Balance!

Have you ever felt like it might be better just to erase it all and start over...well, me too.  At least as far as blogging goes.  I'm not planning to erase this blog, but I'm thinking of ending it here and starting again.  Yes, my life has become more simplified, but at a cost to other parts of my life.  I've had to re-evaluate and think about what I'm really striving for here.
Most people see me as a granola mom who tries to keep the kids playing outside and the food in the house wholesome and organic.  Other people will say they never see my without my big pink cup of coffee (preferably from Starbucks or Holland Farms!) in one hand and my iphone in the other.
I sent my kindergartener to school with specially packed lunches for months and then, suddenly realized that for only $2 a day, she could learn to make her own choices and eat more variety.  I spend lots of time trying to instill in my girls the value of reduce, reuse, recycle, and then I plop them in front of the TV so I can play on facebook.
I love to garden, and I love to cook.  Due to lack of time, though, I find that most of the time I'd rather order out.  And the lure of pre-chopped veggies is sometimes more than I can resist to the ones I have to harvest, wash, and prepare (although, the taste is usually second rate).
I'd love to say I walk everywhere within a mile of my house, but I'm usually packing the kids in the SUV just to drive down the hill a block to my parent's house.  I preach that kids are overscheduled these days, but I overschedule myself to the very limits of my capability.
So, I've decided.  What I need for 2011 is not more simplification, it's BALANCE.  So what if I'm gardening with the help of an iphone app.  Who cares if my daughter orders lunch at school when she's in love with fresh fruit?  My youngest eats a diet that consists mostly of salad and candy.  Both my daughters know how to express themselves artistically and they know almost all the words to the Glee Christmas special.
The one thing I want to express here is my true self.  So, as soon as I've come up with a new blog name, feel free to join me...you may see me contradict myself, but you'll always get one thing...the truth!

Winter Squash Risotto

This recipe I made last night was adapted from the Winter Squash Risotto with Seared Radicchio from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors (one of my go-to-cookbooks for seasonal recipes.)  Her version used seared radicchio, but I had none on hand.  I used fresh sage (which is still tasty after I unearthed it from the blanket of snow covering my garden) and a small handful of pancetta to make it a one dish meal.

6 cups chicken stock
1 cup cooked winter squash
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/3 cup diced pancetta (optional)
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for garnishing

1.  Heat the stock and simmer on the stovetop before beginning the risotto.  Melt the butter in a seperate large stockpot.  Add the onion and cook over medium heat until wilted and golden in color, about 5 minutes.  Add the rice, stir to coat and cook for 1 minute.  Turn the heat to high and add 2 cups of the simmering stock.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  When all the liquid is absorbed, begin adding 1/2 cup of stock at a time, stirring constantly.  Once you've added 4 cups of the stock, stir in the squash, sage, and pancetta.  Continue cooking, stirring, and adding liquid until the rice is tender and the sauce is creamy.

2.  When the rice is done, add the Gruyere cheese and stir until melted in.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in large pasta bowls with fresh grated Parmesan cheese on top.

The lean, green cleaning machine

So, after my last post, I decided it was time to switch the focus of my efforts.  The weather is not cooperating much for outdoor garden work anymore, and the veggies coming in are storable in their original form (winter squash, potatoes, carrots, garlic) or ready to be eaten right away (cold weather greens).  Unfortunately, my dancing girls keep me hopping to dance practice several nights a week, so my time to get organized is still minimal.  So, I talked it over with my super fabulous boss (hi, Deb!) and set aside this weekend as an extra long weekend away from work.  Today is spent with family, being thankful for what I have.  Tomorrow, my oldest daughter's birthday, will be a mixture of family and planning.  Then, for the next 4 days, I have non-stop plans to declutter, organize, and clean.  I want this house whipped into shape before I head back to work on Wednesday.  I want to come home and have a space to relax in that isn't strewn with endless amounts of papers, unopened books, and little tiny pieces of toys.  I want LESS STUFF!  Really.  Of course, the buyer in me still read all the black Friday ads.  I decided that the only things worth getting were the storage tubs, so that must really mean I'm ready to do this!  (And, no, I will not be at Walmart at 3am for a storage tub...not even if it is less than half price!)
So, with a bottle of all natural cleaning spray and a few empty boxes under my arm, I'm off to see what I can free myself of this weekend!
(P.S. If you have any mad cleaning or organization skills, feel free to give me a call!  I can use all the help I can get!)

Being simple is not always simple

I haven't posted anything in over a month, and it's not that I've deviated from my path.  I just became overwhelmed and a little disillusioned by what my daily life had become.  My passions are the same.  I strive to feed my family on pure, whole foods.  I still maintain a large garden (two actually) where I produce bowls of salad and fresh veggies every day.  Those foods that I don't grow myself, meat, eggs and dairy, I find from local sources so I know the farmers that produce them and the standards from which they came.  My problem is that I have a serious lack of time in which to do anything with these glorious foods.  I love the gardening season in which I dig my hands into the rich earth, seed my heirloom veggies and watch the grow.  I love the early stages of the harvest from late spring to mid summer, when I base our meals on what is ready for harvest in the garden. I started getting more than a little overwhelmed this fall when I had a massive bounty in both my backyard and from the farmers in the area.  I just couldn't pass up the veggies that were arriving and I had plans to fill my deep freeze with bags of flash frozen veggies for use all winter.
There were a few weekend that I did nothing but stand in the kitchen all weekend and wash, chop, and blanch vegetables all day.  I made sauce, I prepared salsa, and we ate many fresh from the garden meals.  The only problem is, this is my side venture.  I still have to work Monday through Friday from sun up to dinner time.  The only time I have to do all this work is on those precious weekend days.  When I started this endeavor, I worked night shift 12 hours.  I had 3-4 days off each week to spend doing these tasks that can take up large chunks of time.  Now I have a few hours.
I am still glad I did what I did.  We have veggies to last for months.  Everything is healthy...grown locally, preserved with no added ingredients, and without pesticides or hormones.  We will continue to eat well for many months while snow blankets our upstate NY land.  Sadly, though, I feel that it came with a price.  Not monetary, in fact we saved a great deal of money this summer.  But, I feel that I missed a lot of time I could have spent with my family.  My oldest one morning asked me why I liked cooking better than her.  That was the last weekend I spent in the kitchen all weekend.
So, the challenge this winter is to figure out how to make a compromise.  It's fine to say you want to live a simple life, but when it makes life more challenging at the same time, is it worth it?  I'm not willing to give up my lifestyle principles of less stuff (which, if you saw my home you would know is my biggest hurdle to a more simple life) and more local support.  I'm also not willing to give up my job to be home more (my job requires the hours that I work and I'm lucky to have a job that I really really enjoy...even on those tough days).  So, how do I blend the two and not lose my mind or the time I have to spend with my family?  I have my mental work cut out for me this winter while I figure that out.  In the meantime, I'm going outside to enjoy the sunshine and then find one of those yummy bags of produce to heat up for dinner!

