Winding Down

It's already August 8th!  or, it's only August 8th!  I'm vacillating between the two sentiments.  On one hand, where did this summer go?  The season is winding down, there is only a small window to get in our summertime activities.  It feels like we didn't go to the lake enough, to the pool enough, even just outside enough (of course, a rapidly expanding belly, and temperatures regularly in the mid 90's contributed to that). I don't think I've made a single fruit pie, and I can count on one hand the number of pitchers of sweet tea I've brewed.  A voice inside me is scolding me for letting this season pass me by.  "Hurry, there's still time!  Lets eat breakfast on the porch, bake a peach pie, have a waterballoon fight in the yard.  We still have summer left!"

Then there is the other hand.  It's hot, this baby is getting bigger. I'm at that point where the pregnancy glow has almost completely disappeared, it's hard to breathe deeply, and you just embrace the waddle.  I sleep with four pillows supporting various parts of my body, and need to change sides every six minutes.  It's only August 8th, which means I have ten more weeks to go.  Plus, I'm thinking more and more of September and October.  I'm excited and nervous about Max starting preschool.  He's going to start to have his own schedule, and I'm realizing there are going to be a whole new set of dates and appointments I'm going to have to keep track of (time to get on that family calendar).  I've even already started planning out Halloween costumes.  Thinking about things so early is very unlike me, but I know that in October, I will be grateful to have it done.

I actually wrote this yesterday, stopped to take care of what-I'm-not-sure-anymore, and have come back to it today.  I'm not sure how I planned to finish these thoughts.  I know that I have some regrets that I am not able to share any pictures of the delicious Plum Clafoutis I made last week.  I made it at 9:00 pm, and my sister and I devoured most of it that night.  Today I made some zucchini bread.  It passes the taste test, but I baked it 18 minutes longer than suggested, and it still didn't bake through.  I also made a delicious cinnamon roll cake, but for the life of me, cannot find/remember the recipe I used.  It was rich (made with three sticks of butter) and sweet and nutty, and would have been the perfect breakfast for company.  If anyone has made something like this before, please let me know what recipe you used.

While I indulge in a small lamentation over my current feeble-mindedness, I should also state that my posts (and my reading of others' posts) are going to become more and more sporadic, with a decent hiatus planned in the next few months.  It's time to get my ducks in a row, my house in order.  I will try to stop by and "see" you all, and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Independence Day, and that most of you were able to keep cool.  Of course, for almost everyone in the USA, that would be hard if you went out at all.  We decided to brave the heat, and spent a little over four hours at our local lake, eagerly awaiting the fireworks display.  I sat on a lawn chair for most of the evening, continuously applying bug spray (the harsh, antiseptic odor was worth it, not a bite on me!), while my husband and sons splashed in the very, very warm water.  We sweated and swam, ate overpriced vendor food, and boogied to 70's dance and funk music.  Max got our permission to dance on the sand, where he regaled those sitting on the beach's edge with his creative and enthusiastic moves.  Finally, the sky grew dark enough.  We sang the Star Spangled Banner, and waited for them to start the pyrotechnics.  As much fun as we had been having, heat and all, the night just got better.  This was Sam's first experience with fireworks.  Every time a rocket flew into the air, his entire body would stiffen with excitement.  Each explosion of color brought an exclamation from him, "Red!  Green!  Loud!  Bright!" followed by simple, contagious laughs.  Max loves the fireworks as well, but he's a cautious kid and a thinker.  He couldn't help but be concerned for the kids swimming in the dark water, invisible but for the multi-colored glow-sticks around their necks and wrists, and the brief illuminations from the fireworks overhead.  I was concerned as well, and envious.  I remember how magical night swimming is, and it's been such a long time since I've participated.  My concern came from the large flashes of lighting just a few minutes before.  Luckily, the storm held off until later that night, when everyone was safely out of the water and back in their homes.

