While the merry bells keep ringing, may your every wish come true

Fun with "balloons"

It's been kind of a wacky past week or so around here, as I ended up on hospital bed rest for preterm labor a week before Christmas (not the way I intended to first talk about this pregnancy on the blog, but what can you do - he/she is not due until 3/3/14 and, current concerns notwithstanding, we're very excited!). Happily, they were able to stop things within a few hours and I've remained stable since. They let me come home for bed rest on the afternoon of the 24th and our wonderful families all changed their plans and came up here to celebrate with us. It was obviously not the Christmas we had been planning, but a wonderful time with both of our entire immediate families all together. 

 His and his pjs

 Tres's endives

 Cousin Eddie, is that you?

 Delicious, delicious Christmas dinner

It's been an unusual interlude, to say the least, but I can't begin to say how lucky and grateful I feel for all of the love and support that our families and friends have given us. Sitting around for weeks (best case scenario and what I'm really hoping for) won't be the most exciting use of my time, but it's so much better than the alternative, that all I can really do right now is thank my lucky stars and hope that all continues to go well.

Reading Fox in Socks with Opa

Watching Oma hem

Walking with Auntie

We hope that you all had wonderful holidays and wish you happy, happy 2014!

Greens, greens, and nothing but greens

Now that's a lot of kale!

I may have mentioned earlier that we've got a serious kale crop this year. Now, we're not in a super rush to use it all up or anything - barring a super intense snow/freeze, the kale will last here well into winter - but we will have to eat it quite consistently in order to get through it all this winter. While we really enjoy kale, it turns out that we don't actually have a lot of go-to recipes for its use. I've been doing some experimenting these past few weeks and have a few to share with you, some new and some we've used for awhile.

First up is a new one to us, from my perennial favorite. This was an especial winner, as it used some of our copious sweet potato harvest too. The only changes I made were, obviously, substituting kale for the chard, using cheddar (it's what I had), and leaving out the fancy herbs (which I didn't have). I blanched the kale before cooking it with the onions (I was worried it might be too chewy/crunchy, otherwise, but it may have been an unnecessary step).* I do recommend being a little skimpy with the first sauce application, as the top will get crunchy if you don't have enough to cover it. Oh, and it's totally delicious.

Next is a family recipe, from my Oma. We've typically eaten it as a side dish at Christmas time, but it's also makes a nice meal, with some potatoes (I especially like it on her dumplings).

Grünkohl
2-3 large bunches of curly kale
4 slices of bacon
1/2 large onion
2 tbsp. oatmeal
water or stock
bouillon (optional, see above)
salt and pepper

Strip kale leaves from stems and wash thoroughly. Blanche, by placing kale in boiling water, returning to a boil, and draining. Puree in food processor. Chop bacon and fry in a large pot. Set bacon aside and and cook onion in bacon fat until glassy. Add kale, water or stock to cover (I usually go the boullion route, since I don't know how much stock I'll need - you just add one cube, regardless of the amount of water you use), salt, and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, add oatmeal (I know this sounds weird, but it's just a thickener), and cook for about an hour (add water if it dries out). Taste it - if it's bitter, cook it longer. This is best if it sits for a day before you eat it.

This is the closest I could come to a Silas-related

photo with kale, it's a year old and he's picking cabbage

This next one's from my sister and for all of you raw kale lovers out there (it made a believer out of me!).

Kale Slaw
Chop up a bunch of kale. Not teeny - more like potato-chip sized.
Put in a bowl.
Squeeze a whole lemon over the top of it.
Dump in a fair amount of sea salt.
Drizzle in a tablespoon of olive oil.
Drop in a cut-up avocado.
Knead thoroughly (a couple minutes - with your hands).

This soup is from another old standby in our house. It's quite adaptable to what you have on hand and seriously delicious - I won't lie, though, I can't think of a way to make a vegetarian version that's nearly as good. Thoughts?

Portuguese Kale Soup (adapted from Marian Morash's The Victory Garden Cookbook)
1 pound kale
1 pound potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 pound smoked sausage (I love chorizo, she also recommends linguica), sliced
1 medium/large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil, if needed
2 quarts stock
1 quart tomatoes (she calls for 3 lb.)
1 1/2 cups cooked beans (I occasionally leave these out if I don't have any on hand, but it's better with them)
salt and pepper

Wash and strip the kale from its stems, then diagonally slice it in thick strips (you should end up with 6-8 cups). Fry sliced sausage in a large pot until lightly browned, then set aside. Warm sausage fat over medium heat (adding some olive oil, if needed). Add onion, carrots, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are cooked. Mash potatoes against the side of the pot, add tomatoes and beans, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add kale and sausage, cook for 5-10 minutes, and season to taste.

One last winner, which I won't repost in its entirety here, is to mix 3 large bunches of kale (blanched and pureed) into the sauce of our macaroni and cheese recipe. This was definitely Silas's favorite of the above and we liked it a lot too.

There you have it, 5 of our favorite kale recipes and plenty of kale left in the garden for further experimentation. Got any favorites you'd like to share?

*I made this again this past week and pureed the kale in the food processor after blanching, as Silas had a hard time eating the chopped pieces, and this worked well too.

Over at the Frankenstein place

Happy Halloween!

You'll need no castles in Spain

Happy fall! I apologize, if anyone's actually still reading this, for the long hiatus. This summer, while not particularly busy per se, really knocked me out. I have a post started on some of our summer activities, but I'm so enjoying the season right now, that I decided I'd rather start here. We've been having a beautiful fall and Silas and I have really been enjoying spending time outside - walking through the garden, following the chickens, filling buckets with rocks, and generally having a good time. It's such a relief, after what felt like an unrelentingly hot summer, to be able to comfortably spend long stretches of time outside.

While we were down visiting our folks for Silas's birthday, my dad and Tres went searching for chanterelles and came back with quite a haul. We enjoyed a couple of really delicious mushroom-centric meals and then made the rest into duxelles to freeze  and enjoy throughout the winter.

Silas inspects the cleaned mushrooms

Fall is our busiest preservation time and also the end of preserving season. We've finished all of our jams (I made a few jars of plum two weekends ago and declared jam season finished), canned tomatoes, and made 60 pounds of pears into sauce and preserves, so apples and sauerkraut were our two remaining items. The weekend before last, we hit up the farmer's market for 20 heads of cabbage and a local orchard for 100 pounds of apples and got down to it. Silas was a very eager and involved helper. He mashed and stirred kraut for Tres and helped him peel the apples, while I heated and ground them up.

We've also been enjoying the fall "fruits" of our garden. We've had our first good year for brassicas and are really excited for all of the kale, sprouts, and cabbage we'll be eating over the next few months. The kale has been by far the most prolific and I have some recipes to share shortly, as I've been searching for new ways to use all of that goodness. We also have a few sweet potatoes (they filled the wheelbarrow, as you can see  below - we estimated that it's about 200 pounds. . . from 25 feet of plants!). Suffice it to say, I've been looking for sweet potato recipes too.

eating squash, with chopsticks (why not?)

I peeked in on the bees yesterday and things are looking pretty good in there, lots of honey and bees but significantly slower activity. After some internal debate, I decided not to harvest any honey this year, as I really have no idea how much they'll go through this winter. So, this will be a learning year and next year, we'll do some harvesting. I have a little beeswax, from the combs I broke last spring, so I'll still get to do a little experimenting with that this year.

All in all, it's been a wonderful fall thus far and we're hoping that we'll get to continue with the beautiful sunny days and subsequent sunny dispositions for a few more weeks.

Can't you see how happy we would be?

 brand new

 first birthday

Two years old!

Believe it or not, Silas turned two years old yesterday. How it's possibly been that long, I couldn't honestly say. We are so lucky to be the parents to such a spirited, smart, sweet little person. It's been great fun to really see his personality emerge this year and we can't wait to see all of the changes that next year will bring! Happy birthday, Silas!

