Monday, June 18, 2012

How Does Your Garden Grow? Update



Our mid-summer garden. I am amazed at how happy the tomatoes are and never expected to grow as tall as me! My carrots and beets did not do so well, but I might try for a fall crop when the intense heat of summer has passed. Lettuces never turned up either, so we'll try a fall planting of those too. The corn is starting to set and we are getting a zucchini ever couple of days. The blueberries seem to be finishing up- we got a nice big harvest of those. So, for a first time vegetable garden, I'm pretty pleased and at least have a better sense now of what grows well and where and what our summers will be like for future planning!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Hello Summer


A gorgeous day in the Bay Area, so we headed out to the Bay Area Discovery Museum with Munch's cousin. At 6 and 7, they are closer to the older side of the kids that visit, but both still had so much fun building, creating, and exploring. When we got home, there was more playtime and bouncing on the trampoline before a delicious dinner of white chicken chili, cornbread, and for dessert, S'mores bars!



S'mores bars- super easy to make!
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
12 oz. chocolate chips (the recipe calls for milk chocolate for authentic s'more flavor, but I prefer bittersweet!
4 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt, and melted butter. Mix well and reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Press the remaining crumbs into a lightly greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Sprinkle the top of the crust evenly with the chocolate chips, then return the pan to the oven for 2 minutes. Remove the pan and turn on the broiler. While the broiler heats, spread the chocolate into an even layer over the crust. Sprinkle the marshmallows over the chocolate, pressing them lightly, and then top with the reserved crumb mixture. Broil about 2 inches from the heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute, watching closely, until the marshmallows are puffed and golden. Cool completely before cutting into squares.