Preserving Summer: Jam time

It seems that everyone has their tastes of summer.  For some it is blueberries.  Ice cream. Tomatoes.  Corn on the cob.  Cotton Candy at the Fair.  Or perhaps BBQed hamburgers.  For me it is blackberries.
Growing up I was surrounded by blackberries.  In the summer mornings my dad would stroll down the block to the empty [...]

Cheese Sandwiches, Deodorant and other unrelated things

 
Whew!  I just finished my first day of teaching and my own classes as a student this semester and I am zonkered.  On the bright side I smell not so bad!  A bit ago angry chicken wrote about homemade deoderant and I was intrigued mentioning it here.  When I visited my friend Anna we talked [...]

No TWD, Just Dinner!

I am sorry to report that there will be no TWD posting from me this week.  As much as I like to try new things, I was greatly disappointed by an ice cream pie I made last year from Cooking Light magazine and just haven’t repaired significantly enough from it yet.  I was fully enticed by the scrumptious looking [...]

Back to School Breakfast

Today my children started back to school.  I wasn’t ready for the summer to be over, but I think they were.  I could sense it not only in their excitement but in their increasing bickering the last couple weeks.  Not that starting school will stop their bickering, but their decreased time together will allow less [...]

B is for Baking

Yesterday I mentioned my apple butter extravaganza, but didn’t get a chance to write about the other favorite thing I make with my prepped apples: apple crisp.  When I was filling the pot to make the apple butter I had a couple cups of apples that wouldn’t fit comfortable, so I pulled out my crisp [...]

A is for Apple

School starts on Monday for my children, and Wednesday for myself, and so this last weekend is a whirlwind of activity as I try to fit in some last minute projects.  One that could not wait was my annual apple butter making.  I bought the 20lb box of Gravenstein apples last week and knew that [...]

Baking with Children: Dutch Babies

 
My daughter has been lying low for the last couple days with a low fever and stuffy nose.  She has been going through our kleenex boxes at such a rapid pace I wish I could think up something clever to do with the empties.  During the summer we are usually outside but today, as I [...]

Fruit & Veg: When did they become so complicated?

I’m back from my one day retreat.  Five of us regrouped and recharged before our semester starts next week.  Usually when we see each other we are stressed out and tired and it was nice to connect in a more relaxed manner.  We swam in a lake, ate cookies, and chatted half the night away. [...]

TWD: Granola Grabbers on my way out the door

This will have to be my shortest post ever.  I was late making this weeks Tuesday’s with Dorie selection, Granola Grabbers (out of granola!) and now I’m rushing out the door for a one night retreat with my grad cohort.
Quickly.  These were a hit with my kids.  They grabbed them off while cooling and gave them [...]

High Tea Expectations

I attended a tea yesterday for a fellow grad student’s birthday at a local tea house. It was a lovely lovely afternoon– child free, women only, lots of talking and tea drinking. I usually go to tea for my birthday, but somehow this year it hasn’t happened, so it was nice to revisit that wonderful [...]