Sea + Prairie

Basil Peach Smoothies

When you have an over abundance of (insert appropriate summer produce here) peaches, you have to get a bit creative with how you use them so that the little people don't exclaim "peaches again, mom?"

This morning I came back from the garden with a few handfuls of basil to make pesto later in the day.  I love basil.  I love how it smells.  And I was just thinking about how almost anything tastes a bit better with basil.  

Hmmm...peach smoothies?  And basil?

We tried it and it is amazing.  I think I've found our newest breakfast treat.

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Peach Smoothies with Basil 

::makes four smoothies

Four ripe peaches, pealed and quartered

Two tsp. of honey or to taste

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1 c. orange juice

2 sprigs of basil (about 8 leaves)

1 cup of ice

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

 

::weekending:: from field to kitchen

Sometimes our weekends seem to have a theme...soccer, the beach, etc.  This weekend seemed to be all about our food.

On Friday we visited our favorite farm to help with weeding the swiss chard bed.  Knowing we would be there for several hours, I opened the back of the car and laid all of the seats down.  The boys made a pallet with quilts and blankets.  And for hours, they ran back and forth between the car and the weeding project...reading, catching toads, reporting on the chickens and goats running about.  

For our efforts, Farmer Maureen gave us a huge box of cucumbers.  Saturday morning was spent in the kitchen putting up pickles!

And a few weeks back, Jamie of Steady Days sent me a copy of the Green Market Baking Book.  I've spent several evenings "dog-earing" pages with recipes I'd like to try.  So, this week we used some of our csa beets to make the beet chocolate cake.  Yummy!  Using maple syrup and honey instead of granulated sugar gives the cake a very different "sweet" taste, and the boys commented on it tasting different.  But all in all they liked it.  We will definitely be making it again.

We picked up two baskets of peaches too...and blueberries.  All are now very happy in put up in the freezer, awaiting their use in smoothies and fruit crumbles during the winter months.

I haven't spend that much time in the kitchen in quite awhile.  It felt good to be preparing for how our family will be eating today and into next winter.

How about you?  How was your weekend?

Using Spring Greens : Swiss Chard

This morning it is quiet.

Other than the mama mallard duck outside the front door quacking away for her breakfast.

She had an injured foot for awhile and she couldn't walk very well, so she set up shop in our flower beds.  The stalking cats didn't even seem to bother her.  So Wyatt started feeding her every morning.  Now she's gotten a bit demanding and quacks loudly if she doesn't get her morning meal.

I've been busy this morning.

Right now the whole house smells like spinach.  When I was a kid I used to hate that particular smell.  But now love it.  So earthy and rich.

Between the chard that I have raised and what we've been getting from our CSA, my cup overfloweth with swiss chard.  I'm trying to be better this year about freezing what we can't use right away.  So far so good.

Chard seems to be one of those greens that are a bit new to some of us and if you receive a bunch in your csa, you might not know what to do with it.

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The NYT has a great article about the health benefits of chard and a nice list of recipes.  We have tried several of them and so far our favorites are to throw a bit into our pizza like we would spinach and thrown in eggs with a bit of onion and tomato.

From what I've read so far, the only greens you can't freeze is lettuce.  So, everything else we're freezing for later use.

Kale, Chard, Spinach, Turnip Greens, etc. can all be blanched and frozen.

I've been collecting recipes using chard.  Below is a list of some of our favorites.

 

How To Freeze Swiss Chard And Other Spring Greens

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Step 1 - Pick the greens!

Remember that the greens cook down quite a bit, so you may feel like you have picked a lot, but they will cook down by more than half.

Step 2 - Wash the greens

Step 3 - Trim off any brown edges or damaged pieces 

Step 4 - Blanch

Fill a large pot half way full of water.  Bring water to a boil.  Add greens and boil briefly for 2-3 minutes.

Step 5 - Cool

Stop the greens from overcooking by dipping them quickly a bowl of ice water.  Then drain them in a strainer.

Step 6 - Bag the greens

When greens are drained, seal them in ziploc type bags.

Step 7 - Label and freeze

Using a sharpie marker, label and date the bags and pop them in the freezer.

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If you have a great use for chard or other greens, I would love to hear how you are using all of these great spring greens!

::weekending::

Remember we had a very long list of things that we wanted to do this past weekend.  In reality there was not way to get to it all.

But the most important things were covered.

--strawberries were picked with two extra friends in tow...that's five little boys in all.  And only one (one of mine) had to go sit in the car for jumping over the rows.

--the farm was visited, first csa of the season was picked up!  Turnip chips were a complete success.  We used the same idea as the terra chip recipe and they were devoured in a matter of a few minutes.

--warbirds were seen over head without even visiting the airport.

--soccer games were won...and lost.  

--breakfast with a friend was oh, so worth it!  Note to self, plan breakfast out with a friend more often.  The boys were able to have their slow Saturday morning and I got out before anyone missed me.

--birthday party for a little friend...check!

