Grilled Cheese and Martinis

Take Out...well, delivery

2010-02-26T21:37:00.002-05:00

Who gets take-out anymore? It's too labor intensive, especially for something that should be easy. I call, I order and they ring the bell.

Before our move in mid-January we were very happy with our weekly sushi delivery order - Saga was good to us even if it took the an hour to deliver the goods. We moved on a Friday which is martini and sushi night for us. Our first night in the new place, the sushi came with a great salad, but the sushi wasn't what we expected. We gave them another chance or 2 before moving on. Next we tried another nearby restaurant called Fusha. Their sushi for 2 came with a Valentine's roll which was strawberry over rice. I don't know about anyone else, but sushi means fish to me. I even tend to question the California roll as sushi. I know it is crab, but it's cooked. I love eel so I guess I should just let California roll go, but strawberry is a no-go. I couldn't let the strawberry go - that was just wrong. We tried one other place and had lack luster results. This week we tried a new place and ding, ding, ding we have a winner! Thank you sushi hana for a nice dinner last night.

Brown Rice with Avocado and Cherry Tomatoes

2010-02-23T06:18:00.002-05:00

Ever make, from scratch, the same dish for dinner 3 times in the same week? Well I did, plus I ate leftovers of it for lunch one day. This avocado and cherry tomato dish is quite tasty and I would make it for for dinner without being on the cleanse. After a couple of nights of steaming random veggies and throwing them into cooked brown rice we decided to try a recipe from the cleanse diet's site. We were very pleasantly surprised with how tasty it was and we cooked it again for dinner the next night and again a few nights later. Either this cleanse has so deprived our taste buds that brown rice, avocado, tomato, lemon juice and garlic now constitute high cuisine or we like to eat blandly more than we ever thought, which is probably not the case.

Here's the recipe:
2 cups short-grain brown rice, cooked
1 avocado - dices
15 cherry tomatoes - halved or not
2 garlic cloves - minced
juice from half of one lemon

Toss the last 4 ingredients in the cooked rice and serve - bon appetit!

The Brown Rice Cleanse Diet

2010-02-23T05:58:00.003-05:00

Well, the grilled cheese and martini diet definitely has a down side and my waist line has been bearing the brunt of it lately. A week or so ago J and I decided that something had to change. We were both tired of shoehorning ourselves into our clothing and feeling uncomfortable and gross. We decided to kickstart our latest attempt to lose weight with a cleanse diet. I did some quick googling and found the 7-day brown rice cleanse diet on www.justcleansing.com. The diet is bland and boring - no caffeine, no booze, no protein other than brown rice and fat came in the form of avocado. I won't lie, there were days - especially days 3 and 4 - when I really thought about caving, but I didn't. I have 1 more weigh-in to go, but so far I lost 5.5 lbs and over the past week I have consumed more fruit than I have in the past 6 months. Hopefully I will stick to my new eating plan - brown rice, fruits and veggies from Monday through Friday at 5pm, martini and sushi on Friday night, some wine and good food over the weekend and then back to the grindstone Monday morning and avoid my old bad habits - half sandwiches in the middle of the day, eating off of Rex's plate, and an extra glass of wine during the week (as if those are my only bad habits).

Cheers!

P.D. O'Hurley's, Hummus, Crooked Tree, Landmarc

2009-09-08T22:18:00.002-04:00

We were busy this weekend. we got out with the boys all three days of Labor Day weekend. On Saturday we tried to take a tugboat ride on he Hudson River, but even stand-by tickets were hard to come by. We ended up settling for lunch at P.D. O'Hurley's. I had some sort of mozzarella and pesto sandwich which was mediocre. Rex refused to eat the hot dog we ordered for him and I guess J's burger was OK. The funny part was when they delivered my lunch as mozzarella sticks and I had to explain that I had ordered the sandwich. Clearly attention to detail is not their strong suit.

