We’re midway through May and in bakery news, the refrigerator is temporarily cooling which is a relief! June’s subscriptions are up on the site if you want to grab next months loaves ahead of time.
On the homefront, as a blended family with 2 moms, mothers day takes on an extra special holiday for my girlfriend Jill and I. We spent Saturday morning at Vanderhelm Farms with our combined 5 sons picking blueberries and cherries in the warm valley sun. Our boys can eat their weight in fruit every summer so it’s a great kickoff to the warmer months that we observe every year on mother’s day weekend, weaving through the varieties of berries and finding the ripest ones under a cloudless sky.
After working up a sweat, we all jumped in the pool to rinse off our salty bodies, dusty legs and stained fingers. I made a lemon and jasmine tea cake and worked up some duck egg pasta dough flecked through with thyme leaves. It’s our third year running of rolling out handmade pasta with the kids together on mother’s day, with my 13 year old Gabe taking an increasingly senior role, the youngest Noah putting all of his 4 year old verve into the cranking on the manual machine, while someone tries to keep him from accidentally heading into reverse and gumming up the works. Sparkling wine, pasta and cake luxuriating under macerated cherries are all very fine with tea and sentimental cards exchanged. We rest, content.
Sunday I spent time with my kids in our neighborhood doing what we like best. Getting coffee at Penny University and looking at a big book of Norman Rockwell paintings in the library. Singin’ in the Rain in beautiful nostalgic technicolor at the State Theatre with plenty of buttered popcorn and crispy icy coca cola. Reading Judy Blume aloud with Leo at home and laughing until we fall into an afternoon nap together. A run to the Asian Market for seaweed potato chips, canned boba teas, and instant ramens. A loop around the nearby goodwill to look at funny shirts (I bought one that says “stay trashy” with a raccoon on it).
Motherhood being a seemingly thankless and never-ending gig is possibly the most common refrain. I know how much it all takes and yet. I truly don’t feel unappreciated by my kids, who have been in this life with me. We’ve done life together, my labor never invisible to them. We’ve sweated side by side wrangling clothes in the hot laundromat, scrubbing and putting away dishes after having friends over, chopping vegetables and making pasta dough side by side, and walked all over to get where we need to go.
I definitely don’t feel unappreciated by my girlfriend who knows all too well the many hours that go into the job. These past 3 Mother’s day with two mom’s have been the best we’ve both ever had. Leaving behind the begrudging, lackluster and occasional ignoring we both experienced in the past. Now we end the holiday feeling nourished, appreciated, and celebrated in our own unique skills we each bring to parenting. I make her a latte, she makes me breakfast. I grill the asparagus while she blanches an artichoke.