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Category Archives: summer
keeping up with the boys
The little birdie’s older boy cousins are in the area for about a month and she has been working hard at keeping up with them. I love that she doesn’t realize that she’s smaller and younger AND a girl. She just wants to do what they’re doing: “Wren’s turn NOW!” I also love that being a boy or a girl means nothing yet and doesn’t determine what you should be doing or saying or wearing or role-playing. It’s just good ole kiddo summer fun: playing in the water, fishing, eating watermelon, lying in the hammock. Aah, to be a kid again…
Click on
How did it already get to be the middle of July? Whew. We’ve been making sand castles, visiting with friends and family, tackling a mountain of work, playing in the back yard, going to festivals, listening to live music, eating lots of frozen confections, watching the garden grow and trying to work in some lazy moments too. And summer zooms on by!
Have anything fun planned for the weekend? More grilled pizzas are on the docket for us tonight, mmmm. Here’s wishing you a weekend full of lazy summer moments! And a few places for you to click on over to, in case you find yourself in front of the ole lapper-topper….
- I love me some trifle so when I saw this idea for mini to-go trifles, my heart just about skipped a beat. Too bad our fresh raspberries/cherries/blueberries just don’t stick around long enough for me to concoct a special dessert for them…
- I quick-pickled the last of our radishes using this easy-peasy recipe. I think it’s my new favorite way to munch on the spicy little guys. And it allowed me to check something off my summer list. Yessss.
- Did you see Charlotte’s rainbow party? Complete with milk shots and a colored sprinkle rim? Gasp!
- Love maps and old globes? Yeah, me too. This round-up of map decor in kids rooms via Ohdeedoh is fantastic.
- Dear Melissa is pushing me to pick up a new hobby: knitting! What do you think, lovelies? Can I do it?
Enjoy!
Grilled pizza? Check.
On my summer list, I threw on learning to grill pizza. It seemed like a great way to keep the heat out of the house, but it also seemed daunting. Wrong! I’ve already done it twice and I told Chris that I think we’ll be having grilled pizza every night this summer. It’s so easy, yummy, cheap.
I followed these simple directions from the kitchn, including the easy-peasy (no wait!) thin crust pizza recipe.
Bonus! I got to use more of the tomato jam via Food in Jars that I made from last year’s tomato bounty as a pseudo-bbq sauce for a grilled chicken pizza. Delicious.
I’m not kidding, lovelies. This isn’t one of those Martha-esque encouragements on “easy grilled pizza” that actually takes you four days with three gorgeous assistants and eight trips back to your local farmer’s market for fancy herbs. It IS easy. Really. Try it!
why hello there, summer
the summer list
Welcome, summer! We’re happy you’re here. So here goes, my lazy summer list 2011. Won’t you please join me, lovelies?
- eat outside more than inside
- make pizza on the grill
- make a yummy vegetarian/vegan bbq dinner that anyone would like
- learn to appreciate (beat? ignore?) the heat. Got ideas? Gin doesn’t count.
- get work done early in the morning before the little birdie wakes up and the fun (err, mayhem) begins
- enjoy my annual corn dog at the Cherry Festival
- can and/or pickle something from our garden. Note: yesterday, I made this amazing rhubarb & rosemary jam with our rosemary so that kind of counts, but since it was before the official beginning of summer, we’ll have to try something else…
- pick strawberries and blueberries to put up (freeze, jam, bake?)
- become a regular at the beach. Bag packed in the front closet, ready to go!
- say bye-bye to the little birdie’s diapers. This process has begun, but I’m thinking it will be easier in the summer?
- wean the little birdie. This could generate several posts so we’ll just leave it at that right now…
- enjoy the growing baby bump and the last few months with just the one little birdie: happy/sad, sniff sniff, smiles.
- eat a huge, fresh sandwich from the Village Cheese Shanty in Leland
- take Wren to the Northwest Michigan Fair. “Goin’ to the fair, goin’ to the fair, goin’ to the Northwest Michigan Fair!”
