Due to the fact that I ordered the "Japanese pack" to go with our typical Bountiful Baskets produce order, and that, while Bubby and Poppy were out of town, we'd inherited some of their garden's bounty, our fridge was literally overflowing with produce this week. Eating our way through it (we're still not done) has necessitated some creativity on our part (well, and some recipes courtesy of the Food Network). Among all these sources, we ended up with: two cabbages, a head of lettuce, a bag of swiss chard, two bags of green beans, tomatoes, four or five eggplants, three or four zucchini, bok choi, nappa cabbage, daikon (A Japanese radish), snow peas, bell peppers, two melons, a bag of plums, sweet potatoes, bananas, nectarines, green onions. Oh, and a bag of peaches from our neighbors. (This was before we discovered that our peach tree actually *did* produce a dozen or so peaches). We're still working on all of it.
Sunday afternoon, in lieu of our usual feast at Bubby and Poppy's, we invited our neighbors across the street, and Dan made a chicken-based stir fry and tempura vegetables. It was his first time making tempura, but I thought it turned out really well (especially the onions and sweet potato!)
Here are our kids with the neighbor kids, Isaac and Zoe. Isaac is fast becoming Andrew's favorite person, and Evelyn calls Zoe "my Zoe."
I kept trying for a better shot of the kids, until Andrew finally rebelled.
Monday's theme was also about food--although in this case, the food was of the fair variety. We got persuaded by our neighbors and a mutual friend to go to the Labor Day parade in Parowan. It was actually a pretty good parade--it even had some floats (something we didn't see at our last local parade). The kids enjoyed it mostly because there were other kids to hang out with--in addition to Isaac, Andrew had his other friend, Zander. (I find it funny-and convenient--that two different friends from the English department have boys near Andrew's age). And Evelyn had Zander's sister Sydeny and "my Zoe."
Dan and I had to laugh a little at one of the opening floats: the theme of the parade was "County Pride," and one of the first floats featured this theme prominently, along with a lovely rainbow constructed out of balloons. Since this is rural, conservative Utah, we're guessing that the float planners weren't aware that for most of the country, the combination of a rainbow and "pride" would equate to something else entirely.
Evelyn sitting on "my Zoe's" lap. (Actually,she and Sydney took turns).
The three amigos.
Street dancing:
Afterward, we headed over to the county fair. Since Dan and I were both feeling nostalgic for the Grange Fair, from our PA days, I think we'd already set ourselves up for disappointment--there was really no way this fair could compare. After devouring some fair food (hamburger and fries for Andrew; Dan and I split some Hawaiian style chicken and pork with rice; and we all ate some funnel cake) we went to inspect the amusement park portion of the fair. This was something of a letdown--overpriced, dusty, and crowded. (What else was I expecting?) Dan took Andrew on the ferris wheel while Evelyn and I rode some strawberries (akin to the teacups at Disneyland, but enclosed). This, it turns out, wasn't such a good idea. I don't normally get dizzy, but one of the other women in our "strawberry" was getting quite queasy, and complained about it to the point that I started feeling so too--and the ride went on forever! Dan and I were glad to get away when our tickets ran out, but Andrew cried. You would have thought all the hope and brightness drained out of his world.
Moving on. That night, in attempt to use some of the vegetables Dan had prepped but not used the night before, we (I mean, Dan) made "okono-miyake" (according to Dan, literally: my favorite things)--it's a kind of pancake with vegetables, with mayonnaise and bulldog sauce on top. The kids had cheese sandwiches.Tuesday night we made a pasta soup with swiss chard and meatballs. (The meatballs were left over from a previous meal). That night was also another of Andrew's soccer games: they played a team that actually sort of grasped the concept of passing, so needless to say, the other team won. Andrew still enjoyed himself--although we might need to work with him on the whole concept of modesty. This was the first game where the coaches actually enforced the three player per side rule (actually a good idea--otherwise the kids tend to knot up around the ball and fall over), which meant that Andrew had to sit out a couple of times. The first time he got pulled out, he started to cry, "But I'm the best player on the field! They need me!"
