Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Bounty

Luke and I brought home a lot of fruit from our Friday picking.
Blueberries.
Cherries.
And the last of their strawberries.














Thanks, Ina, for Blueberry Crumb Cake, and Tri-berry muffins.
I’d be lost in my kitchen without you.
Sorry, no link for the muffins.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Blueberry Picking






















Voyage Home

Luke and I had great trip to Memphis and Mississippi.
It was sweet to see old friends and dear family and friends.
We certainly don’t get to see them enough.
Our return flight was carefully selected so that we could have lunch in Memphis, board the afternoon flight home where Luke would promptly pass out for his afternoon nap.
One part of that plan was thwarted.
On our two hour drive to Memphis from Mississippi Luke quickly fell asleep for the entire ride.
Thank goodness the flight home is just under two hours.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch.
Three cheers for hashbrown casserole!
































When I checked in I asked for the bulk head row in the front
and was silently accommodated by the not so friendly airline person.
How much did I l-o-v-e that I got the aisle seat and that the seat next to us was empty?
It was a blessing for sure.
For me at least.
Not so much for the stodgy Englishman sitting in the window seat.
Luke kindly and softly greeted him with several hellos which were generally ignored except for the occasional confused glance from the stodgy Englishman with faux Prada black rimmed glasses.

Enjoying his very own seat.

















I have to share what was our worst behavior on the plane.
We were in the row behind first class, with direct access to the curtain separating steerage and first class.
Several times, before I was able to stop him, Luke would pull back the curtain and screamed at the top of his lungs, “HI PEOPLE!”

I really did try to stop him.
But he is quick.
And I had to control my laughter.
And at least he wasn’t screaming bloody murder.

Mississippi

After our Memphis visit Luke and I
made our way to Mississippi to see my Mom’s family.
Our Mississippi visit included three main parts: family, food, and pool time.
It also included a heat wave and a ridiculous amount of bugs.
I’m talking 107 degrees Mississippi hot and 6,834 bugs per person.

SaSa, Luke, and Lindy















SaSa, Luke, and Camille















About that food…
My grandmother, SaSa, made a totally awesome dinner on Monday.
I think she cooked all day and it oozed Southern goodness.
Somebody counted and there was something like 3 main dishes and 15 or so side dishes.
It was food fabulous.

SaSa cooking one of my Southern favorites, fried okra.


























We were grateful for my Aunt Genia’s pool given the brutal heat.















Papa Joe and my Aunt Diane watching the fun.















Hayden played so kindly with Luke.



















Friday, June 26, 2009

Memphis

Luke and I had a quick stay in Memphis last week.
We visited my dear friends Jenni and Camille.
Our first stop was Camille’s absolutely positively charming home.

















Then we headed to our more permanent accommodations at Jenni’s house.
Our accommodations came with a built-in playmate, Elena!
Do you see the painting on the wall?
Jenni’s sister Megan painted it and I am obsessed with it.
Have been for years.












































Watching Batman











For dinner on Saturday night Camille and Jenni had a Saladpalooza!
Lots of fun and I think you should do it for a summer dinner with your girlfriends too.
One of Camille’s salads required a watermelon.
Camille cut her watermelon and was surprised to find it was a yellow watermelon.
Did you even know they came in yellow?!
It was good. Tasted like watermelon.
















Elena feeding Luke yellow watermelon.











Saladpalooza!















Sunday morning we went out for a wonderful breakfast.
Seriously, a wonderful breakfast.
I talked about it for hours afterwards and thought about it for days.


























Confidential to my Memphis Friends: Camille, Luke has asked for you twice since we got back. Jenni, Luke likes to whisper your last name to me.

Pool Love

The daily afternoon thunderstorms seem to have ceased
and we can finally enjoy the rooftop pool!











Thursday, June 18, 2009

Burning a Pizza

Last night around 11:30pm some guy down the hall burnt a pizza.
Maybe I should say he incinerated a pizza
because the fire alarms went off,
there was smoke,
most people in the building evacuated
and several fire trucks arrived.
We were allowed back in after about 30 minutes or so
BUT my 20 month old son had been awakened with alarms and flashing lights.
Can you imagine getting him back to sleep?
My darling 20 month old is taking his second nap of the day and his poor parents are struggling.

Do you think the pizza burner is taking a nap right now?
Should I go bang on his door and then run?
No.
That wouldn’t be kind to the pizza burner who just moved to the building this month.
He must feel like such a boob.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Alameda

As a rule, I believe that Clarks shoes are reserved for teachers over 40 or women over 50.

I broke my rule.
And I encourage you to break it.
I was in need of a new wedge summer shoe.
And look what I found made by Clarks…
The Alameda.


Strappy.
RED.
Wedge.
Unmatched comfort.









You are welcome for this public footwear service announcement.

P.S. I do not receive anything from anybody for passing this good information along.

P.P.S. If you aren’t a teacher over 40 or a woman over 50 what are you doing wearing Clarks anyway? Wear the awesome shoes while you can endure the pain.

Heart in the Kitchen

During this season of life I feel like a short order cook.
But really I have the heart of a baker.
I don’t pretend to have time to bake.
And I wouldn’t dare to bake while Luke is napping in our cozy two bedroom apartment…a baked good is not worth rousing a napping child.

Don’t have time to bake either?
Oh, not a good baker?
Don’t worry.
All is not lost because of King Arthur Flour.
King Arthur Flour doesn’t just supply flour.
They have a baker’s catalogue and website.

My current favorite is the traditional scone mixes.
You can even buy organic scone mixes.
The lemon blueberry scones are fabulous.
I can’t wait to try Cranberry Orange and Chocolate Chunk.
I’m currently coveting the mini-scone pan.

And I think the maryann cake pan needs a home on my shelf.
Wouldn’t you think I was fancy if you came over and I gave you a slice of honey lemon cake with blueberries on top?

Go forth and bake.
Oh, and you are welcome.

P.S. I do not receive anything from anybody for telling you about the goodness of King Arthur Flour. Well, except maybe your good will when you enjoy your own scones.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Awesomeness

Living in themiddleofnowhere is
so much more tolerable in the summer.
Only only because of my access to fresh local produce.
I checked my email this afternoon to find an email from
a woman in our building whose daughter married a local and prospering farmer.
There is an abundance of zucchini, squash, corn, and cucumbers at the farm and
she had free extras outside her front door!!

We grabbed our bags and with one quick elevator ride three floors up
we happily took home one amazingly huge cucumber and three mighty zucchini.