July Heatwave, Stinky Beach Sidewalk Chalk & Manners

July has roared in with a surge in heat, sunshine and velella jellyfish, we were a little taken back yesterday to head down to the beach to find a nice fishy smell from thousands of dried up jellyfish.

 No it's not a Man-O-War, no stinging tentacles on these cute little sailors..

We had also been waiting for a road race day to use our home made sidewalk chalk.

Our Race Day at the old Waldport HS parking lot

Hopscotch Games

Home Made Gigantic Sidewalk Chalk 

Toilet paper Tubes
Line with Wax Paper
Tape one end closed

1 cup of Plaster of Paris
2 Tablespoons Acrylic Paint
1 cup hot water

Mix your plaster, add color, fill tube, tap to settle, making sure it's runny enough to fill the tube flat but not too wet,  you have about 20 minutes before it dries, so work fast and in a plastic disposable container with gloves on.  head along to the next color!  It takes about 72 hours or more to dry fully, unwrap and let cure another 24 hours.  They were nice vivid colors and didn't break and crumble like store bought chalk.  We built a figure eight race way, many tick tac toe games and hopscotch.  we rode bicycles, till the peddles fell off, I blew tons of gigantic bubbles for the kids to chase and had snack of whole wheat Ritz crackers and oranges.  We ran out of beverages and at the end of the day buzzed up to the artisan well along the Alsea to fill our water jugs and one glass had a few sprigs of mint... just what a hot summer day needed.

In other activities we go a tracing light box and worked on our table manners, I found this great link full of resources here for Table Manners.  This by far was our favorite and coincidentally we were having soup and cherries for lunch today.

Mediterranean Bean & Pasta Soup (in 45 minutes or less)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups small  white beans

• 1" piece kombu seaweed

• 3 Tbs. olive oil

• 1 yellow onion, chopped

• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 celery stalks, chopped

• 4 large garlic cloves, minced

• 3 cups water or chicken stock, or as needed

• 1 1/2 cups diced canned diced tomatoes

• 1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, diced

• 1/2 cup zucchini, diced

• 2 Tbs molasses

• 1 tsp basil, dried or double fresh to taste

• 1 bay leaf

• 2 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste

• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

• 1/2 lb. small dried pasta, such as shells

• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Directions:

Pick over the beans and discard any misshapen beans and stones. Rinse the beans, drain and place in a pressure cooker. Add 1 Tbs salt and water to cover and bring to a pressure at high heat. Keep under high pressure for 30 minutes then remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour. 

In a Dutch oven or pressure cooker over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté, stirring often, until softened, about 8 minutes, add the pasta and cover with water, bring to high pressure for 3 minutes. Add cooked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini molasses and 2 tsp. salt and bring to a simmer.
To give the soup more body, remove 2 large spoonfuls of beans and vegetables and puree in a blender or food processor, then return the puree to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and reheat gently.
To serve, ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Top each serving with a swirl of extra-virgin olive oil, some grated cheese and a generous grinding of pepper.

Enjoy practicing your soup sipping manners!