weekend things

I've been delighting in my little oasis  of an apartment for the past few days. I made certain I could enjoy my long weekend by doing a cleaning marathon Friday night. I just C A N N O T relax in mess. It stresses me out. But I'm thanking my Friday Libby for doing the work because I could just enjoy my space over the weekend.

But it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a kitchen in possession of a clean workspace, must be in want of a mess. [Pride & Prejudice on the brain. No apologies.] And so I baked. I made a nectarine and raspberry galette on Saturday morning while my boys were sleeping-in and there was a lovely stillness in my clean kitchen. Galettes are my go-to because you get the flaky satisfaction of a pie but without the fuss. Make the crust, roll it, fill it, and flop those edges over however you please. This is why they're called "rustic tarts*." And we all know "rustic" is just a polite word for sloppy. But by that standard, a lot of my food is "rustic."

Then Sunday afternoon a friend came over and played with Roger and kept me company while I further cluttered my kitchen and made an experimental no-recipe nectarine upside-down cake. I baked it in the mini copper bundt pan I recently thrifted. It has decorative molding to make the cake F A N C Y, but I wasn't sure if my mad-scientist cake batter concoction would do it justice. It worked out better than I hoped—it wasn't too dry or over/under leavened. It baked up just right. When my friend and I were taste-testing it we both felt the crumb was a little course and almost too soft. It reminded me of pancakes. But I still feel like it was a win because it didn't explode or burn on the outside and turn to slime on the inside or something. 

I could have baked Monday as well but we went outside instead. We walked all the way from our house to downtown Sioux Falls and it was such a nice walk that Dave and I were both mentally kicking ourselves for never having done it till now. New weekend ritual?

And now summer is really over, ceremonially concluded with this lovely long weekend. And I have a short workweek to dream and plan my projects for next weekend. Maybe I'll embrace the fall and make apple pie. Maybe I'll find more wildflowers on the side of the road to gather before the frost and allow to grace my kitchen table. And I will hopefully have the company of a dear friend from MN here next weekend so I will have a guinea pig (other than Dave) on whom to test a recipe.

*it's "galette" to the Francophile, and "rustic tart" to the normal folk. Personally I prefer "galette." Much like I prefer "hericot vert" to "French beans." Just sounds prettier.