On Sunday we went to the East Village. We had to forage for a lunch spot. J had looked in Zagat, but we forgot to bring it. On one street there was a bar/restaurant with loud music, which was not good for my sleeping Dash. The hummus restaurant was my first pick. Unfortunately the wait was going to be too long for my antsy toddler. Lunching with kiddos is definitely not the same as lunching as adults. Then we fell upon a place called the Crooked Tree. There were people at the outdoors and inside tables - good sign. We sat down and had a pretty nice lunch. It definitely qualified as a hole in the wall, but a good one.

Monday we headed to the carousel in Central Park. Rex had a good time on the carousel and then we walked to the Columbus Circle Shops and had lunch at Landmarc. There were strollers pared along the whole wall outside. We got inside and there were many tables with kids. The hostess brought crayons for Rex. The decor was contemporary. The service and menu were upscale. J and I enjoyed a half-bottle of Caymus Conundrum while our toddler drew on the paper tablecloth and our infant napped in my arms - LOVED IT! It didn't hurt that my caesar salad with salmon was very tasty!

Heirloom Tomato Terrine and NY Strip Steak

2009-08-18T20:40:00.002-04:00

YUM! This was my meal last Wednesday when J and I treated ourselves to an acclaimed Manhattan eatery to celebrate our 9th anniversary. Granted the celebration came 1 week early, but the timing allowed us to take advantage of my mom's "free" babysitting. It was monetarily free, but emotionally expensive - nothing is EVER free. All that aside, it was nice to come home and not have to fork over $80+ for a sitter plus pay for her to take a car home. The car is pretty cheap and I would be horrified if I didn't get her the car and something happened to her - definitely a worthwhile added expense.

Back to dinner...I met J at the bar of the restaurant. It has recently relocated so everything was super spiffy. We each had a drink, chatted and took in the crowd. Then we went to our table in the dining room. As we made our menu choices we each had a Hendrick's Cucumber Gimlet - I couldn't go through dinner without a cuke! We are so much more than foodies - I need to come up with another word, like drinkies? J also picked out a bottle of Pinot Noir with the help of the sommelier. It is funny that when we were younger we never wanted help from the sommelier, now we readily accept it. Is it because we were too uncomfortable in our early years, too lazy now, too embarrassed by our young palates years ago or so confident in our "mature" palates today?

Our first courses came and mine was delicious - light, flavorful and beautiful. My strip steak was amazing - super tender and rich. I followed it up with a dark chocolate torte and a glass of 20 year tawny - how I missed my ports when pregnant. I used to always get scotch after a meal, but my mid-thirties have really rung in the era of the port.

We came home, let my mom off duty and crashed. It was a great night. In addition to the meal, we chatted about our kids and our future - 2 of my favorite topics!

Tomorrow is our actual 9 year anniversary. We will celebrate at home with a meal/snack more reminiscent of our early dating years - shrimp cocktail, cheese, crackers, salami, and some antipasti items. I am sure the conversation will be grand and the wine from the wine fridge will do the trick.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2009-08-09T22:15:00.002-04:00

My mom made this cake for us today to help commemorate our upcoming year anniversary. It was a very tasty cake, especially considering I eat cucumbers for dinner during the week. This week should be much different. J and I are going out to a great dinner on Wednesday so my diet will be shot this week. I am looking forward to the awesome meal bit I do like the hungry feeling - it makes me feel thinner.

Grass-Fed Beef Burgers

2009-08-08T23:03:00.003-04:00

It seems we have have burgers on the grill every weekend. We typically order 4lbs of grass-fed beef in hamburg form from our CSA co-op each month along with some steaks and other meats. Tonight my mom joined us for burgers. I may be in the minority, but I prepare my burger with mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and onion and then eat it. I rarely look at the beef. I think having a 3 month old that just went to sleep for the night and who could wake up at any moment makes me eat fast. I still enjoy the food, but can't take the time to pleasure in it. I realized when I cleaned the plates that my mom had left small pieces of slightly reddish beef on her plate. Maybe I don't care if my burger is on the rare side - actually I know I don't care if it is on the rare side. I just don't get how/why she needs to inspect every bite. And you may be thinking my mom is a size 2, but no she's a size 14 - at least.

