Last week my husband was in a very minor (thank goodness!) fender bender, so I had to bring the car in this week to get repaired. This left the girls and I without a vehicle for two days and I must admit that it was a wonderful couple of days!
While sequestered we had the most marvelous of times! We read a ton, made a few more kinds of soap, and worked a great deal in the garden. It was wonderful to know how much fun we could have, without ever leaving the comfort of our little home.
This week the girls and I have been out working in the garden planting beets, carrots and lettuce. We are trying some different heirloom varieties this year, so we are all excited to see how they work out. We have ordered all of our seeds from The Seed Savers Exchange the past two years and have been thrilled with the results!
For beets we planted Early Blood Turnip and Detroit Dark Red
For carrots we planted Dragon (This one we have planted in the past and my girls love it because the outside of the carrot is a deep purple and the inside of the vegetable is a brilliant orange!) and St. Valery.
For lettuce this year we ordered the Seed Savers Heirloom Lettuce Collection which contains Amish Deer Tongue, Bronze Arrowhead, Crisp Mint, Forellenschuss, Red Velvet, and Susan’s Red Bib.
(A quick side note on “Gardener Number 2″…She is currently only wearing dresses because she said that jeans are not “girl clothes” 🙂 This summer should get quite interesting with all of the gardening this gal loves to do. Love her.)
Many years ago (I believe I was in junior high), my extended family gathered at my grandma and grandpa’s home for our annual Easter celebration. My grandma, who was always filled with creative ideas, told each member of the family sit in a circle in the family room. She and my grandpa then proceeded to hand each of us a plastic Easter egg. Once everyone had two eggs each, one from my grandma and one from my grandpa, we were told to open the egg. Inside each egg was a tiny slip of paper. On each slip was written one thing that my grandma and grandpa found to be unique to each of us.
To this day, I have not forgotten what Grandpa “Dit” wrote on my slip of paper: “You like old things.” Those four words could not be more fitting to describe me. I have worn vintage clothes from thrift stores since seventh grade, love old music, enjoy antiquing, and I have been especially obsessed with refurbishing old pieces of furniture since I has in high school.
Over the course of the past several weeks I felt that itch again. The itch to take something old and unique and make it new again. So while my husband was on spring break last week and he spent his hours relishing in the time he could spend with the girls, I got to work on some projects.
For some time now, I have been wanting to find antique pieces to refinish and then use to redecorate our outdoor space. We spend almost every waking moment out there come summer time, and I felt like the area needed a bit of sprucing up. My husband’s grandmother, gave me a beautiful iron garden table that I stripped and then repainted.
I then went to every thrift store and antique mall in the city (and my husband will attest that there are MANY in our area), and finally came upon a fabulous dining room table that had two additional leaves that could be added. With a little tender loving care I knew it would be the perfect table for our many outdoor summer gatherings with family and friends. I repainted the bottom portion of the table, my husband fastened the leaves together so that it would stay together permanently, and I then put several layers of outdoor polyurethane on the table top to add some extra protection.
I have a few more projects in the works, so stay tuned…
Spring has definitely sprung in our neck of the woods these past few days. Although we did have those crazy few days a couple of weeks back when it felt more like summer, the last few days have been very “springy” in feel for sure. Cool in the morning, then toasty in the afternoon, and back to cool again in the evenings. Love it. And our flowers and perennial fruits and veggies have been loving it as well.
Have you ever peered into your cupboard to find nothing inspiring to bring to the dinner table? Can you imagine being in such a situation and then realizing you are able to literally go into your very own backyard to find it brimming with life, just waiting to be consumed on your dinner plate? I’m not talking about your annual vegetable garden here. I am referring to those plants that are often viewed by mainstream culture as being a nuisance, something that needs to be sprayed, pulled, or plundered so that our lawns and backyards can look “good.”
I have recently been reading up a bit on backyard foraging. I gained inspiration from this blog, The Rhythm of Family, and Many Paths, One Journey to Health for simple recipes that incorporate those bits of vegetation that almost anyone can find in their very own backyards!
**A note: You must be sure that you are only foraging in an area that you know for sure has not been sprayed with weed killers, insecticides, etc. We stick to our own yard only. I don’t even let the girls pick those edibles near the road way, just in case some “yucky stuff” made its way to the plants via a passerby.
Now, I know you are all reading this and wondering, “What the heck is this crazy lady talking about? Lasagna without pasta. Madness!” And honestly, the Italian in me is saying the very same thing.
Recently, my husband has been trying to significantly reduce the amount of refined carbohydrates that he consumes. And truthfully, this new eating style has placed quite the strain on my dinner-making abilities. Yesterday though, I was struck with a moment of genius! I got an idea to use butternut squash, sliced very thin, as the “pasta” element in normal lasagna recipe. I tested the dish out last night and I unequivocally say that the venture was a success!
