Savoring the end of summer

Here is a 'brief" synopsis of our perfect summer day, in pictures. We have had a lot of wonderful days recently. Weather and activity wise. I feel saddened that summer is coming to an end and the freedom it brings from knuckling down to schoolwork. Learning in a leisurely way is fun, though not productive enough to allow to go on always. I am trying not to feel too sad that we haven't gotten in as many bike rides and canoe trips as I had wanted this summer. Maybe fall will give us several more opportunities for those things.

So, onto today's delights,

We started the day off at the baseball diamonds. It was a sunny, high wind day and so delightful to be out in. Here is Gregory with some of his team mates, the Brown Cannon Balls! They were in great form, all of them, hardly ever getting struck out. The Green Lightnings were playing a mean outfield so they had to run fast to get on base.

This noon Harrison and Gregory were wanting to get right onto the computer when we returned home so I was suggesting books for them to read. Harrison thinks he has read all of the books in this house that interest him so I was trying to give him some new ideas. We have a lot of great books around here that he hasn't read, although he has read a large percentage of them, there are a few gems left. Today however was not the day to deviate from the old tried and true and this time he introduced one of his favorites to Gregory. For an hour after lunch Harrison read out loud the Boys Book of Sea Fights by Chelsea Curtis Fraser. I have never read the book but I think Harrison has read it enough times for every one in this house to have read it at least once. I should look and see if Chelsea has written any other books. This one is a good fit for him, in that it is geography and fighting in one cover.

We played board games and then while I let everyone have their computerized time I ran and got groceries. I have been on an every other week big grocery shopping, little grocery shopping pattern. The little week I just get the basics at Kwik Trip since they have the best price on milk and bananas. This was the big week. Some played dolls. I was the grandma and had to pick the beans for supper with a doll on my hip. Because Suzy wanted to see Grandma. For supper we enjoyed beans cooked in olive oil and a liberal amount of slivered garlic; fresh tomatoes; apples (from our tree) fried in butter, cinnamon and brown sugar; round steak baked in a lovely gravy and mashed potatoes. I actually had salmon since I am not eating beef right now. But the gravy looked and smelled very lovely. All in all it was a yummy meal. Although I threw in a picture of my lemon drop pepper plant we didn't eat any of those, I just like how many peppers it has on it. And they played some basketball.

So the end of a good day has come. I am including a picture from our walk on Monday evening since it fits the theme so well. They have been overhauling the train tracks the last week or so so we needed to check out their progress.

All my love,

~Anna

I like Pretzels, Do You?

Last year just before Easter I was doing some blog browsing and learned from different places that pretzels are a traditional easter treat. I had never heard that before and I thought the stories to come up with that were quite interesting. The main one I remember was, Monks a long, long time ago would give pretzels to children to tell them the story Jesus hanging on the cross. Who knows if that is true but I enjoy trying to make things I have never made before, so I found a recipe and tried it. We like it and here it is for you to try. By coincedence the friend's house we shared our Easter dinner at last year served large chocolate covered pretzels as an afterdinner snack . So I shared my new found knowledge with her, she had, had no idea she was keeping a long held tradition :) Without further ado I give you my Pretzel recipe: 1/2 cup warm water 1 teaspoon honey 1 cup milk- warm 1Tablespoon brown suagr 1 Tablespoon yeast 3 cups whole wheat 1 cup all purpose flour 1 1/4 teaspoons salt Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and knead until dough is elastic. Add a little more flour if needed. Let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. 8 cups water 4 Tablespoons baking soda Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add baking soda. On a lightly oiled work surface, divide dough into 12 even peices. With your palms roll each piece into a long rope about 20 inches. Shape into pretzel shape by curving each end toward the center and overlapping them. Secure each end by pressing firmly. Place shaped pretzels in boiling water and let boil one or two at a time for about 30 seconds. Remove from water with a slatted spoon that drains well. Place on greased or lined baking sheets. Repeat process until all pretzels have been boiled. Brush tops of pretzels with: 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water Sprinkle tops with salt and parmesan cheese, or cinnamon & sugar (our family favorite), or just plain old coarse salt. Bake in a 450* oven for 12 -14 minutes or until golden brown.

So whether you wish to make them as a tradition or just because you like to feed your family very yummy foods you really ought to try my pretzel recipe!

~Anna

Supper time Jokes

Last night at the dinner table we had quite the comedians. Beatrice started because there was salad dressing on the table with

What made the tomato red?

~because he saw the salad dressing!

Knock, knock,

Who is there?

~lettuce

Lettuce who?

~lettuce in it's cold out here!

Nahum, Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

~He didn't have enough guts!

Harrison, Why did the headless Horseman cross the road?

~to get to the cemetery!

Travis, Why is there a fence around a graveyard?

~because people are dieing to get in!

One last one,

What time is it when the clock strikes 13?

~time to get the clock fixed!

Oh, there was a plethora of lovely ones that have slipped my memory but you get the picture. It was an entertaining meal!

May all your dining experiences be as fun,

~Anna