Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sleepover

Shea is the only boy, sandwiched between two sisters, so he loves it when Sarah's boys come over. A lot of craziness ensues...


These three boys together are way more than triple the volume, which is why I sent them outside as soon as possible!


Isla wisely snuck around the outskirts of the yard, staying well out of the way.


She loves to pick things out of yards and gardens these days. I've been on the receiving end of many a dandelion bouquet lately. I'll try to remember how sweet it is when she's picking unripe berries and tomatoes in a couple of months. What did I get this time?





A tiny bouquet of chives, just for me.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Earth Day 2010


We had a picnic dinner on the beach to celebrate Earth Day. It was a lovely, mild day but it was bloody cold at the beach that evening! Worth it for the view, though. So worth it.


Isla is so near the end of toddlerhood. The girl doesn't stop chattering away (hmmm, like her sister?) and every moment of the day is spent doing things "by myself". We need to don full body armour to offer assistance. If we offer at a time she does NOT want it, we're in for it! Oh, this little one of mine is hugely entertaining. No matter how hard the day has been (oh, there have been some hard days), at the end of them, I'm still having a laugh about something she has said or done.

Every milestone passed is one I won't get to experience again. Some I am quite happy to bid farewell to. But others are bittersweet.
As I snapped this photo, I wondered how much longer I'd get to gaze upon dimpled hands?

Friday, April 9, 2010

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

love letter

This was left for me the last time I made the meyer lemon almond cake:

"Dear Mom,
You make the best lemon cake ever and best of all is that it is made from the heart.
From Faire"

Told you! You must make this cake!

Make This

Oh, technology.
Our computer is giving us a lot of trouble these last few months. Or, I should say, was. It is now dead. I am really hoping all my photos and other documents can be saved. I mean, forget photos of the children - I have knitting pattern pdfs in there! Things I haven't even knit yet!

So I shall be a photolesss blog for now.

I have been meaning to post this and now that I am, run out and try to find the last of the meyer lemons in the produce section. They won't be there much longer and this cake is the best with meyer lemons. I've made it with regular lemons (no matter how local I eat, I will always make room in my ideals to include imported lemons and limes, okay?) but it really isn't as oh-did-I-really-just-eat-a-whole-cake-today? as the meyer lemon version. You've been warned.

Meyer Lemon and Almond Cake
(of which there is a lovely photo on my - sob - dead computer)

Mix together in a large bowl:
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup almond meal
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
zest of 2 meyer lemons

Whisk in a separate bowl:
1 cup sugar
3 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup organic canola oil

Mix wet and dry ingredients together and pour into a greased and lined 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on rack for 15 minutes, then get the cake out of the pan and onto the rack right side up.

Mix 1/4 cup meyer lemon juice and 1/4 cup icing sugar and pour syrup over the cake. Let cool completely.

Mix 3 tbsp meyer lemon juice and 1 cup icing sugar to make a thick, but still pourable icing. Pour this over cooled cake. Eat as quickly as possible so your children don't notice it and you don't have to share. (although it is lovely and moist and therefore will keep covered at room temp a couple of days - I assume, as it's never lasted that long around here.)