Forecasters are calling for a stormy week, supposedly starting today. And you know what, I really hope that we get it, and get it all. Everything is so dry and crunchy and we just need rain. I need rain. Too many sunny days in a row actually start to have an opposite effect on me. I get cranky. I need some overcast and gloom. It helps my brain. That might sound crazy, but I know I am not the only one. (right?) Anyway, we need the rain so it better freaking rain. 

Just another mid summer week.  The mr was all week work work working, I did some work, but was not overly busy, I kind of was feeling like shit, especially the beginning of the week. Super hot Monday followed by hot and humid Tuesday just felt like a slap in the face. I am, and I think that we are all, officially over the hot humid shit. It is just too much. I feed Megans evil cat all week which was annoying since that cat basically tries to kill me everytime I look at him (he really is a mean little fucker). Barb and I had a mid week meet up at the farm for green bean and flower picking, Now I have so so so many beans because  I have been doing a lot of picking of all sorts of tasty things, including beans, at home in the garden (so many raspberries, not to mention all of the kale (Happy dance me))  Pretty soon it’s going to be an onset of so much food. I am getting ready. The chest freezer is plugged in, got some more  canning jars and freezer bags. Bring it on I say. I’l take it, I’ll take it all. Which bring me to Thursday Farm share. Got the first tomatoes of the season (whoop whoop)  and had to stop myself from shoveling them all down my throat. I decided to try and be proactive this year and not overdue the tomatoes and give myself hella shitty reflux. We will see how I do. 

Friday we had plans for a tree house picnic with the littles but it ended up turning into a front porch picnic. To many people to fit way up high in that tree. It’s all about safety first. We had (not me, I ate lettuce zucchini bowl) cucumbers, green beans, peaches, and fluffernutters. Miley and Judah  were not so impressed because they get to eat that shit whenever, but Barb. Oh was she excited for the fluff, just shoving it down like a champ. Haha. And Coco, that little dude can eat. He picked himself a giant cucumber from the garden and managed to eat just about all of it, this is after he ate like a quart of berries and a bunch of green beans. That little, he knows the way to my heart. 

And then somehow while we were taking our after dinner stroll around the block, the mr fell off of Miley’s scooter and like maybe broke his wrist….For real, his wrist yersterday was like a ballon and he can barely move it.  I went to work at the studio (loaded a glaze kiln… I am so good at loading glaze kilns) and came back to bags of half frozen corn and peas leaking juice all over and the most miserable mr I have seen in a long time. HIs wrist was hurting him way bad.  SO two things, the littles are to NEVER ride a scooter without the proper head gear and maybe some wrist pads again and maybe not at my house for a while and  the mr is just straight up NEVER to ride a scooter EVER again. Broken wrist or not. He doesn’t have a helmet. And I can’t deal with a miserable mr. 

Today depends on how the mr is when he wakes up. If his wrist is still really swollen and he is miserable, I am going to run away…HA, no , I am going to drag his ass to the X-ray place and get his wrist looked at. If he is feeling better, well then I am going   bike into town to the gym, hit up the old library, hope for rain, but that it doesn’t start til I get home from said library ( but really I will be ok, my back pack is waterproof so I can handle a little rain) do a few errands with the mr and then veg out for the rest of the asfternoon. I am really hoping for the latter of the two.

Internet from the week.

-Heat Making You Lethargic? Research Shows It Can Slow Your Brain, Too.  Finally some science to explain why I am garbage when I am hot.

-FDA Outlook on Plant-Based ‘Milk’ Is Bleak: “An Almond Doesn’t Lactate”. Hahaha. No almonds do not… And not sure I care what they call plant based “milks”.. maybe I should? And think of the possibilities of a new name… Almond hey yeah!

-In love. Vintage Summer: A Seventies-Style Shoppable Airbnb in Montauk

–Are We Really as Awful as We Act Online? Oh shit, some of the things people say. I don’t know, sometime I think people are even worse…

-I think we are going to buy this tent. I would have already but I am trying to find it for cheaper (I have found it for 299.. still want it to be cheaper though), maybe wait for a sale? I don’t know, but it is the tent that we want. 

–The Lawless Energy of Teen-Age Girls. I don’t know why, but I really connected with these photos. Maybe it’s because I was a teenage girl at one point, and I am pretty sure I did karate in a field too. 

-Buffy was the best, like seriously kick ass cool. A ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Reboot Is Reportedly In The Works

–What’s the Difference Between Persian & English Cucumbers? I guess size matters. 

-I want so very much to see one of these performances. I mean, a ballet at a farm, pretty fantastic. Maybe I’ll surprise the mr and bring him or…Maybe he will surprise me.  Farm to Ballet Project. 

–Inside a mostly faded culture on Norway’s border with Sweden. Magical farmers. Take me there. 

Pictures from the week 

I sometime struggle with certain veggies, not like in a eating way (I have no snuggle eating any veggie) but in a making something with that certain veggie kind of way, like I don’t make anything out of them, I just eat them raw as they are. (That was terribly long winded and does it even make sense?) I don’t find this to be a problem most of the time, but sometime I think I need to be less lazy about eating and maybe prepare a dish for a meal rather then just eating raw beans out of the garden for lunch…..I mean, I am not going to stop doing that but I am going to start being a little more creative and planning meals with a little more substance. Adding nuts is more substance right?

These beans were freaking fantastic.  Blistered and charred, and not soggy and soft. They were perfect. (I like my veggies either raw or burnt) I made them late morning and was going to save them for dinner but the mr, Barb, and I ate them all just on snacking on them.  Just a really good, A+ veggies situation here. Highly recommended, hot or cold. Almost beats a bean lunch in the garden. Almost. 

The stuff. Green beans, almonds, garlic, ginger, soy, and a little oil. 

Quick fast, rough chop the almonds and give them a toast in a dry skillet (you can skip this part if you have already toasted almonds) 

And here would be the time to trim the beans if you are a person that does that. I am however, not a bean trimmer. But you must wash them, so give them a good rinse , and keep them a little wet. The moisture will help them cook. 

Just washed beans go into a medium high hot skillet (add in a tablespoon of oil) and get a nice little cover to start the cooking process.  Leave them alone for a few minutes, then remove lid and toss them around. Do that ever few minutes. 

While the beans start cooking, mince the garlic and the ginger and add to the soy sauce.

Smells so good!

Beans have cooked for about 10 minutes here and are all nice and blistered and just about done so now add in the ginger garlic soy mixture and toss around. Keep cooking for a minute or two.

And now don’t forget those almonds, mix those in too. Then it’s into a bowl they go. 

Green beans so good. Can’t go wrong with these.

Have a marvelous weekend, maybe go pick some green beans!

-C

• About a pound of green beans (trimmed if you want to trim them)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger 
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• tablespoon oil

Rough chop almonds into small pieces and place in a dry skillet (meaning no oil). Turn heat on to medium high heat to toast for about 5 minutes or until you can start to smell the almonds and they are slightly browning. (you can skip the tasting  part if your almonds are already toasted, jus chop them into small pieces)

Dump the almonds into bowl and set aside. Keep skillet on heat and add in the oil. Rinse beans off, keeping them damp, and very carefully, dump the damp beans into the hot skillet. Place a lid on beans and let cook about 4-5 minutes. In the meantime, mince garlic and ginger and combine with the soy sauce. After a few minutes, remove the lid from beans and toss the bean around. Keep doing this for another 8-10 minutes or until the beans are cooked though and blistered in places. Once the beans are cooked,  dump the garlic ginger soy mixture into pan. Toss around and leave in pan for another minutes then stir the toasted almonds in. Transfer the whole bit of it into a big bowl or plate. 

Eat right away or.. They taste freaking fanatic cold too. 

Mid summer days. Hard to believe that the year is more then half way over. My oh my, how fast time seems to be ticking by. I better get on that, and that being everything I better get on. 

The week went as usual. This and that, running around, blah blah blah.I cleaned that car, spent far to long on the phone with gas company, and managed not to mow the lawns once this week (probably should so that really soon) The mr is that same, work all day, come home and work in the tree at night. The tree house is almost done soon so that will be good. I have been tending to the garden, everything is coming in oh so nicely and all of a sudden there is more kale and rhubarb that I know what to do with (thats a damn lie, I know how to deal with it all.. MY FACE). And not only is my garden bountiful, farm shares have been mega and I am just a happy camper chopping and bagging it all to shove into the deep freezer for those cold winter nights.

Only and I made a visit to the vets where he got poked and prodded. 100% awesome, even though he is now considered a geriatric cat.  Our vet is in love with him (she loved Washer too) because our pets just sit and take the abuse. The more I poke at them, the happier they are. Weirdos. We also did a mid week littles sleep over. We played in the yard, picked  berries, made Coco scream, and ate all of my berries.  After dinner Miley somehow conned the mr into buy ice cream AND a giant KitKAT bar. So they ate a lot of sugar while we watched Billy Madison and laughed our asses off. I mean, if you were a little, wouldn’t that be the perfect night? The next morning, we  skipped camp, made rainbow pancakes and I let them watch Nailed it while they ate.( they want me to teach them how to cook so they can be on a food completion. Its now my goal in life) Then Barb came over to hang and pancake and pick all the berries, kale, and beans in garden, you know to test for quality control. And then we wondered around the neighborhood, hit up the thrift store (FREE BOOKS FOR MILEY!!!) and were just the coolest kids around.  Then I had it, needed to get some shit down so wee dropped them off at home after a trip to the transfer station to get rid of the recycling. We found pogo stick there. That was fun. 

Friday my mom came over for  this cherry upside-down cake. She said it was the best cake ever so maybe you should make one too. How can you pass up the best cake ever? 

Yesterday I worked all morning at the studio, loaded a kiln, mixed some glazes then came home to an empty house. And clean did I clean. A week of in and out and littles and spilled this and so much fine wood chips. The house felt sticky and gross so I spent the rest of my Saturday scrubbing and vacuuming and raining terror down on the mr for using a cup and leaving it on the counter. Word of the wise, stay the fuck out of my way when I am cleaning. 

Today I am going to bike into town, do the  gym, return overdue library books, and then veg. The mr and I have been carving a few spoons this week so I will probably do some of that, and provably  throw some pots to go with those spoons in the basement. It’s  suppose to get hot again toady so the basement might just be where it is at. I should probably do some laundry while I am down there too… 

Interneting from the internet

–Can a Laugh Be Inherited? How Genes Define Who We Are. I hope no one gets my laugh, everyone picks on my laugh (assholes)

-Hum, what is it that I Am tasting. IT’s Umami.  Umami: The 5th Taste, Explained

-Do You Like Jokes and Crafts? This Punny Video Of Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman Is Sew Good. I have watched more then once… It just makes me smile. 

-I feel like you have to see this because I had to see this and cannot unsee it. MAN WITH WORLD’S LONGEST FINGERNAILS CUTS THEM OFF AFTER 66 YEARS, SELLS THEM TO MUSEUM

-It’s all my brains fault. Ha. Why Your Brain Tricks You Into Doing Less Important Tasks

-Holy Shit, not good. An 11 million-ton iceberg is threatening a tiny village in Greenland

–Vintage Travel Trailer Paint Jobs You Won’t Ever Forget. We need to get on fixing our……. 

-What a strange way to grow ups without a shit tin of siblings. And to be stuck near the middle is good fun. The Extinction of the Middle Child

-The thing people can create.  New Miniature Lace Scenes by Ágnes Herczeg Capture Quiet Domestic Moments

– The moment Trump baby blimp lifts off

Pictures from the week. 

Every year the same thing happens. Cherry season hits, I indulge and buy a few pounds of those cherries with great intentions of making something great, something to share, but then I always end up eating them all myself. What can I say, I love me some cherries.

But this year I realized my mistake. If I really did want to make something  with cherries other then eating them all,  I needed to buy a shit ton of cherries so I would have enough for my belly and some to share.  So I bought like 6 pounds at once so I would have to bake something before they went bad.  (Honestly I could have eaten them all but I was able to control myself.) 

I was going to make a straight up cherry pie, put then that would take me making pie dough, which I really like to do in most cases, but was just not feeling it this week. Plus that would have require a hell of a lot more cherry pitting which again, wouldn’t have been that bad, but I was just hot really feeling it. But upside down cake, that I was feeling.  I always like the visual aspect of an upside- down cake so cake it was, cake it be.  Upside side down cake with a little lemony lemoness and  lots of gooey cherry goodness. Simple and stunning and better then cherry pie because it is baked upside-down and you can’t bake a pie upside-down. 

I did good. (Here I pat myself on the back, give myself a high five, and finish off with a double thumbs up) 

The stuff. Flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in the bowl. A bowl of fresh cherries. White sugar, canola oil, soy milk, a lemon, a little apple cider vinegar, some vanilla extract, melted earth balance, and a bit of brown sugar. 

This is the most labor intensive part, pitting cherries. What I do is cut the cherries in half and then with my thumb, dislodge the pit. Pile the un-pitted halves to the side and once done pitting, double check you got all the pits out. No one will like you, including yourself, if they bit down and crack a tooth on a cherry pit. 

Cherries are pitted so now take the melted earth balance and brown sugar and mix together in the bottom of your greased cake pan. I lined my with parchment which I think was a good idea so you might want to do that too. Mix the mixture around to evenly coat the bottom then place the cherries in, singled layered and not overlapping, but get as many in as you can. (You can do them all facing hte same way like me or not, I don’t know if it would really make much of a difference.) 

Time for cake batter. Mix the sugar and zest of the lemon into the bowl of flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. 

In goes oil. milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Give it all a good whisk 

Stop when it is all mixed and incorporated. Don’t want to over mix or the cake with get tough. 

Batter gets poured right onto cherries in pan and the whole sha-bang gets popped into the oven for about 50 minutes to turn into golden brown, upside-down cherry greatness. 

Now for the best part, you must wait at least a few minutes, if not ten, to pop the cake right side up? Or os it now upside down? And be careful cause it’s hot. Tip . Before inverting cake, run a knife around the edge of the pan to make sure cake is loose. Once cake is upside down on cooling rack (use a cooling rack, not a plate so the  bottom dset getting soggy), give the pan a good tap tap with a wooden spoon until the cake pops out.  If a cherry or two got stuck, its ok, just stick it back to the cake.. no one will know. 

And loooooook at that. Upside down cakes are always like magic. 

As you can see, it didn’t stand a chance. A piece cut within minutes because how can you not.

I finally did it, I shared my cherry stash, and I feel good about it because all the people looooved the cake so it was worth it. And I still have cherries left for me!!

Now go upside-down a cake. 

-C

makes a 10 inch upside-down cake. 

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup neutral flavored oil (I used canola) 
• 2 tablespoons earth balance or vegan butter substitute 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 lemon 
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups sliced in half and pitted cherries
• 3 tablespoon brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. 

Start by rinsing and pitting cherries. Remove all stems, cut cherries in half, and remove pits. I use my thumb and just kind of pop them out, but do it anyway you feel like. If using a fancy de-pitter, you are going to want to cut the cherries in half.  After you have removed all pits, DOUBLE CHECK that there are no pits.. Pits will crack a tooth for reals.

Grease and line a 10 inch cake pan with parchment. Dump the melted earth balance and brown sugar in bottom and mix together. Spread mixture all around then grab sliced cherries and place them, single layered, into mixture. Get as many as you can in there without overlapping.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and soda, the salt, the white sugar, and the zest of the lemon. Once fully combined add in the soy milk, apple cider vinegar, the oil, and the vanilla. Mix that all up until just combined. Pour batter all over the cherries in the pan. Level out batter and pop into the oven (middle rack) for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is a nice deep golden brown and a tester stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Once the cake is bake, let it sit on counter for about 10 minutes.  Once slightly cooled, grab knife and run it along the edge of the cake. Take a cooling rack and place on top of cake then flip upside down. Tap around he pan with a spoon then gently lift pan away. 

Tada. You should have yourself something fantastic and great. And no worries if a cherry or two got stuck to pan, just pop it back on to the cake.

And now all you need to do is eat the cake. So do that. 

I do not ever want to have to deal with that heat for that long ever again. It almost fried my brains out.  I mean, the freaking toothpaste and soap got boiling hot. It was unreal. And the poor mr, having to deal with over heated me. All rational thoughts get lost in my heat rage. Things were said, loudly, and not so nicely, but the mr, he never let it get to him. I vocally vomited and he just turns the fan on me and smiles. I can be such an asshole, but the mr, he knows how to tame (or at least mostly ignore) the beast. We have some great kind of love. 

Heat wave week was not so productive to say the least. Or at least not for me. The mr was out there in the world almost everyday, working outside like an idiot, building outdoor showers and shit. I, on the other hand, decided I could care less about pretty much anything and spent a good amount of time sprawled out on the kitchen floor, barely clothed ,in front of the basement door with a fan blowing sweet cool air from the basement all over my dying body. When I was not on the floor, I was vacuuming behind and the back of the fridge (because we had to pull the fridge out and blow a fan on the coils to prevent it from overheating), watering my plants and garden to keep them alive, and talking to dip shits on the phone, trying to figure out billing questions and testing every ounce of patience that I have. Those phone calls were rough. I was so close to giving up on life and running to the Alaskan wilds.

When we were together, we tried to stay somewhat sane and cool. No hot food all week which means that mr ate cold noodles and sandwiches and I ate grated zucchini covered in mustard. One day we took an afternoon trip to Mills river to eat a picnic with our feet in the water. We went and got coffee in air conditioned shops, and enjoyed the wilds of the car air conditioner.  I hung at the library or the studio and spent some quality time in the walk in color at Costco. 

Fourth of July came and we had the littles over for some sprinkler relief. Qui and Adriana came over too and played with the littles, took out the tandem bike (sometime solo) and did a double scooter down the middle of the street. Now the littles are aware of more dangerous activities they can partake in with those damn things. Thanks for that Qui. The mr worked more on the tree house (there are stairs now!) and we decided that we could care less about fireworks and went to bed early. 

Thursday night came and brought the sweetest relief. Thunderstorms and a break in the heart and humidity. I was able to cook some lentil, do a load of laundry (All laundry production was halted due to the fact that I was not willing to turn the dryer on and have it ruin my cool basement flows) and step outside with our wanting to immediately stop drop and roll because I felt like I was on fire. Then Friday was then a  a trip to the airport to drop off some goobers on their way to an amazing advernture and a day of catch up of things that needed to get done that were not done all week but it wasn’t so bad because the weather was fine fine fine. Nothing like a break in the heat wave to turn a frown upside down. HA

Yesterday after I got out of working at the studio, the mr and I packed a picnic dinner and headed for the mountains. On the way we stopped at a thrift store and I found a old welches jelly jar with a dinosaur on it and brought it home to make me happy. Once we hit the mountain, we kicked it by a river, had our picnic, then watched as 20ish hot air ballons bobbled around the sky as the sun set.. We did a little chasing as well and got pretty darn close to some of them. Hot air ballons are so cool. I wonder if I Would ever have the guts to go up in one….Maybe someday

Today I am just going to enjoy whatever because it is not 100 degrees out. A nice bike ride into town to the gym, then I need to mow the lawn and weed the garden a bit, but then maybe I’ll just read or throw some pots or paint a fish. Maybe I will even make some bread. ( I haven’t made bread in days.. I bought bread for the mr this week so I didn’t have to turn the oven on. It felt so wrong)  I am excited, just to chill and do whatever. It’s going to be a good day.

Interent reading from the week. 

-I have been waking up with charley horses for the past few weeks.. It’s terrible and makes me want to cut a leg off. CHARLEY HORSES MAKE YOUR LEGS WANT TO DIE. HERE’S HOW TO STOP THEM.

–Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore. Because I don’t want to talk to you is why. Ha

-To have a giant empty room to play in… That would be too good. Eclectic Dream Barn House in the Louisiana Countryside

–Watch: An NYC Baker Creates One Very Realistic Polar Bear Cake. I found the mashed cake patties really grossed me out, but that’s just me. Cute cake tho. 

-Care less, enjoy life more. Mastering the Art of Caring Less

–Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Heard this guy talk on VPR earlier this week. Seems like a cool dude and should be a good read. I got it on reserve at the library for me right now.

