Lily at the Barre

The world of ballet has been graced with many beautiful and talented ballerinas. Among them are Anna Pavlova, Margot Fonteyn, Maria Tallchief and Gelsey Kirkland. And now comes Lily S.

Yes, our Lily has entered the study of the dance.

Here she is at her first lesson.

Such grace!

Such charm!

An Odette in the making!

Waiting for her cue!

The finale!

And she is wearing her mother's first ballet slippers!

A Blueberry Soup Sort of Sunday

Eldest has been here for a week today. It has been great fun to have him under our roof and at our table. He sat up a home-away-from-home office in his old bedroom. I've made him lunch on the days he's worked. It was hard to resist not packing it up in his old lunch box (the long stored away Superman--or was it Batman?), cutting his sandwich just right, throwing in some carrot sticks and leaving a little "mom" note for him to find.

In addition to work and long visits with his parents, he has managed to spend time with about twenty of his closest friends. One met him at the end of our driveway this morning at 6:45 a.m. for an eight mile run!!

We've spent the rest of the day reading newspapers, lingering over a late brunch, and relishing the time together.

We enjoyed this blueberry soup while waiting for our apple-cinnamon baked French toast to come out of the oven.

BLUEBERRY SOUP

(Chicago Tribune, July 30, 2008)

2 1/2 pints fresh blueberries

1 3/4 cups cold water

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

3/4 cup dry red wine

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

Whipped cream, optional

Place two pints of the blueberries, water, orange juice, wine, sugar and zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat; heat to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer; cook stirring occasionally until blueberries break down, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat; puree in a food processor. Refrigerate at least two hours.

Divide soup among 8 bowls; divide the remaining 1/2 cup of the blueberries among the bowls. Top each with whipped cream if desired.