First Birthday: a Spring lunch

A big hooray for the best birthday boy who turned 1 last week. I can't even believe he is 1. We can't imagine life without him. He's so snuggly and easy-going. He's happiest outside. He loves his brother and family to bits and pieces and we all feel the same way about him. Good growin' young man. Happy first.

To celebrate, we had a little birthday lunch and invited my parents and my brother. It was very sweet & simple. I made pasta with pesto and grilled goat cheese sandwiches over fresh spinach (my two favorites). My step dad brought homemade hummus and guacamole and I made a pumpkin pie for dessert.

My older son did all of the stationery... The invitations are on bookboard leftover from a wedding I worked on years ago. My son wrote the baby's name on all the invites. He also made one for "Blast Off," the baby's unofficial nickname (it's what our older son wanted to name the baby). He also made place cards using washi tape on the wood animal puzzle by petit collage, and a pie banner (made from washi tape and toothpicks). It was so fun to have his help and he felt like such a big kid being included. 

I didn't have time to do much beforehand, but my family was happy to help with moving furniture outside and hanging my string of balloons. They even waited patiently while I snapped a few photos. 

Cute party hats by Oh Joy! for Target

I was able to take one photo before we ate. And the baby is showing off how he skillfully climbs right out of his high chair.

Crown on the climber is by tin cup.

a few new gifts... this is a great wooden race track from my dad. 

Fermentation Workshop

A few weeks ago, I drove into the mountains and spent the day with Dr. John Hicks and his wife, Betsy Hicks, in their home, learning about fermentation! It was amazing! I'm pretty new to fermentation, but was so fascinating! We started with a snack buffet filled with yummy foods, all prepared without dairy and tons of fermented goodess. Next we learned how to make flavoured kefir sodas, beet kvass (and our new favorite: beet kvass mixed with pomegranate kefir! yum!!). After the bubbly drinks, we snacked on fermented veggies... carrots, pickles, radishes, green beans, asparagus, etc. After snacking all morning, we had a wonderful lunch of beef brisket, quinoa salad, and curried chick peas. During lunch, Dr. Hicks did a kim chi demo. Everything was so delicious. A dessert was a dairy & sugar free pot-de-creme... heck, I'm just going to call it chocolate pudding with strawberries, because pot-de-creme sounds too fancy :) 

I love this article Betsy wrote about fermentation, "The Cultured Life."

The last picture is my first attempt at fermented veggies! Please share any tips, tricks, or websites if you've done this before!

OH! And they have a healing foods workshop coming up in April. Call them today if you're interested, it's almost sold-out :) My step-dad and I are going and hope to see you there.