-Agreed that I never cared about the hearth claims.. I just really love their liquid aminos. The Mysterious Hippie Food Brand That’s Never Let Me Down

-I don’t know dudes, I am all about a cool floating devices but a coffin? Not sure about that. A Millennial Pink Coffin Float Exists, So Now You Can Ponder Your Mortality In Style

–Many Common Sunscreens May Harm Coral. Here’s What To Use Instead. Read your labels!

-Outdoors equal bugs. No other way to get around it, but try we will .How to Make Any Outdoor Meal a Bug-Free Zone with 8 Natural Tips

Pictures from the week 

Cucumber melon is a classic food pairing. It also reminds me of when I was a young tween, stealing my older sisters cucumber melon face mask that you smeared all over your face, let dry, then peeled off like a layer of skin. I remember thinking that that stuff was the shit and if my sisters where using it, then I really should start using it too before I got an old lady face. Plus it was cool to peel off and made me feel grown up because I was taking care of my skin. So steal it I would until I eventually started buying it myself. Then one day I realized, I could get the same results with a bottle of Elmers glue and also I didn’t really want to spend my money on face mask when I could be buying other unmentionable things.  And that was the end of that. 

I wonder if they still sell that shit…. I wouldn’t buy it though cause you know it is probably really is just sweet smelling glue. Plus it’s to late for me. I am already old. Ha. 

Anyway. Back to the cucumber, cantaloupe, avocado, mint salad. What can I say that the name doesn’t? That is is f-ing fantastic and refreshing and easy to through together and required ZERO heat to make. Also that on the hottest of hot and nasty days, this here combination , what with the refreshing mint and crisp clean flavors of the cucumber and melon, really can make a shitty day feel a little less shitty, maybe even  a little brighter. I don’t know about you, but this past super hot heat wave week was hard for food, like I didn’t really want to eat anything. This salad was fresh and clean enough to eat all day, everyday. It was so good, even the mr liked it and he says he hates fruit in any salad situation. (I have called bullshit in this so many times. He actually does like it, he just wants to give me a hard time.) 

Fresh crisp, all sorts of refreshing. A true blue summer salad. Get on it. 

The stuff. Some cantaloupe, a cucumber or two, an avocado, a lemon, mint, cracked pepper, and even though it’s not in the picture, sea salt.

Remove seeds and rind from cantaloupe then chop into small mouth sized pieces ans toss it into a bowl.

Cut the cucumber up into simutlar sized pieces as cantaloupe and toss into bowl.

. I ended up only using  one and a half of the cucumbers so the cucumber/ cantaloupe ratio was the same. Plus I wanted to eat the half of cucumber tight then and there.. so I did. 

Scoop the avocado meat onto the cutting board. Sprinkle it with sea salt and a little squueze of lemon juice and roughly chop. You don’t want it mashed, but a little mashy avocado is good. Perfect cubes are ok too. You do you.

Mince some mint leaves. You know where they go.

It’s all there. Cantaloupe, cucumbers, avocado, mint. Salt and pepper and all the lemon juice. Now just stir it up and you are good to go. 

A simple summer dish. No heat, not sweat, just fresh and clean goodness.

Stay cool friends.

-C

Serve 2-3 

• 1/4- 1/2 of a fresh cantaloupe 
• 1-2 thinned skinned  cucumbers (like 2 Persian or 1 English) 
• 1ripe avocado
• 1 lemon
• 15 -ish mint leaves
• sea salt and cracked pepper 

Note. This salad is so simple and easy and really, you can adjust the quantities of any of the ingredients to your liking. You could also try subing basil or dill  for mint leaves and you could use any other type of melon for the cantaloupe. 

Remove seeds and rind from melon and cut into small mouth sized pieces and place into a big bowl. Cut cucumber(s) into small mouth sized pieces (same size as cantaloupe) and toss into bowl. Scope the meat of the avocado onto cutting board, add a sprinkle of sea salt and  a little squeeze of lemon juice and with your knife, roughlycut/ slighty mash it into a chunky pile. Scope the avocado into the bowl.  Mince the mint leaves and add those to the salad. Lastly, squeeze the juice of the lemon all into that bowl too. Grab a spoon and mix it all together. Sprinkle with pepper, a pinch more sea salt (to taste) and thats that.

Eat. Left over s last a day or two in fridge but you should just probably just eat it all right away. 

I finally looked at all the pictures from the family get together last weekend. Got a few good shots, but man oh boy do I need to get a new camera. It’s on my list of shit to do this coming week. (Blah, I hate buying stuff)

So here they are, the pics of the fam in Belivdere Vt. The cabin in the mountains with no  internet or cell signal, no TV, no news, no other people. Just hanging out with all the goobs, swimming and hiking, finding salamanders and fossil, and spent some good time with the old man before he headed back to PA. And so what if a little almost got swept down the river or if our tents were washed away in a flash flood. Nothing we can’t handle. It was quite and beautiful and a hell of a lot cooler then back in the city. It’s a little magical kingdom. No better place to be. 

-C

My brain is pretty much a puddle so excuse the mess I am about to make with my words.

The week started off with  Barb. We took her out for her graduation breakfast present. And not going to lie, I was shocked. We ate at this place the mr and I used to go to, at least once a week, when I was in high school (the place I would skip class and go eat). It’s been a while sense we have been there and  the prices have doubled, if not tripled. Whoa dude, 14 bucks for some eggs, that shit was crazy. But besides shocking prices, we had a good time. And then the rest of the week was some work, the mr in the tree house and  him bringing me homa me a lilac purple cast iron sink he found at the dump because he knows me so well. The sink is beautiful and will go into our not yet to own, farmhouse. 

I ended up missed farm share pick up because, um I actually, I don’t remember why. But there was a reason and that I can’t think of. And really, I don’t care to try to remember if there was much of anything else worth mentioning from the week.. Oh wait, I think we saw Megan and Sophia and had dinner with Jeff. And that’s why I missed farm share. And we also had dinner with Shannon and got to check out he garden. She would be mad if I failed to mention her and her garden and how great they both are looking these days. Ha. 

Then there was Friday. The mr and I spent an entire afternoon driving to pick up more lumber for a job and a little extra for the tree house.. It was a very VERY hot. very long drive (4 hours back and forth). The mr was in truck, me  in the car which has great air conintioning, but because the mr had none in the truck, I decided I was going to suffer too. Might not have the best idea because when we got home I was so miserable. I might have said some very mean things, but it wasn’t my fault. This is what happens, I am like a gremlin, except it’s not water or food that turns me into beast, it is humid hotness. Watch the fuck out!

Saturday started off good. Went to the gym, loaded a glaze kiln at the studio, cleaned the house, backed up the camping stuff, then off we went to the family cabin in Belvedere.  Things were good, spent a good amount of time with the old man, the sisters and all the little, ate some food, set up the tent, had a a fire. As for the temperature, the weren’t so bad. We were good and we were ready for their first night of camping. The mr, me , Miley, and Judah, all in one tent. Erin and Coco in another. We were killing it, thick foam to lay on, a fan, headlamps and books. Tired and ready for bed, we all piled in, and then the lighting started. At first it was a just the normal heat lighting, a little bit here and there, but then it started to thunder, and sprinkle…. And after about an hour of slightly scared littles, they finally fell asleep. Me, not so much because of the lightning. It was lighting up the sky every few minutes, plus the sprinkles turned a steady rain. SO I lay awake, feeling the drip drip drip, hoping that it was just a small passing storm. It wasn’t. The sky was lighting up like a strobe, I have never in my life seen such a lighting storm, and it was constant.  The thunder shook the sky, Miley woke and and freaked, the wind picked up, and the rain. Oh the rain. Flash flood in the field, tent filling with water. We had to wake up Judah because he of course was sleeping through it all, and prepare ourselves. The mr was going to go rescue Erin and Coco  and get them to her car and I was going to get the kids to our  car and drive and all drive  back to the cabin  So we got prepared, kids screw shitless, reminding them to run, but watch out for the tent lines, and get to the car as fast as they could. We were ready, I had my phone light, the car key in hand, unzipped and were instantly drenched . The littles ran, careful of the tent lines, but me, I tripped, fell face first, dropped my phone and keys in the now lake. Yup, I was the one to trip. But I recovered, lucky to see the key, grab my drenched phone, and we all made it to the car. The mr, he got the baby and Erin to her car. Long story short, our car got kind of stuck in the field, Erin had to drive her car to ours so we could toss the kids in and they drove over to the cabin. The mr and I, we walked it, wet to the soul, just hoping the lighting would not strike us dead.  We made it alive, 2 am in the morning, wet and awake. Not a bad first time camping for the littles. 

I did not sleep. The littles and Erin ended up sleeping in the middle of the kitchen floor, the mr on the couch, and I just sat there, watching the most magical, freaky storm I have ever seen. Then once everyone started to wake up, I pounded a few cups of coffee and had a decent morning. Breakfast, a fun trip the the river, hung out with the old man, had some lunch. Left the cabin a little while ago and now I am home, barely functional and so fucking hot. I am only keeping my brain from melting out of my ears by sitting in the doorway of the basement with the fan on me and drinking my 8th cup of coffee for the day. All in all, a pretty good weekend. The stuff of great memories. Now I need to go catch the cat and force him to drink some water so he doesn’t die and then go check on the mr. Even though it is 100 degrees, he is working in the tree house so I get the fan by the basement all to myself. 

Some internet to look at while melting away. 

–Coldest Place on Earth Found—Here’s How. Take me there!

– How to Save A Dish That’s Too Spicy (or Sweet, or Salty, or Rich) Good to know when if you need to know

–Pot Glossary: Cannabis Terms For Vermonters because you know. 

-These pictures are calling my name..Frozen Bubble Formations and Shards of Snow Captured in Alaska’s Swamps and Ponds by Ryota Kajita

-Have you eaten meat lately and then gotten sick? Don’t worry, I got you, pretty much all the recipes on the site are vegan.  Red Meat Allergies Caused By Tick Bites Are On The Rise

–How To Find The Summer Constellations Summer stars are the best

-We need to stop with the fucking plastic already. China Has Refused To Recycle The West’s Plastics. What Now?

–What Are the Best Canisters for Keeping Coffee Extra Fresh? I keep my beans in a glass, rubber sealed canister with little ducks with blue ribbons around their necks on it… It makes me happy 

–Excessive Daydreaming Might Be a Form of Mental Illness. Uh oh. 

-First off, these two are so cute, and secondly, I only new half of these words. I feel old. Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons Teach You Millennial Slang

Pictures from the week. I have a ton of pictures from the cabin, but I don’t feel like looking at all of them right now so I’ll probably just post some in a day or two.  Also, I think I want to start a photo series of barb eating. I mean, right?

August for real. What happened to the year? This summer is just flying by and even though it has been so freaking dumb hot for like ever, It feels like it just begun. I bet it’s because of the heat, that my brain is not functioning right and that I have lost all concept of time. But you know what August means.. August means soon to be fall. And that is just fine by me because I really am craving some apples and I miss my sweaters. Oh how I miss them so. 

Last week started off at Bread and Puppet which was awesome per usual. Lots of big puppets, lot of people in white, people sprawled all over the grass. Politically charged, funny and beautiful. I am always so entranced when we go to the circus. If you are anywhere near Glover VT on a Sunday this summer, go, check it out, it’s freaking awesome. And right down the road from the puppet field is Jes’s farm where ee tried out her new Hipcamp site. The spot was great, the views were awesome, and the mr was right near a stream so he was a happy fisher. I on the other hand was just excited to be away from town. Read for a while and crawled int the tent as soon as the sun went down (kind of similar to my bedtime routine at hime too)  And sure there was a tick (the mr), a leech,(also the mr) and a lot of peeing on ones foot while squatting (me) but other then that, it was fantastic and just what we needed.

Then we returned and did life. Had dinner with my mom and the littles, placed Coco in a planter, made Miley and Judah gigantic ice cream cones, and watched Barb make all the best faces a happy, peppy 18 year old girl can make. Wednesday Nicks sister Emma came over for dinner and shot the shit with us for a while then Thursday came around which entailed  lots of mid summer running around, fixing this, doing that, farm share (so many tomatoes) and getting ready to leave the coming day.

Friday Shannon, Megan, the mr, and I hopped into the car and drove down to Rhode Island for the afternoon to spend some time with our Uncle Seth. The mr drove the whole way there while Megan squeaked and squealed in the back set and us girls counted and organized the amount of times and where we moved to growing up (I was at 19 times by 16.. I guess we were a family of gypsies). Had a good lunch with David, checked out a grave yard and a giant glass circle, then made our way over to Seths loft for a visit. We were all in need of a good Seth visit. Just to hear him laugh or see him smile was such a great gift. And after our visit   we went to Whole Foods to buy Whole Foods, and jumped back into the car, the mr driving the whole time, Megan squeaking and squealing in the back set, until we made it home…..Very late. I feel asleep for a few hours, woke up, went to work, loaded and unload some kilns, came home, cleaned the house, then pass the fuck out. It was a long week. 

The mr and I are doing Sunday like we did last week. We both have a few things to do this morning but then we are going to meet at home for lunch and head out. Where to, not exactly sure, but we aren’t coming back until tomorrow morning. The camping stuff is still out, the weather is suppose to be hot and humid but sunny, so there really isn’t any reason to no run away up a mountain or into the woods.  And I think I deserve a good long day of not talking to anyone. Camp coffee, a good book, and a soft place to set my head. It will be good. 

Internet reading from the week. 

-WHen anyone complains about any anything, the first thing I ask is if they have had any water lately… Most people, especially littles, say no. Off Your Mental Game? You Could Be Mildly Dehydrated

–Which Vision Of Farming Is Better For The Planet?.

-Kind of in love with these Improvised Wall Tapestries Crafted with Vibrant Thread Combinations. I want rub my face into them.

–These animals spend their whole lives waiting to have sex, and then they die. So there is that. 

–When Your Name Doesn’t Feel Like You. I can totally see show this could be a thing that some people have to deal with. I like my name, and I think it totally fits me.  But I have known (take my uncle Seth for example) people that have hanged their names. I mean, it’s something you have to deal with for your entire life so you know, own it or change it I guess. 

-I would barf if I lived here, but it’s cool. A Colorful, Geometric Wonderland That Might Feel Like You’ve Jumped Inside a Kaleidoscope

–Why Does It Seem Like Everyone Is Getting Sick from Salad? This is one good reason (of many) to eat as locally as you can and know exactly where your food comes from. 

–How Explorers Sleep in Extreme Spots. Whoa.

-I have definitely rented a book because of its pretty flower cover (I just picked up My Absolute Darling) How Publishing’s Floral-Print Trend Came to Rule the World’s Bookshelves. I really appreciate a good cover. For some reason pictures of people on overs bother me. 

–For More Flavorful Desserts, Forget This Ingredient. IT would probably benefit more then just flavor too. 

Pictures from the week… and Barb eating pizza. Ha

It’s melon season! The past few farm shares have included at least 2,, if not 4, watermelons and cantaloupes… Can you imagine. eating 4 watermelons a week? That’s a tall order, even for someone like me who could probably eat a whole watermelon in one sitting, it’s just doing it 4 times a week might be a problem.  It’s a whole lot of melon and not enough stomach, you know what I mean? 

So what do I do with so much melon? Well first off, whenever anyone comes over I try to get them to  eat as much of it as they can, which helps a great deal. Secondly, I cut it up and freeze some. But here is the thing, I love eating chunks of frozen cantaloupe, but frozen watermelon, never been my favorite so I usually just pass on sticking in the freezer, until now.

There is something magical that happens when you stick the frozen watermelon and cantaloupe together into a blender and making it into a slushy. It’s like eating a ray of sunshine or maybe even a rainbow, just really satisfying and juicy, and sweet but not overly sweet, and just really freaking good. Especially with all the stupid hot and humid weather we have had lately, these slushies have really been hitting the spot.  Even the mr who says he dislikes watermelon was all into these melon slushies. (he likes things that he says he doesn’t like all the time. I am pretty sure he is taste confused) Like  he was really into them. Usually I have to prompt him to tell me how something tastes, but not the slushy, he told me right away how good it was. I was like, I know dude, I just drank 2 of them myself. And I could have drank 2 more but I was trying to not get tot far ahead of myself. Moderation is key, plus I didn’t;t have any more of the melons frozen. Time to restock the freezer. 

Go make yourself a slushy, it’s juicy deliciousness will make you happy. 

The stuff. Watermelon and cantaloupe. There should be a lime in there too but it must have rolled away…. 

Chop some of each of the melon up, remove the rinds, and place on a big baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen. You can do as little as 2 cups  of each or as much as a whole melon, it’s up to you. (I suggest freezing extra)

Frozen melon. And now you can slushy.

Equal parts watermelon and cantaloupe go into blender, along with the juice of half (or more to taste) a lime and you are probably going to need to add about 1/2 a cup of water, to help the blender blend it all together.  And that’s it. You blend until it’s all slushy.

Pour into cups, garnish with a lime and/or little chunks of melon and you are good as golden. 

From now on, or until summer is over and I run out of melon, I will be keeping the freezer stocked, especially because I know that the next few weeks are suppose to be stupid hot again. 

Waterloupe slushies. Summertime goodness. 

-C

• about 2 cups  of a watermelon
• about 2 cups of a cantaloupe 
• 1 lime
• 1/2- 1 cup water 

Note. The amounts above are for two  2 cup slushies. You can, and should, freeze a crap load more melon for future slushies.  Also, no one would fault you for maybe adding a little nip of some clear alcohol to this slushy situation to make it more of an adult drink……

Cut up a watermelon and a cantalopjue. Eat some and reserve at least 2 cups of each. Remove the rinds from the melons and cut into cubes. Place melon on a baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen. 

Once frozen, place equal parts frozen watermelon and cantaloupe into the blender with the juice of a lime. Turn blender on. Slowly add in water until the blender can handle blending the frozen fruit. Blend until smooth. Pour into cups, garnish if you want with more melon and lime, then get to drinking. 

I can’t stop eating these. They are like little balls of crack and I am an addict.

Frozen peanut butter grapes… I mean, I just can’t stop.

So you say you have never frozen your grapes? Well you should. It’s the only way I like to eat them anymore.  I was never a huge grape fan, but one day long ago, I discovered the wonder that is the frozen grape and it is amazing, Now whenever grapes are on sale at the grocery store, I buy way to many and end up filling our tiny little freezer with jars and bowls of grapes.  Then whenever the mister goes to grab the bag of  frozen peas for his sore back or knees, there is almost always a frozen grape avalanche. Why I don’t put a lid on those containers is even a mystery to me.  Oh, now I remember.. I want easy access.Oopen the freezer, grab a few grapes, and go on my way… not having a lid to take off makes the process a little easier.

Then one day, the frozen grape game turned into something else, something a little more decadent and even more addicting. Where it came from, I do not know. Maybe it’s some subconscious throwback to a childhood full of peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches, or maybe it’s just that fact that I think peanut butter can pretty much go with anything. But no matter why, I started dipping those frozen grapes into peanut butter and never looked back. And now when I have grapes, it’s all I want to eat.

I am warning you now, once you start making these, watch out, because before you know it, you will develop a frozen grape addiction too. And littles.. they are as easily  addicted to these as well. I have seen kids that hate grapes go totally bonkers for these.  Just so you know.

The stuff  you will need. Washed and drained fresh grapes (green or red. I usually use red but the green were half the price and the red ones didn’t taste very grapie*) Creamy peanut butter, skewers, and a little bit of cinnamon or cocoa powder (optional)

*Note. When you are the store, try  before you buy. You know what I mean, eat a few while shopping aground. I say this because not all grape are created equal. Some taste way better than others. I have bought grapes before that didn’t taste like anything or that have really tough skins, and those just piss me off, so eating a few will guarantee that your money is being well spent and that the grapes won’t disappoint you.

Ok, so now let’s make these bad boys.

Simple simple. Two grapes per skewer (or toothpick) Lay on a wax paper covered dish or pan and stick them in the freezer until frozen. When the grapes are frozen, melt peanut butter. Take a big glob and stick in a tall skinny cup or bowl and stick in the microwave or heat in a sauce pan and then transfer to a tall skinny vessel.  Take frozen skewed grapes and, one skewer at a time, dip in the peanut butter. Cover with as much or as little of the peanut butter as you want and place on wax paper. If you are feeling feisty, add a sprinkle or cinnamon or even a dash of cocoa powder. Or, this may seem a little crazy, but garlic powder is so F*ing good.(it’s worth at least giving it a try) When all grapes are dipped, place back into freezer for another 10 minutes or so to let the peanut butter set up a bit.

