mindfulness

Cooking Sauce with Daddy

/ makingofahome / 3 Comments

1234748_604283966279762_541147407_n

While I was enjoying myself at a baby shower in the beautiful Anderson Japanese Gardens, my girls were home making pasta sauce with Daddy.  My husband gets huge bonus points for this because not only did he cook with the girls (a feat in and of itself), he took pictures of them doing it!  In honor of this momentous occasion, today I bring you a blog post written by the man himself…

IMG_4986

Pasta sauce, or “sugo” has a special place in our family.  Every holiday I can remember involved Grandma Jan’s giant pot of sauce, simmering on the stove, filled with meatballs and hunks of pepperoni.  The pasta was always an afterthought, the lowly vessel on which more sauce could be ladled.  Her recipe was given to her by her mother-in-law, my Great-Grandma Lou.  She could flat-out cook and to this day, her skills bring the conversation to a halt, as eyes glaze over in remembrance of what she could do in the kitchen.  Although she is no longer with us, her memories inspired a lazy Saturday to turn into a sauce making event that I was honored to share with two excited and delightful sous chefs.  

This time of year brings us tomatoes, onions, oregano, carrots, and basil right out of the garden.  Despite eating more than we process, there were enough tomatoes to get the project started.  The girls both helped with Gianna pulling carrots from the garden and Addie peeling cloves of garlic.  Both girls helped peel onions and prep the herbs.  We absolutely destroyed the kitchen, used every cutting board in the house, and left onion skins all over the floor.  Despite the mess, I was able to spend a few hours with my girls recreating the smells and flavors that I remember growing up with.  My most sincere hope is that they will remember these moments and find time to create them with their children and grand children, so that future generations will know the importance of food, family, and the sense of community only found in the kitchen.

IMG_4987 IMG_4988 IMG_4992IMG_4996

Basil Lime Gimlet

/ makingofahome / Leave a comment

IMG_4980

Date nights do not often happen these days.  Crazy schedules, shifting demands of the workplace and caring for two young children make it difficult for this mom and dad to have a few spare moments alone.  That is why this past weekend was quite a celebration.  We enjoyed a date night.  With just the two of us.  Alone.

We spent our time at an early evening movie, followed by wonderful Vietnemese food, and all wrapped up with homemade garden-inspired cocktails.  It was a perfectly wonderful evening.

We wanted to incorporate our garden bounty in our cocktails in some way, so here is our best attempt to embody late summer garden freshness in a glass.  We hope you enjoy this little treat as much as we did!

Basil Lime Gimlet

1 cup lime juice

1/2 cup water

7 fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup sugar

Place the above ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir the mixture constantly until the sugar is dissolved and begins to bubble.  Turn off the heat, and allow the mixture to steep with the lid on for at least an hour.  Remove the wilted basil leaves and pour into a glass container and place in the refrigerator until chilled.

When you are ready to enjoy your cocktail, fill a pint-sized Mason jar with ice.  Add 1 oz. vodka, 2/3 cup of the basil lime simple syrup above, and 2 fresh basil leaves.  Now, for that rustic chic charm, attach a lid and rim to your Mason jar and shake away.  I’m telling you, it’s the coolest martini shaker on the market these days 🙂  Once your cocktail is properly shaken, remove the rim and lid, serve and enjoy!

IMG_4981

*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.

Dairy Free Apple Crisp

/ makingofahome / 2 Comments

IMG_4957

Despite the fact the mercury is reading 85 degrees tonight as I write this, I am thinking Fall.  To help force my most-loved season along, the girls and I decided to pick our first-ever crop of apples from two of our apple trees and enjoy them for dinner in our favorite  baked apple form:  a crisp.

Because my youngest is still on a non-dairy diet, I continue striving to find new ways of tweaking our favorite recipes to make them dairy-free.  This recipe is one of those such experiments.  I wanted to substitute the butter in a traditional crisp, without losing the earthy, creamy flavor I think butter brings to the table.  I ended up using a combination of coconut oil, for the fat content, and whole wheat flour for the earthiness factor.  The crisp turned out quite nicely, without any hint of a coconut flavor that sometimes makes its way into recipes where I substitute butter with coconut oil.

I hope you enjoy this yummy fall treat!

IMG_4952

Dairy Free Apple Crisp

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the above ingredients in a small saucepan until the honey becomes runny.  Pour this mixture over 6 cups of sliced, fresh apples.

