Saturday, December 12, 2009

Advent activities

The Advent calendar elf surprises us everyday with great ideas of things to do together!

Le lutin du calendrier de l'avent nous surprend chaque jour avec ses bonnes idées d'activités à faire en famille!

Like baking gingenbread men

Comme faire des biscuits de pain d'épices





Gingerbread Men

3 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sucanat
1 large egg
2/3 cup blackstrapp molasses (or dark agave, or a mix of the two)

In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking soda and spices. In another bowl, cream the butter and sucanat with a hand mixer. Add the egg and molasses or agave and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture beating until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and refrigerate for at least two hours. Preheat oven at 350 F and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and roll the dough about 1/4 inch on a floured surface. Bake for about 8 to 12 minutes.

Do not open the door before they are done or they could escape like the Gingerbread baby (a great book from Jan Brett).



Some edible gifts for some neighbors that have been quite helpful in our farming project (green tomato, apple and cranberry chutney, homemade raw cheddar cheese and gingerbread men, of course!).

Quelques cadeaux comestibles pour quelques voisins qui nous ont bien aidés dans notre projet de ferme (du chutney aux tomates vertes, pommes et canneberges, du cheddar au lait cru maison et des biscuits de pain d'épices, évidemment!).



This project is so much fun! It's the 3rd year we do it and this year, Aïsha worked at it for 2 hours in a row, without even getting up! We glue tissue paper with egg white with a paintbrush on a window and we get a nice stained-glass window!

Ce projet est tellement plaisant! C'est la troisième année qu'on le réalise et cette année, Aïsha y a travaillé pendant 2 heures sans interruption! On colle du papier de soie avec du blanc d'oeuf à l'aide d'un pinceau sur une fenêtre et on obtient un joli vitrail!





One of many possible projects with old watercolor paintings.

Un des nombreux projets réalisables avec de vieilles aquarelles



I used the same star frame from watercolor paintings and glued some wax paper on them and let the girls make another kind of stained-glass .

J'ai utilisé les mêmes étoiles faites à partir d'aquarelle et j'y ai collé du papier ciré, puis j'ai laissé les filles y coller des bouts de papier de soie pour y faire un autre type de vitrail.






4 comments:

Linda said...

Your window stars are lovely! Thanks so much for sharing your gingerbread recipe:)

valeria said...

actually, your efficiency scares me...^^
seems like a pretty cool farm u have sweetie, I'm so proud and jealous at the same time:P
if u plan to have some dolphins as well call me!
Love u

heather said...

what a beautiful creative day after a sad one....i am inspired to make gingerbread now. did you love that recipe?

Catherine said...

Heather, yes, we love that recipe! It's quite healthy too so I don't mind the kids eating the dough and then the cookies like it happens one a year... wait, well, maybe it does! Thank you for your kind words about our papa pig...