Whenever your ready… Eat. And be so happy. And always keep a back stock of frozen grapes in the freezer. They are the best.

Keep it realz.

-C

Peanut Butter Freezer Grapes

the quantity is up to you, but I recommend making a shit ton!

• Creamy Peanut butter (I use organic creamy from Trader Joes, or natural skippy)
• Green or Red Grapes
• Cinnamon and or cocoa powder (Optional)
• Toothpicks or skewers

Wash grapes and skewer 2 grapes onto a stick. Place on a flat surface and stick into the freezer until frozen, which usually takes about an hour.

Once grapes are frozen, stick a big glob of peanut butter into a tall skinny vessel (Like a juice cup or a 4 oz ball jar) and warm to a liquid constancy in the microwave (about 30-45 seconds) or if you don’t have a microwave, stick in a sauce pan, warm on stove, and pour into a glass (what I do)

Remove frozen grapes from freezer and dip into melted peanut butter. Place on a wax paper line tray or pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and or cocoa powder, or not, or a few (whatever you want) and stick back into freezer for another 10 minutes.

Eat as many as you want… Make so many because you will become addicted!

  There is irish soda bread in your future. I can see it. A nice hardy hunk slathered in butter and honey, crumbs all over the place.  So all you have to do know is make it. 

I remember reading somewhere (I wish I could remember where) that irish soda bread is just four ingredients, flour, sea salt, baking soda and buttermilk and adding  anything else would make  it a cake. So when I decided to make irish soda bread, thats all I used. ( I made it with some wheat flour) What you end up with is a highly dense, super fragrant, soft, chewy bread with a crunchy crust. Definitely not a cake.

Note….You can for sure add in a bit of sweetener or even little fat to make it richer and softer, but then it wouldn’t be bread (or so that’s what I read) There are tons of other recipes out there that have other stuff in them. This is just a really simple basic recipe. 

White whole wheat flour and all purpose flour mixed together. Salt baking soda and buttermilk. That’s it.All the dry whisked together and in goes the buttermilk. Mix together until dough starts to form then dump onto a floured surface.  Handling dough as little as possible, knead into ball.

Place on a baking sheet and dust with flour. Take a sharp knife and cut  an X through the top about 1/2 inch deep.

Stick in into the oven for 50 ish minutes, or unit la tester stuck into the middle comes out clean and there is kind of a hollow thunk when tapped on. 

And now you have a very pretty, dense hunk of irish soda bread. 

Cut and serve with butter and honey (thats how the mister likes it) or whatever you want to eat it with.

-C

Irish Soda Bread

• 1 cup all purpose flour 
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or you can use all purpose) 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (or your choice if milk plus a tablespoon lemon juice) 

Preheat oven to 375

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda and salt. Mix in buttermilk until the dough starts to come together. If the dough seems to dry, add another splash or two of milk. Dump out dough onto a floured surface and shape into a ball. transfer onto a baking sheet, dust with flour and cut a x about 1/2 inch into the top. Stick into oven for 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the bread makes a hollow sound when tapped.

Let cool enough to handle.

Cut into and serve with a smear of whatever you want

Best eaten within a day or two

I think that my favorite thing abut summer is probably the food. Yeah, no, definitely all the food. If it weren’t for all the delicious amazing things that grow during these summer months, I would probably hate summer.  Well, I mean, not hate it because summer is nice when it it nice, but lately it has not been so nice and so I am trying to make myself feel better by finding all the good things that I like about summer. Summer trees, summer flowers, the smell of fresh cut grass, river rocks, summer sandals, summer… well that’s what I got right now. But summer produce, that is the best and what keeps me happy when I am extremely over heated and over sunned and just want a blast of cold air accompanied by some dark clouds, a sweater and the smell of decomposing leaves. Obviously I am being a little crank butt, and I actually do usually like me some summertime, I am just over this summer. To hot, to humid, to dry. I am ready to move on. 

But back to the good parts of summer that I am not over. The food. The corn is flowing steadily (I am getting on average 10 pieces of corn a week from the farm. That is a lot of corn for 2 people, one of which says he doesn’t like corn), the kale is growing in super abundance in the garden, and it’s is for sure blueberry season. When we  have those three things and we toss in a avocado, as little onion, and lots of lime juice , BAM, another super fantastic summertime eating time, reason that summer can be a ok. Makes  all the heat a little worth it. 

I am telling you, this is my new favorite food combination. Blueberries are magical (I think so anyway) and really add the perfect little sweetness, tartness, and texture to this salad. Crisping up the kale and corn elevates the deliciousness, and avocado always is welcome is any salad situation. This is one of those salads that you will make for yourself and then immediately want to make for someone you like because it is so good you want to share. OR you just want to make it for yourself again because you could share or you could just eat more of it yourself. It’s ok either way, you do you. 

The stuff. A cob of fresh corn. some fresh blueberries, a bunch of dinosaur kale, a lime, an avocado, a piece of a sweet onion, sea salt, pepper, and a little oil. 

First off preheat the oven then cut the corn off the cob.

Then deal with the kale. Each leaf needs just the slightest bit of oil. The easiest way to do this is to dump a little oil into your hands and grab each piece of kale and rub your oily hands all over the kale.

After the kale is oiled, chop it into chunks. First place the corn on a baking sheet then add the kale on top. Placet it into the oven to get all crispy… The kale will might get crispy before the corn, which is fine because you can remove the kale then pop the corn back into the oven for a few more minutes to keep cooking if you want. Or you might just want to call it cooked, it’s your call. 

I popped the corn back into the oven to get a little more color. I like a real crispy corn. 

Cut up some onion and avocado into chunks. 

And time to compile. Kale, onions, corn, avocado, blueberries, and lime juice. And don’t or get a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper. 

Toss it all around and be delighted. 

Just look at that salad. Who wouldn’t want to eat that? 

Heres to summer salads….The reason I can barely stand the heat!

-C

makes one salad

• 10 or so large Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale leaves
• 1 fresh cob of corn
•  1/2 of an avocado
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 of a sweet onion (about 1/4 cup diced)
• 1 lime
• teaspoon olive oil
• sea salt and pepper  

Preheat oven to 350

Cut the corn off the con and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Take a little oil and rub into hands then grab the kale leaves ans rub oil all over them. Once oiled, rough chop into medium sized pieces (don’t chop small, it will shrink a lot in the oven). Place chopped kale on top of corn and stick into hot oven. Bake until the kale is crispy, about 12-15 minutes.. What closely after 10 minutes to prevent burning.

Remove the kale from the baking sheet and place in a large bowl. The corn will be cooked, but if you want to make it a little crispier , just toss it back into the oven for a few minutes.  Once corn is to your liking, remove from pan and toss into two with the kale.

Small dice up some onion and dice up half of the avocado. Toss into the bowl with the kale and corn. And the blueberries, add those in. Sprinkle the whole shebang with a little sea salt and pepper and squeeze the juice of at least half of a lime all over (use the whole lie if you want) Give it all one last toss and that is it. 

Eat your new favorite salad. Think about making it for all your favorite friends and family and how impressed they will be because this is one of those impressive salads. T

It happens every year. SO MANY TOMATOES! This is not a complaint, just a fun fact. And so for the forseeable future, besides canning and freezing tomatoes at a rapid pace, I will also be sticking them into everything. Enter here a tomato cracker. But who wants just a tomato cracker? I( bet some would love just a tomato cracker) But a tomato basil cracker, well that is something people will want. And yes, I have a buttload of basil at he moment too.. I cook with what I got!

Tomato basil crackers. First off, I needed to make a road snack for the mr and cut up chunks of raw tomatoes would not have gone down well with him, so I figured what better way to use up some tomatoes then a cracker situation because why the hell not.  I was a little hesitant to use fresh tomatoes and not cook them or roast the in anyway before using them in the crackers, but I glad I didn’t. The tomato flavor really shines through, pairs beautifully with the basil, and you get to skip having to deal with cooking down the tomatoes, which makes them all the more easy to make.

So I made the crackers and gave a baggie to the mr to eat, which he did right then and there (with some sweet ass baba ganoush because yes) then packed a big bag for the road trip. Not only was the mr chowing down, but my sisters were gobbling them up too, even the one who is gluten free.  That is good cracker validation. 

If you have never made your own crackers and you are a cracker person, now is the time to start doing it. I don’t eat crackers personally, but the mr and every one around me really seem to be cracker people so a while back I started to make them at home, and once you make a homemade cracker, the store bought ones will just not be acceptable anymore. But they really are super easy so you really should be making them at home anyway.. No pressure though.

The stuff. Flour, olive oil, tomatoes, fresh basil, and sea salt. 

Chunks of fresh tomato go into blender and get blended up all nice and smooth. Add in basil and oil and pulse until basil turns to little specks.

Pour the blended mixture into the flour.

Mix with a spoon until you can’t mix anymore then dump onto the counter.

Keeping the counter nice and floured, knead dough for a minute until it all comes together into nice ball.

Working with half of the dough at a time, roll out one of the pieces  about 1/4-1/8 inch thick.  (really flour counter and rolling pin) 

And cut into crackers.. Shapes are up to you, but inch to 2 inch squares are easies to cut. 

Place crackers onto backing sheet. Before oven time and after oven time.  They shrink and puff up a little bit in the oven. That is what a cracker is suppose to do. (but if you don’t like that you can prevent it by piercing the crackers with a fork before they go into the oven) 

And that’s it. Simple, and delicious. 

Crackers are looking all pretty like I am about to have party or something. I even made baba ganoush to serve with them. Lucky mr, he got to have this cracker party all to himself. Ha (He did not eat all of these crackers at once, that would be crazy) 

-C

makes between 100 -125 crackers 

• 3 cups flour
• 2 large tomatoes  ( equal to 1 1/4 cup of tomato puree )
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves 
• 4 tablespoons olive oil 
• About 2 tablespoons sea salt 

Remove core from tomatoes and place into food processor or blender. Blend until smooth and measure out 1 1/4 cups of the puree. Any left overs rs can be used as food later on. Dump measured puree back into blender and add in the basil and oil and pulse until the basil is in little pieces but not completely blended in.  Add flour to a big bowl then pour in tomato mixture and mix until a dough forms. Dump out onto counter and knead for a minute or two until dough is uniform in texture. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

On a floured surface, divide dough in half as to make rolling it easier, and roll dough into a rectangle that is 1/4- 1/8 inch thick. It is important to make sure the rolling pin and counter are well floured to avoid the dough from sticking. Once rolled out, sprinkle with sea salt and lightly roll the dough once more to kind of press the salt in then cut with either pizza cutter or a cracker cutter, or a knife, into 1 1/2 inch squares. The edges are going to be wonky shaped and you can either except them as they are or re roll and recut. (Note. IF you want your crackers to late flat and not puff up while baking, stab the crackers with a fork before they go into oven to create air vents. But honestly, most people really like the puffed up cracker)  Place cut crackers onto a baking sheet and stick into oven. Bake for 15 minutes, checking after 10, until the crackers are golden brown.  Don’t forget to roll and bake off the other half of the dough!

Once crackers look good, remove from oven and place onto cooling rack. They will get crisper as they cool. 

Eat as many as you want. Store extra crackers in a airtight container or bag. 

I think that my favorite thing abut summer is probably the food. Yeah, no, definitely all the food. If it weren’t for all the delicious amazing things that grow during these summer months, I would probably hate summer.  Well, I mean, not hate it because summer is nice when it it nice, but lately it has not been so nice and so I am trying to make myself feel better by finding all the good things that I like about summer. Summer trees, summer flowers, the smell of fresh cut grass, river rocks, summer sandals, summer… well that’s what I got right now. But summer produce, that is the best and what keeps me happy when I am extremely over heated and over sunned and just want a blast of cold air accompanied by some dark clouds, a sweater and the smell of decomposing leaves. Obviously I am being a little crank butt, and I actually do usually like me some summertime, I am just over this summer. To hot, to humid, to dry. I am ready to move on. 

But back to the good parts of summer that I am not over. The food. The corn is flowing steadily (I am getting on average 10 pieces of corn a week from the farm. That is a lot of corn for 2 people, one of which says he doesn’t like corn), the kale is growing in super abundance in the garden, and it’s is for sure blueberry season. When we  have those three things and we toss in a avocado, as little onion, and lots of lime juice , BAM, another super fantastic summertime eating time, reason that summer can be a ok. Makes  all the heat a little worth it. 

I am telling you, this is my new favorite food combination. Blueberries are magical (I think so anyway) and really add the perfect little sweetness, tartness, and texture to this salad. Crisping up the kale and corn elevates the deliciousness, and avocado always is welcome is any salad situation. This is one of those salads that you will make for yourself and then immediately want to make for someone you like because it is so good you want to share. OR you just want to make it for yourself again because you could share or you could just eat more of it yourself. It’s ok either way, you do you. 

The stuff. A cob of fresh corn. some fresh blueberries, a bunch of dinosaur kale, a lime, an avocado, a piece of a sweet onion, sea salt, pepper, and a little oil. 

First off preheat the oven then cut the corn off the cob.

Then deal with the kale. Each leaf needs just the slightest bit of oil. The easiest way to do this is to dump a little oil into your hands and grab each piece of kale and rub your oily hands all over the kale.

After the kale is oiled, chop it into chunks. First place the corn on a baking sheet then add the kale on top. Placet it into the oven to get all crispy… The kale will might get crispy before the corn, which is fine because you can remove the kale then pop the corn back into the oven for a few more minutes to keep cooking if you want. Or you might just want to call it cooked, it’s your call. 

I popped the corn back into the oven to get a little more color. I like a real crispy corn. 

Cut up some onion and avocado into chunks. 

And time to compile. Kale, onions, corn, avocado, blueberries, and lime juice. And don’t or get a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper. 

Toss it all around and be delighted. 

Just look at that salad. Who wouldn’t want to eat that? 

Heres to summer salads….The reason I can barely stand the heat!

-C

makes one salad

• 10 or so large Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale leaves
• 1 fresh cob of corn
•  1/2 of an avocado
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 of a sweet onion (about 1/4 cup diced)
• 1 lime
• teaspoon olive oil
• sea salt and pepper  

Preheat oven to 350

Cut the corn off the con and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Take a little oil and rub into hands then grab the kale leaves ans rub oil all over them. Once oiled, rough chop into medium sized pieces (don’t chop small, it will shrink a lot in the oven). Place chopped kale on top of corn and stick into hot oven. Bake until the kale is crispy, about 12-15 minutes.. What closely after 10 minutes to prevent burning.

Remove the kale from the baking sheet and place in a large bowl. The corn will be cooked, but if you want to make it a little crispier , just toss it back into the oven for a few minutes.  Once corn is to your liking, remove from pan and toss into two with the kale.

Small dice up some onion and dice up half of the avocado. Toss into the bowl with the kale and corn. And the blueberries, add those in. Sprinkle the whole shebang with a little sea salt and pepper and squeeze the juice of at least half of a lime all over (use the whole lie if you want) Give it all one last toss and that is it. 

Eat your new favorite salad. Think about making it for all your favorite friends and family and how impressed they will be because this is one of those impressive salads. T

I got my first few ears or corn from the farm share this week which is exciting because I wait until we get corn from the farm to eat it. I figure that we get so much from the farm that there is no freaking way I am going to buy it and plus I know that that corn was picked a few hours before I got it. If you are going to eat corn, it needs to be fresh (life lesson).

Have I told you that the mr hates corn? I am pretty sure I have. I also have a theory that he really doesn’t hate it so I just go ahead and make food with corn in it. Then he eats it, likes it, and I am all like” AHA, you like corn be-otch! I win!” (not sure what I win). But then the next time I mention we have fresh corn and how would he like it he is all like, I hate corn.  It’s a game we keep on playing. 

So I got fresh corn, lots of tomatoes, and the kale is growing strong out back. I figured I would give the mr a break from all the zucchini for the night and make he a nice warm summer salad with the corn that he “hates”.

The mr ate it all and didn’t even mention corn so now I am thinking that he just hates the word corn and if I don’t say the word then there will be no problem. HA HA, I am a genius.

The stuff. A tomato, a ear of corn, some kale, a little balsamic vinegar, oil, and salt and pepper.

Chop the tomato and remove the corn from the cob.

Toss into an oven safe skillet with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt.

Now stick it into the oven

After about 10 minutes the tomato has fallen apart and the corn is all nice and tender.

While the skillet is still hot the vinegar goes in and the (chopped) kale goes in. Mix it all around until the kale wilts. And be careful, the pan is hot.

Dump it into a bowl, sprinkle with pepper, grab a fork, and you are on.

Happy eating.

-C

makes a salad for one or two small side salads

• 1 medium tasty tomato
• 1 ear of corn
• like 4-5 good sized kale leaves
• 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
•  oil of choice (i used avocado oil)
• salt and pepper

You can cook this in or on the stove. I did it in the stove because I was baking anyway

Preheat oven to 425

Remove corn from cob and chop tomato into medium sized chunks. Toss into a oven safe skillet with a drizzle of oil and a little pinch of salt. Stick in oven and cook until the corn is tender and the tomatoes have fallen apart, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and mix in vinegar. Chop kale into mouth sized pieces and toss into hot skillet. Mix around until kale starts to wilt. And it’s done. Serve with a pinch of pepper.

What a week, what a week. I have barely had time to think, let alone cook food. 

I had the rhubarb that was in need of cooking, the corn is all over the place all super fresh, and I had me a few minutes in between running around to make some food.

 I made this (what I now realize is succotash, which is such a fantastic word for food) a few weeks back, fell in love with it so I wanted to make it again. I also wanted to see if the mr would like it this time (he didn’t so much the last time) Says he is not a corn fan. But I don’t know, I still think he loves corn and just wants to be a pain in my ass and tell me he doesn’t. I figured that this time I made it, he would finally declare his love of corn, I mean, there is butt load of rhubarb in it too. And big creamy lima beans and nice sweet onion, and tomatoes. Yes it has a lot of corn, but it has so much more.

Well, he didn’t declare his love of corn.  He did have a big scoop on his dinner plate, ate a bite or two then, picked out all the lima beans and chunks of rhubarb then told me that corn love wasn’t going to happen. He also aid that I should stop messing with the rhubarb and just make another pie.

What a butt face.

Whatever, more for me! And if you are awesome and you like sweet corn, tart rhubarb (corn and rhubarb together is the best) ,and are in need of a great summer side for any and all of your summertime food time needs, this is a winner.  Super fast and easy to make, eaten warm or cold, and keeps well. It screams BBQ time. (Or 10 o’clock at night, standing in front of the fridge, eaten with a big spoon) It’s good whenever.

The stuff. Rhubarb, fresh corn, and some cooked lima beans. Also need a tomato, a sweet onion, red wine vinegar, salt ans pepper, a little olive oil and water (not pictured) and a few sprigs of fresh parsley.

The onion and rhubarb gets chopped up and tossed into a big skillet with a tiny bit of olive oil and a few splashes of water and place on the stove to cook a bit.

Corn needs to come off the cob. Do it the way you like, but I find holding corn vertical in a big bowl and cutting it down works best.

Slightly soft rhubarb and onions, ready for the other stuff.

Dump the corn, the tomato (chop it up first) the lima beans(drained) and a few splashes of vinegar into the skillet. Stir it all up and keep on heat for a few more minutes until the corn is just barely cooked and all the flavors have had a few minutes to meld.

Toss in some fresh chopped up parsley and season with salt and pepper…..

Into a pretty bowl for eating now or eating later.

This big ass bowl is all for me!!!!

Have the greatest weekend!

-C

• 2 ears of corn
• 4 fat stalks rhubarb (mine where about 10 inches long)
• 2 cups cooked lima beans
• 1/2 a sweet onion
• 1 tomato
• fresh parsley
• salt and pepper
• few tablespoons red wine vinegar
• olive oil
• a few splashes of water

Chop the onion into small pieces then chop the rhubarb into smallish chunks. Toss the rhubarb and onion into a skillet with just a tiny bit of olive oil and a few splashes water. Place on the stove on medium heat and cook until the onion and rhubarb are slightly tender, but not to soft.  If you need to, add a bit more water to the skillet to keep the stuff from browning or burning.

