a gypsy caravan

blueberry days

A friend of mine's mother has a blueberry orchard.  She called the other day to ask if we'd like to come and pick.  We were so excited! Each year we pick raspberries and apples, sometimes strawberries.  We missed strawberry season this year since I could not bend down to pick them. :) Anyhow, we haven't picked blueberries in many years.  She handed us our baskets and said the magical words, "Eat as many as you'd like while you pick." They are so sweet and full of sunshine that even those children who claimed not to like blueberries, went home with full tummies as well as full baskets.

 

 

 

 

 

We made blueberry pancakes for dinner that evening and have had plenty to munch on. We plan to put up some jam this weekend if our little baby hasn't arrived yet.  Still waiting for our little bundle to make her debut.  I'll keep you posted. :)

we're having a heat wave

It's a balmy 8 degrees here in Northeast Ohio.  Balmy compared to yesterday's -11 degrees!  We are used to Cleveland winters but it is pretty amazing when it gets so cold that your breath freezes in your nose after being outside for a few minutes.  There has been a lot of tea brewing this weekend as I recently received my shipment from Adagio.  Adagio has so many delicious teas but my favorites are the peppermint, spearmint, chamomile, Masala Chai, Jasmine #12 and Foxtrot.   All of them smell heavenly while brewing and they taste so good on these chilly days. Today, I am drinking the chai with a splash of maple syrup.

If you like Jasmine tea, the #12 is the best I have ever had, hands down. I love to watch the little buds unfurl in the hot water.   Two or three of them make a delicious cup.  No need for an entire teaspoonful, in my opinion.

Because I had a chance to sit a spell late last night, I picked up my knitting again.  Not working on the Tasha Tudor shawl as I should be.  Instead,  I started a pair of Toasties for two of  my sister in laws who have February birthdays.  Leslie has a very lovely, simple pattern posted on her blog "a Friend to knit with".   I am using Debbie Bliss' Donegal Luxury Tweed which is 85% wool and 15% angora.  It is just enough angora to make the wool ever so soft.   I am fond of angora though I don't like the mess it leaves behind.  This is just a touch of angora so it doesn't have the fuzzy effect.

This afternoon,  I have floors to sweep and laundry to do but, this evening, we will be here knitting, sipping and playing games by the fire.  I hope all of you are warm and well. 

Fall Biscuits

We make homemade biscuits on Fridays for lunch. We have been doing this since Benjamin was a little fellow.  Last week,  they made some into maple leaves using autumn cookie cutters.  It is a little touch that seems to bring a smile to their faces and warmth to their bellies. :)

Popovers

At least once a week, (more often in the cooler months), we make popovers for breakfast.  Our favorite recipe is from Susan Branch's  Heart of the Home Cookbook.  Add some honey butter or jam and watch them disappear! :)

Crockpot Pork Chalupa

at Heart of the Kitchen.  Yum Yum!

Vegetable Soup and Bread-A Tasty Winter Dinner

Christine and Jenn asked for our sandwich bread and vegetable soup recipes, respectively.  I am always happy to share. :)

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Sandwich Bread

Makes 4 loaves

5 C. warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 C. honey or 3/4 C. sugar
3 Tbsp. yeast
11 1/2 C. all-purpose flour plus more to knead in.

Use a mixer or knead by hand. 

Combine water, salt,  honey (or sugar).  Add yeast.  Let sit for a couple minutes until yeast bubbles a bit.. Stir in flour and make a soft dough. You may need a bit more than noted.  Knead for 8 - 10 min. either in mixer or with floured hands on floured countertop.  Place in large bowl.  Cover with a kitchen towel.  Let rise for an hour or so somewhere that is not drafty.  When it has doubled in size, punch it down.

Divide into 4 parts. Shape each part into a loaf and place into greased (I use butter) bread pans. Cover and allow to rise for the second time until dough is 1 in. above pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 30 min.  After taking from the oven, brush the tops with melted butter.  Allow to cool for a while then remove from pans to a cooling rack.  This bread freezes nicely if double wrapped. 

Another bread recipe we make often can be found here.

