The View From Here

Last Thursday the power was out at our house for almost the whole day. When it finally came back on, I went about the house resetting all the clocks. Geeze, I must really have pregnancy brain (I wonder what my excuse will be after the baby comes?) because Friday morning I looked at the clock in the kitchen and told Little Man to get his shoes on for school.

Then we walked out the door and I flipped open my cell phone to check that time to see how fast we had to walk to the bus stop. Um, yeah. We had less than five minutes to walk up the uphill, dirt, loooong drive way and then 1/4 mile down the dirt road to the bus stop. Doh! So we ran- and what a sight that must have been. We weren't even half way there and I could hear the whine of the bus getting to the stop. Luckily, he has to U-turn at the stop and he turns towards our road. So here we are, running as fast as we can, which isn't very fast at all. I'm the pregnant lady with morning breath, hair half in a bumpy ponytail, half falling out, running down a dirt road, flailing my arms above my head to get the driver's attention. Hot. I know. I even got a honk. I'm sure the bus driver had a good laugh that morning. At least we made it. Instead of kissing Little Man goodbye that morning, I threw his backpack at him and shoved him towards the bus while I doubled over, tried to catch my breath and figure out which muscles I discovered on the run. It was *awesome* to say the least. I walked home leisurely and enjoyed the sunrise through the trees. When I got back to our house, I was rewarded with this fine view.

After the pink faded from the sky, I went in and promptly reset all the clocks in the house.

The weather was gorgeous this weekend. We enjoyed some nice walks on our road and even got the canoe out on the water. No fish, but we saw a few loons and bald eagles. Delightful. We would have loved to have gone for some long hikes, but it was the hunting opener in Minnesota and we just don't own enough orange.

We ate some great food, too. I made crockpot pumpkin oatmeal, baked eggplant parmesean, pasties, and an experimental wild rice pudding with rhubarb-orange sauce. It turned out pretty good.

I've had a hankering for sourdough, so I played with some breads this weekend. The sourdough bagels turned out too soft and fluffy and then they sunk down to flat, oily hockey pucks. They are so flat, you don't even need to cut them to fit them in the toaster. What a disappointment.

So, I'm trying again today with a new recipe. Hopefully the second batch will be chewy and dense, like a bagel should be.

And tonight, we are having sourdough pizza with some crazy toppings. One will be an acorn squash sauce with onions, sage, and Gouda cheese. Maybe some spinach and or chicken sausage for fun. The other one will be a Brussels sprout pizza with mushrooms, garlic, bacon, and fresh sliced tomatoes. I haven't decided on the sauce yet. Can't wait! I love trying new foods. For now, I've got to run and shape this second batch of bagels; I'm determined to get it right!

Happy Monday!