This morning I'm trying to get a bunch of these pretty berries prepared and frozen.  We did this last year and had enough berries to use in smoothies all winter.  Yum!

We'll also try to make a batch of fruit leather as well.  It continues to be a favorite of all the kiddos in the neighborhood.

How about you?  How was your weekend?

Wintertime Boost: Citrus Salad

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

I just thought I would pop in quickly to share a little something I've become completely addicted to.  OK, I actually need to be doing some writing, but I'm procrastinating.

Here is what's on my mind instead...

There tends to be a natural craving for citrus this time of year.  With so many of the fresh fruits and veggies still months away, it is such a treat to get fresh lemons or grapefruits.

And when husbands are away for extended periods of time and sick kiddos all around, the mama can...not...get...sick.

This time I was able to stay well and I fully attribute it to citrus salad.

(Now watch.  I'll come down with the African-Amazon Flu tomorrow.)

I hate to even call this a recipe, but I do not want you to think this is complicated in any way.  Sometimes I take a quick look at something and think it looks to yummy to be easy.  But this is!

Easy Citrus Salad

-Two grapefruits, peeled and sectioned
-Three blood oranges, peeled and sectioned
-Four tangerines or clementines, peeled and sectioned
-Any other citrus you can get your hands on really

That's it! 

I have been making a big bowl of this salad and putting it in the fridge.  I'll eat a little all day long.  This morning it was citrus salad over cottage cheese...yum!  For lunch, I'll add a little spinach and sliced chicken breast.  It even makes a great snack with a few almond slices over the top.

Happy weekend!

A Day To Myself

Yesterday was a good day.

A very good day.

A day that brought an unexpected period of time all by myself.

I keep a mental list of all of the things I want to do if I the stars align perfectly and I get a few hours to myself.  Things like...start seeds for the Fall garden, sew new throw pillow for the living room, straighten the pictures in the guest room.  You know...those important little things that just never get done because you are too busy being busy.

Last Saturday morning, S announced that he and the boys were going to Busch Gardens for the day and I was not coming with them.  He knows what a homebody I am and how I really don't like places with too many people, food that costs way too much especially on a 109 degree day.

Bless him!

So how did I spend my day?

- breakfast, zucchini bread with chocolate chips, while I contemplated peeling the rest of the peaches and catching up on a little blog reading.

-I got a few jars of peach butter jarred up and added to the pantry, here is the recipe I used.  Easy is an understatement people!

- I watched the tomatoes ripen in the window, did a little more reading, and apparently spent way too much time looking at vintage inspired boys rooms

- because, then I got a wild hair to repaint the boys' bedrooms

both of them

- I am loving the results.  It isn't a huge color change, but there's nothing like clean, freshly spackled  and painted walls.  I'll show you the full update when I finish getting the new shelves up and Im excited about a little swimming inspired art piece Im working on for above Ian's bed.

What would you do if you had a day to yourself?

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Oh, and I have a new post over at Simple Organic on the health benefits of getting outside with your kiddos if you want to check it out.  There's lots of good stuff over at Simple Living Media.

Cool As A Cucumber

Its been so hot here.  And humid.  Holy moley, its been humid.

And we have had very little rain.  I have been having to water the garden twice a day to keep the green beans and tomatoes going.

Until yesterday.

The skies finally opened up and the rain poured!

I couldn't help but think of the farmers around here.  They must have enjoyed the rain as much as we did.

We sat on the porch for a long time.  Watching the beautiful lightning.  The skies changing color.  Dark blue-gray to golden to pink again.

We even spotted our first ever otter running around across the street.  We knew they live around here, but we've never seen one in the wild.  The boys were so excited!

Something about the color of cucumbers has an instant cooling effect.

We made pickles...lots of pickles.

Oh, and a few jars of blackberry preserves too.

Coincidentally the pretty flowers on my table, picked up at the local farmer's market last Saturday, are the same color.

Ahhhh, you can feel the heat melt away, can't you?

OK, maybe not.

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We are full on into swimming lessons this week, before we take a little vacation up North to Maine country.  I'm thinking we'll drive it in two days.

Anyone know of a good halfway stopping point?  Boston?  New York?

Homegrown Potato Chips!

 

Every  year we try to grow something we've never grown before.  Last year it was corn.

This year we grew potatoes!

(In old rubber tires stacked three high.)

We've been harvesting a few spuds at a time by gently picking the top tire up a little and reaching in under the plant and pulling out a potato.  Potato picking just might be our new summer sport.  Its just so darned fun and the kids get such a kick out of finding "the monster ones".  

Spud is coming to an end here, but before it does, I wanted to share with you my kids' most favorite potato recipe.

Potato chips, of course!

What else?

We must really have a thing for chips.  I just remembered our Terra Chips.  But who really cares when you grow them yourselves.  Eh?

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Homegrown Potato Chips

You will need:

Knife or Mandonlin

Potatoes

Salt

Olive Oil

Iron skillet (or fryer)

Directions:

Pour about and inch and a half of oil into your iron skillet and heat it to medium high heat (at least 400 degrees).  Wait for the oil to get hot if you put the potatoes in too early they will absorb too much oil and get soft in the center.

