Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Not a Moment Too Soon

A Leaf in Hand

I don’t know about you, but I feel like my life becomes completely INSANE when I’m about to leave town.  Things intensify at work as I try to keep everything afloat while I’m gone, laundry and packing have to get done, and there always seems to be a million little things to do before I board my plane—rides to arrange, trash to take out, birthday presents to buy.  In the midst of all this madness, I had two peaceful moments that I’m trying to savor.  The first was standing in the kids’ book section at Barnes & Noble, cooing over all the adorable children’s books and picking out a few good reads for my four-year-old niece.  I could have just plopped myself down right there, with a big stack of picture books, and read until they kicked me out of the store.  Some days I miss being a kid.

The second moment was ironing clothes for my suitcase.  My mind slowed down as I pressed the wrinkles out of shirts, and I thought about the happy moments at the end of our family parties, the moments after dessert has been served, and everyone is full and happy, relaxed and laughing.  Those moments, I thought, are when I really feel like we all belong together, me and my family.  And when I feel like it’s almost impossible for me to be there with them, it’s the after-dessert moment that keeps me going.  It’s knowing that there will be a chance to relax after all the travel, the party prep, the excited kids, the presents, the unicorn pinata(!)—after all that, we will take deep breaths and relax.

I’m taking a deep breath right now.  You should, too.

Before I hop on my plane, I wanted to leave a list for us.  Over the past few weeks, I came up with five delicious things to do with a tub of sour cream.  Perhaps you, like me, can’t resist a sale and find yourself carrying home a pint of sour cream and only the vaguest idea of what you might do with it.  Here are a few ideas, all of which I taste-tested—for your sake, of course.  Only the best for my readers!

* Mix together a tablespoon of sour cream plus half a teaspoon each sugar and cocoa powder.  I ate this with a banana for dessert—delicious!  It’s also yummy straight off a spoon.

* Mix sour cream with unfancy yellow mustard and ketchup.  Eat with oven fries.  My sister and I call this sassy sauce!  And it is sassy—a little sweet, a lot tangy, and a bit creamy.  It’s even better if you’ve got a cold hard cider or a beer to drink with your fries.

* Put a spoonful of sour cream on top of a red lentil soup, especially if the soup is very low-fat and virtuous.

* Add a tablespoon of sour cream to scrambled eggs to make them creamy and delicious.  I had this for dinner tonight—it was a mighty fine last-night-in-town meal.

* And finally, make some apple muffins!  Not too sweet, laced with warm spices and a sprinkling of sugar on top, one of these craggy-topped, soft-crumbed goodies will be accompanying me on the plane tomorrow.  I can’t wait.

Another Harbinger of Fall

I’ll be back in a week or so, with the recipe for these baked beauties.  In the meantime, be good while I’m gone, take care of each other, and float on into fall.

3 comments:

Rosiecat24 said...

Thanks, Laurie! I am having a great time. Gosh, I've missed the tall trees and cool temperatures of September in Michigan.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

Unknown said...

enjoy the family time! i just came back from a weekend with one side of my family, it's been too long :) i actually don't find myself buying sour cream anymore, opting for greek yogurt instead. i know it's more expensive, but it's chock full of protein so i give it a break :) ooh, this summer i tried something deb (smitten kitchen) made with sour cream -or in my case greek yogurt- and raspberries... a raspberry brown sugar gratin. unique, and i liked it :) i don't know how to embed a link but you can google it or search her site to find it!

Rosiecat24 said...

Ooh, I saw that Smitten Kitchen recipe! It sounded really good. I like Green yogurt too, though I find that sometimes it gives me heartburn, so I only eat it occasionally.

I'm glad you got to spend some time with your family, too. I know it's hard for me not being able to see them more often, especially the little one who is growing up so fast.

Is it not funny that if you are a food blogger and someone mentions Deb, you know exactly who they are talking about? She's first-name-only famous with us!