Fall Harvest Lasagna

I've been waiting all year for this glorious fall season to arrive.  Summer is great with it's bounty of veggies, but the ones I really like wait until fall to be seasonably ready.  Fresh, crisp apples and pears top my list of go-to-snack foods.  I also love the rich flavor of the hefty 3 pound tomatoes that aren't ripe until fall in my part of the world.  My onions have reached a flavor that infuses every dish with a spicy sweetness, and garlic is abounding from all sources.  I have already received 11 varieties of garlic this early fall from farmers in the area.  Each variety has a different flavor to enjoy.  My absolute favorite fall veggies, though, are the squash.  I love butternut, acorn, and pumpkin, which are the usual ones.  I also love banana, delicata, carnival, and sweet dumpling.  I love pumpkin soup, butternut squash ravioli, and acorn squash cassoulet simmered all afternoon over a low heat.  

Tonight, I satisfied my craving with a hearty fall veggie lasagna.  I used a recipe from Keith Snow, author of Harvest Eating Cookbook.  It's not for the weak cook, as it requires a lot of steaming, slicing, dicing and shredding and a homemade white sauce that is heavenly to taste.  But, since I love to cook, this recipe is one of my fall favorites.  It has lasagna noodles layered with steamed kale (another favorite of mine), thin sweet potato slices, leeks, garlic, and onion.  Layer that with the cream sauce, fresh mozzarella, and some grated Gruyere cheese and you've got ooey-gooey deliciousness!  Alayna happily munched through most of her bowl.  Jeremy ate all but a few bites of kale (really, I just don't understand how anyone can not love kale like I do!?).  I happily ate those last few bites for him.  Kira plowed through all the noodles and sighed happily with each bite.  She isn't the biggest veggie fan, but she had no trouble with the sweet potato and kale tossed with cheese!  I had an extra large helping, making up for my delicious, yet not hearty salad I had for lunch.

If you want a GREAT resource for local, seasonal food recipes, I highly recommend getting this book.  I use it more than all the rest, and it even highlights the season with symbols for each recipe (just in case you are new to the seasonal food plan).  

Here's the video for the recipe, and I'll try to highlight more fall recipes to come!

http://www.harvesteating.com/2010/01/harvest-eating-fall-winter-lasagna/

Reflections on a dream

This is going to be a little off topic for me, but nonetheless interesting for a glimpse into your own lifestyle.  I think it fits into the goals of my simple little blog quite well.  I'm going to veer away from the foodie aspect of simple lifestyle and into a side of life that is often controversial, yet the most important part to think about.  Dealing with children.  Don't worry...I'm not going to get into the natural vs. traditional discussion.  I'm also not going to tout the benefits of homeschooling over sending children off to school or vice versa (I can see benefits to both, if you are curious!).  I just want to reflect on the factors that might motivate or discourage a child, and how this lasts a lifetime.
Today, I spent my morning in a Youth Consortium sponsored by our local perinatal network.  I went into the meeting thinking I would be learning how to talk to teens and make them more aware of their need for health care.  I came away with a whole lot more.  The leader of the group this morning gave us teaching tools, motivational keys, and gave us a lot of opportunity to reflect on ourselves.  Why this in a discussion about teens?  If you don't know your own culture, and you don't look past it to a teen culture, how can you relate to them in a meaningful way?  True in all generation gaps, don't you think?
The most interesting thing I left with was a glimpse into why I am the way I am and how I got to be this way.  Interestingly, as I focus in my career on motivating others, I find myself often discouraged by the lack of desire for change and low levels of passion in people.  I am easily motivated.  I am excited by change, and I love to learn new things and apply them to my life and my work.  I just didn't understand why everyone else didn't have the same fire.
The question put forth to the large group was this: "think of an adult in your life whom you felt disrespected you and how it made you feel."  Ok.  For most everyone in the group, discussions were still filled with the frustrations of the past.  But, as I sat there racking my brain, I couldn't come up with anything.  Was my life filled with nothing but positive adventures?  No.  Did I ever feel disrespected?  Probably.  Did this shape the way I am today.  Most likely.  But, when I looked back on my teen years, I had a different picture from most of the adults in the room.
After sitting and listening to the discussions, I felt lucky.  I can't recall any moments where my dreams were squashed.  I don't remember anyone ever telling me that I wasn't good enough, or that something "just wasn't in the cards" for me.  I was never told that I couldn't do something I wanted to do (aside from the usual random teenage requests).  In fact, I always felt that no matter what I wanted to do, I would be supported.
Interestingly, this led me to be a very well-rounded person.  I never felt I had to choose between my art classes and my honors classes at school.  Even my peers were respectful of my choice to be a part of both "crowds".  My teachers were all good at letting students learn in their own way, and I was thankful to be a part of a school system that included multiple languages, art, music, various physical education opportunities, and a slew of the typical classes at a variety of levels.  I even took a course in interior decorating in high school, and my phys ed requirement was satisfied with a non-typical aerobics class.
Yet, nearly everyone else in the room this morning had a different story.  Each person that spoke had a story about an adult in their life who had, at one time, told them they were not good at something.  Many of these adults were deeply scarred.  Some grew to hate the thing they were told not to do.  Others were resentful of someone else taking their dreams away.  Still others find that they are not able to try new things as easily today.
You can ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I am a woman of many hobbies.  I like to dabble in this and that and really find what I like to do.  I love to garden, I like to cook, and you will rarely find me without a book to read.  I am passionate about the production and use of local foods.  I have knowledge, skill, and motivation to help the pregnant woman and her family.  I knit, I sew, and I scrapbook.  I am not afraid to join a new group or connect with others that have common interests.  As a result, I have many passions.  I have lots of goals and dreams, and I never feel held back from my dreams.  I was always told to reach for the stars, and there was always another galaxy out there if I wanted to try something new.
Why am I including this in a blog about simple life?  Simple.  I want my children, my husband, and my friends and family to feel the same way I do.  No one should tell you not to go for your goals and dreams.  Everyone should have passion for life.  Work toward a common goal with those people you connect with.  Be the person who gives someone else a boost.  Help pick someone up who has taken a fall and help them find another way to climb to the top.  Most important: don't ever squash someone else's dreams.  Watch over your children and let them discover for themselves who they are and then help them find ways to make and reach their goals.
My parents supported me when I wanted to be an artist just as much as they supported me when I wanted to be a nurse (and all the other dreams in between).  I was never told "you can't do that" or that I should focus my energy on something else in my life.  It was always "if you really want it, you can find a way."
Take a look back at your own life first.  Can you list 3 things you are passionate about?  Can you name 3 topics you have knowledge in?  What are 3 skills that you have?  Do you have at least 3 distinct groups or connections in your life?  If you can't complete this, then it's time to start with yourself first.  Then, think about how the other people around you might stand to gain for your motivating them with the answers they might have.  Truly, someone who is living their passion, using the knowledge they have with the skills they obtain and utilizing the connections they have is living a simple (and happy!) life.