I often wonder why while I love and salivate over good food, I am not all that picky about what I eat. I will try just about anything and any disappointment I have usually has more to do with lack of flavor or spice than with texture or degree of "doneness". I find that most of family is stuck in a food rut. I am very grateful that I am not in that same rut. I really hope my kids avoid the rut as well.

Tomorrow night...another helping of Chinese Cabbage Salad.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

2009-07-26T14:55:00.002-04:00

I picked up some Chinese Cabbage as a part of our CSA share last week. As I really don't eat dinner during the week, we need to eat our CSA share over the weekend. I did a quick google for chinese cabbage recipes and found a recipe on Cook's for a pretty simple salad - the cabbage and scallion, a dressing and ramen noodles and almonds that have been browned with butter as a crunchy topping. The salad was delicious and this was the first time I ever ate ramen noodles. They were pretty good as a crunchy salad topping, not sure I want them in my soup. We also had bone-in ribeye steaks that J cooked on the grill and a simple rice and bean side dish. The whole meal was awesome, including the Freemark Abbey Zinfandel we opened.

We spent most of the meal talking about our vacation in November, or should I say salivating over our vacation in November. We will spend the week in a beach house on Jost van Dyke in the Caribbean. I am so glad I turned J into a beach bum for vacations! He will enjoy his cubans and I will enjoy the sun. J's cousin is coming along to help with kidcare which really excites me about this vacation. Anyway, our meal fare will be nothing close to last night's dinner, but the sun and sand will make that OK.

Did I mention I had 3 helpings of the salad?

Cucumbers and Salt

2009-07-22T21:32:00.002-04:00

Lately we have been getting 3-4 cukes per week from our CSA. Seeing as I am on a diet, I eat a cuke for dinner - dipping it in kosher salt. I also have a few glasses of wine to kill the "no eating" pain. Anyway, that is my dinner Monday-Thursday. I am living, eating and drinking larger on the weekends.

Beef and Bok Choy Hot Pot

2009-07-16T21:44:00.002-04:00

I found this recipe and J cooked it last Saturday night while I tended to the boys. It was delicious! Now that we have our CSA pickups every Tuesday we need to be creative with our veggies and this recipe was definitely a keeper. Speaking of Saturday night, the weekend was nice. We are starting to get into a regular pattern with the kids, but I think we need to respect Rex's nap a bit more even if that keeps us in on gorgeous weekend afternoons. I guess we should utilize the deck a bit more. Rex is just such a better companion when he isn't tired and cranky. Dash is pretty much awesome all of the time at this point - sometimes I wonder how I have such a chill baby.

On Sunday we attended church - it was a bad start to the day. The church was not our speed. We followed that experience up with lunch at Starbucks and then attended an open house for an apartment in Harlem. If we didn't have kids I would probably drool over the apartment, but with 2 boys it is too small. The agent wants to interest us in a 2 bed, 1 bath apartment that is 1600 sf - very sizable by Manhattan standards. I really want 2 baths, but this apartment has 2 beds, living room with a dining area, open kitchen, library and family room with plenty of built-ins. Did I mention it is a fifth floor walk-up? Family of 4, strollers and 5 floors to haul our hit up - NO!

Tuscan Bean with Wild Rice Soup (from a can)

2009-06-05T13:44:00.002-04:00

This is what I am eating as I write my first blog post since our newest son was born 6 weeks and 5 days ago. His name is Dashiell Brooks and we call him Dash. He is wonderful, a very good baby and very cute! I am looking forward to the end of the newborn days though - is he hungry, tired, gassy? And why does everyone assume that a crying baby is a hungry baby? That assumption, like just about all other assumptions, simply isn't true. Anyway, life with 2 little ones is an assload of work. I swear the laundry never ends.

