Comforts

Today was my work's annual luncheon, our biggest fundraiser for the year. The event continues to grow in attendance and revenue. Everything was great about today - great audience, great vendors, great stories told. But I think the nicest part of my day was back at the office.

Fellow staffers opened up a few of the leftover bottles of wine and we toasted our organization's work and our successes; I had kicked off my shoes. Everyone who was in the office this afternoon was crammed into the office's kitchen. And it was nice. It's important to me to really want to be at work - especially when it means time away from Jack and Jossie. I care about these people and they care about me, and that's comforting to know.

I was ready to order take-out when I got home tonight but had one last burst of energy and made this fairly simple pasta for our dinner instead. All of the comfort of macaroni and cheese with a bit of autumn thrown in:

Linguine with pumpkin Parmesan sauce

1 pound long strand linguine
1 tablespoon butter
2 small shallots, diced
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 15-ounce pumpkin puree
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

In a saucepan heat the butter until just melted and add the shallots. Cook the shallots until soft, about 8 minutes. Add salt. Pour in the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, and chicken stock.

Stir the mixture well over medium heat until smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan until just melted and serve with cooked linguine.

This is a great kid-friendly dish with pantry ingredients. I think next time I'll add a little sage.

Jeremy is on a business trip tonight. It's a rainy night in Chicago, and I have a glass of wine to cozy up with. The kids miraculously went to bed early, so I can just relax my aching legs. Good night, my friends.

As the work week draws to a close

My rallying cry for motherhood is "we just do the best we can." Can I get an Amen, ladies? I most recently said it to one of my friends on the topic of breastfeeding, but it's pretty much applicable to all aspects of parenting.

I've had a week of questioning of where I'm needed most. I was reminded today that I can be at work, and my kids are being loved and are happy. That's the best any mom can hope for. Many thanks to Maria for sending me this picture at lunchtime today as I ate at my desk; I needed it. 

And save some french fries for me.

Read all about it

Jeremy and I both had exciting stories to pitch to the media yesterday. His was slightly bigger. Have you ever heard of Walmart and Target? But I was still geeked out on my  green story to tell too - the U.S. Secretary of the Interior authorized the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge. I love the quote from my Openlands' colleague - the idea for the refuge started at the "kitchen table." The reality that something big can start with something small is reaffirming and inspiring.

I literally ran to work this morning to continue to work with awesome colleagues on this project and spread the love to our supporters. Okay, to be honest, my running was part-excitement and part-dodging the rain and lightning.

The project excites me to because it's the first for the Chicago metropolitan region - third largest in the country, mind you - and it also highlights private and public partnerships - not merely a government hand-out.

This is where work and personal life beautifully collide for me - knowing that the place I earn a paycheck is making a difference in people's lives is the most I could ask for. (I just learned recently it's okay to end sentences with prepositions.)

Doing what you love

I'm working my way through this article - I know I've limited myself in my professional pursuits to ensure I have had flexibility for my family life. And in other ways, I feel unlimited in my personal pursuits, being in control of my work schedule, never traveling for work and having a full-time caregiver who loves my children like her own.  In my own small way, I am hoping I am doing my part for women's equality, being a mostly happy mother who has found balance and meaning at work.  I do not have it all but I'm happy for what I've worked hard to have. 

And the irony that I type this one-handed as I cradle Jossie in my other arm is not lost on me.

I'm high on work right now. We had a retreat Thursday afternoon to talk about the "why" of Openlands. The how and what of our organization's work are easy to describe but why do we do what we do is much more complicated. It's intensely personal, as the staff and board in this point in the organization's history help shape these concepts. The closest we came Thursday to a draft was that we believe nature is essential to our well-being. Agree or disagree?

As my BFF pointed out, Openlands is a nice place to work. On Friday, we held our summer picnic at a neighborhood garden that we helped protect in Chicago's South Deering neighborhood. Typically, on these summer picnic days, we unofficially have the morning off and then come together in the midday for a picnic. Jeremy took the day off as well, and he and I had breakfast alone at Milk & Honey Cafe, one of our favorites. Then it was time for the picnic. There was shade, white wine in plastic glasses, and a contained area for the children to play. The weather's heat had broken and there was a nice breeze and milder temperatures.

We all bring something, and I brought a cake that BFF had made for us the weekend before. This is a cake you could make any night of the week - simple and all of the ingredients you probably have on hand, even buttermilk (to make your own buttermilk, mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes). You could use any type of berry you have available.

Raspberry buttermilk cake
Adapted from Gourmet

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
8 oz fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Enjoy with ice cream or whipped cream.

Space

I felt like I lived this week in 15-minute increments, going from one activity to the next. Early on in the week, my lack of sleep and lack of space to think was showing - my brain wasn't making connections fast enough and I felt exhausted. And it was only Monday night.

Wednesday was my Super Woman day - worked a few hours, volunteered in Jack's classroom, had a parent-teacher conference, had a doctor's appointment, worked a few more hours, made dinner, took Jack to his swim class, got the kids ready for bed and then worked another hour. I was shaking with exhaustion when I went to bed. And I know many a person in my life who pushes themselves to the limits like this. 

Today, I'm slowly gaining back parity in my time. Maybe I mean sanity. I worked most of the day from home, close to my babies and in comfy clothes. Jossie is so close to walking.  Tonight, it's good. I'm having a glass of our summer favorite white wine on our fourth-floor balcony. Helicopters periodically buzz over, as security precautions for the NATO summit, but otherwise the evening is calm with slight warm breezes.

We all need space. Space to think and let our minds wander. To ponder, to explore, to test. The older I get, which is not that old just yet, I'm learning the value in rest and reflection.

Summer annuals sit at my feet this night, waiting to be planted. Jeremy and I took the kids tonight to one of my favorite greenhouses in Chicago, Christy Webber Landscapes Farm & Garden Center, formerly Grand Street Gardens. Just five months ago, we were there on a December Friday night, picking out our small but mighty Christmas tree, and tonight we pulled our red wagon around, picking out vibrant pink, purple and yellow flowers. Fill, spill and thrill, a family friend once told us when it comes to container boxes.

I have found the perfect green for my containers - the asparagus fern. This morning, I had a breakfast meeting with a colleague at Jam in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, and I just loved the spiky green plants they had around their outdoor seating. I called the restaurant later in the day, happened to get the owner on the phone, who was super-excited about these plants, giving me all of the details. I promise a picture of our finished boxes soon. Happy weekend, loves.