sugar + spring

What do you get when you blend sugar + spring? Yummy goodness!

foraging along sidewalks

One day after school, we hunted along the sidewalk paths for violets and dandelions. We wanted to make spring flower jam and jelly and we decided on 2 recipes: violet jam and dandelion jelly. 

Violet Jam

I adapted this recipe to suit my low-maintenance purposes. Here's what I did:

3/4 cup to 1 cup loosely packed violet blossoms
1 cup water
3 T lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 package liquid pectin

Blend violets, 1/2 cup water, and lemon juice. Heat 1/2 cup water, cinnamon, honey, and sugar in a saucepan. When warm, add pectin and stir until mixed well. Add violet mixture, then bring to a boil. Stir constantly for about two minutes. Pour into prepared jars to set. Don't have to bother canning - just eat, refrigerate, or freeze. Eat with soft goat cheese or cream cheese on good crackers, like these ones. Makes  3-4 125 ml jars of jam.

Dandelion Jelly

4 cups whole dandelion flowers (not stems)
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups sugar
3 oz / 85 ml liquid pectin
yellow food colouring (optional)

Pick open, yellow flowers, snipping off the stems. Collect about 4 cups whole dandelion flowers. Snip off the yellow parts into a bowl (you'll get a bit of green - that's ok). Pour 2 cups boiling water over the yellow snips and let it steep for 1 hour or overnight. Strain through a fine sieve or coffee filter, reserving the dandelion infusion. Pour the infusion into a large pot, then stir in lemon juice and sugar. Cook on high; bring to a full rolling boil. Add liquid pectin and continue to boil for 2 minutes. Skim any foam that rises to the surface. Add food colouring to make it look more yellow. I used 15 drops because 15 seemed like a nice number. Ladle quickly into prepared hot jars. Place warm lids and bands on before filling the next jar. Screw band on tightly, then flip jar upside down for 5 to 10 minutes to seal. If any jars don't seal, process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes, eat right away, or put in fridge or freezer. Makes 9 small 125 ml jars of goodness. Yummy on bagels.

Happy spring to you!

glad, sad, sorry

Sometimes one of my happiest times of the day is looking at these little angelic sleeping faces.

Is that bad?

But some evenings, getting to this lovely quiet space seems like a lot of work. Like when there is a thunderstorm outside. Or when one of the girls is bugging the other (they share a room). Or when a friend said something mean and there are questions of how to deal with it tomorrow. Or when one person is singing really loudly. Or when there's a deep theological question or concern. Or when someone just wants to know that her parents are really, really close until sleep finally overcomes.

A friend taught us this bedtime ritual that I love. We read stories, do "glad, sad, sorry" and then we say this blessing.

What's glad, sad, sorry?

It's a simple version of the Ignatius practice of examen -  a prayerful reflection on the day's events - to see glimpses of God and discern future direction. In this simplified version, you answer these three little questions:

When I think back on what happened today,


1. What made me glad?
2. What made me sad?
3. What made me feel sorry?


One daughter loves to do this every night. The other one just listens, and occasionally pipes in with a "glad" story. I'm always asked to share my glads, sads, and sorries too.

I've noticed that it changes something about our days. The littlest one (the one who loves to talk and share her feelings) can usually remember the different emotions of her day. Some days she has referred back to something that made her sad or sorry from the day before, and this has changed her attitude in the present moment. She might be thinking: if I don't change my behaviour/attitude now, then this might be something I will feel the need to share at glad/sad/sorry time tonight.

And it's helped me too.

I try to encourage and expand those parts of my day that make me glad and that give me life. Granted, not all that is sad can be pushed out of our lives - nor should it. But the things that often make me feel sorry are ways that I treat others (particularly family members) that are not-so-life-giving. So these are the pieces I want to change the next day.

My mother-in-law gave me this book that I love - Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life.

On the first pages, they tell a story of orphaned children who had been placed in refugee camps during World War II. Many of them could not sleep at night because they were so afraid. Someone had the idea of giving them a piece of bread to hang onto at bedtime. As they held their bread, they could finally drift off to sleep peacefully. The bread reminded them "Today I ate and I will eat again tomorrow."

They compare this sleeping with bread to praying the examen prayer at the end of the day, and holding on to what gives you life during the course of the next day.

Do you have ways that you "hold onto your daily bread"? Bedtime routines that get you ready for sleep, while reflecting on the day and anticipating the next? A cup of tea or wine? Journalling? Talking with someone? Do tell!

dollar store faith trinkets

When I started this blog, I wondered whether to talk about my faith.

Because in some circles, following Jesus and calling myself the big "C" word is so not cool. I'm from the "quiet in the land" Mennonite clan, where we preach the gospel through our actions and if necessary, use words.

