Another happy birthday

Yesterday we ate cake.  My father-in-law turned 89.  For any age, he's in remarkable health -- he walks six miles a day and cooks and shops and does for himself just fine.  He's still driving (although not much and never at night) and playing baseball (at least with Wyatt).  I hope I'm as capable and good natured as he is when I'm nearly finished being an octogenarian.

To celebrate this milestone, I made a recipe and a half of this delicious cake (with a bit of almond extract added) and baked it in two six-inch cake pans.  And by-the-way, I'm telling you that anything baked in a six-inch cake pan is just cuter and more stylish and gives off the pastry chef vibe in a way that those 9-inch cake pans just can't.  Seriously, they are a game changer. You should get some.

Oh, and about the cake . . .  after slicing each cake in half, we slathered the layers with homemade Shuksan strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. Wrapped the tower it in plastic for a few hours, then plopped some freshly whipped cream on top and sprinkled some powdered sugar around for a final touch.  I say we because Byron pitched in to finish the cake after I somehow managed to perform minor surgery on my thumb with a paring knife. All is well now, but I was reclined in a chair seeing stars for the better part of an hour.

By evening, however, I was recovered enough to party.  Our birthday party included a dinner of favorite foods: salmon and veggie burgers, salads, and grandpa's favorite chips -- nacho cheese Doritos.  I think they are now Wyatt's favorite chips, too. I'm just hopeful Spray 'n Wash can get bright orange stains out of clothes. We had my parents and sister and brother in law with us as well, so our table felt full, and the evening buzzed with conversation and laughter.

Wyatt assisted when it came time for candles and presents and eating cake. It's quite a thing having three generations living under our roof. I fell like it's truly a win for all of us. Yesterday, we celebrated.

No telling

Today my two-and-a half year old son ran full tilt into the street. He was laughing, running as fast as he could away from me, and didn't have a care in the world.  My heart, on the other hand, nearly stopped.  So did nearly every other parents' that saw it.

At the time, Wyatt and I were enjoying ourselves at a local playground with two little friends (and their parents) from our co-op preschool who were generously hosting a play date in celebration of the fact that their mom was finishing her final chemo treatment for breast cancer today.  All of us who were invited, which was a good-sized group, had been a part of the family's support system in some way over the past many weeks.  They are a lovely family, and Wyatt and I were thrilled to celebrate with them today. 

It probably goes without saying that the day would have been much more enjoyable without my toddler's death-defying stunt.

As I replay the whole scene in my mind (which I'm having trouble not doing) . . . him running away from me . . . too far ahead and too fast to catch . . . me scanning the street for oncoming cars . . . and him unwilling to stop despite my commands to do so . . . .

I can't help but think, "what if."  

The bottom line is that today has reminded me about the precariousness of our lives.  How quickly bad or scary things can happen when we least expect.  How out of control we really are.  And how valuable time is with those we care about.

There's no telling how long we have on this planet -- or how long we get to spend it together.  So here's my thinking: Hug your people and tell them what they mean to you.  And be proud of how you live your days.  They matter.

Hooray for June

Last week it rained, this week is slated to be sunny.  Everything is growing like gangbusters.  This means more work for the garden gnomes.  But they seem to be up for it.

The herb garden is probably my favorite thing at the moment.  The honey bees are going crazy in the thyme flowers.  I'm also particularly enjoying the snow peas with their yellow pods and dark purple flowers -- a new variety for us this year. 

I can't get enough of the garden this time of year.  Everyday plants are taller -- invasives included (grrrr). But the good news is something new opens its bloom almost every day. And now our strawberry harvest has begun.  Farmers market season starts next week.  Our CSA deliveries begin shortly too. Yeah, for the growing!

Everyday help

I've been paying closer attention to the everyday things in our lives lately.  It takes a bit of effort since, ordinarily, I hurry and, yes, sometimes even avoid the routine and mundane tasks. But now that I have a 2.4-year-old wanna-be helper around, I've had to slow down and notice what we do and how we do it.  Then teach him how.  And then, sometimes, assist his assisting. 

