:: My mom was a lead in Annie, and I helped to make her fab 1930’s wardrobe. (My sister gets the credit for the amazing hair, though.)

:: My grandparents were here for almost a week. They brought their little dog, who was a huge hit.

:: The boys and I joined the family for a week on Long Island. It was, of course, wonderful.

:: The next week, the boys and I were home alone (while Ryan was on a work trip.) We had work-outside-days, picnics, and lots of William asking “uh-Dah?”, with his little upturned questions hands. (Interpretation: where’s dad?)

:: This week, we’ve been doing what feels like not much, but I read this post, and wow. I needed that. (The visible productivity is over-rated.)

:: My favorite height-of-summer recipe for this year is, hands down, Scalloped Tomatoes. (I used whole wheat batard with the crusts on. And one time, stirred in cubed mozzarella with the basil to make a one-pot meal.) Wow. So, so good, and I know that come February, I’ll be having dreams about the incredible sweetness that is garden-fresh tomatoes.

:: I try to stay a little bit in the loop, and regular emails from them help. Have you signed the petition?

:: A friend’s questions about breastfeeding gave me an excuse to re-visit favorite articles. (And to remember that part of my day’s productivity is still nourishing another human being. Being tired is okay, spending lots of time sitting and nursing is okay. It’s all okay.)

:: Heading out to an Amish farm today to pick up a bushel of peaches. It’s not a quick trip, but it’s a beautiful drive. And I think I’ll take all of those un-busy minutes of driving and turn it into some time with Jesus. Perfect.

[more...]

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.”

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!:

Here’s my version:

Grilled Flatbread

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!

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.

a check-up for Jameson (”What a strong, intelligent young boy you have, mom,” said the doctor. Well. That’s rather obvious, isn’t it?)

annuals, perennials, and mulch from the nursery.

weeding, spraying, planting, mulching.

bike-riding, baseball, bike-riding, basketball, bike-riding, little people, and bike-riding.

books and snuggles and a slow morning or two.

playdates with friends. (pb&j is so much more fun when shared, isn’t it?)

a sweet auntie who slept in our yellow guest room and helped keep the boogey man at bay.

only making dinner when I felt so inclined, and especially being glad to have had the inclination for this.

the farmer’s market, and two little boys who love running through the park after that long, arduous ordeal of selecting salad greens. (”Look, Mom, the pay-gus!”, exclaims Jameson. That would asparagus, for all of you who were wondering.)

a special make-memories night of lots of kid games, rolling out pizza dough with a pint-sized rolling pin, and bedtime stories with auntie.

missing Ryan, but deciding to love a week with these two boys I love (which isn’t too hard to do, you know.) Because we may have other weeks to ourselves, but they won’t be this age, doing these things. And right now is pretty much as special as it gets. I am challenged every single day, but the truth is, being a mother to two little guys, my little ducklings who follow me wherever I go, is just amazing.