A Really Good Sunday

It was such a farmy day around here today. My duties kept me in the kitchen most of the day... baking more pumpkins and making potato stew.



Outside Ryan started this...



Finally. We have been waiting and waiting to start this project. I guess today the stars must have aligned.



It looks sooooooo beautiful. I can't stop looking at it.



Our day ended with this yummy potato stew (still trying to make a dent in all those potatoes...)



Potato Stew

1 lb of Italian sausage
1 small onion chopped
2 lbs of tomatoes chopped
4 medium potatoes chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
4 cups of chicken stock
4 large sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper

Brown sausage in pan for about 4 minutes. Add onion and cook another 5 minutes. Place in pot with rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for a half hour.

The Real First Day... and Tomatoes (Again)

This morning Grace and I talked the whole way to school about, well, school. What will it be like not having me there, what will they do all morning, etc, etc. She went back and forth between excitement and fear. I was feeling the same way. I knew if she was fine, I would be fine. On the other hand, if she started crying, I wasn't sure I would be able to hold it together.

The first thing her class does when everyone arrives is go for a walk. The walk had just started when we got there and as we approached the class she clung tighter to me... so I went with them on the walk. When the walk was over I bent down and gave her a hug and kiss and reminded her of the acorn squash and thyme she needed to give to her teacher (it was stone soup day)... and she gave me a hug and a smile and off she went. No tears, no looking back even, just off to her class.

When I came in this afternoon to work she came up to me and whispered, "mom I had so much fun today!"... and suddenly, there came my tears (I'm happy to say though, that I held it together enough so that no one even noticed, most importantly not Grace). There is nothing that could make my heart swell more then to witness one of my children venturing off into the world only to find that the world is indeed a wonderful place to venture into.



In other news. I picked what I think will be the last of our tomatoes this morning. Thank goodness no one reads my blog or they would surely be tired of all my tomato pictures.

I'm not sure why I feel the need to keep taking pictures of them, other then that I love them. I really do. I think they might be my favorite thing we grow. I will miss you dear tomatoes. One last pot of cream of tomato soup, maybe even enough for dinner and lunch...

First Day of School

We did it. Our first day of school... well kind of. Today Grace only went in the afternoon, so we got to go together. This was nice to ease her into it. Tomorrow I drop her off in the morning, for her first real day of preschool. I'm not sure how it will go yet. I think she is still getting use to the idea of school. I know once it becomes familiar to her she'll love it, but it's the transition stage that makes her uneasy.

As for me, I think I'm going to like it. The mornings are all ours (well minus the two days Grace has morning school in which case Jackson and I will have some good one on one time). Otherwise we all leave about noon to meet my mom and drop off Jackson. Then Grace and I go to school. Then we will meet my mom to pick up Jackson when school is out around 3:45. If all goes well, we can be home by 4:15. I think the break in the day will be nice for everyone, yet we still have plenty of home time together.

And the job... it's only been one day, but so far, I love it.

Last Day...

as a stay at home mom... well for now anyway. And, in two days it will be the first day of school for Grace. I'm feeling such a mix of emotion today. I can tell Grace is too. Sigh. I know we will all appreciate the change once we've gotten into the swing of things. But for now... pumpkin muffins.

Weekend

I am so glad we decided to stay home for this three day weekend. It was really nice to spend the weekend with just the four of us.



We started the weekend with our potato harvest... but there was also time for Ryan to work on the barn (he's planning to paint it next weekend), and me to get some more cooking in (I got another 6 quarts of vegetable soup made today)... and most importantly we did a lot of playing together.



Tonight we ended the weekend with smores. It was perfect.

Dinner

Our friends went out of town and asked us to pick up their CSA share for the week. Inside was a huge array a veggies, and among them- broccoli raab. I've never had broccoli raab before let alone cooked with it. The CSA sent some recipes too and one was for the broccoli raab, so I made it. SOOOOOO good.

Broccoli Raab with Pine Nuts and Currents

- 1 bunch of broccoli raab, separated into coarse stems and tender parts, chopped in two inch pieces.
- 1/2 lb of penne pasta
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/3 cup currants soaked in warm water till plump
- 1/3 cup of pine nuts
- parmesan cheese

Bring water to boil and start cooking thicker stems from raab. After several minutes, add tender parts of leaves, etc. And cook for about 1 more minute. Remove raab to a colander and use green water to cook pasta. While pasta is cooking, saute garlic and olive oil until tender. When pasta is cooked al dente, add greens to garlic and olive oil. Add nuts and currants. Remove pasta from water but do not drain well, leaving about 1/4 cup of water with the pasta. Toss with pasta over high heat. Remove and serve with parmesan.

Our Old Stomping Grounds

Today as a result of some other obligations we found ourselves at Interstate Park. Back when we lived in St. Croix Falls, this was my most favorite place to go with Grace (and later Jackson too). And it is still one of my favorite places in the world. I also just realized that my very first blog post was from here almost exactly two years ago. It is amazing to see how much has changed since then... and also how much has stayed the same.

Potato Harvest

It was beautiful out when we woke up this morning. Sunny and very fallish.



We decided yesterday that we would harvest our potatoes this weekend so immediately after breakfast out we went.



It was so much fun working together to dig for the potatoes we had spent the season growing.



57 pounds later... we were done.



Well at least with gathering them. We still had to clean them.



Grace and Jackson made "stew" as they cleaned.



Ryan made us our favorite venison dish for dinner (with a lot of potatoes).



And I made 6 quarts of cream of potato soup.



But looking at the crate of potatoes on our table... we haven't even made a dent yet.

Apples and Cousins

We had our first trip to the orchard this year. My cousins are in town (second cousins for Grace and Jackson) and they came out for a visit today. It was so cold out... it really felt like fall, which made it the perfect day to visit the apple orchard. And now I'm in the fall spirit...

Preschool... and Back to Work

Well it certainly helps ease the growing knot in my stomach when I know that this is where we'll be going everyday.



Today Grace met her new teacher for the first time. It seemed to go well, but when we left I asked if she was excited to start... "I'm not so sure I should have signed up for school" she replied very matter of factually.



I know what you mean Grace. Me too. But in my heart I know it will only be a matter of days before we both love it.

Another Good One

Only 5 days left. I am savoring every moment.



Today we went to the park for a picnic.



Then to the river.



Where we ate fresh peaches and watched the boats go by.



Then home for the afternoon. I (with help of course) planted spinach and broccoli.



Dinner. Our favorite, taco salad.



Tonight. A double batch of pumpkin muffins.



5 days left.

Today

we...
met some friends at Teddy Bear Park
performed puppet shows
marched in a band
made more zucchini soup
and zucchini bread
baked two pumpkins
had our first (very successful) family meeting

A Lazy Day

After a very full weekend (and some full days last week) I decided today we needed a nothing day. A do whatever stay in our jammies all day sort of day. Nothing days are very important days around here, and I wanted to make sure we got at least one more in before summer ends.



So we relaxed. This was the scene I found when I got out of the shower. Grace never did make it out of her pajamas.



And this is the scene that's been piling up for a good week now. A giant basket of clean laundry... just waiting to be folded and hung (apparently this is the consequence of all of our trips to the beach last week). (picture taken by Grace)



For dinner... fajitas. With our beautiful home grown peppers (well and onion).

I Did It

Today was another wonderfully full day filled with more of our favorite things. Most importantly, I managed to squeeze in another beach day at our favorite secret beach.

















We followed it up with ice cream and a trip to the park.





And another batch of tomato soup for dinner (and a jar for the freezer).