Peach jam yesterday. Peaches and corn...
I am now officially canning peaches.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
owl crafting
Today turned out to be an amazing day for food! Tonight I made Soupe Au Pistou (at long last I got some tomatoes in one of my baskets...) and it was as delicious as I remembered it, possibly rivaling Minestrone as my favorite soup. Possibly. I also made a quiche and put in some potatoes and zucchini, but of course. And a peach-blueberry crisp. The fruit was so sweet I only used a little agave syrup in the topping to sweeten it. And peach-watermelon juice. Oh the amazing abundance of this time of year. There are cucumbers and carrots for all. Watermelon. Everything is flowing over into the freezer to be enjoyed both now and later. If you are curious about abundance, a trip to the peach orchard will surely show you the way...
Eva was inspired to make this stuffed owl today. She did everything except sew up the bottom to keep the stuffing in. She saw a similar owl on the cover of a button craft book I have checked out from the library- Button it Up by Susan Beal. After she finished with his wings, she sewed a piece of thread on his head and used it to fly him around. He will also sit on your wrist, as shown in this picture.
Eva was inspired to make this stuffed owl today. She did everything except sew up the bottom to keep the stuffing in. She saw a similar owl on the cover of a button craft book I have checked out from the library- Button it Up by Susan Beal. After she finished with his wings, she sewed a piece of thread on his head and used it to fly him around. He will also sit on your wrist, as shown in this picture.
peach time
We picked peaches yesterday- 38 pounds- and I am hoping to turn them into jam in the next couple of days. When I say *we* I use the term loosely. In truth, Ellen and I picked peaches; Eva ate peaches, climbed in trees, made leaf art; Samuel ate peaches and talked on the phone. Peach picking is a lovely respite from the heat of berry picking. With all of those trees, there is bound to be at least some shade. It has also cooled down considerably in the last couple of days so that peach picking, which is normally pleasant anyway, was even more enjoyable yesterday. I am, of course, hoping to go back soon for more!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
flowers
Tonight I was outside planting flowers with Eva and I stepped on a bee. I was actually pulling up dead clover and pulling off fat purple clover flowers to dry. I stepped right into a patch of white clover, totally unthinking, oblivious to the bees below. She stung my toe and can I just say how much that bee sting hurt? Un-bee-lieve-able. Beelieve it. I slathered it with toothpaste and took apis and it is still throbbing now, nearly an hour later. Eva was so helpful, running for the tweezers so that I could pull the stinger out and then running for toothpaste. She said, "Momma I sure know how much that hurts!" Yes sweetie! She was stung just a couple of weeks ago at the park underneath her pinkie toe and we didn't have toothpaste or apis at the time. Ai yai yai.
It's interesting and funny that I did not want to pull the stinger out with my fingers, which is something I have done for Eva on a number of occasions. Too squeamish? I think I was convinced it would hurt far too much if I touched it with my hands and I waited for the tweezers.
I sat and looked at the stinger, saw the little fluffy bee-ness attached to the stinger, thought about the bee who was now dying somewhere in the clover field, and hollered like mad. I was in such a bad temper all day that hollering and shouting about the bee sting and how much it hurt was surprisingly cathartic. And then at other times it just hurt so much I wondered aloud at the power of the bee sting.
I wish I could have said, Little Bee, just give my foot a little nudge, a gentle tap, to let me know you are there, give me a chance to move my foot! before exploding all of that pain into my toe. Just let me know and I will move my foot so fast you won't even remember it was there and we can both bee on our way...
Flowers from the nursery we were planting this evening. Yes, that is a unicorn in the box with the flowers. Also present? Several packets of salad greens and radish seeds. Oh and carrots!
Ferrel violets living it up in the yard. Eva put a brick fence around them so they would be protected. I am hoping to transplant them to a less in-the-middle-of-the-yard spot, but I guess that is the lawn-mower part of me showing itself. The other part of me, obviously, thinks it is adorable and beautiful and also thinks the flowers will probably stay there until it freezes. No more lawn mowing then, after all. Eva is incredibly persuasive when it comes to flowers staying put in the middle of the yard.
It's interesting and funny that I did not want to pull the stinger out with my fingers, which is something I have done for Eva on a number of occasions. Too squeamish? I think I was convinced it would hurt far too much if I touched it with my hands and I waited for the tweezers.
