Recipe of the Week

A Stay at Home Mom who Blogs must share recipes, yes? Who am I to buck the stereotype!?! Society dictates and I obey.

The Ice Cream Float.

See, it's soda (or pop in my childhood) and ice cream.  Pop & Ice Cream? Are you kidding me? Is this even legal?? It's every 6 year old's dream come true.

It still doesn't suck.

Secret Family Recipe for SPJ's Root Beer Float:
1 impossibly large glass 
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
A&W Root Beer- pour until the foam starts to rise over the glass, drink foam. Repeat 2 more times.

Enjoy.

July 25- Adventures in Gardening

http://ferncreekdesign.org/organicveggarden.html

As an over-educated stay-at-home mom, I of course figured I would grow my own produce and live off the land. What a delightfully socially responsible way to save money and encourage a sustainable lifestyle! The above photo is my theoretical garden. I mean I would look great in that hat, right? Below the delicious, organically gown produce my son and I would harvest in the beautiful summer sun...

Photos by Stephanie Yao, Bob Ellis and Rob Finch

My current reality?

 Garden plots full of weeds. FYI weeding is 1) HOT 2) HARD WORK and weeds GROW BACK! My fantasy involved a montage of weeding that lasted about 2 minutes set to Simon & Garfunkle or maybe Joni Mitchell and then BOOM- GARDEN! "Phew that was hard work, but so worth it because look at this beautiful garden.."   The weeds did not grow back in my montage. Also my montage was a lot less boring than the actual f'ing weeding. Also, look...

 My one and only Basil plant is already dying after 4 days and one pasta recipe.

Sometimes Reality blows.
 

July 22- Celebrity News

I love People magazine.  I do. Well, I guess love is strong word. Let's just say I have a deep appreciation for People magazine.

 Is it their uncanny knack for keeping their finger on the pulse of pop culture?  Or their probing interviews with the movers and shakers of Hollywood (Often beginning with, quite literally, "So, how are you doing?")? Maybe I find the blinding spotlight they shine on stars' clothing, homes, and entourage expenses to be a searing indictment on our capitalistic and consumer driven culture? Nope.  None of the above.

Quite frankly I appreciate the fact that my mind completely shuts down when I read it. Blank. Quiet. Restful. It is the closest to meditation I have found and I am deeply appreciative for the 20-30 minutes a week I get with this little glossy piece of zen.

Do I care about Tom & Katie? American Idol? The Royal Family? No. I sincerely do not. But some People magazine correspondant does. And writes attention grabbing, easily digestable copy that engages me without making me feel anything. Ahhh. Breathe. Ohhmmmmmm.

Do I want to be a person who reads People. No. Hell no. Have you met me? I fancy myself Queen of the Hippies, Lady of the Downtown Avant Garde. I discuss Chekhov & Shakespeare, Alternative Structure, and The Collaborative Nature of Art in the 21st Century. I do not speak of Katy Perry and One Direction. (Please read italicized words with a tone of complete disdain)

But I tried it all- Buddhist meditation, transcendental meditation, walking meditation, yoga, tai chi, karate, hiking,  aerobics, and various forms of, um, shall we say "self-medication", designed to shut off those voices in my head and heart that are constantly seeking, looking, watching, wondering, wanting, planning, plotting, whispering, worrying and waiting for what is next. Nothing worked. I wanted to be Yoga Girl with a daily practice and a mantra of peace and love. I wanted to be the girl who mediates in the forest with her green tea and finger cymbals. I wanted to be the girl who tuned in and dropped out. But the solutions designed to create peace always seemed to be more exhausting and/or frustrating than the familiar churn of the drama that lives inside me.

Until People. People shuts it off. Shuts me down. Turns me off. A pleasant, restful hum of fluff that lets me rest.

Thank you People.  Ahhhh. Breathe. Ohhmmmmmm.. Thank you.

July 20- Good Morning!

It is a beautiful morning here in Midwestern Suburban Community, USA. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. And I just ate half a loaf of banana bread.

DAMN IT.

July 17- The Adventure Continues...

Tonight we ate Target brand rainbow sherbet out of crystal champagne glasses**

Discovering the beauty in setting the perfect table? Or out of clean bowls? I am such a woman of mystery...

**These were my mom's from her wedding in 1969. I am not even entirely sure they are champagne glasses. They might be actual dessert glassware of some kind? Or some kind of 60stastic shrimp cocktail holder or something? Who knows! First person who can positively identify the purpose they were intended for wins a series of recipes from another 60srific treasure- The Joy of Jello Cookbook.

July 15- It begins...

 I just ate cold pasta out of a plastic bag.

 And a handful of chocolate chips.

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