Us-ness

Plymouth, MA.  very early 90s.

Together 24 years today.  We won't have time to do anything "celebratory", but I plan to hold close my feelings of gratitude, love and joy.

Peace.

Pumpkin pie

I baked a pumpkin pie for our (day after) Thanksgiving dinner and it was my favorite thing I made.  I loved the simple elegance of the recipe...and the resulting pie was delish.  Sag liked it (particularly the crust), Gem tried it (a testament to how visually attractive it was because he does not like pie), and somehow, Cap hasn't tried it yet.

Sag stuck a Milky Way mini into his slice.  What a great idea.  (The chocolates were part of his birthday gift from godmother Jamie.)

Peace and love.

12

Peace and love.

Love

Cap made me truffles. Some dusted in cocoa, some rolled in chopped pecan. They are perfection. (Free of all I am avoiding except for a smidge of already incorporated sugar in the dark choco bars.)

Love.

Tuesday tidbits

Kate gave me a print of one of her photographs.  I love its melancholy, yet hopeful, beauty.  It reminds me of her, and always will.

A Tweedledum...or Tweedledee shot of me.  I was curious to see if my "skinny" jeans would fit yet.  I don't think "fit" is apt, but I did get them on.  I feel like I'm wearing a denim pair of Spanx.  And definitely having a Phylicia Rashad moment which only Jennifer would understand and she doesn't read the blog.  Basically, what rolls cannot be contained are pushed up over the top.
 

Danielle gave me this pretty pendant and the gift of picking out books for myself at our indie bookshop.  This was made by a local artisan who has an Etsy shop, but also sells her wares at the bookstore.

The tub and its grouting are bleached and somewhat scrubbed (I'll admit it, I three-quarters-assed it). the pork roast is rubbed and back in the fridge...I need to get a pot roast prepped and in the oven for a flu-struck family before I get over to Vinny's for treatment.

Peace.

The loot

My sweet partner knew exactly what I would love: my first jar of truffle salt and a debut novel which has been quite the critical sensation.  He also made us latkes for dinner.

Peace and love.

47 = prime

 +

 =

These are the zucchini rolls Tiina made.  They are stuffed with artichoke hearts, garlic and a nut...I think almond.  For my the first course of my birthday, I paired a couple of cold zucchini rolls with a dollop of leftover basil aioli made with homemade olive oil mayo.  Yum.  Leftover deviled eggs chasers were involved.

I thought a walk in the woods would happen today, but the snow and sleet and threats of sickness may just do those plans in.  The call for cozy is so strong that I am going to cancel my probably-was-going-to-happen birthday session with Vinny this evening (seeing him tomorrow anyway).

Reading, catching up on my Sunday night shows...chilling (oh, the pun of it all) without guilt is sounding really good right now.

47 is a prime number and I am looking forward to what this primal year brings me.  I also look forward to digging a bit deeper to bring about more prime for myself.

Peace.

Party of four

Whoosh.

After a day of cooking (Cap was awesome and did the cleaning), the little birthday potluck that could happened.

It was lovely, it was small (party of four), and it went so fast.  Felt like the blink of an eye.

I was grateful for so much: the scrumptious bites, the company of friends, the very real warmth of our home on another bitterly cold winter night.

I only took a few pics right before my guests started to arrive.  And a couple of dessert.  I spaced on taking pics of what my friends brought (Brussels sprouts with pine nuts and zucchini rolls with artichoke).

Nut and Seed Bread with Olivada.  I had a very interesting few minutes when I sliced into this beautiful loaf about twenty minutes before dinner.

I was thrilled with how the bread looked when it came out of the oven this morning.  I moved right along to preparing other dishes.  In fact, I forgot to remove it from the tin.

When I finally sliced into it, I was shocked at the bright green color inside.  I thought it was mold while knowing there was no way it could be mold.  Thank goodness for the internet.  I googled and discovered that sunflower seeds can react to baking soda and turn green!

Sure enough, it tasted fine and slathered with black olive spread, I could ignore the smudges of pesto green.  Alchemy.

I fried capers for the first time today.  Capers are one of my new food loves...frying really changes them.  Again, alchemy.  They were transformed into something else...crispy, salty, less briny.

 

I think these were my favorite tonight (very hard to choose we had such good food): Deviled Eggs with Basil Aioli and Capers.  Layers of flavor, layers of texture.  Colorful, pretty, yum.

