Category: another day in the life

What a weekend.

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We had dear friends come up to visit us from Birmingham for the weekend, so Friday, Julie & I went up to Monticello while the guys did the river thing (Pat has to spend a good deal of time on the river for his job).  As many times as I’ve been up to Monticello and done the tour, I still learned something new.  And I always enjoy a good stroll through the gardens.  The row of chives in bloom is beautiful, don’t you think?

Our annual family Cinco de Mayo bash was Saturday.  What started out as an excuse to have friends over for margaritas has morfed into a huge fest, complete with entertainment for the kiddos in the form of a pinata.  We went through 13 gallons of watermelon margaritas.  I made them in 5 gallon batches in a cooler and just refilled Granny’s punch bowl from there.  There’s also a punchbowl of lemonade for the kids – we went through 4 gallons of that.  And someone showed up with Sangria and so we had a third punchbowl for those.  Yes, I own three punchbowls.  They come in handy.
Edie invites all her friends from school and their parents (and siblings), we invite all the neighbors within earshot (just to be polite), plus any friends outside of that circle we’ve made over the years.  You’re never really sure who’s going to show up from year to year and it’s always a good time.  We added the pinata a few years ago, per Edie’s request.  That kid really has really tried to take over the thing.  At this point, we are starting to realize it won’t be our party again until she goes to college.  And she may very well come home for it with our luck.  After last year’s epic pinata fail (a pair of 4 year old twins took it out, a one-two punch), our friend Eddie made a ‘stronger’ one this year, in the form of a disco ball.  Despite his best efforts,  it only made it in through maybe 1/3 of the kids, if that.  We have ALOT of kids.  We have more under 10 crashers than over 21 crashers.  (We get both).  The kids started lining themselves up 10 minutes before the appointed pinata time as stated on the invitation.  It may not have helped that the stick Pat grabbed for them to bash the pinata with was one of my garden stakes and had a pointed end.  A few used it as a spear and made a few good rips in it before someone took it down altogether.  (Adults drinking copious amounts of tequila and children fighting for sugar are just destined for a good time and a few tears.) Not everyone got candy that fought for it, so we are once again having the ‘what to do about the pinata next year’ conversation.  Do we have two?  Do we just have extra candy on hand for everyone?  (Probably the latter.  Not sure we could take the excitement of a DOUBLE pinata party.)
As if being epic in size isn’t enough for us, the party goes all afternoon and into the night.  It has started tapering off earlier than it used to, but it still lasted until past midnight. At one point it started raining and the party was still well over 50 guests. It is a bash.  As it gets dark, it becomes bonfire time, complete with smores for the kids.  By that point, it’s down to just the folks who can crawl home.  Since we had more friends drive in from out of town for the day of, we ended up with a houseful of overnight guests, which came in handy for clean up the next morning. Although, for a party the size of ours, clean up is relatively easy.  It takes Pat & I a little over an hour to really get everything but the big event tent down. 
Wow, we sound like a circus, don’t we? 

I was given passes to the Montpelier Wine Festival, so Sunday, we had a lovely drive through the Virginia countryside to yet another Presidential home for a picturesque afternoon.  My editor, Rowena, from In The Kitchen Magazine gave them to me, and as her newest wine writer, I really felt I should go.  There was some great wine and that day is a whole blog post in itself.  I snapped that shot above out of the sunroof as we were leaving by some sweet little road.  How gorgeous is that?!?!?

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.  Lots of good food, good booze, good friends, good times and a wonderful handmade gift from my girl for Mother’s Day.  You really couldn’t ask for more.

This and That.

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Check out my column, Beneath the Cork, in this month’s In The Kitchen.  Be sure to check out the rest of the issue as well. 

Thanks for all the supportive comments and emails following my last post.  Having worked part time since Edie was born, every time I hear the phrase ‘budget cuts’, I’m pretty sure what’s about to come.  The part timer is always the first to go.   It hasn’t fully sunk in yet, as I’m still working, tying up loose ends.  It will no doubt, kick in, that first Monday morning I put Edie on the bus and then don’t have to rush off anywhere. 

