pink grapefruit sorbet, take 2

my crafty boys came up with this amazing dessert

for a humid night

homemade pink grapefruit sorbet,

garnished with fresh raspberries and mint,

served in the grapefruit halves

Exploring picturesque Belfast recently, we were directed to the Three Tides, a brewery and eatery right on the water. Atmosphere totally funky and awesome, with a sailcloth awning, and a variety of lampshades strung along the upper deck.

Bocce court down below, with a fire pit and movie house seats. If you are into oysters, they have them; for myself, I prefer to stay away from food items that have the consistency of snot. There are lots of small plates to share, salads, and the crabmeat and avocado quesadilla was excellent.

The gardens have enjoyed the recent bouts of sun. These photos are from a trip down to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, rendezvous-ing with my mom to get our kids back. (Oh, did I not mention we were kid-less for three whole nights?!)

This boy is looking bigger and bigger these days. From June 5th to July 17th he grew 1.5"! And I'm feeling like I am seeing this shimmer of his teen self coming through, flickering in his expressions and his body language.

A tricky time to be a person. And a tricky time to be a mom. He still has that twinkle and for that, I am grateful.

I have a chicken in a box in my air conditioned bedroom, recouperating from a sprained ankle (or bird equivalent). This is Mavis the Bravest, always canny and smart right from when I first met her, and she's one of our new girls (about 8 weeks old). She managed to snag her foot between two boards but everything seems to be facing the right direction, just a bit swollen. She's better today, limping but perky when I took her outside this afternoon for her airing.

And stay tuned for a new favorite tee-shirt...

recipe for a fine summer day

me and my pink grapefruit sorbetto

Start the Sunday morning with sourdough pancakes.

Totally fudged the recipe, added a little yeast, milk and butter, along with a couple of cups of flour the night before, some eggs, salt, and more flour and milk the next morning. They are divine, so light, so delicious...

While cleaning up the breakfast dishes, begin preparing dinner (love that). What's on the menu? Quinoa salad with peas and radishes, mint and cilantro, based on Heather's great recipe. Quinoa takes a lot of coddling (rinsing it beforehand, dry roasting it, rinsing it in cold after cooking to minimize the mush factor), but I think it's worth it. And so good for us.

And also, Baked Sweet Potato Falafel from 101 Cookbooks. My new favorite vegetarian food porn site. Here's what it looked like on the plate tonight, served with a side of cucumber-dill-mint yogurt salad, and fresh greens from our garden:

Sylvan had three helpings of quinoa salad, no Sweet Potato Croquettes (as we called them to avoid the gag reflex on the word "falafel" for the boys, you know "feel awful"). Jonas avoided the quinoa but ate the croquettes. Hey, both are delicious and good for you, so who cares.

Between breakfast and dinner we went to Damariscotta to the bead store for Jonas (who makes great earrings and he's taking orders to finance a portion of his ski pass), for a swim (my first of the season), and the fabric store for me to remedy one of those awful mistakes that we sometimes make. That would have made me swear a BIG BAD swear, had Jonas not still been awake.

Is the addage "Measure twice, cut once" one that crosses cultural borders? Probably, since idiocy knows no bounds. So I KNEW that I needed to cut the fabric for E's PJ pants a certain way. I thought it through twice. I laid it out. And cut it completely the wrong way. Argh. *&(*@!!!! See how I had the iPod all set to go for the pinning and cutting last night? (And that adorable little bag, a gift from E. and her mom, just because. Just because they thought of me when they saw it. I love that sentiment, the bag, and them!)

Also while in Damariscotta, we stopped by North Cottage Coffee for some outrageously lovely handmade gelato. This place is worth a stop, for coffee, gelato, sweet and savory treats, and a great cafe atmosphere. Above is pictured the blood orange sorbetto. I chose the pink grapefruit, which might possibly be up there as my new all-time favorite, up there with Jake's homemade strawberry sorbet. Great color, texture, and flavor to die for. And please notice these cute cups they serve the gelato in, and those plastic spoons? Totally great design, although made of plastic, they fit in your hand and have a nice small spoon-head, perfect for shaving off tiny nibbles of these delectable frozen treats.

Finally, our new peeps went outside their enclosure for the first time this evening. Just a little bit of fresh grass and flying bugs. They were a little unsure, a little nervous about the idea. Kept going in and out.

Notice that buff cochin at right, above photo? I love her fluffy little botto and feathered slippers! There was some aggressive behavior we observed, and we are hoping that we are not seeing the beginnings of roosters. We still have them separated from the "big" girls for now.