What I Did at School Today

I’m going to apologize for my recent missing posts; I normally share with you folks 5 or 6 times a week. Of late, however, I have, well, slacked off a bit. I’m a bit more tired these days as we head for trimester 3, and there is just so very much to get done around here these days that I am finding it hard to get photos taken and even harder to sit down in front of the computer. I figure I owe you guys a two for one at this point, and I still have a dress to get photographed and share!

The KU alumni association hosts a football kick off party and pep rally not too far from us every fall. Normally we attend as a family every year; as a matter of fact, we have gone together every year since it began. That is, we continued this tradition until this year when Hubby had a wedding. I chose to send the boys off in grand style with their grandparents and aunt while I stayed home and essentially began the very important process of nesting. Yep, nesting! More about that later…

The August block for the SSS is complete. I had some extra knitting time on my recent solo, whirlwind trip to Texas, and I was pretty set on cranking this out so I could get back to knitting a sweater to keep me warm this winter. Which is exactly where I am heading right now!

Happy weekend!

The boys and I spent much of the day yesterday blissfully in the kitchen. In addition to the chocolate chip granola bars, we happily produced another fresh tomato gratin stew, a trial batch of honey vanilla ice cream (that was lacking *something*), and a recipe of homemade pasta. The boys had a blast helping me with everything from operating the food processor to rolling out the dough. We cut this batch by hand with a pizza cutter, and ate it last night with chicken, green pepper, onion, and zuchinni stir fried. Tonight the left over pasta was put into a chicken soup with fresh beans, sweet corn, swiss chard, and carrots. Both dishes were delish, and I couldn’t help but think of the boys’ faces as they helped me create the pasta.

This morning the preschooler declared that we should make chocolate granola bars. Really? We’ve never made chocolate granola bars or granola bars of any kind. Actually, we almost never eat granola bars around here. I have absolutely no idea where the inspiration came from, but I am SO very glad that it did. We happened to have some homemade granola on hand that wasn’t doing it for anyone in a bowl with milk or without. And we happened to have a package of dark chocolate chunks from Whole Foods. A quick internet search, some big changes to an Alton Brown recipe, and an hour or so later we were eating these:

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

• 4 cups granola (we used homemade that was light on both fat and sweet, but made with coconut oil)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 T molasses
• 2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chunks)

Mix all of the ingredients together and spread in a 9 x 9 (for thicker bars) or a 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes and cool nearly completely before cutting. If you don’t happen to have granola on hand, use a mix of oats and chopped nuts, and toast them in the oven for a bit and cool before mixing it all together. Our granola recipe can be found here.

These were yummy enough that our pickiest eaters both asked for more. Twice. Enjoy!

There has been a whole lot going on around here lately. We are still trying to get caught up on laundry from my trip, and the pantry and fridge are starting to leave a bit to be desired. Many decisions are in the works right now for us, and I feel like most of them are beyond my control. I am taking comfort that anything outside my realm is still in God’s hands. I may in fact be small, but God is bigger than anything we have going right now. Peace to all of you!

It’s down right HOT here. It’s too hot to go out much at all, and with another sick little boy, there just hasn’t been much going on around here. I will confess that I have allowed mothering to consume me for the most part of late. Photos just have not been taken.

There is a lot going on around here though. We’ve torn newspaper to add to the compost. I made braised steaks, polenta, and pasta for dinner. There’s a maternity dress in the sewing works. The knitting needles have clicked away on two different projects. Snuggles have been given. Medicine was measured and doled out. Dishes were washed. The sorting, washing, folding, and putting away of laundry has continued. Life has gone on around here, but so very much is happening.

The list of things to get done before Christmas time and baby’s arrival keeps growing longer and the time is growing shorter. Life just keeps happening too; I will be heading on the road again on Thursday. I am headed back to Texas to be with my family for a couple of days; my uncle passed away this past weekend. I don’t know if I will manage a post tomorrow night in the midst of packing and preparing everyone for my absence. It may be that you won’t hear from me again until after my return. Have a good week; keep on living, it will all get done in due time.

I mentioned in my last post that this recipe helped get me through the week. I’m warning you; make this stuff and you just might blow a weeks worth of fat in one sitting! The only thing that stopped me from eating more than I did was the thought of the *lovely* pregnancy indigestion that would haunt me if I kept eating.

I don’t normally print recipes that I find in cookbooks; as a matter of fact, this is a first for me. Every recipe I have ever posted (before now) has been my own; if it was an adaptation, it was distant enough that I didn’t feel like I was infringing on anyone. I have adapted this recipe a bit, but it is such a unique dish that I must tell you two things: The recipe, as I mentioned last week, is from Marion Cunningham’s Lost Recipes, and I am certain that if you make this, you will go buy the book. It is, frankly, that yummy, and every other dish we have tried from Lost Recipes is yummy as well. If the deliciousness held inside weren’t enough, each recipe includes a few paragraphs about it’s origins and traditions; the notes are fascinating. It is one of the few cookbooks I have actually READ cover to cover!

Fresh Tomato Gratin Stew (adapted from Lost Recipes by Marion Cunningham)

• 3 T butter
• 4 lbs tomatoes, stemmed and sliced. I prefer heirloom
• sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs (put bread in the food processor)
• 2 t fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 1 1/2 T butter in a medium sauce pan and use a pastry brush to coat a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Toss the bread crumbs in the remaining melted butter; then stir in the thyme and set aside. Put a single layer of tomatoes in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with salt and dot with 1/3 of the remaining butter. Add another layer of tomatoes, salt and butter. Continue to do this until you are out of tomatoes and top with a bit more salt. Pour the cream over the tomatoes; then add the milk slowly, stopping when it is about level with the top of the tomatoes. Spread the bread crumbs evenly over the top and bake for 50 to 55 minutes until the top is evenly browned. Serve warm.

Our leftovers kept nicely covered in the fridge and were quite yummy the second day after reheating, in the pan, in a 300 degree oven.

It was one rough week around here. The preschooler finally decided it was time to ditch the diapers and start using a toilet! We are thrilled, but as with any big transition in his life, he is experiencing some significant turmoil manifested in amazing feats of boyish acting out and devastation. Of course, we’d started the week one the little one sick. Each day brought new challenges, many of which, while significant, I can’t even remember at the moment. The close of the week brought the news that we will not be birthing at home as there is not a suitable midwife available in our area at the time we are due, as well as news that one of my uncles has been moved into hospice care and is not expected to make it longer than a week or two. I started taking photos for this post on Thursday simply because I needed to focus on something positive, the little moments that we share throughout the day that keep us going when the going, well, gets rough. These are just a few of the things that brightened my day:

A little guy trying to fill some very big shoes, even if they are on the wrong feet.

Water, out of glass, on the go. Hubby and I picked these up while we were in Texas; I’ve been hunting for an adult version ever since I saw the glass baby bottles with silicon sleeves at a local store, (now closed) It’s Only Natural. These have me drinking my daily portion and maybe a bit extra; it tastes like WATER, just water.

The flowers that our CSA farmer, Zawadi, gives to which ever boy is with me when we arrive at market each week. They are always passed along to me later, and they make me smile every time I glance at them!

Popcorn, air popped, with butter and salt.

Fresh Tomato Gratin Stew! You haven’t eaten an heirloom tomato until you’ve baked them into this dish; I died and went to tomato heaven yesterday afternoon when I baked this, then promptly consumed *ahem* half of it. The recipe is in Marion Cunningham’s Lost Recipes, and I had every intention of sharing my version, adapted to be SLIGHTLY lower in fat, with you tonight. I do not have it in me to type a recipe right now, and I promise to share it soon. I will be baking another one of these this week with our heirlooms from market; if you arrive at just the right time, I might be willing to share!

Here’s hoping that you had a better week than we did, and here’s to next week being a vast improvement for all of us!

The left overs from dinner the other night; they were consumed for lunch promptly the next day. Simple to make and extremely yummy, I diced fresh tomato, fresh basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella and tossed them together with some kosher salt. I topped it all with warm whole wheat spaghetti and good quality extra virgin olive oil. Then I tossed the pasta and served. The toddler and I both loved it, but hubby and the preschooler were less than impressed. I will make a cooked sauce version again that I think hubby will like better, but this fresh version is just perfect for summer. While it is certainly not a new recipe, it is the perfect way to serve the fresh tomatos and basil I’m coming home with every Wednesday from our CSA pick up.

Hope you are staying cool and eating fresh, yummy things!

The toddler, at two, now frequently says, “I wan take picture.”. Gee, wonder where he learned to use a camera? Was it the photographer dad or the blogging mama? The wooden rangefinder, while cute, is just not cutting it for the little guy anymore. I have taken to occasionally letting him shoot a few frames with my Nikon. His work is not very consistent, but his good shots are, well, actually quite good:

He had a rather nasty virus over the weekend that caused three days of sore throat and fever and left him rather crabby. We are all hoping that he will be back to his laid back self tomorrow. In the mean time, here’s photo of the littlest photog at our house:

I was thrilled to be invited to a baby shower for a friend. Her baby boy is due at the end of September, and he will be her first. I feel honored that she has sought out my advice on many topics recently, and I dove head first into creating a quilt for her little one in the middle of last week.

I will confess that the project was finished this morning just two hours before the shower, but I am encouraged by how quickly I was able to get this done. That fact alone might make it possible for us to get ready for Christmas as early as we need to this year with our own new little one on his or her way.

Finished size on this one is around 40 by 60 inches or so; I did not take time to measure it this morning, so this is a pretty rough estimate.

Happy weekend everyone!