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Vegetable Soup

5 quarts of water, give or take some.   
4-5 cups of rich stock (vegetable, beef or chicken or use bouillon in a pinch)
1 large can of tomatoes and the juice, whole or chopped doesn't matter. You can even used stewed.
All the vegetables in your refrigerator :) Really it doesn't matter what combination but here's what I usually use:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
Several cloves of garlic, chopped
1-2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped carrots
1 green pepper,chopped
1/2  red pepper, chopped
1-2 cups of frozen lima beans
2 cups or so of frozen green beans and or wax beans
Any random can of beans plus liquid that you have too much of in your cupboards (black, kidney, pinto, whatever)
5 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 c. frozen peas
2-3 cups frozen corn (I like corn)
Any other vegetables you want to use up

The following dried herbs:  parsley, basil, 1 bay leaf, thyme, marjoram, pepper.  Use them to taste.  I use about 1 tsp. of each, I guess, except pepper.  Just a couple cranks on the pepper mill.  Maybe more basil.  Handful of salt (maybe two tablespoons?)

Here's how I make it:

In large soup pot, heat olive oil.  Add onion and garlic.  Saute until soft.  Add water and stock/bullion and seasonings.  Add heartier vegetables that take longer to cook such as potatoes, lima beans (they take forever), celery, carrots, and raw peppers.  Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered,  for an hour or so, maybe more.  Add the rest of the vegetables and simmer until everything is soft but not mushy.  Adjust seasoning. Remove bay leaf. Add some of your favorite bread and you have a delicious meal.  Makes quite a bit plus some for the neighbors.  Tastes best the next day.

Enjoy!

The Grass Family

This week we followed Shanleya to Grass Island where we learned about yet another group of monocots.   Monocots have leaves with parallel veins as opposed to dicots whose leaves are net-veined. There are over ten thousand species of grass.  Plants in this family include most edible grains such as wheat, rye, millet, timothy, oats, corn, rice, sorghum and barley.  Also included are bamboo, reeds and sugarcane as well as many plants for turf and fodder. 

Wheat

Oats

Rye

The edible part of the grass plant is the seed.  Grasses are wind pollinated and do not need insects to assist in their pollination, therefore they do not have colorful flowers to attract insects.  Grasses have three stamens and a pistil and are contained in modified leaves called bracts.

Ben's illustration of the characteristics of the Grass Family:

The Guardian of Grass Island by Chris:

Supplemental learning activities:

• Bake bread using different types of flour.  Which do you like best?  Which is healthiest for you? Which state in America produces the largest amount of each type of grain?

• Taste different forms of sugar (sucanat, brown sugar, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, raw sugar).  Which do you like best?  Which is the purest form of sugar?  Where is sugarcane grown in the world?

• Where does bamboo grow?  Purchase a tabletop bamboo plant and watch it grow.

• Learn the differences between different types of sod grasses.  Which grass grows best in your region of the country?

• Visit a sod farm if you live in a warm area of the country.

• Visit a grist mill.

• Visit a bakery  (Ok, that one might be stretching it a bit. :)

In keeping with the grains and grasses theme, our family had a baking day this week.  First, we searched the recipe archives of mothers who have many children.  I figured that their recipes would certainly be tried and tested to perfection.  I was right.  We made Danielle Bean's Banana Bread and  Michelle Duggar's Homemade Rolls in addition to four loaves of sandwich bread. Both recipes produced such delicious results that I was forced to freeze the extras in fear that we would eat them all in the first 24 hours!

Here is Christopher mixing the banana bread:

The Duggar's rolls, golden and delicious from the oven:

Little Annie's chubby hands kneading the bread dough:

I can't resist posting this one as well.

The finished loaves (One did not rise so well.):

Needless to say, our freezer is stocked and our tummies are full!

If you have read this far, I thank you. :)

Have a wonderful evening!

Christmas Cookies

We spent yesterday baking Christmas cookies.  Above are Margaret's Soft Sugar Cookies,  Chewy Ginger Snaps and Mom B.'s  Peppermint Pinwheels.  I make a half dozen different kinds each year and usually package them in little gift bag or tins.  This year we tried our hand at Violet's origami paper boxes to use as cookie containers.  We lined ours with tissue to make a pretty, handmade way to package treats for the neighbors.

