Little & Big

first salad from the garden

Kale, green curly lettuce, arugula and sorrel.  With lemon, olive oil and salt.  Beautiful!

two new delights

1) forget-me-nots.  They are everywhere.  Delightful splashes of that irresistable blue.  I sent big brother out to make little arrangements for our dinner on Sunday night, and he came back with this bouquet above, tucked into a vintage milk jar.  Embarrassed by the result.  "That's actually very classy, very arty, my clever son," I told him, and he looked at me like I was trying to pull one over on him.  "Seriously!"   I asked him to make two more just like it.

2) raw kale salad.  Massage each leaf of kale with olive oil and a little sea salt, until the leaf is uniformly covered in oil and beginning to soften.  Then tear the leaf into bit-sized pieces, and place in bowl, setting the stems aside.  Repeat this with the other leaves in the bunch.  Juice one lemon, sprinkle over the kale, and toss.  Delicious. ("Impossible!" you say, "Yuck!"  And I say, "TRUST me.  TRY it.")

sweet things

but then sweeter than that was this:

peeking out my window to see the boys just sitting against the fence.  bikes parked.  nothing pulling on them.  just chatting.

they are bonded, those two.  as much as they fight, and complain about each other, they LOVE each other.  and it's so rich to observe.

and vacation week has been good for us.  once we settled into it, and gave up the constant questioning "what are we going to do next?  what are we going to do next?  what are we going to do next?"  (which we all did in our own way) -- it's been so easy and delicious. 

may our weekend spread out in that same easy-peasy pace, with that same joy-in-just-being-together.   and may yours do the same!

he bakes (from joy of cooking)

"gold layer cake", page 674 in the 1978 edition.

I had been resistant.  I sighed, thinking of having to clean the kitchen again.  but he insisted.  he wanted to bake a cake.  and so, he did.  (with only the wee-ist bit of help to adapt it to gluten-free flour.)

egg yolks, cream, lemon rind, butter, sugar, flour.  really now.

it was so lovely, I said we had to pull out the nice plates.  both boys asked for a second slice.  (yes, absolutely!)

at bedtime, I told him how proud I was.  well done.

sometimes we just have to

have something luscious and breakfasty for dinner.

yummy

The other day I came home to a very excited child and the chocolatey smells of a creative cooking project.

I learned from the Daddy that he had pulled various ingredients from the pantry and fridge -- chocolate chips, rice, eggs, chocolate sauce, agave syrup among them -- and invited little brother to get cooking.

And so, apparently, little brother did.  He whipped up what I would call "Chocolate Rice Pudding".  (And in the process, gave his father some extra time to edit stories.)

He simply called it "Yummy". 

And it was. It was actually super yummy.  Served here with gluten-free shortbread.  (He served it all up himself!)

I was extra impressed because I had just been enjoying this post, and wondering how we might do something like that at our house.

And what do you know?  I didn't have to do a thing, because it had already been done!

Amazing.

To anyone who wants to try this but thinks "yikes", know this: it doesn't have to be perfect.  Or even edible.  (That was a perk of this experiment, although the Daddy chose the ingredients carefully.)   Why not open the pantry and pull out whatever you aren't using, or what's ready to be tossed?  I think we'll do that again.  Soon.  (Can anyone say cabbage fritters with aged enchilada sauce?)

Easter inside

(and the before pic:

just as an FYI. and because I love the Easter Bunny.  and because the kids do too.)

Oh the goodies that come with Easter!  Chocolates chocolates and more chocolates!  Decoupage eggs with chocolate hens to accompany. The Easter bunny even tossed in a "raw" chocolate coconut bar and some chocolate nibs -- that Bunny knows us so well!

There was much deliberation over what to eat for brunch.  I got some great ideas from Facebook (THANKS FRIENDS), but then I hopped onto Martha Stewart.  And oh!  The family voted for salmon, I wanted vegetables and more vegetables, and she had all I needed.  Arugula Salad with Strawberries, Salmon with Cucumber-Radish Relish, Steamed Artichokes with Tarragon Mayonnaise, and I added roasted asparagus & potatoes.   And I almost spend more time taking pictures of that gorgeous food than preparing it.  (I'm exaggerating of course.)  Delicious.   Little brother discovered a passion for artichokes, and big brother nearly licked his plate.  The Daddy did a lot of pausing and smiling.  Makes a mother happy.

So 'twas a sweet Easter.  Artichokes, egg-battles, chocolate nibs and all.

a treat

There's a new cupcake shop in town.  It was time to try it.  I took the boys after school on Friday.  As a treat.

And right before they were all gobbled up, I grabbed the phone to capture this last beautiful little (gluten free!) cupcake.

They were all gone in about 2 minutes.  Or less.  But it was seriously yummy. 

And a wonderful reminder: treats are good.

the little chef

He was hungry.  I said "I have goat cheese."  And there was the seed of inspiration for a whole new dish, by the chef known as little brother.

Chevre, almonds and honey. 

The best part: he ate it. 

(In the last years, little brother comes to the table and resists whatever is put in front of him, no matter what it is.  Unless it is sweet.)

I ate it too.  As did the Daddy.  And do you know, it was really good!  The chevre was mild, like cream cheese.  What should we call this dish?  "Little creamy sweet balls, rolled lightly in almonds"?

Little brother doesn't care.  He just loved the experience of being independent and doing something for himself and others (with a great big knife).

fall foods: marinated beets and kale

Kale (blanched to bright green) + beets (boiled to just tender & peeled.)  Chopped and cubed. 

Plus a balsalmic vinaigrette.  Mix all of the ingredients below. 

4 T. Balsamic vinegar
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. dried thyme or 2 t. fresh
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 C. virgin olive oil
1/2 t. salt (or to taste)

Let the onions marinate for an hour or more in the dressing.  And then pour over the beets and greens.  Toss to combine.   Lovely.

This is one of my favorite fall foods.  Adapted from this recipe on Epicurious.  (Note: beet greens can be used in place of kale.)