It's back!!!

Me at the top of the Rocky Mountains!

Well, It's really about time to restart the blog. We've been really busy this summer with all our eco travels, but we still have the backyard funny farm. The chickens have gone from single, lonely Henrietta to a coop full of six, the B girls: Bunny, Basket (both of whom are Easter Eggers, laying beautiful pastel colored eggs). Bumble, Bee (both of whom are Americunas, laying blue green eggs) Blush (a very smart and super friendly red x-linked, laying brown eggs) and Buffy the Bug Slayer (a buff orpington. laying brown speckled eggs). The future farmers raised the chicks from a week old, and they are all super tame. We love them all (Except for when they spot a rummaging raccoon at 5 am and begin to squack at the top of their little birdie lungs!)

The Future Farmers at Snake River Canyon, Idaho

The backyard farm patch is bigger than ever this year, probably due to the extremely warm weather we've had. Today, I harvested a 20 pound pumpkin! And it's only August! We've also already had corn, lots of other squashes, and bean. The kitchen table has it annual bounty of tomatoes, currently amounting to seven bowls worth, and this seems to be the year of the prolific cucumbers. We've had 43 English cucumbers so far, and 17 lemon ones. Ah, I love cuke sarnies!

The Future Farmers and myself at Cliff Palace, 

Mesa Verde, Colorado.

How high up the cliff we were standing!!!

More tomorrow! Until then, keep on farming!

Happy Beginning of July

The sun has finally reached the Pacific Northwest, and it decided to stick around for awhile. We're loving it; even when we grumble that the house is too warm in the evening! So what have we been up to?

Gardening of course! Berry season is in full swing. Almost all of our different berry bushes are producing. We have an abundance of raspberries, boysenberries, marionberries, blueberries, strawberries, and even a few jostaberries and black currants. The blackberries will be along in a few weeks. We're also seeing our first green beans of the season, and yesterday, I harvested 3 yellow teardrop tomatoes!

What is this patient girl waiting for? Dinner of course! We've been favoring simple dinners in the heat. This one is a ginormous garden salad with coastal shrimp added and a rounds of garlic bread from our favorite local bakery.

What's going on here? The raspberry bush in engulfing farmer Julie Ann. Help!

Where did she go? Oh, no! The raspberries have exacted their revenge! Even the dog looks worried.

This week Ari had to go to Shelton, WA for a training. I went along too, and while she was training, I found a cool bookstore and an enormous bead warehouse to explore. Now, I have the yearning to remake some of my old jewelry. Crafting is cool! (Even on a very hot day like it was) After the train, we continued west all the way to the Pacific Ocean! It was gorgeous on the beach, even the water was warm (very rare here!) We had a lovely lunch and walk amongst the surf before heading the Prius back home.

We celebrated the holiday with a backyard bar-be-que and lots of fun decorations. We also went to see the new Lone Ranger movie. We liked its humor.

 The Independence Day BBQ: Ribs rubbed with dry rub, slow grilled, and slathered in BBQ sauce,

 Corn on the cob with butter and garden oregano, homemade potato salad, organic watermelon, and

Anni's favorite - red, white, & blue cupcakes, full of garden berries. We hope you all had a great 4th of July!

February Update

 Well, it's February, and we're having lots of fun as always. Here's Anni showing her unique fashion sense with goggles and a tea cozy hat. The rest of the family thinks she get this from me. Hmm, perhaps they have a point. I did go dancing in a cupid costume this week, complete with wings, toga, bow and arrows.

We had almost a week of lovely weather after our snow went away. We all headed out for hikes along our local trails. Some of even got a freckle or two. Then winter came back.

 We continue to get our CSA farm boxes. Here are two latest with lots of lovely organic fruits and veggies (and fungi). Today we had a homey day. I made a big pot of chicken veggie soup and 16 lingonberry whole wheat sandwich rolls for lunches next week. Then, Anni helped bake rainbow cupcakes for tonight's dessert while I made broccoli beef, rice, and a garden salad with oranges and toasted almonds. It was delish!

We hope you all had a very happy Valentines Day. We celebrated all week. After all, love need more than a single day of celebration. We had chocolates, costumes, roses, a special family dinner, cards, and last night, David went out to listen to music. I danced, he watched (and shook his head, and maybe even laughed).

In other news, Ari sent off her first story to an Anthology of horror stories. Keep your fingers crossed for her. Alex has started his second semester at the high school IB program. He's taking the advanced art class for his elective. I love his tree drawings. Anni is beginning to think about what she want to plant in her green house. David is taking a class in art and power tools. He's going to make a yoga bench for Anni. I'm having lots of fun getting ready for my upcoming writing retreat. I've also been thinking about my garden for the upcoming growing season. I can hardly wait to go dig in the dirt!

