San Juan Island - Day 1

 We just returned from a long weekend on San Juan Island with friends. The trip was perfectly timed as the summer quarter has been extremely hard on us, to put it lightly. It was nice to run away for 4 nights and relax and play in the sun. We headed for Anacortes first thing Friday morning and met up with the Welchs and Leverkuhns at the ferry dock.

 Our 3 families traveled together two summers ago and had a ball so we decided to reenact our adventure now that we all have kids. I must say it was really nice that we weren't alone in the kid department and it worked surprisingly well meshing the schedules of all of our offspring.

 

 It was both Isla (I think) and Emma's first ferry ride and Isla ate it up. She wanted to go upstairs to the deck and steer the boat.

 We couldn't have asked for better weather! It was definitely the hottest weekend of the summer on the Seattle side but we were fortunate to have an ocean breeze on the island to keep temps out of the 90s.

 The whole Leverkuhn family

All the kids were troopers despite missing nap time while on the ferry.

 Mount Baker!

 After arriving in Friday Harbor, we had some time to kill before we could check into our rental house on Garrison Bay (the northwest side of the island near Roche Harbor) so we stopped for a greasy but delicious lunch near the ferry dock.

Once we arrived at our house, the adult boys immediately donned wet suits (1/2 a wet suit for Jon and Graham) and jumped in the bay to swim across to a little island in view (the land you see across the water below). I was sure Graham was going to die because the water was ICE COLD but thankfully they all made it back. 

The rental house had lovely white carpet in the dining room. Bad idea. We had the bright idea of converting one end of the dining table into a "kids corner" and covered the floor with an outdoor table cloth that we found. Best decision I've ever made! It would have been the end of that carpet had we not thought to do so! It looked like a hurricane had come through after every meal.

 For dinner on our first night, the Leverkuhns provided the crew with four awesome homemade pizzas. Emma wowed the crowd throughout the trip with her amazing capacity to put away food. She started every meal before the rest and continued to eat up to 20 minutes after everyone else had finished. It was decided that she eats more than Britta!

 

Emma: 11 Months

Emma's development this month has been incredible! She started crawling on July 5th and my life will never be the same now that I have two mobile children. Sometimes I wish I could be in two places at once, like when I stumble upon the youngest embracing the plunger...

She is really pulling herself up on things now which is super exciting for her because she has access to so much more (the toilet bowl, drawer contents, folded clothes in the laundry basket). She can get her own toys out now which actually is rather convenient. We finally lowered her crib down to the lowest setting last night after walking in to find her gripping the rail and jumping up and down just the way her older sister was modeling for her.

It's amazing how much Emma understands. The other day Isla was trying on her sunglasses with Emma looking on. Before I knew what was going on, she'd crawled over to Mr. Potato head, took his glasses and was trying to put them on. So smart!!

She learned how to wave this week though she holds her hand the wrong way and like she is beckoning you. It's adorable! She also plays peekaboo and hides behind her hands when you ask "Where's Emma?"

She loves reading books, Isla's "Tails" one in particular, and she wants to do it herself and gets upset when anyone tries to turn the page. She has also started dancing when she hears music and loves to drum out beats on the furniture. 

She has learned how to make the "yuck" sound in the back of her throat and does it back to you when you tell her something is yucky or owie. She also learned how to spit which is quite hilarious. She usually does it when she is nursing and that's how I know she's done. I hear her spitting and look down and she gives me the biggest grin back. She's got a sense of humor, that's for sure! 

Isla and Emma have begun to fight already. They absolutely LOVE playing together but we do have the occasional sharing war. Emma SCREAMS at Isla if she tries to take her toys and then they end up in a tug of war. Sometimes I can't help but laugh - how does my 11 month old already know how to fight!?

 This next picture is a little out of focus but it really captures the blueness of her eyes. Emma is screaming a lot during mealtimes (and it seems to coincide with when her tray doesn't contain any bread). We've been teaching her sign language for "more" and "all done" to help her learn a form of communication other than screaming. She is getting it and waves her little hands when she it done.

Emma continues to nurse only on one side. She seemed to be fairly content with this arrangement but I was somewhat paranoid after talking to the nurse at my doctor's office (who, by the way, OBVIOUSLY didn't have children....) Anyway, Emma had a cold that she just couldn't kick so I took her in just to be sure it wasn't an ear infection or something. I was grateful for the opportunity to have her weighed and talk to a doctor in person. Sure enough, she jumping UP percentiles on the weight chart so our little routine is working fine. I plan to wean her at a year but at the time being continue to nurse her ~4 times/day.

We pulled out the kiddie pool for the first time this month and Emma was in heaven. She loves being in the water and with her new-found crawling skills, she makes her way around the pool and bathtub with ease.