I sat and looked at the stinger, saw the little fluffy bee-ness attached to the stinger, thought about the bee who was now dying somewhere in the clover field, and hollered like mad. I was in such a bad temper all day that hollering and shouting about the bee sting and how much it hurt was surprisingly cathartic. And then at other times it just hurt so much I wondered aloud at the power of the bee sting.
I wish I could have said, Little Bee, just give my foot a little nudge, a gentle tap, to let me know you are there, give me a chance to move my foot! before exploding all of that pain into my toe. Just let me know and I will move my foot so fast you won't even remember it was there and we can both bee on our way...
Flowers from the nursery we were planting this evening. Yes, that is a unicorn in the box with the flowers. Also present? Several packets of salad greens and radish seeds. Oh and carrots!
Ferrel violets living it up in the yard. Eva put a brick fence around them so they would be protected. I am hoping to transplant them to a less in-the-middle-of-the-yard spot, but I guess that is the lawn-mower part of me showing itself. The other part of me, obviously, thinks it is adorable and beautiful and also thinks the flowers will probably stay there until it freezes. No more lawn mowing then, after all. Eva is incredibly persuasive when it comes to flowers staying put in the middle of the yard.
Monday, August 3, 2009
shoot Albert doesn't like the yellow squash either...
There are several articles that I read in O Magazine when Samuel was a baby that I go back to in my mind over and over again. One article in particular- an article about a woman's mother coming up with new systems for doing things around her house and for her family- is something that I think about- chuckle about- particularly at this time of year.
Here is the new system I have been chuckling about today. I have paraphrased it from how I remember it in the article-
~After you have bought your produce, go ahead and line the produce drawer in your refrigerator with the plastic bag the produce came in. When the produce molds, simply pull up the plastic bag with the moldy produce inside and place all of it in the trash.~ Easy Peasy. I love this one. I chuckle, laugh out loud even, every time I think of it.
Here is how this new system played out in my house, in my mind today-
(Keep in mind that this summer I have not one but two CSA's, in addition to my trips to the farmer's market, the u-picks, but of course, and my garden- although truth be known, I seem to be a more enthusiastic gardener during the cooler months and am now in the process of planting more greens for the fall and hopefully winter. The kale goddess is with me, urging me on... )
Also keep in mind that I love produce- including vegetables! It is not my usual thang to have moldy vegetables around- mostly. I do eat them. Lots of them. Yet even I, lover of most things veggie, have favorites and *un*favorites in the vegetable realm.
So, let's say, for instance, there are some particular vegetables- hmmm... like maybe green beans and yellow squash? that have become inordinately abundant in my home over the last couple of weeks. No need to worry that I am already done with green beans after eating a few cooked ones on a salad. No need to fret that the yellow squash is piling up with no end in sight...There are two routes I can take with such vegetables and both lead to peace of mind eventually. I call them mold and freezing, respectively.
Mold goes something like this- Simply leave the vegetables in the refrigerator (of course through all of this you are thinking of ways to use said vegetables, just not getting around to it because you are too busy eating all of the bounty that you do love...)- as the new system suggests- and they will eventually mold. Trust me. You can put them in the compost pile as soon as you see evidence of mold or you can wait until more of the vegetable is covered- waiting for the mold to spread takes the pressure off trying to salvage the rest of the vegetable, which I have been known to do. Right. The vegetable I don't like molds and I cut off the mold and put it back into the bin to try and use the rest of it another time. Good grief.
OK and freezing the vegetables is fairly straight forward as well. In this case, though, you need to go to the trouble to prepare the vegetables- in this case green beans- for freezing. Prep them, blanch them, freeze them. Think of all of the soup recipes you will use them in when December approaches....And then next April, pull them out of the freezer, all coated with ice and freezer burn, and deposit them into the compost bin. Either way, it seems, they end up there.
That's crazy, you say. Why not simply put the green beans and yellow squash out into the compost bin immediately (you mean like I do with the fennel?- yes.) or even better, find someone who likes green beans and yellow squash and pass them on to them. What a great idea. Anyone want some green beans and yellow squash? How about a veggie trade. I will give you all of my green beans and yellow squash in exchange for your eggplant and kale!
