birthday flowers

I am so grateful for the colorful flowers on my birthday - made me smile and feel loved!

using our grapefruits

We have a giant grapefruit tree.  It is one of the only things that stood in the lot when we bought our place - that and a lot of weeds and a funky old building.  The tree is huge, and the grapefruits are plentiful any time of year.  Only they are quite sour, bitter really, mouth-puckeringly bitter in fact.  They make the inside of your mouth feel fuzzy somehow.  We have tried various ways to use the grapefruits; my kids often have a grapefruit juice stand instead of a lemonade one.  But we have to add lots of sugar or agave or honey to make the stuff palatable.  And even then, it isn't something I really enjoy.  And unfortunately I really DON'T like marmalade, no matter how much I try.  So when I saw the recipe for grapefruit ginger curd on Heidi Swanson's 101 cookbooks blog several weeks ago, I took notice.  And Saturday when the rain washed out our other plans, I knew what I wanted to do.  Out I went into the rain to pick some grapefruits, up I went to borrow an egg from our friend, and then got to making a delicious grapefruit curd.  Really lovely stuff, I love the taste and the texture.  I used only honey, and I think next time I will use a bit more, and definitely some sugar.  It was a great thing to wake up to this past week - slathered on toast or muffins.

riding that train

I love riding trains and watching the world go by.  It provides such an amazing view of the landscape and of urban life; you can make up stories, imagine, interpret, and just daydream.  Somehow the movement allows me to mindfully be aware of my thoughts and let them go.

It is a love I clearly share with my son.  He and I had a wonderful adventure this past weekend up to Old Sacramento and the train museum there -- one of those places we have always wanted to go.  It was a great mom and son trip, and so great to do it without an automobile.  While there we had the great joy of watching them move one of the engines out of the museum, around on the turntable, and back in again -- complete with loud whistle, dripping oil, flashing lights and a waving engineer.  And together we enjoyed the train trip back, watching the world go by, eating chocolate.

new family member

Welcome to our newest family member, Butch the bunny.  Or at least that is the name he came with; other options still pending.  My daughter Emily has been working hard to earn the bunny that has been her heart's desire.  So we headed to the Oakland Animal Shelter to have a look at the bunnies there, and happily came home with Butch.  He is calm, affectionate, and happy to sit in your lap; wonderful characteristics for a young girl's pet.  She slept nearby him his first night here in his new home, making sure he was comfortable and safe.  I think Butch will be happy here; and I know Emily will make a great caretaker and friend.  It has been wonderful to watch her care for him.  My girl wants to live in a barn on a farm, which isn't easy right now, so sleeping by her new bunny will hopefully be close enough.......

homemade ricotta

I finally got to one of K. Ruby Blume's cheesemaking classes last week - offered by the Institute of Urban Homesteading, headquartered here in Oakland.  She is an inspiring yet practical teacher, and offers great hands-on classes.  Ever since I helped a friend make mozzarella many years back, I somehow knew making cheese was one of my callings.  And I have had many unfulfilled cheesemaking urges lately.  No longer!  This week I bought some cheesecloth from the Oak Barrel in Berkeley, and got to work making my first batch (well, second...) of ricotta.  It is so simple to make; just heat up good milk and stir in lemon juice (in my case, giant ones from our friends' tree - a wonderful part of living here in Oakland), wait for curds to form, strain off the whey, and you have cheese.  With garlic and some fresh herbs mixed in, it couldn't be more delicious.  Here's a similar recipe from Smitten Kitchen if you want to try it yourself.

luddite cell phone

As made by my daughter, who clearly has some of her mother's blood running through her.  How it makes me smile!

spring potatoes

I love the colors purple and green together in the Spring.  And I love discovering spring vegetables growing and hiding underground.  And what should I dig up today when I was peeking at how far along those baby potatoes might be?  Purple potatoes.  I had forgotten that I planted the purple ones (among others) late last year.  I usually order my seed potatoes from Peaceful Valley up in Grass Valley, and plant them in November; but now is a great time to plant potatoes as well.  The fresh ones have such a vivid color and taste to them.  I can't wait to dig some more (thought I would wait for my daughter to help, seeing that they are planted in "her" bed) and cook them up.