Fresh Baked Bread

My home smells delicious this evening as the kids and I spent the day baking bread.  Here is the recipe if you'd like to give it a try.  Just the very scent of it adds five pounds to my hips! :)

Heart of the Kitchen

Last spring when I decided not to blog anymore, I backed up all of my sites at a free Wordpress site before deleting the Typead blogs just in case.  Last week, I reimported my recipe blog back to Typepad.  I have linked it here: Heart of the Kitchen  and in the right hand sidebar.  I apologize that I am missing many photos and images.  They were deleted in the switch to Wordpress.  Hopefully, I will get them back up and visible soon.  Though there are no new posts at Heart of the Kitchen as of yet, I hope to add some yummy recipes in the near future. 

P.S. Karen, you will find the white fruitcake recipe there! 

Enjoy!

Our Menu for the Upcoming Week(s)

My friend Meredith, whose blog name describes her to a tee :) has a great idea to link different people's menus for the upcoming week.  This has saved me a lot of time over the years.  I post my menus under my spice/baking rack in our kitchen on a white board where the kids can see them.  I put them in a plastic page protector and change the dinner one each week.

We have been doing this for years and it works well for our family.  The children can see what will be served that day and it helps me to know what to shop for for the next week.  Actually, Mike happily took over that weekly task for me since Annie was born over a year ago.   I am really spoiled in that respect.  All I have to do is plan the meals, make the list and put the groceries away.  God Bless him!

The visible menu posting also helps me, because I am so easily distracted, to remember what I am supposed to be doing in the kitchen! 

I'd love to tell you that I am making some fancy schmancy gourmet meals that require hours of slaving over the stove but the fact is, I keep it pretty simple for the sake of my own sanity. :)  Here is what we have planned for the upcoming week(s).

Our breakfasts and lunches are the same every week so I will post them here once and then won't bore you with them again.  ;)

Breakfasts:

Monday     Fruit and Yogurt

Tuesday     Fruit and Cereal

Wednesday  Fruit, Toast and Eggs

Thursday     Fruit and Oatmeal

Friday  Fruit and Eggs

Saturday   Fruit and Cereal

Sunday     Fruit, Pancakes, Eggs and Sausage

I also boil up a dozen of hard boiled eggs each week which the kids can also eat with their breakfasts if they so desire.  The girls and I love them, the boys always pass on the eggs.

Lunches: 

Monday     Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, raw vegetables and dip, pickles

Tuesday     Peanut Butter and Jelly, raw vegetables and dip, mozarella cheese stick

Wednesday   Macaroni and Cheese, raw vegetables with dip

Thursday Peanut Butter and Jelly, raw vegetables and dip, mozarella cheese stick

Friday     Homemade Biscuits with honey, Tuna Salad and/or Cheese, raw veggies with dip

Our dinner menu is seasonal and on a three week rotation.  We eat heavier foods in the colder months and switch to more fresh produce in the spring and summer.  Also, if there is a special feast day that might seem a good time to make something different, I don't hesitate to change the menu when necessary.

Here is the upcoming weeks menu:

Sunday:  Potato Pancakes, Applesauce, Veggies and Sausage

Monday:  Baked Fish Fillets, Raw Veggies, Rolls

Tuesday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread

Wednesday: Pork Chops, Applesauce and Scalloped Potatoes

Thursday: Chicken Tenders, Oven Baked Round Fries, Peas

Friday: Pizza Night, Raw Veggies/Salad

Saturday: Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce, Bean Burritos for kids, Rice and Beans

Many thanks to Meredith who came up with this fun way to keep our meals organized!

Here I Sit, Sipping and Stalling

I am having a delicious cup of tea, sent to me by a dear friend (you know who you are!) as a Christmas gift.  I am, normally, a teabag kind of girl but this tea came in the loose form, which strikes me as much more elegant, old fashioned and romantic.  It is also so fun for me to finally get a glimpse of the elusive tea leaf itself.  I have never really paid much attention to what was inside those little bags but now the entire tea making process has come to life and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I am not certain how much to use for each cup or pot.  A teaspoon?  A tablespoon?  Several?  I have experimented here and there and every cup turns out delightfully different and equally delicious in its own way.  Anyone with suggestions on how much loose tea to brew can help me out in the comment section.   

Tonight, I went to Target and bought myself a new tea kettle as well as one of those modern glass tea "pots" with the glass infuser inside.  It really looks more like a little glass pitcher.  I needed a new kettle to heat the water and I have grown tired of my father's hand-me-down Corningware 1970's tea kettle which is far too old to google and far too ugly to link even if I were able to locate a photo. I bought this one with a Christmas gift card that a thoughtful relative gave to me.

