Last summer, my friend Cynthia introduced me to this adorable little relative of the cucumber family, the Mexican Sour Gherkin. The flavor of these miniature watermelon-appearing fruits has a crisp, tart (think lemon) cucumber flavor. I immediately thought they would make an excellent pickle. Continue reading
Month: July 2013
While the cat’s away.
We’re on day 5 of no kid here and I’ve gotten lots of questions about what we’re up to while our gal is gone. Here’s my week in review.
Oh July.
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind around here lately – deadlines & cooking classes galore with last minute radio spots and packing up missthing for 3 weeks of camp all while playing single mom in the miserably muggy weather. Last Thursday, when you could see the air and it smelled like mildew outside and I couldn’t take it anymore, I got our wonderful neighbor Brian to come help me reinstall the not-finished-french doors between the dining room and sunroom so that I could shut the house up and keep the humidity levels sane. I can take the heat and even the humidity, but I can’t take the effect humidity has on the inside of my house. Living in Alabama for almost a decade, I never had central AC – all through college I lived in wonderful old houses that had lots of big trees & ceiling fans, very similar to what I live with now – and I learned to just deal with it. I also had a car that did not have air conditioning. Ever drive along the Gulf Coast Fourth of July without AC in the middle of the day? To this day, AC in a car is a wonderful, wonderful luxury.
So I’m quite used to dealing with heat & humidity. It seems that spending too much time inside in AC this time of year results in sinus infections for all of us – I woke up just this morning with that telltale pressure on the right side of my face. Thankfully, the weather is supposed to become far more pleasant later in the week, so hopefully we can open the house back up again.
Pat spent last week running the Middle James Expedition– while Edie & I held down the home front. Despite our house being the muggiest one around, her pals were in & out all week long. A huge thanks to Teresa, who had Edie over for a sleepover while I drove over to Harrisonburg and back for a canning demonstration at Friendly City Co-op. Thanks to everyone who came out to that – I had a great time and am looking forward to going back over for a pressure canning demo in a few weeks. Saturday morning after a quick phone appearance on WINA talking about the upcoming swap, I assisted with Erica’s Cooking with A Whole Chicken Class for Market Central,while running last minute errands and doing laundry in order to get up and drop Edie at camp Sunday morning.
After which, we stopped at the nearest open brewery and toasted our child-free status for the next three weeks.
I’ll miss not finding feet pictures on my camera the next three weeks, but I have plenty of adventures lined up to keep me occupied, starting with tonight’s canning class at PVCC, a fridge full of produce I need to deal with ASAP and the mailing of a care package of the things she forgot to pack. Like toothpaste.
“Pull Down The Night”
I came home recently to find an unexpected package on the front porch. I did not recognize the return address, but was absolutely delighted upon opening it to find this:
The follow up to my dear childhood friend Nathan Kotecki’s first novel “The Suburban Strange“, “Pull down the Night“. Continue reading
Swapping.
Hello there. It’s hot & muggy as all get out this week and thanks to those french doors that lead from the dining room to the sunroom still in need of serious love and therefore, not installed, I can’t close the house up and turn on the AC. That task is on the to-do list for week after next. In between now & then, I have a few canning classes & demonstrations lined up, a few articles due to editors here & there, a kid to pack up and drop off at camp, some girls nights and date nights to attend to. I’m also organizing a swap next Saturday, July 27. Continue reading
Strawberry pickles, take two.
I know in some corners of the world, strawberries are still in season, but here in Virginia, local strawberries are pretty much a pleasant memory. Which is why I thought it was high time to grab the jars I tried pickling and pull them out for a tasting session this past week. Continue reading
In Season.
I seemed to have finished the great dining room project just in time for our favorite summer veggies to hit the farmer’s market. Which means, it’s time I start getting serious about putting up some food.
DONE.
After fourteen years of being put off and a month of living in a mess, the dining room is DONE.
Alright, so there are still some little details to be addressed, like painting the radiator, swapping out the outlets (as recommended by the inspection when we bought the house), replacing the outlet covers and finishing the the french doors. But these are things that can happen with the room back in use. Continue reading
