Mason Jars

Over the past few years, I have tried to increase the number of items I buy unprocessed, and in bulk. My pantry is looking prettier & prettier! Look at all those old blue mason jars that I have received from my friend Gail. Looks way prettier in the pantry than an assortment of plastic bags & cardboard boxes.

Blueberry Jam

Guess what we did yesterday?

Back at it! CSA July 25

After a spring/early summer hiatus, we're back with our CSA! I've missed it, but we have been traveling a ton. Also, garden was not as successful as we had hoped, so I'm having veggie withdrawals. This week, we'll be eating zucchini squash, green beans, new potatoes, tomatoes, corn, peppers, & some sort of melon. (Can you help me identify it?)

When I get these weekly shares, I look and think, "How can anyone not believe in God?" Maybe I'm weird for seeing God in the produce, but I just think the colors, shapes, variety & flavors are so amazing!

Random Photos

Months ago, we stumbled upon a big Dr. Seuss storytime (and United Way event) a bookstore near us. The other day, I randomly ran across these images on a photographer's facebook page. Hey, that's us! It was a fun surprise to find documentation of our normal everyday activities.

Cucumbers

With cucumbers in peak season, we've been snacking on lots of these guys lately. Peeled, thinly slice, with a smidge of salt on them right before dinner. It has been an unbelievable smash hit around here! My best ideas have been stolen from friends, and I have Yolanda to thank for this one.

So what are you guys snacking on these summer days?

All Tapes on Deck

I learned a valuable lesson from my mama. Before you throw something in the trash, see if it can serve another purpose. That brings me to several mixed tapes I had in my possession. Years ago, this scene would be money down the drain. But now, they were destined for the trash. But before we did, I let the kids pull out all the tape! It was a good 30 minutes of quiet time around our house!!! I did keep a few tapes, for sentimental purposes, even though I have no way to listen to them anymore. It was so worth the peace & quiet.

Birthday Party, Part 2

Although it was a 'dog' theme, we had our friend & neighbor Rick bring over his animals over and the kids got to pet chinchillas, guinea pigs, bunnies & turtles!The girls glued fur & eyes on the doggie.
Then we went searching for lost doggies. The girls got to put a collar on them, and comb their hair.
the girls and their dogs.she blew out all her candles! the girls ate their cake from doggie bowls.

Katie Belle's Doggie Party, Part 1

I had a lot of fun finally decorating for a girly birthday party!!! I'll post again with some pictures of our awesome birthday girl, but here are some pictures of the party.I thought it seemed appropriate to tie the balloons to the fire hydrant. But they flew away! My husband is the pro-knot-tier. That's what I get for doing it myself.
My sister-in-law sells cakes. Aren't they awesome?!?! She's fantastic & it matched the invitation so well. Let me know if you want her number!Among other foods, we served "pupcorn", "puppy chow" and dog biscuits (made from this graham cracker recipe.) Another talented sister-in-law made the cutest doghouse cookies.
We hid stuffed dogs (scored at the Dollar Tree) around the house and the girls hunted for the dogs. Then they took them to the doggie spa & put collars on them, and combed their hair.

Katie Belle Turns Two!!!

My sweet baby is turning two in a few days! It seems like just yesterday we welcomed her into our arms! The wonderful Amanda Mankin took some great pictures of our little nut. Isn't she a ray of sunshine? Wild, energetic, hilarious sunshine? I love this little one.

Dog Biscuits

We've been having fun making preparations for KB's 2nd birthday party. We're having a doggie theme, and last week we tested out a recipe for homemade crackers. But we're renaming them Dog Biscuits. A fun little name change always works for my kids! (Remember Superman Soup?)
Can't wait 'till the party!

Happy 4th

I know this is late, but I wanted to say that I hope you had a fun day filled with sparkle, fun and celebration!

Pie in a Jar

Mark my words. I will one day bake pie in jars.

