Food and Fun

 

FANCY CAMPING:  Last week Christian and Annabelle headed down to Cottage Grove, Oregon, for a family camp out. (CJ had to work.) Annabelle was only able to stay for two nights due to her work schedule. She flew home from Eugene on Tuesday evening. Christian came home on Friday. It sounds like they had a nice time and that it was lots of fun. It was extra special because there was no annual trip last year due to darn COVID-19.

One night at camp, Christian managed to make 34 steaks for dinner. That's a lot of beef! We got the steaks ready ahead of time, here at home. We seasoned them and then vacuum packed them. He cooked them in a big brewing bucket using our sous vide. It's such an easy way to cook steak to a perfect 132 degrees (medium rare). Then he flash seared them on each side. Yum! He also made a green bean salad for the campers. The kids and I washed and cut the beans and I gave them a quick, short boil. Then they were combined with grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese and a Greek dressing. A healthy, summery salad. He reports the dinner was a big hit. Kudos to him for pulling that off! 

How did it get to the be back half of July already? Time is flying by, and for a lot of it, I'm behind the wheel of a car, driving CJ and Annabelle to and from work. I guess I didn't quite realize how time consuming that would be. There have been many days where I've spent more than two hours driving them around. But that's OK. It's great that they are each experiencing their first summer jobs.

Annabelle received her first paycheck recently. That was a memorable moment. 

MEGA MESS: While Christian was camping, I took on the front yard. Well, not the whole yard, but the really big planting bed that stretches from our front door down to the street. In the photo below, only about 1/4 of the garden is showing. 

I was on a mission to pull out hundreds and hundreds of daisies. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a daisy hater, but they had completely taken over the space. I didn't learn until recently that perennial daisies have a fibrous root systems that continue to grow for years, even as newer roots develop.

Given that, I have no doubt that despite my pulling every last daisy out last week, they'll be back next year, at least to some degree. I mean, yes, I did dig and did pull up as much of their roots as I could, but there are still plenty more in the ground, I have no doubt.

In the end, I filled eight 30-gallon yard debris bags. That's a lot of dead daisies. 

PAINTING PROJECT: This last Saturday was our neighborhood block party. We ended up putting in a lot of hours to help make it happen, hauling tables and chairs, cups and condiments, plates and napkins, and providing all of the burgers and hot dogs and dozens of buns. 

Oh, and we made cookies. I decided to go with a Seattle sports team theme. So we made Kraken, Sonics, Seahawks, Storm, Mariners, Sounders, and Huskies cookies. 

It was a ton of work, but very appreciated. 

Below is a work-in-progress shot, including moose who need eyes and detail work, some blank slates, and the Sounders cookies Annabelle painted. 

I really loved the Kraken cookies (the big S and anchor) and the Seahawks' eye that Annabelle painted.

There was one woman at the party who came up to me and said, "I was walking with a friend today and I told her I had to cut it short, because I had a block party to go to and there are these people who bring cookies." 

That made me chuckle.