Potatoes in the Mist

I signed E up for Water Babies today. I'm not a member at this particular pool, so when I got to the front desk, I went to the receptionist rather than "Member Services." "Oh, you can go over to Member Services," the receptionist told me after I explained I wanted to sign up for a class. In the interim, four people had formed a line at Member Services. Oh well. The Member Services lady *loved* E. She called him "curly top" and asked him to hand her my credit card (he was gnawing on it). His ID photo features him chewing on the card (a first?). I also met a mom and her son who would be taking the class. Her son was six months old and she said, "We've been waiting for this!" (Whereas E is 11 months old and I'm just now enrolling.) I had a flicker of guilt for not yet signing him up for SAT prep. The Member Services lady gave the other mom the spiel about swim caps for both of you (mommy and baby). "But he doesn't have any hair!...

This is a vegan asparagus quiche that I made today. I selected the recipe primarily for its size - it promised to feed 6-8. (My mom, niece and nephew are in town.) Unfortunately, it was not a big hit with the kids, but my mom and I enjoyed it. The crust (which I made from scratch) came out perfectly. D has lost about 30 lbs, following this routine where he figures out the calories of everything he eats and works out accordingly. He discovered that the entire quiche contained 4320 calories. Scary, isn't it? And it's vegan! Imagine what the egg quiches are like. My niece and nephew were excited (but also disturbed) to see their first "insane person." A woman was cursing and yelling at an invisible someone by her side.

So yesterday E and I were trapped inside by the rain. I could have used his plastic stroller cover, but it was the type of torrential rain that drowns you within minutes. It was a very grey and sodden sort of day. So we stayed indoors even though I think he's cutting about 3 teeth - the pediatrician said he had several "buds." He has two teeth on the bottom already, but they didn't cause half as much trouble. I survived the day with a sense of pride (got through it! yay) and got up to make carrot raisin muffins this morning. They were awesome. Then E and I wandered the streets and went to a playground near my building. He swung a bit in a bucket swing, and then we went to a little wooden house intended for the young 'uns. I couldn't help but remember the playground of my own youth, all rusted tin and flaky paint. Everything in this park was wooden or plastic with nary a sharp edge to be found. I did find some graffiti, which surprised me (its content, not its ...

So tonight I will be cooking veggie sausage for the first time. I was never a fan of the meat version, but I have a recipe for white bean cassoulet that calls for veggie sausage, so I decided to dive in. D and I are both excited and repulsed by the idea. Whole Foods offers 3 types of phallic veggie links - chorizo, Italian and apple-sage. I went with the sage because it seemed most compatible with the French-inspired dish I will be making. I'm also thinking about getting a slow cooker. I was always sour on them, and not sure why. I think there was an unflattering description of a crock-pot in one of the Ramona books, so they always make me think of limp pieces of stewed meat. But I have a vegetarian cookbook with some appealing slow-cooker recipes in the back, and there's a whole other book devoted to slow-cooker recipes by the same author. Also, they're good in the summer because they don't heat up the kitchen. Summer is the season when I tend to forget about cooking, ...

So today my mom, D and I went to Vinny Testa's for lunch. (By the way, I'm in Massachusetts.) Vinny Testa's is a Boston institution. They used to take a bottle filled with tiles and shake it at the end of the meal, then pick one to see if you won a free meal. D said it ended the meal on a bad note because you usually don't win. We never did, anyway. They got rid of the tradition, whether because of the economy or D's hypothesis, we'll never know. Anyway, they have fantastic bread, served with a big head of roasted garlic in a dish of olive oil. E had some of the bread, crumbled up. Nearby was a baby named Isaac, with adorable pudgy cheeks. Suddenly his mother looked in his mouth and screamed. "He just popped his first tooth! RIGHT NOW! I'm calling his grandmother." And she whipped out her cell phone. I was bemused because I couldn't remember when E's two teeth came in. They both arrived after his nine-month "birthday" and before h...

So E and I went to a nearby park today and he tried the bucket swings for the first time. Of course, he was more interested in chewing on the swing (the chain and the rubber part) than the actual motion. He also caught the eye of a little girl using the "big kid" swings. Girl: She's so pretty! Me: He's a boy. Girl: Well, he looks like a girl! I give up. We also gave up with someone who lives in our building. He's a very nice man, but the idea that E is a girl is lodged in his brain, and he can't let go. Sample conversation: Man: You have such a beautiful daughter. God bless you! Me: Yes, he's ten months now. (Admire the subtlety?) Man: Well, she's gorgeous. Enjoy! What's her name? Me: Eric. Man: That's beautiful. Bye, sweetheart! What a perfect girl. We also checked out a preschool this morning. Though this particular place takes children very young, even younger than E is now, we have no interest in putting him in preschool until he's at l...

Here's a polenta casserole I made today. It was fabulous...and vegan. I had actually put off making it, because I don't always like polenta. It can be mushy. But this had a nice, crisp top. And it was a different way of cooking with polenta...buy it prepared, unwrap it and grate it. It gave it more personality, somehow. And E wants to say hi: