A new year feast.

A few months ago I discovered the only local yoga studio in the city, and to my surprise, the owner spoke English!  He is an American who has been living in Japan for 18 years and is married to a Japanese woman.  When I contacted him about attending classes at his studio, his response was warm and friendly, and I felt instantly grateful.  When Barry and I got to chatting, we arranged to offer a healthy vegan cooking workshop and feast, along with yoga classes, for a day of learning and retreat.

The workshop day was this weekend, and unfortunately the cooking portion had to be cancelled because Barry came down with the flu (and we were doing it all at his house).  However, I still got to teach my yoga workshop and had lots of fun!  I had planned to take photos of the food and post the menu, and while I don't have pictures I might as well share the recipes here.

I typically don't use exact measurements in my cooking and go on taste, creating the magic as the food cooks (it's magic, right?)  Please use these recipes as a guide and adjust for your individual preferences and number of servings that you would like.   Most of the ingredients I chose are local and in season right now in Japan, but many of these foods are available in other cold climates right now too.  Hope you enjoy!

MENU

~ Creamy Turnip Soup
~ Baked Maple Cinnamon Pumpkin
~ Curried Chickpeas
~ Ginger Carrot & Cabbage Salad

Creamy Turnip Soup

2 bunches of small japanese turnips (7-8)
4 leeks
2 medium potatoes
3-4 cups water or veggie stock
1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
White or yellow miso to taste

Roughly chop and saute the leeks in 1/2 Tbsp of coconut oil in your favourite soup pot.  Quarter the turnips and cube the potatoes, adding those in once the leeks are soft and flavourful.  Add your water or vegetable stock, careful to just *barely* cover your vegetables or else your soup will be too watery.  Bring to a boil, then gently simmer until turnips and potatoes are soft and cooked through.  Use a hand blender to make your soup smooth and creamy, turn off the burner.  Gently stir one tablespoon of miso into the soup at a time, adding more as it fits your taste.  Most of the saltiness and flavour will come from the miso, so keep testing as you add.

Baked Maple Cinnamon Pumpkin

What can I say, I had to add some Canadiana to the meal!  Use only the best Canadian Maple Syrup for this recipe.

1 small pumpkin
sea salt
cinnamon
cumin
maple syrup
coconut oil

Slice your pumpkin into crescent moon shapes and evenly spread them out in your baking dish.  Sprinkle some sea salt, a touch of cumin and cinnamon to taste.  Drizzle a thin layer of melted coconut oil and a medium layer of pure canadian delicious maple syrup.  Bake in the oven at 350 until pumpkin is soft and mushy.

Curried Chickpeas

I use a Japanese curry powder for this recipe, and Japanese curry is a fair bit sweeter than other traditional kinds.  If you don't have access to an asian grocer selling this particular spice blend, I would plan to sweeten your curry dish with a bit of honey or maple syrup to get a similar flavour.

2 cups of soaked and boiled chickpeas
1 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
1-2 Tbsp coconut oil
2-3 Tbsp Japanese curry (or any type of curry with 2 Tbsp of honey)
Sea salt or soy sauce.

Saute your ginger, onion and garlic in coconut oil, careful not to burn.  Once the lovely aroma hits, time to add the curry, getting the powder nice and wet.  Let it warm for a minute on low heat.  Add the cooked chickpeas and a tiny bit of water if things start to stick to the pan.  Add sea salt or soy sauce to taste. It will only take 5-10 minutes for the flavours to blend.

Ginger Carrot & Cabbage Salad

2-3 medium carrots, grated
1 head of cabbage
1-2 Tbsp fresh ginger
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
2 sheets of nori
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup rice vinegar (without sugar) or apple cider vinegar
1-2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt

Cut the cabbage in half or quarters and thinly slice into long strips, place into salad bowl. Add the carrots and onion.  This is an important step!  Sprinkle sea salt onto the salad and drizzle about 1 tbsp of olive oil into the bowl.  Vigorously massage the cabbage with your hands, the salt and oil will help to soften and wilt the cabbage.  On the side, mix together your dressing (ginger, vinegar, honey, sesame oil) and pour over the salad.  Add raisins and toasted sunflower seeds, garnish with thinly cut up strips of nori seaweed.

And that's it, a perfectly healthy and balanced vegan winter meal made to share with friends!

Right Now...

I really enjoy the writing and blogging of Amanda Blake Soule (www.soulemama.com), and sometimes she does a "Right Now I am..." post. I am having one of those moments worthy of capturing. So without further ado... Right Now I Am...


