It was another pretty relaxing weekend kicked off with a backyard picnic and a trip to the library. It’s been far too long since PSP and I have done the chapter book thing and now that it’s summer I’m excited for more reading time. Confession–I’ve never read any of the Little House on the Prairie books. So when I suggested the first book, Little House in the Big Woods to PSP, this was just as much for me as it was for her. She had no desire to read this one, and in the end I didn’t really convince her–I just checked it out and hoped she’d humor me with listening to the first chapter and maybe get hooked. Luckily, my plan worked.
This is one of my favorite parts of being a parent–reliving, or even creating for the first time, childhood memories through your kids’ eyes. I have this theory that started with the movie Goonies… If you didn’t see this movie as a kid, you don’t get it. There are certain movies and books that must be watched/read as a child to really appreciate them. They must be viewed through a child’s eyes, with a child’s heart and a child’s perspective. There is meaning and magic in a child’s perspective that is not present when seen only through adult eyes. Since I didn’t read these books as a kid, the next best thing is reading them to my daughter, riding on her coattails through the adventure.
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High on the agenda this weekend was buying a box of peaches from a roadside stand and finally investing in our own canning equipment. Reason #2643 I love my husband: He likes to can. He’s already done a batch of strawberry jam this year and together we tackled peaches. We only had 5 jars worth of ripe peaches, but we’re hoping to get another 10+ jars done tonight.
Canning. Call me crazy, but anytime I do something in this modern world that my ancestors did in the ‘olden days’ I feel like I earned a little more street cred with them. Olden day street cred.
Hand quilting? Check.
Child birth? Check.
Canning? Check
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And of course there was more eating outside. Climbing temperatures withstanding, this continues to be a weekend must. I stumbled upon a great salad this weekend as well. When it comes to menu planning, my approach is rather willy-nilly… rather than having a week of specific recipes with all the specific ingredients, I prefer to keep a cache of good ingredients on hand and then open the ridge and magically throw them together to create culinary masterpieces. It doesn’t always work out, but for this arugula, mango and avocado salad it did. When I googled arugula salad, this one came up and with a few substitutions (grapefruit for orange, green onions for red, rice vinegar for champaign vinegar) it was a hit. It’s weird but this is also the same method I use for shopping–I don’t ever shop with an outfit or specific look in mind. But rather I just buy pieces I like and hope that when I open the closet they’ll magically come together.
I pinned this salad here.
Or go directly to link here.
But for the love of good food, just make sure you buy arugula from a farmers market–it’s just not the same at the grocery store.
Hope you had a good weekend.
SUPER adorable pictures!
You will love the Little House series. At least, I do. 🙂 But if you find Little House in the Big Woods, just skip some of the boring parts, or even skip it altogether and go straight to Little House on the Prairie which is 10X as exciting.
I loved those books when I read them as a kid, but I also read them all through again recently and thought more along the lines of -what if that was me and my little kids with no one around, just Indians screaming and beating war drums all night long for 4 nights. What if it was me and my husband when … So reading it as an adult will be a different experience, like you said, but still a good one.
I LOVE canning. I love seeing beautiful jars full of yummy food on the shelves. Makes me feel provident and capable. Good luck with the peaches!