My first project, hopefully, is to fix up Brian’s chicken house so we can install some new residents.  It’s been a while since we had some chickens around here and we’ve missed them.  For now though, we have our big party this weekend, so I’m off to do all the last minute things involved in that.  Edie came home yesterday saying her spanish teacher has heard about our little soiree and she’s not sure how she feels about that.  I told her that’s just life in a small town, where everyone knows everyone and she’d better get used to it.  Of course, this is the same kid who talked another teacher into making her one of his key lime pies and dropping it off for her yesterday, just because.

Man she’s got a sweet life, doesn’t she?

May is a minefield.

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Life changing events, both good and bad, seem to happen to me the month of May. We got married in May, found out we were expecting what turned out to be Edie, I lost my father and my best friend in the month of May. 
This one is no different.  Already the idea that I’ll remain unscathed is gone.  Due to a immediate cut in funding to the agency that employs me, as a result of the Federal Budget that recently passed, I lost my job today. 
For now, this means that instead of figuring out what to do with Edie all summer, I’ll be spending that time with her and enjoying it.  I’ll work in my garden, hang out at the pool, visit with family, work on the cookbook I’ve been writing, and maybe even clean my house.  I feel good about this actually, like there is some really great opportunity about to come knocking.  Which is good, because I’d really rather it not come down to having to clean the house.

Current Happy List

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Things that are currently making me happy:

  • The front porch smelling like lily of the valley, thanks to the blooming patch next to it. 
  • Noticing what’s grown and what’s bloomed since my morning garden walk during my afternoon garden walk (and vice versa).
  • Being able to grab fresh greens and fresh herbs out of the garden every night for dinner.
  • Running out and grabbing a few pieces of lettuce for sandwiches as I pack lunches in the morning.
  • Baby peaches, cherries, strawberries and blueberries on their various plants and trees.  Now to get them before the critters…..
  • Impromptu happy hours with neighbors and getting to know new (to us) ones.
  • Continuing traditions with old neighbors.
  • That golden glow in the afternoons.
  • Leaves on the trees that sprung out during the rain the other night.
  • The fact that every weekend I have a 3 day weekend.
  • Every plant species in the front left bed under Edie’s window is blooming at once.  Creeping phlox, wild geraniums, may apples, trillium and lily of the valley.  It’s divine.
  • The ‘side of the road’ garden that I’ve been working on for a good 8 years is finally coming together.  It started as a ‘5 year plan’ that turned into a ’10 year plan’ and has been a true lesson in patience. 
  • Several friends cleaning out their closets, resulting in new clothes and new shoes (!) for me!
  • Local asparagus is in at Reid’s Market.
  • Our family and friends in Alabama made it through the storms intact.
  • Despite starting the week feeling slightly overwhelmed by my to-do list and wondering if I could make it all happen, I did indeed do so and still found time to relax about it. I am learning to just let it go.  What a great feeling.  I should have figured this out years ago.

 Happy Weekend Everyone!

Traditions, with a side of arugula.

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Easter Sunday was an absolutely beautifully perfect Virginia spring day.   The light this time of year is just golden.  Divine.  Breathtaking.  I cannot soak enough of it up.  Throw in all the blooming dogwoods and azaleas everywhere….it’s just beyond words.  I love spring in Virginia. 
We have a Christmas tradition where we invite over anyone we’ve ever met that we discover will be spending the holiday alone.  Edie, ever the thoughtful little elf, decided we should apply it to all holidays.  So while she was making Easter greeting cards for friends and neighbors, she happened to decide to invite a new neighbor to dinner. 
She broke it to us by telling her father I had decided to do this.  I think she had run it by me in the car on the way somewhere when I was distracted, so I signed off on it, but it was definitely her idea.  Which I pointed out when she told her father what I had supposedly done. 
Not a big deal really, I actually love that she is so thoughtful and generous.  And the ask permission by trying to tell her father it was my idea?  Well, she comes by that quite honestly. 
Despite our tradition of having guests to Christmas dinner, we’ve never really settled on a traditional menu, one that we serve year after year.  It’s always an experiment.  Easter however, is a different story.  Our one tradition (besides the Easter Bunny leaving a trail of eggs all over the house) is our meal.  We’ve had it for a good many years now and it’s always spot on.  Pesto-encrusted salmon, parsleyed red potatoes, salad and roasted asparagus.
This year’s pesto was made with the abundance of arugula.  If you’ve never made pesto with arugula, you really should try it.  It’s become our favorite pesto and we love us some pestos here.   It went paired wonderfully with the salmon.  Try it for yourself.

