Josh Renaud's weblog detailing the exploits of his family in Ferguson, MO, USA. Starring Yoli, Jadzia, Ludi, Josie, and Joseph Renaud.
This morning I saw morel mushrooms at the Ferguson Farmers Market. I had to buy them.
It goes back to an experience I had last year.
It was March. For the kids’ spring break, we asked Aunt Marcy and Uncle Ken if we could stay a few days at the clubhouse near Clearwater Lake, and they said yes.
The weather was cool and the lake was high, but that was fine by us. We just wanted a safe escape from the pandemic with no worries of running into other people.
From naan bread to Sioux tacos, from Goomba cupcakes to Frankstein cheesecakes, Yoli cooked up some cool stuff this year:
This year it worked out that I didn’t have to work on Thanksgiving. So we headed to down for a two-day celebration at my brother Justin’s. My youngest brother Jon still had to work Thanksgiving, but he and his wife Brittney were able to join us Thursday evening.
It was fun to have everyone together. The kids had lots of fun playing, we busted out the Jaguar for an NBA Jam tournament, we ate a lovely meal, we watched the Cowboys pull off a win, and we all got home safely again.
I’m thankful for such a nice Thanksgiving.
I didn’t photograph exhaustively, but here’s a slideshow of a few fun moments:
After six years, Yoli has finally gotten her due. Her caramel apple pie won the “All-American Pie Contest” with at the Ferguson Farmers Market on Saturday.
There was a lot to do on this Saturday morning: it would be the final Ferguson Farmers Market, plus a “Homecoming” at the Little Creek Nature Area.
Yoli made waffles for breakfast, and then we hit the road for the market. Jadzia and Ludi decorated pumpkins; Yoli, Josie and Joseph listened to the live music; and I bought lots of goodies — apple cider, peppers, fresh ginger, garlic, ground beef, and green beans.
Then it was off to Little Creek. We have visited there many times over the years — it is a frequent field trip destination for preschool and elementary school kids in the Ferguson-Florissant school district.
But this time offered some new experiences. We got to drink nice, hot apple cider and eat some baked goods. Then a high schooler took us on a long hike around several of Little Creek’s trails. We got to see the pond and the actual creek, sites I had never seen on any of my previous visits. Along the way we gathered various items for a scavenger hunt for the three girls.
Ludi had been the one begging us to go to Little Creek in the days leading up to the event. As it turned out, the somewhat chilly hike was too much for her, and she was whiny for much of it. But then we went into the educational building to try some hands-on activities and she perked up. She got even more excited when we headed back to turn in our scavenger hunt bags and pick up little prizes.
We took a look at the apple cider press. We lamented that we had missed an earlier demonstration of how to make cider. And one of the Little Creek workers kindly put on one more demonstration, even though it was noon and the event was technically over. All the kids got to try crushing the apples, and then Jadzia and Joseph took turns with other children turning the press to squeeze out the liquid.
All in all, it was a fun morning. Here are some photos:
Today I took Jadzia to the Challenger Learning Center in Ferguson to have a space mission. It was a surprise that Yoli had long wanted to give to her. The timing was good since we just visited the Houston Space Center in August, and Jadzia has really gotten interested in space.
Yoli made a top notch chocolate cake for our eighth anniversary. It had layers of hazelnut creme between chocolate crepes, and was covered with a chocolate glaze. To top it off, she made candied hazelnuts.
Wow!
Our girls are growing so fast. Jadzia starts kindergarten and Ludi begins preschool this year. So while we were in San Antonio, it seemed about time to introduce them to SeaWorld.
Continue reading “An adventure at SeaWorld, and visiting family”
Today Yoli made a concoction called ‘syllabub’. It’s heavy cream with juice from 2 lemons and 1 orange, white grape juice and a half cup sugar. You whip the cream and add the other stuff.
This recipe came from the American Girls Felicity cookbook.
It was tasty!