While the oil is heating up, cut your potatoes with a mandolin on the 1/16th in. setting or with a knife as thin as you can.

Here is the *secret*...Soak the potato slices in a bowl of water while you are finishing cutting (about 10  minutes or so).

When the oil is hot, take the potato slices out, dry them off and slide them carefully into the hot oil making sure that they do not stick to one another.  Don't put too many in at one time as to make sure each potato slice is surrounded in hot oil.

Watch them carefully as they will brown fairly quickly.

When they are lightly brown in color, lift them out of the oil and onto a rack or paper towel to cool.

While they are still warm, sprinkle them with salt.

We've been enjoying them with hummus, accompanies by frozen (yes, frozen) grapes or watermelon as a yummy snack.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Fruit Leather Recipe

This past weekend was the Strawberry Festival in a nearby community.  We don't usually go for the funnel cakes and carnival rides, but on Friday afternoon we found ourselves out of school, in Pungo watching the 4-H animal judging portion of the festival.

The boys had a great time and are now begging for a sheep to raise and show.  (Great idea Eren!)

But even though the strawberry season has not been what is usually is because of spiratic temperatures and less than average rain fall, we ended up bringing home our share of strawberries.

We're freezing most of them for smoothies and ice cream, but we're making fruit leather with the rest.

Fruit Leather Recipe

Ingredients:  

• Strawberries
• Water
• Lemon juice 
• Sugar (if needed)

**4 cups of fruit yield about one sheet of fruit leather

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to the lowest setting or 120 degrees...the lowest my oven would go was 170 degrees.
2. Rinse the berries and cut of the green tops.  Cut the berries into quarters if they are large berries.
3. If the berries are sweet you will not need to add much sugar, but if they are tart you will need to add a bit more.
4. Place the berries in a covered saucepan on medium heat.  Pour in 1/2 c. water for every 4 cups of fruit.  Bring the berries to a simmer and let them cook down for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is soft.
5. Use a potato masher to mash the fruit that is left in the pan until fairly smooth.  (Or wait for the mixture to cool a bit and put it in your food processor or blender.)  If you kiddos are sensetive to the seeds, you could strain the mixture through cheesecloth to remove the strawberry seeds.
6. Add sugar 1 tsp. at a time until desired sweetness and lemon juice to taste  I added 1/2 c. sugar and the juice from 1/2 of a lemon to give it some real zing.
7. Simmer fruit until sugar is completely disolved and the mixture has thickened (about 5 or 10 minutes more).

8.   Spray a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray and line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Pour the strawberry mixture onto the lined baking sheet until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick or so.

9.  Bake in the low temperature oven for as long as it takes for the puree to dry out (between 8 and 12 hours) and not be sticky to the touch...ours took 6.5 hours since it was at a higher temp.

10.  Let the fruit leather cool.  Then as you take the leather up, tightly roll it, plastic wrap and all as you would do cinnamon rolls.

11.  Then cut the leather into desired widths.

12.  Store the homemade "fruit roll ups" in airtight containers or plastic baggies.

Our recipe was adapted from this one that gives directions for making fruit leather out of many different kinds of fruit.  The boys absolutely love it, and so did the new neighbor kids next door.  Which is music to a mamas ears. I think we'll be try making some blackberry leather next.  Our blackberries have ever so slightly started looking much more pink than green.

I have an old 1905 cookbook from my great, great Aunt Grace that directs you to spread the softened fruit out on a plate and set it in the sun for 24 hours.  We might try that method as well and see which one comes out better.

Strawberry Season and a Winner

This weekend I saw the first roadside signs for pick your own strawberries.  And for the past several days all I can think about are getting my hands on some pretty red berries.

This morning I dropped by my favorite fruit and veggie stand to pick up a few of these little gems to tide me over until I can get to our annual picking.

I'm thinking the few I picked up this morning just might not make it to after desert after dinner.  Because I'm dreaming of freezer jam and fruit leather.

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I loved, loved, love reading about everyone's thrift, family hand me down, flea market furniture finds.  I read each and every entry and loved hearing the stories behind why you love the pieces you do.

And now for the winner of the Flea Market Style book giveaway.

The winner is #22 is  Sarah Jackson of Green Clogs who said...

Oh gosh - that bedroom is adorable. I don't think Annika would go for it either, but I can dream. I'd love for my house to look like that, but I'm afraid for me it would just look messy and cluttered, instead of carefully crafted. Maybe the book would help?

I don't have any flea market furniture, but my favorite thrift store furniture is an end table that I bought about 14 years ago for $25. It's mahogany with a little cupboard on top that has beveled glass in its doors and a leather top. It has traveled with me everywhere. The cupboard is the perfect place to stash my mess when people are coming over and I don't have time to clean. :)

Happy weekend, friend. xoxo

Congratulations Sarah!!!

Send me your address and I'll pop this little book in the mail to you pronto!

Off to nibble on some more berries.

Happy Monday!