Tomatoes - Part II

Tomatoes from the garden.... Check!

Really Crispy Bacon..... Check!!

Nice Crunchy Lettuce.... Check!!

Bread spread with plenty of Mayo.... check! (I don't toast it. It hurts the roof of my mouth)

YUMMMM!!!!!

I have had a BLT for lunch every day this week!! Hurray for BLT season!!

Tomatoes - Part I

Wednesday I harvested 9 pounds of tomatoes from the garden!! They're a mix of heirloom cherry varieties, roma, and Big Beef. They look a bit orange but most were really ripe. I had to leave a few of the Big Beef on the window sill. They look red outside and then when I get them inside, I realize they could have used a few more days on the vine. Oh well :)
Here's what I'm doing with my romas. I learned this trick from my mom. She said to freeze the tomatoes as I go that I intend to use for sauce. When I thaw them, the skins will slip right off! So, as I harvest roma tomatoes, I'm laying them out on a cookie sheet so they won't stick together (not sure why I bother since it's probably okay if they stick...) then when they're frozen, I put them into a freezer bag. So far I have 2 gallon sized bags of them. It'll be a fun project to thaw all of the tomatoes and make a huge pot of sauce to can. (and by "fun", I mean really messy and time consuming but I'm already looking forward to it! :)

Update on the Calendula Infused Oil

This is what has happened to my Calendula Infused oil (original post)


It started getting cloudy a few days ago and then I noticed the mold growing on the top this morning. :( I'm so bummed. I'm not sure why it didn't work. I guess I'll be buying my Calendula oil online this year.

Mittens In July??

I haven't knitted in a couple weeks. It's hard to want to hold something warm when it's so hot outside. I decided to make a small project so it wouldn't cover so much of my lap as I knit. I've started a pair of adult mittens from leftover wool I had in my stash (I have more then just that ball, don't worry). I found the pattern in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Countryside. I remember seeing the instructions and hoping that my knitting skills would improve enough to accomplish mittens one day. Now, 3 pairs of children's mittens later, I'm ready to tackle adult mittens. :) If this heat keeps up, maybe everyone will have mittens in their stockings this year! :)

The Cure For Your Chocolate Craving

Flourless Fudge Cookies

I recently visited this blog thanks to a recommendation from my Aunt . I saw the recipe for the Flourless Fudge Cookies and HAD to bake them! :) The word "flourless" is what got me.

The first time I had flourless chocolate cake was in 2002. Jon and I were in Baltimore and we decided to go to Little Italy for dinner. We were dressed very casually. We found a little restaurant named "Aldo's" . We had no idea we had picked a fine dining restaurant. It was really early and no other diners were there yet. Not sure what the waiters thought of this couple in their early 20's walking in dressed for a restaurant like Applebees. We realized as soon as we opened the menu that we were way out of our league. We thought about leaving but we figured we'd kiss our budget goodbye and stay. I remember asking for a glass of water and the waiter asked "Sparkling or non". I almost giggled outloud at that one. When I said, "Non". He brought me a goblet and a bottle of Perrier. Jon and my eyes got wider when the waiter would come with a comb-like instrument to sweep away the crumbs on our table. Though I can't remember what we had for dinner... I remember dessert VERY clearly. I asked the waiter what dessert he would recommend. He said the best was their Flourless Chocolate Cake. A small, round cake in the center of the plate with a bit of whipped cream and a strawberry was set in front of me. It was so delicious! The center was a bit molton... not overly gooey but just right. The cake around it was dense and just sweet enough. Jon and I loved our evening at Aldo's. I think half the fun was realizing we had no idea what we were doing. It was quite an adventure. We returned to Aldo's (appropriately dressed this time) for our 1st anniversary when I was 15 weeks pregnant. It was great but I think it's more fun to go in jeans :)

So, back to the cookies... Here's the recipe

These cookies are the answer to every chocolate craving! They are a cross between a candy and a cookie. There are very few ingredients and they are heavy on chocolate flavor! I put a handful of chocolate chips in the batter but I think they were overkill. The batter came out pretty thick so they weren't quite as flat as the picture. The great news is that they freeze really well. I put most of them in the freezer and took 2 out yesterday and let them thaw on the counter for a little while. They tasted just as great as they had just after I made them. I think I'll be keeping a bag in the freezer from now on for Chocolate emergencies :)

Calendula Infused Oil -See update-7-29-09

This year I added Calendula to my garden. I had read a lot about it's use in skin care products. It's supposed to be soothing, healing, and generally great for problem skin. Between Evan's eczema and my acne, I figured it was worth a try.
Many of the skin products I want to make call for Calendula infused oil. Here's how I made it...

Take a clean quart sized canning jar and add a bottle of safflower oil. I was very happy to be able to find a 24oz. bottle of it at Walmart. Apparently safflower oil is very good for the skin... who knew! :)

As you harvest the calendula flowers, pull off the petals and add them to the oil. Close the lid and set it in a sunny window for about a month... pour the oil through cheesecloth and the oil will keep for a year.