J and I got out for a night last Friday and boy was Saturday U.G.L.Y. I overdid it a bit. Hopefully I can keep that from happening again any time soon. We went to the Spring Benefit at the school Rex will attend in the Fall. The silent auction was fun and we ended up winning a framed print, 4 nice cookbooks and a photography session that we will use in the Fall for family photos.

Rex is a great big brother most of the time. He is getting really big and active. I am going to enroll him in soccer classes for the Summer. He definitely as a lot of energy to expend.

Porterhouse Steak for Two

2009-03-31T19:10:00.002-04:00

J and I recently enjoyed our last date night before our second son, named "Niner" for the time-being, arrives and probably for a long while afterward. We met at The Palm on the Upper West Side and planned to eat at the bar. When we lived in Boston J and I were regulars at the Boston Palm. We grew to really enjoy Jules and Phil, the bartenders. It was very nice to often have 1 or 2 glasses of wine on the house. We never thought the food was fantastic, but it was good enough. I guess we mostly enjoyed the ambiance. We always had a great night out when we went there.

We have lived in NYC for 3 years now and I think we have been to The Palm in Midtown West 3 times. It doesn't have the same feel as the one in Boston and generally we have always left slightly disappointed, yet we keep wanting to give it another try in the hopes that we can have a Palm night reminiscent of the ones we enjoyed in Boston.

I arrived first and grabbed a seat while I waited over an hour for J to meet me. His fantasy baseball draft was taking longer than he anticipated so he was quite late. I started my evening with a club soda and lime. As I sat and waited I started having very consistent Braxton-Hicks contractions. After waiting an hour, I decided to order a glass of wine and half of a wedge salad. The salad goes by another name at The Palm, but I can't think of it now. The blue cheese dressing on it is so tasty. The wine put my contractions at ease and as I was nearing the end of my salad, J arrived. He ordered his martini, how I can't wait to have my first post-partum martini. Then we decided to share a 28 oz porterhouse steak and a couple of sides: creamed spinach and half and half - yum. We had never had that steak at The Palm before and it was absolutely fantastic. Our night turned out to be a success. We both had a great time and the coup de grace was that we also caught a cab very easily to get home!

Stuffed Shells

2009-03-27T22:32:00.002-04:00

We visited my mother last weekend. She invited my youngest uncle, his wife and kids to dinner along with my grandmother and sister. She served stuffed shells, tossed salad, sausage and bread for dinner. My mother was never much of a cook when I was growing up. Her dinner menu consisted of a constant rotation of spaghetti with meat sauce, Chinese pudding (don't ask), American chop suey (again, don't ask), tuna noodle casserole, hot dogs and beans, macaroni "sudan" (this is in the don't ask category as well), grilled cheese and soup, green bean stew, pancakes, tuna and peas on toast, baked chicken coated in Seven Seas Italian dressing, and last and least - hamburg gravy. Therefore, by these standards, stuffed shells was rather upscale. It was a tasty dinner, my 2 year old son ate 2 entire shells. It was also a good visit.

Much of the talk for the weekend revolved around the yard sale my mother is planning for the summer. She has many things to get rid of, but for some reason she thinks these items are worth something. She wants to price her 30 year old tent that "sleeps 6" for $50. I think $15 would be a better price point. She's never going to use it again and if she doesn't sell it she'll throw it away so why not just get $15? I really hope her ego isn't destroyed the day of the yard sale.

The weekend was also good because I survived my mother without alcohol. I am less than a month from my due date and I really didn't know if I would have the stamina for her. Turns out I did alright.

Lindt Truffles

2009-03-07T20:33:00.002-05:00

These are my most recent guilty pleasure. Pregnancy does not leave many choices for guilty pleasures so while the truffles are pretty tame they are pretty much my only option. I am partial to the white chocolate ones. I usually buy the variety bag and I wonder why there are fewer white chocolate truffles than milk or dark chocolate truffles. Maybe it just seems that way?

