Nebraska

We spent 10 days in rural Nebraska, where my husband grew up and my inlaws still live. It's SO different than Vermont, but equally beautiful and unique in it's own right. Olive loved all the cattle, corn fields and of course sending time with her 'braska family! :)

It was a challenge to eat cleanly while there because Nebraskan's love their meat and fast food, but I managed to create some tasty, healthy dishes for the family despite! ;-)

Simple Lentil Salad (pictured above):

Ingredients include:

French lentils, cooked

Carrots, celery, onions- finely chopped

Cherry tomatoes, quartered

A healthy drizzle of garlic infused Olive Oil

A healthy splash of balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional additions: goat cheese and/or avocado

Serve as is or over fresh garden lettuce! 

A Little Taste of Sweden in Vermont

Summers in Vermont, like Sweden, include: swimming, horses, hiking and PICNICS! One of my favorite summer summer Swedish dishes is cold-water shrimp salad with rock salt, lemon and LOTS fresh dill. Eat as is, serve over fresh garden lettuce or dark, rye sourdough bread. It's just the most satisfying meal and transports me right back to the Swedish country-side and the Archipelago! <3

Four years ago our lil' sprout was born an Olive Rose...

We could not have asked for better weather for Olive's birthday party, nor could we have asked for better company! We had over 40 guests- big and little- come celebrate with us and help eat all the home-made cake and tarts! Ok, so maybe we went a little overboard? ;-) 

Find the recipe for this Maple Blueberry Custard Tart at: www.butternutmountainfarm.com and click on "recipes." I modified and made ours GF by subbing an all purpose GF flour for the regular flour. :)

June Bloom and Strawberries!

As you can see we've had a fantastic strawberry season! My parents grew some of their own, but we (Olive too!) picked 8 quarts one afternoon to put in our freezer for the winter. Nothing better than strawberry pie mid-January! ;-)