The Simple Life

The Little Man thinks that anything involving trucks, tractors or airplanes is strictly for his entertainment purpose.  He can spot an airplane miles away, and if we see a firetruck with it's lights on, that makes for a double bonus. I am beginning to think this is a little boy phase.

When Scott asked me to help him while he put out fertilizer on a few hay patches, I knew the Little Man wouldn't object.  We don't let him ride on the tractor, but he loves to watch it go back and forth.  Pickles is not so easily entertained, and usually bellyaches about every moment that she is hot! Pickles finally got to ride with her Daddy, so the Little Man and I had to entertain ourselves.

I guess part of the fun of being a farm kid is to see what else you can get into.  I can remember trying to keep myself entertained while Mom was taking lunch to the field during harvest.  For the Little Man, the hay bales stacked at the edge of the field provided about 20 minutes of non-stop entertainment.  Luckily I stuck my camera in my purse..



We have a stick and are on a mission...



Me, "What are you doing?" Little Man,"Nothing Mama."



Something must be in the hay...




Contemplating his next move...




And we're off.  He kept saying, "Catch me!"




Finally still enough to play with the grass...




He was ready to go... even if he had to walk!




Is that Daddy's tractor I hear... OK, I'm back.




Finally, it's my turn.  He thinks he is too cool for school!



What happens when you take your shoes off in the hay field?  Ants!  I counted 12 on this little piggy.  Thank goodness we purchased stock in Cortaid!

I learned a very important lesson in the hayfield.  It is not about the colorful blocks and endless playground equipment that keep a child's attention. It is more about learning and exploring the world around them.  The Little Man had a blast, and didn't really make a fuss about the ants until it was bed time!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

And the Winner Is...

I wanted to give away a starter canning set by Ball, and thought those who read my blog would love to try their hand at preserving their own food.  Much to my surprise, I only had one who commented. I guess everyone already is canning away.  I read today that another friend is making peach preserves.  Yummy!

So, Cheryl is you want the prize, I will be glad to send it to you.  I just need your current address.  You can message me where you would like me to send it to.

I tried mine out, and it was great.  It is a jar rack and lifter in one along with 3 jars.

I have a ton of canning projects in the works, including watermelon rind pickles.  I can't wait to share this with you as it is completely different than any pickle you have tasted!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

Conquering my Fear

This year, one of my New Years Resolutions was to make sure my family was eating as healthy as possible.  You know, fresh fruits and vegetables that are as local as they can be, limiting preservatives and trying to make sure that we eat meals instead of snacking all day.

This has been a much harder task than I first imagined.  I tried to solve the local produce issue.  I grew lettuce in my backyard, and have a small garden, but aside from the obvious, there are no local bananas and that is the only fruit the Little Man will eat... stinker!

Not sure if you can tell, but he is rotten...all the way to the core!

As for the eating less processed foods and fewer preservatives, that has been a little tricky too.  It seems everything you buy is processed in one way or another!  I am more aware of the things I buy and what we are eating.  Pickles has adapted well, but we did have to find hot dogs with no nitrates or preservatives.  Not that nitrates are a bad thing, they are usually derived from plant material, but it makes me feel like I am doing a little better on the Mommy part.  I think deep down, there is nothing really wrong with a plain hot dog, but the marketing behind the no nitrates or preservatives definitely hit on my Mommy guilt.

The beauty of limiting the amount of processed foods is that your palate becomes accustomed to fresh fruits and vegetables.  Pickles is adventurous.  She is willing to try things and push the limits, but it has to be on her terms.  I have found that we have had to be more adventurous with food.  It has helped to bring her into the kitchen and let her help.  Within the last week, I learned that a five-year-old is plenty capable of using a sharp knife to help with meal prep.  I have an eight-year-old I won't let use a sharp knife.  That has now changed.  Much to my chagrin, she is very careful and eager to help!  She cut cucumbers for pickles like she was an old pro!



Pickles and Makenzie with their cucumber sandwich creations...Who would have thought a strawberry on top would be anything but color. They loved the flavor combination because it was all their own!

