So I'm still excited by the prospect of homemade poptarts, but it's so hot and muggy today. A perfect day for...
Homemade canteloupe ice! Maggie made it. Really. Easy enough that a five-year old can do it (with the assistance of a bigger person and an ice cream ball.)
Here's the recipe:
2 c. canteloupe
1/2 c. sugar
1c. water
(you could also add herbs, like lavendar, basil or thyme...)
Combine everything in the blender and whip until very smooth. Chill for about an hour.
Make the ice following directions for your ice cream maker. I'll totally plug the ice cream ball here (http://www.icecreamrevolution.com). After filling the canister with the canteloupe mixture and the the other part with ice and rock salt, Maggie and I rolled ours back and forth for 10 minutes. Perfection. And even her big brother agrees, so you know it's good.
You know what would make it really good (in a grownup way)? Some port. That would be awesome.
-- Posted from the iPhone of Awesome
I remember carrying Maggie through the halls in her carseat as we delivered Paul to preschool. I remember how terribly excited Maggie was to get her chance to stay at school (how could she run off without even kissing me goodbye?!) even as Paul would sob and cling to me when it was time to begin class. I remember the days spent with other parents painting murals in the hallways to enliven otherwise drab areas that the kids & teachers use. We had fun creating the first concert series last year, and our favorite parts of each holiday season have been the Halloween parade and the Christmas pageant. I don't know how many cookies I've baked for WDN/MDO over the past seven years, but I suspect that number is in the thousands.
Today was Maggie's last day at WDN. She's now an official graduate of preschool (with a diploma to prove it), ready for the rigors and challenges of kindergarten. And that ends an era for our family. I'll miss seeing the very capable, creative, compassionate teachers whom I have come to count as friends over the years. I'll miss the murals in the hallways. I'll miss the countless art projects. I know she's ready for new challenges, but it seems like these years have gone by so fast. Too fast, really. We don't have a very young child any longer. We have two elementary school kids. The door to very special time of our lives closed at 12:15pm today. I'm sad. I'm happy. I'm all sorts of things. I guess that, most of all, I'm delighted at the thought of what's next on the horizon.
