Hell-Bent

There were two very determined plants on my yard this year.

First was this guy. We moved into this house last spring and had so much to do, including gestate a human, I didn't have time or energy to put in a proper garden. I put a couple of big planters in the old sand box that was in the back yard for cherry tomatoes.
While the tomatoes were plentiful, my heart ached for a big garden. Hubs hooked me up this year with a badass garden plot, so I turned the little sandbox into an herb garden.
As soon as stuff started to sprout, I noticed a familiar little guy making an entrepreneurial start next to the oregano, so I let him go.
He thrived and I got several dozen little tomatoes from him.

The second was a creeper bush from my neighbor's yard. To Lovie's great delight, it spilled over and crept under the fence.

We had raspberries AND blackberries to enjoy every day for weeks. Lovie would pick and eat and pick and eat.
Poor neighbor, because her chickens stripped her side of the plants clean. I'm crossing my fingers that the plants spread enough to withstand the chicken abuse.

Tootsie spend so much time on my back this summer. It's hared to believe next summer she'll be running the yard with her sister instead. Lovie just had to have her baby on her back, too. She calls it her Pack-Pack.

This is the one I had when I was little for my Cabbage Patch Kid. I rejected her given name and called her Applejack.

Our Village

We are really lucky to have wonderful people in our family. 

People who love us and love our kids. Sometimes I forget how truly awesome that is.

Tromping through the woods with my brother. Lovie adores him.

My brother and I grew up many hours from our cousins, so I feel very lucky to have my nieces and nephew so close.

Oh, the love!

Baked Oatmeal

We spent another weekend at camp. Since I like to cook and I'm the one with kids to feed, I'm usually the one who's most concerned about the meal plan. Eggs and bacon are not my idea of a hearty, healthy breakfast.
I decided to try a new recipe for Baked Oatmeal.

 2 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. walnut pieces

1/3 c. maple sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 c. milk

1 large egg

3 T butter, melted and cooled

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas

1 1/2 blueberries

Line sliced bananas in buttered baking dish and sprinkle 1/2 the berries over.

Mix oats, walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl whisk milk, maple syrup, egg, butter and vanilla.

Cover fruit with oat mixture and then carefully pour milk mixture over oats.

Sprinkle remaining berries over top.

Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until top is golden.

If you want it sweeter, drizzle maple syrup over the top.

It was great. Hearty and really, really tasty. Both girls liked it and it was even good the next morning cold..

Not So Little Things

When Lovie was born, I was committed to nursing her for one year. I had to stop long before I intended, but only because I got preggers with Tootsie.

For months, I spent every break and lunch pumping, locked in a closet at work that was designated the "Lactation Room."   My favorite memories of that closet are the days Hubs would bring Lovie to work on my lunch hour so I could nurse her. Hubs works every other week with his crazy schedule and the weeks he was home with Lovie, he would pack her up and drive over. It was the best part of my work day - duh.
I know it was a pain for Hubs, but he was committed to me nursing and he's good like that, doing something extra to make the people he loves happy.

It's the Little Things

I've had my bed pillow for over a decade. The end split open and the stuffing has started to fall out. Hubs and I have had a few, short conversations about it over a couple of weeks.. Hubs says, "Maybe it's time to get a new pillow."  I say, "I know but it's just right...and if I put the falling apart side in the pillowcase it will be OK."
You know, don't you? Isn't there something you own that is really worn out and you know it's served it's purpose, but you just can't let it go? I've tried half a dozen times to replace it, but the other pillows just aren't right. This one is perfect. Just soft enough, just thick enough, everything is perfect, except the fact that it's insides are spilling out one end.

When I got up this morning, I found this on the dining room table:

He's no seamstress, but he tried to fix my pillow for me. What a guy.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.

I've been processing a lot of tomatoes in the last month.

I decided not to can this year for a couple of reasons. Mostly because it is a time consuming task and I have a chest freezer that needs to start pulling it's weight around here.

