My Friend Oprah

The G-Cam

2008-07-26T13:14:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost 3 months since my last post. We've had such an amazing time: a week in NYC, a lake vacation with my family, and many, many more wonderful gatherings with family and friends. I've wanted to share them all and I just didn't know where to begin. Happily looking back through the pictures of the last several months I was surprised and delighted to see many shots taken by our sweet ds, G. Usually he is the focus of all of our pictures, as our world does indeed continue to revolve around him. As a change, though, I thought it would be fun for you to see the world through his eyes - The G-Cam. He will make his reappearance in the next blog.

Note how my dad and his dog have almost the exact same expression: head tilted, mouth slightly open with a smile, both seemingly thinking, "Is he really taking a picture of me?"

In this picture we got it: yes, he really is taking our picture and he takes his craft seriously. We often don't think to get pictures of my mom, dad and myself in a picture, so I am especially grateful for this shot.

I really don't mind that G commands our rather expensive digital camera. He seems to be very careful with it, but it makes dh a little nervous, and here he is trying to convince G that it really is more fun to take pictures with his old broken Pentax. G, of course, was not convinced.

This is a picture G took in NYC where we were staying in my brother's apartment while he and his girlfriend spent a week in Costa Rica. I hear Costa Rica is lovely, but I love New York, and we had such a blast. Even throwing paper airplanes seems more cosmopolitan in such a setting.

This is our dear friend who was visiting from Italy for a few weeks. I teased him that G was his very own paparrazo.

Another neighbor on our walk. G took many pictures of his truck, which he loves, but I will leave them out.

Sometimes I mourn the lack of trees in our neighborhood. Development seems to be removing every bit of green space. This picture reminds me to see that there still is much lush, green beauty to enjoy. Now, to wrap this post up and get out and revel in it again with my sweet little camera man.

Delight Incarnate

2008-05-05T13:48:00.009-05:00

Our son is three years old today. We celebrated with friends and family on Saturday the 3rd with a Cinco de Mayo-esque fiesta - 50+ people, a Taqueria lunch truck, and a refrigerator full of Mexican beer. I think this is the last year for our grand style fiesta - I've wanted to make the party as much a celebration of the community that supports us as it is of our son. But I imagine that next year ds will have more of opinion about how he would like to celebrate - like at a Build a Bear Workshop or something - and that's what we'll do.

I'll post a bunch of pictures from our party and they can tell the story. I'm grateful for all of them because they represent so much joy and will help us all remember this perfect day. Most of all I want to remember the look on ds's face when we sang him Happy Birthday and Las Mananitas (the Spanish language equivalent). He looked so sweet, shy, and delighted - my eyes filled with tears and I thought my heart would burst with gratitude to be present at that moment when he *got it* that he was the focus of the celebration. That *he* was the reason that we were all there in such lovely communion.

Let the Party Begin!

With my mom and ds's godmother:

So many friends:

With my mom and ds's godfather:

Everyone wants a piece of that pinata!

Here is the picture worth a thousand words. Here is delight incarnate:

We had a treasure hunt (featuring Ring Pops):

With Poppy Hoot (dh's father) and Papa (my father) - capping off a perfect party with Ring Pops:

The end of a perfect day. Asleep only 2 pages into Goodnight Moon:

Better Together

2008-04-18T22:16:00.010-05:00

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. This Spring makes 15 years that we have been together as a couple. Before I met dh I dated a wonderful man who asked me to marry him. He was a wonderful man but we did not share the same sense of humor and rarely laughed. He was so lovely in all other respects that I gave his proposal serious thought. I asked my mom if perhaps a sense of humor becomes less important over time. Wise woman that she is she answered emphatically, "It's even more important!" So I declined the proposal, broke up with the wonderful man and met dh soon after. On our first date we shared our favorite jokes - the ones that usually elicited groans from others, but brought us sheer delight. And 15 years later we're still cracking each other up. Tonight we went out and laughed so hard that tears came to our eyes and my stomach hurt. We've traveled over some rough road but it just gets better and better. I am so grateful I get to live, love and laugh with this man. I am over the moon for my sweet - and very funny - little family. (Can you see ds is wearing a Superman shirt and his own improvised cape?)

