Smith Family Weblog

1 Jun

Six hours of camping

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Olivia. 2 Comments

When we were at the lake last weekend, Ava asked about the tent campers. She thought camping sounded like a good time, so we packed up the girls, two coolers and a tent and headed to the nearby park on Saturday.

Bryan had quite a bit of help pitching the tent.

After we set up camp, we headed down to the beach.

Tom, who was biking around the lake Saturday afternoon, joined us that evening.

We roasted hot dogs for dinner, and Ava made S’mores for dessert.

That’s pretty much where the sweetness ends…

By 10:30 that night, we realized that it was going to be quite a challenge to get everyone to sleep in an 7 x 8 foot enclosure. Olivia will only sleep in her crib (see the very rare exception in the post below), and she has to be laid down awake for the most part. Even a couple late-night stroller rides couldn’t cajole her into relaxing.

And Ava, who never sleeps regardless of the circumstances, was equally challenging. I finally threatened to pull the plug on the trip and take everyone back to our house. Surprisingly, Ava—who was the champion of the entire trip—wailed, “I want to go home!”

So, in the complete darkness, we packed up the campsite, put out the fire and drove home. I realized it took longer to get ready for the trip than it actually lasted.

And, despite going to bed around midnight, both girls were wide awake at 6:45 the next morning.

It’s a charmed life we lead.

31 May

Olivia Fix

Posted by Rebecca in Olivia. 1 Comment

A post-lunch nap…

Olivia

29 May

Ava Fix

Posted by Rebecca in Ava. 1 Comment

This is what passes for fun at the Smith household most Friday nights–pile all the couch cushions on the floor and try not to break your collarbone as you jump into them. So far, so good!

Ava

29 May

Catalog considerations

Posted by Rebecca in Around the house. 8 Comments

I have a penchant for unusual furniture—an old desk from my Dad’s one-room schoolhouse, a church pew, a door-turned-headboard—and now, my most recent acquisition:

catalog

I got this library card catalog on an auction recently, and Bryan and Tom helped me move it into it’s place in our dining room earlier this week. I love it, but it’s quite a bit bigger than I thought it was.

Now, I’m torn—there’s really no other place to put it, unless I move the hutch next to it. The issue here? There’s no place for it to go except the basement. I have a sentimental attachment to the hutch—my great grandfather stained and varnished it for my Great Grandma Wallen—and it houses my wedding china. Plus, Dave bolted it to the wall three years ago.

I would really like to have the catalog in that room—in my mind, it will look something like this once it’s all set up. In reality, it will probably house Barbie clothes, random puzzle pieces and the 18-month-old who scaled the open drawers and has perched on the top.

My solution is to cut it in half (circular saw?) just above the pull-out shelves and use it as a bench behind our love seat:

couch

I think it would be quaint and interesting—Bryan thinks it would be impossible to get a clean and even cut.

What do you think? Any ideas?

Update: Here’s a similar treatment.

29 May

Overheard

Posted by Rebecca in Olivia, Overheard. 2 Comments

Things I’m almost positive I’ve heard Olivia say in the last day and a half:

“I see the kitty!”

“Where’s Daddy?”

“I want to go outside.”

These all sound relatively reasonable, but I also think she said “What’s up?,” so I realize there’s a margin of error.

29 May

End of the rainbow

Posted by Rebecca in Wild weather. 1 Comment

rainbow

28 May

Morel mushrooms

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen. 3 Comments

While I was in Madison, I picked up a pound of morel mushrooms. Our friend Tom had never had them, so we lightly breaded fried the first batch in butter, because I think that’s the best way to make them. (Personally, I think that’s the best way to make a lot of things…)

For the main course, I made Braised Chicken with Asparagus and Morel Saute from Bon Appetit, a recipe that starts by marinating the chicken in a mixture of lemon zest and fresh herbs. Then, I browned each side before situating the chicken in a bath of broth, wine, onions and morels.

After baking at a low temperature for 90 minutes, I placed the chicken on a bed of rice and topped it with a reduction of the wine and broth, as well as sauted morels, asparagus and leeks. It was a time-intensive recipe, but it made for a fun Sunday project.

My friends Chuck and Lori found pounds and pounds of morels this spring, and they’ve tried a number of incredible recipes. You can check them out over on Horse Farm Diaries.

27 May

Fire up the grill

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen. 3 Comments

I took the long weekend at Mom’s as an opportunity to do a bit of cooking–specifically, batches and batches of barbeque sauce. Seems like a perfect recipe to try in a kitchen other than your own, don’t you think?

I used the recipe and variations from this month’s Martha Stewart Living.

I tripled the recipe for the classic sauce, starting with 10 chopped onions and two heads of garlic.

To that, I added five cans of tomatoes, molasses, sugar and quite a bit of spices.

Once the sauce had cooked for three hours, I pureed it and began work on the variations. The bourbon peach sauce was good, but the roasted garlic and lemon sauce was by far the best.

I ended up with just under 30 half-pint jars and one giant mess. (Sorry, Mom!)

26 May

Fish tales

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Bryan, Family, Olivia, Outdoor life. 4 Comments

We took the girls fishing while visiting the lake this weekend. Bryan and Dave spent most of the weekend in the boat, and as such, caught quite a few fish, some of which were large enough to keep for the fish fry we had on Monday.

To make things a bit more exciting for Ava, Dave secretly baited her hook with a small catfish he had caught earlier in the day. When he alerted her to her bouncing pole, she excitedly reeled in her catch.