fig tree freedom

It was a good month for new recipes over here! The images belong to the original blogger of the recipe as noted below each image. So without further ado, here are some of our favorite finds!

Simply Scratch: Homemade Caramel Sauce
You have to make this first in order to make the next recipe. You will need a whisk. I tried to make this while in Florida without a whisk. It was interesting (messy) (frustrating), but it all worked out in the end.
image: Simply Scratch
Simply Scratch: Carmelitas
Laurie - the creator of all the deliciousness over at Simply Scratch - posted this recipe on September 3rd, and on September 24th, I had already made these three times. They are so so so so good. The time it takes to make that caramel sauce is so worth it. (Plus, you will have enough caramel for two batches of Carmelitas.)
image: Simply Scratch
The Girl Who Ate Everything: Artichoke Chicken
This is a simple chicken recipe. We served it up alongside Simply Scratch's Perfect Roasted Broccoli (a st…

Lydia didn't have school on Wednesday last week, and since the Pope wasn't in Philadelphia yet, we went to visit Aunt Rachel (who lives in our former house!). Anna and Jesse have never been here, and Lydia and Heidi only remember most of this house from photos.



Jesse wasted no time discovering thestairs. He loved them.


While Rachel gave Lydia and Heidi a thorough tour, Anna and Jesse walked with me to the Italian Market. We needed sausage.


Fante's sharpened our knives.


Sarcone's Bakery has some of the best bread there is. (We ate an entire loaf that morning.)


Then we scootered to Seger.


Before we left, we visited Frannie across the street. She fed us cake.


We are probably biased, but Rachel lives on one of the best blocks in Philadelphia. It's so fun to go back to our first home in the city!

I very much failed at providing any type of garden update since telling you of its planting way back in May. So here's a couple snapshots of it green and growing back in the heat of summer.

July 12


July 23


Aaron has already taken his weed wacker to parts of it, so it currently looks naked in spots. We harvested almost everything we planted. The tomatoes were abundant. The peppers are still coming. The green beans came late despite being eaten down by the deer. The broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts didn't make it thanks to some bugs. The peas were sparse because the deer ate them when they were just little buds of green. The watermelons were present but very itty bitty. The marigolds turned into bushes, and the zinneas are still blooming. I just pureed all the pumpkins and roasted the seeds, and the butternut squashes are sitting in a heap in the wheelbarrow in the garage from when I picked them on Wednesday. But I brought this cute kid inside with me.


We have some exp…

Aaron and his iphone documented his weekend with the kids. Here's a snapshot of many photos I received as text messages during my weekend away.


They're the cutest.


Jesse needed more grapes.


Pop-Pop and Nana brought pizza.





They did this themselves. (Heidi says the birth order lineup was her idea.)

Last weekend, I left my kids and my husband and headed south. (That sentence was a lot easier to type than it was to do. Do not underestimate the amount of courage I had to muster up to do this. (I'm a wimp.) So glad I did it in hindsight, but you can ask Aaron about how confused I felt at times before the fact.)

Anyway, excluding Rebekah (Nez), I hadn't seen any of these ladies - Deidre, Natalie, and Leah - in person since 2011. (Kim couldn't make it this year, and I met Anna on this trip as she arrived on the scene after I had already left Nashville.) Until last month when Natalie moved to Ohio, the six of them still work and live and do life together down there in Nashville. And for five days, they graciously welcomed me into the fold of their stories and rhythms. We relaxed on the beach, lounging (and dancing) past the sunset every night. We ate too much and laughed too loud. It was beautiful.






















I love you ladies!


(Anna's #shadowbeard.)

And for your quick reference, f…