If he stays away, old rocking chair is gonna get me

After a couple weeks of (uncharacteristicly) cool, rainy weather, we're having thunderstorms and highs around 100 today, continuing through the rest of the week's forecast. I suspect that we'll be spending a lot of time in the wading pool and eating popsicles. Let's see, what's been going since I last wrote? I made my first attempt at soap, using the recipe/technique I posted earlier and it seems to have gone quite well. I'll write more about it after the soap has cured and we get to try it out. No more jam yet (although it will be time for blueberries soon!), but lots of great stuff from the garden, including beets, carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, and the last of the peas. Tres and I accidentally broke one of the honeycombs while checking on the hive last weekend and, while we weren't very happy about it in the moment, getting to taste the honey has been a delicious treat. About 3/4 of a comb (which the bees will be able to rebuild and refill) yielded over a pint of honey!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

The nest is empty now, but here are
the two little guys we had in there

Something delicious: We made this for my mom in the San Juans and it was quite tasty. It was surprisingly easy (despite not having the appropriate pan - a springform worked in a pinch, but I suspect that a pie pan would be better), yet it looks quite impressive.

Something neat: When I was 5 or 6, the neighbors made their own slip and slide and we went down over and over (often landing on the sidewalk - the logistics left a bit to be desired). Silas is a little young for this, I suspect (although maybe he'd just like laying/walking around on it), but it looks pretty fun.

Something to read: I finished this last week and it's definitely worth a read. The science behind processed food is depressing, but ultimately not that surprising (spoiler: they want to maximize the amount that you'll eat, so that you'll buy more). Even more interesting to me was the advertising and psychology behind how they get us to buy stuff. I'm sure most of us feel that we're pretty savvy and aware when we're shopping, but I think we'd be surprised by how easily we're manipulated by words like "natural" and "healthy," or where an item is located in the store. He brings every point back to the health implications of a diet based on processed foods, which is certainly the case for the majority of Americans, and it's pretty bleak. Even with books like this, it's hard to imagine people standing a chance against food juggernauts, with the finest scientific and psychological prowess that money can buy. Although he doesn't quite come out and say it, unless the food companies are willing to take some responsibility for the growing health concerns associated with their products, it seems unlikely that things will get much better.

Something to make: I really like her book and am excited to try some of the recipes that she shared here. I'm thinking that the blackberry honey yogurt pops might happen this weekend.

That's a good hat you got there, Opa

Little to win, but nothing to lose

Ok, I'll admit it, I have a problem: I really like making jam. In the two weeks since fresh fruit has started to become available, I've made 29 (half pint) jars of it. To be fair, a big part of this is my ongoing quest to find a strawberry jam that I really like. Strawberries are my favorite berry. As a kid, strawberry jam was always my favorite, but now I find it too sweet for my adult tastes. After a couple years of strawberry balsamic, I've decided to branch out and try some other options. So, this year we have three new varieties to try. First up, as I mentioned previously, was this. I followed the recipe pretty exactly, estimating with the mint leaves (and erring on the high side, as I saw recommended in another review I read), since those on our plant were pretty small and using regular granulated sugar. It's easily the prettiest of the three, bright red with beautiful whole berries suspended on the top. The jury's still out on the taste. I think I went a little heavy on the mint, but we haven't opened any of the jars that were processed yet. It looks as though it will be pretty runny too, should have done a test rather than relying on the somewhat vague instructions.

Next up was this guy. I was really excited about this one, getting some additional tartness from the rhubarb and making something I didn't have to carefully watch over and stir on the stove. I doubled the recipe and cooked it on high in the crockpot, with the top slightly ajar, for about 18 hours. I really like the flavor of the leftovers that I tried, but the texture is a little gummy. For one, I forgot to mash the strawberries and for two, I think the cook time was a little too long. I'll definitely give it a try again next year, with those two changes in mind.

Last was this one (the amounts have been adapted a bit here, look in the book for her original measurements). I've loved all of the recipes that I've tried from her book, and this is no exception. It may be the sweetest of the three, but the Drambuie gives it such a complex and interesting flavor, that it may be the winner. A winter's eating (and sharing with friends and family) should help with our decision making.

At any rate, that's why we  now have 20 jars of strawberry jam, as well as 9 of apricot (which is possibly the best jam that I've made yet - it's the Royal Blenheim recipe, made with whatever variety I happened upon at the fruit stand, from The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook and definitely a winner). Jam season has only barely started - we still have blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, and pears to consider. Three people eating toast for breakfast every morning (which is typical for us) only consume about one jar a week, so it looks like we'll  need to be gifting some jams and preserves this year. Nothing wrong with that.

Did I mention how awesome this is? Seriously good stuff.

