family – Page 8 – Peaceful Reader

Groovy Girl turns 14

{G.G. and her brother}

Seriously no way. It just can’t be possible that my baby born 3′ 4 ” is now my height and can wear my shoes if she likes them.

{G.G.and her big sis Kalila}

She is a blessing and a miracle. She is lovely and wonderful. She is also disorganized, somewhat spastic, and slightly irresponsible. Yet she keeps track of her contacts~still a mystery to me. Those are all characteristics of hers that are just part of what makes her who she is. Her college roommate will have to help her find her phone, she will probably be the girl turning cartwheels across the quad, happy that she still wears her Nike Pros underneath her dresses and I know she will find someone out there who loves her for all those quirky attributes.

What I dislike are people who make those qualities a negative for her. She had some amazing teachers in elementary school and one of them in particular clarified to me how some kids are just like that; creative, forgetful, absent-minded yet delightful. Not a negative. I used to feel like I had to apologize a bit for her ability to stray. Her teacher’s words to me after Groovy Girl had lost a school project was simply one of reassurance and I’ve tried to stick with that method. She is who she is and I am grateful for her kind smile every day.

Happy 14th birthday Groovy Girl~you are an amazing child/young woman/daughter.

Weekly Recipes 15; I love September!

{Grit Cakes w/ shrimp}

It’s my second favorite month. School starts, the weather is amazing. I love what we’ve always called “Indian Summer”; warm weather with a September breeze.

I’m in my second week of school and it’s been a very smooth transition. Groovy Girl is settling into her freshman year; top dog in her junior high. She’s already busy with football cheer and soon dance will begin. Then we’ll be a whirlwind of crazy.

{G.G. 2nd from the L.}

Today there was a little football activity happening at our kitchen table with my two favorite men. Husband and son were busy drafting their fantasy football teams and I loved listening to them banter back and forth together and with the other online football friends. Knowing this annual event was taking place and that the 21-year-old headed to our house to draft with his dad like old times I offered to make them brunch. I know, my gifts abound…

At Early Girl in Asheville this summer my husband ordered grit cakes; it was like biscuits and gravy but with cakes made from grits. I took that as my inspiration for today’s menu. I googled, looking at a variety of different recipes, and settled on one from Epicurious. It was Shrimp and Grit Cakes though and my handsome husband is allergic to shellfish. I did have a lovely piece of good farm-raised steak from a local meat locker so I transformed the recipe just a bit. The grit cakes were so very easy to make and delicious! I need to host a brunch for friends just so I can make this again.

I sliced the steak into bite-sized pieces and created the same sauce the recipe calls for except I didn’t add the flour. I also had three ears of sweet corn calling my name from the vegetable drawer and I cut the kernels from the cob and added that and it blended like it belonged. On a small plate I plated two grit cakes with the steak, juices, and corn/pepper mix on top and a handful of blue chips tucked on the side. A little Parmesan over the top and it was ready to be eaten! As usual I failed to take a photo before they dug in. The plates looked award-winning and the they were licked clean so I guess I did good.

The recipe made enough that I have leftovers that we can eat for breakfast tomorrow. Tonight I will be whisked away for an anniversary dinner out on the town. Dressing up + no dishes to do = win/win

I’m working on finishing Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam. I have about 6 short fiction books to read for Iowa Children’s Choice that I need to finish before my final ratings.

Have a great l-o-n-g weekend.

Weekly Recipes 14

I love to cook in the summertime. The fresh flavors, the amazing produce, the tomatoes plucked right from the vines in my backyard, the craft cocktails to cool you down…it’s all perfect.

(this into that)

I’ve made a few spectacular meals the last few weeks that you might like. I’ve cooked meals and I’ve done some canning. My mother brought me 3 large boxes of tomatoes from her farm and I turned those rosy reds into about 24 jars of salsa. She also brought me two buckets of fresh-scented basil that I churned into pistou (pesto w/out nuts). I will love pulling that fresh green sauce out in the winter to enjoy with crackers or over pasta; bringing summer rushing right back.

