Whoa! Percy! Cocktail!

What a day! It started in some a lovely fashion- the boys slept until 6:20, two girlfriends came over for tea and nibbles, I got a massage(!), the boys were in good moods, and so forth. Smooth sailing and then.... Dah, dah... I get a call from a name I don't recognize. I decide to answer it and THANK GOD I did because it was a great Samaritan who had picked up my escapee pug (the gate opened by itself and he happened to be outside- what!?) as he ran aimlessly and crazily through a very busy traffic circle during rush hour. She was sure she and her children were going to watch him get pancaked, but in the meantime, she had the wherewithal to pull her car over and woo Percy with chicken they'd just bought for their take-out dinner tonight. Then they called us and the rest is history. OMG! In any case, a good day overall. The massage? Bliss! Time with girlfriends? Fab. These ladies and I met three years ago in Pilates. We have seen one another pretty much every week since which, if you think about it, is a lot more than you probably see most people. We had a great time, and I was able to pawn some pie and jams off on them. Thank you J and G! And during their visit, I finished up the apricot-sour cherry jam. I think it will be more of a sauce as it didn't set in a dramatic way, but the flavor is amazing.

This evening, awash in sour cherries and mint, I just got going with both. First I made a terrific mint simple syrup. Then I poached some sour cherries in that syrup and then froze them for the boys; they devoured them. Finally, I made a new cocktail which I've just drunk 2 of. Super! Mint syrup, lemon, vodka, St. Germain and dressed with two frozen minty cherries and a little mint. Ooh-la-la.

Who else finds the Koch brothers a little scary? They've pledged to spend/raise $400 mill in the hopes that Romney is elected. Yo!

Monday morning aaahh...

Jack was up about four times last night (and naturally came and woke me each time), and Oliver got up for the day at his normal just-before-6 hour. He'd refused to nap yesterday and dozed off during his bath. Sitting up. Bubbles all around. Surely you jest, say you. Alas no. So, he was down for the count at 5:50pm. 12 good hours before 6am the next day- isn't that nuts?! Anyway, I'm not sure what was going on with Jack because usually that kid sleeps like a hibernating animal but in any case, when they were both happily at camp this morning, I was happily quiet and alone here at home. There were (and remain) loads of cherries in my fridge just hoping to be pitted, so I finished up the sour cherry ones a bit ago. Some are in the freezer, others are macerating in anticipation of tomorrow's making of Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Apricot-Sour Cherry with St. Germain jam. Sounds fab, yes? I'm soon off to deal with the sweet cherries but am taking a slight break because my cherry-pitter arm is a mite bit tired.

This morning also found me on a mad purge of Jack's room. That child is, perhaps, the youngest hoarder ever. Gum wrappers, rocks, reams of previously-completed coloring pages that map with his passions: cowboys, police, Canadian coast guard (why Canada? not sure), Angry Birds, superheroes, and so forth. I recycled the ones that didn't have any of his precious writing on them as his notes just slay me with their hilarious messages and dear, earnest print. His room is now free of broken toys, two-year-old Highlights, Lego instructions he doesn't need. Winter clothes are put away (slightly late; better than never), and I hung up these awesome chalkboard decals which have +, -, and = signs on them. He's super interested in "equations" right now, so I figured why not keep it fun and let him feel like he's writing on his walls while also learning. Aren't these cool? I just got them on sale from The Land of Nod- such a fun kids' store!

Thoughts on local food production, just-pickled lots of stuff

I really find the whole process of buying just-harvested produce in the morning and preserving or cooking it mere hours later to be infinitely satisfying. It makes me feel connected to the Earth and to the farmers who worked to nurture these foods as they grew and then gently picked and transported them to market. I imagine they watch with pride as we head home with our purchases, perhaps wondering what we'll be cooking, whether it'd be something they'd like, if we'll treat the food well or let it go to waste. Leaving the market with a big haul, as I did this morning, always feels like a terrifically good challenge to me precisely because I feel I can't, WON'T, let their hard work be for naught. Even though I compost all our food waste, it still feels like I'm letting down the many farmers from whom I buy if I don't utilize and appreciate their wares.

So it feels quite good and quite productive to have already taken care of the garlic scapes and most all the squash. Pretty, huh?!