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life from the ground up

Real living in a processed world.

I Know What We Did This Summer

By: Gabe1 Comment

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We’ve had a busier than normal summer. I think I’m okay with it though. I had an epiphany shortly before the Fourth of July weekend, and realized that, 1) summer is pretty short around here, 2) winter is pretty long around here, and 3) most of the winter that comes between January 2 and May kinda sucks, so therefore, we should live it up while we can.

Okay, maybe I didn’t just suddenly realize that winters are long in Ohio, since I’ve lived here for my entire life; I just had a perspective shift. Must be getting old… or this past winter just sucked extra. Either way, I like this new philosophy, and I think we’ll try to stick with it every summer, polar vortex or not.

Since that “a-ha” moment, we’ve gone back to North Carolina:

summer7 [Read more…]

Real homemade ice cream

By: Gabe4 Comments

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Homemade ice cream is really, really easy. We rediscovered this fact earlier in the year, and have been making it regularly ever since. I don’t know why we didn’t make it very often in years past, but we’re certainly making up for lost time!

The key (as with anything) lies with the ingredients. We found a local source of grass-grazed cream, starting getting our own pastured eggs from the backyard, and use a little of our raw honey, maple syrup, or organic sugar. Add a splash of real vanilla extract, and that’s about it. Your homemade ice cream still has a lot of calories, so I won’t go as far as calling it a health food (though it’s good for mental health :)), but using REAL ingredients (and not using much of what is in commercial ice cream… sodium benzoate or benzyl acetate with that cherry on top?) puts it miles ahead of most anything you’d find in a store. So dig in, and don’t feel guilty.

Real Homemade Ice Cream Base

  • 3 cups grass-grazed cream
  • 3 pastured eggs
  • 1/2 cup raw honey or organic sugar (or other sweetener)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Add everything to a medium bowl and whisk together for a minute, until the eggs are mixed in and the sugar dissolves. (You don’t even need the eggs; they just add a little richness.) Pour into your fancy ice cream maker and let it go for about 30 minutes, or until it’s a nice, creamy, milkshake-like consistency. If it’s still a little too soft for your liking, put it into another container and pop it in the freezer for another hour. And really, that’s it – homemade ice cream. Yum.

 

The recipe above is for a basic vanilla. If you’re like us, you’ll get bored with that and want to experiment. (For any add-ins, wait until the ice cream starts to thicken up before tossing them into the machine.) Here’s some of what we’ve tried this summer:

  • Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the base, then a few spoonfuls of peanut butter at the end
  • Mix in some fresh blackberries and chopped walnuts
  • Fresh peaches and homemade graham crackers (like peach pie a la mode on a spoon!)
  • Puree some fresh strawberries and add to the base
  • Add half a can of coconut milk, a few tablespoons of peanut butter, some toasted coconut, and a pinch of cayenne
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder, toasted pecans, and homemade caramel
  • Crushed pistachios
  • And the next one to try, maybe tonight – swap out the honey for maple syrup and crumble some bacon!

The possibilities are endless, as is the fun you’ll have testing the new combinations!

Homemade Ice Cream

He’s three

By: Gabecomment

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Happy birthday to C (yesterday)! After weeks of being “so excited to turn three” he can finally hold up that next finger. Must be nice to count your age on one hand, and not six 🙂

To celebrate, we had a fun party at Squire’s Castle, which happened to coincide nicely with his desire for dragons and princesses at his party. No clue where he came up with that idea, but it worked out. The weather was perfect, the cake was yummy, and he got to play all afternoon long, which is all you can ask for when you’re three.

They grow up so fast.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Our little prince.

SONY DSC

Getting ready to slay the awesome dragon pinata that his aunt made.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Peach ‘n Pecan Pancakes

By: Gabe2 Comments

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I love summer… mainly because it’s not snowing, but also because we actually have fresh fruit. Real fresh fruit, not Giant Eagle fresh fruit.

Peaches are in full swing right now, and we’ve had bags of them on the counter for the past couple weeks. Since we have lots, C and I made our basic pancakes and added some peaches and pecans for a nice southern-style breakfast. Peach and blueberry would probably be pretty good too. Maybe next week.

Peach and Pecan Pancakes (makes about 18)

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 heaping Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3 Tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
  • 2 medium/large peaches, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecan

Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl (not the peaches or pecans yet). Add the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing to incorporate, but not overmixing. Add the peaches and pecans, and fold into the batter. Ladle onto a hot griddle or frying pan, flip once, cooking about 3-4 minutes per side. Simple as that.

If you’re feeling fancy, or taking pictures, put a couple slices of peach on top of a stack, then drizzle the whole thing with your homemade maple syrup.

peachpancakes

Lightning bugs

By: Gabecomment

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Ahh, another one of those quintessential summer things, lightning bugs… So, I was wondering if the difference between lightning bug and firefly is regional. I’ve always heard them called lightning bugs around here, and many other areas, but some places we’ve traveled, they seem to be fireflies. Anybody know?

Anyway, while the drought is most definitely keeping mosquito levels down (no complaint from me there), the lightning bugs seem to be extra prolific this year. I’ve been out the past few nights after sunset, and have been amazed by the numbers of neon yellow flashers floating around. The closest comparison I came up with is that it’s like standing in a dark stadium with thousands of camera flashes (which, incidentally is a complete waste – most flashes only illuminate several yards in front of the camera, so that action a hundred yards away? Makes me laugh every time). I wish I could take a picture or video to capture it, but unfortunately, cameras aren’t quite as awesome as the human eye, so the only option is to experience it in person. The natural world is pretty cool.

One thing I’ve also noticed is that the flashes appear to be getting shorter. When I was younger, it always seemed that the light was more of a slow pulse (which made it easier to track and catch them), while now it’s more of a quick flash. Maybe it’s just because you move so much quicker when you’re younger, so everything seems slower. Or some unfortunate by-product of global warming.

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