We waited until late in the afternoon to venture out into yesterday’s snow. I admit that I had to build up my courage to face the cold temps, but after a big bowl of soup and a few layers of wool, I was ready. Alex’s mission was simple : eat as much snow as possible, and my mission even simpler : quietly follow behind the little guy as he explored.
I think we’d both declare the mission a success.
I love Sarah’s 2015 resolutions, don’t you? Such a perfect blend of goals to improve her body, mind, and spirit, while thinking about others too. I’ve set a few resolutions for the coming year, but mine are a bit more modest, because if there’s anything I’ve learned since Little A came along, it’s that I’m not always the one steering this ship, and that’s ok.
Over the past couple of years I would come up with a long list of specific goals and resolutions, and then be woefully disappointed when I realized how few I accomplished. So this year, I tried to keep it simple, most of these are goals that easily integrate into my daily life ~ I’m already mothering, so why not try to do it with more grace? I’m taking photos every day; let’s make them better. As I was writing this post, I couldn’t help but also share a few of my pipe dreams ~ I didn’t declare these as resolutions when Calder and I were sharing our goals for the year, but secretly, it would be awesome if I woke up tomorrow with some kicka$$ leg muscles.
… because if I’m magically able to make these things happen amid the chaos and the bread baking and the new work pursuits, then I’m a magician.
Boy oh boy, the whole process of setting resolutions makes me excited for the year ahead. What about you? Do you have any resolutions? We would love to hear them, and I’m sure we’ll continue to share our progress throughout the year. Happy 2015!!!
Baby it’s cold outside. so. so. cold. At least that’s the case on the East Coast where we’re being hit with an Arctic cold front that’s bringing the coldest temperatures of the winter so far and setting records. We’re considering ourselves lucky that we woke up to single digit positive and not negative temps the past few days. Bundling up to go outside got us thinking about all the non-migratory animals and their strategies for surviving the long, cold winter. So, we’ll be exploring that today along with this month’s celestial events and a touch of what’s planned for our kitchens this month.
There are a number of different strategies that non-migratory animals use to survive the winter. In addition to the freezing temperatures, these animals are also faced with low food supplies and little to no water. Some mammals will hibernate, finding or creating a safe space where they will hunker down, reduce their metabolic activity, thereby lowering their body temperature, and wait out the winter. Some reptiles will bruminate, going into their own form of dormancy that’s similar to hibernation. Other animals will remain relatively active, living off of the food supplies they stored the previous winter.
Growing up in the woods of central PA, we are well aware of the local bears’ annual cycle. Catching glimpses of them in the fields and woods during the summer, knowing that they were gorging on food in the fall to build up their fat supplies, thinking of them “sleeping” the winter away, and then seeing that they raided the bird feeders in early spring when they are starving for food and in need of an easy meal. The bears typically hibernate for 3-5 months, and during this time they don’t eat, drink, urinate, or defecate.
The black bear’s method of hibernation is atypical in that they do not lower their body temperature as far as many other mammals, but they are still able to lower their metabolic rate by up to 75%. Their heart rate can fall from an average of 40-50 beats per minute down to 8! Because their body temperature doesn’t fall, the bears are able to remain relatively alert and may take advantage of relatively mild winters by leaving their den to forage. The bears may lose 25-40% of their body weight over the winter, using their stored fat to meet their nutrient and water needs, but surprisingly, they do not lose much muscle over this period. Since the bears are not urinating or defecating over the winter, they are able to process the nitrogen in their waste and use it to build lean muscle mass.
During this month or next, pregnant females will give birth to their young. The baby bears weigh less than a pound when born. They won’t open their eyes or begin walking for over another month, and even then they will weigh less than two pounds!
Beavers are an example of a mammal that doesn’t migrate or hibernate, instead it remains relatively active and relies on food it stockpiles for the season.
Every fall with the return of frost, beavers begin preparing their dens for winter. They add a fresh coating of mud to their dens. The mud freezes with the colder temperatures, creating a solid barrier against predators. While preparing their dens, they are also gathering sticks and logs for their winter food supply. Beavers are herbivores, feeding off the tender underbark of Aspens, Willow, Birch, and Maple along with other aquatic plants. The beavers are able to leave their dens through underwater openings, giving them access to their food supply even when their pond is frozen.
