As the morning air has settled into cold, brisk, and autumnal, it is now time for warm breakfasts. This is my all time favorite meal of the day; I love hot breakfasts. And since I work primarily at home, I get the luxury of not having to rush out the door most mornings. Today, I made a lovely porridge out of steel cut oats cooked in milk and water with apples, dried blueberries, vanilla, nutmeg, maple syrup, and salt. So nourishing in the cool mornings.

My boys did not have school today, so after grocery shopping I decided to take them out for lunch. I let them decide on a locale, which was, of course, the neighborhood dive. I had a turkey club sandwich and forgot to tell them to hold the ham. I did take the ham off the sandwich...Ok, I took the ham off after I had a couple of bites and realized the taste of deli ham was not worth the price of eating an avoid. The tomatoes were the first to come off. I did eat the tasty walnut bread it came on, though.

I am now headed out to dig up some carrots from the garden for dinner. I cooked a leg of lamb last night and I always make Apple-Curry Lamb Stew from "Cook Right" with the leftovers. It is my favorite recipe from that book. The new carrots lightly steamed will go nicely with that dish. But the real reason for harvesting the carrots is because my boys are playing outside and I just want to be in their company. Even though I sometimes tire of living surrounded by males, I know the day will come all too soon when they will move ahead into their own lives. For now, I choose to relish in their peals of laughter.

I guess I’m pretty lucky that I so enjoy being in the presence of my children.