Happy Halloween!

We are keeping our fingers crossed that the light drizzle this morning will taper off this afternoon and stop before trick-or-treating hour arrives. The girls are very excited. We are planning to carve our pumpkin this morning and probably eat some of the pumpkin shaped cookies we made yesterday afternoon.

The girls brought me breakfast in bed this morning. Yogurt and milk. Thank you Alia. Thank you Kyra. Breakfast came with a couple of handmade glitter glue cards. Only drawback was that they took it literally when I said not to get up before 8 a.m. (we went to bed a little late last night). Breakfast was at my bedside at 8:02!! Not really the end of the world since I was awake anyways. Didn't sleep as well as could be... a kink in the neck will do that to a person! I need a back massage!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Trick or Treat!!

Whistle While You Work

The stars must have been aligned this week and chores got done this week with a smile.

Here are the girls washing the evening dishes on Tuesday night. On rare occasions I miss the dishwasher (mainly to hide dirty dishes and keep the counter cleared off). But for most of time, it is time to talk and it actually is relaxing. This evening, we only lost one glass!

Halloween Prep

Decorating the house for Halloween has been an on-going project for the last couple of weeks. Not that our decorations are elaborate (definitely not like the ones you see on tv during Halloween specials) but simple, kid oriented and fun. I've tried to control myself at the dollar store and most of the decorations were made by Alia and Kyra.

This year is the first year we are celebrating Halloween in Toronto. I guess we will see how are neighbourhood celebrates the gathering of sweets! I actually flagged down a neighbour and asked how busy our street was on Halloween night. According to her, things are quiet on our end of the street. Which is fine by me because we will be leaving a bowl of treats on the porch for trick or treaters. (Chips are the treat of choice this year) Can't be in two places at once and the girls and I would obviously prefer being out collecting treats!

The girls' school is having a Halloween celebration this Friday. Other than the costume parade in the gym, I think things are going to be kept simple. I noticed a lot of Halloween themed artwork hanging in the hallways. I am going into Kyra's class Wednesday morning to help with more artwork.

This week after school, we will be filling those decoration bags full of leaves and decorating the front lawn.

Les Crêpes de Papa

On Saturday, Eric left on a two week business trip. Before leaving, he spent Saturday morning making a triple batch of his famous crêpes for breakfast. We already knew that a single batch was breakfast and even a double batch barely left some for freezing the weekday breakfasts. Hence the need for a triple batch.

Saturday is my sleep-in day so I missed most of the mixing and cooking. I was up for coffee and eating! ;) Alia and Kyra received personalized crêpes!

Taiko Repair Day

Yesterday, the girls and I had the opportunity to help reskin a taiko drum. Here is a picture of the poor drum with large hole! I am currently an apprentice with Yakudo here in Toronto. This was first time I have had an opportunity to see how they put a skin on a drum and be part of the experience.

The skin started soaking in the morning as it takes about 5 hrs to it to soften.

The next step was taking the old tacks off and filling in the holes, sanding down the edges and setting up the drum to attach the skin. Alia and Kyra were very keen on helping too!

We then positioned the skin on the drum and started roping the drum to stretch it.

Then the fun started. I can now say that I have walked on a taiko drum! Reskinning a taiko is definitely a lot of fun, a lot of work and a truly awesome experience!

We had to leave before they started tacking as it was getting late and I had to get the girls ready for bed and school the next day. I'm glad we got to be part of it.

Canada's Wonderland in the Fall!

Last Saturday we took the girls to Canada’s Wonderland. It was our last visit for this year. The park closes in two weekends and with Halloween coming up and Eric going away to two conferences, this was it.

The weather was nice. Cool in the shade but the sun was nice. I definitely could have used a hat and gloves. Luckily the girls had their hats and mitts. The wind is cold this time of year on roller coasters. The nice thing is that there were no lineups! We justwalked onto rides. It was perfect. There was a small scavenger hunt set up for the kids. It had a pirate theme and the girls visited each of the 5 stations were they collected pirate treasure, bandanas, eye patches, coins and of course, candy. They also had a spooky barn set up. Alia’s didn’t really think it was that spooky, just a maze with decorations.