While the rhubarb is cooking, remove the corn from the cob and chop up the tomato into small chunks.  Toss the corn, the tomato, the lima beans (drained) into the skillet with the rhubarb and onion. Pour in about 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Mix and cook for another few minutes just until the corn get slightly cooked and all the flavors have had a few minutes to meld.

Remove from heat and dump into a bowl. Chop up a handful of fresh parsley and sprinkle all over

Serve right away warm or stick in the fridge and serve cold later.

I am a year round maker and consumer of soup.

With that being said, the nature of my soups change seasonally. My summertime soups are usually on the lighter side, made with the fresh bounty of the season, and spiced more on the light and floral side, opposed to the really deep and warm spices that I use all winter long,

This corn chowder is made just right. It had the perfect balance of hearty and creamy from the potatoes and use of pureed onion cream, but  still light and refreshing from the sweet fresh corn and the lemony fresh thyme. It is for sure a great summertime soup (chowder) Even the Mr. was even really into it, and he claims he doesn’t like corn. (I say bullshit to that.. he eats corn all the time)

Now to chowder!

The Stuff. Some super fresh corn on the cob, a couple onions, a few chopped up potatoes and a chopped up carrot. Then we have a little oil, a lemon, dried thyme and salt and pepper. 

To start, take an onion, chop it up, and toss into a large heavy pot with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Stick pot on stove on medium heat and cook until  onions are soft and traslutcent. When the onions are done, remove and add to a blender or bowl. (if using a hand blender) Add in the juice of the lemon and blend it all up until nice a smooth. 

You have now made a nice creamy cream that will help make the final product more, well more creamy without the use of cream (lets say cream on more time !) .Set aside.

When the pot is empty again, add in the rest of the stuff, including the cobs of the corn, (they hold a butt load of flavor) the dried thyme, and salt and pepper. Place on stove and add enough water to completely submerge the veggies. Keep pot on a medium heat, add a lid, and stir ever once in a while. Cook until the potatoes are nice and tender. (when the potatoes are done, so is everything else)

Now that everything is all cooked up, remove the cobs and stir in the onion puree.

Now with a hand blender, blend up until the chowder is thick and smooth, but still nice and chunky. (If you are working with a blender, just remove about half of the soup and blend up, then dump back in) The optimal chunkiness  is up to you , so  blend, check the chunk,  then blend a little more if needed. If you feel that the soup is to thick, add in a little more water, or to thin, just cook down o little longer.

 Once you like the constituency,season to taste with salt and pepper and place pot back on a simmer until you are ready to serve. 

And thats how we make corn chowder

It tastes best serves in the daintiest of the cups, sprinkled heavily with cracked pepper, and with a side of some cracker situation (Saltines would be best, but sometime there are only triscits in the house)

Summertime is for chowder!

HAPPY Humpday Wednesday!!!

-C

Makes a pot big enough for 4-6 nice decent sized servings

• 2 fresh ears of corn
• 3 medium (tennis ball sized) red or white potatoes
• 2 white or yellow onions
• 1 carrot
• Juice of a lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2  tablespoons dried thyme
• salt and pepper

To start, peel and dice one whole onion and toss into pot with olive oil and stick on medium heat. Cook onions until translucent and fragrant. Remove from pot and add cooked onions and the lemon juice to a blender and puree until smooth and set aside.

While you are cooking down the onions, dice up the carrot and onion, remove the corn kernels from the cob, and chop up the potatoes. Once you have removed the first batch of onions, toss in corn, onions, carrot, potatoes, and the dried thyme. Stir around in the pot on medium heat for a few minutes just to warm up the spices. Add the cobs into the pot and fill with enough water to cover the stuff in the pot. Place back on medium heat with a lid and cook for another 20ish minutes, or until potatoes are super tender and almost falling apart.

Remove cobs from pot and add in the onion puree. Now either remove about half the soup and place in the bender and blend up til smooth, or use a hand blender and blend up chowder until you get your desired chunkiness. If you think the chowder seems to thick, add in more water, or to thin, just cook down a little longer on the stove.

When ready to eat, ladle chowder into a cup or bowl and add lots of fresh cracked pepper. 

Serve with a cracker and a spoon to eat it with.

It seems that everywhere I turn this week, there corn. So much so that its coming out of my ears…..get it.. ears! (yes I am that lame) 

Yup, its now officially (but unofficially) summer and that means 2 things, well 3 things. First, we eat corn. Secondly, It’s hot out, and get so hot in our little tiny loft that having the oven on is like torture so I avoid it at all costs. And lastly, I seem to always have less time(or forget) to make dinner  cause, you know, I am outside running around with my head cut off. 

The solution to the last two…..Quesadillas. 

I probably make the mister quesadillas at least 5 time a week. They are just so easy to make (takes about 8 minutes) are full of some kind of veggie situation and lots of cheese (which is the misters favorite food group). You can make one, for a quick lunch, or very easily make 10 to feed a few people for a easy dinner. (everyone likes a quesadilla!). And even though I cooked these particular ones inside, quesadillas are great made outside on the grill. They just make so much sense. 

And so it goes.

Summertime + corn = Charred corn and kale quesadillas.

The Stuff. Freshy freshy corn on the cob. A few flour tortillas, a bunch of chopped kale and some shredded cheese. (I used pepper jack)

With a sharp knife, cut the corn off the cob. I find using a deep bowl works best to catch corn, and you could even invert another little bowl inside to rest the cob for easier cutting (I skipped extra bowl.. once less dish to wash)

While you are cutting the corn, preheat a large pan on medium high heat. 

Once the pan is hot, toss the corn kernels right on into it and sprinkle with salt and pepper  Let cook for a minutes or two, then give it a stir and cook for another minute. 

After about 4 minutes the corn turns bright yellow and starts to char.  Remove pan from heat and toss in the chopped up kale.

And compile the quesadilla. Tortilla, grated cheese, corn and kale, more cheese if you please, and top with anther tortilla.  Place assembled quesadilla into the pan and place on medium heat. Cook both sides until brown and cheese is ooey gooey.

Remove from pan and cut into triangles (or any shape you want) 

Serve right away. Can be eaten on a napkin, plate, or directly off the counter. 

Not needed, but it would be nice of you to serve with a little avocado, salsa, or sour cream. 

Happy Tuesday!

-C

Makes two 8 inch quesadillas

• Four 8 inch flour tortillas (use gluten free if needed)
• 2 ears of fresh corn
• 3-4 larges kale leaves
• 1 cup* shredded pepper jack cheese (use vegan cheese if needed)

*Note. Use more cheese if you want 

Preheat a large pan  on medium high. While the pan is heating up, cut the corn from the cob. Once pan is hot, toss corn kernels into hot skillet and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Give corn a stir after a few minutes. Once the kernels start to turn bright yellow and get a little charred, remove pan from heat. Chop up kale into little pieces and toss into pan with the corn while the pan is still hot. Mix around and let the kale wilt a bit from the residual heat. 

Ready your tortilla. Place half the cheese onto totilla, add on half of the corn and kale mixture, sprinkle with a bit more cheese and top with another tortilla. Place onto now empty pan and heat up quesadilla until brown on both sides and chesse is melty. Remove from skillet and cut into triangle. Repeat for the second quesadilla.

Serve right away with or without some guacamole, salsa, or sour cream.

plates are not required. 

 How awesome will you be when you bring the most freaking amazing tortilla chips to the party this weekend? You will be like..”what, it ain’t no thang.. I am just good like that” Yes, yes you are.

And yes, I am assuming that you will be making these awesome chippers to share at a Super Bowl part this weekend. I say this because even as I sit here writing this (with the TV on) there has been nothing but football talk…deflated balls, hot wings, half time shows and commercials. It’s almost as big as Christmas.  Got to get the decorations, the special game day food and your football jerseys. It’s crazy and all over the place. So that’s why I am assuming you are making these for the game.  But if you not going to be participating in any football parties.. by all means, make these chips for yourself anyways. Celebrate you day! Have a non football watching party. Or just make these whenever.  Jalapeño Lime chips for everyday! 

Note: You can make these chips without the jalaeno and or the lime if you need or want to. You can also stop after the first step and have some dank corn totillas for tacos ands stuff..But definitely make the chips… worth it for sure!

     

All the stuff.. Masa harina, hot water, salt, a lime and a jalapeño. Zest lime and place half the zest into a glass bowl with oil and either sit on warm oven or microwave for 30 seconds to infuse.  Puree the jalapeño with a cup of hot water and add the puree and half the zest of a lime, plus salt, to the masa harina. Mix it all up with another 1/2 cup of water or enough to make the dough resemble play dough… You can add more water or masa if you dough is to wet or dry. 

Knead dough a few times just to make sure it’s completely uniformed and divide  into 12-14 equal pieces. Place balls on a plate and cover with a wet paper towl to keep from drying out.

 I do not own a tortilla press so I used what I had… wax paper, a wooded cutting board and brunt force. I took each ball and place it between the two pieces of the waxed paper, placed the cutting board on top, and with all my might and body weight, pressed down to smoosh.  It works like a charm.

My cast iron skillet is big enough to cook 2 -3 at a time, but doing one at a time is cool too. Preheat the skillet to medium heat. Cook each tortilla for about 2-3 minutes ( or until starting to brown) on each side. Half way there to chips!!!

With my fingers ( you can using a basting brush for sure), I rubbed a little of the lime oil all over  both sides of each tortilla. Stacked a few high,  then sliced those tortillas into triangle shapes. If you  want to go crazy, you could cut them into strips or even use a cookie cutter and do some fun shapes… but triangle are easy, classic, and practical. A good shape for dipping!

Placed all nice and cozy on a baking sheet. trying not to overlap. Into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes to complete the chip making process.. After about 15 minutes, check for doneness. When nice a crispy, remove from oven, squeeze  lime juice all over and sprinkle with salt. I then stuck them back in the oven for a few more minutes just to dry the lime..

After cooling down, take those chips and stick them in a bowl. 

Eat a few, but wait and save them for the party. Or better yet, make a few batches. Bring a batch, eat a batch. (Its ok, you are allowed)

Eat with some salsa, maybe some of this guacamole, or just as they are…Anyway is the right way as long as you are eating!

Have fun making these and have fun getting read for the party this weekend (Super Bowl or not!)

-C

Jalapeño Lime Tortilla Chips

Makes 12-14 tortillas.. then made into a medium bowl of tortilla chips.

Ingredients 

• 2 cups masa harina
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups hot water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lime (juice and zest)
• 1 large or 2 small jalapeños 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt

To start, zest lime and add 1/2 of the zest to bowl with the oil. Place oil on warm spot on stove to let the oil infuse the limeness. 

Take jalapeno and puree with 1 cup of hot water. In a large bowl, add puree  and remaining lime zest to the masa harina and mix, adding an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of hot water until the dough  resembles  play dough, not to soft, but not to dry and completely incorporated

Divide dough into 12-14 balls and place on a plate  under a wet paper towel to keep dough from drying out. 

One at a time, take a dough ball and place between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. Place either a plate or cutting board on top and press down as hard as you can (you could even stand on it). Remove flatten tortilla from paper and place in medium hot skillet. Cook each tortilla for 2-3 minutes on each side.

When all tortillas have been made, lightly rub lime oil on all over both sides. Stack a few on top of each other and cut into triangles. Place pieces on a baking sheets (I used 2) and bake at 400 for 15- 20 minutes or until lightly browned and crunchy. When chips are done, remove from oven, squeeze or sprinkle lime juice on chips and sprinkle with salt. Stick back into oven for another 2 or so minutes to re-crisp from the lime juice. 

Remove and let cool completely, then dump into a bowl

Enjoy!

August for real. What happened to the year? This summer is just flying by and even though it has been so freaking dumb hot for like ever, It feels like it just begun. I bet it’s because of the heat, that my brain is not functioning right and that I have lost all concept of time. But you know what August means.. August means soon to be fall. And that is just fine by me because I really am craving some apples and I miss my sweaters. Oh how I miss them so. 

Last week started off at Bread and Puppet which was awesome per usual. Lots of big puppets, lot of people in white, people sprawled all over the grass. Politically charged, funny and beautiful. I am always so entranced when we go to the circus. If you are anywhere near Glover VT on a Sunday this summer, go, check it out, it’s freaking awesome. And right down the road from the puppet field is Jes’s farm where ee tried out her new Hipcamp site. The spot was great, the views were awesome, and the mr was right near a stream so he was a happy fisher. I on the other hand was just excited to be away from town. Read for a while and crawled int the tent as soon as the sun went down (kind of similar to my bedtime routine at hime too)  And sure there was a tick (the mr), a leech,(also the mr) and a lot of peeing on ones foot while squatting (me) but other then that, it was fantastic and just what we needed.

Then we returned and did life. Had dinner with my mom and the littles, placed Coco in a planter, made Miley and Judah gigantic ice cream cones, and watched Barb make all the best faces a happy, peppy 18 year old girl can make. Wednesday Nicks sister Emma came over for dinner and shot the shit with us for a while then Thursday came around which entailed  lots of mid summer running around, fixing this, doing that, farm share (so many tomatoes) and getting ready to leave the coming day.

Friday Shannon, Megan, the mr, and I hopped into the car and drove down to Rhode Island for the afternoon to spend some time with our Uncle Seth. The mr drove the whole way there while Megan squeaked and squealed in the back set and us girls counted and organized the amount of times and where we moved to growing up (I was at 19 times by 16.. I guess we were a family of gypsies). Had a good lunch with David, checked out a grave yard and a giant glass circle, then made our way over to Seths loft for a visit. We were all in need of a good Seth visit. Just to hear him laugh or see him smile was such a great gift. And after our visit   we went to Whole Foods to buy Whole Foods, and jumped back into the car, the mr driving the whole time, Megan squeaking and squealing in the back set, until we made it home…..Very late. I feel asleep for a few hours, woke up, went to work, loaded and unload some kilns, came home, cleaned the house, then pass the fuck out. It was a long week. 

The mr and I are doing Sunday like we did last week. We both have a few things to do this morning but then we are going to meet at home for lunch and head out. Where to, not exactly sure, but we aren’t coming back until tomorrow morning. The camping stuff is still out, the weather is suppose to be hot and humid but sunny, so there really isn’t any reason to no run away up a mountain or into the woods.  And I think I deserve a good long day of not talking to anyone. Camp coffee, a good book, and a soft place to set my head. It will be good. 

Internet reading from the week. 

-WHen anyone complains about any anything, the first thing I ask is if they have had any water lately… Most people, especially littles, say no. Off Your Mental Game? You Could Be Mildly Dehydrated

–Which Vision Of Farming Is Better For The Planet?.

-Kind of in love with these Improvised Wall Tapestries Crafted with Vibrant Thread Combinations. I want rub my face into them.

–These animals spend their whole lives waiting to have sex, and then they die. So there is that. 

–When Your Name Doesn’t Feel Like You. I can totally see show this could be a thing that some people have to deal with. I like my name, and I think it totally fits me.  But I have known (take my uncle Seth for example) people that have hanged their names. I mean, it’s something you have to deal with for your entire life so you know, own it or change it I guess. 

-I would barf if I lived here, but it’s cool. A Colorful, Geometric Wonderland That Might Feel Like You’ve Jumped Inside a Kaleidoscope

–Why Does It Seem Like Everyone Is Getting Sick from Salad? This is one good reason (of many) to eat as locally as you can and know exactly where your food comes from. 

–How Explorers Sleep in Extreme Spots. Whoa.

-I have definitely rented a book because of its pretty flower cover (I just picked up My Absolute Darling) How Publishing’s Floral-Print Trend Came to Rule the World’s Bookshelves. I really appreciate a good cover. For some reason pictures of people on overs bother me. 

–For More Flavorful Desserts, Forget This Ingredient. IT would probably benefit more then just flavor too. 

Pictures from the week… and Barb eating pizza. Ha

And all of a sudden the world is green and it is mazing and magical. The best time of the year, when all the cool and wet weather pays off with sunshine and flowers and the greenest greens. No longer freezing and it is yet to be too freaking hot. Spring spring SPRING. It is not lost on me. I take it, I suck it up, I appreciate it all. Even the cray cray rain storms. What a time, what a time.

Last week we started off Sunday going to see some jumping fish. We packed our lunches, grabbed the camera, drove the 2 hours to the river and sat around watching and waiting. Sadly we saw no jumping fish. And that was that in case you were wondering. One of these years we will see it.

The rest of the week has been a little crazy. In between work and chores and life stuff, just about every day we have had anywhere between 2-4 littles. What for their parents needed a sitter or a ride here and there cause their car broke down. Or just some aunt and uncle hang time because who doesn%u2019t want to hang with us? So beside the mr finish off the trophies for the Lund Family Fund Raiser, me working the pug mill at the studio, or us trying to trade off the car in hopes that we both can get where we need to go in time for getting there. (Oh man the car thing, that is a whole other beast.) Yeah, it%u2019s been busy and hectic. On the bright side we have spent a lot of the time running around outside, drawing, and eating. A few little highlights. One of the nights So was feeling a little sick and Coco was feeling mean and wouldn’t let her nap on the couch so she ended up dragging a bunch of pillows into the pantry and falling asleep. It just made sense. Then there was Judah with his mad drawing skills drawing me pictures of vegetables (amazing) then farting with his armpits. And Miley, with her tude and phone. Getting her to hang out and just be sweet was nice. And Coco. That freaking little. Always happy, always eating, always causing trouble. Loves to run into the garden and jump all over the couch covered in peanut butter. (that is the baby, not me. ha) We found him a three wheeler. His legs might be too short but we will figure it out. It is gonna be a fun summer!

After the week long little marathon that ended with sticky littles eating pancakes (and being dangerously low on maple syrup), thrift store shopping (I scored the best new photo piece), and stopping in on my maybe future new bike(???), I came home and cleaned the crap out of everything. It never fails to amaze me how gross kids can be. The toilet alone, well, lets not go there.

Today, as it is Mothers Day and all, I am going to be a dutiful daughter and go see my Mama. Right now (at the wee early hour of 5 am, I%u2019m about to pop some bread and then a cake into the oven as offerings. We are going over around lunch so I%u2019m going make focaccia grilled cheeses (with the fresh bread) and hand over the blueberry cake that she loves. Then hopefully just spend a couple hours drinking lots of coffee and chilling on the porch.

Look at me, I am such a good daughter.

Links of interest on the internet.

–Yes, I’m In School for Nutrition. No, I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Diet. I feel this. Sometimes people feel like they need to tell me everything they eat, for approval or something. And I actually don%u2019t mind talking about what people eat. I’ll even make suggestions about foods that I like to eat or ways to prepare certain things but I stay away from telling people what not to eat%u2026 (people always assume I am going to tell them to not eat meat. I say, I do me. You do you.)

-I don%u2019t know how may times I have seen Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure. This should be good. PlusI totally have a thing for Keanu Reeves. Bill & Ted are embarking on a third excellent adventure next year

–How Weeds Help Fight Climate Change. Weeds are not the problem friends. The chemicals that people use to get rid of them are!

-If you are interested in VT State Parks, here its the list of all the parks opening days. Can%u2019t wait for CAMPING!!!

-Did you go through an Arizona iced tea phase? I had a very brief stint with the green tea%u2026 I can%u2019t even imagine drinking one now. The Dream of the %u201990s Is Alive in AriZona Iced Tea

–An Interview With A Man Who Eats Leftover Food From Strangers’ Plates In Restaurants. I think this is awesome and have much respect.

-A question the I didn%u2019t know I wanted answered until I read this article. Why do cats%u2014and so many other animals%u2014look like they%u2019re wearing socks?

-I get all sorts of feels when I see pandas. MY favorite favorite animal growing up. I carried a pink polka dotted panda around with me for years. SO many panda things. So this is fantastic and I hope to visit one day and hug me a panda (with pink polka dots) China%u2019s new panda park will be three times bigger than Yellowstone

–I have heard and seen some crazy fights in the past in places we have lived. A good few actually. It is never a comfortable thing but sadly, we got used to it. Listening to My Neighbors Fight

-Mothers Have Been Complaining About Mother%u2019s Day Breakfast in Bed for More than Half a Century. Why Does It Go On?. I am a strict, NO FOOD! in bed person. It just have zero desire to eat in bed so breakfast in bed sounds terrible to me. Plus I am awake at 430 every morning and I don%u2019t eat for a few hours after I wake up. It just wouldn%u2019t work.

