I'm supposed to be talking about food and recipes here.  Most of the time I do or at least I manage to tie it in.  Sometimes, I fail miserably and just rant about something or other and then stick a recipe on the end of it.  I make you guys work for the food... you have to sift through all these words before you get there. Unless of course, you are like me and scroll through most of the sites that you check out to get to the interesting stuff.  I'm not sure where this post falls but either way, our neighbours have just had a baby.  Their second.  A boy.  Everyone is healthy and happy and it's wonderful news.  I would imagine that since this is a food blog that you would expect me to be writing you about all the tasty, awesome things that I made for them to get through the next month or so.  Well, I haven't made them anything yet.  I will make them stuff... but I haven't done it yet.
What I did do though is help them out with their own Kid #1.  We looked after him for a few hours here and there to help them have a little transition (sleep) time quietly.  Here's where my insecurities kick in.  I can run a marathon.  I can perform in front of a lot of people.  I can talk in front of a lot of people.  I can cook and bake and take risks.  I typically cannot deal with other people's kids.  I get all freaked out.  I don't know what to do with them.  I end up talking to them like they're babies (even if they're 10).  I might ignore them and let my kids deal with them... if I can get away with it but I usually can't.  I don't know why other peoples kids scare the &^%t outta me.  So, there I am agreeing to have their kid with us and feeling my anxiety levels rising as the words come out of my mouth.  What will I do with him?  Will he like us?  Will he get bored and only want to stay for 10 minutes and then cry to go home?
I got hot dogs for the kids to eat.  Wait... let me say that again for you.... HOT DOGS.  What the hell???
They watched some 'Diego show' that my kids never get to watch.  What?!
I took them to the park.
I never take my kids to the park.  NEVER.   I hate kids parks.  Unless it's the middle of the night and I'm with my friends and we're... I won't explain why I hate kids parks but I do.  There we were (D was good enough to come too)... at the park.
I played choo-choo train and airplanes with them... what?  And I was super paranoid that my neighbours kid was going to hurt himself.  Which he did when he ran into a tree.  That was cool.  I kissed it better and he was off and running... to grab fistfuls of dirt and throw it into his own face... that was cool.  Then when he said he wanted to go home I lied to him and told him that his Dad wasn't home yet (he was) because I knew his Dad only had 4 hrs sleep the night before.
While the kids were in the bath (I couldn't send this poor kid home with a bruised head, ketchup all along his arm and dirt smeared across his face).  I confessed all to his Dad.  They were cool.  The really exciting part for me was that he wanted to come back the next day.  Who wouldn't have fun doing all that stuff (including the hot dogs - both my kids looked at me wide eyed and then Kid #2 yelped).

These gorgeous babies are being harvested daily from our garden now AND guess who likes raw purple beans.... Kid #2!!!!!

On another note:  This recipe is from the archive so to speak.  D broke our camera and although we will hopefully be getting a replacement very soon... we don't have one yet.  So, I made this stuff last summer and it was RAD it was easy.  Go for it.


Raspberry Mousse
serves 4

2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/4 cup superfine sugar
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Combine the raspberries and sugar together and set aside for about an hour.


After the hour, mash them together until they form a chunky sauce.  Set aside.

Whip up the egg whites in one bowl.  Whip until they form stiff peaks.
Whip the cream in another bowl until it forms stiff peaks.
Gently fold the two together.


Swirl about 3/4's of the raspberry mixture into the cream mixture.
Spoon into 4 serving bowls.   Top each with the rest of the raspberry mixture.
Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 3 hours.