Flowers, 1 week later...

Still beautiful! Just a small bouquet now.

We got the orange vase for our wedding.

Happy husband

Adam got a draw knife.

Using it looks like this:

And this:

He's taking the huge log (previously referenced here) and smoothing it out to make a bench. The garage smells wonderful because the log is cedar.

Adam just came in and said that using the draw knife was *totally awesome*, and I asked if I need to find him more logs and he said yes! Win! We'll end up with a whole house full of woodsy furniture.

Bench trial--a success. Spencer agrees.

And I just like this photo because Spenc's head is the only thing moving. :)

Plank and deliciousness.

Might have had this for dinner.

That's chocolate chip zucchini bread with vanilla ice cream.



BTW, that first picture--the deliciousness is sitting on top of a cedar plank/log that my husband is working on in the garage. We found it while hiking in Washington. He carried it out (the man is strong!) to our van and we brought it home with us. It will eventually become a bench.

Wedding pictures..

I framed a few of the pictures from our wedding.

I have plans for three different wall art projects.

One is wedding pictures. I want to frame a bunch in dark wood frames and hang as a grouping. The two I did last night are the start.

The second is to do something with all of the photos we had on display at our wedding. Not sure what to do with them yet.

The third is doing another grouping of photos using a bunch of flower photos I've taken. Adam is going to make natural looking frames using knotty pine.

I'll post as I work on these projects! BTW, we are in the process of buying a house near our favorite trails--nothing is for sure yet--but I may have new walls to hang art on soon!

Garden love.

This is one day's harvest from our work garden, plus some wild-collected fruits!
On this day we collected:
-Basil
-Too many (too big) zucchini
-Small yellow crookneck squash
-Baby pumpkins
-Pickling cucumbers
-Tomatillos
-Green beans
-Red bell peppers
-Carrots!

And, we wild-collected:
-Box of elderberries!

From this so far I have made:
-The start of a batch of elderberry liqueur (takes a while--has to sit in jars; pictures to come)
-Dill pickles (pics to come)
-Zucchini yeast bread (not sweet, excellent toasted with blackberry jam!)

I will make:
-Extra tasty carrots sticks for eating raw
-Steamed green beans with butter and lemon
-Grilled squash

My coworker is also going to make pesto with the basil. Delicious!

PS This photo was taken by my coworker! Thanks!

Husband cooks.

My husband made dinner tonight! It was great.
Grilled chicken with taco spices.
Fire roasted tomato rice.
Corn.
Fresh salsa (I made it yesterday.)

Fantastic! Even better because it was served to me warm and beautifully displayed. :D Winner!

Soaps and sneak peek

So--
Wow, I am busy! I have several posts in the making...but for now, this will have to suffice:

I would guess that most people who know me would assume that I use lots of all-natural cleaners and soaps. You know, all of that non-harsh biodegradable stuff that's easier on the environment and on your body.

Well...that's not the case. I admit it! I love Comet. And bleach. And 409, Windex... I know it can be bad! And I know there are alternatives.

So, the van has a sink, and we like to do dishes in it and take showers, so I thought I should get some 100% biodegradable stuff to use in moderation when we need to wash dishes or ourselves when we go camping. I got (see pic) Planet dish soap and Kiss My Face Whenever Shampoo (to use for hair and body in one). So far, they seem to work quite well.

Which got me thinking that I should really look into getting some less harsh stuff to use at home. I have really high standards when it comes to household cleaners (ie,  I want it to get degreased and clean...so it needs to WORK! I tried using baking soda and vinegar to clean the house once when I ran out of Comet and was not impressed).

As for shampoos/soaps, I do actually like the Kiss My Face shampoo (I've used it before)--it smells good and works well. Of course if anyone has any suggestions for hair/skin soaps I'd love to hear.

Coming up later this week:
*Weekend adventures on bikes and foot (with time to relax)
*More food preservation messes

In the future:
*Car racing
*Cute animals
*Wilderness count

Until then, have a good week!