Having such a helper is time consuming, but, honestly, kind of fun.  I've never laughed so much doing boring stuff like filling the washing machine or trying to put sheets on the bed (notice I said trying . . . ).

I've been advised to embrace my preschooler's desire to help.  Otherwise, by the time he is capable enough to do chores he won't know how or have interest in helping out. I hope that all the helping and "doing it Wyatt's self" is building his self confidence and expanding his understanding of how things work. He juices, digs, helps with the trash, does laundry, fills the bird feeders, sweeps, knows how to use a wrench, measures things, and can properly use an egg beater. Truth is, this curious and capable little boy is becoming a contributing member of our household.  He loves it and so do we.

The upside of down time

We just can't seem to kick the cold and allergy season around here.  If you chose any day on the calendar since the middle of March, at least one person (if not more) in our house was sick on that day. It's been a bummer. This past week we had another round, so Mother's Day was spent just with ourselves.  It involved some naps, low-key activities around the yard, a trip to the drug store for antihistamines, and lots of Kleenex.

I'm not really complaining, mind you.  It was a super nice day.  Byron sent me flowers.  We had a great breakfast of fruit, herb-scrambled eggs, and my favorite twist from a local bakery.   I spent some quality time using my camera and even got a few hours to plant and dig and play in the dirt.   I had lunch made for me, and I didn't handle nap time.  As a bonus, Byron managed to muster the energy to schlep two big pots of plants from the front to the back yard for me, stain a chair, and work in the yard with me.  It was a terrific Mother's Day, illnesses notwithstanding.

One up side to all our down time over the past many weeks is all the reading we've been doing together or sometimes just in close proximity.  Of course, it also means that I'm now ready to burn all the "Curious George" books in our home.  Good news is that I think maybe Wyatt is too.  We've now gone two days without reading a George book.

We've also gotten creative and dug out new toys and fun activities to keep our minds off the sniffles.  Wyatt's new favorite toys happen to be a set of tinker toy building blocks that were Byron's as a boy.

Soon enough we'll be back to being our healthy selves.   I'm really looking forward to that, but I also can't complain with all the cozy family time we've had in the past many weeks.  Maybe the slowing down has been good for us.

Growing purple

One of the things I had time for on Mother's Day was taking my camera out to the garden.  I've had a particularly nice looking spring veggie garden this year, given all the overwintering spinach and cauliflower, broccoli, and herbs that I had going.  Now that spring is truly here, everything has turned that brilliant, living green color -- or the color purple.  For whatever reason, my garden is sporting dozens of shades of purple and burgundy right now.  Take a look.

 

A birthday tart

I have some good excuses for not posting here lately, but most of them involve Kleenex and Musinex so I will spare you the details.  Suffice it to say we've had our share of sickness over the past couple months and I am super ready to be over it all.

There has been some fun mixed in with the misery though.  I must tell you about the eating at Byron's birthday mid April. It was a simple celebration with a couple folks to share dinner and cake and ice cream with us on a warm April evening.  First came a layered chopped salad and a chevre and chive savory tart in a yeasted crust.

Let me pause the story here briefly to tell you how much I like this yeasted tart crust. Since finding this crust recipe in the Everyday Greens cookbook (thank you, Jill, I love this book!) for me there is no going back to the hassle of pate brisee when making a quiche.  This crust is fast (takes an hour start to finish) and the dough is easy to work with and tender and tasty and best of all, no prebaking.

Annie Somerville's Yeasted Tart Dough and a basic custard
adapted a bit from Everyday Greens cookbook

1 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, at room temperature
3 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and set in a sunny window for 10 minutes.  Combine the flour and salt in a bowl, make a well in the middle and add the whisked egg, softened butter, and yeast mixture.  Stir with a rubber spatula until it becomes a smooth, soft dough.  Dust it lightly with flour and gather into a ball.  Place it in a bowl (can be the one you mixed it in if it's fairly clean) and cover it with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour.