As I shopped for craft supplies the other day, I realized that Christianity isn't even dollar store cool anymore. Plastic nightlight Jesus has been replaced with fake stone garden Buddha. Sad skinny bleeding half-naked man on a plastic cross, nails in feet has been replaced with chubby jolly half-naked man, coins at his feet.

I'm not knocking Buddhism here - not at all. There are many profound things I've learned from this faith. And I see why Buddha is more appealing for garden decor than Jesus. I guess what I'm looking for is for it to be OK (even cool?) for people to talk about faith in general - even if it happens to be of the Christian variety.

There are some places where we're just not encouraged to talk about faith. Like at public schools. Or in government. Or when we meet our neighbours on the street. Or at a neighbourhood barbeque. Or at the dollar store selling faith trinkets. Or until we know people really, really, really well.

And I wonder why. These are the questions I love. I love to be a detective of faith, looking for little clues and snippets of God. I find that especially with new friendships it takes months, sometimes years, before questions of faith arise. But this is even true with some people that I've known for years. How do we broach these topics?

Sometimes the closest I get to a conversation about faith/spirituality is this:

You: I do yoga. I love it.
Me: Ya, me too. Very relaxing.

or this:

You: I find God in nature.
Me: Ya, me too.

Yoga and nature are great, and they're part of the whole spirituality package for me. But there's something about the human interaction element of spirituality that I find I need. I need people to push me on - a community to support me, nurture me, and question me. I need to see glimpses of God in others to inspire me. I need inspiring ideas and words to hold onto. I need others - in addition to my personal practices of yoga or prayer or meditation. I need to be part of something bigger than myself.

And so maybe these dollar store trinkets are a good thing. If I saw one in your garden, perhaps it would open up a conversation about faith. Perhaps they are little things for us to hold onto that remind us that we are spiritual beings.

If I could get up the courage, these are the questions I'd ask you:

• Where do you see God in your everyday life?
• Who are the people you talk to about faith?
• How can I remember you in my thoughts and prayers right now? What are your hurts, struggles, questions?
• How can we help each other down this road called life - to live with courage and meaning and depth and joy?

P.S. I do like to have conversations about other not-so-serious things too, like lilacs in the spring, flavours of ice cream, bubble tea mixtures, thrift store purchases, garage sale finds, and travel stories. So don't worry - I won't pester you with the heavy questions every time we meet.

God on a Venn diagram

My youngest daughter had a burning question on her mind last week: are God and Jesus really the same?

She had been told that they were. But here was her response:

"If they're the same, that means that God died when Jesus died. How could God die? If God died, did God come back to life again too? And why was Jesus talking to God when he was on the cross if they're both just the same? He couldn't do that if he was really God."

It's hard to me to know how to answer these questions because I don't really know what I believe sometimes. I'll admit it: I'm a doubter at heart. I don't like pat answers. It's easier for me to explain what I DON'T believe. But who wants to pass on unbelief?

But I LOVE questions as a way to dig deeper, and it makes me happy to see questioning minds in my kids.

This God/Jesus research project involved asking several key adults what they thought about the question of Jesus and God being the same.

She brought it up again at supper one evening. Then my older daughter recommended putting it all into a Venn diagram to figure out if, in fact, God and Jesus were the same. This is what they came up with:

If it's hard to see, here it is:

Jesus - human (person), died, 12 disciples, made Easter, son of  God
Both - special, people pray to them/bow down, calm storms, loving, talked about everywhere (famous), heal people
God - created the earth, things grow, separated the Red sea, first spirit on earth, sent a flood

This is what I love to see: searching, questioning, asking different people for their opinion/belief, and trying to piece their own interpretation together. This is faith forming/building to me.

saying goodbye to a pet

Why is it that when a pet dies, it can just break your heart?

I wouldn't even call myself a huge dog or cat lover, but I've shed countless tears over close pets. Even as I remember their names, their cute little faces flash in front of me: Sarge. Prince. Rutherford. Dexter. Carlo. All loyal, wonderful dogs, quirky in their own ways.

Each represents a period of my life, and the memories attached.

Carlo died last week - my parents' farm dog. He lived a good life, and survived several near-death experiences. We had cried and said goodbye to him before. But last week was a surprise.

It was heartbreaking to tell my daughters; their sorrow was so raw.

Carlo was a one-eyed dog - the eye was lost in a scrap with a protective farm cat when he was young. When my parents saw his one pleading, kind eye, they knew he was the one for them.

My daughters learned a lot from this one-eyed wonder. He was always so gentle with them, and so happy to see them. Carlo taught them playfulness, gentleness, and a love for God's creatures. His excited tail wagged right into them as little toddlers, sometimes knocking them right over because of his one-eyed periferal vision.

There was Bandit, the raccoon we kept in the barn for a summer (but in our memories it's much longer) who nibbled on strawberries right out of our hands, slid down the slide with us, followed us around the yard right at our heels, and climbed up onto my Dad's shoulders.