Happy Holidays!

 The cookie jars are overflowing. We made cookies from Thanksgiving to Christmas; lots to share and lots for us too!

 We made an ancient Celtic feast for the Winter Solstice; spiced meat dumplings, wassail, broiled mushrooms, roasted veggies, and steamed plum pudding. It was delish!

 Here is our annual December 22nd Nana's B-day tea. It's one of our favorite holiday feasts. The kids love the sausage rolls, mincemeat pies, and scones. On the 23rd, we have Russian pancake supper, and on the 24th, we all gather in the kitchen to make loads of tamales.

 What is Alex eagerly awaiting?

 Why are Ari's eyes so large?

 Anni has the answer. Christmas dinner has arrived, roasted brussel sprouts on the stem, caramelized with maple syrup.

 Yorkshire puddings to go along with the roast beast (beef, this year).

 Oven roasted potatoes and gravy.

 And for dessert, a French Buche de Noel, complete with marzipan holly and meringue mushrooms. It was a lovely dinner.

Here's our tree this year, a beautiful all natural Douglas Fir, very round! Every time, Anni and Barkley passed they sent ornaments flying!

We hope all of you had a beautiful and peaceful holiday season, full of togetherness and joy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving. This is the turkey we encountered at the Bonair Winery last year. We liked him so much we had to post the photo again!

 Thanksgiving has been a busy time down at the Funny Farm. It's our favorite time of year. We celebrated the turning of the leaves....

 And the arrival of our first garden box from Full Circle CSA. Our back garden patch is pretty much done for the season. We still have a few root veggies and some herbs going, but this time of year is given over to slugs and mold. Our box this week contained Yukon gold potatoes, leeks, Braeburn apples, garnet yams, D'anjou pears, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, pomegranates, Cremini mushrooms, Cut greens braising mix, and Lacinato kale

 This year our thanksgiving recipes came from a wonderful spread in this November's Real Simple magazine. The menu included cider-glazed turkey, bourbon gravy, sausage and apple stuffing, scalloped potatoes with smoked apple cheese, sauteed Brussels sprouts with poppy seeds, brown sugar-glazed carrots with rosemary and toasted pecans, fig and cranberry compote, caramelized onion rolls, and sweet potato pie with candied nut cream.

 I cooked for three solid days! We made everything from scratch except the sparkling cider and wine from our favorite family vintners. It was fantastically delicious!

 We are thankful for so much: beautiful fall days, a warm home, our big wacky circle of family and friends, all our entertaining critters, and time to spend with each other.

And one final image of the biggest turkey of them all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's Harry!

 Anni decided she was going as Harry Potter for Halloween this year. Check out the school jumper, tie, and scar!

 She really liked the talking wand!

And that's a pouch of Berttie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans hanging from her belt. This wizardess is all set to conjure up some mischief!

Halloween or Samhain is our favorite yearly festival. We've done lots of dressing up, decoration, and cooking up of treats, and a few tricks as well. Ari's been a pirate and Medusa. I've been the Morrigan, a dark fairy, and a fine young cannibal. We've visitied friends for a Dracula movie night complete with our annual veggie stew baked in a pumpkin, and danced our feet off at our favorite celtic pub. We also celebrated some of the fun Latin traditions for the Day of the dead. Anni and I dressed up as calaveras, and we had delicious Mexican food. Time to hit the gym!

 The last of this year's tomato harvest. Amazing! We were still harvesting tomatoes in November!

 Rainy day farmer, Julie Ann, after a soaking wet trip out to the veggies. Anyone got a towel?

 The daily take; lots of carrots, tomatillos, herbs, and a few greens.

The cleaned up treasures.

We been making lots of preserves with our harvest bounty. Anni and I made four quarts of apple butter last week with the remains of her apple picking adventures. I've been making up vats of spaghetti sauce to use up our enormous tomato crop, and tomorrow, I'm embarking on a tomatillo salsa extravaganza! Now, what to do with several hundred carrots, hmm???

Pineapple Street

Today's dinner is brought to you by the letter P for Pineapple fruit. Why the pineapple? Because they're in season (from Hawaii), and we had a very ripe one sitting on the kitchen counter, just begging to be used.

