Hanging at the beach in September!

With summer on its way out I headed to Lake Michigan this past Saturday for a day at the beach with my fam. Who would have thought it could still happen? But it did and I loved every second. Even though I'm going to miss Summer, Fall is officially here and just as awesome.

To me, Fall means sweatshirts, caramel apples, hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps, cider, pumpkins, perfect chilly weather, pies, cross country running, hopefully a live football game or two and my fall movies. Yes friends, I have specific movies that I can not enjoy unless they are "season appropriate." "When Harry Met Sally" (my #1 favorite if I had to name one because I have about 50 number ones) fits the bill quite well.

Yes, some might consider it more of a winter flick, but not I. The Fall stroll through Central Park in the movie brings all my good memories of past Falls from when I was a kid playing and raking leaves to memories of high school when a bunch of us would hang out at someone's house, watch movies, or ride in the "Happy Horn Mobile" headed to our high school's football game or even somewhere random which many times was the case for our group of friends (This was great fun too and I thank my friend JLH for that.) Regardless of where we went, we would all act crazy and carefree..probably because of the weather (according to RHerr's old elementary school teacher).

The Fall play also comes to mind and I reflect on those silly memories of kids running around backstage learning lines, hanging out, flirting and gossiping, playing in an old choir room while the piano upstairs practiced and actors rehearsed. All of this leading to the feeling of the perfect moment...when you can feel your self living that moment and feeling like nothing should ever change; like it cannot change because this moment in life is perfect.

Fall for me is a very reflective season and a nice reminder of those happy memories. Of course as the years have gone by more new perfect memories come to mind and the high school kid (me) who thought it couldn't get better was wrong, it did and it continues to do so. As life has taught me, the perfect moment isn't a finite memory, rather it is the action of living your life to the fullest; realizing what a gift life really is.

Happiness, warmth, love, and friendships are at the core of those memories the Fall brings to me. I look foward to the many wonderful memories to come and hope you too will be part of those, my memories.

Cheese...No way? Whey!

Last night I made cheese for the first time. I made a simple yet delicious cheese with whole milk, white vinegar, salt, and some heat. I heated the milk and then added the vinegar. I let the milk sit a little bit while the milk separated into curds and whey and then with a sift and some cheese cloth squeezed out the rest of the liquid from the cheese. I sprinkled some salt on it and put it in the fridge over night. This morning I tried it on toast with some honey and was amazed at how delicious the cheese turned out. It was like a mix of ricotta and cream cheese...in the words of my hero chef, Jamie Oliver, smashing!

I have had this idea to make cheese for a long time now and finally came around to doing it. I am amazed at how easy it was. Of course, I will be making more elaborate and more time consuming cheeses in the future which will require rennet and other cultures, but this was definitely a delicious start.

I also used the whey content as it is highly recommended because of its high protein and low fat content. You can freeze it and use it in baking or in other cooking, or in smoothies for protein to rebuild muscles. I made a corn chowder with it and it turned out really great.

When I first made the cheese, I thought it would take a vinegar like flavor but because of the chemical reaction you would never know I made it with vinegar!

Click on my blog title for the recipe. The link will take you to the All Recipes website. I have received their newsletter for many years now and really like how you can tailor the recipe online based on the quantity you want to make.

Stay tuned for my adventures in cheese making! :)

The birds and the bees and my garden

As you can see from the pictures above, much has happened to my garden in the past two months. My garden is blossoming quite well. This summer I have spent many hours tending to this little garden and really learning about the crazy life of vegetables. I have spent many hours reading and learning all that I can about making this garden the best it can be but also planning next year's crop. It's crazy, but since I planted the seeds, this garden has been my little baby. Every morning I have gone out there to look at it, check its leaves, weeded, and have been waiting for the fruits of my labor to show up. This has been my morning prayer. The peacefulness of the morning, the birds, the bees and bugs going from plant to plant...it's amazing to see God's hand in all of this.

Already I have eaten green beans, green tomatillos and chillies. My beets are getting plump as we speak, my sweet peas are on their way, and the pumpkin, zucchini, and squash flowers are blossoming.

Which leads me to what I thought was a dilemma:

Earlier this summer, I had learned that the honey bee population was dwindling and the pollination process was going to be tougher. Because of this and because I started my garden much later than usual I was afraid that meant no pumpkins this season. I even thought about "helping" my plants along. After learning what I would have to do to help them, I decided I would rather give it the weekend while I went away for camping and fun near good old Normal.

After the weekend, I came back and snooped in the garden with good news... a few of them are on their way and all is well with the natural pollinators.

I'm so glad because I didn't really want to have anything to do with any of that business!