on the farm

These days at the farm, there are spring flowers blooming, faces both familiar and new, favorite chores to tend to, and the unmistakeable feel of spring.

Happy first day of spring to you!

finished

The syrup season has come to a close this year. The early warmth has the leaves ready to unfold on our silver maples, and so the sap has stopped dripping, the taps have been pulled and the last of the syrup has been finished.

But before we put it all away for the year, we hosted our first sugaring party. The boys were up early, splitting wood and keeping the fire going strong under the sap boiling outside. Friends came to join the fun, bringing plates of food to go alongside the piles of freshly flipped pancakes.

Together, we emptied the last of the buckets, tasted the sap as it thickened on the stove, and drenched our plates with homegrown syrup. In a side-by-side taste test with a jar from the farmer's market, the kids all declared our syrup the winner.

This year, we purchased a proper evaporating pan for finishing the syrup on the stove. It made the final boildown a much quicker process. We finished two batches of syrup this season. Number one:

And number two:


Despite the extra taps this year, we ended up with just about the same amount of syrup as last year. To get a good sap run, you need nights below freezing and days above. Too many warm nights meant too little sap.

For us, it's enough, really. We'll have plenty to get through another year's worth of breakfasts and baking. We might even have a little extra to give away, just not as much as we had hoped to share.

And on those mornings when we top our breakfasts with the sweet stuff, we'll surely be remembering the joy of our first sugaring party, feeling gratitude for the way the whole syrup-making process pulls us out of winter, and looking ahead to the many sweetnesses next year's sugaring season will bring.

tapping

Though it hardly feels like winter even happened, all signs are pointing toward spring these days. It isn't marked by green sprouts yet, or the return of favorite birds, or the unfurling of leaf buds. Around here, the coming of spring is now marked by running sap.

With tools in hand and all the new spiles and buckets that came my way this Christmas, we more than tripled the number of taps we had last year. While I knew this would mean more sap, I don't think I was quite prepared for how fast those buckets would fill! Aided by the warm weather, we've gathered more than 70 quarts of sap since we tapped on Sunday and have already begun boiling it down.

The kids are excited to help with this work, eager to check the buckets each day and taste the clear, running sap straight from the trees.




Already the smell of the cooking sap has turned heavy and sweet, a good sign of what's to come, and a contributing factor to the sweet tooth we all have going on today. I think I just might go bake some cookies, to hold us over until there's syrup for tasting!

a good morning

With thanks to a rotating cast of characters last night, I didn't get much sleep past 3 a.m. Sometime around 5 this morning, I moved from the bed full of little hands and legs down to the couch in an attempt to get more rest. I was soon joined by Charlotte, who has an uncanny ability to sense when I have left the bed, and shortly after her arrival, the littlest member of the household was ready to get up.

Putting on my best morning attitude (which can be quite a feat, I assure you) I tried to enjoy watching the growing light in the sky, the happy playfulness of both pup and toddler. We're having people over for the game today, so I thought I'd get a head start on the last minute cleaning to be done. Puppy into kennel, toddler at my side, I headed into the bathroom to scrub, tired as I was. That's when the toddler scampered off to release the puppy who took advantage of an unguarded moment to go potty all over the floor I had already cleaned.

Really? All this before 6:30 a.m.?

Desperate to save the morning, I went in search of a pick me up, something to turn this morning around. And that's when I found the recipe for these:


Whole Wheat Lemon Blueberry Scones from chocolate and carrots.

These are the most incredible scones I have ever made. I'm a bit jealous that the recipe isn't my own, but with a grateful nod to the original poster, I am sharing this find with you.

Whole Wheat Lemon Blueberry Scones

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
3 Tbsp. raw sugar (plus more to sprinkle on top)
1/8 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into small pieces
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425. Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or knife until evenly distributed. Gently stir in zest and blueberries. Add milk and yogurt, mixing until the dough is thick enough to knead with your hands. On a lightly floured board, press the dough into an 8" circle. Cut into 8 pieces and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

These scones were quick to make, quick to cook, and with all whole wheat flour and yogurt, you could even call them good for you.



