Have you seen these yet?

GIANT MARSHMELLOWS!   Oh my what a great smore they would make.  We have not had a chance to use them over the fire yet, but the girls thought they were pretty cool!

Abby just back from dance camp this summer-it was carnival day with face painting and stamps.

Garden Post #17

We have not harvested anything new from the garden, but you can see from our bedroom window the garden is growing like gang busters!  If only looks were everything..........

Oh and we have big plans for that slide some day don't you worry- we actually moved it from 2 different houses-so we are just waiting for the right moment.  hee hee

Blackberries!

It's good to have friends with LOTS blackberry bushes!  Now........ what shall I make with these beauties!

Any suggestions????

Quickberry! Quackberry! Pick me a blackberry!  Trainberry, Trackberry Clickerty-clackberry

-Bruce Degen (Jamberry)

This was SO yummy. Eggplant pasta.

We got Eggplant in our CSA last week and I found this recipe in All You Magazine. 

Super easy and good.

Spaghetti with Eggplant, Ricotta and Tomatoes

Ingredients

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lb.), ends trimmed, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

Salt

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound spaghetti

1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil

1 small clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 cups ricotta

Preparation

1. Lay eggplant on paper towels and season with salt. Let stand 15 minutes. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Preheat gas grill or broiler to high.


2. Blot eggplant dry with a paper towel. Brush on both sides with 3 Tbsp. oil. Grill or broil, turning once, until browned and softened, 6 to 8 minutes total. Set aside to cool slightly, then coarsely chop.


3. Cook spaghetti as package label directs until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Toss spaghetti with eggplant, tomatoes, basil, garlic, Parmesan, remaining 2 Tbsp. oil and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper, adding cooking water as necessary to moisten. Toss with ricotta and serve immediately.

Happy Monday!

Hope this puts a smile on your face, it's Monday and I know I need something to make me laugh!   
He CAN leave anytime he wants to get away from the girls, but he doesn't...........

The best invention-I am pretty sure!

No, it is not a new invention, but the combo of life jacket + 2 year old + arm swimmy's = priceless in my book and free hands while swimming!  And she STAYS in the water instead of running around the edge of the pool while I yell at her to stop before she falls in head first. 

She thought she was pretty hot stuff!

I forgot the filling for the Whoopie pies!

Here is the recipe for the filling for the whoopie pie's I posted last week!  TRUST ME they are worth making!

Filling:


2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 cup salted butter, soft, but not melted

2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup Marshmellow Fluff

Maybe a future bear claw rug?

Plumpy draped over the end of the couch.  Honestly, he would make a nice rug I think, so soft..............

Pool Days!

I can't believe this little girl:

turned into this little girl with no fear!!

Blueberries are here = Blueberry Cake!

Blueberries are just starting and we are catching the tail end of the raspberries.   This is my favorite recipe to use with blueberries and so easy!

Blueberry Cake by Marjorie Standish.  Cooking Downeast

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3 tsps baking powder

1 tsp salt

MIX dry ingrediants together

then add

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

MIX VIGOUROUSLY FOR A COUPLE MINUTES AND THEN ADD THE BLUEBERRIES (2 CUPS) THEN MIX IN SEPARATE BOWL 1/2 CUP SUGAR AND 2 TSPS NUTMEG, SPRINKLE OVER TOP EVENLY AND BAKE AT 350 FOR 50 MINUTES IN GLASS RECTANGLE PAN (13X9).

Beach days.........

I hope everyone gets in a lot of beach days this summer!  Happy Friday.

Days of the week underwear, bad idea…..

I bought Abby the days of the week underwear. I thought it would be cute. Not so. She can’t wear Tues on Friday and she can’t wear Sat on Monday. Well, she can, but she won’t. She gives me the “are you completely crazy look” and says “ I can’t wear those, it’s the wrong day!” . How could I be so stupid. I mean really, I must have been born yesterday or something.


