Fresh Tart

Great Gatsby! Date night for John and me, we're headin' to the Guthrie for dinner at Cue and to check out the new digs' inaugural production. Sheesh, I kinda sorta bobbed my hair yesterday, perhaps I'll have to don a nod to something flapperesque. Hmmm... Given my decidedly un-deco wardrobe, I'm not quite sure what that could be. Ah, perhaps cooler in concept than in reality, as so many of my ideas turn out to be. The curse of the demi-creative... Not to mention, the idea of an almost-40, 5'11" wanna-be flapper makes me laugh out loud, and not in a good way. Eeek!

It's hot and sticky out there today and you know what? I don't like it! Nature has worked its magic and slowly reset my internal seasonal clock - I am now readying for fall, I can feel it. Whether it's shorter days, a few teasing breaths of cooler air, the sweet scent of fall, or all of the above, somehow over this last week a switch has been flipped...jeans, socks, sweaters, crackling fires, and braised foods all sound, if not amazing, at least interesting. As much as I bitch about the length of our winters, it turns out I am indeed a four-season girl.

So it turned out to be just fine that when Nathan and I set out to hit a few tennis balls, we couldn't find an open court! Lots of high school-looking girls getting ready for school next week...

As an official nod to the end of my summer, I finally got my hair colored and cut today. I was pretty desperate to be rid of my overly-blonde, over-grown mess of a head of hair. Nisa worked her usual magic and I walked out with much shorter (three inches!), smoother, shinier, browner hair, ahhhhh, relief.

Despite my autumnal mood, we're having a pretty summery din - steaks on the grill, pasta with broccolini, and yes, more tomatoes. Can't get enough tomatoes! And we'll eat them on the deck, even if it's a bit hot out there, because that is one summer sensual pleasure I will seriously miss. The last outdoor meal of the season - whenever it is, it's coming soon...shiiiiit...

Well, I'm sorry to say that I clearly missed greatness last night at Susan & Louis Ainsworth's dinner for Genie & Joe Dixon, Debbie & Stu Williams, Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa,Annamarie& Karl Rigelman, and my Johnny. I fell asleep before John got home (beer + sun + Stephanie = one tired momma), so only got the details this a.m. (I'm using the word "details" pretty loosely; Stu filled in most of the specifics since that's not, um, John's forte). The highlights...ratatouille, shrimp, bruschetta, and a pear, gorgonzola, portobello, and rosemary pizza for appetizers. Main course of lamb with a red pepper coulis. Dessert cheeses including Shropeshire blue, a goat milk brie, and brie d'Affinois. Of course, plenty (!) of fabulous wine including a 1971 Ch. Rayne-Vigne sauterne (rrrrrrar!) as well as 1990 Diamond Creek Gravely Meadow, Red Rock Terrace, and Volcanic Hill, en magnum. Beautiful setting (Sue & Lou's newly remodeled home, which John said is both stunning and comfortable, good combo), great conversation, amazing food and wine; in sum, John had a relaxing, charmed, late-summer evening..and I missed the whole damn thing. Damn! When is the next? I'm THERE.

Tonight, nothing nearly that lovely, I'm rather sad to say. I had a boatload of carrots in the cooler from my CSA veggie share so made a pretty and tasty carrot soup (recipe in comments, below). With a ripe garden tomato salad and a tuna sandwich on rye, it all made a light, simple summer din.

The sun's supposed to shine tomorrow, my friends. In this last week of summer, I'm hoping for long swims with my boy, as well as after-dinner walks (before he has homework each night), shooting some baskets, maybe hitting a few tennis balls together. Summer's last hurrah! And I'm the only one who will miss it - Nathan's favorite season is winter, the darker the better. A Minnesotan, that one, yes he is.

What a day - boating on the St. Croix river with Baseball Moms Beth, Jennifer, Sonja, and Suzanne. Plenty of sunshine, breathtaking scenery, hardly another soul on the river, great tunes, more beverages than we could possibly drink, a variety of tasties, and lots and lots of chat. Ahhhhh, so relaxing and decadent. Everyone kept saying, I feel so guilty! Laugh, shrug, sip...and I was saying?

John went without me to the Ainsworth's this evening, for what I'm sure will be an incredible meal, with incredible wine, and the great company of Stu The Wine Genius Williams and his wife Debbie, as well as Rudy Maxa and Ana Scofield. I can't wait to hear the details!

Nathan and I? Well, we had...Pizza Hut pizza, Nathan's very favorite, which he's been wanting for months. Sigh. So I gave in, I didn't feel much like cooking after such a tough day, you know, out on the water and all. So now we're stuffed, and ready for showers, and jammies, and a good night's sleep. Good night to you too!

The kid is back in town - woo hoo! Cooper Doo, I've missed you! In the month since I've seen him his hair has gotten even redder and he's gotten quite strong. And he's busy! Squirm, wiggle, kick, grab, squirm, smile, frown, wiggle. He's still the sweetest, happily sitting on Daddy Bowen's lap while we ate our dinner of roasted chicken, grilled fresh corn, and a salad of green beans, tomatoes, cukes, basil, and fresh mozzarella. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Gorgeous day by the pool, and evening on the deck, most definitely to be savored because fall is right around the corner. You can see it in the muted green leaves and deeper afternoon shade, and smell it in the evening air. Sigh. One week left before school starts - is that possible? We finally got Nathan's teacher assignment so we can make our school supply run this week. Wow. My head's not in it, I've got to switch gears here.

It sure has been an incredible summer.

