Author Archives: Katie

Serious Mocktails

by Katie | Leave a comment

Mint is our ingredient of the season. We’ve used it in salads, drinks, and other potions. You can find our complete archive of mint posts here.
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You know that the Seasoned sisters love to kick back with a good alcoholic beverage, but we can also appreciate a nicely mixed mocktail or two. Who doesn’t have fond memories of being served their first Shirley Temple? And while we still wouldn’t pass one up,  today we’re talking about mocktails that are a bit more creative in both their list of ingredients and combination of flavors. With the right ingredients on hand these mocktails take seconds to mix, making them a perfect alternative to offer up at your Labor Day bbq this weekend.

I’m not a huge fan of mocktails that imitate alcoholic drinks. If I’m going to skip the alcohol, I want my drink to be full of creative flavors. That said, once I come up with a winning mocktail, it often doubles as the perfect base for my next cocktail. With a splash of gin or SAGE, both of today’s drinks can become the spirited life of the party! (Excuse us, we couldn’t pass up the pun.)

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Summer’s almost over – live it up!

by Katie | Leave a comment

Oh man, no post on Friday and then a late start on Monday! We would apologize and try to get our act together, except it’s too late – we were busy squeezing every last drop out of one of the last weekends in August.
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We took Emerson’s words to heart this weekend. Sarah and our siblings threw a huge summer bash at the farm complete with friends, music, bonfires, an epic slip and slide, and glow stick fun (that she’ll be back to share on Wednesday!). I was in the mountains with Calder and Alex, who is the world’s newest hiker – not willing to go onto our backs for a single step and wanting to climb every boulder we pass. So, what were we to do but embrace his pace and enjoy the hour+ time required for the 3/4 of a mile hike to St. Mary’s glacier?

Once Labor Day arrives, we can help but think that fall is here. So we’re hoping to treat every day of this last week of August as if it is truly the best day of the year (and summer). We’re going to share a few summer recipes, a craft that’s perfect for your labor day bbq, and we’ll end the week with a review of our favorite summer posts.

Happy best day ever to you*

Special Birthday Brownies

by Katie | 3 Comments

Sorry this post is coming late in the day, but we’re sharing some incredible brownies, and as you’ll see these things can’t be rushed!

Calder’s birthday is on Saturday. As expected, he requested a chocolate cake, but since we have a camping trip planned, I thought a batch of brownies would be easier to pack. And what better for the birthday boy than the most indulgent brownies I know?

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We were introduced to these brownies by a family friend a few years ago, and it was one of those things that became an automatic request when we were planning any sort of celebration. When I asked my mom for the recipe this week, I learned that they are called Truffle Brownies, and it is the perfect description of what you’re making: a truffle disguised as a brownie. To get that truffle-like flavor and consistency, the recipe contains almost a cup of cream, 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, and well over a stick of butter! Indulgent, no? It’s definitely worth splurging on some quality chocolate for these.

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Brownie Ingredients

  • 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, 60% cacao recommended
  • 11 Tbsp butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped

Brownie Prep

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare your pan. Line a 9×9 inch metal pan with tin foil, making sure that its edges overhang your pan so that they are easy to grab. Spray the foil with vegetable oil.
  • Place the 6 oz chocolate and the butter in the top of a double boiler on medium-high. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove the top pot and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
  • Whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and whisk again.
  • Stir the flour into the mixture, followed by the walnuts.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake in the middle of your oven for about 26-28 minutes. The tester should have tender moist crumbs on it.
  • Cool completely and then frost with the ganache.

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Ganache Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, 60% cacao recommended

Ganache Prep

  • Bring the cream to a simmer, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes and then whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
  • Pour over the cooled brownies and let cool at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight.

After your ganache has cooled, it’s time to decorate! They were first served to us with crackled gold foil on the top ~ could there be a more perfect accent to such incredibly rich brownies? I didn’t have any gold leaf on hand, but I always have these paper thin star sprinkles at the ready (we use them as an accent on cappuccinos and hot chocolates – classy living over here!). If you like them, they’re easy to find in the baking aisle of any Joann’s Crafts, and they come in gold as well as heart shapes! I think they are just as much, if not more, fun than the gold leaf. The stars on the dark chocolate turn your brownies into a starry night, and would be perfect for so many occasions (slumber parties, evening summer bbqs, new year’s eve parties… and birthday camping!).

Once decorated, remove the brownies from the pan by pulling the foil. Place the whole slab on a cutting board and cut into small pieces. I err on the side of the one-bite-brownie because these are so rich.

