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Snug House Bug House

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My girls have always loved the children’s book Snug House Bug House.  Last summer the love of this book became so strong that my then four-year old constructed her own bug house.  She worked for weeks on the project, and I must admit that it turned out just fabulous for such a little one’s construction!

This year our backyard is flooded with monarch butterflies.  Now when I say flooded, I mean monarchs flying everywhere…getting caught in our hair, covering our patio table, swarming in the girls’ playhouse…everywhere.  So my eldest little one decided that all of these butterflies needed a place to rest and sleep so she brought out last year’s bug house, added some new embellishments and tada….a snug house butterfly house!

Farm Visit

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Saturday morning greeted me with the sound of rain pounding against the roof of our house.  I couldn’t believe that, yet again,  the weather was not cooperating with our planned trip.  We had been arranging to visit a nearby farmstead for over six months now, but every time the day arrived,  the weather was poor, the kids were sick, an unexpected errand popped up, and our trip was put on hold.  But this past Saturday, despite the rain that was coming down in sheets outside the window, I decided we were just going to go for it.  And I’m so very glad that we did!

This past weekend we had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Nadig family’s farm.  Although the weather was a bit chilly, the rain stopped when we arrived, and we were immediately greeted by the warmest of families we could have ever hoped to have met.  This family of seven seemed to completely embrace that which is true stewardship of the land in a way that can only help to enrich the earth and everything she has to offer.

John and his wife Charlotte have a vision to “provide healthy, chemical free food to [their] children and practice what [they] consider to be godly stewardship over the land and animals under [their] care.”  John visited Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm and has adopted many of the farming practices that Salatin and his family practice in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

We spent the morning walking the farm and learning a great deal from John…and three of his young children, ages eight, six and five.  Let me tell you, these little ones knew more about the life cycle of plants and animals than most adults could ever hope to know in a lifetime.  My girls were immediately swept up in their discussions of life on the farm and as I assumed would happen, my five year old asked if she could stay there and live with them 🙂

After what was an amazing morning, we pulled away from the farm with 35 pounds of grass fed ground beef, eggs, beautiful hand-dyed, hand-spun wool yarn, and minds filled with information and wonderful memories.  Thank you Nadig family for a wonderful visit!

I Scream, You Scream

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The chants of, “Ice cream, ice cream, we want ice cream!” can often be heard ringing through our house.  Yes, I’m afraid my girls have a sweet tooth like their momma and ice cream is one of their favs.

We have taken to making most of the ice cream we consume in our house because I can be assured that there are only five ingredients in the ice cream, and I know where those ingredients come from.  Perfect.

Below is our basic ice cream recipe for vanilla ice cream.  I purchase our eggs locally and buy local heavy cream and half and half from our natural food store.

3 cups half and half

1 cup heavy cream

8 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla (I also put in seeds from 1-2 vanilla beans.)

Heat half and half over medium heat.  Add cream and bring to a simmer.

Whisk sugar into egg yolks.  Temper eggs with milk mixture.  Let sit for 30 minutes and then add vanilla.

Refrigerate the mixture until cool and then churn in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Enjoy!

Jerusalem Artichokes

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After reading an article in Mother Earth News a few weeks ago, I felt inspired to try a new veggie!  The article discussed a variety of perennial vegetables, in addition to asparagus and rhubarb which tend to be the perennial veggies that people are most familiar with, but the one that caught my eye was the Jerusalem artichoke.  I was very intrigued by these perennial tubers.  Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes because they produce beautiful yellow flowers similar to a sunflower) can prepared in much the same fashion as a potato.

I was thrilled when I walked into my natural foods store yesterday and found a giant basket of Jerusalem artichokes nestled in amongst the locally grown kale and spinach!  I grabbed a bag of these little guys and headed home with an idea in my mind to create some form of soup with them.

So yesterday, with a tiny two-year old sous chef by my side, I started my experimental run with Jerusalem artichoke soup.

I first put 4 tablespoons of butter in a stock pot.  After the butter was melted I threw in one diced yellow onion and 2 diced leeks.

I cooked these veggies down until tender.  Then I added 10 medium Jerusalem artichokes that I had diced (I left the peels on for added nutrition).  I then covered all of the veggies with about 2 quarts of pork stock that I had on hand.  I then covered the pot, and let the veggies simmer for about 20 minutes.

While the veggies simmered, I fried up a pound of bacon. (A note…my girls ate about 2 strips each, so it ended up being a bit less than a pound of bacon that I actually ended up putting in the soup 🙂 )  When the bacon was cool enough the handle, I chopped it up into bite-sized pieces.

Once the Jerusalem artichokes were tender, I ran an immersion blender through the soup.  Then I added 1/2 cup heavy cream and 8 oz Havarti cheese (shredded).  After the dairy was incorporated, I added the chopped bacon to the soup.  I flavored with salt and pepper from there are viola…Jersusalem artichoke soup!

I hope you enjoy this great little veggie that has gone unnoticed for so long here in our house.  The soup had a very similar texture to that of potato soup, but with a slightly sweeter taste.  I would say that this experiment turned out to be a success.

Yummy Yummy Yarn

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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.

The Squirrel Whisperer

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When we peer out the windows of our home in northern Illinois we see cardinals, blue jays, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and the occasional turkey, but every time we make the trek up to the Northwoods, the concentration of wildlife, only four short hours north of us, never ceases to amaze me.  The area is literally crawling with critters, and let me tell you…my girls LOVE it!

On this particular trip, my five year old became especially fond of the squirrels.  Any time we were indoors, I found her standing at the front entry way of my husband’s grandparent’s home.  She would settle into her post at the door and just wait.  As soon as she spotted a squirrel in the distance, she would tap on the door and make a little clicking sound with her tiny mouth.  This is when the magic happened:  A minimum of five squirrels would come running up the front steps, place their bitty hands on the iron frame of the door and wait.  Then my daughter would open the door just enough to slip a few peanuts through the gap, and the squirrels would grab the nut and scurry away with treasure in hand.  Amazing.

This went on for four days.  Morning.  Noon.  Night.

Love.

Generational Wealth

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As I sit here to write this post, I am not thinking of generational wealth in the form of monetary currency passed down from one generation to the next.  Instead, I am pondering the wealth of knowledge, the wealth of history, and the wealth of love that is exchanged when multiple generations of a family spend quality time with one another.

This past week my family was fortunate enough to spend many days up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with my husband’s grandparents.  While on the trip my girls were able to hike and fish with their great-grandfather, cook and feed the wild life with their great-grandmother, and ramble about the woods with their second cousins.  There truly was a great deal of “wealth” passed from one generation to the next on this short vacation.

Humbled

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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!