And pictures from the week.

Hey hey hey! Happy Sunday. Hope you are finding yourself happy and relaxed and enjoying all the good things the world is giving us. Like coffee and green things. All the coffee, all the green things for sure.

Another week that came and left and now it%u2019s May. MAY! Can you even? The time, where does it all go? (an existential question for you) Our week (and time) started off with a chilly wet jaunt to a river. We were going to go out to the kingdom to watch the salmon jump out of the river but it was just to dang cold and rainy so we decided to hold off on it. But we did make our way to a river near by so the mr could officially toss in a fly line into some water. I guess fishing season started a week or two back but we have had so much rain that it has not been great for fishing, or being outside much for that matter. Anyway, he got a few casts in so he is happy.

Wet and raw weather wise was the way of the weather this week. We did have a few breaks of sun which lead to an impromptu afternoon hike just because the sun came out. It was fantastic, or started off that way. Up and down and around the woods to the very flooded lake. Half the way through the hike we ended up at a boardwalk that had a little water coverage, which was fine because someone placed nice big rocks to pass over. Or so I thought. A few steps in and the bridge gave away and into the lake I went. Just my feet and up my legs a bit, but yeah. I just stood there in shock for what seemed like minutes but eventually made my way to the other side of the bridge, drenched boots and all. The rest of the hike was soggy, but hey, I was outside and there was sun and I wasn%u2019t freezing cold so yeah. Could have been worse. It could have been the mr who went in and I really really would not want to have had to deal with him hiking back with drenched feet. Now if my hiking boats would dry out. That would be great.

Other then our little outdoor adventures, the week went the way the weeks does with work and all. The mr running around frantic, having doors, making room for giant ass wood slabs in the barn, wheeling and dealing.

Friday was all day studio work. Lots and lots of pugging clay. While I was at work the mr picked up littles (Miley, So, and Judah) and they all came to the studio to pick me up. It is always a great way to get people to listen and leave the studio when they are suppose to when a bunch of kids rush in and start demanding food. People, at least the clay people, are scared of hungry little kids. Ha. Off we all went, me covered head to tow in clay. Found out in the car that Judah was sick (so sad) so he went home and it turned into a girls night sleep over. Pizza, soup, and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. We went walking/piggyback riding, the mr and Miley played with the new wood brander which included fire and hot metal. The mr took them to the store to pick out ice cream while I tried to clean myself up, they came back ,ate lots of ice cream, then showered and brushed hair without arguments. They picked out movies without fighting (movies about ballerinas and singing animals) and happily curled up together on the floor. Me being me with no attention span or energy left skipped the movies and went to bed. When I went to wake them up the next morning, I found out that they had woke up (or never went to sleep) in the middle of the night to draw and do yoga? Yeah, I don%u2019t exactly know what went on. What I do know is my yoga mat was upstairs and I remember waking up in the middle of the night to sounds of the wall being kicked a bunch, and there were drawings of crazy things and colored pencils everywhere that were not there when I left them the night before. Hey, if that is what they want to do in the middle of the night, more power to them.

After pancakes and cartoons, the ladies and the mr spent the morning going through a million awesome shells. I guess someone had massive shell collection and gave it over to the mr. Neither of us are really shell people, I mean a few cool ones, but this collection was INSANE. SO we gave them all to the littles. And gave the littles a boxes to bring home to their siblings. They can have all the shells, we are good here.

We dropped girls off, ran around doing errands, then came home and I putz in the yard before going about cleaning the house. Lots of dirt and mud and sticky shit on everything. I just don%u2019t know where it comes from. Well I do actually. And it%u2019s mostly not me so yeah.

Today the mr and I actually are heading out to the kingdom. We need to see some fish jump. A few hours back and forth will give me time for some open window car rid air and reading if it doesn%u2019t make me puke. Picnic lunch by the river and afternoon road coffee. Hopefully we get home in time for me to spend at least a good few hours in the garden to ooh and awe at the stuff that is starting to pop out of the ground and maybe figure out if it%u2019s a perennial I planted or just a weed. Good thing I like weeds too or else I would be terribly disappointed a lot of the time.

Have a few extra minutes? Take a look at some interesting internet from the week.

–The Obamas Are Making a Kids%u2019 Food Show on Netflix. Oh HELL YEAH! And I am not a kid but I am gonna watch it.

-What a great business/environmentally awesome/ logical/ just plain right idea. Toronto Restaurant Fights Waste By Chopping Menu Prices Till Food Is Gone

-Some serious boldness. Bold Line Drawings Layered on Top of Deconstructed Images of Fruit, Flowers, and Animals in Tattoos by Mattia Mambo.

–Rise of the Lady Backpack. Purse. Please. Back packs are the best, but to be honest, I mostly stick to nothing, just my wallet and keys in a pocket. Back pack for biking and hiking and a tote bag for the groceries, the library, or the occasional kitting project. Simple.

-I struggle hard with my OCD cleaning. I sometime wish I had the ability to let things be mess, but then again%u2026. The Unbridled Joy of (Occasionally) Letting Your Room Get Really, Really Messy

–What Comes After a Rut? Take the good with the bad and all the craziness that is the ebb and flow of life.

– Why the Kentucky Derby is a 145-year-old celebration of hats. Now imagine if people went around wearing those hats all the time. The world would be a better place.

-Maine, you so smart. Maine just banned Styrofoam food containers

–How to be assertive without being called a bitch. Why are women always considered bitches? Well I am anyway%u2026.

-I love this and only wish I was ablate %u201cGramp%u201d when my grandparents were alive. ‘Gramping’ Is the Latest Travel Trend Grandparents Need to Know About

And some pictures from the week.

Are you a frozen popsicle? Did you make any popsicles or a pair of those frozen pants that I am seeing all over the news? I should have made frozen pants.. maybe next time. Done and done, the polar vortex had come and gone and I am hoping that is stay up up and away for thirst of the winter. My nose and butt have nearly frozen off this week. Give me temps in the teens and I will be all set thank you very much.

The week was a week as any week could be as weekly as can be. Does that make sense? Not really but kinda. Nothing new, cold as fuck, but still kind of nice. I didn%u2019t do much in the way of work besides a little paper work and worked at the studio. Honestly, I spent a good amount of time this week reading and trying not to freeze (for someone trying not to freeze, I sure did go outside a lot). The mr did his usual running around all day everyday. Things have been a little harder since the truck is kind of dead and now we are down to the one car, a car the is not meant for totting around toilets so we have some car stuff to deal with. Sunday we did make it outside for a few hours of some fantastic snow shoeing and tree hugging. Basically throughout the week we did lunches, one with my mom, So, and Megan, one with Barb. The mr made a new jacket rack by the front door, glued more doll heads on cars, and placed frozen hands all over the neighborhoods. We didn%u2019t see the littles very much as they were all busy, too busy for us, but whatever. (I miss them%u2026sad face) And yesterday we took Barb on a snack shopping trip, went to the mall (fist time in like 5 years) and watched Barb contemplate a soft pretzel or not (she just got a lemonade). A weekly week week. See what I mean?

Today the mr and I are suppose to go in such of an ice castle. That is the plan, well that and make the bed with clean sheets because it%u2019s Sunday. I%u2019ll let you know how it turns out. (The sheets always turn out A+.)

Interent from the week.

–Think this polar vortex was cold? It should have been colder. Yup, that little snap was nothing and that is not a good thing.

-Science things. The surprising science of why ice is so slippery

–So You%u2019re Saying My Seltzer Is Not Made of Crushed Up Bliss. What a bummer.

-This is the best tassel wall hanging I have ever seen. Maybe I will actually make it. DIY Tassel Wall Hanging

–Beyonc%u00e9’s Offering a Lifetime Supply of Concert Tickets to 1 Winner Who Goes Vegan But what about the already vegan folks?

-I think anyone living in Vermont could tell you cell service sucks. One Man’s Quest To Prove Vermont Has Terrible Cell Service

–Life goals for next project. Guy Documents 14 Years Of Excavating His Basement With RC Toys

-Thank you Macauley Culkin. Color Of The Month: Coral? Peach? Salmon? Fuck. Get Me The Swatches.

–Irresistible Baby Houseplants. They are so cute. I want them all.

-This is really awesome, just not sure how it%u2019s gonna work out because babies are well, they be babies, but If I worked for the state with a baby, this would make me very happy. Vermont to Allow State Workers to Bring Their Infants to Work.

And some pictures from the week.

What a week. What a year. So much has happened and is happening and is about happen. I guess that is the nature of life and time and all that good stuff.

The week started off fantastic. On Sunday the mr and I grabbed Judah, Emerson, and Barb, piled into the car, and went for a light drive. We walked around a light filled park, drove some more, then ended up at, of all places in this world, Burger King. And they loved it (I packed my own dinner because I do not, will not, eat at almost any place that the littles prefer) Funny, I don%u2019t know if I have ever been inside of a Burger King before, and if I have, it was long before I had a choice in what I ate. Again, they loved it, even though it was trash food, they got their crowns. Coco cheered just about every French Fry that went into his mouth, and the mr got to use Burger King coupons that he had hiding in his pocket (that is basically why we ended up there) It was a fantastic evening and is now going to be a Christmas Eve eve tradition. Light drive with dinner (never Burger King again thank you very much)

After we dropped them off at home, we went home and that is when the mr succumbed to it. IT being the stomach flu. That was fun.

Christmas Eve the mr was an ill man so I forged it alone. With the help of all the Christmas music I could handle, I baked a bunch, prepared the house for the next day when the family came over. I cut up all the fruits and veggies, wrapped the few little presents I had, did bills and a bunch laundry, ran to the grocery store. My mom stopped by and brought me a lemon tree because just because. I just was so freaking productive. And best part, it SNOWED, like a good amount. What I thought was going to be a completely snow free Christmas turned into the most magical snow ever. Christmas Eve afternoon, Big fat fluffy flakes covering the world. I bundled myself up and walked around the neighborhood just taking it all in. It truly was the best Christmas Eve snow ever. And after a full on day of resting , the mr was feeling a bit better so that was good. And then both to bed by 7 because thats our life these days.

Christmas morning had all the right stuff. Woke up and watched the sun rise while drinking a butload of coffee. The house was all clean and glittery and the ltree lights were on and the ground glittered with the fresh snow. After the mr woke up and was feeling a little worse for ware but ok, we bundled up and went for a little stroll on the beach. We usually go for a hike but I was not trying to push the mr too hard. The beach, oh man, was that amazing. The water was still, the snow was like diamonds, and the air was crisp and clean. Not a sound to be heard other then the lapping of water. It was so good. We left before I decided to stay forever and because the mr thought he could walk on ice and ended up with a his foot in a foot of water so we headed on home to meet the hoard of family. Just about everyone came (minus Ryan and the girls and Anthony.. we missed them all) ate food, did a little gift exchange thing (I got some sweet new house plants), plastered Jackson with a very nice shade of lipstick that might have been called whore red, and had a Happy Birthday celebration for Cameron because it%u2019s was Christmas, but it really was his birthday.

Then for the saddest part. We got the news that our uncle had passed away.

Oh Uncle Seth. He had been sick for a while now with Parkinson%u2019s disease, but the past month or so it got so bad. His death was not unexpected but never the less it was not any less painful. My only uncle, the guy who gave me my first car, the man who built a cabin from nothing in the woods and turned it into a place that you could only imagine (or see in a design magazine) A man who taught (he was as professor at RISD), loved the world, loved to travel, loved his work, was so fierce in emotion. SO many little qualities that I saw in him, I see in me. ( I feel like I get a lot of who I am from my dad and my uncle and aunt) The world lost a great man, I lost a great uncle. He is and will always be loved and I know I was just lucky to have been able to have him as an uncle. It is still hard, I don%u2019t think I have fully processed it still, It is kind of a not quite real feeling. Just an overall heaviness that has settled in on my mind and heart. It is so hard to loose any family, but especially hard when they were so full of life and had so much to give to the world. Agh. The words are not even close to adequate here, the full measure of him as a person not explained. To put it simply, he was an amazing, loving and generous person. I am so going to miss him, his creativity, his lust for life. And what I am going to miss most is his hugs and smiles and overall presences in my life. RIP Seth. You really were a fucking awesome uncle.

We got word of the funeral on Wednesday (which was also Anthonys 17th birthday%u2026.So old! I stopped by to see him and give him a big hug. Didn%u2019t want a party or cake this year so I owe him granola bars.) and were in the car driving down to RI by Thursday morning. Shannon, Megan, the mr, and me, all packed into the car and off we went. A small family funeral which was very beautiful and full of love, then food with the family. Not a long stay, but we are all going back down next weekend for Seths memorial celebration bash.

We got home and it hit hard. I started to feel kind of crappy (sick wise) and have been feeling blue ever since. Driving to RI really kicked the mr down again. He was so good, no complaining about anything, not the cranked up car heat or driving straight while us ladies spent the entire time talking of childhood memories. He didn%u2019t even put on the music. And by the time we came back home, the guy was sick again, or maybe never was not sick, but he has been down for the count ever since.

So yesterday we did a few morning chores together like got rid of the recycling and retuned amazon stuff to UPS, but by afternoon the mr was out. So I cleaned house, made another ice cream cake for Judah, and did more and more laundry. Another one of those feeling super productive days. Weird, but I am starting to see a pattern here. When the mr is really sick, I get a lot done. I think it%u2019s mainly because. a) I want to stay away from him as to not get sick too. b) I am afraid that if I do get sick none of what needs to be done will get done so I need to do it fast. And c) I don%u2019t have to worry about what he needs to do, it%u2019s all me. Ha.

Today is Judah%u2019s birthday. Nine years old! What an age to be. So basically I am going to the gym then coming home to do a few things and finish making his cake, then heading over to his house for a birthday dinner celebration. I told him and his sister I would go over early and give them haircuts (the boys hair is so long it covers his eyes, He looks cool, but if you can%u2019t see, well looking cool isn%u2019t gonna get you anywhere). It%u2019s gonna be fun.

Goodness, is that it. The end of another year. Hard to wrap my head around so I am just going to ease on in to 2019. Low key and cool. Just like me. Ha.

Happy New Years Friends! Be safe. Be happy. Be good. Be kind.

Interent links from the week

–Just Admit It, You%u2019re in a Bad Mood. All the lead up to Christmas then BAM, its over. Gets me every time.

-I am defintially one of those people who likes to bake when I am feeling anxious. The Rise of Anxiety Baking. Cookies are my favorite to bake too.

-Speakig of cookies. When ‘Cookiers’ Take Holiday Cookie Decorating To A Whole New Level. I had no idea there was a cookie cutter factory in Vt. I must see this place!

-Who doesn%u2019t love a good tree picture? Black and White Photographs Capture the Striking Appearance of Bare Trees Against Snow-Filled Landscapes

–Explorer completes historic Antarctic trek. Some people do crazy things that make me jealous. Not that I want to ski Antarctica, but something crazy would be cool.

-How did I not know until now that there was a monthly round up of trucks spilling shit. We all need this information. This month in overturned trucks: Cash, Christmas trees, cooking oil

–How A Little Science And A Lot Of Shady Advertising Boosted Yeast’s Popularity. I have never eaten a yeast cake, but I eat a shit load of nutritional yeast. MY favorite is a spoonful in the mouth where it gets stuck in my teeth and the roof of my mouth. For real.

-I am going to get a scale sometime soon. I just need to find the right one for the right price (free or very cheap at the thrift store) Until then, this is handy. Weight Conversions for Flour, Sugar, and Other Common Baking Ingredients

-This is something that I have wondered about. I am really happy that it doesn%u2019t get wasted. We Finally Know What Happens to the Leftover Cake on the Great British Bake Off

–The year vegan junk food went mainstream. Yup. Just cause it%u2019s vegan doesn%u2019t mean it is good for you.

And pictures from the week.

Are we all ready for it? Mid November and all. The holidays are creeping up fast and furious and I am starting to feel that bit of excitement and anxiety and over all buzz that one gets this time of year. I think seeing the neighbor putting their Christmas tree up in the window the other day (Which in my opinion is way to early. You need to wait until after Thanksgiving for the tree) really hit it home for me. So I located my boxes of decorations and pulled the box of glue and glitter for holiday arts and crafts. I restocked all my flours, sugars, and chocolate chips, and I already have a few of those cake orders in. It%u2019s go time. Now all we need is a snow storm. Or all I need anyways.

The week has been slow. Daylight savings has did a little number on me. I have been waking up at like 415 but my ass is in bed by 830. I could probably get myself to adopt a later bedtime and maybe wake up a little later, but you know what? It works for me. I am nothing, if not an old lady.

Other then a little bit of work, nothing to exciting happened. The mr and walked in the rain to vote. We went for a nice mid week hike , then stopped at the new Harbor Freight store to play with axes. I spent some time throwing, loaded kilns at the studio, grocery shopped, and scraped ice off my car for the first time this season. The littles were over for food and play. Judah and I stating making turkey hand prints that we are going to finish this week. Coco just got snot everywhere and Miley just wanted to get our nightly walk over so I would giver her candy. Then Barb came over for baked beans (amazing baked beans), and Megan stopped by one day to hang with me for a while. It%u2019s nice getting a little human interaction once in a while. HA.

The mr and I finally trapped Only in the house, gave him a bath and even tried to brush his ratty ass out. He is pretty much 100% an outdoor cat in the summer months, but I don%u2019t like him out during the winter so he gots to stay inside. And he hates it. Meows all night long, try to sneak in between legs out the door. But I think it%u2019s better for him and he will get used to sitting around all day on the heated floors again. The guy is to old to be hanging out there like a young cat.

And the leaves. So many leaves. The mr has been doing battle with the trees in the driveway. He spent a day raking and mowing, all pretty much in vain because the next day the driveway was just as bad, if not worse, covered in leaves. My suggestion was just to wait a few more days, let all the leaves fall, but he is a determined man. Plus he noted that the dents in leaves actually help the over all mission.

That was the week.

Today the mr and I are heading to the mountains. We (well I) want to see some snow and really, we just want to get out of town for a few hours. I am feeling a little crazy.

Hope today finds you happy and cozy. Doing you.

Interenting from the week.

-Antarctica scientist allegedly stabs colleague for spoiling the endings of books. I do not condone violence in any way but, I mean, I kind of get it.

–The best way to deal with fall leaves. The mr needs to read this.

-Take it from someone that burns herself on a daily bases. Be prepared in the kitchen. I keep burn cream (propolis calendula salve) right next to the knives. I use it all the time. How to Soothe a Kitchen Burn,%u00a0STAT

–10 Things to Clean Now Before the Holiday Season Gets Going. Add to list%u2026A good place to hide and a good alibi if needed.

-Interesting idea. A Meat Tax Sounds Nice to Me

-Knowing your flours is important. What%u2019s the Difference Between Cake Flour, Pastry Flour, All-Purpose Flour, and Bread Flour

-I play sudoko when I am feeling worried or anxious. Can’t Stop Worrying? Try Tetris To Ease Your Mind

–Meet the Plantfluencers. I could totally be one, I have like 70 plants and counting. And if people are liking and then getting house plants, well heck yeah. Plants are the best.

-I don%u2019t neeeeed , but I really, really want these sheets. They are amazing.

–Does stress eating actually make you less stressed? Whats your stress eating food? Mine is cabbage. I think there is something about peeling back cabbage leaves that I find soothing, and I a weirdo.

And pictures from the week.

Did you wake up at 3:30 because your body is used to waking up at 4:30 but we add an extra hour and now you don%u2019t even really know what time it is for real? Yeah, that would be me. I look at my phone, at my computer, but don%u2019t trust all the self resetting clocks. I have to check the kitchen stove to see what time it was yesterday before I can figure out the time today and then check the technology clocks to see if they really know. But woo hoo, daylight savings. I am one of those people that really likes it. I like the light in the morning, I like the early as shit dark. It suits my life (early to bed, early to rise) and also gives off a feeling of coziness that I can%u2019t quite describe. Plus I am a slight creeper and love walking around the neighborhood after dinner when it is dark and seeing inside peoples house. Not like too creepy where I go an actively peer in, just looking in if their windows are open, checking out their decor, seeing what they are watching on tv, or what they are eating for dinner. Don%u2019t judge, you know you do the same thing too.

