a hippie with a minivan

Ginger trick…

My good friend Gen shared this trick with me last time I was over at her house and I had to share it too…

If you like cooking with Ginger, you know how annoying it can be to grate. It becomes a bit of a pulp which you need to scrape from the grater, leaves behind fibrous strands that are annoying to clean and make a bit of a mess when grating. You also have to peel it before using…

but…

if you store your ginger in the freezer, not only will it last longer but it also gets rid of all the above.

Simply take the ginger out of the freezer, grate the amount you need and that is it… no peeling, no fibrous strands, no pulp that you have to scrape off… just ginger snow that falls into your dish perfectly with no mess…

Try it! it really works!

Sewing with Ottobre…

I have been trying to sew more these last few weeks…

I made the gdiaper, a few training pants and then last week I found some great knit material and decided to sew a few things from a pattern. Of course, as usual, like cooking, I ending up using the pattern as a guideline and adding my own details or mix and matching things together…

I have been getting Ottobre magazine for a while now. Last year I cancelled my subscription but I still have many patterns to work with… maybe I’ll renew again soon though now that I have a girl to sew for 🙂

Ottobre is an amazing Finnish magazine (available in many languages) that comes 4 times a year for the children’s issues. It has pictures modelling the clothing and then in the middle has the full-size patterns and instructions. The patterns are a bit daunting when you look at them but once you get over the initial shock it is pretty easy to work with.

Each article of clothing is assigned a colour on a certain page. You find the colour on the page and then you find the number of the pattern piece. After that you just need to trace the right size. Some people use tracing paper but I found that the easiest way is taking pieces of plastic sheeting and tracing with permanent marker, then I just write the details on the pattern pieces and cut them out. Not only do I find it easier to use, but the pieces also don’t wrinkle or tear…

Here are two things I have made in the last few days…

(long sleeve jumper)

Short Sleeve shirt (I have added a bit of elastic to the sleeve since I look the pic)

I also made this little dress, upcycled from a onesie… (Onesie’s and EC don’t go well together)… I just cut off the bottom and added the skirt and waist…It is really girly but looks very comfortable…

New stroller…

Last week I bought a new (well, new to me) stroller.

We do already have a stroller but because we don’t really use strollers, especially in the first year, it is not a stroller that fits younger babies… but with the upcoming trip I thought that it might come in useful, if not to carry her, to carry my bag and other stuff that I will have… It will also provide a place for me to put her down for whatever reason.

I was about to buy a new stroller, but then decided that a used better quality stroller would be better and I am so happy with my decision.

I decided on a Bebecar. A stroller that bought new runs around 650$… I got it used, in great condition for 200$. For small babies, it can be made into a bassinet rear facing and when they get older the are forward facing and can go from laying down to upright completely. The wheels are big and air filled so it can go everywhere and it also has great suspension…

The day after I bought it I took her for a walk, I put the sheep skin that she sleeps on in it and just a blanket on top of her and she loved it and slept most of the way… it is also been great in the sewing room while I sew.

Vanilla bean buttercream frosting…

I love Vanilla but I always seem to make chocolate icing to go with our favourite Black Magic cake… Two nights ago though I got a craving and I needed to make Chocolate cake with vanilla icing…

I looked for a recipe and found one that had great comments, followed the directions and it didn’t turn out well at all.. the butter separated and the texture was grainy and oily and unappetizing… so I went back to my tried and true chocolate buttercream icing but to omit the cocoa and make Vanilla the star… OMG… it was perfect!!

1/2 cup butter
about 3 cups icing sugar, (sifted)
1/3 – 1/2 cup cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
seeds of one vanilla bean

cream the butter until fluffy and then add the sifted icing sugar, cream and vanilla… start with 1/3 cup of cream but you might need more for a thinner frosting… beat with mixer for at least 2 min until light a fluffy…

This makes enough for the inside and out of a two layer cake…

This brought the black Magic cake to another dimension… I think I am going to call this combination “Oreo cake”

You know you want a bite… right?

Nervous and excited…

Today is Monday, and I am leaving next Monday… I can’t believe that I am leaving in just a week…

Though I am excited and looking forward to travelling, seeing new sights, seeing Annie and getting out of the house, I am also very nervous about leaving the family, leaving the kids.

I just haven’t been away from them for so long before and Khéna is still so young. I keep going back and forth of thinking that I am doing something that will be great, that will break the routine a bit, and I know that it is a now or never situation….but then I start thinking that maybe it is a mistake.

But if I don’t go, I know that I would regret it.

Simon won’t have this much time off again and even if he does take three weeks of vacation from work I wouldn’t take that time to leave, Vacation time is family time and we can’t afford all of us leaving either… so if I want to go for a small trip, I need to take advantage of this situation.

As for being 3 weeks away from the boys, they will be their dad. For the last 7 weeks now he has been taking the role of primary parent while I devote most of my time to Willa and he is an amazing dad… they are used to going to him first when they need something at this moment, and when I think of how they were when we were in BC when we were alone for three weeks after Simon had gone back to home, I know that they are going to be perfectly fine. They missed their dad, yes, but it wasn’t a big deal at all and for the older two, it will most likely be the same. Khéna on the other hand will miss me more, I know that. Simon has things planned though, so he will be keeping busy and we have preparing him since the tickets have been bought, it is just the time period that he doesn’t grasp yet. though I worry, I know deep down that he will be fine.

I think most of the nervousness that I feel now though is that I will not be at home in my space for three weeks and that I am actually doing it. I am doing something for myself alone (well I will be with Wilhelmina but at this moment I just consider her an extension of myself, like when I was pregnant but with a bit more baggage).

But I am doing something more than going shopping, or going to see a friend for the day. I am getting on a plane and going to spend three weeks at my best friend’s house 5117 km away from home (according to Google). If Simon wouldn’t have mentioned it, I would have never even thought of it as a possibility.. . and now it is not just a dream, or idea, but I am actually doing it…