Quail Eggs

2009-02-11T13:22:00.002-05:00

About a week or so ago we visited friends in Brooklyn. They only live about 11 miles away or a 30 minutes car ride or a 60 minute subway ride away and it amazes me that we only manage to see each other once per year. Why does adult life make keeping in touch with friends so challenging? Anyway, we brought our 2 year old with us and he was immediately intrigued by our friend's tiny little dog. He is more accustomed to our 60 pound clumber spaniel who moves at a sloth-like pace due to her advanced age. This sprite little dog seemed like a doll to Rex and he kept trying to figure out how to pick the toy dog up. As Rex contemplated his moves with the dog, we adults chatted and snacked.

Our friends had prepared a very nice snack for us - great cheeses, tasty artichoke dip, cerignola olives and quail eggs. Our friends who do not have a young child and who do go out to dinner regularly informed us that quail eggs are very popular at trendy restaurants. My husband and I had heard about new types of eggs such as quail and ostrich eggs that are being sold at Whole Foods and other specialty markets, but between raising a toddler and being pregnant our restaurant hopping days have become a thing of the past (hopefully to be resurrected in the coming years). So besides feeling woefully out of touch, non-trendy, and parental, we were genuinely happy to try the quail eggs they prepared for us. Rex and I enjoyed the eggs quite a bit. My husband wasn't as impressed.

Toward the end of the evening, Rex once again occupied himself with the dog while we finished up chatting with our friends. My husband and I are tentatively planning a holiday party for the end of the year and if we can pull that off we may see these friends twice in the same year!

Almost Irish Stew

2009-01-26T20:20:00.002-05:00

I made this dish in the slow-cooker a week ago when my mom and sister visited. Everyone enjoyed it which was good. Being together with my mom and sister was something of an experience this time around. I really don't know where to begin, but my mother tried to convince me that monkeys don't have tails and my sister thinks that her employer would not have had the right to tell her she couldn't take time off to go to Obama's inauguration. I think they both must be out of their minds, at least a little. It seems the longer I am away from them, the less I understand them. I just can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't gone to college and made a life for myself. Am I destined to be irritated by my family? Should I readjust my expectations and acknowledge that they don't understand my views just as I don't understand theirs?

Oh and my sister slurps - I hate slurping.

Swedish Meatballs with Cabbage and Apple Salad

2009-01-26T20:15:00.002-05:00

This was our dinner last night. The salad was great and the meatballs were good, especially if you could tolerate all of the butter in the sauce. Thankfully I made a dessert that wasn't particularly heavy so we didn't feel too gross by the end of the night. I have to admit that even though the butter was heavy I am looking forward to the leftovers. I guess I am a glutton for punishment. I do enjoy our weekend meals that can turn into cooking extravaganzas. I don't enjoy the mess that the cooking creates, but I guess that's the price to pay. There's always a price.

Hungarian Beef Borscht Leftovers

2009-01-18T13:01:00.002-05:00

J made borscht last weekend. It was the first time either of us had had such a dish. It was pretty tasty, but the recipe stated that you should make it 24 hours in advance and then reheat it. I had some leftover borscht for lunch the following day and it definitely was more flavorful. It seems that just about all meals are more enjoyable the second time around which boasts the question, why? Is it that the work of creating the dish has retreated farther into our memories so we can relax and enjoy the dish more? Is it that we already know what to expect from the dish and that allows us to be most pleasantly surprised if the dish seems more delicious? Does the refrigerator have some magical power? Is there some augmentive force in my Ziploc containers?

Should we make all meals one day in advance?

Parmesan and Herb Crusted Beef Tenderloin, Potato and Baby Spinach Gratin, Brussels Sprouts and Goat Cheese Salad

2009-01-05T12:54:00.004-05:00

This was our dinner on New Year's Day. Since J and I have been together I have always taken the first foods of the New Year seriously. I figure we can eat terribly anytime so we should eat well on New Year's Day. I guess it helps that we enjoy cooking and cooking together. The meal was excellent and we had enough beef for two more meals.

In addition to good food New Year's Day also brings some pressure to identify resolutions. I have quite a few this year. Many of them are small or things I can't do anything about immediately. Here are my resolutions for 2009:

~ make at least 1 blog post per week. I was going to aim for once per day, but I know that won't happen once the baby gets here so I am trying to be realistic about my goals.

