Current Favorites: Part 1

I think it's about time for another top 10. Don't you? And because I'm feeling wordy, let's go ahead and give each item it's own special post. Check back everyday until I'm done. I think I've got at least 10 things to share with you.

Item number one: Ataulfo Mango

Don't confuse these with the other variety of mango you will find in your typical grocery store. I find Ataulfo Mangoes at Costco. Grown by Freska Produce, these little babies are sweeter, deeper orange in color and more creamy (less fibrous/stringy) in texture than regular mangoes. They never taste soapy like their unripe cousins, either. And the best part is that they are cheaper.

Our family eats at least 12 a week, sometimes more. And I put them in my most favorite desert of all time.

Which recipe I'll share with you because I love you. It's adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe:

Mango Raspberry Crisp - Serves 8

6 mangoes, peeled and pitted
2 half-pint container raspberries
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

FOR THE CRUMB MIXTURE
6 tablespoons plus 2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup finely ground nuts*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the mangoes into 3/4-inch pieces; transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon juice, 6 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoon flour, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together nuts, salt, remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, and 2/3 cup sugar until combined. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or two knives, until the mixture is crumbly. Continue working in the butter until completely incorporated and there are no dry crumbs. Squeeze mixture together to create pea-size to half-inch clumps.

Add the raspberries to the reserved mangoes, and pour into a 2 quart glass baking dish. Place nut-and-flour mixture on top, allowing some of the fruit to show through. Bake until top is golden brown and the fruit juices are thick and bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; place on a wire rack until slightly warm. Serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream.

*Martha recommends hazelnuts, which I have used with delicious, yet expensive results. I use walnuts or pecans normally; just grind them up in a blender.

Fridge

Are you one of those people that has a spotlessly clean, gleaming fridge? I'm... not. Our fridge is Command Central at our house. It keeps the kids from asking Can I Play? or What's for dinner?. One glance and they know what they need to finish before they can have free time, what their responsibility is for family night, and what we're having for dinner tonight and tomorrow.

Those kids meal toys from Sonic have been the only fast food toys that have not found their way to the landfill or the thrift store. And, as I'm posting this, I'm noticing that someone has, again, erased the GOOD CLEAN under Friday. Those pesky kids!

Refuge

The kids and I took a trip to Zion National Park for Memorial Day weekend. We swam at the pool, ate pizza in our hotel, drove through the tunnels, hiked to waterfalls, and discovered a perfect picnic spot: hidden from the road, tucked in between two towering sandstone cliffs, a floor of fine, cool, white sand.

A refuge.

In this quiet spot I felt an overwhelming sense that this was a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father who knew about the burdens and heartache in my life. A time to refresh my spirit and reconnect with my Creator.

And then Micah threw a bloody stump of a lizard tail at me. I laughed more in those three days than I have the last three months.

If you are planning a trip, do stop at the Springdale Fruit Company. They offer sandwiches on focaccia bread, organic produce, and a porch swing.

Skip the Zion Canyon Giant Screen Theater.

Everyone should take a trip to a crowded public place with a three-year-old at least once. And they should ride public transportation. Announcements like: Mom, I just farted! take on another meaning when you are on a crowded shuttle bus with 50 strangers.

It was a great trip. I fell in love with my kids and being a mother all over again. A girl we met at the pool kept telling me how she admired me for "doing it alone with four kids." I smiled but thought to myself: you don't know my kids.

Help a girl out

So, I have a dilemma. I have foot problems. I need a pair of summer sandals that can handle a day at Sea World. Also, I am super cheap.

That's where you come in. My lame-o $7.99 flip flops are not going to work. I just went to run a few errands with them on and now my toe hurts so bad that I think I cried a little. (Let's keep that between you and me, 'kay?)

Here are a few sandals I have been thinking about. What do you think? Any other suggestions? You should probably know that:

a.) They have to be really well-supportive and comfortable, but I am also vain. Form and function required.

b.) I inexplicably loathe the gladiator-style sandal. Possibly more than skinny jeans.

Please help. Thanks!

Option 1: Naturalizer Women's Camden Sandal

Option 2: privo Women's Abria Sandal

Option 3: Kenneth Cole REACTION Women's Sun Room Wedge Thong Sandal

A Vacuum Fairy Tale

A long time ago, in a land far, far away two young newlyweds purchased a vacuum from a traveling salesman. They used it dutifully for many years, paying the high price of the filters set by evil Filter Queen company. Then one day, the now gray and hardened wife hatched a plan to thwart this evil in her life.

And so she did.

She tossed the vacuum into a vast pit so no one would ever have to be plagued by it again. And she requested a new vacuum from the Amazon Fairy because it came recommended from the land of Consumer Reports. It was magically delivered to her door with no cost at all.

Now she and her children vacuum happily in their quaint cottage nestled against towering mountains. And she rests easy in the knowledge that she can buy 44 Hoover Tempo Widepath Vacuums for the price she paid for the first vacuum.

The end.

i did not doubt my mother knew it

i had a magical childhood. i sang, i danced, i drew and i dreamed—encouraged every step of the way by my mother.

we went on family vacations, camping trips; she signed me up for drawing and pottery classes; she drove me to singing lessons, ballet lessons, flute lessons, piano lessons, church youth groups. she taught me how to make jam and grind my own wheat and feel comfortable being myself.

she had nine children. became the guardian of four more when her sister died unexpectedly. and then one foster daughter when another sister couldn't take her in anymore.

every good part of me i owe to her. i love you mom. i hope you know how much.

race recap

i ran my first half marathon of the year on saturday. also, the first since my toe nerves declared war on me.

it was hard. it rained, hailed and snowed the whole time. i was cold. i bled all over my shoes. i got my worst time yet. the battery on my nike+sensor died. after the race my 11-year-old said to me, "mom, you look like lady gaga."

also, it was fun. i met someone during the race who said, "hey, are you a melzer?" isn't that great? she went to school with my sister and somehow recognized me. we ran together for awhile before i had to slow down. nice to meet you, christy owens.

so, after all that, i've come to realize something: there are two types of people in the world. those that would pay $30 extra to choose their own combo of colors on their running shoes and those that would not. i know what type i am. what type are you?