Our Fun Life!

Vintage Orange Mugs

Found these stacking mugs the other day and they have never been used. Cute mugs for chilled fruit soups, autumn soups, and hot chocolate. I love red and orange kitchen stuff!

Back to School

It's the end of my summer break. Heading back to school tomorrow for another year of teaching 9th grade. Lizzie is so sweet. She's helping me make my never ending to-do list. I actually feel more prepared this year than ever since I worked most of the summer on lesson plans. Yeah!

Savory Baked Ham, Tomato, Cheese, and Herb Cups

I have seen quite a few breakfast recipes made with ham and eggs in muffin tins but now that I have a ton of fresh garden produce, I thought that I would use that concept to make a savory dinner.

This morning I picked fresh heirloom tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, sage, and basil from my garden for the recipe below. This is a great recipe that can be served as an appetizer, lunch, or dinner but don't tell anyone that I ate the leftovers for breakfast! Yum! I loved how they were cheesy and fresh tasting. Oh and the little dark tips of the ham slices tasted like well-done bacon. I love well-done bacon!

Savory Baked Ham, Tomato, Cheese, and Herb Cups

24 small ham slices, about 4"x 4" each
2 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 Tbsp. minced yellow, red, or white onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and minced
3/4 c. ricotta cheese
1 1/4 c. shredded cheddar, Colby, Monterey jack, and/or mozzarella cheese
1 egg
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh sage, minced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 c. butter, melted
12 Ritz crackers, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*
2. Grease two 12 cup muffin tins with non-stick spray
3. Line each cup with a slice of ham
4. Place a few pieces of chopped tomato in each cup
5. In a medium bowl, mix together the onion, garlic, jalapenos, ricotta cheese, shredded cheese,  egg, basil, sage, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and black pepper
6. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture in each cup
7. In a small bowl stir together the melted butter and crushed crackers
8. Sprinkle topping on the cheese mixture
9. Bake for 20 minutes
10. Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes before removing from the muffin cups

Makes 24

Gidget's Ear

This is Gidget's "What's goin' on?" look...

Fried Zucchini Blossoms + Garden Veggies w/ Jalapeno Goat Cheese Cream

Jalapeno Goat Cheese Cream

2 Tbsp. goat cheese
2 Tbsp. sour cream
3 Tbsp. buttermilk
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
Kosher salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mash the goat cheese and sour cream together
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients until smooth

Fried Garden Veggies

Male zucchini blossoms, washed and dried
Zucchini, quartered lengthwise
Whole okra
Jalapenos, seeded and quartered lengthwise into strips
1 1/2 c. Buttermilk
1 c. Flour
1 c. Cornmeal
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. Hot paprika

Directions:

1. Pour buttermilk into a bowl
2. On a large plate, stir flour, cornmeal, garlic powder, and paprika together
3. Heat vegetable oil in a fryer to 365*
4. In batches, place like vegetables into buttermilk and shake off excess
5. Toss in flour mixture and shake off excess
6. Fry in this order- blossoms, zucchini strips, okra, and jalapenos until golden
7. Remove and drain on paper towels
8. Sprinkle with salt
9. Serve with jalapeno goat cheese cream

Baked Heirloom Tomatoes with Goat Cheese

Place fresh garden tomato slices on parchment paper
Drizzle with olive oil
Top with fresh chunks of goat cheese
Sprinkle with basil and dill
Bake 350* for 10 minutes or until warmed through

Lizzie takes a shower

Lizzie is nuts. She loves water and taking showers. She'll even try to jump into your bath. If she hears water being turned on she will trot into the room and try to drink it.

The other day the glass shower door was open a bit as I was warming up the water. Of course she had to explore. I put her up on the ledge while I showered and then picked her up and bathed her with the warm water. She holds on to you like a koala bear. Afterwards she wouldn't get out.

I wrapped her up in a towel and then gave her a blow dry.

