Progress on the CSA: Baby Chard or Spinach?

I sauteed what I thought was baby swiss chard in some olive oil and garlic. I don't think I've had chard before so I'm not sure if that is what I ate. B/c of the red ribbing on some of the leaves and the general appearance of the leaves (they looked more like arugula or some weird salad mix) I didn't think it was spinach. However, it really tasted like spinach. I guess it doesn't matter what it was...I like most leafy greens and garlic adds to anything.

New Trader Joes Finds

1. Chocolate Ice Cream - simple yet SO rich and delicious. and cheap.
2. Naan bread - we've had the whole wheat and the garlic naan and both are delicious. kids loved it too.
3. Mini mint ice cream chocolate cookie sandwiches - see what happens when you give out free samples?
4. Flowers, flowers, flowers - at 3.99 or 4.99 a bunch that last 2+ weeks, how can I not?
5. Olive oil. Can you say 7.50 for a quart of EVOO? Can you say 5.50 for a quart of regular olive oil?
6. Prewashed cut up broccoli

That's it for now, but I'm trying the brownie mix next!

Progress on the CSA Bag - Collard Greens

I've not cooked, nor even tasted, Collard Greens before. The CSA has forced them on me though so I gave it a whirl. I'm thrilled to report that they are delicious. Thank you, Martha Stewart, for this easy braised Collard Greens recipe with Bacon and Onions. I figured if I didn't like them I could at least eat the bacon. They were great though!

We've made a nice dent in our abundance of lettuce. The radishes are almost gone - used for salads. The rhubarb went into jam. Strawberries were eaten as is. The only item I haven't done anything with yet are the baby chard leaves. I'm thinking I'll saute them with garlic and oil probably tomorrow to go with some brats I grabbed at Trader Joes. Yum.

Animals Tangled in the Hair

I must be the only person who hasn't heard that bats can be attracted to humans hair and can get tangled up in it. A couple of people told me stories so of course I had a nightmare last night about chipmunks burrowing in my hair and me having to shave it. Today I'm sporting a classic 70's Diana Ross hairdo thanks to the New England humidity and all this crappy rain so maybe buzzing it all off wouldn't be such a bad thing...

29 Jars of Jam on the Wall...

Shelagh and I went Strawberry picking last weekend up at the farm where we get our CSA. We picked a case of beautiful, ripe, sweet fruit which we planned to make into jam. Good thing, too, b/c all the rain we've gotten up here has pretty much wiped out the strawberry crop that remains after last weekends strawberry festivals at most of the U-Pick farms around here. By yesterday, they were starting to rot already so it was a day of jam-making for us.

The 29 jars broke down into Strawberry, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Mixed Berry, and Strawberry-Cherry. My finger nails are permanently stained from pitting cherries using a paring knife. My cherry pitter sucks and this was the fastest way. What a pain in the ass. They all came out good, although still too sweet I think. The classic jam recipes call for 5-6 cups of fruit to 7 cups of sugar. Yes, 7 cups of sugar! I actually did 6 cups of sugar last year and it was too sweet, so this year I went down to 3-4 cups of sugar and even that is too much. I'm thinking 2 cups is plenty for next time.

Rory mashing and Shelagh sorting and eating!

Holy F-ing Bat

There Joe and I were...relaxing on the couch watching a mellow movie about Hitler. When, all of a sudden, Lickey the cat went on high alert and something swooshed through the room. Just when we thought maybe we were wrong (don't you always) - BAM - here it came again. An F-ing BAT!! Seriously!! A freakin' bat was flying around our living room. Although neither of us are fond of rodents, let alone flying rodents, we armed, we attacked, and - yes - we prevailed.

We armed...with dry swiffer, extra wide rake, and shower curtain in hand we planned our next move.

We attacked...we confirmed that our front and back doors were propped open and that all other doors in the house - including our children's bedroom doors - were closed. We noodled over how the hell a bat got into our house (me swearing I was calling rodent control first thing Monday AM NO MATTER WHAT b/c WHAT THE F - we must be infested! What if there is a whole nest or babies or something????). The cat went upstairs to guard the bathroom door needlessly. We have the biggest WUSS cat on the planet.

Joe made several attempts to lunge for it going up the steps, but that wiley bastard out manuevered us. He was circling our upstairs. The plan was put in place. I put on my hoodie and pulled the string tight (b/c as with the single plastic bag that gets put on the eggs that serves virtually no purpose and has no chance in preventing any eggs from breaking, I was sure that my J Crew Navy hoodie would prevent any bat bites from permeating my skin).

We prevailed...I slowly ascended the steps to the landing between the first and second floor. I waved the rake around to lure the creature towards me. I hit the deck. Holy shit, bats are scary. I got back up and he came for me. I whacked him once and hit him slightly. He came at me again...I whacked him harder but this time down the steps. Joe threw the shower curtain on him and whacked him repeatedly out the door confirming he flew away (as opposed to him dying on our deck and his limp body scaring the shit out of us and the kids in the morning).

