Super...man?

Well, I pulled out the old FP dollhouse this week, thinking to slip it out the door and give it away. Alas, Will discovered it first, so now it is re-installed in my living room, taking up more space than the sofa.

However, the games have changed. Now, the Daddy is a superhero, who does good deeds along with his trusty sidekicks, the hedgehog and the coyote (can you spot him in the photo?). Today, I was requested to make Daddy a cape, complete with 'S' on the back, so everyone will know he's a Superhero! So, I pulled out an old sheet, cut out a cape, drew an 'S' on the back, sewed on a gold band to hold it on, and Voila! Check it out (and please excuse the feet).

At Last!

What a gardening year it's been so far in Portland. I planted beets that never appeared, cauliflower and cukes that were devoured by slugs, and sunflowers--ah, those beautiful sunflowers! They may be the only good things I get from my garden this year. But they are so lovely to look at, from inside the house or out. And that might just make up for the fact that I've got no veggies to eat.

Raspberry Jam

It's summer, and it's berry time! We've been buying delicious berries from A & B Farms through Know Thy Food, our local buying club. The raspberries seem to be a favorite every year. We eat them fresh, we freeze some, and we jam the rest. And despite my odd kitchen apparatus, which I can't even honestly call just a stove, I got 6 half pints of raspberry jam in the cupboard this week. Now to keep from eating it all before winter!

Goat Cheese

Every other Sunday, I get 1/2 gallon of fresh, raw goat's milk from Peggy's goats in Molalla, Oregon. While we are not milk drinkers here, the cheese we make from it is amazing. I buy my cultures from Julie at Cultures for Health. With very little effort, we enjoy about 1/2 pound of cheese. Just heat the milk to 86ºF, sprinkle in the culture, wait a minute or two for it to rehydrate, stir in, and let set for 6 hours. After that, I dump into a cheesecloth (really a pastry cloth, but I find it works much better), hang it from a cabinet handle, and let drip overnight. In the morning, I have lovely chevré, which Will and I enjoy with berries, spread on pancakes, sprinkled on beans, or just snitched straight from the jar.