Little sister is potty training. Things are going slow, but that is ok. I am not as worried and stressed about potty training this time around. For one, Abby was mostly potty trained by the daycare she was in at the time and we stressed we were not meeting their expectations at home. Now I stay home and frankly-I can’t muster up enough energy to even have expectations. And two, as my mother says-she won’t go to college in diapers. So whenever it happens is fine by us. So how is this related to the days of the week underwear- My husband was getting Olivia changed and pulled out a pair of the training underwear to show her. He said “See Livy, when you don’t need diapers anymore you will wear this type of underwear to start”. She looked at him and said “Are those Thursday?” OH BOY! Here we go again……..

 

Garden Post #16 Second harvest

We had our second harvest from our pathetic garden this week.  It actually was a forced harvest.  We went away for the 4th of July holiday and when we returned something had been in our garden again.  How could that happen you ask with such a great looking and sturdy fence as seen here.   Well, when your husband has not had time to put on the gates-it makes for easy picking!    Something spent lots of time mowing down the carrots, peas, squash and pumpkin plants.   So since our carrots where all "topped" with only little tufts of leaves left-it made sense to pick them as they would probably not continue to grow anymore.   Hold on to your seats-these carrots are HUGE!   Oh and there was one of Abby's cosmos flowers left-so we picked that too.

Whoopie Pies!

I found this great recipe in Downeast Magazine.  My plan was to make them for family that was coming to visit, however I had to work at the last minute so I elected my husband to whip up a batch.  (BTW- he is a very good cook, you know the type that can make nothing into a 10 course meal- yup, that would be him)

The girls helped him with the baking and of course wanted pink filling!

Beatrice’s Chocolate Whoopie Pies


Yield: 2 dozen small whoopie pies (about 2” diameter)


Cakes

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling:

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 cup salted butter, soft, but not melted

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 Marshmellow Fluff


Preheat the oven to 425°F.

In a large bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and sugar. Stir in the oil, egg, milk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the cocoa mixture.
Drop the batter by small spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for approximately 8 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.
Prepare filling by stirring the softened butter into the confectioners’ sugar. Stir in the vanilla, Marshmallow Fluff, and optional salt. To assemble, spread a generous amount of filling on the flat side of one cake and top with a second cake.

Fairy Houses

The magical world of Fairy Houses at Nana's on the lake. 

For those of you who have not seen the book- here is the link:  Fairy House Series 

Check out the events calendar!

Fishing takes style!

My daughter's fashion sense never ceases to amaze me esp. since I have very little and I am not one to wear too much makeup and get dressed up.  In fact I think I have one dress and it is saved for weddings.

Notice the lovely beaded necklace.

She actually caught 3 fish over the weekend and was very delighted with herself.

The Lake!

I am lucky that my mother owns a home on a beautiful lake in Maine.   For the 4th of July we spent the long weekend there with family.  My daughters had a great time- lots of fun with cousins, lots of eating, fishing and most of all lots of swimming.

The maiden voyage of the new raft where it is hooked to the old boat mooring.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.  Livy just closed her eyes and jumped in!

Cherries and raspberries!

Cherries and Raspberries are in.   We are picking like crazy so I can get the freezer full for the winter.  There is nothing better than hand picked fruit in the dead of winter!

Older Cousins

This past week we had the girls oldest cousin Ray with us for a few days.  We took him on a few adventures and he was bossed around for 2 days straight by two little girls that love him.   Olivia demanded she be carried only by Ray (I was no longer the favorite-my back thanks him) and Abby had fun playing with somebody older who could keep up (or is faster) with her vs. her little baby sister. 

What I learned while he was visiting-I saw a glimpse of what is to come in the future as my kids get older.  1.  Older kids don't take naps = NO break during the day  2.  Older kids stay up later = NO break at night.  In fact most nights my husband was asleep on the couch while Ray was still awake watching TV!   3.  They eat a lot as they get bigger. 

What my girls learned while Ray was visiting.   1.  How to hold your breath in the car as we drive past a cemetery.   2.  Punch buggy red no punches back!   3.  If I scream loud enough and cry- Ray will do anything we want him to do.

All in all it was a fun few days and he was a big help.  I think know my girls are going to be sad when he goes home. 

Happy 4th

  Happy 4th.  Can't wait to spend the long weekend with my family.  

4th of July 2009.

Heck- we don't even need a garden!

We have 3 tomato plants and 1 large squash or pumpkin growing right out of our compost bin!

Here is a recent shot of the fence progress.