Seasons of Home: Fall Kitchen and a Tea

 I'm always a little sad to bid summer goodbye, and yet each season is such a gift.  Fall is no exception, and I love the subtle shift as the seasons change.  As our new school year begins, and the mornings bring a brisk feel, I love bringing a few elements into our home that welcome the new season.

I'm excited today to be joining a group of talented bloggers (all linked at the bottom of this post) in the first installment of the Seasons of Home tour (hosted by the talented Kristen from Ella Claire blog) starting in the fall kitchen!  For me, it isn't so much about the decor in the kitchen as it is the feelings, the smells, the colors. 

Fall brings about feelings of coziness, warmer colors, smells of cinnamon and pumpkin in the kitchen.  We are so fortunate to live in an area that we have access to so many local fruits, and while it's always a little bittersweet as the fresh peaches fade away, seeing the first sweet apples available instantly makes me excited for fall. 

It's not quite pumpkin season here yet, but just by adding some local apples, a candle, and some cinnamon spiced baked goods, our kitchen is slowly welcoming in a new season. 

 I love adding in little touches of brown here and there... a color that doesn't always fit in so well with other seasons, but is just perfect right now.

Do you find yourself spending a little extra time in the kitchen each fall like me?  There's just something about fall baking! 

The girls obviously have favorite things to look forward to each season.  During the fall season, they love our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, school activities with friends, the county fair, and so much more, but one of their favorite things we start back up in the fall is our little afternoon teas at home. 

 We started doing this several years ago.  We don't have tea every day or even always at a certain time, but we try to fit it in as much as we can, especially as the days get cooler.  The girls love helping me prepare all the tea fixings and sitting around the table together. 

 This year we actually prepared a tea tray, as we have tea often enough to keep everything close by, and I thought this might be a fun opportunity to share our little tradition.

 The girls love adding sugar cubes and milk into (decaf ;-) ) black tea (with British accents of course).  This is also an opportunity to actually use some of my pretty dishes!  ;-) 

 I always include a little treat with our tea.  Since the girls obviously already have quite the sugar intake (the sugar cubes are just too tempting - ha), I try to balance it with a "healthier" treat.  This apple snacking cake actually doesn't have any flour in it, but uses almond butter, which gives us some protein and healthy fats to help us last the afternoon.  I'll share the recipe below!  This is a delicious tea cake, just lightly sweet and very filling.  I like to add in chunks of fresh apple and some pecans.  We have been known to have scones with our tea, but for the most part, I usually try to have something that I feel is a little better for us.

 (Like I mentioned, the sugar cubes are the best part according to the girls!)

 The girls actually refer to our teatime as a "tea party", but as you can see our teas are very informal, and yet feel special with pretty dishes and time carved out.  We often sit at the dining table, but sometimes the kitchen island is a pretty perfect place to land.  We've even been known to read some poetry at our teatimes on occasion.  ;-)

 The sign of a successful teatime... there's always a mess to clean up, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  :-)

Apple Cake Recipe

Recipe from Pamela Salzman
Makes 1 Cake

Ingredients

• Butter (for greasing pan)
• 1 cup creamy, unsweetened, unsalted almond butter
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼” cubes
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" round pie plate with butter. If you want to remove the cake from the dish in one piece, you can line the bottom with parchment paper. You do not have to grease the parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl combine the almond butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
3. Stir in apple pieces and nuts.
4. Pour into prepared dish and bake until just set and a toothpick comes out clean or with dry crumbs. A 9" pie plate will take 35-45 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.

And last, but certainly not least, please visit the following bloggers for some beautiful fall kitchen tours and inspiration!

Ella Claire & Co. | Julie Blanner | Inspired by Charm | Craftberry Bush
 
Boxwood Avenue | French Country Cottage | Zevy Joy | Jennifer Rizzo
 
My 100 Year Old Home | Home Stories A to Z | Keeping it Cozy | Happy Happy Nester
 
Maison de Pax | Maison de Cinq | My Sweet Savannah | Rooms for Rent
 

Thanksgiving 2017

 As always, I feel so thankful for so many things this year.  One of those things is you - who still read this blog despite it being so neglected!  Thanks for all your encouragement over the years!  I hope you and your families had a very happy Thanksgiving! 