Canning Tomatoes

Now look...It is not my goal in life to be cool. I would much rather start a quilting bee with girlfriends than go out for a night out on the town. I don't know why I like old-fashioned things, I just do. So that is why I get excited about things like learning to can tomatoes. It was tons of fun. My friends Nancy & Marge came over, as well as some other girlfriends who enjoy this kind of thing & we canned tomatoes! We also ate some delicious seasonal local foods, like squash casserole, green bean and tomato salad, fried squash, tomato sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches (from local chickens) with homemade pickles, blueberries and blueberry banana bread, homemade blackberry cobbler & homemade ice cream & fruit tarts.
It was crowded but fun! I hope we can do it again, because I'm so sorry that there were several people who really wanted to come but couldn't.

But I Digress...

The kids and I were having a sweet moment singing in the bathroom tonight. They were singing so sweetly and...normally. But then, of course, the camera became visible, and those tender moments dissolved into some sort of shouting match. This is such an event. I promise that only moments before it was a very sweet moment. But these are moments of parenthood, however, that make me laugh. And I am glad to catch them on film.

Catalog Living

This website is hilarious. It takes all those contrived photos from home catalogs and imagines the conversations behind the "real life" scenario.(above) Elaine wasn’t about to let some hot flashes get in the way of balancing the checkbook with the abacus.
We’re so happy you could visit! The room’s all made up for you, and I ripped out some pages of my favorite book and taped them to your wall in case you’re like me and enjoy reading before bed.Elaine was not amused by Gary’s passive-aggressive response to her request to “garnish the cocktails.”

The Little Things

Every morning, and after naptime, KB takes her assortment of blankets & stuffed animals and insists that they be tucked behind her back before she sits down for breakfast. Children and their little quirks are so entertaining. It's hard to believe that she's nearly two, and that soon we'll be welcoming baby #3 into the picture!

Missing the CSA

Hey Guys. If you haven't noticed, I have not yet signed up for my CSA, Avalon Acres. I'm a huge fan of the csa, we have been traveling a ton, so I just haven't gotten around to it. Plus, we had high hopes for our garden, and the csa is a lot of work. And a lot of veggies. But boy have I been missing it! I haven't been motivated to do lots of cooking, or try anything new. But my sister-in-law gave me her CSA share this week! Yeah!!! It's like a field day around here. It's amazing how much the csa changes our diets in my household. I'm not very motivated to buy green beans, but when they are sitting in my fridge, I think, "Okay...it's green beans for dinner tonight!" And I love the creative challenge of scouring cookbooks to find out what I can do with carrots, beets and potatoes. I would have never been inspired to make Borscht Soup otherwise.

And I'm so glad I have a history of the CSA on my blog. This is what we got in our box this time last year. Like I've said, it's different every year.

So for a recap...This week the CSA included potatoes, green beans, blackberries, carrots, kohlrabi, zucchini, pattypan squash, lemon cucumbers, corn, squash & a purple green bean.

Blueberry Muffins

In high school, I used to eat an Otis Spunkmeyer blueberry muffin every morning. Then one day I noticed they had like 400 calories in it. I don't know much about calories, but I know that is a lot. Sometimes I think that the only difference in a muffin and a cupcake is the icing.

This blueberry muffin recipe from Simply in Season is a pretty dramatic contrast. They are tasty and light. I have mentioned this cookbook before, but I highly recommend it if you like to cook seasonally. The recipe is extremely versatile, and is the least sweet recipe I've ever found. And my kids still loved it. I must mention that I was a bit surprised at first, because I was expecting them to be sweeter, but they are tasty, once you remind yourself that you are not actually eating a cupcake.

The basic recipe is as follows:

Dry ingredients: 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour, 1 C rolled oats (alternatively you can skip the rolled oats and instead add 1/2 C additional wheat flour and 1/2 C raw wheat germ. OR use an additional 3/4 C whole wheat flour and 1/4 C flax seed meal), 1 T baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon (optional).

Wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1 C milk, 1/4 C oil, 1/4 C honey.

The star: 1 1/2 C blueberries or any kind of berries, fresh or frozen, or go crazy and substitute an equal amount of shredded summer squash.

Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (Other than this, these muffins are sugar-free. If you aren't ready for the lack of sweetness, feel free to give it a hefty sprinkle of the sugar.)