The Holiday

The holidays were very, very busy. No snow in Toronto, which made the kids sad. They got new sleds two years ago, and we've never been able to use them because of the missing snow. This year may be a bust too, but I hope not. If we get snow next year, the kids will have outgrown their sleds!

On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at the in-laws' home. Christmas dinner was at my place, for 10 people, although it ended up being 9 because my mom bowed out. On Boxing Day, we went to my parents' house and visited my mom there.


The next day, my older son's best friend, who moved to Portland last year, came to stay with us for a couple of nights, along with his little brother. Once they arrived, we didn't stop moving. On the first night, we went to a Japanese restaurant, saw a movie (Night at the Museum), and the kids stayed up until three in the morning playing video games.

The next day, we went to the Science Centre, then out for lunch, before visiting the old neighbourhood. Sadly, none of their friends were around, and the two who were, were stuck at home babysitting. In the evening, we went to yet another movie (The Pursuit of Happyness for the kids and spouse, Casino Royale for me), then had a long, unexpected adventure trying to get to our parking spot from the mall-from-hell with the mislabelled signs and byzantine layout ("Dude, where's my car??"). I regret to say that I was really tired by then, and did not react with good humour to the dead end corridors and multiple locked parking exits. Anyway, the kids survived my cursing like a sailor, and stayed up again playing video games. The next morning, our guests left, but we caught up with them the next day at their family party, and everyone had a great time there.


The next day, Sunday, we had dinner again with the in-laws (almost a whole week had passed since we last saw them at Christmas!), and then on Monday we visited with my parents.

Now the fibre content of this knitting blog...
Right before Christmas, I finally finished that crocheted blanket. It's 4 x 6 blocks, so some squares are missing from this photo.


The squares look wonky because when I took this picture, the blanket hadn't been blocked yet. You can find the pattern for this Tricolor Square (and others) here.


Here it is being blocked.


The spouse gave me a bookstore gift certificate for Christmas, so I picked up a knitting magazine that I don't usually buy, Vogue Publishing's Knit.1 (Winter 06-07 "Love issue"), because it had an utterly frivolous heart pattern in it.


The WIP photo shows the actual colours better.

The blood vessels in the pattern diagrams aren't really in the right positions. This model gives a better idea of the actual arrangement.


I'm giving this to my older sister, who works in a hospital. I figure that if she doesn't want it, she'll know someone who will.

Ack, back to work on Tuesday.

Egg Nog Custard

I made a couple of pies, one for eating now, the other for Christmas dinner,



and a custard.


The pies are pecan cheesecake, recipe here. The custard recipe is below.

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Egg Nog Custard

5 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
2 c. whole milk
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
1 tspn vanilla extract
2 tspns rum extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat all ingredients together. Pour into 8 ramekins (little ceramic dishes) or an oven-proof casserole pan. Place into a roasting pan filled half way with water. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool before serving.


I like my custard warm and light, but if you like it cold and thicker, refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I prefer to eat it plain, but you can serve it with whipped cream and a sprinkling of nutmeg.

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In other news, the kids had a holiday concert at their school yesterday evening. Here are my boys, one with a friend.

The Niece and Nephew

Some pictures of the niece and nephew.


That's my brother-in-law.






Yes, my sister really does look like that cookie.

Aikido Year-End Party

The family went to another party today, this time at the dojo.

Here's the spouse with the children's instructor,


the younger son with two friends,


from the left, one of the adult students, an instructor and his wife (also an instructor),


another instructor and the chief instructor, Sensei,


the women's class instructor with the spouse,


a student with yet another instructor,


the girls from the children's class,


and the kids playing hide and seek.

Gingerbread Boys

Hey, these really are cute! Blogger Bittersweet crocheted a gingerbread man, which I thought looked nicer than the other free designs I'd seen on the web, so I printed the pattern and made a couple for the boys.


My oldest son used to collect gingerbread boys, partly because the story of the gingerbread man is used in the Kindergarten curriculum, and also because at the time, his favourite TV show was Blue's Clues, which had a gingerbread boy character.

He made the purple gingerguy himself.

