christmas steve and harry christmas

Three years ago today, when Mira was 2 1/2 years old, we told her it was almost Christmas Eve and time for Santa to come. The next day she kept asking us if Christmas Steve was coming that night. After trying to figure out what she was talking about and then correcting her a few times, we finally put two and two together and realized what she meant: She heard Christmas Eve as Christmas Steve. This, of course, became a running joke and an instant classic. We all believe in Christmas Steve around here.

Well, today Abby came up with her own Christmas tradition to add to the mix. As expected, we have been saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone and this morning Abby said, "Harry Christmas!" to a friend as she was leaving. We have to get Christmas Steve and Harry Christmas together. They really should meet.

I know it has been quite a while since my last post. (We've been busy, what can I say?)  Here are a handful of photos to catch you up on our holiday-related activities over the last few weeks.

Santa and Mrs. Claus came to Saratoga in a trolley. The girls caught up with Mrs. Claus on her way off the trolley.

Santa sees his subjects in a small hut along the main street in town. When it was our turn, Mira went right in with her carefully crafted letter.

Abby, however, had no intention of going into a confined space with that strange man in the flamboyant red outfit. She opted to wait outside with Daddy.

A few days later we headed to the tree farm. Mira enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa after our long trek across the parking lot to pick out a tree from the "pre-cut" barn (we whimped out after arriving and realizing how cold 17 degrees really feels).

Then we hauled our tree out and headed home to gussy her up with some sliver and gold bling!

my new toy

I got a new toy yesterday: a Flip MinoHD video camera. It's smaller than my hand and super simple to use. The reason I bought it was to make it easy to take videos and faster to post them to the web. Last night the girls were dancing around to a favorite song (Cake's version of Mahna Mahna) so I took a little snapshot of the action. Here it is:



I'm bringing this little toy to Vegas with me in three days. (Oh, by the way, we're going to Las Vegas with friends on Saturday!) I'm hoping to get some good material so that we can blackmail our friends if we ever need some extra cash. Just kidding- what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

happy thanksgiving!

As you can see the pilgrims in our house have made peace with the local indian chief.

Happy Thanksgiving!

the cooker

Today Abby woke up from her nap famished and said,

"Mommy, you're the only cooker around here. I need you to come downstairs and cook my food now."

First I laughed. Then in an ironic kind of way, I was actually flattered. I guess it was the rare recognition (and appreciation?) from a two-year-old that I spend a lot of time preparing food for her. Well, I suppose I'd better get to it then. TTYL, I'm off to be The Cooker.

trick or treat

Last night it was pouring rain, but our little fairy and chicken weren't daunted by the weather. Here they are getting ready to hit the streets.

No mere downpour could keep them from their bounty.

 

Abby is ready to hit up the neighbors for the good stuff.

Got me some chocolate!

Their wings and feathers were water logged but a good old fashioned sugar rush after their dash through the neighboorhood easily made up for the soggy evening.

pumpkin patch

We made our trip to the pumpkin patch a few days ago. There were cider donuts involved, which made it even better than usual. Here are a few shots of the girls picking out pumpkins and exploring the corn maze.

halloween chicken

Our deliberations over Abby's Halloween costume have officially ended. She's going to be a chicken. She couldn't relate to my Marvin the Martian idea, but she has fully thrown herself into preparing for her big debut as a chicken, practicing her clucks and boks all day long. 

Mira decided on dressing as fairy and of course wanted one of those pre-fab jobs from the costume store. Oh well. We'll have to flex our creative muscles on Abby's costume this year instead. Here's the picture/inspiration for our little chicken (from Martha Stewart). We've got all the parts (feather boas, the makings for the feet and comb, and I'm going to try and work in a beak somewhere). You'll have to wait and see how the end result turns out.

daily bulletin

As a mother who works from a home office, there are times when my corporate world and my parenting world collide. Sometimes those collisions are stressful, sometimes they are merely irritating, and sometimes they are just funny. File this one under "funny as heck."

