Dad's Sweet and Sour Spareribs

There are a handful of Sunday dinners that I could not live with out and this is one of them, this recipe is the definition of comfort food for me.  While my brother and I were growing up, the recipe card was a mess due to the fact that we were bottomless pits! The ingredient measurements were continously scratched out and new outrageous portions were scribbled in. I was hoping to find the original recipe card in the box but it has since been re-written. The amount of spareribs needed isn't clear but I would double the amount of meat I had in the pan for the amount of sauce this makes.  Or just cut the sauce down by 1/4 (if you like a lot of sauce..and who doesn't) or by a 1/2.  

Dad's S&S Spareribs

STEP 1: Brown ribs in a tbsp of oil and sprinkle with flour, place into oven safe dish or dutch oven.

STEP 2: Combine the following in pot on a low-medium heat:

3/4 c      soy sauce

5 tsp      salt

2 1/2 c   cold water

3/4 c      vinegar
1/3 c      Lemon Juice

1 c         sugar

5 tbsp     cornstarch (mix in small cup with a bit of water and whisk into pot, it will start to        

              thicken but will continue in the oven)

STEP 3: Pour sauce over ribs and bake with lid on @ 350 for approximately 1.5 hours or until meat is separating from bones.

STEP 1



STEP 2

Ooops forgot the vinegar in the pic!

STEP 3

Serve on white or fried rice...YUM!

It's Spring!!!!

It's everyone's favorite time of year.....the sun is shining, daily temperatures are no longer negative, the sun hangs around for the evening and people just feel good! I look forward to walks with Stryker in our little neighborhood, people are smiling while walking with a friend, working in their yard, washing their car or playing street hockey (those boys have been waiting all winter for this)! Whatever we are all doing, we are just happy to be outside!! All the photos below are taken within a kilometer from our house and I couldn't ask for a more beautiful setting.

Tulips in the window

Bella planning her escape after a long cooped up winter.

Best buds watching the snow melt.

It was a LOOOOOONG winter....we swear he didn't have gray hair in the fall!

28 week baby bump.

Surfing the icebergs on the Hangingstone River.

Hangingstone River melt.

Boys and their street hockey........"CAR!!!"

The park is melting....

Green grass and blue skies.



Sunday Geocaching - April 1, 2012

DIY Crib Skirt

When I first found out we were having a girl, I spent hours searching for the most perfect bedding set on Etsy but they all hovered around the $300 mark! This seemed a little pricey to me for the bumper, crib skirt and only one crib sheet, like what good is one sheet?! And I am not sure on the whole bumper issue yet either.  For now, I have decided on no bumper, cheap sheets from Wal-Mart and a DIY crib skirt!

This total project cost approximately $25 (inc. gst)! The 2 yards of fabric was ordered from Etsy for $22 (inc. shipping) and the Velcro strips were $2 from the dollar store.  I had a package of heat bond tape at home already but I am sure that only costs a few bucks too.

Note: If you are doing all 4 sides of the crib, you may need an extra yard. 

I followed the crib skirt tutorial video by Young House Love. 

STEP 1: Measure the widths and heights (width inside the legs and height from the mattress board to floor). Cut your fabric to the correct measurements allowing an extra inch or so for the hem on three of the sides.  No hem is needed at the top, where it will be velcroed to the crib.

STEP 2: Iron down a straight hem on the three sides (ignore my sad excuse for an ironing board - tupperware lid and towel).

STEP 3: Place heat bond tape along the inside of ironed hem. (Please ignore the shitty pics taken with my blackberry - I was too lazy to waddle downstairs to get the camera!)

STEP 3: Fold the hem back over and seal the heat bond tape with the iron (the package instructions said to have a damp cloth between the fabric and iron and for the iron to be set on "wool").

STEP 4: Stick one side of the velcro along the top of the mattress board and the other side of velcro along the fabric's underside so that it matches up. Repeat for all 3 sides. As baby grows and the mattress lowers, we can add another row of velcro on the skirt to adjust to the new height!



AND VOILA! How simple is that??

Notice the kick ass vintagey looking crib I got from Kijiji for only $120!? This price also included the mattress and matching change table.

The Adventures of Stryker: Ham Bone Edition

This Monday may have been the best Monday ever for Stryker. We decided to wait until yesterday to give him the bone while he was alone for the day.  Otherwise, I would have had to beg and bribe him to go for a walk or hang out with me over the weekend (he gets way too obsessed with animal parts)! 

Mr. Loonie snapped a few pictures while handing over the bone before heading off to bed (he's on night shift).  Stryker's expressions are priceless and have clear messages.  I would love to hear your captions for each picture! Leave them in the comments.

DIY Tissue Paper Pom Poms

After many searches for baby mobiles, I couldn't decide on anything I liked.  They all seemed to be plastic, pastel and some kind of farm animal arrangement.....not my idea of fascinating. I wanted Penny to experience colour and texture!! So that began the search for a DIY project and tissue pom poms was the answer. There are many tutorials out there in the blogosphere, but here is my own version for my dedicated readers ;)

STEP 1: Stack 8 tissue paper sheets and cut a bit of the long end, so you end up with a sphere rather than a football (unless you want that shape).

STEP 2: Fold accordion style, with approximately 1 1/2 inch folds. Crease with each fold.

STEP 3: Twist a piece of floral wire (I used a garbage bag twist tie) around the center. Feed a piece of wire/ribbon/fishing line under the center tie; this will be used to hang your pom pom so make sure it is long enough. Trim the ends of the tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.  You can also choose your size of pom pom here by cutting more or less off the ends.

STEP 4: Fan out each side and separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

STEP 4: Hang in an arrangement and admire!

P.S. Don't let bad kitties near pom poms!

Split Pea and Ham Soup

Mr. Loonie cooked up a big ol' ham last weekend for Sunday dinner. Do you know how much that is to eat between two people (and maybe a little bit for the doggy)? It's A LOT!! We have eaten original meal, a left over meal, ham sandwiches, ham and egg sandwiches, ham pizza and now we will be eating ham soup for a few days......oi! OR should that be oink?!

I took the basic idea for ratios of peas:ham:water from here (sorta) but after that I basically surfed around looking for the various spices other recipes called for. I used the following, tasting as I went:

Ground Cloves

Smoked Paprika

Garlic

Cayenne

Nutmeg

Thyme

Bay Leaf

Celery Salt

Black Ground Pepper

My Method:

Sauté up the onions and carrots in olive oil. Celery would be good here too. Add spices at this point to build flavour (I was quick on the draw with the camera and had only thyme in the pot for this picture).

Add ham bone, 16oz bag of split peas and approximately 8 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for an hour or until peas are tender. 

I didn't have enough ham on the bone so I added some chopped up leftover ham. (Someone special may get the bone for a treat ;p).  Add more water or stock to the pot if needed.

 Enjoy with a good piece of crusty bread on a cold day!  Not the prettiest picture but you get the point!