This is the spot that she always sits at when I blow my hair. She wants you to blow hers too but you have to be 4 feet away. She waits every morning for her blow dry even though she isn't wet.
What a cutie!

Creamy Blackberry Soup

Creamy Blackberry Soup

4 c. fresh blackberries
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. water
1 - 2 c. vanilla yogurt or 1 c. half & half

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil
2. When the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and chill
3. Place blackberries and sugar syrup in a food processor
4. Pulse until blackberries are broken down
5. Press and scrape mixture in a fine wire mesh strainer over a bowl
6. Stir yogurt or half & half into the mixture and serve chilled

I made this with the half & half but I think it would be better with vanilla yogurt

Blackberry Picking Adventures

Helen and I went to a local farm that is only 10 minutes from our house to go blackberry picking. On the way there a white crane flew right in front of our car and then we saw a huge buzzard on the side of the road. I stopped to get a photo but it flew off too fast. Up the road a bit we saw two beautiful horses on the top of a hill by the road. I wanted their picture.

We got to the farm, picked up our berry basket and went to the rows they told us that had the ripe berries. The farm had thousands of berry bushes in multiple rows that were extremely long. It was so cool to see. I had no idea that unripe blackberries were red. I ate one and promptly spit it out~ whew~ sour.

I took a few pictures and Helen filmed a video of me talking about blackberries that I will show my foods students. We picked and picked and ate and ate. Good thing I brought damp washcloths with us to wipe away the sticky juice.

On the way out we got some fresh peach ice cream that we gobbled up. As we drove home I stopped the car on the side of the road, climbed the hill and took some pictures of the horses. The spotted one kept snorting at me to go away while the brown one came right up to me. Beautiful- love his eye lashes.

 

One year ago...

I adopted the best kitty in the world from the shelter. Here's Lizzie waking up from a cozy nap.

Soldered Charms

I made these soldered pieces a few years ago for a magazine project that ended up being canceled. As I was cleaning out a box from the move the other day, there they were. Wire with flowers, beads, and the soldered charms that I made in the 'home' theme that they requested. I'm not sure what to do with them now- maybe tree ornaments? Suggestions?

Fresh Garden Tomato Salad

Fresh Garden Tomato Salad

To help use up my fresh garden produce, I took this salad to a party and it was a huge hit. I ran out of fresh mozzarella so put some cubes of that in yours.

Toss together:
Yellow pear tomatoes, halved
Sweet 100 tomatoes, halved
Husky cherry tomatoes, halved
Roma tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
Zucchini, chopped
Kalamata olives
Green olives
Fresh basil, chopped
Dried basil
Dried dill
Your favorite vinaigrette

Chilled Summer Peach Soup

I went to the downtown farmer's market and bought all kinds of goodies that I am not growing in my garden. Fresh peaches were everywhere. I haven't made peach soup in over 10 years. Forgot what I was missing!

Chilled Summer Peach Soup

8 fresh large peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. half & half

Directions:
1. Place water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil
2. When the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the cinnamon and vanilla
3. Chill syrup
4. Place peaches and syrup in a food processor and whirl till smooth
5. Add half & half and pulse till combined

Serve chilled with fresh berries and/or pound cake croutons

Makes 4-6 servings

Burning Chemistry

Helen and her friends have been planning to celebrate their minors in chemistry by burning their lab manuals that they didn't need to keep. Two of the three girls spent the weekend at our house and one of the nights Bill got the fire pit going. The roast was pushed till Saturday night because of rain. Holly requested my chicken tortilla soup so I made that Friday night for the girls. They roasted hot dogs (you can see 3 that fell off the sticks in the fire) and made smores. Then the fun began by ripping page after page out and watching them burn.
The neighbors house and their garden is in the background and the corner of my garden is on the top right.

