It’s that time of year again! Although it’s almost too late to start a batch of sauerkraut in order for it to be ready in time for gift-giving (or perhaps to mail a tea set to you niece in Amsterdam), it’s perfect timing to start thinking about most other gifts.
Last year we made bath salts for the people we love. The recipe is here along with a big list of other thoughtful ideas for people who may (or may not) be going through cancer treatment. We have a fresh new list of ideas this year too.
A few weeks ago we went to Tofino for the first time since our baby was born. It had a different feel than it used to. For starters, it was so fun to see our little girl watching the waves and squealing at (and terrifying) the birds and the dogs running on the beach.
We had to take turns surfing instead of surfing together. I was wondering if after not surfing for over a year, how much I might have regressed, and guess what?! I was amazing! Just joking, I was unfathomably terrible but no one I knew actually saw me, so did it even count? I figure between all of the time I spent under water and my long, stringy hair that hasn’t found time for a hair cut in 100 months, I was basically a mermaid, which is way more special than being a surf champion.
We just got back from a very relaxing vacation. It was to a place we used to go with my Dad as kids. Not a thing has changed, our old Archie comics were still boxed up in the attic, the spinning clothes line where we used hang our stuffed animals and pretend they were on a carnival ride is still there, and the kitchen stool that my three sisters and I would stack onto for our annual picture had had a fresh coat of paint but was still there too.
It was amazing, I felt like I was eight again (until I had to clean my daughter’s first poo explosion with the actual antique washing equipment and hang it on the carnival ride to dry –my stuffed animals def never did that).
I bought my first garlic press this week. It just seemed like the right thing to do after waving my cyber arms around enthusiastically about pulverized garlic and its health benefits a couple of weeks ago.
One of my Chef Instructors (1000 years ago) used to say that they were for housewives (she herself was/is a woman) but I now realize that most of my favourite cooks (and people!) are in fact housewives, so I am more than ready to embrace the garlic press. And nice to not have turmeric residue all over it when I want to use it (unlike my microplanes). So, in honour of earning my housewife wings, we are busting out a garlicky recipe this week to celebrate (don’t worry, you can tone down the garlic if this terrifies you).