No Such Thing As Bad Weather

2008-03-04T23:18:00.006-05:00

I've written before how our dog, Zoe, taught me over the years that there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. It turns out my son is a very quick study. He loves to be outside and usually disparages what I consider appropriate clothing - say, a coat and hat when it is 30 degrees and windy. He loves his rainy weather attire, though. And is there anything more delightful than seeing a toddler in Wellies? We had a fine morning jumping in puddles, putting worms that had been washed into the road back on to the more forgiving earth and talking about the rain scenes in one of our favorite movies, My Neighbor Totoro. (Remember when Kanta gives Satsuki and Mei his umbrella? Remember when Totoro wears a leaf to cover his head from the rain?)

The Be-All-End-All of Birthday Cakes

2008-03-03T14:58:00.005-05:00

For many, many years I have been making the Be-All-End-All of Chocolate Birthday Cakes for my dh. The original had 3 layers and frosting made from 3 giant Hershey bars, 2 sticks of butter and a whole box of confectioner's sugar. I took a break from making it the last 2 years - who has the 3 hours required of such a creation with a baby in the house? Dh bore the absence with considerable grace, but this year he asked "Do you think you might make my cake again this year?" and I knew how important it was to him and I realized I was happy to do it. I decided that any cake, though, had to be easier than the one I made all those years, and was intrigued by a recipe I found in the Oprah magazine, "a luscious and perfect three-layer blackout cake - a menage a trois of opulent, buttery filling, rich but not overpowering frosting, and perfectly moist cake." I mean, Come On, who could resist? And I'm glad I didn't - it is amazing, truly terrific, pure pleasure. I'm also glad it'll be another year before I will make it again. It was more time and labor intensive than the other one! It even calls for a candy thermometer, which I don't have, to get the perfect boil on the frosting. And then you have to strain it through a fine sieve! Okay, while I can't recommend this recipe for everyone, I was especially pleased and delighted to offer it as the quintessential labor of love for my sweetie.

We scanned some photos of The Cake from birthdays past: here it is in 1995. Dh is with friends from his college days.

Here it is in 1997. Dh is with a friend from his high school and who was my house mate in the early 90's in Chapel Hill. And then we all happened to converge in New Haven where he and I both attended graduate school at Yale. We haven't had contact with him in years and hope to see him on our doorstep or on a local street corner soon.
Here it is in 1999 when Zoe was just a pup.

We could have gone on for many more years, but you get the idea. Here it is, present day, in all it's glory. It only had one candle, but ds asked that it be lit and blown out again and again, almost approximating the number of years since dh's birth.

Happy Birthday, darling, we love you!

Lago Atitlan

2008-01-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

A dear friend who now lives in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico hoped to meet us at Lago Atitlan, but our dates of travel coincided with a trip he needed to make back to his home in Barcelona, Spain. He is an amazing photographer and today he surprised me by sending a photo he took of Lago Atitlan 10 years ago. It is without a doubt the most beautiful picture I have ever seen of the lake and comes close to capturing its magic at sunset.

(Gracias hermano por la foto y claro que nos encontraremos en otra ocasión muy pronto.)

Al Infinito y Mas Alla!

2008-01-16T17:35:00.000-05:00

We're back! And it was an amazing trip. I have traveled to many, many different countries - most of Western Europe (Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, Scotland) and even a few Eastern European ones (East Germany, when it was East Germany, Czechoslovakia, before it was the Czech Republic, and Hungary), and huge tracts of Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador. Learning about other cultures and getting to experience them first-hand is one of my passions. I just happened to marry a man who loves to stay home, and prefers to learn of other cultures, particularly ancient civilizations, from a good book. So it was a really big deal that he signed on for this trip. And it was a challenging one. (And that says a lot considering I lived for 6 months in the rural mountains of Mexico with no running water or electricity!) I think one of the most lasting impressions I will have from the trip is immense gratitude for my sweet little family. My dh and ds were the ones who really stretched out of their comfort zones and were so willing to follow my rather unconventional lead - and the fact that they did it with such goodwill felt like a huge testament of their love for me and for that I am very grateful.

