Fall Flashback Photo

Something about the holidays always makes me feel nostalgic. Or maybe it's the fact that we're nearing the end of another year and yet again I have not caught up in my photo albums. Either way, I find myself looking back at photos of year's past (good thing they're at least catalogued in iPhoto).



Fall 2007 with my 2, 4, and 6 year old after a Saturday morning soccer game. My, how time flies!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today my Grandma Verle turns 90! Last Saturday the whole family got together to celebrate!

Grandma with her three daughters (L-R, my mom Janice, Jane, Michelle)

Grandma with my kiddos and me!

We had lunch together and spent time relaxing and chatting with each other. Some of us picked walnuts or pecans in Grandma's yard. The girls enjoyed relaxing with Aunt Jane's new dog, Marley. It was a great day to be together as a family and celebrate Grandma!

Escarole - Italian Wedding Soup

I realize I have been slacking in the department of vegetable posts, but who doesn't know how to cook or eat a tomato? Or corn? Summer in the San Joaquin is a joy!!! And all the fresh fruit you can imagine! But I digress...now we are coming up on the cool seasons with weird vegetables like fennel, rutabagas, or kohlrabi. Hopefully I will remember to post a new veggie every week along with a recipe idea of what to do with it in case you are standing in confusion over your CSA boxes or Farmer's Markets this winter.

This is escarole, a broad-leafed endive with pale green leaves. It is less bitter than the other greens in its family, curly endive or frisée. It is high is folate, vitamins A and K, and fiber. It can be eaten raw, or cooked in soups. You'll see it available in the spring and fall at Farmer's Markets here in the San Joaquin Valley. You can only eat so much salad, and with the weather turning cooler I chose to cook it up in a yummy Italian wedding (meatball) soup!

The ingredients for the meatballs, 1 lb. ground beef, 1/3 cup chopped parsley, 1/3 cup chopped onion, 1 large egg, 1 tsp. salt, 1 slice of bread torn into small pieces (or 1/2 cup bread crumbs), 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, and black pepper to taste.

Mix 'em up good! Kids have fun helping with this since all you need is two clean hands! Use a melon baller or cookie scooper to make the mixture into 1-inch balls.

Set a frying pan on the stove for the meatballs, and a stockpot on the stove filled with 8 cups chicken broth.

Brown meatballs on all sides before adding them to the hot broth. Simmer 20 minutes.

Give your head of escarole a rough chop. Measure out 1 cup of orzo pasta.

Add both to the soup pot and simmer until both are tender, 8-10 minutes. Taste your soup and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper as needed.

Next, whisk together one egg and 2 tsp. Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Stir your soup on a circular motion while drizzling in the egg mixture to create thin strands of egg.

Ladle into soup bowls and serve. Top with more Parmesan cheese if you want! Enjoy!


Recipe adapted from Denesse Willey in their weekly newsletter.

Happy Birthday Violet!

For Violet's 6th birthday we had a photo party. She has been out with Randy on a few "photo shoots" this past year (the zoo, the farm, and around town) and wanted to show her friends her pictures. In keeping with the theme, the kids decorated their own photo frames, drew their own pictures, or took pictures in the photo booth. Randy snapped a ton of pictures that afternoon! The kids had a blast dressing up and posing in front of the backdrop. Violet was very particular about wanting bugs and flowers (a garden scene) on the backdrop and for the cupcakes.



We made the bug candies the night before and stuck them into the flower cupcakes the day of. They were a big hit with the kids and so easy to make!



Happy Birthday Violet! We are so blessed to have you in our family! You are so fun and goofy...and missing your two front teeth makes you look so silly these days! Thank you God for the love and laughter this little girl brings to our house!

Halloween week

This past week we dressed up twice...for two different reasons! First, we went to see the Wizard of Oz with the Fresno Philharmonic Symphony. They projected the movie onto the big screen and you watched the whole thing with a LIVE orchestra playing the score. It was really neat! In the foyer was set up lots of places to take pictures, complete with characters from the movie. The best part? It was all free! All of the 3rd graders at Isaac's school were given vouchers to turn in at the ticket office to bring their whole family to the show! It would have cost all of us (Randy's mom joined us as well) almost $200 to go otherwise!




The kids dressed up for Halloween, of course! Even Randy got into the spirit, dressing as Darth Vader (which happened to match Levi, only let's be honest, Levi's costume was a step-up). This last one is Audrey, Violet, and their friends Lindsey and Ellie (a hot air balloon...too cute)! Violet also had fun this week going on her first field trip, to the pumpkin patch! Hay ride! Corn maze! And picking her own pumpkin to bring home! It was a fun-filled week!