Refrig Pickles

Cucumbers------>Pickles

One day's harvest.

Earlier this week I tried out a recipe for refrigerator pickles from the food preservation/canning book my coworker got me. That book is awesome! And the recipe was fantastic--I tasted the pickles for the first time tonight. AMAZING. Crunchy, tangy, sweet, salty...I love pickles. My husband hates pickles--the taste and the smell (and, warning, the smell permeated the house when I made these.).

(FYI, Tonight I had the pickles chopped up and added to a salad of red leaf lettuce, carrots, chick peas, walnuts, cranberries, and tuna. Side dish: sorta home made [bread machine] whole wheat-oatmeal-molasses bread with butter and my jam!]) (BTW, I don't take pictures of food when I am very hungry and about to eat it, so you'll just have to imagine those things.)

Soon-to-be pickles

The pickles were made using cucumbers from our freaking amazing work garden--that thing pumps out cucs like you wouldn't believe (see first photo). Or maybe you would believe it, but all I can say is that I'm glad I'm sharing the cucumbers. Geez.

Grandma's pot still going strong!

The gist of the refrigerator pickles I made (ingredients and further direction below) is this:

Slice cucs
Mix together pickling liquid and boil it
Pour hot liquid over cucs (and onions in this case) in large bowl
Let sit until cool enough to handle
Pack cucs and onions into jars
Pour liquid over
Close jars
Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, ideally 2 weeks---eat. Consume within 3 months.

Less mess than canning jam.

Small warm-blooded kitchen visitors are still of another species in this house.

I'm not sure, they might look kind of gross, but they look better in person and taste fantastic!

This recipe is taken from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving--

Easy Zesty Bread and Butter Chunks (mine are slices/spears)

1/4 cup pickling spice (place in a cheesecloth bag)

6 cups trimmed pickling cucumbers (I cut mine into slices)

1 onion peeled and sliced

3 cups vinegar

2/3 cup sugar

2 T salt

1 T prepared horseradish

1 T celery seeds

2 t ginger

1 tsp tumeric

Place cucs and onion in a big bowl.

Put everything else in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 5 minutes. 

Pour liquid over cucs and onion, cover with waxed paper and let sit for about 30 minutes. Discard spice bag.

Pack cucs and onion into jars, ladle liquid over. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before eating--best after 2 weeks. Eat within 3 months. 

Food. Frozen. Fresh. Fantastic.

My house is clean. It is Thursday evening. Well for you it might be Friday. Which I think is better, so lucky you.

This post is about two things:

Bananas

Basil

.

First, the Bananas. (Which can be breakfast, or dessert. Or dinner.)

On The Kitchn I found this recipe for ah-mazing peanut butter chocolate chip milkshakes. 

I made them once for dinner on a Friday...I was totally hooked!

Now I make banana peanut butter (omit the chocolate...I know, that's kind of illegal but I'm trying to be more healthy) shakes for breakfast a few days a week. They are so easy and delicious! 

Basic recipe and instructions:

Frozen bananas

Milk

Spoonful of peanut butter

(Chocolate chips if you want...or if you want really decadent, Reese's PB cups)

Blend with hand blender! Done!

I pre-slice and freeze ripe bananas and keep them in freezer bags. 

Just peel, slice, lay out on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet, and freeze. 

Then transfer to bags to store. 

Easy! Those shakes are awesome, and so is this.

On to the basil! 

(Interruption: After typing the whole thing about the bananas, I had to go make a shake for dessert...no chocolate though!)

Tonight for dinner I made: 

Pesto (from scratch)

Thin spaghetti

Sautéed zucchini

Grilled mahi mahi (<--Husband grilled this)

The pesto was amazing! I made a huge mess with olive oil during it (all over the counter), but worth it:

Eventually I might get a better camera and improve my picture-taking skillz.

