Westfest & Baby Knit

Weekends can be a tough balance of trying to take in as many local events and gatherings with friends as possible and fitting in E's naps.  When E was younger, she would regularly fall asleep in a carrier or in someone's arms while we were out.  But, now that she is becoming more aware of her surroundings (and dogs going for walks with their owners), naps on the go are pretty rare.

It was looking like we might have to miss out on Westfest this year, but we managed to squeeze in a walk up and down the festival area.  Westfest is a free festival in Westboro that has grown every year and just had its 10th anniversary. During the day, most of the focus seemed to be on activities for kids and local stores advertising/selling their products.  At night, the focus shifts toward musical performances.  

Here are just a few shots we took while walking up and down the 14 block strip:

These guys were out advertising the Star Wars Identities exhibit at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, which will be in town until September 2nd.

I am always attracted to fruit-filled juices.  I need to find a see-through carafe and an occasion to make something like this.

I'm guessing this seat was a product of the recent Knit in Public day.  Hopefully the city isn't too eager to remove it.  

I definitely want to check out the Ottawa Turkish Festival on July 20-21.

After opening in the Byward Market a few years ago, The Cupcake Lounge has just opened its second location in Westboro.  I guess they're doing something right!

After Wesfest, we attended a friend's shower.  Here is E modelling the baby leg warmers I made for a friend's baby.

Baby leg warmers might be up there as one of my favourite things to knit for a baby.  It's a relatively fast knitting project, but is one of the longest-lasting wearable knits you can make for a baby.  They'll fit most babies from 3 months to 2 years.

Baskets with Panache: Ticket Giveaway

It should come as no surprise that I'm a fan of the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.   Recently, they contacted me to host a giveaway to Baskets with Panache.

This is a charity event that raises money for children and youth with financial and physical challenges to attend the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum's educational programs.  Since 2007, this annual event has raised over $250,000.

When: Wednesday June 19th from 6:30-9:30
Where: The new Learning Centre at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
The event will feature: 

• Seasonal Canadian hors-d'oeuvres and beverages by Thyme & Again Creative Catering 
• Award-winning Prince Edward County wines and specially selected summertime beers 
• Entertaining live auction conducted by Ottawa's own Stuntman Stu 
• Live music featuring eclectic blend of blues, jazz and Dixieland 
• Silent auction of a wide range of impressive gift “baskets”

The gift baskets up for auction this year sound great!  Here are just a few examples:

1) Famed food writer and author Gay Cook invites you and seven friends (or clients) to her home, Bayne-Morrison House — Ottawa’s oldest home (1828) — for a delectable dinner in an unforgettable setting.

2) The chefs at Thyme & Again Creative Catering will create a selection of gourmet seasonal hors d’oeuvres for you and 11 guests at The Exposure Gallery, their private Photography Gallery located in the heart of Wellington West.

3) Renowned chef Michael Blackie prepare a Chef’s Table for six in your very own home!  Exquisite food and wine pairings and full tableside service for you and your guests.

Cost: Usually tickets are $75 a piece, but I have two tickets to give away!
How to enter: Leave a comment on this post before Friday, June 14th at midnight (EST)

For an extra entry, tweet about the giveaway:

Enter the #Ottawa #Giveaway @EqualOppKitchen for 2 tickets to #BasketsWithPanache ($150 value) @AgMuseum http://bit.ly/14sOG1T

Surviving the Great Glebe Garage Sale

This past weekend was a big one for the City of Ottawa.  The biggest event of the weekend would be Ottawa Race Weekend.  Another popular form of running that takes place the fourth Saturday in May comes in the form of "running" from house to house in the Glebe, seeking out great bargains in the Great Glebe Garage Sale (GGGS).  This was my third (non-consecutive) time going to the sale and each year I've learned new tips (sometimes the hard way). 

Of course, if you're not from Ottawa, these same tips can apply to large community garage sales (or even small sales) in any city. 

Tip #1 : The sale is said to run from 9-3.  But like most garage sales, things start up earlier.  Most people were setting up around 7am, but sellers don't usually mind if you start looking as they're setting up. 

Tip #2 :  If you have to drive, arrive early.  I went with E by car because I would have needed to take two buses if I hadn't driven.  The idea of busing with a baby, a stroller and any purchases after a long morning, didn't appeal to me.  So, I drove and got there for 6:30am. 

Tip #3 : Park near the peripheries of the sale, though it's probably best to avoid the canal side.  I usually park near Bronson so that I don't get stuck behind a bunch of cars looking for parking.   

Tip #4 : This is a new tip that occurred to me this year.  After parking, walk to the opposite side of the sale (or however far you think you'll want to go).  Resist the urge to stop at a bunch of the sales as you're doing this.  Then, make your way back to your end destination (car, bus, home).  This way, when you're ready to go, you won't have to lug all of your stuff and your sore feet back the distance you just walked.   

