July Eats

Canning for a New Generation declares this Nectarine Jam to be one of the prettiest jams around. I concur! I mixed white and yellow nectarines for my batch. Not only is it pretty, it is also way easier to make than peach jam because you don't have to peal the nectarines.

Oh, also, it is delicious.

What? You don't have a sink full of cucumbers in ice and a vase full of dill flowers? Why not? It is pickling season! Paul has been making his favorite garlic dill pickles and I am going to try some spiced pickles with our next round of cucumbers.

It is also zucchini bread season. Or, chocolate zucchini bread/cake if you are like me. Chocolate and zucchini are a fabulous combo. This is my tried and true recipe, but I am also looking to branch out this year and try other recipes. Like this one with coffee and cardamom!

Paul's Birthday in 3 Parts: Part 1

Paul got a shout out on his birthday, but I haven't posted about what we did to welcome in his 33rd year. This year Paul's birthday is being celebrated over nearly a month, so as of when I write this post, we still aren't done yet!

The celebration started on the night before his birthday. Since he took the day of his birthday off from work, I figured he would want to start celebrating ASAP. When I came home from the gym, I came bearing a bottle of bourbon whisky. He enjoyed it with a pipe in the backyard. All that was missing was a smoking jacket.

On Paul's actual birthday, we got dressed up for a dinner out. We tried to capture a picture, but we had a hard time of it. It was hot and humid and we were a bit riled up. This was probably the best one we got.

We had dinner at Heartland Restaurant in St. Paul. The restaurant is across the street from where the St. Paul Farmers' Market is held, which we still have not gone to! I do want to make it there sometime soon. We also got to see the termination of where the new central corridor lightrail line will be. Downtown St. Paul is such uncharted territory for me.

Back to dinner...I chose Heartland because of their multi-course dinner option: Flora for me and Fauna for Paul. We had eaten at Heartland before they reopened in their new spot. I had really liked it then, so my expectations were high. Unfortunately, I thought the food was just ok. The amuse bouche and the dessert were the highlights but the salad was boring and the entree was just fine. More importantly, though, Paul was pleased with his meal. Watching Paul savor a good meal is great fun for me, too.

Heartland's new space is wonderful and I enjoyed checking out the farm direct market they have on site. Seeing the price tags on the canned goods was exciting: $10 for a jar of strawberry rhubarb jam! If I were to measure my wealth in terms of jars of jam, I would be sitting pretty high on the hog!

Part of Paul's birthday gift was a boost of funds to start work on his man cave. Actually, he was posed with the option of a flight to Boston or funds for the man cave. It took him all of 1 second to decide! I think he relishes his man cave as much as I treasure my craft room. A room of one's own is a wonderful luxury to have. Usually it takes him a while to redeem his birthday gifts, but for this one, he started planning that very same night!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Violet, Sylvia and Some Knitting

Little Violet went home from the hospital a few weeks ago. She met all of her goals for release and is doing lots and lots of sleeping, eating and pooping at home now.

Jamie is recovering and I am sure she is happy to have everyone under one roof again.

I visited recently to hold Violet and hang out for a bit. Growing is exhausting, so there were big yawns and lots of sleeping happening.

She has grown a lot, but is still teeny, tiny.

When I was holding her in my lap, she made this face and then let out a giant, vibrating poo. Apparently this is normal and didn't phase Jamie. I found it to be shocking, so Jamie got a good laugh at my reaction. I decided then that it was time to hand Violet back over to her mama.

Plus, this little one had a birthday recently and I had brought a gift for her to open.

I think she liked the popsicle molds and the book the best, but I also knit her something.

When Jamie was on bedrest before Violet was born, I visited her and hooked her up with some yarn and a pattern. Jamie had never knit a garment before and, since she was at my knitting mercy with the bedrest and all, I took the opportunity to bully her into a sweater knit-a-long. She is knitting Violet a sweater from the same pattern I knit Sylvia's sweater. Eventually, they will be able to have sort-of matching sweaters for cheesy photo opportunities.

The sweater I knit is detailed on Ravelry. Jamie is making her version out of Malabrigo. Yum. The pattern is called In Threes and I recommend it if you are looking for a simple, versatile little sweater. I added stripes since I was knitting from stash yarn and needed to stretch the yardage a bit.

I raided my button tins for some mismatched vintage plastic buttons. The word on the street is that Sylvia is a fan of pink and purple, so hopefully she will wear this.

Outing in Outing

I am so terribly behind on blogging! I like to keep the pace as I really enjoy having things preserved here and shared in the case that it might interest you. I've been taking pictures, but finding the time to write and the right words to go with them hasn't been happening. It has been holding me back from posting. In the spirit of not letting too much pass by without posting, I am going to work on getting the images up and just go light on the words. As they say, something is better than nothing!

I just came back from a long weekend in Outing, Minnesota with my mom and a group of her friends. Some of these ladies I have known since I was little, so it was great fun to reconnect with them and to get to know some of my mom's newer friends a little better. We enjoyed the weekend in a lakeside cabin with good food, wine, books, games, knitting, walks, swims and plenty of that summer feeling, which I had been so thoroughly craving.

This Guy

This is my love. It is his birthday today. I hope this next year does right by him because the one he is leaving behind was kind of poopy. Even though this year included some rough times, I think we are both appreciative of all of the living we've done in his 32nd year. I feel fortunate that our life together is full of love and deep respect for each other. And silliness. There is a good amount of that around here, too.

Happy Day to you, my Paulie!