yesterday i had 23 babies. aka, dora-thon.

i'm telling you, canning is just like childbirth. yesterday i labored 23 grape juice babies. whatta mess. (and the pressing, o wow. i started using both hands. i'm tired just remembering.)

in the middle of a canning day, you will find me swearing i will never do it again. the mess! the heat! the pain! the work! the whole day! ijustwannasitdownanddrinkadietcoke. in a clean kitchen.

then i forget and do it again. (it's worth it. pretty pantry. so fulfilling. the joy. the yumminess.)

i'll take another batch of these too please:
(it was a dora-thon day. a nakie dorathon day.)

madelyn in wonderland

so we know mj loves a dress. (thank heavens. i mean, what would i do? no really, what?) i sewed this fun dress for her a couple of weeks ago. i used imported japanese fabric with an alice in wonderland print for the bodice and antiqued red dot fabric for the toggle skirt. (with hot pink elastic and a red toggle.)

madelyn made a special order with her personal amazon.com for the alice in wonderland book and movie. (ya ya- my mom, who is on a personal mission to fill my entire house with children's books. seriously. she sends dozens at a time. i'm grateful. i'm just saying. i may have inherited the shopping thing. )

right now is about when i am tired tired tired of seeing the same old summer clothes. they are all pilly and stainy and fadey and just tired.

i may whip up a couple of simple skirts to last until the reveal of the fall wardrobes- the secret reason i look forward to the seasons changing. (aren't i just so dang shallow? no shocker there.)

presidential jam

look who's famous now, mom and dad.
the President of Mexico loves my jam.
(ok, i haven't officially heard yet if Presidente Calderon loves it or not, but i am sure he and his lovely wife both will. i sent my two best flavors: apricot and blackberry!)

and just how will the Presidente get my jam? in a lovely gift basket, from his wife's intern, my niece melina, daughter of my brother in law jeff (the undersecretary of agriculture of mexico) and michelle. (michelle of course is a fabulous jam maker and canner but happens to be currently remodeling her dream kitchen and --lucky for me, because this may be my only taste of fame-- had no jam to send, per nina's request, so asked me for some to help nina out.) i used some squares of my cutest amy butler fabric and even dug out my dusty old gluegun to secure the little bows, and i translated apricot jam and blackberry jam into spanish, which was more work than i thought, because is it mermelada de chabacano or mermelada chabacano and had to call someone, and dictionaries were involved, and then i had to find the perfect ribbon, write the tags fifteen times each, and anyhoo. whew.

if you had asked me when i was slaving over my bottles of apricot and blackberry jam if i thought any world leaders would be enjoying it later, i would have laughed. hard!
now i can't help but dream of becoming the national jam-maker or something.

enjoy, Presidente and first lady!

find my presidential apricot jam recipe here. of course i changed the name!

update: my bougainvillea babies

home from the nursery now eight weeks, both mama and babies are doing well.
after a couple of weeks all green, the babies blossomed!
nothing makes this mama happier than all that hot pink!
must.remember.to.cover.before.frost.

my bougainvillea babies.

this was my haul at the nursery this week. (fourth trip this year. yikes.) i have always dreamed of having bougainvillea trees and never took the plunge- i have heard they are hard to care for- i bought two. and two gorgeous hydrangeas! all my gardening stuff was lost in the move. and i abandoned my pots, which i am really regretting. and my trowel- i was scooping out dirt with mady's sand shovel! i am still cleaning dirt out of my manicure. must.remember.to.buy.gloves.

apricotapalooza '08

apricotapalooza '08: 70 pounds apricots, one woman, dozens of canning jars, two days. one fat ten month old, taking little bites out of every apricot. whatever it takes to keep the baby happy during apricotapalooza. jams, dried apricots, cobblers, fruit leather, preserves await: i must get back to the kitchen!

fashionably foodie: my new blog

i heart blogging. another thing i heart? COOKING! i.e., my second true love. my new blog is all about cooking. i am a foodie and i admit it, but not everything i make for every meal is super gourmet. i am writing it all, even the basics. i love the idea of having a place to document and share my cooking adventures. come visit me and join in my pursuit of everything delicious!

http://www.fashionablyfoodie.blogspot.com/

cherries are my favorite

our two baby cherry trees have cherries this year. we also have friends with cherry trees that fruited for the first year. we are so happy with all of our cherries! i have made cherry jam and some yummy homemade cherry garcia ice cream. today i'm going to bottle some cherry pie filling, which makes me miss my dad! cherry pie is his favorite. i would love to make a fresh cherry pie for him. i am *so* excited to see my family this weekend. we are a small, close family (i am the oldest of four,) and right now we are living all over the world- america, mexico, UK, africa. we are all traveling to my sister's wedding. my girls are the only grandkids of my parents, and are very spoiled with outpourings of love from both my and christian's family. my only brother is on his mission: we are going to miss him and his sarcastic sense of humor. i can't wait to see my two fabulously chic and hilarious sisters, my loving, funny mom and my fun, talented dad! i wonder how well a fresh cherry pie would make the trip?