Our Pig

meet our pig. he's the black one with the pink feet.

last sunday my grandpa asked us if we wanted a pig. we said yes.
we haven't come to a consensus on the name, so i don't know what to tell you. i, for one, like pig.

i'd just rather not turn him into too much of a pet. i'm thinking that won't be too difficult, since he will be staying at my grandpa's.

Spinach, Anyone?

We had our first harvest from the garden last Tuesday. SPINACH.

I made Lasagna Roll-ups. I learned how to make these while in college. I lived with some girls that wanted to share food and cook with everyone instead of cooking our own food for ourselves. It was fun, and I got to try a bunch of new things!

Aryn loved, LOVED them. Isaac picked out the filling. (He is one picky kid.) Zoe sort of ate them. Gene and I both enjoy them.

Lasagna Roll-ups

Cheese Filling:

2 cups ricotta cheese

freshly chopped spinach (or 10 oz. frozen spinach)

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Additionally:

12 uncooked lasagna noodles

1 jar spaghetti sauce

grated mozzarella cheese for topping

1. pour 1/2 of the spaghetti sauce into a 13x9x2 baking dish.

2. cook noodles as directed on package

3. mix the cheese filling ingredients. drain noodles.

4. spread 3 Tbs. of cheese filling down the length of 1 noodle. roll up. repeat for each noodle.

5. place rolls in baking dish. cover with remaining spaghetti sauce. top with mozzarella cheese.

6. cover with tin foil and bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Sweetmeats Squash

This past Thanksgiving, Gene's mom had a different kind of squash for dinner. She said it was a Sweetmeats squash. It tasted so good. And so sweet. The color was unbelievable. So bright. She had an extra one, and gave it to our family to take home.

It was so unusual looking to me. I couldn't get over the blue/green/gray color. I sat it out on a shelf by the back door. It sat there until Christmas. It was easy to cook, and tasted just as wonderful as it had at Thanksgiving.

I saved some of the seeds, hoping that it was an heirloom squash. (Heirloom, meaning the squash would grow true to the parent plant. Rather than hybrid, meaning it might not). A little while ago I checked out a book called Heirloom Vegetables by Benjamin Watson from the library hoping to find the squash within it's pages. It wasn't. I looked up the name Sweetmeats Squash online, and found it. (Scroll down the page a little here for a picture and find more seeds here.) EUREKA! Heirloom, open-pollinated.

I planted the seeds in small pots a week or so ago. And they've decided to grow! I gave some seeds to my grandpa (and to some of you) just to be on the safe side. I'll be replanting them into the South garden sometime soon. Now we just get to wait and see...

Dans le Jardin

The north garden is now mostly planted. There are four squares left to plant.

We've been busy the last few days planting all sorts of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. We've also needed to replant some turnip, leek, beet, and spinach seeds. (Our Littlest seems to think that the garden boxes are his personal playground. This is rather frustrating, but more importantly, I feel our family needs this gardening/learning experience.)

Last time I wrote about the garden, I mentioned that the leeks had sprouted. I was wrong! It was actually these lovely little plants. I forgot where I had planted things, I've since remedied that mistake by writing it down on the garden map. When the leaves started to show, I realized it was actually the spinach!

A few creatures have come to visit the garden. Most recently the ladybug. The lizard runs back and forth between the garden boxes in the north garden and the pomegranate bush. One time he ran himself into a plastic bag of soil. When we dumped him out onto the tarp he got buried in the soil. I started panicking a little bit because I didn't want him to suffocate! Luckily we found him.

One more little anecdote...

Yesterday when Zoe, Ashy, and I went back to the nursery, we saw my grandpa there. He was getting some more tomato plants for his garden. I told him a few varieties we were trying. One in particular caught his attention. The Wilford Tomato. I told him I got it because on the tag it said it was a local variety developed in Kanab. He then proceeded to tell me that it was his dad's brother, Wilford Heaton, who developed it. Pretty cool, eh? Ahh, the things we're learning...

Bread Wednesday

Wednesday was our bread making day. The only thing I regret about the whole thing is that my house never gets that "bread baking in the oven" smell. Or feel. Because I believe that there is a definite feeling that comes with making bread. It's one of those things that turns a house into a home. And creates memories...

Anyway, here is the recipe. I'm going off memory. I don't know if it makes any difference, but my grandma and I use a BOSCH bread mixer.

Grandma's Bread Recipe

2 Tablespoons salt

2 Tablespoons dry milk

2 Tablespoons SAF instant yeast

2 Tablespoons dough enhancer

2 Tablespoons gluten

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup honey10-16 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (we use 16 cups)

6 cups warm water

Put in the 6 cups of warm water. Add in the honey and oil (this will cool the water). Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (salt, dry milk, yeast, enhancer, gluten). Then add these to the water. Add in 6 cups of flour. Mix this together using the M setting. Once everything is mixed, turn the knob to the 1 setting. Begin adding flour until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Then set a timer for 10 minutes, this will knead the dough. Put some oil onto a flat surface and your hands. Remove the dough and separate it into 6 balls. Form into loaves, and place in pans. Cover. Let the dough rise to double in size. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the pans to let cool. Brush butter over the tops. Makes 6 loaves.

Two Little Red Hens

First you grind the wheat into flour.

