which came first?

I have never been much of a 'dark meat' kind of gal.  Get your minds out of the gutter, I am talking about chicken here.

Often, when we make chicken, I'll roast a whole one and I eat the white meat and Mike takes the dark.  Jack Sprat and wife if you will.  One day I thought, I bet the kids would love the drumsticks too.  They devoured them.  Of course they did.  They can hold it and eat it and it is warm and juicy and flavorful.  A rare, and much sought after, successfully eaten meal ensued.

Now I prepare the drumsticks only for the kids.  I have made this recipe twice to rave reviews.  It was so simple and fast and quite good.  The last time we had them she ate 3 and the whole time was saying over and over how delicious they were.  It was a little embarrassing how much praise she was throwing at me for these scrumptious drummies.

The other thing I realized with this meal is that Eloise knows where her food comes from.  I like that she knows that the chicken on her plate comes from an actual chicken, you know the animal that we see on farms.  She knows that pork is from pigs and that her milk does not come 'from the store' but from a cow.  She knows that vegetables grow from seeds that are planted in the ground.  I hope to instill in them a respect for the foods that we are so blessed to have.

As she was eating the drumsticks, between compliments and bites she said, "Mom, you know why I'm glad they kill the chicken before we eat it?"
"Why?"  I asked very reluctantly.
"Because if they didn't, the legs would be running all over our plates."

Totally normal statement.  Nothing weird about that at all.

I think that Harriet will be the same way about her knowledge of food origins.  At the dinner table, Eloise said to her, "Harriet, have another bite of chicken."  She responded with a little, "Bawk, bawk".

found this in the play kitchen after eloise told me she 

was making chicken for dinner

one day of summer

It's sooooo haaaaaawwwwt!

Today felt like someone just flipped a switch and ta-da! it's summer.  I know that it is probably not here to stay just yet but we sure took advantage of its brief visit.

We were out in the yard by 8am and working on getting things cleaned up from a long long winter.  We finally put the snow shovels and snow blower away and hope we didn't jinx things by doing so.  If it snows again I will be leaving town immediately, only with what I can carry in my purse.

We spent most of the morning cleaning up garbage, trimming spent perennials, and plotting this year's garden.  We put in a few perennials and some ground cover.  It seems like we add so much stuff  every year but we are blessed with a lot of ground to cover.  I was happy to see that most everything survived the winter and is now poking curious little buds out of the soil.

We were able to get the lettuces planted and put in tons and tons of flower seeds.  I am hoping for success with zinnias and sunflowers to bring some beauty to the delicious, but let's face it, not very pretty tomato plants this year.

We still have much work ahead of us but an early treat of a summery day was just what we needed to get moving and shake the winter off of us. The kids loved helping with the chores almost as much as they loved goofing around in the yard.  The whole family is sunburned, exhausted, and reminded of why we love living in the midwest.

intense discussion about 

genetically modified seeds

harriet was so hot we had to start removing 

her clothing

she may have gotten overheated moving bricks

in our impromptu chain gang

nice shot from the swing's perspective

taken by eloise

what is a summery day without a good soaking

from the hose?

maple syrup festival

Last weekend we took the whole fam out to one of my favorite events in Chicago.  North Park Village Nature Center hosted its 30th annual Maple Syrup Festival.  

The weather was chilly, but beautiful and sunny and we were able to trek out to the maple trees to see how they are tapped every year in the spring.  The Nature Center does a great job making this a fun and educational day for families.  We were able to watch (and smell!) as they boiled the tree sap down turning it into maple syrup and we were allowed to sample it also.  Some of us (Mike) may have gone back for more than 5 samples.  The kids could make a little craft out of nature-y stuff and they could take a turn, with a grown up, at the crosscut saw to make a wooden "cookie".  There was also a farmers market and handmade goods for sale as well as pancakes with, you guessed it, maple syrup!

After we finished with all the outdoor activities and some exploring we headed inside to warm up by the roaring fire and enjoyed a performance by a storyteller.  We played for a bit in the discovery room where they have loads of animal and nature themed toys and books.  Eloise treated the crowd to several puppet shows and Harriet tried to ruin each of them by stealing all the puppets,  just like a little sister should.

One of the highlights of the day was discovering a new band that we all loved.  They were folksy and hippy and cute and cuddly and they call themselves The Giving Tree Band.  Harriet was completely mesmerized by them.  As we sat in the front row she was absolutely still (a rarity) and focused.  The only thing moving was her head which nodded up and down, up and down through their entire set exactly in time to the music.

The perfect finish to our fun adventure was lunch at the amazing Smoque BBQ.  If you haven't been yet, get your ass over there.  It is so delicious and worth the trip--go early, the lines can be long.  We ate ourselves silly and then headed home for well deserved and lengthy naps.

ready for some maple fun

boiling down the sap--takes 40 gallons of sap to make 

1 gallon of syrup

tapping a tree

in the discovery center

very clever little animal faces painted on the mirror

love this