A Musician's Son..1 Year Milestones

From the City...

We love iphones.  Big time.  Watching videos, listening to music..all good things.

Strumbellas photo shoot, not a bad looking bunch.

How to keep busy babies out of a photoshoot??? looks of cookies and bananas...

Ever so patient and wonderful manager Jo...playing and loving our little Theo  

Lots of exciting things on the go for us over here these days, hence the lack of blogging which I apologize for.  Simon is gearing up for a big three week tour out west, which is both exciting and equally terrifying.  Its hard to imagine three weeks without that hilarious guy but it's pretty amazing and inspiring to actually see someone go out there and do what they love.  

Theo is teething, again.  This kid cuts teeth like nobodies business and every time it is the exact same except for this time because all he wants to do when he's teething is nurse and mama's gotta pay some bills, making it, needless to say, pretty difficult on the ol' papa bear. 

Our co-op daycare is taking shape, which is pretty darn exciting.  It opens next week and we'll be celebrating with a potluck at the new space on Friday night.  So many great families involved that feel so passionate about what they envision for their child's daycare space...it's really quite inspiring.  Theo starts next week so I'll keep you all posted.  

Work is busy and by the end of the day, I'm just itching to get home to Theo, where I just collapse on the couch and let him crawl all over me.  I try to come home early which means working after he goes to bed but  those extra couple of hours with him seem so incredibly worth it.  Nevertheless by the weekend, I've missed him so much that week that I don't want to go anywhere without him.  

I don't know who's having a harder time with this work/life arrangement, him or me?   

Cooking...hmm..see, not a chance.  This is a shame to me because I just love to cook.  More than that, I love the whole meal process of recipe hunting, planning, market trips, butcher shops, prepping, cooking and of course, eating.  I'm hoping that once work slows down a bit I'll be able to find a groove that makes room for work, and food and baby and husband.  

A girl can dream right?

-amelia

Gnocchi-tastic!

From the City...

Prink those taters.  

Bake 2 large russet potatoes @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes

mash potatoes, 1 egg and 1/2 -3/4 cup flour 

Knead dough for about a minute until you have a nice little lump of dough like this.

Divide dough into four balls and shape into rolls.

Cut into bite size pieces, keeping in mind they should all be the same shape and size (good luck with that one!!!) and gently imprint with a fork...not sure what the purpose of this is but it sure looks pretty. 

I served mine with a homemade pasta sauce which Simon said should have been something fancier like a rose or a brown butter sauce...hmmm...interesting.  The next batch I make, I'm going to mess around with different cheeses and possibly a different vegetable...but all in all, I'd consider these a total success.  They were buttery and soft and pretty darn good, if I do say so myself, but I won't lie, a bit of a pain in the ass time wise.  Make these when you have a bunch of people over who can help with the process.  

amelia

Doggone Sunday

From the country...

Cleaning out the Pantry and Making Something Tasty

from the city...

I've been on a cooking new recipe hiatus these days now that I'm back at work but I'm determined to get outta this slump and start cooking again.  So this weekend, I went all out in the kitchen and it was great.  I felt inspired, I felt creative and more importantly, we all felt full!  Its not to say that we don't eat well during the week, we do, we just tend to eat the same four quick and easy things, with scrambled eggs being a definite at least once during the week.


So here's a recipe for coconut lentil curry that I adapted from this one.  We ate it two days in a row and even Theo couldn't get enough of it...that guy loves his coconut milk.
Its a good cleaning out your pantry recipe...

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 tomatoes chopped

2 large potatoes cubed 

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups dried red lentils (10 oz)

1 (13- to 14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs

Saute onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes for 3-5 minutes.  Add cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt.  Mix well and cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Add water, lentils and coconut milk and allow to cook for about 15-20 minutes.  Serve with pita, brown rice and garnished with cilantro.  


Here's a couple other recipes that I've come across that are looking real tasty...
An oh so heavenly korma recipe
Mashed potatoes and kale, enough said
Muffins with jam baked in???? amazing!
Potato, rice and peas with indian spices....a little side of perfection
These are just too beautiful for words!


What's cooking in your kitchen in these days????
amelia

weekending...the spoiled baby edition.

from the city...

New wooden fridge magnets from Deedee

finger puppets and vintage Star Wars dishes from the aunties

schleich toys from my cousins

spiffy new duds from the clothes swap

farm fresh organic eggs (T's fav food)

heavenly heavenly amish butter  

oh and countless hours of play, food, cuddles, chocolate and long sunny walks.

...our pretty great easter long weekend.

Linking up with Amanda at The Habit of Being.

amelia

Easter Weekend

From the country...

Babies, tea and pie- a winning combination

First pick of pea shoots, arugula and assorted greens

To-die-for lemon meringue pie

Easter weekend:

- countless games of ninjas on the farmstead with the bow and arrows.
-the BEST lemon meringue pie and brownies washed down with gallons of teas.
-braised lamb, ham steaks, roasted root vegetables, first fresh salad from the greenhouse (with a sour cherry vinaigrette), and mashed potatoes with chervil.    
-gorging on dandelion greens
-visits with family and friends
-chocolate egg hunts and 2 new baby bunnies
-smack talking around the kitchen table and lots of laughs
-tree planting, salad green harvesting and chicken catching.
-the yearly chicken rental pick up from this gal and her family.
-researching new breeds of chickens for various purposes.
-walking, riding bikes and making home movies.
-wild foraging for dandelion greens and wild leeks.
-watching and discussing the happenings of this show.

How was your weekend?

The Weekly Run Down From the Farm

From the country...

Wiley Coyote turned the big 5

We celebrated with a movie (The Lorax) and bowling

made these cookie cheesecakes

one of a few quail egg trays put into the incubator.

It is proven itself hard to maintain a family, farm and blog... but I will trudge along. So much happens on any given day but here are some of the highlights:

-QUAIL eggs! I am super excited about raising quail. 120 eggs made there way to the incubator this past weekend and I am expecting babies around the 15th of the month. I have been You Tubing/researching like mad and trying to figure out the best way to raise the little suckers. They are fascinating little birds that are the size of a bumble bee when hatched and start laying eggs at 5-7 weeks!

-Lucas turned 5 on April 1st. He had been planning his big day for some time so we had to indulge this little guy and make it a good one. We did a movie, a rousing game of bowling and then home for french fries, homemade macaroni and cheese, and coleslaw. I also made these cookie cheesecake treats for dessert. With some balloons, a new fishing rod and a rendition of Happy Birthday via a phone call from his Aunt Mimi/Uncle Momo his day was complete.

-Earth Hour was spent in our living room with the wood stove blazing, and  the candles lit. The kids and I read books, played Guess Who and went outside wrapped in blankets to see the stars (it was such a clear night). Millie cried for almost the full hour until she fell asleep in my arms while Nate and Lucas hid under blankets convincing each other that her crying was going to bring the monsters out.  Fun stuff!!

-The farm is coming alive again- perennials are poking there heads out and the animals are feeling frisky in the extended hours of daylight. The turkeys have started laying, the chickens are laying like gang busters and the ducks are squirreling away their clutches of eggs until they get the right amount to set. We are spending full days outdoors getting a jump start on the growing season.The boys have tossed the t.v. aside in preference for playing and the dinner bell is once again being used to beckon people indoors for meals.

It is an exciting time on the farm ...

Weekending...3 days late

From the City...

Where to start, where to start.  So much seems to be taking place around here these days.  Being back at work has thrown a wrench into our life right now.  Theo has made the transition pretty flawlessly and seems to be really benefiting from his Pa time, I guess you can say it's the mama in the equation who's having the harder time adjusting.  

Which bring us to our first pic, our green heart to heart sling which saved us when Theo was brand new and again seems to be making a comeback.  We do lots of babywearing right now. 

Since the library just reopened, we've been having some good playtime there on my morning off.  you can guarantee some new friends will come along, some good stacks of books to pull from the shelves and some new magazines for the mama to get caught up on.

We also had some family visits on the weekend with our Deedee (grandma), aunties and uncles and some serious plays with cousin Finn and Everly.   

amelia

Too Funny...

From the country...