When I think of ripening, I imagine fruit doing nothing but hanging from the tree or on the vine, soaking in the sun. A peach is the first fruit that always comes to mind. What starts out green and hard, slowly, magically turns into something with the most velvety, watercolored skin, and underneath a sweet juicy flesh that’s just asking for you to dive in, take a bit and yes, let the juices run down through your hands. I’m never mad about the sticky fingers, it’s always worth it.

My friend Sarah wrote a beautiful post on Instagram this week about giving ourselves time to ripen. Here’s a little taste of it:

What does it feel like to RIPEN? The hard work of growing is done and Summer is a time of sitting on the vine and soaking in the sun.

Can you allow yourself to pause on growing and just ripen?

The times of doing “nothing” is actually when all of the sweetness is born - and isn’t that the point of all the growth anyways? - Sarah Jenks

I feel like this is exactly what mid-summer gives us space for. To ripen. To do ‘nothing’ and just like the peach, to soak it all in. And when we do that, we get to harvest so much more. To be more creative. To give more to others. To have more energy for the things that we want to do in this life. To be more present in everything we do.

Last weekend I got to really feel into that on a weekend away with family up at one of our beautiful B.C. lakes. Being the first one up to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee on the dock and making friends with a deer that came to visit. Early morning bike rides through wine country. Kayaking for ice cream. Learning a new sport (have you tried wake surfing?). Afternoon quiet time with my nephew, giggling and talking about all the things. Blowing bubbles on the grass with the littlest nephew. Delicious dinners on the patio. Twilight lake swims.

Ripening.

I’ll end with Sarah’s question one more time, ‘can you allow yourself to pause on growing and just ripen?’ How are you doing that this week?

Making friends.

372 m climb with dad to some pretty spectacular views.

Mint chocolate every time.

Joy trails. ox

My brother, the cool dad. I’m a newbie and DO NOT look like this…more like bambi trying to find her legs. I’ll get there :)

Soaking it in.

What’s cooking this week: Spot Prawn Rolls

Here’s my perfect example of getting creative and adapting something classic to make it your own using ingredients you’ve got. Who doesn’t love a lobster roll, right? Because I live on the Westcoast and have access to the delicious delicacy that is the spot prawn I thought why not try it with these beautiful little babies? If you can’t get access to spot prawns you can of course substitute tiger prawns if you’d like. Poaching the prawns gives you some leeway to not overcook them plus you can add all kinds of flavouring to give them that little something extra. And don’t throw out the cooking water. This is liquid gold and is great to use in pasta sauce, soups or even for risotto.

Prawn Rolls

• 2 lbs spot prawns, shell on

• 3 tbsp butter

• 1/4 cup white wine

• 1 tbsp black peppercorns

• 1 bay leaf

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

• 1/4 cup celery leaves, chopped

• 3 tbsps fresh dill

• 1/2 tsp hot sauce

• salt and pepper to taste

• 4 brioche buns

• lemon wedges for serving

To cook the prawns, place the butter, white wine, peppercorns and bay leaf in a saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the prawns, adding a little water if needed to cover the prawns and cook until they’re pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove the prawns from the liquid and cool. As I said above, save the liquid!!

When the prawns are cool, peel and set aside. Mix the prawns with mayonnaise, celery leaves, dill and hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Refrigerate until ready to use. *This can be done up to a day in advance.*

Cut the buns in half, brush with butter and grill or toast. Top with the prawn mixture, spreading evenly amongst the 4 rolls. Serve with a lemon wedge.

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