cydney's wedding

I missed Cydney's beautiful wedding in April because I was out of town with Zig. We couldn't change our trip and I was very disappointed I couldn't be here to help out on the big day, especially since it was at hour house.  I knew Cydney had everything under control, but I was still bummed not to be here to see all her creativity come together.  Cydney's new husband, Bartek, is from Poland, so we share that in common and Cydney is also the sister-in-law of my close friend, Lisa. She is an amazing seamstress...I mean, who makes not one, but two wedding dresses for the big day? Well, who even makes their own wedding dress at all? And Cydney's was stunning! She upholstered ottomans in bright floral fabrics for additional seating in the yard, sewed these absolutely beautiful fabric backed invitations (I still have mine), modge podged her wedding shoes, and the list goes on and on.  

I was dying to see rest of the details of this wedding and I knew it would be gorgeous and bright and happy. I checked the weather like every half hour on the day of the wedding, praying for sunshine. Apparently the sun shone just as she walked down the isle, and though overcast, the weather was about as good as it gets in April. She just sent the link for the photos, and they are beautiful. I was sad all over again to have missed such a lovely celebration.

I did make it to her bridal shower and I had to get the recipes for these chocolate truffle cookies. They were sinful! I have not made them yet, because they would surely send me into a sugar coma, but someday the right occasion will come, and I look forward to making them. 

I noticed from the photos that they were also served at the wedding or luncheon. Yum!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

4 one-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

6 tablespoons butter

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (if making GF, use a mix of 2 parts white rice flour, 2/3 part potato STARCH, 1/3 part tapioca flour and then add 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (yes, another cup)

Melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup of the chocolate chips and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. (Can do in microwave.) Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In large bowl, whip eggs and sugar for 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla and chocolate mixture until well mixed. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually stir into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining chocolate chips. Cover dough and chill FOR AT LEAST 1 hour or overnight. Preheat oven to 350. Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls (your hands will get very chocolatey). Place on ungreased cookie sheets so they are 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

herbal ice cream & a good book

I hosted book club this month and we read a book I highly recommend,  A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.  I loved this book, and wanted to highlight many passages throughout. I still think about certain aspects of the book, and I read it months ago. This was a departure from the type of book we typically read, but the content brought about a very thought-provoking discussion. I learned more about my friends and their relationships. We had a wonderful evening. I made Lemon Verbena ice cream with individual Lavender honey cakes w/ berries. This was my first attempt at infusing herbs into ice cream, and I was pretty thrilled with the end result. I found the recipe in The Herb Farm Cookbook, which is like a bible for using herbs in many different, and often unexpected, ways. The recipe has creme fraiche so the ice cream is a bit tart, which I love. I also served Cheddar Thyme Gougeres (cheese puffs) just to have a little something savory. 


This recipe used so much lemon verbena, I had to buy another plant.






Evan, and his brother and sisters, were very happy to see I made extra lavender cakes.

spring planting

Over the last few weeks, we've been getting the garden in. The kids are becoming great little helpers.Now if only the garden could weed itself.


Garden weeds never sleep.

Nina planted radishes a few weeks ago and was thrilled to harvest some today.



Nina looking through the seed packets as she plans her little garden.


Zig showing Sela how to plant the starts.


Now it's her turn.


Rollin was planting in the pumpkin/gourd patch. He picked these snake gourd seeds out with Zig earlier in the day at Molbaks. Looks like October is going to be pretty exciting for Rollin!


Zig showing Rollin where to plant the seeds. I'm pretty sure he ran off and played "jump over the shovel" with Nina after this while Zig planted the seeds. Baby steps!


My chocolate mint is going strong. On my list of things to make is chocolate mint infused truffles. Maybe this weekend...


Evan woke up from his nap and took awhile to warm up to this whole gardening thing.

Looks like Nina is running from Mr. Cranky. 


I am 2, hear me ROAR! We love our Evan!

Even though these projects often begin with some complaining, they always end with dirty, happy kids. There is always lots of laughter, fun and plenty of horsing around. I cherish these days where everyone is content and happy to be home....when I can look across the lawn and see all my little ones traversing the yard, flinging wildflower seeds, and most importantly building bonds and memories with each other.


We're done!

Brooke's Baby Shower

On Saturday we were busy in the kitchen again for the baby shower we threw for our friend, Brooke.


Brie, Amy, Brooke, Lisa, me, and Lori





Lisa made these adorable little crudite cups. I love this!


