Category Archives: Food

Squash Muffins

Breakfast yesterday morning.

I think these muffins are the ultimate saving grace of the gluten-free baker (diary-free too, and if you use Egg Replacer instead of the eggs, as I do, it’s egg free as well).

Ultimate Gluten-Free Squash Muffins

1/2- 1 cup Maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like them)

4 eggs beaten

3/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cups Water

2 cups pureed squash

3 cups rice flour (brown or white, whichever you prefer)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all of the wet ingredients in one bowl and all of the dry ingredients in another. Blend together. Bake at 350 in an ungreased pan. Muffins take about 20 minutes, bread is around an hour, cake is somewhere in between. Keep and eye out because it varies from oven to oven. This makes around 24 muffins or two loaves of bread. Leftovers freeze well.

Enjoy!

We’re off to a concert today, featuring two of my very favorite performers. I can’t wait! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

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Food, recipes
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A Halloween Piñata

A new addition to our usual Halloween celebration this year was a piñata made by one Mr. Elijah Rain.

It turned out really well, I was impressed!


This is the first piñata that I’ve ever been called upon to fill. I grew up with ones full of gum balls, tootsie rolls and junky little plastic toys, so this required some thought.

Here’s what I ended up with:

  • Little baggies with lumps of clay
  • Colored pencils (some regular, some metallic and shimmery, some chunky for and built for little hands)
  • Some of my chocolates
  • Roasted pumpkin seeds
  • Gum (the stuff I mentioned here)
  • Raisins
  • Stickers
  • Glitter glue
  • Goji berry and orange white chocolate (which was wonderful AND a gorgeous bright orange!)
  • Nuts and dried berries

But my favorite thing was these little blank books that I made, simple though they are:

I’m on a big fancy paper kick at the moment. I love all of the fun and inspiring prints out there. The covers for these (which all have a coordinating print on the inside) came from an autumn inspired craft paper pack that I found on clearance at the craft store.

I wanted to add in green chips and popcorn, but I didn’t get around to making them. A friend suggested polished rocks and gem stones and another mentioned bouncy balls, both great ideas, but didn’t have time to get any. I was kicking myself for not thinking to add packets of some of the seeds that we gathered from our garden. I thought about those little gnomes made of a felt cloak stuffed with some wool, but that was one of the treats a couple of years back and my family has just received some fresh ones, so I filed the idea away for the future. Maybe whistles of some sort? Or kazoos? I thought bells would be fun. Friendship bracelets? Honey sticks? Small felt animals?


I should have ample opportunity to use all of my ideas. Iain already made a piñata for his birthday in January (let’s just hope it holds up well in the attic) and Galen just announced that he wants one for his birthday too. So, if anyone else has any inspired ideas, put them out there because I’ll be needing them!

~Sometimes I suspect that Elijah actually *is* Harry Potter!~

Now, perhaps you’ve noticed that I have a nasty little habit of making the simplest of things exceptionally complicated?

You see, the things is, I don’t like the whole piñata mentality; this rushing and pushing and shoving to grab as much as you can. Kind of puts me in mind of that poor person being trampled to death at a holiday sale last year. I’m just not comfortable with it. And when you are looking at an age range like we were (from not yet 2 to nearly 10), there are very good odds on the little people being pushed aside, with huge discrepancies between treat bags resulting. Beyond which not all of the filler was appropriate for all ages.

Enter The Grand Plan.

I had this idea to turn it into a kind of treasure hunt. I made each child a bag with their name on the front. On the back was a child specific list of star stickers, with each combination matching a prize in the piñata. So, for example, 2 year old Rosa would have the combination for raisins, but not for gum. Each child was to seek out one of each thing on his or her list, with the older ones helping the little ones once their own bags were full.

