apple season

We are loving apple season this year!  We try to purchase apples once in a while throughout the summer, when we're really missing them, but they just never taste good to us.  So, we highly anticipate the harvest of juicy, fresh fall apples from our local trees.

Unfortunately, our sad, old apple tree has only produced a total of three apples since we moved in.  So we rely on apples from neighbors' trees, and from our local apple orchard.  A generous neighbor had a surplus of apples this year, so we went and picked several buckets of them.

With this year's apples, we have:

• bottled yummy applesauce with some of our best friends.  The boys and little girls waited in line most of the day for their turn to crank the strainer, and Hannah and her friend Claire chopped almost all of the apples for steaming.  They were great helpers and we had such a fun canning day!

• made caramel apples.  Well, we haven't dipped apples as a family yet...it's on the November agenda.  But I went to a friend's kitchen to learn how to make the fancy, chocolate covered variety with some ladies in the neighborhood.  mmmmmm.  So, so yummy and pretty.

• sliced and baked them into yummy apple pies.  Best pies ever.  Fresh apples make all the difference.  (sorry...no photo of the finished pies...they were gone before they had even cooled!

• and of course, eaten lots of them raw, alongside our favorite Irish cheese.  The perfect fall snack.

Today we're going to roast some apples.  And perhaps make a few more pies.  I love the spicy, sweet fragrance that fills my home on apple-baking days.  

And this weekend, our local apple orchard is pressing again...can't wait to stock my fridge and freezer with their fresh raw cider.  We drink it hot and cold all season long.

Now it's time for a snack.  Apples and cheese on a pretty plate at the coffee table.  While the kids kneel around the table in front of the fire and eat, I'll read aloud to them, and then we'll get going on our math, science, and grammar lessons.

Have a fine fall day!  And go eat an apple!

fall harvest and real food

We pulled up the rest of the carrots, cabbages, chard, pumpkins, and squash from the garden this week.  We had such a sunny October, which lengthened our harvest a bit.  The kids and I are heading out there this afternoon to bring in the herbs, and gut out the rest of this summer's remains, which are looking rather dry and weedy and ready to retire for a long winter's rest.  We expect snow tonight, so we'd better go dig everything out before it all freezes!

I'll be roasting pumpkins today to start making yummy pumpkin treats, soups, and custard.  I love anything made of pumpkin!  I want to try some of these recipes...don't they look delicious?

We've been adding grated carrots and chopped swiss chard to some of our favorite dinner dishes.  We made this favorite gluten-free carrot cake this week.  Yum!

Our favorite way to eat cabbage is chopped and sauteed in pastured butter or good olive oil, with shredded carrots and lots of Real Salt and pepper.  It's one of our favorite comfort foods.  I'd like to try to make fermented sauerkraut with my cabbage too, but we've eaten most of it!  Maybe next year...

I love eating, preparing, and serving fresh, local, seasonal foods.  And I love eating real foods.  I read this great post about real food this morning.  Summed up so well!  Check it out.  (Oh, and don't you love the photographed chicken foot in her header?  Great photo!)

My favorite real, traditional food blog is Nourished Kitchen.  Stunning photography, well-documented research and facts, excellent writing, stunning photography, and fabulous recipes.  We've loved every recipe from Jenny that we've tried.  Go have a look.  Seriously good stuff.

And for anyone who's interested, the handout (summary) from my Healthy Eating and Happy Memories presentation at the 2011 BYU Women's Conference is up on their website.  You can view the pdf here.  I included some simple, nutritious snack and meal ideas, along with a recommended reading list.

And look through the Women's Conference transcripts for lots of inspiring talks by amazing women.  Also, if you emailed me for a copy of my entire presentation, and never received it, please leave a comment with your email address, or email me at triciacope@gmail.com, and I'll send you a copy.  Thanks!


PS...There was Christmas music blasting in the background while I wrote this, and kids making Christmas wish lists by the fire.  Yes, I know it's early, but December goes by way to quickly for me!!  So, bring it on, I say!  Andy Williams rocks.

homemade yogurt recipe and good fats

Hello friends!

I just finished my early spin class and my morning yogurt.  It's going to be a good day.

I've had some requests for my yogurt recipe, so today I'm going to share with you how I make it.  There are lots of recipes out there...this is what works for me.  It's super easy and absolutely delicious!

