Shower for Jessica

The map that I thought the most hideous thing in the room ended up being a focal point for games and pictures.

Really good food, almost entirely vegan and gluten free for the bride.

Does anybody have any great ideas for what to do with leftover punch after a shower is over? It was very tasty but most of it went down the drain.

Fragrant lilacs. Behind the picture was a makeshift speaker system. (Pyrex glass measuring cup with a smart phone inside. It worked great!)

A few of the gifts. The kitchen cake was so cool!

Radiant. Glowing. Gorgeous. Allofthedescriptors that don't do her justice.

Celebrating Jess, Kevin, and springtime colors!

Some more of the wonderful guests.

Receiving her own set of the family's teacup pattern.

I really couldn't believe it when they wanted to take a group shot in front of the ugly map. But we did.

Guys, my best friend is getting married in a month!!!

Spring 2016 photo drop

Reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

"I can climb into any chair I want."

Is there anything quite as magical as watching your child solving the mystery of reading?

Outside in short sleeves. There is much dirt to be dug.

This sweet boy always picks his mama dandelions.

And this sweet boy is sure to steal her chair when she looks away for a second.

Trampolining with Alexa.

Must keep my socks on Mom.

Mom insisted harder when it came to the water table.

Owen got a turn too. It was the most adorable-est thing ever.

Can we get one of these at home Mom?

Picnicking with best friends.

James dug a road at the playground and told me to take a picture of it.

Stealing my shades.

Could I BE any cooler than this?

Live tree growing around old tree.

A long hike on a beautiful morning. 

Found a stream with many pebbles.

Perfect for throwing.

Up in a tree.

Fell asleep in the middle of the floor. Spring days are exhaustingly fun and full!

"We can share the blue car Owen."

"I don't think so."

Nothing is safe.

Poor James. This will probably be you in the near future. Genetically you have no chance...

"Can I eat it?"

A rare "look and smile" from James. 

Owen loves to snuggle whomever is close by.

James tolerates it.

Feeling loved during teacher appreciation week.

Sandbox at Nama's house...perhaps our favorite location in the galaxy.

With beautiful niece Hayden.

Date Night In: Feasting On Spring

Menu:

Rhubarb Sour

Spring Green Salad with Creamy Shallot Vinaigrette

Herb-Butter Roasted Chicken with Tarragon Aioli

Maple Coriander Roasted Carrots

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

In short summary, this date night in was A) the most time consuming yet and B) the tastiest yet. Each of the five menu items required sub-recipes in order to complete. There were a lot of dirty dishes…

…but the kitchen was cleaner at the end of this date night in than any others too! Normally we leave the kitchen a complete disaster and deal with it in the morning. But the chicken took a full hour to cook and we had ample time to wash/load dishes while it roasted. Winning!

OK. Nitty gritties. First off, I found rhubarb! Admittedly, it was Dole and I found it in the frozen aisle, but I’ll take frozen when I’m desperate. I had to boil the rhubarb to make a syrup for the drink. Frozen rhubarb didn’t translate well into syrup. It turned into rhubarb preserves. Which, admittedly, was delicious. But not super strainable. So we had rhubarb sour-slushies. (The leftover rhubarb was excellent spread on scones the next few mornings.)

Rhubarb "syrup"

Pulpy!

The salad was the best yet. I whipped together the basic vinaigrette, which smelled, in all honesty, like a Subway restaurant, but tasted far fancier. We used butter lettuce. BUTTER LETTUCE. It’s as pretty as the name implies. Ribbony and bright and crisp but not too bitter. I loooooved it. If you’ve never used butter lettuce (also called Boston lettuce) go out and get some now. Just be sure to give it a really good rinse—ours was kind of gritty at the bottom.

We added avocado, radishes, a healthy dusting of fresh herbs, and goat cheese to the lettuce (which had been tossed in the dressing). Like I said, this was my favorite salad so far. Maybe I really am desperate for spring, but the herbs made it complex and wonderful.

Is there such a thing as too much goat cheese?

Lots of little herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, tarragon, and dill.

The chicken was…slimy.

Every time I opened my fridge it was looking at me!

I made the herb-butter rub and then…rubbed it. Over, under, in, around…you name it, it got rubbed. <shivers> Thankfully the nasty removal of inner parts was pretty simple. The chicken cooked beautifully and was really good. We still have leftovers! Roy asked me if I would start buying whole chickens since they are pretty inexpensive. I’m not ready to give up prepackaged breasts or legs, but I would definitely consider roasting a whole chicken now and then.

 

Nice crisp brown skin and finish.

