Wheeler Farm

Yesterday, Elanor and I went with some friends of ours to Wheeler Farm. It is a historic working farm, but it is a state park----and---it is free! We were able to walk around the farm at our leisure and look at farm animals, which all the little ones loved. It was a much different experience than the time we went to their spendy pumpkin patch thing last year (at Wheeler Farm as well). We won't be going back for the pumpkins, but we did love looking at all the animals and getting some fresh air!

Chasing geese and ducks

Eli, Micah, Grey and Elanor looking at the rabbits.

In the Kitchen: Second Breakfast

I feel like I have been going almost non-stop since Friday and anytime I have sat down to relax for a minute I have not felt like blogging. So, I am extra sorry about not having an "In the Kitchen" for this past weekend, so today will have to do.

The table, nothing fancy, just good food.

Is anyone else as into Tolkein's books (aka The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) as I am? I love, love, love them. The movies are mostly pretty wonderful as well. Anyways, it was the 75th anniversary of The Hobbit last Friday and some group or other was putting on this second breakfast thing (since hobbits love food...as do I) on the internet. Basically, they wanted everyone around the world to celebrate The Hobbit by having  a second breakfast. They even provided a beautiful, free, printable bunting, along with other things. Luckily, our new upstairs neighbors (well, Becky, that is) is just as into Tolkein as I am! So, we had her and her twins over for a little second breakfast. We had a lot of fun and it went as well as any little party can with three toddlers, not quite enough chairs, and a bowl of sugar cubes.

 

Three little hobbits.

I made Caraway Seed Cake (sorry, Mom, I did not make yours, mostly because I went to one store for the stuff and they did not have imitation brandy, but did have caraway seeds, and I did not feel like making another trip).  I love Caraway Seed Cake! It has a very distinctive flavor, and is sweet, but not really in the cake way. It is more like a sweet bread, is great with tea (we had licorice spice) and is very British. I made a recipe that bakes it in a loaf pan (many recipes bake it in a cake pan), because there were only two of us (and three little hobbits). I also made Mushrooms with Bacon and Sage, which when I think of hobbit food, I think of the food Farmer Cotton serves the four hobbits. Anyone following? Anyways he serves some sort of bacon and mushroom dish and I wanted to make that. It was delicious. I could eat a whole bowl of it. Yum.

The seed cake,  not the best picture, but I had little ones keeping me busy...

Recipe for seed cake here.

Recipe for mushroom and bacon dish here.

Becky also made some delicious strawberry jam scones, which I don't have the recipe for, but my mom's recipe for scones is here.

The Hobbit bunting--beautiful! In between each letter is a painting from the story (i.e. Hobbiton, Rivendell, Misty Mountains, eagles, and Smaug).

 We had a fun time and good food. Anyone want to do a bigger version of this for "The Hobbit"movie coming out December 14? I know I do.

I Want Fall.

The trees are turning colors up in the mountains but down in the Salt Lake Valley it is still decidedly summer. Yes, the mornings and evening are chillier and it does only reach the 80s (versus the 90s or 100s) midday, but I still want fall. I want sweaters, hot chocolate, tights, hats, leaves, scarves, pumpkins, and boots. I know it is still September and fall will be here soon, but I suppose I just want it to happen a tad bit faster. I am not saying it needs to be cold, just a little chilly (cold enough for a sweater). 

Fall turning into winter (as in Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas time) is my favorite time of the year. I love the food, the clothes, the weather, everything. 

However, since it is not quite fall yet we have still been playing in the sand box a ton.

 With these two cuties:

Micah and Grey

It is awesome that our new upstairs neighbors have kids! It is great that Elanor has some playmates on an almost daily basis. She loves and needs to be around kids to learn about sharing and space, etc.

They were being so silly here. Grey was putting his foot on Elanor and everyone seemed to think it was hilarious! 

Pushing Micah around in the wagon thing. 

No one is smiling here and it is a bit blurry, but it is still a cute picture! 

 Summer, you have been fun----but please move over and let fall in.

In the Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am always trying new chocolate chip cookie recipes. If I see one that is claiming to be the best, then I have to try it. I saw this recipe on pinterest and it led me to the to the blog Not Without Salt. So, no this is not my recipe and no I am not going to type up the whole recipe on here since you can just go straight to her blog to get it.

 Get the recipe here.

 These are delicious cookies, which is why I bothered to share them, even if they are not my creation. I still need to try the NY Times chocolate chip cookie which is all over pinterest and claims to be the best. So, whenever I make that cookie I will post it and let you know what I think.

