washington dc

Our dc trip was a success. The weather was perfect, something rare lately. We changed up what we saw a bit, (the first time in five years) and for the first time with the kids we made it over to the Lincoln Memorial. We spent a lot of time at the zoo, one of their favorites and spent a bit of time at the natural history museum. We headed over to Georgetown for dinner and while there I got a bunch of new paper for cards. I hope to get some done and posted soon.

sea glass

We were all able to find a decent amount of sea glass (both a good and bad thing) yesterday. My finds were a bit more colorful then the usual brown.

beach

Our first beach trip of the summer was a success. The day started out rather gray and cool, but about an hour before we left the beach the sun came out. The kids had a great time digging, jumping waves (the water was much warmer than I thought it would be) and looking for sea glass.

We are off to Washington DC for the weekend, a yearly trip that the kids love.

party

We had our happy summer party yesterday. We invited ten families to come and celebrate the start of summer with us.

We spent a ton of time tuesday and wednesday gettting the yard ready and cooking for the party. We bought a bunch of crafts for the kids to do and decorated the drive with a fun chalk welcome for everyone.

Sadly it was a bit of a bust, between the rain and fifteen people not showing up. Of course it started to rain right when the first guest arrived. During the party it rained three different times. I had a ton of food left over and a ton of stuff got ruined from the rain. It only takes me once every few years to remember why I do not do stuff like this.

We are off to the beach today, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it does not rain.

a bit of blue

We made an unplanned trip into NYC yesterday. I drove in which I normally do not do, and must say that it is much easier to drive in, but way more expensive. We met my husband for some lunch and some mister softee for dessert.

On our way home the sky cleared a bit and we saw some blue. We spent the evening cleaning the yard for our happy summer party.

cake

I made a neapolitan cake for dessert on father's day. I got the recipe from a Smitten Kitchen post. I made a few changes tot he cake based on some of the comments that I read. It was received well enough (my mom really liked it and no. three), but if I ever made it again I would change it a bit more.

summer

I had grand plans.

School ended Friday. Everyone went to a pool party and summer officially started yesterday (however it feels more like early spring around here). We have no camps this week. I planned a great week for the kids, zoo, beach, please touch, and a start of summer party with their friends at our house.

Now, the weather looks awful all week and no. one is sick. Not such a great start to summer.

favorite

I have a new favorite appetizer.

I first saw a recipe for this appetizer on Heather Ross's blog. I think I might have to serve it at every dinner party that we have until we get sick of it, which might not be possible. All you need is some good french or italian bread cut into thin slices topped with a smear of fresh ricotta (give making your own a try, it is really worth it, get the recipe here), then top the ricotta with some garlic scapes (if garlic scapes are not in season or you can not find them I think green onions would work well) that have been tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Be sure to drizzle a bit of extra olive olive over the ricotta.

ricotta

I recently found a great new food blog, The Traveler's Lunchbox . The post that I first saw on the blog was about making your own ricotta. I made my own ricotta a few months ago with pretty good results. The recipe from The Taveler's Lunchbox was a bit differnt from the one that I made I thought I would give it a try to use with an appetizer for a dinner party tonight.

All I have to say about the new ricotta is oh my goodness, I am smitten. Give it a try, it is well worth it.

sun

The sun is out right now and that seems to be a rare thing these days.

week five

In our share this week:
green beans
broccoli
garlic scapes
lettuce
boc choy
radicchio

pasta

I have been on a crazy kick making fresh pasta. I recently tried a beet pasta that I paired with a pesto sauce. Everyone liked it well enough, but I am not sure it was worth all of the work. I will be getting spinach from the farm tomorrow, so I was thinking I would give spinach gnocci a try.

new

I have lots of new items in the etsy shop. Take a look.

art club

It is our turn to host art club this week. I have a great project planned for the girls. Check back to see the finished project.

sun

The sun was out today, it seems like it has been weeks since it has been sunny.

week four

Today our csa share included:
broccoli
garlic scapes
2 heads of green and red lettuce
spinach
boc choy
endive

lots of great stuff planned for the week to use it all up.

in the garden

more color.

ps. don't forget to see how you can win a great bike. click on the banner to the right!

from the garden

The garden is starting to show some color.

week three

Week three of our csa.

Today we got
three heads of red lettuce
1/2 pound spinach
chives
two quarts of strawberries
one pint of snap peas

For dinner I made a california cobb sald with a chive vinaigrette.

strawberry shortcakes

Every once in awhile I like to surprise the kids and make a special treat for breakfast, something they would never expect. Since we were bursting with fresh picked strawberries I decided to make them strawberry shortcakes.

I have been using this recipe for years and years. I adjusted it slightly so it has a bit less sugar than the original.

Starwberry Shortcakes
adapted from Food Everyday
Serves 8

1 3/4 pounds (6 cups) strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
1 cup plus 1 tablespoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 cups heavy cream
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, toss strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar; let sit to bring out their juices.

In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and the salt until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal but with some pea-size bits of butter remaining, 10 to 12 times. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup cream and the eggs; pour over flour mixture, and pulse until some large clumps begin to form, 25 to 30 times.

Using a half-cup measuring cup, gently pack dough, invert, and then tap out onto a baking sheet. Repeat to form 8 biscuits. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes.

Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream and 1 tablespoons sugar with the vanilla until soft peaks form.

Slice biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon strawberries and their liquid over bottom halves. Spoon whipped cream on strawberries, and replace top halves of biscuits.

dressing

I happened to see Racheal Ray making a bacon dressing as part of some dish she was making. I am not sure why I was watching her, but the dressing is so good. I used it over the farm greens we got on Thursday and added some red pepper and cucumbers.

Bacon Dressing
Rachael Ray

8 slices bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard


Cook bacon and place cooked bacon on paper towels to drain and cool.

Break bacon into pieces and transfer to a food processor. Add Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard and some black pepper. Turn processor on and stream in 1/2 cup olive oil.