Labour Day

What is it about Labour Day Weekend that indicates that it is the end of summer?  

Last week we were melting in 30+degree weather.  It was hot and humid and altogether uncomfortable (which makes me then question what I'm on about now).  It was summer.

Monday was Labour Day.  The last day of the holidays.  It threatened rain all day and then there was a burst of sunshine long enough for us to enjoy a barbeque and a swim.  I'd say it was the last until next summer but we're Canadian - we'd barbeque in minus 20C.

I don't go to school.  This year I even worked through most of the summer.  So why is it that Labour Day weekend triggers the same awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'm sure hundreds of thousands of children feel around the world (well, where ever they have Labour Day as the last day of summer holidays)?

The children went back to school on Tuesday.  The air was crisp and the wind sent a chill through our clothes (which were foolishly a little lighter than was called for).  Where does summer go?  Does it smell the scent of school and decide to skedaddle?  And why does 15 degrees in September feel colder than the same in March?  

Autumn, Fall, whatever you want to call it, is a beautiful season.  And I love it.  But somehow, as the possibility of sun-filled days diminishes, it fills me with desperation.   I become obsessive about making the most of each sunny day, anxious to soak it all in, savour it and bask in its warmth and glory, desperately trying to hold on to it, willing it to not disappear.     

For those of us who live our lives around the school calendar (which is all of us at some point or another), it is this day - the first day of the school year - that holds far more significance than New Year's.  It is in many ways a milestone.  It is inevitable.  As is the end of summer.  A marking of the passage of time.

The first day of school (and the end of summer) is full of new beginnings - new teachers, new friends, new experiences.  To celebrate, the leaves begin to show off with beautiful hues of red and gold before revealing the branches for what they are.  

Even endings bring the beginning of something else.

A taste of what's to come -   this particular bush on our way to school,
 turns a beautiful fuschia before succumbing to winter

The theme over at Tara's Gallery this week is "Back to School".  Just as I've been inspired by other blogs to start writing, her blog inspires me to take more pictures.

Let them eat cake - Part 1

Ok so not the most original idea for a title.  But I was so very flattered when I was asked for my delicious, fool proof cake recipes (it really doesn't take much).  Have to say I am often asked for the recipes but never by someone who hasn't tasted them is really is just going on my word (which is good but at the end of the day, is just that) and as they say, the proof really is in the pudding.  

I can't very well share the recipes without revealing their sources.  Recipes over time become our own, but really they almost always originate from somewhere else.  

The chocolate cake recipe was my aunt's - when I was growing up we would often spend our summers visiting cousins in either Kenya or Canada.  My aunt in Kenya would make this cake.  And my cousin was an expert at making the most beautiful looking cakes out of these cakes.  She made me a guitar once (out of cake).  For the record, I don't play the guitar - but I think I was going through a phase where I wanted to.  You can find this recipe on the internet by the way and I've seen versions where they use sour cream instead of yoghurt but I got it from my aunt first and I always use yoghurt.

COCOA FUDGE CAKE

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 c. sugar 
• 2/3 c. cocoa 
• 1 1/2 tsp. soda 
• 1 tsp. salt 
• 1 1/2 c. plain yoghurt 
• 1/2 c. shortening (butter, softened)
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

1. Measure all ingredients into a large bowl
2. Blend on low speed then beat on high speed for 3 minutes.
3. Bake in 9"x13" greased and floured pan for approximately 30 to 35 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean) at 350 degrees (176 C).

It really is that easy.  But I make notes every time I make a recipe (helps for the next time) so I've copied them here in case you need them.

My notes:

• Last time I made 1 ½ times the amount - I found it fit in the rectangle tin better (i.e wasn't so thin)
• For a layered cake, this recipe fills 2 9” rounds nicely  - just remember to split the batter in half so that the two cakes are even
• The cake is fudgier on the second day.
• Obviously if you make more of the recipe and put it all the same pan, it takes longer to cook.  Check it after 30 minutes and add the time according your own oven and how much of the mixture you've put in there
• The recipe makes great cupcakes.  Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 and adjust the bake time (about 15 minutes for large cupcakes, less for mini ones) - it makes just a little over 12 regular sized cupcakes

Icing Options (totally optional - it's great without): 

• Sprinkle icing sugar on top
• A buttercream icing or other icing
• Make a strawberry coulis/sauce (boil strawberries, sugar and water).  Put in the middle of the two rounds.  Whip fresh cream and put on top and through the sides.  Make sure the coulis & the cake are well cooled before putting on the whipped cream or the cream will separate.  Decorate with fresh strawberries on top.
• Make a chocolate ganache by melting chocolate chips with cream (check internet for recipe).  Pour over the cake and allow to harden.  This option makes the cake seem a lot richer.