We figure he had to have gotten in via the fireplace. It took a big bowl of chocolate Trader Joes ice cream to calm us down and a tense ending to the Hitler movie (Valkyrie, if you are wondering. And, yes, we liked it) to divert our attentions sufficiently.

Yes, this is a true story. I categorize this event under Crazy People (us), Funnies (b/c I was laughing at Joe lunging to and fro), I appreciate (b/c the kids slept through the whole thing and I didn't piss my pants), and Resolution (b/c I swear I will close that fireplace as soon as the frost clears each year).

By the way, the cat just secured her own future. She was on the way out with all the throwing up and crapping on the floor she's been doing lately. Now at least we'd have a slight warning that something is askew in the house, even if she doesn't do anything about it.

1st CSA Bag

We picked up our first CSA bag today. We're splitting the share with our friends so we'll be picking up the bag every other Friday at a local farm. Unfortunately it was too rainly to pick strawberries today, but we did get 2 quarts in our bag.. We got 3 HUGE heads of lettuce - one red leaf, one green leaf, and one romaine. We also got radishes, what I think are collard greens, a bag of what I think is baby chard and some rhubarb. Shelagh and I washed all the lettuce (bugs and dirt galore) and got it into 3 gallon sized ziploc bags...salad for days I predict.

Shelagh also tried lettuce and decided to have a salad tonight - GLORY! We did a salad dressing taste test after which she concluded that she just wanted a bit of water on her lettuce. Rory pitched a fit that there was a salad on his placemat. At least he tried a single mushroom.

Tomato Debate

I love tomatoes cold. I love tomato sauce. But something about a warm tomato just doesn't work for me. I decided, however, to try again and made this Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables from Everyday Food. It came out really good. The cut up cherry tomatoes helped to create a really nice sauce for the pasta. I added salt, more parmesean and less tomatoes and it hit the spot.

Orange Twins

Joe and Kelly looked so cute yesterday while I was prepping for the dinner party.

Supper Club Success

I think it went well overall. I was pleased with almost all the dishes with a few exceptions. They always say you shouldn't cook anything new when you are entertaining. I say if you can't experiment on your friends then who the hell can you experiment on??? Here's the frig beforehand with everything prepped..

Here's the table beforehand...

Appetizers

The cheddar-scallion toasts were yummy. I wanted something gooey-cheesy, but didn't feel like making my artichoke dip or baked stuffed camembert, which are my normal go-to rich, cheesy apps. The mozzarella, salami, tomato skewers were pretty good - I made a sherry vinagrette...I think I'll stick with balsamic next time. I wanted to try something new, but mixed with the mustard it was a little too strong. The avocado, crumbled bacon app was interesting but didn't look very good. I got the idea from an avocado-bacon-vinagrette salad, but I didn't want people to have to use plates and forks. I toasted some of the tortillas and used those as a base instead, but it didn't work for me. I think it was shapes - triangular tortillas and blobs of avocado. Didn't taste bad though.

Dinner

Black Beans with onions, garlic, and cumin were good. Basmati rice with chopped onion, red pepper, and zucchini was good. The Seafood saute marinated in tequila, cumin, shallot, garlic, and lime juice came out really tasty - I didn't dry off the scallops so they didn't sear like I would have liked, but they tasted ok - they should have been more carmelized. The avocado-mango salsa was yummy with it, but the avocado was mushy and not browned unfortunately, but it tasted good! The chicken, mushroom, asparagus dish was just ok. I just thought I needed some meat or bulk or something, but I probably could have skipped it altogether.

Drink & Dessert

The White Sangria was my favorite, as can be judged by the 5 glasses of it I drank followed by my eating a ton of the fruit at the bottom of the pitcher! It was equal parts rose wine, pineapple juice and apricot nectar, chopped pineapple and sliced oranges with 4 cinnamon sticks. Yummy. The chocolate mousse was the same I had made at Xmas, from Everyday Food, but with some added cinnamon in the mousse.

Late night by the time we cleaned up and I nursed Kelly. We sort of slept in if you call 815 good time. We went to an awesome diner in Lowell for breakfast and then picked up the kids. They had fun at their grandmothers and we're lounging around today while I avoid all I have to do for this week.

Supper Club Preparations

We're hosting for our Supper Club tomorrow night. I managed to clean 2 rooms, shop, and do some prep today. The big kids are going to my mother in laws tomorrow for lunch and to sleep over so I should be okay, with some help from Joe. I have a wicked schedule typed out so that I have everything as organized as possible and can actually have very little to do once everyone arrives. Here's the menu...I was inspired from one of the recent issues of Bon Appetit. It's a modern take on Mexican. I'm doing the main seafood dish and the rose sangria, but loosely borrowed from the rice and bean side dishes and added some stuff of my own.

Appetizers

• Cheese Scallion Toasts
• Mozzarella, Tomato, Salami skewers marinated in Sherry Vinagrette
• Avocado bites w/ crumbled bacon and Sherry Vinagrette
• Rose Sangria w/ Pineapple & Apricot Juices

Dinner

• Shrimp & Scallop Saute w/ Avocado-Mango Salsa
• Chicken sauteed w/ Mushrooms & Asparagus
• Rice w/ chopped vegetables (onions, red peppers, zucchini)
• Black Beans w/ sauteed onions & cumin
• Sliced Tomato Salad

Dessert

• Chocolate Mousse w/ Whipped Cream & Raspberries (going to try to get some cinnamon in here to make it lean more Mexican)

Good Luck to me!!

