perks of a peanut

...he can still bath happily in the sink (and wash a few dishes while he's at it)

And the livin's easy

It never fails. Summer starts and I hear that quintessential sublime riff...summer time....Goosebumps people it gives me goosebumps....or maybe just commenced the beads of sweat rolling off my brow in my non air conditioned car. For a moment I forget the haze of humidity, crank the radio (sorry kids) and take a big deep breath of summer. Cliche? Most certainly. We were luck enough to welcome summer with my parents at the beach. There is something so special about Charlestown and the summer time.... Horns on rt 1 blare, the locals curse the tourists, the smell of the pine forest just before I arrive at my parents, clam fritters and of course that salty air and water...yes... this will always be home.

last weekend

frogs

toads

these two...

anticipation

...floating away

happiness

more and more and more....

...hot air balloons

that all needed a proper farewell

silliness

cousins

love

We were lucky enough to host family last weekend and crammed in a whole bunch of goodness.   We went to the Quechee hot air balloon festival, strolled through Hanover, took walks, caught frogs, caught up and spent a very happy Father's Day with our daddy and my brother-in-law (two very fine dad's if i may say so!).  So thankful for family and friends. 

And today...off to Rhode Island to enjoy some beach time and sea food...oh yeah and get my kiddos!  

preschool celebration day

Last Friday was Isabelle's official last day of preschool...we celebrated with some of her other preschool buddies and enjoyed a little cookout and field games put on by her preschool.  Isabelle participated in all the field games with mama by her side...mainly because there was a big bag of plastic goodies that they could get after completing each of the games....nothing a little plastic can't inspire i suppose...(sigh)

there was a bounce house...
owen was in heaven...

3-legged race

the wheel barrel!

wondering why they took down the bounce house (deflated on ground behind him)

isabelle after she received her preschool certificate

so proud!

 

my favorite {vegan} burger

Now, as you all know...I am most certainly nothing close to vegan or vegetarian.  Mind you I have had my moments, but I do really and truly enjoy farm raised animal products.  Anyways...that is not the point of this post!  I wanted to share my new favorite vegan burger (which I suppose was turned vegetarian when I plopped a fried egg on top...see picture below).  I love veggie burgers of all kind...especially lentil burgers....but alas, these are now ranking #1.  They hold together beautifully (don't have egg to bother baby brother) and taste fantastic.... The recipe is modified from HERE....i just simplified it a bit.

sweet potato-black bean-tempeh burger.
Served on a toasted bun & topped with lettuce, veganaise (i prefer the grapeseed one), ketchup, avocado and a fried (runny) egg!

Okay now that I have you all drooling add the following to your next shopping list:

• 1 large sweet potato (cut/peel/cut into 1-2 inch pieces)
• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 package tempeh (cut into a few pieces)

from the pantry you should have (if not...pick it up!)

• a couple shakes of soy sauce or tamari
• a big squirt ketchup
• 1 cup oats (you can add more if your final consistency of burger seems a bit too wet)
• garlic (i like a lot...3 or 4 minced tablespoons)
• salt & pepper to taste
• other seasonings optional...do what you want!  I simply put in a bit of chili powder & cumin.

Okay now that you have everything.  Steam the sweet potato and tempeh at the same time....they are done when the sweet potato is fork ready (the tempeh doesn't necessarily need to be steamed but i think it takes a bit of the bitterness away).  Separate the tempeh and let it cool a bit.  Combine potatoes and 1/2 black beans in your food processor (or blender...or heck a hand masher will work too!) and process them...chunks are fine!  Pour the processed yumminess into a big bowl and crumble the now cooled tempeh in.  Add the rest of the ingredients (including the rest of those black beans), mix thoroughly and then pop them in the fridge to cool (a cool veggie burger will hold together better...but if you are in a rush skip this step!)

Once burgers are cooled turn your oven onto 350, I like to form my burgers in a biscuit cutter (choose a biscuit cutter about the same size as your bread of choice).  Press a good handful into the biscuit cutter and voila....a perfect looking veggie burger.  Add a little olive oil to your favorite hot cast iron skillet...brown on both sides and then slide them onto a baking sheet and into the oven for 10 minutes (or until the rest of your burgers are done).  The kids also like it when I roll up little balls of these guys and they call them veggie nuggets (sure ...okay...sounds good...as long as they end up in their mouths).  Oh...and these freeze well - form burgers and then put on a little square of wax paper.  Put the burgers in the freezer on a baking sheet for an hour or so until they harden.  Then stack them and put them in a freezer safe container (the pre freeze on the baking sheet ensures they won't all stick together and you can pull out one at a time)...when you have a hankering for a burger just thaw and follow the browning and oven finish as described above.

