PDX Snow

Miss Maddy enjoying a few inches of rare Portland snow....

Snowtube Ride!

When in Buffalo.... Take a ride on Erin & Jay's sweet sledding hill!

Merry Christmas from Madeleine

New Taste Sensation

Mmmmm, broccoli!!! What could be better?!?

Cute Mom, Cute Baby!

All Fido wants for Christmas...

Dog day with Santa? Are they serious?

It's so cold that Mommy made me wear a hood inside!

Out for a walk-Brrrrr!

Shopping Trip

This is Maddy during our trip to the grocery store. What a big girl, its the first time she got a ride in the shopping cart! She's checking her shopping list, but there's only one thing she really wants..... Baby Mum Mums!!!

Yum Yum!

Check it out, Gretel made a 4-layer pumpkin cake with orange zest frosting for Thanksgiving! Yum!

Post Flu Shot

Momma, I just got my flu shot and I'm not even mad!

Maddy and Daddy

Brushing Her Teeth

If a picture is worth a 1000 words, I believe that this pictures tells a short story about how Madeleine bought us a new piece of art. A lesson for new parents: always have a toy on hand, or your child will play with whatever they can get their hands on! A link to the photo collection Maddy was bidding on is here (she bought the 3rd one down, of the Columbia Gorge). This will be coming out of her allowance for some time to come.

Happy Halloween!

Madeleine's first Halloween. She's wearing her "Boo!" orange sleep sack. And enjoying a Kit-Kat.

Crabby

Miss Madeleine enjoying a delicious Dungess dinner. My, how her diet advances!

(Almost) End of the Farm Season

Madeleine and I checked on the Farm today, and things are starting to look grim. There's been some frost, if not outright freezing, so the remaining beans and peas are starting to brown. In this photo Maddy enjoys the last good sugar snap pea of the fall planting.

We also harvested some Rainbow Chard to make yummy Braised Fall Greens with Fontina Sandwiches. Besides that, all the apples are done (having been frozen and split open), the rhubarb has died back, and the dahlias are on their last flowers.

We'll still have to get up there to put the asparagus to bed, harvest the sunchoke bulbs, and weed the overwintering beds (chard, leeks, sweet onions).

Baby Drama, caught on tape!

Standing Tall

Isn't she so cute and so proud? There is no photo trick here, but her head is resting against my thigh.

But besides that, pretty good right? Maddy is obviously happy with herself. I'm nervous for her though (thus my hands ready to make the catch).

Playing in the Leaves Part #2

naptime is over!

Playing in the leaves

KR2

Thank you internet, we now have a kohlrabi recipe! It turns out that kohlrabi comes from the words kohl and rabi, for cabbage and turnip. So its sort of an above ground cabbage-y turnip. Or, as I suggested in my previous post, just like an overgrown broccoli stem.

The recipe below works quite nicely, especially on a cold and rainy night. Feel free to bake on some bread crumbs too. Unlike the perfectly wonderful mincemeat pie I recently made, Gretel ate this KR Bake, so it had to have been good!

(recipe from the internet, but I can't remember exactly where from)

Kohlrabi Ham Bake Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 4 kohlrabi, peeled and diced
• 8 ounces thick ham, diced
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• Pinch of mace (can substitute ground nutmeg)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the diced kohlrabi and gently cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

2 Beat the egg yolk, and whisk in the heavy cream, flour, mace, salt and pepper until well combined.

3 Place half of the cooked kohlrabi on the bottom of an oven-proof casserole dish. Layer on the diced ham and parsley. Top with the remaining kohlrabi. Pour the sauce ingredients over the kohlrabi and ham.

4 Bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

KR

Hmmm..... Now that I actually have a kohlrabi, what do I do with it?

The package said that it would only take 50 days, and it would grow to be 3 pounds. One entire growing season later I finally have my first 14 ounce kohlrabi. So what do I do with it?

Isn't this thing just an over sized broccoli stem? Add steam, melt cheddar, pretend to like it? Or is it a completely different adventure for our tastebuds, some delicious fountain of youth? Do I feed it to Madeleine, hoping that it makes fussy babies happy and cute? What if it instead makes them fussier and gassy too? What if it makes me fussy and gassy?!

Cute Baby Picture of the Day

Cover Cropping

Well this is exciting, the clover is coming up. Planted the last week of September, it is crimson clover (I hope), which is the non-invasive one that's easy to keep under control.

NW Garden Theory states that a rapidly growing cover crop that is planted in the fall will out-compete fall and spring weeds, protect the soil from compaction caused by heavy rains, and will help dry out and loosen the soil come springtime. Even better if its a legume-like clover-that fixes nitrogen.

That's a good theory, but previous cover crops have never survived the winter. Or maybe they've never sprouted in time to survive the winter? I can't remember, so we'll try again this year, with crossed fingers.

Oh, and those are some extra sweet onion starts in the background. By planting in the spring we got 1 lb+ sweet onion bulbs this summer. By planting in the fall we're supposed to get even better returns!

Our Biggest Fan

Hannah models Madeleine's new summer bonnet. It's a little big for Maddy (so far), but too small for Hannah (although it seems to make her smile).

Chillin' in the Garage

We now have a big freezer.

That's all I have to report today.

Please enjoy this picture of a piece of formerly fresh and now frozen Silver salmon until I find some more cute baby pictures....

What the Rain Promises....

I can't tell you where the chanterelles come from. If you don't ask, I won't have to make up an answer...

Any way, Maddy and I stopped off at "RP" my top secret index spot today (so top secret that it's only known by its codename). In this spot I know there are supposed to be mushrooms, and if they're growing there, I know 2 other nearby spots that are probably producing too.

Fortunately, the first flush is there! Grade B and too much moisture content, but a good first batch regardless. If you're searching, check around 1500', north exposure, 30 year fir forest with mild undergrowth-beyond that you're on your own!

Bear-y Cute!

Lions, and Tigers, and Pink Bears, oh my! And a giraffe too.

Mobile

The in-laws don't think we're serious about building them a shed to live in when they come visit, but sheds can be really fancy. Will they be more enthusiast to find that I've built their shed already and.....

IT'S ON WHEELS!!

"Sweet in-law shed Dude!"

Mincemeat Pie

Apples+raisins+spices+venison=Mincemeat Pie. Meat pie? Indeed! Don't skip dessert just because it has meat in it...

Drinking like a big girl!

Interestingly, this same feat can be accomplished with a beer bottle or wine glass.

Your Cute Drool Picture of the Day

"That wasn't a sweet potato!"

10 bites of yummy sweet potato+1 unexpected bite of tart applesauce=distraught baby....

Swing

Daddy and Daughter time on the swing. She knows to hang on to the chains, she just needs to figure out how to pump her legs!

The Chicken Whisperer

Madeleine communing with her feathered friends....

Slouch

Thud.... I guess she still can't quite sit up on her own.