These cookies are nice and chewy. They are bit salty (in a good way), with a pleasant crunchiness to them (which comes form the turbinado sugar). This really is a very good cookie-----but you have to use quality chocolate!!!! No cheapo, waxy chocolate chips should be used here (or ever). If you want to save a little money use the Ghiradelli 60% cacao baking chips or the Whole Foods Dark Chocolate Chunks. They are each about $3.99 a bag, but you can find them on sale sometimes. I used the Whole Foods ones since I had them on hand and they are very good. However, if you have the means, get the good stuff (a Valrhona bar or something similar) and chop it up. It will be delicious.

Elanor approves, so I am sure you will!

Happy Baking!

Thoughts: childhood obesity, working parents, etc.

A few months ago my aunt ordered me the Parents magazine, which I have quite enjoyed. The past two issues have had articles on childhood obesity. The articles highlight families and children who are obese and what they are doing now to help their kids. It also mentions some reasons the children got like this in the first place. However, there is one reason they did not bring up and I think it deserves to be talked about and considered. It is: working parents---as in both parents work. I think this is a legitimate thing to talk about when talking about childhood obesity. Why? Well, I'll tell you. 

If both parents work and get home around 5 or 6 (dinner time), then they are both often exhausted from work and might not feel like making dinner. [I know Tyler does not feel like making dinner when he gets home and I know I do not on the one night a week I teach ballet.] However, everyone is hungry and needs to eat.  So, going out to eat or ordering take-out becomes quite common in families with two working parents. In the article, it did mention that eating out or unhealthy quick fix dinners were a big problem in these families, but failed to mention why these families were eating out all the time the first place (FYI-all the families highlighted had both parents working). I am suggesting that working parents could be a key problem to childhood obesity. I am not saying it is a terrible thing to have both parents working, I just think this problem should be discussed more openly. I think you can eat healthy with both working parents but it is more difficult. Also, there are plenty of stay-at-home moms who do not feed their families healthy food---but it is easier to eat healthy if one parent has the time to make a home cooked meal every night.  I know some people who have the dad at home and it works for them. I prefer to be at home. 

Whatever the case and whatever you might believe,  I do think it is better both for the health of the child and the child's overall well-being to have a parent at home. I personally see nothing degrading about being a stay-at-home mom. What other job could possibly be more fulfilling and difficult? As a stay-at-home mom I have full control over everything Elanor eats, plays with, reads, watches, etc. Plus, I get to spend time with her, learn about her interests, talk with her and I think a super important one: discipline her. Working parents do not have this luxury and the raising of their children is tended to by nannies, day-cares and schools (except on the weekends). Again, I really don't care if you work or want to---I simply think that this is not talked about enough and should be a considered  as one of the reasons why there are so many overweight children and also more children with problems that are being "fixed" with pills (depression, ADD/ADHD, anxiety, etc.).

What are your thoughts on this? 

 I am curious what others think, so I would love to hear some comments!

In the Kitchen: Meat and Potato Pie

I love pie. Fruit pies, cream pies, meat pies---all delicious.  I really, really love savory pies. They are the perfect comfort food. Filling, tasty, warm, and so homey. 

So, today I have a recipe for a meat and potato pie from my handy dandy Harry Potter cookbook. I promise it is easy to make (some meat pies can be a bit more laborious). If you have never made or even tasted a meat pie, this is a great beginner recipe.

Summer Fun

Ready,

 Set,

 Go!

Did I mention Elanor loves water and is not scared of it in the least? She dives, literally dives, into this little kiddie pool and scares away other little children with her exuberant and wild behavior. She even scares me a bit, since the pool is so shallow. She loves "diving" and will do it over and over and each time saying (and also wants me to say), "Ready, set, go!".

Here are a few more great shots:

 Elanor with her friend Eli:

They were talking about how the water was dirty (grass, sand, etc.).

Eli, Elanor and Grey
(I think...he is one of the twins and I can't tell them apart quite yet, sorry...)

Oh, and guess what?! We have new neighbors upstairs! They are a super awesome couple with adorable twin boys, who are only a few months younger than Elanor. It has been super fun to play with them! They seem like the sort of people we would be friends with, so we are excited.

Oh, and I promise there will be a recipe up this week! I have not been feeling too well lately (mostly due to my anemia), but I am filling my body up with iron rich foods, so I have been feeling a lot better--thus there will be more posts.