*I brought these humongo lollipops back from NYC. My kids thought I was the bomb.

*This is what happens when hot weather hits before I buy our season pass to the pool.

*Punk Kid.

*A kid with a bad case of lip. (Waxiness aside, she really does. We’re working on it.)

*This is what happens when my kids beg me to buy them flip-flops and I never get around to doing it.

When I’m old and decrepit, I’ll try to recall the feeling of pudgy arms squeezed tight around my neck, the baby kiss-smacks, the oxytocin buzz from breastfeeding, but all I’ll remember is the mismatched flip-flops. Acute and agonizing bouts of guilt will then ensue.

*We turned three bushels of Lodi apples into sauce. Each year my husband attempts to improve our system (drives me nuts) and this year was no different. Instead of simply washing the apples by hand in the sink, he pressure washed them.

And yes, it was faster and less work and a very nice step-up.

*Splashes of color on a splashy-wet day.

*Towel Toga.

*Morning quiet.

*Table reading.

Some friends gave us the books “What’s Happening to Me?” and “Where did I Come From?”. I read then out loud and all but one kid (can you guess which one?) loved them. I highly recommend the books, but do read them pre-puberty, before the subject gets excruciatingly embarrassing.

*I like to add a few frozen red raspberries to a glass of white wine. It’s pretty, and the wine-soaked berries at the bottom of the glass are a tasty ending.

*July Garden (the corn is majestic!)

*My daughter, using all her appendages to scrub the floor, a la Curious George.

*Crossed wires. They clutter up my view and bug me to pieces.

*Wikki-Stix, one of The Birthday Girl’s gifts.

*Listening to stories (note the dazed, I’m-in-la-la-land look) on a brand new CD player, another birthday present.

*Mama! There’s a mushroom growing out my ear!

*A makeshift porch swing bed.

*Back porch hoe-down.

*Belly Dancing and Weed Smoking Boy in a Blue Bonnet.

*A new great way to use up all that zucchini.

Tons of raw zucchini (sprinkled with salt and then drained to get rid of excess moisture and a less raw taste), chewy whole wheat pasta, creamy-sharp Parmesan cheese, crunchy almonds, and a tangy olive oil and lemon dressing makes for a refreshing dinner on these hot summer nights.

Zucchini Pasta Salad
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Lots of room for improvisation here: onions (raw or caramelized), feta cheese, grain instead of pasta, cooked beans, some crumbled bacon, etc.

12 ounces whole wheat spiral pasta, cooked al dente, drained, and cooled
2 pounds zucchini, cut in half and then thinly sliced
1-2 teaspoons salt
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
2/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
½ cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)
black pepper and salt, to taste

Put the zucchini slices in a colander and toss with the salt. Allow them to sit undisturbed for about 30 minutes. Taste—if too salty, rinse with water and pat dry. (I used 1 teaspoon of salt and mine were not too salty.)

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, and a bunch of black pepper.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, zucchini, and Parmesan. Add the dressing and toss. Taste to correct seasonings. Immediately before serving, add the almonds.

This same time, years previous: peas with prosciutto, red beet salad with caramelized onions and feta

This week my sister-in-law had a baby on her back porch, my big girl hit the double digits, and I learned to make breadsticks.

Actually, I learned to make breadsticks last week, but it was such an exciting experience that the good feeling leaked over into this week.

I love birth stories for their intensity, rawness, awesomeness, and comedy. Because, yes, some births are downright funny, and if my brother and sister-in-law will excuse me for saying so, this one was pretty hilarious. I mean, the mutt dog that my sister-in-law hasn’t ever really liked (and that’s putting it nicely) was present for more of the labor than the midwife who made it three minutes pre-delivery.

