can you can can?

pre-seal peaches - my kitchen - napa, ca

every once in a while it's nice to get back to my domestic roots.  today kate, her mom lori, my mom, and i had a mother-daughter bonding sesh--we learned how to can fresh peaches.  it's pretty simple--just a matter of picking, peeling, syruping, and sealing--and like anything, it turns into a competition with yourself to see how well you can do each task.  i can confidently say that i liked peeling the best.  once a peach bobs in nearly boiling water for 30-40 seconds and is then transfered to ice cold water, the flesh pulls away from the skin.  this ultimately makes the peeling process a breeze--and once in a while you get a skin that can be peeled completely in one piece.  thrilling stuff.  and a delicious product that is life changing over vanilla ice cream.  now, where to put thirty 20oz. jars?

finished cans - my kitchen - napa, ca

rocky and rosie love life.

rosie post shake - my backyard - napa, ca

rocky post digging for gofers - my front yard - napa, ca

i'm really feeling the new katy perry single, hot n cold.  and i'm seriously in love with my dogs.

here kiddie kiddie.

zinnia - euser farm - napa, ca

children think the oddest things, and i love that about them. when i was still nannying for ashlyn and tessa, they reminded me how much humor happens in the figuring out of things. i was quite the same way. until i was about five years old, i thought that my grandparents lived in the sky because we had to fly to see them. i called grilled cheese "girl cheese" for a good decade--always wondering, why don't they call it boy cheese? i confused the word 'errands' with 'erins' (my sister being the ever effervescent erin eleanor euser), so whenever my mom went to run "erins," i was left with an image of my she and my sister running around in circles.

and i continue to realize a good handful of my long-held "knowledge" is pretty off. lucas kacher, my go-to, facty, know-how friend, only a couple months ago enlightened me that rogets (as in the thesaurus) is pronounced ro-jhay not ro-gets. my brain blushed as it often does when corrected. all the same, i'm allowing myself to be royally peeved when broadcasters continue to mispronounce beijing (bay-JING, people. bay. JING.)

somewhere a sad sax.

everything blue - somewhere along the 101

dave matthews band and i reunite on monday, and i'm ecstatic about it.   though, i was devastated to hear about saxophonist leroi moore's passing yesterday--he was such a talent.  so charismatic and cool.  i'll miss him on that stage, but when i run past the waves listening to proudest monkey or bartender, i hope he smiles knowing that he's always got a place on this earth in me.

grizzly green.

grass - my backyard - napa, ca

my garden at home in napa is looks like a billion dollars.  flourishing to the nth degree. it is currently featuring the following:

peaches (white and yellow)

nectarines

heirloom tomatoes

apples (gala, granny smith, and gravenstein)

 watermelons

 cantaloupes (which i didn't know how to spell until this very moment)

onions (green, red, pearl)

peppers (bell and jalepeno)

beets

corn

lettuce (red, romaine, and field greens)

leeks

french prunes

plums

basil

potatoes

oregeno

thyme

pumpkins (my favorite being the cinderella variety)

cucumbers

squashes (too many to list)

and i'm forgetting a million things...

tonight for dinner literally everything on our plate was either grown or caught by my dad.  we had grilled alaskan salmon caught forty-eight hours prior on his fishing trip in alaska, grilled zuccini, roasted potatoes, sliced heirloom tomatoes, beets, and green salad. deeeeeelish. 

 i think that's what i miss most when i'm gone from home--being able to run into the yard and fill the fridge.  having a craving for a juicy peach or even ripe figs topped with gorgonzola, and having it within my ability to see them from the tree to the plate and into my bod.  nothing like it.  and since erin already has dibs on the euser enclave, i've gotta develop a game plan to duplicate this organic wonderland somewhere else when time comes to settle.  note to self: i might need a higher paying job and a husband with a knack for all things green.

so not on the dot.

leather on leather - my car - somewhere, ca

monica botkier is designing a line of bags for target.  i am not okay with that.  whatever happened to not selling out and manufacturing overseas?  tisk tisk ms. botkier.  i still love my trigger, though it's looking a little worse for wear as of late.

mend with time. the sun will shine.

hello sunflower - euser farm - napa, ca

hallelujah.  i'm feeling much better today.  didn't even have to take a percoset, so that is a super plus.  my mom visited the holistic pharmacy this afternoon and came home with a whole bag of body-friendly bootie.  we'll see how the herbs treat me.

and i know i'm behind, but i'm obsessed with santogold's L.E.S. Artistes. get at it if you haven't already.  and friends who've called, i'll call you back tomorrow.