Things to Do - This Untamed Life, Afternoon

A few weeks ago, we spent a relaxing (or chill-laxing as P would say) morning at home followed by an afternoon at Great Country Farms - picking black raspberries (or should I say "trying" to find black raspberries worth picking), riding the slides, climbing tire piles, swinging, eating, and petting the baby goats. A good day. (For more info on the farms, click here for my past posts).

Now click on over to This Untamed Life to see how everyone else spent their afternoon.

HAPPY MONDAY!!

Places to Go - Cherry Picking at Great Country Farms (Bluemont, VA)

I write about Great Country Farms a lot on this blog (click here for past posts), mainly because it is one of my favorite places to take the kids in the summer and fall (we also have a CSA membership through them). Throughout both seasons, the farm tries to make sure that something is always available for you-pick (ranging from fruits in the summer to swiss chard and pumpkins in the fall). My kids love both the hayride to the fields and participating in the acquisition of the food we eat.

Last week we spent the morning withe friends - bouncing on the huge "pillow", driving life-sized car/slides, fighting bad guys on a pirate ship, swinging on rope swings, tunneling down humungous slides, and petting all of the baby goats as they wandered the property. And, in the afternoon, we picked (tart) cherries. Now I just have to figure out how to cook them, any EASY suggestions (I don't have enough for a pie)?

I love this place.



Every kindergartner receives an "award" at the end of the schoolyear. P was given a certificate as "Little Miss Monkeybars", which pretty much summarizes the last year. Memories of her broken arm never held P back, she continues to bounce/hop/swing/cartwheel her way through the world.

Places to Go - Autumn at Great Country Farms (Bluemont, VA)

(It's the worst group picture ever, but at least we have a group picture)

I've posted about Great Country Farms quite a few times (click here to view past posts), mostly regarding our visits in the summer and spring. But GCF also makes for a great day trip in autumn - no mosquitoes or bees, cooler weather, and hayrides to wonderful pick-your-own fall crops. A few weeks ago we picked swiss chard and kale and in October you can pick pumpkins off the vine. The playgrounds keep getting bigger and bigger - they now have a "castle" with slides and several haystacks for running, jumping, and climbing (or sneezing). The grounds are open daily from 10am to 5 pm through Sunday, November 27th (closed on Thanksgiving day). I can't think of a better way to celebrate the end of the season (esp. since relatively warm weather is predicted through the weekend). Click here for more info.

MONDAY LINKS:

*In the Make - Lovely pics and interviews with all sorts of artist equals lots of inspiration. I can't stop browsing.

*New pics up on my other blog, Because It Is a Holiday.

*A gorgeous set of photos.





Picking kale confused T somewhat. He kept carrying his bag by the wrong end.



Everybody loved the play castle with slides.



She's actually six years old. Wow. Where do the years go?

Places to Go - Raspberry Picking at Great Country Farms (Bluemont, VA)

As I mentioned on Monday, a few weeks ago we took friends from out of town to Great Country Farms for the day. We rode the tractor to the fields, which was probably the highlight of the trip for T ('actor ride!! 'nother 'actor ride!!"). Once we arrived, I found the LONG walk to the top of the hill somewhat discouraging (after all you can buy berries in the store), but the girls ran the whole way. As for the taste of raspberries off the vine, seriously delicious. We finished eating all that we picked before the tractor arrived back at the farm.

Places to Go - Great Country Farms (Bluemont, VA)

A few days after we returned from vacation, three of our favorite people flew from Denver to visit us. P quickly referred to R as her "new best friend" and the two of them became inseparable for the rest of R's visit. At first F felt left out, but she cheered up after deciding to take on the role of baby caregiver. And all was good. C and I stayed up late into the night, drinking wine and talking about everything we could think of.



As I've mentioned before (click here to see my past post), we're big fans of Great Country Farms (which is sort of a like a playground, amusement park, petting zoo, and farm combined), so we decided to bring our old friends to our newish hangout. Luckily, the weather agreed with us - sunny and about 80 degrees, it doesn't get better than that. The girls had a wonderful time jumping on the huge pillow and T "drove" huge cars for long periods of time (I don't even think he noticed that the "cars" contained slides). And of course, we picked some fruit (I'll have pics up on Wednesday), cause it is a FARM after all.




