Fresh Tart

Rishia Zimmern sent me this picture today of Noah, titled, Takes After His Dad. Indeed! I laughed out loud, it's so damn cute. Andrew doesn't wear diapers though... Especially while he's away in Spain and Morocco filming the first segment of his new Travel Channel series, Bizarre Foods. You may have caught the pilot, shot in Asia, which has been running on the Travel Channel for more than a year now. He just took off last week, not sure of his return date, but he's sending update emails logging the various "tasties" he consumes. I put tasties in quotes because his last entry he signed off in search of bull's balls. Ack. He's sampling plenty of more appetizing foods as well, in fact, it all sounds pretty incredible. I'll keep you posted when he sends his next...

I had the loveliest salad for lunch - chopped endive, chicory, arugula, spinach, scallion, basil, tossed with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, sea salt, and pepper. And topped with an over-easy egg, of course. Damn, it was good. I'm making the salad again tonight, but with warm bacon balsamic dressing. To go with roasted chicken drummies (John and I had a misunderstanding this weekend about what drumsticks are - he thought I meant the winglet/drummies, so I made a whole batch of the real deal sorta for nothing, oh well). And a crispy baguette (which I have to admit I stole a bit of to make a few yummy croutons for my lunch salad) that I think I'll brush with oil, sprinkle with coarse salt, and throw on the grill. Perhaps I'll give that strawberry shortcake another try as well (after our disastrous Memorial Day). It sure is a strawberry shortcake kind of day - warm, dry, sunny, fragrant. Boooootiful. We'll try eating, instead of fighting, on the deck tonight...

And Happy 48th Anniversary to my fabulous in-laws, John and Dot (pictured here, a few years ago, in EH)!!

Memorial Day. Does one say Happy Memorial Day? It sounds wrong, on a day meant for reflection and honoring those who've passed before us. Today I'll think about my Grandma and Grandpa Meyer (that's my grandma, holding baby me), who meant the world to me. I miss them very, very much. And Andrew Cohen, John's dear friend. And John's beloved Nanny. And the babies I lost in two miscarriages. None of their graves are near us, to visit or put flowers upon. But I'll look at pictures, and tell stories (which is easy for me, since I do these things all the time anyhow), and think about them all and how much I miss them.

Today we're staying home, just John, Nathan, A, and me, which is how we spent the day yesterday, too. We don't get that many days of the four of us here together, so it's been nice. I absolutely crashed last night, sleeping soundly well before 10 p.m. John and Nathan hung out together watching basketball and Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young concert DVDs (that's what they love to do together). I don't even know what time they came to bed! It's blistering hot again, and very humid, so we're absolutely swimming all day. Burgers (again, for me, but that's OK, I can eat a burger two days in a row...), and leftover grilled chicken and pasta with pesto. Strawberries. Hmmm...perhaps I'll make a little shortcake to go with them. That sounds lovely. Summer food. Hot, humid day food. Family food. Just how it's supposed to be.

Oh. Boy. Well, none of those pretty plans panned out, ha. Nathan had a burger, but he's the only one. I didn't get very far in burger cooking as John and I had the argument of the century. Big. Loud. Inside. Ouside. Yuck. Sigh. So it goes, in blended families. Often good, sometimes, highly stressful and not so great at all, in fact, downright crappy. I turned the burger into meat sauce for dinner tonight - the anti-barbecue, as it were. I was suddenly WAY over the burger idea. Well, hopefully you had a better Memorial Day, better barbecue, and better family interactions! It couldn't have been a better day, weather-wise. And we did put in some lovely time in the pool - turns out the pool is a good way to cool down in more ways than one. Hmmm...something to ponder... Well, they can't all be good days. Shiiiiit.

Burger and beer for lunch, yeah baby! Now I'm headin' out to the pool, to cool off on this hot, hot, hot day, whew. Now THIS is how Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be - woo hoo!