Pour the apple honey mixture into a 9X9 baking pan.

In a separate bowl, mix together:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cut in 5 tablespoons of coconut oil.  Crumble the oat mixture over the apple mixture.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is crunchy and golden brown.  Enjoy!

IMG_4958

*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.

The Library

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

IMG_4656

With the school year now in full swing, my girls needed a bit of space for all of that reading and writing goodness coming their way.  And to be perfectly honest with all of you, mama needed a bit of cleaning and organizing to take place for fear that soon the entire house would become over run with toys.  So, we decided to move a great many toys to the basement playroom, and move a whole lot of books into the upstairs playroom…creating ourselves our very own library.  Complete with comfy reading chairs and all.

IMG_4795 IMG_4658 IMG_4657

I must say, this space has become a new fav in our house.  From reading books while nestled in their most-beloved chairs, to practicing math problems on their very own chalkboard, these girls are all set for many months of learning fun.  And the best part of it all, is that not a single dollar was spent.  Just a little elbow grease and strong lifting here, a touch of shuffling and organizing there, accented with just a tiny bit of creativity and we were all set.  Now that makes this mama very, very happy.

At This Moment

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

IMG_4932

At this moment, I am…

~thankful for a most relaxing weekend spent with dear friends and family, while celebrating a wedding in the most beautiful of settings.

~gearing up for yet another hot, hot day.  Trying to get all animals cared for, and plants watered before the sweltering heat is upon us.

~glancing around my house this morning, realizing my day needs to be spent in the throws of cleaning.  Being gone all weekend did not bode well for the cleanliness of this place.

~listening to the tomatoes calling out to me.  There are not many, but those that are hanging out in the garden are ripe and ready to be processed.  (I think today I’ll make some tomato sauce.  Nothing like a little sauce simmering on the stove for multiple hours on a ninety degree day, right?).

~enjoying this book in the wee hours of the morning and late at night after the little ones are tucked in.

~staring at the growing pile of laundry in my family room.  Apparently, I should be tackling that instead of reading the above mentioned book 🙂

~wishing you all a wonderful Monday, friends!

Home

/ makingofahome / 4 Comments

IMG_4854

Good morning, friends!  Where has the week gone?  I have been deep in thought and reflection of late, and have found it difficult to come to this space and attempt to articulate just what it is I have been mulling over in my mind.  So, I must warn you…This post may take on a very stream-of-consciousness-type nature 🙂

The past two years, when this time of year rolls around, thoughts of home seep into every thought in my mind.  Summer for our family represents such a time of connection.  Connection to each other, our home, our land.  And it just seems that each year when we reach that late-August-back-to-school-crazy-schedule-never-leaving-a-second-to-breathe time, those familiar connections are somewhat strained.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is also a wonderful sense of renewal and excitement that accompanies  this time of year, but it’s the common societal belief that this fun and excitement needs to take place outside our homes that has me thinking.  We are all a bustle with activities beyond the scope of our homes because there is this notion that our homes are confining.  But what about the idea of our homes as embracing?  Instead of looking beyond the walls of our home for fulfillment and excitement, shouldn’t we be welcoming each other into our homes, to share the love, laughter and learning found within?

Historically, the home was where all activity centered, and it seems that each day we as a culture are moving further and further beyond the home in search of the next big thing.  But I just can’t help to wonder, what if all of that greatness we are in search of is right under our noses, in the very homes that we are trying to escape from?  For often “a man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” ~George Augustus Moore

Kairos

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

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

IMG_4777

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

August Action

/ makingofahome / Leave a comment

IMG_4781

There has been a lot of action of late in our gardens.  It is truly at its peak, and despite the near 100-degree temperatures this week, we find ourselves entwined in vines of all sorts, harvesting all this fabulous veg.

IMG_4630 IMG_4628 IMG_4757 IMG_4785IMG_4819

Tomatoes make an appearance at our dinner table each night, for I am not sure there is a better fresh vegetable on earth than a homegrown tomato.  Herbs are being dried each day in order to preserve them for the winter months.  Onions and beans are being diced and then destined for the freezer.  And who could forget our school garden, from which we just reached the 100 pounds donated mark!  Yup, the students of Cathedral of St. Peter School have donated 100 pounds of fresh produce to the Plant a Row for the Hungry program at our local food pantry.

So much wonderful August action in the garden right now.  I hope all of you are finding yourselves in the midst of such garden greatness as well!