Why does it have to be so ugly?

Damn ugly boots. Like what the girl from scooby doo used to wear. My child practically started crying tears of joy when she saw these online at Zappos. I bet she would give away her whole Polly Pocket collection for these damn ugly boots. This was her first choice for school boots of the 15 pages of boots on Zappos. See what kind of trouble I can get into on a hot summer day with a 5 year old who likes to shop online as much as I do?



Her second choice. She thought I would go for them because they do not have a heel. I actually laughed at these.



My daughter loves to shop. Oh yes. Loves to. Does not matter if it is at a thrift store, consignment shop or Kmart. Well, we do go to the mall sometimes too. But, the above mentioned are in town, so that is where we go the most. The promised land of Target and "The Mall" are a 90 minute drive, so we just make due. And, let me say that our Kmart might be the worst on the planet. I feel panicky when I step foot inside due to the grossness of it all and my own childhood memories. Today we went to the Kmart to replenish her underwear supply. After 8 or 9 tries of different underwear at the Kmart (I like to call it "the Kmart") we finally hit gold. If you had to take a guess if the Kmart still had those fantastic undies we bought on our last visit there, do you think they would still have them?
Nope.
M. kept annoyingly drifting off while I searched the underwear wall. I could hear her talking under her breath about all the Hannah Montana outfits she wishes she could have among other things. Finally out of sheer desperation for something to buy she said "mama, lets see if they have the retarded pajamas!" But no, sadly the Kmart has very slim pickings for non-flame retardant pajamas. The sales lady who was helping me got a good laugh out of that.
So we left the Kmart with nothing but a monthly calendar for my datebook and one moping kid. But, tomorrow will be a better day for her.

Gelsemium...and the Flu

In anticipation of the school year starting, I have begun to think about the "must have" remedies for my family and the season of the virus. I read that 4 cases of swine flu have been reported in my county just this week. And, without buying into the hysteria, I just want to be calmly prepared. So, in honor of being prepared (my capricorn self) the one remedy I will have to treat the flu if it pays a visit to our house is Gelsemium. Think of it as the homeopathic version of Motrin. This remedy was the most prescribed homeopathic remedy during the 1917-1918 flu epidemic.
The primary symptoms you may have that indicate Gelsemium:
Lethargy
Stiff neck and body
Muscle soreness
Worse from movement
Weak and dizzy
Feeling heavy in body and extreme weakness
Fever and vertigo
Anxiety with illness
Pain in eye sockets
Lack of thirst
Headaches
I buy the 6C dosage. Remember that coffee, mint, alcohols and other strong flavors can cancel a remedy. I use my anise flavored homeopathic toothpaste while on a remedy, but you can also use baking soda. But when I had the flu I don't recall even brushing my teeth due to the pounding in my head. I just shuffled back and forth from the couch, tub and bed.

This will be in my remedy kit, but I am also taking undenatured whey protein and green superfoods daily for general strengthening. Undenatured whey protein to protect and strengthen the lungs. Influenza attacks the lungs. When lungs are attacked they are more prone to pneumonia.

Tick bites and Farts

So I removed a tick from M's ear last Wednesday at camp. It was not engorged, but I did have to dig a bit with my fingernail to get it out. I did not even realize it was a tick at first glance, but it had a tiny chunk of her skin in its mouth and was moving. Ticks always make my stomach drop. An immediate gurgle of anxiety and acid in my stomach. Along with the usual swearing. Because I HATE TICKS. The little blood suckers I wish would just silently leave the the planet without fuss or fanfare. It is a part of country living that I absolutely reject of every level.
Fast forward 5 days. Her ear is red, swollen and painful. Oh here we go. Lymes Disease is pretty much up for grabs depending on who you talk to or what literature you read, and treatment options are equally confusing and pretty much a guessing game. The poor doctor in our treatment room was cornered and questioned for almost 30 minutes by me. My husband had his sunglasses on, so I couldn't see all the "please shut up and stop annoying the lady" looks coming my way. All the while M. was laying these old man farts stinking up the whole room. Way worse than normal kid farts. I kept silently hoping the doctor was a mother who gets the whole "when you smell fart in a room with a child in it, you know who is the culprit". D conviently had to take a work call outside on his cell and escape the interogation I was conducting and the polluted air.
We got antibiotics. We are giving her two doses.
Our life is going to be filled with random tick bites and 3 weeks of antibiotics each time she gets one is not a realistic option. We are going to trust our intuition and take each bite as it comes and decide each time what we want to do.
Meanwhile, M. is bummed she is 0nly getting one more dose of medicine because as she told her daddy last night "boy dad, I sure am lucky to get such great tasting medicine".

