19 June 2011

recently.








+ what dan lovingly refers to as hobbit cake. it's so much better baked in a tube pan (pictured above), as the recipe calls for. all these years i've been doing it in a bundt pan and it never comes out cleanly which causes me much grief. of course, dan still loves the crispy crust that the bundt pan gives. either way, it's sour cream, cinnamon, chocolate chips and cake. a total win win.

+ a street carnival with ponies, firetrucks (along with a firefighter spraying kids with the fire hose!), live music, free stickers and pencils, meeting smokey the bear (shockingly shorter than me), nachos and italian shaved ice. (i hope no one else is keeping track of this crazy awesome summer diet i seem to be on.) what could be greater for a two-year old?

+ a family outing to the zoo.

+ making raspberry jam with dan's ninety-three year old grandma bernice. i asked for a lesson since i'm terrified of making jam on my own. i went straight to the expert. (note her caffeine free diet coke on ice and subway tiled backsplash.) the ladies went to work while my boys had a nap in the cool basement. while the pectin sat for 30 minutes, we talked of houses, the special on grapes (last week; 59 cents a pound! i am now living among bargain shoppers), what the rules of housewifery used to be (clear homemade grape jelly and scrubbed floors!) and the upcoming potluck party. bernice is famous for her jam and her reuse of charming bottles. and handwritten labels.

+ celebrating papas everywhere. (happy father's day, dad!) i have a whole series of dan and benji rolling down the hill. dan came home (still in shirt and tie) and wrestled with benj. luckily we live with the laundry expert. i hope someday benji thinks of me as an expert in certain areas. (hmmm. cutting paper?) it's endearing how dan still calls up his grandma for cooking tips and his mom on tough stains.

5 comments:

--r said...

i was thinking the same thing when i made my mom's birthday cake for her last week. it's hard to cook for the best chef in the world, and mom's cake/pie/bread/salad/muffins/cookies/everything is/are always the best. always.
i hope my peanut feels that way about my cooking too someday.

my mom also used to make the best strawberry "freezer jam" ever. i have been asking for lessons lately. it must be the season. :)

Hil said...

Beautiful pictures as always. So happy to hear an update on all the fun you guys have had. It sounds like you guys are living such a charmed life as of late.

Yay for homemade raspberry jam (93 years old, wow)! You'll have to give freezer jam a try now... it's ridiculously easy and so yummy.

I realize I say this every time, but... we still miss you guys lots!

Kari said...

We were at Hogle Zoo, too. On Thursday. Haven't been in years. It's nice to see it through their eyes, now. (Though my three-year-old hated the animated dinosaurs--freaked him right out.)

{natalie} said...

This post made me happy. Love all of it. And made me miss my Grandmom all the way in NJ

{amy k.} said...

i absolutely love all of your photos. so many wonderful memories frozen in time.

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