We had an exciting weekend! And it all involved food. Hmm, I'm sensing a trend...
Friday night Theseus returned from the grocery store with supplies to make our own ice cream. He bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday two years ago that we had never used, which we placed in the kitchen sink and put to work. Thirty minutes later: homemade vanilla ice cream! It was incredibly good. I say was, because it didn't last long enough to be photographed. He added it to peach flambé and whipped cream (also homemade). It was divine. Next time he wants to try a mocha chocolate chip, but I think the citrus orange recipe from our ice cream maker's website looks really yummy. And now you know we made 2 quarts of ice cream and ate it all in less than 3 days. Don't judge us!
Friday night Theseus returned from the grocery store with supplies to make our own ice cream. He bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday two years ago that we had never used, which we placed in the kitchen sink and put to work. Thirty minutes later: homemade vanilla ice cream! It was incredibly good. I say was, because it didn't last long enough to be photographed. He added it to peach flambé and whipped cream (also homemade). It was divine. Next time he wants to try a mocha chocolate chip, but I think the citrus orange recipe from our ice cream maker's website looks really yummy. And now you know we made 2 quarts of ice cream and ate it all in less than 3 days. Don't judge us!
Saturday we chopped up 10 billion cherry and grape tomatoes from the garden, tossed in a mix of peppers (some from the garden, some not), garlic and some spices, and made 7 1/2 pints of salsa. It was our first try; we made three varieties (left to right, below): mild, mild with cucumber, and hot. It took a long time, but it was actually kind of nice to be in the kitchen, making something with Theseus. You all know how much I like being in the kitchen (not very much at all). Theseus and I tried some of the 1/2 pint today, part of the mild batch, and found it a shade too mild. I mean, it was great, I just wished it had a little more heat. Hopefully the hot batch will actually be hot, haha.
After straining the salsa a bit (I like very chunky, not-too-runny salsa), we had quite a bit of tomato/spice juice left over - we're going to use is as a base for chili later in the week. Which will be difficult as I have AT (Annual Training: Army stuff similar to what I do all week, but with longer hours and less efficiency) this week. Blarghhhh!
But anyway. Theseus made pancakes for breakfast this morning and some SPECTACULAR vegetarian sliders for dinner. He also halved and baked the acorn squash we picked last week. It felt wrong throwing away all those seeds, so I cleaned them off and will be roasting them in a little while. We're going to try out a trail mix; I've experimented with dehydrating bananas and apples, so I'll probably do up some more of those to add to the mix. For more seeds, we've also got a spaghetti squash waiting in the fridge, plus a few more winter squash growing in the garden (butternut, buttercup (?), hubbard and more acorn). All our pumpkin plants died suddenly. I don't want to talk about it.
Today I also celebrated the end of my summer semester (submitted my final English assignment, a 7 page paper that I started at 11:00 a.m. today) and prepared for the fall semester (purchased two more books for Theseus and I - FOR THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS, USED!!; the remaining two will have to be purchased at the campus bookstore). It feels so nice to be between semesters, floating between two chapters. I get to float and drift until August 31. What will I do with all of my time?
Actually, I don't really have very much time. I have AT until the 14th, then we are back in MA the weekend of the 20th. The following weekend (27-28) is free so far, but three days later school starts again. I guess it's nice that AT doesn't overlap with school, but still, I'd like a couple weekends to lounge and rest my brain. Like this weekend: I would have written a better paper if I'd started it on Saturday, but I couldn't bring myself to break up the happy salsa-making. My brain reveled in the mindless tomato chopping - nothing to think about but minding my fingers. Afterward, I carried three jars of our hard work outside to the porch to honor it with a photograph.
In a little bit, while the acorn squash seeds are roasting in the oven, Theseus and I will give the baby a bath. He was such an agreeable little guy this weekend, allowing us to complete our food projects with little interruption. He and I spent a long time cuddling this afternoon before he fell asleep, his delicate eyelashes fanning down toward his round little cheeks. His clear blue eyes remind me that the process to bring him here wasn't so bad, not so bad. I love to feel his little body in my lap, his little face leaning against my stomach. I wonder if he has any memories of the womb. In any case, I'm so happy having him here.
It has been a weekend full of so much love, my heart may explode.
But anyway. Theseus made pancakes for breakfast this morning and some SPECTACULAR vegetarian sliders for dinner. He also halved and baked the acorn squash we picked last week. It felt wrong throwing away all those seeds, so I cleaned them off and will be roasting them in a little while. We're going to try out a trail mix; I've experimented with dehydrating bananas and apples, so I'll probably do up some more of those to add to the mix. For more seeds, we've also got a spaghetti squash waiting in the fridge, plus a few more winter squash growing in the garden (butternut, buttercup (?), hubbard and more acorn). All our pumpkin plants died suddenly. I don't want to talk about it.
Today I also celebrated the end of my summer semester (submitted my final English assignment, a 7 page paper that I started at 11:00 a.m. today) and prepared for the fall semester (purchased two more books for Theseus and I - FOR THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS, USED!!; the remaining two will have to be purchased at the campus bookstore). It feels so nice to be between semesters, floating between two chapters. I get to float and drift until August 31. What will I do with all of my time?
Actually, I don't really have very much time. I have AT until the 14th, then we are back in MA the weekend of the 20th. The following weekend (27-28) is free so far, but three days later school starts again. I guess it's nice that AT doesn't overlap with school, but still, I'd like a couple weekends to lounge and rest my brain. Like this weekend: I would have written a better paper if I'd started it on Saturday, but I couldn't bring myself to break up the happy salsa-making. My brain reveled in the mindless tomato chopping - nothing to think about but minding my fingers. Afterward, I carried three jars of our hard work outside to the porch to honor it with a photograph.
In a little bit, while the acorn squash seeds are roasting in the oven, Theseus and I will give the baby a bath. He was such an agreeable little guy this weekend, allowing us to complete our food projects with little interruption. He and I spent a long time cuddling this afternoon before he fell asleep, his delicate eyelashes fanning down toward his round little cheeks. His clear blue eyes remind me that the process to bring him here wasn't so bad, not so bad. I love to feel his little body in my lap, his little face leaning against my stomach. I wonder if he has any memories of the womb. In any case, I'm so happy having him here.
It has been a weekend full of so much love, my heart may explode.
RSS Feed