menu planning

Well, it's that time of year again--time to start being a bit more structured and organized in the meal planning. That's good, if it means less trips to the store. Ideally I would only go once a week and supplement with our Sunday trip to farmer's market. I hate shopping. As far as gathering recipes and deciding what to make goes, more and more I just want simple--super simple--and wholesome basic meals. I'm pulling out my favorite cookbooks for inspiration but lately my very favorite place to get recipe ideas is others' blogs. I print the recipe into a word document--picture and all--and have it to refer back to. Often these blog posts are as pretty and nice to read as any cookbook I own. The recipes pictured are this one, and behind that is this one. Both are planned for this week. I'd love to know what you all are cooking as we head into the fall season and "back to school."

a simple moment

Taking just a few moments for outdoor embroidery while my boys played in their sandbox. I must remember to do this more often--bring out the handwork even if I can only take a few stitches. Dieter and Rainer love their outdoor after-dinner playtime and how peaceful it was for me too to have a minute or two to work on this little embroidery.
Wishing you some peaceful outdoor moments this weekend!

wip: picnic quilt "to go" from Handmade Home

I'm very much enjoying Handmade Home--it has such a sweet sensibility and such lovely projects. I want to make practically all of them! I made the mousepad immediately (a picture is here) and now I'm working on the roll-up picnic quilt. I've been wanting to make our own picnic quilt for so long and and having instructions for this super-simple one is just what I needed to spur me along.
Here's hers--isn't it sweet? I love her fabric choices.
My fabric choices are here. There are some old and thrifted sheets in here along with fabrics from my stash.
And I'm making my own seam binding for the first time ever! It's really fun. I hope it works--it's a bit narrower than shown in the photo. If it turns out well I have a feeling I'll be putting handmade seam binding on just about everything--it's so fun and pretty!

the Carrie visit

Carrie and I had such a fun visit! Now it is over and I miss her already. How awesome is it to have such a good friend? One who really "gets" you, supports you, and to whom you can talk about anything? This trip included a full-day Ikea shop up, lots of coffee--at home and away--and conversations on topics wide ranging from relationships, to raising teens vs. toddlers, to the relative merits of buying a winter coat (and weather said coat should be neutral or colorful), to her vision of the ideal government (I loved hearing that)! We have a running joke that she should move to California to be my personal assistant. She would be great at such a thing--the whole trip she was helping me with everything from reading to toddlers to driving the teens to jam making.
As a hostess gift she left me this vintage Pyrex. It's divided into two sections--perfect for serving two salads or two fruits or chips and a big batch of guacamole. And the lid covers the food for outdoor dining. I love it.

{me and Carrie at the midsummer party}

celebration sugar cookies

Shawn asked in the comments yesterday about my recipe for cut-out cookies. I do like this one pretty well, so I thought I'd share it here. I like it because the cookies taste good and have a tender velvety texture and I love that the edges stay fairly "crisp" when baked--that is a very big deal for me. There is a bakery (Tuttini's) in Santa Barbara where they sell bear shaped cut-out cookies that are totally sharp and defined around the edges. That is what I aspire to. On the downside, these cookies do contain some shortening (along with mostly butter) which we are cutting way back on, so that is the downside. I intend to experiment--soon maybe--using all butter and will share the results here when I do.**
I got this recipe on the Cooking Light BB some years ago. It's not a CL recipe though--someone just posted it.

Celebration Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. corn starch
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. butter at room temperature
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the egg and extracts and mix until blended, about 1 minute.
Add the flour on low speed and mix until just incorporated. Divide dough in half and form into two discs--wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour. Roll out to desired thickness. This dough is easy to roll out, but don't get carried away. I find I prefer these cookies nice and thick. Cut out cookies. Bake on parchment lined sheets at 350 for 10 minutes or so, to your preference.

**11/14/11--editing to add that I never have tried an all-butter version, because I think it would spread too much and that nice defined edge would be lost. I do buy the shortening at the health food store now -- they have the kind that is non-hydrogenated vs. the Crisco that is available at the regular grocery which is trans-fat.
I used to roll out cookies like this just occasionally (like at Christmas) but I find myself doing it more frequently now--still for special occasions but more often because there is just something so special or even a bit magical about having a specially shaped cookie in your hand, deciding which part to bite off first and knowing your mama made you such a thing. I just like that whole scene and I want it to be part of my children's memories.

By the way, Shawn also asked about how one keeps one's expectations in check when hosting a family party like this. I'm all about keeping my mama expectations super mellow. With teens and young kids and in fact for all of us you just never know how it's going to go, so I try to just let it be what it will be. The more relaxed and low key I get the more fun we have, it seems. One big thing I'm learning all the time is to let things go if they're not working out. These little family parties I like to do are a lot of work for the mama so I try to do less and have fun more. I had lots of ideas for the midsummer party that I couldn't get to (making our own fairy wings for example) but it just didn't work out so I didn't stress about it. And we had plenty of theme-y fun nonetheless. I also keep the meals really simple. And it's always important at some point in the party to just give over to the fun and enjoy interacting with the family.

a midsummer night celebration

We finally celebrated "midsummer"! A bit late, I know, but I'm all for going with what works. Since it's almost time for school to start our party had more of a late-summer feel to it.
We started the preparations earlier in the day by making newspaper crowns and painting them.
And we made midsummer cookies--flowers, bees, dragonflies and a few woodland creatures thrown in for good measure.

