Seeds: Saving and Soaking

This year I planted some flower seeds that were saved from my grandma's garden and some rattlesnake bean seeds I saved from my garden. This is what they look like now...

I also tried soaking all of my seeds in water for 24 hours before planting them (a tip I read about here) and I really think it helped them germinate and grow faster. Will definitely do this again next year (and will try saving even more seeds from my garden).

High Crown Muffins

{muffins with chopped apples and cinnamon}

King Arthur Flour has a recipe for basic muffins that I'm experimenting with (I really like my recipe for banana and pumpkin muffins, but was looking for a basic recipe where I could use things like berries, apples, peaches, etc.).

There's a tip in the KAF recipe for getting high crowns on your muffins like you see in bakeries. You start with your oven at 500°F and then drop the temperature to 400°F as soon as you put the muffin batter in the oven. It works!

Dairy-free Cream of Broccoli Soup

I made this recipe over the weekend and we liked it. It uses a potato to thicken the soup instead of a roux made with butter, flour, and milk (like another recipe I have) so it's dairy-free. I saved half of the broccoli florets, steamed them separately, and added them into the pureed soup because I like chunks of broccoli in there. Because of that, next time I will probably add more potato (I used a Yukon Gold) or less water or both for a thicker soup. It was good with toasted onion bagels.

Freezing Raspberries and Home Food Preservation

{image from raspberry lovers}

This morning we picked a bunch of our raspberries and I wanted to freeze some since they won't last long fresh. I was going to freeze them just like I froze the strawberries last year but I wondered if that was best...so I decided to Google it and found a cool resource, the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Never knew there was such a thing.

There's a ton of info on the site for freezing, drying, canning, etc. Just glancing around I found some things that sound interesting like Cranberry Marmalade, Pumpkin Leather, Sweet Cherry Topping, and even info on how to freeze avocados.

Oh, and on the question I had about freezing raspberries I found out it will work just fine to wash, drain, freeze on cookie sheets, and transfer to freezer containers.

The Cutest Homemade Vanilla Extract

I've been wanting to make my own vanilla extract for a while and the other day I decided to look for a "recipe" and found the Coco&Me blog and the cutest ever bottles of homemade vanilla extract...clear glass bottles with lettering and designs made with a white paint pen which stands out against the dark vanilla. I am totally going to have to copy cat this.

After seeing these bottles I had to look through the rest of the Coco&Me blog and found it is written by Tamami, a mom of two who sells handmade chocolate, cakes, and tarts at a London market on Saturdays. OK, I can tell by her blog that she works hard, but how cool of a job is that? And the best part is she generously shares her recipes for things like Lemon Drizzle Cake with Lemon Icing, Crème Patissière, Pâte Sucrée, Luxury Brownies, and Ganache Truffles. So nice!

Here are a few more photos to drool over...

A Yummy Life Photography

My friend Jodi just launched a new web site for her Salt Lake City photography business, A Yummy Life. She specializes in candid portraits of children and I love her style. Here are some of my recent favorites...


She also offers Polaroids with any of her packages which is so cool. I love the colors in this one...

Birthday Treasure Box

I have 24 nieces and nephews, can you believe that? Shopping for individual and thoughtful birthday gifts could be really time consuming, so this year I decided to fill a wooden "treasure box" with inexpensive small gifts and treats and let the younger kids (up to about age 10 or 11) choose five things out of the box for their birthday. The older kids get gift cards they can use to buy something they'd like or put towards a bigger item. So far the kids seem to really enjoy this so maybe it will become a tradition.

Here are some of the things I have in the box, have had in the box, or think would be fun to put in the box:

$1 coins * small notebooks * unique pens and pencils
hair barrettes and clips * candy and gum * bubbles
matchbox cars * foreign coins * stickers
mini puzzles * fingernail polish * disposable cameras
$2 bills * art supplies * magnets
lipgloss * sidewalk chalk * yo-yos
cool rocks and shells * small travel games or cards
costume jewelry * glow sticks * small flashlights
post-it notes * bookmarks * garden seeds
pencil toppers * patterned or colored shoelaces
magic towels (the ones you soak in water to expand)
Pez machines * shark teeth * small books
pocket mirrors * finger puppets * rubber stamps
fun band-aids * Japanese erasers * silly putty

I would love to add more handmade items (I need to search Etsy to see if I can find items around this price range). If you have ideas to add, please comment!

Strawberry Agua Fresca

{image from Sunset Magazine}

Last night we made Strawberry Agua Fresca using this recipe. It's like all-natural Kool-Aid. I used four cups of strawberries instead of five and I added a little more of the water into the blender so it pureed easier. We also just squirted a wedge of lime into each glass instead of adding the lime juice. Here's the updated recipe:

Strawberry Agua Fresca

• 4 cups hulled, rinsed strawberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Lime wedges
  

In a blender, whirl strawberries, sugar, and 2 cups water until very smooth. Press blended strawberry mixture through a fine strainer into a pitcher. Add an additional 6 cups water, and more sugar to taste. Serve over ice with a lime wedge.

I'm going to try this same basic recipe with other fruits.

Found a Heart Today

Today I was on the floor playing with my baby and I looked up and saw a heart in the wood grain of an antique chair I've had for years. I never noticed it before...isn't it cool?

Self Portraits

Here is a shot of my baby and me. Even though it is blurry and our heads are cut off, it was my favorite one of the bunch that I took that day. I love how he's sticking out his tongue and you can see his little arm in motion trying to get the camera.

Small Notebook had a post a few months ago that inspired me to try taking self portraits more often. Read it for some great tips.

Wire Heart Bookmarks

Last week I made some hearts out of copper wire to use as bookmarks (inspired by these Martha Stewart paper clip charms I've been wanting to make for years). I just followed these directions:

• Cut a 5" length of 20 gauge wire (I used copper from the hardware store)
• Bend in the middle at a 90 degree angle
• Grip each end of the wire with round nose pliers and roll towards the center to form a heart
  

I rough hammered mine and aged them with a torch, then packaged them up to give to some friends.

Healthier Graham Cracker Crust (and a recipe for Chocolate Coconut Bars)

{image from Martha Stewart}

I love Chocolate Coconut Bars (also called Magic Bars or Hello Dollies), but the recipe I use calls for 1 1/2 sticks of butter in the crust. I looked around for a healthier graham cracker crust and found this recipe from the Iowa State Food Science and Human Nutrition department which uses a little oil and honey instead of butter. It has a different flavor than the butter version but it's still yummy and it's actually more chewy which I like.

A Little Bit Healthier Chocolate Coconut Bars
(Okay, I know the rest of the bars have chocolate, coconut, and sweetened condensed milk which doesn't make them healthy by any means, but cutting out all the butter is a little improvement...)

3 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Pulse the graham cracker crumbs, honey, and oil in a food processor until well mixed. Sprinkle in the bottom of a 13 x 9" pan coated with cooking spray and press together with the bottom of a glass cup. Top with chocolate chips and coconut and then drizzle the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top (keep it away from the sides to make the removal from the pan easier). Bake about 20 minutes and let cool completely before cutting.