growing

Happy Honeymooning

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This past weekend, our family attended the wedding of a dear friend.  It is on these special occasions that I am reminded of just how lucky we are to be surrounded by such amazing family and friends.  It makes for such a full, rich life of which we are truly blessed.

To honor this very exceptional couple, we decided to create a “Honeymoon Basket” for them to enjoy.  My contribution to the basket was a hand-made quilt.  I love giving handcrafted gifts because there is so much thought that goes into the making of these items.  With each clip of the scissors and each stitch of the fabric, I thought of this fabulous couple and the amazing life they were about to begin.

Now, my hubby’s contribution to the basket was much more exciting.  His recent fervor for fermentation has led him to the history behind the fermented beverage of mead, and its connection to the honeymoon.  So, he brewed a special batch of mead for the newlyweds, complete with an explanation of its relation to the honeymoon.

“Predating all other forms of concentrated sugars, honey, diluted to honey water, was in all probability one of the first fermented beverages ever concocted by man.  With its fermentation came the alcoholic drink we know as mead.

Mead is the beverage of love.  The drinking of mead has been held responsible for fertility and the birth of sons.  This is where the tradition of the honeymoon got its start.  If mead were consumed for one month (one moon) after a wedding, then in nine months a son would be born and the mead maker congratulated.  The custom of drinking mead at weddings and for one month after initiated our present-day custom of the honeymoon.”  ~Papazian, Charlie.  Joy of Home Brewing

At This Moment

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At this moment I am…

~preparing for a birthday celebration with twenty-five kindergarteners.  Oh my.

~drying herbs from our herb garden.

~pulling out tomato plants in preparation for winter.

~watching our fall garden flourish.  I can’t wait to start harvesting!

~wrapping some great new books for a little soon-to-be-six year old.  We went with this book series.  Can’t wait to start reading them!

~researching some new ideas for green tomatoes.  We have a LOT of them.  If any of you have suggestions, please share them in the comment section.

~completing my weekly routine of laundry, laundry and more laundry.

~sipping some warm coffee.  A much needed comfort after a long, emotional weekend.

~wishing you all a wonderful week filled with fabulous moments!

Forget About It

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It seems as if it has been a very long time since I posted a recipe in this space, so here goes nothing.  As I’ve said a lot over the past few months, finding my grandfather’s recipe box has been a fun adventure filled with cooking experiments and taste tastes.

This particular card has been one I have played around with quite a bit over the past few weeks. And this weekend, after a lot of testing and even more tasting, I think I’ve come up with a great pumpkin bread recipe that allows you to forget about adding in all of that refined sugar and unhealthy oil.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups honey

1 cup coconut oil (melted)

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

15 ounces pumpkin puree

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat the honey and melted coconut oil with an electric mixer.  Next add the eggs and beat until smooth.  Then add the water and beat mixture again.  Set aside.

In another large bowl, mix both flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly, beating with an electric mixer.  Finally, beat in the pumpkin puree.  (I add dark chocolate chips at this point sometimes too 🙂 )  Pour into two greased loaf pans.  Bake for 55-65 minutes.

Bringing the Outdoors In

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As the mercury begins its descent, we are spending a bit more time indoors these days.  So with that, we are making every effort to bring a bit of the outdoors in.  I truly believe a great deal can be said for the tactile experiences of interacting with nature, and when the late fall and winter months do not allow for such easy access to these experiences, I think it is important for people (children especially) to not lose that intimate contact with nature.

For that reason, we have been gathering outdoor artifacts and putting them on display in just about every room of our home.  The girls love this activity, because they get to have a direct hand in “decorating” the house.  They have been filling up Mason jars with water to display mums and lavender, collecting rocks to sprinkle on tabletops, and picking gourds in the garden to create their own fall adornments.

I hope all of you are enjoying these first beautiful days of fall!  Have a wonderful week!

Season’s End

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This past Tuesday, our family gathered for our final “Tuesday Night Dinner” of the season.  We were planning to keep the dinners rolling through the school year, but my oldest is finding herself quiet worn out after a full, big-girl day of school.  And with dance and tumbling now under way for the fall, we thought it best to take a bit of a break to allow the girls some down-time.

Here is a little glimpse into our evening this past Tuesday…

Finding Time

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As the physical labor of the garden wanes, I find myself needing to supplement my days with a bit of an extra workout to keep my body and soul fit during these cool months to come.  But when?  This seems to be the question I have asked myself each morning for the past several weeks.  I’m not sure how, but I find not only the minutes, but the hours of the day disappear without my noticing.

The funny thing about the whole situation is two years ago at this time I was working full-time, carting my kids off to day care for 10-plus hours a day.  And now, when I do have so, so, so much more time to spend with them, it still seems like there is not enough.  I guess this is what all of those mothers meant when I had my first little baby, and they told me time and time again that time goes by so fast, and you must take in and cherish all moments, good or bad (or terrible for that matter), because they are so fleeting.

So I find myself today, sneaking in a very quick workout in my garage, while my youngest takes a tiny nap after her dance lesson.  We mamas have to just do the best we can, with the time God has given us.

I hope all of you find a bit of extra time in your day today 🙂

Apple Sauce

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A sure fire sign that fall is upon us is when we start to find apples popping up here and there at the farmers’ markets.  Last week, we found our very favorite farming family at market with their tables loaded down with the most beautiful apples.  There were Cortlands, Jonathans, Honey Crisps, and Crimson Crisps.  Each more delicious than the next.

With all of this goodness to choose from, the girls and I decided it was high time to start making apple sauce.  So yesterday, with much fanfare and hullabaloo, we began our apple-sauce-making soiree.

The girls did all the work, while I took pictures and drunk in the sounds of 2Cellos on the IPad.  They used our very favorite apple peeler/corere/slicer to do the majority of labor, and then took turns adding some yummy local honey and spicy cinnamon to the mix.  We make our apple sauce in our slow cooker, so we just set it and forget it 🙂

A few hours later, once the aroma of the sweet and tangy apples, floral honey and spiced cinnamon fill the air, we have the perfect apple sauce for our family’s liking.  Fall is here.

At This Moment

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At this moment I am…

~sorting through pictures of our trip, and creating a little slide show to share with the family tomorrow at Tuesday night dinner.

~packing homemade apple sauce into jars from a weekend filled with more canning and freezing and drying oh my.

~starting a quilting project for a very special couple.

~shaking our growler of mead (a.k.a. honey wine) we started to ferment this weekend.  (The recipe and information about mead can be found in this book.)

~watching our crazy cat try to crawl up the screen of our kitchen window.  Such a handful this little lady is.  She wants in on any and all action going on in the house.

~planning my oldest daughter’s first “kids” birthday party with twenty five of her classmates. I’m tired already 🙂

~washing clothes.  My typical Monday ritual.

~soaking in this absolutely gorgeous fall day.

~wishing all of you a happy Monday!

Fall Planting and Harvest

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Upon our return from Disney, it was to the garden we went for some fall harvesting and some more planting.  We came home to our second round of beans, ready and waiting for us on the vine.  They were a very welcomed surprise after eating a bit too much non-homegrown food on our trip.

There were also about 80 tomatoes begging to be picked, and a whole lot of raspberries ripe and ready for a little princess to pick for her afternoon snack.

We then set to planting our new beds with some cold-hardy greens.  We are hoping to add a hoop house or some type of low tunnel over these beds once the frost sets in. (Even though that seems very far off at the moment, as I listen to my air conditioner humming at this precise moment, when it is a whopping 90 degrees again today.)