Coconut Baked Kale

I've recently started a new job. Among other things, this has meant that we've had a surplus of veggies that we have to figure out how to use within a week's time. Why do the two go hand in hand? Well my new job is at Full Circle, a company that does weekly deliveries of fresh, organic produce boxes. One of the perks of the job is that I get a box of fruits and veg to take home every Friday! It's super cool. We never know what sort of stuff is going to be in the box before we open them up or if the combination of things will be able to make enough meals for the week ( FYI this is not the way their regular boxes work, just the rand-o employee boxes). So far, I've been there for five weeks and we haven't had to do a lot of grocery shopping since. Which is awesome. Mainly it's been quick trips to the store for milk, bread, and eggs plus relying on pantry items we already have.

So far, we've also enjoyed the challenge of trying to mold all the random things into meals without having to buy much more, eat stir fry every night, or let anything go bad. It's kind of fun to have to be creative with whatever you get. And thus, I have arrived at today's recipe post.



A few weeks ago, I found myself with too much kale on my hands. And too little of anything else to, say, incorporate it into some other dish like lasagna or soup or a veg bake. I had already used up just about everything else from the box. I feel a bit like a cliche talking about all the kale I got in my organic veg box. Ah well. Insert kale joke here. You'll just have to trust me that we do get other things and not just a box of kale.

But, onward. Whenever I have a problem with veg I don't know what to do with my first step is to pull out Super Natural Everyday. And, just like that, dinner was unstuck. I made this coconut baked kale and served it up alongside some butter-fried mushrooms (also a bottom of the barrel item from my box) and some soba noodles. It was super flavorful and delicious, and made excellent leftovers the next day. Kevin loved it, too, so I'm filing it away in my mind palace as "here's what you do with too much kale" for future reference. Here's the recipe with my modifications based on what we had on hand.


Coconut Baked Kale

Ingredients: 

• 1/3 cup / 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Mixed bag of purple and curly kale, about 4 cups. Stems removed and roughly chopped. 
• 1 cup sweetened coconut

To Make: 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F with rack in the top third of the oven.  
• In a small jar, shake together the olive oil and soy sauce. 
• Toss kale and coconut in a large bowl, then toss well with two-thirds of the olive oil/soy sauce mixture. 
• Spread the dressed kale across baking sheet in a single layer. 
• Bake for 14 minutes, tossing once half way through. Coconut should be toasted and kale should be dry but not crispy-burnt.
• Remove from oven and dish up. Drizzle with more of the dressing to taste (or in our case to dress up the soba noodles). 

Pie Crust How-To

I like making pie. If you invite me to any sort of gathering, I will probably bring a pie. Fair warning. I've also noticed that whenever I bring a pie to something or talk about pie making I'm met with a certain amount of "wow-factor". Now, it's not that I don't like being impressive (wink), but I think that sentiment is misplaced in this instance. Pie making....it is sort of a bit of work but it's also totally doable. On the baking spectrum I'd say it's harder than cookies but easier than...okay those are the only two types of baked good I'm familiar with. Let's say it's less work than dinner. Especially depending on the type of filling you choose. However, it seems to be the crust rather than the filling that inspires awe, and one of the first questions I always get is if I made the crust from scratch. Why yes. Yes I did.

This is my go-to recipe and method, fine tuned and modified from several different recipes and techniques that I've tried over the years. It's a very basic recipe, centered around butter. I'm not too particular about the flour. Most often I use all-purpose but have also done half all-purpose, half whole wheat, too. My two "special" techniques are to use frozen butter, grated using a cheese grater, and to add vodka to help moisten the dough at the very end if needed

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour - divided into 1 1/2 cups and 1 cup
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter - frozen
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup cold vodka

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk with a fork to combine.

Use a cheese grater to coarsely grate the butter into the bowl. It's important that the butter be frozen but sort of beginning to thaw so that it can be both easily grated and able to be worked into the flour (I usually let mine sit out of the freezer for 10 minutes or so while I assemble the rest of the ingredients).



Use a pastry blender (you can see mine to the top right in these pictures or see here) to break up the butter and begin to work it into the flour. I use sort of a rocking and twisting motion. It should look something like this.