One of the meal’s that I had fun planning was a vegan meal for my son’s girlfriend, Heather, who is vegan. On One Green Planet I found a delicious recipe for Stir Fried Brussels Sprouts with Ginger and Curry leaves. I love all those ingredients and luckily I knew Heather like brussels sprouts from a previous meal around our table. I was excited that I even had curry leaves on hand from other Thai meals. I love it when a rare ingredient like that is actually inside my cupboard already. The stir-fry was good and pretty easy to put together. I would add more sauce next time, more tomato to keep it altogether.

Groovy Girl and I experimented to make an interesting vegan dessert: donuts! Never made donuts before-why not give them a try right before a celebratory meal! Yes, yes that’s just what we did and for first-timers it turned out great. Next time we will spray the nonstick pan first. It was a fun recipe to try and they enjoyed eating them even though our second batch stuck mostly in the pan. Thankfully Tristan just poured almond milk over and ate them like cereal or in our family, just like chocolate cake. Here is our donut recipe and the sugar glaze we used for some while others we just sprinkled with a cinnamon mixture. Groovy Girl loved helping me with this meal, especially the donuts, and I think I love that she may move into being a talented sous chef for me.

I had book club last week and we discussed Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things, which we loved. I had a large amount of bell-shaped yellow tomatoes from our garden and I used them to make these little mozzarella bites. I laid my tiny skewers on a bed of fresh greens and very peppery arugula and then drizzled a balsamic/olive oil mixture over the top. Getting to book club on time is always a major feat for me so no photo exists. And we ate them all. Love that.

Besides cooking I’ve finished my summer with voracious reading; I finished The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney and Chris Bohjalian’s The Guest Room; both excellent reads.

Where does the summer go?

At this time of the month I begin to wonder what I did all summer? Where did the time go? In just one week I will be back in school. I haven’t blogged nearly enough over the summer. I didn’t finish writing any of the 3-4 stories I’m invested in finishing. I didn’t get enough closets cleaned out. It’s like panic mode. I’m not done with my summer homework…

On the other hand I’ve taken an awesome vacation to Asheville, NC where we floated down the French Broad River, ate at many wonderful places, listened to bluegrass at Isis, toured the Biltmore, and tried many of the local breweries. We accomplished a lot in the short time we were there.

I’ve cleaned out clutter-what feels like a constant life job-and helped Groovy Girl and Best Friend host a garage sale. I’ve helped a friend out by nannying her three children while she works this summer so I’ve been able to take them to the water park, the beach, and the library just to name a few fun days. I have spent some mornings writing but it is few and far between. How do I set up a practice of writing on a real regular basis? This question has plagued me for years. I don’t even get enough blogging done.

I’ve just gotten back into a good rhythm of doing some yoga in the morning and when school begins again I need to be ready to seriously get up out of BED and continue this yoga practice to stay with what I’ve built this summer.

I’ve read a ton which has been an amazing journey. Many summers I just try to keep up with books for school and this year I was introduced to the app @Litsy (thanks to @Librarydady) which has raised my reading to a new level. @Litsy gives me many adult titles to look for and order from our public library. I picked up a few from my own piles at home also and one of them was A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, which is my favorite book this year now. I recommend it to anyone who loves good fiction and isn’t concerned about 720 pages. It flies by.

It’s been a good summer. I may never have a summer where I write every day. I have several stories that are important to me though so I’m going to have to find a way. I did take time to play this summer. I’ve enjoyed time with Groovy Girl -a ninth grader this year. I did spend time in my beloved orange hammock. I’ve spent time exploring nature, eating good summer food, picking tomatoes out of my garden, had frosty summertime drinks on the patio, and basked in the glory that is summer, my favorite season.

And in one week I need to be ready for school.

(Photos: Looking in at Lake Lure, Groovy Girl and me, The Biltmore, Prescott kiddos and me, former student Julia and I, Crosby walking)

August 3

Today is a special day. I had a delicious breakfast prepared for me by husband and Groovy Girl. Grits, scrambled eggs, 9-grain toast with raspberry jam and fresh sliced peaches. This was a feast compared to my normal breakfast of sea salt cottage cheese mixed with flax seed oil so now I don’t need to eat lunch.

My husband read me a whole list of other big moments on this day in history from on this day website and a few of them stood out so I’ll share 3 with you.