Do let me know how it goes if you try it.  Unfortunately I don't have photos for the steps... it would require me to make the cake again and honestly I think I need to hit the gym after all the cake I've consumed in the last couple of weeks!  Maybe next time.

Off I go to Kindergarten orientation - round 2 here we go!  More on that next time.

Birthday Party Brag

So the birthday party was awesome.  Brilliant fun.  Great even.

We'd invited guests for 5p.m. and the first showed up at 4:45.  We were far from ready but it worked out ok.  My mum and brother had dropped by and helped me get all the last minute stuff together.  The birthday girl, my oldest, greeted her friend and took her off to play. 

The children played games from different countries, ate food from around the world (nothing fancy just birthday party staples - pasta bake, phyllo triangles, fairy bread, chips (crisps for the English), fruit, and of course cake.  C, my other half so to speak, acted as tour guide and captain of the "aeroplane".  (C doesn't stand for his name but rather a title he once chose as a lark but has since followed him around).

At one point, we almost had a mutiny on our hands.  The games we'd picked were off the internet and it turns out seven year olds are better at making up their own games.  "This is boring," moaned one boy (the same boy declared at the end that it was the best party he'd ever been to).  Luckily our tour guide is a quick thinker - "No worries, you don't have to play," and he directed them over to Italy for their supper.  After which they had participated in a treasure hunt. 

I think the treasure hunt was the piece de resistance.  C put that together as well.  His riddles were clever and it was fun to watch the children run around the garden and house, en masse in search of the next clue.  I'm not sure if they had more fun or if we did, putting it together.

I made 2 chocolate cakes and 2 vanilla cakes.  I have a recipe for each that are fool proof, taste great and work well for sculpting.  This cake was easier than ones we've done in the past though (last time, for her 5th birthday she wanted an aeroplane cake).  This time, we stuck the cakes together to make a big slab, covered it with buttercream and the "drew" a map of the world using a stencil we printed from the internet.  I say "we" but in all honesty, it was all C.  She described what she wanted and he delivered.  And the cakes tasted great (I can take credit for that).

Not bad for an amateur eh?

I love the Aussie tradition of giving three cheers for the birthday person after singing Happy Birthday.  It's one we've tried to continue since coming back to Toronto.  Unfortunately it often falls flat around these parts.  Not that stops us from trying...

We had a couple of trampoline casualties - one fat lip and one of the girls got checked in a basketball game and her glasses fell off.  Luckily she wasn't hurt too badly, her glasses were intact and her mum (who was already there to pick her up) was very cool about it.  She sat and had her cake while icing her eye while my sister-in-law applied mendhi (henna) for her (the last stop on the tour was Pakistan/India).

Afterward we invited the children's families to stay for an outdoor movie night.  We set up a screen behind the garage and blankets on the grass to sit on.  The moon was out, the weather cooperated and the mozzies weren't too bad which all made for a lovely end to a fun afternoon.

Thank goodness I don't have to do it again for a couple of years. 

(Well I do - my little guy turns 3 in October - but it was a good way to end this post.)

Birthday Party Angst

My oldest child just turned 7.  And it's birthday party year (we only do birthday parties every other year in our family).  I have a love-hate relationship with birthday parties.  Right now I'm having a hard time figuring out the love part of that relationship.  And I really wish I'd worked harder at outsourcing this party.  I feel that's a cop-out.  It's not a cop-out.  But I feel like it is.

So we have a theme - we're going on an adventure "Around the World".  And we came up with some cool invitations (boarding passes - can't say I came up with the idea myself - the internet is a very handy tool!).  Little people have said they're coming and now begins the hard part.  Menu, games, cake, prizes, agh.

The thing is, I pride myself in not making waste.  I hate the plastic kitch the children get in loot bags.  I despise loot bags.  They're wasteful and not at all environmentally friendly.  So the last time we had birthday parties we made cookies (biscuits/bikkies).  Beautiful butter ones that we iced ourselves.  It was a LOT of work.  I'd done it for my middle girl's 3rd birthday and so was obliged to do it for her sister's 5th but by then the baby was crawling and though I wasn't working it was not easy and I vowed that I would NEVER do it again.  