Add the remaining one cup of flour and use the pasty blender to work it in. It will still look pretty questionable at this point and you'll start to wonder if this is going to work out all right. Trust me, it's fine. The mixture will be pretty dry and crumbly still and won't really be sticking together yet. The main thing is that it should be relatively homogeneous - with same sized butter chunks (something that's helped by the grating process) and no un-butter touched flour. Next, sprinkle the water over the dough. You want to truly sprinkle it over the whole surface instead of just dumping it in the middle. This will help the water work into the dough. At this point I usually set the pastry blender aside and use my hands. Use a folding and pressing motion to work the water into the flour mixture. Take from the bottom, lift, and press into the top. It should start to stick together and feel like it has the potential to form a ball. How ball-like it becomes depends mostly on how cold the butter is and how warm your hands are. Sometimes you'll be able to form a really nice ball at this point and won't need any extra moisture. For my last batch, the dough looked like this:



Not very ball-like. So...this is where the vodka trick comes in. Vodka works well for pie dough because it moistens it so that it's manageable and sticky, but doesn't add flavor and burns off in the oven. This means your crust will be easy to roll out but remain flaky and light in the end.

Sprinkle the vodka over the dough and use the folding and pressing motion to work it in with your hands. At this point you should be able to easily form your dough into a ball.



Divide the ball in half and form into two equal smaller balls (one for the top and one for the bottom...or one to save in the freezer if you're making a single crust pie). Flatten the balls into roughly five inch disks. The disks don't have to be precise and it's fine if they have cracks around the edges. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to two-ish days. If you want to save on in the freezer for later you can add a layer of aluminum foil and keep for up to three months(for sure, or even up to six if you're feeling crazy).



When you're ready to roll out, take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit. Maybe 15 minutes or so. If you've taken it from the freezer, let it thaw to room temperature. Place on a floured surface. My preferred method is a floured flour sack on the kitchen table. I like using the kitchen table because it's easier to roll out on an arms-length surface instead of a high counter top. Sprinkle the top with more flour.



Roll out in a clockwise motion with a floured rolling pin. The rolling pin will follow the path of the clock hand. Continue going around in a circle until the dough is the desired size. There might be cracks around the edges, which is fine. If you've got a particularly large crack you can break off pieces of dough from the other edges to patch them.



When you're ready, carefully roll the dough around the rolling pin and use the rolling pin to transfer it to the pie plate, then unroll.

For two crust pies, unfold the second crust over the filling using the same method. For the edges, I use the method my Mom taught me of folding the excess edges under and crimping between two fingers, like so.



From here, you can finish and bake according to whatever recipe you're working from. Well folks, that's it! Hope you give it a try!

Comfort Food Craving: Tater Tot Casserole

Sometimes, a girl gets a craving for a good 'ole casserole. Aka hot dish. There's just something extra comforting about a warm, layered, creamy bowl of mixed together food. My Mom's standby hot dish was tuna casserole, topped appropriately with crushed potato chips. While I have made her recipe a few times in my life, when I got the casserole craving last week I decided to try something new: tater tot casserole. What's not to love about anything topped with tater tots??

After browsing around the interwebs for a vegetarian recipe (there are soooo many variations of this) I settled on this one but modified it a bit. Here's how I made it.

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 oz package mixed veg (I used a peas, carrots, and corn mix)
• 8 oz package frozen corn (because I already had it)
• 1 1/2 cup cream of mushroom soup, not the condensed kind. 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup aged cheddar, shredded
• package of frozen tater tots

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour a glug of olive oil into a 9x13 casserole dish and spread it around.

Heat another glug of olive oil over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan. Add onions and cook until almost translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add frozen veg mix, S&P, and cook until just heated through, tossing whenever you think of it.

Dump the veg mixture into casserole dish and spread it out. Pour in soup. I can't remember exactly how much soup I used. I had one of those fancy 32 oz cardboard box soups and I know I used less than half. Mostly you don't want the mixture to be too soupy, so add just enough soup to submerge the veg mixture by about two thirds. Give it a stir. Sprinkle evenly with cheese, then arrange tater tots in obsessively even rows over the whole shabang.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 or until the tater tots are browned and crispy to your liking. Let it sit and cool for a bit and enjoy. 

