in the kitchen together

In all honesty, I'm a true procrastinator at heart. I work much better, much more efficiently when I have a clear and looming deadline. I'm the type of person that finds setting a timer for thirty minutes helps me to stay more focused on tasks and chores because I push myself to work hard to get as much done as I can in that short period of time. It's the way God wired me, I suppose. Sometimes it drives Brad a little crazy, but I always get things done and get them done well. And the looming deadline invigorates me a bit and pushes me to do my best.

However, this procrastination also carries over into the kitchen and meal-making. I would get an "F" in meal-planning if I was graded. Oh gosh. And this is the one area where I find my procrastinating spirit to lead to a bit of stress. All I can say is thank goodness for the auto defrost option on my microwave! 

So one of my goals this coming fall (and coming school year) is to start meal-planning again. I have always enjoyed the mental freedom that has come from having a plan when it comes to meals. I suppose I just haven't disciplined myself enough to actually make it a habit. However, it's such a WONDERFUL feeling at 4:00 p.m. on a weekday to know that dinner is already planned and probably already started or even in the crock pot almost ready to be eaten. 

My kids, at ages 13 and 10, love to cook and bake. It's something that they've always seen me do, and I've let them have reigns in the kitchen since an early age. In my mind, it's one of the most important life skills I can pass on to my kids ~ the skill of feeding oneself. And not only feeding oneself, but feeding oneself good, wholesome, home-cooked meals. 

My problem as a kitchen procrastinator, though, is that when I've waited until the last possible minute to start a dinner that I'm not even sure what it's going to be, I don't have the patience for the kids in the kitchen with me. I want to get in there, have all the room to move around, and crank out whatever I'm making. And sometimes I don't even know what I'm making until it hits the kitchen table and is done. 

But, I'm totally robbing my kids and myself of some special, very productive time together as well as some really awesome learning experiences approaching meal-time this way. And it's all because I'm too lazy to do a little planning ahead of time. 

This past Saturday, Ian and I went to the garden together and picked a bunch of veggies to use to make dinner. The kids and I then husked the corn together and spent an hour chopping, mixing, sauteing, and prepping our dinner. When we pulled the stuffed green peppers out of the oven two hours later, there was a great satisfaction felt around the table that night. We had worked together from start to finish. And on top of that, most of the food was from our garden. 

I was reflecting on this later that evening. We had so much fun together. The kids kept saying how much they loved cooking with me and how they want to do it more often. And, I really do swear, that food tasted so much better knowing that we made it together. 

So this is one of my goals this new school year. I'm going to work on disciplining myself to meal-plan again, and I'm going to work more group cooking sessions into our schedule. Not only does this enable some really great quality time with my kids, but it's also equipping them for their future when they leave home.

a mid-morning picnic

The hot humidity has been bearing down on us as the temps have been above ninety-degrees. It finally came to the point yesterday when I broke down and shut the windows and screen door and turned on the air conditioner. It takes a lot to make me do that.

A summer breeze is one of my most favorite things. It gets pretty windy up here on this knoll we call home, and we usually get a nice cross breeze through our main living area when I have the front windows and the back French doors open.

Yesterday, though, when I opened up the windows, I didn't feel a cross breeze at all. It felt more like a hot, sticky, muggy cloud entering the house.

Hmmm. But I love the hot, sticky days. Yes I do. And so on days like today, when it's up over ninety and the humidity is so bad it makes your chest feel heavy, I do have such a hard time not going outdoors. I've heard in the south that during the summer months, people stay indoors between the hours of 9am and 8pm just because it's so excruciatingly hot. I get that. I do. But when you only get  a few short months of warm weather, well, it seems a shame to stay cooped up all day in an air-conditioned house. I have the other eight months of the year to do that.

So yesterday, despite the oppressive heat and humidity, we filled up a tray with stove-popped popcorn and bowls and headed into the shade for a nice mid-morning picnic. Our trees, having only been recently planted by us after we built twelve years ago, are still pretty small and don't permit for much shade. We do, however, have a nice shady spot over near the edge of the woods that has always been perfect, cool, and shady.

After spreading out an afghan, we enjoyed our bowls of popcorn and chatted about life, Bible school songs, and other such things. Midi joined us, of course, and used her gorgeous puppy eyes to beg for some popcorn for herself. (Which she is very good at doing.) Ian did some cloud-watching while Lily played on the swing.

We even had a wonderful breeze that made the picnic quite enjoyable. Eventually we packed everything up and headed back into the house.

It was a wonderful, well-spent hour. Definitely worth braving the heat and humidity.

A Cottage By the Sea...