~ stay on top of household clutter. I need to really get moving on this one. Thankfully the Christmas decorations are down and put away so I should be able to get things organized soon.

~ pay bills in the office every Monday. I want to start using that room more often and be more organized about bill paying.

~ Be more mindful about spending!

~ lose this baby weight quickly after Niner gets here. I want to get back into leather pants shape by the Fall and be able to wear a bikini if we go on vacation in December. Speaking of being pregnant here is what I look like at 25 weeks:

Cheesecake and Booze

2008-12-05T18:07:00.002-05:00

The two things I missed on vacation 2008. The booze I planned on missing, but the cheesecake not so much. On the flight down, the flight attendant served J and I our meals separately so that Rex could sit on one of our laps while the other ate. It seemed like such a good plan. J ate first and his meal arrived with a slice of cheesecake. From that point on I couldn't wait for my meal. When it finally arrived my cheesecake had been replaced by a bowl of fruit. It is safe to say that I was very disappointed.

Let me continue my complaining about airlines with our trip through security to board our plane in NY. J and I loaded up the bins we needed, collapsed the stroller, took off our sweaters, jackets and shoes. Rex and I headed toward the metal detector. The guard told me to remove Rex's shoes - he is 22 months old, his shoes are the length of 1.5 Q-tips! Then the guard "padded" Rex down after we walked through the detector due to the fact that he had a sweater on. I still can't believe my 22 month old was padded down.

Tomorrow is our return flight. Hopefully I will get Rex through security with less fanfare and manhandling.

Blackened Steak Tips over Penne with a Ricotta Cream Sauce

2008-12-03T18:15:00.004-05:00

This was my tasty dinner this evening. We tried to go to Miss Vicky's for dinner, but didn't realize that they didn't start serving dinner until 6pm which was a bit of an issue considering we arrived at 5:20 with a hungry toddler. We opted to dine at Shipwreck Landing for the second time on this vacation. The food is tasty, the service is good and it has a kid's menu.

We are about halfway through our vacation and boy is vacation different this year. Taking care of a toddler is much easier than taking care of an infant which is what we did on our vacation last year. This year Rex will play in the sand with his toys and nap on the beach so that J and I can actually get in some good tanning/skin cancer time. We have also been able to go out for early dinners instead of lunches this year which is nice. The other kink in our vacation is my pregnant status - no booze on the flight for me or rum and cokes since landing. Instead J has kept me from grousing too much by making me virgin coladas of one variety or another.

We are still working on a name for the little baby boy that will join our family in April, but other than that we are just trying to relax and not let any of life's other stresses get too us too much until we get back home.

Grilled Cheese and Clam Chowder

2008-11-13T16:59:00.002-05:00

This is a meal I have had more often lately. It's quite tasty and ranks pretty high on my comfort food scale. I like my grilled cheese with mustard or tuna fish and I add pepper and hot sauce to my chowder. The meal just isn't the same without these things. Unfortunately I have not enjoyed a martini lately. I am pregnant and a tini is definitely off limits as are many other enjoyable things - raw food such as my beloved sushi; salmon - I can't wait for a bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon to grace my brunch plate in the Spring; coldcuts - not really a big issue for me, but because I can't have them they seem to be everywhere and they look tasty. I will keep making due with my grilled cheese sandwiches, at least it keeps my mind off of the other foods.

Glazed Turnips and Celeriac Mash

2008-10-21T13:50:00.002-04:00

Mmmm... the sweet foods of Autumn. Autumn is my favorite season. I love wearing sweaters and comfort food to me is usually Fall-like. The crispness of the air can almost make you feel as though pollution doesn't exist, even in NYC. That is until a city bus goes speeding past you.

I decided to get Rex a Halloween costume this year. He's going to be a lion. I hope he wears the costume well and doesn't get fussy. I will not take him trick-or-treating, he's too young to get loaded up on so much candy. I think I will just have him hang out with me while I hand out candy to the neighborhood kids. Hopefully it will be a nice night and we can sit outside.

