This Tuesday eve/Wednesday was Tu B’Av, a Jewish Valentine’s Day of sorts. I wish I had told you about it last week so we could have prepared together. But like most things in my life right now, I didn’t have any capacity to prepare.
Tu B’Av traditionally coincided with the grape harvest so it’s also a time of year to enjoy fruits of the Earth. If the Earth laughs in flowers, then the Earth must love with fruit.
Two years ago we got married on Tu B’Av (an auspicious day to get married). This year we celebrated with summery meals al fresco with friends, lots of fruit, and even some ice cream.
Fruit is so abundant right now.
There are plum trees with ripe fruit everywhere around town. I pick them and snack on them as I walk the dog. Blackberry bushes abound. You have to have some patience and not mind getting pricked to enjoy them. The grapes in our backyard are juicy and overflowing. Blueberries and ripe peaches have popped up at the market. It’s the most delicious time of year.
The only way to keep Hadassah, who does not like to be contained, happy in the hiking backpack is to feed her an endless stream of freshly picked blackberries in her chariot, like the queen she is.
This time of year also seems to be the time to indulge in some sweet treats.
On Monday we went out for a walk after dinner and then the four of us (Isaak, Hadassah, Mesa, and I) shared a scoop of homemade tayberry ice cream. Usually I like the idea of going out for ice cream more than the reality, but this felt so indulgent and healing.
If you know me, you know that I’ve been aggressively anti-sugar for a while. I had to be because of Lyme Disease. But now I’ve healed the Lyme and am able to be a bit more lenient. I’ll have a small glass of wine or a bite of gluten free donut and expect to get sick, but then be happily surprised when I’m okay. It’s like when Hadassah falls or hits her head and I wait expectantly for her to start crying, but then she doesn’t. She’s okay. I’m okay.
A while back I wrote about how I was preparing for Hadassah’s first birthday. I had my heart set on making a felt crown and a fruit-sweetened smash cake. I wasn’t sure if was going to be able to make the crown. It hilariously took my mom and I thirty minutes to figure out how to thread an embroidery needle. But, a few false starts and YouTube tutorials later, the crown turned out great. Hadassah wore it well last week on her first birthday while enjoying a smash cake. This was a big milestone!
Now that I made one crown, I want to make more! I’m already planning this as birthday gifts to other babies I know. People have suggested I could sell them in boutiques in San Francisco or at the Oregon Country Fair. We will see, but if you’re in need of a birthday crown, please get in touch.
We’ve been letting Hadassah have bites of sweet treats now that she’s one. I always assumed I’d be strict about what she eats, but I’m finding the middle path of parenting to be right for me. Most of the time, she eats the best quality local and organic foods we can find, but if we’re eating some sorbet for dessert, then she can have some too.
But truly, nothing is as sweet as having a cuddly, charming, funny, joyful one year-old. She’s learning new things every day and has all sorts of words and signs. This season of having a baby feels like summer. It’s such a sweet time and yet I know it can’t last forever.
I’m off to pick more plums and blackberries to make locally-harvested fruit crisp. I hope you’re also feeling the love of the Earth with all this delicious fruit. Here’s a recipe for the best first birthday (or any birthday) cake around.
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