Today is a holiday, so there's no school and I've given my nanny the day off. This morning I was trying to squeeze in some work while the girls played. I was on a work-related conference call when Mira had a very important message for me. She didn't want to interrupt my phone call, so she wrote the message on a notepad. Here it is:

The message, while maybe not immediately clear to you was immediately clear to me. I had to mute my phone so that my coworkers weren't distracted by hysterical laughter. Translation of this note: "My little sister has a dirty diaper. Please change her ASAP!" The drawing on the page was meant to provide a graphical illustration for the message.

I suppose I should also be glad that Mira has been learning her letter sounds and was able to sound out and spell this note all by herself.

southwestern-ish eggs & hash

When we're hungry for a quick and satisfying meal, this one is a staple. We almost always have the goods in the fridge and it works equally well for brunch, dinner, or a late night snack. Takes a few minutes of chopping, but comes together quickly.

The hash is sweet potato, bell pepper, and onion seasoned with cumin and chili powder. After a quick saute, the hash is topped with shredded sharp chedder, fried eggs, salsa and sour cream. If you really want to get fancy, throw some fresh cilantro on there and call it a day.

I hope you make this and to encourage you further, I'm spelling out step-by-step instructions here.

1) Prep a sweet potato, bell pepper, and 1/2 red onion by peeling, seeding, chopping, etc.

2) Put a skillet on over med-high heat. Add your vegetables/hash mixture and a couple tablespoons of olive oil/butter combo. Season with salt/pepper.

3) While the hash cooks, assemble and prep your sour cream, salsa, shredded cheddar and cilantro (if using).

4) After about 5 or so minutes, your hash will begin to soften and get slightly browned. Now's the time to add your seasonings. I like a hefty teaspoon of cumin and a good tablespoon of chili powder. If you want some kick, add a pinch of cayenne at this point. Continue to saute the mixture until soft and nicely caramelized.

5) Turn the cooked hash out onto the serving plate, top with shredded cheese and cover to melt cheese and keep warm while you cook the eggs.

6) Wipe out your skillet and fry a couple eggs to your preferred doneness. We like ours a bit runny. Top the hash and cheese with your cooked eggs and finish off with a hefty spoon of salsa and a dollop of sour cream.

7) Immediately scarf it down. It will cure what ails you and tastes even better when you consider that you prepared it in only 15 minutes.

marvin the martian

Abby loves this Roman Empire-style helmet from the dollar store. In her mind, however, it is a space helmet and she is exploring the universe. The other day she had to take a break from charting the final frontier so she could nosh on some PB&J.

In light of her recent facination with outer space, I'm thinking that Marvin the Martian would make a great Halloween costume for this one. See the resemblance?

last hurrah

Labor Day weekend we took a trip out to the western part of the state to visit my family. It was our end of summer swan song, the last hurrah. And we made the most of it. Lucky for us, the weather was stunning: Perfectly clear blue skies with just enough warmth from a beaming sun.

In between visiting with family, we were all over the place. First, we packed a picnic lunch (if a few sandwiches crammed into a used plastic "Quaker Steak & Lube" bag counts as a picnic) and drove down to Lake Erie to play at the beach.

My sister and the girls searched for shells and stones. Then we had a rock skipping contest. I do believe I won with 5 skips. Mickey came along too, but wasn't interested in swimming, though.

The next day, we went to Midway State Park. It's a vintage amusement park on Lake Chautauqua that is perfect for little ones. I remember going there when I was 5 years old and it hasn't changed a bit (in fact, my mom says it hasn't changed since she went there as a child). Because it was the end of summer and are schools were back in session, we practically had the place to ourselves. "The Whip" was a big hit and the girls rode it 3 or 4 times.

On Saturday, my aunt and uncle graciously treated us to a boat ride. It was a great day on the lake. The girls even got to drop a couple lines in the water for a few minutes (although the fish were not very hungry).

All in all, a very sucessful last hurrah indeed.

the races, the fair, and the boss

Last week was all about squeezing the last bit of fun out of what remains of summer. We started with a long weekend that included house guests (my parents and my sister + boyfriend). Saturday was a track day. We had a few reserved seats in the clubhouse and a picnic table setup back near the paddock area. It was a good time.

Abby put a lot of thought into her picks for the day.


Thanks to Tim's nephew (who works in security at the track), Mira and I got to watch a race from inside the winner's circle.


