Stephanie says

This morning, a general futzing around:   watering the garden; cleaning house; performing a couple small repairs.   All put aside for an interlude of movie watching this afternoon.   I am delightfully alone in my clean house, (and even a tidy house if my peripheral vision is blocked from the stack of toys piled in a corner.)   My daughter and her family have been here for five weeks.   I love my daughter.   I’m enjoying getting to know her husband.   I’m bonding with baby Henry.   Then again, I savor my alone-time wholeheartedly.     All is good, he's got his rock.

Recipe by Martha Stewart Bought a crate of Red Haven peaches at the fruit stand yesterday.  Yep, a crate.  We cannot possibly eat that many fresh peaches so I'm scrambling to find uses.  I'd make a peach pie but I'm holding out for delivery of my high-powered Cuisinart Food Processor to make the crust (which is currently langoring at the post office.  Oh sure, I get a notice for pickup but being Saturday, the post office is closed...I want it.  I want it.  I want it now.) So it's upside-down cake. It came out of the pan perfectly! INGREDIENTS 5 1/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 3 medium ripe peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), skins on, pitted, and cut into 3/4-inch wedges 1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons chopped fresh lavender, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt 3 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract...

Sinfully rich I could talk about attending the Country Fair in Veneta yesterday, an alternative kind of fair with all sorts of spectacles catching my attention.  But instead, I'm talking about desserts again. I had two at the fair!  I've been craving chocolate pudding in my indulgent dessert obsession.  I was certain Deb at Smitten Kitchen would have a suitably rich pudding recipe, and I was right.  Alas, I only had four ounces of bakers chocolate so added two ounces of really good cocoa (whisked in a separate bowl with some of the milk mixture then added to the pot when the spoon stage was reached.  This is soooo chocolatey! Serves 6 to 7 - maybe in some universe.  At my house, it serves three. 1/4 cup (30 grams) cornstarch 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 cups (710 ml) whole milk 6 ounces (170 grams) semi- or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 1 cup good chocolate chips) 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract Comb...

We've been on a dessert binge. I don't worry about having to eat an entire batch of whatever (so it won't go bad...) with Tyler and Ryan here.  They both have a sweet tooth.  For tonight folks, Terry made cinnamon ice cream.  It is wonderful.  First bite:  "Ahhhh."  Smooth with a bite of cinnamon.  Second bite:  "How about paired with apple pie?"  Terry has stated as fact that he makes a thoroughly exceptional pie.  So, how about it? This was my serving.  Note the restraint!

Blazing hot weekend.  We went to Sunset Beach on Friday - where it was 30 degrees cooler. Stopped at U-Pick blue berry fields on the way, which yielded Blue berry crumble, vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.  Yum. Yoncalla parade.  Camels?  Yep. Off to the rodeo.  Here's Henry sporting a sun hat. Larkspur A lot of naps, lots of seafood.  Ahh, a fab holiday weekend!