COOKING WITH CILANTRO, LIMES, TOMATOES

Plans changed because I woke up exhausted after a less than stellar sleep. The Smiths are at church and I'm not. Every one is duded up and looking their best. LE's quite proud that she's wearing the effervescent Sophie's hand-me-downs. These crop pants have heart-shaped pockets in back. So cute. I get the kiddos to pose for photos, and when I ask LE to turn around to capture the pockets, of course JA turns around, too. Then they decide it'll be fun to fall back onto the couch every time the flash goes off. There're a riot.

pico de gallo

Two Hot Tamales guacamole

glutenfreegoddess's cilantro-lime hummus

panzanella

While everyone is at church, I've chopped veggies and a Panzanella salad (tomatoes, croutons, garlic, olive oil (the stuff we brought from France), a dash of balsamic) and also some chunky guacamole (the best recipe in the world from the Two Hot Tamales). JE's been thinking about hummus, so when they get home I'll follow her recipe. (we decide to use the Gluten-free goddess's cilantro lime hummus recipe, and it's a hit.

It's amazing how far we've stretched a bunch of cilantro, two jalapeños, two limes, two avocados, the homegrown tomatoes, and a homegrown red onion. I've made pico de gallo twice, the enchilada toppings, guacamole, the bread salad (with basil from the farmers market), and plan on scrambled egg tacos for later today.

Am I tiring of Southwest cooking and eating? Never! I just might be able to eat New Mexican cuisine 24/7/365.

I get a couple of smiles from LC this morning. He's on the brink of a smile explosion--but I have to go tomorrow so I'm going to miss out on the excitement first-hand. JA and LE don't know what's ahead. They'll be dazzled. All they know so far is a warm, fuzzy, soft, squirming, and grunting little guy; they adore him already. Wait until he smiles and giggles with them. Spectacular.

Exchanged emails with my long-time friend BB this morning on matters of faith and trust, and appropriate worship and spiritual walk. Made me dig deep and reminds me again how God's timing on the struggles and fears we face is always perfect. I've had a lot of experiences lately that have drawn me into just these thoughts and conversations with God.

I look forward to continuing these conversations with BB, and we will. We've been friends since 1981. 30 years?! My how time flies. We met as neighbors when Thumper (their dog) was their only child, and JE was my baby.

I decided this afternoon that the caterer is off duty, so all the adults are left to their own devices (and leftovers) as far as dinner tonight. Theres's always peanut butter!

This evening JE and MA have a meeting, so I get to supervise the munchkins. I get all involved in making a rustic peach tart (once you purchase the farmers' market produce, you have to stay right on it!) with the 5 almost perfect Missouri peaches, with some help from JA and LE. I do JL's trick--using a glass baking pan so that I can microwave the pie for 8 - 12 minutes before sliding it into the oven. This step ensures that the bottom crust is completely baked and never soggy.

After some iPad time with the talking animals and many belly laughs, the kiddos are more than ready for bed by 7:30, and it takes just two story books before prayers and then, suddenly, not even a creature is stirring...

I get a bit of reading time and some warm, fresh peach pie. Ah-h-h.

Tomorrow will go fast. My flight home is just after 6:00pm and there's still some fresh basil pesto to make, some baby cuddling, and at least one more park on our agenda.