THE LOVELY CRAZY

I am sitting here thinking how strange it is that it’s already the end of June. Time flies by so fast in normal circumstances but this season in life, well time is so warped and crazy and wow, it’s the end of June and I don’t even know how I feel about it. Almost like the past few months have been the shortest and longest I have ever lived through. Some strange strange times.

The week was good and productive in many ways. Started off with a lot of hose chores like finally painting the desk I have been wanting to pant for months, cleaning the basement, and lots of garden weeding. WE had dinner with my mom and the boys, went to curbside pickup at the library, and picked up my farm share. I also took Barb strawberry picking with me and since have been trying to stop myself from eating them all in one sitting. I only have a few left but lucky I can go pick again this week. And flowers too!!I am really excited for pick our own flowers. I have the best farm!

The mr has been working like a madman doing all sorts of house stuff on all the houses so we haven’t been able to do any big hikes or anything this week but that is ok because half of the week was still nasty hot and I hated every minute of it. And finally for the first time in a while, I spent a good amount of time everyday working in my studio. We have just been so busy that I haven’t really gotten down there but I got on a good kick and threw a bunch of new pieces. I am working on planters at the moment and am really into the new design that I am doing. Hopefully others will be into them too and maybe once I can fire shit again, will buy some? (no pressure…). Also big news….Taxes are filed!!!! That was a shit show and they are done and I never want to think about them again except I am already thinking about them for next year. Blah. Never ending. Other then that, not a lot of big news.

The weird part of the week was that we didn’t see any of our littles . NONE! First time in months that we haven’t seen at least someones kid(s) almost everyday. And we miss them, which means that they miss us too? Yeah, probably not so much, but hopefully we will find a way to see them this week, at least someones kids because I need a little of that care free, summertime, lets do fun things, mentality. littles are good at that.

And thats about it, or at least that is all I can remember at the moment.

Today the mr and I are planning on going hiking. Far into the woods to a river, away from all people. and hanging out for a while. He will fish, I will read, and sure it might rain but don’t care. We need the trees.

Internet from the week.

-Enough with the stupid fucking micro plastic. It is absolutely horrible. Our fruits and veggies are sucking up microplastics through their roots

-The mr is a leftie…. He is kinda weird. Lefties aren’t as weird as you might think

-HOW TO START KIDS HELPING IN THE KITCHEN! Get them in there!

-I have a little girl crush on Padma Lakshmi, but who doesn’t? Padma Lakshmi, Scars and All

-Not that we need to be freaking out all the time, but we still need to be freaking out about global warming! A Disastrous Summer in the Arctic

-Have you heard of Everestng? I have heared it mentioned a few times. now that all the sports things are canceled and pandemic and all Maybe something I will do if I get bored. HA

-The Great Regression. Having fun the way we used too. (Never to old for sidewalk chalk and hula hooping)

-I want this house and my next kitchen will look like this.

-Remember the slip and slid? 7 Awesome Backyard Water Slides Your Kids Will Love

Pictures from the week

-C

Maybe you, like me, went a did a little strawberry picking this past weekend. And maybe you, like me, pick so so many that now you have an overload of the most perfect, if not slightly too ripe strawberries staring at you, waiting to be eaten or, at the very least, cooked into some magical cake, pie, cookie, or whatever. But lets face it, its Monday and maybe we do not exactly feel the need (or have the time) to make a cake, pie, cookie or whatever tonight. So that leaves us with a crap load of strawberries that need to be dealt with.

And sure, we can freeze them, but maybe you, like me, already have a freezer full of other stuff. And just because we don't want to bake a cake, pie, cookies, or whatever tonight, doesn't mean we don't want something amazingly tasty and fantastic.

So that brings us to this super easy, oh so pretty, and ever so tasty way to move those strawberries….. Stick them in the oven and roast them. So simple and really truly amazing. When strawberries are roasted, they turn so tender and fall apart and release all of their juices that turn into a sweet syrup. They become almost jam like, but the flavors are way better, more complex. And there is no need for added sugar or any other stuff because the flavors and natural sweetness of the roasted strawberries stand on their own.

A few ways to which you might want to use roasted strawberries that will make your life better: Dump onto ice cream, yogurt, or make a strawberry shortcake or a strawberry fool. Scoop onto a green salad, mix into a bowl of quinoa, marinate some tofu, or add to roasted veggies. You can mix into muffin batter, into oatmeal, or add to a layer cake. They make a fantastic PB and J and the syrup in seltzer is a tasty drink. You can pretty much use them for anything. But MY favorite way to consume these…a bowl, a little spoon, and my mouth. Nothing else needed.

And if you didn't happen to go strawberry picking this weekend. It's cool, just pick some up from the closest farm stand near you. You can tell all your anyone thats asks that you picked them yourself. (not a lie, just a stretch cause you did, in fact, pick them up yourself)

Yea for Monday and for roasted strawberries! (Or at least yea for strawberries.)

All you need…A big (or small) bowl of strawberries.

Rinse those pretties and place them on a parchment lines baking sheet. (don't skip parchment… these suckers get super thick and juicy.)

Here is the thing. These strawberries are picked from the lovely farm I get my CSA from.(How badass is it that we have a PYO part of the share). They are not like super market berries that are extra firm with dirty unappealing green tops. These little organic lovelys have tender little green tops…. I eat them. If you do not wish to eat the greens, just top the berry off before roasting.

So the berries, stick them in the oven at 450 degrees and roast them for about 35-45 minutes (depending on the size of your berries)

Pull them out when they start to get dark and slightly charred and the juice is thick and bubbly.

And scrap the berries, juice and all, right into a jar.

Eat with anything, everything and with nothing at all.

Happy Monday

-C

Roasted Strawberries

strawberries of any quantity

Place strawberries, with or without tops (your preference) on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in a 450 degree oven and roasted foe about 45 minutes or until the berries are soft, mushy, starting to charr and have lots of bubbly juice, . When done, remove from oven and let cooll for for about 5 minutes. Transfer berries, juice and all, into jar.

Eat right away or stick in fridge. Juices thicken up when cooled.

Keeps about a week in fridge, but I highly doubt it will last the night.