MONDAY

BREAKFAST: Overnight Oats- Trader Joe’s Organic Rolled Oats with Ancient Grains and Seeds, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Honey, Dried Cranberries, 1/4 of a Banana, and Peanut Butter
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Pepperoni, String cheese, Sliced cucumbers, blueberries
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Purely Elizabeth Chocolate Sea Salt granola, strawberries, dollop of Peanut Butter
DINNER: Tacos- blue corn tortilla hard shells, black beans, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, pickled red onion, sour cream, salsa, avocado, shredded cheese

TUESDAY

BREAKFAST: scrambled eggs, chicken sausage links
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Grilled chicken, pita chips with taziki sauce, grapes, chocolate covered almonds
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Sliced apples with almond butter
DINNER: Spaghetti with turkey meatballs

WEDNESDAY

BREAKFAST: Breakfast burritos
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Pork dumplings, sliced cucumbers, red grapes, dark chocolate covered pretzels
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Trader Joe’s pumpkin bar
DINNER: Sausage sautéed with spinach and mushrooms and served with roasted onions and peppers

THURSDAY

BREAKFAST: Pumpkin muffins, berries, pear slices
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Everything bagel with cream cheese and cucumbers, apple slices, pretzels
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Peanut butter and jam toast
DINNER: Black bean and cheese quesadillas. tomato and avocado salad

FRIDAY

BREAKFAST: Yogurt bowls- whole milk vanilla yogurt, pistachios, fresh sliced figs
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Leftover sausage and veggies from Wednesday’s dinner, berries, chocolate peanut butter cups
DINNER: Homemade pizza night- Extra Crispy Tortilla Cast iron Pizza

I have lists stashed in all my working locations (bedside table, journals, desk drawers) of weekly meal plans. I get so much joy in planning meals for the week (I know this is not a feeling shared by many), and as the boys return to school, my planning energy grows even stronger in the hopes of keeping a calm and peaceful home life amidst the inevitable craziness of school day demands.

Every season my intentions are to create loosely based weekly plans that can be easily tailored to the week’s schedule. For the beginning of this school year, I have attempted to plan a repeating schedule of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners that I hope will help prevent food boredom, will increase food diversity, and make meal prep easier. My hope is to regularly share them here in case you’re looking for some quick, healthy, delicious, and family favorite meals to have during your busy weeks. I hope it helps!

MONDAY

BREAKFAST: Overnight Oats- Trader Joe’s Organic Rolled Oats with Ancient Grains and Seeds, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Coconut Sugar, and Peanut Butter (Topped with fresh fruit in the morning)
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Bare Chicken Nuggets, Sliced cucumbers and peppers, apple slices with Nutella
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Purely Elizabeth Chocolate Sea Salt granola, strawberries, dollop of Peanut Butter
DINNER: Shrimp Fajita Bowls- Sautéed shrimp with taco seasoning, roasted peppers and onions, avocado slices, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes with a side of tortilla chips

TUESDAY

BREAKFAST: Fried egg topped with shredded cheese and salsa, Annie and Jack’s sausage patties, toast
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Peanut butter and jam on whole grain bread, baby carrots with hummus, grapes
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Cottage cheese with peaches
DINNER: Pasta with bolognese sauce (loaded with vegetables)

WEDNESDAY

BREAKFAST: Fried egg topped with shredded cheese and salsa, Annie and Jack’s sausage patties, toast
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Chicken taquitos, guacamole and tortilla chips, mandarin oranges
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Simple Mills bar with peanut butter
DINNER: Summer Picnic Dinner- fried chicken, corn on the cob, and tomato-basil salad with burrata cheese

THURSDAY

BREAKFAST: Scrambled eggs, pumpkin muffins, berries
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Salami, mozzarella, Trader Joe’s savory thin crackers, baby carrots, olives, grapes
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: Homemade chocolate chip cookies and milk
DINNER: Farro with crispy tofu, grapes, arugula, and feta

FRIDAY

BREAKFAST: Yogurt bowls- whole milk plain yogurt, cashews, pistachios, almonds, dollop of peach jam, raisins
PACKED SCHOOL LUNCH: Sesame bagel with cream cheese and cucmbers, berries, pepper strips, chocolate chip cookie
DINNER: Homemade pizza (we use Trader Joe’s pizza dough) topped with pepperoni, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts

This week, our boys will start school. Yet, instead of dropping them off, kissing them goodbye, and wishing them a good day, the boys will be learning at home this year. I have always been intrigued by homeschooling, but our boys have had wonderfully enriching school experiences thus far, so doing school at home did not seem like the right fit for our family. But, in light of the ongoing pandemic and its unknown impact on schools, David and I both came to the decision, almost simultaneously, that now seems like the right time to give homeschooling a try.

The privilege of choice is not lost on me. I have been quieted many times over the past months by the thought that David and I can choose both to home school our boys and decide which curriculum we want to use to teach them. Additionally, our current family/work situation is quite suitable to homeschool life, so it truly makes a lot of sense for our family.

Learning is not a segment of a day or a phase of time, yet I found that over the past few years I have relinquished the education of our boys nearly in full to their school and teachers. I, rightfully, trusted the process and compartmentalized their education- school is the place for formal learning, home is for everything else. The lessons of this season of life are many, and I have gained from these lessons a great deal of perspective. So, this year, my hope is that we all reconnect with each other through learning and that learning becomes a greater part of our family landscape. But, I also hope this year brings intentionality to our family. We talk often about creating family rhythms and dynamics, and my goal is to foster this practice of intentionality as a family team. With each day, I hope we can find the space and patience to read, learn, practice, create, and try over (and over) again, both together and individually.

