Our quest to hit every state park continues starting today. We are finally going CAMPING!!!!! Now it finally feels like summer the way summer is suppose to be. YAY!

The week has been good and summery. The mr and I started off the week with a picnic by a river and went for a little hike. We also took a coffee walk on the beach on different day. (We are really just trying to get outside as much as possible.) Then there was a day we checked out some real estate which turned into a hard pass, but still pretty cool. An old printing press. Too bad the building was shit and the dealing with the chemical aftermath alone was just to much for us to want to think about. Oh well.

What else%u2026.. We did a lunch with Meg and Barb where we sweated our way through bowls of hot soup and talked about things only sisters should talk about. I took a trip to the farm with Coco, Miley, and Barb to eat watermelon, play tether ball and pick flowers which coulnd%u2019t have been sweeter. Coco LOVED it down there (his first time there) and now every time I see him he asks me to go to the farm (SO CUTE!!!) And toppers. My garden is going gang busters and I have harvested sooo much greenery which is the best because all I want to do is eat greens.

Other big news, I gave myself a kitchen haircut. What is that you ask? We it is when I walk into the kitchen, grab the kitchen scissors, pull my hair out of the bun on top of my head and pull it to one side, cut off a chunk a few inches long into the compost bin, then place my hair back into a bun. Takes all of one minute and from what people tell me about how much they spend on their hair, saves me a shit load of money. Look at me, winning at life. On the bad news front, my wheels powder circuit board blew. So that means I can%u2019t throw until I get it fixed. Soooo pissed, but also grateful for the mr and him taking it apart for me, figuring out what was wrong, talking to the company, and sending the part out to get fixed. That right there. Love.

Oh and I have been biking all over all the days and up some pretty big ass hills so my legs are a little tired and sore which makes me wake up in the middle of the night screaming (my screams are become more muffled as I get use to the pain) with Charle horses. For real, the worst. But also kind of funny??

Anyway. Summer. And today is going to be great. CAMPING!!!! Allis State Park, one that we have not gone to yet. I am so excited! I mean, it is in the woods and theres gonna be hiking, and reading by the camp fire, and lentils on a camp stove. Sleeping under the stars. Maybe some bears?? How can it not be amazing? Yippie!!!!

Internet I looked at this week.

-Paper towels are the worst! How to Quit Paper Towels%u2014and Still Have a Clean Kitchen I am all about the car towels%u2026and old socks!

–Why New Zealanders Love DIY Coffins. Interesting%u2026 I think I might be into this. Not for a while though.

-Ah, Bread and Puppet. Magical and moving and all sorts of feels. At Bread and Puppet, a ‘Memorial Village’ Honors Departed Friends and Family%u00a0

-Now I don%u2019t feel guilty about eating soooo much hummus all the time. Your Hummus Habit Could Be Good For The Earth

-I get this question all the time. Or even better when people say, %u201cYour vegan but you still eat cheese and stuff right?”%u2026 HAHA. What%u2019s the Difference Between Vegan & Vegetarian? No dude, no.

-Plastic is bad, but so is using up a bunch of there resources. People seem to forget about about the other two R%u2019s%u2026 Reduce and reuse!!! Plastic Has A Big Carbon Footprint %u2014 But That Isn’t The Whole Story

–Stumble Upon Seven New Reclaimed Wood Trolls by Thomas Dambo in the Forests of Boom, Belgium. Pretty freaking badass

–My Mom Says You%u2019re Taking Care of Your Indoor Plants All%u00a0Wrong. There is some good advice here.

-I feel like I have been seeing a lot more red squirrels around these parts%u2026Still not sure. Gray Squirrels versus Red Squirrels %u2013 The Facts

-So true! Why is it so hard to finish a notebook?

And pictures from the week,

The mr has a thing for crackers, like if I were to name his top five foods, crackers would probably be in the top three. So I try to be a nice girly friend and make him some crackers ever now and then. (He says my crackers are the best) I usually make plain or dill pickle ones for him , but last time I asked if there was any other kind he wanted me to make. He named off a bunch of weird shit but also few good ideas and one was carrot. Sounds about right.

A couple of days ago I was feeling like the mr needed some crackers. I figured it was a good time as any to try out carrot crackers because Easter,bunnies, carrots.. You can see where I am going with this right?%u00a0 Plus I have like 20 pounds of carrots in the fridge so yeah.

Full disclosure. The mr, he really like the crackers so that’s good and what counts.%u00a0 Alex, my 12 year old nephew said they tasted like cat food. But he knows nothing.