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Hints

  • The smaller the walnut pieces, the easier it is to cut the brownies. Grinding was recommended to us, but I’m a fan of a fine-ish chop.
  • The cooler the brownies are, the easier they are to cut. Our house was a cool 60 degrees over night, so when I cut them in the morning I had no problems. When we make them at the beach on an 80 degree day, more brownies end up on the knife than in our mouths! Wiping your knife between cuts also helps.
  • If you don’t have a double boiler, the pot inside a pot method works perfectly well.
  • When decorating, try not to let your fingertips touch the ganache because you may end up with fingerprints and smudges on that perfectly smooth surface.

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Dry Shampoo to the Rescue!

by Katie | Leave a comment

It’s no surprise that Sarah and I like to make our own cosmetic and household potions whenever possible. We’ve tried our hands at deodorant, body scrubs, and laundry detergent. We like to know exactly what’s going into them, but we also really enjoy personalizing the potions to our tastes, and we often find that homemade is cheaper than store bought.

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Today we’re sharing yet another cosmetic potion: dry shampoo. I didn’t start using dry shampoo until after Alex was born (it really is every new mom’s best friend), but truthfully, I probably should have started using it sooner! I’m not a big fan of showering; I think it just strips my body of the good oils, drying out my skin and hair. I usually take a shower every three days or so, and in between you can start to see my hair gets greasy – that’s where dry shampoo saves the day. It soaks up those excess oils and gives my thin, limp hair a bit of body! The potion I’ve settled on is a mash-up of the different recipes I’ve seen out there, simplifying and using measurements that seem to fit my hair.

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Colorado Hike : Ajax Mountain

by Katie | Leave a comment

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A few weeks ago we took a leisurely afternoon hike on the Nature Trail that starts at the top of Ajax, or Aspen, Mountain. This was an out and back hike that was super easy with barely any elevation gain because you do all of your climbing as you ride the gondola to the top of the mountain!

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If you want to head straight for the hike, veer left as you get off the gondola and you’ll have no trouble finding the trail. If you’re heading up with kiddos, veer to the right and there are plenty of fun activities to let them burn off the energy before/after riding the gondola. Our little guy was just interested in the huge sand pit and trucks, but there are also spaces to dig for gold, go rock climbing, go trampoline jumping, and room for some good old running.

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As well as delivering beautiful mountain views, the trail dips into the pine forest, giving you a reprieve from the bright alpine sun.

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This was our third hike and I was excited to see yet more wildflowers in bloom. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a guide with me and had trouble identifying some new-to-me species from the photos. If you have any clues as to the names of the unidentified flowers below, I would really appreciate it!

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We hiked out to the point where there was a perfectly clear view of the Aspen Highlands ski resort. At this point, you can also see the very top of one of the two Maroon Bells peaks. We spent some time sitting here, letting Little A out of the pack to tool around and throw some rocks, while C and I talked to other hikers. It seemed to be a common stopping/turning point for many people.

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Extra Details:

  • During the summer months, the gondola’s open daily from 10:00am-4:00pm. A single ticket costs $19.00, but if you’re staying for a few days, or planning to take the bus up to Maroon Bells, they have a great package for $29.00.
  • Of course, you’re welcome to skip the gondola and turn this into a more rigorous, multi-hour hike by starting your walk from the bottom of the mountain. This is something that you can do any time of day in the summer, but only before the gondola opens during ski season.
  • This is probably obvious, but take sunscreen and a hat! You’ll be more comfortable because the sun is bright and there are plenty of areas without tree cover.

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Knitting – WIPS

by Katie | 2 Comments

For me, July was all about moving, settling into our new home/city/state, re-teaching little A how to go to sleep in this new and strange place, and other fun life duties. But then we flipped the calendar to August, there were no more boxes to unpack, Alex became a wonderful and prompt 7:30pm sleeper, and my evenings were free, albeit chained to the house with the little guy upstairs, but free none-the-less. It’s given me the time to get crafty again, and, as always, I turned first to my knitting basket. I have boards of non-knitting crafts pinned, but those will have to wait until I get at least one or two of these projects finished!

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Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share a few works in progress, hopefully passing along some knitterly inspiration to you, because even though the days are hot, the evenings are perfect for working on small projects for the coming fall and winter. In the mix are a variety of projects and swatches, some from published sources others are experiments.

