march blackboard.

i've been trying to make an effort to grab my camera before things were wiped away, although a lot wasn't captured :( maybe in april i'll get more shots.
march seemed to go by so quick.
the big blackboard wall really added a lot of life and color and conversation to our kitchen/dinning area.

i'm one to encourage and fully embrace artistic expression, but not sad at all to report that as the month went on, the man/boys seemed to resist adding their little pee-pee art to the wall.

so here's a peek at our life (be it a bit random) in the month of march.

white chalk is boring. i want the big box of colors!

what's the weather today?

what's for dinner?

the american week starts with sunday so our menu board also starts with sunday.

in finland the calender week starts with monday, not sunday.
the weeks are also numbered and referenced by a week number.
do other parts of the world do this? i'm curious now.
anyway it's odd to me and complicated.
i cannot get used to it at a glance and honestly, not trying very hard to get it either. sorry.

more and more color was added. the board kept evolving.

on this friday evening, i made mr. c and i some crazy good cabbage/potato/carrot/onion latke (like potato pancakes but with other veg) and frittata for dinner.

i'm big on making intentional left overs as you will see. left overs pop up here and there.

most saturday mornings you can find me standing at the oven coffee in hand, waiting on cinnamon rolls in my green polka dot nightgown, so i guess that is me .

what's up with the one big boob, i do not know. the camera added 5 lbs to my lefty.

glad i didn't have my behind up there.

monday 'salad'. it was a big beautiful salad served with fresh rosemary poppy seed  focaccia i adapted from home cooking with sonya. she has great recipes that have become part of our rotating menu.

the stars and moon might seem just cute, but what you might not know is, we don't see twinkling stars and the moon all year. you appreciate them a lot when you don't have them all the time.

we have named this bird 'the weather bird'. he is wearing curly toed slippers. he makes me laugh. something about his stink eye and the foot position makes me think he'd be kinda sarcastic if he could talk. just me? or can you see it too?

sweet lord almighty it's been a long winter!!! hahahaha

the weather bird forecast is in celsius not fahrenheit. i'm at least embracing this C over F business. can i get a few points for that?

we've been out walking/hiking nearly every day, big hard 8-10k's to the frozen sea.

we slopped through some nasty heavy slushy snow/rain wind especially early-mid in the month.

back home family basked in 80f weather in march, in michigan that is craziness.

but here we were mighty pleased when we hit +4.

blue numbers are below 0. pink above.

don't want to put any more blue numbers on the board for the rest of the year.

sick of blue numbers and sick of snow.

mr c is easy like sunday morning. he really is.

during spring cleaning the cookie jars got a new home.

leaving me more room on the counter to make more cookies.

i keep the 3 cookie jars well stocked with homemade cookies when the guys are with us.

when they depart there isn't a crumb left behind.

we enjoyed some apple pie on our monday night dessert after a long walk getting caught in a hard down pour, then pelted with freezing rain and snow.

we came home drenched and worn out.

annnnd back to the oven on saturday morning

tradition for the guys... cinnamon rolls, fly fishing shows and coffee. 

boy #2 & #3 have their coffee (way more milk and sugar than coffee) and pastry with their dad.

it's a special bonding time for them. it doesn't matter if they watch the same fishing show 100 times. they are glued to it.

mr c tells them all the time...

marry the girl that keeps the coffee fresh and makes you homemade cinnamon rolls :)

reaching the end of the month weather bird says it's warming up.

real heat wave we got going here. sarcasm.

still have 1-2 ft of snow. but it is receding slowly.

that pretty much wraps march up for now.

looking forward to april!

hope the sunshine is shinning down on you where ever you are today!

xo tracie

story. theory. lesson. advise.

i've been on a mission.

a bit of an obsession really with trying to find old fashioned baked good recipes and then the task of trying to perfect them with the ingredients available here.

see pumpkin pie madness and recipe page if you are not familiar with my cooking mad.ness!

this recipe obsession is really quite a sad story. but a lesson to be shared and heeded by all.

half joking.

back story.

originally i had in my possession a small handful of old family recipes that were scratched out in long hand on worn out index cards.

they were written by my grandma. she referrers to margarine as oleo.

but i understand that kind of cooking lingo and can read her shaky penmanship.

in retrospect had i known the true value of this collection i would have handled this stewardship much different.

preparing for my big move i abandoned the pile of my fancy glossy cookbooks i rarely ever cooked from anyways and opted to take my rag-tag recipe cards.

where the trouble started.

i tucked them in the outside zipper pocket of my monster sized suitcase.

fact.

why in the outside pocket you might ask.

jam every square inch of a suitcase with your most prized possessions and tell me what you are really going to pack in those flat outer pockets of your luggage?

a pair of clogs?

a kitchenaid stand mixer?

the prized le creuset 9 qt. soup pot? (i am being ridiculous of course. the clogs are too bulky)

so with recipes all zipped in and safe i moved on with myself.

honestly i know i put them in there and i do not remember ever taking them out.

why would i. telling you right now. wouldn't. didn't.

