Louder Than Words

June 14, 2012June 13, 2012 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

A Summer Tradition

June 13, 2012June 13, 2012 / makingofahome / 3 Comments

Yesterday evening marked the beginning of a great summer tradition at the Fagan abode…Tuesday Night Dinner. Our entire family gathers on our back deck for food, drinks, and lots of fun and laughs. While talking last night, I think we all agreed that Tuesday Night Dinners are our favorite activities of the summer months, and we were all thrilled that it is that time of year again.

Last night’s theme was Mexican fiesta, and it was fabulous. My hubby and I prepared some Rick Bayless recipes from this cookbook and this cookbook, while other family members brought other scrumptious dishes for all to share.

Here is a glimpse into the fun that was had by all last evening…

A World All Her Own

June 12, 2012June 11, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Whenever I look at my little ones, I marvel at the imagination coursing through their tiny minds. “What are they thinking right at this moment?” I ask myself multiple times throughout the day. I often wish that I could go back to that time, when perception is broad and the possibilities are completely and utterly endless. Anything is possible.

While my oldest was away at camp yesterday, I took some extra time to simply sit back and observe my tiny three year old daughter. I heard clinking sounds echoing down the hallway, so I followed the sound to find this beautiful girl, decked out in a mermaid costume. When I entered the room she didn’t know I was there. She just continued to tinker way in “her” kitchen, picking up various utensils, humming and speaking quietly to herself in the lilting tones of a young child.

After a bit of time passed, she noticed me standing in the threshold. She looked at me with beaming eyes, held out a kettle and said, “Mommy, I am making egg pie with blueberries and lemon. It is going to be soooo yummy!”

Yes, yummy indeed my little one. Such imagination. Such creativity. Such a precious being standing right in front of my eyes, in a world all her own.

At This Moment

June 11, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

At this moment I am…

~missing my five year old who has ventured off to summer camp for the day.

~devouring multiple books all at once. I just can’t seem to get enough summer reading!

~planning our menu for our first “Tuesday Night Dinner” that we hold each week in the summer months.

~looking forward to a fun evening this Saturday when my husband and I treat his clients to a lovely evening of local food and nectarous wine.

~surveying the garden that is full of new growth and potential.

~indulging in a devine cup of coffee made with my new french press that my hubby got me for Mother’s Day.

~acquainting myself with my new computer.

~wishing you all a lovely week!

Kairos

June 8, 2012June 7, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

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

A Little Something Homemade

June 7, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Now that summer is upon us, it seems that the sun is just soaking up all of that lovely moisture in our skin. I recently found a great recipe for homemade lotion that contains only five ingredients, and they are all readily available. The best part about this lotion is that you can incorporate various flowers and herbs that you have growing right in your backyard.

The recipe can be found in this book and it is so easy to make that the girls and I were able to whip it up in no time yesterday. The scent we tried this time is lavender vanilla patchouli, and we are really happy with the result. We have also made lavender and lavender rosemary and all have turned out great! (Can you tell we have a lot of lavender in our garden? 🙂 )

Putting Food By: Rhubarb and Strawberries

June 6, 2012June 4, 2012 / makingofahome / 3 Comments

Today I bring you another quick food preservation tip. Today’s topic: rhubarb and strawberries…The perfect combo! Rhubarb and strawberries freeze beautifully and it takes little time.

For the rhubarb: Rinse the rhubarb and allow to dry. Then cut off the rough ends of each piece. Cut the rhubarb into 1 inch bits, toss into a gallon size freezer bag and you are done. Throughout the year, I simply pull out the desired amount of rhubarb I need for a recipe, allow it to thaw out and you are all set.

For the strawberries: Wash the strawberries and pinch off the green leaves and stem. Allow the strawberries to dry. Then place the strawberries on a cookie sheet or baking pan. Place the pan in the freezer for a couple of hours. (This will allow each strawberries to freeze individually, so that you don’t have a giant mass of frozen strawberries in a freezer bag that you can’t use.)

Once the strawberries have frozen, toss them into a gallon size freezer bag and that’s it! I pull these frozen jewels out all year long to add to our smoothies. You could of course allow them to thaw and use them in baked goods as well.

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Some of our favorite home preservation books are:

Putting Food By by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg and Beatrice Vaughan

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (There are some great canning recipes scattered throughout the piece.)

The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader

New Addition

June 5, 2012June 4, 2012 / makingofahome / 4 Comments

We have lived in our current house for four years this coming July, and from the moment we set foot inside our new home and unpacked our boxes, we have had a rodent issue. I have been completely ill equipped to deal with this problem because I have lived my entire life in the city, and have apparently lucked out in that I have never seen a mouse in a house, in my entire life. But now I seem to find myself in midst of a full bore rodent festival.

We have chipmunks digging holes all over our yard to the point where my oldest can no longer practice her cartwheels in the grass for fear of a sprained ankle. We have voles burrowing underground and eating all of our raspberry brambles from the roots up. We have mice running all over our yard, under our deck, and in our house. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

We have tried traps, deterrents, poison, and even had an animal proofing professional come out and check out our situation. Since the rodent expert visited us last fall we, thank God, have not had any more mice in the house. However, they are still running rampant outside. And my fear is that it is only a matter of time before those little suckers figure out a new entry point into our house.

I told my husband in early spring, when the snow melted away to reveal vole tracks all over our yard and half of our raspberry patch again killed off by those vermin, that we needed a new solution. Enter Rajah, the newest addition to the Fagan household.

If you would have told me five years ago that I would end up a cat owner, I would have told you that you were absolutely insane. I have never, ever liked cats. But now the girls and I have found ourselves absolutely head over heels in love with this little one. She was given to us by the eight year old daughter of the family we visited about a month ago. On our visit, little Rajah was only a few weeks old, with very little fur and still nursing from her mama (who is one of the best mousers on the farm…YES!). On Saturday we went to visit the farm again, and to adopt our new kitty.

Saying the girls love her in an absolute understatement. My five year old especially, has not left her side during her waking hours. In fact, as I write this post the girls are playing at their grandma’s house and the poor girl cried for ten minutes before we got in the car because she didn’t want to leave Rajah.

My hope is that she takes after her mommy and can hunt down those pesky rodents, but for now we are just enjoying play time and snuggle time with our newest addition.