 The last few weeks, we have eaten green beans at every meal.  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with green beans, but it is time for a new vegetable!  So, I pulled out my little canning book, and green beans have to be pressure canned because of their natural inclination to harbor botulism.  I don't see what is wrong with an extra dose of Botox, but I guess it can wreak havoc on your internal organs.  Anyway, one of my favorite kitchen tools is my pressure cooker.  I have an electric one that is like a crock pot on steroids.  It is the best thing I have ever splurged on!  It will make a pot roast fall-apart tender in 45 minutes! 

Anyway, back to my story, I have a real fear of putting glass in a pressure cooker to can anything!  There is something about shards of glass flying through the house that have me a little on edge.  I am not really scared of the pressure cooker itself, just when the jars are added.

I must say, that fear has now been conquered!  Yesterday I put up two pints of green beans!  They were so easy, Pickles could have mastered this one by herself.  Let me share this with you just for giggles. All you do is wash the whole beans, snap the ends.  Place the beans in clean jars and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Boil some water on the stove and fill the jars with water.  Place the lid on and put in the pressure cooker with the canning plate in the bottom.  Add water to 2 to 3 inches and put the lid on.  I set the timer on mine and off to the pool we went.  We we got home, they were all cool, and I opened the lid to find...

two perfect pints of green beans!  No glass shards here. 

If you would like to try your hand at canning anything, I have a contest running on my blog.  All you have to do is tell me what you would like to can.  Maybe it is grape jelly made from juice out of the freezer...that is the simplest homemade ever! 

I actually purchased one of the canning kits for myself, and made fig preserves with it.  It worked beautifully and any stockpot will now become a canning pot. What this means to me is that I don't have to go outside on the grill to boil the giant pot of water!

Now, if I could only conquer this mess that I call a house.

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

In Honor of Summer

Summer is in full swing.  If you don't believe me, just go outside and see for yourself. Here in Mississippi, not only is it hot, but it is humid.  I can walk to my garden in the back yard without breaking a sweat!

With summer, comes a bounty of fresh fruits and veggies.  I love my having fresh veggies right out of my garden, but this year, we have had to visit the farmer's market as well.  I have told you about canning a variety of things.  I started out the year with plum jam, and have also made muscadine jelly and a batch of sweet pickles.  Since we are drowning in cucumbers, I guess I better get busy making more pickles. Last year, we had oodles of jalapeno peppers, so I have jars and jars of peppers from last year as well as pepper jelly.  The possibilities with home canning are endless, and are only contained by your imagination.

I thought I was a bit old fashioned canning my own vegetables until I picked up this months Bon Appetit magazine.  There is an entire article about friends who gather with one simple mission.  Making preserves and putting up fresh vegetables. I really thought canning was a dying art, but it too has become vogue.

In honor of summer and so that I can be on the edge of hip, I am giving away a Home Canning Discovery Kit made by Ball. It has everything you need to try your hand at canning.  I will be giving this away to one lucky reader on Friday.  To enter the drawing, all you need to do is reply in the comment section as to why you would like to try canning, or if you are a pro, why you would like this neat little contraption that makes any stockpot a canning pot. To increase your chances to win, suggest my blog to all your friends and if they comment and tell me that you sent them, you both might win. I am excited to try this product myself since I have a stock pot I can use on my stove and don't have to go outside with the big mama canning pot!

I can't wait to hear your responses.  This is my first contest, and I am so excited to share this with you!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

A Little Twist on Cucumber Salad

It's official.  We are drowning in cucumbers!  Anyone want some, I have plenty to share!  I love cucumbers, and am so excited when they finally come in. About two weeks later, I am sick and tired of cucumbers.  When my sweet niece Makenzie was here, I think I burned her out on cucumbers and green beans.  Maybe a week back home has helped that.

Today, I asked Pickles if she wanted some, and she said only if they are like the ones at the Japanese restaurant.  I love those too, so I decided to try my hand at a spicy cucumber.  They are almost like those at our favorite little dive, so I am going to share the recipe with you.  If you too are bored with just plain cucumbers, this will definitely shake things up a little.

I added a little extra Siracha to heat things up...

Spicy Japanese Cucumbers

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

3 drops sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Siracha chili sauce or more to taste
2 to 3 cucumbers, sliced in half, and then sliced into 1/4 inch slices

Combine all ingredients except cucumbers in a medium bowl.  Stir to combine.  Add cucumber and mix until all are coated.  Chill for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

My Little Kitchen Garden

I have shared with you my little kitchen garden in it's early stages of life.  I love my vegetable garden, and if you have never tried your hand, you should.  It is not that hard, and the uber fresh veggies make it worth all the effort.

