Mother's Day and Appreciated Teacher gifts

Do you know what makes for awesome Mother's Day and Appreciated Teacher treats? Homemade jams, jellies and chutneys! I just checked my stash and am flush with a small amount of some great flavors:

Spiced Apple Butter
Pear-Apple Butter with Cardamom
Citrusy Mango Butter
Mango Chutney with a kick
Blood Orange-Prosecco Jelly
Strawberry-Rhubarb-Lemon Jam
Three-citrus Marmalade
Meyer Lemon cocktail syrup
Treat yourself, a mom, a teacher or a friend to some of these goodies! Yum!

Monday, Monday

At 3:00 this morning, Oliver had a horrible nightmare about someone taking and throwing away his beloved Tool Sheet. If you're unfamiliar with Tool Sheet, it's the sham cover that matches his comforter (covered with pictures of tools) but which immediately became his favorite-ever lovey and so has never been allowed onto a pillow for its stated purpose. The only space from Tool Sheet Oliver willingly agrees to, and even this is not an all-the-time OK, is when T.S. smells and must have a bath. As this dream was about T.S. being both taken and disposed of, I could understand his screams of terror and upset. He did not remember this awakening this morning, but I did, in large part because I never really got back to sleep. What slumber I was able to get was repeatedly interrupted by some bizarre and horrid butt pain that overtook me and which I could not escape and cannot explain. A pleasant night, yes? Especially after two (strong) margaritas.

As such, today has been rough. I still can't remember if I ever brushed my teeth, but as I basically refused to go out in public, it doesn't really matter. Nutmeg and I snoozed for a bit while Ol was at school, and I'm exceedingly grateful that a great babysitter arrived at 2:30. I've been in bed in the basement writing ever since. Aah.

I had big plans for making all sorts of delicious dishes today, but instead I think T and I will have a leftovers meal and clean out the fridge. I also had big plans for working in the yard but as if we're moving seasonally backwards, it's cold and rainy and to plant my tomatoes and beans would just be sentencing them to immediate demise. Boo on this weather!

What I won't be doing is looking at any more news. It's just awful today: death everywhere.

Cinco de Mayo

For no good or understandable reason, I adore Cinco de Mayo. Maybe it's simply the ring of the name, perhaps it's a deep love of margaritas, maybe because it's a somewhat fabricated "holiday" it reminds me of Louisiana happily partying for any or no reason except to simply do so. Regardless, I cottoned to CdM years ago and still feel extremely spirited each year on this date.We whipped up a batch of Lindsay's Margaritas (see Drinks; these are both earth-shatteringly easy and good), opened some chips and salsa, had some guac, and I made a coriander and cilantro flatbread (see Breads; these are fab). Our deck hit the spot tonight; it was great to take a load off after a long day of baseball, birthday parties, writing class and so on. Hope you've all had a good weekend, dear readers. I've got a serious yen for pie brewing so will have to whip one up this week. Adios! Viva el Cinco de Mayo!