Be so nucleic

Does anyone else out there find spam subject lines fascinating? "Be so nucleic." I certainly feel like I've been very nucleic lately. If "nucleic" means something along the lines of confined in an atom-sized space, which it may not, I'm too lazy to check. I have been right close to home for the past week since I last posted, but this has been lovely for me. Sprintime is holding here and I've been continuing to plant and work out in the backyard. I'm nearly done laying a stone path around the side of the house. (When I say stone path, I just mean some stepping stones--nothing elaborate.) I've nearly filled a couple of shade beds on either side of the path with holly ferns, ajuga, creeping jenny, cinnamon ferns, columbines, Jacob's ladders, and brunneras, plus one soon-to-be-gorgeous rose-flowered climbing hydrangea vine that I'm hoping will someday cloak the brick chimney.

This has occupied all my baby naptime breaks. I don't do a thing else with that chunk of time, and even errands out of the house involve trips for more bags of mushroom compost or more plants. It's an obsession that I'll put on hold once the weather gets too hot to plant anything, or for me to stay outside long enough to weed, given that baby naptime happens during the most scorching part of a summer day. I'm cramming it all in while I can.

You know, I actually started a private gardening blog so that I wouldn't have to bore you all with my plant talk, but as you can see, it still spills over into this here. How about another subject then? Today was also a glorious food day, very welcome after my annual winter food doldrums. This morning I made the girls some French toast out of challah bread, close enough to French brioche to be equally decadent soaked in nutmeg-y egg batter. I heaped the slices high with sliced strawberries and blueberries--which aren't too bad at Whole Foods these days--sprinkled lemon juice on top, then drizzled maple syrup on top of it all. Oh, and did I mention the whipped cream? Yeah, we all had whipped cream with our breakfast. Bean took one look at it and said, "Duh-dirt!" which is how she says dessert. SO delicious!

Husband and I took the girls out after lunch for a trip to a local goat dairy where they were kicking off their cheese-making season with a baby goat viewing. We packed a snack of baguette slices and cherry preserves and ate these with some fresh goat cheese on their porch. Also extremely delicious, especially after chasing the girls around outdoors for a couple of hours.

And lastly, Husband and Bean have made an ice cream run. While they were gone, I made a quick pot of homemade fudge sauce which sits steaming and thick on the stove, even as I type this. Do you all want the recipe? Sure you do.

Hot Fudge Sauce

9 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 C heavy cream
1-1/2 oz butter
pinch of salt

Bring sugars and cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add chopped chocolate and butter. Let rest 5 minutes, then whisk to combine. A couple of tablespoons of good rum or bourbon would do this sauce no harm.

May I recommend that you scoop yourself a bowl of vanilla ice cream after you make this? And then add either chopped strawberries or crushed Girl Scout thin mint cookies before pouring on some sauce? That's just what I'm about to do, once I decide between strawberries and thin mints.

Happy spring, y'all!