A blip in the blog

Of course, right as I started blogging my local food week, my laptop decided to take a long nap.  I am pretty sure it won't be waking up again, but I'm stealing a quick moment on a borrowed computer to type a note.
I'll try to fill you in more completely on the week later, but for now, you should know that it wasn't perfect.  But, it did teach me a lot about what I'm actually striving for when I'm living as a locavore.
First, I didn't find the challenge to be too difficult.  After all, I already try to eat local most of the time and I have lots of good connections and sources.  But, the "all" local restriction was...well, a bit restricting.  I didn't mind the no eating out.  I didn't mind the meat, veggies, fruit, and grain coming from local sources.  I didn't mind substituting local ingredients for other ingredients that can be locally sourced. But, when faced with recipes for foods that just can't be turned all local, I felt discouraged.  I discovered the following about myself:

1.  I will eat only local when local is available.  Luckily, I live in an area where I can get local fruits, veggies, grains, maple syrup, honey, meat, cheese, milk and more.  But, if I really want certain ingredients, like sugar, olive oil, or peanuts, I have to look a little furthur away.  But, by limiting myself to only those ingredients, I am drastically reducing my carbon footprint.

2.  If I know I will want non-seasonal ingredients for ingredients I can find at some point in the year, I will learn to preserve them.  I have filled an entire deep freeze to the brim with veggies and fruit to enjoy all year long.  Luckily, I don't have to store local meats, as I can get them year round from local farmers and the foodshed buying club.

3.  If I can't find a local ingredient within 100 miles, I will search out 250 miles.  If I still can't find it, I try to source it from the New England region and keep my search within 500-600 miles.  I get fresh frozen seafood from Maine, organic real butter from Maine, and some of the fruits that are grown more easily in the slightly more Southern state of PA.

4.  If faced with a local, non organic ingredient and a slightly further away organic source, I will take efforts to decide which choice is more ethically and environmentally responsible.  For example: I can get local butter here from many sources, but I can't get organic local butter without taking a long drive to a far-reaching local source.  I choose not to use the energy in my car just to get a small package of butter.  I also choose to use butter from cows raised on grass and given a better life.

5.  I choose to use the freshest ingredients in the growing season and preserved ingredients when those are not available.  I eat yogurt with fruit and granola almost every day. During the summer, that fruit is whatever is in season: strawberries in June, blueberries in July, and peaches in August.  I switch to eating frozen berries when those are not available and eat fresh apples as a mid-afternoon snack.

6.  When buying products like pasta, bagels, and bread, I look first to those who use local ingredients.  When not possible, I at least use producers that are local or family owned businesses.  I mostly make my own bread, but sometimes I buy specialty bread from Rosemont Inn, and I love the bagels from Bagel Grove.  Pasta can also be found from local producers.

So, there are my rules.  I will continue to live by them.  I will let you know how well my week went and what I fell down on in the next blog!

A Day in my Tiny Kitchen

What to do with 14 pounds of heirloom tomatoes (that's in addition to my own harvest of about 5-6 beauties)?  Chop them up, cook them down, and turn them into all kids of goodies!  This fabulous box of ripe tomatoes made one heaping bowl of super-spicy salsa for Jeremy to eat, a half gallon of heirloom tomato and garlic pasta sauce with basil, 2 quarts of my tomato soup base, and enough tomatoes left over for a yummy BLT tomorrow. If you've never made your own pasta sauce, you really should give it a try.  Once the ingredients are in the pot, just simmer it down until it is thick, cool it down, and bag it up for the freezer.  I chose not to can my sauce, because of the unknown acidity in heirlooms and my newness to the craft.  I find it easy to thaw a bag of sauce anyway.  Although, my deep freeze is almost full to the brim...but more on that later.

My salsa is pretty basic: seed and squeeze out the juice from several ripe tomatoes, add chopped jalapeno to taste, a few cloves of garlic, a splash of lime juice to preserve the color, a small handful of chopped cilantro and a dash of kosher salt.

My pasta sauce is just a heaping pot of peeled and seeded tomatoes cooked with some garlic and onions.  Once enough liquid cooks off, I add some fresh basil, a little salt, fresh ground black pepper, and let it cool  I already had dinner planned tonight, so this batch is in the freezer.
I used all colors in the sauce today, so it looks a little funny in the picture, but it was quite tasty!

My tomato soup is one of my favorite summer recipes.  I take 4 large tomatoes (I especially like yellow and red in this soup) and simmer them with 4 cups of tomato juice.  Today, with all the tomato processing I was doing, I collected enough juice for 2 batches of this soup. No more canned tomato juice for me!  When it has simmer about 30 minutes, I cool it and put in (in batches) in my blender with about 1/4 cup of fresh basil.  When I'm ready to eat it, I heat it back up with about a cup of milk and about 4 ounces of cream cheese, some salt and pepper to taste.  BEST SOUP EVER!!!  I loooooooove this soup with a toasty grilled cheese sandwich on homemade bread.  Now that's a local meal to die for!

While all the tomatoes were simmering, I also managed to bake a loaf of my homemade wheat bread (yes, all local ingredients down to the flour!).  The smell of homemade bread is one of my favorite things.  And then, since the oven was warmed up and the air outside was cool, I baked 2 of the sugar pie pumpkins I picked up at the Rome farmer's market last week.  The pumpkins gave me about 6 cups of pumpkin puree, which I packaged up for later use.  Then, I took the seeds and sprinkled them with a little kosher salt, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and olive oil.  Then into a 250 degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Oh, so delicious!  And now my house smells like fall!

Of course, even though I spent most of my day in the kitchen, I still wanted to put a local meal on the dinner table!  I had 2 bunches of fresh kale on hand, and decided that kale and potato soup would really fit the day!  I heated up a little oil and sauted a few cloves of garlic and some onions until they were soft.  Then I added a quart or so of chicken broth (lucky for me, I had a quart bag full from the last roast chicken I made!) until boiling.  Added to that 6 medium potatoes from my garden harvest in August, peeled and diced.  I let that simmer until the potatoes were soft (about 25 minutes).  Then I added 1/2 pound of hot sausage (mine was from Sweet Grass Farms) that I precooked in a skillet.  Finally, I wilted in about 5 cups of fresh kale and let the whole thing simmer for about 15 minutes more.  Delish!  Just the right mixture of comfort and spice.  Jeremy got up to get a second and then a third helping and Alayna was seen drinking the last drops out of her bowl!  Kira (not a big fan of anything green) ate all but the kale, but at least made a good effort.  This would have been even more fabulous with a crusty loaf, but I didn't have one on hand.

So, I decided this would be my first local food day after all.  I may have to have a cheat meal or two thrown in to avoid conflict at a couple of gatherings, but I've decided that I can still spread the word without being a rude guest!
Here's what I ate today:
Breakfast: blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, milk
Lunch: fresh edamame, leftover pasta with broccoli, garlic, and tomatoes, slice of homemade bread with local honey, cider
Snack: pumpkin seeds and a little cheese
Dinner: kale and potato soup, local wine
Dessert: pears sliced thin and poached in apple cider and maple syrup!
I don't feel restricted at all by a day like this!  Hopefully I can continue the week with such luck!