Here are a few of my plants that actually have fruit!  Actually, the tomatoes are loaded, if they would ever ripen! 

A little San Marzano tomato.  I started all of our tomatoes from seed, and they have done well for the most part. Hopefully the squirrels will leave it alone until it is fully ripe.  Notice the plant is laying sideways...that's what happens when you are a careless gardener and let you plants get out of the cages :(.

The first of our jalapeno peppers...I started these from seeds, and I really feel like a proud gardener!  Anyone want a popper with a steak for dinner!

This is a white cucumber that the seed company sent a complimentary packet of seed for. It is an heirloom from the 1800's.  It started off really slow, but when it decided it was time for cucumbers, it has been super prolific!  

English cucumbers are my favorite!  I promise I eat these all day long!

My lone yellow squash plant.  The others were taken over by stink bugs and died suddenly.  This plant has teetered on the verge of sick, but decided I really wanted some squash.  I love the beautiful squash flowers!

And this my friends is my herb garden.  I didn't get everything started I wanted to, but as long as I have basil, I will live.  This is right outside my kitchen door, and I really do go and pick things as I need them.  This year I planted a few flowers too, because Scott thinks my herbs look trashy!

To me, the hardest part is the initial till, and planing.  After that, it is a little weeding her and a little weeding there, plus time to water.  I like to keep things as organic as possible, but that is not always the case.  I do resort to spraying when the pest start to taking over.  Here in Mississippi, fungus is a big problem, so I keep fungicide on my plants to keep them from withering away. I am no plant expert, but I can promise you that if I can do this, so can you!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

More Than Just Preserves

Eight years ago, we made the move to Mississippi. I didn't realize that things would be so different, but I soon learned that our small Mississippi town is much different than the city we were living in only 45 miles away.  Not only is our little town quaint and quiet, it also has the charm the old South is known for.

It is amazing, but I now feel like Como is home.  It is after all, where I have lived the longest since I left my Mom and moved to college.  That being said, Oklahoma will always be where my roots are firmly planted.  Everyday that I read about the drought in Oklahoma, my heart breaks for all of my friends and family who are faced with the reality of no rain.  Sure, we have all lived through dry spells, but nothing like the drought of 2011. I continue to pray for rain for the entire region, and know that our prayers will be answered.

OK, back to my original story. When we moved into our house in Mississippi, I learned that we had a giant fig tree in our back yard.  I don't know that I had ever seen a fig tree, much less tasted a fresh fig. I think that the closest thing to a fig I had tasted was a Fig Newton, and I love them.  My neighbor was gracious enough to tell me about strawberry fig preserves, and I thought they were wonderful. Every year I have made a few batches of preserves, but never anything else.

Our figs are just now ready to pick.  Last night I tried one during our final night of VBS, and it was much better than I thought.  It was sweet, and reminded me of a soft peach.  I am not in love with them, but I now appreciate the tree that is attracting birds and bees to my backyard.

This morning, I picked up a bunch of figs off of the ground and thought I should make something creative.I am really not in the mood to put up more preserves, but I am not too sure what I was thinking.  I ended up with homemade fig cookies.  Much to my surprise, they are much better than the store bought variety, and if you are lucky enough to have fresh figs at your disposal, I would try your had at these delicate little cookies.

Fig Cookies

Filling

2 1/2 to 3 cups fresh figs, chopped
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Combine figs and sugar.  Allow to stand about 15 minutes and macerate.  Add lemon zest and cook over medium heat until thick.  My batch took about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Cookie

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add egg and vanilla.  Mix well. Add flour, salt and baking powder and continue mixing until well combined.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll cookie into a 12 x 16 inch square. Cut into four 4x12 strips.  Remove from surface and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Fill with fig filling and fold over to cover filling.  If possible, roll so that the seam side is down.  Mine were too thin, and I baked them seam side up.

Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until light golden brown.  Allow to cool, and slice with a sharp knife. 

Enjoy!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

Vacation Bible School...Even for the Young at Heart

This week is Vacation Bible School at our church. Every year, it seems like such a daunting task, and then in the end, it is so much fun and everyone has such a great time you are ready to do it again!  This year is no exception. 

