We Had A Lobster Boil!

A few weekends ago, we had a lobster boil. It's something we used to do every June for a huge group.This year it was just family.

Is it insensitive to say "welcome to the party."?

We serve filet and potato salad.There is always corn on the cob. Lots and lots of corn on the cob.

Which works out well because this time there was lots and lots of free labor.

Job done. 

Photo ops are a must.

 Lobster for grown ups.

Lobster for kids.

A long communal table.

Much fun, good food and lots and lots of laughs.

3 Cheers for the Red, White and Blue - berry Vodka

One of the really wonderful things about stocking up on seasonal local produce is there are always wonderful ingredients at the ready.  Local sweet corn creamed with sage for Thanksgiving. Of course. Raspberries in the dead of winter? No problem. Blueberries before the local season starts. Done.

This need to hoard vacuum sealed fruit was particularly handy when brainstorming ideas for a creative cocktails class I taught. My desire was to inspire, so rather than offer a bunch of recipes involving ounces and jiggers I had lots of fun ingredients with which to create a signature cocktail. I wanted to offer an infused vodka and use a fruit that had yet to have its moment in the sun this summer. Just before the local blueberry season kicked in, the end of last year's stash was put to use. I spun them in the food processor and dumped the mash in a big pickle jar with a bottle of vodka for several weeks. A good shake once or twice a day was all there was left to do.

Once the vodka turned purple and smelled gloriously of fresh blueberries on a steamy July day, I strained the vodka through a fine mesh strainer.

A second straining through butter muslin removed a bit more sediment.

The second slow straining drip directly into a clamp top beverages bottle saved just for projects like this.

Is it weird to call liquor pretty? So now what? you may ask. We added it to a good quality lemonade concentrate with basil simple syrup then topped it with sparkling water. Stir then float a few leaves of lightly crushed basil. Find a cool spot on the porch. Put your feet up. Sip.

God Bless America...and blueberries.


Have a Safe and Happy Fourth of July!

Ella's 11th

Last Thursday was Ella's birthday. She is officially a tween.

She will be going into middle school this year as a sixth grader. What seemed like yesterday I took her 2nd birthday picture. She wore the cutest little dress (not basketball shorts) and she had only a single bleached blond curl above each ear (and they didn't need much brushing). Now she never wears dresses and has lots of seldom brushed hair.

Sometimes silly things like that make me crazy. Then there are times she shares the most tender moments of raw emotion that my heart hurts as if it's beating in her chest. Always sweet and kind, she's also an independent adventurer and I love to see her go off on her own. She sticks with what feels right, even when it may not be the popular vote. Times like those make me realized why sometimes the silly things make me crazy.

I recall there was a time when I didn't want to brush my hair and only wanted to wear my horrible, orange-y "fashion" boots with the crepe sole. Time alone never was a problem. Choosing to go home rather than pile into a car in search of a rumored party was typical. I think I turned out alright.

My hope for my beautiful girl is for her to take the good bits of me (real or imagined) and add to them all the wondrous things that make her Ella.  I know she will fulfill her potential and become even more amazing than I already think she is. Okay, maybe I do hope she'll stop wearing basketball shorts and brush her hair. Everything in due time.

Happy 11th Princess Bean! We love you as big as the sky!

Reason #2 Why I Love Summer

Lots of chard in the garden...

Added to leftover bacon grease..

Dinner in 10 minutes...

By the way, number one is Henry's summer feet.

Our Roof Top Garden

This year we expanded our garden. The one on the ground and our new found roof top garden. Our bedroom opens onto the flat, black roof of the family room. What have we been thinking all these years wasting this perfect garden space?

Out of room in the ground level garden, I was able to plant up the wonderful heirloom tomatoes given to me by a talented gardener. The black plastic pots leftover from bushes bought to landscape the patio are the perfect size and free.

Here they are in their new home. It was raining, of course. I have since dug up some volunteer plants - what I think are cucumbers - to share garden space with the tomatoes. My thought is to place them on tarps to protect the roof and the vegetables from one another.

I feel so permaculture-y.

I also feel a bumper crop coming on.

Have You Ever Noticed...

Have you ever noticed how fruit on beautiful fresh stems with leaves seems to taste so much better?

Summer Feet

Henry always wears socks - just like his dad. The rest of us are die-hard barefoot, flip-flop people but the two of them are never without foot covering. Henry, has not embraced the low cut socks but rather wears old school crew socks and pulls them up as high as they will go.  Particularly humorous after many hours playing outside, on a rare occasion, we actually see his feet.....