Gad zukes and cukes!

Checked in the garden the other day and this is what we found...

giant zukes

 

 and lots of cukes

I had been so good all summer long to pick them when they were small.  We've had a day or two with some soaking summer showers and I guess they really liked that! 

Hannah made a delicious "Zucchini cobbler".  It tastes just like apple cobbler.
I'll put the recipe down below for you. :-) 

When I took all the cucumbers out of our gathering bowl, I found the carrots at the bottom in the shape of a heart.  :-)

Unlike the cukes and zukes, the carrots aren't so happy.  Carrots don't seem to grow so well in our micro climate.  Note to self: next year, no carrots.

I hope you are enjoying your last few weeks of summer.  The seasons are beginning to change...at least in the Northwest.


Delicious and oh so not good for you Zucchini Cobbler

8 c. chopped, seeded peeled zucchini
2/3 c. lemon juice
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Crust:
4 c. flour
2 c.sugar
1-1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, cook and stir zucchini and lemon juice for 15-20 minutes or until zucchini is tender.  Add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; simmer 1 minute longer.  Remove from the heat; set aside.

For crust, combine the flour and sugar in a bowl;  cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir 1/2 cup into zucchini mixture.  Press half of remaining crust mixture into a greased 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan. Spread zucchini over top; crumble remaining crust mixture over zucchini.   Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until golden and bubbly. 
Yield: 16-20


 

A modern day barn raising

One of my favorite classic movies is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. 

I especially love the barn dance /barn raising scene.

 

 

You know the saying, "Many hands make light work."? 

 What a blessing it is to help someone complete a project that would have been so hard to do on their own.

 

Well, there's a modern day barn raising going on and YOU can be a part of it!

{Calico dresses and hammers, optional ;-)  }

 

Click here to help.

25!

Happy 25th anniversary to my Knight and very best friend.

 

 

 

I. can't. wait.

 

 

American Made

 

I have been so pleased with the Anderson Family Farm goat milk skin care products.  

They leave my skin feeling soft and nourished, but not greasy.  

 

Anderson Family Farm uses high quality, pure and simple ingredients to promote healing and bathe your skin with nutrients.  

{All recognizable, all pronounceable, all natural!}

   

They have several items in their product line. 

My personal favorite is their lotion, but the salt scrub is a close second.  

 

Anderson Family Farm was recently nominated in the

Martha Stewart American Made contest. 

 

Click on the video below to see their story. 

 

 

Not only are their products American made, but their story is the American dream and through their hard work they have created a sustainable family business with God's pure grace.    Won't you vote for Anderson Family Farm?  Just click on the button below. 

 

 Voting begins today and ends September 13.

{you cast up to 6 votes each day!}

Fabulous Finds

I am so happy with 2 new finds so I thought I'd share them with you.

FIND #1...

It's irrefutable - I am breakfast, lunch, appetizer, dinner, dessert, and a late night snack for mosquitoes!  

As you know, I like things to be pure and simple so I prefer to use natural insect repellents over chemical ones even though OFF with DEET seems to be the most effective.  

Did you know that your skin is an organ?  Did you also know that 60% of what you put on your skin is directly absorbed into your blood stream? 

For this reason, in the past when I would use OFF, I wouldn't spray it on my skin, but rather only on my clothing, but I discovered that I am sensitive to smells, and it wouldn't take long before I would have a headache.

My sympathetic husband found this for me.  It's a personal repellent that you clip onto your clothing.  OFF makes something similar, but this uses natural botanicals like geranium, eugenol {clove oil}*, cinnamon, peppermint, and lemongrass essential oils.  

Inside the plastic case is a little fan which runs on 2 AAA batteries {included} and disperses the scent.    

Last Saturday morning Eric and I went out to do the goat chores and milking.  Eric clipped it on the back of my overalls.  I could see some mosquitoes, but none seemed to bother me. 
{I'm kind of an easy target while milking since I'm sitting fairly still and my hands are busy and unable to swat them away.}

We then spent a few minutes in the garden harvesting some zucchini and cucumbers before heading up to the house.  While they seemed to be all over Eric, there weren't any around me.   This was truly amazing!  Not one bite! 

