Work has slowed to a crawl this week so I took the opportunity to do some extra cleaning and organizing around the house. Like many people, I'm a little ambivalent about slow times because slow work = more free time but it also equals not getting paid. So to maximize the time and take my mind off the money I wasn't making I organized the Boy Wonder's art drawer. Plus, I figure it's a good thing to enjoy the summer doldrums rather than rail against them.


    The art drawer in located in the kitchen and is low enough that he can get in and out of it on his own. There's crayons and paper, of course, but also stencils, stickers, (cleaned) foam meat trays, glue sticks, colored pencils, play dough and lots of other good stuff. This week I decided that he's old enough to have a pair of blunt-edged school scissors, so they're in there, too. I love that he feels free to claim this space as his own but I love it even more now that it's clean and tidy and that the drawer can fully close once again.


    I also spent part of this morning making and freezing some baby food for the Little Diva. She's been getting rice, oatmeal and mixed cereals for a couple weeks now and it's time to start in with veggies and fruits. Making these colorful purees is one of my favorite parts of being an infant's mom. Feeding a baby is a form of communication and making my baby's first foods let's her know that I value that which is fresh and simply prepared. The freezer is now home to little cubes (I use an ice cube tray to freeze in perfect serving sizes) of sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot, acorn squash, summer squash, chick pea, zucchini, pea and green bean purees. Since Alisha's peaches arrived today I'll do some of those, although we probably won't get into fruits until next month, and I can't wait to do apricots and plums. The Boy Wonder adored avocado and mango and I have some wonderful memories of introducing him to new things. How exciting it is to be traveling this road again and discovering anew how wonderful food can be when it's unadorned and eaten with a sense of wonder.


    Time has been officially set aside this weekend to make the oft-promised butterscotch sauce. I'm nervous as I always am when trying a new recipe but I'm also terrifically excited about how great I think it'll be. I can practically taste the butterscotch now...

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    The kids and I have returned from a brief holiday visit to see friends in Chattanooga. The trip was very nice and we are exhausted. Much of today will be spent in recovery mode, doing laundry and reinforcing sleep schedules. I'm not planning any ambitious activities and have promised that I'd be gentle with myself as I move about - no rushing or bemoaning what couldn't be done. Most of my clients were also away so I doubt there will be much in the way of communication from them today as they deal with backlogged e-mails and phone calls.


    I'm sure I'll be successful with my committment to calm largely because I know a storm of activity will hit later in the week. The darling Alisha is sending me white peaches from her tree! They'll need to be dealt with rather quickly - some will no doubt be eaten out of hand while others will be canned in a spicy cinnamon and nutmeg syrup. I may even puree a couple. Bellinis, anyone? Everyone should be so lucky as to either have their own peach tree or Alisha for a friend. Thanks babe!


    I also want to complete the butterscotch sauce this week because I've been noticing that green beans are starting to hit the markets and I want to get it done before I'm distracted too much by the beans. I made some green bean puree for the baby last week before leaving for Tennessee but now I want to make pickles for the grown ups and even blanch/freeze some packs.


    Finally, thanks to all of you who sent such nice messages to me - I will be having another Q&A post up soon to address your questions (unless it was a more urgent canning question, in which case you should have already received a response). For those of you who have requested recipes, hang in there! I am working on a small booklet containing the recipes that I've either posted or discussed here. My goal is to finish it before August - when canning/preserving time really cranks up - and I'll keep everyone posted.

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