Planning a birthday party when you're not working full time is tricky.  Doing it when you are seems downright impossible (I know it's not, but at this point I'm still at the bottom of the hill mountain looking up).  So the question now is what do I do for prizes and "loot"?  We're going around the world.  I thought we'd visit China where they could paint a paper lantern/do something with chopsticks.  Then we'd visit Italy/Mexico where they could make pizza/tacos (and eat them).  Then Australia where we'd play a game (haven't figure out which one yet).  We'll go to India where my sis-in-law will apply some henna (have to get permission from the mums before I firm up this one!)

And finally we'd head to "Treasure Island" for a Treasure hunt.  I thought perhaps I could put some back to school supplies in the Treasure chest.  But the truth is, children have all that stuff.  Way too much of it.  Erasers, pencils, stickers, markers, crayons, we have them coming out our ears.  They're happy for a minute and then it's discarded for the next thing.  Sigh.  How do you teach children to be appreciative?  To value what they do have?  Perhaps I should just get a bunch of change and put that in the treasure box.  Can I do that?

The party will be fun.  I'm obviously someone who waits until the last minute to sort these things out.  I've got until Saturday at 5p.m. before the first guest arrives.  I'm not at all artistic and my creativity is limited (thank goodness for the internet!).  I love designing and making the cake.  It can be fun.  It will be fun.  Really.

I've been hesitant about blogging.  There's a level of anonymity that I want to maintain and it feels like the world is so small I'd get found out.  And then there's my state of mind.  It hasn't been very positive of late and really, who wants to be around a wet blanket.  If you're working hard in real life to maintain a certain level of togetherness and happiness it's difficult to do that in your writing and thoughts as well.  I have to say though this venting thing might work for me.  I've been invigorated.  I have some fresh ideas.  Onward and upward.  This party will be awesome.  Yay!

Same same but different

Living in Australia was very much like living in Canada but not.  The people are friendly (though Australians take friendliness to a whole new level), we love the outdoors, and our histories are somewhat similar (I think - actually don't take my word for it, I was just looking for a third thing to finish of that sentence).  But though we speak the same language, are a part of the commonwealth and have a high immigrant population (particularly in the urban areas), there are things that set us apart.  The weather for one but that's easy.

When I moved to Australia there were a number of things I had to get used to.  For one, they drove on the other side of the road.  Not a big deal since I didn't really drive - I just had to get used to looking the other way first when crossing the road.  (I can't actually tell you if it was right or left because I can't tell the difference in my head and have to go through a convoluted physical process of figuring out right from left which is impossible to do and type at the same time - but that's a post for another day perhaps). 

Anyway, there were things I had to get used to.  For one, instead of "How are you?" or "How's it going?" or "How are you doing?" they said, "How're you going?" to which I almost replied "on foot" on more than one occasion.  I was chatting once with another mum.  Both of us pushing our prams.  She was pregnant at the time and was asking me how it was with two children.  "How do you go with them?"she asked.  (How do I go with them?  Where?)  "Oh I just use the double stroller" I replied, a little confused.  Well you can see how that went.  We speak the same freakin' language and yet...

There were differences that I quite liked - they put sauce on pizza (in addition to the base sauce in case you were wondering if we don't put sauce on ours), they put rocket on pizza (which I love!), they call rocket, rocket (as opposed to arugula which is more difficult to spell), their love mom&pop type cafes (Starbucks closed up shop in Sydney which I think says a lot?), there was always poached eggs on the breakfast menus (and they were always done well - as opposed to well-done) and of course the banana bread.  They toasted it.  Once you've had toasted banana bread (with butter if you're feeling particularly indulgent) you really can't go back.  Well you can but it's not the same.

It's funny how when you move somewhere the differences are so apparent and then you get used to them. And when you get back you wonder why we don't do it that way.  We complained bitterly (ok not quite that much) while we were there that all four wheels on their shopping trolleys swivel.  Over here it's just the front two that swivel, the back two just go backwards and forwards.  When all four swivel, it can be difficult to navigate.  Until you're stuck between two stopped trolleys and decide that going sideways is the only way out.  Then the four swivelling wheels are something you remember fondly.

Same same but different was the name of a hotel that we saw in Thailand.  We didn't stay there but we loved the name.  It's a phrase we use often in my house.  Same same but different.  It's the way things are sometimes.