Finally Outside comments: 149

We had really nice and strangely quiet little Fourth of July yesterday — Andy's fighting off some sort of hanging-on virus, I was really tired, and the pets were pretty stressed about the constant fireworks. Our sweet neighborhood friends Katie and Tim invited us for a little BBQ at their house across the street, and that was just perfect.

I feel like I'm starting to get back in the swing of things. I could use some help, though: Do you have a good 1) fish taco recipe and/or 2) spy-thriller-type book recommendation?

(I added the vanilla buttermilk cake recipe here! This was delicious, but definitely best the first or maybe second day. Eat it fast!)

July comments: 46

Thank you for all of your incredibly sweet comments about the new office. You guys always say the nicest things, honestly. Thank you. I will update yesterday's post with some details about where stuff comes from. And if you were wondering where that room is, it's the one on the other side of the French doors in my craft room. I know, I'm really spoiled. Andy had a huge computer in there for a long time, but my stuff, like yarn and bolts of felt and plastic boxes full of ornament kit supplies and all manner of random unattractive junk, including a broken dresser filled with fabric I didn't even want and other things we didn't know what to do with just kept making their way in there and piling up. It was like a sand dune. We would sort of balance things on top of other things until they slid off. He recently upgraded to a laptop, still uses the desk for his stuff (but doesn't actually have to sit at it to use the computer anymore), got rid of a ton of old stuff that was just taking up space for no reason, and now this is sort of a combo office/Posie storage annex. Greta (new assistant) has gotten all of the ornament kit stuff organized in the big white cabinets and down in the basement, and she is completely taking over the assembly of the ornament kits this year. What I will say about craft stuff is that it just takes up SO much space. But I think we're all really happy with the new office, even Andy (thanks babe!!!). The room hadn't really been overhauled in the past ten years, so it was way past time. I don't think I had any photos of the old version. Every time I went through it (a thousand times a day) I basically shieled my eyes from it, so I doubt I ever would have stopped to take a picture of it because it's hard to take a picture when you're running and have your eyes closed.

I made a good shrimp thing last night, I think. I sauteed two cloves of garlic (minced) in a tablespoon of butter, added the tomatoes from a can of stewed whole tomatoes (not the juice, just the tomatoes), added a teaspoon of sugar and some salt and pepper, and broke the tomatoes up with a spoon. Let them simmer and reduce for about five minutes or so, then added a bunch of peeled and deveined raw shrimp. Let those cook for a few minutes until they were pink. By this time the pasta was almost done (oh yeah — forgot to say, I started some thin spaghetti boiling at some point). I added about a half a cup of heavy cream to the tomatoes, simmered a bit more. Added a big handful of chopped fresh basil and parsely from the garden, and then spooned it all over the thin spaghetti. Anyway, it's not the prettiest picture of it, but I have to say that although I don't normally wing it when I am making dinner, this time it actually worked and was really good.

Just remembered about the vanilla cake recipe. Okay. Tomorrow.

Rainy Weekend comments: 81

Baking : : Movie night Friday (we loved it) : : Birthday lunch with dear friends : : New-neighbor BBQ with old friends : : Much embroidering and much crocheting at all other times : : More movies (this one and this one and this one) on cable : : Andy working : : Broken computer (needs new battery, on order) : : No email (kind of nice, admittedly) : : Recipe for cake is on my other computer, will share when new battery arrives : : Ham and egg sandwich for one on Sunday morning : : Still-raining Monday.

*Here is the recipe for the cake! It is frosted with Cloudburst Frosting, of course.

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake

4 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray and line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Spray again and flour.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, in a large mixer bowl; whisk to blend. Add the butter and 1 cup buttermilk to these dry ingredients and with the mixer on low, blend together. Raise the mixer speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Mix eggs, yolks, vanilla and remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk. Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the side of the bowl and mixing only until thoroughly incorporated. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

Bake the cake layers for 28–32 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes; then carefully turn out onto wire racks, peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely.

Today comments: 55

Ina's shrimp salad with some pasta, and a pretty little kitty catching some Zs. That's all. Nothing much. (And a whole lot, really. Favorite kind of day.)

Woodland Birthday comments: 114

Oh, sweetest of summer afternoons!

After-Dinner Storm comments: 141

A little dinner party on Saturday night with our dear old college friend Kurt and his darling wife, Sheena, who were in town briefly from San Fran. For coffee and banana cake, we went outside to the chairs. Within a half an hour, the sky turned from beautiful, bright sunset gold to pewter gray, flat and lavender-ish. Kurt is a fellow Midwesterner — this looks like tornado weather, we all said. Within minutes, big drops started to fall. The boys ran around putting all of the pillows and hammock blankets away. A hole in the sky continued to shine a spotlight on our little pale green apple tree (just to the left of the hammock). Within a few more minutes it was pouring. Rain, thunder and lightning — the whole works. It was so thrilling. We sat in the doorway of the kitchen and watched it. We headed to the living room and lit a bunch of candles and opened all the casement windows. It was awesome. And so rare — it really almost never rains like that here. Very good end to a dinner party!