This week was a blur. On Sunday we spent way to much time walking around Ikea, checking out the Christmas stuff and choosing a new duvet cover. We had time to kill before Barbs plane landed from Italy (and it was late). So Ikea was the natural waiting place. It wasn%u2019t bad, the mr got to try the new veggie dogs, said they were absolutely fantastic and we actually did buy a duvet cover. But as soon as the plane landed we jumped in the car a drove circles around the terminal until the ladies appeared with smiles and bottles of wine and olive oil, which I have still yet to receive. Then a drive back home to where we stopped for drinks, I opened the trunk of the car and smacked my head on the door so hard I think I broke my skull. Anyway, she made it back from Italy and I am pretty sure I gave myself a concussion. Good stuff.

The week started. I spent the first half doing paperwork and making all sorts of phone calls about things that I don%u2019t know anything about trying to gather information to make said phone calls and blah blah blah.

And then it was Halloween and we didn%u2019t do a damn thing. We were suppose to take, at the very least, Judah out, but Coco got super sick again and landed himself a bed up at the hospital. Things got confusing and crazy and he ended up going with a family friend and their kids. We were pretty bummed, and so was he. What a bust. And we had only enough candy tor give 3 little kids so we didn%u2019t do that either. Another Halloween come and gone. Meh. But the next day we had the littles over for a school night sleep over. Not as fun as a weekend sleep over because there is bedtime, homework, the need to shower, and waking up early. But those guys championed, did all their homework, took their showers, and brushed their teeth without a single rebuke, and we had a grand old time. They even went to bed and woke up without giving me any shit. Then after a humorous breakfast of dried cereal, eggs, and toast, they got themselves ready and I dropped them off at school, again, with out any complaining. Those littles%u2026 So good. On the way to school I tried to explain why we do daylight savings. Things got off topic a bit and I might have blamed all the time changing on Voldemort and magic and yeah. Someone is going to need to sort that out with them someday. OR not.

After dropping them off I worked at the studio for the rest of the day. Megan came to visit me and bring me coffee. Which probably saved my life. Then I pugged clay for way to long and had to have the mr come to the studio and help me take the bolts out of the pug machine so I could take it apart to clean it, or more like I pugged, he took it apart and he cleaned it. My mr, he be so nice.

Yesterday was a burn out day. Might be getting a head cold (or it%u2019s the concussion) and I could barely keep my head from falling off, SO much pressure, even my eyes looked bleak and blue. But I did some stuff. The mr and I took a research drive, I got the grocery shopping done, did laundry, cleaned he house. And then went to bed early.

And now I am awake and it%u2019s early. My head is still pretty pressurized, but I think it might be starting to deflate a little which is good because today the mr and I have some outdoor plans. What exactly the plans are is still up in the air. It is suppose to be sunny and slightly warmer so we need to get to and get us some woods. I almost want to try and convince him that we should go camping and I totally would if I hadn%u2019t packed away everything and we had fire wood and if I wasn%u2019t afraid of the bears coming to eat me. One last meal before hibernation. Haha. No, its not the bears I worry about, our bears don%u2019t eat people here, it is the hunters I am actually worried about. I don%u2019t own any blaze orange and I move like a graceful doe in the woods. Yikes!

Some internet stuff I read this week.

-The mr sent me this link. He thinks I am crazy because I said that I want to live the next day without the extra hour yet and take my extra hour on Monday around 2, for like a nap time or something. I think I can do it, but only if I don%u2019t look at my phone clock. If I lived in the city, this guy could make it happen for everyone. The Man Who Turns Back New York City%u2019s Clocks, Hand by Hand. What a badass job.

-You Can Wrap All of Your Friends Christmas Gifts With Your Face This Year. Hahaha. I hate gift wrap, think it is a complete waste, but this is hilarious

-Another reason to get your shut eye. How Sleep Deprivation Messes With Creativity

-Do you love or loathe coffee? Your genes may be to blame. Both my parents drink pretty much nothing else but coffee so I think I am made up of like 25% coffee. Now I have a 99% tolerance to caffeine. The only thing that is does to me (that I notice) is that I get a major headache if I don%u2019t have it. But I am one of those people that could drink a pot of coffee and sleep like a baby for 8 hours. Same as the parents. Got to be genetic.

-If I lived in a brownstone in a loft in Brooklyn, this would be the one I would want.

–How Do You Move A Bookstore? With A Human Chain, Book By Book. This is just so fantastic.

-Just because it is not summer anymore and we are no longer gardening does not mean that there is any less produce out there to eat. Your Ultimate Guide to Fall Produce

-About That Monstrous Black Hole We%u2019re All Orbiting. Just in case you want to know. Life and black holes. What are you gonna do?

-Do any of yo have a septic system and grow ferns on top?. Something I have been thinking about fo septic system landscaping purposes. Anatomy of Ferns

–Thick Strokes of Paint Create Featureless Portraits in Abstracted Paintings by Joseph Lee

Pictures from the week. I didn%u2019t take very many, but I did get Barb eating so there is that.

Did you get out last week, see some trees, see some nature, take in the world? I hope so but if you didn%u2019t, take some time today and do it, it will make you happy Promise.

Last Sunday was camping at the Queeche Gorge State Park. Stopped at a cool flea market on the way, saw some cool old stuff, almost bought a painting (I kind of wish I did. Oh well) Then off to the camp ground which was pretty empty, but man, there were a shit ton of people bumping around the gorge trails. Not bad, I just was a little surprised, but I guess I shouldn%u2019t have been. I mean, foliage and nice weather and beauty. It brings the people out. Anyway, the hiking was good. Found a off shoot trail that no one else was on and found a tiny little brook with spawning trout. Got back to camp, made pumpkin lentils for dinner and then the sun started to set and the night got very cold. The fire was needed oh so much. I might have even melted my shoe a bit because I was a little to close to it. And when it hit that magical time (8) we jumped into the tent. I slept with a hat and hood and mittens on in my sleeping bag with a wool blanket and was just as happy as could be. Then we woke up, made coffee, packed up, and headed for the streams so the mr could fish in 35 degree weather. It was freezing but it makes him happy so it makes me happy.

After we got home the week went per usual. Work here and there, dinner with the littles, Barb up my butt about how excited and nervous she was about Italy, and could I please just hem this skirt for her? You know, the normal stuff.

I think it was Wednesday, the mr and I were out for the day so I had packed out lunches. I was eating a carrot and all of a sudden, CRACK! Spit out my carrot and there was the little stone (it happens some times) and also a big ass chunk of my tooth. Yup, the stone broke a piece of one of my molars off. Oh my was I freaking out. Called the dentist right away but my dentist doctor is out of town and can%u2019t get me in until next week! As of right now it is fine and doesn%u2019t hurt or anything, but I am terrified that it%u2019s going get worse or break more or I don%u2019t know. This and I just was there for a cleaning like 2 weeks ago. Said I had great teeth health and blah blah blah. After that happened, I have been a little on edge since. The underlying feeling of something wrong in my face, and it%u2019s driving me crazy. Stupid tooth.

Friday morning was running around, a few chores, and a quick frosting and dinosaur making to finish off the ice cream cake and off to the studio for the day. Loaded kilns, played in the slop bucket, pugged some clay. Then ran home to get the cake and make quick to Barb for her 19th birthday hurray! There was a family crowded dinner. I brought the cake and she%u2019s jumping up and down being crazy and awesome and was trying to keep her shit together because the next day she was getting on her first plane ever and flying to Italy! Whoop whoop.

So yesterday was basically set aside for Barb. I cleaned the house early, packed our lunches, then the mr and I picked her and her friend up and drove them over the border into Cananda and dropped their lucky tushies off at the airport. SO CUTE. I might have been a little jealous, but more then that, I was, and am, just so excited for them. Italy, haven%u2019t been yet, but I will get there. Barb said she would bring me back a picture of an Italian toilet so that will be good enough. I probalaby won%u2019t need to go after getting that. Ha. And so we dropped them off, headed back home and watched all the most amazing clouds in the sky. Got home, took a shower, and passed the f out.

Today is up in the air. Not exactly sure wha’t%u2019s going to happen. We have a very important thing this afternoon that is exciting to us, but other then that, not sure. Camping was talked about but none of the campground are open anymore. We were thinking of maybe sleeping in the car under a tree, but not 100% sold on that idea. It also might snow so you know, the mr is scared of the white stuff. Me, I am very excited and would love to wake up with some snow, but I get it. It is getting cold out. But if we sleep in the car, it would totally be fine, and fun. Just got to convince the mr.

Internet from the week.

-Isn%u2019t see always right? Grandma Was Right: Sunshine Helps Kill Germs Indoors

–You Can Buy ‘Golden Girls’-Themed Cereal at Target Now. What the.. Funko%u2019s. That is just kind of amazing.

-Who didn%u2019t read this book? I hope if it does become a movie they don%u2019t screw it up and that the young ones still read the book. ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.’ By Judy Blume Could Finally Become A Movie

-Good, Evil. Sugar There is a lot to the history., Sugartime. How a taste for sweetness, developed for survival, became a stand-in for everything good %u2014 and evil %u2014 about our culture

–Are Siblings More Important Than Parents? I don%u2019t know, but there is something. Growing up as one of 9 is who I am. I con%u2019t even imagine not having them. And my sisters are my best friends so maybe, yeah, like not more important but kinda?

–5 Mistakes to Avoid When Baking with Yeast. But it%u2019s really not hard to use yeast. If you are intimidated, start by making focaccia.

-I would live in an old church, but only if the vibe was good and there was no history if weird shit.. Holy Homes: Inside Houses That Used to Be Churches

–Last week at the gym there was a special on the news about people called flat landers. They believe the earth is flat ans think all of evidence , things like gravity and even the moon is all a hoax. It was very strange.. 10 easy ways you can tell for yourself that the Earth is not flat

-I need a glass greenhouse. Majestic Conservatories and Cozy Private Potting Sheds Showcase the Universal Appeal of Glass Greenhouses

Pictures from the week

Another Sunday, another week gone by.

So last Sunday I took some of the family (cousins, Dad, a few siblings and a couple littles) on a hike, a hike that I did not think would be a problem for anymore. Just a 5 or 6 mile, in and out, up a mountain hike. You know, easy. Turns out that some people are not as mountain climbing able as I thought and I might have almost killed a person or two. Oops. It was good though, actually is was freaking fantastic, and most of us made it to the top, to see the spender of the world, and we all made it back down alive so all ended well. And once were were down, everyone took off, and the mr and I headed for the campground. It was raining a little, cold as shit, but still glorious. We got there, set up, then tromped through the woods some more until we were just too cold. Headed back to camp where I chopped up a pumpkin for dinner and a little asshole chipmunk stole and ate half an apple. We then spent the rest of the evening trying to stay warm sitting by the fire. When it was finally an acceptable time to sleep, (8ish) I wore all my clothes, hat and mittens, and socks to bed. I fell asleep, woke up a few hours later to some load bros being dicks and shouting, but tyou know, that shit happens, but managed to be lulled back into sleep by the mr%u2019s snoring. Woke up in the pitch dark, made coffee, packed the site, and off to the river for the mr to do his morning fishing thing. And then back to the world of others and not just the trees. How do I not live in the trees? Some day, some day soon.

The rest of the week was whatever. Work stuff here and there. I ripped out most of the garden which was a little sad but freeing feeling. Barb came over for dinner and I plugged in my new lamp that I found on the side of the road and found a shade for it. I made a cake, cleaned the fridge, put away summer clothes. Boring stuff. There were two days back there when it got really warm again, and super humid and I almost lost my shit. And I got caught in the rain during farm share and got soaked, but other then that, nothing to eventful.

Friday I worked at the studio all day, cleaned a shit load, loaded kilns, did the happy human interaction thing. While I Was working the mr picked Judah up from school and after a trip for hot choclate, they came back home to meet me for dinner and a hair cut. That little finally let me take a few inches of hair off his head so he can now see again. I made pizza for them, we walked, Judah punched and karate chopped everything ( mostly the mr), Shannon randomly stopped by which was nice because I don%u2019t see here enough, and then everyone left. I assed out like a champ.

Yesterday was one of those day. I am not sick, but very tired and needed a kind of down day to just not, although it was very productive anyway. Trimmed some pots, ran chores, cleaned the shit out of the house. The mr did some fly tying and we went for a long walk. Slow and nice.

And it%u2019s Sunday which means CAMPING! We said it last week, and the week before, but I think this might actually be the last weekend camping for a little while (I am determined to get the mr to do a little winter camping) I don%u2019t know what I am going to do now because all week long I look forward to the taking of, going hiking, having a big fire, no house to clean up, and sleeping in the tent. I guess it%u2019s not like we still can%u2019t do all that, and still, it%u2019s just maybe we don%u2019t sleep in a tent outside anymore. Huh, maybe I might be preemptively saying we are not camping anymore.. Maybe we can just sleep in the car , do car camping from now on. Good idea me, keep it keeping on. Anyway, to the Queeche Gorge State Park today. The mr hopefully has his fishing waders, I have 2 books (one to finish, one to start), a pumpkin and lentils for dinner, and my winter mittens, extra socks, and lots and lots of fire wood.

We are ready.

Stuff you might find worth looking at on the internet this week.

–Why we need small farms. Giant farms scare me. I feel like I can trust a smaller, local farm over any big as mega farm any day.

–The Best Ways to Make a Carved Halloween Pumpkin Last Longer. I might try the soaking in water, I hear it really dose work well.

-I see it happening all the time was it scares that shit out of me. The babies know how to use a freaking computer, sometime even better then me. Craziness. Raised by YouTube

-I have got mine down. How and Why to Cultivate an Evil Laugh

–The Outrageous Master Sommelier Scandal, Explained. Oh man, would I be so so pissed if I was one of the honest test takers. That shit is HARD!

-This made me smile. Same-Sex Penguin Couple Fosters An Egg In Sydney

-Did you know Ikea had veggie dogs? In two months, Ikea sold 1 million of its new veggie hot dogs

-Definitely one of my life goals. The whole trail, one fell swoop. I might even have to drag the mr along too. What’s It Like To Hike The Long Trail?

–Yes, There’s a Right Way to Measure Brown%u00a0Sugar. I always back as much as I can%u2026

-Ginger Lime mule is the BEST! Polar Seltzer Limited Edition / Winter 2018 Released.

And Pictures from the wee

It’s melon season! The past few farm shares have included at least 2,, if not 4, watermelons and cantaloupes… Can you imagine. eating 4 watermelons a week? That’s a tall order, even for someone like me who could probably eat a whole watermelon in one sitting, it’s just doing it 4 times a week might be a problem.  It’s a whole lot of melon and not enough stomach, you know what I mean? 

So what do I do with so much melon? Well first off, whenever anyone comes over I try to get them to  eat as much of it as they can, which helps a great deal. Secondly, I cut it up and freeze some. But here is the thing, I love eating chunks of frozen cantaloupe, but frozen watermelon, never been my favorite so I usually just pass on sticking in the freezer, until now.

There is something magical that happens when you stick the frozen watermelon and cantaloupe together into a blender and making it into a slushy. It’s like eating a ray of sunshine or maybe even a rainbow, just really satisfying and juicy, and sweet but not overly sweet, and just really freaking good. Especially with all the stupid hot and humid weather we have had lately, these slushies have really been hitting the spot.  Even the mr who says he dislikes watermelon was all into these melon slushies. (he likes things that he says he doesn’t like all the time. I am pretty sure he is taste confused) Like  he was really into them. Usually I have to prompt him to tell me how something tastes, but not the slushy, he told me right away how good it was. I was like, I know dude, I just drank 2 of them myself. And I could have drank 2 more but I was trying to not get tot far ahead of myself. Moderation is key, plus I didn’t;t have any more of the melons frozen. Time to restock the freezer. 

Go make yourself a slushy, it’s juicy deliciousness will make you happy. 

The stuff. Watermelon and cantaloupe. There should be a lime in there too but it must have rolled away…. 

Chop some of each of the melon up, remove the rinds, and place on a big baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen. You can do as little as 2 cups  of each or as much as a whole melon, it’s up to you. (I suggest freezing extra)

Frozen melon. And now you can slushy.

Equal parts watermelon and cantaloupe go into blender, along with the juice of half (or more to taste) a lime and you are probably going to need to add about 1/2 a cup of water, to help the blender blend it all together.  And that’s it. You blend until it’s all slushy.

Pour into cups, garnish with a lime and/or little chunks of melon and you are good as golden. 

From now on, or until summer is over and I run out of melon, I will be keeping the freezer stocked, especially because I know that the next few weeks are suppose to be stupid hot again. 

Waterloupe slushies. Summertime goodness. 

-C

• about 2 cups  of a watermelon
• about 2 cups of a cantaloupe 
• 1 lime
• 1/2- 1 cup water 

Note. The amounts above are for two  2 cup slushies. You can, and should, freeze a crap load more melon for future slushies.  Also, no one would fault you for maybe adding a little nip of some clear alcohol to this slushy situation to make it more of an adult drink……

Cut up a watermelon and a cantalopjue. Eat some and reserve at least 2 cups of each. Remove the rinds from the melons and cut into cubes. Place melon on a baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen. 

Once frozen, place equal parts frozen watermelon and cantaloupe into the blender with the juice of a lime. Turn blender on. Slowly add in water until the blender can handle blending the frozen fruit. Blend until smooth. Pour into cups, garnish if you want with more melon and lime, then get to drinking. 

That right bitches ..  grape soda!!!!

uh-hum. Sorry. you are not bitches. 

But this grape soda is my bitch. It is SO GOOD! And that is coming from me, who is not a soda drinker. (Spoiler alert.. all it is is cooked down grapes and seltzer. (and a bit of lemon juice) But thats is) So why soda? I guess it’s because I can’t make wine since  I don’t have the  knowledge and or the vineyard to make wine.  But cooking down some grapes.. I can totally do that. 

Every once in a while I make something that I think is so freaking ingenious and fanatic that I am shocked that everyone and there mom doesn’t do it. This is one of those recipes. I mean, the mr was more at then thrilled when I handed him a glass, covered in condensation, with a cutie pink straw.  He took a long drink and gave a sweet little refreshing sigh. It was great and cute and make me happy cause I think it made his day.  And I know that there are a  thousand and one other people out there that have been doing this for years and that there are probably a couple hundred recipes as well, but I still consider myself a genius for making this. Great minds my friends. 

Anyway, this grape soda is super refreshing, perfectly sweet, and a great way to end the summer and greet the fall. Great for kids and parties,  I think this is definially going to be making an appearance at a few of the littles birthday parties and maybe a few grown up people parties.(maybe  with a splash or two of booze..see you don’t need wine) over the next few weeks. Who needs wine when you got grape soda!

The stuff. Grapes, a lemon, and seltzer water.

Oh wants that?  Is that drink jar suppose to be an empty? Nope. I forgot to fill it with the seltzer before I took the pictures.( I think I get a break cause yesterday was stupid hot and I was feeling a little woozy) Let’s just pretend there is seltzer in there, ok. and also lets pretend there is water in this picute too, cause we need that as well.

Take your grapes, stems removed, and place in a pot with the lemon juice and water. Stick the pot on stove on medium heat and during to a boil. Then place a lid on it and turn heat down to low and simmer away, giving it a stir sand keeping you eye on it.

 Continue to cook until the grapes are pretty much all dissolved and the liquid has reduced about 1/2.

Let cool for a few minutes and strain the grapes through a fine mesh strainer, smooshing and scraping the grapes all around to extract as much liquid as you can.

The left over grape mush makes for a great little snack on some toast, in some yogurt, or with a spoon in your mouth. 

Oh so pretty grape juice concentrate. Stick it in the fridge to cool completely. 

After cooled, get it all ready for drinking.  Add a few tablespoons of the concentrate to a cup, add in some seltzer, maybe a few ice cubes and …wa la!

Gape soda is the shits!

Happy Friday.. Enjoy the last weekend of summer!

