If you were expecting a Christmas card this year from us... well this is the best you are going to get!!  Sorry it just didn't ever make it to the top of my to do list. We had a great holiday season in spite of the stomach flu on Christmas Eve, Day and the day after.  I have come to expect it now for holidays.  I guess that is one of the effects of having this many germ mongers in our home.  The kids enjoyed a full 2 weeks off but we did miss our traditional snow trip that was canceled due to lack of snow.  California has been totally dry where normally we are raining 3-5 days per week.  It is finally in the forecast for this week so our plants will be glad for a drink.   We made up for the cancelled snow trip by a ice skating trip.  Luckily I had the excuse that I had to watch Mamma's boy-Matt and I am pregnant and didn't want to hurt myself.  Otherwise, the five minute jaunt on the ice was not enough to revive 6 months of ice skating lesso...

After many prayers and even fasting by my husband and older boys, I am feeling so much better.  I am cooking and even looking forward to the Thanksgiving feast.  Everything is so much better when mom isn't sick. Other news- Dave made a quick trip to Guatemala for work. Jacob spent a 5 days away at science camp. Thomas is blossoming this year in 3rd grade and actually likes recess now! Ari is making strides on reading and a great little 1st grader. Lily cut her own hair and loves to eat frozen things for lunch Matt is growing and starting to say lots of words. He is so much fun. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

So the last month has passed very slowly because I am in the middle of morning (wouldn't that be nice) full-day sickness.  I am very blessed to be have a 6th pregnancy.   At least I know what I am getting into because I have done it a time or two.  The worst part is my list of dislikes grows with every pregnancy because I have had so many bad experiences with different foods. Like last pregnancy when my husband made some farm not so fresh eggs and gave me this great lead in like "I don't know if these are any good but here you go."  Needless to say they didn't stay in me long and I haven't been able to tolerate the smell of eggs when prego since. Our kids were pretty shocked.  I guess it is hard to top a baby born in the van but I will do my best. So meanwhile as we prepare for delivery and beyond, I just have to survive the next 5 weeks until cross your fingers I will be cooking and feeling better again.  If any of you have great solutions to morning s...

I have a very strong love/hate relationship with fall.  My husband is working 12 hour+ days and the garden is rewarding us for all of our early work.  But this is the work that I enjoy most preserving the fruit and veggies from our garden and other sources.   This year I have canned peaches, pears, grape juice, pickles, salsa verde, and green beans.  I have more pears, sauerkraut, apple sauce, more grape juice and salsa to do. I have frozen grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries, boysenberries, jams, peaches, blueberries, zucchini, corn and cherries.  Luckily we scored on a freezer from craigslist and so now I have two and a half freezers to fill. I am looking for something to do with an over abundance of watermelon and zucchini.  Any ideas? There is one area of life that I find a lot of satisfaction-filling my pantry and freezer with yummies from my garden and other sources-to enjoy all winter.  This is one time where I can feel nothing but gratitude th...

So I guess that since my two food posts have been about sweets- You all know now that I like them. This recipe is because of my need to use up lots of zucchini.  We all know that zuch is a very adaptable veg.  You can use it in many ways but for my non-veg eating son it is nice to put it in a few things I know that he will eat. (And I don't sneak it-He knows that it is there) This recipe comes from Allrecipes.com  Don't be thrown off by the lack of eggs.  It turns out fabulous without them. 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups shredded zucchini 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/2 c dark chocolate chips Mix wet ingredients and zucchini together.  Add in sugar and then the dry ingredients.  Bake in preheated 350 oven in a greased casserole dish 9X13.  For about 25-35 minutes. Very D...

It has been crazy round here.  Since my last post we have had 3 birthdays Lily turned 4-had a rainbow cake and friends over for dinner Ari turned 6 -had a girly party with church and school friends and a butterfly cake Jacob turned 10- had his first friends sleepover party We hatched out 1 chick(long story) so I bought 21 more to keep it company but it only lived for a week.  Due to dogs and other unknown causes of death we now have 17 chicks. (I am hoping that they are not all roosters.) Our garden planting crew We planted a large garden and have been picking buckets of cucumbers, zucchini, green beans and corn. Jacob on stage! Jacob starred in the regional dance festival.  He did a solo dance in front of everyone. It only lasted about 20 seconds but it was awesome! We went to Washington to attend two funeral services. My sister's sweet baby-Angelica.  You can find her story here .  You must read it.  My sister is ...

Ending the deafening silence on my blog with a sweet post... Brown Sugar Graham Cracker Cake! I took one of my favorite quick recipes -Brown sugar cake and made a few changes.  Here is the original recipe: 3 c flour 1.5 c brown sugar 1/2 c white sugar 1 c butter 1/2 t salt Mix dry ingredients and then cut butter into the dry ingredients until no large butter chunks remain.  Measure out 1 cup of this mixture and set aside. 3/4 t baking soda 1 egg 1 c sour milk i.e. 15 T milk 1 T lemon juice Mix the baking with the dry ingredients and then add the egg and milk.  Stir enough to wet all ingredients but keep it a little lumpy.  Then put in a greased 9X13 casserole pan.  Sprinkle the dry reserved ingredients over the top.  Bake at 350 til lightly browned and done in the center. Here are the changes that I made 2 c flour 1 pkg or 1 c graham cracker crumbs (finely ground) 1 c brown sugar 1/2 c white sugar 1/2 t salt 3/4 c butter 1/4 c oil* ...