...knitting... I just cast of a robin's egg blue hat for myself, which will probably completed right around the time it is no longer needed. It will be my first project involving cabling- cross your fingers that I can cross my knits...

...listening... To Miles Davis, Kind of Blue. An album I've heard a bajillion times- but how often do I really listen?

...feeling emotionally... kind of blue, as Scott is off to Toronto. Only for 24 hours, for which I am thankful in so many ways... But still...

...feeling physically... Strong, and very flexible after practicing four and a half hours of yoga, in three separate segments today. Also, remarkably energetic- yet calm. I could easily stay up and knit for hours, but if I lay down now, I'd fall asleep very quickly.

...touching...  A sleeping Roscoe with my toes. If two pairs of socks won't keep me warm, the furry beast will

...anticipating... A quiet day tomorrow. Still in the -20s, so we will be pretty much hibernating. A short trip to the library (Lena really wants to find Petroushka, the book),  some rolling in hard snow, some dancing, singing, reading, drawing... Making oat milk and black bean stew!

painting stones and telling stories.

We are getting into more storytelling around here, the kind that you make up as you go along.  It seems to agree with long winter afternoons, a cup of tea and a warm wool blanket.   Painting stones to use to tell stories is probably more of a spring or summer activity, but on one particular clear day in the park we spotted some perfect rocks for painting and we seized the opportunity.

All you do is prepare for an outdoor adventure with a crafty 'treasure' bag (we always have one at the ready!) and hunt for smooth rocks.  When you return home, wash the rocks and let them fully dry.  Next, it's time to paint.  I chose to use acrylic because it sticks well and the colours are vibrant, however it is tricky to paint in detail (at least for me it is) so I would use small paint brushes, toothpicks and Q-tips.  You could use a theme, like farm animals or winter, and paint objects that remind you of that theme.  This time, we chose to freestyle and paint whatever came to mind.  Here's a sample of what we came up with:

A sun, heart, moon and stars, rainy day, fall scene, bunny rabbit, dog, tree, snow storm and a few more.  I put all the stones into a drawstring bag and randomly pick one at a time, alternating story telling between myself and Finny.  She had to see me do it a few times alone before joining in, but after that she was letting her imagination run wild.  I would definitely do this again, maybe grouping the stones into themes or subjects, according to what we are focusing on.

I'd like to come up with more ways to encourage imagination and creative expression through unplanned activities such as this, it's great fun for both parent and child!

"Vegan" and the battle for pancakes

We've been moving towards plant-based eating for a while, and though I would definitely not call us vegan, we've been trying to adapt more and more recipes to make them vegan. Suppers and lunches are easy peasy, as we hardly ate meat anyway, so we are mostly switching butter for olive oil or coconut oil.

But PANCAKES! Scott has always made the best pancakes. I can't tell you how many lazy sunday mornings have commenced with coffee and pancakes. Sometimes blueberry, sometimes banana, even chocolate for special occasions- but no matter what, always delicious. Less so on days that we had no eggs on hand, and he used flax instead.

So for the past months we've been experimenting. And experimenting. Eating subpar pancakes- gooey sticky quinoa pancakes and their ilk.  Such a rough life. Ahem. This week I found a banana oat pancake recipe (http://mylittlecelebration.com/vegan-banana-oat-pancakes-revisited/) and I thought the oats might be the trick to not having soggy pancakes.  I made a couple of alterations, so here is my version. I will have to post pictures next time- I didn't take pictures because I didn't think they would work- and by the time I realized they had, they were nearly gone!

Preheat your griddle or pan. We have a griddle and set it to 350.


First put 2 TBSP of ground flax in 5 TBSP water. Mix and let sit.

Next, in a separate bowl add the dry:
1 cup Oats
1/2c Whole Spelt Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 hefty dash of cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

Add to the flax bowl:
1 tsp vanilla
1 mashed banana
1 mashed avocado (I'm not insane, I promise)
1 Tbsp coconut oil, warmed to liquid
3 Tbsp milk of your choice( hemp, almond etc) or water.
2 Tbsp maple syrup

Gently fold the dry and wet together, Add more liquid if needed, you want it to be able to pour off a spoon. I found they needed to cook about 5 minutes per side to feel cooked through.
Please feel free to comment if you make these, I'd love to hear how they work for you!