Yes that is sunshine on my zucchinis! I do love all of the windows in our house.

We ate garden-fresh tomatoes as a snack while I cooked. This photo is mostly to show the hard water spot ON THE GARDEN FRESH TOMATO. Straight from the garden. <3 hard water.

By the time I was done making dinner, I was so hungry I ate it without taking pictures of the finished product...sorry. It was great! 

Approximate recipe...

Pesto (based on The Joy of Cooking)

2 cups basil leaves

1/3 cups pine nuts (I used toasted walnuts)

2-3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup grated parmesean

Whirl in food processor into a thick paste. 

Then drizzle in 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil while processor runs.

Eat. 

Cook thin spaghetti. 

Wash, slice, and saute zucchini in a little olive oil until soft. 

Grill mahi mahi filets (ours were 4 oz each) about 4 minutes per side over med-high heat. 

Mix some pesto with the pasta, top with zuc and a dollop more of pesto, top 

with mahi mahi...squeeze lemon over the top. 

Have a great weekend! We are going adventuring...

Realities of a first time jam session

I read a lot of blogs that have beautiful, glamorous pictures of home preserved foods. Like on Food in Jars, or my friend (and amazingly wonderful wedding photographer) Caroline's blog, Coeur de La. I love these blogs (like other non-food blogs) because they have great photography and great information! 

However, my first canning experience looked and felt nothing like this (meaning, I'm totally jealous and hope someday my jamming looks like that! Obviously I should take a jam class!). 

My first jam experience looked like that photo above. And like this:

Yeah. 

We have hard water. REALLY, REALLY, HARD WATER. 

I knew this, but I didn't realize how this would affect my canning.

Well, to start, it coated my pots with white film 

(not a total surprise, but this was coating to a whole new level).

It also totally encrusted all of my jars in the same thick, gritty mineral film:

Not exactly jam-dream material! 

When I first pulled them out of the water bath I had to make a worried phone call to my friend/coworker/master food preserver mentor to ask if this had ever happened to her before. Nope. Dang! Just my luck to live in a neighborhood where everything that gets touched by water turns frosty white! 

Alas, while nothing was pretty about the experience, 5 of my 6 jars did seal, and the jam is pretty good. 

I did learn:

*Definitely prefer doing low sugar recipes using the low-sugar pectin

(This first recipe I did was a full sugar version--8 cups fruit to 7 cups sugar! 

WHOA! Probably won't do that again any time soon...)

*After getting my mineral-frosted jars, I looked up a solution online: add 2 T of white 

vinegar to your canner water bath. I doubted this would work (did you see those jars?!), 

but I tried it (experimentally simmered a jar for 20 minutes in the vinegar 

water bath)--NO buildup. VINEGAR WORKS! Amazing! 

Wish I'd known that one before I started...

*I love canning

*I'm on a health kick, and I'm thinking I'm going to use canning as my new 

hobby to replace baking (I'll let you know how well that works...) 

(I gave away almost all of the jam btw)

*My pots at home are too small to do anything larger than 

4 oz (tiny) jars--they are not tall enough, so when processing, 

the boiling water will massively overflow if you have 8 oz jars in there. 

Learned that the hard way. Ordered a water bath canner and rack this evening! 

*Pickles are my next project

*Someday I will be as glamorous (or able to take those glamorous 

photographs) as the blogs I mentioned at the beginning of this post! :)

Frosty. Gritty.

My friend/coworker/master food preserver mentor got me 

the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It's awesome! 

The step-by-step directions are awesome for newbies 

and there are tons of recipes. I made the first recipe in the book, strawberry jam, 

but I used their variation to make "Lemony Strawberry Jam" (adding lemon zest). 

My other food preserving interest: dehydrating. I'll keep you updated! 

Not. Glamorous. 

PS The jam is quite good on waffles. I just ate two as my pre-bike-to-work-power-snack!