elliemoon

FREEZING THE SEASON

i finally made my way into the basil patch yesterday. i've been picking from it all summer long for salads and sauce and the like, but with the end of the season swiftly approaching, it was high time for some pesto::

 the recipe:

2 cups basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

2 TBSP fresh parmesan

3 oz. pine nuts

3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil

throw everything but the olive oil in a food processor and let it whirl, slowly stream in the olive oil (with the processor running) until you reach your desired consistency 

in our house, a little pesto goes a long way, so an ice cube tray is definitely the way to go. i'll freeze up a few batches at the end of the summer and it will last us most of the winter. such an easy winter dinner; boil up some ravioli, add a couple cubes and some reserved pasta water to make it nice and creamy and you're good to go. seeing as this is the last day of august, its not too early to be planning ahead. 

where exactly did this summer go?

SWEET, SWEET

this is how you make a special saturday morning. yes, its a lot of work. yes, it takes so long that it winds up being dessert for lunch. yes, you may wind up rationing it out to the kids and then eating the rest while hiding out in the bathroom, such as myself, but it is oh, oh, oh so worth it::

this is monkey bread prep. we got our mold here and it comes with the recipe. some of the recipes for monkey bread that you will find on the internet start with refrigerator biscuits, but i think this version is best. like i said, a little extra work but well worth the effort. you will not be disappointed. but be warned, this stuff is dangerously delicious. seriously people, i ate so much i'm surprised i kept it down. just look at the end result::

little fingers can't resist::

monkey bread, i love you!

   

ABSENT NOTE

please excuse me from the blog today (and yesterday). i've been feverishly knitting, trying to get those next little trinkets into the shop (not to mention the new ben and jerry's flavor that needed sampling and the latest issue of vogue knitting i've been meditating on) just getting back to center. know what i mean?

i will be back her monday first thing! hope you have a lovely weekend. eat some icecream for crying out loud!

PILLOWS PILLOWS EVERYWHERE

every so often the little big man will stay up with me for a sewing night. i love that he loves to do this! i once heard him say to himself (the morning after just such a night and amidst some sibling mayhem) "i wish i could just sew". i love it. since then i have set him up with his own machine. after tackling a pot holder, and a small pillow for his favorite stuffed animal, he decided it was time for bigger and better projects and asked to make a pillow for himself. he was very pleased with the result and has made a couple more since then, along with o, who needed "one for the car". 

all the while, bella had been very patient, watching all those feet pushing the pedal, and pillows popping out left and right. and although the little big man gifted her his first one, she was determined to get on the machine and "do it meself". so, one footstool under the pedal later::

i've decided that these are by far the best project for teaching little ones how to sew! it really couldn't get more simple than this::

2 pieces of fabric cut to any size you like, stitch right sides together leaving a small opening for stuffing, clip corners, turn right side out, stuff, sew opening closed and done!

it is small enough to be done before they lose interest and simple enough that they can do it on their own. the stuffing interlude is a bonus, they love it. and i love these. and they've given me an idea for this christmas. more on that another day!

THATS A BIG TOMATO!

i know i've already mentioned the beefsteaks and even documented this one in particular, but i felt i had to share its final hours! yesterday we had some pretty strong winds and rain (actually a really beautiful storm) and more than a few foreign objects were being blown into the garden. the wind alone was a threat to this big tomato, so i ran out and plucked it off the vine::

three slices filled the platter! the perfect dinner, along with sliced cuke's and sauteed zucchini. so sweet and delicious.

i must also report that i've really been enjoying doing the giveaways these past few weeks. i'm so glad that all of you are liking my stuff. so i started a little something today that is really special::

don't be looking for it this friday by any means, but i'm working on it. slowly but surely. these things take a bit of time......but will be oh so worth the wait!! you'll see, oh yes, you'll see!

GIRLS WEEKEND

but first things first::

the winner of the lavender laboring pillow giveaway is::

kyndell walsh!

 

visit her beautiful blog here!

congratulations and please email me with your shipping info

thanks to all who left comments

(i put a few of these pillows into the shop last night as well!)

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and now, girls weekend:

bella, little lu and i were on our own for a couple of days, as the boys packed up and went to a boat show down in new york for the weekend. we missed them dearly, but thoroughly enjoyed some full on girl time::

the color?: "siren of the sea" (pedicures coming soon). i even got some time to do my eyebrows, which were threatening to join forces in a united front.

after our spa treatments we took a walk around our town's annual village festival::

don't those look familiar? that's what i was going for. if little lu hadn't been so thirsty i would have examined these more closely to learn the tricks of the trade. but she wasn't having it and so, we headed home.

our final celebration was an over the top tea party. oh yeah, it was all good!

we wore dresses and gobbled cake. boys? what boys? 