Rex is doing great, he still isn't talking in many real words, but he does make sounds to reply appropriately to questions and conversation. I hope he has a word explosion soon. Sometimes I wonder if I am just not paying enough attention to him to pick up on what he is saying/trying to say. We are introducing the potty to Rex. He loves his potty book and he likes sitting on the potty when he is fully clothed, but that's about it. I may try some training pants and see if the relative lack of absorbency helps to move things in the right direction. It's getting really difficult to put a diaper on a standing toddler.

Banana Loaf with Iced Lemon Glaze

2008-09-16T12:17:00.002-04:00

In my eternal attempt to reduce our household spending I decided to start baking more so that I will buy less processed and prepared foods. Yesterday I baked a banana loaf with iced lemon glaze, I am hoping my son enjoys a piece for his afternoon snack. I am not entirely sure when or how it happened, but I feel like I turned around one day and realized that our grocery bill had just about doubled. I do try to buy organic products when available and environmentally friendly cleaning products so I know that has upwardly affected our grocery bill, but does American cheese in the deli NEED to be $6 per pound?

Plum Tart

2008-08-17T12:21:00.002-04:00

We joined an organic veggie and fruit co-op this summer. Every Tuesday Rex and I drive to a relatively nearby park to pick-up our share of the week's produce. Usually we bring home some tasty greens, squash, peppers, cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes. We have also been treated to eggplant, Japanese turnip and hearty greens such as collards. The fruit share gets more and more tasty each week. The first few weeks provided us with blueberries and strawberries, but the past couple of weeks brought plums, peaches and nectarines.

The first week that I brought home something other than berries was a few weeks ago. After I unpacked our produced we were faced with the daunting task of consuming 2 pounds of yellow plums before they became overripe. I searched the internet for something to do with our plums and came across a plum tart recipe. I made the tart on a Wednesday afternoon while Rex napped and he was the first to try it that night for dessert. It was quite a hit with him as well as the adults in the house.

Tonight's dinner will consist of an open-faced eggplant, tomato and mozzarella sandwich. The eggplant and tomatoes are from the co-op. We have become a bit giddy about cooking and eating our co-op produce. Planning weekly menus based on the surprises in our weekly share proves to be a fun summer activity.

I have been in the cooking doldrums for quite some time and this co-op pushed me out of it. Thankfully the co-op continues into November so my cooking skills should stay sharp. Once it is over I will have to break out the slow-cooker and hunker down for winter.

Mango Lemonade

2008-08-12T13:36:00.002-04:00

In our eternal quest to find cheap entertainment to offset the pricey entertainment we so dearly enjoy, we spent an hour or so at the street fair hosted by the Harlem Dance Theater. The fair took place one block away from our home so it was easy to get to and admission was free. When we arrived the dignitaries were staring to speak on the stage that extended into the middle of the street. Charlie Rangel, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, spoke first. He was followed be a few other prominent men from the Harlem neighborhood. Afterwards the dance theater performed.

Our son, Rex, was not exactly into the speeches so we strolled through the street fair and checked out all of the wares that were for sale. A NYC street fair usually consists of the following vendors: the tube sock guy; the onesie lady; the evening wrap guy; the cheap artsy jewelry booth; and the bag guy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the tube sock guy and the onesie lady had sat this fair out. In their respective places were the dress lady whose dresses could be worn a variety of ways, sort of like a moby wrap, and the H&R Block table that gave Rex a balloon. Rex was enthralled with the balloon. A couple of days later it became clear that Rex favors inflated balloons. When he saw his quickly shriveling balloon on Monday he was pretty freaked out.

After our stroll we took a break from the fair and put Rex in a swing at a nearby playground - again, free. J also got to watch some of the kids' basketball tournament that was taking place - free. Eventually it came time to spend some money. J tried the fried shrimp and an iced tea and I had a mango lemonade. I was quite happy with my beverage. The shrimp was good, but had been fried earlier in the day. We also picked up a t-shirt to help support the dance theater so we could leave feeling a little better about ourselves.

