Summer Cooking: Trout Amandine

Easy, tasty, healthy.

4 steps:
1. Grill trout in olive oil. 2 minutes each side. Set aside.
2. Melt a tablespoon (or two) of butter in same pan. Wait until it bubbles.
3. Throw in some sliced almonds (a handful or two).
4. Remove them once they brown.

Optional: add more butter to melt.
To serve: Put almonds on trout. Drizzle with extra butter (opt.)
Delicious with green beans, carrots or/and roasted potatoes.

Simon is not a big fish eater, but he will eat this meal. The butter and almonds are the selling points for him.
Thank you Rich for this recipe. It works!

Flowers in the Garden

Here are a few blossoms from our garden. Some of them greet us every year, while others add a burst of colour for a few months.

Late May is a fun time to be in the garden!

Clothing for the Courageous*

That is the motto written on the tag of Margot's butterfly dress, a present from her aunt "Ahli" a few months ago.
These pictures were taken on the same day, from 10 am to 6pm.

I wish to point out the following:
-As noticed, the dress goes with many types of footwear (note about the crocs: not my pick, but they are super useful: easy on and off, water proof, and comfy)
-This dress can be perfect for playing, eating, being cute.
-Margot was able to wear it all day and even nap in it. She usually goes through 2 or 3 "outfits" a day.
-I'm sure she felt extra courageous that day.

*Redfish Clothing

Journey of the Yogini - Part 4

Yoga is a practice. There's no end result. No time to beat. No destination.
One practices to become a "better"* individual:  more patient, more aware, more generous, more humble, etc.
A mat practice offers me a daily moment of being me; of dealing with myself in the here and now. And then of "applying" that me in the off-mat world.

Waterfall Trail on Mother's Day

* "by better" I mean a person who keeps on growing, on accepting , on changing.

Margot is Two!

Summer Food: Guacamole

Revelation: I had never eaten guacamole until I met Simon.

Here's my favourite recipe. It's too easy and tasty:

-4 or 5 avocados. Mash them up with a fork.

-add juice of half a fresh lime. 

-add a pinch of cilantro and a pinch of pepper (optional)

-serve with plain tortilla chips.

Best as: before dinner snack or 8pm evening snack.
It's easy. It's fast. And it's delicious. Nothing fancy. All fresh. Enjoy!

Being a Parent - Part 2

After thoughts on education and "raising" children, I realized that perhaps now is the time to start. Margot now understands simple orders "ramasse tes pellures d'oranges et mets-les dans la poubelle brune" and is able to communicate her needs and wants. She's also at an age where she is becoming quite observant of the world in which she lives in.
About a month ago, I chose a myriad of parenting books (mostly aimed at toddlers) on the library website and put them on reserved. A few days later, I had a dozen books ready for pickup. Some of them were rubbish and were put back in the "return bag" almost immediately after flipping through them.
But some of them were actually not so bad...

The Idle Parent: Why Less Means More When Raising Kids by Tom Hodgkinson. Check out the book cover!

Top 8 suggestions I retained (in no particular order)
-Be cheerful and satisfied with life. We teach by example, not with authority. A whining child has a whining parent.
-Children teach us to live in the present. Embrace that instead of focusing on the past  (i.e. "How was daycare? What did you do today? ) or the future (i.e. "Are you excited for our summer plans?").
-Do less. Passive parenting is responsible parenting.
-Say "yes".
-Fill your children's lives with variety, creativity and autonomy.
-Stop saying "Careful!". We are conditioned into living in fear. By shrieking "careful!/attention!", we remove their confidence.
-Stop giving them options. Water for dinner.
-Children remember "made up" stories more than read ones. Revive the art of storytelling! They will also be more captivated.

And here's Margot serving dried apples: