Author: ktojoy

I love my daughter’s logic :)

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This morning when we left the house we saw a grandma dragging her grand daughter to the preschool. The old lady was Chinese and she was talking partially in English and part Mandarin. So all together it just sounded like angry shouting by this tiny lady. To my horror my kid decided to walk right behind them on the side walk laughing her head off!!!! When I asked her what is so funny she said that it makes her laugh when other kids are crying. Am I raising a psychopath? Well she went on to explain to me that it makes her feel good when she sees somebody crying, because she knows that she is not feeling as sad as them…

I of course gave her a lecture about compassion and empathy, but I felt that she was so right (in her little bit over the top preschooler kinda way). When I see somebody being miserable it makes me fell good knowing I’m not them 😉

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This pretty morning surprised us today, the sun was baking into our kitchen windows and with Sara at school there was only one thing to do, bake.

I tried another adjustment to the apple brownie recipe. Less sugar (half a cup), apple sauce for moisture and just spelt flour. The cake turned out kinda crumbly for some reason (well, it has something to do with the gluten content, more like the lack of it). I still have lots to learn, but at least Jason like this version.

Is it April yet?

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No, unfortunately. Office is just nuts.

I’m counting weekends down, just 8 weeks to go…

Well, right now I’m just burned out, it was very busy in the last two weeks and this week will be equal to mental. The long awaited kitchen ceiling painting is here. After that trip to Palomino Estates and I swear it’s my Christmas this time, all the goodies for Sara’s doll house. I’m afraid it will be hard to give the house to Sara 🙂 but I will be brave and will not whine about it too much.

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My version of “apple brownie”

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1  cup brown sugar  (next time can do even less)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 
3 cups apples (about 2-3 apples), peeled, cored and chopped
½ cup chopped walnuts

1 cup of whole spelt flour

1 cup white rice flour

2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

sift dry ingredients together

mix in dry into wet and mix just to moisten, bake on 375 F for about an hour

 http://beyondkimchee.blogspot.com/2012/02/apple-brownies-another-easy-apple.html

gives you the details and lovely photos 🙂

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Oh well, I’m fired up again to make and create…

Every time I have to work and have no spare time I come across some fabulous stuff to make. I have nine more weeks of tax crazy time to go and an urge to make this tiny painting for Sara’s doll house of one of Alexander Girard’s suns. I wish I could go back to the 60ties and soak up all the colours and designs.

My baking adventures continue with trying recipes with no gluten, high protein flour. So far adapting my banana recipe for spelt flour was a great success. I even made a vegan (no eggs) version. Date nut bread was lovely as well and today I will try “apple brownie” recipe I found on this great foodie blog http://beyondkimchee.blogspot.com/2012/02/apple-brownies-another-easy-apple.html

I will post the results, if I can take a pic before it’s all eaten 😉

The sun is shining into my kitchen window and I just love cooking in my sunlit dream room. I swear the kitchen is the only well designed space in this house, if you can get over the fact that you will never clean the grease off those cabinet doors. There will have to be some upgrades done in next 5 years, but that’s just making a very good thing super awesome.

No more talk, more baking baby and then going to play outside with Sara. We will go to our garden to pick up some kale for dinner 🙂

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This was my little girl two years ago. These days she has freak outs about getting rain on her pants, about not having a bath every night, about putting moisturiser on after a bath, about socks not fitting, about not being allowed to wear old, short sweats to school… The list is endless 😉

She is also the most cheeky monkey of them all. She goes and does what ever she wants, no matter what we said and then she gives us this smile/wink

I finally managed to sign her up for swimming lessons and for an art class, we will be having fun.

February almost gone…

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The weather is not getting any better, 6C and raining all the time. It’s really getting to me, getting used to no weekends is also a bit hard. “Just think of the money” is the mantra to get us through these two more months, nine weeks to go 🙂

The doll house is coming along great, the swimming pool is ordered at Toy Traders and there is only one final decision to make, plus online purchase ;),last one, I promise.

I just don’t know what to write today…watching Sara eating the spicy pork curry I made today for dinner, she ate 3 slices of bread, ½ cup of rice and drank ½ liter of water, she is either growing or she is going to barf… ;)))))

New living room paint…

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http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1412103/_trid=dHVydGxlMjU7a2xhcmFAY2hhaXI1MS5jb20/list/Houzz-Tour–Sophisticated-Family-Friendly-Flat

OMG, I just fell in love yet again 🙂 The colours are so clean and bright, our new living room paint, now just to get excited about taping and a lots of lost sleep, the stripe nightmare that is yet so enticing me ;)))

As you might have noticed, my decorating bug is back with full force, I guess the four year itch or something. This year it’s the tree project in Sara’s room. She is going to be four after all, so it’s time to take down the baby pictures and make it into a “play pad”. The kitchen ceiling will be a piece of cake and then the living room? We will see…

Getting used to this

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Another weekend gone, it was just a blur of work (the tax office is open now), wonderful birthday party for Gabor and Sara’s crying all Friday night because of earache…

Sara is so funny these days… she asked Jason;“Are you a hot guy?”

So funny, she comes up with new ways to scam us into cleaning her mess, all the excuses she comes up with, seriously 🙂

I taught Sara to say “None of your bees wax” that is my contribution, hahaha

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Right angles prohibited 🙂

Hey, I don’t measure anything and it shows :)))) Three hours of great fun and fireplace is born. This photo doesn’t show the amazing, terrific flickering fire. I haven’t been this excited, mesmerised and awed in a very long time. It was also super duper easy to install, so baby electricity is in the works for some rooms.

Sara developed ear infection, very first one of this kind. She spent most of the night crying, so very few hours of sleep today, but that can’t stop me from partying tonight. Turn that espresso machine on dear Gabor 🙂