The title of this post is from Buzz Lightyear's signature phrase in Toy Story, "To Infinity and Beyond!", but in Spanish, of course. The kids in our Guatemalan host family introduced us to their pirated version (dh and I had never even seen the original English version) and it was a huge hit with Carlitos (ds' middle name is Carlos). "Al Infinito y Mas Alla!" became the motto for our trip as every day brought great new adventures and it was fun to see the amused reactions we got when we were overheard, especially when families of young children chimed in as well. We also watched dubbed versions of Shrek, which was also very popular. A trip to the local market provided copies for us to take home and a Spanish version of Cars as a gift for the kids. (Since our return we have watched the movies many more times. It's clear that dh is continuing to improve his Spanish with every viewing. It makes me think of kids in Eastern Europe who learned English in the 1960's by listening to Beatles records over and over.)

Watching these movies with the kids was a definite highlight of our trip. It underscored how much we all enjoy the same simple pleasures. I really can't say enough positive things about the kids in our family - aged 8, 10 and 11. They were absolutely incredible. I think the greatest difference in our cultures is that Latino kids seem to genuinely enjoy spending time with small children. I have nephews who are 6 and 8 and they clearly want nothing to do with their young cousin. And who can blame them? He doesn't reliably share and he likes to tell you what to do. This did not bother the kids in our host family one bit. They were very interested in the toys ds brought with him, but when they saw he didn't want to share they were fine with it - even reassuring me when they saw that I was distressed that not only would he not share, but he would commandeer their toys as well - "Esta bien. No importa." ("It's fine. Don't worry about it.") Carlitos wanted to run around with them, seemingly endlessly, even interrupting their meals and yet they were always happy to oblige (grabbing a bite of their food as they came past their table). I found time to do things that were special interests of theirs - making jewelry with the girl and playing soccer with the boys - but it really was obvious that they accepted Carlitos for who he is and enjoyed him all the same and needed no other reasons to be with him. The host mom told me she hopes that when her kids are older they will be able to live in the US for a time as exchange students and I told her, whole-heartedly, that her kids would always be welcome in our home.

The hardest part of the trip was that Carlitos was definitely homesick for most of it. This really surprised me because he never expressed homesickness in any of our trips over the summer. It started the very first night as we sat on the bed in the room we were given in our host family's home: "I want to go home." Dh said, "Well, we are home." Ds, "Where are we going to sleep?" We said, "Right here on the bed." The funny thing was that the bed was a small double, and really was not big enough for all of us. The host mother seemed to have realized this as well and without prompting brought in a straw mat and pallet, ostensibly for Carlitos. Carlitos, however, has always slept with at least one of his parents and so he quickly made the assessment, "That's your bed, Daddy." And that's where Daddy slept. Didn't I say he was a trooper? Every day ds asked about his Grammy and our dog, Zoe, and said he wanted to go home and see them. This was touching and heart wrenching. So mostly we reflected back his sadness and validated it. Luckily, a friend (with 2 of her own kids and some experience with this issue) recommended that we bring a Bach flower remedy for homesickness and it really helped so much. After the remedy his sadness definitely had a lighter quality. I think the worst of the homesickness manifested after we watched Toy Story for the first time and ds remembered a Buzz Lightyear doll that my mom had given him a few weeks earlier, which had garnered little interest at the time. Now that he was introduced to the *real* Buzz he expressed more desire for that doll than I had ever seen for anything before. He was thrilled to be reunited with it and has been sleeping with it every night, just like the little boy in the movie.