The stuff. White whole wheat flour, carrots, salt, olive oil , and water.

Chop up carrots and place into a pot with water. Onto a medium heat to steam away and get all tender.

Once cooked the carrots get blended.

The carrot puree along with the oil get mixed into the flour and salt. The mixture then gets lightly kneaded into a uniform ball and .Let to rest in the bowl for about 5 minutes.

Roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.

Cutting the shape is a personal choice. I went with triangle because they kind of look like carrots?.. But any shape will do. After you cut them up, take a fork and pierce each cracker a few times to avoid air pockets while they are cooking.

Onto a baking sheet. No need to leave as much space as I did, they don’t expand any.%u00a0 Once you sheet is full, give those crackers a nice sprinkle of salt and get them into the hot oven and cook to cook. 15-18 minutes should do the trick.

And then you pull them from the oven and let them cool.

Now you got yourself some cracker.

-C

• 1 cup chopped carrot (about 1 1/2 carrots)
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt plus more for sprinkling

Place chopped carrots and water into a pot with a lid and place on a medium heat. Cook until the carrots are tender. When they are, puree them with the blender of your choice. You should end up with a cup of puree but if you end up with a little less, add water to make a cup. Too much and you can just eat the extra.%u00a0 Add the oil to the puree and mix

In a medium bowl mix flour with the salt. Add in the wet and mix until a dough forms. Dump onto counter and knead into a uniform ball. Place dough back into bowl to rest for a few minutes.

Preheat oven to 350

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick then cut into whatever shape you want to eat your crackers in. Take a fork and stab a few holes into each cracker if you want to avoid air pockets (the mr likes the air pockets)%u00a0 then sprinkle the crackers with salt. Place on a baking sheet. You don’t want them touching but can be packed closely.. Into the oven for 15-18 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown and have a slight crisp when broken. Remove and let cool..

Now Eat. With peanut butter, jelly, cheese or chocolate. This crackers are good for anything you eat with crackers.

Left over crackers can be stored in a airtight bag or container and will last for a week or so. If they start to get a little stale, just pop them back into the oven for a few minutes.

What do you do when you have a bazillion ripe bananas? A sweet banana bread? Banaer ice cream? Mash them up in your oatmeal? These are what I usually do, well these things and just stock my freezer full of bananas because I am pretty sure that there should always be bananas in the freezer. .

I went grocery shopping and bought like a billion bananas because they were dirt cheap (19 cents a pound) and why not. There is plenty of room in the freezer.

And it was a bread making day. I wanted to make bread that involved a good knead, that the mr could have as a sandwich loaf, and that had bananas in it. (I love adding fruit and veggie purees to breads) I needed a multi functional loaf that can be used for toast and sandwiches. So I made it.

This bread doesn’t have a crazy powerful banana flavor, just a light bananerness that adds a touch of sweetness and yum to the bread. Perfect for slices and slathering with peanut butter.

Pretty sure I scored on this one. It was well loved by many and eaten within days. Lucky for the mr I have a billion bananas.

The stuff. Some all purpose flour and some whole wheat (with germ) flour. A couple really ripe bananas, a little earth balance, salt, yeast, and water.

Peel and blended bananas into a smooth banana puree.

Add enough water to the bananas to make 2 cups of liquid.%u00a0 Add in the yeast and earth balance and blend that in too.

Wet gets dumped and mixed into the (mixed) flours and salt.

Wet shaggy dough gets dumped onto the floured counter and kneaded for about 10 minutes into a nice uniform and smooth ball

Once risen twice it’s size, dump dough onto counter, shape into a log and place into a well greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again. Second rise will take a little less time then the first, just wait for the dough to dome over the sides of the pan.

Once it looks good, stick the thing into a preheated oven, close the door, and watch it bake (for about 50 minutes)

Golden brown, hollow sounding, and the instant read thermometer reads 190….Bread is all baked.Now hard part. Let that loaf sit and cool completely. (trust, it needs to cool or you will just mush it)

Now that its cooled, you slice and eat. A loaf of bread with a slight hint of banana ready for you face.

The mr has been eating it toasted with peanut butter like I predicted or dipping it into his split pea soup. (he really liked it with the soup) Just suggestions.

Bye.

-C

makes one loaf

• 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat with bran flour (plus a little more for kneading)
• 2 rip bananas
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons yeast (or 1 packet)
• 2 teaspoons earth balance (or butter)
• 1- 1/12 cups warm water

Peel bananas and blend them into a smooth puree. Add enough warm water to the banana mixture to equal 2 cups of liquid. Add the yeast and earth balance to the puree and mix until fully incorporated. Let sit for a few minutes to active yeast.

