menu ideas from my kitchen.

things from last week, this week, and a few soon-to-come. just because i know i like to hear what other people are eating for dinner.. hint hint. would love to see a meal idea from you in the comment section. maybe it could be the best thing you've eaten in the past 72 hours. i'll pick my favorite meal, too.

1. grilled chicken + bowtie pasta + homemade alfredo sauce. this is my fave marinade for the chicken.

2. tater tot hotdish (note my minnesota vernacular.. 'hotdish'). grant's favorite. i like to add ketchup and extra cheese when i eat it.

3. swedish pancakes + scrambled eggs. made tonight with those pretty brown eggs in the photo above. they came from the farmers' market and they made me feel ultra farm wifeish.

4. beef quesadillas with sour cream and salsa.

5. these sandwiches from the pioneer woman. they were serious stick to your ribs stuff.

6. deep dish pizza. always pepperoni at our house.

7. honey lemon chicken with potatoes and carrots. (from grandma marian's garden. woohoo.) this cooked in the crockpot while i was at church sunday morning. i love crockpot mornings.

8. the favorite.. mexico texaco. it's my brother-in-law's recipe and love the name. it's sort of a skillet enchilada served over rice. makes mean leftovers for lunch.

9. tuna melts with dill pickle spears. i don't like onion or celery in my tuna, but i do use mayo, dill, lots of black pepper, and a dash of italian dressing. if i'm making cold sandwiches, i like to add chopped pickles and hard boiled eggs.

10. spaghetti with bolognese sauce and cheesy garlic bread.

11. chipotle style burritos. which means cilantro lime rice, black beans, and a spicy marinade.

12. and finally, once it gets really and truly cold outside, chili + grilled cheese. i can't wait.

if you had walked into my house at 5 pm yesterday, you would have thought you'd wandered into a cinnamon dream. seriously, it smelled like a bakery. no.. a farm kitchen. no.. thanksgiving at mom's house. no.. bliss. it smelled like bliss.

that's what grandma marian's apple crisp will do to your house. yesterday i got it in my little head that i was going to fix grant up with a dish of apple crisp. we have a sack of cortland apples sitting in the fridge that are so ridiculously appley in taste that it would be a crime not to do something creative with them. plus i thought, here's something that will satisfy my craving to bake (i had not baked in a few days and was feeling deeply deprived) and i won't even be tempted to eat it. because as you know, i don't do hot chunks of apples.

well, my good intentions lasted long enough to set the steaming dish on top of the stove and dash over to the local diner with grant to grab a cup of heath ice cream. then i gave in. i completely let go. i had apple crisp a la mode. and it was terrific. man, it really was. i looked at grant and he looked at me, and we ate. happy as can be. he said, 'summs, this is as good as it gets.' and that was totally worth the giving in and the thwarting of my plan and the defeat of my self-control.

so i ask you, what is happening to me? are my taste buds growing up? am i going to start eating apple pies and cobblers and such? i'm not sure, but i certainly would eat this again. maybe it helped that i sliced the apples, instead of chopping. and they were awfully thin slices, too. yeah, that must be it.

happily for me, i made a very miniature batch, and what was left last night went straight into grant's lunch this morning. so we have no leftovers, and i will be tempted no more. and because i really like all of you guys, i will gladly share the apple crisp for two or three size recipe, along with the original. just to save you some time with all the math. it's in the red below.

2-3 or 10-12 apples, thinly sliced

2 or 3 T. or 1/2- 3/4 c. sugar (depending on the tartness of apples)

1 1/2 tsp. or 2 T. lemon juice (if not using orchard apples)

1 T. or 1/4 c. butter, cubed

1/2 tsp. or 2 tsp. cinnamon

topping.

1/4 c. or 1 c. flour

1/4 c. or 1 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. or 1 c. oats

2 T. or 1/2 c. butter

1/8 tsp. or 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. or 1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 t. or 2 T. oil

1. slice apples and arrange in a 9x13 pan, or a 1 quart dish, if using mini recipe.

2. sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over apples

3. place cubed butter randomly and sprinkle lemon juice if using. (i still added the lemon juice even though i was using orchard apples. i like lemon juice.)

4. mix it up a little in the pan.

5. cut in all the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl and put over apples evenly.

6. bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until dark golden brown and crunchy on top. apples should be cooked and bubbly.

7. please eat it warm, with ice cream.

thank you, grandma marian! you've changed my mind about apple crisp forever.

recipe gathering sessions are very therapeutic for me. especially when they are all about cookies and include pretty pictures of cookies. {here is where i gush about cookies, because they are my favorite. cookies are small and simple and timeless and so do-able. if i had a shop, i would sell cookies there. i just got a new cookie sheet, so that i can make better, bigger cookies. cookies are my way of saying, grant, i really like you. cookies are the best. amen.} there is something so right about sitting on the floor with scissors and plastic sleeves and a stack of shiny, expensive paper. i think i could spend every evening situated just like that. even though i'm not clipping coupons, it makes me feel thrifty and constructive. and if i don't buy too many ingredients to make the recipes that i'm gathering, i will be thrifty after all.

ps. photos via the cookie of the day page, which i just added to my bookmarks. i think i'm going to check it out every morning. and i think i will feel better about the day knowing that there is a cookie assigned to it.

good news for people who like crunchy grapes. if you drown them in a bowl of ice water and stick the bowl in the fridge for a few hours you will get perfectly firm grapes. you will. they will honestly go pop in your mouth. perfect for grape salad or apple + grape slaw. just a fun trick that i learned at camp a couple years ago. it came in handy the other day.

more good news. for people who like to eat good granola. cascadian farms is here for you. my favorite is the maple brown sugar box, but just a second ago i finished off a bowl of the cinnamon raisin and man, oh man. yum. guys, i think i am addicted to granola. i buy it in the store, i make my mother-in-law's famous recipe, i put it on my yogurt and in my bowl of cheerios and on my pb and honey toast and sprinkled over banana slices and on top of my crackers with peanut butter.. and just about anywhere else it will fit in my life. it's just too good.

off to preschool now. more soon.

i'm all fired up about things warm + snug. aren't these pretty? and don't they make you super happy about fall? i'm pairing them up with my current favorite jeans in my head as i type this. but they are crazy out of my budget and i don't really need them, so i tell myself what i heard mom say to every saleslady in every department store that we walked through while i grew up. 'no, thank you. i'm just looking.' i rehearsed this line over and over as a little girl, and now i've mastered it. i love to look.

from ruehl.

heard about it on simplesong.

500.

today marks it, everyone. today i have been a wife to grant for 500 days. i know this because the wedding countdown in the corner of our computer screen is still counting. only now it goes higher instead of getting lower. i consider tying the knot with grant to be my big success. i am continually blessed and cherished and challenged and encouraged by this husband of mine, and not a day goes by that i am not truly, consciously thankful for him. he ameliorates me. i love that word. it is exactly what i mean to say too, grant makes me better.

thank you, grant, for a killer 500 days. i can't wait for the rest. and i love you.

i want to remember what today was like when i look back at this post someday. someday when we've been married for 5,000 days and i will have probably grown embarrassed by all this writing here, as i usually am when i look back at old diary pages. nevertheless, i will write.

september 22, 2009.

i'm wearing a belt over my shirt. and my toenails are dark, dark purple.

is the first day of fall and the sun hasn't really come out.

grant has a dentist appointment after school.

i detached my feet from my faithful flip flops and opted for socks, instead.

there are seven boxes of cereal in the kitchen. only two people live here, for goodness' sake.

i realized how much i really like our apartment.

i designed our christmas thank you cards.

i was amazed to find that the box of swiffer sweeper wet cloths from last year are still wet and perfectly good. and i used them. those things are amazing.

i took an extra long walk outside and saw some cows.