I'll tell you, I think the reason I don't just chuck the veggies I don't like {as much} immediately is because I am infinitely positive on the vegetable front and really keep the faith that one of these days I will find just the right recipe and that even if green beans don't miraculously become my favorite vegetable (I think I am well past that, after having eaten one too many over-cooked beans from my childhood), they will at least {perhaps} be an appreciated ingredient somewhere, sometime.
After writing this and thinking about it and looking about, I did stumble upon a delicious soup recipe that I enjoyed last year with green beans and yellow squash. Score. I remember wanting to make it last winter with the yellow squash that I had frozen (see, you can apply either method {molding or freezing} to different vegetables, depending on your mood and inclination). Unfortunately, I did not freeze green beans last year, so it was a no go on the Soupe Au Pistou. Next winter I will be prepared! I will have frozen green beans, frozen yellow squash and canned tomatoes, all on hand and ready for whatever soup presents itself. (Just as an aside here, I eat every.single.tomato that passes through my door and would definitely trade green beans for tomatoes any day.)
Soupe Au Pistou from Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
soup ingredients-
1 lb shell beans (for example cranberry beans, etc)
1 onion
bouquet garni- thyme, parsley, bay leaf, cracked peppercorns
1 lb green beans (!!!!)
2 green zucchini (yeah, yeah, what I am to green beans, others are to zucchini)
2 yellow summer squash (!!!!)
2 tomatoes
salt and pepper
1/4 lb orxo, conchilgie (love it!) or orrechiette pasta
Make it like you do soup.
pistou (to be served in each bowl of soup at the table with more Parmesan as well)
6 cloves garlic
2 cups basil leaves
Parmesan cheese
olive oil
grind it up in a mortar and pestel or use the modern alternative, the food processor
And this is why I don't just chuck it all out into the compost pile when it first comes in. This soup is a gem and it is well worth having all of the ingredients. One of my all time favorite soups is Minestrone. This soup is the Provencal version of Minestrone. Enjoy!
Here is the new system I have been chuckling about today. I have paraphrased it from how I remember it in the article-
~After you have bought your produce, go ahead and line the produce drawer in your refrigerator with the plastic bag the produce came in. When the produce molds, simply pull up the plastic bag with the moldy produce inside and place all of it in the trash.~ Easy Peasy. I love this one. I chuckle, laugh out loud even, every time I think of it.
Here is how this new system played out in my house, in my mind today-
(Keep in mind that this summer I have not one but two CSA's, in addition to my trips to the farmer's market, the u-picks, but of course, and my garden- although truth be known, I seem to be a more enthusiastic gardener during the cooler months and am now in the process of planting more greens for the fall and hopefully winter. The kale goddess is with me, urging me on... )
Also keep in mind that I love produce- including vegetables! It is not my usual thang to have moldy vegetables around- mostly. I do eat them. Lots of them. Yet even I, lover of most things veggie, have favorites and *un*favorites in the vegetable realm.
So, let's say, for instance, there are some particular vegetables- hmmm... like maybe green beans and yellow squash? that have become inordinately abundant in my home over the last couple of weeks. No need to worry that I am already done with green beans after eating a few cooked ones on a salad. No need to fret that the yellow squash is piling up with no end in sight...There are two routes I can take with such vegetables and both lead to peace of mind eventually. I call them mold and freezing, respectively.
Mold goes something like this- Simply leave the vegetables in the refrigerator (of course through all of this you are thinking of ways to use said vegetables, just not getting around to it because you are too busy eating all of the bounty that you do love...)- as the new system suggests- and they will eventually mold. Trust me. You can put them in the compost pile as soon as you see evidence of mold or you can wait until more of the vegetable is covered- waiting for the mold to spread takes the pressure off trying to salvage the rest of the vegetable, which I have been known to do. Right. The vegetable I don't like molds and I cut off the mold and put it back into the bin to try and use the rest of it another time. Good grief.
OK and freezing the vegetables is fairly straight forward as well. In this case, though, you need to go to the trouble to prepare the vegetables- in this case green beans- for freezing. Prep them, blanch them, freeze them. Think of all of the soup recipes you will use them in when December approaches....And then next April, pull them out of the freezer, all coated with ice and freezer burn, and deposit them into the compost bin. Either way, it seems, they end up there.