Some of the park was closed off for the Halloween Haunt. Canada’s Wonderland puts on this grand production each year and of course, admission is not included in gate price (that is – you need to buy another $25 ticket!). It is only open at night and not for the faint of heart. Definitely not for children! They have a mini taste of the attraction decorating the front courtyard and it confirmed that this attraction is not for kids like Alia and Kyra. It was a very elaborate graveyard scene that seemed to come directly from MJ’s Thriller video! I’ll give them thumbs up on the detail but would rather see it in the daylight!

One concession stand was offering pumpkin decorating and for $2 a pumpkin (decorations included), perfect! Alia had been asking to go to the store because she wanted to buy a small pumpkin for the house. This was a great solution and perfect souvenir. Although we could have glued on the decorations there, we chose to bring them home. It’s cold sitting on a picnic bench in October.

Kyra's favourite ride this year is the Jokey Jalopies. She loves driving us around in a Ford Model T car through the woods and over the bridge. It is always her first choice of ride after the mountain rollercoaster (Thunder Run). Alia wanted to go on the Wild Beast but it was too far out of our way. She and Eric did do the Fly and the Bat (this one goes upside down and backwards, just like the Boomerang at La Ronde). While Eric went to get his extra jacket at the car, the girls and I went on Thunder Run (one of the two larger roller coasters that Kyra can get on).

We also sat through the show involving fairy tales. Three characters, one of which included the witch of the equator, hosted the show! Of course in all these types of shows, volunteers are needed up on stage. Both girls were too shy to get up on stage to be one of three little pigs but were extremely keen to volunteer their papa. Yes, Eric became the brick house in the story of the Three Little Pigs.

Not bad for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Child's Play

Today, Kyra is home with a little cold. Nothing serious but could probably benefit from a quiet day and an good nap this afternoon. This morning, we played with the Barbies. The storyline went something like this...

Once upon a time, Barbie and Prince Eric (as in The Little Mermaid Ariel's Prince Eric) went out on unicorns to hunt down a dinosaur. Barbie lassoed T-Rex while Prince Eric built the firepit. Together they roasted the dinosaur and had a lovely lunch of T-Rex steaks (I guess you would call those the original T-bone steaks!!!) After lunch, they decided to get married, dance and live happily ever after!

Let's just say that by the end of the day, Kyra is back to her old self and definitely well enough to go to school tomorrow!!

Tourtière Update

I can't believe it. While trying to take the aluminum foil off the pie edges, the tray with two pies on it feel out of the oven. I couldn't believe it! Noooooooo!! I managed to shove the smooshed tourtières back into the plates and back into the oven. I will admit that we ate them anyway and squished tourtière fits better in a thermos (the girls' lunches). 'Smooshed' tourtières are an interesting way of demonstrating what the Earth's continental plates look like after colliding with each other. The Eurasian and Indo-Australian plates collided to form the Himalayas. This event just produced supper with folds of top pastry and meat-filling under the bottom and double layers of pastry forming random patterns.

I must say that the taste was not affected by the cosmic/stove collision. They tasted great! Especially with mom's homemade relish. Delicious!! I had never added vegetables in my tourtières before but lately I am grating carrots, mushrooms and any other vegetable to cut the quantity of meat. This time I mashed the potatoes and a carrot together and minced carrot, onion and celery went into the pork mixture. Cinnamon, cloves and freshly ground nutmeg added the 'oh, that smells delicious' reaction.

I know what I am having for lunch today! ;)

p.s. (only one tourtière made it to the freezer - heaven for another day)

Cold Weather and Tourtière

It may be cold outside but one of the great things about cooler weather is tourtière! Yum! We are having one for supper tonight and I will freeze the other two for another time.

Baking tip of the day: Mark tourtières with a 'T' and apple pies with an 'A' and so on. Life experience has taught me that although apple pie might be delicious for supper, it doesn't go very well with mash potatoes, gravy and vegetables!

