2010 – Page 8 – a hippie with a minivan

We have a winner!

On Sunday, the phone rang and the caller ID left me a bit confused.. I wondered who would be calling me from a Grocery store up North in St-Jean-de-Matha…

I answered the phone and the person asked for me and then said that Colin had won the colouring contest they had! The last time my mom had taken the boys they had picked up some colouring sheets at the grocery store, went home to colour them and brought them back the next day to enter in the contest…

Colin was so happy to have won! the two others were a tiny bit jealous…

They said that I could go pick up the prize at any time, so I decided to head out there yesterday and then head out to my mom’s new house that she rented for the winter.

So I packed everyone in to the car and headed to the ferry…

There are times that I look in the rearview mirror and am surprised to see that the minivan is so full…

Though I often miss the mountains of BC, I do have to admit that the Quebec countryside can be quite beautiful also… Yesterday was one of those perfect November days. Cool, at just 5C but the sun keeps you warm when you are outside… The sky was a brilliant blue with just a few clouds at the horizon…

We headed to the grocery store first…We got to the desk and the woman there gave Colin his prize and then took a picture of him…

Colin was so proud of his new monkey and blanket…

We then headed to my mom’s new rental house… it is in a great quiet location and is the perfect size for her and not too far from the cabin that she stays in in the summer… The boys played around the property and my mom and I hanged out with Wilhelmina. Even though my mom doesn’t live too far, we don’t see each other often, so times like these are good for Willa to know her grandma a bit more…

I also coveted her stove while she made tea… the dials on this are so cool!

We then said bye to my mom and left just before dark to head back home to meet Simon for supper….

I just love days like these… I really need to do it more often…

Perfect ribs…

I have shared these before, but they were not in my Recipe Page and didn’t have pictures so I though that I would share them again….

When I was young, one of my favourite places to eat was the Bar-B-Barn in Montreal. I remember going with my mom or my dad on many occasions, but these always remind me of my dad. Around the time I got married, I found the recipe for Bar-B-Barn ribs on the internet, from an article in the Montreal Gazette from 1990…

I have made this over and over in the last years and they have just gotten better and better through trial and error…

I usually use two racks of ribs when I make this recipe since that is usually how they are sold. I get the small ones because I rarely can find long ribs here, but either will do.

First, line a pan with tinfoil and put the dry rub together.

2 tbsp Kosher Salt
2 tbsp Paprika
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Chili Powder
2 tbsp Garlic Powder

Lay the ribs on the pan and coat on both sides with the dry rub.

Cover with more tin foil and seal tightly around the edges…

Bake in oven at 275 for about 2 1/2 hours….

Meanwhile, make the sauce…

In a sauce pan combine…

2 c Brown Sugar
1 c Apple Sauce (homemade is great 🙂 )
1/2 c Fresh Lemon Juice (about 2 lemons)
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 ts Paprika
1/2 ts Cinnamon
1/2 ts Pepper
1/2 ts Garlic Powder

Bring to boil and let boil for about 2 min and then let cool…

(homemade apple sauce)

Take the ribs out of the oven… When they come out they should already have a great colour…

Turn the heat up on the oven to 350, baste the ribs heavily with the sauce and bake for another 45min (adding more sauce to the ribs every 10-15 min)

The ribs will have no problem being fall off the bone tender…

Sprinkle with lemon juice before serving,… it is essential 🙂

NaBloPoMo 2010

Well, it is November 1st which means that it is the start of NaBloPoMo 2010.

I debated whether to do NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) this year and decided that I would. This is the third year that I will be participating… if not for anything else then the fact that it gets me back into the habit of blogging on a regular basis. It also gives me the drive to think about posts to write, take more pics of the things I make and do so that I can share and just helps my blog continue to grow and change. Summer is so hard for blogging so it really is the time to get back on track…

If you blog and sometimes go for a long time between postings then NaBloPoMo is a great incentive to keep you blogging and get back into the habit of blogging on a regular basis! Check out the site, register your blog and start blogging… Share your link here also so that I can check your blog out also 🙂

(taken at the family cabin)

Hallow'een in Pictures…

Wilhelmina’s 1st Hallow’een…

A great spread on a friend’s table…

Anxious to go…

Traditional pic in front of our tree…

Little kitty… all bundled up on a cold Hallow’een night…

Eyes full of Wonder…

Favourite spots…

What a great Hallow’een weekend…

DIY Babywearing coat

Oversized old coat….

New Babywearing Coat 🙂

I have seen instructions online, but like many things, I like getting the idea and rolling with it my way. The main thing that I saw in other instructions was to buy a coat a size or two bigger and cut a panel out but not all the way down to the bottom.

My coat was a bit snug on me so cutting all the way down to the bottom and adding some material made it fit perfectly. It also gives more space for her growing…

So… my first step was to put Wilhelmina on my back and see where her head was… then draw a line on the coat were I thought it should be and check it in the mirror… The width of the opening was about 10 inches and then the panel extended all the way down to the bottom of the coat.

This is an important step: sew two parallel lines around the panel and cut between the lines so that the coat and stuffing and all the layers that may be in the coat remain intact.

This coat had a bottom drawstring and a waist drawstring, so that I could keep on using the drawstrings to cinch the bottom and waist, I sewed over the string at the back a few times to secure it. In the hole that the drawstring passed through in the bottom panel, I took out the cut string and replaced it with an elastic… That way there would be no air going up the back of the coat when it was done.

In the opening that was on the coat at the top I put in a double layer of a thick ribbed knit (same as with the side panels) this small panel is just to make the opening warm and comfortable for Willa… It is about two inches high (folded) and sewed in and topstiched. I stretched it a bit while sewing so it closes the opening slightly so that there are no drafts that can get in…

Now, working with just the panel itself that has been taken off the coat, I figured I needed about 4-5 inches of material on each side to make the pouch, so I cut out 4 pieces of ribbed knit, about 5 inches at the top and then tapering down to about 2 inches at the bottom. The length is a bit longer then the length of the panel (so that you can hem the bottom).

I then put 2 layers together and serged the edges, finished the bottom and lined them up with the bottom of the coat panel and sewed them to the sides of the panel and topstitched.

For the last piece (the top of the panel) I cut out another two pieces of the ribbed knit about the length of the panel + the width of the side panels… and about 5 inches high (so that it would end up about 2 inches when folded and sewed in) I serged the raw edge and then sewed it to the top of the panel, stretching it slightly as I sewed. Then I finished it by topstitching.

The last step was to sew the finished panel to the coat. Starting at the bottom, I sewed each side. The top part of course extended past the opening so I sewed it down and then folded it over and topstitched it so you could not see the rough edges.

I also added a elastic so the panel behind her neck would be more snug and again, protect from any drafts… it also helps keep her arms in the coat.

This is the finished back….

The bottom and middle drawstrings are still usable from the pouch forward. The elastic at the bottom keeps out drafts and the top pocket is all warm and soft for Wilhelmina…

I just put her on my back in the carrier of my choice, slide the coat over both of us and we will stay warm together. This will definitely last for at least two winters of growth if not more…

Not bad for a 15$ thrift store find, about a .5 m of ribbed knit and about 3 hours of interrupted planning and sewing… 🙂