Unlike the bears and beavers we’ve mentioned, many frogs have a very unique method for surviving the winter. The gray tree frog bruminates, which is often called hibernation, but involves different metabolic processes. As cold weather approaches, the frogs burrow under roots and leaves. As the temperatures drop below freezing, ice crystals will form under the frog’s skin, and in their bladder and body cavity, but not in their vital organs! A high concentration of glucose in their organs acts as an antifreeze protecting them until spring. When frozen, the frogs will also stop breathing and their heart will stop beating. Once the warmer temperatures of spring arrive, their bodies will thaw and their organs will begin functioning again. {amaze.balls.}
The January skies are quiet! We’re posting this so late in the month that we’ve already missed the Quadrantids Meteor Shower on the 3rd and 4th as well as the full moon on the 5th. But hey, there’s a new moon coming up on January 20th, and the dark skies will be a great time to bundle up and do some winter stargazing.
Fun Fact : many moons ago (heehee), we talked about the names given to the full moons. While researching today’s post, we learned about another name for the January full moon ~ the Bear Moon, because this is often the month when the hibernating bears give birth.
While many farmers’ fields may be For us it’s going to be a month of eating like the beavers; digging into the potatoes, squash, and other hardy winter veggies that we’ve stockpiled from our farmshare. I’m sure there will be many soups, but Sarah just gave me the cookbook Plenty for Christmas, so I’m excited to do some experimenting with our vegetable dishes. I’m also armed with a new pressure cooker and our pantry full of dried beans, because, you know, they’re good for your heart. On the fruit front, we’ll still be eating piles of oranges and indulging in the final weeks of pomegranate season!
It seems like the whole world slows down in January. We didn’t see any amazing festivals or holidays on the horizon, but maybe we’re missing something? Do you know of any?
We’re planning on indulging in the quiet darkness of this month. Spending plenty of evenings in front of the fire, catching up on our reading, and planning for the coming year. We hope this month affords you the same mellow moments.
This is Alex’s second winter and the second year that we took the little guy out on a snowshoeing adventure during our Christmas break. If you like to get outside for exercise and have a little one that’s too small for many winter sports but is happy to be bundled up and spend a bit of time out in the cold, then this is a great family winter activity!
In our case, Alex is still too little to ski and pregnancy is limiting my options this year, but snowshoeing is the one outdoor activity that we can all do (other than our many, many walks around the neighborhood pulling the little guy in his sled!).
Planning for an afternoon snowshoeing adventure is relatively simple:
It was a cold day, so we only stayed out for about 20-30 minutes, but that was plenty of time for a good walk. *** Quick note ~ this is where we should mention that if you’re pregnant you may want to proceed at your own risk (or, talk to your favorite doc first). While Calder and Alex went on a larger loop, I realized that at such a high altitude it was better for me to take it slow and walk with them at the beginning and end of their loop rather than push my limits. If you exercise regularly, a vigorous snowshoe at lower altitudes while pregnant is much less of an issue.
This turned out to be one of those perfectly planned days where we were able to meet everyone’s fun quota. We rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, which makes the whole adventure even more fun for little ones! Calder carried along his skis and was able to put in a few runs after our walk while Alex and I warmed up by the lodge’s fir. Then we all had lunch before Alex and I rode the Gondola down and Calder took another run to the bottom of the mountain.
At that was it ~ our simple but fun snowshoeing adventure for the whole, growing family… we’re hoping to fit in a few more trips this winter, and I’m already imagining next year’s adventure when we’ll have two little ones in packs!
Christmas is so close! Today we’re popping in with a couple of orange treats : candied rinds and orange-flavored marshmallows. Both recipes are so easy to make, take relatively little time (so you’ll still have time to make them when you’re up late waiting for Santa), and they make a unique addition to any dessert table and hot cocoa mug!
First up, the candied rinds. I like to use a combination of orange and grapefruit for this recipe. It’s nice having the two flavors, but I also really like the variation in color that using more than one variety of citrus provides. Candying the rinds requires boiling them in a sweet syrup before rolling them in sugar, and while both steps are meant to create a sweet, candy, the finished rinds can still have a some bitter undertones that may make your lips pucker. This is one of those flavors that keeps some people coming back for more while others (Calder) pass after their first sample.
