Anew.

{A fresh breath has blown in. So let's clean it out!}

I take the new school year as an opportunity to re-tune. We took a long vacation over the summer, driving from California to Tennessee. Traveling slowly, experiencing people and places, gave me time to really pay attention to life.

I was able to see the beauty in what is sometimes mundane. To me, anyway. I love to eat, and don't mind cooking but the chore of figuring it all out every day, every week... going to the grocery store... it wears me down.

But, you see these people, these towns. And you know ~ we're all in it. We're all doing it. Wide expanses of land, tended to, worked, cared for, played on. I realized the blessing of our home and the small little piece of our own land, and was inspired to care for it in the same way.

So the decision was made: Enjoy Everyday. Even the chores, even the errands. And to do that, I concluded, I had to create a really good schedule for myself. Because that's how I work. I like to have little projects, to accomplish stuff. (On a side note, I'm going to try and start to document all of this accomplishing more. Sometimes it's pretty good!)

So I broke up the day into a schedule for myself, including time for walking, yoga, meal planning, chores, and even relaxing. (It's called Free Time so it's no obvious that many days I nap on the couch while the kids play all around me.)

I want to make my life a little easier, so I have the kids helping a lot. It is a bit of time to get going, because I have to actually show them how I want them to wipe down the cabinets! They didn't just know. We are two weeks into the new chore situation, and so far, they're doing great. I made magnets with the chores, and each kid has 1 chore per day.

Once they get the chore done they get a House Point. (Inspired by Harry Potter.) They get to spend points as they wish.

I broke up my own daily chores into manageable tid bits, so it really only takes 15-30 minutes a day, therefore, I feel very accomplished while also keeping my wits about me.

This feels good. I'm happy, I'm relaxed, the house in clean, dinners are not the horrible chore they were. One day I even got BORED. Luckily, I just renewed my subscription to Bazaar, because I'm actually getting interested in Fashion again.

Skyline.

{Sweet & Spicy Sorta' Soupy Heaven}

I am proud to say I was born in and grew up in the grand Queen City: Cincinnati Ohio. It's a wonderful place.

I grew up with a lot of wonderies in Cincinnati. Indian Mounds, the Cincinnati Zoo, the field of Daffodils at the Krohn Conservatory, Kings Island... well those are the major players in my memory. There's actually a lot of really wonderful history in Cincinnati. But kids don't pay much attention to that stuff.

One thing the kid me did pay attention to was food. Enter: Skyline Chili. Skyline is the name of the restaurant which made Cincinnati-style Chili famous. (There's also Gold Star, but this cousin of the chili world doesn't get as much love. I don't know who came first, do you?) Named for the beautiful Skyline that befalls the city, it's a staple of Cincinnati culture. One of my first dates with Mark was eating ice cream across the Ohio River in Kentucky, admiring the lights, bridges, and architecture.

We love and miss Skyline.

Being across the country and being vegetarian poses two obstacles for us.  I've concurred them.

Originally our family would bring or send packets of "Cincinnati-Style Chili Mix". It tasted good but the corn syrup solids and BHT ended up leaving a salty coating in our mouths.

I decided to tackle it. Make it From Scratch. I'm not a big From Scratch cook. I mean, I cook a lot, and love to, but the term From Scratch conjures up images of long-simmered beefy stews, or croissants, or other things that require a lot of time, measuring, and planning. But this seemed do-able to me. I found a recipe and dove in.

Look at all the spice jars I had open! Allspice! Cinnamon! Paprika! Chili Powder!

It was so good. We used veggie-dogs to make a Coney.

It wasn't quite the same - at Skyline the hot dogs are miniature, as are the buns. But still great. Something about that finely shredded mild cheddar cheese + spicy sweet chili soaked into white spongy bread. Oh yum! My favorite is still the classic 3-Way. Spaghetti with chili and lots of cheese. And a side of oyster crackers.

And then... there's the Dip. This is how we usually introduce newbies to Skyline. It's portable, sits in your tummy like a flat tire, and is addictive.

Cream Cheese + Chili + Cheese

I'm not going to post the recipe I used, because It's not quite right. I need to experiment. There are lots out there, though. Here is one that looks reputable.

For the meat-eaters who want to try it in it's original glory, you can get it on Amazon.














Also, it should be noted, the last meat I did ever eat was a Chili Sandwich with my friend Brittany sometime in 1991. It was my last cheat. And totally worth it.

Imbue.

{happily reporting full success with a slow cooker.}

Remember how I was gushing about the Farmer's Market? We had such beautiful vegetables in our company, we were excited to put them to use.

We found a yummy recipe in our Vegetarian Slow Cooker Cookbook for Lentil Shepards Pie. It was a softly misty day and ooooh it sounded so good. That was on a Sunday.

The reason these recipes are uncontrollably delicious is because there's a bit of prep work. Mostly just some simple sauteing. It's well worth it.

Once these fresh from the farmers market veggies were tender and scrumptious, you just combine them with uncooked lentils, a can of tomatoes and the juice, some herbs, some spices, some love of course, and then top with mashed potatoes mixed with bread crumbs. Cook on High for 5 hours, give or take.  Shredded cheddar cheese is optional.

But I can't say no to a place of cheese.


When a recipe indicates a dish is ready to enjoy by being hot and bubbly, that's usually an indication you will experience tremendous joy upon eating said dish.

This was no exception!

We had some rice and grains along-side the Shepard's Pie.

This was cooked and devoured on a Tuesday. The irony is, it turned out to be 75 degrees and sunny that day. The one down-fall of planning the menu for the entire week.

Esmé, however, was not impressed by the mashed potatoes.

Do you have any favorite slow cooker recipes? Any vegetarian ones, perhaps? Please share!

