summer tomato stories

I can blog from my phone??? Whoa!
Sorry about the profound silence on this blog. Lots and lots of reasons for that, but all good and worthwhile reasons.
I'll start my tomato stories with a trip to our favorite farm, conveniently located just up the road, Waldoch Farm. I took all 3 kids up to pick tomatoes and that turned out to be an adventure. There were age appropriate shenanigans from all of them. The 7 year old wanted to run off and pick by herself, the 4 year old only wanted to pick one or two and then be done, and last but not least, the 2 year old boy wanted to pick green tomatoes and throw them in his sisters' baskets. We eventually got enough to put up a few meals of soup and some canned tomatoes.
That weekend I went by myself and picked a bushel of globe tomatoes and a half bushel of romas. I made marinara from the romas and put up many quarts of tomatoes and then made sauce. Partway through cooking down the sauce. I poured myself a glass of strained juice and added vodka, worchestersjire sauce, celery salt, pepper and a dash of hot sauce. Best bloody Mary ever.

I even made a friend in the field.

Strawberry Jam: Sugar vs. Honey

Strawberry season is here and after skipping it last year and having to endure the lamentations of my wonderful husband about not having my delicious strawberry jam to tide him over the long Minnesota winter, I was determined to make at least one batch to appease him.
This was the first year I took all three children to the fields. It went MUCH BETTER than I anticipated. The baby was happy as long as he was munching on a strawberry, the girls were very helpful and focused pickers, and the rain held off enough while still keeping the skies overcast so no one got a sunburn. It was perfect! -until Bean announced she had to go potty. I looked at our two half-filled boxes of berries, my contented baby and the porta-potties that were two fields away. This would normally send me into a panic, but now that the girls are older, I've started to delegate some motherly jobs to big sister D. I told her to take her sister to the tall grass next to the field and have her squat behind the golf cart. I watched closely as they held hands and stepped over the rows of berry plants. (There may have been some scornful glances cast my way from judgmental others, but I've learned to buffer myself against them. This is a valuable tool for my parenting skills.) The last little peek from behind the golf cart to make eye contact with me was precious. I gave a thumbs up and shortly afterward my two little girls were running back across the strawberry field as happy as could be. Everyone benefits when Mommy learns how to relax.
Now, onto the actual jam recipe.
I've always used the Certo Pectin package recipe for making jam, even though it is appalling. There are 7 Cups of sugar to 4 cups of strawberries. That's it. Sugar, some strawberries and then pectin. It's frightening.
I recently did some internet research and found an interesting alternative recipe here. It uses 3 3/4 Cups of honey, 6 Lbs of strawberries, 1 1/2 apples and some lemon juice. I don;t know about you, but I simply prefer unprocessed sugars, like honey, to processed white sugar. Maybe I've become paranoid after being awash in so much GMO debate, but in my quest for relaxation, peace of mind goes pretty far. Plus, you can't deny that the strawberry to sweetener ratio is much more favorable. You can easily tell the difference in the above photo. The honey jam is on the left and the sugar jam is on the right. Now, here's the real dirt: the sugar jam is easier to make and it sets up quicker. The honey jam tastes different at first, because so much cooked honey is pretty pungent. I was really scared that it would taste awful last night as I was processing everything, but this morning proved it to be quite tasty. It did not set up to be as firm as the pectin jam, but it is still usable. This might not be the ideal beginners recipe or method, but for discerning tastes, I would recommend it.

Christmas Croquembouche

My husband is a wonder in the kitchen. I've been feeling very tired and nauseous with this pregnancy and he's totally stepped up to the plate to keep things running while I've been out of commission. This last weekend we had the annual Christmas party for my father-in-law's extended family. Hubby made a pumpkin roll and the croquembouche you see above. Those are individual little cream puffs (which he made from scratch) filled with a vanilla pudding and whipped cream mixture (both of which he made from scratch) and covered with a fine netting of spun sugar (which he also made). I squirted the filling into the cream puffs and stuck them on the foam form. That's my tiny contribution towards something that had everyone Oohing and Aahing.

In progress.

October activities

The weather has turned cold and we aren't playing outside nearly as much as we usually do. It's been chilly and windy and the girls have come down with a mild cold. How to keep them occupied?

During Bean's nap, I made a cardboard loom from a cereal box. I gave D a big plastic needle and a length of yarn. I was really surprised at how well she did on this activity. I would do a row and then pass it to her to do a row. Once, I lost track and started doing 2 rows. She gently reminded me, "Mom, you're not sharing."

Pasta necklaces. I dyes some pasta and gave the girls a length of yarn to make their own necklaces. Bean, who is now 2, thought this was the bee's knees.

Pumpkin patch. I bundled them up and hauled them around a pumpkin patch. This is the pumpkin patch that Hubby and I have been going to for years. It's a little bit of a drive, but the prices cannot be beat. There were lots of little things throughout the fields to entertain the little ones, such as this haybale spider. As a funny coincidence, while we were there, we bumped into my sister-in-law. She was there with her preschool class that she teaches. The girls loved seeing their aunt and it made the day even more fun.

Color mixing. I found this one on Pinterest. D has been interested in color mixing, asking me questions like, "What color does yellow and black make?" Now how do you answer that? I wanted to reinforce the secondary colors, ie: yellow and red make orange, red and blue make purple, and yellow and blue make green, along with one example of all three primary colors making brown. Hopefully this tactile activity helped the lesson sink in, plus it's no-mess! Win-win!