i got on facebook to say hi to somebody. and changed my profile pic while i was at it.

the grapes had to be thrown out because i saw fuzz.

i am going to make alfredo sauce, provided i have enough parmesan.

there was a special note in our door and i called grant at work to tell him about it.

i signed on to do a promising project.

i threw away that crossword puzzle that was way out of my league hard.

there was no mail in our mailbox. i dislike being disappointed by an empty box.

i made a new playlist in itunes for fall. it has some jamie cullum on it.

i blogged about being married for an interesting amount of time.

hello, hi and happy monday. i hope you all had a smashing weekend. for me, today is the first day that finally and sincerely feels like fall. it is cooler + cloudier and rain has been falling and enya has been playing and it is looking more brownish than greenish outdoors. yep, totally fall.

i never think that i will be happy about fall. it has to follow summer's amazing act, and i doubt that fall will ever measure up to it. but every year i am proven wrong. fall is nice. not quite as nice as summer, but way nicer than i ever give it credit for. i wake up every morning to the marching band parading by my house and i send grant off to work with a kiss and a brown bag lunch and i see the school buses go rolling along and kids with backpacks on bikes and the elderly couple that makes a 9:00 stroll to the post office. or maybe it's the bakery. wherever it is, they always come back with a newspaper. and of course, the leaves are starting to turn yellow and the mums are up and out and the first harvest pumpkins and squash appeared at the farmers' market last week. and the farmers can be seen working in the fields all the live long day. it is just good, wholesome season-changing these days. there's something in the air that makes me want to cook and craft and read and write and do all things domestic.

i've found that i can almost completely cure my it's true, summer's gone blues with a cinnamon candle. first of all, is there anything better than the smell of a match when you strike it? i cannot think of a single thing. anyway, when i light that baby up, it instantly puts me in the mood for cool weather. and suddenly my home is cozier. and i'm cheerful. and i look on the bright side. and i wouldn't mind snow in september. and the world is a better place. try it. maybe you fancy harvest spice or baked apple pie, mm. those would be marvelous. my jar of cinnamon bliss is almost gone and i'm concerned about finding replacement soon. maybe i will splurge on a big one that will last me all winter long. ooh that would be a dream.

in other news, i've got a couple projects on my hands and strawberries in the fridge and lots of exciting things to pray about and cilantro for our mock chipotle burritos tonight and a husband to greet soon. must be going.

hi, i'm summer and i use pancake mixes. only sometimes.

pancakes are not my weakness and i do not eat them like a mad woman or rave about them or make them twice a week or crave them or choose them over french toast. and i do not like apples in my breakfast pastries. i just don't do hot chunks of apples. i should not like these pancakes. but i do. they must be magic.

so please, pretty please, the next time you find yourself with an extra $4.00, go to target and dash to the aisle with the pancake mixes. pick out the archer farms apple streusel pancake + waffle mix. race home and whip them up. they will be perfectly decadent with fruity cinnamon sweetness and you will want every pancake you ever eat to have streusel in it. forever. the end.

ps. fyi, marta and i are talking about something over here today.

things i know.

a. this conditioner looks good and smells delicious and is organic and does not work for me. if your hair tangles the slightest bit, it may not work for you either. in fact you may end up having to use the entire blasted bottle to get those tangles smoothed out. happily, i only got this because there was a mail-in rebate and i will eventually get my money back. verdict.. i do not endorse.

b. tomorrow = farmers' market(white nectarines) + preschool(cute kids) + apple orchard field trip(a ride in the big red wagon and a free apple).

c. i'm growing too dependent on dessert. i asked grant not to let me bake for awhile.

d. someday my kids will watch 'chitty chitty bang bang.' and they will love it.

e. it's time to buy some shoes that can be worn during the fall|winter in minnesota and do not have paint swiped all over one side.

f. i think this shop is cute and terribly clever with names.

g. 79 degrees and sunny for the next 3 days, baby. i don't know if this is indian summer or not, but whatever it is, i like it.

h. on saturday i get to watch my team on national television. go big red.

i. sometimes it hits us.. and grant and i realize that we live together. by ourselves. and it seems so sudden and extraordinary. it's just the two of us, finding our way. and we are loving it.

j. i've had the urge to do a crossword puzzle lately.

k. i found two dollars on the sidewalk today. i think i will to use it to buy flowers at the farmers' market in the morning.

l. it's time for dinner, and i've got corn on the cob to make for my man.

saturday i made blueberry boy bait.. but i didn't have quite enough blueberries, and it so tasted like it. i should have added some chocolate chips to make up for the lack of berries. remind me of that next time.

sunday i made bbq meatballs in honor of the first football game. go vikes. the meatballs were too good to be true, just like adrian peterson. they (the meatballs, not adrian) also make a mean next-day sandwich. slice 'em up, add mayo + provolone and presto, leftovers become new york deli.

and today i made cinnamon applesauce. homemade applesauce has been on my list of things to accomplish since sometime last september, so hooray for finally crossing this one off. i can't wait to taste it, it's chilling out in the fridge as i type. as i peeled and chopped and simmered those orchard apples today, i thought about how the final product will be going into grant's lunches and into applesauce cake and into the freezer for the winter and i felt like i was playing farm wife. i love 'farm wife' projects. i used tesa's recipe, because tesa always has the good stuff.

here's how you can play farm wife too!

12 cups peeled, cored, and cubed apples

2 cups water

2 cinnamon sticks (i used 1 tsp. ground cinnamon)

2 tablespoons lemon juice or juice of 1/2 one fresh lemon

4 tablespoons raw honey

1. cook on high in large slow cooker for 3-4 hours

2. mash and continue to cook on low for 2-3 hours

3. if a smoother texture is desired, run it through the blender

4. chill thoroughly (flavor deepens after a day) or place in freezer for longer storage

if you're like me, you saw this movie last weekend because all your friends told you that you

would totally love it. and you totally loved it.

and if you're like me, your mind was going berserk over the chocolate pie she made in this scene and for days and days after seeing the movie you were fantasizing yourself making this chocolate pie in your own kitchen.

and if you're like me, you read smitten kitchen. and you saw this. i told grant that it was a sign. i need to make this pie. i don't even believe in 'signs'. but for heaven's sake, how ironic is this? on top of that amazingness, i did a little research and found this spot full of recipes from the movie. i want to give this one a go sometime.

preschool update. i'm sure you're all dying to know how my first two days of school went (or maybe that's just you, mom.) anyway here's the skinny. the students are adorable little things and my mother-in-law, judy, is honestly the best teacher to work with. after twenty some years, she's got this down to a science. so far we've painted balloons and learned about the concept of zero and discovered that blue + yellow makes green and blown mega huge bubbles and we even have plans to visit the apple orchard next week. woohoo. i'm going to like this job. something i'm already loving about working with this age group is seeing the good manners grow inside these little bodies. my heart flipped when i saw a boy go to a classmate and ask, 'how are you today?' oh joy. how often do you hear such a tactful greeting from a 4 year old? i have a super-size soft spot for politeness, especially in little ones. i can't wait to see and hear more of it. it is ridiculously cute and wonderful.

today is grant's first day of school, and tomorrow is mine. we are ready to get this show on the road. school year, let's do this. when grant gets home, my plan is to go straight to the kitchen to make strawberry-nectarine smoothies (to celebrate the beginning) and i will ask grant to stay by the counter and tell me the story of his day. i love when he does this. i love when he stands and talks to me while i'm making food. it's very calming and he's very good company. and for dinner i'm making bonnie smith stromboli. mm. this is my favorite meal that mom makes. shockingly, it will be my first attempt at the dish on my very own. i hope i do her and bonnie proud.