We begin this homeschooling journey with more questions than answers, more ideals than facts. I am sure we will stumble and question our choice, but the beauty of beginning something new together is that the journey will allow us to grow together. For us, this new school adventure is about more than learning; it’s also for cultivating sibling bonds and relational connection, about enjoying their childhood together this year. And, for leaving time for creativity and hobbies to flourish.

I will be sharing our homeschool journey in this space. As a person who needs time to be alone to refresh my mind and spirit, I hope the blocks of time I find to reflect and write here, will nourish me and help me to be a better teacher, mom, and partner.

I miss seeing my boys dressed in their collared school shirts and khaki shorts.

I miss picking up the boys from school and hearing about their day on the ride home.

I miss my parents.

I miss losing myself in a market, marveling at the produce, dreaming up new dishes to create.

I miss a quiet house.

I miss Sunday dates with David.

I miss sitting at a bar and ordering a cocktail.

I miss seeing a movie in a theater.

I miss concerts.

I miss yoga in a crowded, hot stinky studio.

I miss the anticipation when your plane lifts off toward its destination.

I miss ordering drinks and food poolside.

But…I do not miss everything about life before the pandemic.

In some ways, the past five months have had an oddly unexpected thread of familiarity for me. There have been many moments when I have been reminded of those early years of motherhood. Particularly after Rigby’s birth, when I was learning to juggle the emotions of a five year old (and brand new Kindergartener) paired with the raw needs of a newborn and healing from a difficult caesarean section, I felt the sheer necessity of sheltering in place. Required feedings every two hours, too many sleepless nights, a painful recovery and feeling overrun with logistical details, it often felt easier to stay home.

The exhaustion and the beauty in that early season taught me how to better slow down and to pay attention. How to ask David for the support I needed to make it through the day. Yet, I also remember days when it seemed there was nowhere to hide. Days of living in a house that was a bit too small with a child always on my heels asking me to watch or to listen. Ping-ponging back and forth to the needs of my boys to a meal requiring attention to household chores to an aging dog to the logistics of a cross country move. So many days both then and now when I wanted to hide or scream or disappear. On more than one occasion during the last two months of the school year, I wanted to throw in the towel on distance learning, days when I did not sleep well and was exhausted, days when I lost my patience too quickly. With nowhere to retreat to refuel, we’ve had to create space for each other. Sometimes we find the energy and space we need in the outdoors, other times it’s found in the solitude of quiet time.

I have felt our family unit becoming stronger than ever. We are learning how to celebrate the joys of life, even though they may be celebrated in new ways, and also how to address more painful life moments. Because we stick close to home and to each other these days, the boys have seen me in the more raw moments of disappointment or frustration or uncertainty but they have also witnessed David and I working together to navigate and adapt in these situations. As heartbreaking as it may be, our children will experience grave disappointments and failures in their lives, and I hope that showing them how to find hope and persevere in those times, however imperfect, will be an invaluable life lesson.

It is difficult to sit with the loss of control. It is hard to navigate the road of ambivalence, particularly when you have young travelers on the road with you. Yet, I am finding gratitude in the empty days, in time spent away from carpool lines and shuttling from school to after school activities. I am finding the space to live the simple life I have always yearned for.

I wonder. What have the past nearly five months stirred within you? Have you been still enough yet to ask yourself?

xxo.

I love them sliced with generous amounts of flaky salt and pepper. I love them on sandwiches and in salads. I love them with hunks of mozzarella and leaves of basil.

I have added them to batches of ratatouille to stock our freezer. And, I have pushed our jarred tomato sauces and our canned tomatoes to the back of our pantry for now, and taken to making homemade tomato sauce.

The simplicity of this sauce relies on the freshness of the tomatoes. If the tomatoes are not ripe and juicy with real tomato flavor, then the canned tomatoes will serve you better. But, if you can get your hands on fresh organic tomatoes from either a farmers market or garden, you will be treated to a delightfully flavorful sauce.

Tomato Sauce

makes about 2 cups

Peel 2 pounds ripe tomatoes (I use a sharp knife and my hands but you can also peel tomatoes in a more civil way by plunging cored tomatoes into boiling water for about 30 seconds until their skins loosen, placing them into a ice water bath to stop the cooking, then drain and peel).

Seed and dice the peeled tomatoes by cutting tomatoes in half and coaxing out their seeds, try to save as much as the juice as you can.

Mince 5 large cloves of garlic.

Put a pot over medium heat and when heated, pour in 1/4 cup olive oil.

Add the garlic and when it starts to sizzle, add the tomatoes with their juices and a large pinch of kosher salt.

Cook at a simmer for 15 minutes. Sauce will be chunky. I you prefer a smoother sauce you can pass it through a food mill or run it through a blender.

There have been times when I have retreated from this platform, but I always find my way back, and I never regret returning. I hope this return is lasting; I have many things in the works and I’d love to share!

This spring, I grew our first garden in this home. The combination of good soil (I filled one of our terrace beds with mushroom compost), warm weather, and lots of rain has produced loads of vegetables. In particular, June brought a load of yellow summer squash that I had trouble using in creative ways.

The boys and I ate many (many) loaves of banana bread during the early weeks of quarantine, so we steered away from quick breads for a while. But, the bounty of summer squash found me staring down my loaf pans once again. Zucchini bread is a thing, why not summer squash bread?

