friday, my four year old niece alaina came over to spend the night and the next day with us. what an imagination she has! the best was when she turned my crochet hooks into dental instruments. it was so cute watching john the dentist work patiently on alaina's teeth with two yarn needles.=)
we broke up our saturday with trips to the pop shop, the collingswood famers' market, and the local library. the weather was rainy and the last time i took alaina to the community garden, she wanted to go home shortly after. and i had to carry her back. so i didn't mention it this time. however, alaina surprised me by asking, "can we go that garden place again?" we sure can!=)
this time she ate tomatoes and lettuce straight off the plants. she admired each and every flower and wanted to know what the plants were called. she asked if she could pick things for me to take home. it was so sweet!
at the library, i read her some stories then let her choose some movies to watch later. she picked ramona and beezus and one of those teenie bopper's concerts whose name i can't remember. (do i sound old or what?) i chose mary poppins.=)
thankfully we didn't get to the concert, but we did watch about 15 minutes of ramona and beezus, which i enjoyed more than she did! as a child i loved beverly cleary books, and this was a surprisingly good adaptation. like many booknerds, i'm hesitant to watch movie versions, but ramona and beezus was pretty cute.
before alaina left, she told me i was her best friend, then sang a song about me being her best friend. there's nothing sweeter than her little voice. really there's nothing sweeter than just spending time with a child. i'm already planning her next visit!
we finally got some sun and i was able to photograph the results of my kitchen marathon.
first we have apple-banana fruit roll-ups. making fruit roll-ups is great because 1) they're a perfect way to use up ripe fruit 2) they're easy and inexpensive to make 3) they're a nice candy-like snack for when i'm craving something sweet and chewy.
i don't have a recipe for my fruit roll-ups, though my friend heidi has some good ones on her blog. what i do is throw about 2-3 ripe bananas and 1-2 apples in the food processor with juice from half a lemon per excalibur dehydrator tray. i've used all kinds of fruit with banana, like watermelon, pear, peach and berries.
when using ripe banana, there's so need for added sweetener. after processing the fruit until smooth, i spread the batter onto teflex dehydrator sheets thin, but not so thin that the teflex shows through, and dehydrate until dry and pliable anywhere from 110-135°. then with kitchen scissors, i cut each tray of fruit leather in sixths, roll them up, and store them in ziploc bags or glass jars.
rosemary and sage are growing gorgeously this time of year. i paired the two herbs to create savory flax crackers and raw pizza crusts.
a sweet version of flax crackers was made with apples, dates and maple syrup. they were lovely with a little peanut butter. i'd like to do some tweaking before i share the cracker recipes, as the batter was a little too thick and took a long time to dry.
my mom and i also had a nice two-and-a-half hour gabfest on the phone. we love to gush over alaina, and we're talking about doing a detox challenge together.
i hope your weekend was full of love, laughter, and yummy treats!
::floral divider source
we broke up our saturday with trips to the pop shop, the collingswood famers' market, and the local library. the weather was rainy and the last time i took alaina to the community garden, she wanted to go home shortly after. and i had to carry her back. so i didn't mention it this time. however, alaina surprised me by asking, "can we go that garden place again?" we sure can!=)
community garden 9/18/11
this time she ate tomatoes and lettuce straight off the plants. she admired each and every flower and wanted to know what the plants were called. she asked if she could pick things for me to take home. it was so sweet!
at the library, i read her some stories then let her choose some movies to watch later. she picked ramona and beezus and one of those teenie bopper's concerts whose name i can't remember. (do i sound old or what?) i chose mary poppins.=)
thankfully we didn't get to the concert, but we did watch about 15 minutes of ramona and beezus, which i enjoyed more than she did! as a child i loved beverly cleary books, and this was a surprisingly good adaptation. like many booknerds, i'm hesitant to watch movie versions, but ramona and beezus was pretty cute.
before alaina left, she told me i was her best friend, then sang a song about me being her best friend. there's nothing sweeter than her little voice. really there's nothing sweeter than just spending time with a child. i'm already planning her next visit!
we finally got some sun and i was able to photograph the results of my kitchen marathon.
first we have apple-banana fruit roll-ups. making fruit roll-ups is great because 1) they're a perfect way to use up ripe fruit 2) they're easy and inexpensive to make 3) they're a nice candy-like snack for when i'm craving something sweet and chewy.
i don't have a recipe for my fruit roll-ups, though my friend heidi has some good ones on her blog. what i do is throw about 2-3 ripe bananas and 1-2 apples in the food processor with juice from half a lemon per excalibur dehydrator tray. i've used all kinds of fruit with banana, like watermelon, pear, peach and berries.
when using ripe banana, there's so need for added sweetener. after processing the fruit until smooth, i spread the batter onto teflex dehydrator sheets thin, but not so thin that the teflex shows through, and dehydrate until dry and pliable anywhere from 110-135°. then with kitchen scissors, i cut each tray of fruit leather in sixths, roll them up, and store them in ziploc bags or glass jars.
rosemary and sage are growing gorgeously this time of year. i paired the two herbs to create savory flax crackers and raw pizza crusts.
my mom and i also had a nice two-and-a-half hour gabfest on the phone. we love to gush over alaina, and we're talking about doing a detox challenge together.
i hope your weekend was full of love, laughter, and yummy treats!
::floral divider source
You had a lovely weekend! My weekend was quite fun, too. I cooked pumpkin meals. And read "Linger" by M. Stiefvater.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great weekend. I love spending time with my neices & nephews, and kitchen marathons are the best! Your fruit roll-ups, crackers, and flatbread look awesome. A buzzing dehydrator is a happy sound :)
ReplyDeleteYour niece sounds so adorable! Sounds like you had a great weekend! Yummy pics!
ReplyDeleteThe raw crackers are very interesting, is that 110-135° F or C? Can I use an oven? It must be F otherwise it would be baking... I don't not much about dehydration :-).
ReplyDeleteCiao
A.
thanks ladies!
ReplyDeletelela, very nice! i'm excited to make some pumpkin meals. that's actually what i have planned for alaina's next visit. she kept asking if we could roast pumpkin seeds.=)
alessandra, it's Farenheit. i'm sure you could use an oven, though it probably wouldn't be raw anymore. i've heard of putting the oven on the lowest setting and keeping the door open a little. i'm not sure how energy efficient that is because it could take 12 hours or more. my flax crackers took almost 20 hours!
You had a grand adventure with Alaina, and I had one with my supercharged grandson. Where DO they get that energy?
ReplyDeleteAw, Alaina is so adorable - love how curious and happy and sweet their voices are. Love!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention. The thing about fruit roll ups is no recipe is necessary. Just blend your favorite ripe fruits to a puree and you're good to go!
ALL of your food here looks incredible! I need to make some flax crackers and pizza crusts.