*As with many botanicals, care and caution must be used.  Eugenol, or clove oil, is toxic if ingested.  The cartridge that contains the botanicals is like a saturated piece of cotton with a plastic edge.  Handle by the plastic edge when inserting it into the case and wash your hands afterwards.   When I'm not wearing it, I store it in a Ziploc bag.  


FIND #2

 
I don't know about you, but as a homeschooler, I'd be lost without a printer.  I use it all the time.
A few months ago we needed to purchase a new printer to replace our faithful, but very tired old one.  We bought an HP from Costco.  Sadly, it was nothing but a headache.  Every time anyone went to print something, there would be an error message.  Being hooked up on our wireless network, it would loose connectivity constantly.  It also reverted to sleep mode despite our specific settings.   It rarely worked when we needed it to.  Out of complete frustration, we finally threw up our hands and returned it to Costco. 

We bought this Canon Pixma MX 922.   In passing, the gal in the Costco isle commented, "Oh, a Canon, you'll love it.  All of us here have Canons and we love them. It's a great printer"  
She was right.  The print quality is excellent for documents and photographs.  It stays connected to our network,  it doesn't revert to sleep mode.  It even prints from the Cloud!
And guess what?  The best part...when I push the print button on my computer...Voila - it prints!

If you are in the market for a new printer, I highly recommend this one.  We bought it at Costco for $140ish.  Right now,  through September 29, 2013 you can buy it on line at Costco.com for $149 with a $30 rebate!
It's an excellent home-office {homeschooling} printer.





 
 

 

Big Kid Silliness

We live super close to one of the best ski areas in Washington. Caleb has decided that he'd like to get into snowboarding and has been slowly buying his equipment and other things that he'll need for a day's adventure up at the slopes.

The other day this NEON LIME green beanie arrived.  {5 Bucks including shipping on Ebay - he couldn't resist.}

The sibs joined in on the beanie wearing day...on a hot day in August!

 

 

 

 

Tell me he does not look a little like Cheshire Cat....caught in some mischief.

 

Ahh, the privileges of buying your own stash of ice cream!

A BIG celebration

Birthdays are always special, but some are more momentus and memorable than others - like the 1st, 10th, 13th, 16th, a golden birthday.

 

In honor of Sarah's 22nd birthday, Tristan and she came for dinner. 
Where there was also some of this...

and some of this... {Hot fudge brownies with chocolate chip mint ice cream with whipped cream.}

 

but then

 

there was THIS...

 

 

 This was NOT a birthday present!! 

 

It's official Tristan and Sarah are

ENGAGED!

 

I'm thinkin' that this birthday, this little unassuming, fade-in-the-distance, 22nd birthday will be one she {and the rest of us} will never forget.

 

 

August 13, 2013

Leavenworth

 

 

 

Aw shucks

 

Shucking corn = summer fun

Gluten free/ dairy free tips and tricks

The other day when picking up an Azure order, I was talking with a couple of the other ladies about food, specifically some of their successes with alternatives for gluten and dairy.  I was so excited about them that I thought I'd share that information with you along with some other tips and tricks I've learned.  

1.  To make a dairy free whipped cream, use the clump of coconut solid from a can of full fat coconut milk mixed with powdered sugar. 

2.  Azure standard sells Natural Value brand full fat, organic coconut milk in BPA free cans.
     {Thai Kitchen brand tastes great, but does not come in BPA free cans}

3.  If you take raw, unsweetened shredded coconut and put it in a heavy duty mixer {like a Vitamix} and mix until it is completely smooth and pourable - you have coconut butter. 
You can use it as a spread, but it also makes a great base for frosting because of its solid texture at room temperature. 

4.  To make almond butter combine almonds, filberts {hazelnuts} and honey.  Blend either in a Vitamix or food processor until smooth. { I think her proportion was either 4 parts almonds: 1 part filberts or 6:1 and honey to taste.}

5.  Costco currently carries Nutiva organic, extra virgin, cold pressed coconut oil in a 78 oz. jar for only $21.99

6.  Costco also currently sells an 80 oz. bag of Bob's Red Mill all purpose baking mix for 7.99.

7.  Target sells Spectrum shortening in the 24 oz. tub for 6.99

I have found this magazine to be very helpful.  It's a spendy subscription - so check your local library.