Arugula Pesto
2 cups arugula leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
1/3 cup (or more if needed) olive oil*
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts, chopped
Pinch of salt
Blend all ingredients until smooth.
Pesto Encrusted Salmon
Oil a baking dish or cookie sheet. 
Place a filet of wild salmon in it and pour about a 1/4 cup liquid (wine or broth) over it.
Coat your fish with a nice layer of pesto and then stick under the broiler for 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the pesto has a nice, brownish-blackish crust.
Serve.

Corn Dogs and Funnel Cake.

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 Edie & I walked over to the Dogwood Festival for dinner last night.

Corn dogs and funnel cake. 
Our favorites.

 Corn Dog Happy.
 Funnel Cake Happy.
 Turns out Edie wasn’t trying to capture my happy.  Just the fact that I was covered in powdered sugar. (And apparently have a brand new zit erupting on my chin.)
 I really thought she was trying to take a nice picture of my whole face, not just my chin. She made a big deal about getting ‘a good shot’.  I didn’t realize what that meant until I uploaded these.  Clearly this was a moment she wanted to capture.

Loss of a local landmark.

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The other night at a most enjoyable wedding, our friend William introduced me to a table full of strangers who’s dinner table we crashed, as a blogger.  Thanks William, you made me sound  interesting and I was most flattered by that. And it was good to discover you are a regular reader. Actually, I may have thought that was the coolest part.

Sunday we drove up to Harrisonburg and helped a friend with his garden. It was yet another grey, chilly morning here, but as soon as we drove over the Blue Ridge, the sun popped out and it turned out to be quite the glorious day. Said friend bought this house from gardeners last year and is still learning what’s what. We thinned some things, I left strict instructions as to what to touch and what not to touch (Like ‘the weeds’ under the porch, which is actually a completely sweet columbine I’ve never seen before!) and the peonies that I want a tiny cutting from, but I have to wait until fall (which apparently is when you split and plant them)

  And I got some of this:

 Anything that resembles a daisy, I’m a sucker for.  And I think I grabbed some pink verbena.  I know I grabbed it from around this plant, which I think is Bloody Sorrel.   (I took these last year trying to help him figure out what’s what) so hopefully I got the pink and not the yellow.  He’s got both, so we’ll see what blooms.  I plan on getting a cutting of those pink peonies (I LOVE peonies!) and I should remember to get some of that Sorrel.  Darn rabbits ate all mine.

Pat thinned out the strawberry patch and I brought home the ‘waste’ and used it to square up my volunteer strawberry patch.

Really, it is squared now.  You just can’t see it quite yet.  It is laid out in a more linear, thought about pattern.  Sort of.
My volunteer strawberry patch is smack dab in the center of my garden.  I bought one of those fancy looking strawberry pots and I moved it around my vegetable garden.  Well, some runners jumped and attached themselves.  I couldn’t bring myself to pull out perfectly good strawberry plants and the next year they gave out enough berries for all three of us to have fresh berries with breakfast for a solid month, so I really couldn’t yank them, now could I?  So, now I’ve added to them….I keep saying I’m going to build a new strawberry patch and I really mean to do it, one of these days….maybe next year?   It involves terracing the hill next to the house covered with the sort of grass that never dies, no matter what and we can’t decide on what building material to use, actually, we really like the idea of rock walls, only I really should pay someone to do it right and if we put the garden on the list of things we pay other people to do….well,  there’s a few more important things on that list, so it might be awhile.  Unless of course, I get the gumption to just figure it out myself.
Next year.
I’ve been saying that since we bought the house, almost 12 years ago. 
Anyway.  
There is my early April garden.  That green spot smack dab in the middle is my strawberry patch.  It takes valuable tomato real estate, which is why I really need to get motivated…
And behind that is Pat’s work rig.  And that will be the last picture I have of that thing in the background of one of my garden pictures.  As of tomorrow, we will no longer be ‘the people by Greenleaf Park with all the canoes’.  He’s changing jobs.  He’s going to be the new Upper James RiverKeeper for the James River Association.  Pretty exciting stuff.  His job for the Bay Foundation brought us here 14 years ago this September.  For almost 12 years, we’ve been known as the canoe people by Greenleaf Park.  I’ve overheard it referenced in conversations, I’ve given directions to people and told them our house is the one with the canoes and they always exclaim “I know exactly where you live!”  or “I’ve always wondered about those canoes!”.  After tomorrow, they will disappear and no doubt people that don’t know us will wonder what happened to them.
We’ll get a new boat or two, but it won’t be the same as a big rig of canoes that people stop and ask about.
Although I won’t miss that thing being parked in a spot by the road where it’s blocking the sunlight to my garden. 

