What Do I Do With All These Radishes?

It can be pretty tough, but ridiculously rewarding to eat local whenever and wherever you can. But where do you start? Where can you buy? Who makes the stuff? And hey, what do I do with all the radishes I find in July?

There is a great event coming up for Calgary and area folks called Local 101. From the farmer to the chef to the shopper, come and learn more about what it takes to eat local. More importantly, come and learn more about the opportunities we have for fantastic products grown and produced in our own backyard. You'll meet farmers, writers, and a lot of cooks who live and breathe and eat local.

Eating local is fundamental to the grocery purchases in our house, and to the lessons we aim to teach the girls. Somedays I feel like I'm snotty and giving off a major superiority vibe when I talk to other moms about this fact. And other days I feel like everyone I know does this, so what's the big deal? The truth is, there are more people in my circle who shop at the big box grocery stores and Costco than shop at the farmer's market. There are more people I know who complain about the white, expensive strawberries available in March than wonder whether they should even be eating strawberries in the waning days of winter.

So I've invited a few friends and we're heading out to Local 101. They've all heard me from my pulpit, I hope some good farmers will inspire them to get a little dirty and see what our Prairie sun offers.

Doll Quilt Show and Tell 2

How is this for an improv piece?  

I started with a pile of fabric and scraps that I thought would go together.  Of course, I couldn't resist adding a circle, and then another (can you see it?)  This one isn't photographing well, but I assure you, it's cute.  This one is for the daughter of dear friends, a little girl who is essentially a big sister to my girls.  Her birthday was a month ago.  She has the busy social life of a 7 year old, so I haven't even seen her since her birthday.  Just a belated treat.

There is a mix of old and new fabrics in this one.  More Amy Butler...  And some fabric that has also been seen more than a handful of quilts produced on the dining room table.

I stole my quilting idea from one of the fabrics, the pale pink with black outlined flowers and dots.  A few lines to anchor the batting and a scattering of flowers.  It isn't perfect, but I imagine that this one will get some rough love.  It will more than stand up to Clare's love, and hopefully her sister's!
Rather than make big labels for these doll quilts I decided to make tags.  Each tag has my name and "Naps" on one side. (More on "Naps" later).  The other side has washing instructions. Every other quilt I've given away has gone to people I know, so I can verbally pass on washing instructions.  These doll quilts are almost all going to strangers, so I had to include the instructions in an easy format - love generously, wash and dry gently.

She just couldn't resist getting her hands on it...

Make Your Own Baby Food - Part 2

Take a deep breath and ignore the upcoming mess.  The Smilosaurus refuses to eat baby food anymore.  This, of course, comes only days after I filled a few ice cube trays with pork, beans, broccoli, carrots, peppers, and squash.  It must have been the peas.  Now she insists on feeding herself.  The only exceptions are yoghurt and cottage cheese, and those can't be shovelled in fast enough.

There comes a point when all babies should refuse baby food.  It's often a hard adjustment for us parents.  Will they get enough to eat?  Have I chopped those beans small enough?  Does she have to be so messy?  Many a friend will keep trying to feed the purees and mashes to make sure that the kid is getting enough to eat.  But remember this, by the time they insist on finger foods they usually don't need to eat as much.  And they do get more in their mouth than you think they do.  That is, until they learn to feed the dogs hovering below the high chair.

What started it all for The Smilosaurus was a roasted carrot. I roasted a chicken for the rest of us. Because I love the carrots roasted with meat I threw a bunch in the pan. It seems she loves them too. Soon it became more about what she could get her hands on, literally, and what we were eating. You should have seen her with medium rare steak tonight. I swear she ate half of mine.

It is rather tempting at this point to let them survive on bananas and peas.  This phase of baby food can be more time consuming than the purees.  Only because of the incessant chopping required.  You are your baby's sous chef, dicing and prepping every day.  The one saving grace is that this is also the time when you can start introducing spices, oil, butter, and other condiments.  Knowing that can make your life a lot easier.

At this point you have two choices: reserve a bit of what you are making to steam and chop for your little one.  This only takes a few extra minutes of prep, and maybe another pan/dish if you want to cook it separately.  Or, you can simply take what you've cooked - prior to salting it - and cut it into small pieces.  Okay, you can do it after seasoning it too... but I am notorious for undersalting, according to Hubby.

No recipe, no technique.  This is about the transition from purees to people food.  You've been getting rougher textures already, right?  You've been offering things like bananas, peas, and blueberries to encourage her pincer grasp, right? No? Then start with these.  In fact, I start with these within a month or two of starting solids.  The longer you stay on smooth purees, the harder it will be to move to finger foods.

The next thing to help with the transition is to make sure you are sitting down to eat with your baby.  Too often we feed the baby first, make our dinner, then feed ourselves.  Sure, your dinner will get a little cold or it will feel like you are eating ungodly early, but it is important to sit down as a family and eat.  Your baby will see you eating your food and their natural curiosity will draw them to your food.  Not to mention the extra benefits your family gains when sitting down together.

Don't let a lack of teeth stop you from introducing chewy and rough textures.  My little one has her two bottom front teeth, and that's it.  And tonight she ate about 4 ounces of medium rare steak.  And raw peppers, chopped a little smaller, some steamed green beans, sweet potato, and watermelon chunks.  That was just dinner.

So grab a good knife and chop away.  Some foods will require cooking - like beans, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and even zucchini.  But you can get away with raw peppers, peas, and most fruits.  I would steer clear of hard apples or most raw veg at this point.  Meats and beans are fine, but cut them a bit smaller than you do the soft foods.   Most importantly, don't leave your baby alone when you eat.  This isn't the time to grab a shower or put in a load of laundry.  Finally, here is some good advice in the unlikely but horrible event that you do encounter choking.

Hubby loves this photo of our little one.  He says it reminds him of a combination of The Incredible Hulk and Shrek- if they ate maple baked beans and avocados.

Doll Quilt Show and Tell 1

There has been enough whining and pining for better days on this blog.  Let's get back to some quilts, shall we?

This is the first of 7 doll quilts I am wrapping up.  Six of these are for a special order, and one for a precious little friend.  With the order the request was made for 4 modern, 2 traditional quilts.  I think this one could qualify as either.  It is a rail fence design, but I made the middle section larger than the two side ones.

Isn't that middle bar fantastic?  I'm not supposed to be buying fabric, but I fell in love and bought it in three colour ways.  This one is my favourite.

With such a busy design I went for a simple loopy swirl to quilt it.  Nothing fancy, nothing distracting.

All of the doll quilts have simple backs, no piecing on something so small.  I sadly let go of this favourite Amy Butler for the back of this one.  It's been used on more than three quilts I've made, plus one that was made for The Monster.  It's time to move on.

Over the next week or so I will share all of the doll quilts, and hopefully a few other finished pieces (if Hubby will hold up the quilts in the freezing ass cold for me).