birthday treats

For a fifth birthday. 

For a fist Birthday. 

March

Walking to see visit with the Mama and their babies.

Washing sweaters by hand. I love the combination of colors. 

recent provisions

Curried squash soup with quinoa and kale. The recipe calls for mushrooms, but I tend to leave them out. Which is rather odd seeing as though I love mushrooms. I think it is just the combo that I do not like. The recipe is from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook, and you can find the recipe here.

Crunchy Granola

Mollie Katzen, Salad People

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups combined seeds and chopped nuts (I used almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, coconut flakes, and flax seeds)
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup assorted dried fruit (I omitted)

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl mix together the oats, seeds, nuts, salt, and brown sugar. I left the salt out because my cashews were salted, otherwise I would have included it.

Combine the oil, honey, and vanilla extract and pour over the nuts and seeds mixture. Mix thoroughly - kids can use their nice and clean hands.

Bake for about half an hour, stirring several times to ensure even toasting, and if you can't fit both trays on one rack, switching the tray position half way through. Leave the granola to cool on the tray as this is when it gets crunchy.

When the granola is cool and sticky/crunchy, put it in a bowl and add in the fruit. Can be stored in a canister on the counter.

Chocolate sandwich cookies from Martha Stewart, Baking Handbook. I was inspired by a bakery in Cambridge, Massachusetts,  Hi-Rise Bread Company. I was trying to achieve oreo cookie crunchy like cookies. But these were more of a softer chewer quality. Delicious non-the-less!

Feburary

Makings for soup.

my Mom and I

I am almost curtain these were taken in February 1985. Making my Mom twenty-seven and myself five.  In the picture on the left if you look closely you can see Valentine's hanging on the refrigerator.  I love this detail.

My Mom looks so young in these photos. She passed away this past November, which makes these photos that more precious.

Valentine's Day treats

Homemade heart shaped peppermint patties, heart dolls for the girls (that is what is in those little packages), and foil paper airplanes for the boys (not pictured). With the message: flying by to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day.  

Seriously Valentine's Day is the best.

bread and pickles

Do you recall all the hype about the no-knead bread recipe that ran in the New York Times, a while ago? Recently, a friend said you "need to make this bread!" It was not the first time I had heard this about this recipe in particular. After sampling a piece of hers, I could not believe what had taken me so long to follow others advice. Not only is the bread delicious. It is effortless. 

It is my new all-purpose bread recipe. I use half white and half whole wheat bread flour; which was grown just a couple towns south of where I live. I have even doubled the recipe and made one big loaf.  It is a great accompaniment to a pot of soup  or topped with roasted garlic hummus and cheese. 

Above are he most delicious bread and butter pickles I have ever had. I made them this summer for my plentiful crop of cucumbers.  I followed a recipe I had found in one of my grandmothers old cookbooks. An index card with my grandmothers handwriting. As I was pickling I could not help but imagen her following this recepes decades earlier.