• Some sweet stuff

    So I came upstairs to write, but I’m whupped. The heat, the pool, the kitchen, the peaches—they have all conspired against me. My brain is shot. My feet are shot (and swollen). My drive is shot. I thought it was supposed to be cooler tomorrow, but I just clicked on the weather and the heat index is to be 105. I wanna cry.

    Really, though, it wasn’t all that bad today. There was a giant breeze, and I had fun playing in the kitchen. Tomorrow I’m cooking a birthday dinner for my brothers et al. It’s an Indian meal. There are three entrees, plus sides. Plus bread.

    Indian bread stumps me. The naan turned out so-so—passable, but nothing like the naan from a tandoor oven. The rotis have me in a snit. I’ve made them four times. The last round was the best yet, but even so, I only got a half puff. Look at how Manjula does it, but don’t you dare believe it’s as easy as she makes it out to be. She’s lying through her teeth. (I’ve watched several of her videos and I’m in love with her. Her accent makes me smile all the way down to my toasty, sticky, swollen, tired toes.)


    The pooris, however, turned out perfectly. Just look at them!


    This means we will be having pooris and, perhaps, naan.

    But if it’s as hot as they say it’ll be, I don’t know if I can bear to crank my oven up to 500 degrees. Then again, I’ll do most anything for food.

    We got the four bushels of peaches done in a little over 24 hours. I have no idea how people do factory line work—the standing, the repetitive motions, for hours on end. No matter how I arranged myself—in a chair, on a stool, standing at the sink—I was in paaaaain. My back cramped up, my feet burned, my thumb stung, and my tongue tasted like metal. The metallic ailment is a new one. Very odd.


    In any case, we peeled and sliced, sliced and peeled, and peeled and sliced some more. Peach pits skittered across the floor, juice got dribbled everywhere, but only one (!) of the 57 jars didn’t seal. To celebrate a fresh peach-free house, I soaked in a cold bath, read a magazine, and drank a spiked limeade while Mr. Handsome scrubbed the entire kitchen floor with a brillo pad.

    This limeade is responsible for keeping me hydrated and energized (all things considered) throughout the peach marathon. It’s some sweet stuff—just a little of the concentrate stirred into a tall glass of ice and water is all that’s needed to make you feel indulgent. To put it over the top, replace the water with seltzer and add a splash of tequila.


    Limeade Concentrate
    Adapted from Margo of Thrift At Home

    Note: The boiled, sugared lime zest is supposed to be junk, but I ate a pinch and found it delectable. Next time I’m saving it. I’m thinking it might be good stirred into some melted dark chocolate…

    2 cups sugar
    1 cup water
    pinch of salt
    6 limes (3 zested, all 6 juiced)

    Combine the zest, sugar, salt, and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain. Stir in the lime juice. Chill.

    To serve, measure 1 or 2 tablespoons of syrup into a tall glass before filling with cold water and ice. For an adult version, use seltzer water and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila.

    Yield: many glasses of pleasure

    About one year ago: Brown Sugar Granola
    About two years ago: Dutch Puff

  • A free-wheeling education

    Did any of you hear the NPR story yesterday about the Harvard graduate who was homeschooled by her trucker mom?

    The kids and I were driving home from picking up our four (heaven help me!) bushels of peaches from the orchard when I flipped from our go-to country station to NPR. I do this occasionally, just to see what hot topics are being discussed, and the kids hate it. Over their energetic groans I heard the announcer say something about homeschooling, trucking, and Harvard, so I quickly shushed them: It’s about a girl who was homeschooled, guys. Listen!

    Kerry Anderson, a new Harvard graduate, was being interviewed by Michele Norris. Anderson, who began college at a community school, was recruited by Harvard, something highly unusual for an Ivy League school. Norris questioned Anderson about her unusual pre-college education and how she made the switch from studying while traveling across the country to studying while sitting in a classroom. And, of course, there was the inevitable question:

    NORRIS: So when did you actually hold classes? How did you actually complete your schooling while you were traveling from one state to the other?