I've got Friday on my mind

The days are really flying by around here lately. Silas was off of his nap schedule (as in, not really napping) for a week there, so I haven't had much time to blog, but rest assured all is well and busy around here. I've got lots of ideas for new posts, so hopefully I'll be able to get back to writing here more regularly. In the meantime, have a

HAPPY WEEKEND!

We've been doing a lot of this lately

(usually in a swimsuit, though)

Something delicious: Find yourself some fresh shell peas, cook them for a couple of minutes in melted butter (just until they're warmed through), add a pinch of salt, and ask yourself if you've ever eaten anything better (spoiler: you haven't).

Something to read: I've had this from the library for a few weeks and it's definitely worth checking out. Everything in it looks delicious, the dishes we tried were great (despite my not having several of the ingredients), and it's full of beautiful photos and interesting stories. 

Something neat:This is pretty much the most idyllic sounding celebration I can imagine (and the costumes - so cute!).

Something to make: These have been in the back of my mind for months now. With tile floors, it's nice to have some cushy areas for relaxing. Silas loves his beanbag chair, so I suspect that these would be popular too.

A rare group shot, in the San Juans

He likes to see all the islands, so island-hopping he goes

HAPPY WEEKEND!

We're excitedly gearing up here for a weeklong trip to the San Juan Islands, to celebrate my parents' (40th) anniversary. We're looking forward to exploring a new place and spending some time around trees!

While letting the chickens out yesterday, I noticed that a Meadowlark

had built a nest under the eave of the chicken coop - it appears to

be made of polyester stuffing and feathers and holds 3 beautiful little eggs

Something delicious: I got super excited about these when I read the article at my parents' house a couple of weeks ago. I don't know about pretzel dogs or hot pockets, but a good soft pretzel is a beautiful thing. I'll bet Silas would like them too.

Something neat: This is a story about how one of my dearest college friends, and incidentally one of the most brilliant women I know, runs a creative, inspirational, and (deservedly) very popular business. She has worked amazingly hard to create something truly special and beloved, and I admire her immensely.

Something to read: This is a totally fascinating article about studies into how microbes and their colonies in our bodies benefit our daily lives, specifically those in our gut (sidenote: I love that gut is the scientific term for our digestive system). He especially focuses on this currently running study, sampling gut microbiota around the country, with the hopes of eventually drawing correlations between these colonies and our overall health. Such, such interesting ideas and so much we don't yet know.

Something to make: We got our first strawberries this week (yippee!) and I've got a batch of this underway in the fridge. I have at least three other strawberry jams I'd like to try this year - hooray for the onset of jam season!

Chocolate will cure most of what ails ya

And I just ate some kind of mushroom

Well, I can't quite seem to get myself back on schedule here, maybe next week. Until then, hope you all had a 

HAPPY WEEKEND!

We picked these yesterday  - it was our first time finding

morels since we moved out here and totally awesome

Something delicious: Tres and I have had this twice in the last week - it is seriously excellent (as is pretty much everything we've tried from that cookbook, it's a goody). We did make a few adaptations, cooking the popcorn in all of the fat from the bacon (decidedly more than the 1 T. she recommends) seemed to eliminate the risk of burning, we added a little chili powder (cayenne could also be nice) and nutritional yeast, and we left out the extra butter and salt, since we had plenty of salty fat already. Vegetarians, or those not feeling bacon-y, this is a delicious alternative.

Something neat: I'm not sure I could tell "artisanal" honey from what you buy at the store, but I thought that this story was quite interesting and inspiring. Can't find what you want? Make it yourself (don't worry, I don't have any commercial honey production plans)!

Something to read: This book, along with some internet research of course, is the main resource we've been using for our bees. It's not quite as detailed as I'd like (as in, I'd prefer a step by step guide for dumb dumbs), but an excellent guide and introduction to the basics of beekeeping. His advice is to observe and learn from a skilled beekeeper, which is no doubt wise. Ahem.

Something to make: I took a one day bookmaking class in college and really loved it, but haven't done much with it since. This series on bookbinding has re-piqued my interest. Upon rereading the linked entry, it turns out that she went to Sarah Lawrence. What a small world.

Now, where are those mushrooms?