In spite of the homesickness, it was obvious that ds was having a wonderful time. (We were very fortunate that there was no real illness. Both dh and ds had a day or two of GI distress, but not bad, and I felt great the whole time.) He played with the kids for hours each day and loved that we walked all day everywhere. (Which really reinforced our wish that we lived in a more pedestrian friendly town!) The opportunities for public transportation were also a bonus - ancient and reclaimed American school buses are used for trips into and out of town and ds and I rode on one every morning. We'd get out in some small town and walk around a bit until he would say, "I want to get on the bus again!" and we'd catch another back into town. The biggest change in Antigua since I was last there 6 years ago is that now there are hundreds of little motorized rickshaws (imported from India) called Tuc-tucs that ds LOVED. Every time he saw them he'd call out, "Look, mommy! A Tuc-tuc!" This was a lovely sing-songy refrain we heard all day. We only rode one once after ds and I had walked for well over an hour to the outskirts of town and were both tired. (And a little lost.) They are so much fun as they dart in and out of traffic - both motor and pedestrian. Dh imagined that a great scene in a James Bond movie would have a high speed Tuc-tuc chase.

We loved our Spanish lessons - dh took 4 hours in the morning and I had 3 hours in the afternoon. Of course, Carlitos just had more opportunities to be the little language sponge he is. The only thing is I think he thinks "momento" means "right now" - the kids in the family would be helping him with something, like building Legos, and they'd say, "Momento, momento" meaning, "Just a minute." And he would always respond with "Momento, momento!" like, "Right now!" Again, the kids would roll with it, no problem. It was thrilling to see how much he understood and could communicate in Spanish. He's generally pretty shy with strangers, but will reliably answer "Carlos" (with a perfect accent!) when asked, "Como te llamas?"

I have only scratched the surface of our adventures and have only talked about our life in Antigua - there are still many stories from Chichicastenango (the city that transforms into a huge indigenous market every Thursday and Sunday) and Lago Atitlan (a huge, pristine lake surrounded by volcanoes that, to me, is the most beautiful place in the world). Unfortunately our fancy digital camera broke within 10 minutes of bringing it out for the first time and so we relied on a disposable film camera. (Of course I have a huge album of pictures from my previous travels and really not so much has changed, so come over any time to see them!) My greatest disappointment is that we only got 2 pictures of Carlitos with the children from our host family. But, again, I have great hopes that we will be reunited again, perhaps in the US! For now you can see a few here that really do capture some lovely moments from a very special time. Just click on the picture to see a full frame.

At Probigua, our Spanish language school.

Probigua is an acronym for Proyecto Bibliotecas Guatemala or the Guatemalan Library Project. The tuition from the students serves as a source of much needed income to finance the school's mission to provide books to libraries and schools across the country. They also ask for a donation of Spanish language books from their students. Thanks to our friends we were able to bring down a huge box of books. A special thanks to Gillian who owns the Reader's Corner in Asheville and donated a whole set of encyclopedias!

Carlitos with his new best friend Andrez. We called Carlitos his sombra, or shadow, because he was always following him.

And there he is with Maria Teresa. The kids would play for hours running around. The older kids would pretend to fall down and Carlitos loved giving them a hand up.

We stayed at the lovely inn at Santiago Atitlan. It offers stone cottages with working fireplaces - ds and I loved maintaining the fire at a hearty roar each night. (Dh was most excited that there was a private bathroom and he didn't have to sleep on the floor!)

Carlitos also LOVED the lanchas, or motor boats, that are ubiquitous all around the lake as they are the main form of transportation to all the surrounding towns.

Here we are with the volcano, San Pedro, in the background. Truly this is the most magical place in the world.

One final note: Our host family, the director of our school, and the owners of the inn all told us that tourism (and thus the economy) has been adversely affected by reports in the media of instability in the country due to the recent elections. We never experienced any cause for concern and I hope this post will encourage others to travel to this beautiful country. I know my dh and ds are very happy to be home again but I can't wait to go back and hopefully it won't be too long before I can convince them to join me again!