We started off our week in crafts painting birdhouses, and I must say , I think the adult group had as much pleasure with their works of art as the children.  Last night, we played with modeling clay, and channeled our inner sculptor to make either beads for a necklace, or a figurine that reminded you of our journey. Once again, the adults had a great time with the experience.

The fun of VBS is that everyone has the same mission, coupled with high energy music, and a fun environment to learn about the Bible.  What more could you want.  Today, Pickles said she wants to do nothing except go to VBS!  I guess we know she is having a great time! 

I share this with you just in case you might be asked to help with the VBS committee at your church. Better yet, don't wait to be asked, volunteer and offer your support.  Whether you are 3 or 93, I am sure you will enjoy the experience again and again. It does seem like a huge commitment, but the children are grateful for your gift.  We have a great group of volunteers this year, and I am encouraged that even a small church with a tiny children's group we have made VBS a fun, learning experience with memories for a lifetime!

I have to confess, I even jumped rope and jumped in without falling on my face!  I was proud, but Pickles was in shock her Mommy could do that!  I don't think I have tried to jump rope since elementary school!

Lucy...concentrating on her masterpiece!

Everyone had fun painting!

Outside for fun and games...

Mary and Eunice...great actresses!!!

Our pastor...who is now referred to as Brother T!

Celebrating God's love!



Pickles sharing her groups God sightings...



Jumping rope is so much fun!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

An Empty Nest...

For the last few weeks, we have had a few extras in my home.  It started off with a wonderful visit with my sister and her children, and then she forgot one, so she stayed a few extra weeks.  OK, just kidding, she planned to stay with me as long as humanly possible.  We enjoyed every minute of having Makenzie as a part of our family.

She was such a big help with my Little Man, and I have missed her since she has been gone.  She is 13, and not that she is an adult, but she was interested in helping cook, or playing with Pickles and the Little Man.  I guess  a change of pace is good for everyone.  We had some great and memorable moments.  I must say, we made a ton of memories, but here are a few of the highlights...

We miss you Makenzie!  Can't wait for next summer and to see what type of adventure we share!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

Singing in the Rain

After dinner this evening, we were greeted with a pleasant visitor.  Rain.  You know, the little drops that fall from the sky.  It has been a while, and when the pavement is scorching, it is so nice of you to stop by!

The girls were out on the front porch enjoying their ice cream with the cooler temperature, when they asked if they could play in the rain. I said no, and came back in the house to finish cleaning up the kitchen.  Scott had other ideas and said that they need to be kids, so go have fun. The next thing I see is a wet streak of a girl run past the kitchen window.  They had a blast, and I am so glad Scott didn't rob them of a fun evening like I tried to do!

 Makenzie taking a break from the rain...Pickles...singing and dancing with the raindrops.

Pickles loves to play in the rain!

Soaked from head to toe...

Ready for another round of wet fun!

Makenzie loved playing in the rain as much as Pickles.  I think it has been a while since they have experienced the phenomenon of rain!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

Little Boys...What a Joy!

I am sure one day I will look back and exclaim what joy I have received from my little boy.  I know I will, and maybe even chuckle.  Today, is one of those days which challenges me to no end!  See anything wrong with this picture?

Not sure if you can tell, but that is Little Man's dry diaper in his chair.  His pajama pants and sippy cup are on the floor next to his tractor. 

So what does this have to do with anything?  Let me set this up for you a little farther.  I am on the phone, and he says, "Mommy, I pee pee!"  He was so proud of himself, and yes, you guessed it, right through the baby gate, on the floor!  We have only recently started trying to talk about the potty, but I guess it is time to start training.

Yesterday, he pulled another exhibitionist stunt, and he had opened the trunk we use for a coffee table.  He was standing naked inside the trunk, and had just relieved himself on the contents.  He was so proud that he went "pee pee!"  I have been trying to get him to try and use the potty, but we have yet to have our first success.  Thankfully, it just had blankets in there that could be washed.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  I cleaned up the mess, and by the time I told my sister about it last night, I could laugh.  I must say that even as challenging as little boys are, they are definitely worth all the messes!

I can't imagine my life without such a fun loving and mischievous little man. 

After he was all cleaned up, this is what I found!

What a blessing from above!  Even in all his mischievousness, I love this Little Man with all that is in me!

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the messes of life!

Sarah