Finally

Back to the barn tomorrow. So so excited. I am once again going to essentially ignore house tasks and relax and hike and canoe. At some point I really have to spend a work weekend to get the barn back in shipshape (as shipshape as the Barn can be). Scarily neglected lately. Must. Rectify. This. Summer.

So back to this weekend. We leave tomorrow in a minivan (woo woo) with 2 additional kids. Their parents are taking the train and meeting us up there. Saturday will be croquet and catch and bike rides and filming Clarke's jazz audition video ( anyone want to come over for the live shoot? We are renting helicopters and groupies). Then EatnMeet for dinner. Sunday, we are heading out to Floodwood Pond to canoe the streams and small ponds. This is our home turf for canoeing and I can't wait. We have a group of 8 so we have 2 16' canoes and 2 kayaks. We are going to set up day camp on one of the islands and let people explore from there. After that, cookout back at our place. Deciding between pork burgers with asian slaw and fennel or chocolate, stout marinated steak. Um, and quinoa, feta salad for PK. Vegetarians!

We'll see you inside the blue line!

Hey Canoe People!

Here's what I need: A way to transport 2-3 canoes and/or a kayak. Here's the problem: I don't own a car so it would have to easily attach to any rental car I happen to have. Does such a thing exist?

It's very frustrating. We have friends coming to the barn this weekend and again, we have enough boats for everyone but no way to transport them all. So we end up renting from St. Regis (On Floodwood Pond). They are a great outfit but I don't need the extra expense. Any ideas?

The Music Man

"Clarke has a very very high level of musical ability. I do not say this lightly. His technique and musical aptitude are very advanced." The report then goes to to report specific areas where he should focus, ideas for moving forward etc.

Finally a good report card for our hero. However, this is not the kind of report I exactly know what to do with. This is not news to me but it is an affirmation that Clarke's mind is not "ideally suited", shall we say, for Brooklyn Tech.

I am so proud of him for getting through the last 3 years of hell and for being a really good kid. I am not so proud of his academic achievements to date. And I'm no longer sure that my yelling, cajoling, encouraging, or threatening will change that much. So then what? Where is the path if you deviate from the standard? Must he forge his own or should I feebly attempt to lead him?

Geez, now I'm awake

I am experimenting with food photography. Mostly because I love this new site www.food52.com. The concept is a curated place for ambitious homecooks. There is a cooking contest each week and the winner goes into a real cookbook. So cool. Hilariously, I keep missing the deadlines but end up making the intended dishes days later. Alas, anyway here are a few photos: okra with ginger/red pepper/rosewater, lamb/feta/cherry meatballs, croissant (not made by me!), barley risotto.

Oh yeah, the blog

too much work. too much homework. not enough sleep. not enough frivolity. Need the barn. SOS. The end.

Jamie Oliver

I know I am supposed to hate this contrived reality show, produced by none other than Ryan Seacrest but Oscar and I have watched it loyally on Hulu each week and damn, it is inspiring. I personally think Jamie Oliver is the real deal, and is authentically consumed with changing the way we eat. It is well aligned with Food Inc. and the local food movement and I am indeed appalled at the school lunch program in this country. So we are trying. What does this mean for our lives? When we moved to Brooklyn and I joined the Park Slope Food Coop, it made some very big changes in our eating. Out of my shopping cart, there are maybe 4 or 5 packaged goods, mostly healthy. The boys snacks are much better; we have healthy, creative meals. Yay me. But, we still do takeout or eat-out, probably one or two nights every week. I would like to reduce that. It's not great on wasteline, environment, budget, or health. Ironically, while I can throw down easily on 4-hour gourmet feasts, I am not great at really fast meals or meals that the boys would think are exciting so that is my challenge. Last week, I made Bittman's pork vindaloo which was 1 hour but only about 10 minutes of prep time and really easy. They loved it. Today, we went retro and I tried homemade, healthy, sloppy Joes. I must say, I think I nailed it. Start to finish, 15 minutes. Recipe: 1 lb, lean, organic, grass-fed beef, olive, oil, 1/2 onion- diced, 2 carrots-finely diced, 2 cloves garlic-minced, 1 bell pepper-finely diced, 1.5 TBSP dijon mustard, 3/4 can organic crushed tomatos (obviously easy to use food processed fresh tomatoes too) 1.5 TBSP maple syrup, dash of smoked paprika. Heat olive oil in saute pan, add onion, garlic. Saute for a few minutes, then add carrots. When carrots have softened, add ground beef and saute until brown. Pour off excess fat and then add crushed tomatoes, mustard, maple syrup, paprika. Simmer for 5 minutes. I served on these really good Brioche buns with sides of edamame and sweet potato fries (just sliced sweet potatoes with some olive oil and salt in oven. Happy boy food.

Two months later

Had to post this because it made me smile and be glad I'm in Brooklyn. From Sam Sifton, Restaurant Critic at the times.

Q:

Did you grow up in the USA — with a “regular” burger, hotdogs, and mac & cheese childhood? Or what was your gastronomic experience like as a kid?

A.

I grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., which means there was slice pizza from Fascati and pork buns from Su-Su’s and chicken Yunan from China Chili. There was fried chicken my dad made on Sundays and my mother’s fresh yogurt every morning and big bagels still warm from the oven on Clark Street on the way to school. There were Saturday day trips all over the city to pick up sausages and cold cuts and ham, to buy bread, Jamaican ginger beer, hot dogs from Papaya King, tomatoes and greens from Norman, the hippie on Cranberry Street. There were appetizers from Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side and sandwiches at Buffa’s in SoHo. There was always a goose at Christmas, a ham at Easter, and a hot turkey plate on white bread with extra cranberry and gravy in June on my birthday, at Junior’s, with cheesecake for dessert. There were Coke floats at diners and debates over the merits of diner cheeseburgers over the fat ones served in “real” restaurants, by which we meant bars. There were actual Merits, too, smoked by pretty girls drinking Ballantine Ale, and hot dogs cooked under the Brooklyn Bridge in the wind. There was sushi. There were tagines. Fruit rollups from Sahadi on Atlantic Avenue, halvah bars for the brave. There was rice and peas. Roti. Corned beef and cabbage. Maduros. Knishes. Some crazy brown-noodle thing at Dojo to impress a girl on a Saturday night. And then a slice from Fascati, again, on the way home. Fairly typical upbringing for a food guy out of New York City, actually.