At This Moment

July 30, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

At this moment I am…

~glancing out my kitchen window at the garden and all of the weeds that need to be picked today.

~preparing for yet another garden extension after being inspired at this past weekend’s Heritage Garden Festival. (Check out this link: Our family was photographed for our local newspaper when we were attending the festival 🙂 )

~mustering up some motivation to do quite a bit of laundry today. The pile seems extremely tall and overwhelming on this Monday morning.

~thankful for the crisp morning air. Something we have not felt in a very, very long time.

~planning activities for the last few weeks of summer. Where did it go?

~priming the kitchen for a day of tomato sauce making. Our tomatoes are coming out in full force right now.

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

Kairos

July 27, 2012July 26, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

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

Grandma Dit’s Carrot Cake

July 26, 2012July 25, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

There is something about old recipe cards that I just adore. Maybe it’s the handwriting of those who have gone before us. Or maybe it’s the tiny notations scribbled in the corners of the cards, making note of adaptations to the recipe that worked or did not work for the previous maker of this recipe. No matter what the reason though, I adore making recipes from these small pieces of paper dotted with vanilla stains and creased corners.

Last night for our family’s weekly Tuesday Night Dinner, I rifled through my mom’s recipe box for the coveted carrot cake recipe that my Grandma Dietmeier was famous for. I made a few adjustments of my own to this fabulous recipe and came out with a yummy little cake that was a big hit at the gathering last night.

(This is the secret to Grandma’s carrot cake recipe: 2 jars of carrot baby food! It makes the cake extra moist, and adds even more great carrot flavor.)

Grandma Dit’s Carrot Cake

Mix together in a large bowl:

1 1/2 cups oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups shredded fresh carrots

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 small jars of carrot baby food

In a separate bowl, mix together:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix well. Pour batter into a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cream Cheese Frosting: Cream together 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 4 cups powdered sugar. Frost the cake once it is cooled.

Enjoy!

Nook

July 25, 2012July 24, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

All of us mamas need our space now and again. A place where we can just sit, and be still. These times don’t seem to come often, but when they do arise it is so very nice to have a place to call our own.

Last week, my girls and I were completely worn out by the extreme heat, so we decided to spend an afternoon in the basement. Once we were in this nice, cool space for an extended period of time, we realized the place needed a little pick me up. We spent the afternoon organizing, all while Belle (aka Beauty) and her gang sang to us in the background. When we were finished I realized that maybe, just maybe, there was a way I could set up my sewing machine in the basement in a permanent space.

The girls and I got back to work and moved furniture around a bit, which they loved because we discovered lots of lost treasures hidden beneath couch cushions and tables. And we also realized there was, in fact, a bit of space available amongst the chaos for a tiny sewing nook.

I shared this idea with my mother and father-in-law and to my absolute surprise, three days later my father-in-law had built me an absolutely fabulous sewing table! He is one crafty guy I tell you. So I then went rummaging through my parents’ basement, found an old abandoned chair, painted it and now I have a cute little space to call my own.

I can’t wait to start my first project 🙂

Friendship

July 24, 2012July 24, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

This morning when my alarm woke me at 5 am, I was shocked to hear the sound of rain pounding down upon the roof above me. Wonderful precious rain, finally. So instead of leaping immediately out of bed to start my day, I decided to lie there a bit longer, thanking God for this storm that He has brought us. From this place of gratitude, my mind began to wander to the fabulous weekend my family and I just shared with a wonderful group of friends.

It is amazing to me how strange, small circumstances, brought us all together nearly 13 years ago. And those seemingly meaningless situations have carried us to this point of true friendship. These women are people I have worked with, learned with, and lived with. I have shared my passions and fears with them. So many times we place so much emphasis on our family, those people that are related to us biologically through the blood we share. But the bonds of friendship can be just as strong as those familial ties, and that line then blurs between family and friend.

We have now added so many beautiful children to the mix, and it is always amazing to me that at these gatherings, despite the fact that many of them have not seen each other in over a year, they seem to have a shared bond. It is a miracle to watch these tiny people, mold lifelong friendships through their play. Their reckless abandon and ease in which they interact with one another is breathtaking. There is no awkward point where they are shy or uncomfortable, like so many adults often are upon first meeting or after not seeing someone for an extended period of time. Instead, they fall instantly in step with one another as if this is something they do each and every day.

True friendship is so difficult to come upon, and this weekend brought this concept back into the light for me. I am so very thankful for these women, their husbands, and their babies. Our family.

At This Moment

July 23, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

At this moment I am…

~thankful for a wonderful weekend filled with old friends, lots of children, wonderful chaos and lots of laughter.

~excited to watch my little ones at their swimming lessons again this week.

~creating my new “sewing nook.”

~praying for rain. We need rainfall so very, very badly these days.

~preparing for the influx of tomatoes about to come to fruition this week.

~looking out my kitchen window at my garden, and willing myself to become motivated to weed today.

~excited (for some strange reason) to clean the house today. Maybe it’s the new vacuum I just bought. It’s the little things in life right 🙂

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

Putting Food By: Pesto

July 18, 2012July 16, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

“Would you say your pesto is the besto?” ~Friends

Each and every time I watched Friends in college, snuggled up on the couch with my roomies, and heard Phoebe say this line, I roared with laughter. Well, let’s face it, I pretty much laughed like crazy any time I watched that show. But looking back, the funniest part is when I was in college, I had no idea what pesto even was!

Now that I have discovered the wonderful world of pesto, I definitely would not say my pesto is the besto, but by golly it is pretty darn tasty. I love, love, love making pesto in giant batches and freezing it for use in the winter months. It helps to bring that lovely basil taste that reminds me so much of summer to the table when the heat is on and the snow is falling outside.

The particular batch I made this weekend had toasted walnuts, basil, swiss chard, garlic, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and salt. But the great thing about pesto is you can use a wide variety of nuts and/or greens and the pesto will turn out great.

When I freeze my pesto, I put it in 8oz, freezer safe, glass jelly jars. I fill each jar to 1 inch from the top (to allow for expansion in the freezer). It freezes beautifully this way, defrosts easily and allows for easy preparation when you pop it out of the freezer at a later date.

***

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

Putting Food By: Dilly Beans

July 17, 2012July 16, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

We have a few little friends who have again found an entry point into our garden: the rabbits. So before they could reek havoc over too much of the garden space, I picked what I could from our bean patch because that seems to be their vegetable of choice right now. I was shocked to find, that despite this incessant heat we have been experiencing, I was able to harvest quite a hefty bean crop. In fact, I was able to gather so much that I needed to find something to do with some of them. Enter dilly beans.

For those of you that have never had dilly beans, they are just plain yummy. A little hot from the chilli peppers, a little sour from the vinegar and a little spicy from the garlic…what more could a girl ask for?

This year I found a great recipe in Putting Food By (listed below with a link), which only required a hot water bath canning method. There were very few ingredients required and the entire process did not take long at all. Now we have some more great summer veg ready to go for the winter.