Midsummer Midday Meal

Sunny and 80 degrees.  Not a bad way to start the summer.  Our celebratory feast:  Chive flower fritters, dipped in batter and fried, then dipped in tamari.  We've been eating a lot of these lately but this was probably the last batch before the blossoms go by.  This time we did some edible flowers and tarragon sprigs, too.  Huckleberry muffins made by R, all by himself (almost), with this recipe, then smothered with frosting and decorated with johnny jump-ups.  E made "potion"  Again, something the boys have been making quite a bit of lately.  It's just water with any edible flowers or plants in the yard, this time snippets of chives and johnny jump-ups, served with a welsh onion "straw".  E's straw was particurly looooong. 

They're a bit obsessed lately with edible and poisonous plants, asking about nearly every plant we see.  They're almost paranoid, actually, to the point where if I tell them that some flower or plant they've touched isn't edible (at least to my knowledge) sometimes they insist they have to go wash their hands right away.  Everywhere we go, they ask if there's any poison ivy which is funny because there is virtually none in this area. (Well, except for one, very small patch which I found out about the hard way while clipping pink blossoming crabapple branches one spring!)

The wreath R made from garden and wildflowers to give to the host of the solstice party we'll be going to tomorrow evening.  (The bell used to be worn by my great-grandma's cow.) 

Happy Solstice to all, whether it's the longest or shortest day where you are.

p.s.  For the chive fritters we just looked up a tempura batter in The Joy of Cooking, using either the beer batter or the one recommended for fruit and flowers.   

p.p.s.  Tempura:  After winning the school spelling bee in 6th grade I went on to the district spelling bee.  It was down to the last three of us.  Only the top two would continue on to the next competition.  I was given the word "tempura".  I asked for the definition and then went on to spell the only thing close to that that I knew, "tempera," as in the powdered tempera paints we used in school back then, knowing, somewhere in my heart, that I wasn't giving the correct spelling but sticking with what I knew.  Our family almost never went out to eat when we were young and if we did, it wasn't for ethnic food, so I had never seen or heard of the word and it was still years before I ever actually ate tempura.  I know it's silly but even now it still kind of hurts when I say or see that word, but you can be sure I never get it wrong.  Just don't check any of my posts or comments for misspellings.  I don't even know how to use spell check.

Comments

[Anna]

That looks like such a lowely meal! I also like to know about eatable flowers and plants in general and as kid have sometimes shocked my playpals by eating "stuff from the lawn" (like daisies for example). By the way, doesn't the water taste a little bit funny when drunk through such a special straw?

[Sarah]

I'm delurking to say that I found your site while learning about Montana (I'm visiting MT next week for a teacher history institute). Anyway, your Midsummer meal looks delicious. We had a midsummer dinner and preserved some of our freshly picked food for midwinter dinner. My children are also obsessed with making "potions." Your photos and knitting are gorgeous. Sarah

[Rani]

Wow! What a need post - chive fritters? Can you post that recipe? Yum. Gorgeous pictures. Always so inspiring. And the cowbell? How cool is that! Very special. Happy Summer!

[gabriella]

Oh, I love this edible flowers and plants meal! What a wonderful idea - I remember as kids, my brother and I did the same thing, as my mother is a master gardener and there was always something to investigate in the summer. Now I still know when the warm seasons have officially arrived when she calls me from the middle of her ever-expanding, glorious gardens (the only comparison I have, truthfully, is the Botanisk Have in Copenhagen...) and tells me she has about thirty spider bites. That means spring and summer are here! Enjoy your garden meals and what looks like gorgeous weatehr. :) ~gabriella

[Peg]

I can count on your blog to make me smile and this one did not let me down. I love the 'onion' straws - well I love all of it. I copied the recipe for R's muffins and will make them this morning. I also plan to make a wreath - what wonderfully creative, inquisitive and thoughtful children you are raising.

[Amber]

What a beautiful scene...

[Courtney]

I am a first time commenter who had to come out of the woodwork to say that I love your blog. The interactions with your kids that you have chronicled here make me want to be a mom. :)

I can especially relate to your spelling bee comment. I was in 6th grade, moved on to district, and was also down to the final 3 spellers. I got the word "roommate" and thanked my stars for such an easy word. Nerves, though, got the better of me, and I stuttered on my "r." Rroommate. The judges conferred and DQ'd me. As though I really thought roommate had two r's. I still can't see the word without a little pang. :(

My roommate is your tempura! Keep up the entertaining blogging!

[Kristin Nicholas]

Tempura

Tempera

Both wonderful things we love!

Happy Solstice.

[carolyn]

I can relate to the spelling bee thing, too. I think I got second or 3rd place in a spelling bee in jr. high because I missed the word "privilege." I thought it had a "d" in it. I always think of the spelling bee when I see or hear that word!

[Dana]

Funny how many of us commenters have a "spelling bee word" burned into our minds. Mine is "weary." The teacher pronounced it sort of like "wary." I still wasn't sure which word she'd said, and of course I couldn't ask her to spell it, so I asked for it in a sentence. She said, "The rabbit is very weary of being chased," which of course stuck me back into the wary/weary conundrum, because both words make sense. I took a stab, spelled W-A-R-Y and lost the bee... So as a teacher, now, I'm careful in my pronunciation, though my students don't do spelling bees. :-)

Happy summer!

[Cirilia]

Ha! For my father it was 'grosgrain'. The silent S killed him! I have the same fears about grammar (I was homeschooled and it wasn't my mother's strong suit...) so I always forgive people's spelling gaffs.

[sarah]

what a beautiful feast! Happy Solstice!