We Saw a Bear

It is nice to have a place to go that is different from home. Where we live in the lowcountry it is flat. Hot. Marshy. So sometimes we head to a little cabin in the mountains...

where the air is dryer and cooler, there are ridges in the land, and best of all...

Mimi!

and the Captain

 and this time MeMaw too.

What do we do there? Read a lot. Eat a lot. Dig ditches and plant things and ride the train and go to town. We build towers, too, and stay up late to play games.

And we spend lots of time on the back porch rocking and swinging and waiting for something to happen. Sometimes there are deer, or wild turkey. At night there is just the sound of tree frogs and mysterious rustlings in the leaves. This time we saw a real bear, but I was not fast enough with my camera. We've seen bears at the cabin before, but this one was really big! He looked something like this:

I have always heard that bears love salmon, so I blame my mom's salmon spread for attracting him. It really is delicious. When I'm coming to visit she makes a big batch of it, and I can't ever get enough.

Salmon Spread

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound (4 ounces) smoked salmon, minced

First

Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, zest, dill, horseradish, salt, and pepper, and mix until just combined.
Next
Add the smoked salmon and mix with a spoon only, being careful to leave larger pieces of salmon. Chill and serve with celery, cucumber, or crackers.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten and the Food Network.

The Healthiest and Yummiest Pancakes Ever

Happy Memorial Day! 

Every weekend should be three days long. It gives you time to settle in. Be together. Relax and catch up. We had a very simple weekend. No babysitters, no day trips, no live music or fancy dinners out. But it was the absolute best. Even tropical storm Beryl did not ruin our weekend. In fact, all it did was cause us to hold on to our hats as we explored...

...did some work in the yard...

...took some couch naps (after all of that yard work)

...and of course logged plenty of beach time.

We have been trying to clean up our diet. Diabetes runs in the family, and we want to avoid it and all of the things that come along with getting older. We also want to shed a few pounds and teach our children to eat more vegetables. In short, we want to be able to run distance, paddle the marshes, and bench press each other well into our nineties. So we've stopped eating grains, sugar, dairy, and anything that triggers an insulin response in the body. It's an experiment, but so far it's going well. After one week I notice that my appetite is manageable, I don't have ups and downs in the afternoon, and since my taste palette has been re-sensitized to real food, fruit and vegetables taste like heaven. I will let you know more as time goes on.

That said, what is Saturday morning without pancakes? I made these Paleo-friendly healthy pancakes and we all loved them, including the little ones. 

Pumpkin Almond Butter Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 egg

4 egg whites

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 to 1/2 cup maple almond butter (or regular if you can't find maple)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp nutmeg

oil for cooking (I like coconut oil for this)

First:  Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk. It takes a few minutes to make everything smooth. 

Next: Heat a cast iron or nonstick skillet and add oil to coat the pan. Drop the batter in 1/2 cup servings. Flip when bubbles begin to appear and the edges are set. They cook up pretty fast which is a good thing if you have a child who loves pancakes as much as mine does. I served these with turkey sausage and agave nectar to go on top.

So far, eating healthy has been all pleasure and very little pain. And I'm glad, because we plan to live long enough to be able to afford our dream house on the beach:

No, I'm not serious. But I'd love to spend a weekend partying there!

The difference between girls and boys

It was such a relief when I found out that my second child was going to be a girl. I mean, girls are less active, right? Less climbing, less jumping, less running around and throwing toys and chasing trash trucks and putting out pretend fires. Girls just sit around and play with dolls and organize their hair accessories, right?

Surprise!

In case you were wondering, when Foard was this same age all he did was sit around and read all of the time:

See what I mean? 

The truth is, it's been a rare and much needed rainy day in Charleston, and both children are climbing the walls. I cannot imagine what mothers do in climates that keep them inside for most of the year. Thankfully, last night we had the privilege of swimming with good friends here. Swimming is our new favorite thing, and usually it means a very good night of sleep for all.

Foard and Henry, taking a break from their usual favorite activity: sitting around and reading all day. Yeah, right!

White Bean Soup with Rosemary and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I know, I know. You're not supposed to eat soup in the springtime. Especially in Charleston, where it has already hit the upper 80s. But this is a really lovely soup with layers of flavor. It meets so many of my criteria: it's easy to prepare (10 minutes of prep and 25 minutes to cook), it's healthy, my children will eat it, and it makes enough to serve two nights in our house. Yes. Soup is most appreciated when its cold outside, but the flavor of this soup is light enough to serve year-round. I just make a simple salad to go with it. I found this recipe in Gena Knox's "Gourmet Made Simple" which is a very pretty little cookbook written by an Athens, Georgia girl.

Rosemary White Bean Soup

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

4 cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1  sprig fresh rosemary or 1 Tablespoon dried

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (not packed in oil - I used the kind in a pouch)

Fresh Parmesan cheese, finely grated (optional if you avoid dairy)

First: Heat oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add onion; saute for 3 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic and continue cooking for an additional minute. Add beans, stock, rosemary and tomatoes. Season with salt and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Last: Discard rosemary stem; season with salt and pepper to taste. Top each bowl of soup with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Right Now

It is not true of all ages, but right now, at one and three, I wish I could freeze them in time. Foard is potty trained. Stella sleeps all night. They are both innocent and sweet. I do not know how long this moment will last.

(probably just the blink of an eye)...

Rustic Strawberry Tart

Two things about this tart should totally embarrass me. One is how unbelievably easy it is. The other is how quickly we ate it. And by we I mean Andy and I; we didn't even share with our children.

Boone Hall Farms in Charleston grows the most beautiful strawberries, and in April and May we like to go and pick them right off the vine. It is dirty and buggy, but the big juicy berries are worth it. That and teaching our children that food actually grows in the ground. So I was very excited to find this recipe on  A Toast to Taste.

I served this straight from the oven and topped it with vanilla ice cream, but you could also use homemade whipped cream. This would be the perfect dessert for summertime entertaining. It's elegant and will make your guests feel like you went to way more trouble than you actually did.

Rustic Strawberry Tart

1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
1 lb organic strawberries, washed, destemmed, and quartered
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
juice from half a lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Wash, destem, and quarter your strawberries. Add them to a large bowl along with the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir and set aside.

While the strawberries are marinating, roll out the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface until it's about 1/8" thick. Transfer to lined baking sheet. Spoon strawberry mixture into the middle of the pastry sheet, leaving about an inch and a half border. Fold up the sides of the sheet, free form. Brush folded sides lightly with water. Bake for 30-35 minutes until crust is golden and strawberries are bubbling.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.