I had the boys help me with this recipe. They grated the squash, which is, surprisingly, a very gratifying thing to do, added the measured ingredients to the mixer, and manned the mixer controls (one of their favorite parts of cooking, aside from licking the spoons and mixing bowl).

The bread turned out delicious! It tastes like summer and, while, it admittedly tastes more like a dessert than a quick bread, it is good on its own, although a slather of butter never makes anything taste bad. The recipe makes two loaves, so we wrapped the second in saran wrap and stuck it in the freezer for that taste of summer we will crave once the weather starts to cool down.

Lemon Sesame Seed Summer Squash Bread

yield 2 loaves

INGREDIENTS

1 cup melted unsalted butter

2 cups granulated sugar

Juice and zest of 1 large or 2 small lemons

1 teaspoon almond flavor

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups grated summer squash (I grew Zephyr squash so that’s what I used, I think any yellow summer squash will work)

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease or line two loaf pans; set aside.

Place the melted butter, sugar, lemon juice and zest, almond flavor and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Cream together until fluffy and light in color, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to fully incorporate into the mixture before adding another.

Evenly sprinkle the salt, baking soda, and baking powder over the top of the mixture. Mix well.

Working in batches, add the flour a 1/2 cup at a time; mix in entirely between additions. Fold in the squash and poppy seeds. Divide the batter between the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

We arrived with a short list of places to explore and restaurants to pop into, and left with so many more ideas for our next visit.  We concentrated our time during the first set of days on the town of Highlands, just an hour northwest of Brevard where Jack's Summer Boys Camp, Camp High Rocks, is located.

We rented a home via AirBnB for our stay and it could not have been more charming!  The home is located about 1 mile from the town center oh Highlands, across the street from Mirror Lake.  We appreciated all of the fun details and folk art in the house and the boys loved the candy cabinet and snack basket that the owners so graciously left for us.  The biggest highlight was the canoe that was included with the home rental.  Despite the copious amounts of rain during our four day stay, we loved paddling around the lake and exploring all of the beautiful homes and gardens.

It was with such pleasure that we were able to coordinate a visit with dear friends on our first night in Highlands.  We met at Bistro on Main for cocktails in the late afternoon and then walked down Main Street to Cyprus for dinner on their upper patio.  Truth be told, do not come to WNC for the food...it's alright, but doesn't come close to matching the beauty and splendor of its surroundings.  So, dinner was more about friendship and connection rather than flavors and pairings.

Jack only stayed with us for one night in Highlands before we dropped him off at Camp!  He was eager to get started on his adventures and new friendships, so after a quick goodbye, we drove away from Camp High Rocks with hopeful hearts for our big boy!  Before departing Brevard, we made a stop at OP Taylors toy store.  This has become one of our favorite places to spend an hour playing with the fun remote control cars and exploring all of the new toys.  It has multiple rooms and two stories and is such a treasure to visit!  We stopped in Cashiers for lunch on our drive back to Highlands hoping to eat at Cornucopia but the wait was very long and we weren't feeling up for a long delay.  Instead, we went to the Cashiers Farmers Market where they serve BBQ out of a small trailer on the side.  The grounds are dotted with wooden picnic tables, making it a lovely place to eat. 

Many of our afternoons were spent cozy in the house napping, reading, looking for bears in the lake, or watching a movie.  It was such a treasure to have unstructured down time.  On our first night without Jack (second night in Highlands), we took a very short hike to Sunset Rock after dinner where we were rewarded with a sunset, albeit hazy.  Rigby enjoyed playing on the rocks and we loved watching the daylight fade over the town.

We cooked many meals at home (as I mentioned earlier, the food is quite average, for the most part), but we did enjoy going to Mountain Fresh Grocery multiple times.  Their breakfast is quite tasty, but be aware most people feel the same way and it can get busy, and their chocolate chip cookies are large and amazingly delicious!  They also have a nice selection of beers on tap and it's a pretty tasty spot to grab a pizza.

We enjoyed our time exploring the Highlands Nature Center.  Although small, it has some neat interactives for children, some cool animals, and beautiful gardens.  Another hit in town was SweeTreats for ice cream and The Toy Store.

Perhaps my most favorite day in Highlands was spent at the gorgeous Bascom: Center for the Visual Arts and then taking another short but very rewarding hike to Dry Falls.  Because of all the rain Highlands got during our stay, Dry Falls was roaring with water making it quite a spectacle to walk behind.  It was hard not to get wet from all the mist.  We had an early dinner at Ugly Dog Pub before we turned in for our last night.

After going to a Family Reunion and then coming back home in Chattanooga for a few days, we returned to WNC to pick up our big Camper!  This time, we stayed in Brevard at the quirky Sunset Motel which was perfect for our short weekend visit.

The most exciting part of this group of days, was picking up Jack from High Rocks!  We enjoyed our morning at Camp learning about all of his activities and seeing the areas of camp that he grew to love during his time there.  We were also able to visit a bit longer with his counselor who seemed like Jack's kindred spirit.

Again, we were rewarded with a visit with friends...this time, a surprise visit with a dear high school friend who happened to be visiting from Tokyo and staying in the area with his family!  We had lunch at Dahlia's on the Davidson River, then went to Dolly's Dairy Bar for ice cream.  We ended our visit with a stop at Highlands Books.  It was a great afternoon spent reconnecting and watching our children interact across different languages. That evening, we went to Oskar Blues Brewery and played corn hole, listened to live music, ate pizza, and sampled yummy beers.  

