Spring is here and we can’t wait to get our hands dirty! Here are a few garden gems you may like.
1. Turquoise Garden Chair from Anthropologie
2. Mushroom Bunch from Terrain
3. Tulip Trowel from Terrain
4. Seed Bombs from Poketo
5. Dotted garden Stake Set form Leif
6. Cherry Blossom Watering Can from Terrain
Curated by Stephanie from Baba Souk
If you follow my blog than you know that I reside in a pretty great neighbourhood. A quick look through my Hello! Neighbor tours and you will see that the streets are teaming with creative types everything from writers to designers to photographers to artists. A great number of these people are stay at home mums or working mums just like myself. Somehow in between school drop-off and hockey lessons and making dinner and ballet recitals they still manage to find time to do something creative for themselves. Today I’m happy to have two of those talented people guest posting on the blog – Kristin Sjaarda (who most of you already know) and Rachel Gruet. Rachel is a baking aficionado and occasional writer who is happily baking and eating her way through her current predicament of what to do Next.
I’m someone who thinks a baked treat doesn’t have to have pumpkin in it just because it’s late Fall. So when my friend Kristin Sjaarda suggested I bake something with black fruit in it for her to photograph for Emma’s blog, I was intrigued and immediately got down to business.
Should I bake a plum tart? Already a baking blog favourite. Something with concord grapes? Forget it–the skins get caught in my teeth and that’s just downright awkward. What about beautiful, luscious black figs? Almost out of season. So I settled on scones. There’s no better comfort food to cozy up with on a damp and chilly morning; a cup of rewarmed coffee within reach–but I can live with that and have been since I ran out of capsules for my Nespresso machine. Just add melting chunks of dark chocolate and Axl Rose crooning November Rain on my iPod and I won’t be leaving the house until Spring.
Blackberry and Dark Chocolate Chunk Scones (Adapted from How Sweet it Is) – makes about 16 scones
Ingredients
3 1/4 cups flour 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cups cold butter, cut into pieces 1 cup buttermilk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups blackberries 6 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, chopped melted butter for brushing
Method
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder. Using your fingers, cut in butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla, just somewhat combining, then gently fold in chocolate and blackberries, keeping the blackberries as relatively whole as possible. Don’t worry if a few get crushed–the purple-black juice will only add to the beauty and deliciousness of the scones. Stir with a spoon until a dough forms, using your hands to bring it together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently, adding a bit more flour if sticky.
Divide in half and pat into 7 inch round circles. Brush each dough round with melted butter. Cut into 6 or 8 wedges, or use a biscuit cutter to make smaller rounds.
Bake for 12-14 minutes (wedges) or 9-11 minutes (rounds).
Thanks Rachel and Kristin. I think I might actually head into my kitchen and make these today. I just happen to have some leftover buttermilk in the fridge!
All images by Kristin Sjaarda.
I’m so fortunate to have Rachel from The Stay Lucky blog here today. I first met Rachel when she lived in Toronto. Somehow we both got involved with a mutual friend’s baby shower and before we knew it had taken the whole thing over designing everything from the invitations to the food to the decorations. We poured over back copies of Martha Stewart together and exchanged emails about interesting blog posts we had seen. A mutual friendship was born and from it many wonderful things have come (including one of my favorite Hello! Neighbor posts of all time and my whimsical header.) What I didn’t know about Rachel until she started her own blog was how amazing she is with words. She has a way of getting right to the point which make this post about motherhood so poignant. I think you’ll agree!
When Emma asked me to post for The Marion House book admittedly I choked a little. Not literally, but I did get a bit anxious at the thought of writing for her lovely blog.
Emma is the yin to my yang, all grace and calm to my wrecking ball and occasional foul mouth. Despite our differences she has been a constant source of inspiration and huge help when I decided to do a blog myself. So, here goes (I guess this would be considered advice for a new mom)…
10 things I (think) I know now after four years with twins…(from in utero to the present)
* Your journey is your own, accept it. If you aren’t a matcha tea drinking yoga enthusiast before you get pregnant chances are strapping 40 pounds of baby to your front will not be the straw that Zens out the camel. Find what makes you comfortable and happy and feeling alright with the world and do that. For me it was mashed potatoes and hours spent in the tub (usually both things combined), but if you can downward dog until the eleventh hour, high five sister!
