Summer top 5

Happy mid-summer! Yay for July heat waves and ice cream and trips to the beach! We're trucking along over here, wedged between kids' sports wrapping up and escaping up north later this week. Hope your summer is treating you well!

Lots of things taking up my time these days. Here are some of my faves. :)

1) These earbuds

In an effort for this extreme introvert to guarantee some time to herself, I go for a walk every morning. It also allows me to keep up with podcasts. :) A couple weeks ago, I got home from one walk and decided to move a big planter of flowers in front of our house. When I did, a loose brick on our steps fell, and since I was bent over to grab the planter, the cord from my earbuds was in the way and ended up getting pinched between the brick and another step. Oops! Totally severed the connection. So I started looking for something similar online and ended up finding a ton of options that were bluetooth! Brilliant! No more cords for me. (Also helpful if you have an iPhone with the weird flat plug--no need for the adapter!) Now I just need to buy a pair for Jack so he stops stealing mine....

2) Iced Passion Tea

I mentioned this a couple weeks ago because it was part of July's Giveaway Day. I LOVE this stuff, and I pretty much always have a pitcher of it made. I used to make it once in a while with the actual hot tea bags, but this uses one filter bag and it's so much easier. And something about it just tastes like summer. They have other flavors too, if this one isn't your cup of tea. (See what I did there?)

3) Monarchs
Last summer we discovered the butterfly lady at our local farmers market and raised three monarch caterpillars. It was such a cool experience, so we made sure to get an earlier start this year. We've found a few in the wild and gotten several from Rebecca (aka Butterfly Lady). We've decided to name them alphabetically (will we make it to Z?) and so far we have raised and released Alfie, Banana, Cooper, Daisy, Ella, Frank, George, Harley, and Izzy. We also have James, Kylie, and Lulu still in chrysalis form. :) It's one of my favorite things--and it will never get less fascinating! I'm amazed every time one emerges!

Caterpillars with plenty of milkweed.

Pretty green chrysalises. They stay like this (the "boring" stage) for about 10 days.

This is my favorite stage--just before it emerges, the chrysalis is so thin and transparent that you can see the butterfly wings through it!

Once it emerges, it hangs out for a while, getting its wings ready to fly. As soon as it gets fidgety in the container, it's time to release it!

Outside, ready to take on the great outdoors. They're not always in a hurry to take off, so we've had fun holding a few of them.

If you're local and want to experience this for yourselves, check out Butterfly Memories at the Maple Grove farmers market (MG Community Center, Thursdays, 3-7 pm). She'll also be at the Minnesota State Fair every morning (I believe at the Minnesota Bound cabin). You can also check her out on Facebook here. :)

4) Podcasts
I have a new podcast to share as well as specific episodes of podcasts I've already recommended.

10 Things to Tell You in a new one to me, and I'm loving it so far. I actually started in the beginning (there are only 25 episodes total). I love that most of the episodes are pretty short, so it's something I can pop on when I'm ironing or making dinner or something. The host is Laura Tremaine, and she's just delightful to listen to!

That Sounds Fun is one of my favorites (and bonus, Annie releases episodes TWICE a week!), so if you're not already listening, get to it. But if you need somewhere to start, allow me to recommend her Enneasummer series that started in late May. She has an introduction episode with Suzanne Stabile (co-author of The Road Back to You) which is SO good, and then one episode for each of the nine types, in which she interviews a male and female of that type. I went into the series really just planning on listening to my type 5 episode, but I listened to them all and I'm so glad I did!

Another TSF episode to listen to is last Monday's with Lisa Jo Baker. Lisa Jo just released a book called The Middle Matters, and Annie's interview with her was really great. So great, in fact, that I came home and preordered the book at the last minute (it came out last Tuesday, but there were some preorder bonuses I got to cash in on) and I'm so excited to read it!

The Lazy Genius is another favorite, and Kendra has taken a bit of a break this summer, but she came back last Monday with a stellar episode called "Present Summer, Prepared Fall." She is so great at walking through transition times, and we're entering one now--not wanting to say goodbye to summer too quickly, but facing the reality that school starts again in a little over a month. Kendra has something she refers to as the "magic question" that she uses with getting dinner ready. "What can I do right now that would make dinner easier later?" It might be chopping all the veggies for stir fry or marinating some meat, or just deciding what you're going to have! Well, she applies the magic question to this summer/fall transition, and it was so helpful to me. For instance, as much as I despise seeing school supplies in Target in early July, I've decided to slowly start knocking out my kids' lists (because, hello, there are three kids who need supplies now!) by getting a few things every time I'm at Target. Especially because two of those kids need specific colors of notebooks and folders (as requested by their teachers) and I'd rather get them while all the colors are available than in a month when everything is picked over and I have to go to three other stores. So even though it feels wrong to get things this early, I know my future self will thank me when it's all done. :)

5) Books!
First, fiction.

Where the Crawdads Sing has been SUPER hyped up lately, and I was wary about reading it for that reason. But I really loved it! It's a fascinating story with just enough mystery to keep you turning the pages.

The Dreamers was green-lit on The Popcast, and it was downright quirky. But I really liked it. "An ordinary town is transformed by a mysterious illness that triggers perpetual sleep" (NYT). See? quirky. :)

I have a thing for WWII fiction. I don't know why. I think it's a fascinating and heartbreaking time in our not-so-distant past, and it's hard to believe what people went through. The Tattooist of Auschwitz was beautiful and haunting, and it's based on a true story.

And some nonfiction...

I first heard Hillary McBride on Jen Hatmaker's podcast (season 14 episode 3, 1/8/19), and I immediately requested her book, Mothers, Daughters & Body Image. It's an important read for anyone, but especially for mothers with daughters, and especially growing up in the culture we are. It can read a little textbook/dry sometimes, but the message is beautiful and so vital.