Whisk together the flours (start with the lesser amount) and salt in a large bowl. Dump the wet mixture into the bowl and mix together with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until you can no longer mix. If the dough is really wet, add in the other 1/4 of flour. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead dough for about 10 minutes.

Place in a clean greased bowl and cover with plastic or wax paper and a towel and place in a warm place to rise. Depending on how warm your place is, it will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to double in size. Once risen, dump onto counter, shape into a log and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover again with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again for about 1/2- 45 minutes or until the dough forms a dome over the pan.

Preheat oven to 350.

When dough is done second rise, stick it into the preheated oven and bake. It should be in there for about 50 minutes, but check at 45 for a deep golden color and a internal temperature of 190. Once done, remove from oven, gently remove from pand and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled you can go for it.

Stay fresh for about 3 days in a air tight container, but I would slice and freeze any if not gone by then.

I had a few recipes  that I was going to make with the last batch of pumpkin puree I made. I ended up eating just about all of it with no frills, just a dash cinnamon a spoon and maybe a finger or two. .But I did have enough to make the mr. a small batch of these pumpkin rolls. A small victory in sharing!

Nothing fancy, just a little pizza dough, a bit of  pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and some brown sugar.

Roll out dough… It is pizza dough so it will spring back a bit.  Mix the pumpkin and spice together with the brown sugar then smear over dough, leaving a bit of a bare boarder.. For real, you could stop here and just make a sweet pumpkin spice  pizza which would be oh so delightful.  For the rolls, starting at the top. roll dough down towards you. Dont roll to tight or all the pumpkin will squeeze out.

Now that you have a nice log.. cut it into equalish sized pieces and place on a piece or parchment paper. I would definitely use parchment because these will get gooey underneath,. You can space them out, but I like to bunch them together. Its prettier that way.

Once in the oven, whip up the glaze.

A  squeeze of orange, a pitch of orange zest and some powdered sugar should do it. If you want to make a plain glaze, go ahead. Just use milk and add a bit of vanilla.

Once you pull the rolls from the oven, let them cool for a few minutes but you want them to be warm when you drizzle glaze all over them..

TADA!

Pumpkin Spice Rolls with Orange Glaze

Ingredients

• 6 0z Pizza dough or half a store bough pizza dough
• 1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
• 3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 Orange.. 1/2 teaspoon zest and the juice
• 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 375

Roll out dough. Mix pumpkin, spice, and brown sugar together and evenly spread on dough. Roll dough towards you into a log. Cut into even sized pieces and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, sift powderd sugar into a bowl and mix in orange zest. Mix in a few squeezes of orange juice until you have the consistencey that you want.

When rolls are slightly browned on top, remove from oven and let sit for  a few minute. Drizzle with the glaze while still warm.

Every year, the second weekend in August, the Stem family ,%u00a0siblings, %u00a0cousins, even my 94 year old grandmother makes the trip from Easton PA,%u00a0%u00a0come %u00a0together at, what we call, “the cabin.” (It’s more a house, but it started out as a cabin) . Its a little crazy, but such a good fun time.

This cabin, oh this place is %u00a0magic. The air, the tree’s the streams, the mountains, and of course the people.%u00a0%u00a0It’s all the things that I love about life. Some of my earliest memories are from this place. Hanging out with my siblings, running around the meadow or through the woods. Playing in the swinging holes. My grandfather pulling taffy or making orange juice box houses with my grandmother. The giant rocking chair that my uncle made and all of us kids used to play on. %u00a0So many camp fires and s mores.%u00a0There are just so many memories because it’s been a part of my life, my whole life. It’s one of my favorite places in the world.%u00a0

A little background on the place (what I can remember)%u00a0Sometime in the late 70’s, my uncle and my grandparents bought a big chunk of land on the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere Vt.%u00a0%u00a0After doing %u00a0some clearing of trees, they went to building a cabin.%u00a0(my aunt, grandmother,%u00a0and dad helped a bit too). It was amazing, but quaint.%u00a0A 2 story situation with a kitchen living area and one door to get in and out. At some point %u00a0my grandparent ended up selling their share to my uncle and he took over the entry of the place.%u00a0Over the years my uncle, (who is a carpenter, furniture designer,design professor,%u00a0%u00a0and all out crazy amazing person),%u00a0continured to work on the place. He has added on a kitchen, a second floor bathroom, new this, and that, but never has it once felt like a patchworker pieced together place. And now the place is more like a amazing craftsman home, with just the right touches of cabin, but with two running toilets,%u00a0a beautiful kitchen, electricity and running water ( There is even internet access, which sucks, but still).It is a little gem nestled on a side of a tiny mountain in one the most beautiful places.%u00a0

So an awesome cabin in the woods with a bunch of crazy, but awesome people= Stem family reunion.%u00a0

Here are some pictures of the shenanigans..%u00a0

New baby, lots and lots of littles, and laying the flooring. Never a dull moment over here.