Let's see... even more crocheted squares,


and a holiday decoration made by my good friend, Hen (that's my nickname for her).


She recently busted up some old keyboards so that I could turn the key caps into magnets. Thanks, Hen!

Another Party and Books

We went to another children's holiday party on Sunday, organized by the spouse's employer. It was at the Rogers Centre (formerly the Skydome), and featured lots of big jumping castles and some carnival rides.





Happy early Christmas to me! My book order arrived.


First, a recently translated collection of Junji Ito's short works from shonen magazines, Museum of Terror 3. I really admire his directorial skills. The way he frames a story is exactly what you'd expect to see in a big screen horror movie.

I used to think Clive Barker's fiction was so original, especially his Books of Blood series, but now I realize that many of his best ideas are borrowed from Japanese horror writers like Ito.


Next, Fudebakudo, that repository of martial arts cartoons by the fabled Beholder. You can see some of them at the official web site, which, incidentally, has pictures of the most awesome wedding cake ever. There's a nice flip book printed at the bottom corner of the pages - fun, wow!

Finally, a hard-to-find book I've always wanted, Gaku Homma's Children and the Martial Arts. It's about aikido as a pedagogy, which is the do (the 'way' or path) aspect that has kept me hooked to the discipline. He writes,

In Japan… martial arts training is a highly regarded teaching method. In the United States, most people think of it as simply one of many available recreational activities. I think it is a dangerous mistake for a parent to let a child study a martial art unless the parent understands that martial arts training is a method of education. This book is about Aikido training as an educational tool.

The point is that aikido - being non-competitive (unlike karate or judo, there are no formal competitions or trophies), and "soft", meaning that the force of your partner is deflected or turned back against him, rather than met with equal but opposing force - is a discipline which teaches you to live in harmony with others. Yes, even as you're being flipped upside down at high speed on the mat.

Aikido (mainstream aikikai style) can be used as self defense, but it's not taught as a self defense method.* As the founder, Ueshiba, intended at the end of his life, it is meant to teach cooperation. Any yudansha (black belt) will tell you that if your partner uses 80% of his force on a strike, you use only 20% to deflect it. And if your partner uses only 10% of his force, you use 90%. Aikido develops this skill in cooperation, which will serve you well off the mats, in the real world.

[* Those wishing to learn aikido for self defense should enroll in a pre-war style like yoshinkinai. This style was founded by Ueshiba before he got enlightened, or, as some would say, old and mellowed.]

Some blogging odds and ends:
Here's the fibre content of this post - more crocheted squares.

I'll have enough for a blanket some day!

What else - oh, the local paper asked readers to send in "scared Santa" pictures. I have many of these, but this one is my favourite, because of Santa's expression. My oldest here is a little over a year-old.


A recent picture of the nephew and niece.


The nephew in his school uniform.

Holiday Parties and Apple Machine

The kids went to a holiday party at the college on Saturday. It was organized by the third-year hospitality students and I thought they did a good job. There was lots of food, crafts, buskers, movies, and of course, Santa Claus.









We had to leave early to rest up for another party that evening (no pictures of that one because it was a house party).

On Sunday, between aikido lessons and catching up on chores, the kids and I made a couple of apple pies. It was a good opportunity for us to try out our new apple machine, from Lee Valley. I got this contraption as a gift from my older sister 2 years ago, but up until now we were still using our Starfrit apple peeler which, as it turns out, is much less efficient. Using this machine is a fun activity to do with the kids, and makes coring and peeling a snap (works on potatoes and yams too).

This is the finished item - a naked and cored granny smith.

You pull back the handle, stick an apple into the prongs, and slowly turn the handle. You can adjust the peeling blade for a thicker or thinner peel.

Keep turning until the apple is past the coring ring at the end.

Pop off the coiled finished apple, which you can easily break up into thin slices.

Pop off the core.

It's so quick that I've actually started looking for more recipes that call for sliced apples, rather than avoiding them as I have in the past.

The rest of the weekend was not so great. Sunday evening I was felled by a massive headache-y cold, the kind where, as my younger son says, your face "is like water", meaning the weepy eyes and drippy nose. I was too sick to knit or even just read, which was a bummer.