I’m home. I’ve been home 4-1/2 days now and I think I’m finally starting to decompress. Luckily it’s been a slow-ish week at work (next week is our big monthly push for reporting) and I’ve been able to get caught up on everything I missed while I was gone without a lot of stress. It also helped that our wonderful housecleaners came the week I was in Tulsa and so I walked into a spotlessly clean and fresh smelling house on Sunday night when I got home.

Here’s what’s floating around in my mind and on the web in the meanwhile.

• The Drive Home: On the drive home last Sunday I came through a storm and saw a gorgeous double rainbow arching over the highway. Pulled clean off the interstate for it, and I’d do it again. Double rainbow, wet road, that weird greenish storm light right after everything breaks. Y’all know: when the sky does the thing, you stop the car.
• Send Help: Zach’s been talking about going low-carb (maybe no-carb?) as he gets back into weightlifting and fitness. Y’all. I am not sure how to handle this, and if he’s serious I’m going to have to rethink my entire summer menu. Send help and recipes.
• Pinterest, Reborn: I’m revamping my KaraCooks Pinterest boards and finally working through the backlog of recipes and pins I’ve accumulated over the years. Stay tuned
• Garden Update: This is a sad one. While I was gone a storm took down a limb from one of the tulip trees, and it destroyed part of my deer fence. The predictable results ensued: everything I planted has been eaten down to the roots. I’m especially salty about the Charentais melons being gone because they were looking so full and healthy. The only survivors are the strawberries (under a cloche) and the lemon balm, which is absolutely thriving because of course it is. I’m trying to decide whether to buy some tomatoes and peppers to limp through the season and start planning for next year, or just call it on 2026 entirely.
• What I’m Reading: I listened to Warriors Don’t Cry on the drive home and, y’all. I have no words. I posted about it on my personal FB page, but I’ve got too many thoughts to leave it there, so I’ll likely blog about it later. It’s the memoir of Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine who integrated Central High School in 1957. What she and her friends endured is indescribable and horrific, and this is a book everyone should read (or listen to).
• What I’m Watching (the good kind): Stanley Tucci talked about learning to make a frittata for Big Night and then pulling it off in one single, unbroken five-minute take while filming. If you haven’t seen Big Night, don’t wait. It’s one of the quintessential food movies, and even though it came out in 1996, it holds up beautifully.
• What I’m Watching (the other kind): Zach and I are re-watching Game of Thrones. We just finished the Red Wedding episode. Yikes.
• What I’m Eating: Getting back into the swing of being home. Blackened fish sandwiches, a variation on Vietnamese beef, a few other things. Recipes coming soon.

P.S. To the deer who leveled my garden: I hope the tomatoes were worth it. (It was. I know it was.)

P.P.S. I meant it about the low-carb recipes. Leave them in the comments. I am one “do we really need rice with this?” away from a domestic incident.

P.P.P.S. No, there was no pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. The pot of gold was a clean, fresh-smelling house at the end of the driveway, and at this point in my life, I will take it.