Freezer Jam

2008-08-07T13:23:00.002-04:00

Early in July mo mother-in-law stayed with us for nearly 1 week. I somewhat recently realized that one of the "benefits" of living a seven-hour drive away from family is that when they visit, they tend to stay awhile. Anyway, when mother-in-law arrived for this, he most recent visit, she stashed 2 jars of something in our freezer. A couple of days into her visit I asked her what she put in the freezer. She responded in an incredibly exuberant tone, "It's freezer jam.". Other than thinking, "What the FUCK is freezer jam" my mind was a total blank. I managed to follow-up and ask the dear woman, "what is freezer jam". I was hoping to find out the flavor and whether or not I could ever transfer the jars to the refrigerator. Her response was "freezer jam isn't cooked". I still did not have either of my questions answered. We had nothing else to do that afternoon so I decided to delve deeper into into this Freezer Jam issue. I began by asking the flavor, "grape, strawberry, raspberry?" She said it was strawberry which was great in my book because I love strawberry jelly/jam. Next, I asked if it had to stay in the freezer. Mother-in-law assured me I could move it to the refrigerator when we were ready to open it. Great! I finally had my answers.

Why has this month old conversation come to the forefront of my mind? I opened our first jar of freezer jam two days ago and it was quite tasty on our breakfast toast.

However, this whole Freezer Jam issue brings me to another pet peeve - mason jars. People who give me things in mason jars always want their jars back. These people do not live near me and I live in Manhattan with finite storage space. I fume every time I come across an empty mason jar that I am supposed to return to someone "the next time I see them" - like next Christmas, you want me to hold on to this for a year? I really wish there were regional depots for mason jars. People like me could return them and people who make things could pick some up. Doesn't this make sense?

A name is a name

2008-08-04T19:56:00.000-04:00

So, what's the deal with grilled cheese and martinis?

They are only 2 of my most favorite things, although not in combination. As a child I loved a grilled cheese sandwich. It was a staple weekend lunch item or even a midweek dinner item in the 2 working parent home I grew up with my younger sister. It was common to make a grilled cheese with either mustard, peanut butter or tuna fish in my family. Apparently, my grandfather, mom's dad, introduced these combinations to his 8 children and the tradition carries on as I now serve my 18 month old son grilled cheese and mustard for dinner once per week. You may think these additions sound obnoxious, but anyone who has tried one at my request has been won over. I recently learned, after my grandfather passed away, that you could also make the sandwich with marmalade. I tried one, but found that the marmalade allowed the sandwich to "slip" too much in my hand and that the sweetness wasn't to my liking.

As for the martini, it is one of the pleasures of adulthood that I most enjoy. It was the drink I missed the most when I was pregnant and the first drink I stashed breastmilk away for so that I could imbibe. My husband and I typically enjoy martinis on Friday nights. They are a nice capper to the week and tey let us relax and catch up. Some people say they like martinis, but what they really like are the fru-fru "martinis" at chain restaurant bars that are just a few steps up from frozen daiquiris. When I say martini, I mean Hendricks's/Bombay Sapphire/Ketel One up with a twist (or cucumber if it is Hendrick's). I guess I am particular about my martinis.

I am reminiscing about my childhood and adult favorites because as a mom of an 18 month old I am engaged in an endless search to have an adult-life. I love all of the mom stuff, but I also need the adult stuff - where is the balance? Date nights with my husband, J, are planned months in advance so that we can orchestrate getting a sitter and a reservation and/or tickets to something that adults do. Daytime outings are carefully planned around naps and tot meals. How I totally underappreciated those weeknights when J and I would just meet out for dinner and come home as late as we wanted, never worrying about getting a sitter home or paying a sitter for an extra hour while we indulged in a nightcap.

So grilled cheese and martinis are my life for the time being. Hopefully Rex's palate will mature soon and I can pair two things that I can have at the same meal.