Quick blog update: I tried the restoring deleted accounts page once more yesterday and this time it gave me the message that "the account has been deleted and it is no longer recoverable". It's just so unfair. I know we made the mistake and that it's our fault to begin with. But if recovering an accidentally deleted account is ever possible, then the system Google has put in place to do so should WORK for everyone that is able to provide the information prompted. Why has all of my hard work been thrown away because of an "internal error" on their page when no one is available to help you resolve that problem??? It makes me sick when I think about all that has been lost and all the time I could have been sleeping/using my time more wisely. So I'm just trying not to think about it.
Craig suggests I go back and delete all the "frivolous" posts: the book posts, the dinner posts, etc. But I love those! I know I've said it so many times before, but the time we spend at the dinner table is collectively my very favorite moments & memories with my family - the good and the bad. Those posts aren't just about the food I put on the table, they are pictures of my family sitting at our table, setting our table, smiling or pouting with food on their faces, tasting their first blueberries as infants, savoring our fresh strawberry ice cream from the berries we picked earlier in the day, trying a new dish from an unusual vegetable that arrived in our CSA bag. You can see their faces looking older, hair getting longer, chubby toddler cheeks disappearing as time passes. I want those pictures to be a part of our story too!
But realistically, if I'm going to attempt to re-upload pictures to some of my most important previous posts AND keep up with new & current stuff, it just doesn't make sense to continue the dinner posts or to revive the old ones. Here and there, I'll still write about some of our favorite recipes and post pictures from the dinner table, but nothing of a routine nature anymore.
Turning over a new leaf...
Here's a favorite salad I made over and over this summer. So simple and so good when tomatoes and green beans are in season. Beans are lightly blanched. Pitted kalamata olives, halved. Hard boiled eggs, sliced. A drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt and pepper. Optional: a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. AMAZING. And filling.
The rest of these pictures are of the kids (mostly Sophie) helping in the kitchen. She loves to be in there with me, always grabbing her stool and dragging it up to the counter to offer her assistance.
This night (back in September) we were making homemade graham crackers, a la Catherine McCord of Weelicious.
She helped me roll out the dough between layers of parchment
, I sliced the flattened dough into rectangles and she poked in the fork holes. We make a good team.
Our finished product.
On this night, I boiled whole, small, red-skin potatoes for about 20 minutes and then spread them out on an oiled cookie sheet. I gave Sophie a cup and she smashed each one down into a flattened disc, like a pancake.
She also used a melon baller to scoop out balls of watermelon for our dinner.
Our potatoes were drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and put into a 425 degree oven for about 25 more minutes to crisp into deliciousness. (Idea from Pinterest.)
Also for dinner, we had our favorite mini meatloaves from Cooking Light.
Voila! Dinner!
This was something I've wanted to try for a long time, but just kept putting it off. Pumpkin cinnamon rolls from my favorite Smitten Kitchen. Don't know why, but I was intimidated. The rising times make it take awhile, but the actual work is not difficult or time-consuming. The stand mixer does all the kneading work with the dough hook (my favorite discovery). This is the dough all rolled out and ready for filling.
Brushed with butter and sprinkled very generously with a combo of cinnamon and both brown and white sugars, and rolled up for slicing carefully with a serrated knife.
Another rise and then into the oven, where they plump up and fill in the gaps that were initially between them when placed in the pan. And the smell? I'm sure I don't even need to explain how amazing it was.
Soph helped me mix up the cream cheese frosting.
And we spread it over the warm rolls. Mmmm. Please give this recipe a try! It's soooo good.
Cottage cheese pancakes happened one morning this weekend. Cracking eggs is a skill we're still learning. ;)
Will doesn't offer to help as much anymore, but cracking eggs is still a challenge that intrigues him. He asked to be a part of this.
We are definitely a breakfast-loving bunch.
