Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Off and Running

Inspirational song: Gimme Three Steps (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

That kid is now a hundred percent toddler. She takes multiple unaided steps in a row, frequently throughout the day. Her mother even captured some on video this evening. We had the baby all day today, and we're too excited watching her, trying not to make a sound and distract her, and we miss videoing the steps. I'm trying to change my language now. Instead of asking her, when I'm holding her, "Has anyone told you you're the best baby lately?" I now ask, "Have I told you you're the best toddler?" I'm enjoying these few steps while I can. We have, what, six weeks tops (?) before we are wishing she would just sit down for one minute.

While the toddler was out sitting in her rocket car chair, watching grandpa work on landscaping, he clipped a few of the lilac blossoms and split them between us. He had me put some in water inside, and he let her play with a few little flower clusters. It inspired me to look up whether lilacs are edible, and it turns out they are. There are several things I can make with them, and it's entirely possible tomorrow will be an experiment with making lilac jelly. This afternoon I started simple--simple syrup, that is. I made it with lilac flowers and a small handful of last year's frozen raspberries. (The berries are mostly for color, as lilacs apparently turn yellow when steeped.) I strained the liquid, and will be using it tomorrow for mixed drinks, and I spread the flower and berry solids on a little gluten-free toast. Holy cow, that was good. I can't wait to do more cooking with lilacs.

Our entire D&D gaming group, all ten of us, are now vaccinated. Two have only had one shot, but we are to the point where everyone is ready to be back in person. We are meeting tomorrow on the neighbors' patio, around the beautiful big table he made right before we had to lock down and go remote. I will spend an hour or so on Pinterest in the morning, trying to come up with good hors d'oeuvres to contribute for the occasion. I'm so excited to be back around one table. I can barely contain myself. I wonder what finger foods convey a sufficiently celebratory vibe.

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