Wow, lots of sun today, hopefully not too much. The sun and I haven't been so friendly in the last decade or more. I get a nasty, itchy sunrash if I'm even a titch over-exposed. I swam - alot, I figured this was the most pleasant way I could imagine to get some exercise - and then sat in the shade to try to avoid frying. But it is 97 degrees out there, my friends, 97 degrees, with not a cloud in the sky. It's 6:30 p.m. now, the worst of the UV threat has passed, but whew, it's smokin' out there, and I have yet to fire up the grill. Again. As I said, I grilled a burger for lunch. With potatoes that I grilled in foil packets - delicious and so easy, so I posted the recipe (in comments, below). I've marinated chicken legs and wings in a mustard-tarragon-garlic-honey marinade all day, with the goal of tossing them on the grill for din. Here's the problem - I'm not sure anyone's really very hungry! Including me. I may save it for tomorrow, grill it with the rest of the hamburger (no one had a burger but me - they chose hot dogs, and you know, I can see it. A grilled hot dog, on a 97-degree day, by the pool, does not suck.) So! We may make our way, dinner-less, to an early bedtime. Sometimes that happens on a hot day. Hope you enjoyed yours...

Surprise! A bit of hunger appeared around 8 p.m., so I did grill the chicken and make pasta with pesto (bought the pesto, quite tasty). Lots leftover for tomorrow...

Glorious day! I had my first official swim in the pool and it was...lovely. So lovely. Two diapers had their first swims too, on the bottoms of babies Cooper and Noah. The 'rents - Stacey, Bowen, and Rishia - all had their official first swims too! No diapers on them though... Cooper loved the water, so did Noah, it was baby heaven out there. A and two girlfriends floated and chatted and giggled for a few hours. Then a newly shorn Nathan came home and jumped in too. Eventually the girls left, and then Stace, and Bowen, and Rishia and Noah, and in the end it was John, Nathan, and me eating grilled steaks, grilled bread, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and Byerly's potato salad, on the deck, ahhh. Nothing fancy, just good summer food. We had a big salad for lunch, with chicken, avocado, corn, onions, tomatoes, cheddar, and crushed tortilla chips, tossed with a citrus vinaigrette. Delish, definitely hit the spot, and powered us through our afternoon of swimming. All in all, a moderate epicurean's perfect day. I am wiped, heading for bed, and ready to start it all over again tomorrow...

We will not be huddling outside, freezing our Minnesota asses off, this Memorial Day weekend, no sir. It's gonna be a hot one, smokin' hot, and sultry too (my hair HATES humidity, oh well). I'm running over to the store without a specific plan, to pick up steaks, chicken, burgers, buns, chips, fruit, salads, beer. Then we can wing it and grill whatever the heck we're in the mood for - yes! The kids will swim, I'm going to read and read, John's coming home early today. Should be a really nice weekend. Hope you have plans for a relaxing weekend as well.

That's a Pilsner Urquell in my hand, but it turns out it's more of a Killian's Red kind of night. I have had so much fun today - I received yet another load of oldies but goodies to sort through. More darling baby clothes, yes, but also a goldmine box of memorabilia from high school. Red River High School, Grand Forks, ND, go Rough Riders, woo hoo! Class of 1985, ahhhh, good times. Seriously. Really, really good times. I'm having the most fun going through the Schroeder Jr. High stuff, actually. Schroeder Raiders (rhymes, btw). Because my 'rents were divorced, I spent my summers in Lakefield, MN, with my dad and stepmom Susanna. Lots of way-pre-email-IM letter writing from my friends Stephanie and Kim, and they are priceless letters. My stepdaughter was reading through them tonight, and through what people wrote in my yearbooks, and totally cracking up. John's vote for best pic is of my Schroeder Jr. High cheerleading pic, I'm at the base of a pyramid (second from right), with my legs up and butt showing. I was horrified - in that OMG, I want to die kind of way - by that picture, I couldn't believe the photog didn't point out that my 15-year old butt was hanging out, what a jerk. Hilarious now, though, you know, 24 years later. Ack... My fav is this picture of me, Kim, and Stephanie, at Kim's confirmation. Spring of 9th grade. Steph and I were 15, Kim only 14, oh, we were babies. We've been friends for a looooong time, girls. I'm so lucky. It's fabulous.

