Our Week in Meals #244

Good morning, and happy Sunday! It was another hot and humid week, complete with family time, visits with friends, and staying cool at the pool. All of the highlights from the past few days, along with our easy dinners, are included in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

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For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan. Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

We woke up at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, where we were visiting my brother’s family (they were in town from Florida for my nephew’s lacrosse tournament). After a quick breakfast from Starbucks, we took the boys for a walk up Federal Hill, and then to the National Aquarium.

The city was an adventure, but we were all very happy to get back home to quiet little Madison later that day! The hostas at sunset…

My parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, and their 4 kids all came over for a cookout that evening.

Me and my “little” brother.

Mom and Dad with all 7 grandchildren.

Keith grilled hamburgers and hotdogs,

while I served Broccoli Cauliflower Salad, potato chips, watermelon and potato salad on the side.

Followed by an Oreo Ice Cream Pie for dessert!

The boys and I spent Monday at my parents’ house with my brother and his family before they flew back home to Florida on Tuesday morning.

There was a lot of pool time and creek time…

…plus crab cakes and fried chicken for dinner, along with coleslaw, cornbread, and tomato salad.

Chocolate cake for dessert!

We stayed close to home on Tuesday so that I could catch up on work and laundry while the kids rested and played quietly.

A short walk in the woods for some shady fresh air…

I made a tomato pie for supper, which we paired with store-bought rotisserie chicken,

corn salad, and rice. The taste of summer…

The boys and I visited our friends at their pool on Wednesday…

…and then stopped by my neighbor’s farm to pick up some fresh figs.

She also sent me home with a jar of her bread and butter pickles, which I love. After that, one more stop at my other neighbor’s house to grab some fresh yellow squash for supper. It’s that time of year when everything is ripening at once!

The pear tree is full, too!

Gibbs’s friend joined us for the afternoon, and stayed for supper as well. We had pasta with marinara (kids’ request!), garlic bread,

roasted squash,

and a tomato, cucumber and onion salad.

I made a batch of fig jam on Thursday morning, and then took the kids to Keith’s office so that they could hang out with him for the afternoon while I went to a dermatologist appointment in Charlottesville.

We had breakfast for dinner that evening — another kid favorite. On the menu: Secret Ingredient Bisquick Waffles,

along with bacon and this easy fruit salad with vanilla pudding.

A beautiful evening after a big thunderstorm…

…and another wonderful Louise Penny novel: All the Devils Are Here. I just love her writing, her characters, and the suspense of her mysteries without horror or scary plots. They’re fun to read and they keep me turning the pages! This is book #16 of 17 in her Chief Inspector Gamache series, so if you’re interested, I’d definitely recommend starting with book #1 (Still Life). The next novel comes out in August, and I’m definitely excited for it!

Friday was another pool day with friends.

I made chicken quesadillas for dinner, which we paired with tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and corn.

Saturday morning included a sweaty walk with the dog,

and fresh flowers and veggies from the farmer’s market.

We got haircuts that afternoon, Keith picked up take-out pizza for dinner, and we all watched a movie that evening.

So there you go — another summer week in the books! I hope that you’ve found some new meal inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for joining me here!