Erin finally popped and pushed out a humongous adorable little human (Emersion Reed Scott… I call him murder) so while she has been doing that and hanging out in the hospital, her littles have been my littles. Needless to say, my house got trashed, my fridge is empty, and all the printer paper is gone. We ate all the beans and apples in the house. Spent after schooldays drawing and making weird shaped out of scrap wood and nails while the mr and I worked.%u00a0 Not to take away from my sister pushing out a gigantic human from her body, but hell, my body/mind are fried. Taking the littles is easy (feed them, let them loose on Nick, homework, watch Malcom in the middle, brush teeth, bed) but laying floor is hard. Lots and lots of tiny pieces of floor that need to be hammered and bent and fanagled. So many nails, nailing for hours and having all the pressure of not nailing into the radiant heat tubing. My body has contoured into a semi permanent bent shape and red tubes are floating over my closed eyelids.%u00a0 The mr on his hands and knees for hours with so many slivers… It’s fucking painful. But we love it (the floor) and the bit of pain is worth it. As for the littles, the are so awesome. They can stay with us forever. Oh yeah, and my Dad has made his way back tot he state where he left all of his children for a visit so we have been doing all that family stuff too. If only I could figure out how to get paid for being with my family.(we could do a reality tv show but I don’t think America could handle that)

I am cooking food, I just haven’t had a lot of time to like clean dishes, make things pretty, and catch good enough light to take pictures but I am hoping to get a little time to make an epic cake this coming week. I want to bake plus I want to start a project and see it finished within a few hours. I miss posting recipes and and I think everyone around me needs some cake. So look for that (thinking some kind of pumpkin chocolate situation)

And as for today, the littles are back home with their mother so the mr and I are going to floor some more until our bodies give out then drive into the mountains for a well earned visual spectacular of color. And coffee. So much coffee.

Just for a laugh… Judah says to us the first time we went up to the hospital to see his mom and new baby bro .”holy haha. Look guys look. He is eating moms nipples.” He couldn’t stop laughing. That kid, oh boy is he awesome. He also said that the baby makes sounds like a big fart. I agree.

Internet stuff I found during my late night browsing sessions.

-Dude, I might just have to move to Japan. Japan Wants to Reward You for Safe Driving%u2014with Coffee

–HOW VANILLA BECAME THE WORLD’S FAVORITE FLAVOR..is it yours?

-Into all of these hammocks. 5 Hammock Hybrids for Extreme Relaxation

-To the insurance company that doesn’t want to renew our house insurance policy because of our garden looks like we lack “pride of ownership” (for real what they said) Eight Reasons NOT to Clean Up in the Garden

-Ah, love this house.

–Do You Wish Time Would Slow Down? Yes, yes I do

-We are keeping the downstairs all white and light and bright. Inspirations

-%u00a0%u201cExtreme bees, extreme people.%u201d Six Scientists, 1,000 Miles, One Prize: The Arctic Bumblebee

-This is fantastic. To bad I didn’t know this hack in art school. Ingenious Hack for Sketching with Two Point Perspective Using an Elastic String

-I have blown up a few carrots in the microwave in my day. Snap, Crackle, Kale: The Science Of Why Veggies Spark In The Microwave

And a few pics.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

-C

Yesterday the mr and I bought windows! It was a total fluke but when we went to get our winter tires changed to our summer one (GOOD BYE WINTER), my brother in law (who was doing the tire change) gave us the keys to his truck and sent us to be productive with ourselves instead of sitting in the customer lounge drinking all the free coffee. So we ended up at the hardware store with the truck and no real expectations for anything other then browsing. But lo and behold we stumbles onto the windows that were just meant to be. So we bought them, loaded them into the truck (I don’t know how we would have fit them all into our little car..truck meant to be) and brought them to their new home. We now have six new wood interior, al clad exterior double hung windows (yet to be insulted) minus wait for it, one very large front door window.