This year we had the privilege of hosting Thanksgiving for our families, our first Thanksgiving in this home.  This past month I enjoyed every minute of Thanksgiving preparations and yesterday, welcoming our families into our home to make new memories, was so special.  

 Having Thanksgiving here was also a huge motivator for me... I have done hardly any decorating in our home, afraid to commit to hanging anything on the walls.  This gave me the incentive I needed to get some things done around here (smile)! 

It was so fun to set the table... it's been a while since I've dragged out my china and tablecloths.  My mom made the adorable place cards that wrap around the napkins. 

The kids table was so cute... Target had this adorable paper tablecloth for coloring and games.  

 My mom, mother-in-law and sister-in-law all pitched in and helped cook the meal.  As most Thanksgivings, we had an overwhelming amount of delicious food (all which I failed to capture except for this lone picture).  I tried a few new recipes this year... some so delicious they'll be making a comeback.  You must try this green bean and brussels sprout casserole; this corn pudding; and these candied yams. I tried a new pumpkin pie recipe, but wished I had used my tried and true recipe here.  

 Jillian somehow had the idea of a photo booth in her head for Thanksgiving and went to her crafty Grammy about it.  (She knew who would be able to put together something this adorable!)  So my mom made this photo booth and the girls took pictures all day of everyone.  It was pretty fun and entertaining when I downloaded the pictures this morning (smile). 

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful! 

An End of Summer Vacation

 {A post for my memories}

This is our second year taking a beach vacation at the end of the summer and both times it has been the perfect ending to our summer break.  We (along with my parents) booked the condo several months ago, knowing that we likely wouldn't make the trip if we booked it closer to the time our house was being finished.  Before we left, I felt guilty and regretful spending the additional money on top of all our house expenses, but now I'm so glad we planned this ahead of time. There's just nothing as calming and relaxing as the sunshine, white sandy beach and ocean waves crashing.  We needed this - a little break from work and worries and the busyness of life.  And just as it's nice taking a break, it's nice to come home feeling refreshed, thankful, and ready for a new season ahead. 

 Our so sweet nine year old... helpful, conscientious, always wanting to be by my side, talking, laughing, and growing up oh so quickly.

 Perfect weather every day we were there, some days with a calm sea and some with huge waves that we all (young and old) enjoyed playing in. 

 Our six year old full of personality... funny, smiling, constantly moving, cute as a button and always ready for a cuddle.  I'm having a hard time thinking about her not always being at this stage! 

As I post this, I'm looking back at a previous post three years  ago at this same beach when our girls were much smaller, life was much different, and I'm reminded again why I'm so grateful to have this space to document my memories.  

Warm water and quiet mornings.  Sweet sisters.  And a mama's heart bursting with thankfulness for her precious family and another summer's worth of sweet memories.  

Happy New Year and Saying Goodbye to our Farmhouse

I hope you and your family had a most wonderful Christmas!  As the year draws to a close, I feel thankful looking back and thinking of sweet memories made. Yes, there were difficult moments too, but how would we grow without them?  There's something so hopeful about starting a new year, thinking of the things I'd like to be better at, as a wife, a mother, and a friend.  

We said goodbye to our sweet farmhouse just a couple days before Christmas this year.  I realize this may come as a shock, and honestly, it doesn't feel quite real to me yet either as it happened so quickly.  Justus and I have periodically dreamed about building a home, always with the thought of it being sometime in the "future", and we've spent time off and on looking for land for sale in the area the past couple of years.  Unfortunately, very little is available, especially in smaller acreage amounts, and we did not want to leave this area.  But just a couple months ago, my parents sold us a couple acres in their lower pasture land of their farm, and we went through a rather arduous process of getting the small division approved with the city.  After it was approved and we had a deed in hand, Justus and I stuck a for sale by owner sign in our front yard, thinking it might be a while before we had any interest. Five days later, we had a signed contract and we could not have been more shocked.  

