This week has been one back on my feet.
Temporary single mama while my husband was away in Japan for work. My older son was with my parents for VBS at their church. It was just the little one and me.
We had a great time hanging out and doing things just the two of us. Mostly playing, reading, working at the patch, and cooking. It was too hot to be outside at the beginning of the week - except early in the morning when we'd go to the community garden to water, weed, and plant some more seeds (how did we miss planting sunflowers???).
The little one is quite the independent child - keeps himself busy most days until he wants to read with me. I took the time to catch up on housework that's been ignored for many months and to prep veggies for today's cooking - it's been in the low 70s and high 60s all day - perfect weather for baking and cooking!
This morning we made a batch of blueberry zucchini mini loaves with zucchini from the patch. I still have shredded zucchini in the fridge, trying to figure out what I'll do with it tonight or tomorrow.
Then we ran to a local farmer's market where corn is buy a dozen, get a dozen free - it's not organic, but it's local. I husked it while my mother-in-law and older son (who came home today) picked silk. Then I cut it off of the cob and bagged it in one cup portions before putting it in the freezer for this winter... This is my favorite corn chowder recipe - but I use two tablespoons of olive oil in place of the bacon and stir in low fat sour cream to each serving instead of using the heavy cream in the whole batch. That way we can eat it over many days without it separating when we reheat, also saves on the calories!
I have a container of sliced red onions from the patch. I'm perusing for recipes for what I should do with them. I really want to make a caramelized onion jam of sorts (not too sweet) so that I can use it off the pantry shelf for my caramelized onion and goat cheese tart with thyme that I love to make - but rarely do because of the planning for time to make the caramelized onions!
Last night's dinner and today's lunch was tortellini soup with white beans and the base is tomato goodness from the 2011 crop. You can see how to make tomato goodness here. To make the soup I defrosted a quart of tomato goodness, then added a can of small white beans that were drained and rinsed. I snipped in some fresh parsley and basil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The tortellini was cooked separately and then added to the soup. I finished it with a grating of pecorino romano. It's delicious with fresh bread to dip into the broth. The second day the broth is thicker because of the pasta and beans absorbing the moisture. You can add chicken or vegetable stock to thin it, if you prefer. I actually prefer the soup better on day two. If you want more depth of flavor, you can start by sauteeing pancetta and finely chopped onions and then adding the tomato goodness. In lieu of tomato goodness, you can use a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes with basil and adding half to one cup of chicken stock. It will give you a similar consistency and flavor to the tomato goodness. This is such a quick dinner - it's ready as soon as the tortellini is finished cooking - so however long it takes to boil water plus eight minutes... It really couldn't be easier!
The husband's plane has landed and he's on his way home. I'm so glad!
Updates about WoodstreamDream and WoodstreamPapery will be coming soon... in the meantime check out the shops - I've added new items in the past couple of weeks!
Thanks for stopping by to read! Have a blessed weekend!
Nicole
I have this problem - I don't like to sit still when I'm told to do so. I'm having a difficult time just resting, especially when I get a day when I feel okay for several hours. But then I tend to over do it when I feel well. So right now I'm exhausted and have been resting for most of the day. The products of yesterday afternoon and this morning are so delicious and were so fun to make, it's been worth it! I have six days until surgery and after that I will rest for a good long while until I don't hurt. I've resolved that for now when the discomfort's not too bad and I have a bit of energy, I'm letting myself escape this torture called homeboundness with a little domestic pleasure of canning sunshine!
I love to open a can and taste the summer - especially on a cold, cloudy winter day. Even if I can't get into the garden, take the kids picking, or go to the market, I'm glad that I'm able to can a little of what I'm missing.
My very generous mom came over yesterday afternoon with loads of beautiful local produce. I called her on Wednesday evening during a spark of inspiration - Pinterest and blog reading can do that. I asked if she could get her hands on some sweet cherries, sour cherries, and strawberries - only if she could find good ones that weren't water logged - we had our fair share of rain during May in New Jersey this year. Similar weather last year and the strawberries tasted like water. Blah.
Well, sour cherries weren't ready, but sweet were and she picked me four pounds - I'll be making preserves on Monday with those, once I've regained some of my energy that my spark of inspiration zapped from me.
The strawberries she brought to me, oh divinity! I wish I'd photographed them before we started sorting them. They weren't perfect, but just a day from being - well great for the composter! They were sweet and sticky and my fingertips were red with their juice as I sorted them.
First I made strawberry lemonade concentrate that I saw on Freida Loves Bread a couple of weeks ago. I made a bit more than half a batch, didn't have enough lemons to make a full batch. It is the best pink lemonade I've ever had! Well, of course, because it was homemade! For the recipe, I used 2.25c each of the puree (with seeds removed), lemon juice, and sugar. Enough for three jars and one glass of sunshine! They're already downstairs in the canning closet, I didn't feel like fetching them to photograph - but you can get the idea if you look at Freida's blog.
I had made enough puree to do a full batch of the strawberry lemonade concentrate - before I realized I was lacking in the lemon department. With the extra, my mom made strawberry water ice for my boys. I have two shirts with strawberry stains to tackle sometime before they get forgotten, but it's so worth it with as much fun as they had making and eating that summertime treat!
Last night I prepped a double batch strawberry vanilla jam featured on Food in Jars a couple weeks ago. This morning I cooked the strawberries down with sugar and a split and scraped vanilla bean and the zest and juice of two lemons at the very end. Oh the delicious smell that filled our home! It made more than I anticipated - nearly eight jam jars. The one that's not quite full is going into the fridge to enjoy with the family this week. My boys love the taste of the jam bits that I was able to scrape from the pot after I'd canned all that I could get into the jars. It tastes like summer.
I think that I'll be making strawberry ice cream with one of those jars this summer. I have a double tub ice cream maker that I haven't used since before my seven-year-old was born. I know where it is. It needs dusting off. They would have such a spectacular time making ice cream!
This is what was left of the one quart of strawberries in the fridge waiting to be eaten - before dinner. My boys had at least half with dinner. They won't last long, the season is short but, oh, so sweet!
I've rested most of today and definitely will be resting tomorrow. I'm feeling the pain of not subscribing to the regimen of rest. I'll get another spark of inspiration and make the sweet cherry preserves early next week, before I'm to rest and heal for a while - without complaint.
Thanks for stopping by, have a blessed weekend!
Nicole
