Terry and I get to travel a lot, but this summer we decided to plant a garden which meant we needed to stay home and care for it. In the ten years we've lived in Woodland, Washington, we've never stayed home all summer and are usually gone for over a month of it. Being the homebody that I am, I have never enjoyed a summer more!
I'm currently getting ready to host my bonus family for two weeks and Kristi (my bonus daughter) asked if I would please serve them exactly what we eat on a low-carb, high fat diet. What a challenge! I wonder how the kids (9, 11, 13) will handle no sugar in the house? It's going to be fun to confront the traditional high carb expectations of the season, like s'mores, ice cream, pie, popsicles, and my family famous cookies (which are now ancient history).
She also asked me in the most diplomatic way a woman could when speaking to her stepmother, if "we" could not talk about low carb. In other words, that's all we talk about these days and we don't want to beat a dead (in this case) a reluctant horse (Ted, her husband) with yak about low carb eating.
That's going to be hard. On the one hand I know I'll feel the need to apologize for the absence of potatoes, pasta, bread and desserts. I think I'll have to use one of my own Mouth Traps or at least have them handy when the urge comes to brag, lecture, suggest, sway or blather on about our diet and how happy and healthy we are. See, there I go with you. As my mother would say, "Tick-a-lock," as she'd act like she had a key up to her lips and she locked her mouth.
I will be sharing the recipes I come up with because I receive so many positive emails from those of you who are going low carb and enjoying my SHEs in the Kitchen videos on my new website. I'll also report back on how everyone fared. Will I recruit another family away from the hazards of sugar, refined grains, potatoes and pasta, or will they start going into sugar shock in the middle of their stay? We'll have to wait to find out.
In the meantime I intend to relish being at home during this wonderful time of year.
I wrote this poem about summer for our book Sidetracked Home Executives: from pigpen to paradise and it still makes me happy when I read it!
Summertime is sippin' lemonade and feelin' cool.
Summertime's a jackknife off the board into the pool.
Summertime's a hammock strung between two big oak trees,
Lookin' at the sky of blue, listenin' to the breeze.
Summertime is baseball games and re-runs on TV.
Summertime is mowin' lawns and steppin' on a bee.
Summertime is picnics in the park with lots of ants.
Summertime is bare feet and a hole torn in your pants.
Summertime is butterflies and daisies growing wild.
In summertime it's easy to enjoy life like a child.
Summertime is tanning cream and soaking in the sun
Roll over on your tummy when your back is done.
Summertime's a special time to share your light with all
So what you can't have sugar, you still can have a ball
(Okay, that last line is not the one that's in the book; I just made it up!)