Oscar Stew

It’s been a busy and productive summer. In two days we officially welcome autumn. Sad, is an understatement. But we are looking forward to a change of pace; hoping things will slow down a little so we can enjoy being home a little more. The last few weeks have been spent in the kitchen. Painting, cooking, jamming, pureeing, preserving, pickling…sweating. And more…

We’ve been trying to cut down on our electricity bill…84 isn’t even the record. It was 87 in the house one day…that’s enough to make anyone go postal!

On hot days like that we leave the house and do something productive….hoping that somehow the house might be cooler when we return.

We knew our home garden wasn’t big enough to produce enough for our growing family, so we joined a community garden to satisfy our overwhelming desire for fresh food… 

No matter the location Brinley is all smiles while raking in the bounty from a hot summer’s work.

And when the food looks this good, who can resist smiling?

We also hit up farmer’s markets and prowled around for anything that could be mashed or pureed into a masterpiece for Eleanor.

Are carrots and green beans not what makes your heart pound?

Maybe we should get a scantily-clad supermodel to spice things up…still not working for ya?

Ole Moose Tooth found his own unique way to enjoy the fresh corn from the farmer’s market… Darn those missing teeth!

Mmmmm…those green beans are mighty tasty!! If her mouth was open any bigger daddy might fall in!

This whole solid foods thing is pretty sweet eh Ella-toot? That is in no way a reference to the happenings in her digestive tract…

We dropped the bigs off at school one morning and took the littles to the patch for some worry-free picking.

Ro-dog caught on quickly and only picked the juiciest berries.

By the time we hit the raspberry bushes it was an old hat for this little picker.

You can’t. You just can’t walk through the Berry Patch without giving in to the temptation to taste at least one. Or 12. Or…

Nothing beats Berry Patch berries. We made plenty of ice cream, jam, and even enjoyed them in our salad…

 

Grandma & Grandpa J visited a few weeks ago. We paused our painting projects and enjoyed having them with us for a few days.

I begged my mom to come out and teach me the (lost) art of bottling fresh produce.  Thanks Ellie for sanitizing those jar lids for us! Who needs a dishwasher! Num num!

 

Welcome to the Canning Show. The younger audience members made sure to fill their popcorn bowls before taking their seats.

The ingredients are coming together now. These pickles are going to be gooooood!…in 6-8 weeks.

I can still smell the fresh dill on my hands. I’m dying to crack open a bottle…

Canning was a bit of a challenge with 7 kids underfoot. And that’s not counting pesky husbands. Hey Rowan you got a little dill stuck in your teeth…uh, hold up!!  Are you really using the cleaning toothbrush?!

Well, I guess we wouldn’t want to discourage her from learning how to brush her own teeth, but her friend Kyrie doesn’t seem too impressed… At least we only use that toothbrush for cleaning grout.

Behold: Yummy! But don’t touch that remote! We haven’t even gotten to the fruit yet!

 

Ok, short commercial break. This 3 hour period of undisturbed canning has been brought to you by Moen faucets and Great Value ice cream sandwiches…

Seems everybody is working up an appetite. We had to delegate some tasks to other capable members of the cast. Notice also that the crazy blue wall is gone. Now it’s the crazy green wall which is Nuclear Granny Smith in the late afternoon/evening. At any other time of the day it’s a tame-ish creamy apple green.

Remember when you got this excited about applesauce?

Or oatmeal?

Canning 2010 has been a colorful and tasty success! Thanks to Grandma J and Staci for all of your help & support.

Time to get cleaned up and get moving on the next project. Hey Rowan, you still look like a table surfer!

Because of the busy-ness in the kitchen, meal time has gotten a little…uh…interesting. We’ve been picnicking on the floor or in the yard a few times a week. At least the kids think it’s great.

Eleanor and I have been working on this quilt for months. We make a pretty good team. I sew, she makes sure the fabric tastes just right.

Imagine that any hobby you choose to pursue, that your children would pursue it also. Drew’s working on his “quilt sandwich” so he can quilt and bind.

 

Brinley got tired of taking alien and rocket ship napkins in her school lunch and decided to take matters into her own hands. And if there were to be a dispute over the ownership of these napkins (yeah right!), Binnie made sure that she would win.

Now it’s quiet, the kids are in bed, and I can whip out the sharp tools and get down to business.

The most important project is still in the works. Eleanor is ready to size up to mediums, so that means game on! Developing my own pattern is the mission…

 

The learning curve is steep here. Way to master the pincer grasp Ella-munch!

Ok, now you’re just showing off. We already know how well you can blow that horn.

Speaking of showing off, Brinley The Scholar’s first homework assignment was creating a scrapbook page that explained all about her. Nice writing Binnie!

What better way to cap off Household Engineering Month than taking a ride in Dinosaur Grandpa & Grandma’s RV? (dinosaur because they found dinosaur tracks, not because they are prehistoric in age) Brinley certainly didn’t think it was very exciting…

Maybe it was the RV that was exciting. Maybe it was that they were taking us out to Chick-Fil-A. Maybe it was being close to family we hadn’t seen in a while. Maybe it was all of the above…

Maybe it was the candy! Well, Eleanor is the only one not smiling! Thanks Dino-Grandpa & Grandma! You guys are tops!