I know, me and my ideas! A little too rigid perhaps? Too structured? My fear was that a) it would be too convoluted, and b) it would negatively impact the joy and spontaneity of the moment. I may never know. I didn’t exactly get to see my grand plan in action…
On Halloween morning Steve was feeling kind of off, but still running errands and going about his usual business. By noon he was slowing down and not looking so great. At 1 I was optimistically filling the piñata. By two he was unconscious on the futon in the middle of the living space, despite the four kids crowded around him and making a racket. And by three I was calling to cancel. Did I mention that he spent last week in training classes at work, closed up in a small room with two other guys, both of whom currently have children diagnosed with swine flu? Yeah.
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celebrations and festivals, crafts, Food, Kids, toy making
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notes from the chocolatier

Otherwise known as my kitchen or, more accurately, my oven tucked under the stairs. It’s true, I’m like the culinary Harry Potter. When I run out of room on the cook top, I balance plates and things on the trashcan lid. Thankfully there are fewer spiders, although, with the stairs above being unfinished, people sometimes accidentally kick dirt into the food below.

It is here that I’ve been experimenting with making my own raw chocolates, in preparation for the holiday season. I was looking for something a little more exciting for Halloween treats this year. It turns out that children do reach an age where they are less then wowed by raisins and popcorn. Not that anyone’s complaining really, I just think they would be delighted by something more.

Clearly this batch came out of the molds too soon. I think I’m going to choose to blame the kids for this one. That’s right, it was the kids who were impatient. Uh-huh.

They may look a little funky, but taste tests have confirmed them to be simply divine. In fact, my children have deemed it the best chocolate they’ve ever had. Granted, their experience in this area isn’t terribly extensive, but still… Made of antioxidant rich, organic raw cacao butter and powder and sweetened with agave nectar, they are far more innocent then their commercial counterparts.

I do love chocolate and even strongly crave it from time to time, but I’m not one of those people who has to have it every day. Something about these is so extremely satisfying that it only takes one or two and I’m content; so not the case with conventional candy. Did I just say candy?!?!? Oh, my, no, but this is not candy! It’s CHOCOLATE in the fullest sense.

The smell of it permeates our home. It scents my hair, my skin tastes of it; it’s all very rich and decadent and sensual you know! Can you tell that I’m immensely enjoying playing ‘Chocolat’? Oh, yes. All the same, I don’t think that it will be a regular thing, more of a couple times of year, special occasion type ritual. I’m thinking that chocolate making would be a popular addition to our advent activities and since starting all this, I’ve been dying to make chocolate covered strawberries…hmmm….Valentine’s Day?

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celebrations and festivals, Food, Life, Our Little Home
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And what we did with them…

The pumpkins that is!


This is where I left Steve in the kids; all set up to make jack ‘o lanterns, while I went down to the other house to wash up.

And this:
is the kind of ridiculousness that I came back up to.

Right.

But jack ‘o lanterns were made. I find that there is a year or two where kids r-e-a-l-l-y want to do some carving, but aren’t yet ready to wield a knife (or well, their parents aren’t yet ready for them to). For those in between years, when painting is no longer satisfying, we’ve taken to using an apple corer. It works great! Mom or Dad can get it started and the kiddo in question can push it the rest of the way through. The experience of poking those perfectly shaped holes is deeply gratifying to little people and it creates a really funky and unique pumpkin. All lit up it’s kind of reminiscent of a disco ball! Even the big kids wanted to borrow the apple corer to embellish their lanterns.


With these gigantic pumpkins all scooped out there were lots and lots of seeds for roasting:


I tend to do something different with these every year. This year we did them up in olive oil, curry, and sea salt with a touch of cinnamon. My kids all love curry, so it seemed the way to go.

And from the flesh we had…pie!


I can’t give you a recipe for the filling, unfortunately. It was very, very good though, made with coconut milk and maple syrup and just the right combination of spices. I promise that in the event that I ever have running water again, I will have loads of recipes to share, but for now… the prospect of having addition dishes to wash, just to have exact measurements, well, let’s just say it’s too much. When I can just eye-ball it and get everyone here fed, I do.