And Mrs. Boots, the cat whose water broke all over my bed quilt one afternoon, just before she gave birth to a litter of kittens. She was the only farm cat ever allowed in the house, and she saved those kittens from an awful storm by scratching on the screen door and meowing to be let in.

We've sheltered our daughters from the heartache of losing a pet by refusing to own one - until this past Christmas. Then a little guinea pig came home with us from the animal shelter, and she's since been wiggling and squeaking her way into our hearts.

And you? What pets have you loved and lost? How did you say goodbye?

couscous and fiddleheads (embarrassing school lunches)

The other day I packed couscous  and fiddleheads in my daughter's lunch. I thought, "Perfect! Leftovers! She loved this last night at supper, so I'll just warm it up and put it in her thermos for lunch."

the offending lunch

Couscous and fiddleheads in a school lunch bag? How stupid could I be?

She sheepishly told me in the evening that she hadn't eaten it. She had opened the thermos at school, and a friend leaned over and said, "Yuck! Don't eat that!" and so she didn't.

So we talked about peer pressure (actually it was more like a lecture) and not letting others decide what we're going to say or do with our lives, and blah, blah, blah. And how you need energy for your school day, and the fiddleheads are rich in anti-oxidants and are special and only in season right now... Give me a break. As IF I would have eaten couscous and fiddleheads in my lunch when I was 7. There's no way.

How could I forget how school lunches - their contents and how they're packaged - can contribute to some sort of school social hierarchy? Egg salad sandwiches - always guaranteed some "yucks" in the room. Anything packaged and disposable - cool, unless it's the rice crackers that smell like shrimp that your mom bought at the Asian supermarket last week (sorry again, my dear daughter).

It's hard when you have weird parents. And I think that my parents are OK with me calling them "weird" because I've paid them the highest compliment - I've become a weird parent myself!

But as a kid - sometimes it's hard when you have weird parents.

As a kid, I wanted:

• a Strawberry Shortcake doll
• Barbie dolls
• Jos. Louis and Flaky snacks in my lunch
• sugar cereals
• leather Cougar boots
• a Ouija board
• Roots clothing
• earrings
• a swimming pool (outdoor or indoor, I didn't care)
• a tennis court
• parachute pants
• windbreakers
• stone-washed jeans
• to go to a Corey Hart concert when I was in Grade 8

I got:

• a Strawberry Shortcake doll
• a Cindy doll who was less voluptuous than Barbie
• the Sunshine family dolls (including Grandma, Grandpa, and baby)
• healthy snacks in my lunch like celery cars with carrot wheels (and peanut butter for the seats, and raisins for the people)
• Jos. Louis, Flakies, and sugared cereals only when Dad did the shopping
• look-alike Cougar boots
• lots of books
• clothes handmade by Mom
• earrings eventually but not soon enough
• a swimming hole back in the gravel pit when the water level was high enough every 7 years
• a moderate disdain for trendy things
• a good dose of the Protestant work ethic
• a belief that less is more
• a belief that I should waste not and want not
• the knowledge that my parents loved me, despite my lack of cool possessions.

So... I'm passing on what I know. Becoming a weird parent so that my kids can one day aspire to be the same. And I'm pretty sure a little writer will one day write about the horror of couscous and fiddleheads in her school lunch. At least I'm prepared.

Any memories of school lunches YOU'd like to share?

"national do one thing at a time" day

This past Monday, Jian Ghomeshi (CBC Radio, "Q") declared it "National One Thing At A Time" day.

As a woman, I think I'm expected to be a good multi-tasker. But I'm not. When I bake something, I frequently forget about it the minute I put it in the oven. This has resulted in many burnt offerings and disappointments. Thank goodness for loud oven timers. And if you arrive a bit early and I'm still trying to work out the timing of everything needed for our lovely meal? Well, watch out - my attention to you (a good thing) will result in over- and under-cooked food for our bellies (a bad thing).

I'm easily distracted. I can go to the laundry room with the intent of putting in a load of laundry and returning DIRECTLY to my writing (which is my day job right now). But then I see an area that could be tidied, or read an interesting article on the back of a Cheerios box, or find a box of letters that I think I must sort NOW.

I need to tell myself "NO! Not right now, Rebecca!" and force myself to leave the scene.

I know that I can accomplish a lot when my focused is narrowed to one singular task. And I know that I can find more joy and enjoyment when I'm just thinking about one thing at a time. My mind starts to worry when it's flitting from one thing to the next. This Zen proverb speaks to me out of its simplicity:

When walking, walk. When eating, eat.

Or this Italian one:

Often he [or she] who does too much does too little.

Or this one:

If you chase two rabbits, both will escape. 

Speaking of 2 rabbits, there are 2 lovely backyard bunnies who entertain us some mornings. Here is one:

I tried to get both in one photo, but couldn't - so I focused on one!

