Summer Love

There's something about Summer that brings out the child in all of us (OK, so I grew up in the tropics where it's summer all year round). No matter how old you are, we all look forward to it.  The anticipation for the holidays, the longer daylight hours, the relax in schedules, etc, etc.  As a parent, I think we re-live a bit of that magic too.

No matter what it is, there are some things about the Summer that are quintessential. 

What is it about the Summer that you love or remember?  Here's our list and what we enjoy doing and hope to do:

• sunset/ dusk walks
• moonlight walks and flashlights
• picnics
• summer fruit and juice running down little arms and fruit mustaches
• little tan legs with tan lines around the bum.
• late night bed times and story hours
• popsicles in fruit and crazy flavors
• nighttime zoo
• full moon and grunion runs (we have yet to get out to see them)
• hot weather, cool treats.
• watermelon jello
• ice cream
• running in undies and hoses spraying 
• listening to birds
• camping and tents
• watching stars
• music concerts and summer park events
• trolley rides and fireworks
• sand, sand, sand!
• swim lessons and dance classes
• drive in movies 
• BBQ's and shandys
• family visits and holiday travel
• national and state parks
• little sweaty bodies sleeping in undies. 
• giggles and laughter
• spontaneous dance performances (ok this one is all year round)
• pies and tarts
• tomatoes, tomatoes... and LOTS more tomatoes.
• Sunflowers
• ceiling fans and cold showers
• fireflies and mosquitoes (I'm sad we don't have the first and happy we don't have the second). 
• thunderstorms and lightning (ok yeah, I really miss this, my children have no idea what rain is)
• pressing flowers and leaves
• ice tea and falooda
• bread and butter (and honey)
• hugs, love and family fun

We hope you have a wonderful and safe summer.  Please leave a comment and let us know how you enjoy your summer with or without kids.

Shared on: More the Merrier Mondays, Eco-Kids Tuesday, Tuesdays with a Twist,  wildcrafting wednesday, Wildlife Wednesday, simple lives thursdays, HomeAcre Hop,  small footprint family, Friday Nature Table, fresh eggs daily, Transformation Thursday, Thrifty Home,  Fresh Bites Friday, Wednesday Fresh Food,  Sunday Parenting Party, hip homeschool moms,  No Time for Flash Cards, Living Green Tuesday, Montessori Monday, Farm Girl Blog Fest,  Food Renegade, Eat Make Grow, Saturday Show and Tell, Kids in the Kitchen, Learning for Life, Mums Make Lists, It's Playtime,  All Year Round Blog Carnival

Baby Shower

Over the weekend I helped co-host a friend's baby shower.  It was a lot of fun to come up with some finger foods and to try out some different recipes or ways of presenting them.  The location was fantastic that it helped the food look amazing!

Hope you enjoy! Recipes are in links and as always I modify and change. 

 Button sugar cookies as party favors in green, yellow, and blue. (Pinterest was a great help in all this)

 Greek Yogurt Deviled Eggs

 Smoked Trout Pate in cucumber cups

Lemon bars in jars without the crust.  I used a Lemon Lime Bar recipe and only used lemons.  I added whip cream and toasted coconut to top off.  

 Ricotta Crostini with: olive tapanade, radishes and salt, smoked salmon and lump roe, and fresh blueberries with honey. 

 Almond and Jam Pastries.  I used Challah with fig butter, and instead of the whole almonds I used almond meal.  I made these for Easter, but with Brioche, both were amazing!

 Fresh cut veggies of carrots, jicama, bell peppers, and heirloom caprese skewers with a drizzle of balsamic and olive oil.

 Guests were asked to bring fresh pink and white flowers to help decorate and as a gift for mom-to-be.

Pink and purple vanilla cupcakes topped with whip cream and fresh strawberries.

(personally, I didn't like how the recipe turned out, the cake was a bit too heavy for my liking)

Shared on: More the Merrier Mondays, Eco-Kids Tuesday, Tuesdays with a Twist,  wildcrafting wednesday, Wildlife Wednesday, simple lives thursdays, HomeAcre Hop,  small footprint family, Friday Nature Table, fresh eggs daily, Transformation Thursday, Thrifty Home,  Fresh Bites Friday, Wednesday Fresh Food,  Sunday Parenting Party, hip homeschool moms,  No Time for Flash Cards, Living Green Tuesday, Montessori Monday, Farm Girl Blog Fest,  Food Renegade, Eat Make Grow, Saturday Show and Tell, Kids in the Kitchen, Learning for Life, Mums Make Lists,

Mediterranean Chicken Salad

A few weeks ago, I made this chicken salad for my daughter's school potluck.  I wanted something healthy and flavorful.  It's simple- if you have the ingredients.

Hope you enjoy!

• Roast the chicken in zataar, salt, a little sumac, and olive oil.
• When cool, pull chicken apart or chop up.
• Mix half yogurt and half labne (you can add a spoon of mayo if you want).
• Add salt, dukkah, finely chopped shallots, and rough cut dried apricots (I also added some homemade mustard).
• Mix well and combine chicken and yogurt mixture.
• Season more if you like
• Pour thinly pomegranate molasses (about 1-2 tsp max).  Mix well and top with more dukkah and apricots

Serve with Pita, veggies, or chips.

Shared on: More the Merrier Mondays, Tuesdays with a Twist,  wildcrafting wednesday, simple lives thursdays, HomeAcre Hop,  Back to Basics, small footprint family, fresh eggs daily, Transformation Thursday, Thrifty Home,  Fresh Bites Friday, Wednesday Fresh Food,  Sunday Parenting Party, hip homeschool moms,  Living Green Tuesday, Montessori Monday,  Food Renegade, Eat Make Grow, Kids in the Kitchen, Learning for Life, Mums Make Lists,

Kid's Tea Party- Kids help Host.

We had a few friends over on Friday for a tea party.  My 4 year old has been wanting to have some friends from school over to play and have tea with.  So, we did.  I learned that it was a great opportunity for her to learn how to host, and how to prepare for guests.  She cleaned up the house and got lots of things ready for them.  I allowed her the to opportunity to decide how to prepare, and organize things.  Giving this opportunity to make decisions and do things her way gave her the chance to feel in charge and happy to do things for her friends.  This is not in preparation for being little miss hostess, but I do hope that it will give her the confidence to make decisions and to feel valid in being able to contribute to the family and more importantly, herself.  I didn't set out for this to be the outcome, but in the process it did.

She washed and set up all the cups for tea.

She decided how to cut and set up all the tomatoes and cucumbers. 

The little one also wanted to contribute by helping, but we didn't server these. We saved them for our home snack.

I attempted strawberry goat cheese spread (chevre) with honey.  Unfortunately, I used too many strawberries so had to add in some cream cheese. 

We had a spread of apricot scones, almond jam toasts, cut strawberries (which she cut up), veggies, quiche lorraine, and apple strudel muffins which her friend and her brother made. 

She also loves pouring tea for her sister. 

Shared on: wildcrafting wednesday, simple lives thursdays, small footprint family, fresh eggs daily, Fresh Bites Friday, Wednesday Fresh Food, kids in the kitchen, Sunday Parenting Party, hip homeschool moms,  Montessori Monday, Living Green Tuesday, Food Renegade, Eat Make Grow, Learning for Life, Mums Make Lists, It's Playtime,