Bring it

2007-12-31T16:13:00.000-05:00

About two months ago I made plans for my family (dh and 2 1/2 yo son) to travel to Guatemala. We leave Thursday (!) and will live with a local family and study in a school for 2 weeks. Last week I started having all these fears about it, "Ds is just starting to use his potty consistently - what will taking him away from it do to this pleasant new habit? What if he cries at night and bothers the family? What am I thinking, taking my non-vaccinated child out of the country?!?" Talk about Law of Attraction - I just kept attracting one fearful thought after another until I realized what I was doing. Then I got really clear about my intentions: I traveled through Guatemala extensively and I love the country, but I haven’t been back since 2002, and very much want to see the changes, reconnect, and share it with my husband and son. Dh wants to learn Spanish and I want to improve mine. I know we will have an amazing time and will always be grateful that we did it. I realized that I was creating my fears with my thoughts and I could *choose* a better feeling thought and happily found that the next one and the next one were right behind it. Now I just keep riding that wonderful energy and I get more and more excited. Of course I will report on the trip when I get back, but I wanted to write now about my intention that in the new year I find more opportunities to move out of my comfort zone. Christine Kane recommends that you skip new year’s resolutions and instead pick a word that will guide you throughout the year. My word this year is "courage", or when I want to smile I’ll say, "Bring it."

Wishing My Mom Great Joy

2007-12-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

I've been working a lot lately and that means I've had less time than I would like with my family and friends. I've been covering for colleagues so that they can have more time with their families over the holidays and they will return the favor when I take a considerable amount of time off in January for dh, ds, and I to travel to Guatemala. So I am happy with the situation - I am just SO happy to have the day I had today. I spent a lovely morning with dh and ds and the afternoon with my mom and dad. Then this evening ds and I went to our church and joined in a potluck supper and made an Advent wreath and calendar - a very sweet way to end a perfect day with my family.

But back to my mom! Today is her birthday! She and my dad came into town and we celebrated at a very good restaurant with VERY good wine. Really, is there any greater felicity than sharing good food and wine with people you love? We will celebrate my mom's birthday again when our whole family is together at the end of the month, so it felt very special to get this time with her today. My mom is amazing in so many ways - she is an incredible mother, teacher, friend, artist and overall an incredible human being. Everyone who knows her loves her. At some point, not too long ago, I realized that I've had a great ride in this life and I attribute so much of that to my mom. She has always set a wonderful example for a life well lived. She has a great love for life, a deep curiosity for everything around her, a willingness to see the best in all people, and a desire to help in any way she can. Thank you, mom, for everything! I hope this next year brings you great joy!

Happy Birthday to You, Dear Mom!

The Annual Alternative Thanksgiving Party

2007-11-13T18:54:00.000-05:00

For the last four years we have invited our not-belly button family to come over and get a start on the holiday fun. This last Sunday was extra-special because some of my belly button family even managed to make it. You'll see my mom and dad in the red room playing with many of the kids and giving their parents an opportunity to drink their wine and beer without having to share. (Okay, so maybe it's only *my* son who feels entitled and reassures me by saying, "It's just a sip!") Our 12 year old neighbor was also great about keeping the kids entertained. That girl is like the Pied Piper - check out the convoy of vehicles she orchestrated on the porch! Other favorite moments: Ds getting to rock out on a mandolin - finally he's found a "real" guitar just his size. (He quickly dismissed the Spam guitar - from back at the Harvest party in September - as too amateurish.) Our friends sang an amazing and beautiful rendition of the song I loved so much from the movie Once. And then the last shot, of ds, his best girlfriend, O, and the DJ: We googled the Talking Heads' song featured in Lars and the Real Girl, but then the kids quickly commandeered the computer to watch Bugs Bunny singing opera on YouTube. (Thanks for that suggestion, DJ!)

This is usually our big party of the season, but given the fact that we were left with 6 unopened bottles of wine, and many more bottles of beer, I think we have plenty of reasons to party again soon. Cheers!

Election Day

2007-11-06T23:17:00.000-05:00

I got up early this morning, before ds and dh, to take breakfast to the poll workers (Bojangles Biscuits and Sweet Iced Tea. Hey, it's what they wanted!) and to vote. I came home and ds was surprised and intrigued by my "I voted" sticker. Later today he scored his own when he went with dh to the polls. As soon as he got home he pulled the sticker off his chest, and proudly stuck it to the bottom of his shoe and then his nose. He wanted to be sure I didn't miss it.