 Brie's beautiful cupcakes.




This was just me trying to take a picture of Lisa's cute dress!


Minted Pea Crostini.


Meyer Lemon Tart

Cherry Macaroon Tart

Lori, Lisa and I were joking about how we aren't game people, and then we subjected the guests to all sorts of competitive tasks. We had Baby Nascar, The Preggo Game, and a Lullaby Competition where each group wrote and performed a lullaby to Brooke and Brooke had to choose the winner. They were all beautiful!


Jae Lykken was a good sport as her team tried to beat out the other teams by stuffing the most balloons possible in the oversized clothes we provided her with. This "Preggo Game" was hysterical.

The three teams did pretty well. I can't remember which team won though.

And then there was the Baby Nascar obstacle course. This girl was so fast but she dropped the baby...a no-no.

Part of the obstacle course was changing the baby diaper. Good job, Amy!

We had gorgeous weather and somehow Lisa was able to pull this off at her home which she moved into only weeks ago. She's a wonder woman!

Cooking Class & the BEST Kale Salad

Lisa and I taught a cooking class on Thursday. These classes are a bit of work and preparation, but I really enjoy the process. I always try lots of new recipes the weeks leading up to the class as I refine the menu.  Zig and the kids are my testers. This year the recipe I was most excited to share was a Massaged Kale Salad. Honestly, I'm not sure if I will ever make another salad again. It is that good. I really love kale, but it is not the easiest vegetable to eat raw, until this recipe came along. I really, really, wanted people to see how easy this salad is to create, and most importantly, I wanted them to make it when they went home. To demonstrate I had a volunteer come up and make a salad alongside me. Jill was a good sport and massaged her kale wonderfully :)

Every year I say I am going to take pictures of the food, but there is just no time and I always forget. But here is the menu and some of the links will have photos.

Spring Menu:
White Bean Spread w/ Toasted Almonds and Rosemary (Super Natural Every Day)
Pickled Fig, Robiola & Pistachio Crostini (We referred to it as Fig Love)
Wild Rice Cherry Soup
Massaged Kale Salad with Apples and Gorgonzola
Asparagus and Bacon Souffles
Energy Slaw
Cherry Macaroon Tart 
Mini Chocolate Torta Caprese


Jill Corriveau giving the kale a little love.

Rollin's preschool teachers, Mrs. Judy and Mrs. Jessica, joined us which was a treat. There aren't two people outside of family that Rollin is more fond of. He kept surfacing at the end of the class and then stuck to Mrs. Judy like glue when she offered to share her dessert with him.


I do have one picture of the cherry macaroon tart, because we made it at the shower we threw later in the week.


Britney Porter is the woman in charge who arranges these classes and keeps this wonderful cooking circuit running. She is also an amazing cook and always a huge help in the kitchen pitching in wherever needed.


Lisa and I were pretty exhausted at the end of the night, but we had so much fun. Lisa makes everything beautiful and everything she touches tastes amazing.

Happy Sunday

Oh, how I love Sundays. Today we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning. No one was very eager to get out of bed. We all stayed up way too late last night and had an incredibly busy week and weekend. Thank goodness Sunday always comes and we have a clean slate, a day with no plans other than church. It's just awesome. Church was uplifting and Zig and I really enjoyed our class today. We talked about the ten lepers and gratitude. Zig found some actual pictures of leprosy on his phone and the kids were pretty intrigued, naturally. It's so nice to teach together and especially to have Sela in class.

I took a 4 hour nap when we came home. I couldn't believe I woke up and it was 5:15. I had a headache and felt like a zombie, but obviously my body needed rest. The kids played outside all afternoon and had a long jump competition. We ate dinner, had a little family night where Nina taught us a lesson about being thankful and generous, and we each shared our thoughts about Christ with each other. I am so strengthened by my children and humbled at how much faith they have. Rollin had me a little teary eyed...he loves and feels so deeply. Each of the children make me want to be better in every way. After family home evening, we watched a surfing documentary together and then tucked the kids in. Sundays always go too fast.

the twins

 When Rollin and Nina are getting along they like to be called "the twins." Last Sunday morning, they were working on a sticker book before church and when I looked at them, it dawned on me that they really do look like twins! They are the closest in age at 2yrs & 3 months apart. They weigh the same. Nina is a little bit taller right now, but Rollin is catching up! I'm glad I got these pictures of "the twins," because shortly after, a sticker war erupted and they de-twinned each other for the day. Love at home.