The Big Cook - Sponsored by Chateau Des Charmes Winery

Recently, momstown KW got together for The Big Cook! A huge thank you to Chateau Des Charmes Winery for sponsoring the event and providing us with four bottles of their delicious Generation Seven wine! We enjoyed two of the bottles during our prep and raffled off the other two to a lucky momstown KW member! 

The idea behind The Big Cook is to do all the prep work for a bunch of meals, freeze them, and then have great home cooked options available in the freezer for those days when you need something quick! With amazing recipes like Always a Winner Grilled Chicken, Maple Glazed Salmon, Orangalicious Beef Steak, and Lime Pepper Chicken; mouths in the momstown KW kitchen were watering! Though the prep took a lot longer than expected, we all worked together to prepare one recipe at a time. Once we had one recipe completed we moved on to the next!

Of course to do a Big Cook like this is a big investment in meat and ingredients up front, but it was so worth it and really that money would have been spent on groceries eventually anyway! We all had so much fun, there's nothing quite like cooking with a group of friends, and now we each have 9 prepared meals in our freezers that are marinated and ready to go! Luckily, a local church let us use their kitchen complete with a large island in the middle. Since this Big Cook was such a hit with momstown KW, we're planning to do another. This time featuring our members' own favourite recipes and marinades!

Where would any momstown mom be without their little helper? Sydney came along and helped mix together rice and sugar, invaluable assistance! ;)

And of course this is too great an activity for just momstown KW, look at how much fun the other momstown chapters had doing their own Big Cook!

momstown Guelph: http://momstown-guelph.blogspot.com/2011/06/every-mom-loves-easy-meals-and-wine.html

momstown Central Alberta:  http://momstown-centralalberta.blogspot.com/2011/06/cookin-up-storm.html

momstown Burlington: http://momstownburlington.blogspot.com/2011/05/loads-of-fun-at-big-cook.html   

Summer Reading - Join the Club!

All across momtown communities, kids can join summer reading clubs at their local libraries! You don't need to be a reader to participate, books you read to your children count towards their participation! Locally check out Kitchener Public Library and Waterloo Public Library for programs your kids can join.

Sponsored by TD Bank, the reading program is launched Canada-wide at the end of June/early July in many communities. The goal is to encourage children to engage with books throughout the summer.

Upon signing up, children usually receive a poster, stickers, colouring book, and a way to track their summer reading. When milestones are hit (say, 10 books read) kids receive a reward - such as a free ice cream from a local restaurant, or a pass to a local entertainment complex. Each year my kids look forward to the library reading program, and it's a great way to start off the summer!

The theme this year is Splash! Celebrate Summer and the website has lots of links to recommended book lists (ranging from pictures books up to teenage years).

An interactive kids website has been designed to engage kids in reading with online games and activities. Moms at momstown KW have great local libraries ready to engage your kids in reading this summer!

momstown has a strong literacy program as part of its educational curriculum for children aged 0-5. Our kids and baby book clubs, book reviews, and parent resources help families make reading a part of their every day.

Even the youngest child can engage with letters - momstown has a full range of alphabet crafts to get kids interested!

Join us this summer, momstown KW has a fun calendar filled with park and splash pad playdates, Picassos in the Park, lots of beach time, and more!