Wild Cards...what would you choose?

Although I hated to send Kira off to school today without a mommy-made lunch, she had a great learning experience going through the lunch line and made the choice of an apple as her side dish!  Make mommy proud, honey!
While we are talking about choices, I've been prepping myself for my week-long local food challenge.  I was hoping to start this weekend, but with a weekend breakfast gathering and my 8th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, I'm opting to start next week.  Hopefully bypassing the first week of evening dance class shuttle will keep me better on track, too.
This week, I made a goal of myself to see what items I was having the most trouble replacing with local foods.  According to the challenge, you can have 5 wild cards to use within reason.  It wasn't too hard for me to see what mine would be after the week: coffee (I do use fair trade coffee), Parmesan cheese, nuts, olive oil and butter.  I had really hoped to have mozzarella cheese as my 5th, but I had trouble with the butter.  I'm not the only one, either.  My friend who is writing the blog for the local paper was also challenged by this.  I had a few scounts out and about, and no one could find a good, easily accessible and also organic butter.  Yes, there is a (by definition) local farm that could have possibly been a source, but the amount of travel required didn't justify the purpose of buying local foods to me.  So, off with the mozzarella and on with the butter.  Also, I am allowing myself locally made pasta, even if I can't source the ingredients.
If you can leave me a comment here or on my FB page, I'd love to hear what items YOU would choose as wold cards.  Remember, spices don't count (they are freebies!) as the cost to transport is minimal.  Most people I've talked to are choosing things like chocolate (I like chocolate, but I'll be just fine for a week!), coffee (a must for me!), citrus fruits, and sugar.  I use small amounts of citrus in cooking, but at the amount I use, I call it a flavoring and lump it with spices.  And if you want to know how I'll manage without sugar, you should know that I haven't used any sugar in cooking or baking in the past several months.  I go through honey by the pint and maple syrup by the half-gallon, but one small bag of sugar lasts forever in my pantry now.  What about my coffee?  If you haven't ever sweetened coffee with maple syrup, you should really give it a try!
Honestly, I won't be making too many changes, although every day I manage to sneak a few non-local goodies onto my plate.  This challenge is really helping me see how much we take our foods for granted.  But, I am finding that I can still eat great food and have the variety that my family and I enjoy.
For example, I cooked scrumptious new pasta dish tonight full of veggies, but with a twist. I won't take the credit for this fabulous dinner.  I got the recipe from our CSA farmer, Nancy Grove on our newsletter this week.  Farfalle with Gorgonzola, Broccoli, and Cherry Tomatoes.  I don't know what 5 items you would choose if you had to eat only local foods with the exception of 5 wild cards, but pasta tops my list.  Although I usually buy locally made pasta, I haven't tracked the source of the ingredients.  I took a pound of cooked farfalle tonight and tossed it with 4 cloves fresh minced garlic, 2 cups lightly steamed broccoli, and 1 cup mixed cherry tomatoes.  Top that and toss with a slowly heated blend of 1 cup milk and/or cream (I used half of each) and 1 cup of gorgonzola cheese.  I used some kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and topped with sprinkles of fresh grated Parmesan cheese (another of my wild cards...I LOVE Parmesan cheese!).  Everyone loved it and again had second helpings!  :)  My only cheat here was the gorgonzola (although I am sure any semi soft cheese would be delish, I had gorgonzola on hand).  It was super fast to assemble, and all the veggies came from my garden or from Old Path and Walking Clover Farms.  Mmmmmmmm!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave me your wild cards if you can!

Holy Heaping Vegetables!

This is my Old Path Farm pick-up day.  We head right to the farm after work to get our surprise gathering of vegetables.  Today, I was less than enthused.  It is chilly here and rainy, too.  Spending my afternoon in my warm house sounded better than traipsing through a field to pick beans.
However, sometimes the gloomiest of conditions bring to us the most glorious goodies.  I left the farm with my usual array of canning tomatoes, a pint of cherry tomatoes, a few beets, two huge onions, and some broccoli, but add to that 3 of the biggest fat heirloom tomatoes and some delightful golden beets and I was happy.  And that wasn't the end.  There are also often "help yourself" veggies at the end.  These are often "seconds" or slightly blemished goods.  Today, though, I walked off with an extra fennel bulb and a bag full of mixed braising greens.  And there were also my new favorite vegetable...roma beans.  These were a u-pick item left on the vines and picked by the consumer.  Top all that with several large cuttings of edamame that we are to harvest ourselves at home.
Of course, thinking that the veggies were going to start coming in a little slim, I had stopped at an orchard on the way home.  Here, I grabbed a dozen ears of sweet corn, a large bag of paste tomatoes, apples, peaches, some dried fruit, and two pints of sweet raspberries.
Don't forget I also have a garden in my backyard that is starting to thin out, but still hands over a pint of cherry tomatoes a day, hot and sweet peppers, cucumbers, carrots, onions, winter squash, pattypans, and white heirloom pole beans.
Oh, and my foodshed pickup is tomorrow afternoon.  I ordered a 5 pound bag of mixed onions, a bunch of red russian kale, pingtung long eggplant, 1 pound of chesnok garlic, an heirloom zucchini, French heirloom green beans, and 14 pounds of heirloom tomatoes for canning.
I'm also staring at 3 sugar pie pumpkins waiting to be cooked into puree on my kitchen desk.
Did I mention I have a tiny kitchen?  :)
Luckily, I share my CSA share with my parents, but it was still a trunk load of food!  Tonight I was at least able to preserve most of the farm vegetables.  I blanched and froze the corn, Roma beans, and mixed greens.  I harvested the edamame for blanching tomorrow.  I blanched and slipped the skins of the paste tomatoes before I chopped and froze them.  Then I poured out most of the rasberries into a single layer for a quick freeze.  I wrapped and chilled most everything else.  Lots of salsa will be eaten at our house this weekend, and I'll be trying to can tomato sauce for the first time.  (I'm running out of freezer space!)
On top of that, I did have time to make a home cooked mostly local dinner tonight.  For those foodies looking for local ideas, here is what I made:

Stir fry beef and Vegetables
I chopped up Sunnybrook Farm's minute steaks and stir fried them in some olive oil and crushed garlic.  Then, I added chopped mixed color sweet peppers and an onion.  After they softened, I added a head of heirloom broccoli florets and two heads of bok choi.  I did season it with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and some ginger, but as flavorings, they are wild cards!  My one downfall is that I served it with rice and a few cashews sprinkled on top.  Both my kids ate their bowls and Alayna asked for more!  Jeremy loved it, too!  This meal was so yummy and I'll be eating the leftovers over pasta noodles this weekend!

