I am prone to over share sometimes so I will be brief.

This is the first August in many decades that I will not walk into my own classroom.  (I started out teaching high school English straight out of college.)   Or, my own counseling office.  (I was the school counselor for eight years.)   Or the principal’s office.  (I was the high school principal for thirteen years.)

These experiences were all at the same small rural school.

I won’t have to make hard decisions about suspending students.  I will not have to be standing on bus duty by 7 AM every morning.   I will not have to wait for that final bus to pull through in the late afternoons in driving rain or freezing temperatures.   I WON’T HAVE TO DRIVE A BUS!

I can actually have a hair style now and wear cute (not sensible) shoes.

Although I will still be in the public school system, I will not be in charge.   Instead I will be working as a consultant with two different larger districts.

It is refreshing and I am looking forward to it!  Really, you have no idea.

I will miss the families (some of which I was nearing seeing three generations come through the building).  I will miss the teachers who were dedicated to always doing less with more.   I will miss some of my very best friends who always made me laugh, even on the worse days.   But, I am looking forward to new adventures and journeys.  It’s going to be a great year.

🙂

So, that’s what’s new with me.  Now on to the kitchen.

The squash and cucumber plants have bitten the dust, probably due to neglect.   We are still getting lots of  cherry tomatoes and peppers.  Our eggplant (which I have never had good luck with) is producing and I have picked two beauties.

I decided to pick up this can of puree at the wine making store.   It was expensive ($20) but I actually thought it would be cost effective at the time and besides, good apricots are hard to find.   I concocted an apricot-vanilla jam recipe.   Epic fail and I will not do that again.  Not recommended.  🙁

The newest Cook the Books Club selection is Sourdough  by Robin Sloan.  I highly recommend it and you can read the announcement post here.   I ordered some sourdough starter because I obviously want to make something yeasty for my inspired-by recipe.  Another epic disaster.   We were rocking along fairly well, my cheese cloth covered jar and I.  Then, mold set in.  I threw it out.  Earlier this year after watching the “Air” episode of Cooked with Michael Pollan, I tried capturing my own sourdough culture from our own environment.  Didn’t work out either.  I have one more recipe to try that uses regular yeast to get things frothing.  We will see.  I am not optimistic.

Let’s end this post as I started out—on a positive note!   On a recent trip out of state, I found this delicious local craft brew.   I love the label but the contents are pretty delicious, too, especially for summer.  If you are in Lawrence, KS (a cool college town), check out Free State brewing.

That’s it for this edition of “In My Kitchen.”  IMK is hosted by Sherry Sherry’s Pickings.