First Apple Pie

This was a "first."

• The first apple pie I have made in years

• The first einkorn flour crust we have tried

• And thus, the first gluten pie crust for our family in over a decade

Apple season around here includes:

• Applesauce

• Dehydrated apples with cinnamon

• Frozen apple slices for winter baking

• And more!

Lake Time - August 2023

While we didn't get to the lake many times this summer, we did camp out there for 4 nights at the end of August. Our stay contained the whole range from wool-sweater weather... to cold tile floor turning into a lake from heavy humidity on days in the 90's!

It also contained some "firsts" for my neice.

Canoeing...



And her first watercolor!

Meanwhile her 3 year old brother learned a couple new brush handling skills (not shown in this photo!)

They enjoyed the lower water providing extra beach for play.

And riding the pontoon!

Books are a "must" in every day!

Making memories!

Elsa and I found the perfect way to make S'mores with our runny, homemade, honey marshmallows! Delicious!

Colorful Fresh Veggie Salad "Recipe"

After several months of enjoying Dad's homegrown lettuce, my salads are currently much more colorful!

These Colorful Fresh Veggie Salads always start with a base of chopped Cucumber and Tomato...

...and are dressed with Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and Salt.



But as you can see from the first photo, you can get as colorful as you wish. That salad included Red Cabbage and Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash. Yum!

What would you add to a fresh veggie salad? I'd love to hear!

Eat Your Lycopene!

Why do we keep our homegrown tomatoes on the sunny window sill until we eat them?

Because we want them to develop as much lycopene as possible! In our family, the unripe tomatoes usually used in restaurants are called "cardboard tomatoes."

But even beyond the great flavor a fully ripened tomato contains, lycopene (which gives tomatoes their red color) is a powerful compound for fighting heart disease and major cancers - especially prostate cancer.

Here's a reminder to eat your tomatoes! But make sure they get good and red first.

Just for Fun!

Even though my posts (and life) have been heavier of late, there are always joys to be found walking through each day with our good Shepherd.

One treat I often enjoy these chilly days (yes, we have snow on the ground now!) is my own version of hot-chocolate... half cocoa / half maca. What is that? You can find this nutrient-dense, powdered "superfood" at this link: https://www.vitacost.com/navitas-organics-maca-gelatinized  It reminds me a bit of peanut-butter. 

Find my recipe in the description of this short video: Favorite Hot Drink: Hot Maca-Cocoa

And while I'm sharing video links, here's one just for fun, full of sweet memories with Aunt Dorothy: Music Therapy with Down's Syndrome

If you haven't "met" her before:
Aunt Dorothy was a gift to our family as well as to countless others who knew and loved her!

Dorothy never spoke more than a few words in all her life, but music was always a communication point between us. Dorothy loved harmony - sparkling and voicing her joy when my sisters and I split into harmony from unison singing. Dorothy disliked dissonance - getting predictably agitated and loud when around unsettling music such as the 20th century Bartok pieces I practiced during college days.

Dorothy loved to dance with music. We could just start humming a tune, grab her hands, and go. Even singing hymns at church would get her grooving!

Even in her last week of life [in 2017] she lay in her wheelchair by my piano soaking up music. When nearly unresponsive in her last last day on earth, the voice of the Hospice chaplain singing a hymn brought a slight acknowledgement. My sisters and I sang to her again as we all gathered around in her last hour, and our brother-in-law led us in the Doxology as Dorothy entered heaven, where she now has the joy of taking part in the best music ever - praising her Savior!

This video [linked above] shows one of the times Dorothy took an active part in music. Even in her 50's, she loved sitting in my lap at the piano and "riding" my hands while I played. But here you can hear her one-note rhythm inspiring an improvised duet.

Recorded February 2013

Garlic Kale Chips Recipe

Watch a 30-second video of this recipe on my personal YouTube channel by clicking HERE.

Garlic Kale Chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Rip 12 cups of kale into roughly 2 inch pieces.

Toss with:

  - 2 Tbls melted coconut oil

  - 1 tsp garlic powder

  - Salt

Spread on 2 large baking sheets.

Bake 10 minutes.

Stir.

Bake 5 minutes or until a chewy-crisp, stirring again if needed.

Enjoy straight out of the oven, or freeze for future use!

And while you're at it, marvel at the intricate design our Creator put into one leaf of kale!

Apples Again

The Red Baron tree is empty, but we keep using these delicious, early apples in several ways.



I've set up the apple peeler/corer/slicer three times now to fill the dehydrator, which produces about a gallon of dried apples each time.



Watch my process in 30 seconds by clicking here!

A dash of cinnamon makes this treat extra-special.

The dried apple slices last all year in a glass jar (if we don't eat them up first!)

Baked apples taste like autumn!

I made so many last time that we have another dessert ready in the freezer.

And don't forget Apple Crisp! Or, in our case, a grain-free crumble added the last 20 minutes of baking.

Apples, Chocolate Mint, and Tomatoes

Apple season has begun!

I froze 15 quarts of sliced Red Baron apples (for crisps/crumbles/pies) from just half the windfalls on September 9th.

That was also the day to get to a bit of (late!) herb harvesting.

Chocolate Mint is our favorite mint variety for herbal tea. 

Meanwhile, Mom and Elsa were prepping salsa from the tomato harvest.

Mom has already canned quarts of whole tomatoes and spaghetti sauce.

We are grateful for all of this food even when the processing wears us out!

Elsa's Stuffed Zucchini Recipe

It is still zucchini season!

This ubiquitous garden produce often gets a bad rap. Maybe because if you grow any, you get more than you can use!

But our family has several ways to enjoy this summer staple. Most commonly, we slice it thinly and stir-fry in a little sesame oil - sometimes with sliced onions. [We used to love the moisture it gave to chocolate cake when shredded.] And last year Elsa developed her own delicious version of stuffed zucchini, which I made again last week. [Read on for her recipe.]

Having used up last year's crop of garlic last month, I had the new experience of working with moist garlic, fresh from Dad's garden.

▪︎ Stuffed Zucchini

Brown on stove:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tsp. salt

1 medium-large zucchini:

Discard seeds; scoop out flesh and save, leaving only 1/4 inch thick shell; chop saved zucchini, add to burger, and cook a couple minutes

Add:

1 T. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. salt

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup tomato sauce

Place mixture in zucchini shell. 

Bake at 375° for 45 minutes in 9"x13" pan with 1/8" water