RVA to PHX: Cousin Express

The RVA family took a looong-weekend trip to visit the Chandler clan, and we had an amazing time.


"Mama, are we on our way to Phoenix? On an AIRPLANE?"
She was soo excited to see cousin Elizabeth and baby Alex, and Auntie Krista and Uncle Patrick, and who could blame her?

We had a stellar time visiting, catching up, swimming in the pool, eating at gorgeous farm restaurants, grinning at how well the girls got along, and remarking on how adorable Alex is when he zooms around the kitchen with his shopping cart. Together, we were privy to the finest Costco samples ever known to man. The kids got chocolate bars and little silly toys, and all of us got Toothbrushes ( yes, I'm serious!), floss, and bleaching trays (just for the grown-ups) along with the usual assortment of food samples.


Double Trouble with Panda Hair in matching outfits from Grandma Dianne.

We took a nice walk along the Canal walk, and tried out a great neighborhood playground. Are you jealous of the double rocking plane?


The girls pretty much entertained each other.


And Alex entertained us.


We all got to read a lot of sleepytime stories together


We went to the zoo, where I failed to take any useful pictures of actual animals. But here's their swanky Cousin Express


And we got some great group shots

Happy Family Number One


Two ladies avoiding the sun


Happy Family Number Two

CSA Week 2, Cobblery, and Strawberry Tart

Several weekends past we found a wonderful farm near RVA filled with easy to pick transitional organic strawberries for $1.50/ pound. We met some friends at the fields and got picking. We filled P's new shoe box, my new shoe box, and 1/2 a Costco sized box of Goldfish crackers with 20 pounds of strawberries.

Ruby reds like these babies required us to make all kinds of delicious treats.

First up, Strawberry shortcake with rectangular slightly sweet bisquits from Bittman.


Our whipped cream came from a quart we bought in February, and then froze in muffin cups. Once the muffin cups were frozen solid (overnight) we stacked them into a freezer bag, and have been able to take out 2 muffin cups of whipping cream for a dessert for 2 grown ups. In the past, our whipping cream has always spoiled in the bottle before we could use it up. This trick has kept us in whipping cream all spring from one bottle of Non-UHT whipping cream. Now, onto more strawberry-flavored happiness.

With our bounty, we made Strawberry Daquiris (virgin for the lass), and Strawberry freezer jam, and 3 gallon bags of frozen dry-pack strawberries.


AND the most amazing treat of all, fresh strawberry tart with vanilla pastry cream.

We also got bok choy, rainbow chard, leeks, and salad mix. Strawberries, roasted beets, salad greens, olives, feta cheese, and lemon and olive oil dressing make for a transformational salad. It unfortunately undergoes a different sort of transformation (from ethereal to abysmal) when you photograph it. But try it, and you won't be disappointed.

E's favorite summer shoes broke. We took them to two separate cobblers in RVA, and were told that they won't fix Danksos because of their single-piece sole construction. After deciding that it was either trash them or DIY, we, of course, Did it ourselves. E even thought of it! A quick wipe-down, a blob of shoe goo, and our trusty Staple Gun (See P, it's paying for itself already!), and my feet are back in style again.

The final touch-up isn't visible in this shot, but E took a brown sharpie to the staples, gave the entire shoes a good polish and all's well.


Next up, our trip to Phoenix!

May Crafts and First Farmer's Market

P has been up to his usual crafty ways. All our neighbors have wonderful wind chimes, and once spring sprang and I started working outsides, I realized I'd like a wind chime for our porch as well. Ever the craftster, P made one quickly, using harvested chimes from one of our Carrboro homes, a little bit of wood, some fishing line, and a very creative wind weight.

We're in the habit of buying Greek olive oil by the 2 L can, and P chopped off the Athena from our ATHENA oil to make the chime. I'm amazed as always at his craftitude.







Week One Victory Farm CSA:
Last weekend our CSA began at the Farmer's Market. We're lucky to have found a CSA where we can choose our own produce from the market stand. We brought home candy-striped beets, leeks, chard, kale, and broccoli. If you've never had farmer's market broccoli before, it is a life-changing experience. The bonus is all of that only cost $13 for organic veggies.

From this yummy hoard, we made:
--beet green, leek and potato soup with broth we made from the chicken we ate for P's birthday when Grandma and Grandpa were here. Two leeks + Beet Green Tops from one bunch beets + 2 potatoes + 1 qt broth + 5 cups water, cooked for 25 minutes and pureed makes the most delicious bowl of witch's brew you've ever tasted. The color does not recommend the soup, however.

--Chard, tomato, chickpea, ragu with cheesy polenta
--Broccoli with Black Bean tostadas with salsa
--Glazed Tofu with Kale and Brown Rice

P has also been feeling jealous of his ukelele, so he built one from H. Here she is premiering the beginnings of her career as a singer-songwriter.

the Mother's Day and Apple Crisp

Happy Mother's Day Auntie Krista and Grandma Dianne and Mama Erika!

H is trying out her new Kai-lan hair. It's good for summer heat and still lets her nap easily.

In honor of mother's day and Cinco de Mayo, we invented a drink here in Richmond.
The Mother's Day:
1/2 shot each of gin and campari
3 shakes bitters
ice cubes
1/2 can aranciata san pellegrino
The color is as pretty as you can imagine, and perfect for mother's day. This is nice, sweet, grapefruity, bubbly, and with a hint of gin. In fact, it's a hybrid of the color of the roses that grow in our backyard.


Apple Crisp
E came back from the store with a bag of apples, and half of them had big soft brown spots. Boo!
So we made apple crisp after cutting off all the brown bits. We're planning to eat it for breakfast with yogurt.
4 apples, cored, sliced
1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking (not instant) oats
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
juice of 1/2 lemon
5 T butter, softened and sliced to blend in more easily


1. Prepare 8 inch square baking pan with a little butter. Toss sliced apples with lemon juice, 1 T brown sugar, and 1/2 of the cinnamon.
2. Blend up butter. You can cut in dry ingredients a bit to resemble crumble topping by hand with a pastry blender. Or, you can do like we did and pop butter into food processor and pulse. Then pop in flour and oats. Pulse a bit. Then add brown sugar, cinnamon. Pulse a bit.
3. Pour and distribute topping on top of apples. Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes.