9.09.2013

garden state gifts, et cetera

What a weekend we had~ papa's folks were in town for four days and they came bearing gifts from the garden state.  A couple braids of garlic (some of which we will plant as seed garlic next month), some winter squash, and a box of tomatoes from a family friend's organic farm/CSA.....



fresh jersey bagels (real bagels),


and a pair of folding (!) adirondack chairs.  My in-laws are the best.  And I promise I'm not saying that because of the gifts~  they are great people, and I consider myself lucky (and oh-so-very-grateful) to be able to sincerely make such an honest declaration of love for my in-laws.


On Saturday morning, this happened:


A first ballet class.  And her dear friend Mae-Mae was right beside her, along with another new friend and, according to the teacher, a couple more girls starting next week.

We grown ups hung out next door at the coffee shop while the little ones pranced around "picking strawberries, opening gates, and smelling roses".  (ballet class, according to Claire)



After ballet, there was the market.  An apple tart to tide me over until brunch.  The usual socializing and catching up.  And then brunch at the biscuit (biscuits the size of your face) place.


Later on, there were apples to deal with.  An assembly line, family style.  Peel, slice, freeze.  Peel, slice, dry.  Soon to come will be peel, slice, cook, mash into sauce, can.



Out to eat Saturday night.  Fish and chips and my first pumpkin ale of the year.  A very full mama on the drive home, thoughts of never ever ever eating anything fried, ever again.

Bright and early Sunday morning, (actually before it was bright) I spent some time at the new biscuit shop in town working on some photography for their website.  Coffee was consumed, and pastries too. A homemade pimento cheese/heirloom tomato/grit cake/greens/tomato jam biscuit sandwich was later eaten for lunch.  Whew.  I think I need to eat kale and mung beans for about a week straight now.





A full and happy weekend, leading into a full and (hopefully) happy week.  Fall is around the corner and I'm so ready for her to make her full-on appearance.

*weekending with amanda

6 comments:

  1. what good times. makes me long for fall's apples and dancing ballerinas. and in-laws to drop off all those fabulous gifts!

    xxoo

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  2. you are funny vowing to never eat fried again. I think we all do that every single time... But it tastes sooo good. Love the ballet, reminds me of when my daughter oh so many years ago took ballet classes :)

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    1. oh yeah, of course I don't really mean it... but at the time, whew! I think the only "I'll never, ever, ever do THAT again" proclamation I've stuck to was one about 15 years ago, involving Southern Comfort.

      I'm excited about this little ballet class- seems very sweet and low key and like a good fit for little Claire.

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  3. oh! I'm drooling over your post. canned tomatoes and a first ballet class.
    and real bagels? ouch. I'm on "no-gluten" and that really hurts.

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    1. somebody out there must make a decent gluten-free bagel by now, right? hope it's going well~ I've read your posts about it and it sounds like you're making it work.

      she has been talking about ballet since last Saturday- looking forward to class number two!

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~