Maple Oat Scones w/ Whipped Maple Butter

I was browsing recipes and food blogs this morning, and I came across this great blog www.onceamonthmom.com Its great! I found a recipe for these scones and figured I still needed to make the family breakfast so lets whip them up!.

This recipe is so quick and easy anyone can make them... and oh so yummy! I set out to work at 8 am... I was finished preparing, taking pics, and baking by 8:45am. That's the way Sunday breakfast should be!

So it's Sunday so as always my lovely husband (he really is!) is sleeping in. I try to give him to at least 9am.... the kids and I are usually always up by 6.... 7 on a good day. I woke him up at 9 with a hot cup of coffee in his STEVE mug (that's his name if you haven't guessed.) And a fresh from the oven scone with whipped maple butter.... Does he know how lucky he is???? I'd kill for 9 am wake up time... let alone someone  bringing me hot coffee with scones!

Peach Plum Iced Tea

Its another hot summer day and I'm craving something cold to drink!

I have peaches and plums (using seasonal fruits in everything I make!) Why not do an iced tea?

Because I have little ones who will no doubt want a sip and I'm pregnant I want to cut down on the caffeine so I'll be using half herbal tea in this recipe.

Pastry Dough Cookies

So you've made a pie.... and you are left with the trimmings and extra dough. DON'T throw them out!
Pastry Dough Cookies

Ingredients:
Extra pie crust dough
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar


Directions:
Roll your extra dough into an oval or rectangular shape.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Roll into a log.

Slice.

Bake @ 375 for 15 minutes till crispy and golden brown.

Enjoy.

Deep Dish Blueberry Peach Pie

I've been wanting to make this pie for months now! A friend of mine from high school shared the recipe from King Arthur Flour. What struck me about this recipe is that it calls for red wine. YUM... Though while making this pie I had the most intense craving for a glass of the wine I was baking with.... :( oh well my hubby will get the rest of the bottle.  I'm making a couple small changes to the recipe(my own crust recipe, and adding peaches.) Here's the problem with this recipe.... It has to set at room temp for FIVE HOURS! Its was in the oven teasing me for 1.5.... It came out of the oven at 7pm.... So not fair! So I popped it in the fridge to speed it along....
Leave it to me to not be patient!

So Here it is....

How does your garden grow

It's a beautiful day  here in New Hampshire. About 80 no humidity and breezy. As I went to work in my garden weeding and de earwigging eww (I'll explain later...) I decided to take my camera out with me to photograph its progress.

We are just starting to get our fresh veggies out of our small little garden which has been very exciting for my kids. For anyone who has kids I highly recommend getting them involved and letting them plant their own veggies or flowers. It's been such a fun and educational project for them starting way back in April when we started our seeds indoors and started our first compost bin.

Here's a little look into what we have so far....

Now we picked our first bunches of broccoli yesterday morning only to find earwigs hidden inside. EWW for anyone who doesn't know what an earwig is....

What is an earwig you say? well check this out...

I spent my morning scouring the Internet looking for clues of to why we have them and what to do about it... and most importantly did they harm my precious broccoli heads?

First off no they don't harm them... they will eat the leaves of the plants at night so you do do want to rid of them... but everything is very safe to eat still.

Secondly they are there because its dark and moist. Part of my issue is my plants are too close together. Being this is my first time planting broccoli I didn't really know what I was doing so I loaded the plants in the garden and should have done oh I don't know... maybe HALF of what I planted! Oh well I'm learning still.

Now last but not least how do we get rid of these scary looking bugs... Pretty simple actually. Roll a damp newspaper up in the evening lay them between your rows. At night the earwigs will crawl into the wet paper. In the morning carefully move the papers out of the garden. They scurry fast so you need to move it CAREFULLY!

Now on to our tomatoes. We planted 3 kids this year... This big guy up top is a "Better Boy" These are going to be those nice juicy beefy tomatoes great for slicing up on burgers and sandwiches. This particular tomato got picked today... I'm slicing him up for some Fried Green Tomatoes to go along with our dinner tonight. This is a first for us... so lets see how we like them!

These little guys are our Cherry Tomatoes. We have WAY too many to possibly eat so if you want some come on over and I can probably give you plenty!

These guys are our "Sonny Boys" yellow tomatoes. I always like yellow or orange tomatoes to throw into a salad for some extra color!

My two and four year old sons planted the pumpkins and they are doing wonderful! We will have so many this year and they'll be good sized ones too! This one happens to be my favorite because of its shape.... its a little bit of an odd ball.

But this guy is the kids favorite they check on it everyday to see if its gotten any bigger. Its the biggest one we have so far!

Our string beans also... one of the kids ventures. Its funny I was commenting to a friend the other day via facebook. That my boys would NEVER eat a raw bean if I handed it to them out of the fridge. But because they planted these they love them!! Seriously kids are so funny sometimes! Hey whatever right? As long as they are eating their veggies I'm all for it!

Sweat Peas...mmmm. I love them. The kids love them. My husband loves them. We don't even cook them just eat them right out of the pod... or sometimes pod and all.

These chubby fingers are Chase's raiding the pea bowl.

Purple cabbage. Man do I love cabbage, in slaw, salads, grilled, braised, boiled, in soups... you name it! I can't wait till these little guys are ready to cut!

Blackberries are getting there... not ripe yet but give them another week and we'll have plenty! Pies, tarts, coffee cakes... yum I can't wait. I love blackberries! Our raspberries are just starting to go by as well as our wild blueberries so I'm excited to have something else to bake with as well as pick with the boys!

 

Now THIS is a mystery... we have a random patch of some sort of squash growing under our deck... must have dropped a seed while we were planting or a piece of left over dinner haha? Whatever it is.... it has blossoms!

Then there are my favorite flowers.... Lillys. We have a bunch all over our yard... but I'm having a hard time teaching the boys that not all flowers are for picking... so we only have a few here and there left!

Whats growing at your house?

Lime and Raspberry Bars With A Coconut Crust

"Brother bought a coconut

He bought it for a dime.
His sister had another one
She trade it for the lime.

She put the lime in the coconut
she drank them both up."

Just a side note... I did not use my fresh coconut in this recipe! I bought that for a different recipe for this week...

Thanks Harry Nilsson, Now I'll never be able to use limes and coconut together without this stuck in my head.... I'm not going to lie... I was defiantly just listening to "Put The Lime In The Coconut"  and listened to it a few times while making these bars. I do have to say maybe it added some sort of magic to them... because they are SCRUMPTIOUS.

A summer cookie bar made into perfection... I'm not lying either. Please if your going to try any of my recipes make it this one! Yes I'm patting myself on the back a bit too much. My husband often thinks I have a bit of an ego when it comes to my cooking and baking. I don't hear him complaining while he's eating it though!

He'll be lucky if I save him one of these bars for after work..... Because I do love anything lime or lemon and have a tendency to be a glutton when I have anything around tart.

Lemon Bars are probably one of my favorite treats of all time, and the 2nd being Key Lime Pie Ice Cream made by Ben & Jerry's (if you can ever find it... its amazing key lime flavored ice cream with pieces of buttery pie crust through out it.... did I say amazing all ready??!!)

Watermelon Lemonade

Yes another lemonade recipe... I am addicted to lemonade this pregnancy. I think perhaps because I'm not able to enjoy a nice cold cocktail or other adult beverage after a long hot day. I found myself left with half of a large watermelon that needed to be used up and we couldn't possibly eat it all so I thought this would be something fun to get the kids involved with making.

So here it is... my recipe for Watermelon Lemonade.

Individual Strawberry Rhubarb Crostatas

Its 95 degrees today, and my husband is working late... and ordering Chinese into his office so I'm off the hook for dinner. The kids and I had sandwiches. Problem is I'm craving pie... but not a whole pie, and I'm feeling a little lazy and don't feel like making anything pretty. I'm kinda of a perfectionist with my pie crusts... it ends up being an ordeal. So why not a crostata?! I have strawberries I have rhubarb... So I'll make smaller ones... I can give them away after I have one serving! Oh and did I mention its NINETY FIVE! When a pregnant girl has her cravings all common sense goes out the window... yeah lets run the oven at 400... guess my AC will have to work some overtime tonight!

I'm a little behind the eight ball with strawberries and rhubarb recipes... BUT if you have your overstock berries and rhubarb in the freezer... pull them out for this recipe! Super easy, rustic, and scrumptious!

For the dough... this is my favorite crostata (rustic or free form tart) dough. Courtesy of Food & Wine magazine's Thanksgiving 2010. They had a "Free form Apple Tart" that I make all the time with some minor adjustments (I add toasted walnuts or pecans as well as a sh** ton of caramel!) The crust is easy, made with lots of butter, AND you can use your kitchen aid instead of a food processor! Which mine is MIA for a very long time now... I need to break down and go buy a new Cuisinart. So many recipes require them these days!

Raspberry Lime Lemonade

Simply what?! I will never again purchase Simply Raspberry Lemonade  (which I drink way too much of!) This tasted EXACTLY the same.

Its HOT HOT HOT out there... here is a quick refreshing cold drink idea to make with the kiddos this week.
As always we picked some berries tonight, I had some lemons and a lime in the fridge so why not make a cool treat for the boys. They think I'm a god now... apparently making juice is like magic to these boys!

Pickled Root Veggies (Beets, Asian inspired Radishes, Mexican inspired Carrots)

I pretty much love anything pickled. Though I have never been a big "canning" person. My mother and my Nana spend their summers and falls picking veggies, pickling and canning. Oh and lets not forget their jellies, jams, relishes and so on...

Towards the end of August and September (before frost hits or shortly afterwards) You'll see my mom's kitchen and open shelves STOCKED with cans.... when I say stocked I mean to the freaking ceiling. My Nana is just as bad. My mom is a bit more practical when canning she cans allot of tomatoes for sauces, chilli's, salsa, she even made ketchup last year things they will eat all winter long... My Nana on the other hand will pickle almost anything.... I mean how many types of pickles or relish does one person eat in a year? Apparently she thinks we all live off of it because she loads us up with can after can at Christmas time.  I'm not going to lie.... I don't eat even close to half of it! shhh don't tell her!

So here is my attempt at "canning" though these are refrigerator recipes. Not to be stored at room temp for up to a year like their stuff is. These recipes will last 1-2 months in the fridge.

I'm not going for long term storage because well... I don't have enough veggies to actually can for that long!

Best Ever ULTIMATE Stuffed French Toast with Cinnamon Infused Vanilla Maple Syrup

Its Friday morning, it's my husbands day off from work and I'm sitting here jonesing for a dessert for breakfast... I already knew I had to use up my loaf of cinnamon bread from yesterday's Farmer's Market.

Logical choice is french toast. But I don't want regular french toast. I am pregnant after all and when these cravings come on but I'm not really sure WHAT I'm craving it drives me and everyone else around me crazy!

My kids are behaving (sorta) playing together in their room, my husband is upstairs sleeping in. So I am going to make them the best breakfast they have ever feasted on!

Oh wait did I just say my kids were playing nicely in their rooms? Scratch that they have now parked it in front of the couch and are in a tug a war with a toy elephant (the giant 'daddy' Chase always carries around)

I think I'm going to ignore them.... and salivate while thinking of what I'm about to start cooking.

Oh Wolfeboro how I love you! Today's Farmers Market Finds

So today was the PERFECT summer day. Slightly breezy 77 degrees.... not a bit of humidity. Loved it!

The boys and I went to the Wolfeboro farmers market where I purchased a good chunk of this weeks meats and veggies. My trip to the grocery store should only include some paper products and cleaning things so I guess it was well worth it!