Boysenberry Sangria and Friends

Last night was dinner for 15 of us. A family oriented affair complete with two cute little girls belonging to the under 2 crowd. My favorite kind. I made a massive amount of pulled pork and we ate sandwiches on white Sara Lee buns. Only white will do the job of soaking up the bbq juice properly. Of course I added smoked paprika to the bbq sauce and it added such a nice smokey flavor it made me excited for my next Ferry building trip to get more.
M. held her own with the 3 boys that were here. I kept seeing her with different shoes on as she raced around the yard and house, which is always a mystery to me. There was a big splinter in little B's foot he let me carefully poke and prod out with a needle. I am always impressed with his pain threshold. At the end of the night he tripped on someone's knee while running, and hit his face on the floor. A bloody nose ensued, and I only heard a small whine from him!
It was all over by 10pm, and like always, I feel incredibly lucky for friends (who are more like family) like the ones we have.
Today I am venturing out solo to see Julia & Julie. Somehow I am fitting frozen yogurt into that scenario as well. M. is going to get some solo daddy time and I am thinking about how next week is our last full pre-k week left. The county fair starts, which will spice things up, totally annoy me and make me complain about how expensive low quality fun costs.
I made boysenberry sangria last night, (the same ones that are in my blog banner photo) and I was happy how it turned out. My boysenberries were picked at our local CSA farm just about a month ago.

Boysenberry Sangria

1/2 cup torn mint leaves
1 tsp. orange blossom water
4 cups frozen boysenberries
2 bottles sparkling water (750ml. size)
2 cups watermelon
1 lime thinly sliced
1 lemon thinly slices
1/2 cup sugar (or less, so taste it)
2 bottles of wine (I used a sauvignon blanc and viognier)
2 cups of ice

Art Camp Week

It has been art camp all week. Our local cultural center has had an art/dance/music camp for the last couple of years, and this year M. is old enough to attend. I was a bit worried she would have some separation anxiety from the amount of kids attending, but on the second day during our drive home she said "mama, I really like this school you are sending me to".
And although most of the organizers are my friends and I might be bias, it is truly fabulous. Professional dancers and artists are guiding 49 kids through a week of lovely activities. Tomorrow is the potluck and I am thinking I may try to the pound cake from Smitten Kitchen. It looks dangerously good.

In 1 1/2 weeks is the first day of kindergarten. A.k.a the big change on the horizon. I have no idea how it will be driving 45 minutes each way to school, but I am so thrilled about the school itself, I am putting aside my apprehension. Unfortunately, it makes me want to have an apartment in town to sleep at one night a week to make things easier and the drive shorter.

I have no good food to report this week. Well, at least nothing I thought worthy of a post. This week I have made:
Cucumber salad with lime juice and mint.
Penne pasta tossed with a sour cream and smoked paprika sauce
Plum chutney with carmelized onions and figs (ate it over grilled chicken)
Goat chevere with sea salt, olive oil, fresh herbs
Raspberry and loganberry pie
Cranberry bean soup with bacon and tomatoes
Everything was good, but not crazy good. Thats why no post or photos. It is fun to write it down and share it with you. Now you have a good idea about what was cooking on my stove this week.

Just now I had to chase away a young deer that has been terrorizing all the herbs I am trying to grow on my front porch. Don't touch my tarragon or I am going to start have a serious problem with you and will stop putting water out for you. Don't tell my husband...he might have issues with me assisting the wildlife.

One more thing...have you read Michael Pollan? I just read his article in the NY Times this past Sunday. He also authored the books Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense Of Food. He is a hero of the Slow Food Movement, and quite a revolutionary. I like him because everything he says makes sense, he is a very good writer, and he represents everything I feel about food and culture but am not gifted enough to express like he does. Which brings me to the last thought; If I did not have to drive 3 miles down my dirt road to my mailbox, I would get the NY Times Sunday edition. Unless someone wants to drive it to me. I will make you breakfast if you did. Maybe cinnamon rolls or coffee cake. Any takers?

My Spy Kid

M. and her daddy played spies the other night. A pre-bedtime event. They were hiding all over the house uncovering clues, talking in hushed whispers. I was laughing pretty hard at this picture. She is so serious. That is a walkie talkie hooked onto her pants. I asked her if she figured out how to use it yet. Maybe the dad helping her out made a difference. Nope.

Grilled Watermelon Salad

I know, I know. Grilled watermelon is the flavor of the moment. But, in my defense, I was recreating a dish we had in Paris.
But, I did not know how well it would go over in our house due to the fact that my husband wants to be mostly vegetarian now. He does very well being vegetarian; he feels great. Me on the other hand have type O blood, and just plain old feel better eating meat. Our daughter too, shares a love of all things meat. I have embraced his new found vegetarianism, and even made him pecan crusted tofu a couple of nights back. And M. really likes tofu as well as meat so I think all will be well. So, I told him last night that I was making a salad with bacon, and should I leave it out of his? A quick "no, you can leave it in" makes me believe some things may be too good to give up.
About the recipe: Watermelon and bacon are very good together. The sweet smokey taste of the grilled watermelon and the salty crispy bacon are wonderful partners. I did a very light coat of olive oil on the watermelon before grilling it. About 5 minutes each side depending how hot your grill is. You are looking for good grill marks. Surprisingly, the watermelon did not stick at all to the grill. I used a heavy duty stainless steel spatula to turn it on the grill.

Grilled Watermelon Salad

1 small seedless watermelon cut into large chunks (about 4 inches long, almost 3 inches thick)
1/2 fennel bulb slices paper thin
5 pieces of bacon cooked and crumbled
1 tsp lemon juice
1 glug olive oil

Toss fennel with a small bit of olive oil and lemon juice.
Place grilled watermelon on plates, top with fennel and crumbled bacon

*note: I used local bacon, free of any nitrates, additives or preservatives.