The Good Life

2010 Year of Pleasures #27

July 6, 2010

A full day crammed with fun

Atti and Bear in the pool

Until the toes got all pruny

Blessed uninterrupted hours to do a puzzle and not feel guilty about making better use of my time

Atti savoring his first bite of chocolate ice cream

Grandma disobeying and giving him a few more than one bite

Shaved ice made in every color of the rainbow

Atti playing with a big boy bike. Next step – making it go.

Cousins dancing with sparklers

Watching the (occasionally scary) fireworks set off

Before heading to bed and leaving playtime for the really big kids.

Filed Under: Atticus, The Good Life, Year of Pleasures

Yo Yo GA!

July 2, 2010

My dearest Karen gave us this bouncer when her littlest lost interest in it, and it has been amazing. Atti will bounce in it literally for hours. He calls it his “Shake-a Shake It”

This is all he wants to do anymore. He’ll say, “Let’s go. Shake-a shake it. Yo yo ga.” Like, “Hop to it, Jeeves.” And then he’ll bounce and bounce and bounce along to his Yo Gabba Gabba jams. We could not give him better therapy if we had a physical therapist on call 24/7.

Filed Under: Atticus, The Good Life

Major score!

July 1, 2010

What you see up there cost me $50 at the Goodwill down the street.

$50.
2 jackets, a skirt, 5 pairs of pants, a dress, and 7 tops.

For $50!

I gave up thrifting all together in San Diego, but here, my goodness has it proven worthwhile. I didn’t go in with high hopes because this is not a well off area, but for some reason, it’s amazing. I’ve found a ton of brand new stuff that was for sale at Old Navy and Target months ago. They must have some kind of a relationship there, but I can’t seem to figure it out. I’m just grateful.

One of my big goals this year was to shake off the suburban mom frump I’ve been wallowing in and reclaim my style, but since I have been so thoroughly unsuccessful in getting back to my pre-baby body, I kept putting it off. Nobody wants to buy clothes at their heavy point. That’s like committing to it. So instead I’ve been getting by with my closet full of lame stuff on sale that also fit.

This dress is a vintage number from the 50’s that is totally sheer. It’s gorgeous. I put it on with a black T-shirt and leggings and a pair of vintage kitten heels and feel amazing.

I call this one my Mrs. Roper tunic. It’s eye-searingly bright polyester and sunburst pleated. I have such a weakness for polyester.

It was at this point in the fashion show that I got grossed out and had to stop. I want to reclaim my style, but I have a seriously low threshold for plastering my blog with pictures of myself modeling. I have no desire to turn this place into one of those style blogs where everything looks cute by virtue of the authors youth alone. I think I’m going to need to get a mannequin or something. Or maybe just stop buying seven outfits in one day. A little goes a long way.

Of course, the one down side to thrift store shopping is that you have to just jump on whatever good thing you find, which can often leave you with orphaned clothes. I have a couple of adorable shirts that are just short of being tunics, but scream for some really slim pants. And a skirt that doesn’t go with any of my tops. And of course none of this is really fit for summer wear. I still have quite a lot of work to do.

Filed Under: Grand Schemes and Other Plans, The Good Life

2010 Year of Pleasures #26

June 29, 2010

You ask any Northern Californian and they’ll tell you. The Mexican food is better up here. I’m sure someone somewhere has a theory as to why that is, but it beats the heck out of me.

You can always find some local woman selling tamales in the grocery store parking lot, or choose between the five excellent taquerias in town, but my latest favorite discovery is the freshly made empanadas at the farmer’s market.

It is so much fun to walk in the sunshine munching on this pastry full of spicy meaty goodness.

Join me in my search for the pleasures of life. Post your pleasure on your blog, and link back here!

Filed Under: The Good Life, Year of Pleasures

Best of Modesto – The Lunch Pail

June 28, 2010

Modesto does not enjoy a reputation as a world class city. Based on the reactions of some of my acquaintances, you’d think I moved to the slums of Redneckville, USA.

OK, OK, Modesto has it’s share of problems. But there is a whole lot to love about this place, and one of my favorites is the number of independent local businesses. If I wanted to eat out in my last hometown, the chances were pretty close to solid that I was going to find myself at a national chain restaurant. If I was willing to drive throughout the county I could find some gems, but usually it was going to be the same stuff anyone can get anywhere. Here I have found some really wonderful stores and restaurants run by passionate local people invested in their community, and I want to support that. I thought that every once in a while it would be fun to feature one.

A couple of weekends ago, on our way back from the ill-fated U-Pick adventure, we stopped off for sandwiches at one of my favorite lunch spots. The Lunch Pail.

This place is nationally recognized for it’s pies, and oh my goodness do they deserve it. Every pie I’ve ever eaten from this place has been a little miracle.

All their ingredients are fresh, all their food is cooked on sight. Even their turkey and roast beef are roasted in their kitchen everyday. You can absolutely tell.

My favorite part about this place, though, is that when you get your lunch, it comes with a taste of the salad of the day, and the pie of the day. This is Bear’s pastrami on rye with potato salad and a bite of the boysenberry cream cheese crunch.

And the sandwiches are not just the same five things you see on every lunch menu. This one is a simple ham on fresh baked sourdough, but with cream cheese and pickles. Oh it was yummy.

My only complaint is that they close at three. Food this good I want to be at my beck and call day and night.

Filed Under: The Good Life

Canning, Round 1

June 23, 2010

I made a lot of mistakes this first time around, but overall, I’m pretty dang proud of myself.

Over four days I managed to can:

6 pints of strawberry lemonade concentrate
1 pint of limeade concentrate
2 pints of nectarineade concentrate
3 qts of dilled carrots
1 pint blueberry butter
2 1/2 pints blueberry syrup
2 1/2 pints nectarine chutney
12 pints nectarines
4 pints apple onion slaw

It hurts just to think about.

My first attempt was the strawberry lemonade concentrate, and it didn’t do too well. Only half of the jars sealed. But when I went back the next day and re-read all the instructions I immediately realized why. I just couldn’t help myself and watched over those cans like they were newborn babies, fussing with the lids, pushing in the center to check the seal, and in my enthusiasm I prevented it from doing its job.

So the next day when I took the jars out of the canner, I set them on the counter and forced myself to walk away. Sure enough, no more failures.

Most of what I canned was stuff we bought at the farmer’s market. There was a guy there selling nectarines for 50cents a pound. I asked to buy the box and he told me he’d give it to me for $20. I can only blame my newbie excitement on the fact that I totally took him up on it and didn’t do the math until we were in the car and I realized that there was not 40 pounds of nectarines in the trunk. Oh well, I would have paid more than that anywhere else anyway.

Since then I’ve discovered our community garden, currently busy growing tomatoes and corn, and my friend Amber has a line on an orchard that doesn’t harvest the fruit that will let us have whatever we can carry away. I think I’m going to be spending a whole lot more quality time with my canner this summer, and, fingers crossed, most of it might even be for free.

I’ve had some friends ask me why I would possibly take up canning in a day and age of 24 hr supermarkets, and there are a few good answers. One is that I really enjoy learning these traditional skills that create self-sufficiency. I just like to gain knowledge. Another is that this supports my efforts at local, seasonal eating without denying myself of nectarines 8 months out of the year. But the biggest reason is to enable my inconsistency. I love to cook, but I often have to be in the mood for it. By the end of the summer I’ll have enough marinara canned that I won’t have to make it again until next summer. I’ll have salsas and dressings and sauces that I love to eat, but am not always in the mood to make, just waiting for me to pop the lid. This is going to make it so much easier to eat at home on those nights when I just couldn’t be bothered. Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of partial to big ridiculous projects.

Filed Under: Stuff I Cook, The Good Life

2010 Year of Pleasures #25

June 22, 2010

After I nearly died in the sun, look at what my sweet husband brought home for me. Oh my gosh, on the right kind of day there may not be a single thing better than a slurpee.

Let’s try this experiment. Join me in a search for the pleasures in life. Write a post on your blog about the pleasure you sought out, then link here.

Filed Under: The Good Life, Year of Pleasures

My new garden

June 21, 2010

When I was whining about leaving my garden behind, my friend Tona asked me if there was a community garden that I could participate in so I could feed my gardening addiction. I really didn’t expect to find one. Around here people aren’t usually looking for an opportunity to garden when they either do it for a living or can just buy from the people who do.

Imagine my surprise to discover that not only is there a community garden, but it’s run and funded by my church, and I can just show up and harvest whatever I want.

I don’t know all the details behind it, but it’s common for us LDSaints to have big projects like this so that the people accepting financial help from the church have a way to contribute in return. Right next to the building I attend we have a pavilion and a ballfield, and then about an acre of farmland currently growing onions, potatoes, corn and tomatoes.

I met my friend Amber out in the field and she helped me get set up, holding Atti while I built him some shade and showing me how to harvest the potatoes. Atti’s always been super cooperative with my gardening efforts, so I thought it would be no big deal to toss him on a blanket while I got to work.

But I was totally wrong about that.

I really failed to take into account just how unbelievably hot it can get around here. I brought a big basket full of toys, our jumbo picnic blanket and a tent for shade, plus my camera, some bags for produce and Mr. Atti himself, and between the hauling everything back and forth, wrestling with the canopy, and rushing to get him settled, I had totally exhausted myself before I even thought about a potato.

I managed to make enough of a harvest to still make it worth the time, and Amber went across the field to pick my onions for me, so I left with a ton of good stuff. But man was it hard work in that heat. By the time I finished pulling potatoes, I still had to make five trips across an acre of dirt to load everything into the car. When I was so hot I could barely stand on my feet. I made the first load and had to lie down under a shady tree while Atti was still across the field in his tent. I have to confess, I was getting a little worried.

Remember last summer when I kept going from one doctor to another? Their final determination was that I have a heart murmur, but not the scary kind. The kind that is totally no big deal, I’d live my whole life and not notice, nothing to worry about unless I exert myself in the heat. Oh yeah.

Luckily I just needed that little rest and I was able to get us all loaded and back home none the worse for the wear, but I realized that taking Atti along on my little farm adventures is probably not such a good idea. Next time I’ll leave Atti with a friend in exchange for farm fresh produce.

In a couple of weeks the corn will be ready, and then a few weeks after that we’ll have tomatoes. I plan on canning so many of them my fingers will turn red. I want to can them whole and diced and turned into marinara. I can’t wait.

Filed Under: Stuff I Grow, The Good Life

Duvet Day, outdoors

June 17, 2010

I have been running myself ragged over the last couple of weeks. Even after all the quilting and building and fruit picking, there is more I have to tell you including actual farming and four straight days of canning. I am exhausted, my poor child is neglected, and my kitchen floor is coated with sugar and fruit juice.

So today I am going to sit in the sun, cuddle my little guy, and read a book.

Right now Atti is still spending more time eating the books than looking at them, but when someone can pry it out of his mouth and actually read it to him, he’s in heaven. He’ll bounce on my lap like he can barely stand the excitement of waiting to know the ending. He would sit and be read to all day long if someone would do it.

This is MY kid, alright.

Filed Under: Atticus, The Good Life

2010 Year of Pleasures #24

June 15, 2010

I spent an entire day last week trying to track down lumber options to have my kitchen island custom built, and guess what we found this weekend?

It was absolute serendipity. We were making plans to drive an hour a way in a rented pickup truck to buy the materials we’d need, when Bear got a text with a picture of the kitchen island and the text, “at Big Lots” from a number he didn’t recognize. Turns out that someone he works with saw it and thought it would be good for the office.

Every kitchen island I looked at cost thousands of dollars. Even my custom made super simple one was going to cost $500. This one cost us $229 and a days labor. Now *this* is a kitchen I can work in.

Filed Under: My Dreamhouse in Progress, The Good Life, Year of Pleasures