-C

Makes about 5 drinks so feel free to double and or triple recipe if you are serving a lot of people

• 2 cups red grapes
• 2 cups water
• Juice of 1 lemon
• plain (or madiran orange, or any flavor really) seltzer water

Remove stems from grapes and place into a pot with water and the lemon juice. Briong to boil then cover and turn heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes to a 1/2 hour or until the grapes are complete mush and the liquid has reduced to about 1/2. 

Let cool enough hot handle and strain grape glop through a very fine mesh strainer, smooshing it around to extract as much liquid as you can. Refidgerate the juice, eat the left over mush.

Once cooled, pour about 3-4 tablespoon of the concentrate into a cup and add in about 1 cup of seltzer. Mix and enjoy. 

Using a straw is optional, but either way, drink with your mouth.

Ugh. It has been so nasty gross out. A four day heat wave, and no, not just hot hot days, but those gross, hot hot with all the humidity in the world, kind of days. My body has rebelled and turned into a slug and my hair… well let’s not talk about my hair.

Yup, it’s been way to freaking hot to do anything, especially cook. And eating food is’t even especially appealing either (living off raw kale and, yes, lots of tomatoes at the moment) . What we all want is to drink something nice and cold and refreshing (and boozy). And what do I do when I want this, and have a lot of that? I turn that into this. That being tomatoes, and this, being a cold drink. Did that confuse you?

What I am trying to say is that I have a butt load of cherry tomatoes to eat but what I really want is a cold  drink. So I took the tomatoes and make them into a lemonade. And it is amazing. It hits all  the end of summer, super gross heatwave, I don’t want to move, spots that needed to be hit. And just in time for the weekend sow e get to add a little splash or two of something hard, cause we all know that after this past week, we all deserve it.

Think that combination sounds weird? Well don’t cause lemons and tomatoes are perfectly paired together. Tart and tangy, but still with a bit of sweetness from the tomatoes ( especially if using a sweeter variety like the sun-gold). It really is a great, refreshing drink, with or without the booze. A perfect match!

Tomato lemonade here we go!

The stuff. Tomatoes ( I used sun-gold cherry cause I have a buttload, but you can sure use whatever tomato you have to many of), lemons, water, and if your into it vodka.

Note. The mr. and I are not big on sweet drinks, so I didn’t add any sweetener, the tomatoes being sweet enough. But feel free to add a little sugar or honey to yours.

Start by dumping tomatoes into a pot with water. Stick on high heat and bring to boil, then turn heat to medium low,stick a lid on pot, and let tomatoes simmer for a little while. 

About 30 ish minutes later, the tomatoes have reduced to about 1/3 of what you started with and have turned into a a chunky like syrup. 

Strain the juice from the solids into a big pitcher.

Tomato juice! and it’s so pretty bright gold. Now let it cool far a little bit.

And while juice is cooling, juice your lemons

When the tomato juice is cooled off, add the lemon juice to the tomato. 

Add water and stir

Taste, and if you think it need sweetener, by all means, add a drizzle or two of some honey or spoonful of sugar.

A couple of glasses of ice, and if you shall,, a shot of vodka (add the shot to the glass, not the pitcher)

Me being so fancy added a garnish/snack. Basil leaf and cherry tomato skewer looks so nice.

And sit back, put your feet up. and take it all in. 

Weekend here we come! 

-C

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes (can use 2 cups of any tomato) 
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (4-5 lemons)
• 1 cup water plus 3 1/2 -4 cups water
• a few basil leaves and extra tomatoes for garnish (optional)

Note. I did not add any sweetener to my lemonade but you could totally add in a few tablespoons honey or sugar. Do what floats your boat.

Dump tomatoes into a pot with 1 cup of water. Bring to boil then cover and turn heat to a medium low heat. Cook tomatoes down for about 30  minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced about 1/3 and is almost sauce like.

Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the tomato mixture into pitcher or jug that you can serve your drinks  from. Use a wood spoon or spatula to scrap the tomato around strainer to really make sure you get all the juicy goodness. Let tomato juice cool.

While cooling, juice lemons until you get a cup of fresh lemon juice. Add lemon juice to cool tomato juice along with 3 1/2 cups water. Mix and taste. If you think it needs a little sweetener, add a little in. If you think it tastes to strong, add in more water.

Good stir, ice in cups, a 2-3oz shot of vodka per 8-12oz cup of lemonade (the ratio is up to you my friend)… and your sitting pretty. Feeling a little fancy, take a basil leaf and wrap around a cherry tomato. Stab it with a tooth pick and garnish your drink. It ames for  anise snack too.

Sit back, sip and enjoy. 

Sometime you look back at a week and think, blah, or whatever, or that sucked. This week I look back and smile. It was a good week. Nothing to special, just springy and warm. I got to hang out with my peoples, see the world turn green and lush, and I didn’t stress too much about anything because what is the point? Plus I bought a single pink carnation at the grocery store at the beginning of the week for the mr. and every time I see it, I smile a little. Sometimes just a little something something is all we need.

So yeah, the week was good. There was the normal stuff of work and what not but also a fair amount of not work stuff. I saw my moms for Mothers day and brought her food. The mr and I went for some long walks that did not involve any outdoor clothing (just normal indoor clothing) We hung out with the littles for a good afternoon of tree house chilling, baby running, three wheeling, and all sorts of other fun. Miley was super pumped to show off her new shoes that are partially gold. She was obsessed and needed to wash them off at the end of the day. Those were the days,when you cared about your shoes? (I am assuming you don%u2019t now , like me, but maybe you do.) Also Barb finally come back to me (school is over so she has time again) me and I feed her soup. Megan also came over for a soup lunch and a walk because that is what we do. (We are a family of eaters and walkers.) I worked on some clay rainbows, planted some more plants, and cleaned under my fingernails. The one big thing that I tried to accomplish and haven%u2019t yet managed is the bike thing. I have been shopping for a new bike and it is so so so HARD! I am not good at buying anything in general, especially when it is for me, and not food, and costs more than 5 bucks. But not just that, it%u2019s that there are so so so many bikes to choose form. I am all like , YIKES! And so I did myself a favor and just gave myself another week to ponder and look and decide. The right bike will present itself when it is suppose to, or when I finally break down and just buy this one.

Yesterday was a good solid day of getting shit done. I got the winter tires changed to summer (thanks Justin!) and hung with Alex while it was happening. We talked music and cassette tapes and how music is everything. Then I went home to the yard and all the massive piles of leaves, dead tree(so sad) and over all lawn degree and the mr and I got it all into the truck to send off to compost land. After hitting the transfer station to offload we made a really quickly stop over to see Anthony getting ready for his prom%u2026.Oh my shit. The kid is like not a kid anymore and was wearing a tux and looking all old and what not. The shinny ass shoes alone were too much for me. (more shoes that need cleaning). How is it possible that I have a sister that is old enough to have a kid that is old enough to be going prom? OH, because I am getting old. That is how. Ha.

And after that, it was back home to finish cleaning and eat dinner and water the garden and feel exhausted but accomplished. I don%u2019t mind being super tired, just as long as I have something to show for it (The yard looks A+ so I am happy)

I think today mainly going to be a work day. The mr has a project that he is in the middle of so he is going to be doing that all day and I have a few things I need to get done and then a ton of other things that need doing as well. Don%u2019t worry, I will be spending some of that time outside with the green things in the dirt, making sure I have sun screen on, listening to some good tunes and drinking coffee like it is going out of style.

The ways of the internet this week.

– The news of abortions and women reproductives rights has been front and center this week. The lengths women have to go to to do what is right for themselves is shameful at best, but basically pretty fucking grotesque. These are the people that are trying to help. The Secret Baby Catchers of Alabama.

–Report: U.S. Navy Cracks Case Of Majestic Sky Dick. Phew. Now we know who to hire for our own sky dick.

-Can%u2019t wait for that new pool to be build around the corner%u2026NOT. And really, didn’t we all know this already? Your Neighborhood Pool Is Full of Unshowered Pee-ers

-A lot of breakfast food in America is basically junk food if you really think about it. Muffins (really cupcakes), pancakes (really cake covered in maple sugar), Pop tarts (pie) yogurt (almost ice cream)%u2026 Its all just desert with a different name. I Broke Breakfast. Americans eat a narrower variety of foods for breakfast than anyone else.%u00a0

-Imagine the magic.. I get feels just thinking about this place. A Fleeting Dandelion Wish Processing Facility Appears For Two Days Outside of Los Angeles

–ECLECTIC DINING STYLE.. I want all the tables and chairs. Just where to put them%u2026%u2026????

-After reading the list, I feel pretty dang awesome cause I clean all that shit! Cleaning Supplies Might be Spreading Dirt Around Here%u2019s How to Clean Them This Weekend

–How Did Chickpea Flour, A Staple Of Indian Cuisine, Become A Health Food Sensation? Because it is amazing. See recipe for Socca.

–Have you tried plogging, the Instagram trend that might be the sustainable sport of the future?. Even if it%u2019s trendy and a way to be cool, well it is pretty cool and great and I am all for it.

–Can %u201cIndie%u201d Social Media Save Us? Something needs too.

Pictures from the week.

And all of a sudden the world is green and it is mazing and magical. The best time of the year, when all the cool and wet weather pays off with sunshine and flowers and the greenest greens. No longer freezing and it is yet to be too freaking hot. Spring spring SPRING. It is not lost on me. I take it, I suck it up, I appreciate it all. Even the cray cray rain storms. What a time, what a time.

Last week we started off Sunday going to see some jumping fish. We packed our lunches, grabbed the camera, drove the 2 hours to the river and sat around watching and waiting. Sadly we saw no jumping fish. And that was that in case you were wondering. One of these years we will see it.

The rest of the week has been a little crazy. In between work and chores and life stuff, just about every day we have had anywhere between 2-4 littles. What for their parents needed a sitter or a ride here and there cause their car broke down. Or just some aunt and uncle hang time because who doesn%u2019t want to hang with us? So beside the mr finish off the trophies for the Lund Family Fund Raiser, me working the pug mill at the studio, or us trying to trade off the car in hopes that we both can get where we need to go in time for getting there. (Oh man the car thing, that is a whole other beast.) Yeah, it%u2019s been busy and hectic. On the bright side we have spent a lot of the time running around outside, drawing, and eating. A few little highlights. One of the nights So was feeling a little sick and Coco was feeling mean and wouldn’t let her nap on the couch so she ended up dragging a bunch of pillows into the pantry and falling asleep. It just made sense. Then there was Judah with his mad drawing skills drawing me pictures of vegetables (amazing) then farting with his armpits. And Miley, with her tude and phone. Getting her to hang out and just be sweet was nice. And Coco. That freaking little. Always happy, always eating, always causing trouble. Loves to run into the garden and jump all over the couch covered in peanut butter. (that is the baby, not me. ha) We found him a three wheeler. His legs might be too short but we will figure it out. It is gonna be a fun summer!

After the week long little marathon that ended with sticky littles eating pancakes (and being dangerously low on maple syrup), thrift store shopping (I scored the best new photo piece), and stopping in on my maybe future new bike(???), I came home and cleaned the crap out of everything. It never fails to amaze me how gross kids can be. The toilet alone, well, lets not go there.

Today, as it is Mothers Day and all, I am going to be a dutiful daughter and go see my Mama. Right now (at the wee early hour of 5 am, I%u2019m about to pop some bread and then a cake into the oven as offerings. We are going over around lunch so I%u2019m going make focaccia grilled cheeses (with the fresh bread) and hand over the blueberry cake that she loves. Then hopefully just spend a couple hours drinking lots of coffee and chilling on the porch.

Look at me, I am such a good daughter.

Links of interest on the internet.

–Yes, I’m In School for Nutrition. No, I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Diet. I feel this. Sometimes people feel like they need to tell me everything they eat, for approval or something. And I actually don%u2019t mind talking about what people eat. I’ll even make suggestions about foods that I like to eat or ways to prepare certain things but I stay away from telling people what not to eat%u2026 (people always assume I am going to tell them to not eat meat. I say, I do me. You do you.)

-I don%u2019t know how may times I have seen Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure. This should be good. PlusI totally have a thing for Keanu Reeves. Bill & Ted are embarking on a third excellent adventure next year

–How Weeds Help Fight Climate Change. Weeds are not the problem friends. The chemicals that people use to get rid of them are!

-If you are interested in VT State Parks, here its the list of all the parks opening days. Can%u2019t wait for CAMPING!!!

-Did you go through an Arizona iced tea phase? I had a very brief stint with the green tea%u2026 I can%u2019t even imagine drinking one now. The Dream of the %u201990s Is Alive in AriZona Iced Tea

–An Interview With A Man Who Eats Leftover Food From Strangers’ Plates In Restaurants. I think this is awesome and have much respect.

-A question the I didn%u2019t know I wanted answered until I read this article. Why do cats%u2014and so many other animals%u2014look like they%u2019re wearing socks?

-I get all sorts of feels when I see pandas. MY favorite favorite animal growing up. I carried a pink polka dotted panda around with me for years. SO many panda things. So this is fantastic and I hope to visit one day and hug me a panda (with pink polka dots) China%u2019s new panda park will be three times bigger than Yellowstone

–I have heard and seen some crazy fights in the past in places we have lived. A good few actually. It is never a comfortable thing but sadly, we got used to it. Listening to My Neighbors Fight

-Mothers Have Been Complaining About Mother%u2019s Day Breakfast in Bed for More than Half a Century. Why Does It Go On?. I am a strict, NO FOOD! in bed person. It just have zero desire to eat in bed so breakfast in bed sounds terrible to me. Plus I am awake at 430 every morning and I don%u2019t eat for a few hours after I wake up. It just wouldn%u2019t work.

And pictures from the week.

Hey hey hey! Happy Sunday. Hope you are finding yourself happy and relaxed and enjoying all the good things the world is giving us. Like coffee and green things. All the coffee, all the green things for sure.

Another week that came and left and now it%u2019s May. MAY! Can you even? The time, where does it all go? (an existential question for you) Our week (and time) started off with a chilly wet jaunt to a river. We were going to go out to the kingdom to watch the salmon jump out of the river but it was just to dang cold and rainy so we decided to hold off on it. But we did make our way to a river near by so the mr could officially toss in a fly line into some water. I guess fishing season started a week or two back but we have had so much rain that it has not been great for fishing, or being outside much for that matter. Anyway, he got a few casts in so he is happy.

Wet and raw weather wise was the way of the weather this week. We did have a few breaks of sun which lead to an impromptu afternoon hike just because the sun came out. It was fantastic, or started off that way. Up and down and around the woods to the very flooded lake. Half the way through the hike we ended up at a boardwalk that had a little water coverage, which was fine because someone placed nice big rocks to pass over. Or so I thought. A few steps in and the bridge gave away and into the lake I went. Just my feet and up my legs a bit, but yeah. I just stood there in shock for what seemed like minutes but eventually made my way to the other side of the bridge, drenched boots and all. The rest of the hike was soggy, but hey, I was outside and there was sun and I wasn%u2019t freezing cold so yeah. Could have been worse. It could have been the mr who went in and I really really would not want to have had to deal with him hiking back with drenched feet. Now if my hiking boats would dry out. That would be great.

Other then our little outdoor adventures, the week went the way the weeks does with work and all. The mr running around frantic, having doors, making room for giant ass wood slabs in the barn, wheeling and dealing.

Friday was all day studio work. Lots and lots of pugging clay. While I was at work the mr picked up littles (Miley, So, and Judah) and they all came to the studio to pick me up. It is always a great way to get people to listen and leave the studio when they are suppose to when a bunch of kids rush in and start demanding food. People, at least the clay people, are scared of hungry little kids. Ha. Off we all went, me covered head to tow in clay. Found out in the car that Judah was sick (so sad) so he went home and it turned into a girls night sleep over. Pizza, soup, and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. We went walking/piggyback riding, the mr and Miley played with the new wood brander which included fire and hot metal. The mr took them to the store to pick out ice cream while I tried to clean myself up, they came back ,ate lots of ice cream, then showered and brushed hair without arguments. They picked out movies without fighting (movies about ballerinas and singing animals) and happily curled up together on the floor. Me being me with no attention span or energy left skipped the movies and went to bed. When I went to wake them up the next morning, I found out that they had woke up (or never went to sleep) in the middle of the night to draw and do yoga? Yeah, I don%u2019t exactly know what went on. What I do know is my yoga mat was upstairs and I remember waking up in the middle of the night to sounds of the wall being kicked a bunch, and there were drawings of crazy things and colored pencils everywhere that were not there when I left them the night before. Hey, if that is what they want to do in the middle of the night, more power to them.

After pancakes and cartoons, the ladies and the mr spent the morning going through a million awesome shells. I guess someone had massive shell collection and gave it over to the mr. Neither of us are really shell people, I mean a few cool ones, but this collection was INSANE. SO we gave them all to the littles. And gave the littles a boxes to bring home to their siblings. They can have all the shells, we are good here.

We dropped girls off, ran around doing errands, then came home and I putz in the yard before going about cleaning the house. Lots of dirt and mud and sticky shit on everything. I just don%u2019t know where it comes from. Well I do actually. And it%u2019s mostly not me so yeah.

Today the mr and I actually are heading out to the kingdom. We need to see some fish jump. A few hours back and forth will give me time for some open window car rid air and reading if it doesn%u2019t make me puke. Picnic lunch by the river and afternoon road coffee. Hopefully we get home in time for me to spend at least a good few hours in the garden to ooh and awe at the stuff that is starting to pop out of the ground and maybe figure out if it%u2019s a perennial I planted or just a weed. Good thing I like weeds too or else I would be terribly disappointed a lot of the time.

Have a few extra minutes? Take a look at some interesting internet from the week.

–The Obamas Are Making a Kids%u2019 Food Show on Netflix. Oh HELL YEAH! And I am not a kid but I am gonna watch it.

-What a great business/environmentally awesome/ logical/ just plain right idea. Toronto Restaurant Fights Waste By Chopping Menu Prices Till Food Is Gone

-Some serious boldness. Bold Line Drawings Layered on Top of Deconstructed Images of Fruit, Flowers, and Animals in Tattoos by Mattia Mambo.

–Rise of the Lady Backpack. Purse. Please. Back packs are the best, but to be honest, I mostly stick to nothing, just my wallet and keys in a pocket. Back pack for biking and hiking and a tote bag for the groceries, the library, or the occasional kitting project. Simple.

-I struggle hard with my OCD cleaning. I sometime wish I had the ability to let things be mess, but then again%u2026. The Unbridled Joy of (Occasionally) Letting Your Room Get Really, Really Messy

–What Comes After a Rut? Take the good with the bad and all the craziness that is the ebb and flow of life.

– Why the Kentucky Derby is a 145-year-old celebration of hats. Now imagine if people went around wearing those hats all the time. The world would be a better place.

-Maine, you so smart. Maine just banned Styrofoam food containers

–How to be assertive without being called a bitch. Why are women always considered bitches? Well I am anyway%u2026.

-I love this and only wish I was ablate %u201cGramp%u201d when my grandparents were alive. ‘Gramping’ Is the Latest Travel Trend Grandparents Need to Know About

And some pictures from the week.

This week has definitely gone by really slow except that it has flown by super fast, you know what I mean? It%u2019s probably because of all the up and down weather and my overall crazy brain that is pulling me all over the place New seasons do that to me, make me crazy.

The week started off with Easter. We went to my moms (half the family didn%u2019t show up (butthole reasons), did some lunch, played outside, and that was that. Then I came home to continue yarding (yarding is a new word I invented that means to spend time in the yard doing yard stuff)

The rest of the week went. We worked, the mr finished putting the floor down in the porch (I forgot to take a picture) He moved the camper and created a new workshop, applied large stickers to doors, made me 6 more raised beds (4 are TRIANGLES!!!). He has been doing all sorts of stuff. Me, I have been spending as much time outside I as I can, in between the piles of papers that I am trying to deal with, working at the studio, throwing pots, thinking about fixing my bike, and all around trying not run through a wall. I am in that head space where everything needs to be done and I am trying to do everything. All at once. Thats my spring brain. All of a sudden and BAM, my brain is awake, the world is awake, and there is a ton of shit to do.

