo didn’t scar any of the kids for life. Thanks to our families for sharing in Owen's special day.

35 weeks pregnant daily pics

It's time for another week of daily pics. And we're getting bigger by the week here folks. Now, something unexpected happened in the middle of the week this week, the baby dropped into my pelvis. Anyone who's been pregnant before awaits this time because it means the baby's head is getting into place for birth and you can suddenly breathe again - ah! As great as this turn of events was bringing us one step closer to meeting our girl, it also brought uncomfortable nights sleep and well, to be honest, a lot of pain. I'm feeling a lot of pressure in my lower back and pain down my legs. I can't seem to even lift one leg at a time and by the end of the day I need assistance walking. So, I'm looking forward to seeing the obstetrician next week and finding out if this should be of any concern or at the very least if there is a possible plan for relief that doesn't mean having to wait 5 weeks (or more) until after delivery.

Monday - my semi-sheer Micheal Jackson glove top!

Tuesday - navy tube dress - love these!

Wednesday - peplum shirt is cute and flattering with jeans

Thursday - grey tube dress

Smiling extra big because it's Friday!

Everything I wore this week was about comfort. I'm decidedly packing away all the heels now which is unfortunate because I was wearing heels up until the day before Owen was born. I guess you can't expect to have the same sort of pregnancy you had when you were younger.

I'm also trying something new starting this week, Raspberry Leaf Tea. I heard about it on The Social (love this show!) last week and I guess it helps strengthen your uterus to make your contractions more effective. I really like the idea behind this if it in fact works. One issue I ran into when in labour with Owen was that my contractions weren't effective enough and they needed to place me on a pitocin drip. If I can somehow help speed things up when it's time that's a great bonus, right?

Halloween Thor-sday

How was everyone Halloween last Thursday? Spooky? Soaking? Laced with Sugar? Ours was all the above. We started Halloween with Owen finally deciding on a costume. I’m thinking we might have taken the fun out of dressing up by having a tickle trunk filled with costumes for play year round. So Owen kept changing his mind from Willie the Giant, to a Clown, to a Swamp Creature, to Super Mario and finally to Thor!

The weekend before the holiday Owen attended his first kids Halloween dance party at the Niagara Artist’s Company which he enjoyed. Then on the day his school had a costume parade and party. I was shocked at the amount of loot he came home with from school alone! Not only were the school parents generous, a co-worker of mine organized a little desk-to-desk trick or treat for him after school.


When it came time for the evening neighbourhood trick-or-treat the kid was almost out of his mind from the sugar and exhaustion of the day. Eventually as he saw the kids coming to the door he got raring to get out and get ‘em.

I couldn’t let a pregnant Halloween dress-up opportunity pass by. When several of my coworkers told me they were dressing up to the office I quickly put together this 50’s Housewife Costume. Unfortunately heels this high don’t work this far along in pregnancy. By the end of the day I was aching and had to opt to hand out candy instead of joining Owen on his trek through the neighbourhood.

At least I got to see all the adorable kids in costume and enjoy our pumpkin sitting on the porch.

33 weeks pregnant daily pics

This past week marks 33 and I managed to get a daily pic again! Still mostly regular clothes with a few maternity items. Monday's grey jeans are not maternity, but every other day are a mix of ASOS leggings and Tuesday, Thursday & Friday are H&M mama maternity pants (definitely the most comfortable and flattering maternity pants). All tops are my regular clothes.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

I find that wearing tube dresses makes that baby belly POP! On Thursday I was shopping in Zehrs and I had a lady come over and tell me how she "just loves how this generation of girls are willing to let the baby hang out! Have fun and enjoy it." Kinda weird, but I'm thinking it's a good message. It's not very long any of us who choose to have children can walk around with round tummies, it's worth it to make the most of it especially if we're feeling good. 

We had an ultrasound not too long ago and the baby is developing right on target. I'm having lots of movement which Owen enjoys feeling. He's also snuggling and speaking to the baby in the evenings cuddling on the couch. Not a day goes by where Owen doesn't take the opportunity to blow raspberries on my tummy. He's got one great little attitude about the baby, we couldn't really ask for a more agreeable kid.