Lunch Kebabs

This one was a little too time consuming for the normal morning rush.  Luckily I got up really early and had a few minutes to spare.  I took extra skinny straws and cut them to make skewers that wouldn't injure and harmless kindergarteners.  Threaded them with cherry tomatoes, small rolls of ham, cubes of mozzarella cheese, cooked tortellini, and served with watermelon chunks.  I put in a side of ranch for dipping, but Kira said "mom, it was so yummy, I didn't even need the dip!"  Another lunchbox returned empty!  Yay!
Oh, and I'm taking a break tomorrow.  Kira heard it was pizza day at school!

Veggie Overload!!!

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• 
  
• Dinner tonight...lots and lots of veggies!  Used up a good portion of the past few days tomatoes for the sauce!  It takes lots of tomatoes to make a little sauce!  
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• 1 large pattypan squash, sliced thin and steamed until tender
• 3 eggplants, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups bread crumbs
• 6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided ( made my own with whole, peeled tomatoes...see below!)
• 1 (8 ounce) ball fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
• fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• fresh basil, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.  Bake in preheated oven for 5-10 minutes.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of steamed squash slices in the sauce.  Top with Italian sausage and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.  Then layer on eggplant slices, more sauce and a sprinkle of basil. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and more Parmesan cheeses. 
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Serve over hot fresh pasta...

All I do to make yummy, fresh tasting pasta sauce is peel garden fresh tomatoes, squeeze the extra water and seeds out and heat them until mushy.  Add some fresh herbs (whatever I have on hand...tonight was thyme, rosemary, basil, and oregano with a touch of parsley.  I ALWAYS add chopped onion and spicy garlic.  Then simmer on the stove until thickened.  A sprinkle of kosher salt, a crank or two of the pepper mill and it's done!  

***TIP***  ***TIP***  To quick peel tomatoes with no mess: Boil a large pot of water.  When boiling, drop the tomatoes in and blanch for 45-90 seconds.  IMMEDIATELY remove from the boiling water and plunge into a bowl of ice water.  The skins then slip right off.  Use this tip to peel peaches, too!!!

Second day of fun lunches!

I hear I have a few followers just to peek in at my lunches, so here's day 2!  I toasted some organic mini-waffles and layered them with homemade strawberry jam and natural peanut butter.  They made cute little sandwiches!  I gave each girl 2 of them and then added a small cup of granola, raisins, and cinnamon chex.  Add a piece of fruit (pear for Kira and an apple for Alayna) and a bottle of milk and call it lunch!  Kira loved it and Alayna ate all but half her apple!  Success (and it really only took 5 minutes to assemble!)
I can't get the picture to post right side up...sorry!

Love you lunch

Speaking of creative...I managed to dish out a healthy and fun to look at lunch for Kira today.  She requested a ham and cheese sandwich with apple slices.  I grabbed one piece of white bread and one piece of wheat bread and cut heart shapes out of each and swapped them.  So easy!  Layered with ham and local cheese.  I filled a reusable silicone heart cupcake baker with local new crop apple slices (dip them in lemon juice to prevent browning).  Filled in the spaces with grapes and multi-colored cherry tomatoes (which she reported back that all the kids wanted to try!).  I included some cake chunks and a drink, too.
I just hope that tomorrow, when I actually have to get up and go to work before she wakes up that I can manage to get a creative meal ready to go!

Breakfast of Champions

I have to admit that I was really excited about the locavore food challenge because I wanted to learn more about what other locavores eat.  I was hoping to see variety and creative cooking.  I was hoping for ideas that would appeal to my whole family!  However, what I have been seeing is that a lot of people who eat local foods tend to eat the same things over and over again.  Well, I am here to tell you that while I eat a primarily local diet, I enjoy a HUGE variety of foods.  My CSA box really helps with this, as I don't  know what I am getting week to week and get to try many new vegetables.  Nancy is great at adding tips for cooking, too.  In addition, I grow a lot of heirloom varieties that can't be found in typical garden stores.  Top that with local farmers markets and I've got vegetables galore.  With that said, I am most definately not a vegetarian!  All my meat comes from local farmers, with the exception of the seafood I get from Maine.  And I also do not shun bread.  I LOVE my bread.  I bake fresh bread with flour from Cayuga Organics.  I also can't get enough of the pancakes I've made recently with the same all purpose unbleached flour.  YUM!  We fill them up with blueberries grown locally and frozen in my downstairs freezer the same day we picked them.  Add some local Grade B Maple syrup and you've got one fabulous breakfast!  I often fry up a little local bacon on the side.
A big request from my girls is breakfast for dinner.  Add the above with some homemade hash browns (garden fresh heirloom colored potatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic and mix in a little homemade salsa for kicks.  Delish!
So, don't stick to the same old yogurt and fruit for breakfast...venture out and see what the local foods have to offer up and get creative!

Recipe: Originally passed down to me from one of my Lamaze students/labor patients and refined over the past decade to this:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use local flour from Cayuga Organics in Ithaca when I can!)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp real maple syrup

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ingredients.  Stir until combined.  Pour onto hot griddle greased lightly with additional butter.  Add fresh or frozen blueberries by sprinkling onto the tops of the cooking pancakes before you flip them.  Serve with real butter and real maple syrup.  A real treat!  :)

Back to School with Bento

Anyone who knows me knows that I've long been passionate about food.  My food obsessions have ranged forward from the unhealthy (900 calories a day, anyone?) to gourmet (yummy, but time consuming) to trendy (30 minute meals) and everywhere in between.  I often think about the past food paths I've taken and how each one fit into my life at the time.  Right before I got married, I set out to write a cookbook.  I researched and collected hundreds of recipes and tested them all out on my very happy (and full!) boyfriend.  I must have done it right, because he did marry me!  Then, during my pregnancy, I had a nesting phase which led me to cook and freeze 42 casseroles for use during the up-all-night baby days.  After both girls came along and I was forced to increase my hours at work due to restructuring, I entered the 30 minute meal era.  When I moved to New York, I came to realize that regional cooking was interesting and fun...and this NE region is quite different from my mid-western fare.  I easily made the switch from tacos and spicy barbeque to riggies and greens!  Most recently, as I've read about and researched the commercial food industry, I made the switch to local, seasonal cooking and food preservation.
I thought my food culture was here to stay, but over the past couple weeks, I began another shift in my food thinking.  This shift came about as the first day of kindergarten began to approach for my oldest daughter.  I watched Jamie Oliver's show about school foods and I've read menus of our local school cafeterias and I know that I want my daughter to be eating healthy foods that will keep her energy up all day long.  I'm just not sure the school food is what she needs.  So, I headed to the store, let her pick out a new lunch box with water bottle and thermos.  But, as I should have predicted, this was not enough for food obsessed mama!  I came across a book with creative lunches packed in the Japanese Bento style.  Lots of healthy choices in a creative presentation for the enjoyment of the eater.  I am hooked.  Of course, being a locavore isn't just about food, and I just can't bring myself to order a bunch of cutsie food storage from Japan.  I am hoping I will find it right here at home.  Most importantly, I've discovered a huge array of healthy food choices for lunchboxes that will leave the plain-Jane pb&J in the dust.  I do have to consider that my 5 year old is a rather p-i-c-k-y eater, but I'm hoping that with her help, we can find some good lunch ideas.
Lucky for me, I read cookbooks like they are novels.  I love to hear the idea behind the food and peek into the life of the creator.  I am armed with a few lunchbox books and lots of motivation.  Hopefully the time to create a healthy lunch each morning before I leave for work at 6am will come.
Stay tuned, and I'll let you know the good, the bad, and the returned-home-uneaten food stories as the weeks go on!