For dessert, I made the Raspberry Brownie Bites.  They were a hit.  These are so delightful to the eyes and tasty, tasty, tasty.  As you can see, there was wine and tea, as well.

I am really tired.  I wanted to get these pics up, but, man, I am terribly inarticulate tonight.  Apologies...I will return with clearer mind.

Peace.

Birthday dinner

 scallops for him.

 leftover pot roast smothered in pea shoots for me.

dessert was Chocolate Almond Joy Bars.

It was a simple birthday dinner because I've been out of commission.  But he said it was good.

The sea scallops were purchased at the farmer's market on Saturday (our terrific source for local fresh catch) and then placed in the freezer.  They were thawed today and baked tonight with Kerrygold butter and homemade GF breadcrumbs (sounds fancy, but it ain't: an Udi's end piece blitzed in the mini-food processor), a dash of sea salt sprinkled on top.  This recipe, from Cap's mom, is a classic.  Tonight's bonus was that all the scallops were for Cap because I am eating Paleo and the kids do not like scallops.

I was deeeelighted to find pea shoots at Trader Joe's today.  I first had them with Barbra and Audrey, a simple pea shoots stir fry from their favorite Chinese restaurant.  For the past few years, I've thought of pea shoots as something I could have only with them when I visited Oakland.  But, no more.  Tonight I took a handful of lovely green, rinsed them, shook off the excess water, and tossed them atop the leftover pot roast as it reheated gently in a pan.  (We never replaced our microwave when it went kaput.)  My dinner was heaven.  So, so good.

The Almond Joy bars were...good.  After watching the faces of my three guys as they sampled/ate this new-to-us baked sweet (Gem did not care for it, Sag asked for a second piece, Cap liked it, but made suggestions for tweaking), I could not resist...I had a tiny bite that had no chocolate in it (the dark chocolate was the only element of the dessert that had sugar in it)...I was desperately curious.  I honestly don't have an opinion.  Without the taste/texture of chocolate or coconut, my bite was pretty almond cake-y rather than "almond joy" bar-like.  When I make this again, I am going to mix some shredded coconut into the batter.  Also, may look for coconut with a bigger "shred".  The stuff I used today was so fine that it burned.  (It didn't help that I used the toaster oven which is relatively new and I am still learning the ropes of.)

The kids ate dinner first tonight.  Cap whipped up a batch of his tuna pasta salad for them.  They were happy.

Peace.

Sealed with a kiss

...23 years ago.  Celebrating has commenced.  Yesterday coffee at the French café, The Silver Linings Playbook and a yummy Persian dinner.  Today maybe a sip of mead (made with honey from a lime tree!) and scallops at home.  Next weekend our first overnight sans kids in a looooong time.  A night in Manhattan which sounds SO good.

Happy anniversary, my love.

Peace.

The twelve

I am in my seventh year of living in this town.  A place that chose me by an institution choosing my partner.  A place I came to from a place I had fallen in love with, unexpectedly fast and furious.

(Sacramento.  Yep, Sacramento.  A place most people have never been to/hardly know about, it's a secret gem.)

Lately, in answer to the question, "do you like living in _________?", I'd noticed my response had shifted from vaguely and barely positive to begrudgingly so.  Yes, it has grown on me.  

[Context: I am a very lucky person.  This luck has extended to the places I have lived.  NYC, Hiroshima, San Francisco, Cambridge and Sacramento (the dark horse).  All particularly unique and "known quantity" type of places to live.  Our town came with a pretty solid pedigree, but what it was not (and still isn't) is a city.  It has taken me a long time to realize that I am a city mouse and most unconsciously content when living in one.]

This morning, I hopped in the car in my pjs.  I have a cold, didn't want to get dressed, but was obsessed with borrowing The Twelve from the branch library.  (When I went online to request it through the library system over the weekend, I was shocked to find that: 1) the system is being overhauled and they are not taking requests till mid-December (my literary lifeline!); and 2) there was a copy available at the little branch library in town.  Mind you, if the system was functioning as usual, this copy would have been whisked away by someone's electronic request.  I am sure of it.)

I parked in the quaint little lot, walked up the stone steps into the quaint little historic building, immediately spotted the book on display (this library is tiny), self-checked it out in seconds, paused to take the snapshot above, got back in the car, and was home in no time (super pooped, these colds, they suck the energy right out of you).