Yup, I smashed the front door window. When we brought the windows we also bought a bunch of 2×4’s. While unloading them, I accidentally, but on purpose, smashed threw the front door with the wood. The door was starting to close on me and instead of just letting it, my reflexes got the better of me and I threw the wood, right into the window and apparently almost took the mr’s head off at the same time. Mother FUCKER!

Good times.

So that sums up the week. Some great ups, some down downs. Feeling lots of feels.%u00a0 Working a lot but spending time doing things like a little hike with the family and the pup, a trip across the lake with my mom and little sister to the Target, and the mr and I took a trip to see his brother and sister in law and the new addition to the family.. A 12 day old little nugget that is just to freaking cute. And it’s spring and the weather is amazing so I am trying to get out into the gardens and get that going too.

As for today, we are going going to keep plugging away at the house, gots to the keep the momentum going while it’s good. But I am for sure going to make a trip to the library, and plop my butt in some sunshine with a steaming cup of coffee and a good read at some point today.%u00a0 A little work, a little relaxation… And so much coffee!

Internet fun finds from the week.

– You can now do you business on this 18 karat gold toilet, on display and in use at the Guggenheim. The line might not be worth the wait.

-Check out this 100 year old lady boss. I hope if I make it to 100 that I can be as kick ass as her.

–Runners High. It’s for real

-I love this idea, but a problem I might encounter is that I would start drawing, not stop, then completely abandon my To Do list. Try Drawing Your To-Do List Instead of Writing It

-Oh Prince, you will be missed. Music and hair.. Prince%u2019s Hair Styles From 1978 To 2013

–Plant Porn

-I have tried meditation and I am so so, but this seems like it would be perfect for me. This new kind of meditation has you listen to cuss words

– Funky and colorful interior inspirations.

– And I am kinda in love with Dusty Rose Pink Velvet Seating.. just not sure the mr would be into it.

-I am in the market for new sheets and these or these are my new favorite (but kinda expensive)

And some fun time pictures.

%u00a0%u00a0 %u00a0%u00a0%u00a0I figured now is a good time to get this recipe out there before we get to far into spring and summer recipes because there is going to be a lot of banana ice cream filled recipe coming and I figured its a good idea to have the basic banana ice cream recipe ready for people to refer too.%u00a0 And because I made so much fantastic naner ice cream, I also made a cookies and cream naner ice cream for my sisters and the mister.

Comments that I got from my sisters and the mister when I made them this ice cream

-Sister one.”I give this my sister seal of approval.. It’s so good. %u00a0The first dessert you have made that I liked! (not including all the other desserts that you have made that I liked)”

-Sister two- “Wow.. it looks like ice cream and feels like ice cream and tastes like ice cream.. You should make me this ice cream!” (I was confused too because I was pretty sure I just made her some)

-The mister- “I am so excited for my new fly fishing pole!”

Ok, so the naner ice cream isn’t new to the mister and he IS very much excited for his new fly fish pole. So excited that he forgot to tell me how amazing that I am and to thank me for making him a big bowl of yumminess. (It’s ok, I forgive him)

And yes, this is probably one of the easiest, most delicious, healthy and amazing frozen dessert that you will ever eat. You will probably find yourself buying mass amounts of bananas and stocking the freezer until things just start falling out. (which is also ok because it’s only bananas and you can’t have too many frozen bananas)

%u00a0 %u00a0The stuff you need for this ice cream%u2026. Nice and ripe bananas, peeled and then frozen* That’s it.

To make it, place frozen bananas into food processor and hit the on button. Process the crap out of the namers until nice and silky smooth.%u00a0

*Note, the smaller the frozen chunks are , the faster and maybe a little easier for the blender to blend the naners into ice cream. So if you think of it, chop bananas into pieces before freezing or even after.

After all blended and smooth, either eat right away or scoop ice cream into a freezer safe container and stick in freezer. That’s the banana ice cream%u2026 %u00a0And it is amazing and so so so so so addictive. I make a batch, think I am only going to eat a scoop, then find myself eating half of what I have made, but it’s ok cause it’s only bananas.%u00a0

Now for the cookies and cream banana ice cream..One%u00a0batch of banana ice cream, either freshly made, still in food processor or made ahead and placed in a food processor and given a good pulse to smooth it up.

Add cookies in, crushing a bit beforehand and pulse till combined.%u00a0Now you have cookies and cream naner ice cream%u2026. and everybody is happy.

