Pat came across some pawpaws on a recent fishing trip and brought them home for me to experiment with. For the uninitiated, pawpaws are a native fruit not typically found in the grocery store or even at farmer’s markets. They tend to fall off the tree when they are fully ripe, which happens to coincide with them being incredibly delicate. This delicateness is a large part as to why they aren’t well known – they don’t travel well and need to be eaten almost immediately while giving off an aroma that permeates the surrounding area. They smell like they taste, tropical and yeasty – think a slightly fermented mango-banana mix. They aren’t much to look at – shades of green and black. Peel the skin off to find pulpy, soft flesh littered with large seeds, that require some work to get to the fruit. A 3″ pawpaw produces a surprisingly small amount of pulp. It takes a number of fruits to be able to make something with them, so if you come across some, grab more than you think you’ll need. They can be eaten raw, but they bake well too, especially when paired with dairy. Continue reading
Category: another day in the life
A grand adventure.
We are back to real life after having had a grand adventure last week of the most delightful sort – a trip to Florida to spend a week with our friend Eric and his son AJ at their vacation home on the Gulf Coast.
How is it almost mid-August already?
Summer has been flying by. I had a long list of things I wanted to accomplish while Edie was at camp for three weeks, which completely wilted in that heat wave we had. It was all I could do to walk the dog in that 100+ degree weather some days. Continue reading
Lazy, hazy days
We spent the better part of last week down at the lake with the Smileys. After feeling like our summer was highly overscheduled, it was a much needed and welcome escape from town and schedules. Continue reading
Summer adventures.
Edie and I took a quick road trip the other day – she chose to knock out next year’s PE requirement during a summer session, which put a bit of a damper on our usual June roadtrip plans. We’ve been a bit more grounded and structured than I care to be during the summer, but such is life.
Lazy, hazy days are here.
It’s officially summer. The calendar reads June, the heat and humidity have arrived and most importantly, school is out. Continue reading
This is how it happens.
I needed a new raincoat. I didn’t want anything fancy, a simple old-fashioned rain slicker would do. Something I could wear in the summer months that wasn’t overly expensive. It didn’t have to be a name brand, it didn’t have to have a lot of bells and whistles, it just needed to be something sturdy and water repellent to wear in the rain. The bar was pretty low. I did a google search and after looking around the interwebs, I kept going back to this one particular rain jacket, a floral lined rain slicker by a company whose name I recognized as one that was frequently carried at The Bon Ton, the local department store in the town I grew up in. Not a fancy label, but the sort of label your mother purchased as a good, dependable, tasteful, well priced brand. You know the type. Continue reading
Pause.
The rain of the last few weeks paused over the weekend, letting the sun come out for a few days.
May Showers
I have decided to credit the last 16 days of rain for the miraculous recovery of my blue hydrangea. I walked out there the other day and noticed buds forming. They still look a little rough around the edges, but they are quickly making a come back. I really think it’s due to all the rain and this is how I’ve come to peace with the current and apparently, ongoing weather. Continue reading
Three is my favorite.
On a recent visit with my friend Walker, he accompanied me on a trip to the nearby Urbanna Market to pick up some essentials. There were of course, certain conditions for this excursion laid down by Walker- one, he was going to ride his bike and two, I was going to buy him cotton candy. Done and done.
Chicken Wire & Paper Flowers 