My Summer: 3

Because of my oldest daughter's stomachaches, I spent many hours in the kitchen this summer. I very much enjoyed At Home with Jamie. I used his enthusiasm to put my garden to use, and start cooking fresh!

I also feel like I received a cooking education via Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food. It is fantabulous! It's a few generations of lost secrets in the kitchen. It's funny, in this era of graphic design with all things visual, and our generation's rapidly declining attention span, enter Alice Waters, with the brilliance of simplicity. I need pictures... I need pictures on everything, blogs, magazines, and cookbooks (especially cookbooks). Nope, not in this book. It's a tonic to over stimulation. It's a salve to hyperactivity. It is a classic.

Waters offers nine tenets for a "food revolution":1 Eat locally and sustainably 2. Eat seasonally 3. Shop at farmer's markets 4. Plant a garden5. Conserve, compost, and recycle 6. Cook together 7. Eat together 8. Remember food is precious

We spent the summer trying to do just that!

And one of my proudest accomplishments this summer is my attempt, and successful achievement of homemade jam. There is something powerful about researching and attempting something that seems so forgotten, and lost inside a people of convenience. It's enchanting. I think I understand myself better and have drawn a little closer to my farming roots. There is a simple way of life that I hope my family can sustain inside of suburbia.

Now we have tasty jam on the shelf made from blueberries, apricots, and pears. Not to totally freak you out, but we did happen to pick the blueberries and pears ourselves!

But none of that tasty jam would have been possible without Lip Smakin' Jams & Jellies. What a resource!

Bounty

"The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none." ~Deut 28:12

The first fruits of our labor. They may appear modest, but this excites me so much because I know it's only the beginning.
These days everything is enhanced around here, even an ordinary cup of tomato soup gets some added pizzaz!

Hubby DIY

We're all a bit crafty these days. I love, love, loved this bench in the Sundance catalog, but couldn't justify the price. Only a few weeks later when I walked outside my betrothed was lovingly giving his own craft a whirl. He is a handy man!

Now we have our own version. Made from the fence that fell over a few months ago. :)

Tacky decor, I know, I know... I haven't decorated yet, but I pretty much want it to look like ANY room in the Sundance catalog when I'm finished. I guess I better DIY a quilt with those kind of prices!!

If you don't already get the Sundance catalog. Sign up the pictures are gorgeous, the style is novel, and you get a mug shot of Robert Redford in every issue. I found this great website for catalogs. It's called Catalog Choice. You can make an account and browse many catalogs, as well as cancel catalogs you may get that you no longer wish to get. They have a paper-friendly motivation so they don't sell your info to every other catalog company!

A Weekend In the Yard

I spent this past weekend in the yard, mostly straightening up after "fall". I did manage to plant a few things, basil, thyme, oregano, and dill to be exact. I still plan on planting rosemary, mint, wheat grass, and a few tomatoes. I don't think we will be able to have a big garden this year. We just don't know the yard well enough yet. At this new house we have so many trees and they produce so much shade. I think we need to take one summer to note where in the yard gets the most sun. {Although after reading this post, I feel inspired and "pumped" to do a really BIG garden!} I WILL at least have tomatoes, by golly. I think I will do them in whiskey barrels.

I decided to plant my herbs in pots. I have never grown herbs from seeds before, but it's still wet and rainy around here and I figured it was a small gardening venture that required minimal effort and little risk. If you want to plan a garden don't forget to check the Farmer's Almanac. I did and look what it says about the dates I planted my seeds! (Feb 10-11 Seeds planted now will grow poorly and yield little.) I tell you, that FA is really handy. You can cut your hair, plant seeds, and quit smoking by it. I love it! Maybe there is still hope for my little seedlings? Maybe if I whisper sweet nothings to them???

I've been enjoying this book You Grow Girl. It's a no-fuss guide to gardening.

So I Made that Apple Pie

There's a party in my tummy, so

yummy, so yummy...

So here it is right before it went into

the oven. Isn't she lovely...

The end result = delicious, everyone in the house was a fan. Funny story though, the night I baked it my husband didn't eat any pie when the girls and I tried it. Later that night, I went upstairs to put the girls to bed and when I came downstairs he was eating a BIG helping of pie and watching TV. He NEVER, not once, made a comment about it. No "this is good" or "thanks for the pie". I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

irritated. I wanted to yank the bowl out of his hands. Normally I would have made a comment or at least gone fishing for one. I mean this was handmade crust and a dad-gum homeade apple pie. No freezer, no box, but an old-fashioned labor of love. I went to bed angry (one of my no-nos) and woke up angry, but I didn't say a word (next to impossible for me). However when he came home the next day from work, he was casually looking through the mail and out of nowhere came over and gave me a high five and said, "Oh, that by the way was the best apple pie I've ever had!" Redeemed. I did mentioned how I'd been seething at him for almost 24 hours now, so he better be glad he removed his head from his... luckily he's still my sweetie pie.

At least it ended well. And now the pie is gone, all gone. If you want to take an apple pie adventure of your own these are the recipes I used:

pie crust

apple pie instructions

Good Luck

Homeade Apple Pie

I can't fight it, I have this overwhelming urge to make an apple pie~completely from scratch. I also want to bake homemade bread. I am not really in love with being in the kitchen, but I come from a long line of super wonderful bakers, and my new wonderful kitchen is really inspiring. It harbors new energy that was previously zapped from me.

The latent farm girl is waking up inside of me. I'm sure I'm being inspired by:

Blue Yonder and Backyard Farming

But it runs much deeper. It's a desire for sustainability. The ability to be capable in hard times. My grandfather, who grew up in the depression, said no matter how hard times got his grandmother made fresh bread everyday. He is still a bread snob to this day. :) My grandmother grew up in central Texas in a farming family, she went on to have seven children and spent most of her days at the kitchen sink (all over the world, they were airforce) preparing beautiful meals and baking delicious sweets.

I know you've heard this tangent from me before, so scroll if you don't want to hear it again. I get overwhelmed with how disposable our society has become. I am flustered by the hectic, rushed, non-enjoying life pace we keep. Why can't we slow down and reconnect over simplicity? We only feel productive when we are flustered and flying by the seat of our pants. That is so silly. Let us reclaim the value of spending time with our children, our families, or even alone in a quiet moment. And let us not forget the legacy the generations above us have handed over.

For apple pie inspiration! I'll keep you posted on my baking endeavours.

That apple betty at the top is my grandmother with her first of her 7 children.

Home Sweet Home

photo/artwork by Syko Creations

So it looks like we are moving. I'm very excited. It is a beautiful big home with lots of storage and then a little more storage. I feel so blessed and a little overwhelmed. It's beautiful, take a look:

& this will be my studio



<== :0) Today I'm inspired by: http://flickr.com/photos/poniesandsugarcookies/page5/

I guess it's because I'm moving, or maybe it's because I have a hand-full of appliqued houses that I've made and don't know what to do with them, but right now I'm in luv with appliqued houses!!!! http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=applique+houses&m=text