Our guests left Sunday, then Monday we went to the county fair. The girls love seeing all the animals. Abby's favorite are the pigs. (I wonder what she'd think if I told her that her most beloved food, bacon, is from a pig??) Mira liked the little ducklings. Tim's cousin was exhibiting some cows there, so Abby got to pet a calf. Mira is more the observer-type, so she didn't want to climb up in the stall (and neither did I).
And it wouldn't be a trip to the fair without the obligatory teacup ride with Papa. Good thing Papa isn't fazed by all that spinning.

On Tuesday, we took the girls to a concert: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was great! We set up a little camp on the lawn and the girls had a lot of fun dancing with their glow sticks/bracelets and eating all the candy we brought. Athough, the sugar rush wasn't enough to keep them going to the end. They both fell asleep during the encore!

patio project - finished!

Yay! Our new patio is all done and tastefully appointed with appropriately-sized rocking chairs.

patio project - phase 2

Oh yeah, this is looking good. By Sunday we'll be sitting out there keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

patio project - before

After last summer's massive deck/patio project, we found ourselves with some extra patio stones. Well, since our favorite family construction guru had some free time this week, we decided to put those stones to use and make a patio in the front of our house.

This is what it looks like today. We started last night by transplanting one of the shrubs.

We're going to take out the sidewalk and replace it with a patio/walkway that fills the area starting from where the edge of the sidewalk is now into the recess abutting the house (where the shrubs are). Should have the after picture sometime next week! Can't wait!

grilled pizza

Grilled pizza is really easy and super quick for a weeknight meal. We tried it the other night for the first time and they came out great.

First you need to make dough, make sauce, and get your toppings ready. Here's a recipe.


Or, if you feel lazy like I did, you can buy some pre-made pizza dough (my grocery store carries it, but the best option is to score some from your local pizza shop), use jarred sauce and whip out some pre-grated cheese. If I'd had more time and energy that day, I would have handmade the dough, sauce, and freshly grated the cheese (or used slices of fresh mozzarella instead).

Once your dough is ready, just roll it or stretch it to be about 1/4 inch thickness. Get your grill super hot (mine was reading around 600 degrees) and make sure those grates are clean. Brush the dough with olive oil and put it (oiled side down) on the grill. Cook the first side until it's a little bit browned and sorta crispy. Brush the uncooked side with olive oil and flip the dough.

Here's where you move fast (or if you are not that quick, you can take the pizza off the grill to put the toppings on). Quickly brush cooked side (now facing up) with more olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and top lightly with tomato sauce and cheese (and basil, if you like that sort of thing). You want to move fast so the cheese has a chance to melt before the bottom crust burns. If you overdo the toppings, it will be soggy and not good.

When it's done, you end up with a light, crispy, slightly charred crust with just the right balance of toppings.


And you can get all creative with toppings. I think next time I'll try caramelized onions, smoked Gouda, prosciutto (or bacon), and thyme.

a sloppy day at the track

Sunday we went to the Saratoga Racecourse for the first time since opening day on Wednesday. We probably should have gone on Saturday instead because Sunday was rainy and all-around dreary (how unusual for this beautiful summer we're having...). But determined to get our racing fix, we packed up our umbrellas and raincoats and managed to enjoy a few races anyway. The silver lining during a rainy day at the track is the lack of crowds. We were able to easily stand near the paddock area and watch the horses and getting to the rail to watch a race wasn't too bad either.

Here's a picture of the girls ready to head home after a few hours in the rain.

pineapple-coconut upside-down cake with ginger

I'm on a pineapple upside-down cake kick. A couple weeks ago I found a great recipe for the standard, retro-style cake. You know, the kind your mom made, studded with sweet maraschino cherries placed in the center of canned pineapple slices to top the cake. It was really good, even though the center didn't bake all the way through (we just ate around it). The cake was just as I remembered it growing up and and was what I was craving that day.

Today, I tried a more modern version. I'm a big fan of crystallized ginger and coconut goes beautifully with pineapple. So for this cake, the topping consisted of fresh pineapple, minced candied ginger, brown sugar and a generous splash of dark rum.

For the cake, I subbed in coconut milk and added a little coconut extract for good measure. The whole thing baked up in my handy dandy cast iron skillet. And there were no problems inverting it onto the cake stand. Everything came out of the pan perfectly.

