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July 27, 2010

Violet, You’re Turning Violet, Violet!

Posted by katilh under Marion, cooking, houston
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Oh, to meet your demise with a blueberry dessert piece of bubblegum. It’s felt like that around here this summer, all thanks to our friend Kelly who turned us on to Moorhead’s Blueberry Farm. It’s about a 45 minute drive outside of Houston, but worth every mile.

So worth it, that we’ve been three times this season. I think (if I remember correctly) we’ve picked a total of about twelve pounds of blueberries. Marion probably ate about six pounds while we were out picking.

Moorhead is great for several reasons, one of the top being that they don’t use pesticides on their berries, so they’re safe for the littles to eat right of the bushes. There’s no better way to keep a toddler occupied for an hour at a time by giving them free reign to all the blueberries they can handle!

I took the camera each time we went picking, but I was pretty focused on filling my bucket, so there’s a mix of iPhone photos and camera photos from our three trips.

Marion’s first blueberry bucket

Really, is there anything cuter than an army of toddlers toting gallon sized buckets?

The look of delight on her face says it all.

Our first trip was at the start of the season, so the picking wasn’t so great, especially with littles in two. We left that day with about 2.5 lbs I think.

Our next trip up, with Megan and Tracey, went a lot better! As evidenced by this sucker the size of my thumbnail

Megan went back and got the girls their own buckets, thinking maybe they could “help.” Marion just transferred berries from my bucket to hers, sat down, and ate them. Some help.

Nom nom nom

Doesn’t get any fresher than that

Megan and Tracey

It’s hard to make forward progress when all your work is being eaten.

Our “helper” elves

One of the most toddler friendly things about blueberry bushes is that the ripe berries really just fall off into your hand. The not so ripe berries take work to get off the branches, so you don’t really have to worry about them eating too many unripe berries.

Showing Tracey how it’s done

Our much better almost five pound bounty from that trip.

Blueberry picking is exhausting!

And no pictures from our third trip out with Kelly and Leo. We were there to do some serious picking and came home with a little over five pounds.

So what do you do with almost twelve pounds of blueberries?

You help make delicious blueberry muffins

Nothing like a blueberry muffin with a side of blueberries

Make lots of blueberry jam

You eat blueberries with fresh homemade whipped cream

You also make a dozen blueberry mini pies, six personal blueberry crips and eat your weight in blueberries!

And after reading the website and seeing that they still have blueberries, I’m not ruling out a fourth trip this year!

 

May 26, 2010

Strawberry Fields Forever

Posted by katilh under Marion, cooking
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A little while ago, our ever so awesome playgroup got together for a little strawberry picking! As usual, we were running late and ran out of the door, forgetting both camera and sunscreen. Luckily, I had my phone, so there are pictures. And luckily, my friends are more prepared than I am and had sunscreen for us. So the photos aren’t the best, but I can assure you the fun we had was more than any photos could capture! :)

The biggest struggle of the day was convincing her to put the berries in the bucket and not in her mouth!

It was a little late in the season, but there were still some good berries around

And even though we filled up the bucket, she still wouldn’t let me carry it

Such a big helper!

Our bounty. And in case you didn’t believe she was a berry devouring monster, these lasted us less than a week.

All of the rest of the photos were taken with a super cool iPhone app called Hipstamatic. So yes, they’re supposed to look that way.

And now, my confession. As we were checking out, one of the workers came by with a flat of berries, marked $2.00. I asked the cashier if it was $2.00 for the whole flat and she said yes, they were close to being overripe and so they wanted to sell them before they spoil. Well the ripest berries make the best jam, so I jumped on it. I gave away as many as I kept and this is still what I was left with

Just in case you were wondering what EIGHT POUNDS of strawberries looks like! I think it took me close to three hours to wash and hull all of them.

And on the picking plans for the summer, blueberries and peaches at the end of June!

 

March 15, 2010

A Weekend’s Work

Posted by katilh under Josh, Marion, cooking
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One of the things I love about the weekend is how if the stars align properly and you plan just right and your child cooperates and the moon is in the seventh position about the orbit of venus … and well, you get the idea. If everything goes well essentially, you have time to focus on your favorite things. This weekend, some of those favorite things included food and family. Both Josh and I had time this weekend to spend some time cooking and lots of time as a family.

First up, my contributions. Josh went out for a bike ride and Miss Mar was feeling sicky (*another* ruptured ear drum, bah) so she was happy to ride around on my back while I tried out another new recipe.

Homemade Oatmeal Granola Bars. Yes oatmeal, see a pattern here?

That’s some serious amazing deliciousness. Both mama, dada and Marion approved! Modifications were that I ran out of honey, so only had 1/3 c instead of 2/3 c. So I went with 3 tbsp of honey instead of just 2. And added extra raisins since Marion loves them. The texture on these is amazingly perfect. They don’t crumble at all, which makes them a great snack for the car. They’re firm enough to hold their shape, but chewy enough that you can easily bite them. These are going to be a household staple from here on out for sure.

