backyard happenings

The kids have taken to painting leaves. It saves on paper, what can I say? They turn out rather pretty.

 Our garden is overgrown and littered with pruny Sun Gold tomatoes that have plummeted to the deep dark depths of our garden's underbelly, however, it is still productive and we are wholeheartedly enjoying the fruits of our labor.

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Left: Finally, it looks as though we will be able to taste a Canary Pepper soon. Top Right: Butternut squash chopped and waiting to be roasted. Bottom Right: I infused some sourdough bread with a few sprigs of our rosemary. What is better than sourdough bread? That would be rosemary sourdough bread. It smelled and tasted delicious after a few minutes on the grill.

I noticed yesterday that the kids occupied themselves with what could be considered another person's trash, packaging items: bubble wrap and cardboard inserts. Along with almost dried up paint used for body art and rinsing  themselves off in the drippy faucet, the kids played quite contentedly in the backyard yesterday. I was rather grateful for that since I was feeling a bit under the weather and all.  I wanted to do nothing but sit and watch them (and snap a few photos). Thank you kids for seeking out some fun and letting mom be lazy every now and again.

Zucchini Muffin Bars

A few weeks ago I posted this recipe for zucchini muffins that I found really pretty tasty. Bits of cranberry and pecans and hearty, these muffins fit the bill, however, the recipe calls for 2/3 c. butter and  1-1/3 c. sugar. In my attempt to use my zucchini and provide a more healthful snack for my kids I tried the recipe for the third time with a few substitutions. They were as follows...

2/3 c. Blackberry Honey (sub for the 1-1/3 c. granulated sugar)

1/3 c. melted butter plus 1/3 c. apple sauce (sub for 2/3 c. butter)

Both these substitutions were to cut down on the fat and sugar. The next few ingredients were substituted for my lack of flour in hand. The recipe calls for 3 c. flour so I improvised...

1 c. ground Cheerios (roller-pinned in a baggie), 1 c. enriched flour, 1 c. flax seed.

My, oh my, the batter was WAY more liquidy than I anticipated and I wasn't sure how it would hold up in a muffin tin. Afraid that the middle of the muffins would take forever to bake I decided to pour the batter in a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper, hoping to make what I called "muffin bars".

The batter baked evenly and the muffin bars came out perfectly moist and not overly sweet. A perfect little snack for the kids.

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Today I made my zucchini muffin bars again, this time using 2 c. flour and 1 c. flax seed as I had enough flour on hand this time.  (I omitted the apple sauce.)

~ Zucchini Muffin Bars ~

[Preheat oven to 350*]

Combine in bowl...

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 c. honey

 Next add...

3 c. shredded zucchini

1/3 c. melted butter

Sprinkle on top of  zucchini mixture and combine...

Pinch of Kosher salt

2 tsp. of baking soda

In separate bowl, mix...

2 c. flour

1 c. flax seed

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine with zucchini mixture. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Pour mixture into lined pan. Place in preheated oven.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and center is set.

Let cool for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Summer Delights

Mr. Evening Dragonfly

Garden Flowers

Still Water

Little Boy and Ice Cream

Summer Harvest

Pork tenderloin with cucumber yogurt sauce on naan.

:::

This summer has been nothing short of rad.

I was warned , but dude... SO. MUCH. ZUCCHINI.

We are living and breathing zucchini over here. The garden is coming to life and recently we've been able to enjoy something OTHER than the "green stuff" and the little hoarder in my brain that tells me I must not waste any of it has gone on overdrive, SO that means zucchini muffins were in order: compromising my WAISTline in order not to be WASTEful. (Don't worry, I'm here all week!)

I found a recipe online from Simply Recipes. Appropriately titled, these Zucchini Muffins were scrumptious and used 3 cups of shredded zucchini (I dumped in a little more for good measure.)

See all that shredded green goodness....just screaming HEALTH! (Nevermind the 1 1/3 cup sugar)

The recipe calls for dried cranberries and walnuts. (I like myself a muffin packed full of goodies.)

Begging to be gobbled up by my little crazy muffin monster, Mazzylicious. (Maxton could care less about these, frankly I think the dried cranberries scared him as well as the "green stuff".)

Perfect snack to be eaten OUTSIDE, on a pool break with the kiddos. (The one thing I love about summer is that most of the kids' meals can take place in the open air. Dining alfresco suits my needs and the needs of the usually always littered kitchen floor.)

Speaking of which, here are my kids after both eating an ice cream sandwich OUTSIDE:


How does that happen? They each manage to slop some ice cream  on their face as if they're penciling in a mole. Weird kids, indeed.

So, zucchini anyone? Please. Pretty please? I'm BEGGING you.

A not-to-be-named-energy-providing-company came out to install our new meter and totally wigged out our oven in the process, the clock flickers and the timer is not "timing" as it should. I made these muffins originally when we attended a brunch with some friends and the muffins were good but darker than I would have liked, so I just had to try the recipe again using the microwaves trusty timer. I popped these babies in the freezer this time and they make for a perfect snack for when I'm feeling lazy.

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Mini Garden Update:


I let Mazzy take a stab at uprooting our leeks.



She thought I'd have better luck.



I have to say my daughter is quite the little photographer, always stealing the camera out of my hands...which makes me smile and sweat at the same time. Anyway, here is me  posing for Mazzy with our leeks.