1. Naturalist Alexander von Humboldt lands at Bordeaux, France completing a 5 year expedition to Latin America. (1804)

2. Adolf Hitler mergers the office of German Chancellor and President, declaring himself “Fuhrer”. (1934)

3. The Beatles held their final performance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. (1963)

Tonight we have a fun gathering at a favorite watering hole on the Hill. It’s a beautiful day out and I’m ready for an adventure. It’s the simple things on a day like this; a phone call from my 21-year-old who is fishing in Colorado, a handmade birthday card from Groovy Girl, and tickets to John Hiatt at the Englert Theatre in October from my husband.

Several other famous people share this date with me: Rhett Booher, Carter Allen, John T. Scopes, Dennis the Menace, James MacGregor Burns, Tony Bennett, Martin Sheen, Martha Stewart, John Landis, Lucky Dube, Tom Brady, and Sonny Bill Williams.

Eat Cake!

Black Lives Matter

A few years ago our son, on the way to community college, reached to the floor of his car to get a kleenex and as he did this his car swerved, hit a small sign for the median. He was a young driver and he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to get to class on time so he just kept driving. Unbeknownst to him an off-duty police officer was near him in traffic and took it upon himself to follow our son all the way to school; 20 minutes away. He called for back up at some point and when our son pulled into the parking lot he was met with two police cars. The off-duty officer’s reasoning was that he thought our son was drunk or high even though he followed him all the way to school and he made no other traffic errors. He didn’t swerve, cross the yellow line, or any other traffic violations.

Tristan was freaked out by this incident. After the on-duty officers spoke with him and ascertained that he was not drunk (at 9:30 am) and that he just had a cold he was allowed to head in for class. Our family, while generally law-abiding citizens, thought the off-duty officer was a little overzealous. Why didn’t he just snap a photo of our son’s licence plate? After all that we paid a nominal fee to have a new sign added back to the median. Thankfully that was it.

When I think of this crazy incident though and think about how scared my son felt that this guy in the oversized black pick-up was purposefully following him and it makes me realize how all American citizens with many shades of brown/black would feel in this situation. My son might have been scared and confused but he didn’t fear for his life.

The video above from the NYT encapsulates the bloodshed based on skin tone. Each one is violent and freaks me out how easily guns are blasted off as if they are playing a video game and not real life. Reaching for your wallet, errant teenagers leaving a pool in swim suits, a man selling CDs, a boy playing with a fake gun, a young man throwing rocks; all just people going about their day, not one a violent criminal yet dead at the end of the day.

I know the teens in swimsuits were not shot at but why in God’s glory would police officers need to pull their weapons on teens in bathing suits. Warn them and move on. It looks like a scene from the 1960s not 2015.

I attended a vigil for #Orlando a few weeks ago and I have to admit I felt fear as I stood in the park surrounded by many like-minded friends and neighbors. Bordering the park were streets with drivers, some who honked and waved and some who revved their engines purposefully as they raced by us.

Years ago our family stood at many street corners protesting against Bush’s Iraq war. We knew it was a senseless war, planned for oil, not weapons of mass destruction. Often as we stood there, vulnerable, we had people in cars harass us, point, curse, scream horrible comments to us yet it was important for us to make our stand.

Each one of us needs to take a stand now to make this better. We need police communities to become much more sensitive through training/education. We need officers who do shoot to kill to face criminal charges. We need local governments to take this seriously. We do seriously need gun control. Citizens armed with a variety of weapons, police officers armed and ready to shoot; we are getting nowhere fast!

Most Americans are interested in real freedom for all. #blacklivesmatter because we all matter. We are human. We need to stand together even if we are afraid.

Happy 4th of July

It’s been a quirky day. I made pancakes for Groovy Girl and her amazing sidekick. And then the rest of the day, for real, I cleaned my refrigerator. Well, except for the hour I laid on the sofa and finished reading The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy. It was so good and very alien science fiction. It was extremely popular in my library and I’d heard that it had some b-a-d words; I only counted three. There is a little kissing but who wouldn’t kiss if you think it’s your last day on earth?! I would. I’d find the first cute guy/alien and kiss him. I like kissing. I also like being alive.