The evening of the birth, Mom and Dad came over with the soon-to-be new big sister. The rest of us were in the middle of watching Holes which we had to pause repeatedly while answering phone calls and get the latest updates. At 8:46 we stopped the movie to take bets on when the baby would be born. My baby said giddily, “In one minute!” I was right behind him with an optimistic guess of 10:30. Fifteen minutes later we stopped the video for the ringing phone yet again: the baby was here! My kids jumped and hollered and the new big sister glowed, giggled, and clapped her hands. Back Porch Baby (for that’s her new nickname, you realize) missed being decade twins with my girl by just three short hours.

The next day was filled up to the brim with cocoa puffs, free slurpies at Seven-Eleven (did you know they give them out on 7/11? I didn’t!), swimming lessons in the morning, and another visit to the pool in the afternoon, the making of a red velvet cake, apocalyptic skies and wild winds, subs and fruit and chips (hooray for simple birthday suppers!), and a pile of presents. The evening ended with a reading of all of Miss Beccaboo’s birthday interviews. (Each year on their birthday, I ask each kid the same 15 questions and then we read them aloud, along with the answers from the previous interviews. It’s a hoot to see the similarities and differences over the years and to see up close how they’ve grown and matured.)

among some of the gifts: headband and scarf from NYC,
and an altered dress-up dress

they even smiled at us!

cake-with-obscene-amounts-of-red food coloring and two kinds of frosting (this and this)

The birthday fun isn’t over yet. Five girlfriends are coming on Friday night to help her whoop it up real good for her first-ever birthday party. (It’s her first, not because she didn’t want a party before, but because I do not allow birthday parties until the age of ten. From age ten and on, special birthdays happen every several years, though I’m not sure what that’s going to mean exactly. I’m open to suggestions.)

And now for the breadsticks!

These little buggers made me inordinately happy. They are soft and tender and chewy and buttery and sublime, and I pretty much fell head over heels in love with them right away.

Those adjectives I mentioned? I know they’re cliche and way too much over-used (that was redundant), but they are truetruetrue.

There’s really not much more to say. But that might be okay, because once you make them your mouth will be full (like my little boy’s was when he stuffed an entire stick into his mouth) and you won’t want to talk anyway because you’ll be so busy chewing and moaning, your eyes rolled back in your head and everything.

One more thing before I shut up and kick you into the kitchen: these things are easy to make, dangerously easy. Prepare to be stunned by their simplicity.

Soft and Chewy Breadsticks
Adapted from Sarah of Clover Lane

This recipe is as straightforward as a recipe can get, so there is lots of room to ham it up if you so wish. You could add some whole wheat to the dough, dust the buttered pan with some semolina flour or cornmeal, or sprinkle some chopped fresh herbs, salt, or fancier cheeses over the finished breadsticks. But each time I make them, I am so wowed by their awesomeness that I can never bring myself to do something different.

The first time I made these I served them with roasted tomato and garlic sauce for dipping, but turns out my family didn’t dig that concept. They preferred to eat the bread as is—and so did I. The second time around I served the breadsticks (a double batch) with a giant salad and everyone was very, very happy. And very, very full.

2 ½ teaspoons yeast
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ cup dry Parmesan cheese (not fresh)

Dissolve the yeast in the water. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and brown sugar. Add the yeast and water and oil. Stir till combined and then knead till soft and pliable. Flour the bowl and return the dough to it. Cover with a towel and let rise for an hour.

Butter a large cookie sheet/baking pan (one with sides is best). Roll out the dough so that it fills the pan. Using a pizza cutter (or a knife), cut the dough in half lengthwise once and then crosswise about 11 times—you’re aiming for about 24 sticks. Cover the dough with a towel and let rise for 30-60 minutes.

Bake the breadsticks in a 375 degree oven for about 12 minutes. Combine the melted butter and garlic salt, and pour it over the hot bread. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese.

Serve warm with a bowl of soup and/or a green salad.