Happy Birthday Zoe!

2007-11-05T21:42:00.001-05:00

In this blog, I have not yet written about our amazing dog, Zoe. She was born 9 years ago today. We've had 9 wonderful years with her. Except for some graying around the muzzle, she is just like her puppy self - certainly as active and full of joie de vivre. She still greets us every time we return home with some item of ours (if it's me, she has my slipper, if it's dh, she has his) in her mouth and her very special, distinctive sound that we call yodeling. She usually wakes us every morning with said item and a thumping of her tail against the bed, inviting us to pet her and get a good start to the day.

Studies have shown that petting a dog releases oxytocin in our brains, a hormone that leaves us feeling cared for and more connected to others. Even before I read the studies, I knew this was true from my experience with Zoe. I always feel better after I've been with her. If I'm having a hard day, I know she will be a part of making it better, fast.

Today was a gorgeous day and I took her for two long walks; one this morning, and one this afternoon, and dh will take her for one later this evening. We take her for walks every day. Walking together is one of the greatest pleasures we share. To Zoe there is *no* bad weather and from her I have learned that, indeed, there is no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. Taking my cue from her, I dress appropriately, and enjoy every walk we take whether it be in snow, sleet or driving rain. We think ds loves to take walks because that is all he has ever known, even since he was in the womb. And we owe that to Zoe.

Happy Birthday, Girlie! We love you!

A Very Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T15:31:00.000-05:00

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and I've always wanted to pay back the kindness of my childhood neighbors by being one of the houses with the "good candy". It's always chocolate and it's always fine to grab as much as you want. And if you're shy, you're encouraged to get more or I'll put a handful in your bag.

So even without a kid I've always enjoyed this holiday immensely. Last year ds had fun handing out candy, but we didn't venture out of the house. This year he wore his Spider-Man costume for the first time on Sunday when we went to a party. He loved it so much. It is a very fetching costume with big puffy pecs, deltoids, biceps and abs. People at the party thought he must be getting to the gym quite a lot. He wouldn't take it off until bedtime and then asked for it first thing Monday morning and wore it all day. He didn't ask for it Tuesday or Wednesday, but when I asked him if he would like to put it on after we had dinner to go trick or treating he said, "I want to put it on NOW!" So we got to eat dinner with Spidey.

We planned just to hit a few of our neighbors' homes, thinking that he probably wouldn't really get the concept of trick or treating. He was happy to see our friends, and seemed surprised and pleased that he was getting candy from them, but also seemed happy enough with the idea that we were heading back home...until he saw a group of his young friends making their way down the street. He is especially enamored of a 3 year old boy and quickly fell in with him, racing to the doors, and quickly learning to say "Trick or Treat" and "Happy Halloween" and, if given the opportunity to choose the candy, expressing his preference for the "orange one." (Okay, so that happened only after Mommy provided the prompts, since Reese's cups were her favorite candy most in evidence that evening.)

And as a final treat, we were invited to another (previously unknown-to-us) neighbor's home to watch movies al fresco. They had set up a movie screen on their front lawn and were showing the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the Nightmare Before Christmas. The older kids gathered inside for a massive candy swap, but ds and I were very happy to cuddle up on a blanket to watch the shows. Ds couldn't get over it, he was so happy, saying, "Mommy, we're watching movies *outside*!" So, a very happy Halloween.

Another Wonderful Weekend

2007-10-21T19:10:00.001-05:00

Saturday we went to my parent's home *way* up in the mountains. Where I live you see the mountains all around, but you don't feel like you live *in* them - at my parent's, you do. It was gorgeous day and the leaves are far advanced in their colors up there. We went for a long walk, fed apples to the horses, ate a wonderful dinner,talked and played by a roaring fire. Just perfect. Ds had such a wonderful time he didn't want to leave, suggesting for the first time that he stay with Grammy and Papa and mommy and daddy leave. My mom was all for it. Ds was heading for their guest bedroom and my dad was trying to cut him off. I think his words were "Good God, don't let him get into that bed!" He knew what they would be in for and wasn't having it. This kid really only feigns interest in sleep and much prefers using a bed for his gymnastics routines - and his best shows are after midnight. So we managed to coax him into leaving (much to my dad's relief) and today he actually asked to get back in the car "and go on the bumpy road to see Grammy and Papa!"