I use a technique that I learned years ago from Martha Stewart, and it’s consistently worked well over the years. But I’ve noticed that she offers a number of different methods for candying citrus rinds on her website, and they vary widely in both the ingredient ratios and the cooking times, so if your variation differs from my, by all means, stick with what you know.
I think these make a great addition to any cookie or chocolate tray, but they would also be a fantastic garnish on a slice of chocolate cake or (minus the chocolate) in your Christmas-morning mimosas!
Next up, orange-flavored marshmallows! I’m in love with these. The first time I made marshmallows was last February, and making them a second time just confirmed how easy it is to produce these light and fluffy sweets! I used the exact same corn syrup-free recipe, with the exception of using orange extract in place of the vanilla and orange dye in place of the red. Otherwise, I followed the tips and steps to a T, so rather than retype everything, I’ll just redirect you to that post and below I’ll share the fluffy orange-y goodness in photos.
The real magic happens in this recipe when you start to beat the hot liquid with an electric mixer. Before your eyes the tan liquid turns white and expands as air is incorporated.
Once you’re done whipping the marshmallows, it’s just a matter of deciding what to do with them, and you have a few options. Are you going to add a color? I like playing with marbling. With my last batch, I mentioned that I was too reserved with the marbling, so I tried to go bigger this time. I poured half of the marshmallows into a square baking dish, then added red and yellow dye that I blended together as I marbled it through that layer. I then poured the rest of the marshmallow into the pan and again, mixed it slightly to move the dye up into the second layer. As you can see from the first marshmallow photo, I ended up with some pretty good orange streaks. You can also go with a solid color, or you can try stripes!
In addition to color, you can think about size and shape. I go for the big, fluffy squares, but since it’s the holiday, you may want to use cookie cutters to make shapes. If so, then pour your marshmallows into a larger dish to create a thinner layer that’s easy to cut out.
Ok, now once your marshmallows have cooled, you just have the hard job of deciding how to eat and gift them. Start by dipping some in a big mug of hot cocoa, or let them a while and melt right into your mug. I did that today, and it creates this really tasty orange marshmallow layer on top of the cocoa, with each sip you get a bit of the melted, gooey orange flavor and it’s amazing. If you’re not going to keep them all to yourself, you could package up a few marshmallows and pair them with a good cocoa as a stocking stuffer. Just make sure to use an airtight bag for packaging, because you don’t want them to dry out before they’re enjoyed.
There you have it ~ two ways to add a note of citrus to your holiday! Now we’re off to finish wrapping presents {and we’ll be doing it with that mug of cocoa above, obvs.}…. oh, I may be experimenting with one more way to add some citrus to my homemade chocolates. We’ll be back with the full report if it works!
Hey! I looked at our calendar and realized that we have entered a week of Christmas crafting making on the blog! This isn’t necessarily gift crafting, just more little projects to decorate the tree, your walls, to send off in the mail (technically, I guess that’s giving), and maybe we’ll even have something to eat or drink by the time the week’s complete.
Today I’m talking about the felt ornaments and wreath that were pictured in this post. Both of these ideas came from my Christmas board on Pinterest, but unfortunately the links associated with the pins won’t take you to the original source for attribution. You’ll see that I’ve pinned many different felt ornaments, and I’m thinking that over the next few years I may make quite a few as we become a house with two little boys! Felt ornaments are just so kid-friendly, with a big loop, they are easy for little hands to hang and pull off the tree, and there’s so little investment in terms of both time (the the case of the ones I’ve made) and money, that I don’t mind if little A throws them around a bit while playing. Plus, they look really cute.
For today’s ornaments, I was first inspired by this photo. In addition to the stars, I added a few hearts with white stitching to our collection, inspired by these red felt ornaments. I personalized the stars by using a red blanket stitch around the edges, and I drastically simplified my hearts from the inspiration photo, eliminating the stuffing and choosing simple stitches that would follow the hearts’ edges.
While we were so excited to put the tree up, after the lights were hung it looked so pretty that we’ve been really lazy about adding more decorations. But a few nights ago we were looking for one more activity for little A before bath time, so I pulled out these ornaments and a few others for him to add to the tree. The pictures aren’t great, but I think you can tell that he was excited to get in on the tree action (clapping after each ornament was hung), and now it’s become a daily activity to remove and rehang a few.