Where I Sew

Tea party being set up, dog asleep on couch, boxes of fabric I try to ignore

Sometimes I really wish I had a whole room to make things in. Not necessarily because I need a ton of space, but because sewing requires a lot of pointy things, and can get messy. If I had an entire room, I wouldn't require such careful organization and cleaning throughout the process of making- which would free me up to be the whirling-dervish-maker. As it is, I can work on one project at a time, with space to maybe store another project. Maybe that's a good thing. I do have a tendency to get to 85% and call a project done so I can start the next. I've had to force myself to finish things because I don't have space for a ton of works-in-progress.

But before you feel sorry for me :), or I feel sorry for myself, I will point out some great things about my space:
1. Sometimes, when the planets are aligned and Lena is particularly occupied, I can sew while she plays in the living room. We chat, she plays, I get stuff done. It's heaven.

Wine box fabric storage

2. In the evenings, I don't feel shut away in my sewing cave. If we are watching a movie that is light and interruptible, I can putter away behind the couch.

Vintage needles, finished quilt pic, cheat sheet, Lena's hand,
block with transparent photo on it (thank you Scott!)

3. I have an area! A whole space just for me! I have had places where sewing happens on the kitchen table, and everything has to be put away in order to eat. I will probably have that situation again, so I should really enjoy what I have.

Sometimes I buy tea because I love the tin.

4. And it's grown! It used to be about 4' deep, a straight line across which meant a lot of shuttling back and forth. We recently reorganized and shrunk the living room to accommodate my sewing lessons- it's pretty awkward sharing 4'x9' with another person!






So now you can can more easily visualize me working away when you see projects I post. Which I am sure you've really been struggling with- desperately trying to picture me and just not quite getting it.
You're welcome.

Heaven...

A glass of red wine, an eggcup of single origin, tanzanian dark chocolate...

...and books...

...so many books...

...almost all my books...

Of all the ways to spend an evening, I think one of the most delicious is to listen to good music, drink red wine, slowly enjoy dark chocolate and reorganize ones book collection. Flipping through pages, saying hello to old friends and remembering which books you've been meaning to read, coming up with a system for non-fiction that is completely personal and wouldn't make sense to most people.

Aaaaahhhh...

Thread Organizer

When I see nice thread on sale, I sometimes go a little nuts. As such, I found myself overwhelmed by thread. I had buckets of the stuff, and never wanted to go digging for the right colour. So my projects often ended up having the wrong thread, but not in a cool contrasty way, just in a clearly lazy way. I've seen thread racks online and they always look so nice, but I am: 1. Too cheap to buy one and 2. Too lazy to go buy materials for a proper wooden one- especially with a move coming up (more on that later- in fact there will likely be downsizing posts!).

Even if you are cheap and lazy, there are still options, worry not! I had some very solid cardboard and particle board from some bolts of fabric, so I decided to work with that. I glued two of them together, so it would be extra sturdy. 

I spread a layer of mod-podge across the top and placed it down on a piece of Anna Maria Horner 'field study' fabric. Then I asked my painter fella how he stretched canvas corners so neatly and tightly and he gave me a few tricks (fold at 45 then 90 degree angles). I only used a regular office stapler, fearing that a staple gun would come through the front. However this meant I needed a lot of staples- that's ok, it's at the back!

I wanted to use a coffee tin as scissor storage as well, so I used (oh I am going to sound ignorant for a second) an adjustable pipe ring thingy (!) around the can. I used a picture hanger to attach the ring to the board, then slid a burlap covered coffee can in and tightened it. 

I just nailed it straight into the wall- bad renter! But our walls are not in great shape and we have a bunch of patching and painting to do before we move anyway, so whatever! 

I traced a light grid with chalk and put a small nail at each intersection, then lightly brushed the chalk away. The nails don't look super pretty, but the thread does!

There are definitely better ways to do this, particularly for a more permanent object, but for short term storage, this is much better than a shoebox or plastic bin. And now I get to admire my lovely array of Guttermans!

hoops and fancy dresses.

I've been wanting to teach Szerafina (er, myself) how to embroider, so I figured i'd get us both a hoop and some floss.  I got a piece of burlap fabric for her, along with a blunt needle, pink thread and made sure she was well fed and content.  We did this project in the afternoon, alongside tea and homemade cookies.

I really had no idea what her interest or skill level readiness would be for this, but with a few simple instructions she was totally into it!  It was so fun to watch her amazement at her own work, exclaiming, 'look, I did another one!' each time.  Maybe she could have done this earlier, but she is primed for it now.  I really enjoyed watching the design and process unfold, and expect that she'll want to add a little to it whenever the mood strikes.  Right now I have her project sitting up on a little shelf, ready to go.