But I digress - this post is not about rabbits. It's about focus.

OK. I get it. I have a monkey mind, often jumping from one thing to the next. I have to be intentional and try really hard to tune out the noise sometimes. It's about focusing on certain (positive, helpful) thoughts and comments, and letting go of the rest.

For me, focus is also about priorities. I need to resist the temptation to do more. I need to resist the temptation to consume more. To have less, do less, and then magically have more - more time, more space, more room for surprises. And sometimes it means choosing to focus on what gives me life - spending time with family and friends, creating music & artwork & gifts & food for others and with others, and having a wee bit of quiet time too.

This great article speaks about the price we pay when we multitask - particularly what our brains look like "on computers." The bursts of information through e-mail, phone calls, text messages, etc. is re-wiring our brains. Research shows that heavy multitaskers experience more stress, fractured thinking, and lack of focus.

I want to practice unitasking - to train my mind to have a singular focus. Not for the whole day, certainly - and maybe not even for one whole hour. But to be where I am, concentrated on one task at a time.

This text speaks to me of focus, and of paring back - having less to have more:

Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32-34)

I want my heart/treasure to be focused where it matters. Sometimes this will be on mundane tasks, and often on life-giving ones. I find that lists help me focus on work and mundane tasks. But do I need lists to focus on the important ones too? Like being fully present (and not scrolling through a list in my head) when a child is telling me a VERY long story?

Anyone have a good pattern for purse-making - ones that don't wear out? I may be up for a sewing project soon. OK. Getting off-track again.

How do you focus on one thing at a time, or on what really matters?

gathered 'round the food

Some of my favourite meals are ones that take place AROUND something. Like a campfire. Everyone prepares and cooks their own hotdogs, marshmallows, or tin foil dinners. Nothing like fire-cooked food on a warm summer day to make you feel content and ready for a long night of sleeping on the ground.

Other fun family foods have been fondue, raclette, crepes, and hot pot. Meals where we are sharing and preparing a meal around the table. We love how participatory they are, and how the meal can last for hours. Everyone gets their hands in there, and chooses items that they want to eat. We've enjoyed our raclette grill ever since receiving it as a wedding gift - yummy stinky cheese melted and scraped over boiled potatoes and grilled vegetables.

And I love its history - that cow herders would go up into the Swiss mountains with a block of cheese and a sack of potatoes. They would boil their potatoes over a fire, and scrape melted cheese on top. Yum.

Here's one of our favourite raclette recipes to try on a raclette grill (it's a mix of Mexico and Switzerland):

1 avocado, diced
1 tsp garlic, crushed
2 T lime juice
2 T fresh coriander, chopped
1/2 lb (250 g) cooked shrimp, peeled and de-veined
raclette cheese, thinly sliced


Toss first 4 ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Grill shrimp in raclette trays. Top with avocado mixture and cheese. Broil until cheese has melted and shrimp are warm (about 5 minutes). Eat!

The idea of crepes as a social-type meal was a new one to us - at a friend's house in France, we made our own mini-crepes on a grill that had 6 little circular sections. We could add our own meat and cheese to make a savoury version, or just have sweet ones with jam, sugar, and Nutella.

Here is a shot from our Christmas hot pot experience at a restaurant in Markham:

around a Christmas hot pot

We were at a friend's birthday party the other night where her Spanish husband cooked up paella for the crowd. So yummy, and interesting to see how it was cooked up on a specially made paella gas burner outside. And I love the history of it: that it was traditionally made by workers in the fields, using whatever ingredients were available. The "bomba" rice is put into the pan in the shape of a cross, even by those who wouldn't consider themselves religious. It's a real social affair - right from the cooking to the eating.

These are my comfort foods - the meals that last forever, with the talking, laughing, and sharing that happens. And my kids? These are the meals they beg for - the special ones where guests are at the table, creating a meal and experience together.

In France, we started a fun tradition called "first week fondue" - a fondue to celebrate the end of the first week of school. We partake in both cheese and chocolate and are fully stuffed by the end. We roll up the stairs to bed, which is a hard thing to do.

around a cheese fondue

Here's our favourite chocolate fondue recipe:

1 really large quality Swiss chocolate bar (dark or milk chocolate)
a bit of milk

For some extra kick, try:

• a pinch of cayenne pepper
• a tsp ground allspice
• a tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 T dark rum or Grand Marnier
• whipping cream instead of milk

Break up the chocolate bar into smaller chunks. Slowly melt (on low) in a pot on the stove or in the microwave. Add a bit of milk (2 Tablespoons). Whisk it into the melted chocolate. Add a bit more milk if you want to thin out the chocolate a bit more. Eat with: strawberries, bananas, apples, kiwi, mangoes, star fruit, lychees, pineapples, blackberries, chunks of pound cake, pretzels, etc.