Photo Project: Day 5

Posted by Melissa Baumgart

Day five, and more soccer.  But this time we were watching the Sounders whoop LA Galaxy's butt.  No matter how cute Beckham is, his team stood no chance against the Sounders.  We beat them 4-0!

 The sunset was absolutely amazing last night.  It gave such a beautiful glow to everything, and although these last three shots were from well after the 7:20 alarm, I wanted to share them as well.

This is one of my favorite sights in Seattle.  I love this clock tower.  I love driving north on I-5 and seeing it in front of the Sound and the Olympic mountains.  

The reflection of the clock tower.

Photo Project: Day 3

Posted by Melissa Baumgart

I was at a soccer field yesterday for day three's photo.  This was shot was taken of my son's friend's soccer cleat.  The reason for taking this shot was because between games (the one where, as Levi put it, "they got spanked" and the one, where they did the spanking) Levi and his friend went to the Family Fun Center around the corner.  While there, they had the good fortune of meeting Eddie Johnson of the Sounders!!!  The scribble you can see on the shoe is his autograph.

I was, of course, jealous I was not there.  For one, I love celebrity of any kind.  I know, terrible, right?  But it's true.  And this guy is pretty attractive.  Bummer I missed it.  With the odd lighting and the fact that I cut off the tip of the shoe, this photo is no consolation.

On the other hand, we did get to meet up with Justin Bieber at the Southcenter Nordstrom.  So, not a bad day after all!  You know how my whole life is inspired by the Biebs, right?  Here's a shot of Tallulah with my guru.

Celebrate good times, come on!

Posted by Melissa Baumgart
Like Kool & the Gang reminds us, when we find ourselves singing their hit song over and over again in our heads on a random Monday morning...oh, is that just me?  Well, not anymore, right? Sometimes life is full of reasons to celebrate, as has been the case here at the Baumgarts!
(I suggest clicking that link above in a new window and playing the song while you read the rest of this post.)

This past Friday, we had a small celebratory dinner to commemorate my acceptance into midwifery school!  Yes, I finally received my acceptance letter from Bastyr University into their Master's of Science in Midwifery program.  I will be starting the three year program this September.  I am looking forward to a life changing, self transformative experience throughout this next journey of my life.

Jamie's cheezy goodness.

The aforementioned dinner was a husband cooked success! Jamie found a recipe on line for enchiladas, I walked with him through his shopping expeience getting ingredients, and then he cooked them all by himself.  And they we so delicious!  Everyone loved them, even the kids!

Tallulah turned seven this past weekend!  We had a small birthday dinner for her on Saturday where we sang happy birthday and opened a few gifts.  It is the first time I have not got together a bigger party for one of my kids...no school friends, no theme, nothing.  I think we'll take in a matinee one day coming up, and invite a few friends.  And to be honest, Tallulah doesn't seem to mind, or have noticed.

Happy Birthday lunch at Gameworks!

 Lily played in her very first tournament with the select soccer team that she was recently invited to join. They won second place!!  In the finals, they played a team two levels above them, and almost won!  Congratulations girls!  Well done!

getting their silver medals!

In other Baumgart news...we have some new blogs that sprouted up:
Lili's (she is Lily's BFF and like a part of the family) Fashion blog, The World of Fashion.
Lily's blog on her love of the trapeze, A Beginner in the Circus.
Levi's blog modeled after a certain other blog that I guess he was inspired by, mini good luck with that.

Please check them out and let them know what you think!

Everyone around the world, come on...it's a celebration!  Wa-hoo!

Steady Now. We are so Urban!

posted by Melissa Baumgart
Friday

In the process of becoming cheese for lasagna.

We dined on homemade pinto beans and rice with salsa verde and tomato salsa, and a side of jicama red pepper salad.   Red sangria accompanied the meal.
It all commenced with a late night mozzarella cheese making session, that went on way too long.  (In preparation for the upcoming Sunday's Italian feast.)  Do I sense a trend in Urban Homesteading?  Very time-comsuming.

Saturday
You may have heard about Saturday.  Wow!  It was an epic day of homesteading.

The best deal at the market, $2.00/lb

Amy and I woke early to head out to the U-District Farmer's Market.  It is my favorite in Seattle if you are looking for straight up produce and food, not arts and crafts.  We quickly realized that the event of canning, which we thought would take us 4 hours in total (including gathering ingredients from the market), would indeed take us a but longer.  Little did we know, one of us would be asleep by the time the cans came out of the water bath.

Local potatoes at the market.

A side trip to a lovely Ace Hardware in Maple Leaf came with the overwhelming realization that fall has come to Seattle.  The streets up north were lined with leaves that had fallen and as we drove, the leaves continued to fall on the car like rain.  The hardware store is a great place for canning supplies, I just wish we had a cute little place like that on Capitol Hill.

Onto the Farmer's Market where we purchased 30 pounds of tomatoes, local and possibly organic.  In all, after I bought the cans and my share of tomatoes, I spent $49.00 for the complete canning experience I was embarking on.  It seemed like a lot, and had me wishing I lived in New Jersey or somewhere else where tomatoes are plentiful this time of year.

