TIMBERRRRR!

Another tree has succumbed to the Volpe Family tradition of harvesting a christmas tree out of the local forest. I am so greatful that we live by abundent forests that can usually give us a very special tree. This year, we trudged out on the weekend following thanksgiving, like we always do, and went looking for our tree. We packed everyone up and headed out hopeful of our prospects. As we drove in the 14 degree temps it started snowing. The roads had a snowpack and we got to a point where we didnt feel comfortable going any further and we stopped and Lou started hunting. Minutes later he came out of the woods with a frozen toddler, an imbommidable snowpup and a huge ass tree. He was determined that this was the best one and got a little sore after throwing up onto the car. Frannie had fun none the less. We also went to the Festival of trees and the kiddos went to see Santa. It was a festive weekend.

Staying warm in the car after a brief hike

One frozen little toddler

watching daddy lug the tree on top of the car

Gabe also is enjoying more time upright than not and spends a lot of time jumping.

busy in the jumper



"how you doin' -ya like my moves?"

kung-fu fighter-don't even think about taking him out

Big sister was feeling left out and decided to sneak into the jumper when I wasnt looking. At least she is supporting him and not acting like she is too good to play with baby toys...

Guess who was feeling left out of the action?

and it starts

Last night I went to the gym...first time in over a year. When I was pregnant, I didnt exercise like I did when I was pregnant with Francesca. The main factor in that is that I devoted all my free time to Frannie while she was my only. I knew that things would change when #2 showed up (and it has). That is also the reason why I delayed starting to take care of myself. I couldnt take it-I am tired of looking like a zombie and feeling flabby. Lou and I got a season pass (for two months) and we'll see where that goes. With the small kids and the cold, dark days, I just wasnt getting outside like I needed. And there is another reason, christmas. With christmas comes the carnage we know in our house as cookie making. I cant help it, I just bake, bake, bake all the time. Maybe it is all the sales on the baking crap or the reduced desire to freeze my toosh off outside. I love it, but at the same time I hate it. With the new little guy clinging to my torso, I will reduce the craziness of baking to make it manageable but cannot stop it altogether. The cajoling from my coworkings to bring in the goods is also making me want to bake. Their first request: fudge. here is the first recipe I am going to try-


chocolate-pistachio fudge
http://vanillakitchen.blogspot.com/2011/04/chocolate-pistachio-fudge-my-way.html

print recipe

5 TB salted butter
1 TB butter to grease ceramic/glass dish
5 and ½ ounces high quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup cream
1 & ½ cup white sugar
1 ts high quality vanilla extract
Giant pinch of sea salt
1 or 1 ½ cup of salted, roasted pistachios (use as much or as little as you desire)

Remember this is hot sugar, never touch the hot sugar, never be tempted to taste test, and always use oven mits.
Butter an 8-by-8-inch or 8 x 9 baking dish, set aside. Get out a candy thermometer and clip onto pot.
In a large heavy duty pot (with high sides preferably) combine the butter, chocolate, cream, sugar, and salt. Place over a medium heat and stir constantly and CONSTANTLY scraping the bottom of pan. (You will be doing this for a while). Let it boil and cook until the temperature reaches around 247 -249 (soft ball stage). Once it hits this temperature remove from heat
And add in the vanilla extract (it will make a lot of noise and sizzle, just add in and stand back then stir in)
Once mixed, add in the pistachios, stir, then pour the hot mixture into your prepared buttered baking dish.
Let cool off at room temperature. Should take a couple hours to harden up.
Gently lift it out of baking dish and transfer to a wooden board or plastic cutting board. It might be hard to lift out, I just turned the dish upside down and let gravity pop it out.
Using a sharp knife to cut into little squares. You should get about 20-25 little square


Here is another one I am about to try:

HOLIDAY ROUNDS

Local honey gets the spotlight in ASAP’s Get Local campaign this January. Try using local honey in this recipe (especially with the recent news that some grocery store honey sometimes contains little in the way of actual honey). Find yours at area tailgate markets and at grocery stores that sell local foods. Visit FromHere.org to look for sources.

from Homemade Living: Keeping Bees © 2011 by Ashley English, Lark Crafts, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Yield: Approximately 3-4 dozen.

Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pecans
½ cup almonds
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
¼ cup butter
¼ cup honey
½ cup dried cranberries
2 tbs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible)
1 tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste


Method:
Pulse the nuts and apricots in blender until the pieces form crumbles (don't overdo it, or you’ll end up with a nut and fruit butter).


Melt the butter in stainless-steel saucepan over medium heat.


Add the nut mixture.


Stir for about a minute, then add the honey. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.


Add cranberries, rosemary, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is sticky.


Remove from heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes.


Form mixture into small balls, a little under 1-inch in diameter.


Let them come to room temperature, and enjoy.

 

taking TIME



This last week, we packed it all up and went to Idaho to visit our friends Pam and Ed in Sandpoint. I don't know why we decided to do this, but I just knew that I needed to get out of Helena and see a little bit of the land we love so dear. Its a long trip with two young kids (5 hours) but I was not thinking of that. What I thought of the most was that we needed to have a family trip and that the time in the car would be fine, just like it is when we take Francesca to Idaho. wrong. I can't believe that I blocked that memories of traveling with a baby in a carseat. It is hard on me, the screaming baby helplessly trapped in a carseat with me precariously perched overhead as I attempt to nurse while Lou is driving. My three year old is yelling, "I cant see mom-you blocking the movie" and the baby is still crying. Murf is slowly (and I say slowly) becoming the saint in our house. I didnt hear one lick or snort or whine from him while he was packed away from us in the cargo area of the car. thanks murf.

We didnt snap that many pictures this trip because I forgot to empty the memory card. Here are a few that I did manage to fit in.

above with the Selkirk Mountains and on the shores of lake pend oreille



Pam and Gabe getting to know each other

Frannie scored the claw from the toy box

four months and more

Seems like change is a constant around here. We went from the land of falling leaves to uggs and hot chocolate. Winter is fully engages and fall days are just a memory. We actually changed so quickly that the leaves still lay in piles under a blanket of snow and the a shrub is dormant in a pot that never got planted. I would like to say that it surprised us, but we knew that the snow was on its way...we just were in denial. We had a beautiful Fall.

Gabe is a full steam ahead kind of four month old and is really enjoying being busy and sitting, rolling, standing with help and putting everything in his mouth. plus, the smiles are non-stop. We are lucky parents. Life is so hectic now with Lou going on hunting trips, managing a day-to-day routine aroung the house and fielding various autumnal germs that we are looking forward to a holiday in Idaho with friends. It will be our first roadtrip as a family and we are excited to see what is out there. for now, i'll leave you with some photos from the last two weeks to enjoy. 

Falling Back

It has happened...we've entered into the no longer fall not yet winter mode around here. We turned the clocks back and have the dark nights again. What happened to summer? It seems like last week we were running around without jackets with the sun on our faces (we'll we were) and now it seems like we live in a different place at a different pace (we'll we do). Winter is almost here...

and to mark this, we woke up saturday morning to snow-how about that? When Frannie saw it, she asked if there was enough to go skiing. I know what we'll be doing this winter!

First snow (it stayed on the ground)

Frannie and Gabe spent some good hours snoozing away and resting like little bear cubs snug in their beds. I, like a hybernating mother, took ever opportunity to gather and prepare for the winter ahead. So excited and so not looking forward to the cold dark months to come.  There are holidays and celebrations, winter trips and skiing, spending time together without competing agendas or the ability to rush off somewhere at a moments notice. It is time to hunker down and rest-finally!I made bread this weekend and cleaned the home and did mountains of laundry. Lou was out trying to track down some deer to pack into our freezer and I tried to keep the kiddos healthy. There is nothing worse than a sick child if you ask me, but we have been really lucky with Frannie and I hope Gabe plots the same course.



Big kids still need their beauty sleep



Exhausted



Gabe is sweet and happy and loves sitting and taking it all in. He can grab, roll over, smile and communicate and sometimes, I think he can say mama...Gabe is adjusting to going from being a July baby born in the warmest month of the year to a bundled baby out and about. He loves looking at the sky and taking in all the time he can while he is outside. We'll try to get him out this winter (if it doesnt get too cold).

All bundled

Happy and Warm



sitting pretty with sophie (aka his new best friend)

So happy watching us have dinner

Oh, almost forgot...Halloween!! Frannie has figured out what it is all about and enjoyed the one place we took her to trick-or-treat (my work). She got so much booty that we called it a night and went home. In the end, she only ate one fun-sized snickers bar and decided it was more fun to collect the candy than eat it. She has fun carving pumpkins (first drawing a cat, a face and making the baby pumpkin into a baby bat) and digging deep to get the seeds out for the chickens. She got into her costume and was one fierce baby dragon (no wings, b/c baby dragons don't fly and a fire wand to protect herself from baddies). Gabe stayed awake most of the day at daycare with all the commotion and goings-on and crashed once he got into his car seat after trick or treating. He never got into his bear cub costume but that was okay with me b/c I didn't like how it came out (so glad I was able to pull of Frannies costume). He wore frannies 1st halloween costume to school that day so at least he looked like someone loved him (black cat onesie).



Dragon Costume





Good or Evil?



From Left to Right: Scary guy, baby dragon, daddy pumpkin, and cat pumpkin

Pumpkin Carving-scooping out the seeds for the girls a la snowpants...