Friday, September 16, 2011

homemade salsa

You may remember this post from a few weeks ago about how I love love love salsa, especially homemade salsa - it just seems to taste better than the store-bought brands. I love the taste of fresh tomatoes from the garden. I love the feeling I get when I open a jar of homemade salsa in the middle of winter, it brings me back to the summer months. I was lucky that my good friend Jenn decided to come over and help me out because, let's face it - trying to get anything done while tending to a toddler and a newborn can sometimes be task in itself. I have had a few people ask me what recipe we used to make our homemade salsa. I would like to say that we followed one, but that was not the case. We kind of threw in a little of this and a little of that and hoped for the best. I was pretty happy with the end result, but it was a little on the sweet side. Next year, I think I will add a little more spice. What is your favourite salsa recipe?

I tried to remember exactly what we did but my life is kind of a blur lately. It went something like this...
Ingredients:

  • 60 Roma tomatoes, peeled 
  • 2 large red peppers
  • 2 large green peppers
  • 5 large onions
  • 3 heads of garlic
  • 2 large cans of tomato paste
  • 5 Jalapeno peppers
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 cups vinegar
  • 8 teaspoons of sea salt
Directions:
  • Blend - or if you like your salsa chunky, chop - tomatoes, peppers, garlic, jalapenos, and onions. 
  • Place in large pot. Add sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, and salt. 
  • Simmer for 2 hours, stirring often. 
  • Jar and process... then enjoy!
Jenn working hard.
The finished product.
Little Miss L. couldn't wait to get her hands on a jar of salsa.
Mommy, can we please eat it now?!?!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

pregnancy photos

Better late than never right? I wanted to share with all of you some of our pregnancy photos. Pregnancy is a special time in one's life, a time I believe should be captured. There is so much beauty and joy during pregnancy which I wanted to make sure I would remember years down the road. The hubby and I were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Sandra, who is a wonderful photographer who understands how to bring out the true beauty of pregnancy. Pregnancy photos are not only about showcasing the changes to a mother's body, but also the changes to a family.

With Little Miss L and now with Baby D, the love between the hubby and I changed - we definitely have more love, to share with our children and to share with each other.  Amazingly, we fell further in love, something we didn't think possible.  Another pending change was our relationship with our daughter - she was no longer going to be our only child and recipient of 100% of our parenting love and attention.  Like it or not, Little Miss L was about to take on a certain amount of independence and grow up at a slightly faster rate.  She would have to learn to keep herself occupied while mommy and daddy looked after Baby D.  She was would have to learn to help with the household by helping change diapers, clean up, etc.  We feel that Sandra did a fantastic job at capturing all these changes, and in a beautiful way; below, you will see my changing body, our growing love and Little Miss Independent a.k.a. Little Miss L.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

weekend catch-up

We were on the go go go this past weekend, hence the late post. I needed all day Monday to relax and recoup. Saturday, we got up early and headed to the 156th Spencerville fair. I love being able to take my children to an event that I have been attending since I was a young child. I can remember watching the parade and being excited to collect all the candy that is thrown into the crowd, riding the rides until I was ready to be sick, eating the tasty fair food, and seeing the animals such as horses and cows. I was excited to bring Little Miss L. to the fair this year because some of her favourite things right now are firetrucks and horses. Well, I was right - she loved every minute of it!

Sunday was a busy day as well... we woke up bright and early and headed out to get some family photos taken. I know that time passes by quickly and our children grow up extremely fast. I love photography and I love capturing precious moments when I can. I love looking back through my photo albums and remembering all the great times my family has had along the way. I wanted to make sure I captured Baby D while he is in the newborn stage. We spent several hours with a wonderful lady named Sandra and she was able to capture some beautiful photos of Baby D and our family. I can't wait to share them with all of you soon. After we finished our photo session, we headed to my grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary party. Our family gathered in the perfect location on the St. Lawrence River, we had a amazing meal, and shared some good ol' family time. To sum it up - a perfect weekend!
I love love love this cutie.
Baby D - tell us how you really feel about getting your picture taken?
Proud big sister.
156th Spencerville Fair parade.
Little Miss L. loves firetrucks - it was a must to take a picture of  her in front of one.
Little Miss L. loved the bagpipes.
Now those are some big pumpkins!
Every year, I look forward to this amazing chicken.
Yummy!
Little Miss L. driving the vintage tractor.
God-mommy telling Little Miss L. all about bunnies.
Little Miss L. favourite activity during the fair - feeding the goats.
The boys playing a little shuffleboard.
Such beautiful ladies I have in my family.
Baby D and his Great Aunt.
Look at this pair - a match made in heaven.
My stunning grandmother.
The happy couple celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversary.
She is a big girl now!
Little Miss L. getting in on the shuffleboard action.
I love those cheeks - yes, he likes to eat.
Everyone enjoying their meals.
Little Miss L. and Baby D with their great grandparents.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

good morning

I love love love waking up to these two smiling faces. I want to bottle up and save moments like these forever!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

weekend catch-up

It was so nice to have a long weekend. We took advantage of our labour day weekend to spend lots of quality family time. The weather was grey and rainy which meant a lot of time spent indoors. I love love love weekends like these...
My little man is getting so big.
A little photo shoot with daddy.
Lots of cuddle time with daddy.
Baby D loves to sleep.
Little Miss L. loves to help daddy in the kitchen.
Daddy and Little Miss L. making crepes for breakfast.
Family trip to the museum of science and technology.
Little Miss L. loved going through the tunnels.
Baby D's first trip to the museum.
Little Miss L. loved trying out the canoe.
Wow - mommy, this train is big!
Little Miss L. wanted to be a picture.
Thanks Aunt Jenn for the cake pop, she loved it.
I love love love those baby blues.