Food mill + Tomatoes = yummy mess.

As we walked past Golden Glen Creamery's stand I couldn't help be inspired by the cheese curds.  It's been weeks since I have had poutine, and I have been craving it even more since the weather has cooled.  After tasting the curds and chatting with the lady about what cows they use, I bought into my poutine dream fully.  Next was to locate the perfect potatoes for the french fries.  I was sold on the Cal White's.

The orgasmic poutine.

To make a long story short: par-boiling 30 pounds of tomatoes, passing them through a food mill, pureeing the scraps and passing them through a food mill, trying to simmer the sauce down by half; this all can take quite a while.  It can take all day.  Now we know.  It is messy, it takes a long time, and if you add in making your won poutine from scratch...well, that is just the icing on the cake.

Success!

I could have ended everything after that poutine, and died a happy lady.  It was better than Smith's.  And the post-poutine coma lasted til morning.  Poor Amy had to finish the canning without me, because I passed out.  I was sad to miss that fun sound of the cans sealing.  Amy assured me it was anti-climatic, but I think if we had been there together, Snoop Dogg playing in the background, she would think otherwise.



Sunday
Soccer and more soccer.  And then home by 5:30pm and fresh made, totally and completely from scratch lasagna and pesto fettuccine with green salad on the table by 8pm.

Lasagna.

Yes, I par-boiled new tomatoes, passed them through the food mill and cooked them down to a sauce, again.  I also, finally, succeeded at making fresh pasta!


I made lasagna noodles and fettuccine!  I whipped up a basil pesto from the gardens out front.  The lasagna was like to other I had ever made.  The noodles were so thin, and the cheese (remember, we made the cheese Friday night) didn't totally melt and I didn't have the usual amount of ricotta since I was working with the leftover whey to get it.  But it was very, very satisfying.  And I can't wait to make pasta again.



-Melissa

Four Golden Rules

posted by Melissa

Getting it started.

Today I find myself strangely unsettled, as in I feel like I am not settling into any of the tasks I thought I would accomplish today.  I am not even talking homesteading here, just basic things like doing the dishes or putting away the laundry.  I keep being magnetically drawn back to the computer and find my fingers typing "fa" in the spot for web addresses (what is that thing called?)  And there it is...Facebook.  Unfortunately it is slow drama-free day on FB, so even that is not satisfying.

I am thinking is am feeling this way because the weekend was way too fun.


Friday Fiesta
My birthday was Friday and we put together an outdoor paella feast (of which, I hope you are not tired of hearing about).  Amy shared a bunch of photos of the evening on one of her last posts.  We spent all day prepping and praying that the paella pan would arrive in time (I had ordered it from Amazon and had it priority shipped.)  Wait, no we didn't.  I went to the spa!  Oh my, I completely forgot about that wonderful time at the spa!  I got the Korean body scrub and it was amazing!

So, then, after that I prepped.  And patiently awaited the pan's arrival (It finally arrived at 4pm, just in time to get it seasoned).  I mostly followed a recipe from Sunset magazine, but kept in mind a few things from the book I had read to prepare for the day, La Paella.  In the book, author Jeff Koehler goes over some techniques and tips.  These rules, in particular, were referenced throughout the evening.

Paella's Four Golden Rules:

1. Do not wash the rice first.  (and I used bomba rice, not what Sunset suggested)
2. Do not add the rice until everyone is present.  (People will wait for rice, but rice waits for no one.)
3. Do not stir the rice.
4. Do not cover while cooking the rice.

The Masterpiece.

I followed these rules religiously.  Even while other's shouted their suggestion of covering the rice, I did not.  I could not.  It was a golden rule.  And I am a Virgo, we follow recipes to a fault at times and we certainly will not break a golden rule.  

There was one point, when the flames on the charcoal grill were high, and the crowd was wondering if the rice was burning and the timer still said we had a few more minutes to go, when everything really hit a peak of energy.  Everyone crowded around the grill and voices raised to a joyful, yet opinionated tone.

"I am throwing on the seafood!" I announced.

"NO.  No, the time isn't up yet!" They shouted.

"You have to wait!"

The crowd roared back.  But I just did it.  I threw on the shrimp and a few others got their hands in to arrange the clams and mussels all pretty around the pan.  Lily got her way and, sorta carefully splashed on the remaining broth and we waited again.  Timer set, eager to see if I had made the right choice.

Another wave of excitement came when the clams and mussels started popping open.  The shrimp was pinking up nicely and we all breathed some sighs of relief and refilled our sangria cups.  Mission accomplished.  Paella had been made and we were thinking it was a success.  After letting it rest for 5 minutes we uncovered it (yes, you can cover it with a dish towel after cook, during the resting phase) and marveled at the glory of it all.

Everyone contributed to the beautiful feast.  We had amazing appetizers, delicious gazpacho, a refreshing jicama salad, yummy bread, and a dense chocolate torte for dessert.  And as always at the Boathouse, the kids put on a performance for us all.

Saturday Shower

The "other" paella.