Since it was just Abby and me for dinner tonight we had it all to ourselves. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of barbecued chicken, caprese salad and farm-fresh sweet corn on-the-cob, which we finished off with a big slice of this cake. The cake was delicious. Now we're vegetating in front of the tube to digest it all!

If you want the recipe for the newfangled version of pineapple upside-down cake, post a comment or send me an email.

local vegetation

I was outside admiring the ginormous daisies growing next to my patio and decided a garden update was in order.

The daisies are huge, about 4 1/2 feet tall:

And here's the view looking up as they tower over me (well, not really, I'm not that short).

Oh, and this is nothing short of a miracle: my hydrangea has bloomed for the first time in the five years since I planted it!

And speaking of flowers, the strawberries sprouted more blossoms and the makings of another batch of fruit.

That rhubarb we planted in the spring has also taken off! My mother in law says I should harvest it, but the instructions the nursery sent with it said no harvesting in the first year. Any opinions on that? Can I safely steal a few stalks for a pie?

My raspberries are starting to ripen, but I don't think we'll have the deluge that my mom has to deal with. I ate this one:

Lastly, and most disappointingly are the tomatoes. I was so excited for this year. We built new beds specifically sited to work better for the tomatoes. I didn't overcrowd when planting and put in special tomato fertilizer. Then we had oh, let's see, roughly 8 weeks of rain. Needless to say my plants are again suffering from foliar disease brought on by too much moisture. But there are a few fruits on there, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Looks like I'll be able to eat my first two cherry tomatoes in a couple days.

our new home in cyberspace

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I don't have a good reason, but here are my excuses:

1. We were on vacation and I was avoiding my laptop like the plague;
2. This week has been really busy;
3. Tim managed to catch swine flu (or some variation thereof); and
4. I've been working on moving my blog over from TypePad to Blogger (which is requiring some painfully manual cleanup and reformatting for each post).

So in the future, you can find this blog here, at the following address: http://goingbonanas.blogspot.com/. Update those bookmarks!

I've also redirected the feed to the new site for readers who are subscribed. This way, if you are using a feed reader, it should continue to work but point to the new site.

I hope to blog about our vacation soon, so stay tuned!

cape cod here we come

Tomorrow morning we leave for a week on Cape Cod. This will be our 5th trip to the Cape. It is so serene and beautiful. The girls love the beach and we are big fans of the uber fresh lobster, oysters, cod, and other seafood available there. This year I'm going to try my hand at cooking fresh seafood purchased from the local fish markets. Live lobsters in the fridge is always a hoot.

Here's a shot we took during our trip last year looking out across a tidal marsh on the ocean side.

Ahhh.... I can feel the stress melting away already.

comfort on a plate

This was dinner tonight:

You're thinking, "So what? It's just pasta." But really, this is no ordinary pasta. It's linguine with the most delicious basic tomato sauce you've ever had. Comfort on a plate. The recipe is from Marcella Hazan who is regarded by many as the mother of Italian cooking in America. If you've never made it, plan on it for tomorrow. Really. Tomorrow. The beauty is in its simplicity, and most surprisingly for a tomato sauce, the liberal use of butter.

I almost always have the ingredients on hand (28 oz can of whole or crushed tomatoes, butter, salt, 1 onion, pasta) which makes it a go-to meal for us when I'm pressed for time or energy. Marcella Hazan's basic tomato sauce recipe can be found all over the web. Here is a link if you need one.

is it bedtime yet?

Today was the first day of practice Kindergarten for Mira. The school brings incoming Kindergartners in for a week during the summer to ride the bus and participate in a morning program at the school to help ease the transition in the fall.

Mira has been asking to ride the school bus since she started talking roughly three and a half years ago. So you can imagine how excited she was when the bus actually stopped at our house this morning. She was ready to hop right into her seat when the school principal (who was on the bus helping the bus driver) had to remind her to stop and turn around so I could snap a quick photo.

She got back home just before lunchtime and began asking if it was bedtime yet. She was asking not because she was tired (although, she was pretty tired), but because she was so eager to get back to riding the bus and attending school the next morning. Let's hope she remains this committed to her education for the next 17 years or so.