Daddy sang bass, Mama sang tenor

Well, some weeks offer more blog inspiration than others. That said, Silas and I have both been very happy to have Tres back and we've all been enjoying spending some time together (in addition to getting back into a more regular routine and getting some things done around here). Hope the weekend is treating you well!

I didn't get a lot of photos this week either, but here's

a sweet one of him reading with his Opa last weekend

That's where it's at, pretty baby

Had this all ready to go on Friday and. . . didn't post it. Well, hope you all had a

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Yay, baby rhubarb (thanks, Jessie!)

Whew, Tres has been unexpectedly away this week and I've been trying hard to keep up with everything (tomato seedlings, bees, chickens, oh, and that little kid) while maintaining a semblance of sanity (jury's still currently out on that one). That guy does a lot around here, let's just say. I hope that all is well with all of you and that you have a wonderful weekend!

Something delicious: Ok, this is another one that I haven't actually made yet, but I'm pretty sure it's a winner. Bienenstich wasn't one of the German staples we made growing up, but a treat we encountered at the local German bakery and, on a few lucky occasions, in Germany. Lacking any German food, other than what we make ourselves, where we live now, I'm excited at the prospect of trying it myself. With all of the talk about  bees around here, it also seems timely.

Something neat: This company basically makes you into your own mini recycling center for hard to recycle products. You collect a certain number or weight of a particular item and then send them in (usually for free). How sweet is that?

Something to read: I read this about a month ago and found it quite fascinating and, unsurprisingly, disheartening. Reading it has had me thinking a lot more about my consumption, both clothing and otherwise, lately, which is certainly not a bad thing.

Something to make: Every day, I look at the homemade (not by me) bar of soap I'm using (which I love, but is decidedly pricey) and think: I should really learn how to make soap. Well, I guess that our friend Becky was receiving my thought transmissions, because she emailed me last week to ask if I'd ever made soap and to recommend this recipe. I know that my aunt has some experience with this, so I'm going to pick her brain too. Off to find myself a cheap immersion blender and get cracking!

Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees

We had the luxury of a guest photographer when Tres's dad was up here for a visit, so here are a few more shots of us with the bees, including some comb - cool, huh?

Tres blows in a little smoke

 Brushing the bees off

And there's a (fuzzy) closeup

Aren't the combs amazing - I can't believe how much they've built in a week! Bees are neat.

You know what I like

HAPPY WEEKEND!

That hen is totally drinking my tea

Something delicious: We're currently in that frustrating time of year when we're ready to be done with winter/preserved fare and we're still a few weeks away from any greens in the garden, which makes for a pretty uninspired dinner maker. This onion tart (with this crust (divide it in half if you're only making one pie) helps tide a person over to real pie season and, as you can see in the variation she posted, lends itself to lots of season-specific tinkering. We're eating it with just onions and cheese right now, with a beet vinaigrette salad on the side, but it's really nice with a bitter salad (arugula, anyone?) to balance out the rich saltiness or with some seasonal additions, once the veggies are coming up.

Something neat: These photos are a pretty amazing time capsule and the story is something too - the negatives were discovered when the locker in which they were stored was auctioned off to pay the photographer's debts;  no one close to her even knew they existed.

Something to read: A few weekends ago, my dad told me a story about measuring the amount of grain in a silo by riding up to the very top on a manlift (like this, if I understand correctly) and dropping his tape measure down to where the grain was, then calculating the amount of empty space, in order to help the company with its finances. To me, that seems more than a bit outside the purview of your typical accountant, but it becomes considerably more impressive when you consider the fact that heights are difficult for my father, particularly the idea that he could "fall down and break his neck." So, I was pretty amazed that he'd done it on more than one occasion and also amazed that I'd never heard the story before. That's an incredible thing about friends and family, though, no matter how well you know someone, there's always something that you've never heard about them before. On the other side of that coin, are the stories that become family lore and are repeated over and over again. I love both and was pretty fascinated by this story and the study it cites, that positively correlates children's emotional health and happiness with how well they know their family stories.

Something to make: As we've had some (teasing) warmer days here, I've been realizing how handy it would be to have a long skirt or two to wear most days. I know, I'm becoming more like a pioneer lady every day (can a sunbonnet be far behind?); I think mine would be knit instead of calico though, guys. This looks like a particularly helpful tutorial, although there are quite a number when you google "foldover maxi skirt tutorial."