Then today we had a birthday party for La Senora Crisanta - or so I thought. As it turned out it was a surprise party for me, too! Her whole family came - her husband, their 2 sons and 2 daughters, all with children of their own - Crisanta has 10 grandchildren. It was a rare and special treat to have us all together. Wanting to make something very special, I dug into my Mexico One Plate at a Time and found Cochinita Pibil - slow roasted anchiote pork in banana leaves. It roasted for 4 hours and the smell was incredible. Happily the roast was delicious, as well, and won raves from everyone - even ds loved it. I also made some chipotle black beans and Crisanta's family brought some lovely chicken baked with nopales, homemade tortillas and *two* tres leches cakes. Unfortunately, our camera ran out of batteries before "la mordita". I learned about the mordita, or "little bite", when I lived in Mexico. It's a custom that you lean into the cake to take a little bite and your friends get an opportunity to push your face in it. I let them know that I was onto them as they circled around me and did my best to make it quick and *still* ended up with icing up to my eyebrows. Crisanta's son, Alejandro, got pictures of this and promised to pass them along. I will be sure to post them if I get them.

My Groovalicious Birthday Dance Party

2007-10-07T19:13:00.001-05:00

It is said that you can never have too much of a good thing - but how often are you *really* given the opportunity to try? Last night I tried. Oh, I tried. It was my birthday and I offered up a table groaning with myriad sushi platters, bottles of red and white wine, and a Triple Chocolate Ganache Cake with Chocolate Dipped Strawberries. I could not have ordered a more beautiful night: it was mild and starry. We hung Chinese lanterns and filled the evening with even more light. Some of my dearest friends were able to join me and we ate, drank, danced and were very merry. I felt like a rock star. Here's to more days like this. Here's to it just getting better and better. Cheers!

Scooter Boy

2007-09-24T09:42:00.000-05:00

My ds does not love to have his picture taken. He usually acts like Sean Penn around the paparazzi when we pull out a camera. As I mentioned in a previous post we don't even think to take pictures very often, and so therefore rely on our Thich Nhat Hahn approach most of the time. So if you look at pictures of ds on this blog, I don't think you will see him smiling. Until now.

When we were in NYC in June we spent a lot of time in park where ds managed to borrow another toddler's scooter. I thought such things, like adult tricycles, only existed in big cities. Then a friend told me you could just get one in Target. So we got it on Sunday and he LOVES it. We got it on the street and he said with glee, "Mommy, take a picture of me!" And here it is.

Celebrating our Local Harvest

2007-09-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

Last night we celebrated our amazing local harvest with wonderful friends, food, and music. All of the produce was procured from local farmers, and some of it came right from my very own garden. One friend even brought along another, more surprising, locally produced item. I'll let the pictures tell the story:

Sir D and Lady K hold the plates of Crostini - one with Roasted Eggplant and Pinenut Puree and the other with Ricotta paired with the Apple and Peach Chutney I canned last weekend.

Lady D displayed the Caprese. The tomatoes and basil for this dish were the most local of all ingredients - right from my garden. Sir D said the tomatoes were the best he ever tasted, and that compliment earned him a bag of them when he left at the party's end.

Along with the Crostini the evening got rolling with a game of croquet.

We all dug into bowls of Shell Beans and Summer Vegetables (Onions, Garlic, Carrots, Fingerling Potatoes, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers and Summer Squash) topped with Basil Puree. Even the jug of beer on the table came from a local brewery.

G tried to get a head start on dessert, Fresh Peach Pie with Cream Cheese Crust and Whipped Cream.

But I managed to show it off first, with some mild protest from G.

Then the music got started. Sir D called this Singing for Your Supper.

The little ones were especially entranced.

Then Sir D presented the most curious and delightful of local products: A Spam guitar.