seriously folks...try it out...you will never buy veggie burgers again!

a soggy farm tour

Yes our little farm, while she may be soggy, is full of life these days.  Unfortunately this does include life that is not so welcome...like those rats and flea & cucumber beetles...at least we have a bug guy in our clan to deter them!  Lettuce is growing fast and is oh so tender (those first few salads are always my favorite), beans, carrots, beets and radishes are sprouting, tomatoes are thriving...yes this is a good time in the garden.  In a very short amount of time it will be busting at the seems and paths we thought would be wide enough will all but dissappear.  We do love this garden and those that tend it.  Speaking of which, the extra garden spot we gained (when Indie the horse moved) is now shared garden space with our neighbors.  We have planted in this rich soil rows upon rows of corn for the pigs (coming soon!), potatoes, pumpkins, celery, onions, squash and watermelons.  More hands for weeding and eating are always welcome!  The meat chickens have entered their not so cute, adolescent pullet, state.  Barred rock is on top of the pecking order with the laying hens (we lost our rhody red a few weeks ago...she just croaked...it was quite sad).  And we seem to have someone controlling our rat population (beware the photo below if you don't want to see a big dead rat!)

the main garden (where we planted last year)

a boy always seizing a see-saw opportunity

meat chickens

the man behind the garden

barred rock...still on top of her game...even while she molts

the dead rat (aaron thinks sid got it....if so i am very impressed he is finally earning his keep!)

rows and rows of corn

a shot of some of the new garden space
-and all the green weed filled area (we think skull cap?!) is where those three little piggies will reside!

oh we have lots of garden help!

yes this is a good time of year for a soggy farm.

oh owen!

someone found himself in the bathtub after getting a fresh set of pajamas on...

not so sure about this move...

still contemplating...

why yes... of course jumping in the bathtub with fresh jammies on was a perfect idea!

celebrations!

Sunday we had our first "real-life" kids birthday party (until now our celebrations have been fairly low key...).  We were blessed with sunny skies, a big lawn, a frog pond chock full of tadpoles and wonderful bunch of friends to celebrate Isabelle turning 5!

there were mama made decorations

a table full of healthy & yummy snacks

frog pond antics

swallowtails blissfully hopping through the air (and being caught by daddy)

this yummy cake
cake recipe & watercolor frosting technique

this face (cake approval)

and after it was all said and done these folks came with a 6 pack of beer and entertained our kids
(my what good friends we have!)

All in all it was an awesome fun-filled day!  Instead of gifts we asked all the kiddos to bring a book for a book swap at the end (idea compliments my lovely long lost friend Rebekka Taylor) and we decided to forego any planned activity as it just isn't exactly Isabelle's "thing".  It all unfolded quite well, I do believe, and parents were able to scoop up their beloveds and strap them in for the car ride home just in time for the sugar crash and burn came into full effect (phew!).

Thanks so much everyone!

a sneak peak

at a girl jammin out on the guitar for the first time...

Mama and her iphone extended sneakily so that a little young lady couldn't see.

Before this was shady grove, followed by twinkle twinkle little star....quite the first set list.

colorado recap

It's true....for the first time, in a very long time, Aaron and I got away for a few days.  First, I can not express how thankful I am that my parents were willing and able to take Isabelle & Owen.  A recently weaned young man can be slightly difficult at times and Isabelle can be pretty overwhelming herself - it was no easy task friends....my parents are rockstars.  As for Aaron and I, we had a great time...enjoyed high altitude, mountain views, watched friends share their love in a beautiful mountain side wedding, drank a little too much, stayed up way past our 9:30 bedtime and got into a little trouble here and there (the good kind of trouble i suppose).  It was all very refreshing and by the end of it we were both ready to be back, with our kids, and to never want to have a hangover again (or at least for many many months).

Nina and more...

So...a lot has happened in the past few days...and hopefully I will be able to catch up at some point in the near future.  Aaron and I traveled solo to Colorado for a beautiful wedding in the mountains, the kids tired out their grandparents (who are miraculously still willing to take them in a few short weeks) and last but not least my dear lady turned 5.  That's right folks, Isabelle is 5-years-old.  And while I have plenty of pictures and stories for now this is all I have...enjoy!

Nina Totenburg (from NPR), me (after too many drinks) & the lovely Arden
*we are patting Nina's beaver jacket...(get it?)