I only have a handful of flowers blooming every couple of days so I'm adding petals to the oil as I harvest.

After I fill this jar with petals, any extra flowers I harvest will be dried.

The best part of making this oil is having this pretty, petal filled jar sitting in my kitchen. Some petals float near the top... some settle at the bottom. I have my fingers crossed that it works :)

My First Teacher

My mom helping me sew when I was about 7.

I recently came across this picture while looking for baby pictures of my sister for her wedding. I hung it on my fridge and looked at it every time I walked by. I love this picture.

My mom was my first teacher. She taught me to sew, cook, garden, and endless other activities. She taught me the basic skills needed to take on almost any hobby I can think of. I may not have appreciated the gardening at the time but now I draw on those lessons while working in my garden.... a garden that provides me with great joy. She taught me to eagerly seek out new hobbies while holding on to much loved ones. Through hobbies, we have found a way to fill ourselves up... a way for me to hold on to Becky when she threatens to disappear in a sea of diapers and sippy cups.

My husband has told me before that he never knows what kind of hobby I'll pick up next. He gets the sweetest smile on his face whenever I talk a mile a minute about how I can't wait to start making soap, or soup stock, or matching Steeler hats. :)

I have my mom to thank for this. Thanks Mom for teaching me all the things I needed to make this life as wonderful as it is. I love you.

The Caped Honky-Tonk Crusader

This post is in honor of my 2 year old "baby". These pictures/video were all taken within a half hour of each other. As you can see, he's a constant source of entertainment :)

Evan put a bathtowel on his head and then topped that with his cowboy hat... he then ran around the living room jabbering away.

Evan loves Ina :) He moved this laundry basket in front of the TV to get a better look at Ina cook. He's the same age as Charlotte when she fell in love with Paula Deen. Now it's Evan's turn to have a favorite cooking show :)

Evan loves to put buckets on his head (again, ever the entertainer). He put his drum on his head and then found that if he stomped his feet, the drum would bounce on his head making a drum sound. He proceeded to bounce around the living room.

Better go. He just ran from the room... never know what he's going to get into next :)

What happens when you leave your garden for a week.....

We had a fantastic week camping with both sides of our family. We were sad the week was over. When I got home, I had lots of work to do in the garden. Our very sweet neighbor forgot to water my potted tomatoes so half of the folage was brown and dry. After I pulled off the dead leaves, here's what I was left with... shriveled versions of the lush plants I left :( This morning I discovered a bird who finds our ripe tomatoes tasty... Grrr... I was wondering what was eating my tomatoes. Guess I'll have to drape netting over the plants.

Our zucchini grew to baseball bat proportions!! These, needless to say, went to the compost pile.

Here's the harvest.... I was shocked at how well the broccoli side shoots did... unfortunetly half of them were too mature to eat. A few carrots were big enough to pull... though I need to find a better way to pull up a couple without snapping them in half. I got a couple of each kind of tomato. The roma plants are so dense that I couldn't see the ripe ones without digging through a jungle of leaves.

Luckily there were a few normal sized zucchini ready.

I got a half bushel of beans but since it's been up to 2 weeks since I harvested, only 1/2 of them were edible.

Since I harvested all of the side shoots of the broccoli, Jon pulled up the plants to make room for me to put in another crop.... not sure what I'll plant there yet.

Here's Evan's "Smile" :) He was holding a massive zucchini but I thought the smile was more important :)

My Blue Toes

At the end of May, my sister got married :) Yay! And we got manicures and pedicures (a rarity for me). I got a pretty pink on my fingers but for my toes I wanted to do something fun. I picked a sparkly blue. So began my blue toes... Every time I looked down at my toes, it made me smile. Evan especially loved my blue toes. His favorite color is blue and he appreciates polished nails. So, when the polish started chipping off, I went to Walmart and got the closest match. Here it is :) Not sure when I'll tire of blue painted toes but it won't be anytime soon :)
Like my flip-flop tan lines?? :)
I'll be back next week :)

The Back Garden

Well, I never got around to weeding the back garden so here is your close-up tour :) This garden is in the back corner of our yard. I needed more space to grow vining plants and to try my hand at growing herbal flowers.... I've had mixed success.

This is a Howden's Field Pumpkin. I didn't know we had any pumpkins forming yet until Jon was cutting the grass. This bit of vine had grown through the fence. This pumpkin variety won't get huge. This little guy is the size of a small melon at this point.

These are my little Butternut Squashs. They're about 8 inches long so far. I'll need to support them soon since I have them growing on a chainlink fence to save space.

Here's a picture of a Baby Boo ornamental pumpkin. It will stay tiny and white. Charlotte picked this variety and planted the seeds with me.