Indulge my nostalgia with one last pic, Cami and me, drunk at some godawful Gamma Phi Beta party in Madtown, fall of 1986, the year I became a blonde. I was a bottle-blonde for, let's see, I guess only two years of my life. Is that it? Sheesh, it certainly seemed longer, I thought it sort of defined my whole Madison experience, but no. Lurved my blonde hair. Looks like h-e-double-hockey-sticks when I look at it now, what on Earth was I thinking? My Kelly McGillis-Top Gun look, hahahaha. Nice shoulder pads. Again, ack. Ah, youth. I'm much less dramatic with my fake hair color these days... I drink alot less too, and you know, hang, with alot less guys, in fact, just one... It's nice. I'd rather be 39 than 19 any damn day. Except the skin doesn't look as good, courtesy of tanning beds (no!), miss that. Oh well...

OMG, this has nothing to do with food but is so goddamn funny that I have to put a link to it. John and I first saw it on a Saturday Night Live episode that featured animated TV Funhouse shorts by the hilarious and more than slightly twisted Robert Smigel. This one was my fav, The Smurfette Show. Premise: the Smurfs have gotten older and the smurfiest yet is Smurfette... It's raunchy and kinda sick, so please don't watch it if you're bound to be offended by an uber-white-trash Smurfette in a Hustler t-shirt. If you're not easily offended, are familiar with what The Smurfs show originally was, and want to hear one of the funniest voices ever (Smurfette's voice, I am now walking around purr-whining, I want pizza, cracking myself and John up), check it out.

In that white trash sort of vein, we are having hot dogs for dinner tonight. Not that hot dogs are white trash, I truly LOVE a good hot dog (oh, that sounds kinda naughty, well, I really do like hot dogs, as in the the food kind, ha). Hebrew National, all beef, all good. 'Kraut and spicy mustard for me. Or a chili dog with pickle relish and raw onions, oh my, that sounds damn good too. If I'm motivated, a toasted bun. With nothin' but potato chips, if anything at all. A beer would be nice, but we have a baseball game tonight, so perhaps a soda (I only like soda with a couple of things - a hot dog would be one of them). Perfect hot-day, in-a-hurry, baseball food. Yeah!

Whoa. I am toast. From...jumping rope! I've accepted a truth about myself - I hate gyms, exercise classes (except yoga classes), running, and competitive sports. I do, however, like to move around (walking, hiking, biking, dancing), just not for hours and hours per week, I get bored really fast. Enter Russian kettlebells, which I've written about before. Brief, intense, fun workout, in my own home. Love that. And I just added a jump rope to the mix. We'll see if it's actually fun - if not, I'll lose interest. But today it was fun. Because it was a major challenge - it turns out I have no clue how to effectively jump rope. When done correctly, you don't double-jump or let the jump rope hit the floor. Yeah. I'm not there yet. And I'm only jumping for a total of three minutes - yep, that's it, three minutes, but I feel OK about that, because 10 minutes of jumping rope is the same exertion as 30 minutes of jogging. I don't know that my goal is to jump rope for 10 minutes - that sounds pretty damn boring. I think the goal is to use it with KBs to keep things interesting, switch things up. And, I can toss it in a suitcase (that doesn't mean I will, but hey, it sounds good).

Here's a funny thing - the shrimp scampi is absolutely delicious today. Go figure, I like it much better cold than hot. In fact, now that I think of it, I do generally like cold shrimp more than hot, unless it's fried shrimp, of course. (Fried shrimp, ahhhhhh...) Weird! So perhaps I will post the recipe after all. I had topped them with toasted bread crumbs (not a typical scampi) and even that effect is quite yummy cold, what with the garlicky shrimpy pan juice thang. (So! Recipe posted in comments, below, after all.)

Tonight, as I had mentioned yesterday, Nathan has baseball practice, so I'm making a quick pasta - probably angel hair tossed with leftover tomato sauce. I may add some bacon and hot red pepper flakes to the sauce for a pasta all'Amatriciana. Or not, I'll see what Nathan's in the mood for... (Sort of. If I left dinner completely up to Nathan, it would be pizza. Every. Single. Night.)

Kept it as simple as can be, at the request of Nathan and Vivian (who came over after school for a quick swim before Nathan's baseball practice). They wanted their pasta with butter and parmesan, so that's how I made it. Added a bit of the pasta cooking liquid and a pinch of coarse sea salt as well as the Hope Creamery butter (oh, oh, oh, how I love my Hope Creamery butter) and what was actually grated pecorino romano. Delicious. I also added a spoonful of tomato sauce to mine - NICE. I so enjoy the excuse of being a bit rushed to just prepare a basic pasta meal, no frills, no salad, no messing around. Pasta, couple of ingredients, toss, and serve. Mmmm...