As for myself, I started with a simple stitching of my nieces name, as I plan to sew a rolled up pencil crayon holder for her.  Stay tuned for that.

"Scott's" Quilt

Last spring, I decided to make a quilt for my husband, Scott. We have very different tastes in blankets, he likes to be hot, I like a light blanket, so we will each get our preferred quilt style, but matching. Cool idea, right? Bonus, no tug of war over the blankets! Best marriage advice ever- separate blankets.

In any case, he was a big part of choosing the design, the colours, the fabric. Being married to an abstract painter really comes in handy when designing a quilt. At some point we agreed on a quilt based on straight-edge whirlygigs:
http://pitterputterstitch.blogspot.ca/2010/08/straight-edge-whirligig-block.html

Although we knew there would need to be more neutral space for the eye to rest. I pieced it and the backing in the spring, and brought it half way across the country to begin hand-quilting it. Nothing fancy in the quilting, just stitch in the ditch, 8" apart. I used a lovely batting, part bamboo/part cotton, so it doesn't need a ton of quilting and I didn't want it to end up too stiff.

So there was no surprise to Scott that he was getting a quilt- what was a surprise was getting it in time for christmas! I worked on it whenever he was out of town for work, and even kicked him out of the house one day when time was getting tight. He was really excited to open it christmas eve, and I was so proud to give it to him!

Christmas morning I woke up first, got dressed, looked down- and to my horror saw poor Scott's cold feet sticking out! I'd made the quilt too short!!! I'd measured to his height, but forgot bunch up at the neck space! He tried it a couple more nights, but after I saw him sleeping with his old comforter on TOP of his quilt, I knew it was not warm enough. So I tried it. I'm shorter, and like it cooler so....


                                                 Perfect! Oops/yay?

Bored to Creativity.

Konichiwa! From Japan, in case you hadn't guessed.  I'm pleased to make it to the pages of this blog, as a way to share Mama stories and adventures in crafting, food, and the little things that string together to make up our life.

Right now, my husband and 3 year old daughter and I live in a small city in north eastern Japan.  He coaches hockey, which takes him on the road for long stretches of time.  I do my best to remain positive and upbeat, but you'll get an honest glimpse into what life is like as a 'single mom' in a very foreign place.  We are on day 9 of a 16 day separation, and here's how i've planned to keep my girl and myself engaged.

*  A friend of mine shared an idea called 'strewing' which involves casually setting up an activity for your child to notice and work with on their own.  No instructions given.  Some examples are a tray with clay and small tools (pipe cleaners, child scissors, tooth picks), stickers and paper, sensory bin, etc.  I've been doing this before I go to bed at night, so that when we come downstairs in the morning, instead of asking me to play with her right away she finds an activity for solo time.  It has been working quite well, some activities more than others. It gives me about 15-20 minutes of quiet time to make tea and prepare breakfast.  It's a smooth start to our day.

*  I've organised a shelf with bins and envelopes of prepared activities.  Some of these things are origami paper, markers and a journal, felt story books that we made, letters for tracing, doll dresses, small animal toys, stamps and stamp pad.  In this way, she can direct herself to an activity if she wants to (although it doesn't happen that often), or ideas are at the ready for me to suggest we do.  It really prevents the 'what do we do now?' and 'can I watch a show?' when we both get tired and bored.

* A whole area in her room dedicated to dress up play. She loves it so much, so I thought it deserved it's own space, away from the already over crowded and small living room.  She even goes up on her own to change outfits, which shows me that she's slowly getting ready for more independent play if I set it up right.

* At night, I make sure I set aside at least 45 minutes before bed to decompress, meditate (even if it's just 5 minutes!) and journal 3 pages, including thoughts on how our day went and what tomorrow could look like.  This is SO helpful as an outlet. It also makes the days run smoother, as i've set an intention.

* I commit to one out-of-the-house activity per day. It can be as small as a walk around the block, to a morning at a nearby museum.  We do it before lunch, and reserve the afternoon for crafting and dinner making.

* I have small goals for myself, that include knitting projects, beginner sewing activities, and new ones, like embroidery.  Having something at the fingertips during the day helps to unwind and feel like i've accomplished something tangible.

Now if I can get it together enough to find the charger to my camera and document some of our projects, I'll be sure to share through photos as well as words. 