Then you mix in these other ingredients and some water.

Voila! Bread.

It's just that easy.

Oh yeah. And I got some good stories to go along with the bread. (I probably learned some things I never would have known had I not made bread with my grandma today. One of the most important things: Grandma does NOT gossip. And she does NOT lie.)

Creamy-Cheesy Potato Soup

Gene and I love this soup. Most the time our kids do too. This time when I made it, luckily they liked it. Zoe said,"It's DE-LISH." I started making this soup the first year we were married. So it's a family recipe. It was from a vegetarian cookbook I borrowed from the teacher I did my student teaching with. I've altered and adapted the recipe, so now it's mine. This is what I use those parsnips for...

The Guess-ipe:

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 onion, chopped

A few shakes of dill seasoning

1-2 parsnips, peeled and chopped

2-3 carrots, peeled and chooped (danvers half long from the garden, you'll need more of the baby carrots)

7 potatoes, peeled and cubed

5 cups water

2 vegetable boullion cubes

1 1/2 cups milk

4 oz. cream cheese

1 cup grated cheese

1. Saute the onion in the butter. Add the parsnips and carrots. Cook for a few minutes.

2. Add the potatoes. Stir everything around.

3. Add the water and dill seasoning. Bring to a boil. Cover with a lid. Turn down the heat so it simmers until all the vegetables are soft.

4. Add half the milk and half the cream cheese to a blender. Add half the vegetable mixture to the blender. Blend.

5. Switch and blend the other half of vegetable mixture, milk, and cream cheese.

6. Combine everything together back in the pot. Stir in the grated cheese until it melts completely.

7. Serve and enjoy.


It's kind of time consuming, but well worth it. We usually eat our soup with ZESTA soda crackers.

Chickens, Chickens

So. My grandma and grandpa are visiting family in Texas for Christmas.

Can you guess what we've been doing?



















Man. This makes me want to live on a farm. Small and easy to manage, of course. Oh, yes. And I did get that pitchfork for Christmas!

Pumpkin Spiced and Iced Cookies

On Tuesday I made these cookies for our preschool Thanksgiving Feast. Yum. YUMMY.

The other week ago, when my neighbor, Aleisha, made them for us, I ate all of them myself. I didn't share with anyone. That's why my kids call me the COOKIE MONSTER. (And I have the shirt to prove it!)

I found the recipe here. Eat up!

I have to admit that I messed up on the directions. I mixed the butter and sugar in with the flour mixture before I was supposed to. Happily, everything turned out. Also, I melted already made frosting for the drizzle instead of making it.

Pumpkin Spiced and Iced Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped walnuts
VANILLA GLAZE (recipe below)

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease baking sheets. COMBINE flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle or spread with Vanilla Glaze. FOR VANILLA GLAZE: COMBINE 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well.

Great idea Kendra!

Analice can this count as my recipe?

Apple Pie Filling

We got these apples a week ago when we went up north. I've been wanting to make apple pie filling. We finally got started. I was worried we wouldn't have any apples left. EVERYONE in this family loves to eat apples!
This kids and I played Apple Pie Making Factory. We each had our own job:

1. Aryn peeled the apples.
2. Isaac ate the peelings.
3. I cut the apples into slices.
4. Zoe put the apples in the bowl. She helped herself to a few as well.
5. Asher sat on the floor and made a mess. He also ate apple pieces.

We had a lot of fun together.

Later, I cooked and bottled the apples. This is how they turned out. We won't know if it worked until we make our first pie. It sure made the house SMELL delicious!

(Since this was the first time I've made this, I don't know how it will taste. The sugar melts, creating the liquid. Also, I will be more aware of the steam when adding the water. I may try a different order to things.)

Here's the recipe. I got it from my cousin Matthew's wife, Patti.

Apple Pie Filling

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup cornstarch

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

10 cups water

3 Tblsp. lemon juice

3 tsp. dehydrated lemon peel

10 lbs. apples

Mix all dry ingredients. Cook at medium temperature until it thickens and bubbles. Add the rest of the ingredients and apples. Heat through. Pack into jars, leaving 1 inch at the top. Process for 20 minutes. Makes 7 quarts.

MMMmmm... Homemade Bread

Who loves homemade bread, raise their hand?

Over the summer, I started making bread with my maternal grandma. I figured that since I had been gathering wheat for food storage, I'd better get my children used to eating whole wheat bread.

My grandma and I have had some wonderful experiences and conversations as a result. We continue to make and bake bread together about every two weeks on Wednesdays. Today was one of those Wednesdays!

I love that we've strengthened and deepened our relationship. I hope that for everyone: better, stronger, deeper relationships.

Pomegranates or Grenadines

This is just one more reason why I love October. Pomegranates.

Even as a little girl, I was mesmerized by the jewel fruits. The color, the shape, the taste.

Two or three years ago, my Grandpa Heaton gave me two starts from his pomegranate tree. They looked like plain old sticks. We planted both of them, and I watered them vigilantly. One died, one lived. This year we had a fair amount of pomegranates.

Zoe helping to juice the fruit. It takes a lot of pomegranates to make a small amount of juice. Time consuming, but so worth it. Some of the juice we're taking to Grammy Blair's when we go for a visit in a few weeks.