She lives!

Yup, still alive. Alive enough to host 12 adults and 6 kids under 3 for a Thanksgiving Spectacular TODAY! Today?!?!? 12 adults and 6 kids today?!?!? And you have time to blog, how? I don’t know. I should go. Pictures coming.

Harvest

It’s harvest time. Three of our five apple trees have had a light crop, partly due, I think to the combination of overly dense branches and some chainsaw pruning earlier in the spring. They’re not really eating apples… more like applesauce/pie/cider apples. We just don’t get the kind of summer heat necessary to develop the kind of sugars you need for Eastern WA types of apples. Still, apple pie isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

We’re not entirely sure what kind of apples we have. I’m pretty sure we have a Golden Delicious tree, and at least two of the others are the same type… maybe a Jonathan? Still, there’s something that feels very right to me about picking apples off a tree in the fall sunshine.

There are quite a few out of reach — this is what happens when your trees haven’t been pruned in years. That’s okay too, the deer will eat them when they fall. And speaking of deer, I have a confession to make. A confession that’s sure to make my farming/ranching family wince… I did the unspeakable… I fed a deer. A fawn actually.

Isn’t she cute? And here’s the kicker, she likes to hang out in our yard and eat things in our garden with her mom. These deer have decimated my garden this year, and yet, what did I do? I picked an apple off the tree and rolled it across the way to the baby deer. Enjoy it little deer, because next year, I will have a better fence and you will have to gaze at the apples from the other side.

Christmas in July … or September

July/August/September is about the time I start thinking seriously about Christmas. No, now don’t look at me that way…

It’s the perfect time to start thinking about handmade Christmas gifts, which means if you plan well, you won’t be sitting up at 11:30 on Christmas eve weaving in ends on that last scarf or making your husband drive all the way to your family’s house because you have to finish that last sock.

Really.

Here’s what’s on my To-Make Christmas List this year:

Herminone Hats
The new Harry Potter movie is host to a number of gorgeous hand-knits. Hermione sports this gorgeous hat and someone in the knit blogging world has obliged with a pattern. So cute! And as far as knitted gifts go, simple!

Citronella Candles
My husband’s family lives in Minnesota… where the state bird is the mosquito, ‘nough said. I’d like some to stick out on my deck next summer too. Hopefully I’ll be able to find some cute vintage jars to use, but I think mason jars could work too. I’ve also noticed that some of the “fancy” jams at the grocery store come in nice glass jars… hmmm another excuse to buy nice marmalade?

Grand Marnier Caramels
Need I say more? The recipe has been sitting in my file since last year, and this is the year, my friends!

Glycerin Peppermint Soaps
I made these years ago as Christmas presents — very easy and super well received. All of the supplies are available at Jo-Ann’s, but I may try and order something from Brambleberry this year. If soap isn’t your thing check out all the other fun projects at Brambleberry — make-your-own lip gloss and mineral make-up.

Home Remedies

Poor Michael has a sore tooth. He had an filling fall out and then it got infected, and he needs a root canal, but he can’t get the root canal scheduled until Wednesday! A story as old as time. Or at least as old as dentists. So we have been using some old-timey remedies and that is domestic as shit, so I tonightI would give you the results. Of course he did get prescriptions for antibiotics (which are helping a lot), and vicodin (which helps, but ew the dizzy, nauseated, stupid feeling is not great). Here is what worked best, in order of bestness:

• Alcohol: not to drink, silly. Soak a piece of cotton in . . . alcohol (we have been using brandy) and lay against the tooth and gum. It takes away a lot of the pain and helps with infection. Note: if, like Mike, you like this remedy and don’t want to smell like booze at work, you can use vanilla or almond extract!
• Tea Bags: (not that dirty!) steep a black tea bag for a few minutes and then hold the tea bag against the tooth and gum for fifteen minutes or so. It helps with pain and is quite astringent and drawing, so it can help with infection as well. Also you can have a cup of tea.
• Clove oil: Soak a piece of cotton or a cotton swab in the oil and hold it aganst the tooth and gum for as long as yo can stand it. This numbs the area and, again, helps with infection. It is, however quite intense, so Mike couldn’t take it for long, because he is a big baby.

U-Pick (and Can) Blogtacular

First of all, I love peaches. Who doesn’t? They are so sweet and juicy and they taste like sunshine and summer vacation. But there is a sad and cruel twist. When I eat peaches I get hives around my lips and my throat gets all itchy. This can’t be a good sign. Sometimes I take a benadryl, wait 10 minutes, and then eat a peach just before bed so I can escape the unpleasant (and potentially dangerous?) symptoms and also have a good night’s sleep. And peaches. But there is another solution: canning! Apparently I only have an issue with fresh peaches (my guess is mold), because I can eat peach pie and if I wash and peal and wand wash again I can eat a fresh peach with only mild discomfort. And I can eat canned peaches. Perhaps they are not quite as juicy and heavenly as fresh peaches, but I think they are a close runner up. And this is why I found myself in a peach orchard in 105 degree heat picking 85 pounds of peaches, a process I think I will repeat at least once this summer. Hopefully without the heat.