Josh also had time to play with his new birthday present

A new grill, yay!

And dinner, yum!

Thanks to the wonder of slow burning charcoal and a nice bike ride, he also had time to clean his bike.

Aided by Daddy’s little helper, of course.

Grease monkey is going to get you!

 

March 11, 2010

Cookies

Posted by katilh under Josh, Marion, cooking
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So, pregnancy is a funny thing, right?

A few mornings ago, I was making Marion her “moat-meal” in the morning (which I can finally stomach doing again, just barely) and I looked on the lid of the Quaker Oats tub. For the first time, I notice they had a recipe for well, oatmeal raisin cookies. I probably had seen it before, but never noticed it because I actually hate oatmeal raisin cookies. I mean, fruit in cookies? What’s the point? Unless it’s jam. Then it make sense, but other than that, there’s no point in having fruit in cookies.

Like I said though, pregnancy is a funny thing. And all of a sudden, Ginger decided mama wanted oatmeal raisin cookies.

One trip to the grocery store later …

I was ready to bake my few oatmeal raisin cookies. And thanks to my friends Megan and Chelsea for telling me you can easily put chocolate chips in them. Chocolate chips in cookies make so much more sense than fruit.

Oh. Yum.

Done just in time to have an after work backyard picnic with dada!

Marion’s first cookie!

Don’t worry, she got the raisin version, not the chocolate chip one! Those are for mama alone!

Recipe here, or on the lid of a tub of Quaker Oats oatmeal. Knock another item off my 100 in 2010 list too!

 

February 5, 2010

Pear Pancakes

Posted by katilh under Marion, cooking
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Nothing makes a sick girl feel better than pancakes for breakfast! (Even if I did have to make them myself!)

At least I had this super cute supervisor! She colored and ate pears while I cooked; I say we’re a pretty good team!

Yum, yum, and yummier. Recipe here. One small note, I’d pour the pancake batter in first, let it set up just a bit, then put the pear ring in the middle. Otherwise, the pear burns pretty quickly.

They were a pretty big hit :)

 

July 15, 2009

Put Your Hands Together My Friend

Posted by katilh under cooking
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Homemade yogurt

Homemade strawberry jam

yum.

bonus points if you know what show the blog title came from.

 

May 27, 2009

Weekends – Extended Visitor Edition

Posted by katilh under Marion, cooking, family, houston
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In addition to this being a holiday weekend (yay!) we had a very special visitor in town.

Grandma came down for a visit!

So of course, we took her to the zoo (and showed her how to wear the ring sling!)

Mar and I went into the fishie tunnel again

She was much more excited about it this time

(As a side note, Mar looks like such a big girl in this dress!)

Mom at first couldn’t believe these guys weren’t long horns

Then she did everything in power to try to convince them to come closer

She failed, but it’s never too early to teach your granddaughter to ignore those “please don’t climb the fence” signs! (And I had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with encouraging mom to see if she just couldn’t stretch out a little bit further …. )

Friday night Josh and I got to enjoy a date night by ourselves. We went to the gym and went swimming then hit up Little Bigs, so, so, so good.

We also got a special treat of a Saturday morning date. We went for a trail run over at Memorial (and despite letting me lead the run, we didn’t get lost) and had a brunch, starting what would end up being the first of three meals consisting of tacos, tacos, and more tacos.

Even though my PIM session is over with for the summer, I had so much fun getting out by myself once a week that I found a new hobby. Cake decorating! (Nice switch, right? From running to eating cake :) )

My friend Jennifer and I are taking the class together. We sit in the back row and get in loads of trouble, but eh, who expected something different? The class hasn’t exactly been what we thought it would be, so I’ve been looking for a way to practice on my own. Mom’s birthday was the perfect excuse.

Who cares that her birthday isn’t for another month …

One fantastic chocolate cake recipe, two pounds of powdered sugar, and two cups of crisco later ….

Even if it wasn’t pretty and perfect, it was still pretty yummy.

And yes, I threw every skill we’ve learned at this cake, so it is, in fact, supposed to look like a Level 1 class threw up all over it.

Before Mom left Sunday afternoon, we took her to one of our new favorite places to eat, Tacos-A-Go-Go, thus ending our three meals of tacos at the place it started.

It’s also Marion’s favorite place to eat, due to the fact the walls and ceiling and floors are all painted different colors and the crazy bright art work everywhere.

Considering she was wearing one of her eye-blindingly bright dresses, the following pictures should be enough to burn some retinas

She’s a true Texas girl and stole some of her Dada’s refried beans

They were a hit

Hates peaches, loves refried beans

Giving Grandma some kisses

Or just eating her face

She’s totally mesmerized by this joint

Then we were off, Mar got to ride in her new big girl car seat

And had to say goodbye to Grandma :(

 

May 13, 2009

POTM Update

Posted by katilh under cooking
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That would be Pie-Of-The-Month Update.