I can, however, give you a recipe for the crust I used (because my vitamix has the measurements already marked out, right there on the side).

Almond Crust

2 Cups ground almonds
4 T coconut oil
2 T agave nectar
pinch of salt

Grind up all the ingredients together in a food processor until well combined, but still coarse. Press into the bottom of a pie pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. This makes two crusts.

This was really good in a different, hearty and harvest-y kind of way. I do think that I’m still going to do a more traditional pumpkin pie crust for Thanksgiving though. I’m feeling like, as enjoyable as this was, it didn’t quite fulfill my need for that once a year fix.

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celebrations and festivals, crafts, Food, Kids, recipes
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More Pumpkins


Purchased at the farm stand this weekend:


Four pumpkins, ranging in size from the mini one that Galen picked out for Màiri, to the gigantic ones that Iain and Elijah had to enlist Steve to help carry.

Two squashes for dinners this week; one Hubbard and one Long Island Cheese.


And apples to eat there. (Even though, as I pointed out, we already had apples at home… No one cared.)

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celebrations and festivals, Food, Kids
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In the Month of October

We’re having a cozy sort of day around here, with chicken stock simmering on the stove, banana cake baking and a steady fire chasing off the chill (we’re expecting snow tonight!). All I really want to do is go work on a quilt, but there is still school work to be done, and an assortment of other chores, but maybe later, if I’m lucky.

Some other things that I’m enjoying this month…


~Another beautiful autumn in New England. It never grows old.

~all of the delicious foods that this season brings along with it.

::Indian pudding about to go into the oven::

~still lovin’ this boy in his new glasses. He looks so old! And ssssssoooo much like his daddy.

~loving this boy and the joy he finds in music; that I hear his little voice singing from all corners of the house, at all hours of the day.

~really getting into the planning for the coming holiday season. I’ve just about finished shopping for our extended family and I’m delighted with everything I found.


~this scarf that my friend Mardi made for me after Màiri was born. I pretty much alternate every other day between this one and my cowl. This is my melody scarf. Not My Melody, *my* melody, that’s the name of the colorway. All of the yarns I’ve ever come across bearing the name ‘melody’ have always been repulsive concoctions of say, puce, magenta, neon orange, and hot pink or something equally repugnant. But this one is just lovely, with lots of green, which always makes me happy. And she knitted it up so prettily. Very pleasing indeed.

~and speaking of green gifts, you have to see this sweet little pouch that Tai Marie of Small Wonders sent me…
I love it so much! The green, the doily, all of it. I won her giveaway for this fabulous rainbow crown, which is going in the Christmas stocking of one fabulous rainbow loving boy, and she slipped this into the package just for me.

I have to give you a little peek at the inside too…
see those darling little birds? And the fabulous little Nikki McClure note cards?

~And back to that lacy doily, and lace in general, I just bought a bit to trim some winter nighties for my Wee Girl. I’m on a lace kick at the moment and I’m just giddy (giddy I tell you!) at having an excuse to buy some.

~and as for that rainbow loving boy, well I’m still loving our weekly one on one craft time. The rainbow bird is coming along!


~and this little munchkin, well…don’t even get me started! Right now I’m really enjoying watching her get out and explore the world. She’s been crawling for quite a while now, but she’s really getting around these days and pulling herself up on everything and just having a grand old time.


That and watching her trying to eat an apple. It’s just the cutest thing ever. And I know that that picture above is blurry, but she was so excited and happy that I had to include it.


~I don’t suppose I need to mention knitting, do I? No, I think that probably warrants an entire post unto itself.

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Food, Kids, Life, Our Little Home
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Elijah’s Explorer Vest


Hey look, those buttons finally found a home!


This vest was supposed to be an erm, birthday present back in *cough* May. It was very close to being done on time, but then there came a point were I had to choose between the vest and the baby book and I decided to forge ahead with the book. Then with his birthday past and the weather growing warmer, there was very little motivation to finish it up. Now that the weather is cool again, it’s time has finally come!