Locavore Challenge Month!

It's finally September, and although it didn't bring with it any cooler temperatures yet, it always brings change to our lives.  Jeremy started back to school last week and Kira's kindergarten orientation was today.  Next week, she starts to school, and the week after I send Alayna to her last year of preschool.  As for me, September always brings about a lot of change in the garden.  Out with the old, droopy plants and in with the new fall crops.  It takes a lot of work (and in this heat!  ugh!), but come the colder days it is worth it when we still have fresh salads and root crops from our own backyard!
This September, I also discovered that there was a challenge put forth in central NY for eating local.  I took the idea to the foodshed and then on to the reporter who is researching local foods and reporting it out to our local community.  The challenge is simple: eat only local foods grown or produced within a 100 mile radius of your home (250 miles optional for some harder to find ingredients).  This includes ingredients to make any foods purchased.  Some are challenged to eat this way for 30 days, others a week, and those new to the concept can join the 1 day challenge.
Although I already eat primarily local foods, I've never limited myself this completely.  I'm going to do the week long challenge (I'd do 30 days, but not in the same season that our family is already in upheaval!).  I'll let you faithful followers know when I start and how I do, but for now, I want to help out those who are already in the challenge.  Most of my home-cooked meals are completely local, and I thought I'd spend the next month or so sharing them with those who are interested.  One thing I've noticed a lot in reading about the local food journeys of others is the lack of variety, which is essential to my style of cooking (and eating!).  It won't be my usual bantering about my not-so-simple life, but I hope it helps!
When possible, I'll include locations where I bought the ingredients or cooking tips...
WARNING! Do NOT read if hungry!

I'll start with my birthday dinner from this past Sunday:
I really wanted a local birthday dinner to welcome in my next year of life, so in my usual tradition, I cooked for myself.  Don't feel bad...I love to cook!  Ask my old friends from Oklahoma.  Every year come my birthday, I'd invite all my friends over for a big party and cook all day to feed them all!  I miss those days.  Anyway...

This year, I decided to grill some steaks.  I started with grass fed sirloin bone-in steaks from Sunnybrook Farm in Deansboro, NY.  I've never grilled steak before, but I had a "new" grill that I stole off the curb when my neighbors moved and left it behind (with a paper sign on it that said "works" but was missing a wheel).  So, I made a marinade with a little olive oil (not local, but will always be one of my wild cards!), apple cider vinegar (from a local orchard), and some Backyard Bullweed rub from Walking Clover Farm that I purchased through the Foodshed Buying Club in Utica.  I left it in the fridge most of the day while I celebrated my birthday by making pickles and putting up a huge harvest of veggies in the freezer.
When the grill was ready and our stomachs were growling, I seared the steaks over high heat and then  cooked them on the grill for about 10 minutes to get them to medium well.
I had just harvested a heap of white heirloom pole beans from my garden, so I steamed those and tossed them with a dab of butter (from Maine, but the closest to local I had on hand) and any fresh herbs I had in the garden (I think it was thyme, oregano, parlsey, and chives!).  These beans were sent to me by a friend in Oklahoma who had inherited the seeds from her grandmother.  I have no idea what the variety is, but I love them!
I also had a nice box of baby potatoes that I harvested about 2 weeks prior.  I noticed a little yellowing of the leaves before I went on vacation, so rather than have my Dad (gardener while I was away on my vacation) stress over the keeping of my potatoes alive in case of fungal disaster, I decided to early harvest them.  I was delighted to find a huge array of multi-colored potatoes under the dirt.  I had several large potatoes ready for storage, and bowls full of the tiny, velvety, almost sweet new potatoes.  I tossed these new potatoes with a little olive oil and some thyme and rosemary then slow roasted them while the rest of the dinner cooked.  The kids were delighted with the purple ones, and I heard remarks from both kids and husband on how good they were!
On Thursdays, I stop by Old Path Farms and pick up my weekly box of CSA veggies.  This past week, we had a bunch of braising greens.  First, I fried some bacon from Sweet Grass Farms.  I drained off most of the bacon grease; chopped up a few of the Sweet Alisa Onions from my garden, added some spicy Danube Rose garlic cloves again from Walking Clover Farms, and heated them slowly in the same pan with a little olive oil. When everything was soft and carmalized, I wilted in the greens and simmered them for a few minutes.
Last, but not at all least, I grabbed one of the quarts of cherry tomatoes resting on my counter after being picked in the cooler morning sun.  I popped them in a hot oven until the skins popped.  Ooooooooooo!  They were so sweet and concentrated that they were like candy!  I grow several varieties of cherry tomatoes: chocolate cherry, yellow pear, honey bunch, sungold, sprite, super sweet, and more...
The meal, of course, was highlighted for the adults with a wine from Three Brother's Winery in Geneva, which I picked up on my way home from a site visit for work.
Hungry yet????  Keep reading this month for more!

grilled veggies and pasta!

Not my normal blog style, but after working all day (and I mean ALL day) outdoors in the garden/yard, I just couldn't bear to eat a heavy dinner.  So, looking at all my yummy veggies, I decided to get a little creative in the kitchen.  I browsed a few of my seasonal food cookbooks for ideas, then put them away and got to work.
First, I took my patty pan squash and sliced it into nice wide pieces, then came the zucchini and eggplant.  I grilled those on my stovetop grill pan with just a little olive oil.  Then, I took all my onion thinnings from this morning, which were actually about golf ball size and so sweet, and tossed them with garlic, olive oil, and a green pepper from the farm (diced).  After all that was done, I layered the grilled veggies in a baking dish, topped them with the peppers, onions, and garlic, and sprinkled a few herbs on top.  I covered all that with a couple of thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes (green zebra and a striped red).  Then, an 8 ounce ball of mozzarella on top, which I grated. Popped that into the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, I cooked up half a box of linguini (we use dreamfields since Jeremy is diabetic, but I'd love to use a local pasta here).  In a small saucepan, I heated up a little flour and butter and then added some whole organic milk.  After it was nice and thick, I tossed in just a handful of fresh grated Parm.  Mmmmmmmmm!  I love to grate a little fresh nutmeg in, too, so I added that as the milk was simmering.
When the pasta was done, I drained it and tossed it with the bechamel sauce.  Each bowl got a spoonful of pasta and then topped with a heaping of the grilled/roasted veggies.
I was worried that it might not fill us up enough, but WOW it was good AND filling!
Of course, we saved room for dessert!  I tossed diced fresh peaches with blueberries and stirred in a spoonful of maple syrup.  Then, topped it all with a sprinkling of brown sugar, flour, and real butter blended into crumbles.  Popped that into the oven for just about 30 minutes.  Top that with some vanilla ice cream and you've got dessert!
Sometimes the best meals are the ones that are designed on the spot.