- stay up late to be awed by the Perseid meteor showers in August
- dance with the little birdie at the Cedar Polka Fest. She is going to LOVE it!
- take in a few films at the Traverse City Film Festival
- read a book. A whole book! Any recommendations for something beachy and easy, but not trite?
- Say “no” to too many more commitments. It’s tough to do, but it’s no fun to be over-scheduled in the summer, right?
Happy longest day of the year, lovelies! Any fun pagan rituals planned for tonight? Since I get up a bit after 5, I’m not much fun after 9 at night, but I’m going to try to stay up late to enjoy the longest day. Because as Chris likes to remind me, it’s all downhill from here to a long, dark winter…
Do you have a lazy summer list to share too, lovelies? Please send me a link and happy summer to you.
{this moment} first beach day 2011
{this moment} inspired by Soule Mama. A moment to pause, savor and remember.
Earlier this week, we couldn’t take the mid-90s anymore and we headed to the beach for an evening swim. First beach day of 2011, woot woot! Hard to believe it even happened because–I kid you not–I am in wool, jeans and a scarf today. It dropped 45 degrees in about twelve hours after that steamy evening. Northern Michigan, you don’t fail to keep me on my toes.
Have a wonderful weekend, lovelies!
rhubarb gelato
Wow, what a weekend: sunny & 70s, lots of outdoor fun and projects, time with our family, no commitments. Yessssss. One of the highlights of our kick-off to summer weekend was taking a trip to our farmer’s market and loading up on rhubarb. I think rhubarb is one of those love/hate foods. Me? Love. In many forms I like to consume it, but I’m always looking to try something new with it.
Strange side story: we had a rhubarb plant growing here at 605 and harvested some of it last year, but this year, it’s completely gone. And in its place? About 6-8 fern plants. It’s almost like someone came and dug up the rhubarb and replaced it with a mini forest of ferns. I love the ferns so I’m not really complaining, but where-oh-where did our rhubarb go? The ferns marched on over from our neighbor’s ferny corner, so no real mystery there. Did you take my rhubarb, lovelies?
OK, back to our regularly scheduled program…
So my Mom bequeathed us with her ice cream maker last weekend (thank you!) and I loaded up on four pounds of local rhubarb. Things were beginning to come together… I decided to embark on this simple recipe for rhubarb gelato. It sounded perfect – easy and refreshing. Do you like Sweet Tarts? Yeah, me too. You’ll probably really enjoy this one then.
We all did. The little birdie kept saying, “sour,” but she continued to eat most of her cone. It has such an intense flavor that it’s very satisfying. Enjoy!
How do you like to eat rhubarb? Do you have a good strawberry/rhubarb pie recipe and if so, will you share it with me?
Happy Monday!
taste of summer
Happy spring, err, summer? Wasn’t last weekend amazing (and strange)? We snuck down to Chicago to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday (surprise!) and were greeted with a taste of summer. Yes, it even got hot enough that we started to complain… almost 90, humid and sunny! It felt great to be outside all day in t-shirts, gulping lemonade and grilling burgers. The telltale sign that it really was still spring? Forsythia.
Me thinks it’s going to be a wonderful summer. As long as I have enough popsicles in the freezer…
Tomato jam
Thanks, Internet, and thanks, Food in Jars. My life has so very much been enriched because of this tomato jam. Who knew?! I was perusing the Internet for ideas of what else to do with all this $%^&*@#$#$%^&**!! (lovely) deluge of brandywine tomatoes and stumbled upon this recipe for tomato jam. It is SO GOOD. I mean, really really good. Spicy, sweet, but not too sweet, just plain delicious. We had it with some cream cheese on crackers. It is a fantastic use of five pounds of fresh tomatoes. Did I mention that this stuff is really good? Have you ever had such a thing? It reminds me of a pepper jelly, but richer, fresher and a bit more complex. Can you say “stocking stuffer” ?!
