What the *%@@ is going on in Langley?

The 13th annual "Race the Rock" triathlon! The race will start at the public side of Goss Lake at 9AM on Saturday, August 1st. The swim is a 1/2 mile, then athletes run to their bikes and bike a 19.5 mile loop route around Lone Lake Road, Saratoga Road, Brooks Hill Road, Bayview Road, Andreason Road, and through Langley to Langley Road ---> Maxwelton Road ---> Community Park by the High School. The run starts at the park and goes to the soccer fields on Langley Road, follows Langley Road to Maxwelton and ends at the Community Park. The run is 3.8 miles.

I will be doing the running portion of the triathlon. This year I opted to be part of a team, rather than do the entire tri by myself. Next year though... I will do the entire race. See you at the finish line or on the road!

Dear Whidbey Island

Hi Whidbey,

I am back from my not-quite-long-enough-sojourn. Whidbey, you would be jealous of the big mountains, wild rivers, and old growth trees at Mt. Baker. You don't have any wild rivers, and they are one of the parts I miss the most of my little vacation. Maybe it is because the weather is so hot right now, 94 degrees at dinnertime, that I want to be back at the cool river. The mountain rivers are clear and clean. Yes, you would like the clean water. And the alpine meadows with their fragrant wildflowers are incredible. They are almost worth the horrendous clouds of biting flies that you must endure to get to them. Almost.

Whidbey, this time of the year I really appreciate that you only have a few mosquitoes. The mountains are just full of all sorts of big and small biting insects. I tried to go on a run and was chased the whole way by large, bee-looking flies. They may have been horseflies. The locals call them spinners because when they die, they spin upside down and buzz. They fly at your head and body like angry bees. That was the most excruciating and crazy run ever. Me: running wilding pawing at the air. Dashing into outhouse panting and grateful for the safe haven, even if a smelly one.

All in all, I am glad to be here with you Whidbey. You make a great home. And I am working diligently to remember that I must appreciate this record-breaking heat wave while it lasts. After all, it is not every summer or even every year that we get days of 90 + F weather.

Until we write again Whidbey,

Yours sincerely,

Candice

Taking A Trip with (Little) Kids & Making Lists

picture courtesy http://www.cheerdiva.com/totes/index.html?c=9&i=226&t=0

Marina is 4 years old and quite happy to get her own travel bag. I mean really happy. She is borrowing it from Grandma, and EVERYTHING "grandma" is special.

Stella is 1.5 years old needs her own bag too. Meaning: she wants her own bag. When Marina was Stella's age, she didn't care about having her own bag. But when you see your sister has something she really likes and you don't? You use all means possible to get one of your own (usually accomplished by trying to take big sister's bag). It's pretty effective by the way. Who would've thought a little toddler could be so bold?

Here is one of my many lists to do before my big trip:
__ water plants
__ gather food from garden
__ pack kids clothes (while they are not around)
__ make list for animal sitter about animal care
__ get supplements
__ call & meet with animal sitter
__ buy sunscreen
__ make food lists
__ super glue sunglasses
__ Figure out how you are going to carry a kid and stuff while backpacking
__ make more lists
__ fix water timer for garden
__ get ingredients for margaritas

Our Internet & Cell Phone Free Adventure

I wouldn't have chosen to have it this way. Some people do, but I like being connected via computer and cell phone. I won't complain though-- simplifying life is a great thing and I am going to enjoy not having my usual computer and cell phone duties. And I look forward to sharing pictures and ideas from our trip with all of you.

Here is a little sneak peak:
http://www.mtbaker.us/summer/hiking-a-camping
Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

See you next week!!

What is Really Important in Education? A Great Answer

The Farm in July: A Photo Journey

Above: some type of pond weed. It is soft and very pretty

Ground Blackberries are ripe already! A yummy treat

Luc's classic truck

The sunflowers just began flowering!

Above: A young sunflower

Above: the yellow flowering stalk originally looked like Lamb's Ear to me, but turned out to be Mullein, which I am equally pleased about. Mullein has many medicinal qualities.

The bees (and my kids!) love the hollyhocks

Artichokes make stunning plantings for gardens. Try planting them near your house for pretty and large-scale green color, and pairing them with flowers.

The path to our front porch. We had a lot of big beautiful sunflowers come up all over the garden and make a fun walkway.

Above & below: self-portraits "on a walk"

Bees and Hollyhocks on the Farm

Kiwi Matcha Lime Tea Cake by Cooking with Amy

Kiwi Matcha Lime Tea Cake from the blog: Cooking with Amy

The above recipe (click on the link) looks amazing. I may have to try it. I actually try to avoid recipes that require me to go to the store and purchase all the ingredients. I like to make my meals with ingredients from my garden and from what I have on hand or just happened to pick up from the grocery store that day. This recipe includes matcha (powdered green tea), Kiwi fruit, and the zest of a lime--all green--to make tea cake/bread.

Amy describes the recipe on her blog site cookingwithamy.blogspot.com as:

If you have too much kiwi and it starts to get soft, use it in this pretty green cake. It's a quick bread in the style of banana bread. It's tangy and moist, not too sweet, and great with a cup of tea. The matcha and lime just complement the kiwi but are not dominant flavors. You could leave out the matcha if you want, but if you are interested in finding ways to use matcha in baking, this is a good one. ----cookingwithamy.blogspot.com

Summertime Kids Crafts: Painting Outside with Your Kids

We used finger paints outside on the two sided easel. Stella (1 1/2 years old) had one side to paint on and Marina (4 years old) had the other side. When the weather is nice and warm it is fun to set up some messy paints outside and let the kids experiment with them. After they finished their pictures on the easel, they both began to paint their bodies. Bath time!

