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I wanted to share a product with you that I think will make your life easier ( it has mine), especially if you have children. I bought this product last year as a Christmas gift for my younger daughter because she LOVES grilled cheese sandwiches. I on the other hand wasn’t LOVING the process of grilling/melting the sandwich, nor did I like the smell it left in the house. I came across these toaster bags called Boska Toastabag.
You assemble your grilled cheese sandwich, pop it in the bag, and toast for 3 mins ( mine is the highest setting on my bread toaster.) Out pops a perfectly, gooey "grilled" cheese sandwich ready for school, or anytime of the day. I like the fact that my daughter can make it herself, and that definitely makes my life easier, one grilled cheese sandwich at a time :)
Do you love giving and receiving unique handmade gifts to friends and loved ones for the Holidays? I know I do. It always shows me how much though and love went into that gift, even if it’s a card or paper ornament my girls made for me. It’s those handmade gifts that we tend to grow attached to and want to keep for many years to come(do you still have those tree ornaments your children made for you in kindergarten?). Check out my ETSY shop KikiandAlex, and find something unique today. Happy Holidays!!!❤️❤️❤️
I confess… I don’t remember many details regarding American History from having gone through school. I bypassed 4th and 5th grade when I moved to the US. In middle school, I was learning English and didn’t find US history interesting or understand much of it. Come high school, I had other things on my mind besides The Pilgrims and The Revolutionary War! I learned more US history while homeschooling my girls and took more interest in it. I think it’s because I’m an adult now, and the older I get, I feel like I find more interest in things I never cared about before. We have learned so much by visiting Massachusetts. The history of the US started here, and you can see it everywhere you go.
Home where Nathaniel Hawthorne lived while visiting his cousin, and wrote House of the Seven Gables. He is also the author of The Scarlet Letter (You remember reading it in high school, right?)
Being in the old historical buildings, statutes, and homes that are hundreds of years old, stepping inside them gives one the feeling of stepping back in time and into the life of that person, be it a writer, a solider, or even a “witch.”
I have to say my favorite tour that we did was the Plymouth Plantation. I would highly recommend this to anyone planning on visiting MA. Plymouth Plantation is basically a living museum. It’s incredible in that people are dressed as they were in the 1600’s when the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, MA. They “live” in this village that is a replica of what a village would have looked back then. You can go inside their homes where they are doing their daily chores, taking care of their animals, gardening, sewing, carving wood, etc… You can ask them questions regarding their journey on the Mayflower from England, their way of life here, their daily activities, and anything you can imagine reading in a history book regarding these pilgrims.
A pilgrim was showing us how he uses his carbine.
One of the men was watering his garden. He was so full of information. He told us it took them two months voyage of the Mayflower, another six months of living on the vessel before they could come on land and build their homes because of the winter months.
A typical house and garden in the village where people grow their food
Inside of a house
Woman sewing cloth dolls for her children
Plymouth Plantation
Visiting Massachusetts was the perfect trip this summer, since my daughters just finished 5th and 8th grade where they were studying US history. I feel we were able to see all the things they learned about and it was an amazing experience.
Of course you gotta do the Ben and Jerry’s tour while in Vermont. Many people are familiar with the creamy and delicious ice cream with fun names like “Chunky Monkey” and “Phish Food”, but many might not know the history of Ben and Jerry’s. This fun tour last about 30 mins and at the end you get to sample ice cream or buy it by the pint, or cone in many of their delicious flavors.
You can visit the graveyard of ice cream flavors of the past….
And grab some ice cream to enjoy there of take home with you…
Nice tour to do on a hot day, or any day for that matter. Ice cream knows no season!
Bread and Butter Farms located in Shelburne, VT, offers a mozzarella cheesemaking class ( recipe to follow)through Vermont Farm Tours which the family and I partook in. Chris Howell from Vermont Farm Tours was kind enough to let me post the fresh mozzarella recipe for my readers, so now you can try and make this easy and delicious cheese with only a few basic ingredients and tools you already have at home. The only ingredient you might not have lying around is rennet, which is needed to help with the curdling process. You can find it on Amazon,Cheesemaking.com, or health food stores. My girls said this was their favorite activity while we were in Vermont. Our instructor, Phoebe, was so knowledgable about the process and the farm, and answered all the questions we threw at her. We were lucky enough to be the only ones attending the class that day, so it felt like a private lesson for the four of us. The class itself is about two hours long, and while the cheese rests we were able to tour the farm and learn a few things about it.
Taking pieces of mozzarella and shaping it into small balls. The longer you shape/handle it, more of the whey drains off and leaves a firmer cheese. If you like a softer cheese, handle it more lightly when you shape it.
Rolling the last of the cheese
The mozzarella balls sitting in the brine on the left. We sampled it with garden fresh tomatoes and basil we picked that day from the farm’s garden.
Freshly made mozzarella, so delicious! The mozzarella get lighter and softer the longer it sits in the brine, so it will have a different texture/flavor the next day compared to when it’s freshly made
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This was such a fun and informative class, I can’t wait to recreate that mozzarella at home!
This mozzarella recipe makes a fresh cheese, meaning it has not been cultured–worked on by bacteria.
Prep Time40 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
resting20 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Servings: 8servings
Author: Vermont Farm Tours
Ingredients
1GallonMilkyields 12-16oz cheese
1tsp Citric Acid Crystalsfound at grocery stores
12drops Rennet
Ice Cubes
6qt Stock PotThermometer, Rubber Gloves, Kinfe, Slo ed Spoon or Spatula
sea saltabout a handful
Instructions
Mix salt into a bowl(3-4 qt) of ice water to make brine (used to cool finished cheese), set aside
Pour milk into 6qt or larger stock pot
Dissolve citric acid crystals in 1⁄2 cup cool water; add acid solution on to the cold milk, stir thoroughly
Gradually heat the milk to 90F; stir occasionally to heat evenly
Dissolve ~12 drops rennet in 1⁄2 cup cool water
Take the milk off the heat and thoroughly stir in rennet solution
Let milk sit undisturbed for 20 minutes or until the curd sets and breaks cleanly
Use a long knife to cut the curds into 1 inch by 1 inch squares
Place stockpot with the curds back onto stove and very gently stir the curds as you heat to 130-140F. The curds will become stretchy and stick together when they are ready(it will look like slightly melted cheese)
Using a slotted spoon, remove a fist-sized ball of curd from the whey. Using gloves to avoid burning your hands, stretch and work the curd for 5-10 seconds. The more you work the curd, the more dense/rubbery the final product
Submerse the mozzarella in the brine to cool for 10-15 minutes. Mozzarella will last for up to a week in the fridge if stored in the brine
Notes
Warm milk is made slightly acidic, enabling rennet (an enzyme) to knit together milk proteins (casein), causing most solids (curd) to separate from the liquid (whey).We use raw—unpasteurized/unhomogenized—milk in the workshop, but store bought milk may also work if it has not been ash or ultra pastuerized (heated to 161F for 15 seconds or 275F for 1-2seconds). Look for “vat pasteurized” milk—meaning the milk was heated to 145F for 30min. This low temperature pasteuriza on retains more avor and, important for cheesemaking, also retains the protein structure necessary for the curd to properly set.
Also known as “The Green State”, Vermont is just that, very green. My husband and I came to Burlington, VT about eight years ago and I can say it’s changed since. Driving around I’ve noticed many chain restaurants/stores that were not here before. Maybe that’s good for jobs and the economy, but I feel it kinda takes away from the charm of the town. There are many farms around that have activities during summer/winter months. A very popular one is Shelburne Farms located in Shelburne,VT.
They are a working/educational farm that offers daily tours of the farm and Inn (where you can stay during the May-October months.). They have animals, vegetable garden, a bakery on site, and cheesemaking building where you can watch them make the Shelburne Farms cheddar, taste all the varieties they make, and purchase them at the farm’s store. They offer summer camps, and many activities for the little ones.
The Inn at Shelburne Farms is a functioning Inn that has been restored. It features unique rooms, great history about the town, farm, and Inn itself, and tea time complete with tea sandwiches and baked goods.
The Inn at Shelburne Farms
View of Lake Champlain from The Inn
Shelburne Farms is a great place to come to and explore. They have so many things going on everyone will surely enjoy it!
