The market just opened for the season. Years ago we were just one of a few folks who headed out there every Saturday, but it’s since become hugely popular here. Which is a good thing for the farmers.

Today we bought a bunch of strawberries, because Truman would choose to eat strawberries over any other food on earth. We also bought tomatoes from one of the few vendors who had ripe ones to choose from. Then we went home and made Ina Garten’s Greek Gazpacho for dinner.

Our Publix didn’t have Sacramento tomatoes so V8 had to do (oh hush, Ina), and I did without the olives because I have an aversion. I also used panko instead of day-old bread just because I had it on hand. And I love panko. 

I plopped a generous hunk of nice goat cheese over the top, which was one thing my old recipe didn’t call for.It was to-die-for. Even Truman devoured it. Well, he mostly devoured the toasted bread crisps I served with it. Then we paired it with a nice bottle of Cotes du Rhone.

For dessert we had a generous serving of Adam Lambert performing with Rick’s childhood favorite band Kiss – DVR’d from Wednesday night’s awesome American Idol finale. Sigh…makes me wonder how the rest of the world is faring this Memorial Day weekend.

Photos, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Farmers Markets a Sign of Summer

Greg lives with us, because his mother packed him up and turned him out about 3 months ago. He is a great kid, although I’m pretty sure that since he’s only been here a few months, we are still getting the very best of him. Bailey and Greg have progressed from dating teenagers to a sort of hybrid committed relationship, but it’s also almost brother and sister relationship. For example, Greg sometimes tattles on Bay. This drives her crazy.

Last night, we were sitting around the living room and all of my kids were working on homework. I was telling Bay about something that she did when she was younger and she started to cry. I was horrified, because I expected her to laugh. Greg leaned forward and starting talking to her very softly. He got up and left the room. When he came back, he had a tissue in his hand. He sat next to her, leaned forward and gently wiped under her eyes. She smiled at him, laid her palm along his cheek, and kissed him. I’m pretty sure that my mouth dropped open in shock and awe.

It was like something out of a romantic movie. I felt both thrilled and embarrassed to witness it. Thrilled because I love the kids and I want them to feel cherished. Embarrassed because it was such an intimate moment – like they were the only two people in the room, in the universe.

Both of these kids have had their share of heartache, most of it at the hands of two really crappy dads, but it hasn’t scarred them to the point where they are afraid to allow themselves to be vulnerable.

When it comes to love, sometimes you’ve got to put yourself out there, take a chance and put the rules to the side. It reminded me of something that happened between my last boyfriend and I. Bailey did this spot-on imitation of my sister, Robin. It was so like Robin, that I started to cry because I missed her (yeah, we sometimes have the tears around here). My boyfriend was horrified and although he didn’t wipe my tears, he did scoop me up with a sweet, “Oh, baby, it’s okay…” that I still remember.

I’ve got to be open to letting something like that in my life again. If those two kids can do it, if they can be that brave and that open with each other, then I need to allow it to happen for me, too. It will be hard, but I have to believe that it’s do-able. And dear friend, whom I’m 99% sure is reading this – it will happen for you, as well.

Image credit: Bailey Smith

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Before the Kiss

It’s sort of the universal language of expression, and doing it “right” is a matter of just following the right cues.

Everyone can use a little guidance, though, and my friends at Binaca, known for their super-strong but sweet breath products, shared some fun tips that I know will help all of you out on your very next date.

Image: Sxc.hu

Get comfy first. There’s nothing more disruptive than writhing to readjust mid-kiss.

Make it short, sweet and lace it with a little passion. If this is the first kiss you’ve shared with someone, start slowly, gently and with lips only slightly parted.

Take cues from your partner. Most people kiss the way they want to be kissed. You’ll know when it’s time to part those lips and go in for a deeper smooch.

¨And of course, don’t let bad breath ruin your prospects of more kissing. Sometimes we don’t even know we have it, so take a preventive stance. (Perhaps with a spritz of Binaca?)

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The Art of Kissing

Hollywood star Jamie Foxx has banned his teenage daughter from dating after the press confused the 14-year-old girl for the actor’s latest flame.

According to contactmusic.com, the actor/singer admits he’s become overprotective of his young daughter, Corrine, because men often think she’s twice her age.

“She’s not going to date until she’s married. She’s so beautiful…I was coming out of a restaurant with her, I guess the paparazzi didn’t know who she was, and the paper said, ‘Foxx with young hottie’. It just kills you because she’s so grown, but she’s only 14,” he said.

I hope that he’s only joking – it’s not Corrine’s fault that she looks older. The fact that she looks older does not mean that feels older or will act older. Allowing kids to date, it’s a trust thing – you’ve got to trust the teen, you’ve got to trust their date – and it’s not easy, but I’ve found that the more rules and restrictions you put on your teen, the more they try to sneak around. You cannot be with them 24 hours a day and at some point they have to learn to make smart decisions for themselves.

