Unbridled Creativity

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The other day Edie came home from school and asked if she could take a picture of my toothbrush.  Why for I asked.  “Isabelle and I are working on a short story about a family of toothbrushes and I’m in charge of the pictures.” Sure thing.

Why I imagined this picture to be a simple act of taking a picture of the toothbrushes in a cup,  I don’t know. 

I pointed out the light that time of day was better upstairs in our bathroom and she quite happily took off upstairs with her camera to our bathroom.

A few minutes later, she was back downstairs.  “Do you have food coloring?”  What do you need that for? “Well, in the story, the family is going on vacation and I want to fill up your tub and pretend it’s the pool, but I want the water to be really blue, so I need to use food coloring.”  No, you are not putting food coloring in my bathtub.  How about you use a big bowl and pretend that’s the pool?  Good idea.

Not sure why I didn’t go upstairs to oversee the goings on at that moment, but I didn’t. 

When I did go up a few minutes later, this was the scene I witnessed:

That would be her father’s toothbrush, face down in the blue dyed water.  And that would be her toothbrush, face down on the floor of my tub.  A tub that is admittedly, not exactly clean.

It was clean last week, and then we had a raging party Saturday night and we had a friend who decided that his 3 and 5 year old sons needed a bath, right there and then, and left one heck of a dirt ring that I haven’t had time to clean yet. 

What, you don’t have friends who decide in the middle of raging parties at your house that their kids need a bath in your tub?

At that point, I told her to please bring our toothbrushes downstairs with the bowl so I could soak them in something to disinfect them. Which she did. 

I then walked past her as she was photoshopping her photos she had uploaded and I couldn’t help but notice this:

That would be the entire family of toothbrushes on the floor of my less than clean tub. 

At this juncture I would like to point out that our tub has one of those built-in nonslip bottoms that over the years has taken on a shade a little less than white anyway.  The only way it appears dazzling white  is to pour bleach on it.  And let it soak.  So, I’ve learned to live with a slightly off-white tub bottom, since I don’t always use bleach when I scrub out the tub.  So what you see is for the most part how it usually looks.  Thankfully the big nasty dirt ring wasn’t in the photos.  But the knowledge that not only was my tub bottom photographed, but then photoshopped and printed out and taken to school is slightly unsettling, to say the least.  I wish I could say that she photoshopped the background until it was sparkling white, but alas, that would have taken away from ‘beach’ look she was going for apparently.

I soaked the toothbrushes in vinegar.  I chose to tell her father about the adventure his toothbrush took by just showing him the photos she’d printed out.   We are still laughing about it and we are quite proud of how creative she is.  We just ask that she not put our toothbrushes in any more compromising positions.  We don’t feel this is too much to ask or that we are being too stifling.  Thankfully, she agrees.

And it wouldn’t hurt me to ask what her intentions are next time she asks to use my toothbrush either.

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.

Gardening Hits & Misses.

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On the very right in the black plastic tray are the tomato seeds I started March 1.  Pretty small and sad looking plants if I do say so myself. On the very left are the so-tall-they-need-to-be-supported tomato plants I bought at the farmer’s market yesterday morning, also started March 1. 

Clearly, I need a greenhouse.  At the very least, I need to spend some time reading about starting my own seeds if I’m going to do it again. 

On the plus side, they came up.  So, that’s a success.  They just didn’t do much.  They were in the sunroom, but when they sprouted and then sat there, I got concerned they weren’t getting enough light, so I carried the tray out to the garden, where they have sat and done nothing for a few weeks now.  I have a friend who had the same experience, so it was slightly comforting to hear she had the same luck I did.  I keep telling myself, at least they came up.  A good many of the seeds I harvested myself from plants I grew or outstanding tomatoes I bought at the farmers market that made such a good sandwich, I saved the seeds from the heel of the tomato, so I count being able to harvest my own seeds a success as well.

The tomatoes inbetween the stunted and the leggy are the ones I bought at Southern States.  Once again, I got myself an Early Girl, because I really, really like being able to pick tomatoes in June and early July.  I am a girl of very little patience.

I also attempted to start some pepper plants, and only had one of them pop up.  Yesterday though, as I started setting pots where they were going to go into the ground, I noticed the Serrano seeds had finally sprouted and this morning I noticed they put out more leaves!  I had received those seeds from a friend last spring and put them in the ground about this time last year and had limited success with them, for various reasons, but mostly because I thought they went in late.  This year, I’m right back where I started from with them last year, but I intend to show them much more attention and see where that gets me.  At the very least, I hope to get at least one pepper for me to harvest the seeds and try again next year. 

In the background of that photo are my bolting broccoli rabe plants.  I’ve never grown them before, can’t say we’ve eaten them either, but thought I’d give them a whirl.  I plan on yanking them in the next few days and I’ll let you know how we like them.  Currently they are taking up the space usually dedicated to my pole beans and certain members of the household cannot believe it’s May 1 and I don’t have my beans in the ground yet.  Nevermind that we have a chance of frost for a few more weeks….

All together, I think I have 8 different types of tomatoes planted this year.  I went ahead and stuck my tiny sprouts in the ground anyway, we’ll see how they fare.  I have a black cherry tomato, a German cherry tomato, my Early Girl, some Bigger Boys, Mr. Stripey, Green Zebra, Mortgage lifter, and the mystery awesome sandwich tomato (which I sense may be a mortgage lifter, but we’ll have to see what they do before we can make any determination).  In addition to the Serrano pepper, I planted an Anaheim, a hot pepper who’s name escapes me right now (and since it’s raining, I’m not running out there to check) and a pimento pepper.  How awesome is it going to be to have pimento cheese with my own peppers?!?! 

I’m a total food gardening geek I am.

While we’re on hits and misses,  my volunteer strawberry patch isn’t faring as well as I’d thought it was.  As I feared, a good portion of it didn’t make it through last summer’s drought and neglect on my part.  It was also over run by wild strawberries, so it’s not quite as big as I thought it was.  But it’s still there.  The volunteer patch under the compost bin seems to be happy and expanding though.

And I seem to have what appears to be a spider mite on my mint and it’s quickly moving to the black eye susans, newly planted sage and my rosemary.  Must do something about that this week.

That’s the all gardening news around here.

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.

More with the arugula.

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I always have arugula growing.  I throw new seeds in the ground every few weeks or so, so I always have fresh, new arugula.  Of course, I also have a tendency to let it bolt and go to seed so that I can have more to plant. 
I pulled out all the arugula that was bolting the other day, washed it and prepped it to be ready to use.  I made that yummy pasta with it the other night, which didn’t really make a dent in what I had.   I made some mini-pizzas for dinner and gave some away and am still left with a solid bag full, which will probably become pesto.
I made a nice white sauce to go on the pizza’s – butter, flour, cream, garlic.  I kept it light on the cheese.  I had muenster, swiss and some parmesan on hand, so that’s what’s on there.  I also chopped some black olives and threw them on top as well.  So good.
I finally found a dough recipe I can whip up in afternoon and have ready to go.  I got it from a friend and it’s out of one her cookbooks, I’m not sure which one.  It’s pretty simple and works well.  This batch was really good – the directions say to let it rise for an hour, but I was working in the yard and it rose for much longer than that.  I also let it go a little bit longer in the kneading process, as I made it in my kitchenaid with the hook and wasn’t really paying attention to how long I left it in there.  Turns out it worked better that way. I love when that happens, don’t you?

First dinner from the garden.

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And it tasted good. 
I thinned my baby greens and radishes and after cleaning the dirt off, tossed them together in a salad.  I made buttermilk ranch dressing with fresh herbs and the combination was divine.
The pasta was this riducously easy recipe for Pasta with Tuna, Arugula and Hot Pepper.  So quick, easy and yummy. (Yes Kristin, even you could make this.)
Here’s my recipe for buttermilk ranch dressing.  I highly recommend fresh herbs.  It takes it to the next level.  And if you eat this, you’ll never eat that jarred stuff again.
Becky’s Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/2 cup Mayo
Salt, pepper & garlic powder to taste
Chopped fresh herbs to taste*
Combine and serve.
*I use practically every herb in my garden. Rosemary, parsley, sage, oregano, thyme and chives.  If I have fresh basil I use that as well.  Sometimes I even throw in a touch of dill.

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.