Finally, I'll add that this makes excellent leftovers, which is actually when I took the picture above. 

Trying a Food Trend: Chia Seed Pudding

I've been hearing about the amazing chia seed for awhile now. It seems they're the latest healthy superfood (think flaxseed five years ago). I'm generally sceptical about the whole idea of superfoods (we need ALL of the foods, right?) since at the bottom of that term is the idea that it's the nutrients that matter and not the food itself - a slippery slope that can lead to substituting real food for food-like products. But, enough ranting for now....

Anyway, I decided to give this food trend a try since it sounded so simple and clean. I went for a chia seed pudding because we're always looking for good breakfast alternatives and because I was pretty sure we'd like it (I've got a long love affair with tapioca pudding). Here's how I made it:

• 1 cup milk (we used vanilla flavored coconut milk)
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Combine all ingredients the night before in a small container. I used one with a lid for easy overnight storage. Whisk occasionally for the first hour to prevent clumping. I left the mixture on the counter while I prepared dinner and gave it a whisk every time I thought of it. Stop whisking after about an hour, put the lid on, and store in the fridge overnight. The next morning, give it a final stir then spoon into serving dishes and top with whatever fruit you have on hand (it was frozen peaches for us, but blueberries would be wonderful as well). 

Possible variations: 

• Use almond milk (I think I'll do this in the future since we generally don't buy coconut milk. Actually this was the first time we tried it and I didn't think it was great). 
• If using unflavored or dairy milk, add 1 tsp of vanilla or almond extract
• Use agave nectar instead of maple syrup

The verdict is that we both enjoyed this and will most likely be keeping chia seeds on hand to make every once in awhile as a breakfast or dessert treat. I doubt we'll have it daily or even weekly since I'm still skeptical about going crazy over any one superfood and would rather keep a variety of things in rotation.

Based on Pastry Affair's recipe for vanilla chia seed pudding.

Couscous with Merguez Sausages and Salad

First off, this is not a vegetarian meal. We do occasionally have meat at home, and this is one of our favorite treats. Plus, this night was extra "treat-y" because we had some apartment-building mates over for dinner. So, splurge on sausages it was.

Merguez sausages are a spicy sausage made primarily with lamb that are popular in North Africa and throughout the Middle East. These particular sausages are from our local Dots Delicatessen. I can't remember when we first tried merguez, but it was probably during a night out at Dots (dinner there is always good). They make their merguez with a combination of spicy lamb and pork and they're just delicious.

Whenever we splurge on a parcel of merguez sausages we like to pair them with a favorite recipe from favorite cookbook Jerusalem.  They play so nicely with couscous! This recipe makes a super flavorful couscous and the crispiness is addicting. We make it quite frequently since we usually have all the necessary ingredients on hand (subbing canned tomatoes for fresh works perfectly well if it's not super-ripe-and-flavorful tomato season). Usually we have it with a fried egg and garnish with a bit of oiled harissa. Mmmmm. The recipe can be found online here or if you're looking for a new, semi-adventurous but completely doable cookbook I highly recommend purchasing Jerusalem.

The salad was a simple one that Kevin whipped up (actually he made this entire meal) to balance out the heaviness of the sausages and couscous. It went a little something like this:

For the salad:

• Two heads finely chopped Romaine lettuce
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• handful of crumbled feta 
• ~1 cup black olives, pitted (duh) and rough chopped

For the dressing: 

• 6 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper 
• Oregano

Whisk dressing ingredients together in small bowl. Toss well with salad (you might not use it all in one go). Easy peasy. 

Saag Paneer

One of our favorite restaurants to go to in Seattle is an Indian / Tibetan / Nepalese place called Annapurna Cafe. We've been there a handful of times and I always order the same thing: Saag Paneer. Sure, a girl could branch out. But why? When you found the perfect dish already? The only unfortunate part about Annapurna is that it's not in our neighborhood and is therefore a little bit out of the way and a trip in itself to go there. So, I got it in my head to try to recreate my favorite dish at home. I remembered seeing a recipe on Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks  blog, which I've mentioned before in this space and still regularly read. You can find her recipe for Saag Paneer here.

