Croissants, Hansel and Gretel, Summer Solstice Time

I have to put in a little plug for these "mini-croissants" from Trader Joe's. They come frozen (as shown on the right) with the instruction to rise overnight. Rise, they did! I made them for the first morning that my mom was here and they truly hit the spot. We had really marvelous breakfasts when she was visiting--my favorite being chocolate chip cannolis bought the night before in the italian neighborhood of Boston. We also toured two art museums (I was scolded by a security gaurd at the contemporary museum where I got way too close to one of these sculptures) and saw a play at the Boston University Theater. . .

This week I've spent transitioning back into real life mode and starting to read seven versions of Hansel and Gretel. I found out that in September I get to present a paper I've written about Hansel and Gretel at a conference in Canada, and so I want to make sure I have my facts straight. By far the best illustrations are in this one.

The sun rose at 5:08am this morning, and it isn't slotted to set until 8:25pm, so I'm off to enjoy the extended blue skies.

Pink Roses and Pink Lemonade

These are the rose bushes right outside of our building; like us they're starting to feel the effects of Boston's mini heat-wave. Walking down this sidewalk, though, is such a treat because they smell all rosy and they look like they're trying so hard to keep their blooms up in the rain and sun. I have a small collection of scratches on my right elbow from when I've gotten too close to the thorns.

Boston is starting to feel different now that students have left for the summer and vacationers have gone to their summer homes in the Cape. The business commuters have loosened their ties and lowered their heels. The trains have emptied out a bit, letting me overhear so many sweet things lately. The other day, when I got on the T, this poor, possibly homeless, guy who seemed kind of disoriented, kept loudly asking everyone their destination and repeating to everyone to make sure they grab the poles. Some people gave quick answers and some looked away, and then this woman, probably eighty years old or so, took the seat next to him and started putting on her makeup. She introduced herself and told him where she was going and asked him where he was going and they kept on talking about little things like the restaurants that the train was passing. He started talking in a normal volume and she told him that she used to think about opening her own restaurant up, and he told her that his father died last year. She told him that it took two years to feel better after her father died. The woman got off at the same stop as I did, and when she did, they nodded their goodbyes to eachother; I think it was the nicest interaction I've seen between strangers.

As I mentioned before, we're in a mini-heat wave, but we're coping quite well with two newly installed window air conditioners and lots of lemonade--normal yellow kind mixed with pink lemonade, making a pretty light pink lemonade. And, honestly, it feels good to sweat a little after so many months of scarves and ear warmers.

What do these things have in common?

. . . Lobster roll, sangria, goat cheese empanadas, cinnamon buns, portobello mushroom sandwich, garlic shrimp, lobster pizza, creme brulee, chinese wontons, fiddlehead ferns, raspberry cobbler, chicken in wine sauce, champagne. . . Well, I consumed all of these things this weekend (and more actually, but the list was getting excessive.) My dad and Colleen came to visit us this weekend and we walked around the city almost as much as we ate. Let's just say today's breakfast of oatmeal and lunch of turkey sandwich have seemed very, very bland.