Still without power, have decamped to in-laws

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After an extremely rough night which culminated in Jack waking me up at 3:30am and then Oliver at 4, we finally decided that the power wasn't going to come back soon enough to keep us sane in our hot house. To my in-laws! Their power resumed sometime yesterday, so we cleared out the fridge and freezer, packed up the kids and dog, tried to remember everything else, and as T left for work, I headed out here. No camp, so we've just been hanging around appreciating the cool. I went back home for a bit to clean and toss and damnation was it hot.

I feel totally sleep-deprived but am hoping to catch up soon. Power is out at the center where I take my photog class, and we won't know until later if class tonight is on. Though I like it a lot, I am definitely hoping it gets rainchecked. Camp will resume tomorrow which is superb news, and hopefully our house will head back online sometime soon. Jack's birthday is Wednesday, and I hate to think of it being a bummer in any way.

Pics from last night's dinner are not terrific, BUT they do give you a sense of just how darn good the meal was. Fab! The color is slightly off here, but these tomatoes are insane: capers, anchovies, garlic, olive oil and these gorgeous Sungolds. The fresh corn and the steaks were awesome too- mint pesto was a lovely accompaniment.

Without, but not

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Though I still feel awfully lucky, our power went out 3 hours ago. Rationing of fridge-opening has commenced in earnest, and I am just happy that I did so much laundry, cleaning and cooking yesterday! And that we had AC most of today. We got the boys to bed; they wanted their blankets and lovies, but I am soon going to sneak in and remove all sheeting from their limbs as the temp is rising. T and I fixed a hell of a meal- grilled steaks (thawed from the freezer), grilled corn (from today's FM), fresh ricotta and an oven-free version of my Sungold Love, and a great bottle of Rioja.

Presently, I am feeling oh-so pioneer and finishing up my watermelon rind preserves by the remaining light of day and the occasional candle, er flashlight. Our gas stove still works, and as I don't know if our fridge will come back online anytime soon, I figured I might as well truly preserve this stuff rather than risk it going to waste in a failed icebox. I've  made a video tutorial, and if its not too wacky, I'll post it.