I’m Back
Posted: July 26, 2009 Filed under: Aha!, Joined at the Heart, Writers Write | Tags: camping, family, goldfish, perception, vacation, writers, writing 2 Comments »After 16 days away from home, visiting family in the Sooner State, and then, howling at the moon in New Mexico’s Peco’s Wilderness, I’m back. My little home is welcoming and bright. The climate is atrocious–a jillion days in a row of 100+ heat with no rain. But, my good neighbors watered the potted plants and topped off the fish pond. The Freds, our three goldfish, didn’t miss us.
I don’t have any witty observations about travel that are printable because a) my family would no longer speak to me or b) I’ve already earmarked the idea for my next manuscript, set in the New Mexico Wilderness. So, I’ll list my favorite moments:
- Coffee with my extended family every morning in BBC1′s tiny travel trailer.
- Watching my girls slosh hand-in-hand up Holy Ghost Creek.
- Hiking to see wildflowers taller than me.
- Aspen trees.
- Corned-beef hash and fried eggs eaten off a paper plate.
- An up close look at Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting, Jimson Weed.
- People watching in Santa Fe Plaza.
- The silence of St. Francis Cathedral.
- Blue mist over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
- Stars. In the woods, stars light up the sky.
- Staring into the campfire.
- The sound of Holy Ghost Creek lulling me to sleep every night.
Grape Harvest
Posted: July 4, 2009 Filed under: Aha!, cottage garden, Housekeeping, Recipe | Tags: cottage garden, garden, grapevines, Sour Grape Sorbet Leave a comment »I grow grapes along the fence. Actually, I grow vines along the fence. After 10 years of vines, we had grapes for the first time last summer. I didn’t let the girls pick them because they weren’t ripe. Unfortunately, when we came back from vacation, the mockingbirds had helped themselves. Cherry and Coco weren’t happy. First, I wouldn’t let them pick the grapes green, and then, they didn’t get to pick any at all.
This year’s crop was lush, until a single afternoon when our bird friends claimed half of them. Mockingbirds don’t care if the grapes are tart. We couldn’t let the thieves eat them all, so we picked every unclaimed globe. Here’s our harvest in pictures:
Recipe for Sour Grape Sorbet
Wash and de-stem three cups of grapes. Place them in a heavy pan with one cup of sugar and one cup of water. Bring to a boil, and then, turn the heat down to simmer until the grapes are very soft. Pour all of the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, mashing the solids through with a pestle. I used a big wooden one my mother gave me years ago. Discard the seeds. Return the mixture to the pan, heat again on medium-high. Dissolve 2 T cornstarch in half a cup of water, whisk into the grapes. Stir until it’s thick enough to coat a spoon. Pour it into a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until completely solid. Cut the frozen pieces into chunks with a knife and blend until smooth. I used a hand mixer with a blade, but a food processor would work. Scoop into bowls and serve immediately.
The sour grapes are sweet and sharp like cranberry sauce. A small serving packs a lot of taste.
