Three Little Words

This evening, as I was coming home and chatting with my husband on my cell, I ended the call with an "I love you." His response: "Thanks."

It was a little bit of a jarring experience, only because he ALWAYS says, "I love you" to me.

I didn't read anything into his hurried reply.

But it reminded me of a conversation I had with my daughter recently, a girl who is showing herself to be a bit more reserved and cautious about for whom she rewards with her love and affection.

The discussion about love came up when an after-school caregiver kept trying to get my little girl to tell her she loved her. This woman truly cares about my little girl. But my little Bella frustrated her by refusing to reciprocate with an "I love you too."

When I asked my daughter why she wouldn't say "I love you" in return, she explained very reasonably for a 7-year-old that, "She's not my family."

True.

I explained that it's OK to love people who aren't in your family. I also told her, it's OK if you don't feel comfortable returning those three little words.

But...it is important, if you like the person, to acknowledge their kindness and feelings for you.

An appropriate response, in my mind, is "Thank you."

I love that my children's caregivers love my children. I consider many of them a part of my extended family.

But it's also OK for my daughter to make up her own mind about who she likes and who she loves.

I want her to mean those three words when she says them.

Girl Scouts Don't Need to Buy Ice Cream When They Can Make Their Own

Enjoying sundaes on Sunday.

Finally, after months of planning and more bureaucratic red tape than it takes to start a small business, we had our first official Girl Scout meeting.

I won't bore you with all the nitty gritty involved in getting a troop started. But it involved background checks, online tutorials, hours of in-person training and so much email back and forth, I had to start separate accounts to keep it all straight.

But now that we're official - troop number and everything - I'm excited to be part of this enthusiastic group of girls and leaders.

We have more than 20 girls in our Daisy troop already and, thankfully, six co-leaders to manage the whole endeavor.

On Sunday, we met with about 17 of the girls. They're only Daisy Scouts for three short months over the summer (they'll be Brownies in the fall), so we're not investing much in the Daisy materials.

Did I mention there are Girl Scout stores that I could literally waste spend hundreds of dollars on gear, learning materials and accessories?

We've opted instead to spend the summer having fun and introducing our girls to the core Girl Scouts concepts. On Sunday, we had the girls make their own ice cream in a bag (recipe below). They also learned a new song, wrote cards to someone special in their lives and talked about all the attributes of sisters & friends.

Not a bad start. On Monday, we march in the Oak Park Fourth of July Parade.

Ice Cream in a Bag

What you need:

Ice cream salt
Ice
Gallon-sized zip baggies
Sandwich-sized zip baggies
Half & half
Sugar
Vanilla

Instructions:

Fill each sandwich baggie with a cup of half & half; two tablespoons of sugar; and a half teaspoon of vanilla.

Place sandwich bag inside the gallon zip bag, fill about 3/4 full of ice and add 1/2 cup of ice cream salt. Shake for five minutes and you'll have a frozen treat.

Tips: 

I like to cut the ends off the baggies and squeeze the ice cream in a cup. Some like to eat it out of the bag, but the baggie is coated with salt at this point and the transfer is inevitable. I'm not a fan of salty ice cream.


You can add chocolate syrup and others have added things like crushed cookies into the mix before shaking. But I prefer to let others add their toppings afterward.
Don't cheap out on the baggies. They'll leak. I learned this the hard way.

Table salt can be substituted, but it's not as effective at freezing the dairy, so I've sometimes ended up with more of a milkshake consistency.

I've also heard that milk is just fine. But I've not tried it because this is one of only a handful of excuses I have left to buy half & half.

Cape May Winery Visit

This wasn't exactly our best culinary vacation. Though I can't complain about getting my fill of seafood.

I had lobster, crab and clam chowder every chance I could get.

Otherwise, our meals were pretty so so.

We did get a chance to visit a winery. There are two in Cape May. Both advertise daily tastings. But when we drove to the first, no one appeared to be at home, so we moved along to Cape May Winery. The winery imports most of its grapes. But we're told the apples from its sweet Isaac Smith Apple are local to New Jersey.

We left with three other bottles, including a very refreshing "off dry" Riesling. It has a pleasant citrus aroma and I could really taste the grapefruit, a new one for me in a Riesling.

Sim and I both enjoyed the smooth, dry, but flavorful Cabernet and Syrah, so those made it home with us too.

I'm pretty sure the apples were the only local ingredients in our purchases. I was close to picking the winery's Albarino, which is grown in New Jersey. But the fruity Riesling won me over. 

Our Beautiful, Nauseating Afternoon Touring Cape May

Looking for sea life.

Accuweather predicted perfectly that this morning's seemingly interminable rain would clear by around noon we'd see sun by early afternoon.

It turned out to be a beautiful day. Taking a risk that the weather would indeed clear, all seven of us booked trips out to sea.

Sim and the two older boys went on a four-hour fishing excursion, while my SIL Sara, and our two youngest went whale and dolphin watching.

Our trip started out fantastic. We saw ospreys, a bald eagle reigning over the Cape May inlet and then a whole extended family of dolphins (at least 30). They entertained us for quite a while, then delighted the children (and adults) by coming in for a closer look at us humans. My daughter spotted a jelly fish.