I made it to recipe ingredients wise, but was a little short of spinach and a little heavy on the paneer. If I made this again (which I'm planning on doing) I'd reverse that balance. More spinach and less paneer. We decided we wanted more creamy and less chewy, which is more how they make it at Annapurna. The flavor profile was spot on though.

I had a little trouble finding paneer in our regular grocery store, and ended up having to go to Whole Foods to find it. So, it may be difficult to find if you don't have a specialty foods store in your area. Here's a crazy idea for my fellow Wisconsinites - how about using super fresh cheese curds?? I know. I'm so wild. They'd be more salty for sure, but I think the texture of a day-old cheese curd might be just the ticket. Or it could melt into a delicious cheesy mess in the pan that one would have to scoop up and eat on the spot. But who's complaining about that?

Our First Turkey

This year, Kevin and I decided to host Thanksgiving. I was waffling on if I wanted to try to pull it off until pretty much the week of, so it was a bit of a last minute plan in terms of inviting folk. In the end I decided I really, really, really wanted to get a good turkey and just go for it. So, we invited a few friends and thankfully (ha!) enough of them were able to come to make it a festive evening. And eat the eleven pound turkey I purchased.

I'm going to ramble for a bit about the turkey itself before I get into the cooking and Thanksgiving merriment because it felt like a big deal for me to buy a turkey. If you already know my philosophy or don't care to read it you may want to skip ahead to the pictures. It all started when I read The Ethics of What We Eat. The book examines why our food choices matter. For ourselves, the environment, and the animals we're eating. It's not super preachy, but it does give lots of reasons for eating less meat or not eating meat at all. Factory farming, human health, sustainability, etc. Since then, Kevin and I have been on the vegetarian spectrum. I call it a spectrum because we've swung from eating no meat at all to eating some meat to throwing our meat eating standards out the window at some points (like when we went to Tunisia...it would be impossible and silly to try to be a vegetarian there. I believe in cultural exceptions). The main point is we think more about how much meat we eat and where it comes from. Where we are right now is cooking almost exclusively vegetarian at home and only ordering meat dishes out when it has been sourced from a place we feel okay about. And things foraged (like razor clams), fished, or hunted are always okay.

So. This turkey. It was a Heidi's Hen purchased from our local Bill the Butcher. Yes, I did spend more than I'd like to say on it. But I'm okay with that being a once a year thing. And between the full meal for eight, week of leftover turkey sandwiches, and turkey noodle soup we got out of it I think she was worth it. If meat is cheap, there's a reason. And that reason means I don't want to buy it and eat it no matter how much money I'll save. Because when it comes down to it, what we eat is one of the most important things we do economically and personally. I think that's worth the money. Okay, rant over.

I have watched my mother prepare a turkey many a year, and even participated in that turkey making. However, since we haven't been back home for Thanksgiving since moving to Washington, it had been awhile. And this year we were all on our own. And we took a chance with cookware, but more about that later. We started the night before by unwrapping our turkey and letting it sit out naked in the fridge to dry out. I had read about this trick on several blogs and Kevin confirmed that they used to do this when he worked in a kitchen. It helps the skin get nice and crispy and brown. The next day, we patted it dry even more with paper towel and gave the skin a salt rub.

Then, it was time to put our new cookware to the test. We had recently acquired the most fantastic Le Creuset oval French oven via friend Sarah. Her grandmother had quite a substantial collection of Le Creuset cookware, which was recently passed on to Sarah. This particular piece was a bit overkill for Sarah's liking, so she passed it on to us. I know, right?!? Thanks Sarah and family!