We brought the treats this week--I thought it was funny how intently these five little boys (Aidin, Cedric, Tanner, Andrew, and Gavin--all two syllable, British names) devoured their grapes during half-time.
Wednesday night we had hotdogs (original, I know--but I had a Relief Society dinner that night and spent so long on the side-dish that I didn't have energy for anything else) and vegetables gratin (which, ironically, didn't have any real vegetables in it--tomatoes, squash, and eggplant, all of which are technically fruits if you classify them as containing seeds). It was pretty good, but probably not worth the labor (I had to sautee the vegetables individually before baking the dish).On Thursday, I took Evelyn to her first dance class (one of the local dance studios offers a free parent and tot class). I was initially a little weirded out by the little girl culture. I thought I was bad, dressing Evelyn up in this little number--but this was a model of restraint compared to some of the little girls, most of whom were wearing ruffled tutus, earrings (!), sparkly shoes and/or (in one case) a tiara. But Evelyn loved it (and I discovered that not all of the moms were as strange as their over-dressed daughters would suggest), so we'll probably be going back--regardless of how little I like seeing myself in the mirrored wall.
Thursday night's dinner was another split dinner: eggs for the kids; stir-fry (with leftover vegetables and sausage) for us.Friday morning we had play group at our house: Issac and Zander (who both have afternoon kindergarten) were both there, along with Sydney, Andrew's friend Caleb (who's in Bubby and Poppy's ward and also in Andrew's preschool class) and Caleb's brother Eric, and a couple of other friends. My kids were in heaven--and the adult conversation was nice--although it's always amazing to me how quickly that many kids can undo all of my cleaning.
Dinner that night: stuffed cabbage stoup, courtesy of Rachael Ray. I was hoping it would be something like the stuffed cabbage I remember from my mission, with less work--and I have to admit it was reasonably good. Of course, her portion sizes are ridiculous--what was supposed to make four servings will be going on its third meal tonight (we had it yesterday too)--and we'll probably still have extra.
Yesterday morning we spent the morning doing yard work (Dan) and cleaning the storage room (mostly me--although everyone else helped put stuff back once I was done cleaning). It hadn't ever really been arranged--we just put our food storage in around whatever boxes were left down there from moving in. All that is changed now--everything has been organized by type, and it feels pretty good to know that our supplies aren't actually that bad. We're not fully stocked yet, but we could probably make it two or three months if we had to.
The process wasn't entirely painless, however. Andrew offered to help me move things off the shelf, and, without thinking to give him any instructions, I agreed. Not two minutes later, Andrew came out to where I was arranging things on the floor outside the storage room, holding a big glass jar of grape jelly. "Uh oh," he said, "Mommy, I just dropped a jar of jam." (I had had two big glass jars.)
While I may sound calm recounting this, I'm afraid I wasn't very happy at the time. I ordered the kids out of the storage room, and set about cleaning up the mess. Glass and jelly make a pretty awful combination--one I hope I don't have to repeat anytime soon!
The other calamity of the morning was mostly Evelyn's doing. I was trying to rearrange a couple of shelves and the kids were just outside the storage room, where almost everything that had been on the shelves was reposing. I heard Andrew say that Evelyn wanted a popsicle--I responded (somewhat absently) that she couldn't have one now; maybe when we were done. I assumed the subject was dropped, but I continued to hear vague murmurings of popsicles, and I suddenly remembered that an open box of otter pops (not yet frozen) was one of the things on the floor by the kids. I dashed out just in time to see Evelyn spraying green juice all over her skirt (and the carpet) as she tried to open her "popsicle" for herself. (Andrew also had a partially opened otter pop, but his hadn't spilled as much). Urgh.
Luckily, Dan came in about then to help and we were finished in short order. And I got to escape for an hour or so in the afternoon, for Jodi's baby shower (although this is her fourth baby, it was her first girl, and her friends wanted to throw her a shower), where I got to eat some yummy salsa and a really rich, gooey brownie. Chocolate can make almost anything look better, I'm convinced.
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