The Chronicles of P, vol 2

So, Ol's older gal friend, P, returned today, for 80 minutes of play/mother's helper biz. I was certain the timing was perfect because Jack, too, was having a friend over and four is always better than three. Am I right parents out there who've hosted playdates of three and want to die almost immediately? In any case, each kid and a bestie, and I was feeling confident that we would be all smooth sailing and certainly no cussing. Things went swimmingly until a game of Pictionary commenced. Because Oliver cannot read in any significant way -sure he can pick 'butt' out of a foreign Where's Waldo picture and is a master with 'Jack'- I was roped in as the assistive clue card translation service. Ol started off very earnestly; you can see that this is a fair likeness of a hammerhead shark. I'm not saying we guessed that first, but we did come to it.

Now, his picture of 'eggs' was positively incomprehensible. P guessed 'pizza.' I came up empty-handed. And then, he went rogue. He drew a butt, obviously, and then a penis, and I nearly thought I'd die. P's eyes popped out of her head, and as I write this I'm realizing that because of the lunatic mayhem that was our home when everyone fetched their children, I did not give P's mother the newest warning about just what her child was exposed to by her ward.

I am going to be honest and tell y'all that while much of this is most definitely laughable, the past couple weeks have most definitely been trying. More minute-to-minute hanging-by-toes than I'd like. Slightly intense, if you get my completely restrained drift.

T is playing Wii Sports Resort in the basement by himself right now. I can hear him doing the sword play-fruit cutting game with the mysterious 'Asian' music weaving through the experience. It's cracking me up.

How pretty is this avocado?

Jammin' Wednesday

Ok, that is an unbelievably cheesy title in that I mean it very literally. I did just make a new jam. One of my food missions this summer has been to construct a blueberry-based jam that remains interesting bite after bite. I love blueberries. I love how pert and tidy they are, I like that they bounce a little bit and roll happily when you drop them (versus the ruinous smush of stone fruits, for example). As I write that, I believe it sounds like I'm writing about perfect B-cup boobs, but if the shoe fits... In any case, I also like blueberry blue; it has depth, dimension, a bit of mystery. Blueberry blue can look matte or vaguely iridescent. It can appear to glow or it can seem to absorb surrounding light. I find it pleasing when I come across berries with stems still attached; the stem is so delicate yet sturdy, and it's always the perfect shade of green for the blueberry blue. Aesthetic perfection.

I love to pop blueberries into mouth, a handful at a time. Jack used to call them "bubbas" and he would eat them til the cows came home, lips and hands stained that deep blueberry blue.

Despite my love of BBs, I don't often like them in baked goods because they so quickly veer towards teeth-aching, grimace-inducing cloy. I also don't enjoy them in salads, even though I find most fruits terrific additions to a mess of cool greens. The whole superfood salad thing made me nuts. Goji berries? GACK!! Plus blueberries? I was just a'wretch.

So perhaps you see my dilemma with wanting to make blueberry jam but feeling awfully skittish about doing so.

I do love my blueberry-Grand Marnier preserves. They have just enough sugar and are flavored with orange zest, orange juice and cinnamon in the secondary roles. Today, still rolling in BBs, I decided to riff on a favorite of my fruit combos: blueberries and peaches. I love peaches with ginger, and I like blueberries with St. Germain, so I slowly added each element to my jam pot. I love the colors of summer produce- I mean, just look at these in concert?

And I love what can result from a thoughtful forced marriage of disparate ingredients. I still don't preference BB jam over, say, a strawberry, plum or rhubarb one, but this is delicious and different and will remind me of a hot July day later this fall when remembering summer becomes difficult.

Em-i-lis on the local news, a hell of a self-portrait

On this evening's 5:00 news, Em-i-lis and foodie friend C took the My Lil Pie Maker for a spin. Check the show out by clicking here. What fun!! And check out Oliver's newest self-portrait. Wow.