Animal, vegetable...lunchable?

My children are used to the local diet I am working hard to provide for them.  They are willing to spend time with me in the garden picking beans or checking my tomato plants for any sign of color change.  They have gotten used to the fact that we rarely go to the grocery store, and when we do, we can usually cart away all the purchases in one fabric bag.  They both have a good definition of "healthy" when it comes to eating.
However, it is more difficult to overcome the marketing aimed right at those girls of mine.  It is hard to explain to a 3 year old why we are passing up the yogurt with that silly rabbit on it for the Maple Hill local cream-on-top variety.
"But, mom, it says right on TV that it's healthy AND has a changing color stick to make frozen yogurt!"
It's hard to pass up convenience, too.  Not just for my kids, but for myself.
I really do quite well when it comes to sticking to my local diet, but sometimes, life hits me hard from all sides and I cave.  Most nights, I stop by North Star on the way home for anything I need to supplement the produce we have on hand.  I come home, check out the garden for any new fresh growth that's ready to be picked, and head to the kitchen.  Some days, though, when I've been stretched to the max at work and had two girls attached to my legs from the moment I hit the door at home, I just can't bring myself to do it.  And what do I do when my family has to eat while I am at work?
Every season that I have progressed in my local goals, I have discovered a new obstacle to overcome, and this season I have to admit that convenience is at the top of the list.  I am sure that my new schedule (which came with my new job title) has something to do with my struggles, but it is something I'd like to work on.
While eating fresh from the land tastes better, and is more nutritious, it does take more preparation and knowledge than opening a can of Chef Boyardee or peeling back the plastic on a frozen lasagna.  Of course, I was aware that preparation was key, but before the season hit, I was working 12 hour shifts at night, giving me several days off during the week for planning.  Now, I'm adjusting to a daytime, weekday schedule, which gives me more time with my family, but less large blocks of time.  So, this summer has been a lot of preserving for the future, but sometimes a lot of eating out, too.
I try to still stick to the smaller, more local establishments: the places to eat that you don't find all across the country.  I can remember going on vacation with my family as a kid, when, as a family, we chose to never eat anywhere we could eat at home.  While I live here in upstate NY now, I still desire to eat at places I never had back in the Midwest.
The biggest problem then, is what to serve for lunch when I'm not really here to serve it at all.  I like to have easy to serve things on hand for my husband or my dad, who are the primary care givers when I am working.  Natural peanut butter with homemade bread, yogurt with fruit, local cheese and crackers, and an occasional Annie's natural shells and cheese.  Sometimes, we even splurge on local, nitrite-free hotdogs.  Yum!
But, before you think I'm all natural and nothing else, I beg you to remember that this is a process.  I wish I could tell you that I jumped in with both feet and never looked back, but the truth is, I took it one step at a time.  I'd recommend to anyone that this is the way to do it.  Otherwise, it just gets too overwhelming.  Yes, now I buy about 80-90% of our food from local sources, but it took about 3 years to find and use these sources.  One by one.  Nothing too stressful.  It sort of snowballed, too.  One farmer recommending another until we had a source for almost everything.
So, here is my confession.  I still have a few processed foods around the house.  Until I find good local products to replace them, or can convince my children (and my husband) that convenience and cool marketing ploys are not the best, we will still have a few straggler products hanging around.  I mean, really, nothing beats that abnormally yellow cube of Velveeta for a party queso.  My husband isn't quite ready to give up salad dressing from a bottle.  And my kids love to have a few snacks around that come from a box.
Although I try to dish out bowls of fresh fruit, stove popped natural popcorn, or homemade ice cream, sometimes nothing beats a fistful of alphabet pretzels or a wrapped piece of chocolate.
So, when my 3 year old was asked what her favorite vegetable was the other day, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that she replied without hesitation "lunchables!"  Although, truth be told, she loves to open it up, drink the novelty drink and ask me for a salad!

What are you going to do with all those vegetables?

Throughout this process of growing my own food and sourcing out fresh, homegrown veggies and fruits, one question pops up more than any other:
How can you possibly eat all those vegetables?
But, I think that's missing the point.  Truthfully, if you only look at the present, I'm not!  I have a rather large area of my yard devoted to edibles, a weekly CSA box of locally farm grown vegetables, weekly orders placed with the foodshed buying club, and several trips a week to farmer's markets or farm stands.  That, my friends, is a whole lotta veggies!  But, I'm not just growing them to eat right now.  My goal is to be eating as many of my foods from local sources year round.  For those of you who don't know, I live in an area of the country with an extremely short growing season.  We more than make up for that with the quality and quantity of varieties that we can grow here, but it does make for seasonal challenges.
So, to make my goals just a little more clear, I'm working double overtime during this short time period to make sure we have food to eat when that blanket of snow reaches the ground and refuses to melt.
Right now, if you open my refrigerator, you'll find a tiny bit of dairy mixed in with a few leftovers from earlier this week and produce galore!  So, the challenge is to find ways to preserve all these yummy treats before they lose any flavor or nutrients.  Most of the time, the work isn't too hard.  I go out to the garden or unload my purchases, and get to work.  I have to admit, though, that the problem comes when I have an unexpected harvest at a peak time in my busy schedule.  This can mean hauling in bowl upon bowl of freshly picked goodies and prepping them all in one day.  If I had to recommend anything to you, it is to be prepared ahead of time.  I can verify this: your life won't stop just because your garden hands you a heaping bowl of beans.
I also have to admit, that just because I am heading toward a simpler life, that doesn't mean I am running from technology.  In fact, most sunny days you will find me in the garden with my i-phone in hand.  I am able to take picture of mystery plants and share them with other gardeners.  I can search for pest and disease problems online and find healthy solutions to them.  I also have two well used apps on my phone that make life a little, well, simpler.  IGarden is an app that I use to track planting and harvesting times.  This better prepares me for an abundance of kale to hit my chopping block.  Most useful, though, is allrecipes.  There is a website online to look up recipes by ingredient, in case you find an alien-looking kohlrabi in your CSA box and aren't quite sure how to cook it.  There is also a recipe spinner in the app itself, to make meal planning a snap.
But, back to the subject: what do I do with all those vegetables, especially the ones I know I won't be able to eat fresh?  I'll be honest, even after my fabulous canning class, I mostly freeze.  Even though this uses a bit of continual energy to store, I like the fact that is is in its more natural state.  For those who have never frozen veggies before, though, you can't just chop and bag most varieties.  Again, I consult the internet here, because most veggies need to be blanched before freezing.  This process of plunging them into boiling water, waiting a few minutes, and then plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking keeps their natural enzymes from turning them bitter or otherwise less appealing.  Most veggies are washed and chopped first, and then dried and bagged after.  Some veggies need to be flash frozen in a single layer, and others are just loaded into zip-lock bags with the air squeezed out.  Only a few veggies, like onions and peppers, are a quick chop and bag. If you want to take the frozen approach, like me, do your research first.  Some veggies only need a 1-2 minute dip, while others need a nice long 7 minute bubbling.  Also, some veggies, like cucumbers are better preserved in vinegar brine and canned.
Some days it's just a handful of beans that need a blanch and freeze, but others, like this weekend are more labor intense.  This weekend, I found myself with eggplants, carrots, heaps of heirloom beans, beets, 3 varieties of kale, swiss chard, onions, green peppers, and cucumbers to spare.  This is in addition to the veggies we plan to eat this week, like arugula, salad greens, green garlic, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, and fennel.  So, out came this big pot of water and all my cutting boards.  I had to make a quick trip to the wholesale store for the jumbo pack of freezer bags, too!  In addition to all that, I also flash froze 2 more quarts of fresh blueberries and have yet to tackle the unstoppable rhubarb!
I am not saying that it wasn't a lot of hard work, but I can tell you that the sight of all those bags of goodness in my new energy saving deep freeze is quite lovely!  So, this winter, when the ground is frozen and the stores are selling those bags of vegetables shipped in from across the world, I'll be shopping in my own basement from the fresh picked and quickly preserved produce grown in my own hometown.  I'll be reminded of the hot sun beating down on me as I took my kids to the strawberry farm in June.  I'll be swooning over the sweetness of the blueberries from the farm on my way home from work.  I'll remember talking with the farmer about how she prefers to cook and store her corn.
What am I going to do with all those vegetables?  Spend the next 12 months eating them, of course!

