A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.- via soulemama
Month: May 2014
{this moment}
Cookbooks – a beginning
I am not a very adventurous cook, in fact, calling myself a cook at all is a stretch. Ben does most, if not all, of the cooking. For awhile I was baking breads and desserts regularly, then the girls were diagnosed with celiac and that kind of all fell apart. Fast forward five years and now I am ready to get back into the thick of things. Five years is a long time…it shouldn’t have taken that long for me to feel the urge, but it did. It started with a cookbook I saw for sale on instagram. I follow @presleypigs and she sells vintage items, many of which are books. I have purchased a couple children’s books from her and saw the Gourmets Guide to New Orleans cookbook listed awhile back. I picked it up and read it from beginning to end. It has recipes from several famous New Orleans establishments including Brennan’s – which Ben and I both have fond memories of visiting. Some of the recipes I will never make, some caused Blackburn to gross out just by reading – turtle soup – but some I will attempt to make.
That being said, my interest in cooking and baking has returned. Today I saw another vintage cookbook – The Household Searchlight Recipe Book from 1941 – posted for sale and debated about it all day while at work. This cookbook seemed to have a lot of information and goes back to the roots of cooking and preserving at home. When I got home and saw it was still up for grabs I jumped at the chance to own. As soon as it arrives I will share some of the recipes. My attempts at making these recipes gluten-free could be scary, messy and plain painful, but I am ready to try.
If anyone has any cookbooks or single recipes, vintage or current, that they recommend let me know.
5K Snapshots
I posted Ben and the girls with their medals last week. Here are some more pictures from the 5K race.
(1) Ben pinning on Vita’s race bib (2) Most of Fairview Run’s Running Club (3) Waiting in front of the Red’s Stadium before the race (4) Meet under the paddle wheel when everyone’s done (5) After the finish line I was able to get to the next good viewing area to see Ben and Bella run past (6) Vita was a little behind them (7) Vita closing in on the finish line (I didn’t make it in time to snap a photo of Isabella- she was too fast!) (8) After the race, Isabella, Vita and Ainsley had to play in a soccer game. (9)The next day they wore their race shirts, medals and had an ice cream party at school.
I am so proud of them. Not only did they run in amazing times for their ages. They were both under 32 minutes but they also ran at their own paces (even if that meant not running with friends). I am also proud that they are not afraid to try new things and have the confidence to run these types of races. I never hear them say they can’t do it and that is an awesome way to approach life.
Life Lately:
We received this amazing set of Nancy Drew books from Ben’s Aunt Kathy. We have started reading them in order – a little bit each night…
Working on a backyard overhaul. I love old bricks, especially when they are covered with moss.
This will keep him busy for hours…
The Father-Daughter Dance happened…the theme was “Red Carpet”.
Sometimes Vita just has to wear a costume…even if she is only watching television.
Fairview’s Young Authors’ Night…I love that the school does this “project”. We have all their books saved and its fun to look back on.
Visiting family…learning more gun safety and target practice.
We also celebrated Ben’s grandmother’s 80th birthday party. The kids had a blast playing with all their cousins and it was great to see family from out-of-state.
{this moment}
Krohn Conservatory
After the Butterfly Show area (see previous post) we walked through the rest of Krohn Conservatory. We have a membership and never get tired of visiting. We took some more pictures and shopped the plant sale. I picked up a couple of blackberry and raspberry bushes to plant in the backyard. It truly is a relaxing place to visit.
Before heading home we walked to Mirror Lake, watched the ducks and posed for a family picture.
The Butterfly Show
I have a lot to catch up on starting with Easter Day. Our tradition is to arrive at Krohn Conservatory shortly after they open. This year the Butterfly Show was also taking place. Here is a secret: I hate butterflies. The kids really wanted me to go in the Butterfly area so I gave in and repeated over and over in my head that everything would be okay. I had to fight the natural impulse to swat at the butterflies a couple of times, but I made it through. Here are some pictures:
I never stopped moving, wore gray and black and told the kids not to tell me if one landed on me without me seeing it.