So, every dish we had for dinner used, you guessed it, fresh pineapple. Hmm, how to plan the menu. I know Hawaiian sliders (mini burgers) with fresh green pepper, onion, and pineapple worked into the patty, served up with tropical breeze rice (rice with coconut and pineapple), and veggie kabobs (featuring fresh peppers, onion, zucchini, and pineapple). Now what did we have for dessert? You guessed it! A truly decadent pineapple upside-down cake. Absolutely delish! And we used the whole pineapple!

We said a sad goodbye to Waltzing Maltilda this weekend. She danced her last dance on Saturday after a brief illness. She is buried under the pine tree next to Dusty Cat. Speaking of germy things, Anni and I have both been battling wicked lack-of-spring colds. Pass the kleenex. And a heaping dose of sunny!

The rainy season is just refusing to let up here in the Seattle area. My warm weather plants (tomatoes, cukes, squashes, pumpkins, peppers, eggplants) are growing like crazy in the greenhouse, but it's too cold and wet to set them out in the garden. Meanwhile down in the garden, the rhubarb, peas, spinach, and strawberries are loving life.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Ari had a work training which I needed to take her to; so I caught a movie and had sushi with my friend Lisa. The future farmers came through with flowers (my whole house smells like roses and lilies), chocolates, and a venti coffee as soon as my eyes pried themselves opened in the morning.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 Everyone!

I spent New Year's Eve out with friends. We had appetizers and drinks at Spazzo's and then went to see Carmina Burana preformed by the Seattle Corale Society. It was awesome! Afterwards, it was home for our annual crab cakes and champagne toast at midnight to welcome in the new year.

We said a sad goodbye to one of our pets this week. Dusty cat died. She'd been sick for a while and passed to the great mouse hunting ground quietly during the night. Alchemy never left her side. We buried her in the back garden under the evergreens.
New Year's Day is the annual polar bear dip in Kirkland. Here are the brave souls rushing to the water's edge. The air temp was 28 degrees F. Most of the brave souls stayed in the water for exactly 1 second. The entire event was over in 4 minutes.

Our weather has been frosty and very cold. We've had tracings of snow and lots of ice, but bright clear days with awesome sunsets.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to one and all! We began our with homemade pancakes, bacon and real maple syrup. Then, it was time to open gifts around the tree. Anni loved her talking globe. Alex is excited about his Lord of the Rings computer game. Ari is jazzed by her new collection of reading material. David like his new red sweater, and my fav is the psychedelic orange socks (thanks Lisa!). We had lots of cozy warm gifts this year. Perfect!

Our Christmas dinner was baked ham with herbal glaze, spuds with sour cream and chives, broccolini, and champagne or sparkling apple cider. Dessert was Dundee cake with custard. Delish. After dinner, we went for a ride around our town to see all the Christmas lights. Wow! Some folks had serious wattage!

Yesterday, we had a quiet Christmas Eve. We made red (tomato sauce ) and green (pesto) pizzas for dinner with German pepper cookies and mincemeat pies for dessert.

On Thursday, we celebrated Feliz Navidad by making lots and lots of tamales; spicy red pork, mild green chili chicken, and vegetarian with corn, black beans, and orange squash. We had lots of sauces to complement and served them all up with guac, chips, and a pan of oven chili rellenos. Yum!

What's this smiley girl been up to?

Art Attack! Here's Anni's bulletin board.

Bah Humcat! I think I'll sleep through all this fuss. Jingle away dog!

Happy Nana's Day

Anni proving that kids love the packaging the most! We all stayed up for the solstice lunar eclipse on Monday/Tuesday. It was cool to see a red moon!

Barkley all dressed up in his holiday bandanna.

We traveled to Northeastern Europe for our Yuletide dinner this year. We had parsnip and sweet potato pancakes with chive sour cream, cheese, potato, and onion peroshkis, ham roll-ups, lingonberry brown bread, and gingerbread cookies. Yum!

The CSA farm box arrived today. this one featured baby spinach, carrots, broccolini, avocados, apples, oranges, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, parsnips, bokchoy, tangelos, potatoes, and a pomegranate.

Every December 22nd, we hold our annual Nana's Tea in honor of my British grandmother. This year we invited our friend Lisa over to share in the grand chaos of making lots of goodies. We made sausage rolls, curried egg sandwiches, watercress and tomato sandwiches, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, a vegetable herb cracker spread, a prawn green onion spread, a British cheese plate, jam tarts, current scones, butter biscuits dipped in bittersweet chocolate, and a Dundee cake, all served up with a big Brown Betty full of tea and a toast of champagne. It was fun. (Anni ate her weight in sausage rolls!)