Sea La Vie Salvage

Back to School... It's that time of year again, when backpacks, lunch boxes and school supplies replace the patio furniture and pool toys at Target.  With school-aged kids back in class, the days quickly return to a familiar routine...  homework, after-school practices, and regular bedtimes.  But for those of us with college-aged "kids," it's the end of an era and the beginning of a new and unfamiliar "normal."  We've packed up boxes and loaded up cars and U-hauls, only to return home to empty nests.  Sure, there's less laundry and grocery shopping - the package of Oreos doesn't disappear overnight - the house stays clean, and we can go back to watching whatever we want on TV.  But as I wander through the tidy rooms, I am met with a quietness that makes me long for those messy, noisy days of summer and childhood.  My "kids" (now 19 and almost 22) are back at college and sharing an apartment halfway between both of their campuses, so I...

I know I had you thinking about Christmas (in July!) with my last post, but the summer heat keeps reminding me that it's still, well, summer!  Last week we took my nephews to pick strawberries at Gizdich Ranch  in Watsonville - one of my favorite summer traditions!  It is nearing the end of the picking season here, and the fields were full of the ripe, red berries, so it wasn't difficult to fill more buckets than we could carry. When my kids were young, I used to dress them in old, red t-shirts so the strawberry juice they dribbled down their chins from snacking didn't leave a lasting impression.  Like the kids, it's impossible for me to resist tasting a few of the freshly picked ones, still a little dusty from the field and warm from the sun. With so many ripe berries, it's a fun challenge to find ways to eat and preserve them before they spoil.  My dad makes the best jam, but this year my jam attempt ended in a happy accident we are calling "st...