The tarragon aioli was another new cooking technique for me. It was basically like making mayonnaise or a hollandaise sauce—egg yolk, lemon juice, garlic, salt, tarragon, and oil. Roy helped dribble in oil oh so slowly as I whisked. (Half of the catastrophes on MasterChef are from things not emulsifying. I was pretty sure this was going to happen to me, as a novice. But, we made a good team and the aioli was a lovely texture. Woo!) It was kind of addicting too. Initially I was kind of “it’s pretty good” about it. But it got better after each subsequent dip.

First time using tarragon. I am learning how amazing herbs are!

We actually used the aioli more with the carrots than the chicken. The carrots were all Roy’s preparation. I thought they were wonderful. If we had a bit more patience I might have broiled them, as is suggested, just to give a little more caramelization, but they were sweet and herby and dipped like fries into the sauce. Oh man, I’m getting hungry typing this blog…

Kind of like sweet potato fries.

I basically described the shortcake in my previous anticipatory entry, so I won’t bore you with more delicious details. It was tasty though. I personally would have liked a bit more juice throughout the whole thing—it was a teensy bit dry, but the components individually were…yeah…need to find a snack now.

I had to hide the strawberries in the back of the fridge. If James or Owen had spotted them it would have been all over.

Winter held some wonderful joys for our little family, but there were also challenges, particularly with the cold season refusing to go away quietly (SNOW last Sunday…). I think we kicked winter in the pants with this Date Night In. And it felt really good to defy its polar grip. Long live spring!

Today’s 1%: It’s always a 1% to spend the day with family. When it’s sunny and mild outside and there are hamburgers from the grill—well, that’s enough icing on the cake for even my father-in-law. 

May Date Night In: Preparations

It’s been far too long since the last DNI. Glad to have finally found an evening where we have enough time to both prepare and enjoy. We decided that since the trees are bursting with colors, the dandelions have sprung in abundance, and the Claritin is being swallowed on a daily basis it was time to “Feast on Spring.”

This is the first DNI in the book and you can actually flip through it in the provided sample on Amazon. All items have been purchased or located, except for rhubarb. My hunt for rhubarb continues fruitlessly, despite trips to numerous grocery stores (including Mount Wegmans) and the local public market. So I’m not sure what our cocktail will look like, but I’m sure Roy can concoct a worthy substitute.

I’m nervous about the chicken. Peeps, I’ve never done a whole chicken before. I’ve never cooked a turkey before. My idea of roast chicken is grabbing a rotisserie for $4.99. But this…I have to insert and remove and slide and…all kinds of slimy uncomfortable words.

Thankfully it does have one of those little belly button timers that tells me when it’s cooked through—which would be my other insecurity. 8-O

On the other, more comfortable hand, we get to enjoy wonderful strawberry shortcake for dessert and I didn’t wait for this date night to make the shortcakes. We’ve enjoyed them on multiple occasions over the past year—the best scone I’ve ever had. With fresh strawberries doused in brown sugar and lemon zest, whipped cream slightly sweetened and specked with vanilla beans…it’s going to be amazing. And very springy. I only wish we could have had Panek strawberries. Will have to repeat in another month…

Review coming tomorrow! In the meantime, it’s time to dress the chicken! “I wonder if it’s a he chicken or a she chicken?”

Today’s 1%: Book update!

34/50: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. A young adult book that I had seen a movie preview for and, while the preview looked a little odd, thought perhaps the story would be better in book form. It was OK—a lot of ideas I’ve already read (children with magical powers, normal people who don’t understand them and wish they didn’t exist, time travel, etc etc etc). The hook was all the old-timey photographs that show the children and somehow portray their special powers. The photographs actually exist and provided the basis for Ransom Riggs’ book. They’re mysteriously creepy and lovely.

35/50: The Girl On The Train. OK. This was one of those bestsellers from the past year or so and I’d heard good things about it. I loved it. Fast-paced fiction, which is totally up my alley. A great suspense/murder mystery. Decent plot, although I had it figured out earlier than I suspect the author intended. Fascinating characters and not nearly as profane as the Cormoran Strike novels. Not sure I’d want to see a movie of it, but the book was spellbinding. Was hooked from the first page. 

25 To-dos while the husband is away

Roy gave me this list on Sunday night. He's back this afternoon--here's what I managed to get done. (In addition to lots of other givens, like dishes, bathing the boys, cooking meals, etc, etc.)

