Assortment

In Season

 

Thanks to the local rancher who grew it, and the neighbor who gave it, we had fresh corn chowder for a weekend dinner.

It tasted like summertime.

Want some?

 

Fresh Corn Chowder

(adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

 

olive  oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 ribs of celery, chopped

6-8 potatoes, peeled and cubed

6 cups chicken broth

6 ears of fresh corn, cut from cob (save the cobs)

2 cups milk, scalded

2 teaspoons salt

black pepper

1 tablespoon butter

 

In a large stockpot, heat a glug of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and celery.  Toss around in the oil, and cook until onion is translucent, about 5-10 minutes.  Add chicken broth, potatoes, and corn cobs.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes. 

Remove corn cobs and discard. Add scalded milk, reserved cut fresh corn, salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer until corn is tender, about 5 minutes more.  With a slotted spoon, remove about 2 cups of vegetables from the soup, blend until smooth in a blender, and return to soup pot.  Stir in butter.

Serve with hot biscuits.

 

 

 

 

Funnies on Sunday!

River Mama

 

 

 

 

They gathered experience; I gathered thoughts.

River Boys

 

It started out well and good. 

Three boys and a river.  Pant legs rolled up, bare feet wading, then cautiously stepping out onto an over-hanging limb.

Normal stuff.

Then, it happened.

Could have been the late-summer breeze; could have been the way the sunlight landed on the cool, clear water as it rolled around over the smooth rocks below; could have been the lunch they ate; could have been the Milk Duds.  I may never know, but something, something made them get their Tarzan on.

And their clothes were left in a heap on the bank.

Adventure called them through the current, across the rocks, and around the bend.  Suddenly, on that stretch of secluded river, they were wild men, free men (actually, they're boys, but they'd forgotten), river-wading, limb-swinging men.  In the buff, for some; nearly so, for others.  This river world caught them, stretched them, taught them.

They left in tighty-whities.

They returned in dirty-looseys.

And it was all well and good.

Game Lights

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

My heart quivers with maternal pride. 

That boy.

In that uniform.  

On that field.

Under those lights.

He's a winner.

A winner, I say.

(Doesn't matter what the scoreboard says.)

And That's How It Went

The school room door had been closed from the evening before, until every boy had his teeth brushed and bed made the next morning; the morning of the First Day.

And those boys with the made beds and the clean (sort of) teeth?  They were being sprung around wildly by all the anticipation of just what might be concealed behind that door, in that off-limits room. 

What new surprise was in there?

Finally, it was time to see...

 

 

 

Piles of new books covered the table, looking glossy in the morning light.  But books?  That's not really what they were looking for.  These guys knew that, since the beginning of time, there have been special treats and little gifts on the first day of school.  That's what they were here for!  They'd catch up with the books later.

 

Hmm, what had this boy found?  It was a box that rattled inside, and was wrapped with a message that said:

Attention:  Very important supply for 3rd graders only!

Oh, and look! There was another one for the 5th grader, and one for the first grader, too!

That rattling sound, what was it?  Was it pencils?  Erasers?  Glue?  (Does glue rattle?)

 

Milk Duds!  Of course!  Essential supply, indeed.  (They were half gone before we cracked open the first book!)

But, somehow, even with chocolate filling their mouths, and caramel sticking to their clean (sort of) teeth, something seemed to be missing. 

They began to search the book-filled table again.  Soon, they came across a curious slip of paper, buried under all.  It said:

There are three more things just for you

To find them, look for your next clue

It's under someplace that you sit

The smell there isn't nice - not one bit!

 

Sure enough, taped to the underside of the toilet lid, they found Clue #2:

 

Now let's see how well you track it

Look inside the pocket of a jacket

 

After a search through every pocket of every jacket in the closet, Clue #3 was discovered.  It said:

It spins around.  It's not a ball

It stands up close against a wall

 

That took some doing.  A lot of head-scratching and "hotter" and "colder" from Mama, but they finally opened the dryer door to find Clue #4.  The last clue said:

Are you ready for those things three?

Go back to where you started.  They're in a tree.

 

 

Sure enough, they were.

 

 

 

 

New mascot(s)?  I think.

First Day

 

 

 

 

It's today!  The other first day of the year.

Here I go with a first, a third, and a fifth.  Here I go to listen, to learn, to assist.  To light the fire of learning in three young hearts.  To discover, even more, who they are and what they can do. 

Let's see what each day brings.

Funnies on Sunday!

 

 

 

Today, I Love...

:: This boy ::

 

:: This boy wearing his fancy duds on a weekday.  He has change in his pocket, and he asked for the keys ::

Today, I Love...

:: Our artists-in-residence :: 

 

:: drawn by the seven-year-old boy ::