Bribes Work

For about 2-3 months now, I've attempted to bribe Rory to eat some vegetables. I told him he could have Bling Bling McQueen (yes, CARS movie) and Darryl Cartrip (again, CARS movie) if he would try 3 new foods (ie vegetables).

Left: Bling Bling McQueen (notice the shiny hubcaps - or his CAPS as Rory likes to call them)

Right: Darryl Cartrip (cool flames)

He whined and complained and eventually told me he didn't want them (lie) and called my bluff to return them to the store. Newman. Well, a few weeks ago he was in a good mood and tried yellow peppers. And liked them. And has eaten them many times since. Partly, I think this is because he helped me pick them out and mostly because they are yellow and he loves all things yellow.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, last night he finished items 2 and 3 after some coaxing by me and by Shelagh - corn on the cob and a snow pea. Incoming Bling Bling! Tonight, shockingly, he did it again and tried green beans (and then proceeded to eat 6 of them one after the other so I could take pictures) and both cooked and raw carrots. He also ate his turkey without a fight - this is huge b/c he's been anti-meat, - other than chicken nuggets and Trader Joes pesto sausage, for awhile now too. Incoming Darryl Cartrip. The kid is ecstatic. See below the shot of proud sister and overwhelmed boy.

Roasted Turkey Breast and Carrots, Smashed Potatoes and Green Beans

In my quest to lower my cholesterol below 300 (seriously) and avoid being prematurely medicated, I have tried to incorporate at least 2 fish meals per week and more white meat poultry (ugh). Needless to say there have been a few disasters (poached salmon from Everyday Food for a start - blah, blah).

They had a split turkey breast on the bone at the grocery store this past week so I roasted it a la Martha (only brined for a couple of hours) and it came out perfectly - very juicy and no gravy needed (which is a bold statement for me where I don't prefer white meat). Along side the turkey was some carrots and onions just tossed in olive oil and salt. So good. I also made smashed potatoes. Not roughly mashed, but literally smashed with a meat pounder. I boiled small white potatoes until they were just done, smashed them and then sauteed them in some oil and salt in a pan for 20 minutes - again a la Martha - topping them with parmesean at the end. Here's the finished meal with some cranberry applesauce.

Rainy Day Painting

We decided to do some painting today. First, the kids painted with potatoes.

Then, we did finger painting. Here's Shelagh showing her brush skills and Rory showing his rainbow fingers.

Kelly at 4 Months

I don't care that this is a boy outfit. How cute does Kelly look??? You'd never know she's been completely sick - congested, coughing, boogies - for a good week. She's the happiest baby.

Waiting for the Perfect Moment

...to open her presents. Who doesn't open their presents right away????

Due to a blowout tantrum after her birthday party, Shelagh was not allowed to open her presents when we got home before bedtime. Huge bummer. After school the next night I asked her if she wanted to open them to which she replied "I will open them on Thursday". Yes, she will wait until Thursday, her favorite day. Doesn't matter that we're home today, Tuesday, that it's raining outside and that we have nothing else to do. She painted in front of the presents, ate breakfast and lunch in front of them and still has no interest b/c it's not Thursday. Thursday is Macaroni & Cheese night so it has been declared the best day of the week and all good things have to happen on Thursday. The fact that her birthday actually fell on a Thursday was heaven.

Here are the kids before the party snuggling:

Fast Scallop Dinner

Joe and I both love scallops. Unfortuntely, they don't freeze well, so I need to make them the day of or after shopping for them. Usually I just saute them in some olive oil/butter until they are nicely browned, which only takes a few minutes. Add in some couscous (takes 5 minutes) and some steamed veggies and it's a super-fast meal!

Would you Call This a Craft?

The kids are kind of getting into Pirates these days. The one plastic sword we had broke so Shelagh and I made new ones. Hey, I did a craft! Okay, so I did the cutting and Shelagh did the coloring.

Partial Garden

I got a babysitter this morning and head out to the Nursery. I can't imagine concentrating with Shelagh and Rory running up and down the aisles at the garden center. I picked up a few vegetables, several herbs, and flowers for a couple of pots in the front and in the back. I did keep the flowers alive all last summer, so there's hope for this year.

I managed to do all the little stuff today...I rotated my tomatoes into barrels this year. I know they are a little crowded, but we'll see what happens. Here is the small patch I use for vegetables...note the flowers in my chives, the various weeds, the 2 flats of stuff I bought today that I didn't get to, and the strawberry plant on the far right that is green but no red fruit to be found. Let's hope I get to the weeding and the rest of the planting this weekend sometime.

Lame

This is what I get for letting my cheap side take over. Hello, $15 crap pool. I suppose it would have worked better had I filled it up more than a half inch, but the thought of the volume of mud that would be generated when dumping it out in our half-assed teeny-weeny lawn discouraged me from doing so.