Freaked

So the other day I was in my garden chatting with my neighbor. She was telling me about this huge green worm that was eating her tomato plants when she looked up at the top of one of mine and said that it looks like I may have one too since the new growth was chewed off. I hadn't noticed the minor damage.
So we started hunt for it and a few minutes later I saw the beast. It was about 1/2 inch thick and about 4 inches long. I was freaking out trying to get it off of the plant but then ended up breaking the branch off. I put it in a jar w/ lid to show Hunter when he got home later that night. We didn't know what it was so after some research, the beast was a tomato horn worm except mine was missing the horn.
I forgot about it until the next morning until I walked in the kitchen and saw the jar open w/ the lid on the counter. I assumed someone let it go. Boy was I wrong. I don't know how it got out!
We looked for it for several hours. I was so freaked out that the green monster was roaming my house and that it might crawl on me at night....eeeeewwwwwww.
Later in the day I noticed Kitty (aka as inspector gadget) was following something and there it was, crawling quickly along the kitchen baseboard. After Hunter got a good look at it, he put it back in the jar, walked across the neighborhood and let it loose.
Lesson learned- never bring creatures into the house!

I think the hornworms win as the nastiest thing I have found in the garden. So far I have gotten rid of 5 of them! Ick. They are hard to see but their poo is easy to spot on leaves or the ground since it looks like round ribbed grenades. Very unique. I have noticed they like to feast on the upper new growth. All were found on my Sweet 100 tomato plant which is actually my favorite small tomato since it tastes like sugar.
Other creatures that I regularly battle with insecticidal soap are beetles, cabbage worms, white flies, and zucchini bugs which look like stink bugs to me. eww.

Here's the small guy (compared to the other 4) I found today...oh the goosebumps.

Fresh Figs

I tasted my first fresh fig two summers ago...oh yummy! I saw some at the store so of course they went into my cart.

Fresh Figs with Brie, Strawberry Jam and Honey

Trim the tops off of the figs and cut an 'X' 3/4 of the way down the length of the figs and gently pull open without splitting the bottom open
Place figs in a baking dish
Top each fig with a piece of brie cheese, walnuts or pecans, and a few sprinkles of blue cheese
Bake at 350* for 10 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is soft
Remove from oven and top with chunky strawberry jam, fresh black pepper, and a drizzle of honey
Serve warm

Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese, Raspberry Jam,  and Caramel

Cut half way down the length of the figs and gently pull open without splitting the bottom open
Place figs in a baking dish
Top each fig with a Tbsp. of raspberry jam and some chunks of goat cheese
Bake at 350* for 10 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is soft
Remove from oven and top with a drizzle of caramel
Serve warm

Which one was my favorite? The top recipe!

Felting Fun Creatures

I remember as a child sitting in front of the Christmas tree and staring at all the cute ornaments. I wanted to get rid of the ugly ones. Now that I am older I have wanted to have a Christmas tree with nothing but cute handmade things on it. Something that would be fun for the little kids in my family and future grandchildren to look at when they visit and to help decorate with their own creations. Making ornaments happens all year long whenever the inspiration strikes. I have quite a few doodles of other creatures to make soon.

Last fall I started to felt a little green bird and got bored with it before I finished it and moved on to an idea I had for a mouse. I gave the mouse who suspends from beaded and twisted wire to my friend Annie during a handmade ornament exchange. I do plan to make another for myself. In the picture it's hanging on the pink tinsel tree I have in my art room that I decided to keep up all year so I can play around with putting things on it here and there~ it isn't too big and sits on my counter.

I looked at some of Jenn D. creations for inspiration and then went back to the bird and added feet, a hat, and felted a nest that it sits in.

The last one I made was a little spunky monkey. He's sitting in my post card rack that I just painted red. Some of the cards on display that you can see have been sent to me over the years by my friends. The top right and bottom left cards are from Tracy, the bottom right from Barbara, and the top left from Konni who passed a couple years ago. I think handmade items are the best! Don't you?

