Life before 2008 11 Dec 2005 03:39 pm
In a house full of redheads…..
- today after I made applesauce, I boiled the peels and cores like the wife of our landlord instructed me to do. I canned the juice and after a sort of panicked call to my Canning-guru friend Anna, water bath sealed them. Now it’s all ready to use for jelly making later in the year. Learning to can is a major BHAG (big hairy audacious goal)!!!!
- I worked on inventing a new cookie today, inspired after one of my favorite flavors of ice cream. I got the dough done well but the mix-ins, temperature, and nutty flavor need some work. And, I now know the smoke detector works just fine….let’s just say, of two baking methods, stoneware or baking sheet with parchment paper, stoneware wins with this recipe.
- Daddy changed Fat Baby into his sleep stuff and just for laughs and giggles asked him the question we ask the most, “Wanna nurse?” Rowan looked at him kind of confused-like, lifted Dad’s shirt, took one look at that hairy chest and pulled the shirt right back down with a whine. Laughs and giggles alright!
- Andrew and Celia had an opera for us today. It went like this (all lines are sung and A was in a suit, C in a long dress)
A: Do you love meeeeee?
C: What kind of question is that?
A: But do you love meeeeee?
(he was on one knee)
C: That’s no excuse!
A: (standing up and pulling her close) Don’t give me any sass! Do you love me?
C: I do!
Sung in falsetto, it was very hilarious….they tried to use Rowan as a prop but he didn’t make it past rehearsal. Wheaton was in charge of lights.
We had fried egg sandwiches for dinner, harking to that favorite afternoon snack my dad used to make. All sloppy gloppy with cheese and mustard….they were fantastic. Of particular note was that they were on MY homemade bread. That I made bread that is edible, let alone a loaf that garnered the compliment from Celia that,
“this bread is better than anything in the store!” Bread and me…well, they go together like iced tea and me. Both fairly simple items have been my nemisis for years. My tea tastes like dishwater and my bread is typically a brick. Along with a strong craving for country music, something changed while I was pregnant with Rowan….and I made a sucessfull bread! Stunning! It was irish soda bread; a fantastic loaf that requires no kneading. But this bread we had this weekend was the real deal. Half whole wheat, half white, yeasted and kneaded and risen and baked. Made by hand, not a machine. And it’s soft and tasty and not destined to only be toast. You know, those recipes that say, “makes excellent toast”? Well, most of my bread is ONLY good for toast…..or shredded bread crumbs. Maybe the curse has been broken. I hope so, because spending 15 bucks a week on our sandwich bread has to be a thing of the past. It’s time to meditate on the virtues of making our daily bread, of integrating it’s cyclic needs into our routine.
The opera continues. They’ve written out thier lines. I’ve stolen thier scripts. It’s entitled, “I Must Have Love, Wonderful Love”.
A: Oh don’t you look beautiful….
C: Thank you so much. You look very handsome.
A: You look like a rose tonight.
C: Yes, I do (my note: modest little thing ‘eh?)
A: What do you want to drink? What is your name?
C: I am not thirsty.
A: Do you love me?
C: I will
Andrew just came in and caught me entering this. He wants to make it clear that he’s only doing this because Celia is paying him dollar for a year of shows…..
