THIS WEEK

1. This is Whiskey, our next door neighbour's dog. He has sooo much energy! We've been taking him on walks this week to help our neighbour out a little while her husband is in Morocco for work.

2. Whiskey LOVES Mark.

3. These hilarious hounds were howling like you wouldn't believe! We thought they were going to jump right over that fence!

4. On one of our walks with Whiskey, we discovered the COOLEST icicles EVER! The water was rushing through and these bizarre little droplets were formed under rocks and trees near the shore.

5. These icicles on the fence are pretty cool too. You can see down town Ottawa in the distance. 

6. More super cool icicles. I couldn't get over them.

7. Drinking some lovely Fine Darjeeling Tea straight from India. Our next door neighbour brought this tea home for us! There are 3 kinds: Fine Darjeeling, Nilgiri, & Assam Orthodox. All are delicious. But I would have been just as delighted with the sweet box they came in!

8. Making more bread! It is an all-day event! Can't wait until I have an oven...

9. We had friends over for dinner last Saturday, and they brought us this lovely little watermelon. Thanks K&S!

We've had an amazing week, but we sure are missing that summer weather we had last week! Oh March. You are so unpredictable.

Hope you've all had a great week too!

INTO THE WOODS

Mark and I hiked a trail this past Thursday, and we were yet again amazed at God's creation. We love that these natural treasures can still be found, if only you open your eyes, amidst this concrete jungle.

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BEAUTIFUL SCRAPS

I thought this time I would try something new. Something a little more large scale. I have seen a few tutorials on how to crochet t-shirt rugs, but I don't have any t-shirts to spare. However... I did have an old ripped fitted bed sheet! I simply cut out the elastics and began my first strip.

1. Cut your sheet/shirts into one inch strips.
2. Fold the ends of your strips in half.
3. Cut a slit on the folded side, careful not to cut all the way through your strip.
4. It should look like this!

5. Repeat steps 2-4 for both ends of every strip.
6. Place the end of one strip on top of your last strip, matching up the slits, and find the end (arrow) of the strip that you place on top.
7. Push the end through the bottom of both slits.
8. Gently pull all the way through the slits.

9. With a final and gentle tug, the two strips should be snug together, without a big knot to get in your way.
10-12. Start to crochet your rug! I am using a 11.5mm hook, however you could probably use a much larger hook like 16mm. Don't ask me what my pattern is... I have no idea. My advice on that is to use some everyday wool and practice by making coasters. That's what I did!

My rug is still a work in progress, (I only started on Friday night) but both Mark and I tried standing on it with our bare feet, and it is soooo squishy and soft! I'll post pictures of the end result as soon as I finish! I have a lot more strips to cut first... better get to it!

Hope this helps! Give it a try! And if you do, let me know how it goes, and send me your photos!

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RECIPE: SAMWICH

This is my everyday go-to sandwich. Or as I most commonly say (and Mark will let me know every time) "samwich". Please make this. It's amazing. You won't regret it!

Rebecca's Fave Samwich

Light goat's milk cheese

Mozzarella cheese, sliced

Your favourite hummus (red pepper hummus in this case, but garlic tastes awesome too!)

Green and red bell peppers, seeded and sliced

Garden cucumber, sliced

Instructions:

Put the desired amount of above ingredients in between two pieces of hole wheat bread (lol), and grill in a sandwich press until browned on top, and mozza cheese has melted.

Can't wait to try my homemade multigrain bread with this meal! Making more right now!

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Why This Had To Be by Zoe Zambon: local artist

BASEMENT BAKERY

Last night, I yet again attempted a bread recipe... with  nightmares of dense bricks getting tossed in the trash replaying over and over in my mind. But this time... SUCCESS!! Until now, I have been horribly unsuccessful in my bread making efforts. My soon-to-be sister in-law sent me the multigrain bread recipe that she uses, and this time my efforts were rewarded. This bread is not only super healthy, but super delicious. We have decided never to buy bread again! We'll definitely be baking two or more loaves a week of this bread from now on. I feel bad for the half bag of Wonder+ sitting in my pantry. 

Note the bottom right picture below: Our trusty toaster oven was JUST big enough. I was praying that the top wouldn't burn!

Ok so really WAY better than I thought concerning the top burning... and in fact, the burned parts still tasted amaaaazing!

Note the FLUFFINESS!

End result: we're thinking of starting our own bakery. Ok not really.

My morning:

 

SNACK TIME - RECIPE: MARK'S THICK & CHEWY OATMEAL COOKIES

 Frist up: apple chips. If you're a binge snacker like me, these are a great thing to have around!

Perhaps a little un-related, but I tried this hair tutorial while I was waiting for the apple chips to bake! I will never curl my hair the same way again.

And then hubby got the baking bug... and made THE BEST oatmeal cookies in the world. I'm not kidding. Recipe below!

This face says it all:

Mark's Thick & Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 C butter, softened

2/3 C light brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 C all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 C rolled oats (we used old-fashioned)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. In a lrage bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg & vanilla until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon & salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. 

4. Stir in oats.

5. Allow the dough to chill in the fridge for a short while. Then place your cookies 2 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet. 

6. Bake 10-12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little under cooked-looking on top.

7. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool. 

8. ENJOY!!

DATE NIGHT