Anyhow, I am supposed to be taking down my Christmas tree this evening.  I have about three quarters of the ornaments off but all of lights are still twinkling.  The needles are poking me and falling all over the floor as I take down the ornaments.  Tomorrow is trash day so I am up against that deadline.  I know, I know, it is not Epiphany yet.  I really should leave the tree up until then.  But this year, I am taking it down early because I would like to start back to lessons on Monday and I still have my closets to finish.  Yes, you read that right, closet"s". The singular closet has turned into plural. 

Have you ever started a project only to find that it is contingent upon another project and another and yet another?  That is where I am at right now-- in the middle of the gnarled up ball of yarn that is my household closet system.  We are purging and we are organizing and we are installing lower bars for the kiddos.  We are adding bins and shelves and making a grand old mess all in the name of organization. We are stepping over wooden blocks and books and Lincoln Logs that are all in the hallway now that the clothes are in the closets.  Somewhere, down the road a few days, it will all fall into place but right now it feels like the "storm before the calm".  Everything must get messy in order to get tidy.  Maybe you know that feeling. 

But rather than clean up my closets and take down my balding tree, I am thinking of how blessed I am to have real, honest to goodness friends.  I am sitting.  And sipping.  And savoring.  And stalling...and smiling.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Tea

The ever-creative Alice at Cottage Blessings has put together a lovely tea for Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day.  Do stop and take a look at her delicious ideas!

Just a Reminder…

For those of you who will be following the Advent devotions for Week Two starting tomorrow, you will want to make your symbol cookies today or tomorrow before tomorrow's devotion time (we do ours in the evening).  You can use any recipe for roll out dough, even store-bought sugar cookie dough if you are in a pinch. 

Here is the recipe and patterns that we use.   I also want to mention that Rycraft has cookie presses of the lamb, star of David and sun that could be used year after year. 

Salads are Such a Healthy Lunch

...but not as healthy when followed by a four pieces of fruitcake.

I suppose it would help if someone else in the house liked fruitcake.

Besides me, that is.

St. Martin's Feast/Martinmas

St. Martin of Tours (397), was born in Pannonia (modern Hungary) of pagan parents around the year 316.  Having become a soldier at age fifteen, he later gave up military life and was baptized.  Sooon after he founded a monastery at Liguge in France, where he led a monastic life under the direction of St. Hilary.  He was ordained a priest and chosen bishop of Tours.   He provided an example of the ideal good pastor, founding other monasteries, educating the clergy, and preaching the Gospel to the poor.  He is the patron of soldiers and the uncle of Ireland's St. Patrick. 

In Poland, rich cookies are shaped like horseshoes to remember St. Martin's snow-white horse, on which he "comes riding through the snow" when one least expects him. 

From The Catholic Parent Book of Feasts by Michaelann Martin

St.  Martin horseshoe cookie recipe can be found at Heart of the Kitchen.

The Great Candy Swap

We live in a large suburban neighborhood.  Most of its residents are elderly folks who are so excited to see a child walk up their front steps.  On average, my kids receive one hundred to two hundred pieces of candy PER CHILD, on Halloween night. 

I wanted to mention something that we started doing four years ago.  It seemed to me that every year, the week after Halloween, my little ones got some sort of virus or cold that hung on until Thanksgiving.  My theory was that their immune systems got overtaxed on Halloween candy.  Whether that theory is true or not, we instituted something called "The Great Candy Swap" in our home.

Here is how it works.  Each Halloween day, the children have the option to:

1. Keep all of their candy
2. Keep 15 pieces of their candy and take a trip to Chuck E Cheese's or some other kid venue.(Last year, I also offered a cash option of $5 rather than the Chuck E Cheese trip.) 

When a friend of mine heard about our Halloween options, she felt that it was mean to rob the kids of their hard earned candy.  I want to explain that there is no coersion on my part to do this.  The children make the choice themselves.   

Since the Swap began, all of the children have opted for the 15 pieces.  On All Saints day, we drive down to the St. Augustine Hunger Center after Mass and donate all of the bags of candy that were given up to the soup kitchen.  The kids take the bags in themselves and hand them to the workers there.  They are always happy to give the people a treat and end up feeling really good about their decision.  This year Mary andBen debated as to whether they should keep their candy or not.  Ultimately, they both chose to donate it because they "wanted those people to have a treat since they don't ever get one". 

