Childhood Dreams

As a young girl,  the highlight of my summer was going u-picking.

Raspberries and blackberries,  apples and peaches.

Canning, making jam and pies,  oh the smells.

I longed for the day when I would have my own home, 

with all kinds of my own fruit.   How amazing would that be?

This summer,  5 years after putting our roots down here,

we have our first real harvest of fruit.

Raspberries by the bucketful~2 times a week,

  and we picked 130 pounds of peaches this evening. 

I feel something that money can't buy,  feeding my family from the fruit of our hands.

This blessing,  this is wealth,  this is abundance from the Lord.

100

100 pounds of gold
Yukon Gold, that is.
Praising the Lord of the Harvest
for his generous provision for all our needs!

Go ahead, give me....

Lemons!

My aunt gave us this lemon tree earlier this summer,

and we have watched it excitedly as the lemons matured.

(I can't believe that my boys resisted the temptation to pick one early!!!)

Just this week, we finally picked the first one.

The juice and zest made it's way into some cranberry biscotti,

while Ian finished off the rest.

Home-Made Noodles

When our favorite brand of frozen egg noodles was discontinued from our shopping center,

I despaired of ever having chicken noodle soup again that reminded me of my childhood. Who knew it was this easy?

5 cups flour,

2 t. salt

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

(maybe a little more to get everything to *stick*)

Roll out as flat as you can---

the dough is very tough.

Then slice into little strips with a pizza cutter----

plop into the boiling soup and cook for 10-14 minutes,

to desired tenderness.

Just like Mom's!!!

Here's the recipe for my Oatmeal Bread----aka Bubble-Gum Bread!

Mix in mixer bowl with fork or whisk:

3 cups warm water

5 teaspoons yeast

1/2 cup loose brown sugar

let sit for 10 minutes

Add and mix:

2 1/2 cups cooked oatmeal

(I save the leftovers from our breakfasts)

4 cups white flour

3 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill 8-Grain cereal (optional)

let sit (sponge) for 20 minutes.

With dough hook attached, turn to low speed

and slowly add 5 cups of whole wheat flour.

Knead in mixer for 10 minutes.

Put dough into two greased bowls, flip so the greased side is up.

Cover with towel and let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled.

Punch down, shaped as desired.

I always make two loaves and then some rolls

or a round loaf

or cinnamon rolls

with the remainder.

Bake @ 350* for 30 minutes.

Let cool in pan completely before slicing.

Freeze one loaf for later today when the first one is gone!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cups white flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cups white sugar

1 3/4 cups pumpkin (or 1-15 oz. can of pumkin and 2/3 cup applesauce)

1/3 cup oil

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix flours, spices (yeah, the original recipe called for more than cinnamon---gourmet things like ginger and cloves and nutmeg---you can add those if you have them---I didn't---so I didn't!) and all the other dry stuff. In separate bowl, mix eggs, oil, and pumpkin. Add to dry stuff to the wet, stir in the chocolate chips (don't overmix muffins)

Scoop into paper-lined muffin tins, bake for 20 minutes.

OR

scoop like cookies onto cookie sheet, bake for 10 minutes---makes a delicious and poufy cookie.

Try 'em---you'll like 'em!

Huckleberry

We were kindly invited by a co-worker of Mr. MK's to go huckleberry picking this last weekend. We have heard of huckleberries, but have never eaten or even seen a huckleberry.

Here's some scenery on the way!

We arrived and were shown the berry bushes (basicly every bush that we always have just thought of as underbrush---seems we have never been there in August!!)

Huckleberries are tiny, tiny, tiny!

Nathan was not feeling well, so after an hour of picking, we camped out!

They are sooooo good!

And huckleberry muffins to top it off!

Last night we spent a delightful evening in the garden of friends,
who so kindly shared their summer bounty with us.
They are garden experts,
even though she confessed to having no secret.
We are going to be hounding them for advice, though,
because we are the exact opposites,
garden novices.

18 pints of delicious summer,
frozen to enjoy when the warmth is gone.



My boy squirrel throwing bark down on us!

Ian (aka the Drooler Bug)

Oh, so cool in the shade,

barefoot without a care.

Playing around!

Mr. MK and I have been enjoying trying new recipes on the weekends. Last time it was Grilled Shrimp with Fresh Garden Sauce (just OK) and this weekend it was Spicy Beef Kababs (soooo spicy---lay off the cayenne next time!!) While we are not very good at either cooking or grilling, we are good at eating, so I think we'll keep at it!!

In other food news, I have decided to organize the fridge. ( Yes, you heard me, and yes, of course I have better things to do, and no, I don't want to clean the bathroom!!!)

But after cleaning the fridge 'till....well.....'till it didn't stink anymore, I was faced with a problem. How does one organize a refridgerator? By color or by size? By food type, expiration date or frequency of use? How about nutritional value??

Here's what I came up with:
Milk and often used items (like applesauce and blackberry jelly) on the top shelf, along with the kids' yogurt treat.

Cheese, sandwich meat, tortillas and pizza fixin's in the drawer. Eggs under the drawer. Meat next to the eggs, and leftovers that need used up in a highly visible spot on the second shelf.

Bottom shelf, breakfast meats and breads.

Veggie drawers hold the veggies (brilliant, I know!!!)

But then the fun part.....The Door!!

Dairy on the top, butter and cream cheese in the little cubbie with a door,

Sauces and dressings on one side, cooking bottles on the other,

syrup on the bottom, along with the sandwich and burger fixin's.

Let's not bet on how long it stays this way.

Back at Home

Juicy, tangy, delicious fresh berries from our garden.

The first handful are always eaten right from the bushes,

warm and blackened from the sun.

I have been craving triple-berry pie.

This isn't enough, though, so I guess we'll just have to eat them plain!

God is a genius to create these!

Easy Minestrone

Last night, I was in a rush to make dinner, and the usual hamburger soup that I make was looking forlorn and missing something. So I bravely set out to change some things, and here's what I came up with----it was approved by Mr. MK (providing that next time there's hot bread of some kind to go with it) !

Easy Minestrone

Brown 1 lb. hamburger meat,

with garlic and onion powders,

salt and pepper.

Add 3-4 cups water,

3 beef low-sodium boullion cubes

3-4 cups mixed frozen vegtables

1 can of diced Italian style tomatoes

1 can of black or kidney beans.

When heated through, add 1 cup uncooked egg noodles

corn starch (mixed with cold water to form paste) to thicken as desired

Cook for 15 minutes, serve topped with grated parmesean cheese!

Cooking Ideas

Lately it seems that my energy and creativity for cooking has been lacking. You know, that feeling of--

"I'm sure he must be sick of eating this---we've been eating the same 7 meals over and over again!"

"I think I know how to cook---but WHAT are we going to have for dinner?!!"

"I know this isn't very healthy, but everyone likes it and it's easy!"

Well, even though I have a very long-suffering Mr. MK and the kids will eat (almost) anything, it is time for me to take this a little more seriously. I read that the Nutritional GateKeeper of the Home is responsible for 75% of what the family ends up eating. That means if I buy cheetos and "granola" bars for lunch treats---that's what we'll end up eating. (surprised, right?) So it's up to me to not be so lazy and really take the time to make healthy, delicious meals with a reasonable amount of variety.

So I've laid out a plan for menus in sequential order---prepping certain foods all at the same time, using leftovers for a second variation meal, and so on. I will let you know how it goes.

The last two nights I have been given rave reviews by the men.