Fun at the Farm

Forsythe Farm is a 20 minute drive north from our house. It is a great place to spend a weekend morning. You can visit the animals at the petting farm. They have sheep, goats, rabbits and a calf or two that visitors are allowed to feed. They also have pigs, cows and chickens (which I would recommend you don't feed!) There are obstacle courses and mazes the kids can play in. If you have the time, hop on the tractor ride to the enchanted forest. It's a 15-20 walk through the forest where you will find Jack, the giant and the beanstalk, Snow White and the homes of the three little pigs. Of course, no day at the farm would be complete without a walk through the market at the end to pick up fresh vegetables and butter tarts!

The girls and I went this summer. During the weekday, the tractor ride is not running but we still had a great time with the animals and running races in the play area. This September, when my parents were in town, we went back. The corn maze was open and we had fun

going through it to find the five markers. We went on the forest walk and found BoPeep's lost sheep. We also came home with fresh corn, apples and butter tarts.

Montreal vs. Toronto

Living in Toronto, we miss our family and friends from Montreal. But there are other things we miss and we often think about these things (mostly food items) that we just can't find in Toronto.

Things we miss from Montreal:

- Fairmount bagels

- great pizza

- smoked meat

- un hotdog 'all-dressed'

- St. Hubert rotisserie chicken and B.B.Q. sauce

- a great poutine

But then there is the other list.

Things we don't miss from Montreal:

- The Metropolitain with it's insane traffic and incredibly short merge lanes!

- Detour signs that are confusing and lead to yet another 'unannounced' road closure!

- Endless construction! (How long is it going to take them to finish the strip of Hwy. 20 running through the Valleyfield/Coteau du Lac area??) My thoughts and prayers go out to family and friends who will be living through the Dorval Circle revamp!

Fairmount Bagels!

Our car smelled soooo good on the way home! There is nothing like Montreal fresh bagels. Does taking pictures in front of the store and inside the store make us tourists? Or just really nostalgic displaced Montrealers?

Hopefully, the four dozen bagels will last us until the next time a)someone from Montreal brings us a supply or b)we make it back to Montreal to buy our own!

or c) Every so often, our local Metro grocery store carries Fairmount bagels! They were a chance discovery one day. They don't always have them and they are usually hidden in the fresh bakery department.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We got home last night from Montreal just after 9 p.m. Traffic along the 401 was sluggish from the 'Big Apple' (which I think is Coburg). Even though there was heavy volume, we didn't see any accidents (which is a good thing).

We stopped for supper at Tim Horton's on Division Street (Kingston). Last night, service was horrible and the bathrooms were not clean at all. Trays and garbage were all over the restaurant. With all the service stations closed, I think ordinary restaurants, like Tim's, are seeing a higher volume of travelers come through their doors but are not adjusting fast enough on the staffing end. We waited in line for 20 minutes! The restaurant has installed new garbage/organic/recycling bins. However, there was only 1 of these bins (all the other bins were taped shut). The one bin was hidden behind the line up of customers that snaked out the door. The second garbage bin was outside. Not very practical. The drive through line up didn't look any more promising. I do have to say that I like the fact that the kids prefer Tim Horton's over McDonald's.

Our girls travel so well. Thank you Alia and Kyra for being so good in the car. And thanks to the portable DVD player! ;)

Singing in the Shower!

Last night, Kyra, our 5 year old, was singing at the top of her lungs in the shower. Song of choice? O Canada! We were really impressed that she knew all the words and sang it with feeling! Thanks to the school who start the day every morning with the singing of our national anthem. I'm just sorry I couldn't get my act together and record it.

Croissants and Coffee

Ever since moving to Toronto, Eric and I have had a list of foods we miss eating and can't find here. One item on that list was croissants. We have been searching for flaky, buttery croissants. Someone recently gave Eric the name of a french patisserie and so we had to check it out. After this morning, I think we can now cross 'croissants' off our list!

Our family went to have breakfast at Jules Café (on Mt. Pleasant, south of Eglington). The little shop did not disappoint. There was something neat about the four of us sitting at the counter eating croissants and pains au chocolat and drinking our coffees (Eric and I, not the girls!) They were delicious, especially the almond chocolate croissant! Kyra was pretty funny. She ate around the chocolate in her pain au chocolat because she didn't want the chocolate!

They also had an interesting selection of sandwiches, salads and baguettes.

And of course, we brought home some pastries for dessert tonight!!