Tip #5 : If you're taking a baby with you -- bring a baby carrier!  I'd avoid the ones where your baby faces out because  there are a ton of people, so it will likely be over-stimulating and it's not  ergonomically-friendly for the baby.  I'd also recommend acquainting yourself with wearing your baby on your back.  It's way easier to carry a 20+ pound baby on your back for three hours than on your front.  Personally, I alternated back and front a couple of times so that I could nurse E while on the move. 

Also -- I recommend you ignore any dumb comments about how wearing your baby doesn't let your baby practice walking.  Someone seriously said this to me as though I should let my 9.5 month old walk in a busy sale with cars and people everywhere.  Not to mention the fact that E's "walking" pretty much consists of cruising from couch to couch or holding on to both of my hands while she slowly shuffles around the living room.  Even if I had a confident walker, I'd still opt to wear her. 

Tip #6 : Bring layers!  This advice pretty much goes for any full day outing, when the weather is variable.  Also - bring water and a snack (unless you want to purchase these items while out).  The GGGS has a ton of food and beverages to purchase.  All of the Bank Street businesses recognize the money-making and community-building opportunity of having thousands of people inundate their neighbourhood and are in on the garage sale action (e.g., putting their own merchandise on sale, targeted advertisement, etc.).  There are also a lot of home owners and charities selling food.  It's actually kind of funny to see people in big expensive Glebe homes selling homemade muffins.  Maybe it's the one day they get to live out their dreams of owning a bakery.  Usually, the money made goes toward a charity. 

Tip #7 : Don't be afraid to haggle.  Sometimes people overestimate what their used stuff is worth.  Maybe it's a lingering emotional attachment.  Sometimes, I just think it's greed.  I'd estimate that I offered a lower price than what the seller wanted about 75% of the time.  For me, it's a combination of: what do I think it's worth and trying to score a good deal.     

Tip #8 : Wait until you're done looking through everything at a particular sale/table before making your purchase.  I kept making this mistake.  I'd find something I would like and then pay for it...Then I'd realize that there were other things I was interested in being sold by the same person/household.  It's easier to put a bunch of items together and get the price down than to haggle a lower price on one item. 

Tip #9 : This is a big one!  Don't be afraid to walk away.  If the price is too high/if the seller isn't willing to budge, if you have a moment of clarity where you discover that you really don't need the item you're considering...whatever the reason.  Just walk away.  Similarly, if the item you're considering is in good shape and really fits a need you have, it's okay to make the purchase even it you couldn't get the seller down that extra dollar.   

Tip #10 : It's important to remember that even though you're getting something (used) at a lower price than what you would pay for in the store, you still have to find somewhere in your home for it.  Every time I considered buying something, I'd think: Do I have space for this?  Will it get used? Is it a good deal?  Will R roll his eyes at this purchase when I get home? 

Here's a picture of my $22 haul:

What tips do you have for garage sales???

Great Canadian Cheese Festival

Prince Edward County (PEC) has really become quite the destination for foodie-related events and get aways. It has been too long since our previous trips to PEC.  Since we're a bit limited in the foodie-related events we can feasibly attend with a baby, I was thrilled to be invited to the Ottawa-based media launch for The Great Canadian Cheese Festival that will be taking place in a couple of weeks in PEC.  

With more than 100 exhibitors and vendors and over 125 different Canadian cheeses to sample, this show is the largest cheese show is Canada.  

    

This event gave a taste of the exhibitors you'll see at the festival.  

Of course, we couldn't pass by Casa Dea Estates Winery's wines without sampling a bit for ourselves!  PEC's wines benefit from a mineral rich soil and a climate moderated by the adjacent Lake Ontario.  

A chilled white wine (I believe it was Pinot Gris) was a delicious way to cool down from the warm weather of the day.

Saavy Company, was behind the marketing of the event.  Saavy Company has organized transportation to the festival for those coming from Ottawa.  Their tour includes a round-trip coach bus and tickets to the festival.

One of my favourite samples came from Seed to Sausage's skewers of a selection of their salami.  This artisan sausage maker uses local products where possible with few additives and preservatives.  Their products are available at a number of locations in Ottawa.  I am going to have to seek out some more of their Lomo.

We spent some time chatting with Salty Don, who can be regularly found at the Ottawa and Carp Farmer's Markets.  It was interesting learning about the different techniques he uses to add flavour and scent to his salts.  

I'm a bit of a sucker for honey.  I regularly use it in baking, in my tea and when making jam, so I am always tempted to buy just "one more jar." I sampled some of Heavenly Honey's creamed cinnamon honey butter, which would be delicious on a piece of toast.  

