First Harvest

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Yesterday was a big day for our school garden project.  The garden was bursting with vegetation, so we decided it would make the perfect day for our first official harvest of the season!  We were able to glean lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, collards, snap peas, beans, beets and carrots from our seven-bed school garden.

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Once the produce was picked, rinsed and sorted, we drove to our local food pantry to drop off our donation.  Along the way, we spoke of the importance of helping those in need for God tells us “to be openhanded toward [our] brothers and toward the poor and needy in [our] land” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

IMG_3465 IMG_3466 If you are interested in donating to the Rock River Valley Food Pantry, visit their web site here.

What Summer Memories Are Made Of

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When I think back to the summers of my youth, there are certain images that float immediately to my mind…Balmy summer nights, when the sound of chirping crickets drown out all other noise in the darkness while my sister and I camped out with our neighbors in their play house.  Walking barefoot through the damp blades of grass at dusk catching lightening bugs with my mom and dad, then storing those seemingly magical creatures for just a few precious minutes in wooden bug houses my Grandpa Dit crafted.  Taking long leisurely bike rides with my two best neighborhood friends, every once in a while pausing to chat with a boy we all had a crush on.  Running up and down our street in the warm summer sunlight, as a lively game of capture-the-flag was underway.  I have no doubt these memories will stay with me for my lifetime, for these are the moments that define summer for me in my mind.

Ever since having children, I find myself thinking about what little images will be held in their minds for the duration of their lives.  After spending time in the Northwoods of Wisconsin last week,  I can unequivocally say these Northwoods-memories will stay with my girls forever.  For what could be better than a breakfast cooked on the beach? Or jumping off the dock at least a hundred times, never tiring because it fills you with the most thrilling feeling each and every time your body pauses for that brief moment in the air before plunging into the cool waters below? Or crunching your toes in the damp sand as the refreshing water waves over them?  Or having your parents feed you bits of food in the lake because you refuse to get out of that amazingly fun water for even a second?  Or dancing on a stage with your cousins while a Tom Petty song plays, without a care in the world that dozens of grown-ups are watching you, wishing they could embrace the wild abandon running through every fiber of your being?  These are the moments I am sure my girls will carry with them, for this is what summer memories are made of.

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In Gratitude

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This Monday morning I am grateful for…

~a wonderful vacation to the Northwoods of Wisconsin.  (Lots more to come in tomorrow’s post.)

~those family members and close friends who pitched in to help keep the Fagan suburban homestead running in our absence 🙂

~Downton Abbey.  Oh my.  I have recently discovered this show, and have been devouring the DVDs ever since.  It’s like a great British novel brought to life.  What could be better?

~the leader of our book club for choosing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for our next read.  I am thoroughly enjoying being transported to the isle of Guernsey in the 1940’s each and every time I unfurl the pages of this novel.

~peas and beans just bursting in our home garden.

~a first hand learning experience for my girls.  We plan to head to the local food pantry this week with our first donation from our school garden.

~the Mason jars strewn across my countertop, just waiting to be filled with all kinds of canned deliciousness.

~the fermentation frenzy that is about to begin this week…woohoo!  Kombucha, yogurt and kraut oh my!

~all of you gathered here today!  Wishing you all much happiness and health this week!

Kairos

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Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”

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If you are so inclined, share a link to your “Kairos Moment” in the comment section.  I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Cowboy Cookies

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The constant rain of this past week brought water into our basement, as well as water leaking into our family room from the ceiling.  With water coming from the top and bottom, I felt the need to indulge in some chocolate.  I mean really, is there any better way to reduce stress?  Nope…I don’t believe there is.

So, today I bring you last week’s chocolate fix:  Cowboy Cookies.  These cookies are filled with all kinds of sweet goodness, sure to lift anyone out of whatever summer slump you may be in.  Enjoy!

Cowboy Cookies

In an electric stand mixer, add 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter.  Mix until smooth.

Add 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar.  Mix until sugars and butters are well creamed.

Next add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the blended mixture.

Then add 2 cups rolled oats, 2 cups coconut, 1/2 chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup health bits.  Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

Roll the dough into golf ball-sized balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

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*A note about all my recipes:  I use all organic ingredients, local when available.  I use non-homogenized milk, and all of the dairy we use is from animals raised on pasture. I also use oils that are non-GMO verified.  All our meat is raised locally on organic feed, and our beef is grass-fed, grass-finished.  All our spices and cane sugar are fair-trade certified and purchased through a cooperative.

July First in the Garden

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I don’t know about all of you, but I am having a difficult time swallowing the fact that today is July 1st.  Where did June go?  Perhaps it was washed away by all of that crazy rain we have been having here in northern Illinois.  But as I sit here, looking out my kitchen window on this first Monday of July, I am shocked by how different this view looks from that of last year.  Peering at me from the other side of my window is a sea of green:  green grass, green vegetables, and lots of green weeds.  This landscape stands in sharp contrast to the garden of last year where everything had a tinge of brown to it.  What a truly striking difference a year makes.

Last July:

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This July:

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Just plain crazy isn’t it?  Well, I have all kinds of garden goodness coming your way this week, and this is just the beginning.  Join me for a walk through the very lush, very green garden…

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And just one last little treat for you…Here is what the garden looked like before I took all of the above pictures…and spent six lovely hours weeding.  Ah.  Gotta love gardening and all of the hills and valleys it brings to our daily lives.

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Happy Monday all!

Kairos

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”

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If you are so inclined, share a link to your “Kairos Moment” in the comment section.  I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

“Oh, Jam? I Love Jam!”

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I think I love jam just as much as I love Friends…and what could be better than an entire Friends episode dedicated to jam?  Love it!  That’s why all afternoon, as my four year old and I worked in our strawberry-coated kitchen, I couldn’t help but hear Joey’s voice in my head repeating, “Oh, jam?  I love jam?”

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Yesterday, while my oldest was away at camp, my tiny sous chef and I worked with Pomona’s Universal Pectin, a wonderful low-sugar pectin (as we did in this post as well), and ended up with some absolutely fabulous results.  When making jam last year, we used the low-sugar recipe options included with the Pomona’s Pectin.  This year, we tried out two no-sugar options, taste tested them this morning, and yummy…delicious!

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The first recipe we tried was simply the cooked strawberry jam recipe included inside the Pomona’s box.  We used the honey sweetening option and it is delicious.  The second recipe we tried is from the latest issue of Taproot.  And oh boy, let me tell you, this recipe is amazing!  It is a strawberry-maple with vanilla jam recipe, specifically designed for Pomona’s Pectin.  And the best part about this fabulous recipe is the only sweetener is maple syrup.

Happy jam-making season all!

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