Harrington House

My Jack's Haircut

Against my better judgement, I hauled Jack Jack into an actual hair salon (as opposed to my kitchen counter) and asked a stranger to just trim his hair up a bit.  I begged for her mercy and forgiveness as she was about to discover his hair was the product of my two years' worth of playing kitchen beautician.  When she got started, I explained that I "like it a longer as he is still a baby."  I watched on as she chopped off all my baby's pretty hair.  Wringing my hands.  Gritting my teeth.  Minutes later, she was done.  And that's when it happened.  Right then, I witnessed a little boy hop out of the chair where I had just set my baby.  

Nigella's Homemade Toffee Sauce

My first introduction to Nigella Lawson was through my college roommate Brooke.  She brought home this cookbook:

In our tiny kitchen, we fried beignets and ate mozzarella in carrozza (do you love that?), which is basically the grilled cheese of your dreams.  Now, in college, I barely had two nickels to rub together.  But once in a blue moon, I'd get a break from turkey sandwiches, and we'd eat something out of this book.  ;o)  Since college, I have used many of her recipes, and she has yet to lead me astray.  If you don't know Nigella, you should!  

Homemade Toffee Sauce

3/4 stick unsalted butter
2 T dark corn syrup
3/4 cup + 1 T dark brown sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream

Melt butter, syrup, and sugar in pan and slowly bring to boil, allowing sugar and butter to melt.  Let mixture bubble for a couple minutes before carefully adding cream.  Cook for a couple more minutes till it is thick and glossy.

 

The toffee sauce above is her recipe.  It is incredibly easy, and it is incredibly rich!  I usually make it with a pound cake and ice cream, but we just had it with the ice cream tonight.  Still very good!

 

Beating the Heat

Being the warm weather birds that we are, you can bet your bottom dollar we are thriving in this summer's delivery of hot and hotter.  With our air conditioning hardly a match against near triple digits, we are beating the heat the best way we know how ... cold water straight out of the house.  Add in some galvanized tubs from the hardware store and that is how we are spending our days.  I got creative this year and bought a bifurcated hose connector so that Jack and Amelia each have their own hoses.  It may well be one missed opportunity for a good lesson in sharing, but my backyard grass has never been greener.  :o)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the grilling we (Mike) has been doing.  

I will definitely miss our back porch when we leave.  It is certainly not anything fancy.  But we have a covered portion of the porch that has a large ceiling fan ... large enough to keep both the heat and bugs at bay.  We eat dinner out there most evenings, and Mike and I sit back while Jack and Amelia duel it out with the hoses till the lightning bugs come out.  After they have caught (and likely killed or badly injured) 10 or so, we decide it's best for both the lightning bug population and Jack and Amelia that we all come in for the night.  

One of my favorite parts of summer ... the cicadas.  Do y'all love their song as much as I do??

A long time ago (LONG ... like, when I was in the fifth grade long ago), I found some that were just about to "hatch" from their brown casing.  Having never seen this stage, I jarred them (with holed lids, of course) to take to school with me.  Wouldn't you know I set those jars on the dryer in the garage and momma ran a load of laundry that evening ... and well, I fried those little guys.  I found them the next morning, melted at the bottom of those mason jars.  So, naturally, I feel I owe the entire species a little adoration.  

August feels like such a special month to me.  Maybe because it is the last month of summer, and I want to savor every moment of the fleeting season.  There is no denying that late summer has a special charm all its own.  I'm trying to finish all of the things on our "summer list" ... and I'm only about halfway through!  

I have so many things I want to cram in before the summer's end.  I'm on a mission!  :o)  I also had challenged myself to BLOG EVERY DAY for the month of August.  And, well, I missed the first day.  So I will put that on my list of things to work on ... alongside of the item:  

Learn to take decent pictures with a tripod.

Oh, well.  As my daddy would say, "Speak at ya tomorrow."  ;o)