Everyone wore their crowns--even the grown ups (and the teens)!

{a rare family portrait}

Faith decided to try some of the fairy wings.
Dieter with wings and a special "sunburst" drink--7-up, orange juice, and a splash of grenadine syrup. We called it "magic" drink because of the magical color change when you add the grenadine.

Ken surprised us all by bringing home these "drumstick" treats. Seriously retro fun.

{Crown with bouquet}

My good friend Carrie is visiting from Kansas. {Faith with Carrie}



We ended the night with a fun bonfire. Happy mid to late summer to you all!

thrifting finds

Here are some of my thrifting finds from today. {cute vintage-y apron}

{6-cup muffin tin, etc.}

{bird plate}

{sunflower plate}

{dragonology}

{vinyl tablecloth for protecting the table during art projects}

{wood hangers}

I definitely have been inspired by the section on thrifting in Handmade Home. In it, Soulemama says that 90% of her family's clothing comes from thrift stores. That's very impressive! The book is about repurposing old fabrics into new family treasures so of course I was looking for old fabrics as well. I can't wait to start some of the projects in the book.

What have you been thrifting lately?

happy birthday to gam!

Today is my mother's birthday. We had a little "tea" for her yesterday.

{presents for gam}

{homemade butter}

The most exciting part of the day was making butter beforehand. My mother had requested scones and I wanted something special to put on them. I'd never tried making butter before but it turned out to be super fun and fascinating. Dieter shook the jar for about two seconds (it was quite big and unwieldy). Otherwise, my friend Carrie and I took turns shaking the jar--it took about 10 minutes and we were done. It was so exciting when the cream changes from whipped cream to butter. We followed the directions in the River Cottage book and they were spot-on.

{sultana scones}

The scones were delicious--also made from River Cottage. I served them with the homemade butter and strawberry freezer jam.

{faith got her hair cut}

Happy birthday mom/gam! You are so special to us all!

catch-up baking post

I've been doing some baking around here but am tardy in posting these. This is the 100% whole wheat bread from Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day. I love the book, as you know. This is the first time I've tried the 100% whole wheat. I think it is really good, but it's kind of a hard sell to my family. 100% whole wheat is just not the same as a crusty white loaf fresh from the oven, no matter how fresh and homemade it is. Nonetheless, ever since reading Michael Pollen's book I've been aware of how chemically and "fake" our everyday store-bought sandwich bread is. How awesome would it be to make all our bread from scratch? This is a firm bread. I know Faith for one has voiced an opinion of not wanting this in her high school lunch for her daily pb&j. Hmm. Maybe I will try the half whole wheat version? Force the issue? Drop the whole thing? Still contemplating. This bread is so easy to do using this "5 minutes a day" method that I don't think it's unrealistic to think of making this for a daily sandwich bread. Please comment if you have any experience switching your family over from store-bought loaves to healthy homemade.
Another view of the wheat bread with our homemade plum jam. This is the first year we've made the plum jam-- last year we had no plums at all. It's great and I love the color.
Moving on, here is zucchini bread in which I subbed all whole wheat flour for the white flour and succanat for the sugar. It was delicious and I'm embarrassed to say that the boys and I ate nearly the whole loaf on the first day--it's that good. I'm a little confused about whether the succanat is a healthier form of the sugar. In Waldorf Kindergarten Snack book the author says it is and that it's the same as Rapadura (which I can't find anywhere). On the other hand, Nourishing Traditions promotes using Rapadura but not succanat. I think both are evaporated cane juice, right?
Banana bread from The Blue Heron Ranch cookbook. This one is all whole wheat and only sweetened with honey and bananas. Exactly what I am looking for in a quick bread right now--healthy and just minimally sweet. This is good toasted with a little butter.
Zucchini Chocolate Chip cookies from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Delish!! Especially on the first night. It had been a year since I made these and I'd forgotten how good they are. This time I used maple syrup instead of honey. There is something heartwarming about seeing the little ones eating cookies with green vegetable specks in them.

a family outing day

Tuesdays have been our family outing days this summer and it has been so fun to have a specific day set aside. This was from a couple weeks ago, but I didn't get to share it because of my computer issues. We decided on a little Santa Barbara trip with no hospital, no clinic and no chemo. Hooray! And Dieter got to join us as well.
Do you see how awesome this play structure is? One of my frustrations with parks around here generally is that they are all based upon the same plastic and metal components and they lack any kind of originality or imagination. Not this one though. This is all wood and I'm pretty sure is one of a kind.
There are lots of narrow passageways and switchbacks inside the main structure.
And challenging stuff for them to climb on.

Across the street is this fantastic demonstration garden. Love the lily pads.

There were lots of turtles out that day and we had so much fun watching them.
And of course our little Santa Barbara trip would not be complete without a visit to Crushcakes. Dieter had not ever been before so it would be so unfair not to take him, right??? (In truth it is the mama who loves her Crushcakes fix).

Today we are off the Santa Barbara once again, just me and Rainer, and this time it is for chemo. Happy about that though--it's all good ("keeping the baby alive" as we say).

And I'm so sorry I forgot to link to Hanna's blog yesterday! But that gives me a chance to tell you about it today. I just found Craftykin recently but it is already one of my favorite blogs. I love Hanna's beautiful home, her vintage finds and her projects with her children. She lives in beautiful New Zealand. Check it out!