During the recent Olympics in Brazil, University of Georgia students earned 10 medals. If UGA was a country, it would rank 27th! (Click here for a related article.) Our family had a great time this summer cheering on our athletes.
Tonight we attended a public event welcoming back UGA's Olympians. It wasn't about seeking autographs, but rather I wanted Eli to see that the people he watched on television in far-off Brazil are real people who have the drive and discipline to excel. The event was even better than I hoped. These athletes took the time to chat with Eli, asking him about his favorite sport and encouraging him to practice. Eli even got to try on bronze, silver, and gold medals! (We were surprised how big and heavy they are.) And we got to say both "congratulations" and "thanks for making our summer even better" in person. The local BMW dealer provided three posters for collecting signatures as we met the Olympians. It was a great event!
Afternoon rain. Not a rumble of thunder to be heard. Tossing aside our shoes to walk on the warm, wet pavement. Soon the steamy asphalt cooled down and the puddles no longer felt like bathwater. That greeny damp smell. Peaceful.
Outer Banks. Hot, windy night on the beach. There are some smudgy stars visible through the haze -- but no match for a little boy with a bright flashlight.
Eli and I joined my brother and his daughter in their annual summer tradition of scouting out ghost crabs under the pier. The funny, pale critters scuttle across the sand but will often freeze when a light shines directly on them. Beady eyes -- waving around on stalks, no less -- look mighty surprised. Then four pairs of legs rocket sideways so the crab can disappear into the dark. No matter how many times it happened, it was followed by Eli's gasp and gleeful giggle.
This morning was our last on Tybee Island. I woke up in the soft blue light of dawn to see Eli sitting on the bunk next to me. "Mama," he whispered. "I was quiet and I waited ever so long for you to wake up and snuggle with me." I lifted the covers and he dove in, warm and soft. He likes to pull his knees up and become a little boy ball pressed against my side. (Couldn't help but remember the way he felt as a little boy ball inside.) Up so close, he smelled like his familiar baby shampoo-ish self, yet with a whiff of coconut sunblock and thyme herbal bug spray left in his hair. For a long time we listened to the coastal birds and insects singing at the edge of the marsh.
When the light outside started to turn gold, I whispered, "Hey, Buddy. Let's walk to the beach." He agreed, so we crept around the cabin getting ready and tiptoed past his sleeping Papa.
Slowly, slowly we walked east. The sun started as a big orange ball and soon it stained the sky peachy. Upon reaching the dunes, Eli wished aloud that he had chosen his bathing suit rather than clothes. I looked around and hardly anybody was out -- just blurry figures far down the beach. My child isn't quite in kindergarten yet. "Do you want to skinny dip?" I asked. When I explained what that meant, Eli ducked his head shyly, giggled, and said yes. So I helped him shimmy out of his clothes and soon he was paddling around in the soft light and warm water. He kicked up fountains and flung his arms up in excitement when a line of pelicans flew past, skimming low. As I watched him play, I realized this is probably the last time either of us will feel okay with him skinny dipping on a public beach. He's growing up. Peachy-pink light on waves and seafoam and sand and little boy curves. The deep mama hope that this boy will always feels as comfortable in his own skin as he does right now. Then the light began to grow and the sunrise colors paled. Some people arrived at our part of the beach with their coolers and their folding chairs and their debates on the best place to set up. Wordlessly, Eli came to me and I got him back into his damp, sandy clothes. We meandered back to where our suitcases were waiting to be packed. But I won't forget this morning. Ever.
Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. --Robert Frost
For Camp Rainbow's Veggie Week, my friend Isabel suggested making ketchup/catsup with the kids. Perfect! A trip to the farmer's market for veggies...
After discussion and perusing some recipes, we decided more than one batch would be fun. Ketchup isn't made from just tomatoes and there are a lot of styles out there, so we could do a taste test.
Chopping veggies...
Nikki's batch, made ahead of time by her hubby, John, was mostly tomato and onion. Isabel's recipe was from a Dutch cookbook and had the same ingredients, but also apples and raisins.
I used the 1975 edition of The Joy of Cooking, scaling the recipe down so it used 3 pounds of tomatoes rather than 13. (Click HERE for a handy online tool for converting a recipe to more or less servings.) In addition to tomatoes, the recipe calls for onion, mild red pepper, brown sugar, allspice, cloves, mace, celery seed, peppercorns, cinnamon, mustard, garlic, bay leaf, and cider vinegar. Whew!
Cooking it all down...
After everything in the pot was cooked soft, I used an immersion blender, strained it, and then blended it again. It could have used a little more cooking down, but the result was a yummy, medium-thick sauce. Isabel and I had recipes that yielded ketchup within about an hour. Nikki's recipe cooked down for ten hours over low heat! (We're now contemplating crock pot ketchup.)
What do you put homemade ketchup on for a taste test? Homemade french fries, of course.
From left to right... My sauce was watery but had rich, spicy flavor like chutney. Nikki and John's sauce had classic ketchup flavor and was the kiddo fave. Isabel's sauce had a fruity depth to it. All of them were wonderful alone or swirled together.
It was a little stunning that three pounds of tomatoes became less than two cups of ketchup. The Heinz and Hunt companies must go through box cars of tomatoes to churn out all those squeeze bottles of the stuff. But I plan to make ketchup again. It is so much fun to play around with various ingredients and come up with a signature flavor.
Camp Rainbow: A summer play/exploration group for kids and their families
JourneyLeaf is a tool to help me appreciate, preserve, and share those raggedy yet shining moments in everyday life. Joy requires practice. (To read more, click above on the word "ABOUT.")
The original words, images, and concepts on this blog are copyrighted. Please do not use them without my permission. Thank you!
My primary camera is a Canon EOS Digital Rebel T5 with a Sigma DC 18-200mm lens (1:3.5-6.3) or Canon EFS 18-55mm lens. On occasion I also use my iPhone 6. For crisper images (when I'm not in a hurry to grab the shot), I use a Dolica Proline B100 tripod. I often tweak my images using Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.
S U P P O R T J O U R N E Y L E A F Kindly click on the link below whenever you make purchases at Amazon. A small percentage returns to JourneyLeaf to help purchase more books, craft supplies, etc. to be featured on the blog. Thank you!