On one of the nicer days (it has been a little chilly and rainy all week) we spent a few hours with Megan her littles and I grabbed the other littles. We took them outside, into the world, away from screen for a little jaunt in the woods, some time on the playground, and a bagel sandwich lunch. Fresh air, stick collecting, and see sawing was the highlight of the afternoon and a highlight of the week. I mean, gown ass people and little littles on the see saw, well you will see. Haha.

Saturday morning, 8 am, grocery store. If you need to grocery shop, this is the time. Yesterday I got to the store and no one else was there except all the stockers who had nicely stocked everything that I was looking for. I got to it before all the other people did and was rewarded with the best cabbages and apples! After that I went home, the mr took off to work with his work guy and I ended up staying home for the morning, cleaning house, doing laundry, and trying to organize the unorganizable. After that the mr came home we went and hung out with the littles for a few and got texted $5 each of store credit to the hardware store which in turn turned into a bunch of new seeds. Yay free seeds!

Today the mr and I were planning on hitting up the Kingdom to watch some jumping trout, but with the weather being as it is (raining and cloudy) we are going to hold off on that and just find a nice little, not too flooded stream for the mr to fish in and for me to sit nearby and spend some time reading. With all the coffee my can cup and bring. It%u2019s gonna be great.

Some stuff you might find of interest from the internet.

–Our Grocery Stores, Ourselves. Loyalties to the grocery store are deep. I know I have mine, kind of. (I shop around and I am more loyal to the farm then any grocery store.) But I do think there is a definite quality difference to stores, at least around here. You get to know which store sells local. Which stores have the crappy greens, or which store charge and extra $2 for the same exact thing you can get at a different store for that much cheaper. Straight to the farm . Always best.

-Always water, mostly because it is free and I hate having to have stock or broth on hand. WHEN WATER CAN BE THE KEY TO MORE FLAVORFUL SOUPS

I am pretty into these murals Maybe i%u2019ll try not do something like on one of my walls. Interior Murals by Camille Javal

-I could, and should, and dang it I am going to make something like this A frame. Simple and sweet. Now were to put it?

-Just in case you don%u2019t know. What%u2019s the Difference Between Jam and Jelly?

–Wait, I Should Clean My Fridge *How*%u00a0Often?. Yes folks. And I tell you, clean the stove every time! It%u2019s one of the best habits I have ever created.

-I wish I could embroider like this. Pretty freaking awesome. Graceful Figures and Shimmering Peacocks Embroidered on Tulle

–Can Nothing Change Your Life? Essence of flower is a thing and it might just be what you need in your life.

-Trees are magical. Trees by starlight%u2026 Whoa. See the world%u2019s oldest trees by starlight.

–I am very excited to find this pattern for this FRENCH MARKET BAG. Now I just need to learn how to crochet%u2026%u2026%u2026Yeah.

And pictures from the week.

I am so happy for spring. It is my favorite season for sure. All the new, green things popping form the ground.. Warmer but not hot days, rain and sun then rain and more sun. No more winter jackets but sweaters are still good. People are in good moods. Flowers are coming out of the ground. The world is just a delight.

The week started off with a bang. I turned all of the garden beds over and did a great big yard rake and cleaning so things are looking pretty good back there right now. I repotted my tomatoes and peppers and started a bunch of greens and peas which makes me feel awesome. I think this might be the first year that I am actually on top of the planting season like I want to be. Yeh me. I also busted out the bike and went for the first ride of the year. Sure it was only a few blocks, but it was still fantastic. Now what I really need to do is give the old gal a tune up cause the chain was grinding and the tires need air and maybe new brakes? Not sure but I need to get to it, like asap because I plan on making the bike my means of transportation for the summer.

aside from all the that stuff, we also did some work, the mr did even more work (he is always working). I finished up a couple clay projects that have been lingering for a while. We went for lots of walks without jackets and I wore sandals all week. We managed a good stop by to see the littles and bring them carrot cookies. They ate all the cookies (2 dozen), beat the shit out of the mr, and managed to clean while they were doing it. We were impressed to say the least. The mr was sore from getting wacked a bunch.

Then Wednesday was Seans birthday. Would have been 30 years old%u2026Whoa. The family, friends, all of Seans friends went to the basketball court for a little pick up basketball game to celebrate and be together. It was fun, and sad, and good to see all the boys, but sad, but good. Never going get used to it. You know what I mean? Life.

Rest of the week came and went with the usual plus lots of rain and gray, but again, I was all about it because it is spring. worked at the studio on Friday where I moved all the clay in the world, got stabbed so hard by a stray pointy tool that was in slop bucket and got blood everywhere. I also managed to get so much clay in my hair and was overly praised for my height by all the studio ladies. They really appreciate my abilities at grabbing things on high shelves.

And the weekend. Yesterday we woke and basically ran out of the house to moms to borrow her truck (still haven%u2019t found a car to buy). We then drove the truck up to the greater north of Vermont and picked up all the cedar wood we need for the porch. Loaded up, drove back to the porch and unloaded all the wood. I came home for a few hours of power cleaning while the mr ran around all over some more and then back to moms for dinner. (Mom made ham, I brought my own dinner) We ate, Mom brushed my hair and then Barb breaded it which I love love and will never be able to do myself. I raided moms books (found nothing I haven%u2019t read already), searched for a missing bowl, made fun of the boys. Then I came home just in time to passed out.

Today, well today is Easter so after the gym and a few Sunday errands I need to do this morning, we are going to be doing a little easter lunch thing and an egg hunt for the littles at moms with the fam. After that I am coming home and continuing my quest for perfection in the yard, maybe tinker with the bike a bit, take a nap, read, drink all the coffee.. Looking at some sunshine and 70 degrees for the afternoon.. It%u2019s going to be a fine fine day.

And I still have not washed my hair so I need to do that. Most of the clay dried and fell out, but there still is some left%u2026.SO yeah, I need to do that today. I really hate washing my hair.

Internet links to check out.

–Fireflies Will Soon Light Up the Skies In Mesmerizing Harmony %u2014 Here’s How to See Them. I love me some fireflies, how cool would it be to see this.

– The Single Most Useful Snacking Rule I Give My Kid. I don%u2019t have my own kids, but when I have other peoples, I go by a rule like this too except my rule is you can eat veggies any time all the time.

-Want to grow your own avocado tree, here is how. Good luck.

–THE VINTAGE ROMANTIC BATH.. All the clawfoot tubs. Can%u2019t go wrong

-I am so ready. The first official %u201cStranger Things%u201d Season 3 trailer

–4 Natural Ways To Fertilize Houseplants. Now is a good time to fertilize!

-Hate the dentist? Read this and you will only hate it that much more. The Truth About Dentistry

-If ever I was to live on a house boat, this boat would be the one. And the floors in this place%u2026 swoon!

–How One Woman’s ‘Magically Delicious’ Pot Brownies Changed%u00a0History. Brownie Mary, what a lady.

-What the freaking f@ck? I am pretty sure I don%u2019t like where this could go. Neuroscientists just brought pig brain cells back to life.

Some pictures from the week

I think we did it, we made it through the winter. That little bit of snow the other night, well that was it. Until next winter!!!!! Now lets all just do all the spring things and enjoy the niceness of moderate temperatures and the sight of green things growing. We are in it and it is wonderous.

The past week flew by so fast. A lot of being everywhere at once and alll over. Now that spring has sprung there has been much to do. Besides working and the usual (the little apartment projects are just piling up) we have looked at not 1, but 3 different cars. The one van on Sunday was a bust (the guy was crazy and the car was dead. Craigslist. A definite miss there), and two others. Those were not good either (but not nearly as bad) so the hunt continues, as does the back and forth car sharing situation. We are definitely getting to our limit with sharing one small car but I have faith we will find something soon. Our poor car. It%u2019s getting trashed.

In between the work and life stuff we got to spend the most magical raining morning harvested wood from an apple orchard for future spoon projects. That might have been the highlight of the week, especially because I have now realized that I am suppose to live and work on apple orchard. I think it is my calling so I got to get on that. Other fun things included an evening of egg dying with Qui, Adrianna, and the littles which was fun and gross and I actually hate the whole real eggs and dying them thing, but the mr was all about it so%u2026.We also got to spend (babysit) an afternoon with So where she basically spent the entire time to beating on the mr and feeding us unicorn jellybean soup. Good times with that one.

And then there were taxes. I spent ever single free minute attempting to finish the stupid taxes and learn all about tax laws and try to be component. It got to the point where I was almost in tears%u2026 then I gave up. As of Friday morning, I now have until October to get those stupid things done. And I think we are just going to find a new accountant because really, I don%u2019t want to spend all my time learning tax law. Not my thing. I mean, when it takes me twenty minutes to figure out that the form won%u2019t summit because I am entering the wrong date (2018, not 2019), well, I should just leave it to a professional.

Saturday was the gem. Woke up to temperatures in the mid 50%u2019s, went for a nice walk, spent the morning throwing pots, and did some light cleaning. For the afternoon we met up with all the sisters, the littles, Mom and had lunch. The boys went away (they hung out at the park being dangerous) while us ladies went to the theater%u2026..Mamma Mia. Us girls bought the tickets for Mom%u2019s birthday present a few weeks ago. Not exactly my thing, but I was game.. And it was better then I was expecting, although I was%u2019t sure what I was expecting. I don%u2019t think I would have gone if not for many other circumstances, but it was fun and my mom had a great time. My biggest complaint was it was really loud and there were a ton of people. Oh, and that I have a Dancing Queen ear worm. But other then that, not bad.. After the show, the mr picked me up, we rushed to get some more things done before going home to finish cleaning. That might not sound fantastic but it was still light out, the world was still warm, the doors and windows were open and it just felt so good. Oh yes. Spring is finally here!

Today is going to be good. I plan on spending most of it out in the yard doing yard work. I am going to lather on the sunscreen, grab the tunes, the rake, hoe, and the shovel and get to it. Then hopefully I%u2019l be able to throw some seeds into the ground which I am already getting concerned about. The squirrels have come out full force and are looking hungry!.

Let the garden battles begin!

Some stuff I read on the internet from the week.

Again, I filed an extension. Why do they have to be so freaking hard? Another thing they have right in the Netherlands. Filing Your Taxes Is an Expensive Time Sink. That%u2019s Not an Accident.

-So my kind of home. This 650-Square-Foot Family Home in Ohio Is Off-Grid %u2018Country Minimalism%u2019

–Day hikers are the most vulnerable in survival situations. Here’s why. We have lost the trail before and it was actually kind of scary. Luckly we were on a small mountain and we knew there was a road at the bottom. We just kept going down until we hit the road. Ever since I stay very away of the trail.

-Genius. Pure genius And they are Vermont students too!. SheFly: Answer Nature’s Call

–How to Get Out of Your Own Head. I spend a lot of time in my head but that is where I feel the least crazy.. Or is that crazy. People make me crazy. They can%u2019t get me in my head.

-I exclusively clean with vinegar. Even my hardwood floors. Vinegar Is the Only Floor Cleaner You Need (Even for Carpet!)

–Oprah Bought an Avocado Orchard Because Grocery Store Avocados Were Too Expensive. The lady has got her priorities straight. For real, I would buy an avocado orchard too if I was Oprah rich too.

–Are Plastic Bag Bans Garbage? We (humans) just need to stop making more and reuse all the junk we already have. Reusable bags made out of all the old clothing and shit has no purpose anymore.

–“Do Skunks Like Their Own Smell?” And Other Stumpers! I always thought that skunks deals with their stink kind of like a person deals with their own farts%u2026 They just deal. HA

And pictures from the week.

I think we are pretty much out of the clear. Yes I woke up yesterday morning to a light coating of snow on the ground, but I feel like that was it. It has got to be because I have to wash my winter jacket that is as of now, covered in dirt and concrete so it needs to be washed. And once it is washed, it is getting packed away with all of the other winter stuff. So you see, we really cannot have any more winter jacket weather because I won%u2019t have a jacket anymore. It must be sweater weather or warmer and that is that. Are you listening weather?

The week good, if not a bit hectic and all over. There was work, paper work, the %u201cmust not be mentioned%u201d and no they are not done yet but must be by next Monday or else. The mr has been running around all over town doing this and that which has been a slight pain because when he is super busy and I am busy and we only have one car and my bike needs a good tune up before it is safe%u2026 Well it makes things some what difficult. But so far we have managed and there wasn%u2019t too much arguing over car. We did manage to take a nice walk down by the lake, I also was able to sneak in a warm afternoon of clearing out the garden and picking up yard trash. The back porch is almost ready for summer living and green things are popping up all over the place making me ache for more more more. Think of it, trees with leaves. I am getting more excited every day.

Friday was a crazy day. Woke up, went to the gym with no plans other then work at the studio and having the littles over for dinner. By the time I came home I had plans to quickly make a cake before work because the littles pizza party turned into a family birthday party for Megan. So I made that cake, ran to work, moved 700lb of clay and loaded kilns. The mr picked me up with littles in tow, we ran home in time for all the family and partied partied until I kicked everyone out of the house at 7 because I was exhausted and plus Megan needed to go to Costco so she needed to leave anyway. Ha.

Yesterday, after a near sleepless night due to a racing mind, we woke up (again, to snow. BLAH), I bundled up and out we went to spend half the day pouring wet, heavy, cold concrete. I must say, pouring concrete usually isn%u2019t the worst, but yesterday, well it was. First off, we were working in very tight quarters making moving somewhat difficult.. Secondly, I was sore from all the clay moving the day before. And I was freezing. And tired, so so tired. By mid morning my fingers and toes had tuned to ice, I was covered in so much dirt and concrete, the mr was basically rolling around in dirt (reference picture above) so was trashed worse then me, but we were getting it done. The mr was brilliant and saved us so much time and hassle by coming up with a tarp and jostle concrete mixing technique so that was good. Anyway, the concrete was all poured and it is over. (Now we wait for it to set to finish porch construction) The rest of the day was short and went by with cleaning the house. I don%u2019t know how my family does it but there were sprinkles from the cake EVERYWHERE!

Today, after a quick romp to the gym, the library, the grocery store, and all the other little chores I need to do, the mr and I are going for a drive to look at a van. We need a work car. The life car is getting trashed, we have been having to get materials delivered (which costs money and stupid time) because we cannot fit wood and big stuff in the car, and it is just not practical for us to share. So van. A van for work, A van for cross country travel. A van for sanity. Hopefully this van is the one. Wish us luck.

Some stuff from the internet that you might care to look at.

-Thinking real hard about buying these Birkenstocks%u2026but not sure. Any opinions?

–Stop Asking Kids What They Want to Be When They Grow Up The question forces children to define themselves in terms of work. And really, what do you consider grown up?

-Gluten sensitive? Try sourdough. Why Some Gluten-Sensitive People Can Still Eat Sourdough Bread.

–Kitchen spices look startlingly different in the wild. So pretty

–Brown is one of my favorite colors

-Got a power drill? If yes, you also have a oven cleaner. I Cleaned My Oven with a Power Drill

–All Right. Some Cats Do Fetch. Only never fetched. That would have been beneath him. But he did respond to his name. Cats Might Not Act Like It, But They Know Their Names As Well As Dogs

-I very much like this house.

-Will Kevin Costner be my neighbor? Floating cities could ease the world%u2019s housing crunch, the UN says

–10 Things Nobody Tells You About Plywood. I love a good application of ply wood. We have plywood floor tiles in the pantry and our kitchen cabinets are plywood and they are great.

And some pictures from the week.

Hey there people. Happy end of March. Yes, it is true, already a quarter at the way through the year. And no, I don%u2019t know how it happened either. But so that is the way of time now isn%u2019t it.

A week, oh what a week. Not going to lie and say it as all to fanatic to start with. We have been so busy with work and other stuff. Other stuff being bills and paperwork and me trying to get the taxes done. (New rule. We just not mention taxes again until they are done). We did manage a warmish walk to with the littles to spend an hour arguing over weather they can get a king sized candy bar at the store over a lollipop (ended up with gummy worms). There was also a little wood carving, yarn weaving, library pursuing , and neighbor visiting to be had, but other then that, not much else of interest. The week just came and settled into what it was.

And then it was Friday which was a shit day. First off, it was the anniversary of Seans death so you know, already a not great day. But better yet, I Woke up at 4, stub my toe hard on the way back from the bathroom, laid in bed in pain until the throbbing subsided, went to the kitchen to start coffee. As soon as a I turned the faucet on, a little mouse ran across the counter. It took me a good minute of just staring at counter before I registered what happened and started to scream FUCK, FUCK FUCK! I woke the mr up with my profanity. Yup, a mouse in the house, munching on the a bowl of squash seeds I left on the counter. So what can you really do at 4 in the morning? Not much so I went to the gym. I then came home and started cleaning before I had to work at the studio but as I started in on cleaning, the vacuum decided to stop working. Agh. And so the cleaning ceased, I went to work, came home, ate dinner, emptied all the food from the pantry into bags and boxes, then felt all to defeated and sad to do much of anything so just crawled into bed. I figured I would just deal with it all Saturday and I just really needed the day to be over.

Yesterday was the lady, my moms, 60th birthday. Whoop whoop!!( HAPPY HAPPY TO MY MOM). I woke up, baked two cakes, two batches of focaccia, and home made mac and cheese, salad, prepared other foods, and then something for my dinner (my breath still have not recovered from the funk that is of a red onion eaten raw).There was a quick detour during the bake-a-thon to the library for the annual seed swap plus I definitely took out everything from the pantry and vacuumed and sprayed every surface and inspected every piece of food for mice disturbance. (I pretty much have the cleanest pantry ever now.) As for the rest of the house, it is still a mess. Not anything to do with mouse mess, just my Saturday, tear the house apart before I clean and put it back together, mess. While baking I starred in on my weekly clean but things happen and all of a sudden it was time for the mr and I to pack up all the food and head over to my moms house. There we finished food preparing, helped Erin decorate and clean up the house, and then lost my mind a bit. After a near breakdown due to lack of sleep, I mellowed out in time for everyone to show up while Mark and Paul were out with my mom for coffee. When they came home, Mom walked into a house full to the brim with all her kids and most of the grandkids. She was so very happy, I think%u2026.. Ha, no, she was. We then ate the dinner I spent the day slaving over, played outside, went for a walk that looked like a parade, came back for cake and ice cream and presents (everyone got her plants.), and whoa, before I knew it it was 7:30 pm and I was still awake and not in bed. Craziness. But that was it, I lost all steam. We came home to a half trashed house and I basically just assed the f out. The mr set the mouse traps. Have- a-heart, but also some not. I don%u2019t want to know. I just can%u2019t.

Today I am going to clean clean clean. Then maybe clip my toes nails, brush my hair, and get my head ready for the hectic week to come. It%u2019s going to be a full one. There is concrete pouring, the dreaded %u201cnot the be mentioned until they are done%u201d papers, I have a shit ton of stuff that needs to be glazed, seeds to start, yards to clean. It%u2019s spring. Everything needs to be done. Good thing the world has coffee. I am going to need it all.

P.S. It is official. The sandals are out. No more shoes for the next 6 months!

Here are some interesting reads from the interent this week. Read what you want.

-The most significant event in the history of earth. Thats some shit. The Day the Dinosaurs Died

–Why Do I Put Off Doing Things I Love? I know I have been guilty of doing before but I really try to use what I have, especially it is my favorite. Having shit just stashed away is pointless. Use it (whatever it is)

-I want to experience the greatness of the cherry blossom. 25 gorgeous photos of cherry blossoms

-Life we would be something with giant cats. Japanese Illustrator Imagines A World Where Humans Live Among Giant Animals

-I love airbnb but this is definitely something that has crossed my mind and kind of freaks me out. Airbnb Has a Hidden-Camera Problem. But there are cameras and hidden cameras everywhere so%u2026.

–Why Rewatching the Same Shows Is Actually Good For You. I get this. I barely watch tv, but when I do, I like to watch old shows that I have watched before. Gives me good feels and plus I don%u2019t have to pay attention. Plus. Too Much Video Streaming To Choose From? It’s Only Going To Get Worse

-Whoa dude. Yep, You Can Juice a Lemon Without Cutting It%u2014Here’s%u00a0How

–14 ways to break your plastic habit. Even doing a few of these things will make a difference.

-Awesome. KAWS Floats a Massive Inflatable Sculpture in Hong Kong%u2019s Victoria Harbour

–GREEN IN THE KITCHEN. Yes to all of them.

Pictures from the week.