Scoop into a cup, a bowl, a freezer safe container, or directly into your mouth.%u00a0Be careful%u2026. You can still get brain freeze from eating naner ice cream too fast!

Keep it real hump day drum bum!

-C

Basic Banana Ice Cream

Makes one batch. Good for 3-4 servings

• 4-5 %u00a0ripe bananas peeled and frozen

Peel %u00a0bananas and stick in a freezer bag or container and freeze. When bananas are completely frozen, break into pieces and stick into a food processor or blender and puree until silky smooth.%u00a0

Eat right away or scoop into a freezer safe container for later.

Cookies and Cream Banana Ice Cream

• 1 batch banana ice cream
• 5-10 (depending on your cookie need) cream filled cookies like oreos or Trader Joe’s Joe Joe’s (These are gluten free)

In a food processor, blend banana ice cream with cookies.

Eat right away, with a utensil of choice in a container of choice.

Bowl licking is acceptable.%u00a0

We have been super busy the past few weeks and haven%u2019t seen any of the littles for a while and I am starting to miss them. So the other day, (when it was actually kinda cold. its been way to warm here!) when I was in the neighborhood, I stopped by my sisters house after the kids got out of school with pumpkin hot chocolate supplies and to hang out. Unfortunately, one of those littles (Miley Lu) was to cool for me and went to hang out with her friend, but whatever, that just left enough hot chocolate supplies to make the one that stayed the biggest cup he could handle, look through all his pictures, and sit around talking about his fart hole.%u00a0

Pretty great visit it I do say so myself.

This hot chocolate is just a little seasonal twist on regular old hot chocolate. I bet that some of you out there might end up with a bit of extra pumpkin puree come next week and this is a great way to use some of that up. The pumpkin make the hot chocolate a little thicker, a bit more hearty,%u00a0and adds a nice smooth creaminess to the drink. And some fiber, which is always good.

%u00a0Now all we need is some snow.

The stuff. Milk (any kind you drink) pumpkin puree, cocoa powder, crown sugar, and a pinch or so of cinnamon.%u00a0

Oh, and pick out your most favorite kick ass mug (it will just sate better that way).%u00a0I brought over the rainbow bug cause Judah loves him some rainbows.%u00a0

Dump all the stuff into a pot and stick it on stove on medium heat.

Whisk it all around, and continue to whack until the its as hot as you want it to be.

Pour it into a cup (preferably one with rainbows on it)%u00a0and %u00a0top it off with whatever you like on top of your drink %u00a0(I added a bit more milk froth and a spinkle more of cinnamon)

And serve up, to yourself, or to the monster little waiting for his chocolate fix.

Have a great day!

-C

Makes 1 cup%u00a0

• 1 1/4 %u00a0cup milk (cow, nut, soy.. whatever)
• 1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder
• 3 %u00a0tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar(more if you like it sweetness)%u00a0
• a pinch or two of pumpkin spice blend (or just some cinnamon works)

Take all ingredients and place into a pot. %u00a0Whisk everything together until fully incorporated. Place pot on medium heat and keep whisking until the hot chocolate is heated to your preferred temperature.

Pour into a mug and feel free to top with whipped cream, sprinkles, marshmallows or whatever you heart desires.

A week of weeks. The weather has been pretty grand, what with warm (maybe just a little too hot) days and cool nights. Stuff is growing at rapid speed and the world is in full bloom all the colors.%u00a0 I was sitting on the porch yesterday afternoon when it really hit me. It’s summer, like for real SUMMER. I need to start doing more of the summer things.

And to top it off, today is Fathers Day (Happy Day to you Dad, I’ll call you later and I owe you some cake or something)

As for the happening around here, nothing to crazy, well maybe a little. First off, the allergies this year are killing me and I have been in a semi permanentstage of snot nose, puffy eyes, and heady weridness all week. It’s getting old so hopefully it’s going to stop soon. Everyone is in full summer swing and we have been jumping around from here to there, babysitting, making dinner, helping out with things(I am the best). I picked up the second farm share of the year which was laden with so many greens that I pretty much have been eating only green all week. Oh, and talk about me being the best. The mr ( he is the best too) and I took Barb out for a few hours of driving and he taught her (and pretty much retaught me) how to parallel park. The next day she went and got herself a real drivers license.(hooray!) Another sister to bring us coffee during the day! (HA) We also finally got the last of the windows in and installed them at the new house which is pretty freaking fantastic. I am so in love with this house but am at the point with the house now where I am done working on it and just want to live there. Not happening yet, few more moths….