I love the bunny hut. I could probably spend all day just watching them dig holes and chill out. But then the kids remembered the bouncy pillow and away we went . . .



So just when I thought that princess dress outings were a thing of the past P decided to surprise me with this ensemble. Oh well, farms need princesses too. I guess.

Things to Do - Local Food

(All photos above taken at South Mountain Creamery's 2010 Spring Festival)

I've completely bought in to buying local (just like crocs for children and Mad Men). As I've mentioned in previous posts, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals scared the hell out of me, especially when it comes to carnivorism (which, according to Wiktionary, is a real word). Luckily the DC area has some great options for locavores.

My absolute favorite place to buy meat (lamb, pork, chicken, and goat) is Fox Hollow Farm in Gaithersburg, MD. The farm is super small and family owned; you can even go out back and visit the animals (I know I sound obnoxious, but if the idea of "visiting" your food freaks you out, you probably shouldn't eat meat). My kids love to run through the field and say hi to the goats (pictured below). The farm delivers to neighboring communities in MD (but not VA). Call ahead as they tend to sell out of top products (esp. the broiler chickens, which are SO SO yummy).

When I don't have time to drive to MD, we have meat and dairy delivered through South Mountain Creamery. We visited the Creamery last spring for their annual spring festival (pictured above) and enjoyed seeing the cows and chickens everywhere. Plus P could spend forever "driving" a tractor.

Regarding other options, we've joined Arganica, but haven't activated our membership yet. And in the summer we have veggies delivered through Great Country Farm's CSA, which entitles us to free activities at the farm all summer - the kids love the slides and giant bouncing pillow; we love all the you-pick options. And on weekends we frequent the farmers' markets on Courthouse and Columbia Pike, especially when Cibola Farms has a booth.

What about everyone else? Do you buy local? Where do you go?

MONDAY LINKS:

*There's a new local mom blog and it's pretty awesome (and funny), make sure to check it out here when you have a chance!

*Six Ideas for Exploring Nature with Kids

*I sort of love this.

*So this is interesting. What do you think?

*Nostalgia.

*USA literary map. I want one.

*Poufs!! (you know you want one)

*Great photos of Israel.


(Photo taken at Fox Hollow Farms)

Things to Do - Make a Grateful List (September edition)

Okay, so despite loving my life and my family and all that stuff (blah blah blah), sometimes I get rather down. I think we all do. In order to try and keep the "downs" away, every month I make a grateful list of 25 things that make me happy. I originally got the idea from this book - The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, which is such an amazing read. On the same note, right after the girls' bedtime story (after we turn out the lights), I ask them to think of three things they're grateful for. Every day. Usually they say the expected (family, friends, teddy bears, etc.), but I still think it's nice to try and remember the good things. on a daily basis. so dorky, i know. But, as you've probably noticed, I'm rather dorky (if you're cool and you read this blog, please don't go away). So here's my Top 25 Grateful List from September. Feel free to take inspiration from it. Or scoff. Just not too loudly, I'm a sensitive sort.

(By the way, the pictures and the list don't really correlate, except all the pics were taken in September).

1. Finally, turning off the air conditioning and feeling the breeze through the windows
2. Picking our own potatoes at Great Country Farms
3. Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD (this place is awesome)
4. Date night at Evening Star with good friends
5. My husband riding his bike to work every day (he's so so much happier now)
6. The baby dancing to Taio Cruz's Dynamite
7. Duck donuts We lived on these at the beach. I ate over three a day, seriously they're that good. (but they're only available in the Outer Banks, so sad)
8. F's seashell collection
9. P spotting a crab (a big crab) and designating herself a "beach explorer"
10. Walking the girls to school in the morning and looking for "signs of fall"
11. The sound of the ocean, especially at night with the windows open
12. T (the baby) walking his froggy pull-toy everywhere
13. The Artful Parent mentioning my blog
14. The girls looking at old photo albums and F telling P "no, T wasn't born yet, YOU were the baby."
15. Pepsi throwback
16. F dancing to bluegrass at Cox Farm's fall festival (she really got her groove on)
17. Clarins' self-tanner (help for the truly pale)
18. Jenga and mariachis on Val's birthday
19. The History of Love
20. Discovery Toys Wiz Kidz Card Game - my kids love this game (especially F, the almost 5 year old, we played for hours on our vacation)
21. Whenever you ask F or P where they live they always say "Virginia the United States of America"
22. When babies fall asleep in the nook of your shoulder
23. Mondays (all three kids go to preschool on Mondays, so I get the morning off) & Tuesdays (all three kids are home from preschool so we all get to spend the day together)
24. Bachelor Pad (everyone needs a guilty pleasure)
25. My dad's health (it's not perfect, but all in all he's doing okay)

