As time goes by and I further settle into life in the Midwest, some of my area cousins are becoming good friends. Shared history, similar values and common interests are at the heart of our connection at this life stage but that is not to say there is total simpatico. On Friday, five cousins, sisters, arrived at our lakeside home for a weekend of fun and frolic. What we ended up enjoying together was lots of tasty food, good conversation and hours of card playing. First off, my cousins are great cooks, bakers and kitchen helpers. This made Paul’s job easier than ever although he baked multiple loaves of fresh artisan bread. I made a fresh corn salsa served with spicy chips and tasty margaritas followed by chicken enchiladas for our Friday evening supper. Various salads graced the Saturday lunch table followed by grilled steak and burgers from family raised cattle and fresh garden grown green beans for supper ending with luscious carrot cake and scrumptious rhubarb dessert. Sunday brunch brought a delicious omelet, toast from fresh bread, an assortment of homemade jams and lovely zucchini bread. Suffice it to say, nobody left hungry.
Varying religious and political beliefs led to passionate conversations that resulted in “agreeing to disagree” andremembering that “family is first.” In our current polarized climate I was both surprised and relieved that civil discourse prevailed. Finally, we focused on a fun card game called “Up & Down the River” which is more about card distribution than strategy making it easy to maintain animated conversations. I’ve got many new card games to learn for future gatherings and hope to convince my two sisters to come to next year’s gathering.
This year’s tomatoes were planted in the ground instead of raised beds and along with some organic soil amendment last fall we are being rewarded with many large healthy tomatoes we are quickly turning into tomato sauce. I now understand why folks have moved away from canning to freezing tomatoes as it can be done in small batches as the tomatoes ripen throughout the season. It is time to start making weekly visits to a nearby farm where a young farmer is gardening organically. Last week I picked up some greens, garlic, leeks and pullet eggs. I sautéed some leeks over which I fried three pullet eggs and had a most excellent late morning breakfast two days in a row. Forget about onions and scallions and go for leeks in season; they are packed with flavor. I think I’ll pick up some more this week along with green beans for making dilly beans. I also need to tackle the bag of cucumbers one of my cousins brought this weekend.
Finally, drum roll…, I pulled the trigger and ordered my very own floor loom for weaving! It was a big decision and I think my biggest challenges will be pacing myself and finding the right outlets for my hand woven items. I am fortunate to have found an excellent area teacher and coach who will assist with loom assembly and warping until I become independent. For better or worse, I am going to put the loom right in the living room and hope we can continue to live large around it. If our homes are to be filled with things we love and that are useful then having my own loom certainly fits the bill. It seems it’s been a stellar week that still has me smiling!