On Saturday, we went to a really lovely shower for some friends of our's new baby to be.  And guess what?  They had a caterer there making paella!  I could not believe it.  I hovered around for a while, asking lots of questions.  And then, when I saw him stirring his paella, I decided I would stop the questioning.  A Virgo, with golden rules as ammunition, cannot pull off an "innocent" question like that.  I would have come across as a know-it-all, after only making the dish once.  Yes, to a person that makes his living making paella.

It was the only baby shower I had been to that had paella, and also the only one that had a keg of beer and a bottle of bourbon.  I tried my hand at a new drink, beer with bourbon.  I don't suggest it.

Bubble fun at the shower.

Sunday Soccer
Two games of soccer and a cookout with some of our best friends concluded the weekend.  I was up late yet again and think I am paying the price today.  Yes, the dishes still sit in the sink, the compost has not been taken out for days, and all of the laundry that was once folded is strewn over the bedroom.  I have a plan for dinner, homemade pasta.  Jamie Oliver made it look like a piece of cake, he made the entire thing in 6 minutes.  Why can't I?

But at least I blogged.  I know my family will be so happy about that.

-Melissa

How is it afternoon already!?

posted by Melissa

Poblano chile tart

Like I said yesterday, today was my kid's first day of school.  I was excited for them, but mostly I was excited to start getting my house in order today.  And to get back into homesteading.  Those first two days were divine.

My plan was to walk to the Co-op, make bread, make a cleaning spray to use to clean my house, prepare a delicious dinner and enjoy it all with my family at home.

I made my list and walked to the store with Amy.  There I bought a sourdough starter with a recipe included inside for my bread making.  Although a friend offered me her bread recipe book, I still have not made my way over to get it and I have no bread recipes.  I also gathered ingredients for tonight's dinner, taken from a recipe in a book I picked up once at Elliot Bay Book Company, Chefs on the Farm.  It is from a Farm School in eastern Washington, which I would love to someday attend.

When I got home, I started here and there, and kept getting distracted.  I was all over the place.  I made the cleaning spray and quickly washed my bathroom sink and dusted my living room with it.  I did this, while groceries were barely put away and dinner was still an open cookbook that I had barely read enough to know if I would be able to accomplish the recipe in one afternoon.  Yes, it was afternoon by this point.  My kids started school at 8:50 am, how was it now afternoon?

My guacamole.

I opened the sourdough package I had bought to make my bread, excited that I would get to work on my commitment to three loaves of bread a week.  (What was I thinking?)  Turns out you need to create the sourdough starter and feed it everyday for  7 days! before you can even use it.  Not only that, but the temperature conditions are strict and the whole thing sounded very complicated and severe in its rules (even for a Virgo).  See ya later sourdough.

So, I was going to start on dinner, but then Amy stopped down to talk about the big birthday dinner we are planning for this Friday.  We went from planning a clam bake requiring 16 live lobsters and costing over $300 just for the lobsters alone,  to a Spanish paella feast.  Much more economical, and we can cook it outside on the grill.  Yes, that took a while to talk out.  And I had to order a paella pan, which meant reading reviews online (yes, somehow this fell under the rules of only essential computer use) and finding the best deal.

fresh salsa

By now it was time to go and get the kids from school.  Really?  Where had the day gone?  We walked back to school and then I rushed/ran home to go and get Lily from her Middle School.  You know, the one she hates.  I seem to be really good at helping her find just the right school for hating.  Then I ran home again to grab Tallulah and get her to soccer practice.

It was already 5pm.  And still the only thing I really got done that I set out to do was make the cleaning spray.  (1cup water, 1 cup white vinegar, 1 Tablespoon citrus Dr. Bronner's soap...very nice, if it looks chunky at first, it will smooth out)

Now to start dinner, and hope I had time to finish it!  I did, barely.  We sat down to dinner at 7:30pm.  We had a Roasted Chile with a Cornmeal Crust Tart (recipe below), Fresh Salsa, Guacamole, and Rice and Beans.  It was all so flavorful.

And now to say good night, and wake up to see if tomorrow's homesteading is any more successful.

when you least suspect it

 posted by Melissa

I was out at Levi's soccer game today in Ballard.  Seattle was covered with blue skies and big billowy white clouds.  Although beautiful, the clouds made it feel a good 15 degrees colder than it was when they blew on past, and the sun warmed you right through the fleece.  I walked directionless through Ballard after the game, looking for a place to get change for a bus, and then hopefully a bus stop.  My two youngest kids in tow, both whining about their own personal drama of the hour.  Whining loudly, non-stop.

Then suddenly the whining stopped. (???)

The first one I found, in the rain garden.

A park was spotted.  Just a little corner park, aptly named Ballard Corners Park.  It was quite lovely, with a rain garden, a cement couch and chair like you were in an outdoor living room and a fun playground.  Although it was enticing, when the kids first asked, I reflexively said, "No!!"  I could see more complaining in the near future, two kids more tired, more hungry...and one mom, with much less patience.

But they pleaded.  Don't they always?  And they both appeared to be genuinely connecting (rare) on this effort, so I caved.

The found mushrooms, just barely out of the ground.