The Rhythm of our Days

I left my glasses in the bedroom when I put Lena to sleep, so my screen is mega magnified and making me feel old. Did you know that your eyes hit their peak in your early 20s, and then decline? And did you know that for some women pregnancy can make the eyes worse? And that if you happen to get pregnant in your mid 20's, when your eyes may slowly be beginning to decline, that they may decline sharply and not quite recover? True story. For the first time in my life I actually feel I need my glasses and if I don't have them I feel fuzzy. I forgot them the other day when we went out of town and by the end of the day I was exhausted! Probably didn't help that we were at the national gallery and I was peering mole-like at paintings.

What the heck does my declining vision have to do with the rhythm of our days? Nothing whatsoever, except to point out that I have a lot of time to think about things like this.

If the standard big city rhythm is that of an african drummer pounding for an enthusiastic dancer, the rhythm in our little apartment is more like a babbling brook occasionally pushing a pebble. In particular, the last month has been molasses-like.

Between the intense snowstorm that buried everything, and a chest cold making the rounds, and no really pressing reason to leave the house- we rarely do. We try to get out for a little bit each day, longer now that everyone's chests are clear of virus. We've done the requisite snowman building, snow angels, rolling around in snow etc, but it's only fun for so long when you are 2 1/2, bundled up and can't walk because the snow is literally as deep as you are tall. For a few weeks the snow was too fluffy even for a sled! All this sounds like excuses, and maybe it is- but I intend for it to be more of a prelude into the quiet of our days. The quiet madness?

Each night we tell ourselves that we will get up earlier the next day- and most days we lazily cuddle and giggle until 8am. It's so difficult to get out from under a warm quilt and away from a warm baby to go write in a cold kitchen or do yoga. I'm always glad when I manage, but that doesn't make it any easier. We usually spend at least an hour on breakfast, taking the time to prepare a delicious and nutritious meal to share as we watch people scraping ice off their cars, fat bunchy squirrels running around, and teenagers trudging to the high school up the road.  After that, one of us tries to be productive, and this is where we've been struggling. We each work one or two days a week, so most of the time we are all here. You would think we'd get a lot done, or at least one of us would, but in fact some days it feels like neither of us gets a single thing accomplished.
Our mornings are usually for drawing, reading, tidying, baking and we try to get outside- at the very least so our poor Roscoe can get out!
Lena naps most days and that is a funny time. As she falls asleep, I have a list of all the things I'd like to do- but I know I must choose: yoga? write? clean? cook? sew? blog? study? waste time on the internet (HA)? We eat lunch all together again- often watching the same teens walking to school at the end of their lunch break. In the afternoons- more drawing, a lot of pretend play, maybe a short video or two (usually either live ballet, or some animated shorts of www.nfb.ca, OR a little game on pbs.org), sometimes a more 'official' activity. Then we start thinking about dinner, because we most often spend a chunk of time soaking baking or preparing something. We know our effort was worth it when Lena says "mmmmm, mom, you make the best ___ I've NEVER EVER SEEN!!!" or "Who needs dessert after THIS?" or "mmmm.... I just love it. It's pretty good".

Bedtime is looong- usually a lot of books read by Dad and a lot of cuddling with Mom- a lot of processing the day. It's such a great time to go over the positives and negatives throughout the day, to encourage one another to keep trying a little harder every day, to acknowledge and maybe apologize for the occasional short tempers, to firm up memories of fun and learning and love. I cherish those moments wherein we are forced to slow down, even stop, and just exist in this moment with this child- it's more effective than meditation for me! After Lena is asleep, I tiptoe out to do some of the activities I skipped during nap time- including burning my old lady eyeballs writing a blog post!

Oh well- tonight I will get to bed early because tomorrow is most definitely the day I get up at 630am to make pumpkin waffles and write. Smiley face.

Welcome Mara!

When I first tried my hand at blogging, it was a plan with a friend- a natural parenting, yoga teaching, healthy eating, crafty mama like myself.  As I mentioned, it didn't really work out, and we then moved to Montreal.

She is now living in Japan, and I thought this could be a really cool way to keep in touch, keep each other inspired, and compare lifestyles from Montreal to Japan. Given that our values align so closely, how do we live within our communities and what are the various challenges our cities present to us? How do we keep busy, entertained, and grounded?

We have also discussed sending activity packets back and forth, for those days that we are feeling uninspired in coming up with engaged activities to partake in with our respective toddlers.

Mara has studied holistic nutrition, and so I am really excited to be able do discuss food ideas and share recipes with each other and you- the unnamed reader(s?).

So, welcome Mara!