Perfectly happy in their new home, my garden (or "gordon" as Axel calls it) is thriving.  Not being able to wait any longer, I just had to bring in a few crops.  I decided the Basil would be my first victim and after weighing the options, I decided drying the leaves into a spice would be the best idea.

First I picked the leaves, literally stripping the plant bare!  I laid them on a dish towel for a few hours in the sun and then finished the job in the oven (pre-heating to 200 degrees, turning the oven off, letting the Basil sit on a cookie sheet over night in the warm, dry space).

I am quite happy with the results.  After a night of drying, they were very easy to crumple into a crispy and aromatic spice!

A butterfly has also found my plants and I was able to capture his picture the other day. Despite nearly destroying the basil, it has bounced back in a matter of days, bringing new leaves with promise of yet one more harvest this season!

Diligence has paid off this week.  Over the course of 2 days, I have managed to create 6 yummy meals for the freezer.  Really, one of my most favorite things is NOT having to cook, and furthermore, not having to come up with the IDEA of what to cook.

Creating 3 pans of Chicken with White Sauce in Jumbo shells and 3 pans of Rock-n-Roll lasagna...I am tooting my own horn just a little.

Because I think I'm so smooth in the kitchen (and with this html stuff...like the new look?) I'd like to share my " 1 hour = lasagna for 4 x 3 ".



Here's what you'll need:
3 8x8 or similar sized pans (ones you can freeze in)
2 lbs of ground beef (substitute for veggies or ground turkey to suit your dietary choices)
1 box of lasagna noodles (usually 18 come in a box...but check first)
3 small-medium blocks of your favorite cheeses (moz, parm, romano...even colby)
2.5 regular size jars of your favorite pasta sauce (or at least one your kids will eat)
*feel free to add in other ingredients or keep it simple

Directions:
Brown up the 2 lbs of beef while boiling the noodles in a large pot.  I like to boil the noodles to "al dente" which is just under 10 minutes.
When beef is browned, set aside.  When noodles are done, poor off the water, rinse a little in cold and leave them in their pan with just a little water (so they don't stick...add a little EVOO if you like).
Grate ALL the cheese.  Pour the sauce into a bowl.
Make jelly rolls!  Lay noodle flat, top with sauce, meat, cheese...roll in thirds.  See photos.
Arrange in pan (pack 'em tight).  Top with remaining sauce and cheese.
Cover and freeze.

Seriously, thats it.  1 hour, with a little practice and NO interruptions.

If you can love yourself enough to get the process started...you will be patting yourself on the back when you pull them out of the freezer ready to go.

As far as cooking directions.  You can take it out the night before and put it in the fridge (but who remembers that).  I usually grab them about 3:30pm (when I remember that I'm required to feed my family EVERY night), place the frozen meal (covered with foil) in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 1.5 - 2 hours.  When the sides start bubbling, and you can stick your finger in a warm middle...GOOD TO GO!

Signing off last year, I almost couldn't wait 'til the New Year to bring you new blogs.  However, with all the tears and barf around here, nearly all of my new ideas were flushed right out (literally)!

Truly though, Happy New Year to me, finally on the 4th, all three of us have had our course of stomach bug and only the laundry remains.  Sorry to start the year off so nasty.  Hope you partied reasonably hard and drank an extra for me!

Perhaps when one is searching for family drama to discuss in a public venue such as a blog, you jinx the possibility of some occurring.  As I usually go by the rule that "no news is good news", I'll leave my x-mas synopsis at this: pleasant.

While we were on the road with kith and kin, our home yard received just shy of 2 feet of snow, all at once, and topping the nearly 12 inches already covering our sore excuse for grass.  hmmm...nasty surprise.  The week between the 2 coldest holidays in Minnesota was spent digging out, cursing our home state and dreaming of a better life in...say...California...Texas...really anywhere but here.

New Years brought on more than GI upset this year however, a week at 20 below zero creates cabin fever in a 2 year old like no other.  I must keep the curtains closed.  The new white fluff continues to taunt Axel...but there's just no playing outside this week.

