Rainy Day Kid Fun

With the weather being the yuck-fest it has been over the last several days, my brain has been drained of all interesting and creative thoughts.  Thanks to High-Five Magazine and Williams Sonoma Kids Baking cookbook for providing some basic entertainment for my girls while I helplessly stared out the window.  Ok, I didn't really just stand there and stare.  I pouted over the stove while the girls put these tidbits together:

Paper Bag Town, complete with preschool and diner, among other favorite landmarks, as well as the addition of several dollhouse toys, a community piano, and three pools for local enjoyment.  Apparently the sun is shining in PB Town.

And on to this most-awesome, and equally most-easy, Puffy Apple Oven Pancake, which Addie made for breakfast AND for dinner.

What you need:

an apple
4 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp vanilla

Stir together 2 Tbs sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and peel and chop up the apple.  Stir the sugar mixture and the apple together, then dump the apples in the bottom of a greased pie dish.  Bake it at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.  While that's baking, mix everything else together until it is smooth an frothy.  The WS recipe called for use of a blender, but I didn't feel like getting that dirty, so we just stirred the stuff like crazy, one kid at a time, until it was frothy.  Pour this into the pie dish with your apples after they've baked for 5 minutes, then cook for another 25 minutes or so.  The pancake should be puffy and turning brown.  It should look like this:

If you want, sprinkle confectioners' sugar over the pancake.  We didn't have any, so we used regular sugar.  Not as pretty, but it did the trick.  The girls loved it-- for breakfast AND dinner.

Spring and Other Stuff II

Signs of spring at our house...

Boogie pointing at this bumble bee for 45 minutes before learning his lesson.

Peeps Casserole a la Keith

Front porch masterpiece painting on Daddy's face.  (I think he actually took a nap.)

Confidently wearing sunglasses Ruby picked out for me at Reny's.  Oh, and publicly showing off the new paint job.

Ruby doing all the labor involved with making dandelion jelly.

A Secret SO Big

I brought Sour Fiddlehead Pickles to the Kennebunk Farmers Market this past Saturday.  The market was a big success, and I met a ton of awesome people.  A lot of people asked what a fiddlehead is and where you can pick them.  Truth be told, I needed help finding some fiddleheads myself, and in  differentiating them from their unedible neighbors, so I reached out to family, begged and pleaded until I got answers (and used some blackmailing techniques), until I finally got what I wanted:  Fiddlehead foraging with the family.

No, I will not let you in on the location of the fiddleheads found below.  I will be banned from all future family happy hours if I divulge any information on the whereabouts of local fiddleheads.

Oh, and in case you didn't know, a fiddlehead is a fern just like all other ferns, except it's a specific fern.  Confuse you enough?  It's officially called an "ostrich fern," and you can tell it apart from other ferns by the "v" shape of its stem and the papery stuff  on the outside of the head.  I won't go into more detail.  More detail is all over the internet.  (Thanks Keith and Ed for not making me look all over the internet.)

Kennebunk Farmers Market

It's a sure sign of the season when the summer farmers markets start posting their "Open" flags all over Maine.  I myself am a newbee in the market world and am SO excited to head down to Kennebunk with a whole boat load-- well, Fiesta-load really, of jam and pickles this Saturday.  I'm thrilled to be outside (hopefully it will be beautiful), and equally as psyched to be a part of something that was voted Maine's Favorite Small Farmers Market by the American Farmland Trust.  If you'd like a glimpse into the Kennebunk Market, check out their web site or facebook page for a list of vendors and upcoming events.    Oh, and look forward to Saturday's Kennebunk May Day Festival, including a parade and face-painting, among other fun stuff for kids!  See you on Saturday from 8:00-1:00.

This is what I'll have to offer on opening day:

Strawberry, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Raspberry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Low-Sugar Triple Better (also known as Dam Fruity), Maple (no-sugar) Apple Pie, Peach Habanero (best seller), Dam Hot Pepper, Chocolate and Raspberry, Strawberry Basil, among other specialty jams.  Oh, and Bread & Butter Pickles.  How could I forget them???

No-sugar varieties are SO beautiful.  Do you think Crayola would consider creating a new color called No-sugar Raspberry Jam?

Chocolate Raspberry Jam

How do you eat it?  On a scone (or good old toast), atop vanilla ice cream, as the "J" in your PB&J, or right out of the jar with a spoon.  It is what it is.  Chocolate and Raspberries.  Maybe a little sugar.  Yum.

Spring Things and other Stuff

It feels like forever since I've written.  I used to feel this way about writing letters, but thankfully we have e-mail now, and I can sort of keep up with that.  Anyway, since the pickled eggs (NOT an April Fools joke), a lot has happened.  The Biddeford Market has gotten busier, the kids are wilder, and spring is popping up all over the place.  Here's a glimpse at what we've seen of spring so far.  Oh, and yes, next up- I'll change my banner up there from winter to spring.  I promise.

Can you guess what this is?  Auntie, you are exempt from guessing, you cheater.

How about this?  Hopefully I can keep this one alive.

Introducing... Rock, Movie Star, Lipstick, Holly-Egg-Mama, Tia, and Dave.  I prefer Dave to Tia, which is why one chick has two names.  Obviously, the Easter Bunny arrived early in the form of us driving to Andy's Agway and picking out our new little ones.

And back to "Can you guess what this is?"  I won't make you guess.  It's parsnips we found at the Biddeford Farmer's Market, brought home, and cooked up in some olive oil, cinnamon, salt, and sugar.  The girls loved these little apples of the earth.  I know, I know.  That's what the french (or is it French) call potatoes, but these actually taste a bit like apples, so I'm going with it.

And lastly, I can not get enough looks at these incredible bracelets Anne made from bicycle parts.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with the purple one before the market sees its winter end.  Actually, did you know we're going to give a shot at pulling off a spring market in the same parking lot where the market currently exists?  Thursday afternoons, 3-6.  Check it out!

Pickled Eggs

We only have 5 egg-laying chickens at the moment, but with them all laying an egg a day on average, we've got plenty of eggs for our family.  So, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to cook up some pickled eggs.

Have at this funky old-school favorite.  It's the easiest little canning project you'll ever do:

Hard boil a dozen or so eggs.  It's best if they're not right out of the coop, as they tend to be difficult to peel when they're super-fresh.  Let the eggs cool completely before mixing together the following ingredients in a medium sauce  pan:

• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon pickling spice
• 1 clove garlic or 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 bay leaf

Peel and place all the eggs in a quart jar.  Boil mixture for one minute, then pour over the eggs into the jar.  Seal tightly with a regular canning lid or plastic lid.  Key point on this one:  Pickled eggs MUST be refrigerated.    I can't wait to give these to my brother Matt as part of his birthday present on the 4th.  This is a guy who drinks Clamato juice straight out of the bottle, so I'm guessing he'll at least be open to trying the eggs.  

Oh, and by the way, I'm pretty sure the Easter Bunny's going to hook us up with some new baby chicks again this year.  It's something the girls have been talking about since last Easter.  You gotta love that bunny!