piles

i am not the only one, right?  piles of papers, magazines, and stuff just kind of rise out of nowhere getting bigger, fatter, and taller.  and then, finally, there is no more excuse but to sort, toss, and organize your way through said piles.  that's what i should have been doing this past weekend but there were sunny skies and celebrations to partake in; an 18th birthday day dinner and father's day festivities (weekend pics coming tomorrow).

so, the piles will have to wait for another day. 

 



 





father's day

i don't possess the same superhero status as stefan.  in kai's eyes, stefan is the tallest, the strongest, the smartest, the funniest, the anything -est.  geez, wish stefan would tone it down a bit so i have a shot at this superhero parenting stuff :) but really?  i love how kai looks up to him.

as for stefan, seeing pride and love in his eyes when he speaks about kai is a beautiful thing.  mother's day gets much more attention than father's day but really it takes a village to help raise our kids - family, friends, teachers, sitters (and more) but especially our co-parents. 

without a doubt my favourite thing is watching both my boys in play mode. stefan being goofy and silly and jumping right into kai's imaginative world and kai absolutely delighted with his papa; it's pretty special (even when it involves nerf guns). 

 

thank you stefan for helping to raise our beautiful boy.

 



 

 

 

have a lovely (and happy father's day for those of you celebrating) weekend!

curry

here is a post from stefan writing about a most flavourful curry dish.

curry. a simple word for what can be a very complex dish. the amount of flavor that can be packed into a rich sauce with any combination of fish, meat and/or vegetables is amazing.  connie and kai both love curries; he devours butter chicken and she pretty much loves any curry as long as it has plenty of sauce!

we are lucky to live near one of vancouver's very authentic indian restaurants, raga, that serves up great comforting bowls of curry.  we have been going there ever since we moved to vancouver back in 1998.  kai often gets a free dessert or drink.  they celebrated their 30-year anniversary two years ago now making raga the longest-lived restaurant i know of!

what is even better is that making curry is relatively simple.  here is a favourite recipe that i make every now and then; it comes from the cookbook 50 great curries from india by camellia panjabi:

 

not sure how it happened but connie forgot to take a photo of the curry dish :)

fish in mustard gravy

1.5 pounds of white fish fillets, rinsed off and cut into bite-sized chunks.

curry paste:

2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3/4 inch piece of ginger, peeled
6 garlic cloves
2 green chilies, serranos for fruity heat or jalapenos for less of a spicy kick
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons coriander powder
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less if you prefer a less spicy curry)

sauce:

1 small can pureed tomatoes
the juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tablespoons coriander leaves
1 can coconut milk

steamed white rice and any other goodies like naan bread and chutney.

what to do:

 

toss the fish pieces with 1.5 teaspoon salt and set aside. 

in a dry skillet, toast the poppy seeds for a couple of minutes until fragrant. crush in a mortar and pestle. in the food processor (or mortar and pestle), combine all the curry paste ingredients, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup of water. puree until smooth.

in a large pot heat about 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil and fry the paste for 6-7 minutes until nice and fragrant. add water when it gets too dry. add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. then add the coconut milk and lime juice, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. turn the heat off and drop in the fish pieces. they will cook in the hot sauce. sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves (or omit if you are cooking for connie since she does not like coriander at all) and serve.

this makes lots of sauce so you could split the sauce in two before adding the fish then use the leftover with something else.

it has abundant flavor and yields a nice rich sauce that can be mopped up with much gusto. it goes well with white fish but chicken also works. this recipe has no vegetables but it is easy to mix some peas into the rice or to add some steamed green beans or other favorite vegetables of your choice to the dish before serving. plenty of options!

watching my little family devour this curry makes it very much worth the time spent in the kitchen! 

 

stefan

thanks stefan!  i challenge you to cook all 50 recipes from the cookbook... 50 days of curry would be awesome :)

swissmiss gift finds for dad

i spent some time over at swissmiss.  it's been awhile so while lost in her world of creative awesomeness i found some great gifts that could work for father's day.  and, of course, a link here and a link there took me browsing for more father's day gifts.  it's crazy how the internet gobbles up so much of our time!  and in this case that wasted time was worthwhile... i know what kai and i are getting stefan! 

a notebook for the dutch dad



a medal for your super hero dad



business card case for the working dad



the snore stopper... so he (but really you) can get a better night's sleep



waxed canvas lunch bag



spice rack for the cooking dad



a new ben sherman shirt

cambridge leather satchel to replace his purse





chevron wood cutting board... this is gorgeous!





an erin templeton leather iportfolio case for your ipad 



tattly coffee tattoos



ask me about my cat t-shirt for the cat loving dad

 

or how about a bacon gift box?  please watch the video, it made me laugh.  thanks swissmiss!

weekend pics

a craving for fish and chips took us to the quaint town of steveston... it's been a couple of years since we made a visit and thought it was about time. 

• exploring new shops
• eating at our regular steveston restaurant, sockeye city, for fish and chips
• braving sea urchin and almost throwing up!
• indulging in coffee ice cream 









my brave boy tried sea urchin... he didn't like it!







 





 

 



ending the afternoon with ice cream! and I like how my boys dressed alike :)



and a cultural school project took us to the italian festival on commercial drive.  kai has a presentation on his culture (dutch and italian) and we picked up some treats for him to share with his class.

• eating tacos instead of arancini because the line-up was way too long for the latter
• standing in a way too long line-up for cannoli and gelato (yes, more ice cream!)
• listening to italian music brought back memories of the italian weddings of my youth
• playing foosball with kai was great fun
• watching bike polo; although not an italian sport it was exciting to watch nonetheless
• missing stefan (he left us sunday for work business) 





 

 



the very looooong line for cannoli and gelato





sardines!





 



bike polo

 

  



other scenes from the weekend:





working on his 'my culture' project for school

 

  

hope you had a lovely weekend too.