Meeting kohlrabi

I've intended to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for several years but I always thought of it too late in the season (Story of my life. See: bags of spring bulbs in my garage, for instance.)  This winter I happened to see a friend's facebook update about re-joining her favorite local CSA (thanks JenJack) and finally jumped on the fresh weekly produce bandwagon. (Did I mention this involves no weeding*, no watering*, just a bit of early season cash for our local farm?)

Yesterday was the first week's bounty: radishes, beets, baby lettuce, red and green lettuce, arugula (gesundheit!), white summer turnips, kohlrabi, and scallions.  Luscious, green, leafy goodness with a bit of mystery thrown in. Kohlrabi, the sputnik vegetable? Who knew?

. . .

Search for a CSA near you here. In fairness, I should add that G has planted a lovely raised bed garden of our own so we will have tomatoes and peas and herbs etc., as well as character-building weeding chores for the kids. Otherwise they'd take away our pioneer-heritage certification, right?

The big Eats

 

Lauren just returned from the Big E, New England's huge fair.  

She reports eating, in the course of the day:

• 2 48-piece mini doughnut orders (shared)
• maple cotton candy
• a baked potato
• fries
• 5 bottles of water
• 1/2 sausage sub
• 1/2 funnel cake
• ice cream sandwich
• fried dough
• fried veggies

Oh, to be 17.

. . .

We're having a girls' movie night so we're putting in Steel Magnolias

and popping popcorn (add that to the list).

I hope your weekend is divine!

Best of .09 ~ Restaurant moment

September 6.  Brooklyn, NY.  Moto Restaurant. w| my mom, sister, and her friends:

My mom and I met in NYC for Labor Day weekend to visit my sister, see several shows, and eat our way through Manhattan.  Nancy and Dave made reservations one night for a restaurant near their apartments, in Brooklyn on the edge of Williamsburg.  It was a stand-alone little place that looked from the outside like it could have been a speakeasy at one point. Or an autobody shop.

It had a cozy vintage feel. After we sat down, the band came in to set up.  Right next to me. Now and then I chatted with the band between their sets.  The food was amazing.  I was with my mom and sister for the first time in a loooong time.  

restaurant |  Moto  in Brooklyn

food | artichoke with saffron mayo + side of mashed potatoes +heavenly date cake (best dessert of 09)

music | Mad Jazz Hatters , a blend of early jazz + klezmer + jugband

vibe | happy, content, whimsical, comfortable, cool + cozy

. . .

Day two of Gwen Bell's Best of 09 challenge

We gathered together (again)

 Thanksgiving for us stretched from the Tuesday before, when G's parents arrived, until yesterday when they flew back home.  We had a wonderful, tasty week.  We had 12 for dinner (G's parents, my sister Nancy, G's cousin Brent and his family, and us) which was just right.  Placecards/favors from here. 

Thanks to your fantastic meal suggestions, we also ate very well the rest of the week, including Robin's award winning chili, her crockpot chicken (thanks again Robin), Ina Garten's Five Cheese Penne, my mom's Taco Soup, a baked potato bar, and, I have to admit, lots of Rhodes rolls (bread making still makes me too nervous when it's high stakes).  All big hits! It was so fun and satisfying to host loved ones and have a happy chaos in our house.

And also nice this morning to recover.  Admittedly, there were some casualties:

Lauren's glasses (RIP), crunched by Louie

our clothes dryer, which died on the first day

and...Sam's lungs

(This weekend Sam was diagnosed with pneumonia and asthma, most likely related to his flu a few weeks ago. The poor boy needs to complain a little more...we had no idea he wasn't doing well until he complained it hurt to breathe on Sunday morning. He's feeling much better today and, on the bright side, imagine how amazing he'll feel when he's back to full lung capacity.)

I've been in denial about the calendar.  December? Already? Okay, bring it on.

Quarantine schemes

On the third day of sickness, the swine flu(?) gave to me...three coughing people, two fevers over 102, and a feeling that we'll never be free.  

(via my facebook status this morn. I was pretty proud of that; it only took me all morning to think of it:))

Okay, if I'm going to be sick and ill equipped to write my qualifying paper (fuzzy brain...oh well!) then I will try to use my quarantine time to plan and scheme about Thanksgiving and other November delights.  Greg's parents are coming out for the week surrounding Thanksgiving and we're so excited to host them (first time in about 6 years, I think).  The Thanksgiving dinner part is not too hard to plan; I do the same tried-and-true list every year plus I'll ask others to bring things to contribute to the feast (Greg's cousin's family and hopefully my sister are also coming).

But here's what gives me pause: what about the other days of their visit?  I'd like to move beyond our standard five (you know, mexican night, italian night, pizza night, breakfast for dinner night...) and yet I'd like to not be distracted by the meal prep the whole time.  What are your favorite houseguest meals to prepare (including lunches and breakfasts, too)?

. . .

Thankful for: a new book on my doorstop (Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver's new one), a bathtub full of almost scalding water, extra time to scheme and daydream and cuddle on the sofa with the other sickies