I cooked up a nice organic chicken with yellow potatoes while I juggled the contents of my ice box. Now I’m off to a baseball game-the best part of Americana-that and the freedom I cherish. Freedom to say what we want, eat what we want, think the way we want, and elect who we want. It’s’ a VERY important year. Go out there and make American good, happy, free for everyone, and kind. Don’t forget to be kind.

Breakfast Recipe: Blueberry Muffins with a hint of lemon

Tomorrow morning I’m meeting up with my team from school. We were supposed to go for a boat ride but the river is too high so we are going to just sit on her deck (our friend Mary who lives on the river here) and relax together. No children. Just us. The deck and the muffins I’m bringing.

I knew as soon as I decided to bring a morning treat where to look; The Cottage (from La Jolla’s favorite beachside bungalow)-many times I google or Pinterest a recipe but every once in awhile I know what to get from my own shelves. Tried and true excellent recipes. If you love brunch and fresh food this book is a must.

Blueberry Muffins {pg 14}

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 stick butter, softened
3 eggs, {farm fresh}
1 cup sour cream
3 1/2 cups flour, {unbleached}
1 T. baking powder
2 cups blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and line one 12-cup or two 6-cup muffin tins. In a large bowl beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing after each addition. Mix in the sour cream until blended. In a small bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Stir the flour mixture into the batter until just blended. {At this point I squeezed in a little fresh lemon juice} Add the blueberries and stir gently. Pour the batter into muffin cups to the top. Bake for 25 minutes. {I added grated lemon peel to the top half way through the baking process}

Makes 12 muffins

Enjoy your day tomorrow. I’ll be on a deck, watching the river flow, with friends and muffins.

Gratitude

We are back from the crazy music festival. Almost all of the music was amazing. We took a lot of pictures with our Nikon (which of course are not uploaded yet) I created the above video from just the few pictures I had on my iPhone.

We had a great time with the friends we went with and we now have other friends who are interested. We met some cool people while there (Lindsey and Joel stood out as true kind folk) and we ate some interesting festival food. We had camping neighbors that were parents of the harmonica player for Horseshoes and Handgrenades. Another camping neighbor and I exchanged books; she gave me Wild by Cheryl Strayed and I gave her Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. I also ran into an old friend that I’ve not seen for like 20 years. Strange things happen when you listen to the music.

Camping was good. I do not have a sore back. Positive. It stormed pretty crazily Friday afternoon but we all survived. One car did get crushed by a tree though. Coming home we found a small bakery (donuts and great bread) and a cute diner in Wabash that fed us real meals on real plates with a real bathroom.

Getting back inside my lovely house I was happy to have indoor plumbing once again, a kitchen to cook in, and I bathed for the first time in four days! Yes, that felt great. Whispering Pines Campground DID have a shower house but it was ice cold water as two of my camping mates experienced. I opted to be happy with the dirty hippie brigade instead of cold water spraying over me. My hot bath last night brought joy and order back to my world. That and creating a feast for my two children who took care of each other while we were camping. As we sat and ate together, just the 3 of us, I felt so grateful for my children who I love to the moon and back. They, in return, were over the moon for the meal I made them.

Groovy Girl is on Pinterest and she’d asked me if over the summer we could make it a goal to make some of the meals on her “yum” board so I made one last night. Only 28 more “Yum” recipes to go!

From The Recipe Critic-Crispy Parmesan Chicken with lemon pasta. It says boldly on her page that this recipe takes only 30 minutes to prepare which must mean if you have all ingredients completely ready to go. It took me an hour to prepare which is no big deal especially because I made my own breadcrumbs. My kids laughed about that-but of course I could not use something so pre-packaged! They know me so well.

Favorite new music from Blue Ox:

The Wood Brothers
Sierra Hull
The Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins
The Last Revel (we already loved this band)
Blitzen Trapper
Sam Bush
Railroad Earth
GinStrings – This group played right as the storm ended inside the merch lodge and it was beautiful.

It was also devastating to wake up on Sunday morning and hear about the tragedy in Orlando. I can only hope (and beg the people who govern us) to change our gun laws.

