July 2012

Whew!  This month flew by!

My mom and Rick came for a quick visit towards the beginning of the month.  Bruce got lots of extra lovin' along with a couple of servings of Sonic ice cream and he even got to sample the goodness that is Ozzie's Diner.  He tried many items from the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, but mainly chowed down on the French toast.  While Papa Rick played with Bruce, my mom and I had some time to make some of my "famous" pepper jelly, and we even tried a new honeyed yellow tomato butter recipe that turned out amazingly!  After we put Baby to bed at night, we broke out the games and had some fun playing Blokus (a new favorite) and Bananagrams.

Rick and Bruce's Stud Muffin shirts

Downward Dog Yoga

Towards the middle of the month we spent an extended weekend at the farm in Kansas.  One of Charlie's relatives passed away and Charlie was asked to play some music at the memorial service.  Of course he managed to squeeze in some farm chores too, and Bruce and I rode along with him for a bit in the giant tractor while he disked a field.  Bruce also got some major stair climbing practice at the farm house.  I'm not sure what I think about him using his teeth to clamp down on the step above him for leverage though...  On our way home we drove by a sunflower field, so naturally we had to stop for some photos!  

Baby still loves tires!

A few days after we returned from Kansas, our new chicks came!  Five years ago we inadvertently began this adventure of raising backyard chickens.  We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into when Aunt Mildred wandered into our garage and decided to roost in our apple tree, but our lives have been fuller since!  We've had several chickens come and go over the years, but we finally lost Aunt Dooney to a raccoon last month, so it was time to start fresh.  17 little pom-pom headed polish chicks came to us via the US postal service and currently live in a giant dog crate in our guest bedroom.  We're trying to spend some quality time with them every day so they'll be nice and tame - it's so hard though when there's so many of them!  Once we can tell the boys from the girls, we'll narrow it down to 4-6 hens, and then we'll think of some good names to honor our dead great aunts!  Along with the chicks, there are a few ducks that have started to come and tap on our front door asking for crackers.  Bruce likes to feed them too - he takes a cracker, takes a bite, and then drops it for the ducks.  Takes another cracker, takes a bite, and then drops it for the ducks.

Our poor garden has really taken a beating this month from the heat - it looks so shabby that I can't bare to even post a photo!  We got a lot of eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers throughout the month - but everything is at somewhat of a standstill right now.  The okra seedlings are really struggling (but still might pull through) but the green bean seedlings are hanging in surprisingly well, so hopefully we'll see some little pods soon!  We were planning on planting some more corn and a few other things for the fall, but I don't think there's any way they'd survive, so we'll hold out a little longer.  I've posted some recipes from this month - give 'em a try!

The garden isn't the only thing trying to survive the heat!  We invested in a cheapy inflatable baby pool for Bruce this month to help us keep cool and still get some outdoor time.  He loves it, but it's hard to keep him in the pool - this baby cannot be contained!  My friend Janet has a big pool at her house and we've had some nice "float" days there, too.  Bruce loves to splash and be pulled around in the water (and watch the other kiddos that are there), and I of course love to visit with my old "teacher" friends.

Bruce and I have made some indoor play dates too, with four of our favorite people!  Chelsea and Judah, and Kelleigh and Caris are so much fun to spend an afternoon with!  It's incredibly entertaining to watch the babes play around each other, and the mamas love their social time too!  Right now trying to get three naps schedules to coincide can be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to these guys growing great friendships!

Attempting to paint

Even on the days when we just stay around the house, there's always an adventure to be had.  Bruce has transformed our humble abode into something akin to a parkour course - he's pulling up on anything and everything, walking alongside table ledges, walking behind and pushing boxes and chairs around, crawling over table bars and under chair rails - he never sits still!  And just when I think he's explored every possible square inch of this place, he always manages to uncover a new treasure.  He loves rolling balls and tractors all around the house, playing with magnets on the fridge, and making as much noise as he can with found objects.  Still no words, but I think we've noticed him responding to a few words as if he knew what we were saying - so we're making progress!  We also think he's trying really hard to say "truck."  I'm not confident enough to call it his first word, but we'll see!  And I love to hear his heart-melting laugh when we discover new games to play with each other.  Some of our current favorites are "Eat Mama's Belly Button," playing "Bull" where we butt heads and rub our foreheads together (sounds harsh, but he loves it!), and rolling around on pillow forts made by Charlie.    He also really enjoys his morning walks with Charlie pushing him down the sidewalk on his newly restored pedal tractor.    