In addition to making their way onto the tree, I used one of the stars in our new wreath. Again, I’m borrowing and modifying this idea from something brilliant I saw online.
Supplies
How cute is that wreath? It came together easily with a few supplies from the craft store. The project is relatively self-explanatory : wrap the moss around your wreath, slipping it under a few of the larger vines if possible (this just takes a bit of wiggling). Glue the trees where you would like them. Tie a star ornament from the top of your wreath. Bam!
Once I hung this and the green garland above the door, I realized that we have a lot of brown and green going on out on the front porch. Maybe this year it would have been nice to go with something brighter? But I’m loving the peaceful look every time we walk in the door.
So, that’s my little felt project for the season. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything with felt (or even had a little supply of it in my craft room), and I’m excited work with it more in the future. I really enjoyed making these ornaments because they were so easy and mindless to put together, creating a polished result. What does that mean for you? If you want to slow this weekend, but still feel a little bit productive, this is a great meditative project
Today we’re sharing a super simple craft that you often see around the holidays : the orange and clove pomander.
Pomanders are balls made of some sort of scented or perfumed material. They are considered an original form of aromatherapy and have a long history dating back to the Middle Ages!
The orange and clove pomander is considered a modern version, and if properly dried, you can use these sweet and spicy smelling balls year after year as holiday decorations or in place of sachets in your dresser drawers.
This is a very easy and kid-friendly craft! To make a bare-bones pomander all you need are oranges and cloves (buying your cloves in bulk is the way to go here). If you want to get fancy, you can add ribbon, either tied around your orange and incorporated into the design or looped through your orange for hanging.
With your supplies ready, start making a design on your orange. I did all of these over the course of a couple of days ~ whenever A. Max was busy playing and I had a minute to myself. So rather than fuss over a specific design, I just played with the cloves and did a few free-form patterns.
There were curved lines.
That looked like swirls from the top.
One had a vine with flowers.
And there were polka dots!
The one issue you’re likely to have, especially if you’re in a more humid climate, is some mold growth. I’m hoping that the dry CO climate is going to help us out here! But to be on the safe side, once I was done with the designs, I put these in a cool, dark closet for about a week to dry out more. As they dry, you’ll notice that the cloves are sticking out a touch, so you can go around a poke them back in.
A traditional way to avoid mold growth is to sprinkle your finished oranges in orris root powder. This will help to dry out the orange and will add a violet scent to your pomander. In an effort to keep this project simple and low cost, I’m taking my chances and skipping the orris root!
Putting them all together, it’s a nice little display of pattern that smells unbelievable! Alex loves to walk over to them and take a big whiff, which is unbelievably cute!
Before we even get started, let me acknowledge that this salad won’t be for everyone. But, if you have a palette for a few strong flavors, then this is the perfect antidote to those slightly depressing and less-than-fresh produce shelves. Why? Because, as you’ll see, other than the lettuce, we rely on a few key canned ingredients to prepare this uber-delicious twist on the Ceasar salad.
While this may be the simplest recipe we’ve ever published, don’t underestimate it’s quality. I realized we had to share the dish after Calder and I ate it at least a half dozen times over the course of a few weeks!
So easy. So good. So perfect for a meal between the many holiday indulgences that arise at this time of year! enjoy*
Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Did you get your tree? We had a disappointing, but funny, experience at a local tree “farm”. In more uplifting news, I was excited to realize that we’re almost done with the Christmas shopping! Unbelievable, right? Of course, there’s still a bit of Christmas crafting to do, but I’m feeling confident that it will get done. As a result, I had time to work on some of the decorations that have been on my list. First up ~ some super simple and quick Christmas trees for our mantel.
As I mentioned in my Elving post a couple of weeks ago, browsing Pinterest provided the inspiration for many of my Christmas decorations this year, including these simple Christmas trees. It started when I found an image from this post. I liked the simplicity of those trees and that they were made using balsa wood (no power tools or hard cutting required). I wasn’t as excited about how they were put together – mainly using glue to hold the pieces together. Having also come across this wooden tree post, I knew there was an easier way to build the same tree. And really, between those two posts, you have all the information you need for this project, but I’m happy to share my process photos below. And again I want to stress how quick these trees were to make – with all of the materials on hand, it took me less than an hour and a half to make the five trees from first cut to last dash of glitter!
