small + friendly

Peas Porridge

I have to admit that I do not care for peas.  I love just about every vegetable, but I have never liked peas.  When I was little, I remember swallowing them whole, like pills, to avoid tasting them.  Due to this prejudice, peas were not the first veggies I thought of when making baby food.  I'm sure glad it occurred to me, Jude loved his peas porridge and it was super easy to make.
Here's the recipe (if you can call it that): 

1. Place frozen organic peas in a small pot and add enough water to just cover the peas.  Cover the pot and gently boil until tender.

2. Drain off some of the water, leaving enough to create the consistency you want.

3.  Puree. (I used my hand blender right in the same pot.)  Optional: Finish with a pinch of salt and drizzle of olive oil and/or a little breast milk/formula.  

4.  Portions can be frozen in ice cube trays for future meals.  Yum!

P.S. - You might have noticed that I use a flour sack type dish towel as a bib.  They cover more, can be used for post meal clean up, and mean I have one less thing to buy/make.  The extra coverage is especially important when it is Daddy's turn to feed the little wiggle worm :)   

Taming Tomatoes

As promised, here is how I prune and support my tomatoes.  My pruning technique is informed by Small-Plot, High-Yield Gardening and the support system is based on a reader's tip in Fine Gardening magazine.

Pruning tomatoes is physically easy, but psychologically challenging.  I have to keep telling myself it is worth it: I'm not creating less harvest - I am creating bigger tomatoes.  Here's how: At the base of each leaf a new set of leaves will grow, and if left unchecked will become another vine, pinch these out to create a strong main stem.  You can get rid of all the suckers and just have one vine, or you can allow one or two more branches further up the plant to grow.  I'm a big fan of three vines total, if you have the room.  I let my cherry tomatoes go a little more wild, pinching every once in a while, just to keep them a reasonable size.    

To create the frame in my raised bed I used 8 (3/4" x 6') redwood stakes (bamboo would also work great).  I simply sunk the stakes nice and deep at an angle and lashed them together, then I tied two stakes across the top.  

With the frame built the next step is tying up the tomato vines:  

1. Cut a long length of twine (it needs to go up and over the frame plus a little extra).

2. Tie a slip knot towards the base of the plant and gently twist it around the vine.

3.  Hook the twine over the frame, wrap the extra around a rock, and voila!

As the plant grows you just keep twisting the twine around it.  For each branch you allow to grow just repeat the steps.  

Happy Gardening!

Happiness is . . .

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!    

All our love,

Carla and Jude

Current Obsession

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I got super excited when I saw these paper flowers in this month's W Magazine.  I have always loved paper flowers, I made hundreds of tissue paper flowers for my wedding, but these are extra cool.  I am determined to teach myself how to make these, stay tuned for a tutorial.
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The giant ones are my favorite. Now I all I have to do is find the time to make them . . . if only I didn't require sleep. 

 

Tasty Thistles

One of my favorite spring veggies is the almighty artichoke.  In fact, I love them so much they are a part of my perennial bed.  I think that the silvery leaves add beautiful architecture to the garden, but what I'm really after are the flavorful buds.  Growing this perennial crop has been easy for me in Sonoma County, despite the hot summers.  I do recommend a good pruning in fall to avoid them overtaking the garden and to get rid of some of the less attractive old leaves.  For more info on growing artichokes check out Sunset Magazine's guide.   

For me part of the allure of artichokes is how great they taste simply steamed, but if you want to try other preparations Saveur is a great place to start.   

To steam artichokes:

1. Harvest when the buds are still nice and closed, dunk them in cool water a few times to get them clean and make sure there aren't any bugs hanging out in there.  

2. Then trim the top third or so off each.  Place them in a steamer over about an inch of boiling water, and steam over medium heat, until a middle petal pulls out easily, about 40 minutes.  

3. Serve with melted butter, aioli, or good old mayo.  

I guess I should mention how the eat them, my husband used to let me have his heart, turned out he just didn't know how to clean it (I should have never taught him).  You pull off the outer petals one at a time, dip them, and scrape the bottom third off with your teeth.  Repeat until you get to the tender inner petals, pull up on those, beneath you will find the choke.  Simply scrape out all those little hairs with a spoon and you will reveal the best part: the heart, dip and enjoy!  

Vintage Bassinet

Before Jude was born, I scored this adorable vintage bassinet on Craigslist for 10 bucks, and with a little TLC it became the perfect first bed for my little one.  Check out the before and after: 

I loved the color, so all I had to do was add a mattress and pad the sides.  For the mattress I had a piece of foam cut to size and used a large pillowcase (which happened to fit perfectly) as a sheet.  For the sides I hot glued extra thick blanket batting around the inside and then sewed a removable (AKA washable) bumper cover with a ribbon drawstring much like a moses basket.  

This sweet little crib fit perfectly beside the bed in our small room, and while he out-grew it quickly, it is now an excellent spot to store his motley crew of stuffed animals.   

   

Holy Granoly!

 

I am seriously addicted to this granola.  I've been making it in big batches but it doesn't even last a week around here.  I tried the recipe because my husband had a very expensive store-bought granola habit.  This way is not only better, it is very affordable.  Now, if I only had time to keep up with the demand.  The recipe is from Martha Stewart's Body + Soul magazine and can be found here, however I'd like to share some time and dish saving techniques I've picked up.    

1.  Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl and then add the dry ingredients - two bowls are not necessary. 

2.  Use roasted or raw sliced nuts and add them at the end with the fruit.

3.  Once the granola has cooled on the sheet pans just sprinkle the fruit and nuts evenly and toss before storing - another dirty bowl avoided.

I hope you try it, although I'm warning you . . . this snack is like healthy crack.

Do, Re, Mi, a mom who always sings

Okay, I've noticed something very wacky about my mothering style.  It involves an inordinate amount of singing.  I'm pretty sure Jude's first words will be sung instead of spoken.  We're not just talking about the classics, i.e. Twinkle, Twinkle and Itsy-Bitsy, although they are part of my repertoire.  I will take any tune and turn it into a song about what I am doing or how much I love my baby.  Here is an example set to the theme song for MacGruber:  

He's teeny, and he's tiny

And he's got a little scoop neck

He's my scooper!

I feel like the star of my own child appropriate musical - like some sort of a slightly crazy, tone-deaf Mary Poppins.  

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While I know this behavior is not quite normal, it makes Jude smile and as my mother would say "there are worse things."  So if you live in Sonoma County and you see a tall brunette pushing a stroller while singing, don't be alarmed, it's just Do, Re, Mi, showing Jude my love.