A View from the Lakes

Just kidding!

2010-05-07T23:24:00.002-05:00

I know I got you all going by saying I was going to post again! Jinx!

Just kidding. Unfortunately, I am unable to post pictures on our current piece o' crap laptop. I have started asking (read: begging) for a new laptop. As soon as I get that going, I will blog again!!

Okay okay, you talked me into it!

2010-03-24T18:35:00.002-05:00

Due to popular demand, I will be resurrecting my blog!! After I started using facebook on a regular basis, I stopped updating my blog. But some lovely friends and family have been wanting me to restart. I love the fact that so many people care about my life and my children!! It really does warm the heart.

Mint Ice Cream

2009-05-27T22:10:00.004-05:00

Okay, I have the official report back from the fresh mint ice cream.

Yum!!!

It was really really good. And not green at all. Imagine that! :)

It ended up with a really nice subtle real mint taste.

Brenna didn't care for the amount of mint that was in it, but Gavin loved it. Here he is eating both his bowl and her bowl.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream
- makes about 1 quart (1 liter) -

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

Pinch of salt

2 cups lightly packed fresh mint leaves

5 large egg yolks

chocolate chips; optional(I used 1/2 cup, but next time I would use more. Maybe 3/4 of a cup? and honestly something not quite as bulky as chocolate chips would be better...like chocolate shavings...)

1. Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, and salt in a small saucepan. Add the mint leaves and stir until they're immersed in the liquid. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

2. Strain the mint-infused mixture through a mesh strainer into a medium saucepan. Press on the mint leaves to extract as much of the flavor as possible, then discard the mint leaves. Pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl and set the strainer on top.

3. Rewarm the mint-infused mixture. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mint liquid into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

4. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

5. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the chocolate chips per manufacturer's instructions.

CSA, 5/26

2009-05-27T20:58:00.006-05:00

GREEN! That is what our CSA share looked like this week. We got buttercrunch lettuce, rainbow chard, scallions, broccoli and mint.

I was intrigued with the mint and it really got my creative juices flowing. I am not a tea drinker and wasn't really interested in cooking lamb. So after some searching, I decided upon ice cream! How can you go wrong?? So I making some fresh mint chocolate chip ice cream as we speak. I will report back on the progress! After cooking it down it had a lovely subtle mint flavor so I think it will be good.

I looked up some recipes for the chard but decided to just incorporate with the buttercrunch for my salads this week. The broccoli I will just serve with dinner some night.

The scallions were a bit of a stumper too. If you know anything about me, you know that I detest onions with a white hot passion. So I probably will not use the white parts of the scallion, unless I throw them in a stir fry or something where I can cook them down. I decided to make some cheddar garlic biscuits and incoporate the green part of the scallions. So I will be doing that sometime this week.

CSA!

2009-05-12T21:32:00.006-05:00

Our CSA started up again last week! It is great to have wonderful produce in the house again.

This week we got red sail lettuce, rhubarb and a whole chicken.

I made this rhubarb bread pudding from a cookbook that I had gotten for my 30th birthday from my good friends Loretta and Audry.

It was delish!

And topped with a little fresh whipped cream. Seriously, do you know how much better fresh whipped cream is than cool whip? And it is not hard to make at all.

Rhubarb bread pudding

8 slices of toasted bread (I used whole wheat)
2 cups milk
2 tb butter
3/4 cup honey (I didn't have honey, so I used 1 cup sugar. If you use sugar instead of honey, you need a little bit more than how much honey the recipe calls for)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups diced rhubarb
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Topping

2tb brown sugar
2tb instant oatmeal
1/4tsp cinnamon
1/8tsp nutmeg

Cut toast into cubes. Place in a medium sized bowl. Heat up milk (do not boil). Take off heat once it is hot and add butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir. Pour milk mixture over bread and allow to sit for 15 min. Preheat oven to 325. Add eggs, rhubarb, cinnamon, and salt to bread mixture and stir carefully until well blended. Pour into greased 2 qt casserole. Mix topping ingrediants and sprinkle evenly over top. Bake, uncovered for 45-50 min or until firm.

2009-04-25T20:52:00.002-05:00

I have not been updating my blog as I have been sharing most of our pictures on facebook. I have not decided yet if I will blog when the CSA starts back up, or if I will be updating on facebook.

If you have facebook and we are not friends yet, send me a message!

If you are not on facebook, you need to get a page today! It is a great way to keep up with everyone!

The CSA starts up again soon, and I will decide then if I will blog here about that or on facebook.

I just like this picture

2009-02-07T21:13:00.002-06:00

This was a cat at the christmas tree farm we visited in December.

Just because she is so darn cute

2009-02-07T21:07:00.001-06:00

Our farm!!

2009-02-03T21:43:00.003-06:00

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2009/feb/02/organic_and_local/ (cut and paste)

Article in the Emporia Gazette about our CSA. We can not WAIT to get fresh produce again! Really missing it.

Rock Chalk

2009-02-03T21:27:00.007-06:00

My parents took the kiddos up to a KU game in December and they had so much fun!

Brenna's cheerleading outfit had gotten a bit small, so grandpa took her to buy a new one before the game!

And just in case you forgot...

By the way, Brenna has turned to the dark side and is now rooting for K-State. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as we deal with this very diffcult time.

:)

Cookie decorating

2009-01-13T21:31:00.010-06:00

Brenna and I decorated cookies this year for Santa and just had so much fun.

Here is a pic of my "Brown Eyed Girl" (which by the way Brenna thinks that song says, "Brenna Girl" which I just love!)

Getting our supplies ready! Alot of our toppings came from cooking kits that Grandma Bev had given the kids.

Aren't her little fingers adorable?

Santa was in for a sugar rush that night!

Put on your yarmulke, here comes Chanukah

2009-01-08T21:29:00.013-06:00

Zack had great grandparents who were Jews from Poland who came to the US as young adults. I love learning about other cultures and family history so it has been a real blessing that we get to learn more about the Jewish culture with my in laws. My mother in law does a great job of incorporating some traditions throughout the year for some of the Jewish holidays. I love the kids getting to participate in something unique about their ancestory.

Here is Brenna helping me make a honey cake. This recipe is from Zack's great grandma. I believe it is traditional for Rosh Hashana, but is eaten at other holidays as well.

Grandma Bev roasting the chickens

Latkes. Yum. Latkes are potato pancakes.

Cooked apples. Double yum.

A chanukah feast my friends. Delicious. This is challa (jewish bread, pronounced hallah), roasted chicken, sweet glazed carrots, latkes and cooked apples.

Here are the kids enjoying the meal. You can tell that Gavin is really enjoying it by the mess that he has all over his face!

Bev helping the kids light the candles. It was the first night. There is a prayer that is said while lighting the candles and Bev has the kids repeat after her. Isn't this a great tradition for the kids to take part in? It is something I think they will have many memories of as they get older.

Trying to say the prayer in Hebrew!

This is a youtube video of another kid learning the prayer! I thought this was pretty cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qf6JQdO8PE

Grandma Shirley. Her parents were the immigrants from Poland.

It is also traditional to play dreidel at Chanukah but Gavin forgot to bring his! I had bought him one last year that he got to paint on. We will have to remember for next year.

Union Station

2009-01-07T21:21:00.006-06:00

My mom and dad took the kids up to KC for a fun day a few weeks ago.

Seeing the minature train

Having fun at the Lincoln exhibit

Such a beautiful building!

2nd grade music program

2009-01-06T22:10:00.006-06:00

Gavin had his 2nd grade music program in December.

Playing the xylophone.

Grandma Bev

Grandma Shirley

One of his good buddies

Another good buddy

Rebels!

2009-01-06T22:00:00.003-06:00

I found Gavin sleeping with a flag from Ireland the other day. This flag is for the Cork Rebels, the home team of our dear friends. He shows his allegiance proudly!

The new kitty

2009-01-06T21:57:00.001-06:00

This is Bev and Gene's new kitty. She is very cute!

Sunset

2009-01-06T21:54:00.001-06:00

We are blessed by living at the edge of town and have had some gorgeous evening skies in the last few weeks! This is not a good picture, but it at least captures a bit of what we saw one evening.

Aunt Sumre

2009-01-06T21:47:00.003-06:00

Brenna loves her Aunt Sumre!

She is loved.

Friends

2009-01-06T21:44:00.001-06:00

Gavin and his friend Odie at the Lakes.

They are good buds.

I didn't forget the blog!

2009-01-06T21:43:00.002-06:00

Sorry for my delay in blogging. My laptop has been out of commission and I just got it back today!

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on!

Christmas Traditions

2008-12-04T22:13:00.005-06:00

Grandma Bev has helped carry on a great tradition in our family of making Gingerbread houses with the kids. The kids absolutely adore it. Bev makes this from *scratch* as well!

Here is Grandma Bev mixing up different colors of frostings.

The kids had all different kinds of candies and things to use to decorate their houses.

Brenna decorating her house.

The finished projects.

Pear Bread

2008-12-04T22:06:00.004-06:00

I had several pears from the farm to use up, so I did some searching for recipes. I found a great recipe for pear bread.

It turned out very good and the kids loved it. Very much like a zucchini bread, dense and moist.

The kids seriously went crazy over it. The recipe made two loaves so I froze one. We ended up thawing it and eating it the next week!

Here is my little ballerina enjoying her favorite thing that week!

Pear Bread

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups peeled, cored and finely chopped pears
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't add)

DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; stir into the egg mixture just until moistened. Toss pears with lemon juice. Stir pears and walnuts into batter (batter will be thick). Spoon into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

I haven't been to the eye doctor in 10 years....

2008-12-04T21:58:00.002-06:00

And when I do, she tells me to wear glasses!

Apparently I have astigmatisim and am far sighted. These are my new frames!

Chef Gavin

2008-12-04T21:51:00.003-06:00

Gavin is always wanting to create new recipes. Tonight he was banging around in the kitchen trying to create something new. I went in and he had mixed together all kinds of things and was trying to make a cake. He had a bowl full of milk, sugar, honey, baking cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg...etc etc.

