Kitten Performs Shiatsu Massage

Baby Stella (1 year) Plays the Piano & an Encore (Video)

I moved the girls' piano out from a hidden corner today and little Stella discovered it, and began playing it very thoughtfully and playfully. I grabbed my camera and took a video. As a side note, I do not play the piano, nor does anyone in my house. Luc and I got Marina this little kid-size piano when Marina was 2 (now she's almost 4), and she has not played it much. It has been sitting unused in a corner for a while . . . until now!


VIDEO: Baby Plays Piano and does an Encore

Spinach-Feta and Italian Sausage Quiche with a Quinoa Crust (wheat-gluten free)

Quiche has a lot of things going for it this time of the year. I love to cook with ingredients that are in season and both eggs and spinach are becoming more available. They are becoming more available if you have your own chickens as they begin to lay more eggs as the days get longer. And this is the time of year you can plant spinach here in the northwest. Spinach likes the cool and wet qualities of spring. Although it is maybe a little early to plant the spinach, it just snowed today. It was only a half inch, if that, but it covered up spring so fast! By afternoon it was--poof--gone! Or should I say, drip, it was gone.

Also included in this recipe is my very favorite quinoa crust recipe, which I created during a frustrated rage at the disgusting wheat and gluten free all-purpose flour by Bob's Red Mill. Bob's has this flavor that is just gross, like bad garbanzo beans, and I love garbanzo beans. So here is a great alternative: Quinoa Flakes and butter.

Quiche Ingredients:
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 # Italian Sausage (ground)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups quinoa flakes
1/2 cup butter
1 cup grated carrot
approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cup feta (I like the sheep feta)
several slices of yellow cheese
olive oil for cooking

Quinoa Flake Crust: makes 1 pie shell

1 1/2 cups quinoa flakes (2 cups for larger pie dish): Quinoa is a dry cereal flake form of quinoa, which is normally round and small. The flakes are just that-- flakes, very thin and powdery. If you live on Whidbey Island you can get them at Payless in the "health food isle" by the cereal and the chocolate/energy bars. I think they also have them at the Star Store. Be prepared, one box (about 3 1/2 +/- cups, or two pie shells) is about $7.

1/2 cup of butter, chopped into small squares

Put chopped butter and quinoa flakes in a blender and blend until it forms a wad of dough. Press into a regular sized pie dish. You can add a little more quinoa flakes for a thicker crust. I press the crust so it is thin but it covers the whole dish. Start from the middle and press toward the sides.Now place sliced yellow cheese around the edges of the crust and fill the whole bottom of the crust with feta, as shown in picture below. Place in preheated 375F oven for 5-10 minutes. You want to melt the cheese to form a moisture barrier. Make sure to not overcook the shell. Lightly browned quinoa shell is okay, but no more than that.

Melted yellow cheese and feta (above)

Now it is time to prepare the sausage. Cook on stove top with olive oil breaking into small-ish pieces as it cooks. cook until done and set aside.

Now for the "Insides" of the Quiche! Mix 4 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk until blended.

Above: Egg and Milk mixture (about to be blended, by hand)

Mix the blended egg/milk mixture with sausage and 3 cups chopped spinach. Pour into quinoa pie shell and place grated carrot on top for a nice color contrast. Place in a 350F oven for 30-40 minutes. Check periodically to see if egg mixture is firm. The middle is the last part of the pie to finish cooking, and you can touch it with our finger to see if it is firm. if it is you are done!

Quiche pie with spinach, eggs, milk and sausage, uncooked

carrots on top, uncooked

Your Sneak Peak: New Playground at Soccer Fields on Langley Road

At the soccer fields on Langley Road there is this great new kid's playground. It was taped off with caution tape on the soccer field side, and we only had to move a fence to get in. It might have still been officially closed. . . it looked like a brand new toy, that had never been played with, hee hee. The only thing that looked unfinished were a couple of short drainage holes. We will be coming back to it again that's for sure. It reminded me of a cool playground we visited in Boulder Colorado (only this one is smaller) because it has some climbing rocks. I don't know of ANY other parks on South Whidbey that have climbing rocks. So it is also unique, and well located. You can walk into the woods on well maintained trails (bike anyone?). A short 1/2 mile hike takes you to the Community Park (Castle Park) on Maxwelton Rd. Or you could explore some of the many more trails in the woods.

Bathrooms

Stella

This was sort of strange: just two small swings

There are two climbing rocks that are connected by a climbing rope. Lots of fun for the kids.

