Citrus - my favorite!

My dear friend brought me tons and tons of lemons before Christmas. Her uncle grew these in his backyard - not in Kansas, of course! I have said this before, but we are so very lucky to have such generous friends.

Nothing takes the edge off winter like freshly-made lemonade. We used the recipe below with a very simple simple syrup, lemon juice and water. We had so many lemons that we froze some lemon juice for future baking and lemonade making. We also gave some away to the FACS teacher for her lemon poppyseed bread.

Perfect Lemonade Recipe
from: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_lemonade/

Ingredients
1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method
1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Serves 6.

Remembering Chicago

My yearly winter break ritual includes organizing my backlog of photos and scrapbooking projects. Some of my favorite pictures of the year came from our Chicago trip. We found some farmer's markets and ate amazing food. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.


Quartino features Italian pizza and small plates, affordable wine and really great atmosphere. I love eating at sidewalk cafes in the city.



This mural of bread was along the sidewalk when we were walking between Farmer's Markets on Saturday. Loved the vibrant image!

These small urban gardens were fun to see along our walk. I had just read a great book about gardening in small spaces and loved to see this example.

Look at these lovely heirloom tomatoes! Seeing them in December makes me long for fresh tomatoes.

Love the colors and shapes on this table.

I wanted the Cambell's Soup box, and the squash looked good, too.

This Kansas girl loves sunflowers. The markets were full of these beauties last July.

Love the cart that held the sunflowers and the bucket of glads in the front.

This is my favorite photo of the day. It had rained that morning and the flowers still had some raindrops. It was worth it to brave the mud at the largest market to see some great displays.

We love Chicago and cannot wait to go back! You can bet we will hit the Farmer's Markets again.

A giving heart

My parents are really amazing people. There are two examples of their kindness and generosity have helped people this winter that I hold dear.


My mom likes to buy gloves on discount. She usually finds them for around $1 in a giant bin at the grocery store. She carries them in her car and looks for kids who need gloves and passes them out. I think about how cold it can be in Kansas during the winter and what a small comfort it is to have some protection from the elements.


My dad is the luckiest guy I know. He wins virtually every raffle he enters. Right before Christmas this year, he won a turkey as part of a raffle the high school marching band was holding. He of course won. When they tried to give him the turkey, he gave it back to the school administration and said that he was sure there was a family that could use it this holiday. He told me this story with a mischievous smile, like he was letting me in on a secret plan.


I get a little teary thinking about these little things my parents do to help others. Small and unassuming, but big those they help.


If you are looking for a great read on altruism, try In a Heartbeat: Sharing the power of cheerful giving by Leigh Anne Tuohy. I love this quote from the book.

Do small things with great love.

- Leigh Anne Tuohy

Decorum

We found this lovely book at an estate sale this fall. Decorum: A practical treatise on etiquette and dress is digitized and available through Harvard. The book includes 1877 and 1879 dates of publication.

It is full of gems - advice on social interactions of all kinds, dress, letter writing, courtship and marriage, and attire in the late 1800's.

On Wall Flowers at Balls:
The master of the house should see that all the ladies dance; he should take notice, particularly of those who seem to serve as drapery to the walls of the ball-room, (or wall-flowers, as the familiar expression is) and should see that they are invited to dance. But he must do it wholly unperceived, in order not to wound the self-esteem of the unfortunate ladies.

On Love at First Sight:
No doubt these is such a thing as love at first sight, but love alone is a very uncertain foundation upon which to base marriage. There should be through acquaintanceship and a certain knowledge of harmony of tastes and temperaments before matrimony is ventured upon.

On Trifling with a Man's Feelings:
Some young ladies pride themselves upon the conquests which they make and would not scruple to sacrifice the happiness of an estimable person to their reprehensible vanity. Let this be far from you. If you see clearly that you have become an object of especial regard to a gentleman, and do not wish to encourage his addresses, treat him honorably and humanely, as you hope to be used with generosity by the person who may engage your own heart.

On Breaking an Engagement:
...Still breaking an engagement is always a serious and distressing thing, and ought not to be contemplated without absolute and just reasons...It is generally best to break an engagement by letter. By this means one can express himself or herself more clearly, and give the true reasons for his or her course much better than in a personal interview. The letter breaking the engagement should be accompanied by everything in the way of portraits, letters or gifts which have been received during the engagement.

What is the ruling on a text message break up?

This is such a fun look at the view of etiquette and dress for "the best American society" in the 1800's.

Summer finds & fun

In an earlier post, I mentioned the fantastic vintage photos we found in Atlanta. Here are a couple of my favorites. You have to wonder what mischief these boys were up to - classic brothers fighting and playing. Love the photographer's eye for everyday moments.

Our other fantastic find was this amazing store called Mingei World Arts. The store had so many beautiful and fine things, including a large basket of chapati rolling pins. We selected three - all lovely with a beautiful patina. You and tell that these were used frequently and the wear makes them that much more precious. They are displayed in my kitchen were I also have a bowl of domestic rolling pins shared by family members or scavenged at vintage stores.

My mom and I have been enjoying some time together canning. We are alternating between tomatoes - pizza sauce, pasta sauce and salsa - and peaches. The latest version of peaches uses honey in place of some of the sugar in the syrup. I love the time with mom and love learning about how to preserve great food.

The latest finds

We have been fortunate enough to travel a bit this summer. In Atlanta we spent some time in consignment and antique stores. Aside from my $23 JCrew suit, a basket of black and white pictures in an antique store was my favorite find. I picked out a couple of dollars worth, but should have purchased the whole lot. Shopper's regret - the worst!

The photographer had mostly candid shots - two had her caption written on the back. Any that made me smile moved to the keep pile. Here are a couple of samples.

And, the big decision is what is the project? How will I use them? Maybe cards or an art collage - they are just too great to be in a dusty antique store and not shared.

Summer bounty

Our garden has been producing beautiful tomatoes. Despite a serious heat spell and a lack of rain, we have had an almost constant supply of tomatoes and peppers. Mom and I have been bonding over some canning adventures. You will find us on a Saturday or Sunday in my kitchen canning salsa, pizza sauce and a tomato pasta sauce. The pizza sauce is by far the winner!

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/pizza_sauce

Our first canning project was salsa. We decided that we wanted to save ourselves the messy foodmill and clean up, so we would just blend the hot salsa. This sounds easy. You ladle the hot soup into the blender, zip it through, and then put it back in the pot. We violated every safety rule and had salsa in my hair and splattered on the kitchen cupboards before we were through! We decided that we needed a better plan and that led to the purchase of the hand blender. Best money I have ever spent!

My favorite part is just learning along side mom. A long-time canner, she has all of the details in her head. She is a stickler for cleanliness, has all of the gadgets, and just standing at the sink with her peeling tomatoes after a long week has been so calming. I bring the recipe and she helps me get it through to finished. We also love to hear the pop of the jars sealing when they are out of the hot water bath.

Next on the canning agenda - peaches!