Fall Fun: The First Fall Family Weekend

I wasn't posting, but, oh, were we having fun!

Gommie and Pop arrived here on Friday, just before the kids got home early from school.  They were all so excited to see each other, as I had been a bit earlier.

As usual, there was some show-and-tell when my parents arrived, this time in the form of watching the school musical on DVD, pointing out the kids in each scene, commenting on the whole experience.  Almost as good as being there in person!

Then we went out to dinner at a local place, with artichoke dip, fresh bread, steak, chicken, mussels, meatloaf, hamburgers, profiteroles, bread pudding, creme brulee.  A nice feast!

I think they even squeezed in a couple of games of checkers, with Sis roundly beating Gommie a few times--Pop managed to win against her, finally.

Saturday brought our usual round of kung fu, followed by a special performance at a local festival.  The festival was very small and local, but Gommie and Pop were so glad to get to see Bud perform.  He did his tong bei (first form), spear, and 9-chain routines as part of the larger team performance.  I just love watching him fly through the air!  We did a few of the activities--Gommie got a red flower painted on her cheek; I watched a calligrapher at work.  We all made "snow skin" Singapore mooncakes, which are bright white.  They are made of a pre-cooked dough of glutinous rice flower, coconut milk, with sweet bean paste in the middle--you make a ball and then stamp it with a symbolic decoration.  (See here for a similar recipe.)  It's a lot like mochi, though the woman in charge of the activity balked at the suggestion, saying, "The Chinese invented mochi, not the Japanese."  We walked the beach for a bit and then had a quick lunch of dumplings, shumai, scallion pancakes, and egg rolls.


Then we went out for ice cream!  Not your usual ice cream but the popular new nitrogen-frozen one that's all the rage around here.  Pop and I got the bourbon breakfast one, which is quite boozy.

For dinner, Mama made a delicious pork shoulder in her pressure cooker.  Yes, hers.  I am a bit wary of the steaming, squeaking thing.  But the dinner, with sides of roasted sweet potatoes and also broccoli, was delicious--and the first homecooked meal Gommie and Pop had eaten in 2+ weeks!

Sunday was church, a discussion and celebration of "accounting" of Rosh Hashanah.  I don't remember the exact context, but my favorite part was about those who yell loudly because they feel as if they aren't heard, literally and figuratively.  How true is that!  I see it here at home, in online discussions of local issues, on the national stage from both politicians and their supporters.  It seems like we have a rash of many people trying to communicate without many feeling heard.

And then it was time for Applepalooza!!  I was so excited that my folks could be here for our usually annual party for the first time.   And also for the first time, none of my usual playgroup friends could come; they were missed.  Still, we had our great neighbors and bus route friends, plus more from the community and church.  It was a great group, with lots of good conversation and delicious food, as usual:  apple rosettes, honey apple quiche, apple pie, caramel apples, old-fashioned apple cake with brown sugar frosting, cupcakes, doughnuts, mulled cider, and some fall beers.  Plus Pop's spicy homemade salsa!  The adults chatted around the fire pit, while the kids played--the younger ones in the dirt or on the swingset, the older ones running around playing zombie tag and climbing trees.  It was all going so well, until, simultaneously, a child was smacked in the head by the seesaw and the low dogwood branch the kids were sitting on it the tree cracked.  We confirmed the tree kids were fine while fetching an ice pack for the crying little one.  Soon, all was right again, though Pop later cut the branch off the tree.  The dogwood has some rot, so it's not surprising, but it was a lovely branch.  Still, I'm so glad no one was hurt.


Sis rushed off to speed skating after the party, with Gommie and Pop watching her race around the ice in her impressive "skin suit," made of kevlar for her protection.  She's still a beginner, of course, trying to learn the crossover and such, but she loves it and tried very hard.  We had Italian for dinner, with Sis inhaling a whole entree after her three-hour workout.



Monday was a school holiday and our rest time, though Mama had to go to work.  We sat at home, playing games like checkers and MarioKart.  Pop tried his had a few times at it, finally mastering the controls so that he didn't come in last.  Gommie and I tangled tiles. We watched "Speechless," which Gommie enjoyed.  Pop cut down the branch.   They all went swimming at the hotel. We even practiced flipping bottles, which apparently is the new craze; I didn't even know about it til I read a Boston Globe article, but the kids say it had already been banned at school.  Gommie got down on the floor and was flipping water bottles with the best of them.  Bud had piano and Sis had horseback riding; Pop and Gommie went to the horses, happy to see Sis riding Pooh, as well as grooming him and taking care of the tack.   We nibbled on Applepalooza leftovers until we made our own pizzas for dinner.  (And had some grumpiness with the kids, Mama, and me--if Gommie and Pop wanted a taste of our schedule--with all of our activities and such, they got it and a few of some of our breakdowns when we're tired.)  It was also Gommie and Pop's 54th wedding anniversary!  And as Gommie told the kids, without their marriage, the kids wouldn't be here.  True enough.  We cheered their long marriage.  

