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Fall is here! The temperature is dropping, the leather boots have made their way out of the closet and into the daily mix, and the oven has been cranked, replacing the grill as my cooking weapon of choice.

I picked up another great box of produce from our friends at Bialas Farms on Saturday….

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*Photo credit: Lauren, age 6

And yes, there was dill. Amongst other things, including…

  • Tomatoes
  • Zucchini
  • Chile Peppers (opt)
  • Kirby Cukes
  • Swiss Chard
  • Bok Choy
  • Poblanos *
  • Sweet Corn
  • Radishes
  • Baby Potatoes
  • Eggplant

Like most weekends after I receive my box, I immediately made a tomato salad. Which meant slicing up some heirlooms & fresh dill, and dressing the salad with nothing but good olive oil, aged Sherry vinegar, Maldon salt and fresh black pepper. Also typical these days, I needed to clear the decks before I ate.

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Lego building has hit a high note recently, something to do with a brand new box of the little blocks as opposed to the bigger Duplos. My kids are mad for these things, I should write a post about it one day.

I’m telling you, they follow me everywhere…

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Forced back into the kitchen for some Lego-free solitude, I decided that my previous salad had been far too healthy and needed some assistance in the form of burrata cheese.

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I discovered a new treat last weekend as well. I’ve been wanting to try this stuff for a while, having been intrigued by the concept of making ice cream with nothing but frozen bananas. Lo and behold the trick actually works although it might have been my blender’s swan song. If you try this at home, make sure that your bananas are soft enough to blend (you can always firm up the ice cream in the freezer afterwards) or that you have a really good machine at your disposal (e.g. Vitamix, Blendtec). (For the record, a shiny new…ok, refurbished…red Blendtec is now on its way to my house, I’m beyond excited.)

I mixed in some of leftover elderberries from last week into the ice cream and topped it all with a mix of chia seeds and pistachios. Salty/sweet/creamy – there is no way that this should be legal breakfast food. But when you’re eating something this healthy, you can eat anything you want, am I right?

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To make the banana ice cream:

Slice 3 bananas and leave them in the freezer overnight. If you’re working with a great blender, you can blend right when you take them out of the freezer, but if you’re working with a lesser blender, make sure to thaw them for 10-20 minutes so that you don’t damage your machine. You can also add a splash of liquid- milk, almond milk, coconut milk, water etc to help things along. Add a cup of frozen elderberries (or other berries) to the blender and blend until the fruit becomes a thick and creamy “ice cream”. If not frozen enough, throw in the freezer for 10-30 minutes to achieve desired consistency. Top with whatever nuts or seeds you have on hand for some added texture – I used plain pistachios and chia seeds.

I have big news this week. It should really be the topic of its own separate post, but here’s a little snippet….I learned to preserve!

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I never really noticed the tiny hairs on raspberries until we tried golden raspberries and I was convinced that they were covered in mold. Not mold! Now if I had a $2,000 macro lens on my camera you’d be able to see what I’m talking about. Unfortunately – or fortunately – they just appear to be golden and delicious from the shot that you’re seeing above. Which they are, but you missed out on all of the faux mold fun. So husband, family, reader(s), if you a) care about me and b) would like to see more moldy-looking hairs on your fruit, feel free to support the macro fund and I’ll work on getting up close and personal with our fruit for you guys….

ME: What are these?

SAM: Raspberries!

LAUREN: They’re orange raspberries.

ME: Lauren’s right – they’re like orange raspberries. But maybe they have a name….

[paper rustling]

ME: Maybe my receipt says it. Carrots, carrots, celery, orange juice….Here we go! They’re called Golden Raspberries. That’s the name – Golden Raspberries. Cool right?

EMMA: Cool.

ME: OK, who’s going to smell it? Does it smell different from a red raspberry?

SAM: Smells the same.

ME: I can’t smell. You know why? [sniffling]

SAM: Because of your nose?

ME: Yeah, because just I burnt my nose by touching it with hot chili pepper hands. You guys all learned a lesson about hot chili peppers this summer, right? Well, sometimes mommies make mistakes too.
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I don’t remember my first wedding, but I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t invited to one until I was old enough to drive.

Weddings are fun, they’re boisterous events with family and friends and they always – always – have drama. This wedding was no exception, and I’ll spare you all of the gory details save for this little hint: the bride was ill. She’s now recovered and although she could have been in better health for her wedding weekend, she’s relieved that she made it down the aisle that day. We’re all relieved.

My sister got married over Labor Day weekend and I’ve been excited to share some of the pictures from the event since it took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

My girls were excited to pack up and travel to Canada, eager to be the center of attention in their brand new flower girl dresses.

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The wedding was held at the Prince George hotel in downtown Halifax, which is where we stayed for the entirety of our trip. There we spent time unpacking…

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Playing…

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Sleeping…

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Eating…

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

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First, can I get something off my chest? I have five fingers, just like most people. I do not have a pig trotter in place of a left limb as this picture suggests. And now that I think of it, manicures for animals could make for an interesting business plan. Under the gun to get dinner on the table and snap a quick pic of our mystery food challenge, I didn’t realize how trotterish my hand looked until I went to edit the picture this morning. Thank you for letting me clear that up, now let’s move on.

Not everyone loves watercress. I get it. It’s got a little attitude, a little bite. And it tends to show up to parties uninvited. My husband’s order at his favorite Mexican Restaurant? “Chicken burrito, hold the watercress”. In his mind, watercress ruins everything. I respectfully disagree, but thought that I’d give the kids the chance to weigh in.

Their response was not surprising.

ME: OK guys, we have a new mystery food tonight. What is the green thing called?

LAUREN: Lettuce.

SAM: Brussels sprouts.

ME: No, it’s not Brussels sprouts, it’s not lettuce. What you think it is?

EMMA: I don’t know.

ME: Have you seen it before?

LAUREN: (laughing)

ME: Sam always likes his greens.

(Emma ignores the watercress and picks up some sausage on her plate)

ME: We’re not trying the sausage yet. We’re only trying the green thing right now.

LAUREN: Eeeew.

ME: Wait, Sam likes it right? I love it. I love it so much.

SAM: It’s kind of spicy right?
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