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Although I am strictly against resolutions...because I can keep NONE of them, I do have a few "shop announcements" and a short list of things that may happen without "resolving to do them".

It is with a heavy heart that I am no longer advertising Crib Bedding in my Etsy shop.  Jahred has made me realize that I put WAY too much time and stress into their perfection, and really, I (he) can't handle it.  Word of mouth sets will no doubt trickle in, but I will no longer be advertising for linens.

As Jahred's school schedule picks up in the "sprint to the finish" (under a year remains), I may be offering less and less finished product.  Get it while you can. I plan to spend more time on pattern development and publication.  In that way, I feel it can offer more to the art world, and I will be continuing my "sew it and sell it" policy.

Above all, in 2010 you may see my craziest side yet.  The house will be back on the market, Jahred is SUPER busy with school and Axel officially turns 2. The fact that Axel insisted on wearing "moon boots" and "Lightning McQueen" pajamas to the mall today may just be a preview of what's to come.

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I'll leave you with this piece of advice.  NEVER feel guilted into making your husbands "favorite cookies - the ones he missed out on x-mas eve because we were are at YOUR FAMILIES - the ones his grandma makes from a family heirloom recipe".  If something to that effect slips out of his mouth (about cookies you have NEVER heard of in your entire marriage), just let it pass or say: "You can feel free to purchase the ingredients and make those cookies any time of the year Honey."

If by some kind gesture you decide he should have them, you may end up spending HOURS making tiny dough balls from a "SUPER SIZED recipe - one that isn't written out clearly - makes no sense actually - and has you cooking a sugar mixture to a specific temperature in order to make a special ICING - in the end you may just toss out half of the dough to save yourself the torture of rolling another single ball - perhaps the cookies do taste wonderful - BUT THATS NOT THE POINT".

The cookies may just turn out like this.  Although delicious, the recipe will just have to be modified to fit into your time constraints.  It turns out there's a reason his grandmother only makes them ONCE A YEAR...Christmas makes people do CRAZY things!

Happy New Year from my frozen tundra to yours.

Every autumn of our relationship, Jahred and I have found ultimate satisfaction in apple picking.  On HWY 169 (the 80 mile stretch of road we figure to have driven more than 2000 times together) an orchard sits atop the hill.  Along side the road, a billboard posts updates throughout the summer on the apple growth.

Starting out in early spring, the board may say "pruning the trees". "The apples are the size of golfballs"...thats the point where we get excited.  Watching the sign, gazing up the hill, and driving past...this is how we spend our summer in the car.

Late August and into September we are glued to the weather radar for a glimpse of that perfect weekend to ride the hay wagon, be dropped off at the special picking location, and to hunt through acres of trees for the most perfect apples.

The real reason I married Jahred wasn't for his "awesome cleaning skills", his "mad lawn mowing skills" or his "ability to wear even my home-grown haircuts"...it was because everyone knows the best apples are at the top of the tree...Jahred is 6'4".  (By the way, the first 2 example reasons to marry him are sarcastic...just wanted to clear that up.)

Today turned out to be THE day. We had the complete package; great weather, a kid that behaved, success at cramming more apples than humanly possible into the $10 all-you-can-stuff bag, and we came right home to our NEW "Ultimate Apple Peeler, Slicer, Corer" (UAPSC...as we affectionately call it).  The yummiest part of our tradition is creating an apple sauce that not only adds a layer of "stick" to our kitchen, it tastes GREAT.

To spare you the details of me crying over such a divinely created machine as the UAPSC...I will just tell you that over the past few years I have lost plenty of religion over the peeling of hundreds of apples.  This machine saved my life today, and perhaps my marriage.

While I was waiting for the apples to cook down into the apple sauce we LOVE because it's our OWN, Jahred took the boys for a walk. Therapeutically stirring and mashing, I wondered if the old apple trees notice all the couples like us that start with two holding hands and blossom into a family.  Each year I crave the smell a little more, feel more a part the earth, become grounded once again, and then I miss it for 364 days until the next autumn. 

peels are pretty...but cinnamon and sugar are yummy

My first spoonful...no matter how old you get, you never become patient enough to let it cool.