When I saw this vest in Debbie Bliss’s book “Essential Knits for Kids: 20 Fresh, New Looks for Children 2 to 5″ it just screamed “Elijah” to me. Of course, since I was making it for his seventh birthday it needed some alterations size wise. I ended up knitting it in a bulky yarn (Berkshire bulky, in gold, by Valley Yarns to be exact) on larger needles and adding in some length. All of which seems to have worked out just fine.


He had been eyeing up this particular yarn in my Webs catalog for a while now. Anything “golden” you know…

I use Berkshire yarns a lot. They are soft, inexpensive, come in a nice variety of colors and hold up well. In fact I’ve been very happy with all of the Valley Yarns I’ve tried. They are just really great, versitle, work-a-day yarns.


He has worn it every single day since I finished. I am, of course, tickled pink by this! It’s been several years since any of my knit wear has been a hit with him. It’s always either too scratchy or too bulky, not quite the right size or difficult to get on and off. You get the idea. I’m absolutely thrilled that I finally managed to make him something that he truly loves.


When I first saw this pattern, I imagined it as an explorer vest of sorts, with all of those pockets for supplies and found treasures. I envisioned him stuffing them with a little notepad, a magnifying glass, pocket knife, pens and pencils and loads of little things that he picked up along the way. It’s just right for hiking in the woods or by the water…or in this case, gathering acorns…


That’s right, I got suckered in again this year!
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Food, Kids, Yarn Crafts
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The Great Big, Gigantic, Food Post

This is such a great time of year for a devoted foodie like myself! I came home from shopping last week feeling incredibly inspired in the food department and ready to start cooking! And oh, there was a lot, a lot, a lot of yummy food shared in my house this week.


After several appetizers that first night (including the first two pictures below), dinner was sea scallops wrapped in bacon and smashed red potatoes with chevre and pesto (I would usually make this with olives, but I forgot to buy some) followed by fresh figs for dessert. Oh my. Now that was a treat!

The chevre was a trial run. We’ve not had any sort of dairy for a long while now. The jury is still out on reactions. It was certainly enjoyable though. We had it with the potatoes and then on a salad later in the week.


We usually avoid soy, but during those 2-3 weeks when fresh edamame is being harvested at our farm, all bets are off. And salt boiled edamame is on! My table that is…
here’s how:
pull all the pods off the plant
toss them into some salted boiling water
boil for 6 minutes
drain
toss with some more salt and eat the beans from the pods


Another weekly favorite around here at the moment is green crispies. At the end of the week I take any greens that I have left in the fridge and add whatever greens I can forage or add from the garden. I tear them all (setting aside the tough stalks) and toss them with olive oil and some other things that strike my fancy. Last week I used balsamic vinegar and added golden flax seeds and that was good, oh so good. After tossing everything together, I put it all into the dehydrator until crisp and then sprinkle with salt before serving (I find it’s better this way, otherwise the salt has a tendency to clump).

For the stalks, I’ve been experimenting with dehydrating them and then pulverizing them in the vitamix to make my own green drink, for adding to smoothies and whatnot. It’s turning out pretty well so far! I’m not sure how it will keep, so I’ve just been adding each batch to a jar in my freezer.


This is the time of year that our very favorite sweet Italian peppers are in season. Last week we fired them up with sweet onions and sausages, adding tomato sauce after a bit and then greens at the very end. This week there will surly be some roasted pepper soup.


What? Like you don’t take your produce outside to play?? Alright, so we don’t usually either, but it was too dark inside to get any decent photos. We actually do play with our produce though. In fact Màiri was entertained by the squash for the better part of a week. I kept putting off making it because I didn’t want to take it away from her! But mmmm….the first squash of the season? Well, there was only so long that we could wait. We prepared it quite simply this week; enjoying it’s rich flavor on it’s own, but I’m sure that in the weeks to come there will be squash soup, squash muffins, squash and apple bake and indian pudding a plenty!


