reunion ● baby ● coleslaw

Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh - it is so fun to see old friends after years and years apart. It's the best. The years between seem to evaporate like magic, pulling you back to your twenty-year-old self hanging with your bestie at the D.Q., playing Ms. Pacman.

On Saturday, QG and I got to see my old college roommate Kathy, who I last saw twenty-seven years ago, when her oldest child, Chelsea, was one. Chelsea now lives not too far from Dallas and had a baby daughter less than a week ago, so Kathy came down with her husband and youngest son for the birth. It's their first grandchild - how exciting! 

They were nice enough to let us crash their family gathering, which included both sets of grandparents and Uncle David, Kathy's youngest son. What a treat to spend the afternoon catching up, reminiscing about our college adventures, getting to know the other family members and holding baby Charlie (for Charlotte) for over an hour!!! Honestly, the last time I held a four-days-old baby was fifteen years ago, when my nephew was born, so holding Charlie was a huge thrill. She did lots of cooing and stretching and my heart melted. What a darling. Here's Kathy with Charlie - doesn't she make a perfect grandma?

We got to the house in time for lunch - smoked brisket. It was so tasty. I brought the coleslaw. I made up this recipe that morning because I wanted a sweet and sour type of slaw to go with barbecue and thought the apples and honey would go well together. It was nice and crisp, just right with the meat, so I thought you might like the recipe.

Sweet and Sour Coleslaw

 

1 large head of savory cabbage, thinly sliced 

1/2 of a small head of regular cabbage, thinly sliced

1 bunch (about 9) green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup thinly chopped red, and/or yellow peppers

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Juice from 1/2 of a fresh lime

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup honey

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/3 cup canola oil

Put the cabbage, onions and peppers into a large bowl. Sprinkle the lime juice over the apple pieces, mix well, then add that to the cabbage. Mix the vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil while whisking. Pour this onto the cabbage mixture and toss well to coat. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Best if made at least a few hours ahead, or even the day before. You can use all regular cabbage if you can't find savory cabbage. Serves 12. 

After making the slaw, I was cleaning up and noticed how pretty all the scraps were, so I zoomed upstairs to get my camera and started snapping away. QG comes in while I am standing on tiptoe with Agnes balanced on a roll of paper towels over the discards and says, "What are you doing?" I answer, "Taking pictures of the scraps, of course." He just shakes his head and goes, "You do some weird stuff." True enough.