So he comes in and wants to bake this concoction. I asked if he had added flour? No. Eggs? No. Baking powder? No. So I went in. I dumped enough flour in the milk mixture to make it as thick as cake batter. Next I told Gavin to get eggs. "How many?" I don't know, lets try one. (I really just didn't want to waste any more eggs on this experiment). Next I sprinkled in some baking powder. We ended up putting them in ramekins and baked them at 350 for 20 min or so.

They actually worked!!! And tasted pretty good! We had leftover whipped cream, so we put some of that on the top. Gavin of course was over the moon!

Christmas Parade

2008-12-04T21:39:00.005-06:00

Brenna got to be in the Christmas Parade this year which was fun. Her preschool had a float. Since daddy signed her up, daddy got to ride!

Here is Gavin under a quilt staying warm before it started!

Here is Sumre. Cory and her shut down the bar to come over and watch. It is so nice having her home!! I picked this particular shot because it looks like everything is on fire. I got a new camera and was trying to use the night vision! Still learning obviously....

Daddy and Brenna going by....

And Santa of course!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T21:29:00.004-06:00

Isn't Thanksgiving a great holiday? We had a great "Thanksgiving Week" this year. Thursday was dinner with Zack's extended family. Friday was with my family and Sunday was with Zack's immediate family. It was great.

Gavin enjoying the new Ipod that Aunt Megan got him and loaded for him!

Cute Brenna.....

Chicken Tacos

2008-11-18T20:26:00.003-06:00

This is a GREAT recipe. If you haven't made this, you really need to try it! It is super easy and very delicious.

Today, Zack and I were both very tired. I emailed him from work and told him to start some chicken tacos when he went home for lunch so that we could have a nice hot easy dinner as soon as we walked in the door. We like it, the kids like it, it is just a great recipe. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Chicken Tacos

1 package of chicken breasts
1 packet of taco seasoning
16 oz of salsa
tortillas and taco stuff

Put chicken in a large crockpot. Put taco seasoning and salsa on top. Cook on low all day, or high for half a day. (I have used frozen chicken on low all day and it worked fine) Shred with two forks. Put into warm tortillas with your favorite taco toppings. Yum yum yum!

Nov 18, CSA

2008-11-18T20:14:00.004-06:00

Our last CSA pick up for the year!! I am really going to miss our weekly pick ups. It has been a wonderful blessing to take part in the CSA this year. I could go on and on about the benefits and how much it has helped our family this year! I encourage each of you to look into your local CSAs or farmer's markets. The difference in quality for us this year has been *amazing*. When you see what produce is supposed to look like, it is almost shocking to see produce in the store. It looks so puny!

For our last pick up, we got sweet potatoes, pears and......we will play, "Guess that vegetable" for the one on the left!!

We also ordered a turkey which we will be getting soon. Check out this link to see a national publication that talked about "our" farm! (cut and paste)

http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/leafy-greens/my-sustainable-Thanksgiving-turkey.aspx?blogid=3180

I also orderd Peach jam from one of the farms apprentinces and it is very good as well.

I will be looking forward to next year!!

Halloween!

2008-11-18T20:03:00.006-06:00

We had a lot of fun this year on Halloween. Brenna went to school as a "present". It was her idea and it turned out really cute.

Her class

Gavin was dracula...and very spooky

Brenna's present costume got really old really fast after walking all around campus in it! They walk all around ESU and get tons of candy during the day! So we had to switch up pretty fast for trick or treating around the neighborhood. She had worn the black sweats for the present costume, so we took some of mom's black eyeline and Voila! she was a kitten!

The kids were old enough this year to do some trick or treating in our neighborhood by themselves, which was really fun. They got lots of candy and had a great time!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-18T19:47:00.007-06:00

In mid October we went out to the pumpkin patch just outside of town. We have gone for several years now and it is a lot of fun. You can go out in the field and pick your own pumpkins, and then go on a hayrack ride, go through the corn maze and play with the pumpkin sling shot. It really is a fun day!

Here is Brenna on her way out to the field!

Daddy getting a bit of a work out!

Grandpa Gene was there to help! It was a lot of fun having him there.

Hayrack ride! Aren't they so much fun?

Weighing the pumpkins

Pumpkin sling shot!

A "funny sleeping moment" brought to you by Brenna

2008-11-18T19:44:00.002-06:00

When I check on Brenna the other night, this is how I found her! No, it was not cold in the house!

Mexico, 2006

2008-11-10T21:12:00.016-06:00

A couple of years ago, Zack and I went to Puerto Vallarta with some friends. It was one of my favorite vacations ever! So beautiful and the nicest part is a 3 hour direct flight from KC! Breakfast in KC and lunch on the beach in Mexico. How can you beat that?

A friend of mine is going in 2 weeks and it brought back a lot of memories.

I wasn't prepared for how beautiful it would be there!

The boys went to a bull fight. Not recommended for the kiddos!

Us waiting to get into PiPis. This was our first night there and we were all exhausted!

On the Malecon which is a walkway by the ocean. This was a sand sculpture nativity scene that was in the works.

View from the resort that we went to for our time share talk.

The pirate ship tour that you can do

This was a Mayan themed dinner that we went to. We took a boat cruise out to an island and then ate in this cool area and then watched a Mayan show. It was neat. (quit giggling all of you who were actually there and watched me hurl into the trash can all the way there!!!) Besides the hurling, it was great.

Whale watching the next day. No hurling involved.

Musica while we dined

A neat restaurant that we went to called El Repollo Rojo

One of the best views of Puerto Vallarta was from El Panorama restaurant.

The end...

Football

2008-10-13T22:06:00.009-05:00

Gavin is playing flag football again this season and they are having lots of fun.

Gavin looking mean.

Some game shots...

Gavin running with the ball!

Game injury

This is what Brenna does during the game

After the game:

Another fun day

2008-10-11T22:21:00.039-05:00

After our fun adventures a couple of weeks ago, my mom and I wanted to bring Gavin along so he could see what we had done.

The newly remodeled Granada theater was open for tours this morning, so we decided to start there. I didn't realize the Farmer's Market would have a bunch of stuff for the kids, so we decided to stop there first. It was great! and so much fun for the kids.

They had the zoo docents out with some animals.

And a fun train for the kids to ride.

Pumpkin bowling!

Went over to the Granada Theater for a tour.

It is amazing the work they had done. I have seen it several times in the past few years and it was literally falling apart and dripping with water. Today, it is a gorgeous theater. I can not wait to see what kinds of things they do in here.

Lots of beautiful detail work.

They were showing an old movie.

Check out their link to see pictures of the theater from days past. (cut and paste link)

http://www.emporiagranada.com/past-perfect

Next we went next door to the Sweet Granada for a treat.

We went to Hartford for our trip. We stopped first at the Burgess Marsh trail.

We walked out on the marsh and the kids had fun exploring.

Mom really wanted to see a snake. So she was down in the marsh trying to scare one up.

None came out!

BUT, mom and Gavin did find a very large snake skin.

After our hike, we drove around the marsh for awhile. Guess what we found?

Gavin to checking to see if it is alive.

It wasn't. But they were excited to find a snake!

Next was lunch at the European Bakeshop. See my previous posts for lots of information on this place. A real french bakery in the middle of Kansas!

Brenna enjoying a cinnamon roll.

Gavin eating a freshly made cream puff.

Mom and I each got chicken salad sandwiches and they were very good!

Next, we went to the Flint Hills Wildlife Refuge. This is a state park and a very nice place. We went to the Indian Hills Loop. We came to a clearing that we had wanted to explore last time and decided to get out. Mom said, "it looks pretty muddy." And I said, "so?"

Gavin climbing a tree

The river.

It turned out to be very very muddy. Mom and I were sinking nearly every step. At one point, I was sinking about a foot with every step and ended up losing a shoe! Luckily Brenna got it for me. Needless to say, we all got a bit muddy.

The area is beautiful though. We didn't see nearly as many cranes as we did last time, but still saw quite a few cranes and other wildlife.

About 30 sec after I took this picture, we became totally lodged in deep thick mud. And it wasn't our feet that were stuck this time. It was the truck. I had gone off on a back road and I think both mom and I thought we were going to be stuck for quite some time. We could NOT get out. Both dad and Zack were out of town, so my mind was trying to figure out what the heck we were going to do. And we are out in the boonies. Luckily, after much strategizing, we finally got out. I had to back out down the road, and the family followed.

Some of the pretty scenery from the refuge.

Last time we had driven the entire loop, but this time, one of the ponds had crossed the road! After our experience earlier, there was no way I was going to try to cross!!

So the kids jumped out and we let them run around and play before we turned around.

As muddy as we already were, Brenna managed somehow to get that much muddier.

All in all, it was a GREAT day!

Pick your own Green Beans

2008-10-05T11:43:00.023-05:00

Farmer John sent out an email this last week to his shareholders and told us that they had an over abundance of green beans and were offering to let shareholders and their friends and family come out and either buy some picked green beans or pick your own. It sounded like a fun thing to do with the kids!

I was talking to Brenna on Friday and I said, "Farmer John emailed me and said they have too many green beans and they need help to pick them!" Brenna got really excited and said, "oh mama, Gavin and I could help him pick green beans!" It was really sweet!

We went out Saturday afternoon. It was a lovely day, but very windy!

Farmer John told us that we could nibble while we worked. I don't think Gavin or Brenna had ever eaten fresh green beans. So I was curious as to what they would think.

Gavin LOVED the green beans!

Brenna taking a bite....

I will just say, Brenna was NOT a fan of the fresh green bean! That did not deter her from green bean picking!

Gavin eating green beans.

Our bucket for picking...

Gavin picking green beans. John took the kids down the row and showed them how to look for the green beans, how to know when they are ready and how to pick them. The kids did a great job!

Gavin eating a green bean...

Brenna picking

Gavin eating

There were LOTS of green beans!

Do you see the trend here?

Brenna with our bucket of green beans. Yes, she wore a fancy dress and pink boots!

Farmer John and the kids weighing the green beans. We got about 1.5 lbs of green beans. John suggested that I could freeze the green beanss which I hadn't thought of. He said to blanch them first.

There was a large container full of pawpaws! John let us take a couple more.

Seeing the pawpaws reminded Gavin that he wanted to talk to Farmer John about how he could learn to grow some. When we read about pawpaws, we learned that they usually grow close to creeks. We have a creek and two ponds close to us, so Gavin thought he might be able to grow some. Farmer John and Gavin had a conversation about how they grow and what Gavin might need to do to plant some.

Brenna loved the two cats. And they loved her! She was giving them lots of attention. They were very nice cats and even let her attempt to pick them up later!

Before we left, Farmer John took Gavin over to the purple green bean patch and let him pick some of those.

The green beans that we picked are so nice looking and I can't wait to eat some! They are leaps and bounds nicer than any store green beans. And it was so great for the kids to get to take part in something like this. Actually see where green beans come from!

And of course, Gavin has a new favorite food! I ended up paying John more than what we owed because as I told him, "I think Gavin ate his weight in green beans out there!" Gavin gets to take a snack to school and he has decided that these would be the perfect school snack.

And the answer is....

2008-10-04T10:10:00.003-05:00

Pawpaw! We recieved two in our share last week. They name is vaguely familiar to me, but I had never seen one before. They have an interesting taste. Like a mix between a mango and a banana. They are indigenous to the prairie regions of the US, as I understand it.

Name this fruit

2008-09-30T22:55:00.001-05:00

10 bonus points if you can name this fruit! And no cheating from any CSA members!!! You can not answer!

Post your guess in the comments section! Or shoot me an email.

CSA, 9/23

2008-09-24T23:41:00.001-05:00

In this week's share we got apples, peppers, cucumber and green beans. For some reason, I also put the zucchini in this picture, but I didn't get those from the CSA!

I have apples coming out of my ears. I have a apple dumpling recipe that I want to try and we are eating apples at every meal I think! We love apples though, so having too many is a good thing. Any one have suggestions for how to use up a bunch of apples? maybe I could make some applesauce this weekend?

Lentils

2008-09-24T23:30:00.005-05:00

Tonight I did my grocery shopping while Gavin was at church and Zack/Brenna were at the ESU volleyball game. It is so relaxing for me to go to the grocery store alone! I saw some lentils and bought them because I have been wanting to try a recipe that I have been hearing rave reviews about. It is good, but I need to tweak it next time. I would DOUBLE the amount of water. It is supposed to be almost stew like, but it came out very dry. I just went ahead and added some chicken broth to moisten it up. They say you can add any veggies that you want. I added potato and carrot. I think it would be really really good with sweet potatoes. Our CSA shares are supposed to have some sweet potatoes soon and I can't wait to try it out with this.

Honey Baked Lentils

1 cup lentils
2 cups water (I would increase this to 3 or 4 cups)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soysauce or tamari
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ginger
1 clove garlic
1 small onion
salt & pepper to taste

Combine in a 2.5 qt casserole dish.

Bake in a covered dish at 350 until tender (about an hour and a half).

The recipe also says, "You could also substitute 1/3 cup of rice or barley for some of the lentils; oh, and add whatever "winter" vegetables you have on hand. When I made it last night, I used carrots and potatoes. It was delicious. Squash would be a great addition, too, I bet. We ate this as a stew over brown rice, but it would also be yummy over quinoa, or on some flatbread (lentils on toast? on a bagel, lol?) We eat it as the main dish, but it would be a great side dish as well."

Lentils are a superfood and extremely healthy for you. I would love to find some other ways of using them.

Football

2008-09-24T23:26:00.002-05:00

Gavin is doing rec football again this year and he seems to enjoy it. They play twice a week for an hour. It is more of a fundamental type of group. They do stations where they work on kicking, passing etc. You know..football stuff. They do a bit of a scrimage at the end. Next year, he will be old enough for flag football.

Gavin's birthday

2008-09-24T23:16:00.005-05:00

On Gavin's birthday, we had friends over in the afternoon and the family over for dinner that night.

Gavin talking to Aunt Meg who lives in Seattle.

I went to Gavin's school party on Monday and it was really fun. They sang him Happy Birthday and the class got to ask him 3 questions. Afterwards, we had cookies and juice! Oh and in the middle we had a fire drill. It has been quite some time since I have been in a fire drill!

The cookies I made for his party were the "Doubletree Cookies". They turned out beautifully and from what I hear, they were good! We had just enough for his classmates, teachers and the last one went to the principle.

Doubletree Cookies

1/2 cup rolled oats
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts (I left these out for Gavin's class in case someone was allergic to nuts)

Directions:
Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

Spoon rounded 1/4 cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 350°F oven for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

I made this recipe a bit differently than it suggests. I creamed the butter and sugars first and then just put my dry ingrediants right into the mixer bowl. I know you are not supposed to do that, but I always do and they always turn out good. And then you only dirty one bowl! I also used my stand mixer to mix the dry ingrediants as well as the chocolate chips even though it says to mix by hand.

Raiders!

2008-09-24T23:06:00.003-05:00

The Lakes are a Raiders Family. For better or worse, richer or poorer....

Zack was born in California, so that is where the love of Raiders began, but he left Cali when he was 3 and the love has never died!

Every year, Zack and his dad take the kids to the Chiefs/Raiders game. Raiders won this year, so it ended up being a great day! And beings that it was in Sept, the weather was not bad either.

The kids were excited!

Tailgating with the kids

Gavin's art gallery

2008-09-24T20:17:00.003-05:00

Gavin's school is doing something really neat with their artwork. They are submitting it to a website and you all have a chance to see and make comments on his art!

He would love to share his art with you! Please feel free to look over his website and he would love to read any comments that you would like to leave! He has 12 items listed as of this date. Scroll down to the bottom to see his other projects.

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=3502609

You will have to cut and paste that link as for some reason I can't get the link tool to work on here!

Recipes

2008-09-21T23:14:00.004-05:00

I mentioned a black bean salad that I had made a couple of days ago. It turned out really good! Very delicious and lots of veggies. The cilantro totally makes the dish, so don't leave it out. Other than that, I think it is very forgiving, so you can mix and match what you have.

Black Bean Salad

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (15 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, drained
8 green onions, chopped (I left those out)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I put about 1/4 of green, 1/4 of red and 1/4 of yellow for more variety)
1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced
1 (4 ounce) jar pimentos (couldn't find at store, so didn't add)
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I used two, an orange one and yellow one--both from the farm)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

I also added some cucumber from the farm.
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine everything. Season with garlic salt. Toss, and chill until serving.

Gavin requested fried chicken for his party tonight. I tried out a new recipe and everyone at the party really seemed to enjoy it. It had a really great crust. Mother in law made some gravy and that really made this dish. I realized later I should have paid attention to how she made it because I am clueless with gravy!! I tripled this recipe.

Fried Chicken

30 saltine crackers
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dry potato flakes
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg
vegetable oil
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used some chicken breasts, boneless thighs and drumsticks.)

DIRECTIONS
Place crackers in a large resealable plastic bag; seal bag and crush crackers until they are coarse crumbs. Add flour, potato flakes, seasoned salt, and pepper to bag and mix well.
Beat egg in a shallow dish or bowl; heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. (I put enough oil in the skillet that it was about 1/2 inchs worth.)
One by one, dredge chicken pieces in egg beat, then place in bag with crumb mixture, seal bag and shake to coat.
Reduce heat to medium and cook coated chicken in skillet for 15 to 20 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown and juices run clear.

Happy Birthday!!!

2008-09-21T22:33:00.011-05:00

Gavin turned 8 today!! Hard to believe that so much time has passed.

8 years ago, Zack and I went up to Topeka early in the morning to be induced. I was 10 days post due. They gave me some medicine to help start my contractions. Then I went to the Olive Garden for lunch while we waited for the show to start!! Went to the mall afterward for some heavy duty walking. Went back to the Birth Center for some more medication and the contractions came on hard and heavy in the afternoon. After doing that all day and having no progress we were sent home. I was exhausted!

We got to our hotel and I could not sleep through the pain. It was getting worse and worse. After being there about an hour, I told Zack I had to go back. We went back and the real deal was in full swing. I got in the big hot tub and tried to deal with the contractions! At some point, the midwife checked me while I was in the tub and said, "oh, he is about to come out!" So I got out, laid down on the bed and about 3 pushes later, he was laying on my chest. I was shocked!!!! And relieved that it was over.

Our family had gone home when we were sent home, so they got an early morning phone call telling them that Gavin was on his way. Grandma Shirley gave him his first bath. It was wonderful showing him off to everyone. He was so beautiful. I remember that the first people I asked to come back to the room to see him were my mother and mother in law. I was so proud to show them their grandson.

I had him at 5:15am and we left the birth center before lunch time and came back to our home. My Grandpa Carl came over to see him. It was wonderful seeing them together.

I remember just constantly staring at him and being in awe that he was there and that he was mine.

Gavin, you are one of the greatest people I have ever known. And I am proud to call you my son. I was born to be your mother. You are the best of me.

CSA, 9/16

2008-09-17T22:32:00.012-05:00

Last Saturday, I had arranged with Farmer John for an "end of summer" tour of the farm. We hadn't been out for awhile and with the kids starting fall activities, I knew it was going to be darn near impossible to get out there much again. Zack has not yet been out and he was excited about seeing it all.

Well, the rain came and came and came last week, so roads were flooded out and there was just no way to get out there. So hopefully sometime soon we can try again!

In our share this week we got lots of apples (yay!), tomatoes (double yay!), and cucumbers. I used some of the tomatoes in the black bean salad I made tonight. I bought some fresh mozzerella tonight at the store and want to make a nice pizza sometime with those good tomatoes! Also finding recipes for "capresa salads" which look to die for!!

Blast from the past

2008-09-17T22:32:00.010-05:00

Sept 17th

2008-09-17T22:32:00.002-05:00

Tonight Zack, Brenna and I went to an ESU volleyball game. Our babysitter who came into our home this summer is on the team. It was really fun and interesting to watch. I didn't know much about the rules, but Zack did a good job explaining! The team they were playing is very good and ranked like number 2 in the nation. And ESU won!! Brenna had fun and after the game Kristen made a point to come and visit with her. Brenna has decided that she wants to be a volleyball player like Kristen when she grows up!

I made a black bean salad tonight. I am going to take it to work to eat for lunch. I had a few bites and I really liked it. I will share the recipe tomorrow if I decide I really like it! It is a health food bonanza! Black beans, avocado, peppers, tomatoes.....

I heard a radio program the other day about "plant based diets" and it really struck a cord with me. That type of diet has always made sense to me and I enjoy eating a plant based diet! But unfortunately, I am not good on following through with it! So I have decided to focus on the FAMILY eaing a plant based diet and blog about it. Makes it more interesting!! So I will hopefully be talking about that more in the next few weeks.

Fall Activities have begun!

2008-09-10T21:02:00.002-05:00

Isn't it weird how this year we went straight from summer to fall with no transition at all? I keep thinking that the sun is going to come out again, but fall seems to be sticking! I am kind of excited about it actually. I kind of like the nice cool weather.

Last night Gavin started football practice which was fun. It is a developmental team, but the coaches were really motivated and seemed excited to be there.

Tonight the kids both started church. In the Spring and Fall our church has about a 6 week Wed night program that they enjoy going to. I usually go to an adult bible study at the same time, but I decided to go to the grocery store tonight! I was kid-free! It was awesome!

Brenna starts ballet tomorrow which we are all excited about! I will be sure to post some pictures!

Tonight I had a wonderful dinner, but didn't get a picture of it. My camera was out of batteries and I was too excited to eat it. I made steel cut oatmeal and cooked some apples. I had a nice hot steaming bowl of oatmeal with carmalized apples and walnuts. Uh, YUM!!!! It was awesome. Some day..and probably some day soon, I will dedicate an entire post to my love of oatmeal. It is a little unnatural how much I love oatmeal!!

Blog

2008-09-07T22:33:00.002-05:00

I have had a lot of fun with this blog since I started it in May. It has been an awesome way of keeping in touch with my friends and family who are near and far.

Here is some interesting facts about the blog...

*I started the blog on May 21st.

*Since then..there have been 1,603 page loads with 1,123 UNIQUE viewers of the page! Wow!

*On average every day, there are 15 page loads, 10 unique viewers and 5 first time viewers.

*Entering the blog. The vast majority of people who read this blog, go straight into this blog. The second most popular way is to enter through our friends at www.flyoverpeople.net.

*I can tell when someone googles something and ends up on this blog. The most popular searches that get people here?
*"shredded beef tacos"
*"slow clooker beef tacos recipe"
*"lake kahola"

*People from 14 different countries have visited with the US and Ireland being the most popular.

Apple Orchard

2008-09-07T21:47:00.012-05:00

We have an apple orchard right outside of our town called "The Orchard" and every September we like to make a visit. It is a really fun place to go and the kids really like it.

Picking our own apples

Trying to get a group shot with our friends!

Running around the orchard

There is a pond on the property and the kids enjoy playing on the dock. Usually they have fish food that the kids can toss in the water, but they didn't have any available when we checked today.

They have a shop there where you can buy pre-picked apples, honey, apple cider, etc. You can also buy an apple cider slushie which is yummy!

European Bakeshop

2008-08-30T20:54:00.004-05:00

I found this video online about the European Bakeshop. This gives you a better idea of the shop. I highly recommend it! If anyone gets a chance and goes down there, please post a comment and let me know! (oh and bring me back a cream puff!)

http://www.ktka.com/news/2006/sep/18/hartford_woman_shares_big_european_taste_small_kan/

(for some reason the links don't seem to be working, so I am trying to post them two different ways. If one is showing up as a hyperlink, click on that. If not, cut and paste the link)

Adventure Day

2008-08-30T19:50:00.004-05:00

Brenna and I wanted to do something special so we set out for a bit of an adventure today. My camera is in DC and I forgot to have my mom bring her camera so I have no pictures. It kills me to say that! I told my mom that we need to repeat this entire day just so I can have some pictures!

Mid-morning we headed out to Hartford to go the European Bakeshop there. Hartford is a town of about 500 in the middle of Kansas that has an honest-to-goodness French bakery. Seriously! She is from France! Hartford is a quaint little town with about a 2 block city center. The bakery was really cute. They served quiche (unfornately someone had bought the entire quiche that morning so there was none for us!), crepes (!), cinnamon rolls, croissants, rolls, ice cream, sandwhiches....pastries...cheesecake. All kinds of things. Oh and also baquettes and loaves of bread.

Brenna had a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate, mom had a cream puff and I had coffee and a banana chocolate crepe. Oh la la! It was incredible. The last time I had a crepe that good I was in France! (De--remember the chocolate crepes we had in France??) It was awesome. I would much rather drive to Hartford for that kind of breakfast rather than go to Village Inn! I also bought a baquette, an almond croissant and chocolate roll. Mom bought two loaves of bread.

She does a lot of catering and I really want to use her sometime for something.

Check out her website here...and go and visit sometime! Well worth the drive. She has limited hours so check those out before you drive out there!

www.europeanbakeshop.com

Next we went out to the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge. We walked a hiking trail that goes by a marsh. We saw about a gazillion frogs! It also has a dock that goes out over the marsh and there were some cranes out there. Pretty neat.

Next we decided to go out the Indian Hills Loop. We spent about 30 min driving around Hartford trying to find it! Which is funny because Hartford is really small. :)

We finally found it and it was really neat. Lots of pretty area to look at. Marshes, watery areas with TONS of cranes. Big white and grey ones. All over the place. Also saw a family of deer, a mom and two babies. Really great drive. We plan on going out some other time so we can explore a bit more.

Here is their website. It would be a great half day trip for any family in this area. And De and Tommy, we decided this would be a place we would take you when you come to Kansas! (notice that I said "when" and not "if")

www.fws.gov/flinthills

Afterwards we went up to Lebo to eat at a little cafe called the End of the Trail Steak House. It was pretty good. Next door there was a little house that has been turned into a home decorating stuff. Very cute. Lots of fall stuff out.

So all and all it was an excellent day and we came back tired! I plan to do the whole trip over again soon so that I can take Gavin and take lots of pictures!

Washington D.C.

2008-08-30T19:44:00.002-05:00

Zack and Gavin are in DC this week for a fun guys trip. Gavin is a real history buff and loves anything related to the Presidents, so we arranged this for his birthday. They left on Tuesday evening and seem to be having a great time!

They have seen so much! Wednesday they did Arlighton National Cemetery and saw JFK's grave with the eternal flame. That night they went to a Redskins game also. They also went to the Museum of Natural History.

Thursday they went to the White House and Capitol building. It is pretty difficult to get into the White House now. You have to contact one of your representatives and they do a background check on you. It was a self guided tour and pretty quick. For the Capitol tour, one of our representative's aides gave them a tour. Zack said it was really neat. They also went around to the Jefferson, Lincoln and Washington monuments.

Friday they....well let me think. I can't really remember! I will have to update when they get back.

I know that today they went to the ESPN zone (remember that Zack is there too!) and are doing the moonlight tour of the monuments as we speak. It is a bus tour that takes you around to all the monuments while they are all lit up at night. They tell you about them and you get a chance at each one to get out and look around.

They fly home late tomorrow evening! I will be posting pictures I am sure!

Blast from the past

2008-08-19T23:40:00.004-05:00

We are so lucky to be blessed with excellent family all the way around. Our kids have so many people who love them immensely, completely and unconditionally.

Grandpa Gene would be one of those people. Here are a couple of pictures from a few years back. Can you tell these are two peas in a pod?

Ireland pictures. Some highlights

2008-08-19T23:08:00.010-05:00

I have not yet gotten a good slideshow online that I can share with everyone and I was holding off on sharing too many pictures until then...but since I am in the blogging mood tonight..I will share some!

Here is Gavin at a Barrycourt Castle

The whole family at Muckross House in Killarney

Brenna feeling the ocean on her feet for the first time ever! With our dear friend Deirdre..

The kids at the beach.

It was a beautiful place

A pub we visited in Dingle.

A kiss....

Another kiss. Me kissing the Blarney stone.

Another beach in County Cork.

CSA, 8/19

2008-08-19T22:08:00.003-05:00

Here is our share from this week. Farmer John reports that we have passed the peak of the season, so our shares will be getting smaller as the weeks progress. I split a half share, so what is pictured is always actually a 1/4 of a share.

Because mom and I were just trying this out this year, we decided to go small. I wanted to make sure I was going to utilize the food and not let it go to waste. I can honestly say that I have used nearly all the produce. It has been a huge benefit to our family!

My mother in law and I are sharing a Winter Share that is coming up in a couple of months, and I made the jump to sharing a full share. I don't have any doubt that I will utilize what we get and Bev enjoys fresh produce a lot too, and I know she won't have any problems. The Winter share program is new for Farmer John as well, so it will be interesting to see how it all works out.

The kids and I haven't been out to the farm lately as I have had tennis lessons on Tuesday evenings that have made farm pick ups difficult. But tonight was our last night so I am looking forward to getting back out there before our summer share ends.

Tomatoes!!!

2008-08-19T22:00:00.004-05:00

I don't trust people who don't like tomatoes. Now, I am not talking about soft, tasteless, pale, store tomatoes. Those should not even be blessed with the name tomatoes. I am talking about juicy, colorful, hearty, fresh tomatoes. Like these from our CSA...

And one of my favorite things to do with good tomatoes is BLTs. We got some Texas toast, lettuce and bacon. Also had some nice fresh sweet peaches. This is what you call a summer dinner.

Gavin was a little unsure of trying a BLT and then swiftly devoured not one, but two BLTs. He decided that the name should be changed to EGS. Extremely Good Sandwich!

CSA dinner

2008-08-19T21:47:00.005-05:00

Last week, I made this yummy dinner with some of our CSA produce. First off, I grilled some corn.

Here is one of our special "surprise" ears of corn! The kids loved that!

And here is my famous potato salad. Well, I think it is famous anyway! I get lots of requests for it, let's put it that way. I used potatoes from the CSA. Now, let me just say, if you are a potato salad purist, you may not like this recipe. It is not your standard potato salad. And if you are on a health food kick, this is not the recipe for you either. It may not be good for you, but it tastes darn good!

Heather's Frequently Requested Potato Salad

2 lbs red potatoes
8 oz ranch dressing
1 cup shredded cheddar
2.8 oz bacon bits or pieces
pepper
salt
garlic powder

Place potatoes in pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30ish minutes or until tender. Drain them and let sit for about 10 min. (I just do this so they aren't so hot!) Quarter (or cube) and put in a large bowl. Add dressing, cheese, bacon bits, and seasoning. You can eat it warm or cold. Either way is good!

I also grilled some peaches and then put vanilla ice cream over them. Very very good. To grill them, I cut them in half and then first brushed them with vegetable oil and then put them cut side down directly on the heat for 4ish minutes. Then I moved them to the top rack of the grill cut side up for 10 minutes.

Greatest neighbors ever

2008-08-19T21:39:00.004-05:00

Have I told you that I have the greatest neighbors ever? They are so nice and thoughtful and treat the kids wonderfully. The kids, especially Brenna just adore them!

Last week, on the day before school started, our neighbor brought over dinner for us totally unexpectedly. She said she knew the day before school can be stressful so she didn't want us to have to worry about dinner! It was also a thoughtful thank you gift for her presents that we got her in Ireland. This is the second time she has done this by the way. The last time I had just pulled up after a long day at work and I was tired and stressed out and was trying to figure out what we could have for dinner. When I saw what she had brought over, I literally cried!

So she brought us BBQ meatballs and cheesy potatoes. YUM!!!! They were very very good.

Brenna enjoying every last bite!

Summer is NOT over!

2008-08-19T21:32:00.004-05:00

Although school has started, summer is not over in our neighborhood! We have many kids in our area which is great for lots of outdoor playing. After school last week, I hooked up the sprinkler for my kids and the next time I went out, there were 8 kids playing outside!

One of the kids getting a bucket of water poured on his head!

First day of school

2008-08-19T21:24:00.005-05:00

Gavin started school last week! It seemed unbelievable that summer was over already, but he was excited and has been having a great time.

Here is my handsome young man!

So excited to see his friends again!

Sitting in class

Tex Mex Pasta

2008-08-07T21:25:00.009-05:00

This is a recipe that I have made for years and that we really enjoy. When I say "we", I mean my husband and myself. My kids, including the boy who would eat practically anything and will name raw ahi tuna as one of his favorite appetizers, do not like it at all. But part of the pleasure of being a parent is teaching kids that when you are served something you don't like, you sit polietly at the table and at least enjoy the conversation!

One of my goals with the produce from the CSA this summer is to find kid-friendly recipes that are also healthy. And I have managed to find some great recipes and my kids have eaten all kinds of delicious fresh produce all summer. But it is also important to remember that we do NOT have to only prepare foods that we think they will like. I think there are great lessons in fixing foods that are out of the comfort levels of kids. The fact of the matter is that there are going to be many times in our life when we are presented with food that we don't care for. Kids need to learn how to deal with that. Also, dinner is more than just eating. It is spending time together, catching up and bonding. None of that goes away just because the kids don't want to eat.

We don't have a one bite rule. Our only rule is to sit polietly and remain at the table until everyone is done. Of course there are no sweets if a good amount of dinner is not eaten.

I decided to make Tex Mex pasta this week to utilize the "bounty" we recieved on Tuesday. I altered the recipe to use more of the produce. I used the green bell pepper, a big jim pepper, zucchini, onion and sweet pepper!!

It was hard to get a good picture, because it kind of looks like a jumbled mess! But it really is good.

Brenna enjoying her apple from the farm and not even considering eating what is on the rest of her plate.

I served the pasta with some fresh heirloom tomatoes as well. Look at these? Are they not beautiful? The larger one is called a Caspian Pink and they really were very pink inside! And a yellow one too, but I can't remember what that one was called. I used some olive oil, balsalmic vinegar and blue cheese on top. A trick I learned from my mother in law! So so good.

Here is Gavin enjoying a tomato. He loves tomatoes.

Tex Mex Pasta

8 oz penne pasta (I used whole wheat)
1 lb bulk turkey sausage (I used pork)
1 med red bell pepper, chopped (used a green bell pepper that we got in the CSA, plus one Big Jim pepper that we had gotten)
1 zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cups frozen corn, (I grilled three ears of corn and then cut off the kernels)
1 cup salsa
14.5 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 tsp oregano (didn't use)
1.5 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Cook pasta as directed. Cook sausage almost done in an electric skillet. Drain. Add peppers, zucchini, onion to skillet and cook until veggies soft and pork cooked through. Add corn, salsa, tomatoes and oregano. Heat to boiling. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and let cool just a bit. Add cheese and cilanto. (I like to let it cool just a bit so that it stays a bit cheesy. If it is too hot, the cheese just kind of reduces in to it)

Blueberries

2008-08-07T21:19:00.003-05:00

I realized tonight that I had forgotten to post the pictures of recipes of the blueberry muffins we had made after we got our fresh blueberries from the CSA.

Here is my sous chef.....

And the finished product.

Here is the recipe. They are called, "To Die for Blueberry Muffins". I would not say they are to die for, but they are pretty good. :)

Pretty Darn Good Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking. (you will have quite a bit leftover)

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. (I had to cook mine more like 30-35 min)

Grilled Corn

2008-08-05T22:42:00.002-05:00

I discovered grilling corn last summer and it has been my favorite way to cook and eat corn since then. It gives a nice sweet smokey taste. It is super easy.

Grilled Corn

Leave the husks on! I put them in a sink filled with water for about 30 minutes before grilling. Heat the grill to medium-high. Take the corn out of the water and give them a bit of a shake before you put them on. Cook corn for about 30 min. Turn every 5-7 minutes. You want the outside to be moderately charred. To tell if they are done, I take one off, pull a bit of the husk off, and take a bite. It should be nice and crunchy, but not too crunchy! You want the outside pretty charred so that there is a bit of char on the corn and the silk should be pretty much burned off. I like to leave them sit while we cook the hamburgers..hot dogs...whatever. That lets them cool down a bit. Then take the husks off. I usually do this over the sink. Butter, season and eat! YUM!

Bounty! CSA, August 5th

2008-08-05T22:39:00.004-05:00

This is what you call a bounty! This week from the CSA we got 1 apple, 1 dozen sweet corn, 4lbs kennebec potatoes, 2 bell pepers, 1 big jim pepper, 1.25lbs heirloom tomatoes, 2 slicing cucumbers, 2 minature white cukes, 1 lb okra and 2 large onions! Wow!

I am starting to do some menu planning tonight and hope to get to the store tomorrow evening. I have a lot of options for meals!

Fly-over People

2008-07-31T18:13:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite blogs to read every day is http://www.flyoverpeople.net/news/. Cheryl Unruh runs this site where she keeps a blog about Emporia, small town life and Kansas. She also has a great discussion board. I got the pleasure of meeting her a couple of weeks ago during a farm pick up. I found out about the CSA from her discussion board, so it was a fitting place to meet up!

She took lots of pictures during her tour of the CSA and has several entries in her blog. In her lates entry, she has some adorable kids in the pics!! Scroll down a bit. If you want to see her other posts on the CSA, scroll down more.

Here is the article she wrote for the Emporia Gazette.

http://www.flyoverpeople.net/news/index.php/archive/shepherds-valley/

Shredded Beef Tacos

2008-07-28T18:27:00.005-05:00

Yum! Last week, as part of our CSA share, we recieved two onions. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I detest raw onion and wouldn't eat one if it were the last food on the planet. But, I don't mind cooked onion. So I decided to make a roast and use the onions to flavor it. When I make a roast, I just cut most the fat off, pour a bottle of beer on it, and put it in the crockpot on low all day. We intended to eat the roast on Friday, but we had friends that invited us over, so we threw it in the fridge. I had planned on roast and potatoes tonight, but then decided to make it into BBQ beef sandwhiches. Then yet again changed my mind and decided to make it in to shredded beef tacos.

You really can not ask for an easier dinner and it is so good. I just shredded it up with some of the onion and put a few tb of taco sauce in the meat just to add a little flavoring. Then we put a bit of meat on some hot grilled corn tortillas and then added the fixin's. I also used some fresh avocado to make guacamole. I just mashed it up with a fork and added enough salsa just to moisten it up. It was really really good.

I used a recipe one time for shredded beef tacos that had me add a bunch of different seasonings and so forth to the roast to make it more "southwest" I guess. It was very good, but I went to an eight of the trouble this time and I thought they were just as good!

Shredded Beef Tacos

1 good roast
1 bottle of beer (or just use 2 cupish of beef broth)
1 onion quartered

Trim roast and cook on low all day in a crockpot. Pour out juices and shred meat and onion. Serve with hot corn tortillas and taco fixings.

Blueberries!!!

2008-07-26T10:54:00.005-05:00

I got 3lbs of fresh blueberries from the farm this week. They had gone to a blueberry farm and took orders from their shareholders and non-shareholders for orders.

There is a very noticable difference between the taste of these fresh blueberries compared to blueberries from the store. The kids have been nibbling on them all week. Today I made a double batch of blueberry pancakes. The intent is to have some to freeze. But I am not sure we are going to have many left of freeze!

Freezing pancakes is a great way to have fast easy breakfasts. You just take them out, microwave them for 30 sec or so and you have nice hot pancakes in a flash! I also do the same thing with french toast (prepare a whole loaf of bread and after they have cooled, just put them right back in the bread bag for easy storage!) and muffins.

Look at those nice plump blueberries!

I have also put blueberries in my oatmeal. Yum!

CSA, 7/22

2008-07-22T22:04:00.002-05:00

Tonight we made a quick run to the farm to pick up. I was picking up LOTS of blueberries so I wanted to get home to get them in the fridge. I got back in the car and started wishing that I had asked to take a look around the orchard, and about that time the rain started coming down in sheets.

Farmer John, Ramona and his helpers went to a blueberry farm today. Shareholders and non-shareholders had an opportunity to place an order for some. I got a few pounds and they are *delicious*. A serious improvement from what you get at the store!!! The kids each had a handful (or two) with dinner and they are talking about what we can do with our fruit. Blueberry pancakes and blueberry muffins have been the top requests.

We also got onions, green beans (including some purple ones!), cucumber and zucchini. I am going to look around the net tonight and find some creative things to do with the produce. I was so excited about picking up blueberries tonight that I darn near forgot about the regular box of produce!

Banoffee Pie

2008-07-22T22:01:00.004-05:00

In Ireland, we tried a dessert that we really enjoyed. Banoffee was created in England in the 1970's and is now quite popular in England and Ireland. It really was an easy recipe to make and could be made even easier with some more shortcuts.

Banoffee

1 9 inch graham cracker crust (I used a pre-made one.)
2 bananas
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups whipping cream (you could use cool whip in a pinch, but making your own is not hard at all and WAY better tasting.)

Boil the can of condensed milk for 3 hours. Yes, the whole can. Just put it in a deep pan and make sure it is well covered with water. Don't simmer it, boil it. You will have to check on it frequently to make sure it stays covered with water. It could explode if you don't keep it totally covered with water. I think I had to refill mine about every 45 min or so. I also turned the can over half way through. Now, you can boil several cans and they will stay good in the cabinet for a long time. Then you really have an easy dessert to make. Trust me and just do it. You are going to like this pie. I didn't and now I am kicking myself! Let the can cool for about 15 min. When you go to open it, wrap it with a paper towel because some of the hot toffee is going to come out. Pour the toffee into the pie crust. Let cool. Slice bananas and put them on top. Put your whip cream in a large bowl. I like to put a bit of sugar in it to sweeten it. I probably put in a tablespoon or so. Use a hand mixer and beat well until it is very thick. Don't beat too long or it will turn into butter! Spoon whip cream over the top and spread around. I read that some people add chocolate shavings to the top. Put in the fridge for awhile before serving. Maybe 30ish minutes. Delish!

Ireland

2008-07-19T11:53:00.001-05:00

One of the most beautiful places on Earth! Slea Head in County Kerry.

Just because

2008-07-19T11:45:00.001-05:00

Brenna using the tea set she got from Aunt Megan!

More from the CSA

2008-07-19T11:39:00.004-05:00

We got to see the baby turkeys. Aren't they adorably ugly??

Kids picking up our produce box.

A sheep without his winter coat!

CSA, 7/15

2008-07-17T20:03:00.011-05:00

Tuesday I got the chance to take my sister out to the farm. It had been several weeks since we had been out, and it was nice to see Farmer John, Ramona and her mother again.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Cheryl Unruh there. She runs the website www.flyoverpeople.net and I am a daily reader! She blogs about life in Emporia and Kansas. I have been reading the site for several months so it was nice to put a face with a name. Her friend Tracy was there as well with two of her children. Actually, that website is how I even learned about the CSA!

This week for the CSA we recieved a red cabbage and green beans.

Last night we had pork tenderloin with a warm apple sauce, cubed potatoes and green beans. YUM!

Produce: Green Beans
Zack: good!
Gavin: ate every last one (had told Farmer John's wife that he would not be eating any at all!)
Brenna: fell asleep before she could have any dinner!
Heather: love them

Tonight, I made bierrocks with the cabbage. They were really really good.

Produce: Red Cabbage
Recipe: Bierrocks
Zack: eh
Heather: YUM!
Gavin: loved them
Brenna: fell asleep before she could have any dinner (are we seeing a trend here?)

Bierrocks

2 can biscuit dough
1.5 lbs ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cabbage, diced
shredded mozzerella

I browned the beef and added the garlic in to simmer with it at the end. I actually poured a cup of beef broth over it as well just to add some more flavor. I added the cabbage and cooked until it was wilted down. I also seasoned it with salt, pepper and some other stuff from the spice rack! I rolled out each biscuit so they were pretty thin. I put a spoonful of meat mixture and some cheese and folded them over. Bake at 350 for 25 min or until golden brown. You can cool these and freeze as well.

**I had to add a note about Brenna and the bierrocks. As I had mentioned, she was asleep while we ate. She woke up later and I warmed her up one. She asked what was in them and I said, "hamburger and stuff". She ate one while I was reading her a book on the couch. I swear every time I turned the page she would say, "wow mom these are really really good."....."mom, can I make these with you sometime? they are good!". Over and over again. She loved them!

Home

2008-07-13T22:24:00.003-05:00

We arrived home on Friday evening and although we miss our friends in Ireland, we are happy to be home. I was so glad to have the weekend to recover because we are all so tired!

Tomorrow we are back to work and will try to get back in schedule!

Megan and I made a slideshow tonight of all our pictures and will be posting that as soon as we can. As soon as I figure out how to edit the videos, I will post those too!

July 8th, Ireland

2008-07-08T18:11:00.002-05:00

Today we went and all got to kiss the Blarney Stone. So we will all be eloquent speakers I guess when we get home! It is a total tourist trap, but pretty neat at the same time. Beautiful castle. You have to walk up a lot of steep narrow stairs, which culminates with you being on top of a very high castle! I was scared out of my mind. Then you lean back over a big hole and kiss the back wall.

Afterwards we walked around the grounds and then went to the very large gift shop there. We contributed greatly to the Irish economy. Next we went into Cork City again and bought Gavin a hurling stick and Cork football jersey. Some of us also got another chance to walk through the wonderful English Market. Later, we went back to the O'Neills and Gavin played hurling with Tommy and JW.

For dinner we went to a great local restaurant and had a fabulous meal. Some of Ann's family came as well so we all got to have a drink.

Tomorrow is our last day with the O'Neills which just seems impossible. The boys are golfing with Eammon at his local club and then we are all heading to Clonakilty or Kinsale for the beach and some shopping. On Thursday we will be heading to Limerick for an overnight stay and will visit Bunratty Castle as well. Friday we are headed back to Kansas!

July 5th-July 7th, Ireland

2008-07-07T17:00:00.003-05:00

We had an incredible, amazing weekend. I can't wait to post pictures for you all, but for now, I will just have to tell you the story.

On Saturday, we got up and started on a drive for Killarney. There we went to Muckross House. This is a mansion that was built in 1843. The house is gorgeous, but the real attraction for me is the grounds. There are beautiful mountains and lakes around the house. We took a carriage ride around the lake and then up to a creek. They drop you off and you can walk up to Torc Waterfall which was really full from all the rains they have had lately.

Next, we drove up to Dingle on a coastal road. The sea was beautiful and there were green mountains every where. We were staying in a trailer house for the weekend. We called it our "Irish Camping Trip". Let me tell you, when I have been camping before, I have never in my life had this kind of view. The sea in front of us, mountains...it was breathtaking.

That night, we went to a pub for dinner and they had a traditional music session. We had the best seats in the house and it was great. Afterwards, some of us went back to the trailer for bed and the boys went out to some more pubs with Deirdre's boyfriend.

I can honestly say that Sunday may have been one of the best days of my life. We woke up (to our incredible view), had some breakfast and then went over to a pub to watch a Gaelic football match. Cork County (where our friends are from) was playing in the regional final with Kerry (where we were at for the weekend). So we were in enemy territory for the match. Also, Kerry had beaten Cork last year in the national championships, so there was a lot of pride at stake. Gaelic football is a really fun sport to watch. Very fast paced and interesting. I am really surprised it is not more popular world wide. Cork was behind for about half the game and came back and won! Go Rebels!!! I tried to find some video of the game, but couldn't, so here is another game to give you an idea of how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StcMJkQ80ns

After the match, we drove on what I can very mildly say was a scenic drive. It may be the most beautiful place on Earth. It is called Salea head and it is a coastal drive. High cliffs, rocky beaches, the sea....it is really hard to describe it's beauty or to capture it in pictures. The best part is that this whole area is very rural still and not overdeveloped. I fear that it will be some day. For now, it seems like untouched paradise.

We went to Ciuinui noil beach. This was Brenna's very first time at the beach and she adored it. We intended for them to stay half way dry, but that quickly ended. Mind you, it is fairly cold and the water is very cold! She couldn't stay out of the water, and we soon gave up. It was pure joy for her. Gavin and Tommy (De's boyfriend) and Zack played hurling (an Irish sport) and tossed a rugby ball on the beach. Meanwhile, we are surrounded by the most gorgeous scenery. I think it was about as ideal a day as you could get. Both the kids were soaking wet, yet totally happy.

We continued our drive and later went to another pub for dinner. Later the boys went to yet another pub for a drink. (see a trend here?)

We woke up this morning and drove to the Gap of Dunloe before coming home. Yet another gorgeous site.

Zack and myself made a dinner tonight for our fabulous hosts and we are all a bit "knackered" as they say here.

Tomorrow the plan is for Blarney, Clonakilty and a pub for dinner.

July 3rd, Ireland

2008-07-03T16:49:00.003-05:00

We had a full fun day today. Ann came to pick us up mid-morning and we went to Fota Wildlife Park. It was really neat. Lots of giraffes, zebras and other sorts of animals that you could get very close to. It rained on us a couple of times, but really only sprinkles and it lasted for only a few minutes.

Next we went to Barryscourt Castle which has been recently renovated. It was built in the 16th century (wow!). It was amazing to be inside and try to imagine what it was like then. They showed us the "murder hole" that was located right above you when you walked in the front door. If the person who walked in was an invader, they would shoot arrows through the hold and pour down boiling water. We also got to see where the lord and lady would have resided and their bedroom. You should have seen the narrow, steep and incredibly difficult stairs that you had to climb. The lady of this castle had 19 pregnancies, so our guide asked us to keep that in mind when we were walking up the stairs! Lastly we went to the bottom to see the dungeon. Gavin got a kick out of that.

Next was Cork City. It is such a pretty city and full of people! We went and saw De at work and then went to something called the English Market. Lots of produce and butcher shops. Really neat. Went to the fish market too and got salmon for dinner. Afterwards we went to a great irish cafe/chocolate shop for coffee and treats. The kids got hot chocolate. They had a large vat of melted chocolate. They would scoop some out and add the hot milk. Very good!

We were all pretty tired after this, so we went back to Ann's house and I had a bit of a nap on the couch. The kids played outside in their yard. Ann made us a great salmon dinner and we had a dessert called viennata afterwards. And ice cream treat.

Tomorrow we have to pack and get ready for our weekend in Dingle. We are staying right on the sea. We will also be watching an Irish football game at a pub which I think will be great fun. The adults may be going out in Cork City tomorrow, if everyone is up to it. All the travelers (Zack, JW, Dad, Megan) get back tomorrow, so I can't wait to hear how their trips have gone.

July 2nd, Ireland

2008-07-02T17:21:00.002-05:00

We continue to have fun in Ireland, but are still getting used to the time change. I woke up at at 4:50am and was wide awake. The kids slept in late today. So after waking, we planned on going around Cobh (the town we are staying in). Brenna didn't wake up until after 11am and it was obvious that she wasn't well. So Deirdre took my mom and Gavin (everyone else is off on trips) to Cobh. They went to a beautiful cathedral and down to the harbor.

Now, while this enjoyment was all going on, Brenna's "not well", turned into "very sick". She was sick on and off all day. She finally perked up late afternoon, so the whole day was not a waste.

We went to Ann's house for a great dinner. Gavin and I also took a great walk up the road and saw some really pretty sites.

Zack and John are in Scotland, John W is in Amesterdam and Megan is in Paris. Since our cell phones are not working here, I don't know how things are going. They will be back on Friday so we will here then.

My memory card doesn't work on Deirdre's computer, so I am not sure we will have any pictures on the blog until after we get home.

Gavin is learning some Irish, AND we saw Spongebob Squarepants in Irish today. Not the irish accent, the actual irish language. Apparently Dora speaks Irish too.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the Titanic Museum (cobh was the last port for the Titanic), the English Market in Cork City and Fota Wildlife park.

We're here!!!!

2008-07-01T11:57:00.002-05:00

We have safely arrived in Ireland! When we got in at 7:30am Irish time which was 1:30 am American time!! We got VERY little sleep on the plane. We met up Ann and Deirdre and had a 2 hour drive home. It was a very painful 2 hour drive home! I wanted to keep my eyes open so I didn't miss anything, but it hurt to keep my eyes open! We made it to Ann's house and she made us a great breakfast. We had eaten snacks and airplane food for about 24 hours so it was so nice to have a meal. It was an irish breakfast so we had rashers, white pudding, black pudding (not like our pudding at all), toast and eggs.

Next we came over to Deirdre's house and took a nap. Now we are feeling better and are getting ready for dinner. I will post pictures later!

On our way

2008-06-30T09:46:00.002-05:00

Right now the Lake Family is sitting in the Embassy Suites in Kansas City. We need to get packed up and then we will go down to the shuttle around 11am. Apparently my dad was advised that we need to catch the 1130 shuttle to be at the airport at the appropriate time, but it is first come first serve. And there are 8 of us!! Yikes! After we take the shuttle, we will get checked in and our flight is at 2:30ish. We will conect with our next fight in Newark and then have an 8 hour flight to Ireland! Yay!

In 24 hours we will be there!

Pottery a go go

2008-06-26T17:44:00.006-05:00

After watching the sheep get sheared, my mom took Gavin up to Larry Matson's pottery shop in Cottonwood Falls. Gavin just had a wonderful time and it completed a great day. What is better than a little sheep shearing and wheel throwing?

Here is Mr. Matson demonstrating some pottery.

Mr. Matson sharing his craft.

More teaching.....

Gavin found out that Mr. Matson is a Presidential/history buff like he is! It is always nice to find a kindred spirit.

CSA: The sheep lose their coats

2008-06-26T17:29:00.006-05:00

My mom took Gavin to the Farm to watch the sheep get sheared. He had a great time!

Here is a sheep losing his coat.

Here is Gavin getting in the big tub to stomp the wool. His new name is "Chief Stomping Wool".

Apparently this is what you do while you watch sheep get sheared.

Here is some wool that Gavin got to take home.

Gavin really had a great time and has a whole new appreciation from where wool comes from!

Sleepy kid

2008-06-23T20:26:00.001-05:00

Just because..

Busy Weekend

2008-06-23T20:05:00.007-05:00

A couple of weekends ago we had a garage sale and it was so nice to downsize a little bit from "stuff". We didn't have a lot of people, but being over here so out of the way, I wasn't expecting much.

The kids had a great time with their stand they made to sell stuff. They sold cinnamon rolls first thing in the morning and then cookies later on.

After the garage sale, we took all the unsold stuff to the thrift store and then went up to KC for the weekend. Boy were we tired! The kids think that staying in a hotel is the best thing *ever*. We went to the T-Rex restaurant which they enjoy and made their own Dinosaur stuffed animals at the "Build A Dino" part. We also went to the arena foot-ball game that weekend. For those of you who have never been...it is fun! Totally different than regular football. And the kids made it on the jumbo tron! Gavin did a very serious disco rendition and Brenna did a little dance.

Here is Gavin and Brenna outside of the Sprint Center where the games are.

Spinach Manicotti

2008-06-04T22:39:00.011-05:00

Tonight I was able to cook the manicotti that I had made last night. It made for a very easy dinner tonight and I am pleased to say it was really good!

Here it is right out of the oven and all bubbly.....can you smell that?? It was divine.

The nice thing about this recipe was that you didn't cook the manicotti pasta first. From what I hear, filling slippery, fragile noodles is tricky. Tonight we had the manicotti with a fresh salad from the farm. I added some feta, olive oil and balsalmic vinegar.

It was a great way to use the spinach. Although the recipe contains quite a bit of spinach, it tasted very mild.

Proof of the mild taste of the spinach...

The verdict:

Produce: Spinach

Recipe: Spinach Manicotti

Zack: Good!

Heather: Great!

Gavin: Awesome! 5 star!

Brenna: Good (except for the green bits). Do you see a trend here?

Recipe

Spinach Manicotti

INGREDIENTS
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
A bunch of spinach. I have no idea how much I had. I filled up a medium sized bowl with the uncooked spinach. After I cooked it (see below) there was probably 1 1/2 cups -2 cups of spinach
1 egg
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley (I just pulled some parsley off the stems with my fingers and tore them. Do you really want to measure 2 tsps of parsley??)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
1 (8 ounce) package manicotti shells

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook spinach in a couple of tablespoons of water in a large skillet. Cook for a few minutes until wilted down. Squeeze the water out of it before using.
In a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach and egg. Season with parsley, pepper and garlic powder. Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until noodles are soft.
Note
If refrigerating overnight, do so after step 3. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.

To fill the manicotti shells, I put the ricotta mixture in a large ziploc bag and cut a small hole. When I was almost done, I cut a bigger hole because I thought it would go faster. That was not so! It just made it messier.

Next time I am going to make two and freeze one.

Leftover Roasted Chicken

2008-06-03T23:51:00.003-05:00

I wanted to mention that after our delicious roasted chicken the other night, I made chicken salad sandwiches with the leftovers. For someone who doesn't like to eat the dark meat outright, it is a great way to use it all up. I cut up all the leftover chicken and mixed in mayo, a little bit of lite sour cream, and just a touch of sugar. If I would have had added some grapes if I would have had them! I put the chicken salad on some wheatberry bread, but using croissants really can send a chicken salad sandwich over the edge.

Spinach

2008-06-03T23:18:00.004-05:00

Tonight I used my spinach from the farm for spinach manicotti. We didn't have time to eat it tonight after getting home late from the farm, so I put it in the dish in the fridge and will cook it tomorrow. This recipe was nice because you didn't have to cook the pasta first. I will share the recipe if it tastes good!

The recipe called for frozen cooked spinach, so I cooked my fresh spinach and used that.

CSA 6/3

2008-06-03T21:44:00.021-05:00

Tonight was our CSA pickup and we were lucky enough to bring along a friend of the kids and myself. I was keeping my fingers crossed for no rain. We didn't have rain, but boy was it hot and humid. I have a lot of respect for all the work that Farmer John, his wife Ramona and his two apprentices do in this weather. This is the road that you turn on to get to the farm.

Here are the some of the veggies that are growing. Farmer John showed the kids the potato and sweet potato that was growing and taught them the difference between how the two grow.

Sweet corn starting to grow.

Visiting the sheep. They were all panting because they are so hot with their heavy coats. They will be sheared soon.

The sheep were let out to graze.

Farmer John let the kids gather eggs today which was a great experience. Whenever I would watch "Little House on the Prairie" when I was a little girl, I always wanted to be able to gather eggs! Specifically I wanted to put them into the fold of my apron while I wore a bonnet, but business casual attire and a wire basket worked just fine!

Next, we played by the creek. Brenna got to ride in the tire swing for the first time.

The kids went up to the tree house with Farmer John's watchful eye while mother kept her feet on the ground!

Kids walking across the log

This was my share for this week. It is actually a quarter of a share as my mother and I are getting half a share. This is mixed lettuces, swiss chard and broccoli. For the swiss chard, I found a recipe for swiss chard gnocchi that looks really good. I might be trying that in the next several days. I also found an interesting dessert recipe using swiss chard. It has a long French name, so I can't think of it now!

Roasted chicken

2008-06-02T00:14:00.004-05:00

Tonight I made my very first roasted chicken. I got the chicken from the CSA and I was so excited to try it out. I have always heard how easy it is to roast a chicken, but had never tried it. Getting the chicken from the CSA was the perfect opportunity to try it out. I had planned on making it this weekend and it worked out well because we ended up eating with my mother in law and grandmother in law.

I googled some recipes, but I wanted to do something really simple. I ended up brining it for several hours first. I put the chicken in a big bowl, filled it with water and added about 1/4 cup kosher salt. The chicken was brined for about 3 hours. Afterwards, I rinsed it well. I rubbed melted butter all over the outside and inside of the chicken and then salted and peppered it inside and out. I also put some butter and seasoning under the skin, over the breasts. I roasted it at 425 for 20 min and then 375 for 1 more hour. I turned it upside to rest so that the juices would run into the breasts.

Now, I had found a recipe for a sauce reduction that looked pretty easy, so I wanted to give it a try. This ended up being the hit of the dinner! After I took the chicken out of the pan, I took out the big pieces of anything and then took out as much fat as I could with a spoon. Next I deglazed with some white wine. I put the pan right on a burner and added 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and boiled it down until it was syrupy. Added another 1 1/2 cups of stock and boiled it down until it was about 3/4 cups. As a reduction it is different from a gravy in that it is very intense in flavor....and really good. Zack wants me to make another chicken just so he could have that sauce again!

I also got to share some of our farm fresh produce with my mother in law and grandmother in law. We made a nice big salad with some of the black seeded simpson and spinach. A little blue cheese, olive oil and balsalmic vinegar and we had us one tasty salad.

The roasted chicken was incredibly easy and very very good. We also had bread out of the oven, corn, garlic mashed potatoes (roasted a bulb of garlic for an hour in the oven with the chicken, squeeze the garlic out of the bulb like toothpaste right into the potatoes), salad and mother in law made some really good brownies for dessert! It was a great meal.

Saturday in Manhattan

2008-05-31T22:39:00.032-05:00

Today we went up to help my sister in law move. The boys did most of the heavy lifting, while Sumre and I mostly put away some things into the house. The kids played....

Here they are in the "forrest". Sumre has some great landscaping in her new yard.

The kids enjoyed helping with the wrapping paper. Actually "helping" might not be the best word. They enjoyed playing with it!

Afterwards, Sumre and her boyfriend took us to one of their favorites restaurants. It is a steak place, and they remind you of that with a big old cow in the front!

When we were heading home, we decided we would take the "scenic" route home. When Zack suggested that, I thought he meant the scentic byway that goes to Alma. That sounded great to me! But no, he meant just turning off on some county road! We ended up on these tiny, windy roads. With steep hills up and down. It was a blast!! And totally gorgeous. Zack and I have been itching to explore the land outside of Manhattan and it was well worth it. We came to lots of cross roads and just picked one and went with it. So neat.

There are lots of stone buildings in this area.

Here is another..

Some scenic shots..

Can you see why this was so much more fun than taking the highway home??

We met this bad boy along the way. It was definitely the closest I have ever been to bull and it was very intimidating! I didn't zoom in or anything. We were very close!

We ended up connecting with the scenic byway after criss crossing through the country side and ended up going through two small towns, Alma and Eskridge. I wish we would have had some time to look around, but it was getting late. Alma is a great little town and there was quite a crowd at a little ice cream shop downtown. It was very "Small Town on a Saturday Night".

It took us 2 hours to get home, but it was so much fun! Nice to roll the windows down and meander through the Flint Hills. Brenna loved sticking her hand out the window. She said, "momma, the wind is holding my hand!" This picture pretty much sums the trip up.

CSA 5/28

2008-05-28T23:43:00.004-05:00

CSA pick up was postponed yesterday because of too much mud. They changed it to tonight and we decided to pick up in town since it was still pretty wet out.

We got black seeded simpson lettuce, spinach, a chicken and eggs. I am really excited about the chicken. I have never roasted a chicken before, so I am reading up on how to do that. I will be doing that in the next couple of days. Have lots of spinach, so I need to incoporate some of that in a recipe. I am still thinking manicotti. Just need to get a recipe for that. If you have a good one, send it to me!

Here is our share. A bit more than normal because mom is going out of town this week so she just took enough for a few days.

I am in a salad mood so I think I will be using up the lettuce pretty quickly.

Our note from the CSA told us that because of the rains, they have had some flood and our shares could possibly be light, or non at all for a couple of weeks this summer. I think that is a good lesson for the kids (and all of us) as well. In our "grocery store" culture we get used to all of the foods we want being at our total disposal. This is a lesson in that we need to be grateful for what Mother Nature has provided us and appreciate the times of good harvest! I hope that we won't lose any shares, but I am prepared for some lessons if we are.

Track meet

2008-05-28T23:03:00.014-05:00

Gavin had a track meet on Tuesday. He choose to join the Emporia Track Club this year and it has been a really good experience. The track meet had people from all over Kansas. Anyone can participate so Brenna decided she would like a try. Actually, she may have been the most enthusiastic athlete! Brenna did the long jump and 50 meter dash. Gavin did the high jump and 100 yard dash.

This gives you an idea of how BRAVE and confident Brenna was! She was at least a head shorter than her competition! But she got right up there and gave it a try! I was very proud of her.

And here she goes....

Next was the 50 meter dash.

Here is Gavin at the high jump

And the 100 yard dash.

Both the kids did well enough to get a ribbon and we were so proud of them getting out there and trying!

Yay, It's summer!

2008-05-28T22:40:00.003-05:00

Saturday we had a "Yay It's Summer" party! It was fun with good company, but not good weather! We grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and corn. (grilled corn is so good!) I made a big salad out of the red sail lettuce we had gotten at the farm. It was great! I had lots leftover so I made two big salads for myself the next day!

Afterwards we had strawberry shortcake. The kids ran around and seemed to have a good time. The adults got to visit and we played a new game.

It was a great time!

Spinach

2008-05-22T19:04:00.011-05:00

Tonight I used a new recipe that I had found to use the spinach we got in our CSA share. Spinach fritters. Seemed like an interesting and easy way to use spinach. And kid friendly. They were very much like a "spinach pancake". One of the neighborhood kids was here and said that she had never tried spinach because it was gross. So I let her try one and she said it was pretty good!

They were pretty plain and didn't have a lot of flavor. Which is a good kid thing, right?

I had no idea what to entree to make with spinach fritters, but I wanted to make chicken parmesan sometime this week. Last week I had bought some homemade bread from Amanda's Cafe and used the leftovers to make bread crumbs this weekend. I thought chicken parmesan would be a good way to use up those bread crumbs. It was the first time I had made real chicken parmesan (I have a really good not real recipe if anyone wants it!). Zack was thoroughly impressed that I had made it from scratch, so I didn't want to tell him it was pretty easy. I would like to point out that we are eating whole wheat pasta even though it doesn't look like it! (which is a good kid thing too!)

The fritters ended up being a great thing to eat with chicken parmesan since it was so saucy. We dipped the fritters in the sauce and they were a good substitue for garlic bread.

Brenna was pretty irritated when she found a spinach pancake on her plate. But she ended up saying she really liked them! Well, "except for the green parts of course" (she said with a full mouth).

Prodcue: Spinach

Recipe: Spinach Fritters

Dad: "eh"

Mom: plain on their own, but good with sauce to dip in. What do I do now with 15 leftover spinach pancakes?

Gavin: "Awesome!"

Brenna: "Good"

Spring

2008-05-21T20:21:00.016-05:00

When I see the kid's boots, I think, "spring". What a fun time of year. We get to stretch and warm our bones by the new warmth of the sun. Every warm day is such a treasure to everyone. It is the time of year between being freezing cold and burning hot! Spring means new life, Easter eggs, and green grass.

AND tromping around in the mud. We have a pretty big field in front of our house along with a couple of creeks and two ponds. This equates to lots and lots of messy play in the spring. My sister bought the kids these Croc boots and they are so wonderful! Great for snow and mud. And creekin, exploring,...etc. So we keep them handy right by the door so they can go out any time.

But, with the new heat of the summer sun, they haven't needed to use them much lately since the ground is dryer.

When I see these boots, I am reminded of the kids coming back to the house covered in mud and wet from head to toe...Gavin seeing a big black snake and sprinting all the way back to the house....splashing in the creek when it was swollen from all the rains....skipping rocks in the pond......flowering weeds picked with love and affection and brought back to mom with a proud and geniune, "I love you mommy." It is new life and the hope of a flowering blossoming year full of potential.

Maybe I have a thing with shoes?! When I was in 4th grade, I took a picure of some dirty old tennis shoes piled up to next to a cabin while I was at camp. Those shoes had been on horseback rides and adventure hikes. Archery and kumbayas, roasted marshmellows and awkward first dances. I submitted it to the fair and won 3rd place. I guess I could have called that one "Summer"!

And summer will come soon. The sun will never seem to want to set, the kids will be brown as bears, the days will be relaxed and unscheduled, fish will be caught, strawberry shortcake will be eaten and homemade ice cream will drip down our chins. Sprinklers and bubbles will fill the air along with the delighted squeals of the young ones. Corn will be eaten off the cob and toes will be painted.

But for now, I am going to enjoy these last few days of spring. And all that it means.

"Spring"

5/20 CSA

2008-05-20T19:19:00.014-05:00

Tonight was our second farm pick up. Last time I was just kicking myself the whole time that I didn't have my camera. I was so excited to bring my camera this time! Camera in car...check. New batteries in camera...check. Memory card in camera.....whoops! So I only got a few pictures....but I guess that gives us an opprotunity to post some new ones next week! We like to keep you guessing I suppose!

Chicks that are one week old

They will move to the grass when they are about 3 weeks old I believe. Farmer John says they all fall asleep at the same time until one chick will wake up and wakes up the rest of them. I could relate to that!

Here are the "layers". Chickens who lay eggs. We just missed them gathering the eggs.

Here we are walking through the garden. Scallions, radishes, lettuces and broccoli are growing here.

Hanging out with the sheep. They are set to be sheared in a few weeks and Farmer John said the kids could come out to watch.

This was our produce that we got this week. (my mom and I split a half share so this actually a quarter share). Radishes, spinach, and red sail lettuce. I also bought some eggs this week. I don't think I have ever had a radish, so it will be fun to look for different ways to use them.

Track

2008-05-19T22:33:00.007-05:00

Gavin had track tonight which is fun. Brenna runs around the track, Dad rides his bike on the trail and Mom walks with Susan. Oh yeah and Gavin does track!

Warming up.... (he has the blue shorts and grey shirt)

Running hurdles.....

In "Gavin" style!

Evening at the Lake

2008-05-18T15:41:00.017-05:00

Some friends of ours were camping and invited us out for dinner at the lake. It was a perfect evening and the kids had a great time.

About 3 min after we got out of the car:

The kids wanted to make a raft. They wrote a message on it with burnt wood in case someone ever finds it.

The kids exploring...

The raft did not take them too far

The younger kids made their own make-shift raft

Climbing trees.....

Playing with slinkies....

Walked down to the park

Campfire....

Three minutes after we get in the car....