As for the eggplants, I’ve been making my stand by baba ganoush, a mild kid-friendly version, but oh, then I tasted an eggplant dish that my friend Eloise made. It made my toes curl. So of course I needed to make that!

I can’t for the life of me remember what she called it, but here, in her words, is how to make it:

“you marinate the eggplant in pomegranate juice. i use about a cup for 2 eggplants. slice them a little thicker than a half inch.

after a couple of hours roast them in the juice until the eggplant is falling apart. if the juice dries up, toss them with some olive oil.

then, while the eggplant is still hot, put it in a dish and cover it with olive oil. add 3ish cloves of crushed garlic and something like a tablespoon of chopped fresh mint. it’s best when it’s still a little warm or at least room temperature.“

Mine didn’t turn out quite as well as hers or maybe it was something akin to a first kiss? It was still fabulous, but maybe not quite as exciting the second go round. I must say, I’m not the slightest bit inclined towards giving up kissing or eating so, I must like them just fine as they are.


Oh, and there were salads too! (and lots of other stuff that I can’t think of at the moment) The one below was a mix of lettuces with arugula, grated carrots, violas and chevre, served with a maple vinaigrette. For the vinaigrette you need maple syrup-it absolutely *must* be the real thing, don’t even talk to me about the other stuff, olive oil, tamari, either apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt. Adjust all ingredients to taste. It’s quite the favorite dressing around here.

The cooking for this week is not looking good. This morning Iain went to get some toast out of the oven and flames shot out at him! Which is a large part of why this post is going out in the evening instead of this morning as planned. All is well and everyone unharmed. We put the fire out, but the repair man is not even coming to assess it until Wednesday morning, which means we are without stove and oven for a bit (also means to heat water for say, washing dishes or wiping down a baby). At least I can still have that honey crisp apple that’s been waiting for me.

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Food, recipes
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In the Month of September

Some things I’m enjoying this season…

~Lots of fresh blackberries, every day. Our cultivated crops may have been a bust this year, but the blackberries that grow wild around our property have been as prolific as I’ve ever seen them.


~Knitting still more pilot caps! This time in wool. I think this red one is my very favorite.


~Making more herbal oils…I have calendula and rose petals steeping now and it’s going to be absolutely divine! Next week I think I’ll do lots of healing herbs in olive oil and see if I can’t finally get around to that batch of salve I’ve been meaning to make.


~All of the late summer wildflowers. It’s hard to believe that it’s the time of goldenrod already. The purple asters, that are my especial favorite, are all starting to bloom at the bottom of the driveway. Time to stop pinching back the mums and let autumn really be on it’s way…


~Knitting, knitting and more knitting. Oh so much knitting! Someone in the comments recently asked me how long it takes me to complete a project. I’m afraid that I can’t really accurately answer that question. It totally depends on the project and my mood. Also, I may knit a rather large something over the course of a few days and then, as experience tells us, take 6 months or more to work in the ends or sew on a few buttons. It also depends a lot on how much I’m sleeping, which can vary greatly.


Right now I’m in knitting while walking mode. As in the baby is on my back and I’m pacing the floor with a ball of yarn tucked up under my arm, knitting as I go.

I go through phases like this every once in a while. This one I think is being fueled by an uncertain future and a strong innate desire to just keep my children warm this winter. I knit in the car while Steve drives, I knit while I wait for the water to boil so that I can wash dishes, I knit while I wait for pages to load. I try to sneak in a stitch or two around a nursing babe. I knit a row in-between helping the boys with their lessons. I knit a round while they set the table.

I met someone at a party a couple of weeks ago.
With a slight smirk he said to me, “Yeah, I think I saw you at the lake recently. You were standing in the water, knitting, with one baby on your back and the other splashing your legs. I thought it was a pretty impressive display of multitasking.” (read as: I thought that you were totally insane.)

Yup, that sounds about right.

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Food, Gardens, Herbs, Yarn Crafts
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