The Odyssey

I really hope I can convince Sergio that we should name our van "Homer." 

About a week ago we became a two-car family. This is something we've been scheming for a long time. We held out as long as we could, enjoying our one car status for 11 years; especially enjoying our no car payments for 12 years. Having just one car was simple and clean. Well, maybe the car wasn't always clean. But the having of just one car was clean. You know what I mean. Anyway - it was very simple before we had kids. 

It has become increasing more complex with the addition of two children as well as (let's not blame the kids for everything) the addition of a number of extracurricular activities on the part of me and Sergio. In the last two years we would occasionally think, wouldn't it be nice to have two cars. But those moments were few and far between and not worth a car payment to solve when - with a moderate amount of planning ahead and some dependence on friends and public transit - we could get by just fine. 

This year we reached our transportation planning capacity. Not only did we run out of ways to solve our limited transportation hiccups on a regular basis, we also decided we would prefer to be able to travel in large groups on occasion. Whether it's grandparents visiting or cousins (out-of-town ones and in-town ones) - it seems there's often a good reason to seat 8 people in our car. 

Enter: The Honda Odyssey. Ours is a gently used 2013 LX model that still, if I'm honest, feels like a rental. A really nice rental. I still can't quite absorb that it's actually ours. Even though we've already smudged up the clean floor mats and learned how to work all the fancy doors, I'm still adjusting to A) having such a nice car (our other car is a fantastic, but quite minimally appointed Honda Fit) and B) having two cars. 

This morning I took Clara in the van with me one direction and Sergio took Julia with him in the Fit in another direction. These were short trips and we weren't apart that long, but this was perhaps the first time that we've split up like that. Maybe ever. The four of us are together a lot and, what's more, the girls are together a lot. So when Clara climbed into the van she asked where Julia's carseat was and said to me, sort of sad-like, "I can't talk to my sister?" Having two cars will be an adjustment for all of us. 

But a good adjustment. Last week, when I told Julia we were buying a minivan, the very first thing she said was, "you mean my cousins can ride in our car with me?!" She was delighted. 

And that's just what they've been doing as we've been tooling around town together as a family - especially this week - cousins, aunt, and Grandma Joyce visiting from Mexico, Sergio and the girls and me. It's nice to be able to all be together. 

Visit from Honey and Papa

Last weekend my parents came for a long awaited visit. Since my grandmother moved in with them two years ago, they haven't been able to visit us as often as before. The girls (and let's be honest - me too) were ecstatic for them to come.

They arrived about an hour earlier than I expected so we were all minding our own business - the girls were having a kazoo marching band around the house - when I saw their car pull up. I told Julia to look out the window; when she saw that it was them, she squealed loud enough to break glass.

Breakfast with Honey and honey.

The dance class. It's a small class. 

Reading the New Yorker with Papa and wearing new
"Owl Be Up Late" jammies, a gift from Honey.
And it was true.
They were up very late each night - too excited to sleep. 

We packed the weekend full ... we visited the farmers market (love me, love my farmers market), we observed Julia's dance class, we visited the art annual, and we gardened - oh, how we gardened. 

We ripped up a strip of grass on the side of the yard
(and by we I mean mostly my mom)
and replaced it with a flower bed, rose trellis,
and transplants from my grandmother's rose garden.

There was a lot to tend to, here in the freshness of spring and the newness of this moment in time. It had been such a long time since their last visit.

A weekend together is never enough - no matter where we spend it.

edible Kansas City

This little piggy went wee, wee, wee all the way to the newsstands.

There's a new magazine in town - it's hot off the presses and new to KC - it's all about fabulous, local food ... it's edible KANSAS CITY and it's lovely.

As part of the nation-wide Edible Communities organization, eKC has the benefit of an established and robust publishing company while also being edited and published by local Kansas Citians, so it truly reflects our local community. And to top it off, Edible Communities won the 2011 James Beard Award for Publication of the Year. Great accolades to get this unique magazine off the ground here in KC.

Oh, and did I mention that I got to write for it!? Well, I did. It was a delight and will continue to be a delight, I'm sure, to be able to explore my ever growing thoughts on food (especially local and organic) and to be a contributing member of the eKC group.

If you haven't had the chance to pick one of these up, do so soon and enjoy the first serving of what is sure to be a great staple in our food community in KC. (Click here for the full list of where you can find eKC.) And it's free - er, uh - "priceless."

