Chai tea

Chai tea made from whole spices, cool! For under $5 from the bulk section I made 2 quarts of tea concentrate, one decaf with Rooibos and one full caffeine with Darjeeling. Mmmm! Perfect for a chilly fall morning.
http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/index.php?video_id=252

ZUCCHINI!!! ... and Kale

Wow. We have a LOT of zucchini in the garden. I wasn't sure how much we would get because the plant started to look sick several weeks ago. A few of the small zucchinis just rotted right there on the vine, but the healthy part of the plant continues to produce and I can't even imagine how much we would have if we were getting fruit from the whole patch. I am totally out of ideas of how to cook it... zucchini bread, zucchini stir fry, pickled curry zucchini.
AND kale. Eric and Josie can eat their weight in kale chips, so those are a little easier to dispense with. Yum!

Aviatrix baby hat

The aviatrix was more difficult then the average baby hat, but also cooler in the end. Short rows and a unique shape make this hat special. This one is going to my friend Emily who is having a baby boy in early January. You can find the pattern on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aviatrix-baby-hat

Pickles!

My first attempt at pickles, in a few weeks we will find out how good they are! I have very fond memories of my Grandpa's pickles, and this is the same recipe. High standard to compare to though, especially in memory :-)

Grandpa's dill pickled cucumbers:
Use small fresh cucumbers. Prick the skins with a fork a few times.
Pack into quart jars. Add 1 head of dill chopped, 1 TB. mixed pickling spices, 2 tsp. non-iodized salt, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 cup cider vinegar. Add cold water to fill the jar. Tighten the lid and shake a bit, then loosen slightly. Place on folded newspapers as they may run over while fermenting. Every few days tighten the lid and shake, then loosen lid. After 2 weeks you can tighten the lids and put them away.

Rosemary red soup, Dill bread

Mmmm homemade goodness. I am so proud of this meal. Something about cooking so much food from my own garden and the deliciousness and beauty of this meal was tremendously enjoyable for me.
Dill bread recipe and pictures on Smitten Kitchen. I varied the recipe a bit using onion and grated zucchini as well as fresh oregano, basil, parsley and a little bit of dried dill:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/02/for-beaming-bewitching-breads/
Rosemary red soup recipe on one of my current favorite food websites, Cookus Interruptus. Hilarious and educational videos! Beets and carrots were from my garden:
http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/index.php?video_id=99

Harvest time!

I am so happy to have food to eat out of my garden. This is a new experience for me, to have grown my own food seed to table. My grandfather had an amazing garden and my own mom grew some food on our yard, so I did grow up eating some garden fresh foods, but the enjoyment, satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment doing it myself is tremendous! So far we have lettuce, carrots, snap peas, and beets. I did see some broccoli peeking out yesterday, as well. Yum!

Watermelon

Cute, huh? An addition to Josie bean's knit kitchen. And easy and SO FAST!
Here is the pattern link: http://halls7thheaven.blogspot.com/2009/07/watermelon-slice-knitting-pattern.html I couldn't decide on colors, so I did a couple variations, but I think I like the dark one better.

Baby headband

I needed a girlie, cute and quick little project for a friend having a baby girl next month... turned out adorable I think! I wish I had had one of these for my super bald little girl, maybe then fewer people would have mistaken her for a boy :-)

Knit tunic

I love this little tunic I just finished for my Josie. Very sweet, easy and cute. Find that pattern on Ravelry here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fionas-top

Ice Cream

I having been wishing for an ice cream maker since last summer. Finally, I have it and am having a great time trying out recipes!
The first one was Chocolate Raspberry, a dairy free recipe made with coconut milk base. Today, Creme Fraiche, which is even better in my opinion.

Nut Burgers

Tonight, a salad made with the first tiny mesclun lettuce starts I thinned out of the garden, sweet potato fries and the delicious and nutritious NUT BURGERS! This is a seriously good recipe: http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/index.php?video_id=128

Homegrown noodles

My lovely mother came to visit this weekend. One of the things she does best is feed the family amazing, nourishing, delicious homemade food. At my request, she made pasta, and it was heavenly! We started with eggs from her own chickens, rolled out noodles and the final product was a rich tomato sausage cream sauce treat. Thanks, Mom!

Guacamole

It's Cinco de Mayo, isn't it? Guacamole time!
I spent half the morning running around to the local produce stand for pee wee avocados (18 of them!) and other ingredients, the grocery store for chips, cutting, scooping, smashing and all the rest, and in 10 minutes flat we ate our way through the majority of the batch. YUM!
I use avocado, tomato, garlic, lime juice, sea salt, cilantro and jalapenos. You can put as much or as little of each ingredient as you like.

Corned Beef

Our St. Patty's day meal... a couple weeks late. This is one of my absolute faves and I look forward to it every year! This time corned beef and cabbage as usual, and beautiful purple potatoes for a splash of color.

Gooseberry hat

This easy little hat knitted up quick and turned out cute. I modified the pattern slightly to make a 0-3 month size, and a few more knit rows after cast on to make a more substantial curled edge. Here is the link to my project on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/steffyost/gooseberry-hat
Since I don't have the appropriate sized model... dolly got to wear it.