We had a blast last weekend with the arts fest. Tanya helped me with my street painting for the first time, and I am excited to report that it was a super success! We did Gandhi (original artist: Ange Hillz) and Tanya did the entire background! It definitely took the monotony out of the street painting.

Tanya couldn’t wind up without doing her own little art work. She made Stitch from Leroy and Stitch. The pic below has her arms outstretched pretty much the same way as Stitch in the art work!!

It was not all hard work at the fest. We had some serious water fun.

And some serious bubble fun!! Check out the giant bubbles this guy was making at the fest! We were so inspired that we tried it at home: 1 gallon water, 1 cup dish detergent and a couple of squirts of glycerine. We also made a bubble maker by stringing yarn through two straws and tying it up. Idea source: http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/really-big-bubble-maker/

Arts fest is gone, but we enjoyed every minute of it!

Great news, I am now officially able to bake a bread, using no yeast! I tried the sourdough from cookbook “Nourishing traditions”. The procedure involves making a 7 day starter out of rye flour and water. Following this, you use the starter with spelt, salt and water to bake the actual bread.

Why sourdough? Sourdough is a great recipe because the bread undergoes a process of fermentation in the same way as dosas in India or Injera in Ethiopia. The result is that you have a bread that is easily digestible and very flavorful and healthy. The best part for me was that I didn’t need to use yeast.

Here are pics.

We had the bread with raw honey, and also as a pizza base. It was good:) Sourdough is now our new favorite!!

I also attended a food seminar presented by Sally Fallon, the author of Nourishing Traditions. Was great. I met this nice couple, the Brubakers, and we exchanged addresses. Last week I found a package in my mailbox with a sourdough that they made! It is the other bread in the picture above. Delicious! I sent my bread to them:)

My culinary experiments also led me to spring butter. It turns out that butter from green grass fed cows is the best. Luckily for me a local farmer carries spring butter, so now my freezer is full of 30 lbs of spring butter. Here’s a comparison between winter and spring butter. Note that the yellower the butter, the better it is.

Ending the blog with some pics of the girls. Next week is arts fest.. yay!

Tanya is becoming skilled at sewing. She made Stitch from Leroy and Stitch all by herself. Here she is working the thread in a needle.

The last picture is of Herman the chipmunk with Tanya’s friend Wyatt, Tanya and Leena. Wyatt’s mom Sandy found Herman behind the school. Young Herman was hurt and Sandy took him in. Unfortunately poor Herman didn’t survive being away from his home. He now lives in our blog.