Somewhere in there, as the wintery light clarified the edges of my mind and the cold air brushed through my hair and I held a beautiful new book that cost me nothing with hands newly freed from holiday and birthday activity standing on old stone in fleece pajama pants tucked into cozy boots...I thought: I love this town.  

I love this place that gives me moments like this.

Peace and sniffles and rest.

11

Our "heavenly sound" boy turned eleven today. I am smiling reminded of Spinal Tap thinking this child lives life turned up to "11".

He completed our nucleus. He fills me up every day. Massively lucky and utterly
in love is how he makes me feel.

He shares his birthday with Cap's mom. We had a lovely day together. Turkey, the fixings and birthday cake.

Peace and love.

Valrhona cake

I was just doing some planning for my trip into the city later this week for a graduation dinner for my cousin.  I discovered that the restaurant we are going to has a signature dessert: the original molten chocolate cake using Valrhona chocolate.  Thank to the internet, I see that I may break one of my cardinal rules of no gluten.

Actually, I am already envisioning a rewriting of this cardinal rule: no gluten unless it is a special occasion and the opportunity to eat the original molten Valrhona chocolate cake.  It won't make me healthier, but it will make me happy.

Belated birthday portrait

I was disappointed that in the whirlwind of activity on Gem's birthday I did not take a birthday portrait of him.  My sister sent me her pictures from the day and suggested this one might serve as a birthday portrait.  Yes.  And thank you.

Party in p major

 peonies.

 pears.

 pink lemonade.

 pair of scavengers.

 pair of scavengers.

 pleased papa.

 Pokemon.

 piñata.

party boy.

Gifts

Cap showered us with gifts last night.  He had an unexpectedly hefty pay day for a talk he gave at a Japanese university.  The crowning glories were Panny and Papa Panda from Panda Go Panda.

Things are about to get hectic here.  We have a birthday to celebrate this weekend and then Barbra comes for a visit next week.  I'm pretty compulsive about posting so I don't think I will disappear, but things may feel scant here for awhile.

Some ideas about how to spend the Summer are beginning to form...and some kind of mindful technology/screen practice is an idea tossing about in the wash.  Time will tell.

Peace and love.
 

Visuals

• living room light back in business

• Cap's name day was this week

(he made) nisu with almond meal, coconut flour and coconut crystals

• scallops from the farmer's market, gluten-free bread crumbs

• Mummu's scallops recipe adapted slightly...Cap's favorite

• a dozen bags of candied pecans ready for a trip to Japan

There and back

I LOVE OUR NEW CAR!!!  Love, love, love, love.  It is so comfortable (my bottom is spoiled for leather seats with power lumbar support forever now...and I so look forward to flipping on the seat warmer switch come winter!) ...and watching the mileage monitor creep up and over 45 miles per gallon cruising along endless I-95?  Enthralling.

We spent just shy of 24 hours in Plympton and it was wonderful.  Jamie came over for the lovely backyard dinner Amy put together.  It was so relaxing and the night was perfect for it.  Cool enough to keep skeeters away but comfortable enough to play and play and play.

Though I can say no toads were harmed in the making of these photos...it was pretty traumatized-stunned, the poor thing.

Mother's Day was spent celebrating Cap's mom, Mummu to the four "grands" as she calls them.  I was very pleased that she seemed to really like our gift, a Barnes and Noble Nook.  We set it to charge right away, but didn't have enough time to go over the ins and outs with her.  We will be calling upon her local techie gurus for help with that.

And what would a visit with the Plympton cousins be without a viewing of Panda Go Panda?  Sorely lacking in tradition, that's what.

Sigh.  Cap and I really miss Massachusetts.  It's always good to visit and a little wistful to leave.

This morning, I treated myself to a belated Mother's Day and took the kids out to breakfast.  We went to Toast and loved it.  They are knowledgeable about gluten issues and we felt comfortable (safe) ordering.  Homemade hash on the menu daily...yum!

Peace and love.

P.S.  We've decided to remove gluten from Sag's diet for the next while (3-6 months).  He has experienced enormous physical growth in the last six months and we suspect there are some hormonal/chemical shifts taking place based on new signs of inflammation (puffy appearance and higher than usual sensitivity).  Cap and I are renewing our own commitments to gluten-free/grain-free...it has become a full blown family affair.