Time passing…

Groovy Girl was confirmed yesterday. It was a beautiful service with lots of emotional moments. Six confirmands-all girls-have had a year of classes filled with interesting discussion. A few girls-including G.G. were able to take a trip to Nicaragua to deliver shoe boxes filled with school supplies to children. They’ve had overnights, a ski trip and a June mission trip to W. Va still to come. Most of the girls have grown up together in the church.

It is still difficult for me to wrap my brain around the fact that my baby is 13, confirmed, will soon take driver’s ed, and will be in 9th grade. Crazy. Seriously. She was a miracle baby, born early, but oh, so healthy and rambunctious. Effervescent as her youth director described her.

To celebrate her and her best pal, Katy, I hosted a brunch for family friends including our minister and his wife. Impressively ALL my dishes turned out amazing. This does not usually happen for me. I have best intentions but things fail, fall, or just don’t work. This all worked and they were new recipes so if I can do it; you too could make these brunch happy recipes. Groovy Girl loves breakfast food so brunch was the perfect choice even though it was 1:30 in the afternoon.

{laughing spatula}

I picked two dishes and two side dishes. This Mexican Breakfast casserole from Laughing Spatula was a perfect main dish and we had toppings galore with sour cream, cilantro, diced tomatoes, chopped avocado, hot peppers, and homemade salsa. I followed this recipe closely except I added a layer of frozen spinach (almost thawed) to the bottom of the pan. Groovy Girl always orders omelets with spinach so I figured this was a good twist.

I knew I wanted my second dish to be sweet and I browsed through many recipes on line and in my own cookbook cupboard. Many with apples seemed too Fall-ish and G.G. is not the biggest fruit lover. Watermelon is her favorite and that does not pair well in any baked dish that I know of. She does love bread though and I happened to find just what I was looking for in “Not Your Mother’s Casseroles” by Faith Durand. I’ve used many recipes from this book but never made this particular one. I really wanted my daughter to swoon with joy with my brunch choices and this one did it.

Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Bake

9 x 13 pan
Bake time: 50 minutes

One 12 – to 16 – loaf good quality white bread (Italian or French) with crusts removed, cut in half lengthwise and then into thin slices. {I skipped all this, left the crust on my fat French bread and sliced it into medium slices. I wanted it to be hearty}

For the custard:

5 large {farm fresh} eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
2 T. sugar
1 {big} tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

For the cinnamon cheese filling:

8 ozs cream cheese, softened
2 T. unsalted butter, softened
1 large {farm fresh} egg
1 T. cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

More cinnamon for sprinkling.

Preheat the oven to 325*. Lightly grease the baking dish with butter or spray.

Layer half the bread in the baking dish, overlapping and wedging them in tightly so they are in an almost solid layer.

To make the custard, whisk the eggs until fully beaten, then whisk in the milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour half of this custard over the bread in the baking dish, letting it settle in and soak the bread thoroughly. Set aside the rest of the custard.

To make the cream cheese filling, in the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld, beat the softened cream cheese with the butter, egg, cinnamon, and sugar. Beat until very soft and whipped. Spread over the first layer in the baking dish. Layer the rest of the bread on top {making a sandwich} and then pour the rest of the custard on top. (At this point the casserole can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. {Think Christmas morning}

Sprinkle with extra cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, for about 50 minutes, or until it is firmly set. Cool for 15 minutes, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, and serve.

I skipped the powdered sugar-it didn’t need that extra sweetness. I did generously douse it with cinnamon though. Also a few years ago I downsized my kitchen and I only have one 13 X 9 -in pan so I made this breakfast bake in my slow cooker. Perfect! It worked so well I would do it this way again. I made the cream cheese filling on Saturday night (after I’d made the Mexican egg dish and it was resting in the refrigerator” and then I layered the bread, custard, and filling into the slow cooker and let it soak for about an hour. We turned it on low before we left for church and it was piping hot when I returned two hours later.

We also had a strawberry spring greens salad and grits slow cooked with gouda right before guests were to arrive and strawberries mixed with a sprinkle of sugar just like my grandmother served in the springtime when she said the berries were still a little tart. My son loves them just that way. My friend brought a dish or squared watermelon and we had glasses of mimosas to clink. It was lovely and I have not one photograph of the table. Happy guests though and a happy ~~girl~~ / young lady. Peace be with you.

Enjoy.