Educated is another absolutely fascinating read--Tara lives in Idaho with her survivalist family, and she is homeschooled briefly as a child. She decides to leave the confines of what her parents think is safest for her, and attends school for the first time as a 17-year-old. The book follows her journey through college and beyond.

I have to be careful in this recommendation. :) Nadia Bolz-Weber is amazing and thought-provoking, but she's also very "out there." So if you're not so "out there," you've been warned. ;) Shameless is the first book of hers that I've read (although I have two more on my shelf and I've followed her for a while). I loved this book for a lot of reasons, but I think the version of myself that loved it most was the one that grew up in the height of purity culture (think "True Love Waits," "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," etc). I come across things once in a while that slowly undo some of the damage done through purity culture, and this book was just another helpful antidote. :)

PHEW! That was a lot of words. Bravo if you read all of them. Kudos if you skimmed and made it to the end anyway. ;) Happy end of July, and I hope the rest of your summer is wonderful!

SK week 30 | Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

We had my family over for dinner last week and I knew I wanted to make homemade ice cream for dessert. We have the ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer, and I don't use it nearly enough. So I decided to go all out and I made vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and this dulce de leche. This one was the best of the four by a mile! You can churn it in any ice cream maker, but I sure do love my attachment. :)

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 2/3 cups dulce de leche (see her post on ways to make this--I couldn't find it to buy, so I made it the "easier way" with cans of sweetened condensed milk. It worked very well)
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Bring the milk and cream just to a boil over moderate heat. 

Turn off heat and add the dulce de leche.

Whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla.

Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature in an ice bath. Refrigerate until ready to make.

Freeze in your ice cream maker of choice. 

Until it looks perfectly creamy and delicious!

Serve in a cone on National Ice Cream Day (that was a happy accident!) If you're a salted caramel fan, sprinkle with a little sea salt. :)

Verdict: Delicious! It was the perfect consistency (I find that ice cream without egg yolks tend to be too icy, but this was not--yay for skipping that custard-making step), and the flavor was perfect! The most time-consuming part of the whole process was making the dulce de leche, so I might try a little harder to find that already made next time. ;)

SK week 29 | Obsessively Good Avocado Cucumber Salad

This week's recipe was a rare "making it just for myself" one. Dan is not an avocado fan (or a cucumber fan), and the kids were eating at odd times because of practice and a game, so I threw this together to have with dinner and ended up eating it while I grilled the brats because it was so good. :) It's quick and easy and super customizable. And cucumbers are SO good right now! It's our weekly staple from the farmers market. (Of course we already finished last week's cucumbers, so I had to buy a grocery store one for this). :)

(Here is the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
(since I only made this for myself, I kind of eye-balled amounts of everything. Feel free to refer to the actual recipe if you want to be more precise)
Cucumber
Avocado
Cilantro
Lime
Mayo
Sriracha

Plop your mayo, a little sriracha, and the juice of half a lime into a bowl.

Whisk together and set aside.

Chop up the cucumber and avocado (I ended up with about half of each).

Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with cilantro. Next time I might mix the cilantro right into the dressing.

Verdict: I loved it and it was so easy, so I will definitely make it again. Like I said, it's not necessarily a crowd-pleaser in my house, but that won't stop me from making it just for me (and maybe Jack). ;) It's a great summer side dish!

SK week 28 | "Three" Ingredient Summertime Salsa

I picked this recipe way back in the beginning of this project because I love salsa and I love making it. I'm always so happy with how easy it is and how much more delicious it is than stuff out of a jar. :) So it's called Three-Ingredient Summertime Salsa, but she says in the recipe that you can also add a few other things. So obviously I did. ;)

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
1 pound roma tomatoes, stemmed and cut in half
1-2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and cut in half (I used one and removed the ribs and seeds from half of it)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
salt and pepper, to taste
PLUS:
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
a handful of cilantro
juice of one lime

Preheat the broiler in your oven. Place the tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, and onion on a sheet pan and season with salt and pepper.

Roast the veggies under the broiler for about 5 minutes. If your smoke detector goes off, you know you're on the right track.

Stick the jalapenos, garlic, and onion in a food processor or blender.

Return the tomatoes to the broiler for another 5 or so minutes.

Add those to the food processor.

Run the food processor a few times. Fewer if you want it chunkier.

Add the cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse a few times.

Serve with chips or eat with a spoon. Just kidding. Definitely use chips.

Verdict: SO GOOD. This may be my new go-to salsa recipe. Broiling the veggies made it a little smoky. I personally think cilantro is not optional in salsa, so I'm glad I added it. We had this with tacos for dinner one night and absolutely devoured the leftovers the next day. :)

Happy summer food Friday!

SK week 27 | Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies

Happy holiday week! Hope everyone is surviving the humidity. :) If you need a fun dessert for some get-together this weekend, here you go!

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
(note: I'm giving you amounts for her recipe, but I doubled everything and made them in a 9x13 pan instead)
brownie batter:
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup flour (I used GF)
cheesecake batter:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
plus:
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 pan. In either a saucepan or a double-boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. (I went the double boiler route for the same reason Deb did--fewer dirty dishes).

Keep whisking until everything is melted and smooth.

Off the heat, whisk in the sugar,

eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

Stir in the flour.

Stir until well blended.

Spread that into your greased pan.

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla.

Mix well.

Dollop that mixture onto the brownie batter.

Swirl around with a butter knife.

Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

Verdict: They were fine. They were super rich, so I probably would have cut them smaller. She says to serve them warm or room temperature. They were room temperature when we had them and I said, "I bet I'd like these better cold." So I stored the leftovers in the fridge and sure enough, I liked the one I ate the next day much better. :)

Happy summer weekend!