Latest harvest: Zucchini (of course!), Sun Gold tomatoes, lemon cucumber, and our leeks. I have yet to decide what to prepare with these summer leeks...

Garden Variety

Then: Planning stage...

Planting stage...

My best friend and I took a photography class this past week to celebrate our July birthdays (I'll post on that a bit later). So. This is me practicing being in "M" mode...

Now: Overgrown stage (I mean, really? Keri, get a second box next year, alrighty!?)

Butternut Squash

Lemon Cucumber

Zucchini

'Black Beauty' Eggplant Blossom

Sungold Tomato

Grape Tomato

'Canary' Bell Pepper

Mazzy Roo

It's a Busy, Buzzy Beeeee! (a.k.a Wildlife Encounter #2)

We might has well be living in the Amazon, folks! (If you happened to miss our first encounter this week go here. )

I first spotted one of these beasts the order day. I've always been fascinated by the size of these Mason Bees (I had to Google search that, don't you worry).  The thing left before I could return with my camera. Mazzy spotted one  for me this morning (Man, she's my little wildlife ranger, ain't she?! Another cookie for you lil' miss.)



I just love how he's buried deep in the Meyer Lemon blossom. (Frankly, I  felt like I was intruding just a bit.)

And the vibrant yellow pollen dusting his back and legs, so beautiful.

He's a furry little guy.

From above.

Mid-flight. Look at his legs, covered in pollen.

Pretty, transluscent wings.

Meyer Lemon Blossoms. ( I guess it's not the appropriate time to tell ya'll that my husband left out our two barrels, we procured especially for our two fruit trees, in the rain. They're wood. They are stuck together. For good, I'm afraid. Babe, you better put those muscles to work!)

A little buddy came to say hi.

Apparently the male Mason Bee (seen above) has a stinger but only uses it in case of real danger. The stinger acts more as an egg guide (whatever that means). So, this big furry beast of a bee is fairly children and pet friendly. *

*Source: http://www.farminfo.org/bees/mason-bees-m.htm

First Fruit

You see that right there!? That green thing. We growed that. ( Note: I  used the word 'growed' in a sentence, to my daughter, just this evening... "Hey, Maz, we GROWED that right there!"  I wasn't kidding either, it just flowed right out of my mouth like I stopped attending school in the second grade.)

Aaaanyway....back to the 'Cchini. Here is our very first fruit from our garden and we are super excited about this little baby. Now, if I  can only learn to really appreciate zucchini we'll be all set!

Oooooo....shiny! (Can you tell I'm a newbie in the Vegetable Garden  Growin' Club?)

Peeking in to see it one last time.



Josh caught this of Mazzy and I had to include it because I'm her mama.



So proud.



Just a cute little moment.



Weekend "Fun"

Now, especially as a mother of two,  my days during the week are spent mostly inside our home: cleaning, preparing meals, picking up after meals, sorting laundry, folding laundry, wiping down the floors, sweeping the floors, washing crayon off the walls, picking up the 823746573673 toys that litter my floors. When the weekend comes the very last thing I want to do is clean the bathroom. Or the kitchen. Or my bedroom. I want to take all of us outside and never go back in. SO. This weekend we did just that and it was just what the doctor ordered. I was relaxed and at peace and the kids played right along side us asking to help on several occasions. After a family trip to the nursery we went to work:

Potting our baby blueberry bush.

Meet Rosemary and Sage. My sad little herb plants needed room to grow and mature into the men and women they've always dreamed of being! (My mom handed down these pots of hers to me...gotta love hand-me-downs, in all shapes and sizes).

I decided to go ahead and use the cocoa hulls that I used in our garden for our flower beds. It seems The Felines are less inclined to dig around in it. In the past, the flower beds have attracted every stray cat on the West Coast and it's about time they find a new beach to bum around on.

Also: My rose bushes have been ailing for a number of weeks with aphids galore and diseased leaves. I pruned and thinned them out quite a bit AND I bought chemicals to help. There, I said it.

Our Star Jasmine which is just starting to bloom.

My two baby seedling tomato plants now have their new and improved pots.

Speaking of tomato plants, DIE APHIDS, DIE!



I have to admit something: EVERY time I check on our zucchini, I feel embarrassed lifting up it's leaves.



My husband mowed and edged the lawn. I remember growing up and never even thinking about not having an edged lawn. These days, it would bug me until the end of time. Once the grass along the raised garden bed gets above an inch I start to twitch.

These trees here are actually a type of shrub. My mom raised them to be trees and I'm so thankful that she did because we have shade at all times of the day and it makes our hot Sacramento summers bearable. However, the things shed leaves at all different times of the year which drives my husband a little bat-blank-crazy. He raked and pruned the higher branches back so we can get some Frisbee throwin' in this weekend.

When we moved into our home 7, 8 (?) years ago, my mom left us her two wooden chairs. We had NO patio furniture having moved from a  < 500 sq. ft apartment. I was happy to take them off her hands and have grown to really love them...they match the weathered boards holding up our flower beds that line the back of our yard AND they belonged to my mom which is always something special to think about.

I love having little snugly children running around the backyard and I am not wishing away these years at all BUT when I can attempt to grow grass where the play structure now resides and can do away with those hideous foam mats I will feel more at peace with my soul.



The only thing left on this year's garden project list is to put our two citrus trees into the barrels we bought. Now, where to put them?