    Ms. ANDERSON: A lot of our schooling actually was integrated into what she was doing. When we know where we were going, Texas to California, for instance, we had to map out the mileage. We had to map out when we had to fuel, how fast we were going to be going, where we needed to stop, rest areas, all of that kind of thing, what our fuel mileage was going to be.

    That’s how she got us going on a lot of it. And then there was a program that we mailed things in. So we did it at our leisure, basically.

    Don’t you just love that? All the attention given to the details of learning to live and travel, with a casual, oh-yeah-I-almost-forgot nod to traditional schooling. So refreshing.

  • Picklehead

    When I mentioned to my friend that I’m experimenting with my own homemade hair cleanser and conditioner, she sucked in her cheeks and rolled her eyes before regaining her composure and saying, a hint of resignation in her voice, “So tell me about it.”

    I got the idea from Sarah who wrote about going commercial-hair-product free. While I’m not opposed to commercial hair products, if my hair does better on a simple homemade formula, well then, what was I doing spending money and filling up the landfills?

    So. Across town to the health food store I went to fetch me a little apothecary jar of essential oil of lavender (eight bucks—yikes). And then I promptly set about concocting my potions.


    The cleanser is just baking soda in water, and the conditioner is water, vinegar, and essential oil. It couldn’t be simpler, really. My hair gets clean, and, despite the blog post title, the vinegar rinse makes my hair smell only mildly vinegary, and that’s only while my hair is still wet. Once it dries, there is no scent whatsoever.

    I’m still not convinced that this method is better then regular shampoo. My hair feels different, heavier and a little less sleek. And contrary to what Sarah found, my hair doesn’t seem to hold a style as well, or at least it loses it faster. I normally go two days without a shampoo, but now my hair feels like it gets dirtier sooner so I only go about a day and a half between washings.

    Despite the hitches, I’m not ready to give up. Considering all the different types of hair, it wouldn’t be fair to expect the formula to be a one-size-fits-all. I’m still tweaking, using more conditioner, or less, rubbing a little coconut oil into my still-damp hair before styling, making a new cleanser with fewer drops of essential oil. My goal is to make it till my next hair appointment when I’ll ask my hair dresser if he notices any changes with my hair. If he says yes, that it’s much healthier, lush, and simply gorgeous, then I just may continue.

    And I may continue anyway. While I miss the feel of a good lather, the smell and ease of shampoo, it’s rather thrilling to be doing something so totally different. Not to mention it’s so dang cheap.

    So, what are you waiting for? Hop on the bandwagon! Become a fellow picklehead!

    Hair Cleanser

    ½ cup baking soda
    1 ½ cups water

    Mix together and bottle. The baking soda will settle to the bottom, so it must be well-shaken before using. (I experimented by using boiling water instead of cold in hopes that it would dissolve better. It didn’t.)

    To use: Right before hopping into the shower, while your hair is still dry, squirt the mixture on your hairline and part, massaging it into your scalp. The goal is to clean your scalp, not your hair, so squirt it here and there all over your head (about 2 or 3 tablespoons, total), rubbing vigorously with your fingertips. (I look like a wild woman when I’m done.) Wait a minute before rinsing thoroughly.

    Hair Conditioner

    ½ cup white or apple cider vinegar
    2 cups water
    5-10 drops essential oil (lavender, vanilla, peppermint, etc)

    Mix together and bottle.

    To use: Shake well and then squirt a couple tablespoons over your hair, from the nape of the neck down to the ends of your hair. Unless you have extra-dry hair, do not apply to the scalp. Leave the conditioner in your hair for about a minute before rinsing thoroughly.

    About one year ago: Braised Cabbage
    About two years ago: Salvation’s Chocolate Chip Cookies (and my falling out with Molly Wizenberg)