All Sorts of News!

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The running joke around here is that if it’s outside of my ‘circle’, I have a hard time getting there.  My circle being the route between my house and downtown Charlottesville and Edie’s school.  The full circle is maybe, maybe 2 miles.  My world is small, yes?
Wednesday, I drove up to Baltimore for a dear college friend’s surprise 40th birthday party.  By myself.  I get away by myself maybe once a year, it’s not something I get to pull off very often.  Taking a cab from the hotel to the party was quite the adventure – I realize I need more of these. 
Not only did I have 3+ hours in the car alone there AND back, I had a whole hotel room to myself.  And the party was a good time.  It was great to see everyone. I hung out with Andrea all through college.  I can’t remember her not being there to tell you the truth.    Over the years, we’ve fallen in & out of touch, but the last few years have really brought us back together.  She blames facebook.  But I also think our collective life experiences have made us realize, you only get so many friends like that and you really do need to work at keeping them around at a certain point.  She’s one of those friends that even if I don’t talk to for a few years, we can still pick up where we left off.  Sure we’ve changed in some ways, but in the ways that count, we’ve changed in the same direction.  Not only does she have the best laugh, she’s still the coolest chick I know.  And I’m quite honored to still be able to call her one of my best friends.  (Not that I think I ever let her know that before, since you know, I have issues letting the people I love the most know they are indeed that, but, she knows this about me and is good with it, which is one of the many reasons why she is still one of my best friends.)
As if one roadtrip weren’t enough, I drove home Thursday to get up Friday morning and head over to Richmond to see the Picasso show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with Edie. 
No, that’s not from the exhibit, I couldn’t take pictures in there, but as we were leaving we got an eyeful of these in the gift shop window and loved it.  The show was great, I even splurged and got the the exhibit catalog for Edie. After the show, we went to lunch at Kuba Kuba and then we wandered around the VCU campus a wee bit, soaking up the atmosphere of their Final Four glory.  Loved seeing the tents set up at gas stations in the city, selling Final Four memorabilia.

I love my small town, but I do love the city too and I really need to get there more often. At the very least, i need to break out of my circle more often than I do.
And now the news you’ve been waiting for….  the winner in our Cozy Noggin giveaway is Kristin.  Congratulations Kristin!  She chose the Abigail fingerless gloves.  Thank you Anne, for suggesting it and helping to promote not only the giveaway, but my little blog here.
And now for my really big news that I’ve been sitting on for oh, 6 weeks now…..I am the new wine columnist at In The Kitchen online magazine!  My first column came out yesterday, under the column name of Beneath the Cork.  I’ve been quietly working on this for the last month or so.  I’m really quite pleased with the results.  I’ve been a fan of Rowena’s magazine since her first edition and never dreamed I could actually write for it someday.  Her monthly meal planner has been a source of inspiration to me.  I had the distinct privilege of meeting Rowena at Leni’s Second Wednesdays last summer.  I ran into Rowena at city market one fine Saturday morning last fall after Leni’s front porch season had ended and we planned a winter version at Rowena’s.  After our first one in February, I realized how much I had treasured my evenings with those two remarkable women.   They are two kindred spirits when it comes to a good many things, but first and foremost, in our attitudes towards food. 
So, that’s been this week around here.  With the usual work,school, soccer and impromptu playdates and dinner parties thrown in of course.  Next up is getting ready for a visit from Pat’s folks, who are coming to visit with Edie during spring break next week.  Some serious cleaning and grocery shopping needs to take place around here, so I suppose I should get going on that…..