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The socks. I always have some socks in progress, because as any wearer will tell you: they are so much better than store-bought socks! Hand-knit socks are the only ones that stay up when I’m wearing my Sorrels. Sorrel wearers know what I’m talking about, it seems like every other pair of socks is pushed off my feet within the first 10 yards of a hike through the snow.

Pattern : Jaywalkers (that link opens a PDF of the pattern)

Yarn : from Knitpicks, but it looks like they’ve discontinued the self-striping sock yarn.

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After my favorite mittens were completely (and utterly) destroyed by moths, I knew I had to make another pair. The first pair was made with Noro Kochoran yarn, which is mix of wool, silk, and angora, and the the mittens perfectly warm, soft, and durable. I picked another Noro yarn, but lost the label and am stumped as to what it’s called. It’s also knitting up beautifully, but as you can see at the top I’ve run into some color issues – the ball was cut and tied together at a different color sequence, so I’m trying to work with what I have to get a somewhat matching pair. Next will come the thumbs – you knit these mittens without thumbs and then go back, cut a hole where your thumb should be and knit the final piece!

Pattern : Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Mitered Mittens found in the Knitter’s Almanac

Yarn : Noro

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I wanted a quick and dirty hat. Something that was easy to knit, used some yarn from my stash, and would be the perfect thing for an evening around a campfire because we are yearning for a few good camping trips this fall.

Pattern : My own. Cast on 76 stitches, do some 2×2 rib, knit straight until it was long enough and then do some quick decreasing.

Yarn : Lionbrand Woolease and Amazing

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After the flat and plain knitting of the hat I craved some texture. The swatch above is a little experiment that I’m hoping to turn into a hat with a secret message! More on that soon.

Yarn : scraps from my basket

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I have another swatch that I think I’ve finally come to terms with. This is for a sweater that I’m re-knitting for a friend. They purchased the original years ago from Pier One (when it used to sell clothes) and they love it so much that they would like another one knit. I used the swatch above to work out the original cables and bobbles. The cables were fairly straightforward, but getting the right size and spacing for the bobbles was a chore. You can see those on the panel on the left. Now I just have to work out the gauge and we should be good to go. This is another one that I’m going to share in more detail as it progresses!

Pattern : copying an old sweater

Yarn : Cascade Ecological Wool

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And this last one is a hat for little A. It’s been so much fun pulling out leftover balls of yarn that are too small for adult projects, but perfect for the little guy. Here I’m using some leftover yarn to make him a hat. It’s my own pattern, and really nothing special. [Sarah here: You’re nuts! I think it’s super special!!] Since Alex loves (LOVES) all things trucks, I thought I would use stranded color work to try to make a tire track around the hat. I don’t think the track is obvious, so I’ll have to work on that for the next hat, but it’s good enough to add a stripe of color!

Pattern : none, yet!

Yarn : Malabrigo Merino Worsted (so soft and perfect for little noggins)

And the nice thing about using stranded color work in a hat is that you get some extra warmth from the double-layer of yarn:

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The embarrassing thing about all of this knitting? We have so many hats that we aren’t going to go cold anytime soon. I had to say that before I show you what else I’ve been up to. Summer (at least in Colorado) is the perfect time to wash your wools and get them ready for the season ahead. We have plenty of dry days, so I can wash the wools in the bathtub and then put them outside to dry and within 24 hours they are done! The humidity of the East Coast may not create the same results.

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As I wash, I’ve been looking for other moth damage. Some of it is years old, but this may actually be the year that I make those repairs. A few hats in these photos are duplicates that I’ve made as I try to work out a new pattern or idea… which will hopefully come to a blog near you!

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So tell us, what sorts of crafts have you been working on? Something out of season, like knitting. Or something perfectly in season, like digging that backyard bbq pit (that’s a craft, right?).

If you have any questions or want more details about any of the projects you see in the photos, just let us know.


In Season : Kitchen Odds and Ends

by Katie | Leave a comment

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I’ve been spending a lot of time in our small kitchen lately. Just doing lots of meal-making and treat-baking. We have everything we could possibly need to fill a kitchen, but it doesn’t stop me from looking…

Now that Alex is big enough to want to work beside me in the kitchen, my mom sent us one of these but in red. Alex loves it!

My bundt pan was well over 10 years old, dented, with a scratched up inner coating, so it’s one of the things that didn’t move with us to Colorado. Since we have a kiddo in the house, it could be fun to replace it with a castle!

