Catching Up

Last month my mother, in her extreme generosity, sent airline tickets for myself and my children to go and visit my brother and sister in law, along with my mother, sister, nieces and sister-in-law's friend, in Washington State. How thrilled we were! And what a lovely long run-on sentence!

Our children blissfully played together...

... we visited Ikea, where I saw this fab children's room:
(can you see me?)

... and my brother introduced me to the wonder that is called WinCo Foods. Check this out, people -- it's an entire aisle of Mexican food. Wow. I'm still reeling from the pure joy:

In other news, have a look at this great cookbook that was part of my Valentine's Day gift! I've been drooling over this for ages, so you can imagine just how thrilled I was to receive it:

It's written by Marcus Samuelsson, a chef who was born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden by his adoptive parents. Now he's the award-winning chef of the NYC restaurant Aquavit. The recipe book is fantastic, really amazing. It's got everything from Mango Couscous:

...to the most comprehensive recipe for Injera I've seen so far.
(And, boy, have I ever been looking):

In my spare time, I've also been writing letters to the Right Honourable Stephen Harper:

...making sugar cookies with my girls:

...and making pancake animals:

I love my life!