A second contributing factor: I have recently developed a canning addiction. I love it. I have been canning little batches of jam off and on this summer, but I have recently started feeling like I should be putting up food in earnest. Like the stores will not be open this winter or something. I am not sure what me deal is exactly, but I feel like maybe I am in training for being a farm wife. Or maybe just a crazy hoarder of food.

Baby It’s HOT Outside

We’ve been breaking records here in the Seattle area with Wednesday coming in at a steamy 102 degrees for me, and up to 105 degrees for other Seattle area folks, most of whom don’t own an air conditioner. We are incredibly fortunate that the house we bought this last February has a heat pump (cue angelic music), which has kept the house at a relatively habitable 85 degrees. But still, who wants to turn on the stove or heaven forfend, the oven, in that kind of heat?

Enter the carpaccio, the zucchini carpaccio. Inspired by this recipe (very good if you happen to have all the ingredients on hand) I simplified somewhat. The original recipe wants you to salt and drain the zucchini for a while. I’ve found that if you use fresh (aka from your garden or the farmers market), small zucchini, they’re not watery enough to warrant the extra work.

Zucchini Carpaccio
2 zucchini sliced thinly, like as thinly as you can cut them with a knife
good olive oil
freshly ground pepper
salt (I used a flaked salt, but kosher or coarse sea would be nice too)

Combine. Eat. Dream of owning a swimming pool.

*This was an excellent hot weather alternative to fries with our grilled burgers.

Balance

Sometimes I think I give people the wrong impression.  It is so easy to talk about the easy things in life – the things that are fun and wonderful.  Those other things, well, if we drag them out into the light of day for others to see – well, then those things become real.  And really, who wants that?  The impression I think I give?  Sometimes it feels like people think I have my life together (not my close friends, they know me too well for that!).  But here, in blogland, where I have chickens, eggs, a glorious garden with too much squash, and a happy family… well, it does give the impression that things here are domestically perfect.  Blissful, even. 

Don’t get me wrong, things here are pretty good.  Nevermind the fact that a passing acqaintance put her hand on my stomach (in the public library no less) and asked me “what is going on here?” in a tone that left no doubt she was asking me when the next baby was due.  I am NOT pregnant.  Mortified, yes.  Pregnant, no. 

Aside from uncomfortable public commentaries on my persistent baby weight, the only big news here is that I have gone back to work.  Why would I do such a thing?  Life is perfect here.  I meet my husband every night in an apron and a smile (sarcasm).  I love being a domestic queen.  Why jeopardize that with something so feminist as working?  Well, the truth was a little uncomfortable for me.  I went back to work (part-time, mostly from home) because I wanted to.  I even go into the office once a week or so and… horror of horrors,  I like it. 

Why I Don’t Blog

It’s because my damn camera is broken! Well it’s not broken exactly, it just needs a new battery and apparently this is far too much for my husband and I to deal with. We just need to order a new one. I have plenty of ideas, but how boring is a text-only blog post? So there is my excuse for the day. Boo on Megan.

Grilling Cheese

So I’ve heard that it can be done… with halloumi specifically. Now I love cheese. Pretty much every cheese I’ve ever tasted. This has led to excellent party cheese plate selections and an enforced elliptical machine habit. But I’ve never done cheese on the grill, aside from the usual slices topping burgers. Such an excellent idea, really, makes me wonder about grilled cheese sandwiches on the grill…

As soon as I saw this recipe I knew it was time to break out the grill scrubber. Melon and avocado with cheese? Perfect. Add in some olive oil and mint and we’re talking full-on swoon. And martinis with olives, because really doesn’t a nice cold gin martini mean summer to you? (maybe this is just me)

When I was in Istanbul last summer I had an amazing salad with cubed watermelon, fresh feta, mint and olive oil. So, so good and perfect for hot summer weather. If you’re not really a melon/avocado fan, definitely try the watermelon/feta combo. But back to grilling. The above recipe calls for cooking your cheese in a pan on the stove, but what fun is that? Also, the package of cheese specifically says “grilling cheese” with a little picture of a grate over a fire…

Which I attempted with limited success. I think the problem was that I didn’t make the slices thick enough. My slices were about 1/4 inch thick and I probably should have gone for 1/2 inch thick just to be on the safe side. It was still very tasty though, so while not a picture perfect dinner, it was definitely good enough to try again.

The avocado in the recipe? I had the greatest of intentions, but both avocados were not good, so they’re going back to the market with my receipt so I can get my $4 back.

LOOK MA! I LAID AN EGG!

The Golden Egg

Maybe it isn’t cool for a grown woman to jump up and down screaming that one of her chickens laid an egg.   But I did it anyway.  Then I took the egg straight to the neighbors house to see them jump up and down.  Fortunately, they were suitably impressed.  Isn’t it beautiful? 

I am trying not to be jealous that my husband found it.  Really, I am trying.  Just like I had to try not to be jealous when my other neighbors brought their first egg by to show me a week ago.  Even though their chickens are two or three weeks younger than ours.   But now I have an egg too!  And only one question…

What do I do with it now?