Today I think the mr and I are going to find a cure little stream where he can fish and I can read and ponder with my feet dangling in the water. You know, start doing summer stuff. And a bike tire, I need to get a bike tire ASAP. I have been riding around town with the tread of the tire duck taped on the tube (Shut up I know)

Things from the internet to read.

-One day I will have a cabin in the wood with an outdoor shower. 21 Refreshingly Beautiful Outdoor Showers

-Know what poison ivy looks like? Take this quiz on the nasty shit to test yourself…. nasty nasty

-I love this guys work, and I hope to one day see some of it in person. Christo%u2019s Newest Project:
Walking on Water

-‘Locally Laid’: A Humorous Memoir To Cure You Of Farming Fantasies.. But I still want to be a farmer (veggies and flowers, not eggs)

-I have been thinking about a both or banquette for the kitchen. Not sure if it’s going to happen, but these are cute

-Seventh Generation and Maya Rudolph’s Singing About Vaginas. Good stuff.

-That’s right folks, Oprah Winfrey is writing a cookbook.

-In love with this kitchen.

–Does The Size Of Space Freak You Out? Yes, yes it does.

–Thousands to Descend on Green Mountains for Rainbow Family Gathering.. Are you going? I was thinking about it, I mean, why not?

Some pics from the week.

One extra hour today! Did you or are you currently sleeping it? I woke up at 4 am which was 5am yesterday so I am hoping that I am going to get in a little nap at some point. That’s what is there for right? I love the end of daylight savings, I mean, who doesn’t love an extra hour. And also I actually really enjoy that it gets dark out early. Being the old lady that I am, I don’t leave the house after 7 but I love the night sky.. Now that it’s darker out earlier, I can drink it all up and still be in bed at a reasonable old lady hour. Whoa hoo!

So I am starting to think about holiday stuff, specifically the holiday stuff that could potentially happen in the new house. Then I start to think about all the stuff that needs to be done in the house before any holiday stuff can happen and then my eyes start to bug out and my brain does a wiggle and I forget the holiday stuff and start to freak out a bit.%u00a0 Then the mr is all “one thing at at time” and “we got this” and I am all like “ok, if you say so” and I calm down. Then I start to think about how soon the holidays are and the whole thing starts over again. So basically I am driving myself crazy.
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It’s been a long week, but some of highlights are

• Got our first winter farm share and have been eating so much celeriac and squash and parsnips
• The upstairs bathroom is all hooked up, like sink, toilet, and tub, and is looking like magic.
• The window trim is going up and all the old trims we saved has been sanded and stained and scrubbed all week long.
• The back porch is all painted and done
• A very large, rounded couch was brought home by the mr. (I can’t decide if I hate it or love it)
• I spent a good part of a day in the yard hacking away at the humongous thristle trees (they looked like trees) with a hand saw.

There has been other stuff, but right now I can’t think of it. We kinda missed Halloween. We worked all day then decided that the front porch looked to sketchy and dangerous for little kids so didn’t give out candy which really bummed out the mr cause he didn’t get any Halloween candy this year. Last night I was vacuuming the floor and found a grape.%u00a0 picked it up, gave it a little dust off and ate it. Is that weird? And I cut my hair. Just a few inches over the bathroom sink while the mr was brushing his teeth. Oh man, I think I might be losing it a bit. What I really need to do is spend some time in the kitchen . I realized that I have been so wrapped up in craziness that I haven’t gotten any l really kitchen time in a while. This week I am back to making more time for the kitchen and my camera and trying not to be so crazy. I’ll make you a salad, maybe some cookies. And soup. We have been eating a shit ton of soup.

Sunday YEA!!! Little sister Barb is coming over today and doing some helping. I was thinking we would paint, maybe even clean, but I have a feeling her help might just be to hang out, listen to the radio and dance party to every crappy song that comes on.%u00a0 harass the mr, and just make me happy. Maybe we will get to some actual work, but I won’t be caring if we don’t. But I need to clean at some point for sure cause he house is a mess right now and it’s driving me freaking nuts. Maybe that’s what I can do with my extra hour.

Stuff from the world online.

-Need to stay awake for this one. YES! Dave Chappelle is *finally* hosting %u2018SNL’ in case you were wondering if dreams come true

–A fantastic house.

-This is good because I don’t like to clean my coffee cups. It%u2019s Okay to Never Wash Your Coffee Mug

–Girl Scout cookie cereal. Really? Yup, really.