My daughter is 16 and she’s been dating since she was 14. She would have been allowed to go out on group dates before that point, but she really wasn’t that interested. She liked boys, but she knew that she didn’t want the responsibility of a boyfriend.  Don’t tell her that I’m sharing this, but I think she was afraid of the first kiss and she used to make jokes about how she’d high five her groom instead of kissing him at the end of her marriage ceremony.  That sounds incredibly young and innocent doesn’t it?  Well at the time she said it, she was frequently mistaken for an adult. The way a kid looks on the inside it does not always have a direct correlation to how they feel on the inside.

Young girls, sometimes they develop early (I was one of these girls) and can bring on unwelcome comments and stares. The girl cannot help how the people around her act, but the boys her age, chances are not going to push things any farther than the young girl would. We have this idea that all kids are totally hormonally and sexed-up, but that’s how we adults think, not most 14 year-old boys. My daughter talks to me all the time about being a virgin when she gets married. This is something that her pediatrician has talked to her about, as well. I have never pushed abstinence.  I hope that she waits until she’s ready (no mom really wants to think about her daughter being sexually active), but in the meantime I talk to her about being safe, not abstinent.  She has a serious boyfriend now. They spend a lot of time together and she’s still sure that this is what she wants. I respect her commitment to what she knows is right for her.

It’s very hard, but at a certain point, you’ve got to loosen those apron strings and let your teen out into the world, at least on a trial basis.  Dating is practice and teens are definitely people in need of practice. So, Jamie Foxx, I advise you to relax a little. Tell your daughter to put another layer on, if it makes you more comfortable, but those teenage years fly by and before you know it, she’s going to be out on her own in the world. Wouldn’t you like her out there with at least a clue of how to take care of herself on a date? If she looks mature now, what do you thinks she’s going to look like at 18?  And those 14-year-old boys, well I’m fairly certain that by 18, they will have sex on their mind.  And parents, the same is true for teenage boys – they need to learn how to act around girls, as well.

Let them learn how to relate to their peers of the opposite sex. Your child will let you know when they are ready for this step – it’s scary, but teens have been growing up and going on dates for years. You cannot keep them children forever.

What do you think?  What age did you begin dating at?  If you have kids or when you do have kids, what age do you feel is an appropriate age to begin dating?

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An Argument In Favor of Teen Dating

I know, I’m despising them for one very simple reason: I’m not getting kissed like that. I don’t know if I’ve been kissed like that in a very long time. In fact, I can sit here and quite fondly remember when I was kissed like that, by whom, and how much I absolutely fell in love with him when he did kiss me like that. And it was like, 9 years ago.

But I’m not being kissed like that NOW.
I haven’t been in a long time.

Damn these friggin’ romantic-y mushy love stuff commercials.

I know they’re ploy, too. They want me, little Miss Singledom, to sit here and think, “Oh wow, I should buy that crap because when I do, I’ll get kissed, just. Like. That.”

You know what? Eff them. I happen to have very pretty lips, soft and full. Any man would melt at the sheer thought of being able to kiss my lips. And I don’t need no stinkin’ Nivea lip balm to do it either, I tell ya.

Grr.

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Nivea Kiss Commercials

Suite101.com has a thorough article covering the anthropological origins of the kiss:

So who invented kissing? Anthropologists think kissing’s origins are to be found in primitive times when mothers chewed food and transferred it directly from their mouths to their babies’ mouths, a method of preparing baby food that is still practiced in some cultures today. Another theory comes from the Ziller Valley of Central Europe where pre-chewed tobacco was exchanged between males and females. The man would hold a piece of tobacco was exchanged between males and females. The man would hold a piece of tobacco between his teeth and invite a girl to grasp it with her teeth which would cause her to press her mouth on his.

Whenever or wherever the kiss first came about, it’s always nice to relive our first experiences with it. And we’re interested to know how your first kiss came about, and how it was. Feel free to share by commenting below.

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The Origins of the Kiss

Hmmm.

I’ve heard it said that it’s best to go to that New Year’s Eve party with someone you’d want to kiss when the clock strikes twelve because word has it that he might just be “the one”. Does anybody know who started this tradition? In my country, it being a conservative one at that, we really don’t practice the kissing on the lips part when we welcome the new year. It’s unacceptable to kiss someone outside matrimony. But, of course, things are a bit lighter now. Some people who belong in the older generation would allow kissing between couples even when they’re not married yet.

Anyway, I digress.

Simply put, we don’t practice it so I really don’t have a good grasp on this one but I certainly am curious. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Though, thinking about kissing that guy on midnight — complete with confetti, fireworks, tooting horns and all — seems pretty exciting and romantic. Add the thought that you just might end up with him, granted that you like him, is like the cherry to sweeten the whole thing! LOL.

So, tell me — do you have someone to kiss?

Countdown… 3.. 2.. 1..

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The New Year’s Eve Kiss