Potatoes in the Mist

Heading north to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It's bringing back my childhood - in the summer, we used to stay in cottages near various lakes in New Hampshire and Maine. I always forget that peaceful feeling you get when you cross the border. North of Massachusetts, everything feels more open and spacious. The highways are almost empty, flanked by tall pine trees. Our destination is a small, cute amusement park called Storyland that I loved as a toddler. Maybe I'll put up some pictures later.

I just finished knitting this hat.

So I haven't left Zoe with a sitter much since she was born, because I thought it wouldn't work out, and part of me is as attached as she is. But I found a wonderful sitter whom we both like, and she has watched Zoe for a couple of hours so I can take a bike ride and relax a bit. One of the neighborhood dads saw her with Zoe at the park and was so impressed that he asked for her contact info, so she can watch his son sometimes. So it looks like leaving her for a few hours to see Pippin in September won't be a problem (fingers crossed). She has a good comfort level with this sitter. Also we are thinking of going to Hawaii in March. The school where Eric will be going to kindergarten has very long vacations. I haven't put much thought into planning yet, but I'm thinking of staying on Maui. I'm excited!

So I was always wary of cutting my kids' nails - baby nails are so small, and there's always this fear of cutting the skin. Amazingly, I never have - but it was never a pleasant experience. My latest method was to have D hold her hands still while I clipped her nails, and she thrashed and screamed. Today, I simply clipped them while she was nursing. She giggled a little, but that was it. I also saw a really good old movie - It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Gable was a charming rogue with a touch of vulnerability and Colbert, whom I'd never seen before, played a fun character as well. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it.

I am reading two good books: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells  (by Andrew Sean Greer) and The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez. I also really liked the last book I read, The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. I won't reveal the secret here, but it was unexpected. Yesterday I saw that Amazon had chosen it as one of their best books of the month.

Zoe seems like a little grownup to me sometimes. She dropped her Mounds bar at the playground, and she picked it up and put it in the trash can.

Today I went to the Met. D was taking Eric to a class there. It's inconvenient, but I'm always so glad when I do go there. There is magic for me in the nineteenth-century painting and sculpture (Degas and Monet in particular) and the ancient Greek and Roman art. I was especially taken with this third-century sarcophagus depicting Selene (a moon goddess).

I was saying to my sister-in-law earlier how every summer I start off loving the season and then, suddenly, I'm ready for fall. That point has come. It's even in the air a little bit. I'm looking forward to the red and orange leaves.

Perfect weather today. Zoe had her second ballet class today. There is another little Z girl in her class - Zelda. 

Zoe now says cheese when I take her picture. Just like her brother.

A while back, Judy asked me to post a photo of a cherry wood bowl I had bought. Sorry it took so long, but here it is.

Yesterday I arranged a sample pre-ballet class for Zoe. I almost didn't go because it's so hot today, but we finally got out the door and I'm glad we did. She loved it. They had all these cute props, including ducks, bubbles, tiaras, tutus and wands. I signed her up for both the summer and fall sessions.

Yesterday I witnessed some drama from a distance. I can't get too specific, but it made me think. At the core of the drama is a person who is very sweet and childlike, but she just can't take care of herself. She can't function, at least at this point in her life. (I do believe that, if we are lucky, life is long, and there are many opportunities to turn things around.) Anyway, viewing her predicament made me realize that it IS a good thing to grow up. That might seem self-evident to many of you, but our culture really does prize youth. Age and wisdom aren't as respected here as they probably are in China and some other places. But growing up really is worth it, even if you aren't as cute or carefree as you were when you were little. It's good to take responsibility. And I do hope she can eventually do that.

So we got our kitchen "bombed" this morning (roach treatment). D took E on a long bike ride (which he loves) and I ended up on the lawn behind our building with Zoe. She started picking some little flowers, giving them to me, and then she would run in a little circle on the lawn, kiss me on the nose, and run some more. It was really cute.

I am a big fan of breakfast for dinner. Plus, I got a new blinged-out food processor with a grating attachment, so I've been grating everything in sight. (Actually just apples and zucchini so far, but potatoes are next.) Tonight I made apple cottage cheese pancakes, from the original Moosewood cookbook. They were fabulous.

I'm waiting for the exterminator. He gave us a 4-hour window starting at 8:30. It's 10:47 now and he hasn't shown up yet. I guess he's a busy guy.

So Z is really wiped out after gymnastics today, taking a long-ish nap. She races around the whole gym, terrifying its inhabitants. Not really - they think she's cute. But she tried to jump into the ball pit with an older class, whose teacher told her, "You don't want to go in there with those girls, they're crazy." I told her, "She's crazier than any of them!" and she laughed but I was serious. I made a little video of her doing an activity at the beginning of class: The balance beam is her favorite. She's strangely reluctant to swing from the rings. She'll grip them, standing, but then let go. The teacher thinks she will get her to swing next time.

So it was a nice laid-back Fourth. We went for brunch/lunch at a favorite restaurant of mine, Veselka, where we had not been for a while. We had potato pierogi, potato pancakes, and vegetable soup. Eric kept saying, "I love the soup," which was gratifying because he usually won't go near a vegetable. We ended up ordering an extra bowl. Later the boys took a bike ride to South Ferry and I took Zoe to the park. Now the fireworks are starting (my least favorite part, but can't complain, since it was such a nice day). I've been cooking a lot of fun stuff lately and was telling D that I might want to open a Mexican/Italian vegetarian restaurant (kind of a daydream/fantasy, with an element of reality). Not in Manhattan though - too intense for your first restaurant venture. Maybe Brooklyn or Hoboken.

I've made quiche a number of times without mishap, but tonight I tried making a tomato one and it bombed. I threw out the runny mess, then re-read the recipe and realized it just needed to cook longer. (The recipe said 35-40 minutes, but every quiche I've ever made has cooked for an hour.) Oh well, that is what Chinese food is for. I'm kind of grumpy about Pride - it just seems like an excuse to party. My neighborhood is really crowded and they blocked off most of the bike path for it.  D took E to see some animatronic dinosaurs in New Jersey (a quick ride on the New Jersey transit). I was going to go but Z fell asleep and I conked out too. The problem is, she's still sleeping (hours later). I remember E was narcoleptic like this once - falling asleep in his stroller and not even waking up when there was a crew cutting off branches with a buzz saw. Someone said it was a growth spurt. Hopefully this long nap of Zoe's has the same explanation.

I just made the most awesome peanut butter brownies from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven. Very rich and chocolate-y. The peanut butter flavor is subtle.