Little is hilarious. She has such an excellent wit…quick and dry and unexpected. She’s always been years ahead of her time in that regard. She teaches me so much about life and being who you are. Yesterday was the big family gathering to introduce Mr. FixIt’s clan to mine. I told the kids we’d just make pizzas and homemade ice cream. Simple enough.

Little (who goes by Bear, her lifelong nickname and her name of choice) was really excited to learn how to make pizza crust from scratch. We started fairly early because we wanted to par-bake the crusts. That way we could top them and finish them off on the grill outdoors when the rest of the family were here. 

As we worked side by side, Little said… “We should start our own baking show. I can see it now!” She spread her arms wide as if she were reading a marquee. 

“Bear and Nana’s Baking Show! Our byline can be “It’s Good Enough!”

She always catches me by surprise and we laughed ourselves silly.  We made two batches of dough which yields six pizzas. We used a variety of toppings from plain cheese to vegetarian to pepperoni and all the veggies. There were only two slices left at the end of the evening, so it must have met with their approval!

I was a little worried about the homemade ice cream getting done in time. It took quite a while to freeze because it was so hot outside. I used a new recipe. My ice cream freezer makes a gallon and the recipe was low yield…like, a quart. I multiplied the recipe by four to make a gallon. This was a cooked custard base like my grandma used to make. It used whole milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and the seeds from four whole vanilla beans. It was like French Vanilla…very rich and creamy. Decadent and something you seriously only serve for special occasions!

Big went swimming yesterday morning, and this morning she is meeting with a local swim team to practice with them. I have no idea what we’ll get into today. We need to get out to the farm to mow, but we may just do that tomorrow. My daughter and Big are leaving Wednesday for the next leg of their trip. Visits never last long enough! 

Today’s feature in the kitchen with Bear and Nana? Fried green tomatoes, corn on the cob, halfrunner beans, and a big salad! 

“It’s Good Enough!”

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“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 ESV