* Read a lot of books, ask a lot of questions, then listen to your gut. You just grew a human(s), you have an incredible connection to them. Listen for it.
* Things on your body will eventually shift back into place. I likened being pregnant with twins to people coming over to your house, trashing it and then leaving you the mess to clean up. Drink lots of water and be kind to yourself. What can’t be fixed with exercise and eating well can always be hoisted back up with Lycra.
* If you smother your husband/partner you will have to do this by yourself. Ask for help when you want it, and more importantly space when you need it.
* I am not 100% sure but fairly certain no one ever went mad from not getting the laundry done. Not getting sleep is a whole different matter, that can make the toughest of us crack. Provided you don’t have other kids running around demanding your spare attention, nap when the baby naps. Assign a chore to anyone who comes over to “see the baby”. It’s like a toll, or a surcharge. Sure you can hold this baby, it will only cost you one dark load and a quick sweep of the kitchen.
(And as a P.S to the above – you cannot “catchup on sleep now”, which is something people say when you are pregnant. There is no sleep bank, a place where you can deposit a nap for a later date. If you have been up for 26 plus hours chances are you are not going to be thinking “well thank goodness I had that great nap two months ago”. Just know it won’t last forever and you most likely won’t remember it anyways).
* Comparing your child to others will make you nuts. “So, are they talking yet”, is sometimes a seemingly loaded question. Sure, the kid next to yours in the sandbox “might” speak three languages at the ripe old age of two, but he also just ate a half pound of sand and shoved a pine cone up his nose…it’s all relative. Kids progress differently and at their own pace. Keep them engaged and interested. Like you their journey is their own, make it fun.
* (For creatives) Do not attempt to art direct your child. Kids are like drunk people. They say weird things, are loud and fall down a lot. They also insist on doing things like wearing their pants backwards, or a batman costume to your great aunts 80th birthday party. Try turning your pants around in a show of solidarity (and hope) it won’t be forever.
* Your kids have no idea that you are a crappy singer / artist / dancer. Paint a picture, teach them to high kick, belt out that song…they think you are awesome, take full advantage of it (I am told they will not always think I am this cool). Until then, it’s booty shaking time!
* Kids say brilliant things. Write.them.down. You will forget, which leads me to my last point…
* Mom brain is real. No point fighting it, work with it. There is no law that states you can’t keep cereal in the fridge or that you can only shop at Whole Foods whilst wearing matching shoes. Know that your brain is saving itself for the important stuff, the baby stuff. Four years have whipped by in an awful hurry, take lot’s of pictures and just enjoy it. Ten years from now even the craziest most sleep deprived stressful day with your kids will seem like a great memory. xo
I love it when someone points me in the direction of a new product that is thoughtfully handmade and imaginative to boot! Today Kirsten from Simply Grove is doing just that. Check out these stylish baby blankets made by Amy, mum to Eli, in Brooklyn.
Hey everyone! Kirsten Grove from Simply Grove here. I am so honored to be a guest blogger here on The Marion House Book while Emma is spending time with her precious baby. I have an abundance of respect for Emma. She is an amazing designer, business woman, mommy….the list goes on!! Her babies are blessed.
Speaking of babies, I can’t get over how cute these organic cotton baby blankets are from Little Hip Squeaks.
I think my favorite pattern is the cute mustaches.
I also love the nautical print for little boys as well as the classic chevron and jumbo herringbone for both sexes.
And did you see the cute elephants and ABC’s?? Too many choices!
What I love about these blankets is that they are great accessories for your own nursery as well as being the perfect gift for any new mommy. It’s always a great feeling to celebrate a new life with a well made, beautiful gift!