How about everyone else? Anything you're grateful for this month? I'd love to hear. Or, anyone have any additional ideas for trying to stay happy and positive?

Have a great weekend everyone! Monday is a holiday but I'll be back on Tuesday with new posts!

Things to Make - Cooking with Seasonal Veggies (tomatoes, eggplant & squash)

This summer, we joined our first CSA (a half-share at Great Country Farms). So every week, on our doorstep, we receive one bin full of yummy veggies and fruit. In the last few weeks, such deliveries have meant a large amount of tomatoes, eggplant, and squash/zucchini. So what to do?

For the squash and/or zucchini, Real Simple published a great/simple recipe, that's a little different from most squash recipes I've found. - spaghetti with zucchini, walnuts, and raisins (I know it sounds like an odd combination, but even my husband liked it, despite the lack of meat).

For the squash/zucchini and tomatoes, allrecipes.com has a tomato/squash casserole recipe that's quite yummy. http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/tomato-zucchini-casserole/Detail.aspx

For just the tomatoes, often they're wonderful to eat as is (and so so much better than what you buy in the store) but if you want to jazz it up a little this Cooking Light recipe for tomato granita is really yummy.

Regarding the eggplant, I LOVE eggplant parm, but I hate all the steps to make it, so in an effort to make things easier, I created my own simple recipe (with help from my mother-in-law) that I find somewhat addictive. Here it is:

Darcy's Easy Eggplant Parm

ingredients - 1 medium/large eggplant, 3 fresh tomatoes, olive oil, breadcrumbs, shredded parm cheese (or, i like to use the parm, assiago, fontina, provolone blend from trader joes called "Quattro Formaggio")

1. Cut eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds and generously apply salt to the pieces. Let sit about half an hour and then pat dry with a paper towel (i know it sound silly, but this keeps the eggplant from getting soggy)
2. Brush slices with olive oil (lightly) and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes
3. Remove eggplant slices from the oven and assemble them into stacks with the tomato (cut into round slices), breadcrumbs (about a tablespoon), and cheese (i.e. eggplant, tomato, breadcrumbs, a light smattering of cheese, then repeat. So that each stack has 2 eggplants and 2 tomatoes).
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted but not burned.

See, so easy, and somewhat healthy, right? Okay so cheese is bad, but at least no frying occurs.

How about everyone else? Any other suggestions for seasonal produce? I'd love to hear them.

Places to Go - Great Country Farms (Bluemont, VA)

This summer we joined a CSA with Great Country Farms, which comes with unlimited free admission to: the farm, farm activities, and the you pick fields. As the farm has a petting zoo, a HUGE jumping pillow, rope swings, a corn crib (sort of like a sandbox), tons of playground equipment, huge slides, mini-tractors, a water play area, and tons more, we've gone quite a bit. I've really come to love this place. Plus, every week they open up something for picking in the fields - strawberries, peaches, raspberries, and, when fruit is off season, veggies such as cherry tomatoes and green beans. The whole place is stroller accessible, except for some of the picking fields (which your reach by hayride) and EXTREMELY kid-friendly (if that wasn't obvious already). This weekend they're hosting "the Big Dig" Annual Pancake Breakfast and Potato Harvest, where you dig for your own fresh potatoes (did you know that most store bought potatoes are a year old, from last year's harvest?). Sounds like fun. For more info -
http://www.greatcountryfarms.com/index.php/annual-events/the-big-dig.html

Whatever you decide to do - have a great three day weekend! I'll be back with more posts on Monday.