Not feeling so crafty.

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I hear quite a bit that I’m crafty. I do like to make things, but more and more, I feel like I come up with great ideas and then just never come through with the finish of them. Either I lose my motivation or I just don’t have the time and energy. Being a mom takes up a good bit of my time. And now that it’s spring, I have to be outside doing something every chance I get, no matter how chilly or gray. The sort of yard work that is happening right now is not anything glamorous. It’s pulling the early weeds. Raking the leaves I didn’t get last fall. Fertilizing, cutting back, spreading compost and manure.  Figuring out what I want to plant and what I want to move.  (I do love to rearrange my yard.) This week, I think I knitted two rows at best on Pat’s sweater.  We had a girl scout meeting.  I baked a cake for the Spring Fair at school.  We had two impromptu dinner parties with neighbors.  We are dog sitting this week, a wonderful old, zen dog, considering him an audition for a real dog, so there’s been quite a few walks and just ‘take the dog out’ breaks.  I finally got laundry caught up, now it needs to be put away. Edie & I have pulled out our warm weather wardrobe and started putting the cold weather clothes away until next fall.  There’s been other things going on that I don’t want to mention here just yet, but stay tuned….. we’ve been busy.  And I look around at the mess my house is and just feel overwhelmed at what still needs to be done.  I probably do a need a day where I throw it all out the window and just make something for the sake of making something.  This weekend it’s supposed to be chilly – snow is even in the forecast.  Our glorious tulip magnolia tree is in full bloom and last night’s frost turned it from pink to brown. 

It happens more years than not.  *sigh*.  It was glorious while it lasted. I really cannot take a picture to do justice to that tree.  It’s on the corner and you can see it for at least a block in either direction.  It’s the first thing to bloom on a large scale and really announces “SPRING!” around here.  
Last weekend it was 70 and divine.  I got a wee bit too much sun on my nose actually. I’ve lived in Virginia long enough to know that March means you can still have a snowstorm before it’s all said and done.  I knew it could happen….I’m hoping to harness it and get some crafty time to myself.  You know, start living up to my reputation. 

That kind of happy.

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A while back, I saw this post and I just happened to check out the link to KB’s etsy shop and saw this.  Having just seen the commercial for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Picasso show where Edie turned around and said ‘When are we going to see that’, I knew I had to get her a Picasso dress.  So, I got in touch with KB and she was kind enough to make one for my girl.

Of course, I had neglected to actually run this by Edie.  She’s quite the style princess and I have learned the hard way, to not buy her clothes without her approval first.  There are small exceptions to that rule, but mostly it involves the colors purple, black and/or hello kitty.  Anything else, she will just refuse to wear.  I was pretty sure she’d be okay with this, but I wasn’t entirely sure.  Thankfully, she got really excited and started telling anyone who would listen that I was getting her a custom made PICASSO dress.

Finally, the dress was done and we got to see pictures.  Edie’s excitement only grew.  She started telling people how she was going to wear it to the exhibit at the museum. 

Yesterday morning, Edie had her first soccer game of the season.  It was a great game,  they won 7-3 and Edie was named “Player of the Game” by her coach.  Seems winter soccer and what feels like non-stop playing since last season has really improved her skills.  They all looked improved out there to be honest. 
After the game (we seemed to have lucked out to an entire schedule of 9 am games this season), she wanted to go to the city-wide school art show going on at the high school, where she had a piece on display. There was an open house going on, with all the art teachers there at various craft stations to entertain the kids.  Edie’s teacher was making these incredibly fabulous hats out of tissue paper and of course Edie got one.  Coming back from such a triumphant morning, we found a package from Koleko in the mail.  She immediately had to put it on. 

That’s my girl in her new hat and her new dress.  The dress is perfect, don’t you think?