First thing on our list of things to get at the Farmers Market... something to keep the boys happy while I mingle and shop.

Owen's pop was so good he at it in 2 seconds flat!

Chase chilling out in the stroller with his cake pop

Cake pops! these were amazing little moist cake/brownie's dipped into a milk chocolate shell of some sort. So cute! Not sure if your familiar with the oh so popular cake pops sold at Starbucks but its the same idea only bigger and way better!
So the boys munched on those as I began my trek through the market (side note pushing that stupid stroller on grass around a mob of people SUCKS!) With in moments of finishing their pops of course they were "drinky" That's OB's word for thirsty so over to the lemonade stand.

This is not your average 50 cents gets you a dixie cup full of Koolaid or Country Time. This was a hard core lemon press run by 4 8 yr olds, hand shaken in mason jars then pored into your cup with lots of ice.  Freaking best lemonade from an 8yr to date! Well worth the $2 per cup! The boys were fascinated by this process and now all OB wants to do is set up his own stand.... and he wants me to find him a lemon juicer like those "big" kids had. Where am I going to find that...?

So 2 stops later the kids are happy as can be and I can do my mingling and shopping. First thing on my list... Chicken....
1 whole Organic Free Range Chicken: $4.99/lb. I do think this is the most expensive roaster I've ever purchased coming in at about $16.00

Next up BEETS my favorite as I've posted about before... but even better I found Organic Chiogga Beet's... I have yet to slice into them but they are going to be so pretty. They are heirloom beets that have dark red, pink, and white consecutive little circles on the inside. I got the last bunch they had $2.50/bunch. I'm so excited to try these... will keep you all posted on how I use them. Thinking of doing some sort of pickle or something with a salad.

Chiogga Beets

Then to my greens, I'm obsessed with greens lately must be my bodies way of telling me I need more iron and calcium since little Madelyn (my baby that's due in August) is sucking everything out of me these days.

Kale, Swiss Chard

For greens I picked out a bunch of Kale $3 (yum more kale chips on the way!) Swiss Chard $3 and something I've never seen before.... Tatsoi $2.50.

Tatsoi

I'm pretty excited about this Tatsoi as well it looks so pretty, I'm told it is basically an Asian Spinach, though its a little mustardy. Its supposed to be great added to any salad, or into brothy soups at the end. We'll see what I'm going to do with that....

Radishes, according to the  girl that sold them to me, they are very spicy. $2.50/bunch. Yay the last time I bought a bunch they were too mild. I'm going to make my own veggie cream cheese spread for breakfast with some of them. Then I saw a recipe somewhere for an Asian inspired pickled radish... so maybe I'll do that too.

Radish

Then we went to the breads.... I had to get another loaf of that cinnamon bread $5 (which will be tomorrow's french toast) and one giant whoopie pie $2.50.

Last but not least my favorite table... Top Of The Hill Farm... this is where I buy my beef! 2lbs of flank steak 1lb of burger $4. The steak will give us about 3 meals for a family of 4 at $7/lb that's a good deal for steak!

By the time I was ordering my beef... Chase my 2 yr old was having a complete melt down (one that had continued from hours before... He wanted to bring his pillow pet ("its a pillow, its a pet... its a pillow pet!" ) along with a giant toy elephant who is the 'daddy' and his baby elephant and his 3 smelly blankies... yes my kid has not one but THREE blankies. So as you can guess I forced him out of the house without these items... which was now biting me in the bum because we were making a scene!

When my burger and steak were in hand I was out there as fast as I could. Thank god Chase slept off the rest of his tantrum in his car seat on the drive home!

All and all super day in Wolfeboro, I love it there more than any other NH town. Over the next few days I'll post some of the foods I made with my farmers market purchases.

Tonight we used our ground beef for some serious bacon cheese burgers on the grill..... Wish I took a pic of mine because it was a masterpiece! I loaded it up with cheese, bacon, black bean salsa, mashed avocado, red onion, and lettuce. YUMMY