Before heading back home, we spent the morning at Looking Glass Falls and the Pigsah Ranger Station.  The boys were brave enough to get into the water, but I am so fearful of cold water, that I opted to stay on the rocks and take pictures.  After some outdoor exploring, we had lunch from the Blue Smoke food truck and grabbed a beer at the Hub and Pigsah Tavern.  We did a little shopping in the Hub for frisbee golf discs before making our way back to Chattanooga.

Other ideas for next time:

In Highlands-

• Secret Falls Hike

• El Manzinillo for margaritas and Mexican food

• A show at the Highlands Playhouse

• A splurge stay at Old Edwards Inn and dining at Madison's and The Wine Garden (which I am certain would not disappoint)

In Brevard-

• Tubing on the Davidson River

• Sliding Rock

• Hiking in the Pigsah Forest

• Performance at the Brevard Music Center

In the area-

• A stay at Highland Lake Inn and Resort

• Fly Fishing

• Eating at Cornucopia in Cashiers

• A stay at High Hampton Inn and Country Club

• A stay at Greystone Inn and Exploring Lake Toxaway

This is sooooo over due (I am going to start working on his 9 year old birthday post in less than 2 months!).  Jack keeps asking me if I have written his birthday post yet and while I had written most of it, I had yet to carve out the time to do the final edits and add photos.  But, alas, here it is...and it makes my heart swell times a million to know that he looks forward to reading these yearly updates!

Jack turned eight (waaaay back in October) while he was in second grade. As a second grader, he has been to three different schools in three different cities in three years, but you would not know it.  He easily transitioned into his new school (likely the easiest transition to date!) and quickly acclimated to new teachers and friends.  It brought such relief to us and truly spoke of his adaptable and easy-going nature.

This year, he has chosen to take more acting classes, start Kenpo which he incessantly "practices", play soccer, and learn squash.  I don't think soccer is his favorite thing, although he did give it a good try (it probably helped that David was his coach).  Jack is learning piano too.  He goes only “because my mom makes me,” but I am okay with that; I think he will appreciate the skill of music playing some day.

Jack is a strong and voracious reader.  Library days at school are some of his favorite, and he's  flying through Goosebumps books, the My Weird School series, Bad Guys, and any other scary genre of stories that catches his eye.

He continues to love art and will easily draw and create for hours in his free time.  I think this is why homework is sometimes a difficult part of our day, it takes time away from reading and drawing and creating.  His mind never stops imagining which is difficult in dealing with the day to day necessities, but also such magic.

He continues to be a good and conscience eater.  He eats a variety of foods at every meal and asks a lot of questions about where certain foods have come from and how they are made.  He always likes to tell me what he chose to eat at lunch which makes me a proud dietitian Mama.

Jack is a good friend to both boys and girls, new kids, loud kids, and quiet ones too.  I am sure he will go through a stage of life where he will not feel as comfortable having close girl friends, but I love that for now he doesn't seem to discriminate among genders.

To my dismay, he is always talking, pretending, and daydreaming about scary things like Chuky, Stephen King's It, and Goosebumps.  He brings home ghost stories from the library and stares at the pictures.  It makes me a little nervous since I don't like scary things, not even a little bit, but, I keep reassuring myself that either this is just a phase, or that authors of horror books or directors of horror films were once young and probably liked scary things just like he does.

Jack likes to sing along to radio hits from the backseat. He knows the words to a lot of songs, and his favorites are One Day by Matisayhu and Believer by Imagine Dragons.

Jack is starting to show signs of adolescence which is weird and wondrous all at the same time.  His attitude is becoming more pronounced, he is showing a few signs of insecurity, and expressing his need for space and quiet more often than he used to.  Despite these changes, he continues to adore Rigby and genuinely loves to have him around (most of the time).

It is fun to watch Jack grow up!  He is really a cool boy, and I'm delighted to know him so well.  

We love you so, Jack Jack.

I’ve continued our birthday tradition by asking Jack the same set of questions each year…it is fun to see the changes and the similarities (mostly the similarities) in his answers from year to year!

1. What is your favorite color? Hot Pink, Orange, Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Mr. Incredible from McDonald's
3. What is your favorite fruit? Cantaloupe and Honey Dew
4. What is your favorite thing to watch? Sponge Bob Square Pants
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Ham and Cheese Sandwich and Doritos                                                                          6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Auburn "Aubbie"hat
7. What is your favorite game? Monopoly
8. What is your favorite snack? Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
9. What is your favorite animal? Tasmanian Devil
10. What is your favorite song? Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins
11. What is your favorite book? Finn Family Moomintroll
12. Who is your best friend? Thomas
13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Climb the magnolia tree
15. What is your favorite drink? Sprite
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Myself
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Biscuits and Figs
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Hot Dogs
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Person who Works at a Restaurant

We hosted our first (small) dinner party in our new home about a month ago.  Because the focus was primarily on the gathering of people (and because we had an almost equal number of children to adults), we kept the dinner simple and summery- a variety of salads with ice cream for dessert.  What we did choose to spend more time curating was our pre-dinner cocktail, as we have grown to appreciate the flavors and preparation of thoughtful cocktails more and more over the years.

Inspired by our bounty of mint growing in the yard and, more importantly, a lovely pair of handcrafted Moscow Mule copper mugs gifted to me by the online retailer, Moscow Muled, we decided to do a spinoff of a traditional Moscow Mule and to mix a cocktail with plenty of mint, a splash of bubbly, and just the right tang from a fresh lime.  It was perfect for an evening summer gathering paired with light foods.

