Pappardelle, Shrimp, and Asparaug

Pappardelle is a great pasta to cook with shrimp if you are not a meat eater. I found this great yet simple recipe which calls a bunch of asparagus, shrimp, lemon, onions and pasta. Neat way to make a great dinner or a lunch if you are in a hurry.  

The Fire Pit & the Garden

We are so happy to have our fire pit out, helps us to clear the yard and work outside when it is a bit cold. Plants are into their growing season. 

Although their are mounds work to be done around the house, but it is kind of peaceful to work in the yard planting. We have used our fire pit couple of times already. 

Our wood pile is slowly disappearing.

I see little green shoots around the yard but I have no idea of their origin. Last year I had a random lettuce in my yard; I am looking forward to see what this year brings to us. One evergreen needs to be replaced, there is something going on in this particular spot because I lost two evergreens. Perhaps it is time to plant something else. 

A trip to Big Apple

This spring break we took a almost a day trip to Big Apple! It was FUN bit was tiring. We stayed overnight at a hotel but did a lot during the day. Visited family, bought few cricket gear for Panduka, visited Guggenheim Museum, and a great lunch before heading home. 

The best thing was we were at home before 7:00 pm and went to bed early. It was a great road trip. Listen to music al the way and created fun playlists. Enjoy many sites on our way to NYC!. 

This was our very first time visiting the Guggenheim museum, we have visited the Museum of Fine Arts before. I love many of the modern pieces displayed by many artists but I have to agree I love Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. It holds many modern and contemporary art.

The museum, the building it self is a masterpiece. 

What can you get for an active Child

What you can offer to a child who is active lets take a look. I went for a hike, on one weekend, very early spring to the woods, and It was a great experience. 

However, I did not had few equipments to complete this fun project like a net to catch tadpoles, this can be a net with a short or a long handle. Next a great magnifying glass would be great to look at few plants and insects, bucket, and a kids size binoculars to take a closer look at few song birds. 

This is a great gift for a little girl or a boy during spring who is adventures. Additionally, you can tuck in a small note book with a collection of color pencils. perhaps a small mat to sit. Few energy bars will keep him/her energized throughout the activity. Having few books about animals will help them along the line to work with this project. 

Lunch Idea

This is a great brunch recipe, but I wanted to make one during week for school lunch. I am glad I made this because I used it for couple of days with the rest of the family. Since my older guy is running it is very important to have a high protein lunch. 

I used a store brand croissant roll dough as the crust. Sautéed onions with spinach which was easy to make and comes together fast. 

Add some grated cheese, salt and pepper, and eggs with a 1/4 cup of milk. Bake it for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees or until it is set. I was lucky to get some fresh eggs from a co- worker. It did taste great and was a very healthy alternative for lunch. 

Beginning of Spring!

I usually don't write about my cover pic, but I love how our garden is coming to life. 

The garden is busy shooting up new shoots, can’t wait to see what have survived in our garden after this long winter. I am officially on my spring break and finally feels like spring. I saw my crocuses are finally coming up. They are tiny but so cute! 

Row of bulbs are making its way to the warm weather. The mix of spring bulbs in this corner could bring some color to our garden. I guess its time to fly garden colors. Time to change the flag finally. I wanted more of a natural look in this area, I guess a bit more bulbs can change it this fall. 

Spring weather brings in many chores to garden, and I am happy to have few seeds under dirt to get a heads start. Many Aliumes are making its way. I love those beautiful flowers. I was surprise to see some of the spring violets are in bloom in my garden this past weekend. 

Fresh eggs to bake from a co -worker

I got this wonderful recipe to make coffee cake and the rest was history. I had too much to catch up this weekend with friends and I think I over baked the  coffee cake but it was gone. 

It was so good and I might bake this again but don’t know about the fresh eggs. I might get lucky again but they were the best eggs I had after a long time. I use to buy fresh eggs from the farmers market in Leesburg, VA.

Spaghetti Dinner at School

Nicolette has been highly excited about her spaghetti dinner at school. It was really a very special night for her. We were invited to her school to have a spaghetti dinner and a recital of poems with a celtic dance. 

We enjoyed it very much and at the end there was a father daughter dance. I enjoyed very much. Nicolette was fighting a bug to be at the dinner. However it was her very special day, that she has been asking almost everyday when is the spaghetti dinner.  

Time to plan

There has been a great silence in this blog during the month of March. Mainly I have been extremely  busy with life in way it is a good thing. On top of that I have been sick catching something from work despite all my effort to be germ free. Ha kind of a funny statement when you work in a school. I think I am bound to get sick. After a very busy week little Nicolette got sick with a stomach bug, and then it was me I do not know what it is. I felt it was a cross between a bad allergy attack and a cold. However my joints have been aching lately.

I still can’t find time to roam around and do nothing how miserable I am, now that just me. If I am not sleeping I am doing something. One thing for sure this spring and summer I will not be spending time online. Yes, it was way too much time for browsing this winter. 

Despite all my effort I was able to plan my garden. I am not a cubit fan but I get my seeds from the local hardware store, at times from the grocery store, and occasionally from the nursery close to my house. Some plans are underway to building the compost and adding a new planting bed for little Nicolette. I am very excited to see how she wants to plant her garden.

We will be reading many gardening books this season!

Vernal Pools

I was happy to take a break from all things happening and tuck away a precious time with my daughter to discover nature. We both went to presentation on wetlands in other words on vernal pools. It was very informative for both of us. We are planning to go again in two weeks time so we can really listen to wonders of nature. We learned so much that vernal pools are ideal temporary locations for amphibians and reptiles. These pools could dry out completely during summer and some might retain water if it has a thick cover above it. Tuck in thick woods.When it dries out completely, animals move up -land to make their homes and come back when they are adults to lay eggs. 

