aarteita!

1. it chooses you by miranda july

2. maine perfume oil by MCMC fragrances 

3. odette ny standing fox ring

4. needle point loafers 

5. rabbits leggings

nice!

seven dinners

ethiopian purple potatoes and peas with split pea puree

nachos with beans, veggies, and cashew queso

eggplant and black eyed pea curry

winter vegetable and tofu korma with brown rice

black eyed pea hummus, taboule, and pita

roasted carrots, blistered almonds, garlic kale with miso sauce, and sesame crusted tofu

buckwheat soba with cucumber, sprouts, and garlic ginger dressing

:(

people who know me understand that i am a huge fan of winter weather, the kind with a lot of snow. i love how magical it makes everything seem, and the light. this winter has been extremely disappointing. we have not yet had any of the snow falls that keep pilling up day after day. the snow has only stayed on the ground a few times and it disappeared after a day or two. one of the few times we had icicles, suki said, as they were melting away, "the icicles are crying". the things kids say- spot on! now that march is nearing i have given up hope on the weather. i guess it is time to start planning for the garden. 

tomorrow

more information here.

potlucking our way pt.2

our inspired vegan potluck club completed the menu celebration: chisholm.

this menu was part of the autumn chapter of the book, but the spice on the jerk tempeh was just the heat we needed on this cold winter evening. another incredible meal- bryant terry does not disappoint!

meal break down:

(juan and laura made)

fiery ginger beer/black star lime

purple slaw with toasted pecans

(susan made)

creamy chard soup with tostones

(kolin made)

jerk tempeh with cilantro sauce

(adam made)

double garlic rice

citrus-hibiscus sorbet

tomorrow night

party hour!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

this is most likely my favorite day of the year. heart-shaped foods, cards, flowers, parties, heart-shaped food. what more could anyone want.

we had a few friends over for a celebratory brunch and play time.

our menu consisted of many sweets and hearts:

heart shaped breakfast cookies

heart fruit salad

raspberry sunshine muffins

popcorn 

strawberry lemon juice

coffee

tea

after sharing cards and treats we attempted a pre-nap story time in suki's room, but once the kids spotted the bed they wanted to have a toddler version of a pillow fight instead. maybe next year? 

i hope your day was full of love and joy!

xoxo

i made suki's party dress from a japanese pattern book, and was happy when we tried it on and it fit- it is always a guessing game for me with those. 

i will always love you

video valentines

to one i love

are you looking for a box of something sweet for your sweetie?

does someone special in your life love coffee?

order a box of rowster coffee confections today!

all handmade by the oven mitt bakery in grand rapids, michigan.

each box includes:

3 heart shaped sandwich cookies

4 macadamia nut and saffron sea salt candies

2 coffee crunch truffles with cinnamon and cardamom

$18 for nine piece box.

email orders to kotoamade(at)gmail(dot)com before 4pm, friday february 10, 2012. 

otherwise, stop in to rowster before friday to order in person. 

boxes will be available to pick up beginning at 8am on valentine's day.

while you are there, pick up a bag of beans to go along with your chocolate declaration of love.

xoxo

aamu aika

SUNDAY MORNING

dog walk.

pancake breakfast.

pancake eating face and little dance.

bleached 7"s friend kolin brought from his trip to chicago.

beautiful gift from adam.

with coffee.

imagination games.

bleached

neighbors

our neighbor friends, carrie and coco, came over this morning to play and make playdough.

i like our neighborhood for many reasons- we are close to two great parks, it is quiet and safe, we are not far from downtown, but today i realized these neighbor friends are the number one reason i love where we live. the morning goes by so much faster and is a lot more fun when we have an activity or friends to be with. i often wait until the last minute to try and arrange play time with friends and about seventy percent of the time it ends up not working out. i just discovered how wonderful it is to have friends around the corner with the same nap schedule, parenting style, eating habits, and interests who are home weekday mornings. do you have lovely neighbors like this that make your life much happier? i hope so!

p.s. we used blueberries and turmeric to dye our playdough. the one dyed with blueberry turned out very dry. i am wondering if this happened because of the acidity in the fruit or if my measurements for the oil were off? has anyone else noticed this? the color turned out beautifully, but it feels very different than the others i have made. 

aamu aika

fun in an adult shirt.

feeding cats/loving cats.

potlucking our way

we picked up a copy of the inspired vegan at wake up weekend. i can't wait to try everything, and i will soon. along with a group of friends, we are potlucking our way through the book. we have a few other cookbooks that also have full menu formats, but for some reason this makes them a bit overwhelming. when i make food from them i end up not completing the full menu, and will just use a single recipe here and there. thanks to my good friend susan we now have a solution to these books! we have decided to gather together for one meal a week until we have completed the book. each family will make one recipe from the menu, and we will take turns hosting the meal. each of the individual recipes are fairly simple and stress free, but when they all come together it makes a multi course meal that feels very special. 

the first menu we used was "farm fresh" the recipes included:

cinnamon-tamarind agua fresca

smoky tomatoes, roasted plantains, and crumbled tempeh

coconut quinoa

tortillas stuffed this swiss chard, currants, and spicy guacamole

mexican chocolate pudding and agave-coated pepitas 

so good!

nap hour

we are adjusting to adam's new work schedule and trying to establish our new routine. monday and wednesdays, i will be using suki's nap hour to make dinner. this way i am not tempted to distract her with the tv babysitter. today, while dinner is simmering, i am enjoying computer time and mika miko. what is your favorite dinner making music?