The top picture is roasted tomatoes. Ooooh, they are so tasty. This is the way Hubs always wants to eat tomatoes. All I do is cut them into wedges, toss them with olive oil and salt, spread them on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 for a long time. If I feel like getting fancy, I'll peel garlic cloves, smash them and toss them in the mix.

What you get is concentrated flavor with some sort of caramelized bits and we eat them right off the pan. I froze a couple of batches to see how they fare in the freezer. We'll probably eat them with pasta. This is an experiment because unlike most other preserving decisions I make, I haven't read anything at all about this-it came strictly from my brain. Kinda scary, right?

Next, I froze whole tomatoes. Who knew? I read somewhere-probably some blog, 'cuz whatever I read on the internet is reliable, right?-

Anyway, I read that you can wash them, core them and freeze those babies whole. Then just defrost and you can easily pull off the skin and they're ready to toss into sauces or whatever. I have several bags of beauties waiting for me. Man, I hope this works because it was so freaking easy.

And then I sauced and sauces and sauced. I tried a new method for this, too. (I think I may have gone overboard with the "new" methods this year. What if they all suck? I'll be so sorry I didn't just can.)

I decided long ago I cannot possibly take the time to de-seed the tomatoes. Can anyone tell me why I should, because everything seems fine to me.

I blanch them so they are easier to peal, then I just cook them down to sauce thickness.

A few times, I've really needed to get the tomatoes processed before they turn into a rotted mess on my windowsill-but been too busy to babysit cooking tomatoes. So, I put them in the crock pot instead. Took a lot longer, but did the trick.

I froze all my sauce in zip top bags.

The only thing left to deal with is all the GREEN tomatoes. That's a whole other story.

Plum Butter

I have been inspired this year to feed my family the best quality food I can. To me, that means homemade, local and organic whenever possible. Our local Farmer's Market delights me with all its local produce. Sometimes it's hard to stay focused and realistic on what I can manage when it comes to incorporating foods into our menu or preserving them for future use. How do I forget that I work full time? As much as I want to be home canning and what-not, I really only have the weekend to get done what wish I could spend days doing.

I bought 2 quarts of plums on Saturday. I decided to make Plum Butter. I know I should probably follow a recipe, but I like to pretend like I've got everything I need right in my head. I read how someone didn't peal the plums and the butter turned out fine, so I figured why spend all that time?

I split and pitted the plums and that was enough work. I threw them in a heavy saucepan and cooked them over low. Just when they were warmed through, I used my immersion blender to puree them. Cooked, cooked, cooked them until the sauce was thick and  added about 1 cup of sugar.

Result: Gorgeous color and delicious!

Seriously, my immersion blender kicks ass. That stuff is so smooth, you would never guess I hadn't pealed those babies.

I kept out just a little to eat right now and put the rest in the freezer. I think in February or March, a little frozen summer will be awesome to help fight off the winter blues.

Cousins

Lola & Lovie

We had something pretty exciting happen recently, we bought some property on the Muskeegon River. The most exciting part about it is the time Lovie and Tootsie will get to spend there with their cousins.

Lovie, Lola & Jane

Lola & Lovie bringing wood back for the camp fire.

Banana Custard, but not really

Aunt Patty said you can blend up frozen bananas to make a frosty treat. Then I saw it on one of my favorite cooking websites, so I figured I should try it. Lovie and Tootsie both love bananas.

Lovie stands at the gate we have in the door to the kitchen and says, "I hewp you?"

She put the cut up bananas on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and I put it in the freezer for about 1 1/2 hours.
Then they went into the food processor with some of the frozen strawberries from early this summer.

It was frosty and thick and kind of like custard, but not nearly as sweet. Lovie could not believe her luck when I let her have seconds.

Yesterday, One Year Ago

I'm smiling, but so nervous.

Perfect.

Tootsie walks, says uh-oh and laughs with her sister. I cannot image my life without her.

We are beyond blessed.