We saw few of vernal pools in the Middleboro area, and it was still covered with snow but it was so neat. We are at the tale end of our winter and some might not join me on that comment, depending on this winter we are experiencing. We have had really a long winter and we are still calling snow for this Tuesday and Wednesday.
I took advantage of sudden change in the temperature from low 30 degrees to upper 59 degrees and enjoyed the wetland presentation and the walk in the woods and learned a lot. Additionally, on a side note I was highly impressed with bunch of home schoolers, and  how enthusiastic they were to learn about vernal pools. We did not had any instruments or tools to explore pools but it was fun. I truly believe learning is fun!


We learned about so many amphibians and few reptiles which are native to MA, like Fowlers’s Toad, Marble Salamander, Black silver snake, and many frogs that I could not keep track of. I am highly motivated to have few frog eggs in my class so children could see the development. 

Blueberry Muffins

Little Nicolette loves to have bake goodies at home. She loves to help me to make them when possible. Opportunity to bake with her is always fun. Her measuring skills are getting better and coordination has improved a lot. From getting ingridients to seriously taking part in assembling the final product has become her favorite part of the weekend. I am planning to do more during the coming weeks. 

Lately, going to starbucks has become a habit. I wanted to take control over. When I go to coffee shop I had to buy a treat for little one too. I wish many times I am preppared with a afternoon snack when I  pick her up. I am getting better but it does take effort. Past few weeks I have been cutting fruits and placing them in containers so she could have something on the way home. 

She loves the blueberry muffing at the coffee shop and the morning buns. This was a great recipe I found and they were delicious everyine enjoyed them. This summer we will be freezing some of the blueberries from the local farm. 

We save the blueberry muffins for this week more baking adventures to come soon

A Birdsnest plant

I can’t wait till spring, the first day of spring is going to be this Thursday and I am very excited about it. Being able to work in the yard and plan garden is something I am looking forward this year. I have not look at any of the seeds catalogs, but would love to get my hands on them soon. 

I always question myself when planting a year old seeds, but always had luck with them. I am planting a square foot garden this season with some new experimental vegetables.

When I was at the grocery store I could not help pass this beautiful birdsnest plant. It was simply gorgeous more than anything it was green. I will be taking few pictures of my spring garden. Can’t wait any more to see the spring blooms. 

Split Pea Soup

I am a bit behind with posts this month mainly; because, I have been sick during this past week. I do not know what to blame the weather or working with children, but this winter has been better comparing last year. 

I decided to make split pea soup, since we had few bags of peas. This was a delicious soup and very filling. To my surprise every one except for dad loved it. This is sure to be in our menu in near future.  

Lunch

Lunch is getting better around at home. We have been busy working on spring cleaning all around the house. Nicolette’s room is getting a makeover this spring for sure. Enough about that let’s see what’s in the salad, which looks very colorful and packed with vitamins. 

Grape fruit, avocado, and few sliced grapes. The texture in this salad is amazing the buttery texture of avocado, grapefruit, and seedless grapes are just divined.  

Kale salad, tofu, with Japanese rice crackers

This is a another version of my kale salad with miso dressing,  baked tofu, and rice crackers. 

The neat part of this is, you can make the salad a couple of days ahead for lunch to school. I love the crunchy crackers in my salad. Wasabi adds a little kick to it!

Taking Care of classroom pet...

This school vacation we decided to pet sit. Nicolette was super excited to bring her classroom pet home, according to her she wanted to play dress up, and want to give Finn a bath. 

The ginuea pig is very active in the night as Niegel and I watched TV way into morning during one night. Finn decided to add the after effects of the scary movie, fun night turning light off after the movie. 

We have been adding Finns bedding to the compost, and offering him carrots. I am not sure, if I am confident enough to pick and handle him. However he is getting use to me more, since I am the only one taking care of his bedding besides Panduka.

I see he is venturing out from his house to see what is happening around him. He sure loves his carrots, and hey. We gave him a treat of parsley and he sure likes that. The more into the week I notice him playing outside of him home more. My allergies are bit off, but still worth the effort of taking care of Finn.

It is REALLY a fun way to take care of a pet!

New project for summer

I love having headbands and making them for Nicolette. 

New prints are so cute, I feel like I have to make them all. I love how this one came out and perfect for spring. I am planing to make few more so she can have them for summer. Few have ask me to make them for their kids and few adults too. This could be a neat gift to give for friends in summer. 

Little Nicolette is not too crazy about it, but she was so happy to model it when I was taking pictures. I love how it sits to the side, but possibilities are endless.

My next attempt is to make a smaller band, I felt like this was bit too big for her. More excuses to make few more. I love this print very summery.  

Japanese Cooking...

This winter break we ventured into Japanese cooking, to stir away from the regular blah. I have been eating alot this winter, which I am not very fond of. I have been missing the gym but more into creating, sewing, and reading. 

Japanese cooking seems to be very easy and less time in the kitchen. However, the body really needs to go through the change of raw fish. I always likes soy beans even growing up in Sri Lanka. The most fondest memory I have is eating soy ice cream, which seems to close to my house.

Recently, I have add so much kale to my lunch, and I afraid I might turn my self to green. I still cook meat for the rest of the family members. They cannot totally give up on meat at least few are working on it. This is a something I put together, sticking to the basic Japanese cooking techniques. I used pork instead of beef, I felt it absorbs the sauces well than beef. I add a whole lot of vegetables to keep it more like a one pot meal. 

The base is soy sauce, plum sauce, garlic, chillies, honey, rice wine, and sesame oil. 

There are few similarities in Japanese cooking and Sri Lankan cooking, and even share few ingredients.