Saturday my parents and Niecelet came over for a few hours so the kids could play before we went out to dinner, as a belated Mother's Day celebration for Mom. There had been a 60-piece set of old Franciscan apple pot dishes at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store up in Port Orchard for weeks. Those are my mother's primary dishes, given to her by my grandmother (Dad's mom), who received them as a wedding gift. Mom has added to the collection over the years (some of it the new repro dishes, which are a lighter color and much thicker), and I had sent her a picture of what they had. She told me to let her know if it ever went half off. Well, it did, but I did not let her know; instead, I purchased it and gave her the set as her Mother's Day gift. I also harvested carrots and parsnips from the garden and sent them home with her. (She turned down the offer of rhubarb.)
We went to Massimo's, an Italian restaurant just across the Purdy sand spit. We'd never been there before; I think it was reasonable, and what I ordered tasty enough. Wonderful Husband isn't so sure, but we've agreed to give it another couple tries, ordering different things on the menu. And since Massimo's was quite near Squiddle's new school for next year (he tested into the district's Highly Capable program, and we talked it over with him, went to a few talks and presentations, and in the end he decided he wanted to be challenged more), we did a drive-by so my parents could see it.
Yesterday, I tried to make lamb cawl for dinner. Dismal failure. I had to toss the lot, and had an existential crisis about my inability to cook. My mother is a great cook. Our friend Serge is a great cook. Me... well, I'm a decent baker. At least the soda bread I made turned out well?