Here is the recipe:
2 quarts tomato sauce (I used sauce I had frozen back in August when our tomato plants were the size of the ones in The Godfather!)
1 large butternut squash
1 yellow onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
1 lb fresh, local spinach (chopped)
1 lb mushrooms (chopped)
1 lb ricotta cheese (I used the fresh ricotta we made last week.)
1 lb mozzarella (Again, I used the cheese we made last week.)
I first took a 13 X 9 baking dish, drizzled it with olive oil and then coated the bottom of the pan with a layer of sauce.
Then I shaved the top portion of the butternut squash very thinly like this:
I then layered the pan with the sliced butternut squash. Then I added a layer of ricotta. Then sauce again, followed by another layer of squash.
Then I cooked up the onion, garlic, spinach and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil. Once the meat was cooked through and the veggies tender and wilted, I added that to the lasagna pan, followed by more sauce and another layer of squash.
Then I finished it off with a final layer of sauce and topped it with sliced, fresh mozzarella.
I then covered the pan with a metal cookie sheet (you could use foil as well). I baked it at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Then I took the cook sheet off and baked it for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.
Enjoy!
I would also like to apologize for my absence yesterday. We have a ton of projects going in our house right now, many of which I will be sharing with all of you over the course of the next few days 🙂
I hope all of you have a marvelous week!
Each morning, I try to rise before my girls so I can enjoy some quality quiet time before the craziness of the day begins. It is during these darkened, wee hours of the morning that I try to make an effort to take in the surroundings of my home: The little left overs from the day before and the projects set up for the moments to come.
I hope each of you has a few spare seconds to take in your surroundings…before the craziness begins 🙂
My great-grandfather, Hans Jacob Untersee, arrived in The United States from Bern, Switzerland on June 8, 1922. Upon his arrival, he made his way to northern Illinois to find work so that he could send for his wife and children, who still remained in Switzerland. It was in northern Illinois that he established himself as a successful cheese maker, and was able to save enough money so that his family could join him in America.
Ever since my youth, I have been drawn to all aspects of my heritage. I love connecting to my ancestors, whether it is admiring old photographs, thinking of my grandfather while in my garden, or cooking family heirloom recipes.
About three years ago I stumbled upon Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and I must admit that that read greatly impacted my life. Her discussion of food as a connection to our ancestry drew me in like I never thought possible. It was while reading this book that I began to think of my Great Grandpa Untersee. He was a cheese maker by trade, why couldn’t I become a hobby cheese maker?
I used Barbra Kingsolver’s references in the back of her piece, and found Ricki Carroll’s website. I never looked back.
Yesterday we decided it had been far too long since we had made cheese, so we ventured to our local, natural grocer where we are able to purchase milk from a local source. We then busted out our New English Cheesemaking Supply Company cheese kit and got to work.
Here we are making a batch of ricotta cheese:
And here we are making mozzarella:
Hopefully Great Grandpa Untersee was looking down on us yesterday and smiling.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a bit of a crush on Jamie Oliver. In fact, this year our Thanksgiving meal featured all dishes we gathered from various Jamie Oliver cookbooks. I am just in love with his fresh approach to food, and that is why I find myself constantly reaching for one of his recipes time and time again when it comes to feeding my family.
My all time favorite cookbook of his is Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life. The cookbook is broken down by season, and also explains how he grows the many vegetables highlighted in the recipes.
Yesterday, when I looked out my kitchen window and saw all of those asparagus sprouts reaching out from beneath the soil, I knew it was time for my favorite spring soup. The recipe below is an adaptation of a recipe from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver.
1 1/2 lbs. asparagus (chopped)
2 white or yellow onions (chopped)
2 leeks (chopped)
2 celery stalks (chopped)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lb fresh spinach
3 quarts stock (You can use any stock of your choice here, depending on your preference. The soup I made last night featured pork stock.)
salt and pepper to taste
Put the olive oil in a large stock pot and heat over medium to high heat. Then add your onions, leeks, and celery. Cook until the veggies are tender, but not browning. Add the chopped asparagus and spinach. Stir a bit more until the asparagus is warmed and the spinach begins to wilt. Then add your stock, cover the pot and turn down the heat. Let the mixture simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Take the lid off and run an immersion blender through the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.
I normally then poach some fresh eggs and add those to the soup once it has been dished up.
Enjoy!
Yesterday we enjoyed a fabulous day of gardening! We mapped out our 2012 garden beds, read a little bit about companion planting, and got our hands dirty. All the makings of a great day!
Here are some of our go-to books for gardening:
And if you are wondering about the girls’ sun dresses…I made them last summer from a pattern from Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule.
I hope all of you have a wonderful week!
Making of a Home 