spring means summer on the coast

Spring is the time on the coast when you start to think, "Oh, it's so warm, summer's coming." We forget that these seasons that sandwich summer are the warmest, when the fog doesn't develop and even the wind is warm. We've been soaking it up, from a CSA picnic (gotta have sustenance before you start picking strawberries and lemon balm) to a river stroller walk to an alfresco dinner (with some tempeh reubens so good Isaiah said, "You rock, mom dude.") Yes, he's 3.

Isaiah had a long phone chat with his Grandpa from the stroller. He said, "I didn't take a nap and Meli's sleeping, so I'm just taking a stroller walk and enjoying the view." So am I, Isaiah, so am I.

I learned today how much Isaiah needs to be in charge. We ended up at the river alone, on a spontaneous playdate. He told me what to do each step of the way. Where to sit on our ship. Which willow branch to use as my fishing pole. How it had to exactly touch the "sea" below. Standing in the river, I was allowed to choose my own rocks for bait, but had to do it in exactly the same way as he did. I told him afterward how nice it was to let someone else make the decisions for a change.

scents of spring

And for today's food idea, I'm going to have to borrow from the lovely Cheryl, because tomorrow for breakfast we're going to have leftover quinoa with blueberries, apples, toasted sprouted seeds and yogurt. Yum...wholesome bliss!

Celebrate everything!

Clearly, the insanity continues. Though I think I'll adopt craftsanity as a more enabling mantra, inspired as I am by the craftsanity podcasts (yes, that's right, I'm listening to podcasts, pulled into the 21st century after all).

Note the lambswool bunnies--my first sewing machine project!--ready for equinox weekend and Easter Sunday. The egg tree came out of nowhere, I swear. Claire came over yesterday with all the fixins for coloring eggs and I was left today with the gorgeous hardboiled ones we did with the children and the delicate blown-out ones Claire and I played with late night (minus the exploded by bicycle pump egg that was a failed engineering experiment). At 10:30 this evening I went into the yard for a branch and voila, a tree to wake up to.

As I was putting together the photo albums in the children's baskets, I came across fall equinox pictures from the Garcia River at Oz. Here we are, half a wheel later, emerging into the bright, outdoor time. Children growing so quickly, trying to still let them be nature beings.

This is the first time I've ever put together Easter baskets. We celebrated the equinox all week (especially with a fabulous tiedye party, thanks K!), lit the shabbot candles, I went to a goddess dance gathering this evening and came home and put together the baskets and tree as a surprise for the morning. I know you could peg me for a spiritual dilettante, but I beg to differ. It is intriguing to me that the best of each religion shares at its root a call to celebrate nature, respect one another and hold ourselves to the highest moral standards. I will always be drawn to Judaism because it is the tradition and nourishment of my ancestors, but I embrace the thread that connects the points on the spiritual compass and love to find the heart in all traditions.

That is why you will find me celebrating everything. The daily rituals of arising, naptime, dinner; the weekly rhythms and the wheel of the year mark our days and ultimately our lives. We might as well take note, eat well and find plenty of reasons to dance! And tomorrow, we'll hunt.

I guess egg salad would be a little too obvious for today's food idea. But the frittata I whipped up with the blown-out insides and leftover shrimp and asparagus was definitely tasty. I added 3 extra beaten egg whites to the rest of the eggs to make it so light, as much a souffle as a frittata, perfect for the lightness of spring.

green food

Okay, nettle lovers. You know who you are and I know you've been wanting those pancakes. So easy, so green, so rich in vitamins and minerals...nettle pancakes. Use your favorite pancake recipe: Mine lately is 1 cup mixed barley and spelt flour, 1 t baking powder, a pinch of sugar and salt mixed together. 1 egg beaten with 1 cup buttermilk and 1 T melted butter. Mix wet and dry gently. Have your nettles already prepared by steaming them and chopping the leaves finely. Mix the nettles into the batter. I like to pack as much green as I possibly can using batter to hold them together.

You can serve them savory with goat cheese sauce (fresh goat cheese melted with a little milk) or sweet with yogurt, syrup, butter, applesauce. At my house, pancakes are never round. They are bears or ducks or today, goats with beard and horn. Good thing my kids don't know I can't draw when they ask me to make these things. My goat actually looked pretty good, beard and all.

And yes, you gotta go pick them! It's almost too late here in northern California, but there are some that aren't too flowery yet. You can wear gloves if you want or you can get into a meditative state like my friend Greenlight and approach each plant with an awareness of the direction of the spikes and pick with great awareness. A wonderful exercise if you have the time!

blueberry smiles

We're entering the "between times." Apples and pears have been in storage for a while now. They are alright, but lack the crisp brightness of the fruit fresh off the tree. We were drenched in navel oranges, satsumas, and meyer lemons, but now there's a better chance one from the batch will be a little dry, taste a little funny. Kiwis are still good. Bananas are a constant love, but this mama doesn't like to depend on a fruit from so far away. Strawberries and cherries are still a long way off, so we've come to explore the world of frozen fruit. These kids love their blueberries straight out of the freezer, in bright purple smoothies, in their water, their crepes, their pancakes. Isaiah, maybe reaping some of his mom's Chinese medicine teachings, insists on having his smoothies "warmed a little."

a scoop of frozen blueberries
some frozen banana
some liquid...milk, juice, rice milk, water

Isaiah presses the blender button and off we go...purple fun!

As soon as they finish, they're off to look at their faces in the mirror and play with warm soapy water in the bathroom sink.

The freezer, the blender...no, we're not at OZ Farm anymore.