It is so simple and good.
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Thanks for this!
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Happy August to everyone from the Twin Cities of MN where the weather has been all over the place but we had enough rain that Mr Autumm had to mow the weeds. Meal plans have been all over the place lately between CSA over abundance and kiddo’s activities over the dinner hour. Also some issues with me feeling taken for granted in the cooking/cleaning/shopping/laundry world knowing I need to get back in the workforce to maintain my professional license and knowing the hot mess it will be when it happens. Grr. Actuals and a few plans for 2 adults and 2 growing girls. . . where it is safe to presume that cherry tomatoes and cucumbers are being devoured regularly
Mon 31: My birthday. Skating. Drive through take out due to lack of communication. I was not happy
Tues 1: Store bought tortellini with pesto with big kiddo skating.
Weds 2: Swim lessons. Very unexpected rain showers popped up so we were blessed with a nice inch and a half. BLTs with CSA tomatoes and lettuce. Steamed pea pods CISA
Thurs 3: The Skate a thon evening: Greekish tortellini salad for big kiddo, frozen burritos for Mr Autumm and little one, scrounge for me. And it rained again!
Fri 4: Shrimp tacos, sautéed summer squash CSA
Sat 5: Plans were for gyros but the yogurt for the tzatziki had a few bonus live cultures. Thai take out
Sun 6: Efforts to re-create the Beetza were mostly successful. Also a regular pepperoni pizza and a prosciutto arugula fresh mozzarella pizza. Dough from https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-pizza-crust-recipe/
Mon 7: Assorted leftovers with both kiddos skating
Tues 8: Need to do a grocery run and CSA pick up day. We are soooo behind in using up produce
Take care everyone! May you be blessed with moderate temperatures and gentle rains- and may you defeat your family members in Solarquest during said gentle rains!
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Happy belated birthday! Maybe make Mr Autumn take you out this week as a belated celebration and appreciation?
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Happy birthday!
And I second a redo of birthday with an actual celebration!
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Many years ago I was fortunate to attend a leadership class led by Muriel Humphrey (wife of 1965 - 1968 VP Hubert Humphrey). Her advice to working women in leadership / demanding jobs:
“You CAN do it all, just not all at once.”
She went on to advise that we: Make choices to be OK with focus on one or 2 roles at a time over the span of your life. That means NOT working is a valid choice, too. When working, you’ll need to hire household cleaning help, childcare help and meal/cooking/shopping help. The people you hire need the income, and are grateful for the role you play in their lives.
Pivoting to another topic… CSA’s - Every time I considered subscribing to a CSA, I remembered this humorous article describing the tyranny of the CSA box.
"You find yourself declining social invitations. “Thanks, but I’ve got lettuce.” and "You find yourself prioritizing your vegetables, a bizarre kind of kitchen triage. "
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The CSA stuggle is REAL.
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Happy Belated!
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I had always distributed my zucchinis , green beans, peppers and eggplants to friends each summer. Very few of them grow their own vegetables. Up until 2021, people seemed to want vegetables from my garden.
Last year, I had at least 5 friends tell me they didn’t want any. I can understand with respect to one Greek friend who had lost his parents, because he was receiving many vegetables from well intentioned elderly family friends with gardens.
The other people who said no, I don’t get it. I understand not liking green beans (my dog breeder), or radishes (my cousin) or no because you already have way too many zucchinis, but no to all the vegetables I’ve offered? 
LOL.
So I’ve already fallen off the weekly plan.
Monday was prime rib, new potatoes from the garden, roasted tomatoes with pesto, summer squash with basil and green beans. Carrot cake cupcake from the freezer. Rotegruetze.
Tonight, tomato and eggplant parmigiana (not breaded), roasted Italian sausages, zucchini, cauliflower, macaroni, Stefano’s marinara from a jar.
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It’s not too late- per the weather gal tonight Aug 8 is National leave Zucchini on your neighbors porch day.
If you need a random holiday to celebrate . . . Based on tonight’s CSA bin it might be leave corn on the cob on your neighbors porch around here
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It’s a good struggle, and typically I enjoy it. Thankfully the deer have been eating the okra this summer so I don’t have to deal with that. And then this bad boy was in the bin
That’s a 4 ounce cup of peaches for a size reference. It kind of reminds me of a menorah made out of fennel.
