I'd been hankering to taste the season's first apples and share the delight with my daughter. (The first and only time she tried an apple was last week. It was roasted over a fire, mushy and tart. She grimaced dramatically and grabbed for more.)
The opportunity knocked yesterday. CP was pushing her in the sporty red jogger, the next street down, when I halted before an 8 1/2 x 11-inch printed sign: "FREE APPLES. Rambo and Grimes Golden. Some good for baking, some for eating. No need to knock. We'll try to leave bags under the trees." A map explained exactly which two backyard trees were game.
As we turned to enter the yard, a large, gray-haired lady was coming the other way.
"Are there still apples?" CP asked.
"Sure, I'll show you where to pick," said the apple advertiser.
She led us to two tall, rambling trees, one with red and one with yellow fruit. The apples were small and gnarled, but looked good enough for apple sauce or crisp.
Tonight we're having a couple of friends over for apple crisp and a favorite old movie. And NS will have her first fresh applesauce.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
A Heroine Revisited
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publishing of L.M. Montgomery's classic, Anne of Green Gables. Spotting a paperback copy on a library shelf labeled "Read and Enjoy--No Check-Out Necessary," I was seized with a whim to re-read this childhood favorite.
My introduction to Anne came in fifth grade when I received the book as a Christmas gift. I devoured it, then went on to read the rest of the series, plus everything else by L.M. Montgomery that I could get my hands on.
Like countless young girls of the century, I was instantly infatuated. To my ten-year-old eyes, Anne embodied the qualities I most admired: romanticism (the variety that scorns boy-craziness but idealizes the natural world), imagination, nostalgic reluctance to grow up, spunk, intelligence, optimism, ability to win friends. Her much-bemoaned faults, such as culinary disasters and hair of an undesirable color, only endeared her to me. Here was hope that I, too, could one day grow from an awkward, insecure adolescent into a capable, willowy beauty, beloved and admired by all.
Twenty years later, my perception of Anne of Green Gables--both the book and the character--is completely different. Now I see that it's the marvelously funny and tender account of how a love-hungry, homeless girl and her adoptive adults (a middle-aged sister and brother) come to love each other as family and smooth out each others' rough edges. I was quite surprised to find myself sympathizing as much with the adults as with Anne herself. I chuckled at Anne's antics, perhaps recalling my own experiences as a short-term foster parent or aunt.
Coming from the early 1900's, the book is remarkable in its portrayal of an academically successful and ambitious girl (at sixteen, she wins the highest academic honors in teacher's school and plans to study for a B.A.). The author is female, as are the majority of key characters in the book. Radio show guests in a recent centennial conversation about Anne's literary influence suggested that Anne of Green Gables deserves a place among the Tom Sawyers, Huck Finns, and other mostly male protagonists of classic juvenile literature.
We'd all be better off for it.
My introduction to Anne came in fifth grade when I received the book as a Christmas gift. I devoured it, then went on to read the rest of the series, plus everything else by L.M. Montgomery that I could get my hands on.
Like countless young girls of the century, I was instantly infatuated. To my ten-year-old eyes, Anne embodied the qualities I most admired: romanticism (the variety that scorns boy-craziness but idealizes the natural world), imagination, nostalgic reluctance to grow up, spunk, intelligence, optimism, ability to win friends. Her much-bemoaned faults, such as culinary disasters and hair of an undesirable color, only endeared her to me. Here was hope that I, too, could one day grow from an awkward, insecure adolescent into a capable, willowy beauty, beloved and admired by all.
Twenty years later, my perception of Anne of Green Gables--both the book and the character--is completely different. Now I see that it's the marvelously funny and tender account of how a love-hungry, homeless girl and her adoptive adults (a middle-aged sister and brother) come to love each other as family and smooth out each others' rough edges. I was quite surprised to find myself sympathizing as much with the adults as with Anne herself. I chuckled at Anne's antics, perhaps recalling my own experiences as a short-term foster parent or aunt.
Coming from the early 1900's, the book is remarkable in its portrayal of an academically successful and ambitious girl (at sixteen, she wins the highest academic honors in teacher's school and plans to study for a B.A.). The author is female, as are the majority of key characters in the book. Radio show guests in a recent centennial conversation about Anne's literary influence suggested that Anne of Green Gables deserves a place among the Tom Sawyers, Huck Finns, and other mostly male protagonists of classic juvenile literature.
We'd all be better off for it.
Wicked Desserts
I found this recipe inside the lid of the frozen whipped topping which CP and I were finishing off, straight from the tub, for dessert:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
1 Chocolate Graham Crust
1 1/2 pts. [Store Brand] Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cups [Store Brand] Creamy Peanut Butter
1 jar of Ice Cream Fudge Topping
8 oz. [Store Brand] Whipped Topping (thawed)
Mix ice cream and peanut butter on low speed. Pour into cookie pie crust. Freeze 3 hours. Top with 1 jar of ice cream fudge topping. Return to freezer. Serve with whipped topping on top of each slice.
Anyone have a birthday coming up?
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
1 Chocolate Graham Crust
1 1/2 pts. [Store Brand] Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cups [Store Brand] Creamy Peanut Butter
1 jar of Ice Cream Fudge Topping
8 oz. [Store Brand] Whipped Topping (thawed)
Mix ice cream and peanut butter on low speed. Pour into cookie pie crust. Freeze 3 hours. Top with 1 jar of ice cream fudge topping. Return to freezer. Serve with whipped topping on top of each slice.
Anyone have a birthday coming up?
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Basil Trivia
Remember the meager garden I left behind when we moved out of town? I reaped some satisfaction from it, after all. On a maintenance trip back to the vacant house, CP brought back (in addition to a handful of decent heirloom tomatoes) my eight varieties of basil plants in a paper bag.
I feverishly whipped up a double batch of pesto while the leaves were fresh. The remaining whole plants (small leaf variety) I washed, patted dry with a kitchen towel, and froze on a cookie tray for a while. Then I sealed them in a Ziploc bag and threw them in the freezer.
Within the next week I used them all. At first I tried snipping individual leaves off stems, but they thawed quickly and stuck to everything. It worked much better to shake the bag, dislodging the frozen leaves, and pour the leaves out of the bag.
I feverishly whipped up a double batch of pesto while the leaves were fresh. The remaining whole plants (small leaf variety) I washed, patted dry with a kitchen towel, and froze on a cookie tray for a while. Then I sealed them in a Ziploc bag and threw them in the freezer.
Within the next week I used them all. At first I tried snipping individual leaves off stems, but they thawed quickly and stuck to everything. It worked much better to shake the bag, dislodging the frozen leaves, and pour the leaves out of the bag.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
40 Years
This past weekend Mom and Dad celebrated 40 years of marriage. To commemorate the day, those of us living relatively nearby invited them to a weekend of fun stuff. We took in local attractions like the Ethiopian restaurant (where you eat with your fingers), live open-air music, K's infamous dairy bar, farmers market, thrift shop, and university arboretum. Sunday we went to D, A and H's church where H shared about her recent and upcoming African adventures.
Below are some snapshots, in no particular order.
Campfire with the season's bounty and a few friends:
Telling stories at the arboretum:
Below are some snapshots, in no particular order.
Campfire with the season's bounty and a few friends:
Telling stories at the arboretum:
Just Chillin'
NS is now officially eight months old. The other day while I was working in the kitchen, she rolled/scooted herself under the sofa, Lego chunk in hand, and spent an hour or so under there on her back, playing her feet on the slats and talking happily to herself.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Watermelon
One of NS' favorite new foods this summer is watermelon.
A certain redundant, dull, and downright ugly song in our music library, which CP greets with glee each time it comes on in the random play shuffle, seems to have inspired NS, watermelon notwithstanding.
A certain redundant, dull, and downright ugly song in our music library, which CP greets with glee each time it comes on in the random play shuffle, seems to have inspired NS, watermelon notwithstanding.
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