fridays letters & thursdays pictures

Dear Friday, this summer you have been so tricky.  While everyone else is celebrating the start of their weekend, I know that we have one more day until Steve is home to be with us.  Oh well I still love you (just maybe a little less).  Dear Tutka, although I love you very much, this week you have been wearing my patience thin with your daily "bad doggy" moment.  Luckily you are making it up to me by laying on my feet and keeping them warm as I type this.  Dear cough, why did you have to visit Riggs and make him feel so bad?  It just hurts my heart to see my baby feel so bad and struggle through coughing fit after coughing fit.  Thank goodness for our amazing Dr. Amy for squeezing us in and making up an amazing tincture for poor little Riggs.

Dear cold weather (5 degrees, whaaa?), I really wish you could warm up, just a tad (maybe 20 degrees!  Would that be so bad?) and maybe even snow a little, so that things start to look a little more wintery outside.  Dear Kathie Lee & Hoda, you guys are my favorite and I love watching you every morning during Riggs' nap.  Dear Self,  it probably wasn't the best idea to take a running leap onto the very frosty porch in sandals this morning.  My toe, toenail, and foot are now throbbing like crazy and pretty painful to walk on.  No matter how fun it is to run around in the crunchy-frosty yard with the dog, maybe next time I'll remember to slow down and carefully step onto the porch.   

Dear God, thank you for my family and for giving me some of the sweetest nephews that there ever were. Noah came out to our house Thursday and we made quite the day of it.  Riggs was watching Noah's every move and thought he was very funny.  Noah even took time out of his busy schedule to take some pictures of me and Riggs (I think he looks pretty profesh behind that camera, don't you?).  There was also cookie baking, tower building, ball throwing, hot chocolate drinking, and cuddle/wrestle time on the cozy rug. 

fresh harvest

On Tuesday I made a trip to Pyrah's U-Pick Farm with my sister, Kelsey, and her boys.  We had a great time harvesting lots of beautiful veggies and enjoying the warm sunshine.  I went there for the first time last fall during their harvest festival and we had fun then, but it was so crowded.  This time was much more peaceful, and it was so much easier to find what we were looking for.  

First, we went to the huge rhubarb patch.  Both Kelsey and I wanted lots of rhubarb, and because of that we spent the most time there.  I got about 20 cups worth and Kelsey got about 22 cups worth - not bad!  My mom has rhubarb in her yard, and I plan on stealing some to transplant in our yard as soon as possible - I just need to remember next time I'm at my parents house.

It was fun to see the various crops in different stages of growth.  The boys really seemed to enjoy it too, even though they weren't aloud to go into the actual picking area.  We both let them help us in other ways though, and they kept themselves pretty entertained in other ways.

Riggs was a trooper in the Ergo, and I was happy that I remembered my hat to keep from getting too many more freckles.

We caused a stir in the Turnip patch when Noah suddenly realized that there were big fuzzy bees buzzing all around him and was basically immobilized by fear, unable to do anything but cry, very loudly.  We couldn't help but laugh, and a few of the other u-pickers had a bit of a giggle as well.  Poor Noah!  We tried to tell him that bees were actually very nice and essential to the growing process, but he didn't really care to hear anything about how good bees were, he just wanted to enjoy them from a safe distance, or the safety of his mama's arms.

When we got home I got busy processing our bounty, and we enjoyed a big salad with Steve when he got home, full of the fresh harvest we had just pulled gently from the earth.

Slow Cooker Potato and Sausage

I just love this and had to share
I'm learning to make today my favorite day

Yesterday I was in the mood for cooking something warm and hearty.  I had some time in the morning and decided to get something started in the crock pot that would slowly simmer and cook and be ready for dinner when Steve got home from work.  We hadn't had anything with potatoes for a very long time, and I had just picked up a bag of organic red potatoes at the store, so I decided to search for a potato slow cooker recipe.  We also had some natural pork sausage, and so this recipe seemed to fit the bill.  Of course, I didn't have any cream of potato soup or evaporated milk, so I had to improvise a bit.  My nephew Noah was here spending the day with us, and he helped me with some of the preparation, and played out in the back yard the rest of the time.  Riggs hung out on the kitchen floor, and then I put him down for a nap about half way through the process.

Here is the recipe and some pictures, hope you have a chance to make this at some point, it is delicious, healthy, and hearty!

Slow Cooker Potato and Sausage*

*this actually includes recipes, because believe me, the cream of potato soup was good enough to have on its own!

Cream of Potato Soup:

4 organic red potatoes, cubed (the recipe called for them to be peeled as well, but I didn't follow the instructions.  I love the peels!)
1/2 cup chopped organic celery
1/2 cup chopped organic carrots

pepper to taste

1 TBS unsalted organic butter

1 TBS unbleached flour

1 cup milk (I used 1% organic)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other cheese of your choice)

1.  Heat the vegetables and pepper in about 1.5 cups of water (recipe called for chicken broth, but boiling the celery and carrots with the potatoes makes a vegetable broth out of the water, and I didn't want to have the chicken taste), bringing to a boil.  Boil for about 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.  Separate the vegetables from the broth and add to food processor.

2.  Add about 3/4 to 1 cup of the broth to the veggies and process until smooth.  Add back into remaining broth and set aside (I stole some of this slightly lumpy mixture and put it in a baby food jar for Riggs in the fridge - if you have a baby you could do the same, it makes a perfect dinner or lunch food for them). 

3.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add more pepper and salt to taste, and then sprinkle flour over melted butter, stirring continuously.

4.  Pour in the milk and continue stirring until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the pureed veggie mixture and stir well, adding shredded cheese.

You can eat this delicious soup on its own with a nice crusty bread, but if you want to make the slow cooker potatoes and sausage, continue on...

Slow Cooker Potato and Sausage:

3 lbs organic red potatoes, washed and sliced (again, peeled or left whole, it's up to you)
Sausage - I used about a 1/4 of a pound natural pork sausage (no nitrates, nitrites or any other artificial ingredients).  You could use anything, from chicken apple sausage to bratwurst or whatever else sounds good to you, but I personally like the spicy flavor of the pork sausage.
1 large onion halved and sliced - I didn't have an onion so I left this out
Cream of Potato Soup from above, or two 10 oz cans of pre made cream of potato soup.
3/4 cup of milk (I used 1% organic)

1.  Toss the sliced potatoes and onions (if included) in the crockpot.

2.  Pour cream of Potato Soup and milk over the potatoes and sausage mixture and stir.

3.  Finish cooking sausage (if applicable) and then add to crockpot mixture.

3.  Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.
4.  Serve with homemade biscuits and enjoy!

I wish I had a better picture of the final product...I didn't remember to take a picture until I was serving seconds to Steve