Shark fin from another boat trip.

But that was about all we saw. Instead of whales, all four of us were stricken with moderate to severe nausea as the captain took us on a rough ride around Cape May about 7 miles off shore.

The nausea subsided for most of us as we made our way back to the inlet and calmer waters.

No sea sickness on the fishing vessel. But no fish either. They got to watch someone else catch a keeper, a small shark and a sting ray. But nothing for us to eat.

So we satisfied our appetite for fresh fish with some carry out from the Lobster House at Cape May. Delish.

Tonight: More relaxing and welcoming another wave of cousins from Northwest Indiana.

Tomorrow: Beach.

Note: I left my camera cord at home, so I'm relying on photos from my BlackBerry and Sim and Sara's iPhones. 

On the Jersey Shore. No, Really

I'm still not quite believing that my big vacation this year is in New Jersey.

New Jersey. The Jersey Shore no less.

Really?

When I think New Jersey, I think gritty, slick and rough, with a little reality TV edge. 

It just doesn't sound like a restful, relaxing, respite.

But actually, I think it will be. It is the Garden State after all. And, there's a beach. Does anything else really matter?

Picnic lunch in Ohio

Getting here really wasn't so bad. When I thought about being in a van with three adults and four kids for 15+ hours, I lost sleep, worried about space and fretted about how we'd keep the kids from melting down (or melting me down). Turns out, I needn't have worried.

The kids entertained themselves. The drive was beautiful. The stops well-timed.

Here's the nitty gritty:

The seven of us took two days to get to Cape May, N.J., from Columbus, Ind., the "old-school" way: driving, stopping at rest areas to eat picnic lunches and staying with family along the way.

We even took a couple scenic routes. Our favorite detour was through Mt. Pleasant, Pa. (the Web photos don't do it justice), on our way to Somerset to stay with Sim's cousins. What a beautiful little borough. I'd love to come back and spend more time in the area, especially now that I know it's only about 30 minutes from Frank Lloyd Wright's 75-year-old masterpiece Fallingwater.

Fossil hunt

I'd also not hesitate to come back and stay with Sim's cousins, who were two of the most gracious hosts I've encountered. They opened up their home, filled our tummies and filled our evening with outdoor activities and conversation.

Sim's cousin Scott immediately took the kids on a fossil hunt, in an open shale patch beside the base of his driveway. My son was delighted to find a leaf fossil and a bug (also a leaf). But Scott didn't want anyone to leave disappointed, so he opened up his personal collection and let each child choose a keepsake. He, Sim and the kids then blew off 7.5 hours of steam by playing kickball and basketball, while my sister-in-law and cousin Joann pinned towels up on the line out back to dry, then chatted away before supper.

Joann managed to turn a fairly simple supper into a flavorful feast: sweet corn and green beans (cooked in ham broth) that she'd canned herself; ham steaks on the grill, mac-n-cheese; her signature homemade applesauce; her strawberry jam; bread & apple butter. She finished up her kid-pleasing meal with fruit and rice crispy treats. And this morning, we woke to fresh blueberry muffins and hot coffee. I could have stopped right there, kicked back and had a lovely week off.

But we pressed on.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

When we realized we'd be passing Philadelphia right around lunchtime, we decided to swing by to pay homage to the founders of our nation. It was a moving experience for me. And I have to admit I choked up a bit while visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. So many sacrifices in the name of liberty.

We didn't plan enough in advance to line up tickets to see the Liberty Bell (or so we thought. Turns out we could have just walked in). So we just walked around a bit, took in all that we could at Washington Square Park, then had Philly cheese steaks and hot dogs on benches in Independence Square before piling back into the van for the last 90 minutes.

From Pacific to Atlantic

Finally, the sea. My daughter has the distinction of touching two coasts in as many months. She was playing in the Pacific on May 21 and splashing in the Atlantic on June 19.

We're in a cozy house near the beach in Cape May, a loaner from a good friend. We're settling in for the week, thankful for the warm afternoon and cool evening.

Tomorrow? More adventure (less driving).

Opening Soon in the Neighborhood: Autre Monde Cafe & Spirits

Thanks to Becca over at Live Here Oak Park, I read an enticing intro of our newest neighborhood restaurant: Autre Monde Cafe & Spirits.

I drove by tonight and it's not open yet, but the restaurant's Facebook page announced that it passed its inspection and plans to open this weekend.

Time Out's recent article describes the restaurant as having Mediterranean influences "a casual trattoria-like setting, a seasonal menu of share plates made of minimally manipulated ingredients, and an eclectic and affordable wine list, mostly sold by the glass."

Plus, the chefs are planning a greenhouse. They're considering growing leaf celery, heirloom tomatoes, squash blossoms, Padrón peppers, garlic chives and/or possibly French breakfast radishes.

Can't wait to give this a try.

Why Join a CSA: 'It's a Win Win Situation'

Love this new video from Victory Acres about joining a CSA and supporting a farm that feeds bodies and souls.