Peaches - The Presidents of the United States of America

"I'm movin' to the country I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches 

Movin' to the country I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches.." 

A few years ago my dad planted some peach trees. This year they produced some crazy good fruit. Look how pretty they are!

They're all so juicy and fuzzy, and such a lovely shade of... peach!

Sometimes tiny stealer monkeys gank food from my photoshoots...

and make giant messes...

 

We have so many that I've been desperately trying to come up with ways to use them up before they go bad. Hot weather + yummy peaches + new ice cream maker = duh. 

Helloooo Homemade Peach Ice Cream. Get in my mouth. After I make you. Over the course of three days. 

Day 1: Peach Prep, sugar, and giant monkey mess clean-up.

Day 2: A photo-ruining (but otherwise heavenly) rainy day, 

Mixin' it up and coolin' it off.

(Certain ingredients not pictured. Because they were ugly.)

Day 3: Scoop. Eat. Enjoy.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Ripe Fresh Peaches - 4 cups sliced (peeled if desired)

Raw Sugar -          1/2 cup

Flour -              2 tbsp

Salt -               1 pinch

Eggs -               3 beaten

Whipping Cream -     1 cup

Vanilla -            1 tsp

Whole Milk -         4 & 1/2 cup

Instructions:

Slice peaches, sprinkle sugar sparingly and allow to sit at room temperature for several hours (or overnight) until they are nice and juicy.

Blend or mash (depending on desired consistency), set aside.

Over LOW heat, combine remaining sugar, flour, salt, and eggs. Cook VERY slowly, stirring frequently, until it begins to thicken. 

*Be very careful not to let the eggs scramble! (If they do, do not despair, simply strain through a mesh sieve and discard overcooked bits.)

Transfer to another container and cool to room temperature.

Once cool, add whipping cream and vanilla, whisk to combine.

Stir in milk and peaches.

Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled (several hours or overnight).

Freeze per ice-cream maker's instructions.

Enjoy!

Notes - I am not a big dessert eater, and tend to like mine a little less on the sweet side, so feel free to up the sugar content to satisfy your sweet-tooth. Next time, I'll leave my peaches a little more chunky, or add freshly cut peach pieces to the mixture before it goes in the ice cream maker. I thought that would have added something extra (and used up more peaches!). I was flying by the seat of my pants when I came up with this recipe, so I look forward to any suggestions you may have! 

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Breezeblocks - Alt-J

"Muscle to muscle and toe to toe

The fear has gripped me but here I go

My heart sinks as I jump up

Your hand grips hand as my eyes shut..."

I need to take a {lot of} minute{s} today to be grateful for this man. 

he happens to be my best friend and the best daddy in the whole world

We've been butting heads a lot lately, kids do their darndest to divide and conquer, (seriously, whoever came up with sleep-deprivation as a torture technique most definitely had children) but I am the luckiest.  

photo credit - Tara Miesner Photography - www.taramiesnerphotography.com 

We've been through so much together in the past few years. The big things don't even faze us as a pair. Major illness, death of loved ones, near death birth experience, surgery on our tiny mister... we're solid all the way. 

one of my favorite pictures of all time.

It's the little, inane crap that gets us. 

As I was refilling my sun-tea jar this morning, after a pointless argument about who hadn't put the dishes away when they said they would, I remembered where that jar came from. 

I inherited my first sun-tea jar from my Noni and it was incredibly special to me. So what did I do, of course, but drop and smash it to smithereens. I don't remember the specifics, but I was having one of those no-good-very-bad California days (of which there were many) so I'm sure there were grossly excessive amounts of tears. 

A few days later a brand new vintage sun-tea jar showed up in the mail. 

jar in use

A little later, Worth and I took Finny out. I was reminded that Finny can now roam freely in our yard because of the awesome fence BJ built. Like with his bare hands {power tools}. My man can build shit. With his bare hands {power tools}.

fence - work in progress

Just now, as I was leaving Worth's room after putting him down for his nap, I saw this sweet note in our chalkboard room - 

I mean, you guys! Spoiled rotten is what I am.

thank YOU for all that you do. i love you.