About the wood : You can find balsa wood at many crafts stores, but not all (some Joann’s and some Michael’s carry it, but not all). If you’ve never worked with it, balsa wood is extremely soft and very easy to cut with an exacto or craft knife. It comes is a variety of thicknesses and widths, and there is no strict rules as to what you should buy for this project. I picked up two 36” long and 1/8” thick balsa boards; one was 3” wide and the other was 4” wide.
I used these trees for simple forest scene on the mantel ~ pairing them with a cute little wooden tree from Michael’s and a couple of old glass trees that were once candy dishes (they have an opening on the bottom, but without their lids, they’re just glass trees). In addition to the trees, I added a few beeswax candles that were leftover from our wedding. You can read about how we made the candles (choosing your wick is key) and cut the green bottles here and here.
It’s so much fun to see the trees sparkle in the candlelight and to see their shadows on the wall. Calder mentioned that they also look like mountain peaks, which I think is really true when they are grouped together creating overlapping shadows!
We’re decided that the orange, that zesty winter fruit, was the perfect choice as our ingredient of the season. As with past seasons, you can expect a slew of orange posts. The fruit will be a highlighted ingredient in our baking and candy making. We’ll use them around the house. And, of course, we have a few orange crafts up our sleeves; in fact, if you want to get a head start, you could make some dried orange garland!
We grew up ordering cases of oranges from our high school band’s fundraiser that would arrive around this time every year. As a result, we have fond memories of making our mom’s orangeade recipe (that she got from her mom), and it gave us our first education into the wide variety of oranges (note – use the hamlins for juicing, not the navels!). Having piles of oranges around the house at this time of year is such a tradition for us that we can’t think of a better ingredient to brighten our senses and the long, dark winter than oranges, and we’re excited to kick things off with a little profile of the fruit.
There are no known oranges growing naturally in the wild. It is believed that the species originated somewhere in Asia, possibly China or India, and that they were first cultivated in China in 2500BC. The sweet orange was not known in Europe until the 14 or 15 hundreds, having been brought to the Mediterranean region by Italian and Portuguese merchants. The orange then made its way to the Western Hemisphere with Spanish explorers in the late 1400s, and had spread across the US from California to Florida by the 1800s.
The word orange derives from a Sanskrit word for the fruit, nāraṅga. In English, and many other languages, the beginning “n” was dropped, and it is believed this happened when the word was translated into French, where the n may have sounded like it was part of the indefinite article preceding the word. For example, une norenge would have been the correct spelling, but would have sounded similar to une orenge. And you may have already guessed this by now, but the color orange was named after the fruit (something I’ve wondered when looking through my crayola 64 pack!).
Orange typically refers to the sweet orange, not bitter oranges or mandarins. The orange tree is an evergreen, flowering tree that grows primarily in the warmer climates of the tropics and subtropics, requiring a lot of sunshine and water to thrive.
One interesting fact about all citrus trees (oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, etc.) is that they appear to be interfertile, this means that they can interbreed, producing many hybrids. Due to this interfertility, it is difficult to keep track of the historical breedings that produced many of the varieties of oranges that are available today. It is believed that oranges are a hybrid between pomelos and mandarins. Since oranges are a hybrid, there are challenges to breeding the fruit. If you grew a plant from seed, it may be infertile or produce a fruit that is different from its parent plant. As a result, most propagation is done through grafting, creating clones of the parent tree.
Since the fruit often produces multiple seeds, is fleshy and soft, and derives from a single ovary, it is actually considered a modified berry! The fruit only ripen while on the tree (as opposed to avocados and bananas), but it is not unusual for the orange rind to remain partially green even on fully-ripe fruit. Recognizing that a green rind is unappealing to many consumers, ethylene gas, a common plant hormone, is often used to turn the rind of commercial fruit orange before they are sold. And knowing that the fruit will not ripen off the tree, there are laws in California, Florida, Arizona, and Texas that forbid the picking of unripe citrus for human consumption!
There are many varieties of oranges, but some of the most common (at least in the States) are:
Do you have any favorite orange recipes, crafts, or uses? Fond memories of knowing that there would be an orange at the bottom of your stocking every Christmas? Or hoping to start a new tradition of Christmas morning mimosas? Let us know, we would love to hear!
