When it Rains, It Pours

The beautiful weather of last week is long gone. Maybe you've heard, but it has been raining pouring for two days straight here in the Northeast. Some parts of Connecticut have received as much as 8 inches of rain (that's a 3 month supply!) in the last 48 hours. This afternoon we took a walk down to a small stream that runs behind our house. In the summer this is just a babbling brook. Today it had Class V Rapids. Check it out!

Spring Fever

It's officially spring and here in Connecticut, Mother Nature has blessed us with a string of fantastic weather. It has been sunny and in the upper 60's for five days straight. That's almost unheard of for mid-March. Because it's sure to be a teaser, we took full advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend.

There was some time for mountain biking...

Our daffodils indicated that it was time to get to work on our lawn...

And the garden...

Andrew overseeing progress on the garden

Time for family...

Amanda, Aubrey, Mom, Andrew and Dad

Time for bare feet...

Speaking of bare feet...

Running "barefoot" in my Vibram FiveFingers

Summit just had find time to get a swim in...

And a chance to laze around in the sunshine...

And after all that fun, there was even a little time for some spring cleaning!

cleaned out the closet...and must do every spring!

What did you all do on this first weekend of spring?

Home Brew

Two years ago, I gave James wine making supplies for Christmas. That winter we made our fist batch of homemade wine. I blogged about it here. Well, it turns out you can use those same supplies to make homemade beer. Mmmmm, beer. So this winter, that's just what we did. James and I headed back up to the Beer & Wine Maker's Warehouse, a little shop in Hartford owned by my godmother and her husband, to pick up all the ingredients and to get a few tips and tricks on how to brew (good) homemade beer. We came home and James got right to work on our home brew that very night.

Aunt Di and Adrian's Beer & Wine Makers Warehouse

It took about five weeks for our beer to be ready to drink. I have to say, I was pretty skeptical about this whole endeavor at first, but not any more! We made a light-bodied cream ale for our first brew and it turned out great. It's fun to be able to bring some of our own home brewed beer to a party with us and share it with friends. So far we've gotten lots of good feedback and many beer requests for our future brews. We'll have to see if we decide to make another batch or go back to wine making for awhile. Pretty soon our entire basement is going to be split between a brewery and a wine cellar - and James and I don't even drink that much!

The whole family taking part in the bottling process

"99 bottles of beer"

To go with our newly brewed beer, we made some homemade veggie burgers and sweet potato and squash soup for dinner on Sunday night. As many of you veg heads know, it's not easy finding a great veggie burger recipe. This one is one of my favorites. The soup's not bad either, as long as you have 6 hours to spare. And they both go perfectly with beer.

mmm...beer and burgers

Ultimate Veggie Burger
(from 101Cookbooks.com)

2 1/2 cups sprouted garbanzo beans (chickpeas) OR canned garbanzos, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 onion, chopped
Grated zest of one large lemon
1 cup micro sprouts, chopped (try broccoli, onion, or alfalfa sprouts - optional)
1 cup toasted (whole-grain) bread crumbs
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or clarified butter)

If you are using sprouted garbanzos, steam them until just tender, about 10 minutes (I just used canned beans). Combine the garbanzos, eggs, and salt in a food processor. Puree until the mixture is the consistency of a very thick, slightly chunky hummus. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the cilantro, onion, zest, and sprouts. Add the breadcrumbs, stir, and let sit for a couple of minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a moist mixture that you can easily form into twelve 1 1/2-inch-thick patties.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium low, add 4 patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes. Flip the patties and cook the second side for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a wire rack while you cook the remaining patties. Carefully cut each patty in half, insert your favorite fillings, and enjoy immediately.

Winter Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
(from "Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker")

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
4 cups vegetable stock
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, cover and cook until soften, about 5 minutes. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a 4-to 6-quart slow cooker. Add the sweet potatoes, squash, stock, thyme, and sage; season with salt and peeper, cover an cook on Low for 6 hours. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor or directly in the slow cooker using an immersion blender (I kind of regret this - it made the soup too mushy, next time I'll just leave it as-is). Taste to adjust seasonings and serve hot.

I realize these aren't the best pictures - I mostly forgot to photograph the cooking part!

