currently

These days I am . . .

Recuperating… from a little 13.5 mile walk I went on yesterday. After (above photo), my exhaustion levels were off the charts. I went to bed at 8.

Wondering… why the insides of certain types of cucumbers disintegrate into nothingness. After the series of hot soaks that are called for in the 7 Day Sweets recipe, my small firm cukes were completely hollow. Where do the middles go? And what kind of cukes do retain their innards? Also…

Thinking… about adding calcium chloride to my canned pickles to make them crispier. Why haven’t I done this before? Have you?

Luxuriating… in a new (to us) car. AC! A smooth start! No random clunks and bumps! Good gas mileage! Plus lots of fancy extras which make me feel like royalty.

Contemplating… the phrase, “A change is as good as a break.” It’s sooo true. Taking a 6 am kickboxing class after a year of noon classes. Reading on the porch instead of the sofa. Doing office work at a coffee shop instead of at home. Going on a run after taking a week off. Doing a prep shift instead of a pastry shift. Make a change = take a break. Do it.

Eating… so much ice cream. Like, seriously, people. Sometimes I hit the freezer before breakfast! Right now I’ve got a gallon of vanilla base in the fridge waiting to be churned, and today my daughter just popped by the store to pick up Oreos and candy bars for some add-ins. I want to make butterfingers, too. (I already tried adding some commercial butterfingers to a batch of ice cream; they were good but I think homemade ones will be way better.)

Procrastinating… making pesto with the garden basil. Really now, Jennifer. Get to it.

Biting… off a bit more than I can chew, as per usual. Milkslinger’s got an intagram account now.

Watching… My Lady Jane because my girls said to. Partly really good, partly silly stupid. Either way, it’s fun and my husband watches it with me.

Appreciating… that my daughter’s landlords have a little above-ground pool. That thing got me through the worst of the most recent wretched heatwave.

Realizing… that I’m going to be an old lady who comments on the weather. I can’t seem to help myself — it impacts me so! The heat is oppressive. The rain is needed. The cool breeze a relief. The chilly night invigorating. The weather is like another person in my life; sometimes we get along and sometimes we don’t, and I always have an opinion about it.

Waking up… to the birds. I’m constantly noticing them — they chirp all day long — and they are incredibly insistent and loud. I think there are more of them here than there used to be. The bushes and trees have grown up around the house; from the road, our property looks a smidge unhinged. Kinda like me. I love it.

Perusing… your comments about the oven, thank you! My husband ordered a replacement part which will keep the beast going for a few more months, but in the meantime I’m reading your comments and doing research and thinking. Maybe it’s time for a big change?

Fantasizing… about having a personal clothing shopper and stylist. Someone who would stuff me into some super comfortable yet snappy-smart threads, and for free, too, of course. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Chilling… some mead to take to a watch party tonight for Cry, The Beloved Country. I’m in charge of snacks so we’re having cheese and mead, naturally.

Setting… boundaries. Friday evening to Monday morning, my Milkslinger account is shut down and I pretend YouTube and video editing and comments and stats don’t exist. (I still make and film cheese, if needed. Cows don’t take weekends off.)

Cry-laughing… over this precious baby. You are my sunshine, of all things.

This same time, years previous: milk sabbatical, the quotidian (7.19.21), the delegation, sweet sixteen, in the kitchen, a tale of two children, I found it!, picklehead.