Milo's Big Adventure

Over the 4th of July weekend Milo got to go to Fish Lake in Minnesota and go camping and boating with his grandparents and uncles. This was his first time away from home for more than a day. I missed him, and was worried about whether he was having fun. When I called him here is what he said. "Mom. I'm on the grass right next to my tent, and I'm busy. I have to go now. Bye."

Going tubing with Uncle Nick. The way Milo tells the story, he possibly fell off and almost died, but he might have the details a little mixed up.

Milo with Uncle Justin and Uncle Nick. The campground and lake that they were at is the summer vacation spot for Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bruce. They have a 4th of July tradition of having an 80's Prom Party at the campground where the ladies dress up with big hair and Salvation Army dresses. I guess the guys got off the hook with their tuxedo T-shirts. =) When Milo came home there was some drama that maybe his new Nintendo DS was missing, but it has been recovered and by all accounts (none of them Milo's!) he had a great time.

What do I do with my vegetables?

I get asked a fair amount, "What do I do with this?" Insert kohlrabi, beets, cucumbers, what have you. I seem like a gal that has recipes I guess. So here are two to share. One for cucumbers and one for zuchini. Sorry, no pictures. Camera still broken.
Summer Refrigerator Cucumbers (Grandma's Recipe)
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon dillweed
3-4 big cucumbers, sliced
1/2 to 1 onion, as desired. (Red onion is very good, but will turn everything pink!)
Combine and chill. Good for 1 week or more in refrigerator. You can almost always cut the sugar in a recipe by half, without ruining it. =)

Chocolate Zuchini Muffins
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar ( I use organic sugar, and reduce amount by 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process is best)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (ALWAYS use aluminum free!)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil (can sub 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce to reduce fat)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zuchini ( I halve the zuchini and use the grater attachment on my Cuisinart. )
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I only use Ghirardelhi)

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and whisk until blended. Add all wet ingredients one at a time, except zuchini. Add chocolate chips, zuchini, and walnuts last. Cover and refrigerate overnight. This step is important! This is what allows the zuchini to become almost invisible in the batter. Bake at 350 degrees in muffin cups for 20-22 minutes. Makes 16 large muffins on average.

Experience

I don't know if you can say you've lived until you have carted home a naked child with all his poopy clothes in a bag next to him.

FYI

Just wanted to let you all know that our camera appears to be broken. I mean beyond what the masking tape was already holding together. And as I enjoy photo blogging more than writing text, it might be a bit between updates. =)

Summer Fun....

So here's how they started the week. Blurry, out of focus, playing Nintendo DS.... but we racked up quite a week of activity. In no particular order.... La Leche League Toddler Group followed by picnic lunch in the park, a visit to the strawberry farm, a trip to the new Animal Rescue League shelter, I had knitting group in the evening, spent an afternoon at Ashby Park wading pool, helped organize a new small scale CSA for my friends, and visited the Jester Park Natural Playscape. Went to Blockbuster and let everyone pick out new Wii and DS games. Done. I need a weekend to recover from my week.

Guess Who?

Guess who the celebrity is? She's an attachment parenting Mom who has given birth at home, breastfeeds into toddlerhood, does Elimination Communication, and is into vaccine awareness. She's vegan and makes all her family's own personal and household cleaners, among many other holistic/green things. Any guesses? It's Blossom!!!

http://celebrity-babies.com/2009/06/04/mayim-bialik-talks-attachment-parenting-with-cbb/

Chocolate Beet Cake

So I ran into a lady at my kid's school yesterday whose Uncle farms just over the border in Missouri. In order to bring her her share from their family farm and make it worthwhile to drive here, he brought additional extra shares to sell. So she had some extra boxes of CSA vegetables and free range eggs to disperse, and I helped her with that! It's a different gardening zone than we are in, so there were things available that are not thriving here yet in our cool, wet weather. I am already a member of a CSA, who also farm organically and sustainably, but also not under the title of "Certified Organic." So I felt comfortable with the same methods from this farm. And you can always use an extra box of produce! I had to pause for a moment and think for the implication of vegetables farmed out of state and then "trucked" here. But in all honesty, my CSA in northern Iowa is also 1.5 to 2 hours away from me and gets driven here to a drop site weekly. I'll continue to investigate urban CSA options for next year. Like my friend Stephanie, who farms right here in the heart of the city.

I started out grating the beets by hand. Uh no. Hello Cuisinart. Much better.

The recipe was from my Asparagus to Zuchini Cookbook, with substitutions added by me. It was very good by all accounts. This one will have to become a new favorite like the Black Bean Brownies. At the very least the frosting probably cancels out the nutritive value of the beets. Here's a riddle for you.... what do you get when you combine a stick of butter, a block of cream cheese, and a jar of marshmallow fluff? Frosting-to-die-for!!!!

The cake does not taste or look beet-y, I swear! So would my kids, who had NO IDEA. ;-)

Beet Chocolate Cake (Source: Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Farm-Fresh, Seasonal, Produce)
2 C. Sugar
2 C. Flour
1/2 t. Salt
2 t. Baking powder
1 t. Baking Soda
1/4 C. Oil
3-4 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate ( I used Ghirardelhi chocolate chips that I had on hand.)
4 Eggs
3 C. Beets, grated (I got over 3 cups when I grated all my beets, so I adjusted my flour and oil accordingly.)
Combine dry ingredients - mix well. Melt chocolate very slowly over low heat or in a double boiler. (I used Pampered Chef micro cooker in the microwave for my chocolate chips.) Allow
chocolate to cool ( I was too anxious to let it cool much, just add oil before eggs.) then blend thoroughly with eggs and oil. Combine flour mixture with chocolate mixture,
alternating with beets. Pour into 2 greased 9 in. cake pans. (I used one 9 x 11 pan.) Bake at 325 for 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick (50 minutes was good for the pan I used.)
can be removed from center cleanly. Ten servings.
Even if you had no fresh beets but wanted to use canned beets and puree them, that would be fine. There would no chance of detecting any beet chunks then. I also sprinkled another 3-4 ounces of chocolate chips into my batter and stirred it before spreading it into the pan.
My youngest child woke up and asked for cake for breakfast, so it must not be bad!