Two Teef

Here we have photographic evidence of Theo's first crack at eating a cucumber slice, back when he had only two bottom teeth. Look carefully. (See them?)

 This is kind of how I get my jollies these days.

Dirt --> Food

This past spring we were pleasantly surprised to find out we'd been able to nab a plot in the community garden we used to live near. The days when we stepped outside our back door and into an urban farming paradise are over, but we can still have a plot over there and (sadly) drive there from the southeast side of our city instead.

A bystander

Our first harvest: a radish

Garden picnic, one of maybe four we had this summer

The plan was to have a family garden night where we would all meet there after Jono got off work, have a picnic supper and weed for awhile. That did happen a handful of times, but it was bloody hot this year, and for the most part Jono found himself running over there at dusk after the boys were in bed to keep up with the bumper tomato, pepper and squash harvest we received.

Jude picks the first carrots to come ripe

Some of the of grape tomatoes we planted (too many)

Theo polished these off single-handedly as baby food

We canned salsa together, and Jono outdid himself canning marinara sauce, tomato sauce and tomato juice to take care of the excess. I made two huge batches of curried squash soup (from that cookbook you gave me, Ant B!) and froze it in old apple sauce jars. We pawned veggies off on anyone who stopped by. In the end we successfully let almost nothing go to waste, and we feel pretty good about how it went.

Hot peppers for the salsa, mostly grown by Jono's dad and Jan

A cauldron of bubbling, spicy goodness

Grape tomatoes in the process of becoming tomato sauce

Curried Squash Soup

Maybe fewer tomatoes next year. And less squash. And only one cucumber plant, not four. And perhaps potatoes, more carrots, green beans and garlic. (I'll take this list off-line now.)

In case you're interested, here's the curried squash soup recipe I used, from my "Pumpkins and Squash" cookbook (by Kathleen Stang).

4T butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 to 2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 cans chicken broth (or one box)
4 cups sliced crookneck or other summer squash
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream for serving
1/4 cup toasted almonds or pistachios chopped for serving

Heat butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for ten minutes or until golden brown. Stir in garam masala and curry powder and cook one minute more. Stir in the broth, add the squash, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for ten minutes or until squash is tender. Transfer 1/3 of soup to blender and purée until smooth. Repeat twice with remaining soup. If necessary, reheat soup.

Serve hot with a dollop of plain yogurt and a sprinkle of nuts (or chives, to make it look fancy).

Yum.

picking blueberries

Well, the leaves are turning and I'm reminded that it's time to finish up some summer posting. I suck at blogging, seriously. If you've stuck around, bless your heart, and thank you :)

Since I fall short of logging all of the stuff we do, I've decided to only expect myself to post happenings that fall within these categories:

1. Amusing (to me) stories, usually involving the short and stout people who live here
2. Major (to us) events in our lives
3. Photos I can share quickly with only a few words
4. Traditions I'm starting that will hopefully weave themselves into the fabric of our family
5. Posts that give me an excuse to list things

The perfectionist in me can calm down about the fact that there is no way to log it all, nor is it a necessary part of life. As long as I take some photos and video now and then, and dust off this blog once in awhile, my family members will not resent me as adults for not documenting anything. There will be plenty to read and look at, let's not ruin the moments we're having by salivating over making sure they're forever captured.

Just a little self-pep talk there.

On to one of our new traditions: a little blueberry-picking expedition to Post Farms!

I don't think Jude could quite believe that there was an entire field of blueberries that no one was eating. He wasted no time.

Whose pail is whose?

Theo's usual mode of obsessively watching what Jude is doing.

Grass in the face. Thanks, bro.

They both have old man hats now. Jude actually wore the blue one Theo has on, but probably at eight weeks old rather than eight months (the child has a huge gourd).

One thing I recall happening as we left... Jude was walking ahead of me down a blueberry row to the car and suddenly yelled, "QUESADILLA!" (Kids.)

We plan to pick these every year, freeze them, and use them in our oatmeal and smoothies all year long. Nothing like freshly picked food, even if you're eating it frozen in January.