Outside: If there could be a lovelier spring day it is beyond my scope of imagination, even though we have had comparable ones. Yet the demand to see, listen, feel, and smell is not far from me as I enjoy the open windows and spend times outside.
Thinking: I should be doing something other than this blog post. The days are hard to catch these days, I pursue my moments like a fisherman on the open sea eager to bring in his supply of daily fish.
In the kitchen: Now in this place, besides the daily ministrations of preparing and cooking nourishing, healthy meals for my family, I hone my baking skills using sourdough starter and freshly milled flours. I crave the taste of lentils most days. So a soup of lentils and kale, a variation from a recipe found here.
The sourdough starter is one given by a friend with an accompanying recipe for friendship bread. I decided to experiment and make this starter truly my own; I feed it simply with water and flour. This past week I baked a loaf of banana bread using this leavening and my wheat flour. It was quick and delicious.
Charlotte and I eat lunch outside these days. Today a lunch of lettuce gifted to me by Claire picked from her garden. I threw in some organic spinach, tomatoes, raspberries, cucumbers, and lentils. This dressing is my favorite at this time. Do you ever get like that too, something becomes your favorite for a season? Here is the recipe:
1/2 shallot
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon each of fresh chives, parsley, and oregano
1/3 cup olive oil
Sewing:
Another spacious place, a place it seems I can't get enough of, yet I "getalong" nicely. This is a smocked tea cozy, perhaps a form of manipulating fabric would be another name for this type of work. I am presently sewing buttonholes on a diaper shirt, and I just cut out an infant summer dress, panties, and hat in a tiny gingham of the prettiest shade of turquoise which will be trimmed with orange rick rack.