Grateful Everyday

Thanksgiving... a day to gather with loved ones, a day to eat mountains of delicious food, a day to be thankful for our many blessings. Sometimes it is easier to set aside one day to be thankful on, almost as if we fulfilled a duty and now we can go along our way. But what is one day of thanksgiving worth if we don't fulfill the harder task of being grateful everyday? Everyday when the hours are long and weary, everyday when the children are whining and the dinner is burned, everyday when all the mundane tasks overwhelm us. Sometimes it is hard, so hard to remember to stop and count our blessings in the midst of the mess that is so often everyday life. But they are there; a kiss from little lips, a fleeting ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, a crackling fire in the woodstove. And not just to notice all the good things that are so easily overlooked, but to actually give thanks for the hard things, the painful things, the challenging things. This Thanksgiving may we not only give thanks, but stop to remember why we can give thanks in all things... because we serve a great God who gives us grace for everyday, who gives us growth in the hard things. For this may we be truly grateful everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Potato Party

Well this post is a little late, but I figured better late than never. Back in September we were blessed to have the help of friends, family and neighbors to get our potato crop out of the ground. We made it into quite a party. In the evening we all had a harvest dinner of potato soup and Asian cabbage salad. We also celebrated David's 4th birthday with a some cupcakes, balloons, and gifts.

The Potato Harvest Crew

Matthew Helping Sort Potatoes

Picking up Potatoes

Potatoes

Happy Birthday

David Turns Four

Feeding the Poultry

Both boys absolutely love feeding the chickens and the ducks. It is so much fun for them to throw the grain. Matthew almost always cries when it is time to put the can away and go back inside.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

This summer I had an abundant crop of colorful and delicious cherry tomatoes. I picked a whole bucketful the other day to save the last of them from freezing. I wasn't really sure what to do with them all. So after looking for some ideas online I decided to try roasting them. It was quite simple. I cut them in half then tossed them with olive oil, some fresh chopped basil and oregano, and a handful of whole peeled garlic cloves. I spread it all on cookie sheets and roasted them at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes. After they came out of the oven and cooled a bit I put them in jars and covered them with more olive oil. I kept on jar in the fridge and the rest I put in the freezer for future use. They would make a great pasta or pizza topping or for just snacking on.

Squash Harvest

Last week we finished harvesting the squash and pumpkins. I love all the shapes and colors, they are one of my favorite parts of fall.

Marcus Ciderfest

We had a fun day at the CiderFest this year. We had a booth to sell our pumpkins, potatoes and other vegetables along with my body care products. The weather was perfect. A little bit cool and cloudy in the morning with beautiful sunshine in the afternnon. David enjoyed the parade but his favorite part was watching the ciderpress, he would have watched it all day if he could have. Matthew was pretty fascinated by it as well.

Autumn Pear Tart

I love Autumn, the smells, the flavors, the colors. This delicious pear tart has become a tradition for me to bake each fall.