Here's a baby "Sugar Baby" watermelon. It's only about the size of a golf ball right now :)

So, I thought I would plant an herbal flower garden so I could make bath tea bags this fall (fragrant bags to put in your bath while you soak)... so I planted lavender, cat mint, Chamomile, and Calendula. The ONLY one that germinated was Calendula. This is one of the flowers. I guess I'll have to do more research on the ones that never came up. The rest of the bed is filled with dandelions. I'm thinking about using the extra space to plant fall broccoli.

Here's yesterday's harvest. 2 Zucchini and some Tendersweet carrots. I had to thin out the carrots that were too close.

My Perfectly Imperfect Shawl

I don't often knit for myself. I decided that it was about time I knitted a garment for myself. I decided on a simple shawl. I knit it from sock yarn and used medium sized needles so it would be a lightweight, open weave shawl. I picked a yarn that had swirls of silvery blue shades to help hide cat hair :)

The imperfect part of this shawl is in the detail that goes down the center. Can you see how it's not straight near the top. I messed up at some point... I realized it... then I had to decide whether to take out knitting that had taken me many hours or to leave it. Then I had an idea.... this shawl will be a reminder to me that just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean it isn't wonderful the way it is. I tend to have perfectionistic qualities from time to time and tend to be hard on myself. I need to remember that "The bad news is that I'm not perfect, the good news is I don't have to be". :) Hence, the "Perfectly Imperfect" Shawl was born :)

For those of you who are knitters... here are the details..

1 1/2 skeins of Comfort Sock yarn, size 8 needles

I followed the Simple Yet Effective pattern off of Ravelry

What do these two dishes have in common?

Fudge BrowniesSweet Potato Fries

Give up?
They both contain Sweet Potato! I know with the fries it's obvious but believe it or not, the brownies have sweet potato puree in them... and yes, they're delicious! Here are the recipes.


Sweet Potato Fries
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into french fry size. Toss with a bit of oil and salt. Put them on a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the tips brown. These will not be crunchy like french fries. They stay pretty soft but man are they sweet! The salt on them really brings out their flavor. This is my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes.


Fudge Brownies
While waiting at the doctor's office one day, I was reading a Martha Stewart magazine (she usually makes me want to gag but this time I found an interesting article). This article said that people often use applesauce as a substitute for oil in recipes but it can make things taste a bit fruity. They suggest using sweet potato puree as a substitute for some of the fat in these brownies since it gives a rich flavor and texture.
We love these brownies. They are fudgy and dense without being chewy. They hit the spot when I want something sweet and chocolately.... and as long as I don't think about how good my mom's real brownies are, I'm happy with these. :)
Make sure to cook them until the middle seems firm when you gently press it. If you don't, they'll be too gooey to take out of the pan.
Here's the article... the recipe link is at the end of the first paragraph where it says "fudge brownies".
We'll see how long the pan of brownies last in this house. :)

Beans, Beans, They're Good For Your Heart.....

I decided to freeze today's harvest of beans since we can't eat 1/3 of a bushel of green beans in the next week :) Here's how I got the beans ready for the freezer.
#1- Top and tail the beans while watching TV in a comfy chair (very important) :)
#2- Put on Dora to keep the kids busy while you do the following:
#3 Boil a pot of water

#4 Get a big bowl (or sink) of water and ice ready. I put my colander in it to make taking the beans out easier.

#5 Get a clean kitchen towel, slotted spoon, and freezer bags ready.

#6 When the water boils put the first batch of beans in the boiling water and set the timer for 4 minutes.

#7 When the timer goes off, take the beans out of the boiling water and put them directly into the ice water bath to stop the cooking.

#8 Take them out of the ice water when they're cool and lay them on the kitchen towel to soak up extra water.

#9 Put them in freezer bags and put them into the freezer :)

Easy! I had 8 bags of beans ready for the freezer in 40 minutes (not including time snapping them in front of the TV during naptime).

A Bit Of Our Day

This morning Charlotte requested "a lot of ponytails". Is eight a lot?? :)

Charlotte finished her first 100 piece puzzle all by herself.

The tomatoes on the patio are ripening. Evan ate every one of the red ones while we were playing outside.

I knew I needed to pick beans today. I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather for the job. It was really cloudy and only about 75 degrees when I got to work on the beans. I was surprised how many beans were ready!

I picked atleast a 1/3 of a bushel! More on what I did with all the beans in the next post. I also harvested 4 zucchini and the last big head of broccoli along with a few side shoots.

Here are the 4 varieties of beans I'm growing... (left to right)"Pickin' & Grinnin' (gotta love that name), Jade, Kentucky Blue, Fortex.

And the last picture from our morning.... My lunch. :) I actually made this soup yesterday afternoon. I love making a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week and then having it for lunch each day. No one else in this house will eat soup so I get it all to myself :) This soup is a veggie soup with zucchini, potato, carrots, and celery. Whenever I make bread, I freeze it in half loaf bags so I can pull out a half loaf of bread whenever I make soup.

So, I put the kids down for a nap, sit down with my soup and buttered bread, and turn on "The Next Food Network Star". Life doesn't get much better then that. :)