Makes my heart warm inside and keeps the family healthy and strong.  Plus, Mom stays out of the chocolate! :)

Michaelmas Blackberry pie

Blackberry Pie is traditionally eaten on this day because the legend says that the devil spits on the blackberries after Michaelmas. 

The crust for a double crust pie:

2 cups all purpose-flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup shortening or lard

6 to 7 tablespoons cold water

Stir together flour and salt.  Cut in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas.  Add water and mix with hands.  Divide in half and toll out in a circle on a lightly floured surface.  Wrap pastry around rolling pin and unroll onto a 9" pie pan.

Filling:

4 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen, slightly thawed)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

Coat berries with flour and sugar in a mixing bowl.  Transfer filling to waiting pie crust.  After filling, top with second pie crust.  Pinch edges of pie together, cut slits for steam.  Cover edges of crust with foil.  Bake for 50 minutes at 375 degrees.  Remove foil, bake for another 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

German Potato Pancakes

Today is a chilly day, the rain dripping from the eaves.  My mother is coming over tonight and I am serving potato pancakes.  The following recipe comes from my grandmother's family which is of German descent. 

Jewish people call Potato Pancakes "Latkes" and traditionally make them with matzo meal on Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.  Our family makes them with regular flour, instead of the matzo meal, but the taste is very similar.  Potato pancakes are a favorite of my family, however we do not eat them very often because of the oil content.  They certainly are a comfort food!

Here is the recipe:

8-10 large potatoes (I like Yukon Gold)

1/2-1 cup flour

3-4 eggs

2 TBLS. finely chopped onion or a bit of onion powder

1 TBLS. fresh minced parsley (optional)

Peel and shred the potatoes.  My family uses a hand grater.  My grandmother used a crank grater.  If you have a food processor, you can use it as well.  We prefer to grate them on a coarser hole rather than the finer grate so they have a lot of texture.

In a large mixing bowl, add potatoes, eggs, flour, salt, onion and parsley.  The mixture should be very moist but not soupy.  If there is a large amount of water in the bottom of the bowl, drain some out and add a bit more flour.

Fill the bottom of a large skillet or electric frying pan with cooking oil.  On medium heat, heat oil, being careful not to burn.  Using a slotted spoon to drain any liquid from the bottom of the bowl, add large spoonfuls of potato mixture to the oil.  When pancake is browned on one side, turn over with a fork.  When browned on both sides, drain on papertowels and salt to taste.  Keep warm on a cookie sheet covered with foil on your lowest oven setting while you prepare the remaining pancakes. 

Potato pancakes must be watched carefully.  They burn easily and then the oil must be discarded and the cooking process begun again.

We serve our potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream.  This recipe makes a couple dozen pancakes.

Buona Festa! Happy Feast!

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a day for celebrating and honoring our Mother.

For many years, we have travelled into the heart of Cleveland's "Little Italy" to honor our Mother and share in the festivities.  Signs of the feast's arrival are everywhere.

The day begins at 11:30 when the bells of Holy Rosary Church begin to toll.  The procession draws thousands of people from  the Catholic community. 

Marching in the procession are various organizations that honor Our Lady...

The Legion of Mary, Knights of Columbus, Priests for Life...

Our Bishop and various clergy...

There are children dressed as saints...

and a marching band!

as well as many women wearing the scarf depicting Our Lady...

(These lovely scarves are sold at the festival.  I plan to wear mine for all the Marian Feasts.)

The highlight of the procession is the Madonna who is followed by hundreds of people praying the Rosary and singing Marian hymns.

People make donations as the Madonna statue passes, which are collected and given to Catholic Charities. 

Following the procession, Mass is said in Holy Rosary Church, a beautiful church built in 1908.  The windows and paintings in the church are breathtaking.  I thought you might like to see one.

The Feast is reverent and honoring to Our Lady but it is also a whole lot of fun!  This three day event also has carnival rides, games to play and, of course, great Italian food!  We stopped by Corbo's bakery, our favorite place for cannoli and lemon ice.

Here is Mary Kathryn enjoying a lemon Italian ice. 

It was a fun, full Feast day for us all ! If you are ever in Cleveland, or for those of you who are, come along with us next year!

Buona Festa!