after about a week or so of shaking off the jet lag i went looking for said recipes as i started getting acquainted with our new kitchen.

index cards, gone. without a trace. no clues. just gone.

over and over i have searched my luggage.

racking my brain for nearly 2 yrs trying to retrace a scenario when i might have lost my head and thought that i should remove them from zipper pocket and not take them with me.

no. i know i did not.

i knew i would be cooking here.

i cook it's what i do.

the theory part.

i can only come up with one logical explanation.

and i ain't pointing fingers here... i'm just say'n...

somebody knows the value of recipes that state oleo as an ingredient.

someone was tipped off.

somewhere from drop off point

*detroit metro

to layover

*amsterdam

to destination

*helsinki

someone riffled my suitcases. somebody got all up in my biz.

they passed over things of perceived value i put in there to distract would-be thieves from dingy recipe cards with scratchy penmanship.

somebody put a snatch on my granny's carrot cake recipe.

that is the ONLY reasonable explanation i can come up with for how my recipes went missing.

(me in a fit of laughter here)

the lesson part.

composed again. let us continue.

i am not careless with things.

preparing to move i photocopied every important life document i own.

i packed the photocopies away in a safety box back home.

God forbid something happened to me and the originals in the move. but i have it covered just in case.

the original docs.

in a folder on my person the entire trip, never out of sight.

i am a FREAK like that for proper care of original documentation.

i know i made that sound a little comedic but it is so true.

the slice of advise part.

your family recipes.

your grand's oatmeal cake with the perfected coconut to evaporated milk ratio with precise under the broiler browning instructions...

her blueberry betty buckle cake with the crunchy sugar crunchy top...

those oleo stained index cards are as valuable as your birth certificate and your passport

actually the later can be replaced with some hassle and money.

replacing the original time tested heirloom recipes... best of luck sorting that mess out.

still working on my replacements.

take the time, copy those lovely recipes.

make a computer file, burn that file to a memory stick, photocopy them, take a pic with your phone whatever your preferred method. just do this. they are priceless.

i beg you, do this.

and please share your gram's recipes with me :)

and thank you for sticking with me for another color tour..

i have figured out some recipes that come close to the ones that were lost and i will share them soon along with the substitute ingredients you can find in this part of the world.

xo tracie

feel better soup

the flu bug found our house. againnnnn.
MAD!
no actually more like psssssssssed.

i am a borderline o.c.d kitchen/bathroom cleaner any day of the week but when
cold and flu season hits i go into ninja germ fighter mode. 
no door handle, tv remote or light switch gets by my ocd-ness.

my best efforts have been in vane this last flu season.
prior to this flu season, my last real flu was in 2007. so you see my frustration with this!

the feb/march flu bug hit hard and fast and so much different than the one that rocked my world in december.

anyways after about a week of getting through the bad stuff i have crawled out of a drug induced fog and started to feel like me again...
mine was exiting...
mr c came through the door at lunch time in denial he was getting sick.
6 hours later.
his eyes glassy. he was droopy. sweaty. chills. red nose.
he asked if i would make a pot of tea and could we have oatmeal and toast for dinner.
he doesn't take sick days ever. today he's on day 2 working from home in robe under a blankie.

this pic has nothing to do with being sick.
it's a preview of our spring menu board i'm working on.
oh and the weather report.

on the upswing and wanting some comfort food so i went back into cooking mode.
a pot of soup and a loaf of bread fixes just about everything.
it's a pot of healing, comfort and lots of flavor. hearty. it's easy.
it is also versatile and can be changed up with what i have on hand.

this is my little twist on my go-to minestrone.
we call it 'that other minestrone soup'.
today i'm calling it 'feel better soup'

so hard to make soup look pretty :( but your tummy will smile :)

feel better soup.

2 T olive oil
4 md carrots chopped
3 md potatoes med sized diced
1 large onion diced
2 md garlic cloves minced
veg stock (i use 2 veg bullion + 8 c water)
1 diced red bell pepper (only like red or yellow)
1/2 c dry green lentils
1 can/box red kidney beans (rinsed) or white beans are good too
1/2 c (approx) frozen spinach (or a big handful of chopped greens)
1/2 c frozen sweet corn
1/4 t crushed red pepper (it's just enough to give it a little kick)
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t dried rosemary
1/2 t dried basil
*1/2 c mini bow tie pasta (or favorite mini)
sea salt & pepper (to taste just before serving)

sweat out onions in olive oil. add carrots and garlic. saute a few minutes.
add rest of listed ingredients *except pasta
simmer 20-25 mins until lentils and potatoes are almost done but still with some firmness.
add pasta now. cook another 5-8 minutes until pasta is al dente.
we like it best when the there is a little firmness to all the different veg and pasta. it took me years to figure out how to not over cook pasta and rice in soups... anyways...
this soup has a slight self thickening quality because of the veg starches/ lentil/pasta but is kinda brothy too. get it? not sure how else to explain it, we just love it.
makes 6 good servings

wishing you a healthy day!
xo tracie