We use our mason jars for everything in the kitchen, from mixing up dressing to storing our dry goods. So I always love it when I find a new mason jar-related product, like this tap from Cuppow.

We’re big fans of that company, using their drinking lids all the time.

In fact, a few Christmases ago I gifted the siblings Cuppow lids and Holdster sleeves.

And with mason jars on the brain, I’ve had my eye on this cherry pitter for a few summers now. Maybe next year I’ll finally pull the trigger and buy one.

Calder and I are still settling into our kitchen, in fact, we just hung a wooden magnetic knife holder from this Etsy seller this week. It is beautiful, and we’re told it puts less wear on the knives than a metal one.

Ok, maybe there’s one more thing we need – great spice storage. We like keeping the spices in their grocery jars, but we want some easy way to store them. Any suggestions?

Image from KQED.

Welcome August!

by Katie | Leave a comment

On the first Wednesday of each month we like to pause and take a look at what’s going on in the world around us, with a particular focus on animal activity, celestial events, and our farmers’ fields.

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As I sat down to write this post, I had lump in my throat realizing that summer was almost over, but then pulled myself together and remembered that for most of our childhoods, August always represented the peak of summer. We still had one (two if we were lucky) week of beach vacation on the calendar. At home days were spent outside at the city pool with afternoons on the soccer fields. And in the evenings our dinners usually included something just picked from our Pop’s garden.  So, with that in mind, I’m not going to let this summer fade away, and I hope you won’t either. Let’s fill it with sun, water(melon), and grilled veggies.

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Earth and Sky

Throughout the summer season, we’ve been following the migrations of Africa’s wildebeest, North America’s Porcupine Caribou, and (the world’s?) Arctic Terns.

Wildebeest

Continuing their clockwise migration, the first of the wildebeest are crossing the border from Tanzania into Kenya. Their August location is marked by the red shading in the image below. They will stay in Kenya on the Maasai Mara Reserve through October before returning south.

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Wildebeest Migration

 

Arctic Tern

The Arctic tern is just beginning its 21,500 mile migration south (the green lines in the image above) from Greenland to Antarctica, although, this is not a single direct flight. They have a favored stopover location in the Newfoundland Basin of the North Atlantic where nutrient rich waters provide a source of fuel for the journey ahead.

Caribou

The caribou’s movement during this month is less precise, as their migration south may begin anytime from late August through October. The most common movements observed by the caribou during August is a vigorous shaking of their head, stomping of their feet, and racing wildly from one point to another on the tundra. What are they doing? Trying to avoid the warble and nose-bot flies. As you’ll see these flies each carry out their own migrations on the caribou during this month.

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Deer Dissection with Bot Fly Larvae

 

The warble fly lays its eggs on the fur of the caribou. When the larvae hatch, they burrow under the caribou’s  skin, moving under their skin to the animal’s back, once their, they form a capsule around themselves and then cut a breathing hole through the caribou’s  skin. The larva will remain under the caribou’s back skin until spring when they cut a hole and drop out of the caribou to mature into adult flies. The bot-nose larvae migrate through the caribou’s nasal passage until they reach the entrance to the animal’s throat. The nose-bot larvae will remain there until spring, growing so large that they can begin to interfere with the caribou’s breathing! Whatever you do, don’t do an image search for either fly.

Celestial Events

August’s full Sturgeon moon will take place on the 10th. One of our favorite meteor showers, the Perseids, peaks this year on August 12th and 13th, producing up to a meteor per minute on these evenings! Fingers crossed that the skies are clear (we spent a few rainy years parked at the beach cursing the clouds). On August 18th look for the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus; the bright planets will be clustered together in the eastern sky just before sunrise. Neptune will be at its closest point to Earth on August 29th. It still just appear as a small blue dot in the sky, but special none-the-less.

Fields and Festivals

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Just when you think the markets couldn’t be any richer, August’s produce is here to blow us away. Have you been to your local farmer’s market? What’s in season near you? We’ve had a run of delicious melons lately, and I hear that the Colorado peaches are about to hit their prime (you didn’t know we had the most delicious peaches this side of the Mississippi, did you?). It’s a good thing too, because Little A goes crazy when we’re shopping for produce ~ trying to sample everything before take it to the register! August is going to be one big peach-fest in our house.

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If celebrating the season’s bounty is your thing, we found some festivals that highlight everything from peaches and watermelon to beef, beans, and shrimp!

And if you’re looking for arts and music, here’s what we’ve found:

As usual, we’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg with these lists. We tend to favor our home states when researching events, but if you hear about anything worth publicizing, please let us know.

