Taste the Sunshine

I look forward to this time of year.  It's fruit leather time!  As a kid, my grandma would pick and pick and pick apricots and then spend days blending them all up, adding dashes of sugar and lemon juice, then letting the sun dry it all out.  The taste was quintessential summer - tart and sweet and sunshine.  The fact that it stuck to teeth and tongue and cheeks didn't hurt either.

This year, I didn't have apricots enough to make leather, but I did have plums.  Never made plum anything before.  Turns out, tiny plums take a loooong time to pit.  Tiny plums are not sweet.  But add a dash of honey and some time in a dehydrator that my husband surprised me with, and ta-dah!  Fruit leather!

I sincerely hope that many of you get to eat something that brings back childhood summers.  Soon.

In My Defense

Nearly a year between blog posts.  That might be criminal in some areas.  Luckily, I'm still free and un-manacled, allowing me to post now.

You may remember this post where I talk about being diseased and how it's a lot of good times.  Turns out, I've been having those good times in spades lately.  Lots.

And while I could spend hours (and probably have) complaining about how much fun Hashimoto's disease can be, and has been, for me, I will spare you.  Hearing someone complain about their health is almost as fun as having the disease yourself.  I will simply give a statement:

I am winning, and if I'm not, I will pretend like I am.

That said, I am going back to life as I want it to be, and hope to see you there.

Anyone Have Chips?

As a kid I remember this time of year helping my mom bottle peaches and pears.  One of my favorite things to eat was toast dipped in the juices of that bottled fruit.  While I do have lots of bottles of peaches, only one of my kids actually likes to eat them, and he absolutely refuses to dip toast in it.

With that in mind, I decided to try bottling something different this year: Salsa!  Who doesn't like a good homemade salsa, right?

Evidently, my stove, countertop, and that little crack between the two of them that leads to the floorspace no one ever cleans unless they're moving, felt left out of the yummy food party.  So, like a good hostess, I left the party to those enjoying it, and took pictures.

After cleaning up that mess, this better be the best tasting salsa this side of the Rio Grande.

My kitchen stinks now.

Flora and Fauna

I was driving my car down Main Street to pick up my sister for our weekly date.  Something like this:

I stopped at a red light and picked up an unexpected passenger.  He looked something like this:

Actually, I think that Mantis is a girl.  You can tell by the delicate ankles.  *grin*  It landed on the windshield, swayed a little from the impact, and then hunkered down.  I pointed it out to my daughter who was in the car with me and we shared a little laugh.

Then the light turned green and we sped away.  Always obeying traffic laws, of course.  That little passenger must have had somewhere specific it was trying to go, because it stuck to my windshield like I was taking it to a cricket breeding ground where it would be crowned king, or queen, and be fed willing sacrifices for the rest of eternity.  Little Mantis lost ground a couple of times, sliding around corners or when I stopped, but it did not let go.

I carried that passenger for almost a mile before it found its happy hunting grounds.

A week later, another Praying Mantis stuck itself to my car.  No lie.

My daughter was again in the car with me when I pointed to the second passenger and said, "No way!"

She watched its precarious position with me for a few blocks before saying, "Mom, you know why they like our car don't you?"

"Uh..." I said, because I'm intelligent.

"Because it's a Leaf!"

Sinks Are Sexy

That tiny little picture is the joy of my life right now.  Yes, the kitchen sink.

Since we moved, and unpacked all the many, many boxes of books, we have been fixing up the apartment we now inhabit.  There was no kitchen, so my not-so-handy husband installed cabinets, an oven, a hot water heater, a dishwasher, and lastly, a kitchen sink with a disposal.  It even has running water! (I must insert here, that he didn't do it alone.  We had many friends and family that helped him.  But he did most of it himself.  Maybe this is TMI, but it was sexy watching him. *shrug*  I'm just saying.)

So, after two weeks of not having a kitchen, we now have a kitchen!  That works! It's a thrill every time I turn on the faucet.  I've never known quite how soothing the sound of a dishwasher is.  The first time we turned it on, I almost fell asleep with my head on the countertop and a weird smile pasted on my face.

A working kitchen is a wonderful, beautiful thing, my friends.  Wonderful.  And Beautiful.  Even when it's not clean, as mine is now.  The wonder comes because I can go turn on the sink, wet the rag, and wash dishes or wipe the countertop or mop the floor!  All without having the haul the water in or the dishes out. (Before the sink, I either took the dirty dishes upstairs to my in-laws kitchen, or to the bathroom sink.  So, I didn't have things too badly.  We did have running water elsewhere.  That fact doesn't lessen the joy now.)

So, the next time you get yourself a drink of water, or wash your hands, or put a dirty bowl in the sink, take a moment to appreciate what you have there.

I Like To Move It, Move It.

We're moving this week, so even though I have some spare time, it doesn't feel like it.  My whole brain is taken up with cleaning and boxing and plans.

We're moving from a four bedroom house that's a perfect fit for our family, to another two bedroom apartment.  Well, two and a half, as my daughter pointed out.  I think this temporary step backwards is a smart financial decision before buying/building a house, so I'll keep that in mind as I clean and box and plan.  This is smart.  This is smart.

That being said, I have to go clean.  Then box.

And while I sighed as I wrote that, I really do like to de-junk everything.  It's kind of liberating.

Snacking After Dark

After all the kids are in their rooms for the night, I sometimes like to treat myself to a little snack.  I got out the bin of fancy nuts from Costco.  You know the kind: these nuts are way to proud to be caught with a peanut.  Peanuts are an embarrassing cousin the cashews and almonds pretend they don't know.

My husband came downstairs and caught me rummaging through the nuts looking for my favorites.  I found one and triumphantly popped it into my mouth.  "I love Brazil nuts."  I chewed.  "You know, in Brazil, they just call them nuts."

My husband replied, "I think they just call them Mandi."

I showed him my offended face which he missed because he was opening a package of store-bought cookies.  He crammed a whole one into his mouth while I watched, hoping he was noticing my offended face.  That offended face was difficult to keep in place since I just wanted to find another nut. My husband chewed his cookie, then picked up the package to read the ingredients.

"These cookies taste like toxic waste.  There's not one natural ingredient in them."  He popped another in his mouth.  "They're delicious."

Offended face and nuts were forgotten as I giggled.  My husband really is hilarious.