1. Take pictures of your spare headjoint and send them to me Went into basement to locate headjoint. Within a couple of minutes Owen was chewing on a trumpet mouthpiece, had fallen on the concrete floor, James was stuffing old grody foam into a cart, and both boys had completely dusted themselves with coffee husks.
2. Listen to a performance of a piece of music you don't know, following along with the score from IMSLP Didn’t happen.
3. Find a dessert that uses coffee as an ingredient and make it Was actually thinking about this one even before this list popped into my box. But there are enough sweets in the house already. Shelved for later.
4. Convince James and Owen to both go barefoot long enough to snap a picture of their bare piggies I convinced Owen to walk around barefoot for an evening. It was the cutest ever. James refused and complained about a hole in his right sock.
5. Dig through your inbox and read what you were up to a year, two, three, etc., ago Not unless you count looking for old correspondence regarding upcoming performances.
6. Go to Wegmans and get a cheese that you've never tried before Went to Walmart and bought new socks for James.
7. Pull out three pieces of flute music from the basement that you haven't played in a while and read through them Going into the basement is risky (see 1)
8. Return that shirt that you bought from Amazon and didn't like Printed out return label and brought shirt downstairs. Need large envelope to complete return.
9. Send me a picture of yourself We facetimed lots.

10. Piyo Nope. But I played lots of baseball and tag in the backyard. I also figured out the problem with my wrist and massaged frequently with encouraging results.
11. Make popcorn and watch something (Nemo?) with the boys on our bed? No popcorn, but Nemo happened, and was enjoyed!
12. Drop a Facebook message to someone you haven't been in contact with for awhile …not really…
13. Either FaceTime with your Mom or send her a video of you and the boys saying hello Check
14. Fine the next three books to download to your Kindle Found one. Read three already on the Kindle.
15. Binge watch some Gilmore Girls Yup. Lorelei and Luke are completely frustrating.
16. Find something encouraging to text to someone Yes!
17. Go to the library with the boys  Check.
18. Write me a short note Do long texts count?
19. Read the Kindergarten chapter in the homeschool book  Started numerous times but was interrupted consistently three paragraphs in.
20. Take the kids on a run up to the bakery Nope. But we played lots of tag and baked bread in-house.
21. Write a blog In process.
22. Try to find a worship chorus from your childhood with enough musical/theological merit to do again at Pearce I do this every week.
23. Have a ham and cheese picnic outside We had several inside. Maybe tonight?
24. Find three items of clothing to donate and put them down in the garage Two down, one to go.
25. Get into the bourbon ice cream Almost finished! (As in the entire quart…)

Today's 1%:

29/50: Open. Andre Agassi's memoir. I didn't make it through Pete Sampras' because it was so self-centered. His wasn't a whole lot better, but I felt like he was more honest about things and saw his life a bit more in the grand scheme of the world. Still, I'm thinking that all that time playing singles leads to narcissism.

30/50: Life from Scratch. I thought I was reading a book about a food blogger's journey of cooking meals from around the world. Instead I read a memoir of a tragic childhood and reconciliation through food. It was unexpectedly poignant and lovely.

31/50: GI Brides. The true stories of four British women who journey to America as WWII brides. Tragic, but not because husbands were killed in war, but what the war did to the men afterwards. Gambling, affairs, alcohol...these women gave up their homes and families to start anew for love, and this book makes it appear as if that wasn't always the wisest choice.

32/50: Sous Chef. A quick, frantic read about a night in the life of a sous chef in NYC. Fascinating, and I tracked with it pretty well thanks to a lot of chef-ery reading lately. My vocabulary is much more embracing of terms like mise en place and the pass. Still, this guy made Gordon Ramsey's mouth sound like the voice of an virgin angel. Really coarse stuff. He argues that it's the language of the kitchen, but I think it soils the perfection of the food.

33/50: The Undertaker's Daughter. I thought this was fiction for about 75% of the book. And I thought it wasn't great fiction. But it was a memoir and all of the sudden a lot of the details that seemed off for fiction became important and incredible. Takeaway: I'm really glad I didn't grow up in a funeral home. 

If you read one thing today, read this

http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/11/on-weaving-and-repentance-2/

I've been waiting to post this until Mother's Day, but it's been burning a hole in my heart for a month or so now. First off, my mother in law is. this. And I, as the daughter in law, have been. that. The one who wanted to change things and trample all over her beautiful tapestry. And through it all she remained simple and sophisticated. And each year that passes in my marriage is a year where I see a little more clearly how beautiful her tapestry is. How complex and loved and laughed-over and cried-over it is. My respect and awe continually grows.

I've seen my mother act in the same lovely way as Daniel brought his beautiful bride into the family. And Emily has responded with grace. It's a beautiful thing when daughters and mothers live together in sophistication.

So read this, especially if you are a daughter or a mother. May it challenge you. May it encourage you.

Happy Mother's Day.