The Montauk Mule

Ingredients:

2 shots vodka (we used Tito's but choose your favorite) 

3 sugar cubes 

1 shot fresh lime juice (and extra lime wedges to garnish)

3 sprigs of fresh mint (plus extra to garnish)

Prosecco

Preparation:

Add the sugar cubes, lime juice, and mint sprigs to a cocktail shaker.

Muddle the ingredients in the bottom of the shaker until thoroughly crushed and most of the sugar has dissolved.

Add the vodka shots and ice cubes to just above the level of the liquid and shake vigorously for 10-20 seconds.

Strain mixture into 2 Moscow Mule mugs containing several large cubes of ice and then top the mugs off with Prosecco.  Garnish with a lime wedge and mint sprig.

Recipe Adapted from Shake: A New Perspective on Cocktails

A few fun facts about Moscow Muled's copper mugs that makes them different than other copper mugs on the market:

-- All of their copper mugs are made of 100% pure high-grade and food-safe copper. In order to protect your health, the interior of our copper mugs are lined with a layer of high-grade nickel.

From their website: "It’s very important that your copper mug is lined with nickel. That’s because copper is a heavy metal that reacts with acidic fluids such as cocktail ingredients. If you use a copper mug that is not lined with nickel, the acidic fluids in your drink will cause a chemical reaction which may cause you to ingest too much copper, leading to an unhealthy and potentially dangerous concentration of copper in your body.

Unfortunately, many manufacturers that sell copper mugs without any nickel lining fail to warn their customers about the potential health consequences. In order to avoid negative health effects for you and your friends and family, please make sure to only use copper mugs that are plated with nickel on the inside.

The nickel lining in our copper mugs also has an added functional benefit. Because copper is a very soft metal, it can become damaged by repeated use. Nickel plating increases the strength and durability of your copper mug and greatly extends its life!"

-- They donate 15% of profits to several non-profit organizations that work to stop impaired driving.  As a result, your purchase of our copper mugs can help safe lives. 

--Check out their super cute idea for using copper mugs in an alternative way!

Thank you, Moscow Muled, for the beautiful copper mugs!  We love them and know they will be used and enjoyed for years to come!

I am not a huge fan of most cobblers.  The soggy topping gets muddled with the fruit and everything seems to lose its way, particularly by day two (if there are any leftovers).  But, I do love a seasonal crisp or crumble, especially if the topping stays crispy perched atop the in season fruit.  And, if the crisp or crumble topping is prepared in at least a 1:1, but preferably a 2:1, ratio with the fruit, then I like it even more.  

Truth be told, I eat pie simply for the crust and I eat crisps and crumbles for the topping.  What lies beneath matters, but not nearly as much as the buttery crust or the crunchy topping.  This is a simple, delicious crisp that can adorn any stone fruit, so use it now for peaches and save it for autumn after you go apple picking.  Serve it with scoops of your favorite vanilla ice cream, or homemade whipped cream (my preference).  Believe it or not, it even tastes good for breakfast with plain yogurt...I just didn't tell my children about this trick!

Peach Crisp

Ingredients:

8 medium to large peaches, cut into small chunks 

2/3 cup sugar 

2 tablespoons plus 1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups old-fashioned oats

2/3 cup brown sugar 

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 

Preparation:

Toss peaches, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour in a large bowl to combine. Let sit, tossing occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, whisk oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and remaining 1 cup flour in a large mixing bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add butter. Once it has all been added, increase speed to medium-high and beat until dry ingredients are incorporated (there should be no dry bits left in the bowl), about 3 minutes.

Scrape peaches and any juices into a 8x8 baking dish. Evenly scatter oat topping over peaches and bake crisp on center rack in oven until peaches are soft, fruit juices are bubbling, and topping is a deep golden brown, about 1 hour.  Transfer baking dish to a wire rack and let crisp cool 1 hour.

Recipe Adapted from Bon Appetit who adapted it from B's Cracklin' BBQ in Savannah

PS Making a fruit crisp was on my summer to-do list!

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]]>Peach Crispthe FamilyStephanie LamarFri, 01 Jun 2018 19:09:04 +0000http://www.thebrowngoatblog.com/blog-3/2018/6/1/summer-to-do-list5627f775e4b0bb3dd70eede4:562be337e4b00876a04794dd:5b1162f00e2e721656dd9b06

It blows my mind that my last post (in this space that I deeply value so much) was back in October (???!!!).  Life...man, it's busy and chaotic and, goodness, priorities and obligations...  

This season in our lives has felt particularly topsy-turvy despite it being an important and ultimately wonderful one.  We have faced multiple challenges of which we have prevailed (for the most part) and while our life, up to this point, has been a story of transition and change (so many, too many changes), our recent "first and forever" home purchase, is already allowing us to feel more grounded.  It feels good to start sinking our heels into this place, creating our home.  

All of that to say, I have found my way back here and, so, Happy Summer! The boys are kicking off the season with a week in Pensacola spending quality time with all four of their grandparents.  I am enjoying the quiet days, uninterrupted time, and the flexibility to run/play squash/go out for meals/make multiple trips to the grocery store, etc.

Summer has arrived at such a necessary time this year.  I am looking forward to a break in our school year routine, the fast paced and full afternoons.  I feel particularly excited that the slower pace and more open schedule will give us a chance to really get to know our new home in a more intimate way.  

In every season, I am always troubled a bit with how to best slow down and savor its magic, while also staying mindful of not letting it pass us by without taking advantage of all the seasonal fun.  A list always seems to be helpful, if used as a guide and reminder, rather than a to-do list which can promote stress if all is not "conquered".

