How To Dismantle A Coconut

Find one that is heavy for it's size. Shake and listen. It should have a lot of water inside and the three "eyes" should be hard, not crumbly.

 Punch a hole in two of them. We used a chisel, a vice, and a hammer, but I've also just put a nail through and then pulled it back out.

 Invert over a glass to drain all the liquid.

Place on a baking sheet and in a 350* oven for about 25 minutes.

 Or until it splits like this ^^

Once it's split this is all the high-tech, heavy duty gear that you need. In addition to cracking it for you the heat also pulls the flesh away from the shell so it's easier to remove it.

 

This is one of the few fruits that are never out of season.

Enjoy!

Potato-Leek-Dill Breakfast Casserole (Dinner Story)

...Or anytime casserole. This turned out way better than I was even expecting. I brought it to our Kingdom Hall spring cleaning on Saturday and once one person tried it was gone in about 15 minutes. And it was sitting next to a pile of homemade blueberry muffins and doughnuts.

I was going to make it for dinner tonight so that I could take a picture and show you how pretty it looks straight out of the oven. 4 o'clock hit and I had to have dinner ready early because Spencer was being picked up for b-ball at 5 o'clock. I reached for the potatoes and had forgotten that oh I don't have any left.
Ok. Instead we'll have breakfast sandwiches on english muffins, add avocado, cheese, salad, it's a healthy dinner... English muffins are in the freezer!
No problem. I have a coconut in the oven (more on that later), I'll put them on the baking sheet for a couple minutes to thaw... Ok. Eggs are fried, muffins are toasted, lettuce torn and bowl'ed. (sit down)
Where are the forks...? (sit back down)
Oh yeah, ketchup for London. (sit back down)
Ok, salt and pepper...(sit back down)
4:40. We are sitting down calmly. Take a breath, say a prayer.
Spencer jokes "... And then the phone rings..."
I say "... Or the coconut explodes."
But we get through maybe five bites. London is actually eating everything on her plate. She has no pants on for some reason but oh well.
Then she stands up and starts pooping. In her high-chair.
While cleaning this up, the phone rings!
But the coconut never exploded.


Potato-Leek-Dill Breakfast Casserole

3 medium potatoes peeled and thinly sliced
3 leeks, rinsed, white parts thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried dill, divided
1/3 to 1/2 cup grated cheese (i used romano, very yummy)
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in salted water for 3 minutes. Rinse in cold water and set aside.

Saute leeks in butter or olive wil 1/4 tsp dill, salt and pepper until soft.

Butter a 9x9 pan and lay potatoes in the bottom. Sprinkle with cheese and add leeks.

Mix eggs and milk and pour over leeks. Sprinkle top with left over dill for effect, you may not need all of it.

Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. It will be lightly browned when done.

p.s. our evening passed peacefully...

"BALOONS"

dressed for the season

if winter is the only seasons that seems to stop moving spring is it's hyperactive alter-ego.

we have had such wondeful weather the past two weeks! it's been very dry but it rained last night and it's supposed to rain for the next 3 or so days. all's well that ends well.

 

the irises finally popped, the pea shoots now have about three sets of leaves, the lilacs are threatening to unleash, and the three apple trees are practically dripping with giant white and rosey blossoms (pronounced "applossoms").

 

yesterday we went a little crazy with huge clippings of said applossoms. london held them aloft with spinning and told me that they were balloons. imaginations are such a gift.

Our Week With The Fam

Last week we made the long (15-hour long) trek to south-west Virginia to spend the week with my family. We had such an awesome time it made me want to just blend in as one of the kids again.

We did some hiking (see below), enjoyed my Dad's many campfires, ate my Mom's delicious food and romped around with my two sisters and brother.

 

It was a beautiful time of year to be there. It was also like jumping forward in time 3 weeks. They had green grass and flowers peeking out while we were still looking at the grey branches. It was like inserting an extra week of spring into our year, which is always a nice thing.

After meeting on sunday we met at a trail head and made some sandwiches, talked, played with dandilions...

Our first adventure took us along a razor ridge of a road called Little Shepherds Trail. It was harrowing and I forgot to take pictures, but then we hiked up this rock face called Raven Rock. You can get a feel for the pitch of this when you come to the picture of Spencer getting cozy...

 

 My Mom making us food even without a kitchen^^

My Dad did change eventually, but he had us wondering for a while if he planned on hiking in a tie. Either way he would have pulled off as if it was just meant to happen that way...^^

Looking straight down from the top ridge of Raven Rock^^

 On top of the world!

The hills looked much more sculpted, almost like a eiderdown that someone has scrunched a little^^

"This would be so much more relaxing if I didn't feel like I was going to slide to my death..."^^

This natural cave was turned into an amphitheater with bleachers. Picture: listening to two people play acoustic guitars on a summer night, picnic baskets among the audience. Stars. Moon. Perfect.

 

Us girls on a walk

Our walking shoes (note: the smallest purple flower flip flops ever)^^

London's official camera face^^

Giving a "talk" with Tia Livvy. (note: no shoes)

Walking behind their house.

Stretching their wings

 

We walked to a spring up the hill behind their house. The water coming out has so much iron in it that the dirt and water are orange.^^

 

 

I regretfully didn't get pix of the fires, the guitar playing, the homemade ice cream, service, thrift store shopping or the cutting of an enormous tree right next to the house. I'm not really sure how it all happened in one week, but it was a super week.

Thanks to Steph for taking the family photos!

 

Cass