And they were just what was needed to make this morning a good morning.

healthy homemade chips

It's been a while since I've shared any recipes here, so how about a two-for-one? Today, I bring you some tasty snacks that are well loved by kids, and since they involve vegetables, they make this mama pretty happy, too.

The first up: Seaweed Chips. The kids beg for these on a regular basis and love helping to make these quick, tasty snacks.



Ingredients:

Nori sheets (used to wrap sushi)
Sesame seed oil
Salt

Heat a cast iron skillet (or pan of your choice) over medium heat. Lightly brush one side of a sheet of nori with oil. Sprinkle with salt and lay oil side down in pan. Brush the top side with oil, salt and turn the nori over. Thirty seconds a side should result in lightly toasted nori, but you can adjust the time depending on your pan and the level of heat. Break the crisps into pieces and enjoy!

Next in line: Baked Sweet Potato Chips




Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 400. Place oil and potato slices in a covered dish and toss to coat lightly (you may want to work in batches depending on how large the potatoes or how small the dish). Arrange potatoes on one or more cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes a side. Let cool and dig in!



And for a little more snack inspiration... remember the kale chips I shared before? Try sprinkling them with nutritional yeast (as though they needed to be any better for you!) and garlic powder before baking, then top with parmesan cheese once they're done. It's worth it. I promise.



So there you have it. Give 'em a try and let me know what you think. If you have any favorite healthy snack recipes to share, please pass them along! We're always looking for new snacks to enjoy.

Happy snacking!

puppy love

There's someone we'd like you to meet...



Hello, Lincoln.



I wasn't sure about a new puppy. I love dogs, I do, but puppies are work. Nipping, yapping, peeing, toy-chewing, wake-you-in-the-middle-of-the-night work. Several of those issues are already well tended to in this house. And really, I didn't think I was ready to open up to another dog. The last one's farewell is still a bit tender for me. But things have a funny way of working out.

One evening, I saw a lovely german shepherd in the background of a news clip, a dog pretty enough to send me back to the pet adoption sites I've tried to avoid. We knew we wanted to adopt our next dog, preferably as a young dog, and hopefully with a bit of shepherd in him. I searched, and there he was.

His mama was a shy white shepherd, rescued from a bad breeder by the fantastic Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue. Echo Dogs is a nationwide, volunteer run, not-for-profit organization that does an incredible job caring for and placing these beautiful animals. There aren't enough superlatives to express how thoroughly impressed we were with this group and its volunteers at every step of the adoption process.

On that Wednesday evening, I sent out a hopeful e-mail to inquire about these pups, not knowing where in the country they were or if they were still available. That night, I received a response and a link to the application, which I immediately filled out. Bright and early the next morning, a call came in from New Hampshire to follow up on our application. There were still pups in need of homes, and they were a mere 30 minutes south of us! Families were flying in from far away places to adopt these dogs, but all we had to do was hop in the car.



By noon, the representative had spoken with our vet and our three personal references. Less than 24 hours after submitting our application, another volunteer from Echo Dogs was in our living room, carrying out the home visit required for adoption approval. The next morning, we met our pup.

Everything came together so smoothly it's easy to believe this was meant to be. Everyone is adjusting here. The pup is settling in, the children are ecstatic, Matt and I are taking turns tending to the pup's middle of the night needs. As for Mickey, our lab, well she might just be the happiest of all.




Ah, puppy love!

joyful

A little late, but sincere as ever... Here's hoping your celebrations this season, whatever they may be, have been full of joy, warmth and light.

I'll share more soon, but for now, I'm returning to my spot buried under blankets on the couch, waiting out this nasty virus that's got me down.

Here's to a happy, healthy start of the new year!