february birthday celebrations

Fun birthday celebrations filled the early part of this month.  We celebrated my 30th birthday as a family with home-day together midweek.  

A cozy day at home with my loves is a favorite of mine.

 Erik, Meredith and Eliza Wren popped out before lunch to pick up supplies...and then decorated the dining room for our lunch celebration.

They made an amazing allergen-free cake for me.  Such yummy chocolate+coconut goodness!

one candle for each decade :)

Later in the week we had a collaborative birthday dinner with friends to celebrate both Mama's recent birthdays - Jane and Joanna. :)
Erik and Duncan put together a spectacular feast!

This exquisite salted chocolate tart was the highlight!
....and now my new favorite dessert.

And, we celebrated with a sweet, wee friend who turned 3 years old last week. :)

the big sisters of our group enjoyed keeping each other giggling most of the afternoon

Spring meal

Recently we jumped for a small outdoor table on craiglist for our back patio.  We are envisioning many spring/summer/autumn evenings spent here - hurrah!

Here are photos from our first outdoor dinner this year!

 Celtic sea salt is our new love.  Eat it with/in everything - you must. 

This girlie absolutely LOVES being outside.  YAY!

 And...she thinks the world of her big sister. :)

birthday 29

My birthday was this past week.  We celebrated as a family over the previous weekend because my actual birthday, Feb. 5th, was a very busy workday for Erik.  

We had a lovely dinner of Kale Potato soup (my favorite!), salad and sourdough bread.  

 Erik made an incredible cake for me - Cardamom Cake with Whole Pears.  It was out of this world!

Sunday morning I experimented with a porridge recipe I had been itching to try.  It was mixture of quinoa, buckwheat groats and amaranth grain - soaked and cooked in raw milk and served with blueberries, bananas and a drizzle of maple syrup.  It was very filling and hearty with a complex mix of flavors.

Day 1: Super-Storm Sandy

Well, we've survived day 1 of this crazy storm.  And, we are thankful to still have power!  

(thus, this blog post is possible) :)

Erik was off work so the day was filled with both play and projects.

He and Meredith built an impressive mansion for her little people.  

Erik finished old barn floor boards - soon to become our kitchen shelves!

A rousing game of "hallway bowling" occupied several of us before the dinner hour. :)

With the potential of power outage, I found myself inspired to do some baking and cooking today.

Kale Potato Soup and Rye Soda Bread 

Buttermilk cake with chocolate frosting :)

Cake!  What a treat! :)

Summer Eats

We've been overflowing with produce this past weekend and week.  This is what's been happening in our kitchen:

Peaches!  Jane picked up a bushel of peaches from our favorite farm, Ray's Greenhouse north of Philadelphia.  

This weekend we made: peach and blueberry cobbler, pickled peaches, peach salsa, peach smoothies, peach sauce for salmon, peach sorbet and we froze 5 quarts of peaches.

 Our tomatoes are coming in steadily and we've been making some tomato sauce as well as using them in a variety of ways for meals.

 Homemade quiche

 with raw milk, raw milk cheese, farm fresh eggs, homegrown kale and tomatoes!

Jane tried her hand at homemade butter this week with our raw milk cream.  

We enjoyed it throughout the weekend on scones and pancakes :)

This girl is a butter lover!

Summertime

Amidst a still full and busy summer schedule, we are finding time to relax and spend time with good friends.  Last week the Morris Arboretum had a day where members could bring guests for free!  So, we took the opportunity to introduce Isaac and Emily to this beautiful place and used it as another excuse (do we even need one?!) to spend an evening with them. :)

Our sweet little farm up north had fresh blueberries when I was last there, so I picked up 20 lbs and have been enjoying making all sorts of summer-y dishes with them.  I made blueberry pie and Erik tried a recipe for the crust that was gluten-free.  So delicious!

Meredith, as usual, loved the evening in the garden and ran about exclaiming about everything she saw!

Happy Birthday, Erik!

Erik turned 28 today!  We celebrated with homemade pizza, fun drinks, carrot cake and games with friends this evening. :)  Good, simple fun!

Erik with his cheerlite candles!

Weekend Festivities: Saturday

Many friends and family helped celebrate my birthday this year. Since Feb. 5th landed on a Sunday this year, the festivities were spread over the whole weekend - woot!

Saturday morning, Madeleine and I headed downtown to Sweet Freedom Bakery for some "chat and chew" (so southerners say). :) Sweet Freedom Bakery makes delicious goodies all with ingredients that are allergen free and organic - so, I could eat anything!! What a treat. :)

Madeleine and I showing Erik and MJ our purchases from Spool and Loop!

While Madeleine and I were downtown, Erik and MJ made a special birthday card for me. :)

And...Erik whipped up a scrumptious kale and potato gratin for lunch!

more photos to come with Sunday's festivities and the special cake. :)