Mostly About Food

Just wanted to share a few links to some items of interest.

First, this is a fascinating (but long!) article by Michael Pollan about the decline of cooking in America. The most interesting take-away, to me, is that the more time you spend cooking from scratch, the healthier you'll be. So take heart, those hours in the kitchen are worth it!

From one of my favorite blogs, here's one reason why I'm looking forward to homeschooling my children as they get older. They're designing their own course of study on the subject of "eating". How's that for some flexibility and pursuing your interests?

And this is my one non-related food item: a fabric mailbox tutorial. For quite a while I've wanted to set up some sort of mailboxes here at home for each member of the family. The kids often make things or write notes for daddy during the day, and it would be fun to have a special mailbox for such things. Not to mention how nice it would be to have a spot to leave notes for the kids. So, I'm still pondering exactly how I'd like to set that up. Not sure if I could get around to making 5 fabric mailboxes, but they are awfully cute!

And last but not least, a recipe to pass along. This recipe for Kale Slaw is from a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living, and it is so good. I don't think I'd ever eaten so much raw kale in one sitting. Granted, it does have quite a bit of oil. The next time I make this, I will probably try reducing the oil a bit.


Kale Slaw

Combine in a large bowl:
2 large bunches curly kale, center ribs discarded, very thinly sliced crosswise (about 10 cups)
1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange), thinly sliced
2 carrots (thinly sliced or shredded)

Puree in a blender until smooth:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup salted peanuts
2 TB packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp coarse salt

Pour dressing over vegetables just before serving. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped.

We're looking forward to spending the weekend camping with family. Hope you have a fun weekend too!

Summer Odds and Ends

There's been so much going on around here, a lot of which makes it onto the camera, but then doesn't get shared beyond that. A sampling:

I planted quite a few morning glories, most of which turned out to be shades of purple and pink. I'd been watching this one climb the fence for several weeks before I got to see what a lovely shade of blue it turned out to be.
The morning after Millie's birthday, she and Silas set out completely on their own to have a morning picnic. They did every bit of getting themselves dressed and setting it all up, complete with leftover chocolate chip pancakes and juice boxes.
I was so amused by this little "horned" tomato that we got from our garden. Funny little thing. We're enjoying quite a few full-sized tomatoes these days. And in the background that's my spiffy new cutting board from Ikea. Another lovely blue color.
We're gearing up to get started with homeschooling next week. And it's also all about camping these days, as we did an overnight with friends over the weekend, then we're off again for another camping trip this coming weekend. Have to enjoy the summer while it lasts!

Now We Are Six

We started Millie's birthday by giving her a book she'd been waiting anxiously to receive. It seems a bit backwards to be giving her a picture book based on Anne of Green Gables, after she has already listened to the audio book several times and watched the movie based on the book. But it's what she wanted.

It seemed Millie was on the phone quite a bit, with birthday wishes from cousins and grandmas.


And then she decided to perfect her Anne of Green Gables look, complete with braided hair and ribbons.


That afternoon we met friends for a birthday playdate at the park, complete with cupcakes decorated to Millie's specifications.

Fun for little brothers too.

And after supper that night, the much-anticipated Barbie cake.

We won't even discuss how weepy I was all day realizing that this sweet girl is now six.

Happy Birthday Millie!

Purple Carrots

One of our favorites in the garden this year has been these purple carrots. The variety is "dragon".
The kids have loved digging them up. Last week when friends came over the kids stayed busy digging up and snacking on carrots.

It's just the skin that is a reddish-purple color. The inside is either orange or yellow. It seems the larger carrots are more yellow inside. As for the flavor, these have a slight "bite" to them that you won't find in regular grocery-store carrots. But my favorite thing about them? They're just plain gorgeous.