John, Stu, and Rudy are lunching together today, at I Nonni, damn I wish I could have joined them. But...no. Instead I'm here waiting for, I kid you not, the Maytag repairman. BRU-TAL! Sigh. Hopefully John will achieve bringing home a few tasties, as well as the wine he'll surely be buying (as I said, he's at I Nonni with Stu and Rudy, now there's a wine-happy combination if ever there was one). Hope you're having lots of fun, boys! (I, only sort of pouting, whipped up a quick bowl of chilaquiles for my lunch, mmm...)

So because I Nonni treats could perhaps make their way here by dinnertime, I'll not plan anything overly involved for tonight. Plus, the fridge holds leftovers of various interesting flavors just waiting to be finished off. There's a nice amount of rice with vegetables, as well as the tomato sauce that accompanied the meatloaf dish I made last week. Oh, and a package of lovely mushrooms I forgot to incorporate into the pan sauce on Friday night. I have frozen shrimp as well, hmmm, interesting possibilities. Perhaps a garlicky scampi with rice sort of thing, use the tomato sauce tomorrow night for a quick pasta before baseball practice. Well. Some good options. We'll see how it plays out...

Here's how it played out: ho hum yawnsville. I don't know, the prosciutto sandwich John brought back did absolutely nothing for me. Neither did the chicken parmesan (with more prosciutto on it - enough already with the prosciutto, and the chicken, believe it or not). Nor did I really like the shrimp I prepared (too pooh salty and blandy). Nor the rice (very leftover tasting and I'm tired of asparagus). Okaaaay! Who is the picky bitch? Apparently, it's me! Who knew? And you know what? It doesn't much matter because I got some serious time on the deck before dinner, with a book, and glass of wine...spectacular day. Perhaps no eats could compare to a good read paired with that perfumey, balmy air and warmy sun...

Cool, crisp salad topped with a warm poached or over-easy egg. Prrr... If you haven't converted, you MUST, it is truly one of the best dishes on the planet. The greens tossed with a tart vinaigrette cut the richness of the yolk, a bit of minced basil adds a hint of sweetness, crumbled bacon and sauteed croutons add salt and chewiness, minced scallion and a grind of black pepper bring it all home. I've talked about it several times already, I know, in several variations (topping toast with an over-easy egg and chopped arugula, for instance, which Donna kindly acknowledged was pretty darn tasty; or the recent frisee, poached egg, lardons salad that I enjoyed at Cafe Lurcat), but I think I haven't posted an actual recipe, so I will today. For the exact salad I just made and savored for lunch, it was sublime. I took advantage of a stale baguette to make killer croutons, but you could certainly start with fresh bread. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

I'm fully recovered today. I was toast yesterday, a lazy combination of hungover-exhausted-content. Had a great day of doing almost truly, absolutely nothing. Saw United 93, on my dad and Susanna's recommendation, and it was riveting and incredibly sad. Not just worth seeing, but in fact, important to see, that's how I felt afterward. Very well done, neither frivolous nor abusively melodramatic with the raw and powerful truth of the story. I admit, I've sort of tucked 9/11 away, in my disgust with how it has been, in my opinion, tragically and mistakenly translated into a war in Iraq. But this film brought the event back to where it belongs, worthy of conscious consideration on an on-going basis, even if one doesn't agree with the decisons that have been made in its wake.

And then. We were home, back to the mundane pleasures of the daily grind. Darling John washed all the glassware from Friday night's winefest. And he took Nathan for a game of frisbee golf, and out running errands, and I did very productive things like watch Sex and the City on HBO on Demand. I was in a New York state of mind, I guess. The shots of the Twin Towers in older episodes are so lovely and sad. The shots of Carrie and the girls in their fabulous clothes are so happy and decadent. The shot of me lazing in my bed watching TV is relatively pathetic, ha. But ohhhhhh, it felt goooood.

Have a nice Sunday. NICE!