Conversation with a Four Year Old

Me: Should I bring you a present the next time I visit?

Little Miss Lou (not missing a beat): Yes, I’d like one of those bowls you keep fish in.

Me (stammering): Um, I think that’s too big to fit in my suitcase. They probably won’t let me bring that on the airplane.

Little Miss Lou (not missing another beat): OK, I’ll take a box of toys.

Me (stammering yet again): I thought you might like me to MAKE you something. Do you remember that flower pin I had on my sweater the last time I visited?

Little Miss Lou (so sweetly now): Oh, I do, Auntie J. It was so pretty on your sweater. Can you make me one of those?

Me (having regained my composure): Of course, I’ll make you one!

Little Miss Lou (twinkle in her eye): You know I love orange!

Made by Me/Made by Rae

When it comes to sewing there are only a few things that I hate. One of those things I hate is clothing construction for moi. I know zip about fit and pattern alteration, and these seem to be important parts of clothing construction. So far this summer I’ve failed miserably at a dress (shapeless shift!) and turning said shapeless shift into a skirt. I hold out hope I can rescue the skirt but for now we need a little time apart.

But if at first, and second, you don’t succeed try, try again. And try again I did with this fabulous spring ruffle top from Made by Rae. The beauty of this pattern is that there are no pattern pieces. You measure where you need to measure and construct your own perfectly fitted pattern piece. Genius! And the construction was so easy, so straight-forward, that I completed it in an afternoon.

It’s not my typical blouse. I tend to shy away from really loose, flowing tops, always afraid someone might mistake me for a pregnant woman. But, I have successfully worn this out in public on several occasions and not once was I asked my due date or berated for drinking a beer in my condition. And, it’s a good thing, too. I probably would have popped them in the nose. Hoping, of course, not to get any blood on my beautiful summer top.

Go on a Picnic

About three weeks ago summer finally arrived in Boston. Before it got the idea that it should move right along to fall I needed to attend to no. 11 on my list of 32 Things: Go on a picnic.

To go on a picnic you need food, good food, lots of good food! And of course, you need some fabulous company. Our fabulous company came in the form of our friends Val & Jim and a sea of strangers who had also staked out a little piece of Boston Common to watch Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.

Val and I split up the food making with me taking sandwiches and dessert while she took sides and a beverage. I couldn’t decide on just one sandwich recipe so I made two: prosciutto and brie sandwiches with rosemary fig confit and roast beef sandwiches with lemon-basil mayonnaise and roasted red onions. They went perfectly with Val’s tomato-cantaloupe salad and red potato-two bean salad topped with herbs fresh from her garden. To wash it all down, Val brought a sparkling lemonade that may have gotten its sparkle from champagne. After all that yumminess, we had just enough room left in our bellies to fit in my dessert, blueberry crumb bars.

It was a perfect summer night. The air was the perfect temperature, the play was fantastically done, the company great, and the food was out of this world. It was with a happy sigh that I crossed the picnic off my list.

Many Recipes of the Week

Wow. I’m way behind on telling you about the recipes I’ve been trying lately. How about a quick little recap as a way to catch up?

Sweet Potato and Poblano Salad with Honey and Rosemary
This should become your go-to potato salad this grilling season. I was sad when it was gone. In fact, there was a little fight over the remaining serving. To save from any fights breaking out perhaps you should make double.

Vanilla Ice Cream
I’d never made a custard base for ice cream before thinking it was too much effort. How much difference could it make? Well, I’m here to tell you it makes all the difference in the world. This was amazing. It was rich, creamy, silky, deliciousness on a spoon. Or I should say on the beater. I could be found licking the ice cream machine beater over the sink making completely inappropriate noises.

Hot Fudge Sauce
You knew this was coming, right? How can you top out of this world ice cream with store-bought hot fudge? This recipe requires caution. It is bittersweet, fudgy, and rich. If you’re firmly in the milk chocolate camp then you probably won’t love this. The next time I make this I will probably increase the sugar a bit and/or use semi-sweet chocolate to appeal to the milk chocolate and dark chocolate crowds.

Meze Platter with Hummus, Shrimp Salad, and Cucumber Salad
This recipe is actually three in one. It is also a major crowd pleaser. Four of us sat around grazing, I mean eating, from the tray and there was barely a bite of anything remaining. I did serve it with a selection of cheeses, salami, olives, and marinated eggplant and there was barely a bite of those left either. (Did I just make us sound like gluttonous pigs?) It really made a perfect tapas-like evening, complete with Spanish wine. If you’re planning to host a little get together I think you need look no further than this menu.

The Standbys

It’s all well and good to try a new recipe every week but that leaves a lot of eating to be done the rest of the week. Enter my list of never fail standbys that are in regular rotation in our house.

Tex-Mex Lasagna
Coconut Curried Shrimp
Broccoli Tofu Stir-fry
Grilled Steak Salad
Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp
Ratatouille Pizza
Jamaican Jerk Turkey Burgers
Veggie Burgers
Chicken and Brie Sandwiches
Mexican Ham and Bean Soup
Butternut and Spinach Lasagna
Spinach Quiche

Shop Brimfield

Elise and I first shopped Brimfield together five years ago. It was a Saturday in May. It was hot, with temperatures well over 90. And it was packed both with people and things.

Our experience this past May could not have been more different. The temperature was more in line with what you’d expect for May. So where were the people and where were the things? Once we got past the vendors lined up directly along the road we found that field after field was empty, of both shoppers and vendors. It was kind of sad to see it so sparse.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t manage to find a few small treasures. Check out my cool vintage tin! The bottom is stamped with Made in Holland. Its previous owner was using it to store hummingbird food, or so said the piece of paper taped to the outside. It will now either find work in my kitchen or den making boring storage more interesting.

My other little treasure is a sterling silver serving piece. In my book it’s a pie server but I don’t if that is technically correct. When I first found this beauty it was tarnished and sad, sitting in a wooden drawer of other neglected things. It cleaned up beautifully and is now ready for a summer of fruit pies.

What did I pay for these finds, you’re asking? A grand total of $7. They were originally marked at a total of $9, but I drove a hard bargain.

A weekend at the beach in Maine

This is what a long weekend at the beach in Maine looks like. What the camera doesn't capture is how time seemed to slow. It didn't rush by unrembered like so many minutes of the work week. There was space in those minutes to sit and just be. Maine and its beaches are truly magical. Get there if you can because their motto really does sum it up: The Way Life Should Be.