What you need:

• 1 gallon whole milk (We use raw milk, but you can use pasteurized if that's what you have.  Make sure it's not ultra-pasteurized...ultra-pasteurized dairy products have a hard time culturing.)
• 2 cups very good quality whole milk plain yogurt, with live cultures (we use Stonyfield brand).  You may also use yogurt from your last batch.  I leave the yogurt out at room temperature for a few hours before using it to make more yogurt.
• candy thermometer
• clean glass jars

Heat the milk over medium/low heat until it reaches 110 degrees (so as not to kill the live cultures).  If you use pasteurized milk, heat to 180 degrees.  Stir often while heating.

(If using pasteurized milk, wait until milk cools to 110 degrees before next steps.)

Temper the yogurt by adding a few tablespoons of warmed milk and stirring.  Then stir the 2 cups yogurt into the milk.  Stir gently with a whisk until smooth and mixed well.

Quickly pour mixture into jars.  You want to maintain the 110 degree temperature, so work quickly.  Put lids on, sealing tightly.  (Large jars photographed above are from IKEA.  Quart mason jars work great too...remember, the yogurt will yield a little more than a gallon, as you are adding 2 cups of yogurt to the milk.  So you'll need 5 quart-sized jars, or the equivilent in larger jars.  Be sure to have clean jars and lids ready.)

Place in preheated oven set to 110 degrees, and culture for at least 8 hours or overnight.  If your oven doesn't go that low, you can use a cooler.  I've used both methods, and both work fine.  Fill cooler with 110 degree water, to just below the lids of your jars.  Close cooler and cover with towels.  Leave yogurt in cooler for 8 hours or overnight.

Refrigerate, and enjoy!  (Not sure how long this keeps in the fridge...ours always gets eaten within a few days!!)

And, for those of you who wonder...we use raw, whole dairy products, lots of unrefined coconut oil, and cultured, pasture-fed butter in our diet.  Very high in the good, nourishing fats.

For a great article on good fats, go here, here, or here.  These articles debunk the popular myths about fats and nutrition in the Western Diet.
For info. on raw milk go here or here.
Or read anything by Nina Planck, or Michael Pollan.  And I highly recommend Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig.
And if you haven't seen Food, Inc...hop to it!  It will change the way you think about food.  A good start for researching real foods.

of classics, clubs, and carrot cake

I hosted our neighborhood book club Wednesday night.

I loved:  

• a clean house (and sweet sons who worked hard to help clean it).
• this gluten-free carrot cake recipe.
• whole wheat banana muffins.
• Jane Eyre (oh, my heart!) and this free audio version.
• good friends who live just around the corner.
• discussing deep, timeless principles and feeling myself grow.
• the way classics touch my heart and open my mind in a new way each time I re-read them.

Last night, we gathered with moms and youth for our monthly youth book group.  

This month: Elantris.  Wow! 

I loved:

• reading (listening to) a fascinating, original story, oozing with principles of leadership, virtue, and freedom.  
• watching my sons read 450 pages yesterday and knowing they can do hard things.
• young boys leading a serious discussion.
• hearing my son read this quote to the group and explain what it meant to him: "When you accept authority, you must be willing to take responsibility for it at all times--even when you don't particularly feel like it." (Elantris, p. 394)
• seeing my boys inspired to be a little better after reading a story of true heroism.
• a darling neighbor girl who wanted to babysit for "service."
• Aspen's fresh homemade salsa.
• discussing nutrition and health with other moms while the youth played night games outside.
• knowing that my boys have great friends.

Yesterday I finshed typing up our winter semester schedule for Liberty Girls.  We start next week, and we'll be studying Josefina and 1824 New Mexico.  Can't wait to share some of the fun activities we have planned:  spinning and weaving with wool (my neighbor got a real spinning wheel for Christmas!), sewing and embroidery, learning about herbal medicine, planting flowers...so fun for 6-10 year old girls! (and moms!)  

I love book clubs!  As you can see, they play a significant role in our family's education.  Reading with peers motivates and encourages us to dive into a variety of books and search for real meaning.  Book discussions provide a powerful learning environment, as we listen to the comments of others, analyze different aspects of the book, and practice expressing ourselves before a group.  And we all love to get together with friends and visit and eat treats and play!  

Are you or your kids members of a book club?  

If not, start one!  Or three...

We're compiling a list of our favorite classics to post here.  What are your favorite books?

the summer barbecue

With all our summer visitors, we often choose to entertain outdoors.  Built-in entertainment for the kids, with plenty of room for everyone to roam.  Beautiful, sunny Utah weather.  Yummy, easy meals...low prep time and very little clean-up (especially with hungry chickens and toddlers wandering around, foraging any leftover food from abandoned plates).  