i'm feeling pretty satisfied as i squeeze in the last bit of summer and i think i am almost ready for fall. i think. don't ask me if i'm ready for cold weather, because i might faint. but i've eaten about 15 ears of sweet corn and plenty of baked beans and i even tried to eat a tomato again. (i didn't like it. how frustrating. i even sprinkled it with sugar just like grandma showed me. i'm so over trying to eat tomatoes by themselves.) i have organized my closet by color and repainted my toenails and washed all the rugs in our house. i bought 5 jumbo white nectarines at the farmers' market and fell in love. i did some rearranging of furniture and it feels like i have a new bedroom. i made heidi's orange scones and yummy breadsticks and chipotle chicken marinade and mmm. my sister in law is a genius. i bought imogen's new album and have it memorized. it will be the fall 2009 soundtrack in my memories. i have not had a good peach yet. that is still on my checklist. i've gone for walks without a jacket and watched the beans start to turn yellow in the fields had strawberries & cream for dessert last night. oh, and i've read books. boy, have i read books. i'm still reading books. i'm reading such good books that i can't take it anymore. i must tell you.

let me be a woman by elisabeth elliot. that woman is brilliant. her writing is just plain smart and sensible. it leaves me thinking, how does she string those ordinary words together so shrewdly? it's staggering. i would never want to be in an argument with her. this collection of letters to her daughter is my favorite literature by her yet.

pilgrim's inn by elizabeth goudge. i picked this one out from a pile of books because there were vintage illustrations of the characters on the inside cover. how can you say no? the story was everything i wanted from it. it was good-natured and pleasant and full of beautiful, candid descriptions. and i loved the highfalutin british vocabulary, too. (isn't that a great word? i picked it up from the book.) this is my first goudge and her style totally gels with me.

stepping heavenward by elisabeth prentiss. every time i read this book, i realize again how crazy fantastic it is. there is nothing like it. i have to recommend it, otherwise i would feel like i'm hoarding a great treasure. and i hate hoarding. seriously, i want to send each of you a copy of your own to keep by your bed and dog-ear the pages and read aloud to your daughter.

thanks for indulging me this spontaneous book club meeting. i thoroughly enjoyed it and do hope you'll come again next time. oh, and if any of you fancy a nice book to read for the fall, please, please do my heart a favor and borrow a mitford book from your library. i would sleep better if you did. that's another one that i simply cannot hoard.

a li'l video for friday. the musical maintenance men strike again. it was a big hit @ skit night.

the list | number nine

691. talking about grant

471. sore muscles after working out

666. bagels with cream cheese and jam

599. the way aveda products smell

644. finishing a stick of deodorant

684. having very little luggage on a trip

167. deviled eggs with paprika sprinkled on top (grandma's touch)

149. ingrid bergman

355. driving by myself

362. looking through old school papers

406. the song moonlight serenade

076. scarves

539. lotions that aren't oily

630. words that end in -ie

675. notes that are short but mean a lot

and some good things in blogland.

kate headley & her pretty summer party

anna bond's brilliant work at new-to-me spot rifle. i like her style.

rachel's simple kitchen tips. they made me feel good.

that decision has been made. and it's back to school i go! one week from today i will report to preschool. a random fact for your wednesday: i never went to preschool. oh, and i never say pre-k. strange.

for the 2009-2010 school year i will be helping my mother-in-law teach 4 & 5 year olds two days a week. woohoo! i'm excited to see the cute kids and learn all their names and get attached to them and help them write their lowercase letters and all that jazz. i wonder if they will call me 'mrs. harms' or 'summer.' or maybe 'miss summer.' i like that one. i've always loved the title miss. reminds me of my growing up days down in texas. (right, miss charlotte?) i am so thankful for this opportunity to learn more about education and discipline in this age group. i know i will so appreciate this experience when i'm raising my own kids someday. also i am completely grateful for a job that will still allow me to keep my role as homemaker first and true priority. lovely. life is good.

jason gray's new album releases today. it's already on my itunes. love it.