Garden Veggies

Oh boy oh boy oh boy are we enjoying our first garden! All of the hard work has paid off.
It's been an explosion of zucchini and tomatoes! Well over a hundred pounds of zucchini and probably 75 so far for the tomatoes. This garden tastes so GOOD! I have shared w/ neighbors and co-workers too. The big tomatoes are really coming in now. Most of the tomato bushes are almost at my height but many have trailing stems that if extended would be over 7-8 feet long. Next year I will need to get much bigger cages. We used the biggest ones but also had to stake them since they got so large from the 'magic dirt' but now I am thinking that we'll need to make our own cages so they be sturdy and tall.

I've been keeping track of most of the loot with photos. These are a few taken on different days.

You can see my first picking of German queen and Mr. Stripey tomatoes at the top right:

This cabbage is the only one that has not been chewed on by cabbage worms! It's a beauty and is still growing.

 

I think the purple bush beans (that turn green when cooked) aren't all that good. Next year I will put in some other kind of bean. I would like some that I don't have to stake. Suggestions?

The brussel sprouts haven't produced anything yet but are still growing. The beets and carrots are growing really slow (maybe because it is so hot) but they are chugging along. We had baby beets the other night with dinner and Helen couldn't get enough.

I want to try making fried zucchini blossoms. The recipes I have seen looked pretty good.

Well the radishes sure looked pretty but were hot hot hot and we didn't eat them! Oh well.

Building an Organic Garden

Bill and Hunter built a me a garden. They started last fall making two 6x20' raised beds and filling them with super rich compost dirt that was trucked in. This spring they drilled big holes with a rented auger and buried each eight foot post two feet into the ground and added concrete. 

Tilling was fun to watch as the machine dug up all kinds of rocks from the ground. Chicken wire was laid in an 'L' shape under the ground and up the sides of the posts two feet to keep out digging animals like rabbits. Deer netting was put all around the posts. In the fall pickets will be put up to surround the garden.

Eventually after we get more of the magic compost dirt, I plan to have three foot deep beds in front of the fence on both sides of the arbor for herbs and other plants that the deer won't eat.
I would like to have some kind of climbing plant for the arbor after a little gate is built and attached. I still haven't decided if I want the fence to be white or brown. What do you think would be the best color?

Inside the garden will be flowers in the ground and vegetables in the raised beds. A little stone path walkway will be made coming off of the deck and to the garden.

In the raised bed on the right side, I planted all seeds:
zucchini, brussel sprouts, purple bush beans, three kinds of beets

In the raised bed on the left side, I put in all plants and a few seeds:
three kinds of carrots, three kinds of radishes, 10 tomato plants in eight different varieties, fennel, white onions, six kinds of peppers, eggplant, okra, cabbage, 20 herbs (will move these when the front bed is ready)

Been Painting!

It's been fun making things to decorate our new house. Our last house was all windows in every direction so there was hardly any wall space available to hang stuff. 

I bought a bunch of canvases at a local art convention and have been experimenting with a variety of paints and texture.  I like wrapped canvases so I can choose to frame them or leave the painted edges. I really have no idea what I am doing but it sure is fun. 

This was my first painting of a Monet scene from a couple years ago that I framed:

Here's my second of another Monet scene that I framed but haven't put on the wall yet:

This one of Wild Poppies is very textured and quite tall. The fabulous Carol Nelson posted a tutorial of her wonderful poppy paintings so I experimented with her techniques and this is the result. The edges are textured and painted so I will not be adding a frame.

Here is a close up. I had a hard time trying to smear the texture right:

This one is not finished as I haven't figured out what to do next. Ideas? So far I think it looks like a flame.

This one I did a few months ago and it is also quite tall. I call it "Into the Fire":

Bill and I like to visit art galleries and one day we saw some rectangle paintings that were $3,000- way out of our budget. He wanted that type of painting for over the piano so I made this for him. He wants to frame it but I am not sure I am done with it yet. So there it sits.

I like to take pictures of poppy pods so this one is a funky version:

Just playing around with some different textures. What is it? I don't know! Kinda looks like the bottom of an ocean to me:

And this one I did in 20 minutes and I think is my favorite one so far. It is of my kids mom who has been gone nine years. This is her as a child walking along the shore: