Where I used to spend much time in the basement sewing before Christmas, now I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time in the kitchen.  It has just happened naturally and slowly.  Now the girls gather chairs around the island to help throughout the day instead of just at dinner.  It has been a nice change from sewing, although the basement has been calling me.  Not for sewing but for major reform and order.  The basement collects all of the things that I no longer want upstairs in our living space.  Our pathetic habit is to open the basement door and drop anything down the steps that belongs downstairs: dress up clothes, dolls, sleeping bags, boxes of plastic baggies for storage, etc., etc.  I’m sure right now you are envisioning what the bottom of the steps looks like on most days.

You’re probably right.

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It seems like all we do is prepare food, eat food, and clean up from eating food with a family of six.  Do you ever feel that way sometimes?  We recently started a chart of “dinner helpers” who are responsible for, well, helping with dinner.  Caroline, 6, and Johanna, 4, are the only two on the schedule.  They usually help in the kitchen and set the table.  Depending on which child is the helper for the night, I place emphasis on different things.  Johanna loves standing on a chair and working alongside me and Caroline loves creating elaborate centerpieces and making name cards.  It has thankfully become a real help and quite enjoyable for the two of them.

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We don’t buy bread.  And for that reason, I am supposed to be on top of things in terms of baking our daily bread, rolls, etc.  This is definitely a weakness lately– just ask my family.  They know those days well by eating crackers with their lunch.  I’m pretty tired of it, too.  You see, if the morning goes by without the ingredients getting themselves into the bread machine by 8:30: no loaf.  If the morning goes by and it is 10am: nothing on the dough cycle.  So the morning-timing dictates our eating bread.  ( I could do the delay cycle at night, but am usually too tired to even think about bread at night.)

For months I’ve talked Bobby’s ear off about creating a “baking station” in the kitchen.  A corner where everything always sits, waiting to be used to make a loaf: the bread machine, bread book, measuring cups, and measuring spoons.  The mornings when I am grumbling under my breath, hurriedly gathering ingredients and searching all the drawers for measuring cups and more salt, I’m thinking of how easy life would be with a baking station.

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I don’t know if there will ever come a day that we bake up cookies of different varieties to eat and give away.  I’ve always wanted to have a Christmas cookie baking day with my girls, and even planned it this year, but it is always the first thing to drop off the calendar.  Mostly because we most thankfully receive my childhood favorites in tins from my mother and friends always pull through and deliver such delicacies.  By this time of the home stretch to Christmas day, I couldn’t fathom baking up any treats since I do my fair share of eating most of the cookies that once lined our counter.

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Swiss chard.

I’m always stumped when the ”toss out” date is approaching and I need to use it up and fast.  Here’s an unusual use of swiss chard and for snacking of all things.

Don’t be chased away by these leafy greens, they actually taste quite good as chips.  Ainsleigh couldn’t get enough.

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A few weeks ago, we had had it.  There were about 5 glasses per person, per day making their way into the dishwasher daily.

I tried to figure out a way to keep one glass per child per day to keep down the washing and keep the girls (and myself) more responsible.  My solution was a water station mat.

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{If you missed photos from the apple picking itself, check them out here.}

Apples are here and abundant in Pennsylvania.  For the past week + apples have been incorporated in many of our meals: sliced, dipped, baked, boiled, and so forth.

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Simplicity has become the theme in my life.   I think it has been by default, with each new child that has entered my life and the more responsibilities on my plate.

Buy yes, the simplicity is good for my soul.  It goes against what I would have wanted if I were younger and less realistic.  I now embrace what my daily reality is with four children in tow and all that comes with being a mother and wife.

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 Good morning to you, friends.  I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I’m happy to say that our Bake Off continues to grow and surprise me every year.  I’m always amazed with what moms and their children come up with for the Bake Off.

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