Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”
harvest
Yummy Yummy Yarn
On our trip to the Northwoods, Mom had to have some fun too. I made my way into town to visit my favorite spot: The Knitter’s Nook. This quaint shop is housed in a petite white residence, just off the main drag in town. It is owned by the most lovely of couples, and the yarn in their shop is exquisite! All fibers are naturally derived, no acrylic yarn here. This shop is an absolute tactile experience. I spent the first twenty minutes of my time in the shop just feeling the various fibers they had to offer.
After spending a bit too much time in the shop (my husband was supervising both girls and their two cousins in a toy store..oh my 🙂 ), I emerged with my spoils. Lamb’s wool, Alpacha, and a wool/bamboo blend, all in the most beautiful of colors. I spent the rest of the trip curled up on the back porch crocheting. Perfection.
Humbled
Last week I was incredibly humbled, surprised and excited when Becky from Clover and Thyme honored me with a Versatile Blogger Award! Thank you so very much Becky for this wonderful honor! Being new to this whole blogging world, your recognition really brightened my day and reaffirmed why I do what I do. Thank you.
If you get a chance, be sure to stop by Becky’s blog. It is a joy to read!
So here are the Rules for Versatile Blogger Award according to their site:
- Thank the person who gave you this award.
- Include a link to their blog.
- Next, select blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
- Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to your post nominating them, or to the Versatile Blogger Blog.
- Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.
As I said earlier, I am still very new to this whole blogging world, so I am just beginning to explore all of the wonderful blogs that are out there. Here are the blogs that I follow regularly and I would like to award with the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you all for what you do!
Amanda Blake Soule at SouleMama. I have been following this blog for nearly a year now and it is utterly amazing! Her posts vary from crafting to homesteading and everything in between. I also have many of her books which also contain fabulous project ideas for moms and kids alike.
Ashley English at Small Measure. I found this blog a few weeks ago via SouleMama and it too is just fabulous! I especially like the amazing recipes she includes in many of her posts. Yum!
Paola at Love and Cupcakes. This is a wonderful blog featuring wonderful recipes. I especially love the desserts that can be found on this site 🙂
Scott and Kim at Aquaponic Family. This is a great site about an at-home aquaponic system. It is full of great information!
And here are a few interesting tidbits about me: 1. I could live on cheese and desserts alone. 2. I enjoy reading the classics (must be that English teacher in me 🙂 3. I fell in love with photography when I was a senior in high school when my parents gave me my first Canon Rebel for a graduation present. 4. I just saw The Hunger Games and LOVED it! (The books were of course fabulous as well!) 5. I have been taking on a more active role in my husband’s fitness company and I have been greatly enjoying it. 6. My girls and I have been enthralled with the Junie B. Jones book series these days. She is a hoot! 7. We just returned from a great trip and I cannot wait to share some of our experiences with you!
Have a wonderful week!
Reading and Soapmaking and Gardening, Oh My!
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.
Diggin’ In
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.)
Soapmaking
There were many things my husband and I use to do sans children, and one of those is make our own soap. We loved everything about the entire process: finding the recipes, making the soap while sipping wine and watching reruns of Friends on our computer, and giving the finished soaps as gifts to our family and friends.
Needless to say once we had kids, our soap making and wine sipping days quickly came to a halt. But now that the little ones are getting bigger, we have brought it back! We picked up our oldie but good book, Natural Soapmaking by Marie Browning, gathered a few needed supplies from Brambleberry.com and we were good to go.
Now I must be clear that we have not ventured into the true soap making realm of making our own lye, although we would like to make that jump in the near future. Instead, we start with a natural soap base that we purchase through Brambleberry and go from there.
The process is so fun and even the tiniest of the family is asking Mommy, “When do I get to make my orange and cinnamon soap.” I love it 🙂
Foraging
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.
Pastaless Lasagna
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!
Surroundings
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 🙂
It’s In My Blood
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.
Making of a Home 