OK, so I cheated. And neglected.

I cheated by retroactively publishing a post I'd started in October.

I neglected my blog.  Oops.

The truth is, I was busy.  Busy with work, busy with the harvest, busy with Torin's school.  Just busy.  Then there was Art Prize.  And Halloween.  Then, it was Thanksgiving, Torin's birthday, Christmas... 

Four months of absence on a blog can seem like a lifetime, but in reality it went by in the blink of an eye.

So, anyway, I'm back.  I'll come up with something more interesting to post later.  In fact, I'll probably publish some more retroactive posts of autumn and winter activity.  After all, this blog is only part reader oriented.  Much of it is me keeping record of our lives.  (If I were a scrapbook person, it would be different, I suspect.)

So anyway - cheers to a new year!  Lets see what adventures we invent in 2011:D

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Pesto in Pictures

BASIL!!!

Taking off the leaves.

Adding the Parmesan.

Finishing touches.

Holy cow that's violent!

Oooh... the power.

The less than attractive but oh-so-tasty final result.

Quinn approved!

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Savory Success

Today I made lots of yummy treats that didn't scorched or turn out in any way icky.

• Apple Butter Muffins (Didn't puff up, and added lots of chopped apples, but still yummy.)
• Basil Pesto (I took photos of my adorable sons helping me out, but since I can't find the cable, you'll just have to wait.;))
• Tomato Sauce (tomatoes, olive oil, sugar, salt, oregano, and don't forget to add a potato to a) take out the acid, b) sweeten up the sauce, and c) help it thicken better.)

Then I dropped off the boys at their Grandma's, went out to eat, and wasted the rested of the night painting my nails and watching Clash of the Titans.  Another pot of sauce is on the stove, so off I go to do my toes.  Maybe by tomorrow I'll find my cable or card reader and wow you with the adorableness that is Torin and Quinn;)

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Mixed Results

Why must best intentions die such horrible and tragic deaths?

My today's best intentions (which, if you remember from yesterday's post, was to be a domestic goddess of the oven) crashed and burned with spectacular failure. Not only did I fail to do all the things I wanted to do, I failed to do the things I did do correctly.

I made apple butter last night. Given it's long slow roast in the crock pot, I managed not to burn it. But the apples I used must be sweeter than my usual choice because boyhowdy is the result sweet. I'm not much for sugar anyway, so I had already cut the sugar back, but wow does this stuff pack a syrupy punch! The 5 or so pints I got out of the pot need special labels, methinks, cause eating it straight up could cause a coma.  Perhaps I'll use some of it up in baking muffins.

I also tried to make peach butter.  Setting out, I knew fate was against me. 1) I had never made peach butter before, 2) it was way late, and I knew it would require my focus until 3am, and 3) I was coasting high on my dinner success - copycat Panera egg souffles that totally rocked my tastebuds (YUM).  But given that they were seconds in a serious way, I thought it best to process the peaches before they turned to moldy mush.

FAIL.  First of all, the recipe wasn't the best.  I cut back on all the spices because I didn't want to overwhelm the peach flavor, and it still was too spiced for my taste.  And there wasn't enough sugar (which is an odd thing for me to say!).  And then, even with various sci-fi movies playing loudly in the background, I managed to fall asleep on the couch just long enough for it to burn on the bottom.  Normally, you can manage to save the top half of the goo if you don't scrape the bottom.  But scrape away I did, 'cause I didn't know it was burned.  Long story short - there was no saving the stuff.  It's gross, with black flecks of burned ickiness floating around.  Good thing I only paid $2 for the peaches!

And I didn't do much else today.  A few loads of dishes (catching up from the work week).  I picked some butternut squash and turned it into a gratin casserole for dinner.  (Another fail.  Came out like crap, mostly because I ignored my instincts and followed the recipe to a T, resulting in under-cooked squash.)  I puttered and watched the first 7 Buffy motion comics and got a fire going to ward of a decidedly autumn chill.

Oh well.  Butter luck tomorrow!

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Mission: Pine Nuts Accomplished!

Secured some pine nuts, finally!  My lovely friend and coworker Linda found them at Sam's Club for $15 a pound - a far fairer price than the $8/oz prices I've been seeing at Meijer.

I also scored a $5 bushel of tomatoes, a $5 bushel of apples, and 2 pecks of peaches for $2 (all seconds, of course) from the Versluis Orchards stand on Lake Michigan Drive.  Man do I love them:)  Guess what I'm doing this long holiday weekend?

Apple butter is already cooking away in the crock pot (as pictured).  (Want the recipe?  Find my favorite one here.)  Peach crepes for breakfast tomorrow, and then on to cook and can peach-apple butter, tomato soup, salsa, apple sauce, and pesto.  Might find some time to make a few pies or muffins or scones, too:D

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Another Day, Another Dollar

Today, after I came back from work and got Torin all registered for 1st grade (gulp, anyone?), I just couldn't be in my house. This was partially because I sometimes venomously hate my house, and partially because it was 69 and sunny and that's just my kind of weather. 

So, off to Blanford Nature Center the boys and I went.  We've been spending a lot of time on bikes lately, so I though "Why not, lets trek on down?"  Yeah, that's a mile and a half, baby.  With Torin on a Transformer's bike with training wheels.  He's a very tall six year old, so the knobby knees sticking out to form acute triangles was an image to cherish.  But by mile marker 1 he was whining about exhaustion, and it became less like escapism and more like work.  (Fun fact of the day: Blandford is decidedly all uphill from my house, which made toting Quinny in a trailer on my shitty bent-up Huffy less fun.)  But we made in tact, secured the bikes with my chain, and started stomping.

It was splendid and muddy and gloriously mosquito free. We spent time hanging out on the boardwalk through the "wetlands" (a stinky Michigan swamp if ever there was one, but we're in the city, after all) and sitting at the edge of the minor precipice behind the Center.  Oh, and did you know there is such a thing as neon orange fungus?  If you don't believe me, take the Blue Heron Highway trail out to the Interpretive Center.  It's pretty nifty stuff.

So, what have I done the garden this past week?  Nuthin.  Nadda.  Zilp, zitch, zero.  I have glanced at the sunflowers and morning glories and other splendid morning risers on my way out the door, but I haven't actually stepped foot past the purple garden gate.  Shame on me, I know, but I just haven't had the "umph".

I went on a trip to St. Louis with the boys, my sister-in-law, and two nephews last weekend, and it was decidedly taxing.  I had the beginnings of a wicked cold, and all the flying around in puddle jumpers obviously didn't help the recovery process.  It was only a few days ago that my head didn't feel on the verge of spontaneous combustion.  So I take it on faith that the giant pumpkins are still turning orange, the sweet potatoes are getting big enough to eat, and the weeds still haven't completely snuffed out the marigolds that once so gloriously lined the charming garden pathways.

Erroneous assumptions?  Lets hope not.  I'm still just too damned tired to duck under the wicked grape vines that seem intent on barring passage out back.  I'll check in later with some photos of lush moonvine flowers (that I don't let the boys touch) and maybe a shot of the buttery yellow butternut that is doomed to be soup some crisp Autumn afternoon soon.

Autumn.  Damn.

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