Bittersweet

We made cupcakes. We cut bittersweet.  It was a Friday that started off on the worst foot, with husband fishing, and daughter screaming, and son complaining, and mom missing. But somehow, right now, we seem to be doing ok.  There is a fire blazing. A friend over playing Settlers of Catan, and pizza in the oven. I am glad to see the weekend come, and I am sure I am not the only one.

Mountain Luck

In January, we inadvertently scheduled our NH camping weekend for the first day of summer.  Now I am delighted with the timing and cannot wait to breath in some sweet mountain air.  Crawford Notch State Park, here we come. I will cover my eyes as we drive by the Garnet Hill outlet in North Conway. No big deal.  We are loaded up with customized trail mix, and pork products. (I will attempt sausage gravy in the skillet over some thawed sour cream biscuits.) My friend handed off to me the Gooney Bird audio collection for the drive up, and I am thrilled to give them a try.  She also snuck in a few cd's from the Meet Felicity collection for good measure. Them things are like buttered popcorn. And away we go.

Driveway Moments

It is a familiar scene. Car parked, windows down, and two kids occupying the front seats waiting for a story to end.  When NPR does their pledge drive, they ask their listeners to remember the "driveway moments."  Where one sits in the driveway, unable to pull away from some spellbinding segment. Certain audiobooks will create these for our family. They are blessed times when I am able to sneak into the house, pour myself a quiet glass of wine, finish seasoning the lentil soup, and catch the news. Yesterday our driveway moment could not have come on a better evening. I was tired and feeling quite mute. Sometimes I will respond to a barrage of questions with elaborate hand gestures.  I do this for peace, because the alternative is nothing anyone wants to hear. But yesterday I didn't need to. My thanks goes out to the following sponsors:

 I hope the summer that lies ahead has a few of these in store for all of us.

The Last Dark Day of Winter

Winter is giving us his last attempt today. The weather is raw and unfeeling, allowing an excuse to hide away under a blanket.  I feel like I have been given a pink slip for being social.  My fresh bag of library books gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.  Now, I can conquer anything, even an eerily empty spring break week looming. This slightly creepy, yet lovely book came home with me today.  I feel like I have been let in on a secret.

When you move to a small town, Friday night gourmet takes on a whole new identity.  There is no Thai-hut  beckoning you to rest your weary culinary skills. So my version of picking myself up by my boot straps is sadly, frozen french fries. In some ways this depresses me. But in the face of nothing else better, I get giddy at the thought of my organic shoe strings. So that's where I will be, heating up my oven to 425.  Pouring some bubbly. Actually I am already there.  Maybe I will whip up some delicious homemade mayo?  Wait, that is an excellent idea!  James Joyce, you really had something there with stream of consciousness.  At least I think that was you.
Peace out.