Saturday we went to a pick your own blueberry farm in East Texas. Located in Edom, it is about 1 1/2 hours from us and we have been going since I was pregnant with Matthew.

Matt will be 17 on July 11. In other words we have been going a very long time.  Now, you can’t just go blueberry picking, there is a ceremony that must be carried out.

Blueberries for Sal must be read aloud the night before. You must get up while it is still dark and eat breakfast in the car on your way there…and at least one teenager must complain that they would rather be doing something with friends…at least until they get there… You must eat as many as you can and still fill your basket before the sun gets too hot..and then you must fight to stay awake on the way home, and figure out that you should have used sunblock. You must then end the day with blueberry pancakes for dinner.

If you do it any other way you are just not doing it right. Pick your own farms are a wonderful way to eat local, support the local economy and build family relationship all at the same time. I intend to do a couple of searches to see what is available in my area besides blueberries.  It is great for kids to be part of gathering food and interacting with it in it’s natural setting, rather than assuming that blueberries grow in pint containers in the back of the grocery store.

Here are some pics of our day…It was great!

The bushes were full of blueberries this year.

Nick finds the perfect berry.

It doesn't take too long to fill the baskets.

Full baskets...

Nick and Sean rehydrate

images:maryeaudet

Remember this by the Beatles?

I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’ garden in the shade
He’d let us in, knows where we’ve been
In his octopus’ garden in the shade

This is a very kid friendly dish. I saw it somewhere on the internet and I don’t know where, so if I swiped this great idea from you please let me know and I will giveyou due credit and blog linkage.

How cute are these octopi?  And it really does not get easier.  Ramen noodles, spinach, and hot dogs.  That’s it.  A quick and super simple lunch or dinner…or even after school snack.  You could do the same with spagetti or fettucine noodles.  Just slice the bottom 3/4 of the hot dog lengthwise into 8 sections, leaving them attached to the hot dog at the top.  When you boil them the cut part will curl up with a mind of its  own, more or less, and you will have octopi look alikes.  Cook the spinach in with the ramen noodles and there you have it!  A great, kid friendly meal.

This is my entry to Presto Pasta.  :)  This week’s Presto Pasta is hosted by Katie, One Little Corner of the World.  To submit your own pasta dish follow the guidelines found here. Ruth, of Once Upon A Feast, is the brilliant mind behind Presto Pasta and this is number 109!!!

Images:Marye Audet

I love banana splits and root beer floats.  Yes, I am that childish.  I think that it is an art to take these simple desserts from childhood and run with them.

The other night Marc was out of town with our 10 year old Sean.  Sean is involved with the JBQ (Junior Bible Quiz) group at church and they had regionals in Longview Texas.  Our kids won, by the way, and will be at Nationals in Rockford, Illinois.  Anyway, when someone is out of town the rest of us try to do something different as well.

Now, I admit..I am a weird mom.  I have been known to get my kids up within 15 minutes of going to bed and bundle them into the car in their pajamas and make a *slurpee run*.  There is something fun about a clandestine slurpee in the middle of the night.  The other thing that I am well known for is declaring that it is banana splits for dinner.  No meat, no potatoes, no organic asparagus.  Nope.  Banana Splits.  Big enough that you could not eat dinner and one of these.

Unhealthy? On a regular basis, yes.  But once in awhile? Unexpected?  The perfect way to be the coolest mom on the block.  You can buy ice cream at the store or use one of the recipes from me, here at Baking Delights.  Just use the search tool at the top.

And never underestimate the power of a banana split.

Peanut Butter Banana Splits

• Hot fudge sauce, commercial or homemade
• Caramel sauce, commercial or homemade
• Whipped cream
• Ripe bananas
• Vanilla ice cream, commercial or homemade
• Peanut butter sandwich cookies, broken in large pieces
• Peanuts

You know what to do.  Place sliced bananas at the bottom of a shallow dish.  Add two scoops of ice cream.  Cover one scoop with caramel and one scoop with fudge sauce.  Sprinkle with broken cookies.  Add a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with peanuts.

images:marye audet

I don’t know if you remember that Chef Kyrie and I had been cooking out of the Ratatouille cookbook..I think April may have been the last time we did though. I have felt bad about not making more from HER cookbooks so I promised her she could choose a recipe and we would make it.

She chose escargot. Read more

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my kids? How proud I am of them? I see other kids all the time and I am amazed at how much older (and settled) my kids seem to be than they are.

I am really not sure why.  Maybe it has to do with being raised in a big family and having lots of responsibility.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that, although I am easy going Marc and I have very high standards for our kids. I don’t know, I really don’t.  Read more

As I mentioned last week Kyrie had a blast on her birthday. The child seriously knows how to party.

We usually only give the kids one gift on their birthdays. Finances have always been a consideration but we part of what we are trying to build in them is a lack of desire for stuff. I think we are succeeding with that. Read more

Not too long after Chris walked in the door last Friday he indicated his desire to buy and cook us some steaks on the grill.

How can you turn down an offer like that?  He bought some incredible steaks and marinated them in a rub for three hours.  Then he grilled them to absolute perfection.  In the image above he is being carefully supervised by Nick as he puts the rub on the steaks.

Alot of people have asked me how I end up with kids that not only cook, but cook well. Read more

Images: (c)2006-2008 Marye Audet, Apron Strings & Simmering Things

Content: (c)2008 Marye Audet, Baking Delights

Chef Kyrie and I found ourselves at the store yesterday and as we were engaging in our second favorite activity (cooking being first, book browsing being second) we came upon a book. A cookbook to be exact.
Now, my favorite movie, personally is Mostly Martha, the German version with subtitles. It is a movie, appropriately about a chef. A rather cranky chef. Chef Kyrie’s favorite movie is Ratatouille. It, too, is about a chef. A rat chef. In fact, she often asks me if the rat (referring to herself) can help me cook.
So when I saw her face light up..and her eyes widen I knew she had found gold in the form of a book and I mentally counted my money. Read more

There are a lot of different types of Easter baking I love to do.  Adorable duckling, chick, and lamb cookies…Easter Bonnet cakes, special breads and rolls, the list goes on and on.  But before I share those recipes with you this week I want to share this one, because it is the most special of all.

Resurrection cookies are a fun project for parents and kids to do together Read more

First of all, I know the color looks a little weird in this picture. I had to play around with it quite a bit. I took the picture of these cookies at night (I dared not wait for day, because we have ..you know, some sort of leprechauns or pixies or something that eats them during the night) and we use the spiral, eco friendly bulbs. Now, they may be eco friendly for sure but image friendly they are not, and you come out with very yellow pictures. I played around with them and ended up with this. I even considered black and white..so if you must have some beautiful images head over to Leftover Queen and look at Jenn’s pictures. Read more