 

Along with the growing mobility, the number of bumps and bruises, slips and stumbles, whacks and wipe outs - has also increased.  We don't see tears very often - Bruce is quite the tough guy - but when he does have a hard time recovering, we have a great trick.  Bruce loves to check out what's in the fridge!  So when the wailing seems unconsolable, we just go take an inventory of the barbecue sauce and salad dressings.  Works like a charm!  For now...

 

Speaking of the fridge...  Bruce is now just about done with baby food!  He's doing a great job with his table food, and he has even started to feed himself a little.  I cringe a tiny bit when he wants to "help" with the bowl of veggies - and proceeds to squish them to pulp before smearing them all over his face in an attempt to get some in his mouth.  But he's learning, right?  We try to practice more with things like goldfish crackers - they're much easier to clean up!  It's times like these when I wish we had a dog because Mr. Pants just scoffs at the idea of taking care of leftovers.  Bruce's current favorite foods are mandarin oranges, bananas, peas, green beans, Reese's Puffs cereal (shhh...) and hot dogs.  Especially mandarin oranges.

Although Bruce will eat just about anything we offer him, getting him to sit in his high chair without throwing a fit has definitely brought one thing to our attention - we've entered into a whole new world of parenting.  Parenting is now more than just making sure we have plenty of diapers in the closet and that we get home in time to get Bruce down for his nap.  We've now crossed into this scary and unfamiliar territory of having to make decisions that will hopefully guide this little guy to become someone great.

 

 At first, Bruce pointing and grunting to get us to show him things he was interested in was exciting because he was finally communicating with us.  But as the gesturing grew to be incessant, and the grunting turned into demanding shrieks, we knew that some boundaries needed to be put in place.  We've been watching parents for years now, and have really enjoyed reading up on some popular parenting books, but are still trying to figure out what's going to work for our family.  Right now, we don't have consequences in place for Bruce, but the friendly one-liners "Hey!  Not Nice!" and "I'd be happy to let you play with that after lunch!" can be heard reverberating throughout our house all day long.  I know mealtime battles are probably just the first item on a long list of undesierable behaviors that we'll have to coach Bruce through - I just hope that we have the patience and wisdom to make good decisions for this little boy we've been entrusted with!

 

We definitely believe that it takes a village to raise a child,
and we're thankful to be on this journey with all of you and appreciate your love, encouragement, and support along the way!

Balsamic Eggplant Pasta

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
salt
1/2 cup basalmic vinegar
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp (or more) dried basil
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced (or more)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 box of bowtie pasta
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Peel and dice eggplants, sprinkle generously with salt
Let the eggplant "weep" for 30 minutes and then rinse off excess salt
Marinate eggplant with basalmic vinegar and herbs for 30 minutes
Saute olive oil and garlic, mix in tomatoes
Cook pasta according to directions
Layer a baking dish with pasta, eggplant mixture, tomato mixture, and cheese sprinkled on top
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes
*Great vegetarian dish, but you could add chicken too!

Eggplant Fries

Ingredients:
Eggplant
salt
1 cup flour
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 egg
1 c. milk
1 tbsp mayo

oil for frying

Directions:
Peel eggplant, cut into "fries," and sprinkle generously with salt.
Let the eggplant "weep" for 30 minutes and then rinse off excess salt.
Mix flour, garlic powder, oregano, pepper, and salt together.
Add egg, milk and mayo to flour mixture to make a batter.
Dip eggplant fries into batter and then place in hot oil and fry until golden.
Drain excess oil on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt if desired.
*Great served with Ranch salad dressing!

Bruchetta

Ingredients:
tomatoes (I prefer yellow, but any variety is fine)
onion - red, white or yellow
minced garlic
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
basil, fresh or dried
oregano, fresh or dried
salt
pepper
parmesan cheese

Directions:
This "recipe" is one that you just kind of go with your gut - there aren't exact measurements, just whatever you have on hand or feel like!

Seed and dice tomatoes
Dice onion
Mix together approximately equal portions of tomatoes and onion
Add as much minced garlic as you'd like
Drizzle approximately equal portions of olive oil and basalmic vinegar over the vegetables
Sprinkle in the seasonings to taste
Chill in refrigerator until cool
Before serving, sprinkle with parmesan cheese
Serve with toasted baguette slices or crackers

Yellow Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:
2 pounds yellow tomatoes
3 Granny Smith apples
1 small onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp mustard seed
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups cider vinegar

Directions:
Seed and chop tomatoes (Remove skins if you feel like it.  Finished product looks nicer, but it doesn't affect quality or taste)
Core and chop apples
Dice onion
Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot.
Simmer until thick (about 2 hours).  Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
*Can be preserved by canning - process jars in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

Honeyed Yellow Tomato Butter (Ball's Blue Book recipe)

Ingredients:
5 pounds yellow tomatoes
2 cups sugar
1 cup honey
1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 tbsp whole allspice
2 sticks cinnamon

Directions:
To prepare pulp: Wash tomatoes; drain.  Remove core and blossom ends.  Chop roughly.  Cook tomatoes in a large sauce pot until soft.  Press through a sieve or food mill; discard seeds and peel.  Measure 2 quarts tomato pulp.