April’s pie was supposed to be an Cherry Almond Galette or some such thing. It was a complete and utter disaster. My husband and mother-in-law bravely ate it, but the majority of it ended up in the trash. I’m not sure why it was so horrid, perhaps the puff pastry (even though it was frozen and should have been simple to do) didn’t puff right (it was the flatest puff ever) and the cherry and filling didn’t have time to set (we ate it right out of the oven and not at room temperature) or just the stars weren’t aligned, but for whatever reason, it was awful. I’m not sure anything could have helped it. Lesson learned. And on to the next item.

Again, not strictly a pie, but even better than one in my opinion.

Let me introduce you to my friend, the Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake

Every crumb of you was simply delicious.

Josh was of no help in picking out a recipe this month, so I did something he wouldn’t like – ha! (Although I did wait until he was out of town to make it and made it for a much more appreciate meeting of our playgroup.)

It was so yummy and beautiful. Almost as beautiful as our new buffet it’s sitting on top of.

Recipe here

 

March 16, 2009

Weekends – Catching Up

Posted by katilh under Josh, Marion, cooking, running
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While we were trying to catch up on sleep (and failing) someone here had a birthday!

And it wasn’t Marion!

Happy 31st Birthday Josh!

And since this whole “pie of the month” thing was Josh’s idea, he got a pie instead of a cake for his birthday.

To be technical, it’s a tart, not a pie. Although I have no clue what the difference between the two is.

This is a Lemon Curd Tart and it was exceptionally delicious. From Martha’s Baking Handbook

The only change I made was instead of a meringue on top, I did just a simple whipped cream with no sugar added. The curd was sweet (I used Meyer lemons instead of regular and I think that might have made it more sweet than tart) and the unsweetness of the cream was the perfect balance.

I think he wished for sleep!

While night sleeping has been in short supply, we’ve gotten naps nailed down. Often with quite comical hair results :)

Her hair is just now getting long enough to stand up on end – which makes us laugh a lot, and leaves her rather confused.

We had the last of the “winter” weather this weekend, and so we enjoyed it as best as possible. Especially now that we got our storm cover for the P&T.

I’ve joined a running group training for a 5K called Power In Motion. They expect us to train five days a week (insert laughter here) and so we went for a family training run Saturday morning.

Followed by a visit to the zoo!

It was rainy, cold, and muddy, but we had a blast! Now if we could just get some sleep…

 

March 2, 2009

Weekends – YeeHaw on many accounts

Posted by katilh under Marion, cooking, family, houston
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We had quite a bit of excitement this weekend, so lets get right to it!

Papaw and Marme came to visit us again, along with Mamaw.

We went to the zoo, again. I’m telling you, this membership is the best thing we’ve bought.

Marion didn’t exactly want to cooperate for pictures

But we made her. Please note the next installment of white trash baby. No socks and shirt pulled up to her armpits.

Yeehaw! The second bit of excitement was the fact that the rodeo is in town!

Please, no comments that she looks totally natural in a cowboy hat. I’m still having a hard time adjusting to the fact she was actually born in Texas.

Unfortunately, Josh and I didn’t get into the rodeo spirit like Marion did. That, and Gymboree wasn’t selling cowboy hats in adult sizes. By the way, next year you can be sure she’ll have matching pink boots.

This is the best seat in town

As an aside, this child’s drool is getting out of control. Teething signs for two months now and still not a single hint of a tooth.

We might have to stop taking her when she’s older

How many parents heard “Daddy I want a pony” nonstop for the next 48 hours after seeing how cute they are?

He’s extremely excited about the parade

All the excitement clearly got to her.

I have to admit, I wanted to be one of these riders.

And I might have said “Husband, can I have a pony?” more than once.

Josh might have said “Wife, can I have a pony that comes with a sword?” after seeing this guy.

These guys looked like the Santa Claus Express

And I’d rather have Miss M asking for a pony rather than a Lone Star shirt.

And Yeehaw #3 will probably be posted about daily this week, as we’ve started solid foods! But more on that as the week goes on.

In POTM (that would be Pie Of The Month) news, this is what is left of February’s pie.

That’s right, nothing. Gone in one night.

Banana Cream Pie. This isnt’ the exact recipe I used, since the recipe I used came out of her Baking Handbook, but it’s close enough. (Also, if someone could explain to me how she can have ten different pie recipes for the exact same pie, I’d be grateful. Despite the fact that this calls for real custard (not instant pudding) it was surprisingly easy to make. Although, in true Martha fashion, it’s important to read all the way through the recipe before beginning so that you dont’ get to step five and realize it says “refrigerate overnight.” I outsmarted Martha this time and actually made a pie timeline! Of course, this means that it took me five days to make the pie, but whatever.

Next time I make it though, I’ll omit the sugar in the whipped cream as the bananas and custard were both plenty sweet on their own. And perhaps I’ll omit the pie crust and just have banana pudding.

 

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