The kids are all home again this week, which is wonderful. The night they returned we just happened to pass a street cart taqueria, and on the way back, we grabbed tacos for everyone, while I practiced by broken Spanish. It was nearly midnight when we got home, so we broke the Friday fast with amazing tacos and chiles and salsas.

The heat is ramping up again, and we have installed our first portable air conditioning unit. We have two more to put in, but we only have one day of temperatures predicted to be at 100˚. There is only one appointment out of the house this week, and one grocery day, unfortunately on two different days, but that allows me to attempt again to get some preserving done when the temperatures drop into the 80s. Last week, I was kind of knocked out with a summer cold, which is especially insulting, and my mornings alone were spent resting, for the most part, and doing basic homemaking tasks.

It is abundance time in the farmer's market and with our gleaning club. Our garden is still producing earlier season foods because we live in a cooler microclimate. The plan is to try my experiment, using my method for fruit butter and jelly with the abundance of cherries we have. I plan to use almost no pectin, just because of how much the cherries gel on their own. We also have some asparagus that is on the edge of drying out, that I am going to try to pickle, just for our use. We will mark the jars, so if they don't hydrate enough with the brine, we know just to use them ourselves. We also have a ton of apricots, and I am thinking of making apricot syrup and preserves. If we still have a lot after that, I might make some basic canned apricot halves, which will come in handy in the fall and winter (I make a fantastic cream cheese and fruit stuffed French toast which would be lovely with apricots). Our peaches are a little too ripe for most preserving, so I am thinking we might just eat a lot and maybe make a crisp or pie - or ice cream! In fact, I might make an apricot pie with out beautiful apricots, too. I might set the kids to drying some of the apples we have, as they just devour those as snacks in the winter.

This week also holds the 31st anniversary of Rich and me meeting. We are going to have a small dinner at an Italian place near us and dance at least once. It's hard to believe that it's been over 30 years since we met. I am not one of those people who thinks she is not her age. I am nearly 49. At the same time, it seems unbelievable that so much time has passed since that fateful dance.

The challenge last week was that, even with making much smaller meals, with only two to four people eating at each meal, and the heat being as high as it was, supressing our appetites, we had so much food leftover. Once the kids returned, they helped us use up most of that food, but there is still a little left in the refrigerator, but now we have enough folks here to eat them up as lunches. Our meals this week are still going to be a little scaled back, because of the heat, but a bit more than last week. There might still be meal juggling because of those lowered appetites, but we will discover that by next week.

Our Melting Pot-Luck last week wasn't huge, but it was a great success, and the folks there wanted us to do it more often, so we are planning on holding them quarterly now. We had foods from Norway, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Russia, Bangladesh, and more. It was delightful. We are eating around the world this week, too. We are eating from Louisiana, Mexico, Persia, Lebanon, Morocco, Korea, France, Palestine, China, Spain, and Italy. It's all jumbled together each day, and sometimes each meal, and that is wonderful, and just like our country.

• Sunday - Feast of Saint Veronica
  Breakfast: Fried Eggs, Toast, Sliced Honeydew, Peaches and Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Gumbo, Rice, Pepper Vinegar, Scallions, Apricots, with Parishioners bringing Sides/Salads/Desserts
• Monday - Feast of Aquila the Apostle among the 70
  Breakfast: Migas, Sliced Honeydew, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Khoresh Badenjan, Sabzi Polo, Persian Chopped Salad, Peaches
• Tuesday - Feast of Saints Bonaventure and Swithun
  Breakfast: Salatat Battatas ou Bayd, Tamis, Apricots, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Korean Style Beef with Zucchini, Jasmine Rice, Cherries
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Sweet Potato and Vegetable Breakfast Hash, Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Ratatouille, Garlic Pasta (GF for Jerome), Apricots
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Mthouamat Banadora, Quick Persian Barbari Bread, Rainier Cherries, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pork Stir Fry wih Zucchini and Asparagus, Jasmine Rice, Peaches
• Friday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Chopped Apples, Raisins, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Spanish Poor Man's Potatoes, Spanish Farmer's Rice, Green Salad, Fruit Plate
• Saturday - Feast of Saints Vincent de Paul and Macrina
  Breakfast: Bacon Stuffed Savory Griddle Cakes, Oranges, Sahlab, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pasta (GF for Jerome) with Bolognese Sauce, Green Salad, Cherries

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Romance and Relationship, Tales from the Kitchen