Or pull these out of the oven at bedtime for a special snack. (And in that case you might want to omit the garlic salt and Parmesan and sprinkle the breadsticks with some cinnamon-sugar! Just an idea…)

This same time, years previous: vanilla buttercream frosting, roasted cherry vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate, strawberry cake

We have a great garden this year, and compared to last year, in which it did not rain for weeks and weeks and everything shriveled up and died and I completely and totally gave up, it is a SUPER great garden. The potatoes are delicious, the tomatoes are prolific, the raspberries are booming, the basil is zooming, the corn is blooming, and the zucchini is looming—

…or rather, it WAS looming large and lush until it suddenly all keeled over. So we got exactly one week of zucchini. Bummer.

And I’m getting ready to do my THIRD very large planting of green beans because the first two decided to cop out on me.

And my onions are rotting in the ground.

So maybe it’s not such a hotsy-totsy garden after all? Or maybe it’s the gardener who isn’t so hotsy-totsy? But I thought zucchini, green beans, and onions were no-brainer crops! I rely on my no-brainer crops! I need my no-brainer crops!

In any case, the one week of zucchini yielded enough green clubs for me to play with for quite some time. I turned out a batch of blueberry zucchini bread (and have an idea for a couple more I’d like to try), a zucchini strata, a zucchini pasta salad (or I will—it’s on today’s lunch menu), and my favorite standby zucchini dish, which I was stunned to see has never made it onto the blog.

When it comes down to it, this simple, delicious, most favorite zucchini recipe of mine is not actually a recipe. It’s one of those more-of-a-formula-than-a-recipe deals, and you probably make it all the time already and therefore I’m offending you by telling you something this basic, but on the off-chance that you don’t know about it, this recipe/formula is for you, baby.

Except that I’ve taken something so basic and plain and turned it into two recipes so now it looks all complicated and fussy. It’s not! The components are mostly the same each time—onions and garlic, zucchini (of course), tomatoes (fresh or canned), cheese (feta or Parmesan), and fresh herbs—but sometimes I make it into a side dish, and other times it’s more of a soup or sauce, perfect for serving over brown rice or with some crusty bread, so I kind of had to write it as two recipes.

So without further ado, here it is, written up both ways just for you! Because you’re the bees knees and I love you to pieces! XOXO

(Excuse the outburst of affection. It just came over me. I blame it on all the Beautiful that’s happening outside my window right now—the twittering birds, flirty breeze, blue-blue skies, and dew-drenched grass.) (I’m trying really hard not to think about the three bushels of apples that will soon waltz through my kitchen on their way to becoming sauce.)

Zucchini Skillet with Tomatoes and Feta

Small zucchinis are always better than big ones. I aim to pick mine when they’re about 8 inches long.

And all of these measurements are guesstimates. Just chop, dump, and pour your way to the end, however you best see fit.

4 cups sliced zucchini
½ cup thinly sliced onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil, a generous drizzle
1 cup of fresh tomato, sliced (Roma or cherry are best)
1/4 cup feta cheese
S & P

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the zucchini and onion. Toss them around so they get coated with the oil, add some S & P, and then let them cook without stirring so they get a little brown on them. Once they’ve started browning, add the garlic and stir occasionally until the vegetables are tender (but not mushy). Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the tomatoes till they’re heated through (don’t cook them—you’re going for a fresh tomato taste). Sprinkle with the feta, more S & P, if needed, and serve immediately.

Zucchini with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Oregano

1 cup chopped onion
4-6 ounces loose sausage, any kind
olive oil, a generous drizzle
4-6 cups sliced zucchini
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
S & P
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Brown the onion and sausage in a skillet and then transfer to a bowl, leaving the drippings behind in the skillet.

Put the zucchini in the still-hot skillet (add some olive oil if necessary), toss to coat with the fat. Let the zucchini sit for a little so it gets good and brown before stirring. When the zucchini is almost done (tender, but still firm), add the garlic and oregano and saute for another minute. Add sausage and onions and the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve over brown rice or noodles and garnish with the Parmesan.

This same time, years previous: simple creamy potato salad, French potato salad, tempero, vanilla pudding, apricot pandowdy