Potatoes in the Mist

So I saw the Iron & Wine concert tonight. It was one of the best concerts I've been to. The music was lovely, and the singer was, well, *different* (in a fun way). Apparently he has a Ph.D. and was a music professor before his singing/guitar career took off. At one point he was singing, paused and said, "Oh, shit" (I guess he forgot the words, or fumbled them) and then picked up where he left off. Everyone cheered supportively. One of the things I liked about the concert was, they didn't confuse "loud" with "good." They had interesting, poetic lyrics and beautiful melodies (only one dud in 2 hours).

It feels like a Saturday to me, maybe because both boys are still sleeping. We've gotten an unbelievable amount of snow this winter. Yesterday, the sidewalks were a mess...not stroller-friendly at all. However, they were plowed down to a certain street, so we took E to a diner on that corner. He has been feeling a little under the weather, though the fever and cough seem to have passed, and at this stage he just seems to need a lot of rest. Poor little cub. When we were eating, a mom from my building showed up with her two daughters. The younger girl will be turning one next weekend and she invited us to her birthday party. She perched on her mama's lap and ate avocado and noodles. On Facebook, I mentioned that I like Iron & Wine (a mellow, folk-ish group, if you haven't heard of them) and D's cousin's wife said she wished she had known, because she has tickets to see them this weekend. Then the next day she emailed me and invited me to the concert. So that shou...

E and I went to Barnes & Noble today. He had great fun tearing up and down the aisles. I'm currently reading The Love Goddess's Cooking School by Melissa Senate. It's about a woman who takes over her grandmother's cooking school in Maine and learns to cook in the process. I'm enjoying it.

So...I've been trying not to dwell on this too much, but it's what's on my mind, so I'll write a brief post about it. As you may know, the nursery school admission process in New York is insane...there is even a documentary about it, called Nursery University. I actually had fun (or an okay time, anyway) filling out his applications, but now I'm in the thick of interviews/playdates, and it's not so much fun. So that's why I might not be blogging too much. We applied to 4 schools - we initially chose 2, but then learned that one of them had 16 seats available and 90 applicants (actually less than 16, because some slots are reserved for siblings). So far, E didn't beat the lottery at 1 school. He did beat it at another school, and the remaining 2 didn't have lotteries. So we're going through the interview/playdate nonsense for those 3 schools. 1 school is completely finished, another will be done tomorrow and the last in February. Decision letters ...

I had a nice surprise with my cooking today. I've heard that the best cooking arises from mistakes, but I've always been a by-the-book cook so I never had the chance to find out. Well, today I started cooking a quiche and realized I only had 2 eggs. (The recipe called for 4, but I'd been planning to use 3.) I decided to make it anyway, since I'd already chopped up the leeks. I awaited the results with some trepidation, but I think it's one of my favorite quiches so far. Here's the way I made it: 2 cups leeks, rinsed, chopped 1-2 tbsp butter 1 9-inch frozen pie crust 2 eggs 1/3 c heavy cream 1/3-1/2 c grated Swiss cheese 1/2-1 tbsp flour sprinkling of Parmesan 1 sliced fresh tomato salt and pepper Preheat the oven to 400. Saute the leeks in butter until tender, then spread evenly over the pie crust. Combine the Swiss, Parmesan and flour; sprinkle onto the pie. Beat together the eggs and cream, and pour over all. Press the tomato slices on the top of the pie and s...

So I just saw Blue Valentine , which I have really mixed feelings about. The acting was excellent. I was particularly impressed with Ryan Gosling. He seems to be able to play a wide variety of roles and do it convincingly. My favorite movie of his is Lars and the Real Girl. But...the movie was a real downer. Bleak. It was probably wise to release it in the winter. So...the next thing I see, I would like it to be light and happy. (You know, I'm going to get my wish, because the next movie I watch will probably be Secret Admirer , an '80s flick I just got from Netflix.) I also started reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice, a sort of re-telling of the Sherlock Holmes story where he is a retired beekeeper in the English countryside and has a female sidekick, Mary Russell. I like it so far.

I just finished a book that I really enjoyed reading - The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller. I usually like her books, but I avoided this one because I thought it was about 9/11. Turns out I wasn't entirely correct - it's more like a whisper of 9/11, and in a fairly original way. I recommend it if you've liked her other books, or if you just like a quiet, thoughtful, contemplative book with interesting characters. I tried a new restaurant today, the Tipsy Parson. For dessert I had a bourbon pecan sundae. I was grateful to be sharing it with D and our friend - it was enormous - but it was quite good. It tasted like they poured a shot of bourbon into it, but the waitress told us afterward, it was part of the gelato.