Making time for a busy day!

I just tallied up all the things I did today:
Got up at 5:30am
Headed to my (day!) job from 7am-3pm
Stopped by North Star on the way home to pick up fresh peaches and tomotoes
Ran an errand (with the kids in tow) to the vision center
Took the kids to the bookstore
Picked up some local sausage and pasta sauce
Added above ingredients to some pasta, local chicken, and fresh summer squash from Old Path Farms for dinner
Started the process for cucumber salad (has to sit overnight!) with local whole-milk yogurt and homegrown cukes!
Worked a little in the back garden checking out the damage from the heavy rain of last week
Picked, washed, blanched and packed a gallon of bush beans for the freezer
Gave both girls a full bath
And now...working on my blog.
It's amazing to me how much I am actually getting done in the few hours I have each night after work.  In comparison to a few weeks ago, when it was all I could do to stumble in the door and get dinner on the table, I think I'm figuring out my new schedule.  One other thing has drastically changed, too.
A couple weekends ago, I spent an entire Saturday cleaning.  I started when I woke up, and I didn't quit until I went to bed.  I sorted, I straightened, and mostly, I purged.  Out with the old, hardly used, and should never have bought.  In with...well, not much besides a tote or two to corral what was left.  Due to the unusual heat of this summer, we moved both girls into one bedroom to make better use of the one window unit we have in our house.  Thus, the playroom was reborn.  This left me with the perfect opportunity to clean out the toys.
And clean out, I did.  I packed up all the non-age appropriate toys, the toys no one really played with anyway, and the toys with all those little pieces that seemed to get dumped in the middle of the floor.  And, with the new organization came a new rule: anything left out when playtime was done was going to be packed away for a week.  I have to admit that happily, I have not yet had to pack up anything.  How did I work this magic?  Simply put, I simplified the clutter.  There just isn't as much "stuff" to get out, so there isn't as much "stuff" to put away. Was I heartbroken to pack up some of those toys?  Yes!  Was I filled with regret for some of the purchases I had made in the past?  Yes!  Do my kids miss any of those toys?  NO!
They still have dolls, dolls, and more dolls.  They still have all sorts of puzzles, games, and coloring books.  They still have books and magazines to read.  And, they still have the backyard, their imaginations, and each other.
So, with less time spent on cleaning up the mess, I have more time to...well, you saw the list!  Never a dull moment for me!  And, at the end of my day, I feel satisfied!

Basil walnut pesto

Per request of my new followers, I am including a few of my favorite recipes!  

Not all of these are my own creation, so I'll try to give credit where I can.  I have to admit that pesto is one of my favorites.  Basil is so plentiful in the summer in so many varieties(see three of my 5 varieties above)!  I make this with traditional basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, or a combination!  If you prefer a milder taste, substitute some fresh baby spinach leaves for some of the basil.

This recipe is so simple, and only takes a few minutes to make.

2 cups packed basil leaves

3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup water

kosher salt to taste

1/2 - 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1 package (13-16 ounces) angel hair or spaghetti, cooked and drained

Blend basil, garlic, walnuts, water and salt in a food processor.  Add the olive oil, blend well.  Add the Parmesan cheese, blend well.  Add to the cooked and drained pasta.  Serve with additional shredded Parmesan cheese on top, if desired.

YUM!

The changing of the guard

This weekend, I officially traded seasons in the garden.  The pea shoots that sent my 3 year old into the garden every night for crunchy, sweet goodness were ready to come down.  Last year we had a cool summer, and our peas lasted almost into August!  This year was more typical with the vines yellowing mid-July.  We had had our fill of peas by then, and were ready for some new arrivals.
My garden seems to be lagging behind a little this year, but we are finally seeing the start of some tiny fruits!  Most impressive was our haul of bush beans this week.  On two separate days, I filled a quart size container to the brim.  I never can decide what to plant, so this year it is golden wax, contender, blue lake, empress, purple pod, and a flat, curly spotted bean called dragon tongue.  They are so delicious picked fresh, rinsed and thrown right into a steam basket with a few green onions!  Kira, who is 5, loves to crunch them raw (especially tasty dipped in blue cheese dressing!).
There is only a small crossover between the spring and summer veggies in most parts of the country, but here in the normally cool NE, we often have peas mixing with green beans.  This year, with the early heat, I think I am lucky to have any cool season veggies at all!
I am excited to see what will be successful in my garden this year, but nervous, too.  The first week of August last year I spent cutting and destroying my beautiful tomato plants that had succumbed to the dreaded late blight that plagued most farmers in my local area.  This year, the threat seems to be less, but I still check on my babies every night and pinch off any leaves that look the slightest bit discolored.
Until I'm spending more time harvesting, I am snatching up the local seasonal berries.  I've moved to blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.  I love to watch those gallon bags fill up as I freeze and stock them away for the colder months.  My new deep freezer finally arrived on Monday and it will be full faster than you can read the manual.
I also took a canning class this weekend.  I always wanted to learn, but the cost and lack of experience kept me away.  It was a great experience to learn, risk free, and get some hands on experience making jam and pickled beets.  I think I may be buying a large pot and canning rack soon!
Next on the list?  Root cellaring!