Still a crazy life

What does one do with a kumquat? I know you can make marmalade or jelly or jam, but I didn't have enough kumquats to do that. I don't know what you're supposed to do with them, but I made kumquat meringue pie. Yes, like lemon meringue, but with kumquat juice. Of course, my pound of kumquats only produced 1/4 cup of juice. So I made up the difference with lemon juice. So it was kumquat-lemon meringe pie. But, I didn't really have any lemons - my juice was from a bottle. And the recipe called for grated lemon rind. I tried to grate the kumquat rinds, but that didn't work out so well. So I used an orange peel. So really, I guess we had citrus meringue pie for dessert tonight.

Oh well. Whatever you call it, it was still pretty tasty.

I had kumquats because I started participating in a produce co-op. For a $15 contribution, I got the aforementioned kumquats, a pound of strawberries, a big bunch of bananas, two mangoes, about a dozen tomatoes, a dozen apples, two heads of romaine lettuce, three bunches of green onions, two bunches of asparagus, a head of cauliflower, a stalk of celery, and a head of kale. Everything was fresh and tasty. And now I am planning a menu based around produce, which is much better than basing it around meat.

What does one do with kale?

Picking up our produce was the first thing Michael and I did on Saturday morning. Then it was home to clean the house. My friends April and Stacey and I hosted a baby shower for another friend, Elissa. We had it at my house, which was kind of stressful (because we had to clean everything), but very good (because we had to clean everything). It was nice to see SO MANY people come to congratulate her, and I think she got some great gifts that will help her out with the baby. I made a diaper cake. It was my first attempt at one, and I'm happy with the way it turned out. Thank you, Callie, for your quick over-the-phone tutorial.
I must say that diaper cakes are much cheaper, quicker, cleaner, easier, and more useful than the edible kind. They are easier to transport and easier to fix if you accidentally stick your thumb into it. I'm starting to think that instead of traditional wedding cakes, we should go to dish towel cakes. Actually, I bet that's already been done at bridal showers.

On Saturday night we took the kids to the Treehouse Children's Museum here in Ogden to see a play called "A Dragon's Tale." It was a twist on a traditional Chinese folk tale, and they did a GREAT job with it. Michael loved it - until they brought out a Chinese dragon at the end and made it dance around the stage. You know, the kind of dragon that has people under it to make it move. He kind of freaked out at first, until he realized that it was just a pretend dragon. But he still didn't want to go see it up close, and he wanted Jeff to carry him past it on the way out.

Today we visited Jeff's parents in Layton. It was nice. They shared their ravioli with us and we shared our citrus meringue pie with them. They also sent us home with lots of tools and books. All four of Jeff's grandparents have died in the last few years, with Jeff's Grandpa Sabin being the last. He died just a few months ago. His parents are still sorting through everything from BOTH houses now, as well as their own house, and they are distributing things to grandkids (us). Some of the tools and things we've received have been or will be very useful - like the circular saw, the electrical wire, and the yard tools - but others, not so much. The carpet installer knee kicker thingie comes to mind.

Tomorrow is the season opener for the Ogden Knights (Indoor Arena football team here). Jeff got season tickets for Christmas, and he and Michael are going to go. They went to one game last year, and LOVED it. It's fun for them to have some "guy time," and bonus for me - most of the game will be after the kids go to bed, so I'll get some alone time, too. That doesn't happen much.