Today, Mama is at work, the kids are at school, Gommie and Pop are headed to the Adirondacks or somewhere, and I am at home still fighting this cold.  It wasn't goodbye--we'll see them in Vermont for another wonderful, long weekend.

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King Arthur's Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting--it was fantastic!

Cake

• 2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger and ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups peeled, cored, chopped apple, about 1 1/3 pounds whole apples 
• 1 cup diced toasted walnuts or pecans (we skipped these and added more apples)

Frosting

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan.
To make the cake: Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and nuts in a large bowl.
Beat until well combined; the mixture will be very stiff, and may even be crumbly.
Add the apples and nuts, and mix until the apples release some of their juice and the stiff mixture becomes a thick batter, somewhere between cookie dough and brownie batter in consistency.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing it with your wet fingers.
Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few wet crumbs clinging to it.
Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack to cool completely; don't remove the cake from the pan.
To make the frosting: Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and salt and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts.
Add the milk, bring to a boil, and pour into a mixing bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat well; if the mixture appears too thin, add more confectioners' sugar. Spread on the cake while frosting is still warm.
Yield: about 2 dozen servings.

Tips from our bakers

• To toast nuts, place them in a single layer in a cake pan. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 6 to 9 minutes, until they're golden brown and smell "toasty."
• To guarantee lump-free frosting, sift confectioners' sugar before adding to the butter mixture. Usually all the lumps disappear as you beat the frosting; but to guarantee no lumps at all, sift the sugar first.

1. Apple Rosettes
2. • 1-2 sheets puff pastry
   • 1/4 cup cream cheese
   • 3 tbsp sugar
   • cinnamon
   • 1 apple
   • 1 tbsp lemon juice
   • 3 tbsp water
     
     
   • Take out the core and thinly slice the apple.
   • Combine the apple slices with lemon juice and water in a bowl and microwave 3 minutes. Cool the bowl in some ice water. Pat dry the apple slices of excess moisture and set aside.
   • Roll out the puff pastry and cut into 4 even strips. 
   • Spread cream cheese and sprinkle on sugar onto the puff pastry strips. 
   • Arrange the apple slices and sprinkle cinnamon on top.
   • Fold the pastry puff in half lengthwise and roll them up. Place in greased muffin tins.

Bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Miss CA

Homemade Caramel Apples--made by a friend's daughter, via Land of Lakes

1 cup finely chopped peanuts, optional
1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

dash salt

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

10 tart apples, washed and dried

Butter waxed paper; set aside. 
Place peanuts into bowl. Set aside.
Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan; add brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes or until mixture comes to a full boil. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 20-25 minutes or until small amount of mixture dropped into ice water forms a firm ball or candy thermometer reaches 245°F.  Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
Dip apples into caramel mixture. Dip 1 end of each apple into peanuts. Place onto prepared waxed paper.

Pop's Spicy Salsa

can of diced tomatoes

onion

cilantro

jalapenos (without seeds)

black pepper

In blender, mix tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and jalapenos. Pour into dish and cover top with black pepper.  Stir.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Pop

Pizza Dough--this is Mark Bittman's recipe, essentially the same as the one the girls did at their overnight

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, or more as needed, plus more for kneading
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as necessary

• 
  

1. Put the 3 cups flour, yeast, 2 teaspoons salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water through the feed tube. Process until the mixture forms a slightly sticky ball, about 30 seconds. If the mixture is too dry, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time and process for 5 to 10 seconds after each addition. If the mixture refuses to come together, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time and process until it does.
2. Rub a little olive oil or sprinkle a little flour onto your hands and shape the dough into a ball; wrap in plastic. Let rest at room temperature until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. Or, if time is tight, let it rest at least 20 minutes before proceeding. Or refrigerate for several hours, deflating if necessary if it threatens to burst the plastic. (Or divide in half, wrap each ball in plastic, slip into a plastic bag and freeze.) Let it return to room temperature before proceeding.
3. Reshape the dough into a ball and cut in half, forming 2 balls. (From here on, use olive oil if you're cooking on baking sheets, flour if on a pizza stone.) Put them on a lightly floured surface (a pizza peel is ideal), sprinkle with flour and cover with plastic wrap; or brush then with a bit of oil and place on a lightly oiled sheet. Let rest for about 20 minutes, while you heat the oven to 500 degrees.
4. Press a dough ball into a 1/2-inch-thick flat round, adding flour or oil to the work surface as necessary. Press or roll the dough until it's as thin as you can make it; let it rest a bit if it becomes too elastic. (Patience is your friend here.) You can do two baking sheets at once, or one after another, as you'll have to if using a peel. If doing the latter, slide the dough from the peel onto the stone.
5. Sprinkle the pizzas with olive oil (just a little), salt and rosemary. Bake for at least 10 minutes, perhaps rotating once, until the crust is crisp. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Summer Fun: Huzzah!