Here is a page from Living Without with very helpful information.   I think you can read the left column for dairy free substitutions.

and more information about making gluten free substitutions. 
{We personally have had the best success with a combination of coconut, almond, and oat flours for good flavor and texture.}

Here's some useful information about nut substitutions

 

and egg substitutions too.

 

Did you know that there is such a thing as coconut sugar? 

According to Living Well, it's a tan colored granulated sweetener derived from the coconut palm.  It is slightly less sweet than cane sugar with a lovely, light-caramel taste that works perfectly with baked goods.   It combines well with liquid stevia too.

{Azure carries a 16 oz. bag by Nutiva for 4.95}  I wonder if Trader Joe's sells it?

 

I had read that due to its processing, agave syrup is seen in the body just like fructose, and therefore is not a healthy sweetener.  However, Stevia is taken directly from the stevia plant and ground up.  Even in its liquid form, it is completely natural and a very good sweetener.  {If when you use it you get a bitter after taste, it is because you have used too much. }
I asked my naturopath about it and she confirmed the information.

So there you have it.  I hope it helps you along your gluten free/ dairy free journey.

Happy Baking. :-)

Blueberry Syrup for breakfast or dessert

This morning for breakfast Hannah made baked oatmeal.  We usually enjoy maple syrup on top, but with all of our fresh picked blueberries, I couldn't help but think that a blueberry syrup would go wonderfully on top. 
I did a quick Bing search and found a basic recipe here.

The recipe is so simple both in ingredients and also instructions.  I followed it just as it said and it thickened nicely, but there were big, whole blueberries all throughout. 

So I whipped out my handy-dandy immersion blender and blended it all up.
 

The syrup was very good and calls for no sweetener.  Since we were using it as a breakfast topping, we wanted it a bit sweeter so I added just a heaping spoonful of honey and blended it with the immersion blender for few seconds.
I was right - it was perfect on top of our baked oatmeal. 

This syrup would be wonderful as an ice cream topping.

 

Here's my version of Blueberry Syrup

 2 c. blueberries, no juice
1/2 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients and cook, stirring until thick.  Pour into a quart canning jar or other tallish container.  Use an immersion blender to blend it all together.  Add sweetener, if needed, depending on your use.

Yum!

We have a neighbor {and by neighbor I mean that loosely} who has a lot of blueberry bushes.  He lets people pick and pay with the honor system at only $1/lb.  They are not organic, but he doesn't spray.   Sadly, his bushes haven't been producing too well the last couple of years.

Some years, we've missed blueberry season, and I lament all winter!  I didn't want that to happen this year!  Today we found a certified organic blueberry farm not too far from us.  Oh happy day!

We got there around 11 am. and it got quite warm, but my helpers did well.

Except this little helper {Mary Anne}, who shall be named Sal for the day. 

We ended our outing with iced cocoas and lattes from our favorite latte stand!

We picked 20.5 lbs.   What do we do with 20+ pounds of blueberries?  Well, some we'll eat fresh, but the rest we will freeze. 
Of all the produce to preserve, blueberries are the easiest. 

First, I rinse them.  Not to remove chemicals, as they are organic, but to get rid of spiders, leaves and stems.  Then I flash freeze them. 
To flash freeze - lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour.  At that point, you can use a metal spatula to loosen them and place them in a measuring cup. 

I fill quart Ziploc bags with 2 cups of blueberries.  Most recipes call for 2 cups and this makes it a cinch - just pour 1 bag into the batter {muffin, pancake, cake, scones, etc.}. They stack so nicely  this way in the freezer too. 

Oh, it's blueberry bliss!  We might just have to go back for more. :-)

Life Lately

Scenes from a summer evening drive home.

Annual vaccines for the goats.

 We use this orange marking stick so we know who has been treated.

A small pile of firewood to chop.  Matt can manage our large chain saw now.  We have a lot of downed trees so there will be lots more rounds on the way.

Our new fire pit that the Youngers built with Dad.

 

S'mores! {reaping the rewards of their hard work.}

Our garden {the pumpkins are starting to stretch out through the fence!}