As soon as I saw it, I got it in my head that it's purpose in life was to roast my Thanksgiving turkey. When I shared this excitedly with others, I was met with some skepticism. People told me that I should abandon that idea and get a cheap foil roasting pan instead (which we don't own). The main reasons were focused on the skin not crisping and the meat becoming poached rather than roasted from the steam. The general idea was that high sides and lid were not good for turkey roasting. I did some searching online for others who had used a Le Creuset this way, and found some of these concerns confirmed. But, then I also found a few blogs that described this as the French way of cooking most poultry. Kevin and I discussed it, and decided to go for it, using this recipe for potted chicken as a guide.

As the recipe suggests, we started on the stovetop to get the browned and crispy skin that others had warned about. We started where most good recipes start: a stick of butter. Have I mentioned we're nowhere close to vegan? Butter = yum.

We browned the turkey on both sides in the melted butter, adding more butter before flipping it. Flipping a sizzling, whole, eleven pound turkey is terrifying by the way.


After browning both sides, we took it out of the pan and set it aside. It looked like this. Nice and brown and ready to eat on the outside. Except entirely raw on the inside, so be sue to resist the urge to snack yet at this point.

Next, we added some rough chopped carrots, celery, pearl onions, garlic, and rosemary to the pan. And more butter because why not. I also pitched a few veggies and herbs into the turkey cavity, too, for good measure. Pitched is not an expression here. The turkey went back in the pan on top of the veggies and the whole shabang went into the oven with the lid on for the first bit.

This is where things got a bit fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants. Mostly because we weren't sure how long it would take to cook in the french oven. In a roasting pan, our turkey should have taken about four hours. But I had read that time would be shorter using this potted turkey method. I just wasn't sure how much shorter. What we did know is that we needed to flip it again at some point, take the lid off at the end to give it a final brown, and make sure the internal temperature reached 165.

At around the two hour mark we pulled it out, and spooned over some of the juices. At this point it smelled amazing. And looked amazing. And was nearly at 165.

At this point we were still hours away from dinner time and didn't want the turkey to be overcooked or dry. We decided to flip it and checked it again after about 30 minutes. Then, we temp-ed it again and were at 165. So, we took the lid off and gave it another 30 minutes to brown. Here's what she looked like!

Our turkey was most certainly done. Because we were still a bit far from dinner time, I pulled it out of the oven, replaced the lid securely, and let her sit on the warm oven to keep warm. I had read in my online research that the turkey will stay very warm this way if you leave the lid on the hot pan. And indeed it did. She was still steaming hot and at 165 by the time we were ready to eat.

In the end, the turkey being done early turned out to be a great thing because it opened up the oven completely for more rolls, yams, and stuffing. Overall, it was so much fun to cook our first Thanksgiving meal together and share a wonderful evening with friends. Here's a snippet of how we spent our post-pie evening:

Homemade Granola

Granola is so tasty, no? If you do not agree, this post is not for you. Granola used to be one of our splurge purchases at the grocery store. Despite getting it from the bulk food section it was always one of the highest priced items on the list. And sometimes they'd be out of our favorite variety. Boo.

Enter this recipe from Bon Appétit (which happened to be part of one of my most favorite features ever: a collection of the editor's favorite breakfast recipes. Uh, breakfast is the best meal, am I right?). I was still skeptical because in my mind making granola sounded like too much work when you could just go buy it already made and delicious. I know, I know. This sounds pretty hypocritical from a person who makes hand knit socks. Whatever, the world is full of contradictions folks. Moving on. Despite my skepticism I decided to give it a go. As it happens, making your own granola is super easy and it turns out even more delicious than the store bought variety (in my opinion). What I like most is that I can make it a little bit more well done than grocery store granola, which makes for awesome carmelly flavored cereal milk. Also you can put whatever you like it in so you are always making your favorite kind. 

I've modified the recipe a bit from the original. Here's how I make it: 

Ingredients: 

• 1 egg white, beaten a little bit (but not until foamy)
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 cup coconut shavings (preferably unsweetened, but if I've only got the sweetened kind on hand I'll use those and then omit the extra brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup agave syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300°. Combine everything but the cranberries in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover a large (preferably rimmed) baking sheet with parchment paper and spread mixture on top. Bake for 15 minutes, then check on it and flip it as best you can without sending granola cascading to the bottom of your oven where it will later burn and create a horrible stench. Do this two more times (or until your desired done-ness). That means it will be baking for a total of 45 minutes. Take out and let cool on the baking sheet. Once cool, sprinkle with cranberries and transfer to container. The recipe suggests it can be kept up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. 

