2/14/14

I think I've mentioned before that valentine's day is not my favorite.

I did, however, want to share a few fun things we did on this day. We remembered our teachers with homemade bouquets, and we made super chocolatey and super delicious cookies.

 

Recycled jars and fresh flowers from Trader Joe's (duh!).

Recipe from one of my new fave's, The Pioneer Woman.

 If you haven't already, check out her website and peruse one of her cookbooks.

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orchards part 2

 Our family is almost as crazy for apples as we are (I am) for pumpkins. We eat apples every day,
so when we get the chance in the fall to eat them right off the tree, we go pickin! Our first round of apples
was all honeycrisp, and they didn't last long at the old house.

On another trip, we went with friends to an out of town orchard.
We got the full experience- we ate our warm, cinnamon-sugar bathed apple donuts on the hayride out to the fields. We wore our hoodies and breathed in the crisp, cool air. We picked (and sampled) our apples,
and upon our return, realized we probably had too many. I would never admit it though. We had just enough to eat (for a few weeks) and to make a heaping apple pie.

I can almost smell the apples just by looking at the photos-

- we picked these after we picked raspberries - honeycrisp is our favorite variety -

- the first fall orchard trip was E's class field trip -

- rows and rows of trees filled with apples - aren't they beautiful! -

- these kids were tired when it was time to go - such a fun day -

- this is E, enjoying the hayride -

- best 19.99 i ever spent - old timey apple peeler! -

- dutch apple - and homemade pie crust -

- streuseled and ready for the oven -

- done, and i am happy to report that every piece was enjoyed -

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A note about this pie- I'm not sure if I'm allowed to give out my sister's husband's family recipe, but I will say
it is easy. I think the secret to good pie anyway, is the crust. People get intimidated by pie crust,

but it is so simple. Butter, flour, salt, cold water. I use a food processor, too. Done.

in the details:

check out these two must-haves for apple pie and pie crust:

pastry cloth - i do not wash mine, after use i seal it in a ziplock and store it in the fridge

apple peeler & corer - i purchased mine at a local kitchen store for 19.99

plant friday: orchards part 1

 I've been out to pick apples, raspberries and pumpkins five different times this fall.
Obsessed you say? It's true. I love raspberries for raspberry jam. I love apples for apple pie, apple crisp and keeping the doctor away. But I may love pumpkins most of all. Pumpkins are so friendly and colorful.

They scream fall and cozy! Don't you just want to knock on the person's door who has them beautifully piled up on their front porch and invite yourself in for dinner and a glass of wine?! Or is that just me.

Here are some of our adventures in raspberry picking photos-

- with raspberries, look for low hanging, bent over branches - that's where you find the treasure -

- i had to lay on the ground for this photo - aren't they beautiful -

- koko and his buddy - he ate ten berries for every one i picked -

- this amount of raspberries makes 6 smaller jars of jam -

- canning jam really is easy and makes a great gift during the holidays-

A few notes about raspberry jam-
Jam is made by cooking the whole fruit (chopped or crushed, but using the whole fruit). Jelly is made with the juice from the fruit. In the old house, our favorite is raspberry jam.

I use this recipe to remind myself of the approximate ratios and canning steps.
I do not weigh my berries; I use about eight cups. I use only 3 1/2 cups of sugar. Pectin is not needed in raspberry jam. Pectin is naturally occurring in fruit and when you cook it with sugar at high temperatures,
you get the gel effect. That's how I understand it anyway!

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in the details:

thanks, Kim, for a fun morning with our boys at the orchard

Kylie, you are my jam/canning inspiration

and, yes, sitting on the old house's front porch is a bountiful display of gourds and pumpkins

weekend spontaneity

By Friday afternoon I am completely spent.

Most Fridays we have family pizza-popcorn-movie night, but I had no energy even to make pizza.

I had already decided I wanted to get take out. Hubby called though and said we had been invited for burgers at our friends/neighbors house. Sold! I love spontaneous get-together's! I think life often gets in the way when we try to make official plans. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try or that we don't need get-together's,

but allowing ourselves to be spontaneous means those get-togethers end up being

much needed and more fulfilling.

Speaking of spontaneity, I was at the Saturday morning farmers market and got a text from our babysitter saying she was available that night. I guess I texted her a week prior to set up one last date night before she moves away to start life in the real world. Apparently I forgot, but thankfully she remembered.

Hubby and I got an impromptu date night, and I need to tell you, we had the best Thai food! It has been since our Seattle years that Thai food has tasted so good. Our favorite dishes:  pad see ew, panang curry.

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Much of Saturday and Sunday was spent in the yard cleaning up and planting flowers. The children helped and also logged several hours on the neighbors' swing set.

Sunday brought thunderstorms, so I decided to bake. I made blueberry muffins and strawberry rhubarb pie. The muffins are one of my usual recipes, but this was my first strawberry rhubarb pie. I crafted it while hubby and our neighbor (remember Bruce?) fixed our leaking kitchen sink. The fix has been needed for a few weeks and Bruce just happened to pop over yesterday. It was crowded in the galley, but I persevered and the pie was a success! I even shared a few generous slices with Bruce and his wife. I wish I could pay for
all the work on the old house with baked goods.

 

- picked up the rhubarb at the farmers market -

I had to patch the crust and I didn't get the pie crust shield on early enough. It looks rustic I think. I used the Joy of Cooking as my guide for tweaking the filling, and the crust is a recipe my sister uses for her
dutch apple pie. Like Bruce said, any day is a good day if you have pie. I also think any day is a good day with a little spontaneity.

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fresh paint and homemade granola

Perhaps I have said this before, but cooking and I think painting, too, is like therapy for me.
I recently spent a rainy afternoon with S making my family's favorite granola and painting the pocket door in the kitchen... just the way I intended to when we moved into the old house last summer. The inset is now a chalkboard, regularly used for recipes, bible verses, kind sentiments and kid drawings.

 

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in the details:

chalkboard paint - rust-oleum, home depot- i did a double coat
granola- i cannot share, but after 50 tries, it's just about right - it is very loosely based on this recipe