Here is my summer list, created with the hope that it will help us to savor the summer moments that lie ahead:

• Attend a concert at Lula Lake Land Trust
• Fly a kite on the hill in Renaissance Park
• Play a lot of squash and tennis
• Long days at home with no plans
• Play board games
• Go on a boat ride in the Tennessee River
• Grill pizza
• Pick berries
• Go fishing
• Help Jack complete his weaving loom project
• Screen a movie outside and watch from the swimming pool
• Play miniature golf 
• Master new summer cocktails (a few that I have bookmarked to try are Frozen Rum Mango Lassi,  Peach Gin and Soda, and Raspberry Gin Slushies)
• Go to a Lookouts baseball game
• Take the boys to an AMC Summer Movie
• Have friends and family visit
• Swim in our new pool
• Host a party
• Invite friends for dinner and swimming
• Go hiking
• Make fruit crisps and crumbles
• Go fishing
• Go to an outdoor concert series and listen from the lawn
• Rent Stand-Up Paddle Boards
• Make ice cream
• Water ballon fights
• Bake muffins, granola and breakfast burritos to save and store in preparation for the busy fall mornings ahead

Anything else to add??  Happy Summer, friends!

This post has been a difficult one to start (and, once started, a difficult one to finish), not for lack of things to share, but quite the opposite.  Rigby seems to be shedding his babyhood at mind-blowing speed and proudly dancing and jumping (literally, always dancing and jumping) into his toddler boy persona.  He is constantly in motion, running and jumping and climbing, doing his best to keep up with Bo-Bo (Jack).  There is just so much to say about our sweet, loving, active boy.

"Bibee" is how Rigby refers to himself.  Bo-bo is Jack.  Daddy is David.  And I am either Mama or Mommy.  All small children are babies (including ones that are older than he is), he knows the names of many of his close extended family members and many of our friends, and everyone else is "people".  He talks a lot.  And, every day he seems to add more words to his repertoire.  To the untrained ear, most of his speech is unintelligible, but his core group understands him nearly all of the time.

Rigby loves music and will almost always freeze in his tracks when he hears a song worthy of dancing to.  He has loved "The Music Class" and requests to listen to his class songs by saying "ba ba bababa" and tapping his legs.  We have recently started attending Toddler Time at the library and he loves it.  He loves the music and the stories, but just as much loves to be with other children and run around.

Rigby is full of manners: "Thank You" is very routine for him and he says this when he is given something but also when he gives something to someone (hands me his plate and says "Thank you, Mama").  He also goes out of his way to greet everyone either with a wave, a hello/hi, and/or a hug (which is really just a lean in, leading with one shoulder) and to say "Bless You" for both coughs and sneezes.

Rigby pretends to count often, especially when splashing into the pool.  Sometimes he will correctly count, other times he says "3, 2, 7...".  He knows most sounds made by animals and the words to several songs, but he has yet to grasp the concept of colors despite our persistence in trying to teach him.  He particularly loves flamingos and peacocks which he affectionately calls "mingos" and "pee-cock".

We once worried that Rigby was a picky eater and I attributed this to the fact that I did not exclusively breast feed him nor did I exclusively make all of his baby food (two things that I was able to do for Jack).  However, with age, Rigby has been eager to try more foods, and is even accepting of most.  He loves fruit, smoothies, french fries, sauces/dips, and quite possibly favors eggs as an entree above all else.

Sleep is getting better but is still not excellent.  He takes a while to fall asleep at night, particularly on those nights when I put him to bed, and he wakes at least once most nights and needs a replacement "dadew" (pacifier) or to be covered back up.  I have been treated to not being the parent who has to get up at night since the sight of me causes him to really wake and, thus, take much longer to settle back to sleep.

Rigby loves to help.  As with most "help" that toddlers provide, his help creates more messes and slows us down, but it is super cute (most of the time) when we hear him say "I do it" (said is a higher pitched almost whiny voice with both an insistence and plea).  He loves to help feed Sadie (at which he is able to steal a few bites of her dog food), stir when cooking, blend our smoothies, climb into his own carseat, etc.

Rigby loves people and will quickly make friends from teachers to strangers at the grocery store.  He love stop blow kisses to everyone and to hug if he can get close enough.  His most favorite person seems to be Jack.  He cries every morning after we walk Jack to school and needs to be reassured multiple times throughout the day that we will soon walk to pick up Bo-Bo. Jack is extremely patient and kind to Rigby, despite Rigby wanting to do absolutely everything that Jack is doing.  

Favorites: water, music, climbing at the playground (usually to the top of the highest slide), jelly beans (pronounced bebee beans), walks in the wagon

Rigby, we love you so much!  

We landed in Chattanooga about two months ago and I am finally finding my way back to this beloved space.  Despite the numerous moves and transitions I have experienced over the past twenty years, it still takes me quite a while to find my groove again.  The logistics of moving have become increasingly easier, and dare I say less stressful, yet the settling in and adjusting to new routines, learning ways to traverse new streets and stores, and getting a grasp on our new life in a new space is still a challenge.  Not a challenge that I am not up for, yet a challenge nonetheless.

I am happy to report that all four of us are happy in our new situations.  David finds his job stimulating and rewarding, and after learning the new computer system and his way around the hospital, he is quite content in his professional role.  Jack has taken to his new school like a superstar and is excelling at his work, making many new friends, and developing new interests.  He bravely agreed to try many different after school activities this school year including piano, drama, basketball skills training, and soccer (of which David has agreed to coach). He is busy and busy usually means happy.  Rigby is enjoying his first taste of "school" at a Parent's Day Out program and, consequently, I am enjoying (for the first time in over two years) a few hours each week of "just me time".  It's awesome!  Rigby is also busy socially with a music class, play gym, and soccer.