That's crazy, you say. Why not simply put the green beans and yellow squash out into the compost bin immediately (you mean like I do with the fennel?- yes.) or even better, find someone who likes green beans and yellow squash and pass them on to them. What a great idea. Anyone want some green beans and yellow squash? How about a veggie trade. I will give you all of my green beans and yellow squash in exchange for your eggplant and kale!
I'll tell you, I think the reason I don't just chuck the veggies I don't like {as much} immediately is because I am infinitely positive on the vegetable front and really keep the faith that one of these days I will find just the right recipe and that even if green beans don't miraculously become my favorite vegetable (I think I am well past that, after having eaten one too many over-cooked beans from my childhood), they will at least {perhaps} be an appreciated ingredient somewhere, sometime.
After writing this and thinking about it and looking about, I did stumble upon a delicious soup recipe that I enjoyed last year with green beans and yellow squash. Score. I remember wanting to make it last winter with the yellow squash that I had frozen (see, you can apply either method {molding or freezing} to different vegetables, depending on your mood and inclination). Unfortunately, I did not freeze green beans last year, so it was a no go on the Soupe Au Pistou. Next winter I will be prepared! I will have frozen green beans, frozen yellow squash and canned tomatoes, all on hand and ready for whatever soup presents itself. (Just as an aside here, I eat every.single.tomato that passes through my door and would definitely trade green beans for tomatoes any day.)
Soupe Au Pistou from Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
soup ingredients-
1 lb shell beans (for example cranberry beans, etc)
1 onion
bouquet garni- thyme, parsley, bay leaf, cracked peppercorns
1 lb green beans (!!!!)
2 green zucchini (yeah, yeah, what I am to green beans, others are to zucchini)
2 yellow summer squash (!!!!)
2 tomatoes
salt and pepper
1/4 lb orxo, conchilgie (love it!) or orrechiette pasta
Make it like you do soup.
pistou (to be served in each bowl of soup at the table with more Parmesan as well)
6 cloves garlic
2 cups basil leaves
Parmesan cheese
olive oil
grind it up in a mortar and pestel or use the modern alternative, the food processor
And this is why I don't just chuck it all out into the compost pile when it first comes in. This soup is a gem and it is well worth having all of the ingredients. One of my all time favorite soups is Minestrone. This soup is the Provencal version of Minestrone. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
pickathon
I am feeling so tired right now but wanted to say that the kids and I got back this afternoon from the weekend at pickathon. We had an amazing time and I am feeling so glad we went. It was touch and go there for a while and I even tried to sell our tickets at one point due to the extreme heat we have been experiencing here in Portland. It did get hot during the middle part of the afternoon yesterday and I took the kids in our air conditioned car to another air conditioned spot for a while. Eva fell asleep instantly when the AC was turned on and stayed asleep for the near two hours that we were gone. We came back and enjoyed the evening- great music, great food, fun hanging out with friends also spending time at pickathon for the weekend.
The music was all around amazing but of course there will always be a few bands that stand out for each of us- my favorites were Hillstomp, Alela Diane and Breathe Owl Breathe- all so different from one another and lovely to listen to. Hillstomp in particular was a fun concert and we saw them again today at the magical stage in the woods.
OK let's see- the amount of cannoli filled yummy dough I consumed over the weekend was more than my usual and I seriously cannot believe how incredible the food was at Gaining Grounds Farm. Every. single. thing. I ate there was breathtakingly delicious. I have to say that the yummy food really helped make my time there even more enjoyable. There was watermelon and smoothies and breakfast burritos and salads and pizza (the kids said too much sauce), yummy cannoli pancakes, brownies, so many different kinds of lemonade, homemade ice cream... You can probably figure out what the kids ate and what I ate. The salad with pesto penne I ate last night was truly memorable. I even drank coffee. Honestly, the migraine potential from the heat and lack of sleep and the fact that I was so tired most of the time, required caffeine in the mornings. Stumptown reminds me why those of you who drink coffee regularly continue to do so!
I took a few photos- most of them are of some alters and a fairy house, all found in the woods near the wood stage and very close to where we camped the first night. There are also a few of the kids playing.
Samuel and friends playing.
Fun woodsy alters. Samuel and Eva standing near a giant dried flower heart with lights around it. Alter. Funny gnome protector man we found at the fairy house. In addition to several other alters and many decorations, there were also lights strung up in the trees along the paths. The woods were definitely magical, particularly at night.
Fairy house- built by a couple of 13ish year old girls who then used it as their tent. Really amazing to see. Posted next to it was a lovely handwritten plaque-
"Grand woods we give thanks for giving us the strength to evolve, grow and die with beauty."
Eva hanging out after a long day. Getting ready for evening- more music, more food....
Oh and I almost forgot how many times we went and looked at slugs. The first night we camped in the woods in a drainage ditch for lack of a better place and light to search for one. This spot happened to be home to many many slugs- lots of them were banana slugs too. There were also some of those nifty orange footed millipedes and we had fun checking out the slugs and millipedes during our trips to the woods. It was a good excuse to go and get cooled off.
The other amazing cooling off experience at pickathon- to be honest it was one of my favorite things there, right up there with the cannoli filled pastry- was the misting station. They had a garden hose punctured with several holes hung up on a fence in a shaded area and you could go and walk through or stand in the mist and watch the horses who watched nearby. There was even a bench to sit on. You could sit on the bench, feel cool, watch horses, watch children feeling cool, and listen to music on the main stage all at the same time. The coolness to be found there was truly divine! I knew it was time to leave pickathon today when we went to the mister and found that it had been taken down. So much for staying cool- time to go! Next year.
The music was all around amazing but of course there will always be a few bands that stand out for each of us- my favorites were Hillstomp, Alela Diane and Breathe Owl Breathe- all so different from one another and lovely to listen to. Hillstomp in particular was a fun concert and we saw them again today at the magical stage in the woods.
OK let's see- the amount of cannoli filled yummy dough I consumed over the weekend was more than my usual and I seriously cannot believe how incredible the food was at Gaining Grounds Farm. Every. single. thing. I ate there was breathtakingly delicious. I have to say that the yummy food really helped make my time there even more enjoyable. There was watermelon and smoothies and breakfast burritos and salads and pizza (the kids said too much sauce), yummy cannoli pancakes, brownies, so many different kinds of lemonade, homemade ice cream... You can probably figure out what the kids ate and what I ate. The salad with pesto penne I ate last night was truly memorable. I even drank coffee. Honestly, the migraine potential from the heat and lack of sleep and the fact that I was so tired most of the time, required caffeine in the mornings. Stumptown reminds me why those of you who drink coffee regularly continue to do so!
I took a few photos- most of them are of some alters and a fairy house, all found in the woods near the wood stage and very close to where we camped the first night. There are also a few of the kids playing.
Samuel and friends playing.
Fun woodsy alters. Samuel and Eva standing near a giant dried flower heart with lights around it. Alter. Funny gnome protector man we found at the fairy house. In addition to several other alters and many decorations, there were also lights strung up in the trees along the paths. The woods were definitely magical, particularly at night.
Fairy house- built by a couple of 13ish year old girls who then used it as their tent. Really amazing to see. Posted next to it was a lovely handwritten plaque-
"Grand woods we give thanks for giving us the strength to evolve, grow and die with beauty."
Eva hanging out after a long day. Getting ready for evening- more music, more food....
Oh and I almost forgot how many times we went and looked at slugs. The first night we camped in the woods in a drainage ditch for lack of a better place and light to search for one. This spot happened to be home to many many slugs- lots of them were banana slugs too. There were also some of those nifty orange footed millipedes and we had fun checking out the slugs and millipedes during our trips to the woods. It was a good excuse to go and get cooled off.
The other amazing cooling off experience at pickathon- to be honest it was one of my favorite things there, right up there with the cannoli filled pastry- was the misting station. They had a garden hose punctured with several holes hung up on a fence in a shaded area and you could go and walk through or stand in the mist and watch the horses who watched nearby. There was even a bench to sit on. You could sit on the bench, feel cool, watch horses, watch children feeling cool, and listen to music on the main stage all at the same time. The coolness to be found there was truly divine! I knew it was time to leave pickathon today when we went to the mister and found that it had been taken down. So much for staying cool- time to go! Next year.
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