To make a tart crust, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface (with plenty of flour on hand for dusting as you go) into a 10-inch circle.  Place the dough in a 9-inch or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press it evenly against the sides.  It should be about a 1/2 inch higher than the pan (although it won't be quite that much with the larger pan).  Fold the edges over and press again so the dough sows a little above the rim of the pan all around.  Allow it to rest for 5 minutes, then place it on a large baking sheet, and fill it with your savory fillings and custard.

I like to use a thin layer of flavorful cheese on the bottom of the crust (something like Guyere), then add my veggies and other any other cheeses (like goat cheese, asparagus pieces, potato chunks, sauteed mushrooms, etc.), and finish by pouring the egg-based custard over the fillings to fill the crust.  I like to use 3 eggs with a cup and a half of combined milk/cream/half and half (whatever combo I have on hand).


 Oh, and now back to the birthday part of the story . . .

For his birthday dinner, Wyatt and I made Byron a "dad's happy birthday cake," as it became known.  I had quite a lot of help in making it -- from assistance in cutting out the parchment circles to cracking eggs and sprinkling the coconut (and tasting it) and finally, stabbing the cake with candles.

In spite of all the attention given to it by a toddler, the little tower of cake managed to stay upright long enough to for us to ohh and ahhh, take a few pictures, and sing "Happy Birthday" to Byron before devouring it alongside ice cream.  Not a bad way to celebrate his 43rd year.

An empty spot

The last week has been a difficult one for me.  I realize that my hurt doesn't compare to that of the people who have been injured and traumatized in Boston this week.  But heartache is heartache no matter how it comes to you.  And my heart has had an empty spot in it since last Wednesday when Byron and I had to put our beloved kitty, Oggy, to sleep.

Last I talked about Oggy, here, I was hopeful about his health, and he was doing better.  Although he was a bit thinner than before, after we put him on medication in January Oggy returned to his normal self -- catching rats (argh), waking us up in the morning by walking on us, sitting on laps, jumping up on tables, and hanging out on Herman's bed and chair whenever he could get a chance.  He had even learned how to beg since we had started giving him treats in the afternoon . . . it didn't take him long to figured out how to manipulate us to give them to him morning and afternoon.  In any case, he was doing quite well and was his old self until the beginning of April.

At that point, Oggy seemed to quite suddenly fall sick again and seemed to be failing fast.  He became more vocal, his appearance began to change dramatically with his abdomen sagging and looking bloated at times and his back looking less muscular and more bony.  All of a sudden he stopped jumping up on laps and tables (we know something was really wrong at that point).  He saved all his strength for getting drinks in his favorite location -- the toilet (despite the bowl of water by his food).  Soon he only nibbled on his wet food, ignored dry food altogether, and refused treats.  On Sunday he wouldn't take his medicine easily . . . by Monday he didn't eat much at all.  He looked pale.

I took him to the vet on Tuesday, and she found a medium-lemon-sized mass in his abdomen adjacent to or in his intestine.  The vet was confident that it was lymphoma.  She thinks that probably it was beginning to develop in January when Oggy had his other troubles, but the steroids held it at bay for a while.  She said the disease becomes resistant to the steroid treatment eventually and begins to grow aggressively again.  It seemed that's what was happening. 

Byron and I were heartbroken to learn that our time with Oggy was so quickly and unexpectedly coming to an end.  Of course we didn't want him to suffer any more than he had already, and since he had quit eating and had begun going off by himself a lot, we knew he was trying to hide his condition (as cats do, apparently) and be stoic as he met his end. We didn't want him to just wither away, to be in pain, or to be alone when he passed.  So we made the hard choice to help him along.  He died very peacefully at the vet's office, last Wednesday afternoon, April 10, with us petting him (and crying) until the end.  He was almost exactly 14 years old.

He spent most of his last day sleeping downstairs or in a sunny spot at the base of the spruce tree in our back yard.  He didn't eat, but he came around to check on Wyatt and me now and then, he got a lot of petting and love, and a dozen or more drinks from the toilet. 

Yesterday, Wyatt found Oggy's collar, which was still in my purse.  "Need to find Oggy," he said.  "Oggy needs the bell."  Of course I had to explain, again, why we can't find Oggy . . . 

Thinking about it later I realized that Wyatt was saying exactly what we are feeling.  We miss Oggy.  We notice his absence.  Unconsciously we attribute random noises to him.  And we still irrationally find ourselves expecting a fluffy orange cat with a big tail, furry paws, and a thundering purr to greet us when we get home or, better yet, to brush our legs with his tail while we are eating breakfast.

The first Easter basket

Photo by D. Mutz

I grew up looking forward to getting a little basket of chocolate treats on Easter and hiding homemade Easter eggs in the yard for my sister and parents to find.  As little girls, my sister and I would hide the eggs we had dyed, camouflaging them as well as possible -- pink eggs in the blooming pink phlox, yellow eggs in the daffodills . . . you get the idea.  I think one year we hid some so well we didn't find them until they started stinking like sulfer days later! These days, my sister and I still exchange the obligatory peanut butter eggs on Easter (although this year I also got socks, which was lower calorie and quite nice).

Wyatt is just over two now, which seemed old enough to get into the idea of an Easter basket, so we gave it a try this year. His first basket included the obligatory Easter candy, but wait . . . there was more!  He got a Nerf football, toy cars, a spy glass, and stickers. Then he got an Easter basket from his friend Arlo . . . and a book from Aunt Becky and Uncle Darren. We were right, he liked it a lot.

Wyatt was primed to know something was up.  The whole week leading up to Easter included opportunities to celebrate spring with traditional egg-related activities -- plastic eggs and treats to enjoy all last week at his grandparents' house in Corvallis, a pre-Easter egg hunt at a friend's house complete with a real Easter bunny (Wy wasn't so sure about him), and an egg hunt with his buddy Arlo in our backyard after brunch on Sunday. Wyatt has gotten to be a pro at finding eggs and gobbling down the treats inside them.

Last Sunday, which was Easter, we once again gave a nod to Spring with friends and family.  Our brunch menu has become a bit of a tradition (if two years of the same makes a tradition, that is) -- a blintz souffle with blueberry sauce, an eggy-potatoey dish, and fruit, pastries, and good drinks.  I recall promising a recipe for the delicious blintz dish last year when I posted about it, but I never delivered.  A year later, I am making good on my promise.  I have procured the sought-after recipe and here it is -- a favorite dish in my brother-in-law's family.

Photo by D. Mutz

Photo by D. Mutz

Photo by D. Mutz

Blintz Souffle with Blueberry syrup
from Darren's kitchen

The batter

1/4 butter, softened
1/3 c. granulated sugar
6 eggs
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 orange juice (or orange juice concentrate)
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder

The filling

8 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
1 pint small curd cottage cheese
2 egg yolks
1 Tb. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Butter a 13 x 9 baking dish and set aside.  Combine batter ingredients in a mixer and mix until well blended.  Pour half the batter into the prepared pan.

Combine the filling ingredients together in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until well blended.  Drop the filling by heaping spoonfuls over the batter in the pan.   Spread with a knife of offset spatula to even out the filling.

Pour remaining batter over the filling.  Bake uncovered in a preheated 350-degree oven for 50-60 minutes, or until puffed and golden.  If not baking immediately, cover and refrigerate as long as overnight.  Bring to room temperature before baking.

The blueberry syrup

30 ounces frozen blueberries
1/2 can frozen apple juice concentrate

Combine above ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat just until it begins to boil.

2 Tb. cornstarch
2 Tb. cold water

Mix cornstarch and water, then add it to blueberry mixture.  Bring back to a boil stirring constantly.  Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving.  The syrup may also be made a head and refrigerated.  Warm before serving.  Makes about 4 cups.