My days are spent carpooling, accompanying Rigby to classes, visiting the library, running, trying new exercise classes like Barre, reading, volunteering, cooking/baking, doing some writing, running errands, hunting for the next place to go out for a meal or drink, and filling our calendars with hikes, camping trips, concerts, and visits with family/friends.   

Life is full.  We feel grateful for everything that fills our days.  We are looking forward to many fun-filled years in this gorgeous Scenic City.

Your daddy huffed and puffed his way up and down the block maybe 600 or so times before you got it.

I stood on the sidelines, cheering you on, but not so loud that I would distract you.

A strong, silent cheer.

You were nervous. You were frustrated. You wanted to give up. Some days, you did give up.

But yesterday, it clicked. You soared. You were strong and steady, you turned a corner, you stopped on your own. You held your head so high.

It’s a moment I hope you never forget. The moment you achieved something that seemed far greater than you. Something that scared you and excited you at the same time. A rite of passage that will stay with you for your entire life – when things seem new or foreign or overwhelming…it will be just like riding a bicycle.

It’s not the last time you will feel like this.

In ten or so years, you will get the same joy out of getting your driver’s license (gasp!).

When you work really hard on a project for school and get a big, shiny A+.

When you get into college.

When you make your first homemade chocolate cake and it comes out perfectly.

When you have your first kiss that actually means something to you.

When you stand up for yourself in an uncomfortable position.

When you have a good friend stand up for you in an uncomfortable position.

When you find your true passion.

When you watch your own baby soar on her two-wheeler, your breath caught firmly in your throat, feeling every wobble in your heart and then smiling from ear to ear once you see that steady roll, that supportive hand let go of the back of the seat, that look of concentration and pure joy that comes across her face.

These are the moments that you should never forget. The moments that make up your life. The moments that matter.

And I hope to be there for every one, on the sidelines with a strong,

Evicted is a book I have been talking about since the first day I began reading it and one that I am sure to continue to talk about for many years.  

Matthew Desmond follows the intertwined lives of eight families and a host of minor characters in an extraordinary ethnographic study of tenants in low-income housing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Among the main "characters" are Arleen Belle and Doreen Hinkston who are black mothers struggling to keep their broken families sheltered and off the streets; Crystal and Trisha who are fragile young black women whose upbringing was violent and chaotic; Lamar who is a caring black father of two boys who lost both of his legs to frostbite when he passed out on crack in an abandoned house, and Scott who is a white male nurse who lost his nursing licence when he began using opioids stolen from the analgesic patches of his dying patients.  I found it hard to keep up with the personal storylines because they are told in a disorderly style, but Desmond's ultimate message is perfectly clear.  Rent is the main condition dragging down a large population of individuals and families in America and there is an urgent need to sort out this major housing crisis.  

The standard measure is that your rent should be no more than 30% of your income, but for poor people it can be 70% or higher.  Tenants are continuously forced to make a choice about what to do with their meager paychecks- pay the rent, pay a bill to keep their water or heat on, or to put food on their table.  Rent often seems to be the only negotiable payment, so tenants find themselves paying their landlords only a portion of the rent and then remaining in chronic debt to them.  Debt of this type allows for landlords to evict their tenants whenever it is convenient such as when they ask for something to be necessarily repaired like a hole in the window or a non-working sink or toilet, or when police are called to the property for any reason (a domestic violence incident or if a child gets into trouble at school).  This fact was one of the most haunting ones that I learned from this book.  It most certainly should make us reconsider why women do not call the police when their partners are violent with them or their children...

Each year, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of renters are put out on the street and most of those who are evicted are women, black women more specifically.  Eviction is socially damaging to those involved.  It puts immense stress on families.  It prevents people from saving even small sums of money that would let them eventually stabilize their situation.  They are always starting over from scratch, losing their possessions in the chaos of forced removal, or putting them in storage and losing them when they can’t pay the excessive monthly fees.  An eviction on your record makes the next apartment harder to get.  Eviction damages children, who are always changing schools, giving up friends and toys and pets – and living with the exhaustion and depression of their parents.  Eviction makes it hard to keep up with the many appointments required by the courts and the welfare system: several characters have their benefits cut because notices are sent to the wrong (previous) address.  Eviction destroys communities: when people move frequently, they don’t form the social bonds and pride in a place that encourage them to care for their block and look out for their neighbors.  Rather than living collectively, people live alone and only have the energy to try to look out for themselves.

Desmond's work is heartbreaking.  He did a commendable service portraying the chaotic, frustrating, and bleak situation of housing in America.  It is a must read.

We are moving this summer (once again. gulp.).  David finishes his fellowship at the end of June and we are off to our next adventure in Chattanooga!  We have known nearly this whole year that this was our next step yet now that it is right around the corner, it seems surreal.

Our decision to settle down in Chattanooga was intentional.  Chattanooga is a moderate-sized city with an abundance of outdoor activities, a thriving and growing food and farmer's market scene, excellent schools, a cool art vibe, a plethora of festivals, water and mountains nearly out your backdoor, an easy drive to the homes of all of our family, and an amazing job opportunity for David.  

We hope that Chattanooga becomes one of the most special places in our lives- the place we raise Jack and Rigby, the place where we grow old together. 

