stupid good.  the end.

so i was walking through the grocery store earlier in the week, and they had a recipe for a summer peach crostata sitting next to the peaches, so i picked it up.  i tried it out last night, and i put my own spin on it – mainly because i didn’t have enough peaches, but i did have blueberries (of course).  it seems like every time i make something, i take a bite and say some thing like ‘next time, i’ll (fill in the blank).’  this time was no different.  it was great, but i was hoping for a different crust experience.  cooking is a lot of trial and error, and next time i’ll try a new pastry crust – probably ina’s, because i think she can do no wrong.  the insides, though, were delicious (i did add about 1/4c of sugar to the fruit).  this is one of those dishes that looks nice, doesn’t take a lot of time, and you could change it up based on what you like.  a good foundation recipe that you can make your own.  it’s nice to have a few recipes like that in your back pocket.

{ingredients}

{dough – made in the food processor – so easy!}

{assembled crostata – not yet baked}

{ok, so i forgot to take a picture before we served ourselves}

i probably laid in bed an hour before i fell asleep last night, all the while making a list in my head of all the little projects that i need to get done.  i am on a little organization kick, and i really need to finish up some things that i’ve started but not yet brought to completion.  nothing big – just stuff like hanging shelves, giving a few things a fresh coat of paint, and weeding out stuff that we aren’t using.  so for a little kick in the pants i went to visit martha.  she has a plethora of great ideas for organizing.  i could peruse all day, but i’ve got to get busy!

we celebrated our independence by starting the day on a family hike.  the scenery – oh my gosh – the scenery!  (lindsey, you’re not in these because you were running 7 miles in crazy altitude – no big deal)

oh my – these boys sure love each other.

next we went kayaking on dillon lake in frisco.   we went with chad and lindsey and rented a couple of tandem kayaks.  it was a picture-perfect day – sunny with big lofty clouds and about 75 degrees.  would have been great to hop in the water, but we didn’t swim for two reasons – the lake was 40 degrees and they don’t allow it – but mostly because it was 40 degrees.

jared might look like he’s selling tickets for the ‘gun show’ here, but he’s just trying to even out his farmer’s tan from a few days before.

we headed back into breckenridge to meet up with my parents and the short guy.  turns out, breck throws one heck of a party for the 4th.  they have a parade (which we missed), and then main street stays blocked off for running around and hosing off kids.  the kids were having a blast, and the fire-fighters could not stop smiling.  no one could.

and b-man donned his captain america shirt for the occasion.

 well, now that i’ve assaulted you with pictures, i’ll be on my merry way.  a great time was had by all, and we enjoyed the purple mountains’ majesty, and saw a whole lotta amber waves of grain on our drive home through kansas.

i’m back in the saddle on this here blog, and hope to see you again soon.  until then…

we have returned to the midwest, and a much higher percentage of humidity (thank goodness!), after a great trip to breckenridge.  my fam-damily met for 4 fabulous days in the mountains.  the short guy was a pretty great traveler, considering he was strapped into a car seat for 10+ hours on each travel day, and no one got eaten by a bear.  yay!  we stayed in a pretty incredible house, and we busied ourselves with activity and nothingness all at once.  the break was just what we needed, and i feel so refreshed.

{there was fishing…}

{…and lounging}

{…and game playing}

{…and breck-walking}

{…and baby-wearing}

{…and hiking}

…and more that i’ll bore you with later.  have a great weekend!

sorry for the dead airspace, people.  i have been highly distracted this week.  we have big weekend plans (more on that next week) for which i’ve been organizing, we’re having the exterior of our house painted, and i’ve just generally been in a bit of la-la land.  it’s hot hot hot here today, and we’re staying pretty close to home…and the air conditioning.  our poor painter must have lost 10 pounds in sweat today, and i can’t even offer him a glass of ice water because our refrigerator is dead at the moment.  the fix-it guy was here earlier, and sorry, he’ll have to order that part and will come back at the convenient time of next thursday between 1 and 5.  thanks for that.  thankfully, we have a fridge in the basement that was left with the house, which can’t be a day younger than 30…and still works perfectly i might add.

{all i want is ice!}

i probably won’t check in tomorrow, so let me bid you a very happy 4th of july weekend.  hope you’re spending it close to a pool if you’re around here.  please don’t shoot bottle rockets at each other, and leave the big bang kinda stuff up to the professionals.

the idea of living ‘off the grid’ is a bit appealing to me – with solar power to provide the energy we need, a gigantic garden in the backyard, and maybe some chickens – wait, who am i kidding?  i’m not going near a chicken coop.  in the meantime, i do what i can to be ‘green’.  i’m kind of a crazy recycler and have been known to pull recyclable items out of the trash (did i really just tell you that?).  we are going strong with cloth diapering – SO much easier than i thought it would be..really.  and i don’t go anywhere without my reusable shopping bags.  here are a few of my favorite things that help me to be a little more friendly to mother earth.  i’d like to keep her around for a while.

{my fave reusable bags}

{glass water bottles}

{cloth napkins}

{cloth diapers}

{microfiber cloths for cleaning}