Eating Out...

Our front porch has become my favorite place to eat out...and I am a little sad that it has been so busy that we haven't done nearly enough of that. I like to experiment and try new recipes and soak in the fresh produce I get in the CSA and farmers market. But this summer has been a dud for me to experiment and try I just have been down and exhausted mentally and physically. But I cherish the moments when life slows down just enough and we can all have a seat and enjoy a really lovely meal...this offering was pancetta, free range eggs, farm tomato, organic lettuce and some wasabi mayo with coffee and a splash of orange juice. I feel truly rich to be sitting there with my table cloth, candles, and flowers from the garden...just watching the world pass us by!

Scenes around the house...

I was really loving the light that came in last night. The shadows and rainbows that came about from it was really amazing! I also love the way the fridge looks after co-op drops and now CSA pick ups! So full of yumminess and possibilities and fortune.... I like the fact I can feed my family healthy choices and so much variety.

This weeks CSA was huge! There was corn, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, green pepper, potatoes, onions, garlic, green, yellow, and purple beans, and hot peppers...and eggs! And to our amazement Bronwyn loves cooked cabbage!! And me I was loving the corn!!!!!!!!!!

And by the way, Bronwyn has decided she wants to collect buttons/badges so if any of you are out and about or have some from back in the day send em our way! I love the bookworm one and the graphics are so fun! I got one that has a picture of a train and says wreck!! LOL!!

Creating and CSA

So my Bronwyn has spent hours upon hours creating a purse and all the important things that one needs in said purse. She made a lap top, cell phone, make up kit, lip gloss, ipod with ear buds (see top photo), money, credit cards...and the purse itself. I was amazed at all her thought and detail. She even made Ella her own set of everything. She also made a cereal box tv and made some cards for the different channels we can watch. I love days she finds her creative outlet and holes herself away from us to let it roll!!

CSA this week was huge! There were potatoes, tiny little carrots, more squash, cucumber, green and yellow beans, onions, a hot pepper, eggs, and turnips!!! So I have to find time to get some of it put away! We couldn't hope to get through all this in a week! Also if you have any really great squash recipes please pass them our way! We made a really great squash and potato torte last week compliments of http://www.smittenkitchen.com. It was fantastic and would compliment many other dishes. But we have a lot of squash at the moment so more please!!

The last photo is our little tomato harvest. We have had just a few more before this but this is our biggest haul so far! I love getting veggies from our garden no matter how small and urban it may be!

Well tomorrow night is the memorial service for my friend's son. I would rather take a stick in the eye than go but really need to be there for her. Fortunately our friend will watch the girls so I do not have to go alone...thanks Margaret!! Sigh....

Another week...

I managed to get a two day weekend which was packed with things... I got to pick blueberries with a friend, still not put up yet but picked!, I got to go out with my book club and friends and see Mama Mia which if you haven't made it there yet is totally worth the time and even better if you can find a full theater to view it in! I also seemed to cram in an impromptu kitchen dance party which if I did more often would mean my joints would hate me so very much less than they still do today!!!!!!!! We also spent Friday finishing off camps. Bronwyn's was called the village and they were responsible for building their shops and people and everything from things they found or could barter for. And by the time I had made the requested spaghetti and meatball dinner for my campers I was bone tired!!!!!! Also I picked up the CSA this week, which was beets, broccoli, green and yellow beans, lettuce, squash (a lot of squash) and zuchinni...so it is getting better because that was my share after it was split with my csa partner! Oh and eggs as well! So now I head back in to work for our busiest week ever and least staffed week in the history of our busiest week ever and try not to be disgruntled and sour and mean and try to survive....sigh...the end of my last two day weekend for a few weeks....roll on retirement!!!!

Greens, Greens, and uh Greens!!

Top photo is today's CSA bounty...I am going to get good at my greens before this is over! Today we got collards, chard, spinach, leaf lettuce, kohlrabi, a few pea pods, and some broccoli. I have been surfing through veg web and have found some really great sounding recipes for the chard. One is Tuscan beans and chard which really sounds good to me today, not entirely sure why but it really does. (Plus I have a bean loving friend coming later so she might enjoy some with me!) I have finally felt like cooking and playing in the kitchen again. That used to be one of my favorite things to do on a "weekend" but for some reason I let work beat it out of me! Yesterday, I made loaves of lemon tea bread, two loaves of hand made white bread, a loaf of cottage dill bread (machine) I also did some lemony herb chicken some cheesy potatoes and some garlic and herb wheat noodles. I was on a lemon kick yesterday and was really happy to be herbing everything up with stuff from my yard!!! So here are two bread recipes for those interested...

Lemon Tea Bread

3/4 cup milk 1 Tblsp fine chopped lemon balm

1 tblsp fine chopped lemon thyme

1 tblsp grated lemon peel

2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt 6 tblsp butter

1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup and it is lovely) 2 eggs

Cream butter and sugar and eggs and beat well.

Add dry ingredients and milk. Mix till just blended

Bake at 350 for 50 min.

Glaze: To the juice of 2 fresh lemons (I only had one and it was plenty) mix in just enough confectioners sugar to make a glaze consistency Pour over tea bread while it is still hot from oven.

Cottage Dill Bread

Put these in your machine according to your machine directions

1/2 cup lukewarm water

3/4 cup cottage cheese

1 tsp. salt

2 tblsp sugar

2 tblsp marg. or butter softened

3 1/4 cup flour

1 tblsp dry milk (if I do not have I leave this out with no noticeable effects)

1 tblsp dry minced onion

1 tblsp dill seed ( I used several sprigs of fresh dill from the garden)

1 1/4 tsp yeast

Use Setting 2

Other photos, 2nd is Artist Gwen Frostic's shop/printers. They print her hand carved designs onto all sorts of things and are so inexpensive! The shop itself is something to behold and has many trails behind! All her work was based in nature and is really nice. They maintain a website where you can order online and read about her!

3rd is the Pt. Betsie lighthouse. We were able to tour it and walk to the top for a fantastic view of Lake Michigan. Interesting stories and nice work in progress on it's restoration and very inexpensive to tour I think it was 6 dollars for two adults and two children. The beach nearby is great for rock hounds!!!

The last is our self portrait at Frankfort with another smaller lighthouse in the background. Another fantastic beach on Lake Michigan. More photos of the trip to come we still haven't gotten to show you the Drive in!!!

CSA

We finally got some goodies from our CSA...the season is just behind here in Michigan. Not that I was impatient or anything! But the CSA will keep us up on our veggies and trying new eats!! Tonight the haul was slim...a basket full of turnip greens and what I think may be mustard greens though I am not sure, some lettuces and the brightest red radishes I have ever seen (oh and do they pack a punch!!) and should I forget eggs!! So tonight I pulled out my big book of everything veg and surfed my very favorite vegweb.com to find what exactly to do with greens...and I kind of threw together some butter, olive oil and onions in a pan heated those, cleaned my turnip greens, threw in some vegetarian bacon bits, and the greens in the heated oil, and some salt and pepper and I must say it was really quite tasty!! I think I might just get why people crave greens!!! So next week I go do the pick up and see what we get in our basket next week!! So go on and have some greens they really are good!!