G loved it and was delighted when he got a chance to play it.

MFK Fisher wrote "There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk." When the bread is local, I think the communion is even happier. I am so very grateful for my community - the friends, food, music, and laughter - that sustains us all.

Adventures in Canning 2

2007-09-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

We did it! Overflowing baskets of produce met with 5 women and 5 hours and became 100+ jars of local bounty: tomato puree, 3 different tomato sauces, pickled cucumbers, okra, beets, and onions. Every one of the jars seemed to seal correctly, so in 2 weeks we'll pop 'em open and have a tasting party. I expect great things, but even if they don't meet my expectations, I'm already satisfied; we spent a wonderful day combing the local markets for the best produce, had delightful exchanges with septuagenarian farmers, and shared the hot, steamy, vinegary work with stories and laughter. It just doesn't get much better than this for end-of-summer pleasures. Here are the pictures:

Adventures in Canning

2007-09-06T13:17:00.001-05:00

A long time since my last post. We travelled to the beach in early August, celebrated dh's father's 75th birthday mid-August, and immensely enjoyed every day, especially those last lazy ones by the pool. So, it's the end of summer and the growing season is winding down and the abudance is amazing. I've planned my Local Food Harvest party for next week and some of my friends and I are definitely on for a day of canning this Saturday. I'm excited and a *tiny* bit nervous about canning. I'm afraid my enthusiasm for the subject may be betraying absolute ignorance. Here is an exerpt from an email I sent my friend who will be one of those joining me:

I feel I need to make it *very* clear that I have *never* canned before and have no canning materials. I *just* realized this may be a problem. I previously assumed you follow a recipe, put the jars in a big pot of boiling water, and voila. Just a minute ago I looked on-line at the AVM recipes I plan to use and discovered a line I had previously not seen - "place jars in canner". Oops. I don't even know what a canner is. I googled canning and came up with similar. I think my method could work, and when I talked to a neighbor (who is a fan of she who eats, btw! but more about that later!) about canning, my impression was she uses a big pot, too. So our canning adventure goes with a *big* disclaimer. Eat at your own risk. Because of it I plan to make the spaghetti sauce from AVM and store it in bags in the freezer. I'll also try to can the sauce recipe and the dill pickle recipe of aforementioned neighbor. So, when you ask, what do we need, I really have no idea and the thought of that makes me a *little* nervous. I think it will be a fun day with great women, a good learning experience, and possibly an amusing blog entry. What I hope it isn't: a future intimate relationship with clostridium botulinum. So, at this moment I plan to go to the farmers' market at UNC-A (where my CSA farm Full Sun will be) and stock up on tomatoes. A farmer at the FBFC tailgate market, who has had the best looking cucumbers for pickling, told me to call her tomorrow because she doesn't know if she will have any Saturday. Alas, cucumbers are now at the end of their season. (Note to self: time to pickle cucumbers is late July/early August.)

Be sure to stay tuned for the next installment and, hopefully, pictures of the adventure...

California Dreaming 2

2007-08-02T13:21:00.001-05:00

One of our East Coast friends just happened to be in this part of the world at the same time, having traveled cross-country on his motorcycle to make it to the MotoGP World Championships. Ds is totally enamored of motorcycles and went into paroxysms of joy when our friend allowed him to sit on his motorcycle, whereupon he threw himself over the engine to grip the handlebars, stretching as far as his legs could go, trying valiantly to kick the thing into gear. Our friend promises that as soon as his feet can reach, he will help him ride. There is no doubt ds is going to keep him to his word.

It was hard to leave, but I was, of course, anxious to be back home and see how my garden had grown. And sure enough, big, juicy ripe, red tomatoes were hanging on every vine. I was not even expecting the greatest surprise: 4 perfect, albeit tiny, lightly green shelled eggs! So the Arcana's have started laying! This is a full month before I expected them. It is a great pleasure to receive this gift, and now I rush outside every morning like it is Christmas. This picture was taken a few weeks later, with all of the chickens' eggs represented. Beautiful, aren't they?