   

I'm still kind of hoping that we can magically make it to The Great Canadian Cheese Festival.

Savoy Brasserie

I can't believe how quickly E is changing.  At 9.5 months, she has now learned to army crawl her way around, showing us all of the ways our house is not sufficiently baby-friendly.  I'm guessing she'll be walking before fully crawling.  She has started cruising this week and that's all she wants to do...  Well..cruising and using the phone to call 911.  Seriously!  What are the chances of a baby pressing the talk button and then 9-1-1?  Apparently, pretty good.  Oops.

Good thing she doesn't make strange (yet?) -- we were able to get out a second night out during Grandma and Grandpa's recent visit.

This second night we went to Westboro. The corner of Churchill and Richmond has changed a lot this year.  First Gezellig moved in on the north-west corner and now Savoy Brasserie has taken over the space previously occupied by Newport Restaurant on the south-east corner. 

The Savoy has a lot of things going for it (location, space, design, concept).  At the same time, there are new restaurant kinks to work out (food consistency, staff training, flow of restaurant, equipment functioning).  

We met up with a couple of friends for dinner about two weeks after Savoy Brasserie opened. For an appetizer, R and I ordered the Savoy salad.  The salad was a bit underwhelming, but I'd attribute it to forgotten ingredients.  I didn't realize until after I finished the salad and saw the neighbouring table's order that our salad didn't include chick peas.  I did, however, notice that there wasn't a drop of dressing (grapefruit vinaigrette) on the salad.  Our friends order the escargot and enjoyed it.

For my main, I ordered steak frites.  The steak was done to my specifications (medium), but I debated askng for steak sauce.  Generally, I hope for a steak to have enough flavour on its own, without needing some sort of sauce.

My friend ordered a bouillabaisse, which she enjoyed.  

R ordered veal scallopine and said it was "just okay."  Not pictured is the duck confit, which our friend really enjoyed (though I think he felt like his serving size was smaller than ours).

Although the staff all seemed polite, I found the number of waiters a bit dizzying.  I know R got really tired of his chair being bumped by passing waiters.  Hopefully they can find a way to widen the aisles for the waiters to pass through.  Below, you can see see the amount of space between the two chairs, which is a main artery of the restaurant.  

Of course, the elephant in the room is the firemen.  Again, I'll give the restaurant slack because it recently opened.  But, the smell of smoke, followed by blaring smoke detectors and entry of firemen kind of broke up the evening.  We took it as our cue to leave and headed down the street for some dessert.

So -- the big question.  Will I return?  Sure -- I'd like to see how they're doing in a couple of months.  Aside from the lack of space between tables, I think all of the bumps we experienced can be easily ironed out with time.

Odile

Going out for a nice dinner is a rare occasion these days.  E and I go out for lunch fairly regularly (maybe once every couple of weeks).  But, without a babysitter or family in Ottawa, I can count the number of times we've gone out for a nice dinner in the past nine months on one hand.  

Knowing that R's parents were coming for a visit, I texted Ron about going out for dinner.  I listed a couple places I would like to try, but hoped he would choose one in particular: Odile.

Odile is Chez Edgar's little sister, but only in the sense that it is Marysol's second restaurant (note: Odile opened about a year ago).  I may be biased, but I think little sisters are pretty awesome.  

After getting screwed by my GPS and ending up in Aylmer, we made our way to Odile's lovely patio area.  I love the way Marysol's food uses fresh ingredients, is cooked with a lot of care, but is not at all pretentious.  

R and I shared a caesar salad.  The dressing had a great kick of garlic and anchovies.  I loved the croutons.  It tasted like bread that had been soaked in garlicy goodness and then baked.  I also thought the pig cheek was an interesting touch.  It had good flavour, though was a bit on the fatty side for my liking.  

For the main I ordered red wine braised shortribs.  They come with a puree of yukon and celery root and kale.  All of this is topped off with chevre noir, a gremolata and shallots.  Oh goodness was this so delicious.  Comfort food at its best.  The shortribs were melt in your mouth and flavourful  If this is how fresh kale can taste, then I need to work on improving my kale-preparation skills.  I will also be looking to make a recipe where I can punch up the flavours with a gremolata soon.  The serving was hearty, but I want some more!

Others at my table ordered the duck breast and were quite complementary of it.  Clearly, there is no shying away from a healthy serving of meat.  My table mates also quite enjoyed the touch of sweetness brought by the fruit (fig? date?).

Even though it was starting to get cold (well, I wasn't cold after drinking two glasses of wine), we couldn't skip out on Marysol's delicious desserts.  Our friends shared an almond cake (can't remember what else was in it).