52 Tuesdays: Favorite Thrifts #13 (and a recipe)

What: Five of Hearts Waffle Maker

Where: Stacey's Funk Finds, SoDo Seattle

Level of Love: 10 out of 10

We picked this waffle maker up awhile ago at this treasure of a secondhand shop in SoDo. We actually haven't been back to Stacey's since then, which is unfortunate and must be remedied soon methinks. 

I took these photos when we pulled it out for a waffle brunch last Saturday. The Churchills really love waffles. If you happen to drop by our house on any given Saturday or Sunday morning, there's a good chance you'll find a stack of waffles waiting. This waffle maker makes the best crispy little waffles. And they happen to be adorable, too.  This is my go to waffle recipe, with a few substitutions. Here's how I make them: 

1 3/4 whole wheat flour (although I've used a combination of white/wheat or all white flour, too)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter melted
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (we like FAGE - pronounced fa-yeh - brand)
2 large eggs

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water (it's an egg substitute)

Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl. Whisk wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour wet into dry and whisk it all together. Make waffles. 

Food Exploration: Sabih

For Christmas this year we got three new cookbooks and we've slowly been working our way through them. This recipe is called Sabih and it's from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by authors Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Kevin has been especially found of the recipes in this book. A lot of them are vegetarian which suits our tastes well. Regardless there are generally lots of fresh vegetables involved. I think what we also like about it is that it's gotten us to try ingredients or flavor combinations that we wouldn't have come up with on our own. And then they turn out to be ridiculously delicious. This dish is the perfect case in point. As the author's state, it isn't technically a dish of Jerusalem origin, but rather "incorporates so many elements...that it epitomized the jumble of cuisines of the region"(Jerusalem pg. 91). It's made up of layers of flavor, each one bringing something different to the dish. There's tahini, fried eggplant, hard boiled eggs, and a spicy green chili paste called zhoug. Add to that a fresh chopped salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and parsley and it comes off as both light and filling at the same time. This one's going in the recipe box favorites for sure.

Fall Traditions

Fall has always been my favorite seasons and one of the best parts about living in Washington state is that it lasts on and on and on.  The temperature is perfect for warm sweaters and scarfs worn without jackets and the sun is still out more than one might think.  The leaves also turn color very slowly compared to hometown Wisconsin, which makes for beautiful walks late into November.  Fall also seems like a time for traditions.  Maybe it’s because Fall is also the pre-cursor to the busy winter holiday season and we start to get in the mood for all the tradition that goes along with that. Or it could be the very effective marketing of you-know-who and their Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  Yeah. I’ve had a few. Whatever the reason, we continued some old Fall traditions and started some new one’s this year.

First up: SALMON! 

Not only is it Fall in Washington it’s also salmon spawning season.  This is a tradition we started last year and I hope it continues time immortal. I love the salmon.  They’re fascinating and beautiful and downright magical.  We like to start out by visiting them as they make their way through the fish ladder at the Ballard locks.  Here’s a peek at what they look like….

Then, a little later in the year, we venture out to a tiny little stream to see them at the end of their journey…

Magical right!?! Not only do they make the super long trek from salt water to fresh water they also dramatically change their shape along the way.  Maybe I’m overexcited about this, but it still boggles me that these could be the same fish.

Next up: Take a walk through the (rainy) Washington Park Arboretum. 

This is a new one. Although, it’s really a continuation of a springtime tradition.  It happened to be raining the day we went, but in some ways I think that makes it more beautiful.  The colors really pop in the rain.  Highlights for me were seeing a pear tree (seemed so exotic!), taking pictures of almost every Mountain Ash branch full of berries, and the bright red Japanese Maples. 

And finally: Make an apple pie. 

This has been our favorite apple pie recipe for a few years now.  It’s got cheese baked into the crust. Call us Wisconsinites through and through.  Below are the apples I used…but I couldn’t seem to get a picture of the finished product before it was snapped up!