Yielding.

{story in pictures: The Farmers Market.}

One of my goals is to learn about eating in season. And to actually do it. I figured a sure-fire way to learn about what is in season is to go to a Farmer's Market. We are lucky enough to have quite a few great Famer's Markets in Long Beach, but I decided to take the troops up to Redondo Beach for a fun day out.

And what a fun day out it was!  The kids had so much fun tasting fruits and veggies, helping me choose our "harvest".

we were mesmerized by the colors in this fresh broccoli. So different than the shrink-wrapped shrunken head at the mega-mart, no?

 admiring some exotic blooms,

photo courtesy Elliette, age 4 1/2.

and then a trip to the play-ground to round out the excursion.

I gave Emmett the camera for awhile. These were the first results.

Then after some coaching from his big sister, he cranked out some good images. Kind of artsy-fartsy, but that fits in around here.

we don't know this guy.

 Then we had a real treat. Whales! There was water spouting up from the sea and it was from real-life Humpback Whales migrating!!! And then to top it off, I saw a whale come out of the water, I'm not even kidding. I was elated. So excited. I'm still pretty happy about it. The kids, however, didn't get to see, because it's really hard to spot the small spout of water rising out of the sea that is just standing before you, endless, with no referance point. 

 

The best we got was Emmett's photo of my shadow, pointing to where the whales were. 

 

At least it's documented.

Well, we also got a good bounty of fresh fruit, honey and vegetables. Which included the very sweetest and most adorable strawberries I have ever experienced, short of my back yard in Ohio at the age of 7. I love being at the open-air market, and I love involving the kids. When we shop at the Super Market they just chatter their teeth through the frigid produce section. This really is a much better way to go.

Also, have you tried the Honey Crisp apple? Have you tried one from a local grower, freshly picked and warm from the sun? Delightful.

Ice-Cream.

{hello, raspberry-basil darlings!}

For Mark's birthday a half year ago we gave him an Ice Cream Maker. (Kind of selfish, isn't it? We reap the rewards!) An aside: I always thought to make your own ice cream you'd have to spend all day cranking away. That was once the case, but not anymore. We love this thing. Just turn it on, let it run for 25 minutes, allow to set in the freezer for a couple of hours and viola! The best darned ice cream in town, no kiddin'.

Moving on...

I had an obsession to try basil ice cream. We did some experimenting and finally found a good recipe. It was simple to make. 

First, chop the basil!

 

 Next, you boil the basil with some milk and dissolve the sugar. Then blend until the basil is just wee specks of beautiful green.

The bananas just happen to be there...

I poured it through a mesh strainer to get the bits of basil out, but I think next time I'll allow some to remain. Into the ice cream making machine!

The result was a very mild and herby ice cream. One friend even joked, saying it tasted a little... how do you say.... medicinal. It was good enough, though, that the kids took it down.

Just not quite what I had in mind. My dear basil needed a side-kick.

So, I was in a quandry. I felt I was turning my back on my beloved basil. There are a myriad of flavors that compliment basil beautifully. I spent a few days thinking.

I decided I'd serve it along-side a raspberry sorbet. Sorbet is super easy to make in the ice cream maker. Basically, it's just frozen or fresh fruit and simple syrup.

I reserved some sorbet to make these cute little sorbet hearts for my little loves.

I thought it would be cute to make them in cupcake molds and serve them inverted with fudge sauce. I decided to call them darlings, because they are darling, they were for my darlings, and basil is my darling in the herb community.

don't think paper liners are necessary, but my molds have been around for awhile.

I made and froze the basil first, then the next day made the sorbet. Before adding the sorbet over the basil ice cream, I added a smidge of super-rich chocolate* ice cream I had left over in the center. 

Finished product, as plated:

Oh my stars. It was delicious. Duh. Lish. Us.

They would also be cute in a fancy cupcake mold like this:

I'm hoping to come up with more fun flavors and combinations. Mark and I want to be "the ice cream people". As in, "Oh, invite the Rebennacks to the bar-b-que, they always bring homemade ice cream." You'd want us around, right?!

*Best Chocolate Ice Cream: Make sipping chocolate. Turn it into ice cream. Holy Sugar Cone, Batman!

Harvest.

{Considering Introducing myself to an Intro to Gardening.}

 

Mark works at Hope School, which is a school for severly handicapped children. He is the visual arts teacher. They also have a very abundant garden, and we are the benefactors to their bounty.

He brought home these beautiful tomatoes. As with almost everything, I don't really know much about different types of tomatoes. But, I do know a pretty fruit when I see one! (And, I know that tomatoes are a fruit. A berry to be exact.)

I made a tomato salad with the two tomatoes he bought from the school garden. I just added shallots, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Nothing more is really needed on a fresh tomato, grown in a sunny garden and picked at peak ripeness. I swear, I can taste the sun.

We do have a tomato plant growing successfully in the back yard. The kids get a few tomatoes a week, and we use them up. (full disclosure: I don't do any of the gardening, so my interest in gardening as a hobby is kind of a facade. Mark does it all, with help from the kids. But I intend to help out. I'll get there.)

I did a quick Wikipedia read and found out some fun facts. I love fun facts.

• China produces the most tomatoes worldwide
• Tomatoes came to the americas by the spanish conquistadors
• The tomato plant belongs to the nighshade family
• There are around 7500 varities of tomato fruits

So, it seems to me that tomatoes are on the easier side of growing. I see lots of apartment balconies with the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter. With the availability of stuff like this, there's really no reason to buy mealy tomatoes at the supermarket. Not when you can grow some easily. It not the the aesthetic you're after, but hey...















Any tomato experts out there?  Any hints, advice or tidbits you can share with  me?