I am sitting down with a large glass of ice water on this Wednesday evening, taking a bit of a breather while I wait for my popsicle mixture to cool down before I pour it into the moulds. It is more than slightly counterintuitive that I must actually boil all my ingredients, invariably heating up the kitchen (it's hot outside!) but also quite necessary to tenderize the fruit as much as possible. It becomes a rhythmic routine of mopping the sweat from our brows, chop-chop-chopping the ingredients, stirring everything in the saucepan and returning to mopping our brows once again. Tonight's icy treat features mango with a splash of pink grapefruit, and at the rate our freezer is labouring along, the pops won't be ready until it's time for a bedtime snack.
Not many days now until Easter! We are going away to a resort to celebrate (this might very well be the first Easter my husband is not working...and our last vacation before #3 arrives...). Lying poolside, reading and enjoying cool drinks, indulging in pregnancy massage and not having to cook or clean a thing - that's my kind of holiday! The only logistic I have failed to figure out is how precisely the Easter Bunny is going to get his goodies to our children...we are setting out early Easter morning, too early in fact to do our normal traditions of an egg hunt and baskets, so a little creativity is going to be required. Maybe explaining that the Easter Bunny had to swing by the resort to take a dip in the pool and catch his breath...and that while he was there he delivered everything to our room? Yes, that might do. Of course, the children are now also convinced that there are in fact five Easter Bunnies, thanks to The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward. Does that mean they will be expecting 5x the goodies in their baskets? I hope the salient message that five bunnies are required to get the job done worldwide was not lost on them. Oh dear.
Speaking of baskets, this year, we have switched to Bolga baskets. All of the baskets we have bought in the past are usually swept up by A+F to house toys, art supplies and what have you, and by Easter of the next year, are in total disrepair and cannot be re-used. Bolga baskets, made in Ghana, are handwoven from elephant grass. You can purchase them here at Bella Luna Toys (my absolute favourite Waldorf toy website) or even check with your local fair trade and organic supply store. While they are not decorated with bunnies and do not have any sparkly bits (sadly, two things that are sure to appeal to our children), the baskets are extremely durable and don't have any rough edges, making them a perfect vessel in which to place treats for eager young hands. The baskets can also be lined with colourful play silks as an alternative to Easter "grass" or confetti. We will also be adding treat pouches made from recycled paper that A+F worked on with me this week. I recently did a tutorial on them here for the Natural Kids Hearth&Home blog, where I will be a regular blog contributor. I will also be guest blogging for some other websites in the coming weeks, and will be posting the links for those contributions on this blog and on Niko & Nonnie's social media pages.
I am also excited to announce a new weekly feature that I will be doing on this blog entitled, "In Focus: Mama-to-be" in which I will profile expectant mothers, some first-timers, some seasoned - all very interesting indeed. They will share their thoughts with us about their pregnancies as well as offer tips and advice on beauty and styling for the long 9-month haul. Much to look forward to in the near future!
It looks like it's just about time now to strain my fruit...I hear little feet coming down the stairs to assist me in the kitchen - don't they just have the most accurate internal clocks?
Wishing all those that will be celebrating Easter, Passover (or both!) this week-end a happy and safe holiday with your family and friends.
XO.
N&N
Not many days now until Easter! We are going away to a resort to celebrate (this might very well be the first Easter my husband is not working...and our last vacation before #3 arrives...). Lying poolside, reading and enjoying cool drinks, indulging in pregnancy massage and not having to cook or clean a thing - that's my kind of holiday! The only logistic I have failed to figure out is how precisely the Easter Bunny is going to get his goodies to our children...we are setting out early Easter morning, too early in fact to do our normal traditions of an egg hunt and baskets, so a little creativity is going to be required. Maybe explaining that the Easter Bunny had to swing by the resort to take a dip in the pool and catch his breath...and that while he was there he delivered everything to our room? Yes, that might do. Of course, the children are now also convinced that there are in fact five Easter Bunnies, thanks to The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward. Does that mean they will be expecting 5x the goodies in their baskets? I hope the salient message that five bunnies are required to get the job done worldwide was not lost on them. Oh dear.
Speaking of baskets, this year, we have switched to Bolga baskets. All of the baskets we have bought in the past are usually swept up by A+F to house toys, art supplies and what have you, and by Easter of the next year, are in total disrepair and cannot be re-used. Bolga baskets, made in Ghana, are handwoven from elephant grass. You can purchase them here at Bella Luna Toys (my absolute favourite Waldorf toy website) or even check with your local fair trade and organic supply store. While they are not decorated with bunnies and do not have any sparkly bits (sadly, two things that are sure to appeal to our children), the baskets are extremely durable and don't have any rough edges, making them a perfect vessel in which to place treats for eager young hands. The baskets can also be lined with colourful play silks as an alternative to Easter "grass" or confetti. We will also be adding treat pouches made from recycled paper that A+F worked on with me this week. I recently did a tutorial on them here for the Natural Kids Hearth&Home blog, where I will be a regular blog contributor. I will also be guest blogging for some other websites in the coming weeks, and will be posting the links for those contributions on this blog and on Niko & Nonnie's social media pages.
I am also excited to announce a new weekly feature that I will be doing on this blog entitled, "In Focus: Mama-to-be" in which I will profile expectant mothers, some first-timers, some seasoned - all very interesting indeed. They will share their thoughts with us about their pregnancies as well as offer tips and advice on beauty and styling for the long 9-month haul. Much to look forward to in the near future!
It looks like it's just about time now to strain my fruit...I hear little feet coming down the stairs to assist me in the kitchen - don't they just have the most accurate internal clocks?
Wishing all those that will be celebrating Easter, Passover (or both!) this week-end a happy and safe holiday with your family and friends.
XO.
N&N
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