Kitchen Therapy

I've received a bit of sad family news and it's put me in a funk.  Somehow that always seems to translate into wallowing in it for a day or two, a good cry and then I start cooking my kind of comfort food.  Coffee cake, granola and spaghetti & meatballs.  I cook to distraction and feed my fellas.

This kitchen of mine is not big by any means, but it houses just enough tools to get things done and the perfect amount of light to make it a joy to spend time in.  I usually like to work in silence, but this weekend I turned on vintage George Strait on the iPod and enjoyed my own self-pity and it felt pretty good.

We've gotten into the summer routine of making smoothies for breakfast and I will definitely carry this into the new school year.  We picked fresh strawberries, blackberries & peaches and froze as much as I could fit in my little freezer.

I made my first ever ceviche!  A little less lime juice & cilantro, but I would definitely make this again.

The first (and second!) batch of jam is under my belt for the season.  I must be getting more experienced, as I didn't totally stress out this year.  I made nine jars of blackberry & nine of strawberry.  All berries picked by our family.

After the steady stream of activities of June & July, we have finally settled into a slower pace for August.  I had five days of nothing on the calendar for this week.  That's just unheard of around here.  A trip to the library to fill up on new books for the weekend was just what the boy needed to jump back into reading .  He kind of hit a wall last week, but new inspiration got him over that hump.

Endless hours of Lego play and watching the Petaluma Little League head to the Little League World Series was on the agenda for this boy (and his father).

I've read a few books in the last week or so.  Memoirs.  Oh, how I love memoirs, especially when I'm self-reflecting and analyzing my life, my family, my choices to date and my future.  They give me perspective, if they're any good, and I like hearing another's story.

It's funny how the simple act of prepping, cooking & even cleaning up after a meal has this medicinal quality.  It feels like a salve to know I've given something to my guys.  I absolutely love feeding them.  It feeds me, too.

Sunday we drove over to the Erickson Ranch and picked blackberries.  It's a little early in the season, but I wanted to get started early this year.  Last year we ran out just after the New Year and Grady was appalled that I didn't have more blackberry jam for him.  He's going to need to pick his weight in blackberries if he wants year-round jam.  I'm just sayin'.

Oh how I've enjoyed our home and this entire summer.  I didn't know how much I needed to stop, slow down, pause, rest, organize, tend, read, cook & just be home.

I've been paying attention to the dead poppies, the hundreds of birds on our power lines and the white puffy cloud plumes over our valley floor and hillsides.

I'm delighted when Grady brings me a found feather and then proudly declares what kind of bird he thinks it is.  He brings these to me because I make such fanfare about his acquisition from nature.  I love his avian predilections and the sweetness of his gift.

Morning coffee.
Books.
Standing at my kitchen island.
My guys.
Chaise lawn chair.
Afternoon cocktail.
Instagram.
Summer fruit.
My friend and neighbor, Jill.

The kitchen therapy worked this week and I'm feeling better.

I just needed to spend some time with myself, doing something I love, in the place that I love to do it, for the men in my life that I love.

All better.