 

Dirty kitchens don't matter. These two do. I love you, babe.

Download the song here.

All This Beauty - The Weepies

"All this beauty...
You might have to close your eyes..."

You guys. Summer is here. Long days of lazing around in the humidity {air-conditioning}, swimming {sitting} in our rad new elephant pool, and catching some rays. 

in case you're wondering - yes, that is a westie fertilizing our yard in the background... gee thanks, finny!

Life here in the heartland has been positively dreamy. The house Our home is really coming together (see below), we get to see family and old friends ALL the time, and Worth and I are really hitting our stride. It's so hard to believe he is one. One! More on that later... 

panorama of worth's [almost] complete room

I feel more content and settled than ever before. All the colorful blooms and the electric green around us seem to echo my sentiment. Everything looks and smells as fresh as spring, and it's mid-July! 

bunny watchin'

How are y'all spending these beautiful days? 

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Bixby Canyon Bridge - Death Cab for Cutie

"All the way from San Francisco, as I chased the end of your road. 'Cause I've still got miles to go, 

to go....."

San Francisco was such an important time in the life of our family. Our wedding, Worth's birth, some of our best friendships all occurred there. Our young marriage was forged in steel as one blow after another came upon us and we only had each other to rely on. (Yes, I realize I'm dangling my prepositions. Sounded better that way. Deal.) But we managed to laugh and love and dance, more often than not. 

On our 8-day roadtrip home from California we actually drove across the Bixby Canyon Bridge. It was a truly awesome place. It was eerie and sad and beautiful, a very fitting farewell to Norcal.

Now that we're home in Kansas, (well, technically Missouri, for the moment) seemingly at the end of our road, I'm reflecting on all that has passed. We've come so far, and yet we still have so far to go. We are growing, changing. All of us. Each of us. Some days I love what we're becoming, and others I fight tooth and nail against it.

Kansas' weather seems to be in step with my battle. So far in the past week we've had: mountains of snow, mild and 65 degrees, humid and 82 degrees, snow again, aaaaand a current temp of 35 and freezing rain. Neat! Ha, I shouldn't complain, I knew what we were coming back to. (Make a comment about the prepositions and I'll... stick my tongue out at you... or... something.) 


One thing remains true on both fronts - I enjoy unpredictability, but I'm ready for everything to bloom.

Download the song here.

Sausalito - Connor Oberst

"We could move to Sausalito, livin's easy on a houseboat, let the ocean rock us back and forth to sleep..."

I started this post almost two years ago with a completely different interpretation of these lyrics. At the time, I had just had my second miscarriage, was commuting an hour each way to a job I loathed, and had been living in Daly City (Land of the Dementors) for almost a year.  I think it's an understatement to say I was depressed. We were moving to Marin county, where my husband's boring job, most of our friends, and the SUN all lived, and I was quitting my awful job. While I was glad of those few things, I was sad to be signing yet another lease so far from home (Kansas), nervous about the future of our finances, and emotionally broken in half.

Today, I sit here listening to my precious 8-month old son sing himself to sleep, in my parents' loft in Kansas City, and my commute consists of a trip from the kitchen to my desk. My husband works for a firm he loves, I'm my own boss, we're shopping for a house to buy, can see family any time we want, and are all but holding hands and skipping through our days, we're so dang happy. Man, does that put things in perspective...

I've been having a pity party all day because of {what I now realize are} some {very} minor inconveniences. Thinking about that time in my life snapped things into focus. I am so. grateful. Before, the houseboat in Sausalito represented a quiet place to hide out and nurse my wounds. I wanted to sleep because being awake was just too hard. Now, it sounds like a great vacation, or maybe a retirement plan. I'd still love some more sleep than I'm getting, ha, but I actually feel awake.

Like, awake... to life. and love. and beauty.

Download the song here.