Life is in the Details

When our Daughter Does the Cooking

Earlier this Spring, my daughter was assigned to cook a meal for the family. She had to plan the menu, print up a copy of the menu, prep and cook the recipes, serve the meal, and then clean up after. She had been looking forward to that day since starting her home ec class that semester.

The Menu

Field Greens with Mixed Berries, Pickled Shallots, Toasted Sunflower Seeds with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Roasted Tomato Soup

Brie Grilled Cheese with Membrillo Paste

Chocolate Mousse Cups with Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

 

 

It didn't matter that the chocolate mousse would've been more appropriately named Chocolate Mousse Soup... it still tasted delicious. This means she'll get to attempt this again (we hope) and see where things might have gone awry.

The meal itself was delicious. She used a variety of my cookbooks and recipe database for the soup and chocolate mousse recipes.

We all really appreciated her hard work and she got to experience what it's like to have to plan a meal for 4 people that don't all like the same thing. She was originally going to make something else that she wanted but I reminded her that her dad won't eat that and she was visibly frustrated. It's not always easy to cook for 1 omnivore, 2 vegetarians, and a picky almost-vegetarian (but really he wants to be a cheese-and-wheat-atarian). She did a wonderful job. The soup was incredibly flavorful from her properly roasting and seasoning them (and the herbs! Oh, how I love the herbs!). She's in home ec for the whole year this academic year and I REALLY hope they assign this kind of project again!

I love getting kids in the kitchen, so much so that I've begun teaching a cooking class at my synagogue for the teens that are a part of the post-B'nai Mitzvah program. We've already completed two weeks and we are having so much fun cooking up good eats. The kids decoured the spinach quiche last week (which surprised even them)!

Everything is going to be okay

Last night we had our cousins over for some grilling and whenever I'm with them I'm reminded of how much I love having them over... the gathering around the table to catch up about our week and month... talk about the future... telling our stories (even the ones that need to be told on the front porch... yes, especially those ones).

 

 

As I was going to sleep I thought of relationships. How some flourish and others flounder. About mistakes I've made, mistakes others have made, whether I want to try to repair them (mostly not, for better or worse) and also how I can strengthen the relationships that I cherish and how to let go of ones that I wish were different but that will never be the way I remember them.

 

 

I've been thinking about my grandmother today, on her birthday, and knowing that she was the glue that held that side of the family together. Her absence is achingly felt. The weekends and summer days spent in her house filled with my mom, my uncles and aunts and cousins (and a great-aunt or two). Those were good times. They carve out a large part of my heart. 

 

 

 

 

Even though those years were difficult due to my parent's divorce and the uneasiness and awkwardness of finding your place in the chaos of adolescence, her and my grandpa's house was our refuge. My mom and I would go there most weekends. 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone gathered around their table, whether the living room (to talk, tell jokes or stories) or the kitchen (to eat grilled cheese sandwiches with a side of cucumbers and Wishbone Italian dressing). It was always a full house. There'd be games: Scrabble, a puzzle, or mahjongg. Times might have felt more challenging but they also felt simpler and it's that simplicity of gathering with family that I yearn for right now and wonder how I can recreate a similar nest of goodness for my children.

 

 

 

 

So there need to be more nights like this.

 

 

 

Extraordinary ordinary days with people you love but also that you really LIKE.

 

 

 

Family that are like friends and friends that are like family are what sustain us.

 

 

 

 

So even though this summer has been anything but predictable or close to what I had hoped for, it's realizations like this that show me that everything unfolds as it should and that as long as I continue to have people to gather around our table everything is okay.

 

 

In GOOD NEWS: I retired the cane to it's resting place in the basement yesterday and am able to walk without it. Even down the stairs! Yippee. I'm slow going, to be honest, and I'm not yet able to go on "walks" or to exercise, but I'm still making progress and still holding out hope that I'll be able to attend and particpate (hear that, universe?!) in the Cathe Fitness Road Trip in a few weeks. I have a physical therapy appointment tomorrow... I'm a bit afraid to know if this is a possibility or not but I will definitely ask.

 

 

Last Night's Belated 4th of July Grilling Menu

• Gazpacho
• 7-Layer dip + tortilla chips + guacamole
• Vegetarian: Lentil burger sliders (I topped mine with guacamole); Omnivores: Burgers with Sharp Cheddar & Bacon
• Grilled corn on the cob with garden chive butter
• Roasted potato and broccoli gribache with tarragon from Super Natural Everyday
• Mixed greens with shredded carrots, sliced red onions, cucumbers, nectarines, toasted sunflower seeds and maple balsamic dressing
• Marshmallow, blueberry, strawberry, watermelon kabobs & a delicious vanilla & chocolate ice cream roll covered in chocolate crunchies that our cousins brought over

 

 I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!

The adventure starts soon!

I have been waiting for this day for MONTHS now and it's FINALLY HERE! Mike and I have a second honeymoon planned. We'll celebrated our first one almost 16 years ago. This trip is going to be way better!

I've packed a litttttle bit more than I may need but still less than I have in the past so it's minimalism lite <grin> and I've encouraged Mike to bring less so my travel karma is all balanced I think. I wanted to bring 3 days worth of clothes and then just wash at night but that didn't exactly happen. I'm still only bringing a small rolling bag, as is Mike, so we're not checking any luggage. Yay!

In the photo, is the yummy, healthy food I've packed for the plane flight (dinner, snacks, and breakfast). There are two quinoa cauliflower patties, golden yellow split pea potstickers (into which I also threw some romaine lettuce, cucumbers, julienned carrots, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and chile-garlic paste), herbed hummus, roasted almonds, sliced apples, and mixed whole grain oatmeal for breakfast on the flight with a mix of dried fruit (cherries, raisins, currants), classic almond butter and cashew butter (I'll use only one but have another to carry with me in case I need it. A sort of break-in-case-of-emergency snack if my blood sugar starts crashing). Not pictured are a bunch of red grapes that I'll also be bringing along.

This will be the first trip I won't be bring my Five Fingers and workout clothes but I figure the streets of Paris and hill towns of Tuscany will be my gym for the duration. Eeeek! Somebody pinch me! I packed an exercise band with me (those are so easy to fit into a suitcase) and I plan on doing body weight exercises (burpees, push-ups, planks/side planks/Spider-Man's, air squats, lunges, barre-work with a chair etc.) in the hotel. I'll post how that goes.

The kids are at camp and the early photos that we've seen so far show all indications that they are having a blast, which puts my heart at ease in a huge way. It was not easy on my youngest to go away this year (which then makes it hard on me because I feel guilty and I worry and all of those emotions whey of see your kids sit with sadness and fear of the unknown, even though he's been the before. But each year is different, I know). There were tears the night before and the morning of... But the photos of him playing with his bunk mates on the first day playing games out in a wide open, grassy field with a huge smile on his face tells me that everything is going to be okay.

I can now go away with my husband for a trip of a lifetime and know that we will all be able to have an amazing time and soon we will be back together, the four of us again, to share our summer adventures together and have a few more weeks to continue creating more with each other.

I think I may go do a once-over at the things I've packed and lighten up my suitcase! (Updated: Yep, I took out one more full outfit.)