 

 

COME AND GET IT!

here's another giveaway for all of you. this is one of my favorites::

lavender laboring pillows!! this one's for you::

maybe it doesn't sound that exciting but trust me, i made one of these for myself last year at this time (while awaiting the arrival of little lu) and it saved my life. i will never again doubt the effectiveness of aromatherapy! so easy to use::

thats just about the gist of it right there! although, when things got really serious, mine also doubled as an oxygen mask!! this may seem small but it will fill the whole room with the smell of lavender. squeezing releases the essential oil from the flower buds.

and please note; these are not exclusively for expectant moms, you can be laboring with just about anything:: 

trouble falling asleep

stress induced by rambunctious children

general stress 

anxiety

headache

ran out of wine

etc.

the scent is just so soothing. even if nothing is bothering you, a good whiff will do you right! i still keep mine handy right next to my bed! so go ahead and leave a comment to enter the drawing. i will leave comments open all weekend until later sunday night and a winner will be announced first thing monday morning. good luck guys! happy, happy saturday and sunday!

**these are made with my homegrown and organic lavender - - this year's harvest!!**

GOING GREEN, SALSAWISE

i'm excited to report that our garden has been consistently pumping out jalapeno's for quite a while now. its our first time growing them! however, i'm more than a little bummed that i completely forgot, for the third growing season in a row, that i wanted to have a tomatillo patch. seriously, i need to start writing this stuff down. also forgotten were the string beans and the chamomile. oh well. 

that aside, i mixed up a batch of my green salsa last night::

man, i love this stuff. sometimes i make a roasted version: throw all ingredients on a lightly oiled pan (aside from the lime - - add that later!) and roast in the oven until skin is just blackening, then process. but this version is really my favorite. so simple. i hull the tomatillo's......is that the right term? i'm not too sure, but its the same paring action that you would use on a strawberry so i'm sticking with "hull". moving right along; i then parboil the tomatillo's (just for a couple of minutes or so) after that, just pop them in the food processor with everything else and let it whirl. 

recipe/ingredient list:

8-10 tomatillos

1/2 or whole white onion (to taste)

1/2 clove garlic

2-3 jalapeno peppers (to taste)

the juice and pulp of 2-3 limes (to taste) - this should be a limey salsa

dash of olive oil, salt and pepper

so good. i hope i remember those tomatillo's next year.

here's a heads up:: there will be another giveaway on the blog tomorrow! good luck to all! these are one of my favorite things to sew up!

 

RHUBARB, THE FINAL CHAPTER

i promise. 

i realize three posts on rhubarb may seem a little over the top. i'm a little tired of typing about it myself.....so i apologize in advance if you are tired of reading about it. however, this next one is worth mentioning and provides just the right amount of closure. so here we go::

chopping::

yes, the strawberries are back where they belong! (i'm referring to the "just rhubarb" cake) 

now, on to the boiling::

and my personal favorite; the whipping::

followed closely by the folding::

 and the freezing::

strawberry rhubarb ice cream! i wanted to post a recipe with this but the one i used was ripped out of a magazine and i didn't want to run into any copyrighting issues, so i tried looking for one that was comparable. however, it seemed as though all the ones that popped up (such as, this one) involved a considerable amount of merlot! so now i'm starting to think i may be using the wrong recipe! don't get me wrong, this came out great and i usually make it at least once a summer.......but the semi-retired lush in me is thinking its time to up the ante! i've never thought about combining icecream and wine......ice cream with rum? yes, thats good. but wine is something i'll have to try out!

YEAH, YEAH, VEGETABLES....

this was the big news around here for today's post::

and although i'm psyched our garden is bursting, and the beefsteaks are super huge, nothing can compare to the news that i just received from one of my good friends. she is a fellow crafter with similar 'old lady' tendencies, who just recently texted me with a photo of crocheted bacon and eggs! at any rate, she sent me a link today to this::

(see the details here!) i cannot wait to get my hands on this. it will most definitely be my top christmas pick! for those of you who have never experienced the hilarity that is amy sedaris, please check her out. if you click on that details link and read the product description you'll get a pretty good idea. her first book is on my bookshelf and makes a great bachelorette gift. 

i won't even get into strangers with candy. if you've seen it, you know what i'm talking about. if you haven't, think: the sarcastic humor of the colbert report, but applied to after school specials rather than politics.

starting a countdown to november 2nd!