Midweek with rosemary and garlic

I was finished with school at the great and alarming hour of 5:00, and I was ready to put my sparing creative juices to work. After a bit of messing with the piano and keyboard (I was toying with rhythms to incorporate into a piano lesson  tomorrow) it was time to begin the preparation of a long-awaited dinner production (something I had at Olive Garden a while back and haven't been able to forget). My plans were Baked Rosemary-Garlic Chicken, Cheese and Herb Potato Fans, and a garden salad. To my taste, the results were a bit too salty and "green with their coats of dried herbs", but Mama and Ladybird approved, so it must just be me.
Four baking potatoes were briskly scrubbed and thinly sliced, each one maintaining a thin spine of uncut fiber so the potato remained whole. I splayed the little layers as well as I could and drowned them in melted butter, salt and pepper. After about 45 minutes of moderate baking they were sprinkled with a handful of grated Parmesan, Cheddar, and Italian herbs. As soon as the cheese melted they were ready.
The chicken was more fun: Four whole breasts rubbed with salt and pepper, tucked into a dear old glass dish. They were drizzled with white wine vinegar and olive oil, and a scattering of whole garlic cloves was allowed to caramelize on top. Dried rosemary, fennel and thyme provided their "green coats". This baked at 450 for longer than expected (between 30 and 40 minutes, I think). My salad was a lively and simple affair of fresh lettuce, cucumber, purple onion and an exciting cilantro dressing.
We were all quite full after our warm, candle-lit meal, but couldn't resist a bit of dark chocolate to end it. I chose a chunk of frozen, home-made deliciousness studded with hazelnuts. And (with painful generosity) shared it with Gavin. Then me and Ladybird did the washing up and went out for a short walk. I hope I'm not the only one around here who has noticed the striking young moon tonight--it is slim and elegant, and cosseted by gentle, mysterious ash-colored clouds.
I'm still enjoying the "new" school year. Ladybird is finally beginning her second year of college, and it seems impossible that her summer break could really have been that long; but it was. So it's quiet around here, with me, Mama and Gavin puttering happily through our simple days (though we do tend to wear thin at the end of the afternoon, when he gets tired and hungry). I started my first research project of the year yesterday, and I'm surprisingly intrigued with the concept. I've chosen to write about Agatha Christie--maybe I'll gain some inspiration, or at least a little peak into the genius behind Murder on the Orient Express.

French bread and cheese

We had a wonderful last weekend of summer. Friday was spent at the Woodburn Outlets doing some back to school and birthday shopping, including a bit of chocolate with caramel and macadamia nuts in the late afternoon, and we met Daddy for dinner at a Mexican place in the outlets. It was a happy end-of-the-work-week reunion, and we were satisfied with our purchases. On Saturday we celebrated Ladybird's birthday with a family breakfast and a relaxing morning. In the afternoon I had a picnic in the woods with the birthday girl, during which we read a good bit of The Fellowship of the Ring and dubbed a squirrel "Sophie" after it's sound-alike, a squeaky plastic giraffe of Gavin's. The evening was a real celebration: creamy enchiladas with mango salsa, a friend over to help us enjoy it, a happy mound of presents, and Almond-poppyseed cake with chocolate vanilla tea. The three of us girls disappeared upstairs soon afterwards for a movie and some hair and make-up experimentation.

Yesterday started early--the 10-mile run to church with Daddy was first starry and dark (with a sliver of golden moon), and then ghostly grey with creamy-peach blushes on the horizon, and finally coolly spread with mellow, orange light of morning as we crested the last hill before town. Church was nice (after a quick, hot shower) and then we were home again (don't worry, we drove back!) to eat sausage-corn casserole, salad and slices of leftover birthday cake. I had a quiet afternoon of reading and being with family, and another workout with Daddy (push-ups this time). Before I left for youth group we shared fresh bread of Mama's making, bright, sweet grapes and pieces of cheddar and garlic white cheese--it was wonderful.

And now Monday. I'm busier, but still delighting in life. There is truly something to learn in each moment during the school week!

Spending Time

The "living at home" portion of our family spent Labor Day weekend at our favorite haunt for vacationing, a quiet, snug cabin about an hour Northeast of home, where the air is filled with pine scents and the freshness of the river. Craggy rocks add character and immense beauty to the softly dark green mountains--I like to admire them from the vantage of the porch swing just on the other side of Opal Creek, with a big mug of a spicy, hot tea (mountain mornings do tend to be chilly). We had a rich, chocolatey ganache cake both evenings after our special Trader Joe's dinners, while we watched Little Dorrit (Friday night) and The Croods (Saturday). Me and Ladybird worked up hearty appetites swimming in the icy cold, crystal green water and going on inspirational hikes in the rain and dew-glinting sunshine, and spent a bit of our time reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (we're making not very much headway in the series, although we both love them). I also got to go on a wonderfully stormy, 9-mile run with Daddy, read my own fun book, The Eagle of the Ninth, and play Ticket to Ride with Ladybird. Mama may not have had as relaxing a vacation as I: Gavin woke up at 4:30 on Sunday morning and could not be convinced to go back to bed. We finished our trip with Sunday dinner at Olive Garden on the way home (I thoroughly enjoyed my Garlic Rosemary Chicken and mashed potatoes, and am now determined to recreate the delicious concoction, with a valiant attempt at those garlic cloves, chewy, whole and caramely sweet). And then Daddy had to drive all the way back to the cabin to fetch his laptop, forgotten on the antique stove in the corner of the kitchen.
I spent my real Labor Day catching up on school reading, which was actually very pleasant, putting my room to rights, watching Doctor Who with Ladybird, doing push-ups with Daddy, running for an hour along my home roads... it was good. And in the afternoon, when everything else was happily accomplished, I slipped off into the woods, found a resting place, and lay there letting time slide by while I watched birds and dancing fir boughs, felt wind and fir needles wafting around me, and thought contentedly about life and health and beauty.
P.S. Happy September!