Hooray for Saturday

This morning I took Lydia on an outing with Misty.

pre-outing Lydia, ready for the day.
pre-outing Lydia, ready for the day.

We went to Tony Caputo’s to try cheese and buy some necessities (cheese, gnocchi, chocolate, and a Happy Hippo). We crossed the street to the market, and I got to meet Misty’s friend, Trapper, who sells the best pumpkins from his stand. Afterwards, the three of us wandered through the market tasting everything. Lydia went through three sample cups of popcorn alone, and I feel suitably guilty for not actually buying any popcorn after letting her go to town on their generous, free samples.

The chocolate on her mouth is from a Happy Hippo. She talked about how much she loved Tony Caputo's for the rest of the day...
The chocolate on her mouth is from a Happy Hippo. She talked about how much she loved Tony Caputo’s for the rest of the day…

Then Misty went home and Lydia and I proceeded on our Saturday morning circuit: Target, Trader Joe’s, Smith’s.

Lydia was perfectly behaved all morning (actually, all day today!!!!), but she did not want to leave Target.
Lydia was perfectly behaved all morning (actually, all day today!!!!), but she did not want to leave Target.
I got her to leave Target by reminding her she would get her own kid cart at Trader Joe's. She took command of it like a champ and checked us out with alacrity.
I got her to leave Target by reminding her she would get her own kid cart at Trader Joe’s. She took command of it like a champ and checked us out with alacrity.

You would have thought that by the end, Lydia would be ready to go home and eat lunch, but unfortunately, all the places we went had fun things for kids (stickers! lollipops! cookies!), and she was less than enthusiastic about going home to take a nap. But home we went, and Lydia spent her whole nap playing vigorous games of pretend.

After nap time, we took the girls on a glorious bike ride up City Creek Canyon. The leaves have changed and the air smelled like Fall. The weather was beautiful, and we were so happy to be out partaking of the season. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year, and dried leaves are my favorite outdoorsy smell. (Pine trees on a mountain might tie for first…oh, and that briny ocean smell is good too. Hmmm…well, let’s just say I like that Fall smell a whole lot and leave it at that.)

When we got home, I cooked up a dinner proposed to me by the cheese guy at Tony Caputo’s: Saute some shallots and melt a half pound (!!!) of Gorgonzola dolce into that. Pour on top of gnocchi, and garnish with fresh thyme. That’s all, and can I just say, Mary ate that Gorgonzola gnocchi with a gusto that she’s thus far only exhibited for ice cream and chocolate chips. It was a good dinner.

Gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce. You want to try this at home.
Gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce. You want to try this at home.
Mary was fussy again today. She is especially upset when there is no food in front of her. Abe noted that her way of saying, "My hair's on fire!!!" is the exact same way she says, "I need more food NOW!!" Basically, she does a lot of screaming these days.
Mary was fussy again today. She is especially upset when there is no food in front of her. Abe noted that her way of saying, “My hair’s on fire!!!” is the exact same way she says, “I need more food NOW!!” Basically, she does a lot of screaming these days.

After dinner, I cleaned the kitchen, and Tom and Suzanne came over for a bit to play with the girls. After they left, I made that hazelnut mousse chocolate ganache cake for tomorrow’s dessert, and then I spent too much time shopping on Zulily. (Hey, I have free shipping today!)