Above: picture number 1

Above: picture number 2

Pictures from Choochokam Arts Festival 2009

Above:
Veritas, a rock band on the Main Stage. Choochokam always has a lot of music. There are 3 venues that host bands around town during the art festival.

What does the word "Choochokam" mean anyway? The organizer's website says:

Choochokam is a Hopi word which roughly translates as "a Gathering of Stars." Our "stars," a diverse group of several hundred local artists, inspired by the early organizers to create what we now know as The Choochokam Festival of the Arts.

Below are some pictures that I took during the two day event. Some of the highlights include a park dedicated to kids and families with face painting, crafts, music, and other fun things; Saturday night street dance; Whidbey Children's theater play; live music; local artists' booths; and of course lots of interesting people watching!

Face painting at the Children's play area on 2nd street hill park

2nd street Coldwell Banker Real Estate's office has an amazing climbing rose bush just outside. Marina admires it, above.

Stella enjoys a panini at Useless Bay Coffee Company on 2nd Street

Buskers play for money

Whidbey children's theater (WCT) in Langley always has a show for Choochokam, this year it was a fun and lively tale of Peter Rabbit. I loved it!

Above: the girls each enjoy their own hot dog. Day 2 of Choochokam (Sunday) was cold, rainy, and even had thunder storms! What a difference from Saturday's beautiful & hot sunshine!

An artist's booth: Painted Tile Pictures, above

Artist, above: Kathleen Otley

The girls: Marina, Candice (me), and Stella

Jackd Boards: a group of local young men who make skim boards, complete with paintings, and sell them.

Above: Alexei Kazantsev, artist, sculptor

Congratulations Langley Half Marathon Runners!!

There will be 3x as many runners in the Langley Half Marathon this year!

Last year the half marathon had approximately 100 people racing, this year there are more than 300! The race is tomorrow, but I got some insider scoop. The race begins at 8:30 AM Sunday at de Bruyn & Saratoga Rd. The race ends in downtown Langley. It is 13.1 miles long and is THE HILLIEST course I have ever seen. Up and down, up and down up and down . . . Good Luck racers and remember that you an still sign up Sunday AM before the race, just get their early!

Burrito Ideas for Summer ~ Use your Garden & Farmer's Market

. . . to create beautiful food. Probably my favorite part of cooking is using the ingredients that I get from my garden and the local farmer's market in new and creative ways. Because I have been a bit busy lately and am healing from a neck injury, simplicity in cooking is important. Stella has also had a bit of a digestive virus so I wanted to make a meal that would have enough options for her to eat something.

Burritos= simplicity + options / local ingredients + traditional ingredients (avocado, lime, salsa, jalapeno)

Today I want to focus on some ideas for making your own burritos with fresh local ingredients. My kids love burritos and it gives them and me a lot of options depending on our mood.

Stella (1 1/2) ejoys a big plate of burritos

For me simplicity was looking in my pantry and using adzuki beans & sushi rice. I used my own spinach & lettuce, parsley from my garden and eggs from my chickens. Another reason I think burritos are simple is because you can start with a shell and just a few fillings and have a spectacular meal. I place "toppings" in bowls and people can add what they like.

Here are some ingredients you can mix and match to make burritos:

Tortillas: we like 100% corn tortillas. they are usually smaller than flour ones. Get a bamboo steamer for your tortillas, it makes a huge difference in the taste!!

Lime & lemon: squeeze some on top of your burrito or add to salsa

Tomatillos: can buy as in a salsa, or as a fresh fruit and cut, cook, and make into salsa or topping.

salsa: try a mango, pineapple, or green salsa, or make your own. I think it would be fin to make a rhubarb and mango salsa, and rhubarb is in season!

Plain yogurt or sour cream

Guacamole or avocados

Fresh tomatoes: sometimes if I froget salsa, I slice up a tomato and barely miss the salsa.

Rice: I like wild rice mixes, jasmine, and sushi rice

Beans: any type (black, pinto, black eyed peas, adzuki)- adzuki beans (little red beans you can buy in bulk at health food or co-op stores) are especially good as they soften into a nice refried bean type mash as they cook. All dried beans soak in water for 4-8 hours and then cook in a pan covered by several inches of water for a few hours. You may need to add more water as they cook. Beans soak up a large amount of water, especially if you do not soak them for long before hand.

Meat: chicken, beef, fish, soy alternative

Herbs: parsley, thyme, basil, oregano, cumin, fennel. Try using one or two herbs at a time, can prepare as toppings or with meat and/or beans

Onions & garlic: cook on its own as a topping or with meat and beans

Greens: spinach, lettuce. Cut small and serve as topping. If you will be reheating the burritos, choose spinach, as it will reheat beautifully

Cheese: feta, farmer, jack, jalapeno, anything you will enjoy.

Jalapenos: cook on the side or with the meat/beans. If you will be serving children, put the jalapenos on the side rather than in the meat/beans

Eggs: scramble and enjoy with beans and cheese

Beer: for the adults, serve burritos with a nice cold specialty beer, I have been enjoying Kona Wailua Wheat Beer with Passion Fruit

Anything I am forgetting that you like to add to yours? Add a comment at the bottom!!