These are good memories in the making.  I hope the feelings and images of friends, family, food, and fun that have filled our backyard over the years, will fill the young minds and hearts of my little brood as they grow and leave home for adventures of their own.  And I hope they realize that with every summer evening gathering, relationships are formed and strengthened...making life full and rich and wonderful.

We love our summer barbecues, and the people who enjoy them with us!  Cheers to summertime!  

ringing in the New Year

...southern style,

with the traditional dinner of

rice (for health),

black eyed peas (for wisdom),

and spinach (or collard greens--for wealth).

We used a yummy basmati rice and heaped the peas on top, with a fresh Greek salad on the side (with grape tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, artichoke hearts, and spinach, of course, topped with our favorite homemade creamy Greek dressing from this fantastic cookbook).

And then there was lots of celebrating, all the way until midnight.  For most of us, anyway...Sarah went to bed early, and poor Eliza crashed on the couch after trying really hard to stay up late.  There was caramel and warm chocolate fondue, hot cocoa, a family talent show, dancing, singing, laughing, and I even recall my husband trying to teach the kids how to do the "kickworm" on the living room floor.  Yes, he is quite the breakdancer, among other hidden talents.  No, I'm not joking.  That man has moves!  We watched It's a Wonderful Life, our all-time favorite movie, and then watched the apple drop in NY.

What fun we had, celebrating as a family!

We awoke in the wee hours of the morning to two kids with a stomach bug...not the best way to start a New Year.  We've had this virus traveling around the family for almost two weeks now (and it only hits in the middle of the night...weird).  sigh...maybe all the rice-eating last night will mean better health--and soon, I hope!

And today, sleeping in, lazing around in our pj's, fire in the stove, refining our New Year's goals along with some annual planning, maybe finishing some of the home organizing we've been working on this week (maybe), some knitting (I've vowed to start early for next Christmas!), and lots of movies, games, football, snacks, and being together.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL,
MY FRIENDS!

***By the way, doesn't that "2010" at the top of this post look sort-of sci-fi?  I honestly cannot believe it's the year we're in.  Crazy how quickly time is passing.  Somebody please put on the brakes!

our Thanksgiving

I'm back!  Whew!  ...although still digesting the Thanksgiving feast and it's delectable leftovers (including that pumpkin pie I ate for dinner last night...what...we can't very well let it go to waste now can we?...).

Now back to daily life...homeschool, music lessons, errands, cooking, and laundry (well, not so much of that, since my darling hubby washed, folded, and put away about ten loads for me over the long weekend, cleaned the laundry room, and then cleared an acre full of fall leaves outside to make our yard beautiful...what can I say?  He rocks my world).

What a wonderful break we had.  Lots of food, friends, fun, lazy lounging, football (GO COUGS!), holiday crafting and decorating, knitting, and spending lots and lots of time together as a family.

Here are my little helpers making pie crust (and a big fat mess!):

Two days with a kitchen full of busy hands and bustling feet means the littles are pretty much on their own (underfoot)...good thing nothing inspires creativity like a little time to figure out what to do with one's self.  Here's Sarah making a rug out of dirty kitchen towels and a chair out of an old box, keeping busy during my turkey-stuffing adventures!

 

And here's who we spent Turkey Day with:

Our good friends, the Prescotts, who drove in from Oklahoma to visit family here.  These are some of the best people we know.  Really.  They are good to the core.  What a wonderful treat to have them celebrate Thanksgiving with us this year.

Dana Prescott and I met in the boonies of Argentina about 15 years ago as missionaries.  And we knew right away that we were kindred spirits.  She has been a powerful example of good in my life ever since.  So glad you could be here, my dear friend!

To read about what I'm most thankful for, go here where I penned my gratitude a year ago.

It's a pretty comprehensive list, but I could really never put into words how truly grateful I am for the bounteous blessings God has granted me.  I have been ever so blessed.

Here are a few lines I would add to that list this year:

• I'm thankful for an amazing mate who supports me and loves me through my weakness in such a strong yet gentle way.  (oh...and who does laundry well and often:).
• I'm thankful for deep and lasting friendships that dissolve the bounds of time and distance and make better my soul.

Hope you all had a marvelous holiday as well!

And HAPPY DECEMBER to you!!!
(Um...how did that happen?  where did the year go?!  Oh, my.)

IN-N-OUT BURGER nostalgia

Some are getting excited about Santa Claus coming to town,
but the Copes have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of something else...

IN-N-OUT BURGER 

has come to our town!!!

In the week or so since it's grand opening,

we've frequented our favorite restaurant twice already (blush, blush)

waiting in 45 min. drive through lines both times...

