I guess I’m a lot of things: a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a crafter, a cook, a reader, a writer, a homemaker, a pianist, and probably a lot more too. But at the end of the day, I’m just a Christian trying to find and obey God’s will.
summer veg
uber cool
snitched from mama’s garden
roadside loveliness
sweet cherries from williamson
he’s for real
will heaven look like this?
what the farmer left in our field
being incredibly eager to go
golf at papa’s (in maine)
jameson’s new passion
balancing ball on tee = hardest part
papa bruce is the MAN.
yes, they really were fantastic on the road to and from maine
“mom, i’m like a big boy. take a picture, mom.”
Our first summer here is… flying by. Rooms that still need to be settled, first attempts at gardening, guests coming and going, sisters buying houses, friends buying houses, and trying to fit in “summer stuff” in all the cracks (sort of unsuccessfully, it seems) has made for busy weeks. I swear the fields were just being plowed, and then yesterday I looked, and the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye.
I don’t mind, really, because it’s fun and real and life. I only mind when I realize it’s Jameson’s last few months as a three year old and *choke on tears* I want him to stay little forever.
The summer of 1 and 3 — that’s how I keep thinking of this. So incredibly special.
Jameson and Merrick at a parade on the 4th:
William at the parade — a little on the hot side:
Jameson in Carina’s new pool (and yes, I did eventually get him into the water!:
Yes, I sometimes miss California. Wouldn’t you?
One of our favorite summertime meals is hummus (heavy on the garlic!), flatbread, and a big salad of fresh greens, feta, peppers, and olives. Yum! I’ve tried a few different pita and flatbread recipes, and then realized there was one in my go-to cookbook, Baking Illustrated. Yup, that’s the book I’m always linking to. You really should buy one!
Here’s my version:
makes 16 6- to 7- inch breads
4 1/2 tsp instant yeast
4 tsp sugar
3 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour*
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups water, room temp
1/2 yogurt**
2 T olive oil, plus more for oiling the bowl
1. In your mixer, combine yeast, sugar, salt, flours. Add water, yogurt, and olive oil and quickly mix. With dough hook, knead on medium speed for 8 minutes, adding flour in 1-tablespoon increments if necessary for dough to clear sides of bowl (it will stick to the bottom of the bowl, though. This is a wet dough!) Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
2. Transfer kneaded dough to a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 45 minutes to an hour, until doubled.
3. Punch down, turn onto lightly floured work surface and sprinkle with flour as necessary. With chef’s knife or pizza cutter, divide into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion into a round ball. Roll each ball into a 4-inch circle, let rest for 10 minutes, then roll to 6-inch circle.
4. Heat your grill, high heat. (Alternatively, you can use a large, heavy skillet, but I always end up with burned flour when I do it that way!) Life the dough circles, gently stretch to about 1-inch bigger, and set on grill. Cook until small bubbles appear, about 30 seconds. With tongs, flip, and cook until there are deep golden brown spots (2 minutes). Flip again; cook until bottom has deep golden spots, 1-2 minutes.
5. Transfer to wire rack, cool for 5 minutes. (Brush with melted butter if you’re going Indian!) Serve the breads warm. Or, wrap the breads tightly in foil and store at room temp for up to 2 days; reheat on the grill or in a 300-degree oven.
*Or you can figure out your own combo of whole wheat and white. This bread can stand up to quite a bit of whole grain without losing its tender chew.
**Or, if you’re like me and can’t seem to keep yogurt in the house, mix half sour cream, half milk, and a splash of lemon juice together.
*****
My other favorite recent discover is Garlic Scape pesto! These crazy little things were in my CSA box, and since I hadn’t the foggiest, I googled them. As soon as I saw the recipe for pesto, I scrapped my previous dinner plans and pulled out my blender. Yum!
For my pesto, I used more oil in order to get a better consistency. I also threw in some fresh basil. I served it on penne, with chopped fresh tomatoes. It was hot and spicy in a fresh garlic sort of way. Delish!
I think garlic scape season is probably over, but should you happen upon those strange creatures next summer, make pesto!
It’s summer. And so far, it’s been gorgeous. Warm, sunny days, the smell of fresh cut grass (okay, okay, AND fertilized fields), just enough rain, and vast amounts of green space. Boy, I sure missed the space.