-So many different kinds. The Ultimate Ice Cream Glossary, A to Z

-I never had a cool lunch box (be sad for me) Beyond The Pail: NPR Unpacks The History Of The Lunch Box

-What the FU*K. Hitting the Elevator Door-Close Button Won%u2019t Make the Elevator Doors Close

–How Is A 1,600-Year-Old Tree Weathering California’s Drought?

-I needed to know, and now I do. How to Tell a Raven From a Crow

And speaking of birds.Shattered birds in windows

–Swearing Is Much Less Common Than It Seems…not in my family (or maybe it’s just me)

–All the pretty plants

and a few pics

What, you don’t have a large trough full of kittens?

Yup, that’s right, the mr and I are currently foster parents to 4 little itty bitty kitties and oh hell are they cute and stinky and all sorts of crazy. But lets back it up here. The beginning of the week started off like any other. Did some work, picked a shitload of berries and all the cucumbers, had the kiddos over for brinner (breakfast for dinner), you know, the usual.%u00a0 Then on Wednesday we went to Belvidere and spent some time with my family in the most magical place..We played in the waterfall, the mr went fishing, we found some cool rocks, just hung out with my people. Then it happened. Thursday, the mr and I were over at one of our apartment buildings where we have a barn that we keep all of scrap wood looking for well, wood. And there they were, a pile of freaking kittens, tiny as can be, living in the pile of wood in the barn. Long story short ,a few hours of super carefully moving wood, we managed to grab them all and get them in a box. And now they are living with us until they can find new homes. We have four crazy kitties that went from swatting and hissing to snuggles and love and now are the neediest little things ever.%u00a0 Only is mad at us and doesn’t want to come inside. I think he is jealous. We feel kinda bad so he got a can of tuna.

Barb came over Friday night to have a sleep over kitten party.%u00a0 I had planned an epic night of Wayne’s World watching (she hasn’t seen them..Asphinctersayswhat?) before the morning trip to Ikea, but the evening turned into kitten time. And honestly, it’s all turned into kitten time, but that’s ok, we will Wayne’s World party time, excellent soon.We did end up named them; Farro (the only boy) Quinoa, Tofu, and Jumper. Tofu because she is the runt and barb so tofu is the runt of the meat world. Jumper because she is constantly trying to jump out of the box, and Farro and Quinoa because we were talking dinner and that happened.

After finally settling down and getting a little sleep,%u00a0 we woke up. played with kitties, the headed north of the border to Ikea where barb and the mr eat handfuls of hot dogs, we got a new kitchen faucet and some clothes hangers, then drove back through the craziest rainstorm any of us have ever seen. We all thought we were going to die. But we didn’t because we needed to get back to the kittens..

Needless to say that today is probably going to a kitten heavy day. The mr made a little playpen for them to play in and I found that last night I ended up watching them for like an hour without even noticing.%u00a0 Plus they all pooped last night next to the litter and managed to walk all in it so now all the kitten are covered in poop and I have to wash them all. So cute, so nasty….this is my new life for a little while.

Email me if you want a kitten. (seriously)

Stuff I saw on the internet that isn’t about how to bath kittens.

–Gnawing Questions: Is Sugar From Fruit The Same As Sugar From Candy? Candy bar or bag of grapes…. Go with the grapes.

– How to Be Better at Stress. We could all be better.

-I have been on the seltzer wagon for a long time now. I drink Polar. Vanilla, grapefruit , and the new pineapple grapefruit are my favorites. Seltzer’s Popularity Bubbles Up In The U.S.

-100 Years in the Kitchen: A Century of Kitchen Color Trends. I am all about the70’s colored appliances. My fridge is harvest gold with wood accents and it’s the best. 100 Years in the Kitchen: A Century of Kitchen Color Trends

-I want one of these. I have a very real fear that me or the mr are going to lose some fingers. Despite Proven Technology, Attempts To Make Table Saws Safer Drag On

–A 100-YEAR-OLD, PERFECTLY PRESERVED FRUITCAKE WAS DISCOVERED IN ANTARCTICA. Eat up!

-My sister wore this shirt all throughout her tween and early teen years. This shirt and kissing Steven Tyler posters. She was scary.

–What Brands Are Actually Behind Trader Joe%u2019s Snacks? I knew it!!!

-So much neon light. Ultraviolet Break of Day: A Midnight Walk Through the Neon-Hued Streets of Asian Cities

–Traffic Accident Leaves Arkansas Highway Covered in Frozen Pizzas