Family Vacation in St. Louis

This year's big Akins family vacation was just a hop, skip, and a jump away (for us) in our friendly neighbor to the east - St. Louis. We hit as many highlights as the 12 of us could in a week (including Trader Joe's where I first learned of this St. Louis specialty - pretzel bread!).

bump shot at the arch

Sergio, my aunt Jetta, and three of the four kiddos journeyed to the top of the arch in those tiny little washing machines. (The Claustrophobia kept me from enjoying a ride in one of those when I wasn't pregnant - I didn't think I'd enjoy one much now that I take up even more room.) The rest of us stayed below and watched the documentary about how it was built and bought nostalgic bits at the 'mercantile shop.'

We all had a blast at The Magic House, had more chaotic fun at The City Museum and enjoyed a great time on our hot little excursion to something called "The Awakening."

Hollis and the Beanstalk (The Magic House)

musical (literally) chairs (The Magic House)

clowning around (City Museum)

Reuben on the run (City Museum)

Ling and the man who is "Awakening" (artist: J. Seward Johnson)

Minli says "thumbs up!"

And the kids LOVED (sarcasm) the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois, the site of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico and an UNESCO World Heritage Site. In all seriousness, it was a pretty amazing place to see. And actually, (no sarcasm) there were some things the kids enjoyed; perhaps not the mounds themselves, but the learning center is pretty well equipped with lots of interesting, prehistoric things to see.

Papa atop Monks Mound - the largest of the Cahokia Mounds. Curiously, Monsanto is in the background on the left.

In addition to ancient things above ground, we saw some incredibly ancient things below ground, too, at Meramac Cavern. The Claustrophobia didn't get to me here, nor to my dad, I don't think. We all enjoyed our long but cold tour (and it was hard to complain about the tour being cold, given how hot it was the rest of the week).

Ling and Tyler inside Meramac Cavern

And when we weren't out and about, we were all happy to hang out, make duct tape wallets, read, eat, chat, fiddle with our iPhones and play Scrabble. Or Bananagrams. Or Jenga.

Sergio teaching the kids Scrabble

Or hang out and watch movies...

Strawberry Weekend

the first quart of 14

Last Saturday Sergio and I went to pick strawberries at the farm. There were more strawberries than the farmers had time to harvest, so they opened it up to u-pick and we took full advantage, coming home with 14 quarts - almost more than we could carry back to the car.



Christy, Nina, and Emilio came along, too, and enjoyed every bit. At first Nina picked indiscriminately but we intervened to show her which ones were ripe and then she proceeded to eat two for every three she put in the basket. Even Emilio, not quite ripe enough himself to pick strawberries, enjoyed the adventure, sitting with Tio Sergio and letting the grass tickle his toes.

our crew

We already had plenty of strawberries to go around at home, as I'd bought some extra at the CSA distribution on Wednesday. So to start our strawberry picking morning off before heading to the farm, we had a strawberry licuado and we finished what I thought was the last of the strawberry jam from last year (although I subsequently found another jar that I'd stowed away for safe keeping; the strawberry jam was our favorite last year and I wanted to make it last).

jam and licuado

The next day the strawberriness continued as Farmer Tom and I taught a Jams and Jellies canning class at Badseed complete with 20 quarts of strawberries. We also had oranges and mint, and by the end of the five hour class, me, Tom, and our 12 students had completed three full batches of strawberry jam (one batch no pectin slow cook, one batch with pectin and one batch of freezer jam), one batch of orange marmalade, and one batch of mint jelly.

jams for sampling

berries ready for jamming

I still had quarts upon quarts of strawberries to contend with at home so I froze 6 quarts for later. I had intended to take a picture of the berries in the freezer, but I seem to have forgotten. I had cleaned them of their green tops and laid them out upside down on a cookie sheet and left them in the top of the freezer overnight. The next day they were a beautiful flat forest of fat little red bushes with a dusting of frost on the top of each. I gathered them into zip lock bags for safe keeping. With some of the remaining unfrozen quarts, I made my own batch of strawberry jam (with pectin) on Tuesday. Then on Thursday we had some out of town visitors so we made dinner and - for dessert - the long awaited strawberry dumplings. My favorite.

dumplings (what's left)

I forgot to take a picture of the dumplings, too, before we devoured them, but to be honest, they're not all that photogenic. They are, however, delicious and all gone. Not to worry, though. Some of those 6 quarts of frozen berries in the freezer will be the next delicious batch of dumplings sometime this summer. Can't wait.

Strawberry Dumplings

Baked strawberry dumplings are similar to a cobbler, made with fresh strawberries and sweet dumpling dough.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 pint (about 2 cups) strawberries, hulled and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation:
In a saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar and the water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, the 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture is crumbly. Add milk and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Place strawberries in a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish; pour hot sugar mixture over strawberries. Immediately drop dough evenly in 8 to 10 spoonfuls over strawberries. Sprinkle dumplings with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar (and a little cinnamon, if desired). Bake at 450° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until dumplings are lightly browned. Serve hot with whipped topping or ice cream, if desired.

Makes 4 to 5 servings.

Chili Festival with Family

habaneros and lemon bells

My parents came to celebrate their birthdays last month. Well, their birthdays were in June and July. But hectic summer schedules dictated that we postpone a celebratory Kansas City visit until September 12 which, as luck would have it, was the Chili Pepper Festival at Powell Garden's new Heartland Harvest Garden.

ornamental chilis - cute but hot!

just a name, not a flavor

It. Was. Fan. Tastic. I had so much fun I went ahead and counted it as my birthday a little too.

We toured the peppers in the menu garden with Horticulturist Matt who was full of interesting information and was patient with our (my) questions, even after the tour was over. We dared to spin the wheel of fire and sample peppers beyond our comfort zone (Sergio and me - a habanero, dad - a lemon bell). We saw, smelled, and savored a pepper roasting demo and bought some to bring home. We sampled salsa ... and bought some to bring home. We tasted pepper jelly ... and bought some to bring home. We could have had our own delightful mini chili pepper festival with all the goods we brought home.

edamame

Powell Gardens is a spectacular place to go, not just because of the Heartland Harvest Garden, which is the nation's largest edible landscape. The amount of plant life to see throughout the garden far exceeds the amount of time given in any one trip. And each visit there's something new as the plants - and the harvests in the edible landscape - change with the seasons.


I can't wait to go back for another visit. And another visit with Mom and Dad again would be the best of all.

Wild Edibles Walk

On our "cabining" trip last weekend, Sergio and I went out on a Wild Edibles Walk, a guided tour of all things even remotely edible on the Natural Wonders Trail at Meramec State Park. Naturalist Lisa was our informative guide and the walk was a beautiful traipse through the woods. We saw a myriad of flora both edible and not (no fauna but for the tracks). We learned so much, too, and are continuing to learn with the public copy of Wild Edibles of Missouri that I checked out from the library upon our return.

Earlier I read something in the brochure for the park that caught my attention: it was an admonition to all visitors and hikers that they should be prepared to "meet nature on its own terms." This choice of wording made me keenly sensitive to the idea of whose terms most of my world is currently running on. And I wondered what that means for all things uncultivated - for all the things we saw growing 'wild.'

The trail we walked, the Naturalist, and the books, were all cultivated and tame. But I feel confident in saying that the things we saw were still pretty wild indeed.

Naturalist Lisa and her resources

Sassafras from the top: this plant is unique for its three different leaf shapes: large three pronged leaves, football shaped leaves, and mitten shaped leaves.

Sassafras from the bottom. The sassafras root is edible (was used for root beer) but has been banned by the FDA for being potentially carcinogenic.

Wild Ginger grows low to the ground and has beautiful leaves. Its flowers (not pictured) grow from the ground, at the adjoining base of two stems, and are pollinated by ants.

Acorns of many trees are edible; I believe this one is oak.

We saw a number of mushrooms along our walk - none of us could tell if they were edible. When in doubt, assume that they aren't.

Besides learning about edibles, we learned a bit of dendrology. The walnut tree has compound leaves - that's one leaf with many several (in this case about 18) leaflets.

The walnut is also edible, but you need a sledge hammer or car to crack open the hull.

More incredible spreads of mushrooms - beautiful whether you can eat them or not.

Blackberries grow wild; these aren't quite ripe so we didn't taste them.

Every time we came across a plant that had been nibbled on, Naturalist Lisa referred to it as having been "browsed." I loved that word for it made me think of bugs with grocery carts. Here's an actual browsing in progress. If you look closely you'll see a second bug on the back of this caterpillar. And perhaps there's a third, microscopic bug on the back of that bug.

None of us could identify this one, we just loved the way the stem appeared to be sewn into the leaves, instead of the leaves growing out of the stem.

Don't know what this is besides a beautiful compound leaf.

Deer tracks!

Gooseberries are green when ripe and black when overripe. We think.

There are wild grapes in Missouri; this is a wild grape vine.

All the photos from our Wild Edibles Walk can be seen HERE.