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Out of all the holidays and celebrations that we have in the course of a year, I think that birthdays are the most sacred. The day that we entered the world is something to be joyous over, and to mark with as much love and celebration as possible.
My dad completed his 74th trip around the sun yesterday, and the boys and I were so excited to throw him a party. It was a relaxed day filled with good food and fun, a few wishes and a lot of full bellies.
I had two favorites to this day. First, the desserts.
There is nothing that I like more about a birthday than the desserts. I made a gluten free raspberry pound cake with lavender honey whip cream, and a second dessert of frozen kiwi and apricot chocolate pops. I had seen the kiwi pops on my new favorite time suck; Pinterest, and I immediately knew they were a must. I came across a fresh basket of apricots at the farmers market and thought that I would give those a try as well, and I am so glad that I did because they were the hit of the evening.
I decided to make the pound cake after visiting the Boulder Farmers Market this week. There was a vendor who was selling the most delectable looking cupcakes, and one flavor that looked particularly amazing was her raspberry with lavender frosting. For the first time since I went gluten free, I was angry. I wanted that cup cake so badly I could almost taste it, and I came home with a mission to recreate it. After a bit of thought I decided to change it up a bit and make a pound cake instead, and the result was better than I hoped for.
Raspberry Pound Cake with Lavender and Honey Whip Cream
To you favorite pound cake recipe add
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice (in place of water)
12 oz fresh raspberries
I added in the cinnamon and orange zest with my dry ingredients, and then the orange juice with the wet. I folded the raspberries in by hand very gently, and then added 5 minutes to the bake time of the original recipe to account for the extra moisture from the fruit.
Lavender Whip Cream
1 container of heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp lavender blossoms (I used dried lavender)
3 tbsp honey
Combine your heavy whipping cream and lavender in a small pot and cooking on low, bring the cream just to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely (I refrigerated the cream for 2 hours). Strain the lavender blossoms and add honey. Whip to desired firmness and serve.
My second favorite part of the evening was the table. I wanted a table that was fun, out in the garden area, and a little different than anything we normally used. One of the boy’s closet doors recently came out so that they could have better access to their clothes, and it seemed like the perfect size for a makeshift table.
Using two Christmas storage containers as the base, I laid the closet door down and covered it with a favorite table cloth that I had gotten from the thrift store last year, and had been trying to find a good use for ever since. We cut peonies from a bush on the side of the house, lit a few candles and laid out our sofa cushions as chairs. It was a perfect way to relax and enjoy a family meal, and it will certainly be making it’s way back out for many more evenings to come.
Landon’s favorite part of the party had to be his first experience with balloons. He spent what felt like hours just staring up in awe of the vast array of colors, and he seems on track to follow in his brother’s footsteps and fall completely in love with these magical play things.
Celebrating with my dad was a great way to start the weekend, and now we are off for our final soccer game of the spring season and then on to help a very special little girl celebrate her 5th birthday.
Wishing you the best of summer weekends.
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It really never seems to matter what season we are in, I love weekends. There is such a calm that happens around 5 pm on a Friday night when mu husband returns home, the house lights up, friends arrive, and food hits the table.
The prospect of a great camping trip, a visit to the farmers market, a BBQ with friends or family, or a quiet weekend spent around the house is part of the fun of the days leading up those cherished 48 hours.
While I love writing the Sunday Serenity series, I thought it would be more fun through the summer season to share what our weekends look like in the kitchen, the craft room, the garden, and around our town.
In The Kitchen
This weekend the boys and I hit the farmers market early to get a head start on what we needed for a holiday cookout, and I found myself in veggie excitement at all the Kale and Swiss Chard that was overflowing from the stalls. Chard and I are very good friends, much to my family’s dismay (I think that they passionately despise it as much as I love it). If you had known me back when Jacob was a baby, you would have laughed out loud when I attempted to make him his first baby food with a combo of breast milk and rainbow chard. I thought that I was giving the little man his very best start possible, he thought it was the worst thing ever, and proceeded to vomit it up for a good 20 minutes.
While it may not be their favorite food, there is no denying that using kale in place of spinach works pretty well, even for the wee ones. This weekend kale, mushrooms, fresh thyme, and Parmesan came together for a yummy morning omelet.
Kale and Mushroom Omelet
1 bunch of fresh kale
4 oz of sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
Saute your mushrooms and kale together in the olive oil until tender. Prepare your eggs for an omelet, and once cooked shred your cheese into the center along with your chopped thyme and kale and mushroom mix. Shred more cheese on top and enjoy.
