For the Mommas

Yes, I know that Fathers Day is just around the bend, but this piece about mothering on soulemama had me thinking of mothers. In it, Maya talked about how she writes a short note for her daughter every day and includes it in her lunch box. She doesn't throw the notes away, and keeps them in a jar so they can be read later.

Me, my mother, and my little sister Laura

When I was little, my mother used to make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich nearly every day (guess I'm probably not unique there, huh?). Before closing the sandwich, she would draw her knife through the peanut butter to create the shape of a heart. How happy it made me, knowing that that heart was there, that little morsel of visible love.

Me, my mother, and my little sister Laura

What "little thing" did your mother do for you / do you do for your child?

Me and my parents when they were {gasp} my age

hummus among us!

About an hour ago I was experiencing a common cooking conundrum: food indecision. Lacking the appropriate dinner inspiration, I started perusing Pinch My Salt, one of my favorite food blogs. I came across a yummy looking recipe for artichoke hummus. After about thirty seconds I realized that not only did this recipe look delish, I also happened to have all of the ingredients on hand.

{what did I ever do without this thing?}

 


Behold, a simple, easy, delicious and fast recipe. {to make your life amazing, just use the entire can of artichokes rather than the recommended 6 oz.... you're welcome}

Best way to eat this hummus is on one of these tasty morsels:

And while we're outside, lets take a look at how the garden is coming along:

Here's what the garden looked like a few months ago:

Even though I long for more land, more space, more vegetables - this little plot makes me happy.

Sorry for the wonky photos. I've never claimed to be a photographer, but darned if I can't whip up a batch of hummus.


Starting up our newest Netflix movie: Bottle Rocket. Have you seen it?

peach season

Tom and I just got back from a long weekend in Pawley's Island, SC with his family. We had so much fun beaching it and relaxing.

Right now I sense that you are asking yourself whether or not Tom convinced me to eat a raw oyster again.

Yes, yes he did. Second raw oyster ever for me, and I still haven't contracted cholera. Score!

We woke up at 3:45 this morning to get home by 11:30. After getting settled in taking a nap, running a few errands, and calling my insurance company about the new crack in my windshield {sigh}, I took a peek in my fridge. In need of immediate use: a couple of chicken breasts, a few wrinkly peaches I got at the farmers market a little over a week ago, and a head of broccoli.

I headed over to my favorite recipe website: allrecipes.com, and I found the very tempting baked chicken with peaches. This recipe is one of the easiest I've ever come across, and it took almost no time to throw together. Here it is, pre-oven:

Heck yes I cooked that chicken in a pie plate!

Modifications: I used two chicken breasts and three peaches, added some salt and pepper, decreased the brown sugar by quite a bit, and didn't add the lemon juice (I forgot).

I also made up this little recipe to get rid of my broccoli:

Brocolli Stir Fry
One head broccoli
One scallion, sliced
Olive oil
Plum sauce
Ground ginger
Sliced almonds

Heat olive oil in a wok on medium high heat. Add scallion and allow to soften. Add brocolli, plum sauce and ginger, and cook until just softened. Add almonds and stir together. Remove from heat.

Enjoy!