Another nap time activity just for me and the big girl. She wanted to paint her face and she chose a butterfly. This time I consulted the web for a better design and we were both pretty happy with how this turned out. I used Crayola watercolor colored pencils. You dip them in water and they glide on like a paint stick, but with a finer point. They also wash off really easy with a little soap and water and they're not heavy on her skin.

I told her she looked like a butterfly flying over the flowers on her shirt. She loved that and needed to do a "flying" pose.

And finally, this is a snapshot of a typical night for me. Folding laundry, paying bills, looking up some unique recipes, planning my grocery shopping list and trying to unwind with a mug of tea made from lemon balm in my garden.

Popovers

Here is my husband. Not only did he build this big beautiful house, he also designed the kitchen and occasionally likes to play in it as well. He's still a kid.
Several years ago he had popovers at a restaurant and he's mentioned them off and on ever since. We've been looking for pans but they are really expensive.
Recently a World Market store opened up near us. Their popover pans were reasonably priced, (as were the wooden spoons, scarves, etc, etc) so we bought two. This was hubby's first batch. They were yummy, light, and impressively hollow.
Show off...

Pancake cake

That is the worlds smallest layer cake, made from silver dollar sized pancakes and buttercream icing. See the fork in the background for size comparison? It sure was cute, but maybe not the tastiest cake ever.

The weather has turned cold. As an alopecian with zero insulating hair on my body, I can officially claim to loathe the cold. Luckily we haven't had to turn on the heat yet, but that might come about soon enough. The girls are getting a bit stir crazy being inside much of the day. I'll have to start visiting the gym again so they can play in the kids' room there. (And so I can get thinner, sheesh, enough of this already)

Baking and aprons

While Bean was napping we made cookies. D loved throwing the ingredients into the mixer, breaking the egg and finally placing the M&M's on top.

The apron she is wearing is one that I whipped up without a pattern. I spent way too much time on it and made it much too complicated. But in the end, she loves it, so, Job well done Mommy!

My favorite part of this whole baking experience was watching the interaction between my husband and daughter. Hubby comes home from work at lunch every day. He's very firm with the girls that when he leaves they cannot complain or ask him to stay longer, he absolutely has to go. On this day, right after he had put Bean down for her nap and said goodbye, D ran up to him and asked him to run to the store for M&M's for her cookies. He stood there, arms crossed, looking very sternly at his daughter and I watched his resolve utterly crumble under the might of his tiny but formidable adversary. Her sweet little, "Please" was more than he could take. The hilarious part was that without twitching a muscle or changing his steely glare, he relented but demanded that someone be outside at the driveway waiting for him to drop off the candy because he was not going to come back into the house. Watching him be defeated by her was the funniest thing I had seen in a long long time. 

Summer Activities

Over the course of the summer we've been to several parades, family reunions, parks, beaches, etc. On those days we stay home we keep busy one way or another. These are just a few of the things I managed to capture on film.

Taking pictures and using window crayons.


Sticking sequins to paper using scotch tape.

Face painting.

Making yogurt pops using blackberries from our garden.

Finger painting. (This is Mom's favorite)

Mud! Lots of mud.

Melting pony beads on the grill for suncatchers.

Soda bottle and Q-tip painting.

Sidewalk chalk paint. (Cornstarch, water and food coloring)

Shucking corn.

Playing with Mommie's scrap basket.

Glow sticks.

Shadow tracing.

And just generally goofing around.

Happy Summer!

Grilled eggplant goodness

It's not often that I cook vegetarian meals, so when I do, it must be AWESOME!

All kidding aside, this really was an awesome meal and a good way to use up some of the eggplant the neighbor keeps leaving on our doorstep.
This reminds me of a joke I heard once. A lady from New England was once telling about how safe her little community was. Everyone would leave their cars unlocked, except in the fall. If you left your car unlocked then, you ran the risk of finding it filled with zucchini.

I have been getting into the habit of making a meat product the centerpoint of every meal and as much as I try to have it be a lean protein, the meals can still feel heavy and our waistlines are not at their optimal levels.
This reminds me of another joke I once heard on The Tonight Show. The comedian Sinbad was on and he was explaining how he was a vegetarian. Leno expressed some confusion and explained that the popular opinion is for vegetarians to be skinny. (Sinbad is built like a linebacker) Sinbad explained very plainly, "There ain't no meat in cake."

Grilled Eggplant:
Sliced garden fresh eggplant slathered in olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper, fresh chopped basil and oregano. Topped with grilled tomato sliced also slathered with the same olive oil and herbs and spices. Grill the eggplant for about 8 minutes total (flip a few times) and grill the tomatoes for no more than 4 minutes or they turn into mush. Stack and place a slice of mozzarella on top while everything is still hot so the cheese melts a little. If you have enough tomatoes add another layer. Serve warm, these taste really gross when they get cold. When warm they are fantastic.

Lemon balm tea

Nom.
Lemon balm tea is supposed to help releave anxiety and improve your mood. I've got 2 competition pies to make for the State Fair this week. I need all the help I can get.
The tea itself is very good. It has a light citrusy flavor, wonderful aroma and needs no sweeteners to be enjoyable. I'd say it's good for the diet, but the gingersnaps I keep dunking into it are helping to ensure my jeans stay snug.