Take the Cannoli: April 2011

Our Garden

So it is finished, well not finished there are still quite a few more veggies I want to plant and besides is a garden ever really finished? Since we have been married (8 years this coming May) I have wanted a vegetable garden. It was impossible the first two years because we were in an apartment then we moved to Menifee where we redid the backyard but focused on our tropical flowers and didn't have a good space for a veggie garden. In Dana Point we only had a patio which was mostly shaded and not a good space for a garden. Now we are here, in our ranch style house with a perfect space for our garden.
It wasn't even that hard to get started either. Micah trimmed back a tree, tilled up the land and composted it. We made the beds, planted our veggies and seeds then let the water and sun take over from there. Now we are seeing flowers sprouting on our produce which means the time to harvest is right around the corner. I'm kind of freaking out about how awesome gardening is. Getting out in the sun, digging up the earth, watching your hard work come to fruition is so rewarding. I love going out with Elsie every morning to water the garden, and watch her dig up dirt and put it into what she calls "Mama's Pots"

Micah chopped the tree that was shading our garden space

Tilling it up

prepping the beds

Yes, he only put sunblock on to protect his tattoos, so the rest of him got burned

laying out the spacing of the plants

plants planted

My little helper

Nat found me these awesome stakes for my herb patch

This is a definitely a hobby I can get into. I mean a hobby that is good for your soul and involves food is probably one of the best hobbies out there. Can you imagine all the fresh home made salsa and bruschetta that will be enjoyed at the Ensor household! I can't wait.

Sweet Sweet Strawberries

So we have kind of been on a strawberry kick here at the Ensor household. When I say we I mean me, and the rest of the clan just follow in suit. It started last week when I went to the Farmer's Market and purchased the sweetest strawberries I've had in some time. I bought them with every intention of chocolate dipping them for a girlfriend and was also hoping to make a strawberry orange cake for Easter, but none of that happened. This is what really went down. I told myself I could eat one basket of strawberries and the remainder would be for the goodies I wanted to prepare. Thursday I had a rough go with Elsie after attempting to get professional portrait pictures done (JCPenny Portraits must die!!) so after her nap I figured we'd have a special treat and I melted some chocolate to dip the one basket I promised myself. Well that was Thursday and by Friday afternoon I had eaten the whole lot of berries (and chocolate!) Of course Micah and Elsie helped but I was the main culprit.

chocolate lipstick

I think we discovered her new fave snack!

Let's just say that was the start of my strawberry kick, and now that I've started I can't stop. Shan made a delicious Strawberry tart for Easter and since then have had sliced strawberries in my cereal everyday. I made Strawberry Shortcake for Kate yesterday because we gardened and figured we deserved a special treat after, and special treat it was. I love strawberry shortcake and thought I'd share the recipe for you all to enjoy as well.

the only sad pic I have of Shan's awesome tart

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
6 cups of sliced starwberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup milk
Whipped cream (homemade of course)

Stir Strawberries with 1/4 cup of sugar and set aside. Stir together remaining sugar, flour & baking powder.
Cujt in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Combine egg and milk;add all at once to dry ingredients.Stir just to moisten. Spread into a greased 8" round baking pan, building up the edges slightly. Bake @ 450 for 15 - 18 min. Cool in pan for 10 min. Remove from pan and split into two layers Spoon whipped cream and strawberries between layers and on top of cake. Serve immediately.

btw I made this in the morn for Kate and Micah and I finished off the cake by bed time. No bueno.

Ok I know this is so random but on my quest to find a new strawberry cake recipe I found these fun facts about strawberries.

Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside
The average strawberry has 200 seeds
Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen in the spring
They are a member of the rose family
Americans each eat 3.4 pounds of fresh strawberries each year (HA! I eat that in a month)
Long ago, strawberries were used as a medicine for fever, throat infections, bad breath, etc.

Now that I have you all craving some sweet sweetness, go get yourself some strawberries and either dip them, bake them, or top your cake with em'!

Two months, Too fast

So today was Vernon's two month appointment. Two months! Can you believe it? I'm still trying to grasp it. Before the appt I asked Micah how much he thought Vernon weighed and he guessed 12 lbs. I was like ummm, I know he is chubby but that would almost be half of Elsie's weight, there is no way he is that big. Boy was I wrong. He weighed 12 lbs.14 oz! Almost 13 lbs. He IS half of Elsie's weight. All I wanted was a chunky healthy baby boy and that's exactly what I got. So I totally forgot the camera (sheesh) but Micah snapped a few shots with his phone. This is the song we've been singing to Vernon these past few weeks and have deemed it "his" song for the now. Enjoy.

Micah entertaining the babes while in the waiting room

Vernon getting measured

waiting for the doc

getting weighed

Oh we just love our little man so much. Don't you just want to squish him...

Easters

Our weekend was filled with fun, friends and family. I had planned all these things in my head to do with the kiddos but then had this slap of realization that Elsie is two and Vernon is two months. They don't care about all this hype and lots of things, so with that we relaxed, gardened, dyed eggs, enjoyed a day with our Q's, and a day with my fam. For the first time in my entire life we went out to a restaurant for Easter Brunch and it was amazing. No prep, clean up,and the food was amazing! We went to a new little local place called Nana Jean's. I think it is officially my new local fave and can't wait to take everyone I know there to get a taste of not only their warm hospitality but scrumptious food as well.

a peek at our garden

Vernon was in on the egg dying action too

Elsie pointing out Vernon"s egg

my little carrot

Shan lovin up on Vernon

Elsie couldn't get enough bouncing in with her Q's

Elsie eating her first Peep

she loved the egg hunt

Their Church wear

Easter baskets

my hair went completely blah after sitting in an outside service and got sprinkled on

I'm super bummed that we didn't get a family shot together but we didn't have my fam over until after 4:00 pm so I was already out of our Easter garb and into my comfy couch clothes.Lame I know. I also realized I didn't get any shots of Elsie opening her baskets, shot with my parents or anything else. What is happening to me? I used to take pictures of everything!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Holiday weekend!

Catch up

I know, I know I didn't have a Monday tip this week but I have something even better for you today. Pictures of the babes and updates on the goings on.

So lets see there has been...