My favourite time of the year is fast approaching. Soon the local vegetable stands at the side of the road will be popping up, loaded with fresh, local produce. It all starts in June with a few of my favourites: cucumbers, peas, and strawberries. But the thing I'm looking most forward to this year is garlic scapes!

Garlic scapes are the leaf-less stem of the garlic plant. They have a milder taste than the garlic bulb they grow from, like a cross between garlic and green onions. I have seen them popping up in most grocery stores the past couple of years, but you'll definitely find them in abundance at your local farmer's market. The scapes are harvested a couple of weeks before the bulb, so they are only available for a short time.

You can use garlic scapes anywhere you'd normally use green onions or garlic (but with a much milder flavour). Try chopping them up on salad, mixed into an omelet, or my favourite, made into pesto! Scape pesto is delicious on crostini, mixed with mayonnaise on a sandwich, or a great addition to scrambled eggs. I like to make up a big batch of pesto, some for immediate use on pasta, and the rest to be frozen and stored for later use. Of course, it doesn't last long at my house.

I'm especially excited this year because I joined a community supported agriculture group and one of the first items I'm expecting in my bounty this June are garlic scapes. There's nothing like fresh, picked-today, produce, but I'll have more about that next time.

Scape Pesto:

1 cup chopped garlic scapes
1/2 fresh grated parmesan cheese
olive oil (1/2 to 3/4 cups)
handful of pine nuts or walnuts (optional)

Process the garlic scapes in a food processor until well pureed. Add the cheese and nuts (if using). Process until smooth. Keeping the food processor running, add olive oil until combined.

Friends

I've been leaving Heidi and Amelia with my neighbour fairly often lately. I take her daughter once a week while she works, so she's been taking my girls a few hours a week while I do various other things (work, shower, clean, make cards... all the things that are nearly impossible to do with 2 little ones running around). Leaving Heidi is still hard, but she has so much fun over there. She and Sierra are 3 months apart and such good friends. It's so cute to see them together. Sierra gets excited and says: "Heidi, Heidi, Heidi" whenever we she sees her.

Amelia and River, on the other hand, are like brother and sister. They love to play together but get easily frustrated with each other. They both want/need to be in control of what ever game they are playing. I wonder if it's an oldest child thing, or if they are just that similar, personality-wise. Everything I've heard about River as a baby, parallels my experiences with Amelia.

I feel so fortunate to have their family as neighbours. It's strange how people come into your life right about the time you need them.

New cards

The first is a Thank You card for my neighbours, who provided great entertainment for the street party I helped organize. The "thanks" I cut out using my friend's Cuttlebug. I'm thinking of buying myself one for Mother's Day.


Today I made a whole batch of Mother's Day cards. The first is a new card for my Mother-in-law. Kendrick didn't like that my Mom's card was nicer than his... Next time he can make his own. I'm going to give the old one to my sister-in-law.


I made the next one for my sister. I had no "Aunt" stamps, but I figured this sentiment would work. I used my left-over pieces from above card, a stamp from my day at Sheena's, and my new ribbon and brads.


This one I made for my next-door neighbour who I do shared care with. Her kids are the same ages and mine and Amelia likes to call her "Mama".

Kids say the darnedest things...

I seem to always be writing about funny things Amelia says. Oh well. It's not like I live an exceptionally exciting life.

Today's word of the day: smokerette
Usage: "There's a smokerette on the grass."

I guess I'll be picking up cigarette butts later today.

Heidi sneezed a couple of days ago and then very clearly said "Excuse me." Even Amelia heard it.

Funny things Amelia says...

"You bought yourself new sunglasses. You're a lucky girl."

Oh, and peek-a-boo is a totally underrated game. I could play it with Heidi for hours.

Introduction to our Food Issues

I love to cook and I love to try out new recipes. When my now three-year old daughter started showing signs of food allergies and sensitivities, you would think I’d have had an easy time adjusting to dietary changes. Not so. I was overwhelmed by all the sudden restrictions that were placed on not only my daughter's diet, but our whole household as well.


We became militant label-readers. We had to avoid all sugars, yeast, dairy, and eggs, and limit wheat. After a few stressful trips to the grocery store ("There's sugar in THAT?"), I finally decided that fresh vegetables and homemade snacks were the only way to go. I started baking with different types of flour, using natural sugar alternatives, and playing with egg substitutes.


The hardest meal I found dealing with was breakfast. Have you read the labels on breakfast cereals lately? I can't even pronounce most of what's on there. And, even in the "healthy" cereal options, sugar is most often the second ingredient. The days of toast and jam or a bowl of boxed cereal were over. I began serving steel-cut oats, teff, and buckwheat pancakes, rice pudding made with coconut milk, and millet porridge.


For snacks, I puree roasted peppers or add dried herbs to olive oil and lemon juice to create healthy dips to make veggies more enticing. My daughter also likes roasted, spiced chickpeas or rice cakes with sunflower butter.


When living with food intolerances, there are options out there, you just have to be open to a little experimentation and imagination! For us, things got easier, a routine was developed. And, within 2 months of changing the way we ate, my daughter's condition improved dramatically, and we all felt a lot healthier.

New cards

I actually did have some time this afternoon to make some cards. The first is for my next-door neighbour and Amelia's best friend, River, who turns 4 on Thursday. All the stamps are from the stash I made at a play date with a good friend a couple of months ago.

Then, I got a headstart on Mother's Day. I got to use my beautiful new paper on cards for my Mom and Kendrick's Mom. The first one is for my Mom and the second is for my mother-in-law.




I'm already looking forward to my next hour of free time.