Days like yesterday, and many more these past few weeks, have brought a wonderful, sad feeling of nostalgia.  I'm not sure what it is.  We went to our first waterpark with the boys last weekend (and my first trip to a waterpark in 10 years).  Even watching cartoons on these hot, summer mornings brings a flood of memories and feelings that I can't quite place.  I find myself trying to keep this feeling up; watching and doing things from my childhood, even buying the same snacks (nothing says summer like those horrible Fruit Juice Barrels, made with no fruit juice).  I think I know that everything is going to change again at the end of the summer.  They're all good changes, the new baby arriving, Max going to preschool, Sam becoming a big brother; but right now, this summer, I like time travelling backwards.  It's strange that since I've had children, each year I've grown older and further away from my youth, I've also been getting closer.

Green Grocer Goodness

Yay!  It came today!

Last week I signed up with Washington's Green Grocer, and you've never seen a family so excited about a vegetable delivery.  We've been talking about the box for the last few days. My boys' eyes lit up as we carefully unpacked each specimen, and discussed all the yummy things we could do with them as we put them away.

There are a lot of reasons I'm excited to start using this service specifically.  I like that I don't have to commit to a certain number of weeks, and they deliver right to my door.  While the produce isn't as local as a CSA, they do work with regional farmers for as much of their goods as they can.  It's also fun.  I'm not specifying anything that I do or do not want in my box (which you can do if you want) so I may end up with items I would never think of buying in the store.  I'm looking forward to trying new things and finding new recipes.  It's also going to challenge me to plan my meals around the vegetables I have, instead of around a meat.  Too often I think of veggies as a side, and forget that they have just a much right to the starring role.

It may end up being a little more expensive, but I figure if I use it all, it's worth it. Of course, there's also the fact that the produce is not as "pretty" as you find in the store.  I know that really, that's a good thing.  Things are grown to be picked and eaten fresh, not shipped across the country to sit in a store and look appealing until someone buys it.  Still, it's been ingrained in me that apples should be big and shiny, oranges smooth and bright, and my lettuce triple washed.  Hopefully this summer I'll get over my "pretty fruit" thing, and learn to just savor the flavors.

Going with it

I imagine myself as one who enjoys spontaneity, but that’s not true.  I want to be someone who enjoys spontaneity, but the reality is that I hate surprises.  Or at least, I like surprises that that give me time to plan.  Unfortunately for my husband, the imagined me frequently mentions that she is tired of being the one who has to make all the arrangements for family and couple outings, and that she would love it if he would just whisk her and the boys away for some fun.  However, on those occasions, it is the real me that is whisked away, and I bombard him with questions like “Are you sure that this place is open,” “do you have directions,” and “are you positive that we are appropriately dressed?”  (Those who know my husband understand that he has giving me cause to question him regarding that last matter.)

Last weekend he boosted my confidence in his ability to plan a surprise for us.  He drove us out into the countryside to pick lavender at the Seven Oaks Lavender Farm.  It was mentioned the Tuesday before at his Barbershop group (yes, my husband has recently started singing Barbershop) that this was the last weekend it would be open, and he knew he had to take me.  It was a beautiful day.  We got there in the morning, before the air became too sticky.  Edward had borrowed a flower basket from my mother, and we walked the short path from our car, stopping to look at the baby goats, up to the patch of lavender.  The woman who owns the field told us about the different types of lavender; the English Lavender, that is the sweetest smelling but was pretty much all picked; the Provence lavender, the most common variety and the best for cooking; and the Pierre Grosso, which has more of a camphor smell, but dries a beautiful, deep blue.  I crouched down, picking my stems while my son Max ran through the bushes squealing with delight and chasing butterflies.  Bumble bees buzzed all around, but they had more important things to do than to worry about us.

Lavender Syrup

I wasn’t completely prepared this time, but next year I will come ready with a list of everything I want to make with lavender, and be sure I collect enough.  I did have enough stems for lavender syrup, though.  It’s fragrant, sweet, and just subtly floral.  I use it in my tea and yesterday I drizzled it over a delicious vanilla pound cake. There is something poetic about eating flowers.

2 cups sugar

2 T dried lavender blossoms*

1 cup water

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and stirring constantly, cook until sugar dissolves and syrup is just slightly thickened.  Remove from heat and allow it to cool.  After refrigerating for two days, I poured the syrup through a fine sieve to remove the lavender blossoms.  Store syrup in the refrigerator.

* mountain rose herbs is a great online source for herbs and spices