To Make Butter:  Combine tomato pulp, sugar and honey in a large sauce pot.  Tie ginger and spices in a spice bag.  Add spice bag to tomato mixture.  Cook slowly until thick enough to round up on a spoon.  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
Banana or Anaheim peppers
shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
turkey bacon slices

Directions:
Cut stem end off peppers, cut a slit the length of the pepper, and remove seeds
Stuff pepper with cheese
Wrap pepper with a slice of turkey bacon
Place peppers on a greased, foil covered cookie sheet
Broil until the cheese melts and bacon crisps, approximately 10 minutes. 

Pepper Jelly

Well, maybe I'll keep this one for myself!  Let me know if you want a jar though!

June 2012

Summer is Here!

Even though I haven't been working at school for a year now, there still is something magical about the arrival of Summer.  I can't say life slows down any - more like it gets richer somehow.  June has definitely been a rich month for us, filled with lots of good memories to treasure.

We started off spending another weekend at the wheat farm in Kansas.  It was a rainy weekend so Bruce didn't get to go on any combine rides, but Charlie brought home an old pedal tractor that he's going to restore for Bruce.  He's of course to little to reach the pedals now, but it won't be long...  Right now he enjoys inspecting the tires and playing with the steering wheel.

The following weekend, we all headed up to the City to check out the zoo.  It was the first time for both Charlie and Bruce, and we met up with our good friends LeAnn, Noah, and Daniel.  The highlights of the trip were getting to feed the giraffes, and when the orangutan came over to see Bruce - both with their faces pressed against opposites sides of the glass.

On the 12th we embarked on our epic family vacation.  Not surprisingly though, vacationing with a baby isn't really vacationing - it's more like destination parenting.  Regardless, we had a fantastic time and it was great to get away and be with family.

Bruce and his cousin Matthew

Before heading to Florida, we first drove to Louisiana so Charlie could do some work on his horse farm project there.  After a few days, we continued on to Navarre Beach where Charlie's mom's family has been vacationing for over 30 years.  All of the family - nine siblings, spouses, children, and grandchildren - cram into a big beach house for a week of family bonding and ocean appreciation.  We try to join in on the fun every other year.  Since there was such a large crowd this year (nearly 50) we had to rent two houses.  All of the Kolariks plus a few others staked our claim in the off-beach house.  We might have missed out on some of the action, but it was well worth it to have a quieter place for sleeping babies.

We got to Florida on Saturday night, just in time to take Bruce out to see the ocean before the sun set and he had to head off to bed.  It was so much fun to see the expression on his little face the first time he took it all in.  I would say that he was speechless, but since he isn't talking yet, maybe soundless would be a more appropriate description.  He was pretty scared of the ocean waves, and even whimpered a bit just watching Charlie walk out into the surf - but Baby loved the sand!  Because he's so fair, we didn't spend much time on the beach everyday - but we went out just about every morning and evening to enjoy some beach time.

As close as we got to touching the ocean

 

It was a crazy year for the "beach," as there was none.  Well, almost.  Our walkway from the house over the dunes to the ocean usually ends with twenty or so feet of sand before the ocean starts.  This year, the stairs dropped you off on a narrow ledge of crumbling sand, before a four foot drop to the ocean.  And as the week progressed, the narrow ledge just got narrower.  There was an area a few houses down where there was more of a beach though, so that's where we set up camp to play most days.      

Overall, it was a great week filled with lots of family time, good food, and shell hunting.  Maybe when we go back in two years Bruce will be interested in going in the ocean!

Bruce's first shell

 

Our garden is still doing well, despite the elevating temperatures.  The early "crops" have petered out, but round two has started with plenty of zucchini, cabbage, and beets ready for the picking.  The peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and corn are starting to make their debut as well.  We planted green beans and okra this month where the other plants have been pulled out.  It was a little later than we were planning, but hopefully it wasn't too late!  See recipes below for some of our favorite ways to enjoy this season's produce.