R and I shared a slice of pear and sugar pie,  We were completely full before the pie came, but managed to find room for it and thank goodness we did.  I don't always like pie crusts because they can be too dry for my liking.  But I loved the crust on this pie.  Of course, the star was still the filling.  The fudgy/sugary thing on top didn't do much for me.  I felt the pie was sweet enough without it.  But, I don't like fudge in general.

Aside from the exceptional food, the service was pretty stellar too.  Like the servers at Chez Edgar, our server was down to earth, professional and friendly.  I hope to be able to return to Odile soon!

Beef Stew & Canada Agriculture and Food Museum

Every weekend, we make a grocery list.  About 80% of the grocery list rarely changes: milk, bread, salad fixings, bananas, grapefruit, etc.  Then, we come up with 3 dinner ideas and make sure that the ingredients we need are added to the list.  For the other days, we'll either have leftovers, something from the freezer or an easy meal (e.g., grilled cheese, breakfast for dinner).  

Among a list of regular meal ideas, stew comes up as a suggestion fairly regularly and I'm usually the one to nix it.  I'm so tired of the same old stew recipe.  So, I decided to try out a new stew recipe.  I went with a Jamie Oliver recipe -- you can find it here.

It was delicious!  The pictures don't do it justice.  I loved the flavour that the wine added to the broth and the texture and sweetness of the squash.  I'll definitely be making this recipe again.  Though, next time I'll probably use the slow cooker.

We also took advantage of the long weekend to visit the Agriculture Museum at the Experimental Farm.  The museum is part of a fully-functioning farm, with a variety of animals (cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, etc.).

Of course, I loved watching E pet the kid.  This is really the heart of the museum: up close and interactive opportunities for kids to be around farm animals.

The cows are regularly inseminated so that they continue to produce milk. This calf was just born.  I got a bit teary-eyed when I read that the calves are separated from their mothers after 48 hours.  At least they get the colostrum.  

Giz likes to make fun of how it'll be difficult for me to go back to work without singing nursery rhymes at inappropriate times.  But, tell me this picture doesn't make you want to break into "Mary had a little lamb"!

I'm looking forward to the opening of their new learning centre.  The Learning Centre will have an exhibition gallery, learning labs, lecture hall and improved visitor and group amenities.  

The museum is changing names and becoming the Canadian Agriculture and Food Museum, recognizing the museum's enhanced focus on food literacy. I'm really interested to see what types of food-literacy exhibits they'll have.  The inaugural exhibition for the Learning Centre will look at what would be involved in baking an apple cake if you had to produce all of the ingredients yourself.  Sounds very interesting!  I hope they can drive home a similar message with respect to meat.  

12-12-12

Today is the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012.  So I'm going to try to post one photo per hour for every hour.  This may just turn into 12 pictures of Ms. E (my four month old). The twelve photos event is being hosted by Miss Fish.  This is the second time I'm participating in an hourly photo event (here's the first time). 

5:30 am - managed to get Ms. E to go to sleep early yesterday.  In turn, she woke up at 5am...so I'm hoping she'll tire herself out on the playmat.

9:00 am -The mat worked.  We got another couple hours of sleep.  Here Ms. E was nursing until she saw my smartphone - a distracting device for sure.  

 

10:00am - catching up on dishes while baby "naps" -- turns out she wasn't in a deep enough sleep to stay asleep after being put down in crib.  So, she spent time looking around her crib and sucking on a blanket. 

 

 

11:00am - Visit to Milkface -- a local store that sells babywearing and nursing attire.

 

 

 

12:00ish - returned books to the library and picked out 6 new baby books.  This is mostly for us since we get bored of the same books.  I don't know if Ms. E even notices -- she's more interested in scratching, shutting and trying to eat the books.  

 

 

1:00ish - looking at the "to do" list.  Yes, "put old hockey back in the garbage" is on the list.  Gotta have items that are easy to accomplish (and that get R to part with his ratty old bag that is sitting on the floor of our garage).

 

2:00ish - reviewing a report. Got 2 pages in before E woke up. No idea how ppl work from home with a baby. (image deleted -- turned out clear enough to read when it's not a final draft)

 

3:00ish - love when my cloth diapers are all clean.  I always thought a wipe warmer was frivilous.  But, I've come to love mine because it allows me to easily use little washable "face" cloths instead of disposable wipes.

 

 

 

5:00ish - stack of baby clothes to be sorted.  Need to come to terms with the outfits that no longer fit. 

 

 

6:00ish - R is home and is reading one of the books from the library to Ms. E. 

 

 

7:00ish -- clothes shuffled and back in closet -- out with the newborn-3 month, in with the 12 month sizes. 

 

 

8:00ish -- looking for something interesting to take a picture of.  So tired -- only interested in this: