Where Have I Been?

Wow. You can tell when my life is going 100 mph because I suddenly vacate this little bloggy space and give no inkling as to if and when I will return. Well, I'm back. And, watch out, because winter is upon us in Iowa and with extended time inside I might be back with force! I've got a lot of catching up to do!

Over the Thanksgiving week we were lucky to host my sister Emily and her husband Cory AND my parents! It was really really lovely, life-giving and, I'll admit, somewhat exhausting. But, I loved it! It was especially fun to show off our new house and have our guests stay right here with us.

In preparation for their arrival my awesome mother-in-law helped me paint my guest room, bathroom and master bedroom. I'll be updating you with pictures of those rooms. They're finally at that "I think this is pretty well done for now" stage, so I'm ready to show off some pictures. In fact, I don't think I've shown any pictures of the new house here yet, so I'll do what I can to show you some snippets here and there.

For now, though, here's a little bit of our Thanksgiving . . .

Em & Cory with Jude.
When we get together we can't help but match our clothes occasionally. Our husbands shake their heads at us, but we think it's really funny (and awesome).

I made my first turkey! This one I made on Monday for a feast at the local Boys & Girls club. I used this recipe both that day and on Thanksgiving. The turkey for Thanksgiving wasn't nearly as pretty. Luckily I had my dad on hand to carve it. I'm not sure if I could have rescued that one quite as well. Tasted good though.

Table set for 11. Emily and I had fun digging through my storage bins of home decor items to put the whole thing together the day before. It's a mash up of random stuff, but it worked!


Here's the Thanksgiving turkey after it was carved. A "before" picture just wasn't worth it.

After dinner and before dark a few of us went on a walk around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful evening!

Here's my mother-in-law, my mom, Jude and me. What fun to all be together!

And last, but not least, a darling picture of my dad and Jude. Plus, a sneak peek of the hat and coat my mom made! Yep, I said that right. She made it! You'll be amazed. More on that to come after I take a couple more pictures of it.

Feeding the Baby

A few months ago when Jude began eating solid foods I started making my own baby food at home. I was inspired originally when my sister-in-law gave me the book, Super Baby Food. I hadn't thought much about it until then, but once I started reading I loved the idea of the variety of baby food options and that making baby food at home is relatively inexpensive.

At six months we started Jude with oatmeal, apples and pears, which he still loves very much. Little by little we kept adding new things. Now there is such a list that it would bore you to death to read it all. I've been surprised with how easy it is to prepare and store these foods at home.

The other day we made a large batches of food that included pears, peaches, white potatoes, sweet potatoes and pineapple. The pineapple is pictured here. I frequently use the Super Baby Food book to look up how I should prepare the foods. The author provides really great detail on just about any food you can think of.

I should say, however, that I don't follow all of the instructions in the book. In fact there is so much detail and instruction that it's completely overwhelming. I don't even recommend the book as a whole at all.

A simpler (and free) guide I've found is www.wholesomebabyfood.com. They have a wonderful variety of lists appropriate for different ages and instructions on preparing foods. It's fabulous.

Once I steamed the pineapple I put it in my Cuisinart until chunky (since we're pretty well passed the smooth puree stage).

Then, I place it in ice cube trays to freeze. Once frozen I store it in freezer bags. And, when it comes to meal time, I warm up the right amount for each meal. Easy peasy.

One cube equals one ounce, and approximately three cubes equals one jar of baby food.

And, for those of you who need an updated picture of my little punkin, here he is. 10 months old now.

I captured that little grin on the same day I captured this little moment. It was a good day.

Halloween on Thanksgiving? Yep.

Boy oh boy has it been awhile since I've been around here. The last month got away from me somehow and I'm now forced to write about my Halloween weekend on Thanksgiving day.

I think my absence is because writing can feel exhausting for me. When I get tired or overwhelmed I choose not to write. I've been doing a bit of a transition at work and it has required lot of my brain power. I feel like I have had very few brain cells left to commit to anything much less this space. I think things are bit under control now, so here I am and here we go.

Over Halloween my Mom came into town. Oh my, was it fun to have her here! We shopped, laughed, cooked, talked, rested and took a lot of pictures of this little munchkin (how could we not?).

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch. Actually, we took three trips to the pumpkin patch and the first two trips were duds (as I made an embarrassing mistake of getting us all there when the patch was not actually open). However, when we finally made it it was worth it. We got some cute pictures. And, all of us together picked out three pumpkins - one for me, one for Jesse and a baby one for Jude.

After the trip to get our pumpkins I forced Mom to make strawberry jam with me. Strawberries not in season you say? Well, this little momma purchased some strawberries really cheap in May (before Jude was born) - was it part of my nesting? I don't know. But, I cut them all up and froze them knowing that I wouldn't be able to accomplish this task until I had a couple of months of mommyhood under my belt. So, October was time. Time for a bit of jam making.

Mmm. Mmm. Lots of mashed up strawberry goodness. I didn't follow the directions on the package exactly and that seemed to worry my rule-following mother. I must admit, I tend to be a better cook than a baker simply because my recipe-following behavior is a little free-spirited. It makes Jesse laugh when I predictably pull out of the oven a less than perfect batch of cookies. For some reason, though, I can't seem to reign in the free-spirit in the kitchen.

Look at that massive amount of sugar and pectin. Strawberry jam coming right up!

Batch one. Done.
And, here's the whole lot. Toast and jam for breakfast? Yes, please.

The next day we dressed Jude up as a dragon for Halloween. Mom and I decided he was not just any dragon, but "Puff, the magic dragon" no less.


We sang the song "Puff, the magic dragon lives by the sea . . . " all day long. And, although the costume was a bit hot for Jude he played his part well.

Roar!
He was the cutest dragon I ever did see!

Pearberry Pie

We had one of the most wonderful of all Thanksgivings here in Iowa this year. My parents and my sister and her husband came to visit, and boy did we have a good time. We ate a lot and shopped a lot! And, that is what Thanksgiving is for, right?

For our fanciful feast we were in charge of bringing the sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pie to my mother-in-law's place. I had a great time planning the menu! Here's what we brought:

Sweet potatoes - a wonderful recipe from Em. She used the recipe last year and raved about it, so I had to try it this year! Who knew that sweet potatoes could be even better with chopped pecans rather than marshmallows? It was awesome!

Mashed potatoes - an easy peasy recipe that I threw together. Kinda the basic sour-cream-mashed-potato combo that most people do.

Stuffing - an interesting recipe from Oprah. Kind of a random place to get a recipe, I know, but it's Oprah's favorite! Anyway, the orange juice in it gives it an interesting kick. The girls seemed to like it and the boys thought it was a little weird. Isn't it kinda true that men don't like citrus-y things?

Cranberry Chutney - another one of Em's winners. This sauce has pears, golden raisins and cranberries. Seriously, it's better than any cranberry sauce I've ever seen or tasted.

Pearberry Pie - this was the big risk of the evening, but it turned out to be a hit! I needed to try something that was a little "out there". Cause I'm like that . . . and . . . my mother-in-law was providing wonderful standbys like apple crisp and pumpkin pie, so I knew that if mine failed we would still be eating well. Turns out the pear and cranberry mixture is the perfect combination of "sweet" and "tart" in a pie. Did you see the crust in the picture, too? I'm getting better at my crimping. Still not a pro, but better. Here's the recipe. Thank you, Betty Crocker.

Look - see, Em and Cory are enjoying it.

And, so is Dad. He was the one that affectionately coined it "pearberry."

Here's all of us after our tummies are quite full.

For the rest of the weekend we just shopped, played and shopped some more.

Em and Mom while having lunch.

Playing on main street.

And . . . one last picture to show you that Scout was probably having the best weekend of us all. Cory and Em spoiled him like one of their own. He was quite smitten with them.

Hooked on Apple Butter

I've been thinking about apple butter for awhile . . . like months. I'm not exactly sure what prompted it, but it hasn't gone away. Maybe it started when I made the strawberry jam, I'm not sure.

Apple butter makes me think of my Grandma 'Kowski. She always had a jar of it on hand . . . as well as old fashioned donuts, tin roof sundae and butter pecan ice cream. Anyway, apple butter is one of those things that reminds me of my childhood, and I think there is a part of me that is trying to grasp those little memories so that I might carry them into the traditions of my own home.

Well, I knew canning apple butter was going to be something I would try come fall (i.e. the apples are really cheap). So, two weeks ago I picked up a couple bags of apples and I went for it. I searched www.allrecipes.com and found this recipe. Fantastic. So simple. I changed the recipe a bit . . . only used 3 pounds of apples, 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar. The rest was the same.

The only real issue is that I don't have an apple corer slicer thingy. That contraption always gives me wonderful memories of Mom. We always loved the long curly cue of apple peel that came off those apples. Yummy.

So - as a result - I cut all of the apples (at least 10 to 12) into 1/8ths and then used a paring knife to cut the peel off each slice. Wow. If that doesn't give someone arthritis at a ripe old age of 27 I don't know what will. I had to alternate between peeling and folding laundry (while watching HGTV, of course) just to get temporary relief. Took a long time.

Nevertheless, I have to admit, it was totally worth it. I made waffles the following morning and I haven't stopped eating apple butter and waffles for two weeks straight. I can't stop. Just pop a waffle into the toaster, spread it with apple butter and walk out the door. So good.

I still have one more bag of apples to core and peel so that I can make one more batch. I just can't quite get the motivation to do it. Just not yet. Maybe next weekend.

Strawberry Jam

This one starts with a new years resolution. In the last couple of years I've been trying to keep my resolutions simple so that I actually feel like I accomplished something by the end of the year. For 2009 my resolution was to . . . pick berries and make jam. I should say right now - if this is all I accomplished in a year then all of you reading this have the right to come to my house and kick my rear end. And, especially, if that's the excuse you need to visit then I will welcome it.

I started this adventure by inviting a friend of mine and her kids to join me in picking strawberries. We chose a lovely farm nearby, and of course, got lost on the way! It took us nearly an hour to get there.

Her youngest, Luke, is 18 months and especially enjoyed picking the berries and squeezing them between his fingers. I don't think my friend even attempted to get the stains out of his clothing!

The picking went quickly. But, it was a little hot outside so our time concluded with meltdowns from both kids. But, by that time our boxes were as full as we needed them to be anyway. Success.



I came home with 11 pounds of strawberries costing $1.47 per pound. I cut up one pound and divided them into sandwich bags to freeze. That way when the margarita urge comes my way I can just grab a bag from the freezer and throw it in my blender. I cut up another 1/2 pound to just put in the refrigerator to graze on.

A couple of days later I gathered some canning supplies and hoped to make jam with the rest of the berries.

There is a strawberry jam that sticks out in my memory from my childhood. I wonder if Em remembers it too? Our pastor's wife made the most wonderful jam. She used to stockpile it in the freezer and pull it out for Sunday lunches. It occurred to me that it probably wouldn't be difficult to find a similar recipe and make some of my own.

Then, serendipitously, House on Hill Road (one of my favorite blogs) posted about her strawberry jam making process. I love it when that happens. I ended up using her recipe and made 12 jars of my own.

Boy, does it have a lot of sugar in it. But, it is so good! Just in case you're at my house (you know . . . in case I'm spending far too much time on the couch and you need to kick my rear end) be sure to grab some jam on the way out the door. You'll be glad you did.

Eat Your Veggies (Part III)

Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Living, May 2008

Well, I did it. I pared down my garden shortly after I wrote the last post. Although it was difficult to start it wasn't so bad once I got in there. I had to keep reminding myself that we couldn't possibly eat all the vegetables that those plants were going to produce anyway. Eight tomato plants full of tomatoes? Not likely.

On the same day we finally were able to pull some lettuce from the garden and eat it. So exciting! It went nicely with bleu cheese burgers. (Bleu cheese purchased in Fairbault, MN with my mom!) Yum.

Eat Your Veggies (Part II)

Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Living, May 2008

This post has been a long time coming. It's almost 3 weeks overdue. I've been distracted this month with having my wonderful mother in town for a week, and a cabinet refinishing project that came along with her. (Pictures of that project coming soon.) I can't talk about that, though, until I share more about my little garden. First things first.

As of three weeks ago tomorrow all of the vegetables have been planted, a lot of the extra dirt (mentioned in the previous veggie post) has been removed and a little fence has been put into place to divert the bunnies - thanks to Jesse for encouraging me to put one in place. It would have been so like me to put in all the effort of this garden, forget the fence, and then cry when the bunnies came and ate my new veggies - he is so good at gently helping to prevent any breakdowns. So perfect for me.

Things are coming along well. I planted too many of each vegetable with the idea that I would pull out the excess plants once they have had time to sprout. I figured at that point I would be able to select the strongest plants and allow them to grow well. Now that they have been planted, though, I realize that pulling any plants out will be very sad for me. Humf. Because it's necessary I think I'll need to somehow grow a smaller/harder heart and muster up the courage to do that soon. The next post about my garden will come after I've done that. Maybe that will give me the motivation I need.

In my garden I have (from top left): pumpkins, green, yellow and orange peppers, beefsteak and grape tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, beans, watermelon, carrots and acorn squash.

I'm loving watching it grow so far . . . so fun.

All Things Red

So many fun things are happening in my gardens this year. (Update on the veggie garden is coming.) It's the first year that I have been more present to the outside of my house than the inside of it come spring. There has always been a long list of projects to accomplish in the house that I haven't had enough time to even think about our yard. This year, though, is wonderfully different. Enough things have been crossed off the list inside that I have space and time to think about the outside. I'm enjoying it.


Last fall I planted my first ever flowers! I love tulips so very much, and I saw them on sale at Wal-Mart, so I thought, "What the heck? I'll give it a try". Not knowing whether or not they would actually come up (combined with the fact that I'm extremely frugal) I didn't buy very many - hence the sparsity.


I'm delighted that I actually grew something, and they compliment our red front door so nicely.

About the same time my tulips sprung up I made my very first strawberry pie. (Nice awkward transition from tulips to pies, huh?) I was asked to bring dessert for our family Mother's Day lunch and as a result of two things: a) Jesse and I had a delicious strawberry pie with a friend about three days prior and b) strawberries were selling for only 99 cents . . . strawberry pie seemed like the right thing to bring.


I used a nice, standard Betty Crocker recipe for the crust. It turned out well. Next time I will try a new way of crimping the sides - my technique was a little elementary. Okay, embarrassingly elementary. My mom has the most beautiful way of doing it, which I will try next time.


I used this yummy recipe for the filling. It was delish!

Dinner for a Crowd

A couple of months ago I was asked to prepare a meal for the college group at church. Our church offers the students a free meal before their worship/teaching session on Sunday nights. I quickly agreed - clearly not having fully calculated the level of involvement.

My turn came around and I asked the college administrative assistant how many students I should be preparing for and she replies with . . . 175. What?! Well, I guess I knew that the college group had grown since Jesse and I had been apart of it. But, for some reason, that was at least twice as many students as I had expected. I guess I just didn't think it all the way through. Oh well, there was no turning back now.

I came up with a menu: chicken enchiladas, refried beans, chips & salsa, veggies & dip, and cookies. And, multiplied the menu to accomodate 175 people. That's a 30 lbs. of chicken and a whole heck of a lot of tortillas, refried beans and green chiles! Thankfully, between the bulk food store and Wal-Mart all of my groceries were available.

I spent a couple of hours on Saturday - with the music turned up loud - chopping vegetables.


Then, Sunday I gathered my college small group girls together to help me prepare. They rolled 250 enchiladas, made veggie dip and arranged the veggie and cookie trays. They did such a great job!




Here's the food ready to be served. (No pictures of refried beans because refried beans in bulk should never be photographed)







In the end it all went well. We ended up with about twice as many enchiladas as we needed. But, we were able to plate them up and hand them out to students as they left. The boys especially were very happy about that!

I even got this email from one of the students, "...dinner last night was superb. I heard so many people say it was one of the best so thank you so much for the time and energy you and your girls put into it. :)"

Isn't that so great?! I'm just glad it's over . . . until next time.