Utah

Last Thursday my parents and I, my brother Curt, sister-in-law Mandy and their kiddos Andrew and Aubrey flew out to Salt Lake City, Utah for my grandma Beth's funeral. James was supposed to go, but got pretty sick right before we left. Additionally, we were having a tough time finding someone to watch Summit and Jax while we were gone so someone had to stay home with the dogs for the weekend. It was sad not having him there, especially during the funeral, but I was surrounded by lots of family members which made it all a little easier. By the time we got home on Sunday night though, I sure couldn't wait to see him!

Grandma Beth

We stayed with my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Loron who live in North Ogden, about an hour from Salt Lake City. On Thursday night we had a big family dinner at their house. Some of my other aunts, uncles and cousins who had made it into town came over to eat and catch up. My mom was one of seven children and I am one of 82 grandchildren and great-grandchildren (EIGHTY-TWO!). That's a lot of family, some of which I never even met until last weekend.

Andrew trying on Uncle Loron's Converse

On Friday, Curt, Mandy, Andrew, Aubrey and I drove up to Salt Lake to visit my friend Kate who moved to SLC last spring with her husband Brett. Kate showed me her house and then we all piled into the Suburban and drove up to Park City, Utah, the venue for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. We walked around Park City and ate lunch at the Wasatch Brewery. Then we headed over to Olympic Park to check out the Olympic museum, ski jump and bobsled run. There were all these little kids learning to ski jump, they simply had no fear. It was really fun to watch them. I think Andrew even wanted to get into the action (some of them weren't much older than him).

Utah has the best snow on Earth! ~ Kate and I in Park City

Olympic Park

Saturday was a tough day. We woke up and headed over to a funeral home in Ogden where grandma's wake and memorial service were held. Grandma had an open casket. I wasn't sure how she'd look because she had been quite ill towards the end of her life, but she honestly looked really peaceful. She was dressed in her Temple clothes (grandma Beth was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and when it was time to close the casket my mom and her sisters gathered around her and pulled a veil over her face. In the Mormon faith this ritual is performed when a women dies. It is believed that the woman's true love will then remove the veil in the afterlife (I think I got that right). It was a special moment watching all the sisters say goodbye to their mom.

The memorial service was special too. My cousin Amanda put together a slide show of photos from grandma's life and of all of her children, grand children and great-grandchildren. It was really wonderful and brought back so many memories. The service was perfect. It included music played by my cousins (songs requested by grandma Beth herself), a life sketch read by my aunt Betsy, a eulogy by my aunt Cathy, a tribute written by my uncle Richard and memories from each grandchild read by my cousin LeeAnn. My favorite memory of grandma Beth was her "teeth on demand" trick ~ when any of us were feeling down, grandma used to cheer us up by popping out her false teeth and smile at us with her big gummy, goofy grin. It worked every time.

Some of the great-grandchildren singing for grandma

After the service we piled into the cars and drove up to Lewiston, Utah, just a mile south of the Idaho border. We laid grandma to rest in the most peaceful cemetary I have ever seen. It is surrounded by picturesque mountains and big open sky. So beautiful.

The mountains near grandma's cemetery - perfect isn't it?

We had a short dedication ceremony at the grave site and each of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren placed a flower on her casket.

After the internment, we headed a mile or so down the road to a local church where we had a big family dinner. The folks from a Ward in Lewiston (I think a Ward is basically a congregation, but it's based on where you live - sort of like school districts?) were kind enough to let us use the space (which we needed for our very large family) for the meal. It was great to be able to spend more time together and the kiddos could play and play and play to their hearts content.

Andrew and Aubrey with Jayne and Jade, two of my second cousins

We got back to Cathy and Loron's late Saturday night and by that time we had just enough left in us to pack up our stuff and get to bed because we had an early flight out on Sunday (as in we had to leave the house at 3 am!).

This about sums up how we all felt by the end of the weekend

It really was a whirlwind weekend, but I'm so glad we were all able to be there to say goodbye to our grandmother. She truly was an amazing woman and after learning more about her life from the stories that were told this weekend, I realized I have even more in common with her than I ever thought. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. I love you grandma Beth!

Grandma Beth

My sweet Grandma Beth died this morning. She was my last living grandparent and the only grandmother I really knew. She was such a special woman, the matriarch of a huge family and is survived by dozens of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We'll all be gathering in Ogden, Utah this weekend to say goodbye to her. It's going to be hard, but Grandma will be smiling on us, just happy to know she's gotten us together for another family reunion. I love you Grandma, may you rest now in peace.

Grandma Beth and me, Cary Beth, 1984