It might be moving into the beer fridge with a dozen ears of corn. It’s a good problem to have
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Our anniversary is this weekend so I think we will combine the two. And thank you!
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I appreciate the advice- how amazing it must have been to hear her speak!
As a family we are in a big transition phase and just coming-out of the apartment/reno and all of that we are all craving some stability and it’s just hard to find. Mr Autumm has a newish job with in office days, big kiddo getting ready for middle school, I need a job, a possible skate coach change was thankfully/hopefully deferred for a year and mental health diagnoses and all that jazz. The CSA bin is a manageable challenge- as long as the okra keep being eaten by the deer. Cause life, and we have ants. Tomorrow will be a bad day for the ants
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Jealous of the fennel, but it is a HUGE one… your Mission Impossible…?
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My baking buddy missed that Aug 8 Holiday by a day, but gifted me 2 zucchini yesterday that I happily accepted.
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Happy Friday everyone! I finally made it through the week even though it was a quiet one. I think I overdid it with the walking last Sunday so I decided to stick close to home this week. (I went to a movie then two festivals in one afternoon so I covered a lot of ground.) I had achy joints in my legs this week - my brain thinks I am still 20 but my body reminds me I am not! 
I took a sick day yesterday to rest up some more so yesterday’s day in the office was bumped to today. There are lots of people in the office today! I didn’t expect to see so many people here on a Friday This weekend I plan on doing a little clothes shopping. I’m not sure there will be any summer clothes left but it will give me a chance to see what styles will be coming out for the fall. Even though the mandates lifted over a year ago I am still catching up on replacing worn out clothes. On to my menus for this week for a solo diner in Ottawa, Canada:
Today: Lunch is from a burger restaurant in the food court of my office building. I usually pick up take-out from a nearby restaurant but there are two restaurants in my office building that I like and haven’t been to in ages so lunch today is a bacon blue cheese burger. Dinner will be the usual salad.
Saturday: Barbequed chicken from last weekend’s ribfest. I ordered a combo meal which included 1/3 of a rack of ribs which I ate last Sunday and I also got a chicken breast which is big enough for two servings so I will have one tonight and the other next weekend. I will have a corn-on-the-cob from yesterday’s CSA.
Sunday: Spring roll bowl.
Monday: Ginger bok choy with noodles.
Tuesday: Cashew chicken, rice. Veggies tbd. @MunchkinRedux shared this recipe recently and it looks really good. I am looking forward to trying it.
Wednesday: Thai beef curry.
Thursday: Linguine with zucchini and mint from epicurious so it is now behind a paywall.
On another note we got an epic thunderstorm yesterday with thunder so loud it sounded like fireworks were going off in my apartment and lightning so bright it lit up my apartment. It just rained a lot downtown but many neighbourhoods were flooded. This gives you a good idea of what it looked like in Ottawa yesterday.
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My experience is that the warranty starts to run out when you hit 50. Not sure if you’re there yet, but the aches and pains really start coming in then.
Then spring roll bowl looks good! And we had cashew chicken about a week ago (not the same recipe, but similar) and it was such a hit.
LLD will be in Ottawa (and Montreal) this coming week visiting a friends.
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I’m 58 now so I can say that this is true 
I grew up in Montreal and moved to Ottawa when I graduated from university so I can confirm LLD made a good choice of cities to visit Although I believe he is from Ottawa? I hope he brings an umbrella. I think the weatherman is predicting more rain but hopefully no more downpours like yesterday.
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Yep, I’m guessing you understand about the warranty issues!
LLD was born in Montreal, and as a kid lived there and Quebec City and Ottawa. Then just before he started university the family moved to Vancouver’s suburbs. He had planned to rent a bike and ride some trails while in Ottawa, but the weather definitely doesn’t seem good for that!
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That’s too bad. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope the rain holds off. There is a lovely bike path that runs parallel to the Ottawa river but it might be flooded due to the rain we got yesterday. Some parts of the path are awfully close to the river so when the river ice melts in the spring it is often June before we can cycle there. If LLD likes hills there is the Gatineau Park and cycling there should be okay especially if he stays on the parkway.
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