Happy August ~ make these your best summer days yet!

Wildebeest image from here. Arctic Tern migration from here. Photo of warble fly from here. Image of deer head dissection sourced from Wikipedia.

Spring Rolls {Vegetarian & Vegan}

by Katie | 5 Comments

Mint is our ingredient of the season. Our archive of mint posts is rich with ideas for drinks, salads, main dishes, and cosmetic uses!

Before last week I had eaten my fair share of spring rolls, yet never made them, but with mint as our ingredient of the season, this was one of those recipes that I was excited to stretch my muscles and try making at home. I was totally intimidated before my first wrapper hit the water, but I’m happy to report that these were surprisingly easy to prepare!

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Making spring rolls at home is so much fun because you can personalize them to your tastes, choosing your favorite protein (tofu, shrimp) and vegetables (sky’s the limit!). On this particular night, we opted for veg rolls with tofu as our protein and nappa cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers as our vegetables. I did the rolling while Calder and A.Max were out on a bike ride, but while doing it, I thought about how this would be even more fun to do with a group of friends ~ setting up a big spring roll bar and letting everyone roll their own. If you try that, let us know how it goes!

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Mosquito-repelling Plants

by Katie | Leave a comment

I know it seems a bit late in the season to do a planting post, but by now many gardens have reached their peak, and this is when I find myself wandering around neighborhoods looking at the yards and getting inspiration for next year. So, if you’re a planner like me, I thought you might like to hear about how we put the flower beds around the beach house’s outdoor shower to work for us.

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The Eastern Shore area is known for its mosquitos. There have been years when we’ve visited Chincoteague and find ourselves running from the car to the front door and still having dozens of mosquitos on us! Or times when we’ve camped and can see the little insects perched on our tent waiting for their next meal. Needless to say, we were prepared for the mosquitos when we moved over to Saxis and ready to put up a fight in order to enjoy the outdoor shower.

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The shower is located at the back of the house, just around the corner from the back door that opens into the kitchen. We created one flower bed that fills the space from the back steps around the corner of the house to the shower. We also made this a garden area that transitions from herbs (for use in the kitchen, but working double-duty as mosquito deterrents) to our ornamental and aromatic mosquito garden. When it came to picking plants, we went with ones that would do well in this location, which was pretty easy since it’s a sunny spot right next to the hose, so water and light were not constraints. There are a lot of plants that repel mosquitoes, but we were particularly interested in the ones that do double duty, either as edible herbs or as fragrant flowers.

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Fortunately for us, it seems like the constant spray of water from the shower head keeps them at bay while it’s on. But adding these plants helps to further deter mosquitos from the area which is nice as you’re walking to and from the shower and when you’re in the stall getting undressed and dressed without the water running.

Mosquito-repelling Plants

  • catmint
  • creeping thyme
  • lavender
  • lemongrass
  • lemon-scented geranium (the citronella scented variety has been shown to be ineffective)
  • mint
  • rosemary

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How do these plants work their magic? They each have aromatic compounds, the same ones that make these plants appealing to us, that repel the mosquitos.

As a result, many of the plants on our list work best when their aromas are released, either by rubbing or crushing their leaves. We planted the rosemary, lemon-scented geranium, and lavender closest to the edge of the bed (leaving some room for them to expand). The idea being that people will brush these plants with their legs as they walk from the steps to the shower, releasing the plants’ aromas. The mint is in pots and in a particularly well-gaurded corner of the bed (trying to tame its wild growth). Their fragrance is released every day around happy hour when we’re out there picking leaves for mojitos. The creeping thyme is planted in the small space between the cement slab and the base of the shower; the perfect location for people to step on it and release its fragrance as they are getting into and out of the shower. The lemongrass is planted along one edge of the shower providing a simple natural screen on the side that is most public.

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I also included catmint on our list, but didn’t plant this in the shower garden area. It’s a tall plant and didn’t fit in well with the design for this small corner, so we put it on the other side of the back porch. It’s a surprisingly useful plant, with compounds that are 10 times more effective than DEET at repelling mosquitos! With results like that, I had to at least mention it in this post.

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And, of course, if mosquitos are a problem in your yard, one of the best things you can do is to make sure you empty any standing, untreated fresh water. For example, all of those road ruts from your off-roading escapades and the holes you made looking for that buried treasure? Fill them in. Be a leader, not a breeder.

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Mosquito poster from Wikimedia commons.