Thank you for all of your incredibly kind comments on my peony story. They made me feel really happy — thank you.

*** Today is my sweetest love's birthday: Andy Paulson turns 41! ***

Homemade Pantry comments: 83

The weekend before last, Andy and I went to the farmer's market to get some stuff and then we spent the rest of the day making things from The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making by Alana Chernila. It was super fun. We made rhubarb-ginger syrup with lemon verbena (for pouring into seltzer water and making sodas), mayonnaise, ketchup, and hamburger buns! And I made another rhubarb custard pie (that thing is really good). We took turns whisking the olive oil into the egg yolk to make mayonnaise. I seriously don't know how one person could have the muscle strength to do this; our arms were yakisoba noodles after I don't even know how long it took (and we were also actually sitting down the whole time). Pffffft! The hamburger buns were seriously amazing. I couldn't stop looking at them. Our neighbors came for a cook-out later that night. We had burgers and sweet potato oven fries I sort of made up. I think they liked everything. They also thought we were kind of cracked but we're used to that. Then they had a neighborhood potluck party this past Sunday. (We have a lot of great neighborhood parties.) I spent almost the whole party talking to someone about suburban sprawl and someone else about window replacement and cedar shingles and I had a great time. I thought, "Ah. I must be in my forties."

Rhubarb Custard Pie comments: 91

Ah! Pie! Rhubarb custard: sweet, tart, creamy, crusty, and generally awesome. Simple spring pleasure. It worked out well! Now (naturally) I want to grow rhubarb but I don't think we have enough room in any of our sunny spots. Need to find a spot.

In other garden news, my little teeny lettuce seeds that I planted six days ago are sprouting!!! You know I got choked up about that. Well, it's been a hard year.

I was thinking I would take a photo of the raised beds from the upstairs window every Wednesday, just to watch how they grow from a different perspective. It's supposed to be fairly warm (though fairly cloudy) all week. I have to say I really love this time of year, which feels like pre-summer. Summer itself stresses me out, because it feels like 1) it's too hot, 2) it's too sunny, 3) it's too busy, 4) it's too hot and sunny, and 4) it never really seems like it goes how I want it to. I always wind up feeling kind of . . . frantic. I don't know how to change it, but I think that feeling has been with me since childhood. Great expectations?

I swear I think it has something to do with the light coming from straight overhead. Interrogation. I have trouble with overhead lighting, even in the house. Makes me anxious. I prefer a lower angle.

And speaking of dresses (yesterday), a tree peony–colored one wouldn't be bad either. Jeesh. Planted ten years ago, in a pot the size of a bucket, this poor thing is one of the most neglected plants we have, yet it rewards us every year, without fail, with the most gorgeous and enormous blossom. And this year, two of them. Splendid angels. They're like six or seven inches across, seriously. I'm truly afraid to transplant it, or move it, or otherwise care for it (other than adoringly gawk at it this week), lest I break some unspoken arrangement between us and actually upset her. It's so hard to know.

For Future Veggies comments: 60

In the now-quiet house, the animals appear again, venturing back out into the center of the spaces. After a weekend of the most beautiful weather I've even seen in my entire life, yesterday dawned cloudy and cool, a welcome margin of gray into which we decided to fit some spring cleaning. I opened the newspaper and was excited to see that a recipe for pizza inspired by one I'd made last spring was included in an article about asparagus and pizza (thanks Deena!). We cleaned the fridge, got some groceries, made some dough, went to the lumber store to buy some cedar boards for our new raised beds, went back to the store to get more boards (naturally, we can't count), and spent the day puttering happily. Andy took the old roses out of the parkway (sorry old roses, but I know you were unhappy) and built one of the beds. There will be three total, each 4' x 8'. We'll plant vegetables and flowers. It's the only real sunny spot we have. Half of our neighbors came by while Andy was out there, one by one offering opinions and advice. Kind of funny. We just smile and do our thing. Whatever I dream up, he'll figure out how to make it work. I bring the plan (and the pizza); as long as he has his playlist, his puppers, and a decent IPA, he's off and running. I sit on the steps with a sketch pad and seed catalog, and study the light. Tulips blooming. Waylon Jennings. Potatoes, eggplant, lettuce, peas.

Can't Hardly Wait comments: 112

We are so lucky! Our friends are coming to visit us! The plane gets in this afternoon. My heart is bubbling over. So, so, so excited. So excited.