I ♥ Ina

I gave Ina Garten's (The Barefoot Contessa) Fruit Tart with Pastry Cream a trial run last week.

I will be making it for a baby shower in a few weeks and wanted to make sure I liked it. Ina's recipes are wonderful and have never let me down. Still...baby shower guests shouldn't be guinea pigs for a new recipe in my opinion.

OH YUM! What else can I say?

I didn't have a real wide selection of fruit to top it with, but the blueberries, kiwi, and plums were good. I think I'll add some mandarin oranges and red raspberries next time.

Shortbread crust, light, sweet cream, fresh fruit. What can be a better combination in the summer?

To check out the recipes Ms. Garten has on her website right now, go here. And, if you are interested in the tart recipe, just say so in my comment box and I can share it personally with you. (Thanks to my dear friend Rebecca and the signed cookbook she gave me for my birthday one year. So sweet!)

Summer Nights In The Country

In the evening light there is little that hints of the sweat and toil of the day.

The horse-drawn wagons and tractors are silent.

Produce sits perched on roadside stands.

The scene is peaceful and idyllic.

The air cools and carries the hint of a campfire somewhere.

Crickets begin their serenade.

The setting sun illuminates the silos in the distance.

Fireflies hover over the fields.

Livestock dot the pasture, munching or ambling towards the barn for milking time.

A bowl of juicy watermelon before bedtime.

Your children as they "air dry" after their bath, running from room to room.

The windows open while you sleep.

It's a country life...and I love it.

Got Yogurt?

Wah choo lookin' at Willis?!

I can do everything my big sis can...in theory anyway. :o)

Fowl Follow-up

For those of you curious about how our chickens are faring, here are some updated pictures.



See those trees in the background? We live just beyond them.





They're two and a half weeks old now, have been moved out to the pasture, are scratching and pecking and growing fast!



Tyson, keeping a close watch.

I must add that I appreciate and am so proud of my hard-workin' man.

Remember that SUPER hot Saturday 2 weekends ago? Well, he was working all day on this cage, in the stifling heat, figuring things out on his own. (Chris would have helped him but he had hurt his foot pretty badly the day before.)

Thanks hon for making this project happen! :o)

Wordless Wednesday

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Delectable! German Chocolate Cake

I stumbled upon a foodie blog recently. David Lebovitz is an American chef living in Paris, and his blog is full of yummy things.

Like this German Chocolate Cake. OH. MY. GRACIOUS.



It warrants a moment of silence...it's that good.

If you make this cake please follow the dosage serving size information and be aware of these side effects:

This cake may cause delirium, fainting, and irregular heartbeats. In some cases it may produce anxiety. If you find you are sneaking into the refrigerator at 2am because you fear there won't be any left the next day, seek immediate medical attention. Do not eat this cake while driving or operating heavy machinery.

It's now my go-to cake recipe for special occasions. (It takes nearly 2 hours to make, but it is SO worth it.) Let me know if you give it a try!


(I'm still kicking myself for halving the recipe into a 6" round layer cake instead of the 9", but my hips are thanking me.)

A Hit And A Miss

I recently finished two books that I thought I'd review for you. The first I mentioned earlier in my 10th Anniversary post. It is a definate "hit"!


THE GLASS CASTLE by Jeannette Walls


I'm really glad I read HALF BROKE HORSES first. That's the memoir of her grandmother Lily. THE GLASS CASTLE is the story of her parents, Rex and Rosemary Walls and her own childhood. Both books are jaw-dropping, entertaining, and simply unreal!


Unlike HALF BROKE HORSES, this book provoked me. To anger. On more than one occasion.


The parents, Rex and Rosemary, were two misfits peas in a pod! Enablers to each other's disfunctionary ways. I kept thinking, "those poor kids!"


Now, every parent has his/her own style of child-rearing. To each his own. But these two were very bright individuals who elevated their non-conformist, vagabond lifestyle to the ten billionth degree--to the point that it was abusive in my opinion.


But, you have to read the book to really understand how that kind of upbringing made Jeannette and her siblings who they are today. Who's to say what they would have become under "normal" circumstances. I sure wouldn't wish their upbringing on anyone though.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The "miss" in my opinion was one I hadn't anticipated.


HOUSE RULES by Jodi Picoult


I almost always enjoy Jodi's books and while I did enjoy reading House Rules I can't put it in the same class as others she has written. It was an interesting look into Asperger's but at times seemed a little cliche and did not always ring true. Also the plot was just weak. It was so obvious from the very beginning what the "twist" was that I almost didn't want to finish reading because I knew how it was going to end. And when I think PICOULT, I think TWIST I CAN'T SEE COMIN'.


Proof that you can't judge a book by it's cover--Jacob, the young man who has Asperger's, is 18. As I was reading, I couldn't help wanting to identify with the young boy sitting by the lake as the cover suggests. Errrr!


It just seemed like Picoult rushed this one to meet a publication deadline.


Still, Jodi has a very engaging style and her characters are interesting and mostly very well fleshed out, which kept me reading to the end.


Borrow it from the library if you don't mind a predictable ending. Otherwise, NINETEEN MINUTES, CHANGE OF HEART, and PLAIN TRUTH remain my favorite Picoult's.

Keepin' Cool...Well, Tryin'!

The mini plastic pool and sprinkler have been a major means of grace these last few weeks as we've done our best to burn off energy without burning up in this crazy humidity.

I wilt in weather like this. Apparently my children are unfazed. To a certain point of course.

I had fun getting these shots of Natalia while Adam was taking his afternoon nap.

It's fun to see her discover the same simple joys that I remember from childhood. What kid hasn't sat on the sprinkler, only to rocket off of it with glee?

Lowrise

I am not a fan of lowrise jeans (for myself OR others) for reasons that are obvious.



However, I might make an exception. Just this once.

Our Experiment

It all started with a conversation after church.

Our friends, the Kanes, recommended this book to Pete after learning he was interested in organic/grow-your-own-food types of things.

And now, it has culminated into this.

My Wordless Wednesday post gave you the first glimpse.

Yes, I did pick up a crate of baby 50 (1 day old) chicks at the post office last Wednesday. As soon as I walked in with the kids we heard the cheeping and chirping. The lady in front of us in line exclaimed, "I hear baby chickens!" I chuckled and said, "Um, those would be ours."

We are, in fact, raising chickens for the next 6 weeks. And yet, technically, we're not.

I've written before about our Amish friends who live a stone's throw away. We've made weekly visits to their farm over the last year to buy eggs (and our very own Wilbur). Well, Pete and Chris often talk about farming projects and we've enjoyed getting to know their young family.

They decided they wanted to enter into this experiment with us. We would share the cost of supplies, they would provide the pasture, we would help feed, water, and move the chicks every day, and in 6 weeks...VOILA! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

[Know where that saying originated? The story goes that in Las Vegas
for many years the chicken dinner special was $1.79. With the standard bet being
$2, a winning bet would be enough money to buy dinner. Hence the phrase,
"Winner, winner, chicken dinner".]

But I digress...

I don't really want to think about the butchering part. I'm already contemplating what illness I can feign when that day comes. Just give it to me dead, clean, and dressed and I'll cut it up. Easy shmeezy.

For now I'd rather look at these cute little things and not think about what's down the road.

Pretty soon we can take their pen out to pasture. More pictures will follow. (Only happy ones, I promise.)

Drumroll Please...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to present to you,

the new Physics teacher at Manheim Central!

(My alma mater. I'm so proud of my man!) :o)

Half Birthdays

We celebrate Natalia's 1/2 Birthday right around July 4th. Next year we'll have TWO half birthdays to celebrate Independence Weekend.


For those of you wondering what this is all about, here's the scoop.


Our little family of 4 has 3 birthdays in the week before and after Christmas. Suffice it to say it is alittle overwhelming for the adults and absolutely mind-wrecking for the tikes. So...after the age of 2, we celebrate half birthdays.


We still celebrate the actual birthday, but it's just us, a special dinner at home, and we give our gift. We save the gathering of the grand's and other family members (and their gifts) for the summer. It's more enjoyable for the kiddos, the family, and easier on the wallet and calendar. Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The welcoming committee. (Avery 3, Adam 18 mos., Eli 11 mos.)


This year Natalia wanted me to make a lemonade cake (which means lemon) and to decorate it to match the blankie my aunt Joyce made for her as a baby.

So, we had lemon cake, raspberry lemonade, and raspberry sherbet.

A scooter, a few books, paint-with-water books, and some cute clothes for the upcoming school year...



Then, because our house is tiny and the kids were all sugared up, we spilled outdoors. (That's how we turn down the volume.)







I wish I would have gotten pictures of the grands and great-grands, but I kind of had my hands full. Superwoman, I am not. :-)

Happy 4 1/2 Birthday Sweetpea! We love you!

Wordless Wednesday

Photo Shoot: Part 1

My mom and dad have an old, wooden 9-paned window they've used to frame photos of my siblings and I in their kitchen for years. Now though, it will house pictures of the grandchildren.

AND, my living room frames are still sporting winter shots. Time to update.

Thus, Photo Shoot: Part 1.

My kids are not fans of holding still posing for the camera, so I think we might have one or two possibilities out of this group. I'm still planning on a Part 2 though--an early evening shoot instead of full morning sun, and hopefully more blooming flowers in the background.

I did get an identical shot to this next one where Natalia is looking straight at the camera, but I liked that I could see her eyes better in this one.

Since she moves alot in standing shots and tends to slouch when sitting, I'm going to have her lay down for some next time.

Adam is getting tougher and tougher to photograph. Any tips from you pros out there? I'm trying to think of some objects for him to hold that will add instead of take away from the photo.

We'll keep trying! :-)