Orange Rainbow Chard
Years ago, I think while living in California, I stumbled upon an orange flavored olive oil. It seemed like a pretty good combination, and I used it mainly to saute my greens for a sweeter flavor. After the bottle was gone I decided that it would be just as easy, and for that matter tastier, to just use orange juice and olive oil. The easiest of recipes was born.
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
The juice of one orange
1 bunch of chard or kale
Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a saute pan. Add the garlic and saute on low for 5 minutes. Add the chard/kale and top with orange juice. Cover the pan and allow the greens to wilt fully. Serve immediately
Weekend Crafting
I take no credit for this one. While I was writing this post, Jacob came in with a Dream Catcher that he had created. A few months back Jake had taken a class on dream journaling, and one of their ideas had been for the kids to create a dream catcher to capture their dreams for them to remember upon waking.
He created his own version using some sticks, a few beads, a feather he found, and some yarn. He put this together by taking two sticks, winding them together with yarn, stringing beads on a longer piece to hang it from, and placing a feather under the wound yarn for decoration.
In the Garden
One thing that continues to boggle my mind is how my husband and Elwood can be eaten alive from mosquitoes, while my oldest and I are almost never bit. I have recently been searching for ways to provide a safe and natural repellent for the whole family, and I came across two interesting tips.
:: Drinking apple cider vinegar can help to keep mosquitoes from biting. Oddly enough, I have been drinking 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar a day for a while now, and I wonder if this is what has been keeping the little creatures at bay.
:: Lemon balm and lavender are natural insect repellents. We have tons of lemon balm growing all over our garden, and so we have begun to burn fresh sprigs of lavender, lemon balm and mints in our nightly camp fire. Besides seeming to keep the bugs away, it smells pretty darn good as well.
In The Journal :: Journal Prompts for Kiddos and Adults
Local Love (A little local Front Range fun)
The Drake farmers market has a great vendor, Peddler’s Choice, who serves fresh, organic smoothies made with no added sugar, syrup preservatives, etc. They taste exactly like what would come out of your home blender, and her combinations are not the run of the mill.
On the corner of Manhattan and Troutman, across the street from Troutman park in Fort Collins, there is a woman who sells the most gorgeous perennial plants from her front yard.
There is a new trail that has opened on the Timnath/Windsor/Fort Collins borders. The trail extends all the way to Greeley, and is a great trail for biking, walking and skating.
Thursday Night Music begins this coming Thursday at 7 pm, and Noontime Notes begins on June 7th. We love to pack a picnic and enjoy the (hopefully) good weather and great community atmosphere.
For those who visit the Boulder Farmers Market, two of my favorites are Adaba Foods, who serves great raw, gluten free treats, and Oxford Gardens, whose greens have the best flavor and tenderness.
A new favorite find is Boulder Granola. They have an amazing GF granola that is filled with flavors that are uncommon and perfect for a morning parfait with fresh fruit and yogurt.
The Western Slope of Colorado is home to a new Lavender Festival that Joel and I are heading to in July. The idea of fresh fields of Lavender, just hours away from us, is a bit too tempting to pass up.
This is a great activity from one of our local naturalists that can be enjoyed in any area.
Happy Holiday Weekend!
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Do you ever have those wake up moments where something that you should have thought about so much sooner suddenly comes flying into your brain with an almost panic sense about itself?
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My mom gave us a gift recently that has caused quite a spark in my kitchen. A juicer has made it’s way into our lives for the first time, and I have to admit that I was super skeptical at first. We have always used a blender, and our daily green smoothies, while chunky, were still pretty darn good.
We are once again experimenting with the foods we eat and how they effect us (especially our oldest who has to contend with celiac disease), and we have recently tried taking out all bottled juices from our diet. I put my skepticism aside and the first day this large appliance graced our kitchen, we made a batch of carrot, apple and ginger juice. Much to my amazement, my kiddos drank a 12 oz glass each, and begged for more. Now my mornings are filled with little ones who find juicing carrots to perhaps be the highlight of their day.
I know that our health is an evolving process, but my hope is that by experimenting with raw juicing, we will add another layer to our well being. If nothing else, at least this experience has given me a good laugh when Elwood declares in no uncertain terms that he will not eat raw carrots, but he will drink them. What ever floats their boat.
Wishing you a weekend full of goodness.
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