 It only took about 2 minutes before she figured out what she could do with the pool toys. She was unstoppable and chugged at least 3 cups of water. Now when she gets in the pool, all she wants to do is drink it.

If that doesn't sum up my sweet girl, I don't know what will! :)

Dinner Party!

On Saturday night I had the pleasure of hosting my very first "field" dinner (i.e dinner on our back lawn) in honor of Graham's 29th birthday. I dream of making these dinner parties a regular occurrence when we own a "farm" someday. But I must admit I was quite pleased with how our little backyard turned into an outdoor oasis in the meantime.

The birthday boy requested a Franco-Italian 5-course meal and his Mrs happily jumped at the opportunity to make it fancy and special. When our guest arrived, we lounged on the patio and nibbled on an antipasti of salami, pecorino romano, parmesan, crackers, marinated artichokes and assorted olives along with glasses of a chilled Italian Prosecco and Raspberry Lime-infused water.

Graham's been dreaming of hanging white lights in our backyard for years and we finally made it happen. The ambiance they created was perfect!

  We have beautiful friends (as the following pictures illustrate). And we felt so blessed to have these very special people gather to honor Graham. Jaymie and Aleah are pictured below (Justin & Eli, we missed you!)

Britta & Jon

Jeremy & Rachel

Isla & Olivia. Amazingly enough, there were 6 kids present at the party but we managed to get them all to sleep by the end of the night - they filled every nook and cranny of our little place!

Jason & Earecka (sorry Ben & Oliver - you guys must not have slowed down long enough for me to get a picture!)

Once (most of) the kids were in bed, we began the sit-down portion of the evening with an appetizer: Pinot Grigio-Steamed Mussels with Garlic Toasts (my first time cooking mussels!) Graham picked out a delicious white wine that the our lovely sommelier Jason poured for us (2011 Les Pouches Saumur Blanc).

 For a little added excitement, each guest found a little slip of paper under their chair on which was written a unique sentence that they were to casually incorporate into the conversation at some point in the evening. This proved to be both challenging and quite hilarious!

Next I served a Roasted Beet Salad with Toasted Pistachios, Blue Cheese Cream and Walnut Vinaigrette (along with glasses of 2010 Briccontondo Barbera). I'd never made this recipe before but I must say the combination of blue cheese and beets was divine!

Because I worked during the day on Saturday, Graham prepared the majority of our main dish: Braised Beef Short Ribs with Wine & Cream, Roasted Mushrooms and Polenta rounds. This course was paired with a 2009 Incanto Vino Nobile de Montepulciano and a 2010 Sainte-Croix Syrah-Merlot.

 We finished with cups of decaffeinated espresso and Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes with Vanilla Ice Cream and Harvold Farm Raspberries. 

The meal was leisurely and we stayed outside the whole time. The party wrapped up just before midnight when our guests gathered up their sleeping kids and headed out. I'm already dreaming up my next opportunity to do this again...

Raspberries

Graham keeps asking me when I am going to start my food blog and I so badly want my answer to be "Right this minute!" The little hands that grab at my ankles and the voices that vie for my time make me skeptical it will ever happen but if I don't start now, when will I? Soooo, with that, I gladly present to you my very first food post in a long, long time! Hopefully there will be more to follow.

It's raspberry season and so what better time to share some of my favorite recipes that put these red beauties to good use? We went picking a few weeks ago and came home with 19 pounds to play with. My very favorite recipe for fresh raspberries is homemade freezer jam. I have my mom to thank for this annual tradition. We've been picking berries ever since I can remember and I used to enter jars of my jam in the local county fair to earn some spending money (thank you 4-H!) The recipe is not healthy by any means but since when has jam been considered a health food? Though he often tries to deny it, this jam was one of the reasons my husband married me. He got his first taste of this homemade stuff some 7 years ago on a Valentine's Day breakfast picnic and he's been hooked ever since.

I've made this recipe enough times to know not to mess with the ingredient measurements. The amounts should be exact (yes, I realize that's a LOT of sugar!!) or the jam won't thicken properly and you'll end up with jars of raspberry soup. Been there done that. If you've been itching for a delicious spread, make this. We love it on both toast and scones. Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Raspberry Freezer Jam

3 1/4 cups crushed fresh raspberries (do not puree - it should still have bits of fruit in it)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

Combine crushed berries and lemon juice in a large bowl. Gradually stir in 1 box of fruit pectin and mix thoroughly. Set aside for 30 minutes, mixing every 5 minutes to dissolve pectin.

Pour corn syrup into fruit mixture and mix well (this prevents sugar crystallization during freezer storage). Add sugar gradually, stirring constantly until completely dissolved and no longer grainy.

Pour into 1-2 cup size jam jars, leaving 1/2-inch space at the top for expansion during freezing; cover. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours or until set. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or store in freezer for up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before serving.

Makes 7 cups.