I love the public markets in Canada. These types of markets are popular in most countries, and provide consumers with farm fresh fruits, vegetables, fresh baked goods, bread, meats, and other foods. In Canada you can see the farms that produce these goods when you are driving towards that cities, so you know all the food is super fresh and very local. When you enter the market, you’re hit with the scent of fresh herbs, and seasonal fruits and veggies, most of them picked that same morning. The farmers bring their produce to these stands where people come and shop for their groceries. I wish these markets were available in the States!
Marche Jean-Talon(Montreal)
Marche Jean-Talon
Marche Jean-Talon
Those little strawberries are the sweetest I’ve had in a long time. Everything is so beautifully displayed it makes one crave all this fresh and delicious produce.
Parle vu français? I don’t either, but I still find Montreal very charming. A multi cultural island, here you can find Italian, Jewish, French, English, and Chinese neighborhoods just to name a few. There are so many things to see and do, unfortunately we were there for two days only, and took a walking tour in order to learn more history about Montreal. The weather was pretty warm (in the 90’s) so it wasn’t the best weather for a 3 hour walking , but nevertheless we were able to see many neat places like the Notre-Dame Basilica (last time we were here 8 or 9 yrs ago it was closed for a wedding), City Hall, and some of the charming cobble streets in the Old Montreal.
Notre-Dame Basilica
Notre-Dame Basilica
Notre-Dame
Notre-Dame Basilica
Notre-Dame Basilica
City Hall
They remind me so much of Europe, the cobble streets dotted with restaurants, cafes, and creperies.
The food here is delicious as well. We had foundue and crepes at Chez Suzette ,and we walked 2 miles in 90+ degrees to try this Portugese restaurant called Ma Poule Mouille and it was so worth it(even though it might not look so appetizing in the pictures, we were so hungry I almost forgot to take a picture.) They specialize in grilled chicken over smoked wood, delicious poutine(fries topped with cheese curds and gravy), and salads. The chicken is roasted to perfection them cut and topped with a sauce that is made from the chicken drippings and wine. The lines to order are out the door but move pretty quickly.
Chez Suzette
(Whole rosted chicken)Ma Poule Mouille
(Chicken and Chorizo Poutine)Ma Poule Mouille
I found the little balconies with their bistro sets so charming I had to photograh this one.
Statue of Amphititre wife of Posidon (underground Montreal)
There is an underground city in Montreal which has shops, offices and restaurants. Above is one of the art pieces in front of a beautiful marble fountain. A piece of the Berlin Wall resides here as well.
I just love this bronze statue called Les chuchoteuses (English: “The Gossipers”). It was placed in this part of Montreal to beautify this specific neighborhood.
Les chuchoteuses (English: “The Gossipers”).
We even made a little friend who liked to sit by the water and dip it’s paws in it.
It’s that time of the year again. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the time for starting seeds has come again, and we are gladly prepared. This year I purchased seeds from Seed Savers catalog and I’m excited to see how the seeds will turn out.
You will needs the following supplies:
Egg Cartons
Seed Starting Soil Mix
Seeds of your choice
Spoons
Permanent marker or Small craft sticks cut in half (to mark each cell with name of plant)
Spray Bottle Filled with Water
Directions:
Fill each egg carton cell with soil and make an indentation with your finger
Drop 2 seeds of same plant in each cell ( you put 2 seeds just in case one doesn’t germinate)
Write on raised part of carton what type of plant will grow in each cell, or place half craft stick written with name of plant on the side of the egg carton cell
Lightly cover the seeds with soil
Place cartons on a tray and spray planted seeds throughly with water
Place cartons near a sunny window sill
Make sure to keep soil moist but not soaking wet. Seeds should germinate in 1-2 weeks. When each seedling has 2 leaves on it, transplant them to your prepared garden beds. Kids have a lot of fun doing this and get a kick out of watching the seeds turn to plants, and hopefully pick and eat those delicious vegetables or herbs.
Being in the old historical buildings, statutes, and homes that are hundreds of years old, stepping inside them gives one the feeling of stepping back in time and into the life of that person, be it a writer, a solider, or even a “witch.”