David and I have moved around a lot in the past 20 years weaving our way up and down the east coast and then across the country.  Our first move, when we were just 18 years old, was from our hometown of Pensacola to our sweet college town of Davidson.  During our college years, we lived collectively in 6 dorm rooms, 3 apartments, 1 hotel room, and 2 houses (some of these shelters were in France and Italy during our study abroad semesters).  After graduating from Davidson, we moved to Boston where we lived for 2 years in 3 different apartments.  Atlanta was our next stop where we stayed for 8 years in 3 different apartments/duplexes before making our biggest move yet across the country.  We lived in Seattle for 5 years in 2 different houses before moving back to the Atlanta area last summer and finding our sweet home in Decatur for this past year.  The moves have been exciting, adventure-filled, and necessary, yet also exhausting both emotionally and physically.  

After living in one home in one city for the first 18 years of my life, all of the changes were definitely something new.  Despite the exhaustion of moving and the crazed feeling I battle with most days, particularly over the past few years, I look at all that David and I have accomplished and feel proud.  Our relationship with each other, our boys, the relationships we have grown with so many wonderful friends, all of the places we have been able to visit, our undergraduate and graduate degrees, our careers.  All of these are reason to celebrate.  And, this move, as so many before it, will be the beginning of a new adventure, a new season, a new cause for celebration.  

While our other moves were relatively brief, more indicative of chapters in our lives, I sense that Chattanooga will be the start of a long, multi-chaptered story.  And, perhaps, it will be less about adventure and accomplishments and more about living.  I want this new story, our new home, to reflect a life dedicated to acquiring less and doing more.  Of seeing places we want to see and doing things we want to do.  Learning new hobbies, growing a garden, buying our first home, watching our boys find activities and interests that make them grow and thrive and friends that make them happy, and building a life-long community in a city that ignites our passions.  I want to slow it all down and start really living, not just looking forward to the next step, but knowing that this is the place where we are supposed to be.  Surrounded by each other in perhaps the first, and last, place that feels truly like home.

We are so excited about this next step!  So, when Jennifer from Modern Map Art reached out to me several months back and offered to send me a print, of all the places that we've lived, I knew Chattanooga was the map that I wanted for the walls of our new home.  Modern Map Art designs and prints map art of cities, countries, and even ski destinations paying particular attention to the details that make each place unique.  I just love the fact that our new home has a beautiful river flowing right through its center and this is showcased so clearly on the map.  We can hardly wait to frame it and give it a home on our new walls.  I am tempted to add the maps of all of the other cities where we have lived and to create a large map gallery on the walls of our guest cottage...

Chattanooga, we are so ready for you!  Life, here we come!

Nearly everyone I know has read at least one and loved at least one of Michael Chabon's novels (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Wonder Boys, etc), but until Moonglow, somehow his work passed me by.  I found the story interesting, a "faux" memoir told in an unique way, and Chabon's writing beautiful albeit wordy and quite "writerly".  His writing is so unusually delicious that at times I found myself reading for his word choice and descriptions rather than the story line.

Moonglow is the memoir of Chabon's grandfather narrated to the author by his grandfather during the last week of life unhinged by pain medication--“I showed up to say goodbye...just as Dilaudid was bringing its soft hammer to bear on his habit of silence.”  The story is patchy, does not flow chronologically, and sometimes too elaborative on specifics about WWII or rocket building for my taste.  Yet, the jumps in the story from the war to his marriage to a stent in jail to his obsession with rockets reflect the randomness of life and the need of a dying man to make some sense of it all.  The story line of his marriage was of particular fascination to me.  Upon his return from war, grandfather meets a French refugee at a synagogue party and is immediately attracted to her magnetism.  She is already a mother of a young girl (the narrator's mom) and harrowingly haunted by visions of a “skinless horse” that hint at her Holocaust trauma.  Her mental illness will ultimately bring an end to their love story.

The book is dense, the writing amazing.  I struggled at times to get through certain scenes that I did not find particularly interesting, but overall I liked the book and found its description of life, love, and war powerful.  I will close with my favorite line which happened to be the last line of the novel, "He lay there with his eyes closed for a long time after that, sculling along the surface of the sea of pain a little nearer toward his story's end or maybe...toward the story on the opposite shore that was waiting to begin."

I will be reading more by Michael Chabon.

Jack's Spring Break begins tomorrow and David is OFF for the whole week!  This break comes at a much needed time, as we are all starting to unravel a bit and I'm feeling a strong need to hit the pause and then reset buttons.

We are spending the first weekend with some friends at the lake and then headed down to Orlando for, most importantly, time with other dear friends and, secondly, to dip our toes into the land of Florida Theme Parks with a trip to Universal Studios!  

Have a great week, y'all!  I'll leave you with some interesting links:

Probably at the tip-top of my travel list.  Dreaming of our return...

Eating to save her mind.

I've been hearing so much about the benefits of turmeric lately.  It seems to be the new craze.  I am excited to try this miso-turmeric dressing and this tropical carrot, ginger, and turmeric smoothie.

In addition to drinking smoothies for breakfast, I've been juicing more lately and have loved reaching for a fresh green juice in the afternoons instead of a coffee- I feel more invigorated over the long haul rather than an energy spike followed by the inevitable slump.

Recommended by a friend, this is an excellent read by Ariel Levy.  Now, I cannot wait to start reading her memoir, The Rules Do Not Apply.  

Speaking of books, I might try my hand at an audiobook during our road trip next week.  I am not anti-book listening, I just haven't found time to carve out for this in my day of virtually no car travel.  Yet, I hear RAVE reviews for the audio version, in particular, of George Saunders' debut novel. 

I am really loving this sporty swimsuit look.