A fun, food-filled, chicksville weekend ahead, my friends. Tonight...well, I can't talk about tonight - sorry Suz! Not yet anyhow. Kim and I are treating our dear friend Susie to a little pre-birthday celebration this evening and all I'll say is that we'll eat something. And drink something. Zip it! Enough on that. For now. Tomorrow night...Stacey and Cooper! Ohhh, I can't wait to see my adorable little nephew, it's been way too long. Cooper Cuteness Coopst! And Sunday, out on the St. Croix with a few of the Baseball Moms, hosted by the generous Beth Collins. More food, more drinks, more chat, more FUN! I'll be shrieking and snacking my way through the entire weekend, just the way I like it. Looks like the sun may come out, little swim, little grill, maybe a bike ride, a few nice walks (my foot is finally feeling better), I'm itchin' to get outside after days of rain. Yeah, baby, bring it on! Details - and recipes! - to follow...

Bon nuit!

Home now, can quickly say that Kim and I treated Suz to a total WT 70s dinner, at Kim's house, playing Susie's favorite childhood game, Which Witch (which - ! - Kim and Brian found on eBay). Surrounded by balloons and streamers, while chowing down on potato chips, home-made Sloppy Joes, and mac & cheese, as well as coconut and sprinkle cupcakes for dessert. Singin' along and chair-dancing to 70s hits off XM Radio. BLAST!

Words to sleep on:
"The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters." Thomas Jefferson
"The beauty of enmity is insecurity; the beauty of friendship is in security." Robert Frost

I'm all for pouring forth affections. Screw insecurity! Boring as hell. Thanks for not being boring, girlfriends! You're The Best. Oh, yawn! It's late. With that, again, bon nuit.

Oooh, a dark, dreary day. Perfect for hangin' at the hacienda with a good book (A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin) and not much else. Which is fine, little on the tired side today, feels goooood to hole up at home and keep things cozy and simple. I'm planning omelets for dinner...little green pepper, onion, fresh tomato, sprinkle of cheddar. Buttered toast. Glass of wine. Is that John I hear callling my name, or is it my actual bed? I do believe it's my bed! I'll be there soon, baby, I'll be there soon...

Crispy oven-roasted chicken drummies tonight, with fresh corn, rice (I know, two grains, but my family lurves grains), sliced garden tomatoes with salt and pepper, and kale sauteed with a bit of bacon (that one is for myself, I'm the only kale fan in this household - their loss! So yummy and nutritious!).

And for dessert...hijinxing with my minxes! Woo hoo! It's been almost an entire month since we've been able to podcast, and I Can't Wait! My mood's not the same when I can't gossip wildly, talk trash - and laugh! - with my girls about life's little (and not so little) irritations (because while it takes us around 45 minutes to tape the podcast, we usually sit and chat for, oh, about three hours... I know Cory's rolling his eyes reading that, since he's often sitting around waiting for us to button it - hi Coreman! You're awesome!). Baseball might be over, but August is even busier and we haven't been able to get it together for weeks. No longer - look out world!

My Johnny, headin' to the beach, totally relaxed, loving his vacation...he had a particularly great time in EH this year. He stayed longer than Nathan and I did, didn't come back until late Saturday night, and those extra days worked their magic. He hasn't had a week-long vacation in, well, years, maybe since we went to Africa with my family. Almost four years ago! Back to reality yesterday...

Stacey and Cooper are back from vaca too, after three weeks at my parents' place at Sun West Ranch, south of Bozeman, MT. I can't wait to see Cooper and the two teeth he sprouted while away!

Yep, we're all winding our summer down, sigh. The Minnesota State Fair - aka The Great Minnesota Get-Together - opens on Thursday, always the summer's last hurrah. Andrew Zimmern will be out there in all his glory, I'll definitely be linking to his blog, Chow & Again, for the duration! And perhaps John and I will take a trip out ourselves, eat a Pronto Pup among twenty other naughty things. Stay tuned...

Today, Nathan and I are going to earn our planned crispy shrimp-foccacia sandwich dinner: first, we'll bake the bread. Second, I'm forcing him to go on a bike ride with me (he's anti-bike these days). Third, we're both going to finish unpacking from EH (there are little remnants lying around...pair of shoes here, bag of toys there, beach bag here, comic books there). If I'm really motivated, maybe I'll challenge him to a desk-cleaning contest, oooh, his vs. mine. Both are complete disasters, ack. THEN we'll fry shrimp and stuff it into warm foccacia, along with cool, crunchy cabbage, raw onions, and a smear of spicy mayo. NICE, huh? Again, stay tuned...

Oh my! That foccacia is so good it's obscene! Yikes! I've not made home-made foccacia before and perhaps I never should again... Nah,it's waaaay too good to give up! Nathan and I baked it together, a very easy bread since it doesn't even require kneading. You just have to start early in the day because there are basically three risings - first of the biga, which is a fermented starter of yeast, water, and flour. Then, the dough itself. And last, the shaped loaf in the pan. And oh, is it worth the all-day prep! (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Obviously, we've sampled the foccacia before preparing the shrimp for the sandwiches. Don't worry, we left plenty (John might not agree, but it was the most restrained we could be with a warm loaf of fresh-baked bread in front of us!).

Deadly little mothers, those sandwiches. We made smallish ones, thankfully, with four pieces of shrimp each, and that is plenty, definitely. At least for Nathan and me. Again on the deck, that's my favorite combination, food + the great outdoors. Everything tastes better outside!