My little Cabbage Patch Kid

Bruce playing in the corn

Bruce hit 10 month mark last week.  I can't believe he's almost a year old already!  He has turned into such a little explorer, and his mobility has (literally) opened so many doors for him.  Has has perfected the army crawl, and has just in the last week started doing the majority of his crawling on his hands and knees.  When he can't get where he wants to go on his own, he will point to (hopefully) get someone to take him to where he needs to be.  Bruce also can pull up on to furniture now, and while he's not trying to take any steps, he does lift one leg up in a great effort to try to climb everything.  He loves to wave like the Queen of England, and has just figured out how to clap in the past few days.  Now he usually waves and claps at the same time while he dances.  His signature moves are the "hip shimmy" and the "shoulder shrug" with a head bobble thrown in for fun.  His favorite word, uttered with great German gutteral glee, is "cgunk" which he says all day long.  I have no idea what it means, as I don't speak much German, but I'm fairly certain it can be used both as a noun and a verb, as well as multiple adjectives.  He does experiment with other sounds, but no intelligable words yet.  He has four teeth now, with two more about to break through.  He is quite the chomper!  Unfortunately, he loves to sink his teeth into your shoulder, or arm, or collar bone, or stomach, or toes... you name it.  I'm hoping this doesn't turn into a serious problem, but right now I think he thinks he's just showing affection and doesn't really understand.  We'll see.  His favorite things right now are still wheels and tires, and he has a great affection for cowboy hats.  Whether it's the real deal, or just one in a picture, this boy loves him some cowboy hats.  It's been so much fun this month to see Bruce develop his "play" skills.  He'll do anything to elicit a response from you, which usually involves scraping his fingernail across something noisey, then looking to see what you think.  If you laugh, he'll laugh and do it again.  And again.  And again.  Another game he loves to play is the give away/give back game.  He'll hand something to you, and loves for you to give it back so he can hand it to you again.  Life is very repetative around here if you haven't noticed, but we love it.  Bruce had his nine month well baby visit at the beginning of this month, and we got the go ahead to start him on table foods.  So far, Bruce has had a great time with figuring out how to eat like a big person.  He'll eat pretty much anything we offer him, it's just a challenge to get him to stay still in his high chair! 

Bruce won't feed himself unless it's a big piece of something

Opening his savings account
with "Mr. Bain"

We ended the month much like how we started it - at the farm.  This weekend we were in Perkins, Oklahoma though, not Kanas, helping bale some hay.  Bruce and I took it easy, but we did squeeze in one ride on the Polaris with Granny K to bring lunch to the hard working fellas.  Of course Bruce had to drive. 

We're looking forward to hanging around the house next month, and are excited about the visitors headed our way!  Feel free to come by for a visit anytime!

Buttered Cabbage (have to credit for this to Evan Godderz!)

Ingredients:
Cabbage
Butter
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Cut the cabbage into 4-6 wedges
Butter both sides of the cabbage
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Wrap and seal in tin foil
Place on oven rack and back for 45-60 minutes until tender
*Can also be cooked on the grill


Coleslaw

Ingredients:
small head of cabbage
2 carrots
1 cup of mayonaise
1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cider vinegar

Directions:
Shred cabbage and carrots
Mix together mayo, sugar and vinegar until well blended
Toss vegetables and dressing together and chill
*Super quick and easy - great summer side dish!


Pickled Beets
Ingredients:
3 quarts beets
2 cups sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tbsp whole allspice
1 1/2 tspn salt
3 1/2 cups vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
Directions:
Wash, cook, and peel beets (I boil mine for 30-60 minutes, depending on their size)
Combine all ingredients except beets in a large sauce pot.
Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat.
Simmer for 15 minutes
Remove cinnamon sticks
Pack beets into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space (I slice or dice mine prior to packing)
Ladle hot liquid over beets, leaving 1/4 inch head space.
Remove air bubbles and adjust two-piece caps.
Process jars for 30 minutes in a boiling water canner bath. 
*This is a Ball's recipe, so you know the preservation is high quality!
*We like ours diced so we can throw them on a salad throughout the year.


Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs
3 1/2 tspn almond extract (can use vanilla instead)
2 cups sugar
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup canola oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tspn cinnamon
1/2 tspn nutmeg
1/2 tspn ground cloves
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix eggs, extract, sugar, zucchini and oil together until well blended
Mix remaining dry ingredients together  in separate bowl
Slowly add flour mixture to batter and blend well
Pour batter in 2 prepared 9-inch loaf pans or 24 muffin cups
Bake loaves for 45-60 minutes, or muffins for 15-20 minutes


Bacon Squash

Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon
2 medium yellow squash
1/2 onion
1 jalapeno
dash of soy sauce
salt and pepper

Directions:
Cook bacon, remove from pan and lightly crumble
Slice vegetables and saute in bacon grease (remove some grease if there's a lot of it!)
Toss bacon and vegetables together with soy sauce, salt and pepper
*Remove the jalapeno seeds and spine first if you're concerned about it being to spicy!