And some potty unsuccess

After about five accidents, but a few successes, I decided this afternoon that if I was going to have any relief from mopping up messes, I would have to put a diaper on that boy. Around 5:00, I finally did. What a relief! I think I'd had enough for the day; we'll probably start back over tomorrow.

On the other hand, I had great success last night in the kitchen. I'm sure Aunt Ma would not be at all impressed with this news; she was born baking pies. I baked my first cherry pie, thanks to Mark Bittman and his indispensable cookbook, How to Cook Everything. We had some nicely tart cherries from the store, just right for a pie. Yummy, though a little runny because there wasn't enough arrowroot (I had doubled the cornstarch amount, maybe triple it next time?). It tasted even better on the second night! New Daddy has loved cherry pies ever since his Mimi used to bake them in the mountains. He was very pleased.

I also made my first successful batch of raw milk kefir (KEE fur-- I had always wondered that). When it was culturing, I would smell it, and not be so sure about all of that business. But, after it thickened and became more tart, it was actually not unpleasant at all. After a call to Jennifer to figure out how to fish out the grains, I finally had a finished product. It made a wonderful strawberry smoothie for lunch! The kids kept asking for more, so I guess I should have made a double recipe, instead of one and a half. I've been on a hiatus from making yogurt lately, so maybe this will help supply the good tummy-bugs we've been needing.