Marina has found her perch

Brand new "double" slide. Not to slippery, but great for kids to climb up and down the way they like to! Marina and her friends were both able to run down the slide (yeah, I was scared!). The slide is so perfect and new that you can see your reflection.

good climbing

one of two picnic shelters

View of playground from parking area

Entering the playground. Notice the cool pathway

Popular 'Mystery Weekend' brings Crowds of Sleuths to Langley

Langley's Mystery Weekend 2009 "Sacrifice in Silver" kicked off on Saturday February 21st to a beautiful sunny day. There were plenty of crowds to enjoy the sun, a silly mystery, and lots of mysterious characters (suspects!). Below I have posted some pictures from Saturday.

Suspicious Character #1: the model

Above: man reading in the street, which brings me to the point that there were plenty of interesting people watching opportunities and I briefly entertained the idea of posting photos of people who could have been Mystery Weekend characters. But, I decided against the possibility of offending anyone.

There were many people with their heads buried in newspapers, trying to wrap their minds around the mystery

people forming crowds

and more crowds, in the Langley Chamber of Commerce, ticket selling

Chocolates at Angel 1 Chocolates, Langley

Aha! Suspicious Character #2: Fancy Bead Lady

Stella trespassing

The sign reads, "staff only!"

Suspicious Characters #3: the Beret Boys (I'm making these names up), but they really were suspects in the mystery

Suspicious Characters #4: Western Cowgirl Twins

Suspicious Characters #5: the Husky Twins

Suspicious Character #6: Bea Buzzy Bee Lady

Marina checks out her hat

???????? Hmmmmm???????

Martha Murphy's Face Painting Booth for the Whidbey Children's Theater

The booth cleverly advertises, "Disguise Yourself" with a moustache, glasses . . .

Good Cheer Food Bank Grows with Your Help

Good Cheer Food Bank adds gardens to their growing list of contributions to the community. And they need your help. So far volunteers have donated generously in time and materials to the new gardens. I was very excited to see Good Cheer breaking ground at their new Bayview Food Bank site early this year. What a progressive idea, grow food for the food bank. . . so obvious, and so perfect. I have watched the progress of the work parties, as I drive or run by the Bayview site, impressed at the organization and speed at which the site is being transformed into a garden. The garden coordinator is Cary Peterson and she has a blog for the South Whidbey Good Cheer Garden at: http://goodcheergarden.wordpress.com/volunteer/

You can also check that link out for the exact volunteer days and times, and the wish list. There will be a work party on:

Wednesday February 25th & Saturday February 28th

The Whidbey Island Half Marathon: First of ? Many?

Half and Full Marathon, March 29th, 2009

I have really taken to running longer distances--- I LOVE IT----, and lately my motivator has been the Whidbey Island half marathon (13.1 miles). Back in September when the idea began to trickle into my consciousness, it was like a faraway, almost unattainable vision. Now, the race is just a little over a month away and that trickle of an idea is a river, a fast moving one. I am in awe of the process and the ability of my body to adjust to the longer distances. Four miles turned into six and six turned into nine. After doing 12 miles on a lazy Sunday morning, I am plotting a 18 miler, that I have always thought was too long to do on foot. I've done it on bicycle, back in High School, and at the time it seemed so grueling and long! The world really begins to shrink as you grow older! This applies to distances, in my case.

Checkout the Whidbey Island Half marathon (also the full-length marathon) at:
http://www.whidbeyislandmarathon.com/home.cfm

Spring Ingredients: spring is almost here, or perhaps it is, the signs are everywhere!

SPRING! The hyacinth promise to us

Sun sets through the garden gate . . . spending time in the garden, that's a spring thing too

wood chips for the paths

,overwintering leeks all in a row

last year's artichokes

funny picture of Stella, with dirt on her face (she was trying to eat an old artichoke (see below pics)

old broccoli stems, they are thick and last all year!

red onion from last year, it is smaller than it looks

the red onions are sprouting

ah, this is the picture I was talking about, "hmm, this looks tasty . . ."

"I think I'll try it"

"this tastes a little old"

Finding artichoke heads

Above: my favorite kale to eat. This kale overwintered and looks a bit tough, and small

garden beds and paths, all weeded thanks to nana

bamboo wind chimes

autumn leaves amid new grass

lupine seed pods

raspberries with all the potential to please lots and lots of kids this year. I have a very large portion of the garden set out for raspberries, something like 5 rows of 35 feet by 40 feet. They are my favorite

old bee hive boxes

sunshine, now that's an important "spring ingredient"

I am not the only one looking forward to more trampoline time this summer . . .

leaping barefoot!

these just smell soooo heavenly!

spring ingredient: hyacinths, primroses, you know the ones in front of the stores blooming this time of year

this is a hyacinth from last year I planted in the garden

and my beloved dandelions --- no kidding I love them. Give me a lawn full of them and I will be happy. I originally named my blog (almost a year ago) "Dandelion Cooking" but . . .

the buds are waiting, waiting

last years primroses, coming back

self portrait, "Am I framed in the pic?" I look a bit questioning

ohhh, tulips...what amazing flowers, they seem too pretty sometimes, like other-worldly