As many of you know, I'm really not a red-meat eater.  At all.  But this place is an exception.

Besides the great flavor and superior quality for a fast food restaurant, for me, this wildly popular hamburger joint brings back sweet memories of a bygone era, the several years of my youth spent in Southern California.  Although my dad passed away five years ago, I felt like I was dining with him again.  So many times he excitedly loaded us kids up in the big blue van and took us to his favorite place to eat.  We always sat at the outside tables together.  He'd tell us every time that there wasn't a better burger on earth.  And we all knew he was right.

Nostalgia puts a rosy tint on all things fondly remembered.

(although these burgers really don't need a rosy tint to be out of this world delicious...and the fries...mmmmmmm!)

on a winter's weekend

Making bread and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (recipe here )

with plenty of help.

Making Christmas gifts.

Making snowballs.

Making their own indoor fun with blankets and books.

(This is where four out of the six kids slept last night.  Guess we'll be doing our lessons upstairs today!)

All on a cozy winter's weekend...

Cornbread and Chili

Perfect pair for a warm, festive fall dinner.

  

I searched online, where I found plenty of yummy cornbread recipes.  

But I settled on one I found in Love Soup.  And it was delicious.  

Lots of whole corn kernels, sharp cheese, and buttermilk, with a hint of thyme.

Chili is one of my favorites to make, because no recipe is required.  

Grass-fed ground beef or diced chicken, or just plain vegetarian...all yummy in their own way.  

I like to carmelize some onions with garlic and peppers, then add canned or fresh (if I have my hands on some from the garden) tomatoes, along with tomato sauce or paste.  I use a variety of beans, either dried and cooked or right from the can, and frozen corn kernels.

Then a little pinch of crushed dried oregano, some cayenne and cumin, and lots of chili powder.  And there you have it.  Fall chili...simple and delicious!

book love

I love books.  I love creative people who put their talents into words and photographs that inspire others into becoming better people.  I collect classic books.  We have shelves full of them in our home library.  And recently, I've started collecting and borrowing other books that inspire me...mainly cookbooks and craft books.  And just looking at them truly makes my life richer!

Here are a few that I'm loving:  

**Love Soup by Anna Thomas.  This arrived in the mail last week, and I can't stop thumbing through it!  I'm loving the array of yummy comfort soups...360 vegetarian recipes, including soups, salads, and more.  We've already tried the Potato Pizza recipe (YUM!) and I served her Popovers with scrambled eggs and sliced cucumbers.  (the pumpkin soup photographed below was my own creation for last night's dinner...but definitely inspired by this great book...mmmmm!)

**Carefree Clothes for Girls.

My favorite new girly sewing book.  Full of simply lovely creations by Junko Okawa, this was originally a Japanese craft book, now offered in English...hooray!  It is filled with inspiring photographs, and darling, workable patterns and instructions.  Hannah received this pearly-buttoned play dress for her birthday last Saturday.  

And I'm working on the linen lace-trimmed coat for her as well:

**Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick.


This excellent knitting book has beautiful photos with so many warm and wooly holiday gift ideas.  I started this darling elf hat for Eliza yesterday.  Isn't it festive?  My talented and generous neighbor and her sweet daughter are helping me decipher these new knitting patterns...to me they seem to be written in a foreign language!  Hopefully there will be many, many more handknit items for gifting during this holiday season at our house...
Look at this one!  Precious.  One of the very next on my holiday list!

What's been inspiring you lately?

fun in the leaves

While Taylor and Romney were at their weekly Shakespeare class this morning, here's what the others did for fun:

Followed by jumping in the big pile of leaves 

and 

sipping warm apple cider 

with 

homemade bread and jam. 

I LOVE FALL IN UTAH!!!

artisan bread

I've been making the same whole wheat bread recipe for years now, and we love it.  But fall soup-making has had me craving yummy crusty bread.  I talked to my sister last week, and she mentioned that she had tried a new easy recipe for artisan bread.  So after a quick internet search, I found this delicious crusty bread recipe.  It's amazing that with only four ingredients (water, salt, yeast, and flour) something could be so yummy!

We've made it two days in a row to eat with a hot soup dinner, and slather with jam for snack.

But today we baked our whole wheat bread for breakfasts and lunches. 

As long as we have bread in the house, I feel like there's always something to eat...even when a grocery trip is in order and the pantry is looking rather bare (as it is at the moment!). And, believe me, it's a good feeling, especially with 6 little mouths to feed!

**PS--check out this cool Halloween carrot from the CSA! The carrots almost outdid the bread as star of the dinner table last night...