Summer also means:
:: first boxes from the CSA. It feels like I had to wait forever (because I did!), but I guess that made it all the more fun to see boxes and boxes of huge, beautiful heads of lettuce. When I arrived at the pick-up site on Friday morning, bright and early, the excitement around that table was palpable. Like Christmas morning with a bunch of kids — except it was June, we were adults, and the excitement was about cabbage. I think you have to live in the frozen tundra of Upstate New York to truly appreciate the beauty of radishes and baby carrots.
:: slipping out of the house before 7 in work clothes and gardening gloves. I can get more done in those uninterrupted 30 minutes than I do the rest of the day. Unless you count refereeing light saber wars as “getting more done.” Also, I don’t know why I’m constantly berating myself for my lack of exercise, since working in my vegetable garden means running up and down a huge hill to check on why the boys are screaming, where they’ve disappeared to, how much dirt they’ve tracked through the house, etc. I’m pretty sure sprinting uphill is exercise, right?
:: watching my first attempts at gardening. And reminding myself to be stalwart, resilient, ready to do better next year. I’ve already learned several things: When you’re in the last 30 minutes of planting, and your baby is screaming his head off because he’s wanted to nurse for at least an hour (or more), better to take a break than to just scatter carrot seeds all over — and then beet seeds, basil seeds, and spinach seeds. Especially if you don’t know what these little sprouts will look like, and are then forced to wait for all sprouts to grow two inches or so — at which point, half your garden is thickly populated with grass. Did I mention that half my garden = about 175 square feet? That, folks, is a lot of grass. Next year, I foresee many more seedlings and not quite so many seeds in my future.
:: housework going out the window. No, really. I pick up, do laundry, cook, and occasionally vacuum. And every morning, I wake up telling myself that really, today needs to be cleaning day. But it’s summer! When I start to worry that I’ll never regain routine, I remind myself that autumn comes every year, and summer is only a season. In the meantime, I’m just trying to make sure that the boys have their teeth brushed before they head out to find their bikes — in their pajamas, crocs, and helmets, the ultimate summer uniform.
:: riding my new-to-me bike down the country road. Breathing deeply of clean, sweet country air. Stopping to fill my basket with cheerful little flowers. Catching the first glimpse of my very own house on my way back — and loving it.
Yup, my name is Danica. Like the race car driver, whose name I know, but whose career I know nothing about. A Nascar fan I am not. Things like reading, playing piano, gardening, cooking, sewing, writing, and keeping my bathroom bleached are more up my alley. Read more »My maiden name is Sinclair (not Patrick), and I come from good stock. (So says my husband, anyway!) I'm the oldest of 9 kids--and my parents are neither insane, uninformed, or Catholic. They're actually the best parents you could ask for. Seriously. (And, consequently, I think pretty highly of my siblings, too, whose blogs you can access from the links below.) I've joined a new clan, though, and my husband and I have been "leaving-and-cleaving" for 2 years and counting. We have a son who you'll read much (too much?) about. Oh. And there are pictures of him, too--hundreds of them--should you care to click on over to my flickr account. I'm a stay at home mom who is redefining that title--I literally stay at home as much as I possibly can. I love to be home! Home, by the way, is in Northern California, although my roots are in a lil' ol' town in Northern New York. Lastly, I take all blame for any ridiculous, outlandish, illogical posts. Anything worth commenting on or linking to is due to my husband's encouragement. In the spirit of the Little engine That Could, "He thinks I can, He thinks I can, He thinks I can,...", and sometimes, that's all a wife needs.
"Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments.
Although Canada has a population smaller than California, 830,000 Canadians are currently waiting to be admitted to a hospital or to get treatment, according to a report last month in Investor's Business Daily. In England, the waiting list is 1.8 million."
A fabulous thought on responding to our children's fears: Yes, your fears are valid, and YES, Jesus came to deliver.
Well said. Nothing genius, but then again, it seems that us duped Americans just need a lot of basic truth these days.
"Sotomayor’s comments were literally scripted — for a lecture. She then published that speech in a law journal. It’s apparent she meant what she said, and if a white judge ever said anything similar, his career would be over. And, as former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy notes, any typical citizen who said anything of the sort would be dismissed from a jury pool."
Creepy: the exact word I use when describing my feelings about leaders who go out of their way to promote infanticide. But that's another story. (ht: lore.unskewed.com)
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