We finished packing and moving out of our house right before Christmas, and as you can imagine, there were bittersweet feelings.  That little farmhouse was my haven... we put so much time and effort into fixing it up the past six years and from the first moment I walked into it, I loved it.  But after the house was empty, I looked around and realized that without my family in it, and our belongings, it was just a house.  A precious house, yes, but nonetheless, there weren't any feelings of regret or unhappiness in leaving it and moving forward.   

I have to tell you that we sold it to the sweetest couple.  They are young, and recently married.  They grew up in this area, and she had memories of spending time in the neighborhood as her grandmother's house had been just down the road. I felt so thankful for the contentment in knowing that they loved the house just as much as we always loved it.  Probably the hardest thing about leaving was saying goodbye to our chickens.  But these sweet new owners also adopted our chickens, as we no longer had a home for them, and I know they, and our neighbors, continue to love and care for them.

The day we closed on our house, we also signed a contract with a general contractor for the building of our new home.  So although there were bittersweet feelings leaving our old house, we also had/have so much to look forward to.  

More than ever, I'm thankful for all the moments I recorded on this blog of our farmhouse and the memories made there.  I will treasure them. And now, as a new year begins, I'll begin recording our new adventures as we move forward.  Thank you for being there with me from the beginning, encouraging us as we made slow progress on our farmhouse.  You'll never know what that meant to us!  

Happy New Year!

 

Strawberry Season!

My favorite season is upon us... strawberry season!  Not only because I'm not sure there's a more tasty treat than a freshly picked strawberry straight from the farm, but also because it seems to mark a season of warm days filled with sunshine and evenings spent outside together.  I particularly love the warm evenings together - wandering around the yard watering plants, watching the girls, playing ball together, relaxing in the hammock.  This time of year just lifts my spirits and I feel like you'll know exactly what I'm talking about!

There is a local farm that brings their strawberries in daily to a little red cart in town.  The strawberries literally melt in your mouth and taste so sweet (and this particular farm also does not use pesticides, which is wonderful).  I'm almost embarrassed to admit how many gallons we go through during strawberry season!

 

The hammock gets a lot of attention around here... I'm not sure how we lived without it for so long.  Not only during the evenings, but it's the perfect spot during the day to stop and take a snack break when the sunshine is beating down.  The huge old tree it sits under provides just the right amount of cool shade.

While there are so many delicious ways to eat strawberries, my very favorite is simply by themselves.  The strawberry season seems so short, and I savor these few weeks we can eat strawberries this sweet and ripe. 

Nevertheless, now that the days are so warm, the girls have been begging to make popsicles.  While both girls love to help me in the kitchen, Jillian is especially enjoying learning how to make certain things. Since she is eight now and so capable, I've been making more of an effort to give her independence in the kitchen.  (She's made Rosetta and I scrambled eggs almost every day this week for breakfast.  ;-) )  

"Is this how you do it, Sissy?"

 And so, this was our treat tonight... strawberry popsicles eaten in the back yard as we enjoyed every last bit of the warm evening light.  What a sweet strawberry season this is! 

April's Arrival

 Sunshine.  Freshly mowed grass.  Birds singing.  Blooming trees and shrubs.  Afternoons outside.  These are just some of my favorite things about Spring's arrival.  Most of all, I think I like the newness that comes in April.  Everything feels fresh and full of hope.  

One of my favorite memories was in April.  It was the arrival of our first daughter and I'll never forget stepping out of the hospital with a new, precious bundle in my arms and feeling the warm sunshine.  It was just one of those perfect moments and everything felt different in the best way.  My mom came to stay and we had the most wonderful month together.  We enjoyed what seemed like endless sunshine.  We walked, we talked, we admired all the hot pink blooming azaleas, but most of all, we cuddled and loved this precious sweet little baby that was all our own.

Now I find myself anticipating April's arrival all winter long.  When we're in the midst of a cold, dreary day, I remind myself that April is just around the corner.  And now it's here, and like every April before it, I remember why I love it so much.  Now our oldest daughter will soon be eight years old, but even though the years pass by, April still feels as sweet as ever.  

My camera seemed to stay put all this winter, but boy has it been busy the past couple weeks.  ;-)  I hope you don't mind me simply sharing some pictures (and memories) of our Spring so far. 

 

Hope you all have a lovely April weekend!  (And please do share your favorite things about April's arrival, too!)