Mama and I celebrated our 17th anniversary this weekend--and in high style, by going to the NY Renaissance Festival.  This was particularly meaningful because Mama and I had one of our earliest outings to the faire the summer we met 20 years ago (I've written about my love affair with fairs here.)  With Goo in tow!  And he was the age then that the kiddos are now.  If you'd told me then that 20 years later, Mama and I would re-visit the fair with our twins, with a life in the CT suburbs and be LEGALLY married, I never would have believed it.   It was a wonderful weekend (save one thing I'll get to.)

Costumes:  We always like to dress up for the Ren fest.  And this year the kids also got into the act.  Sis wore a cloak, sword, and carried a bow (Bud's, from Texas), with a special LOTR leaf pendant we purchased for her and plastic attachable elf ears, for she is Legolas, the elf archer.  Bud is Frodo, with his colonial vest, a cloak, the One Ring on a silver chain, and his little silver dagger that he was handed during the parade at the Ren Fest in Texas.  He's used it in a lot of play these last 5 years.  Mama and I were just general shire folk, me in a vest and skirt, Mama in a vest and jeans.  We added to our costumes while we were there, half the fun of the festival.  I got a flower garland, along with a belt and pouch.  Mama got leather shoulder armor called a paldron.  Bud got a belt and sword, plus real halfling ears.  Sis added archer gauntlets.  We were quite the well-dressed crew.   It certainly makes the festival more fun.  And we got things we can wear again for other faires, for Halloween, even for Comic Con.  (Speaking of the latter, we saw several Doctors--three Tenth and one Fourth, all in costume!  The first Ten was the best, English accent and all, and posed gamely for a picture with the kids.)

Food:  Snacking always plays a huge part in the faire experience and we like to eat.  We had the requisite huge turkey leg and funnel cakes, of course.  We also really liked the fried macaroni and cheese in little triangles on a stick.  Mama and I enjoyed the florentine quesadilla, with spinach, feta, mozzarella, and pesto; we also liked the little doughnuts glazed in orange juice and apple cider.  Bud liked the cherry limeade, while I had a yummy orange float, like an Orange Julius only less chemically--just orange juice, ice, and vanilla ice cream.

Shows and Activities:  Between snacks, we wandered the faire and enjoyed all the entertainment.  My favorite, by far, was the archery.  I'm not great at it, even as a Level 1 instructor, but I enjoy it; Mama and the kids do, too.  We all even managed to hit near the center of the targets.  We watched two chess games--somewhat like wizard chess, with human "pieces" fighting for the spots--something I keenly remember from 20 years ago.  Sis really liked the sparring.  She also liked the horses in the joust.  We all laughed heartily at the Vixens En Garde-version of Hamlet, with a little Star Wars thrown in for fun.  And of course, we saw the Birds of Prey show, with the Master Falconer showing off his Andean Condor, Black Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, and Harris Hawk.  The show was extra-special after our own English falconry experience where we flew our own vultures and Gyr-falcon.  On our own, we had a few sword fights with all of our weapons.  We didn't stop for too many musicians (there actually weren't too many), though we danced to the drums of Wolgemut at the end of the first day.

Which brings me to the sad bit:  Bud's special silver-colored dagger went missing at some point in the last hour of our two-day visit.  We don't know where--and he and Mama searched high and low--and we don't hold out hope that it will be found.  I was very sad, not only because he was very sad, but also because it was such a big part of his childhood these last five years.  Sure, that probably means we shouldn't have taken it--I'm not sure I realized how attached I was to it until after the fact, though I knew he was--or at least tied it to him; lots of guilt to go with the sadness because I didn't notice that he'd set it down.  Hindsight is 20-20.  And up to that point, two whole days, he'd kept track of it.  But then it was gone . . . as Ar-Ma recently said about Gong's shoes and expensive new orthotics stolen from a local temple while they were praying, somebody else needed them more than he did and it was time for them to move on (sorta like a less-evil version of the One Ring, I suppose.)  That wasn't much comfort, though.  But as FB often reminds us about Mr. Rogers's "look for the helpers," we were amazed at the kindness of strangers.  The first let Mama and Bud back into the faire to search for the dagger, which we only found missing after we got to the car, even though they hadn't gotten their hands stamped.  Several shop owners tried to help them, until the last, seeing how upset Bud was, walked them over to her boyfriend's stall where they gave him, without accepting payment, a special as yet unpainted Elvish blade.  On the walk back to the car, he apparently planned how he would decorate it with runes and Celtic knots.

Shopping:  Before the dagger incident, we'd picked up a few other things.  The kids had a budget, but I'm the one who did most of the shopping.  I always favor candles and lotions--and I actually got a candle that melts into lotion!!  The other candle is one of those multi-dip/multi-colored ones that are then carved to reveal the layers--a staple of 70s living rooms, if I recall correctly; Sis chose a pink and purple one with little rainbow layers.  We also really enjoyed experimenting at Nixi Stix, with professional grade juggling balls, pins, dancing wands, dancing sticks, and these Toroflex things that the kids like--think of it as a perpetual-motion Slinky.  There wasn't as much great shopping as i'd expected so it took awhile to find something to send to Aunt Sis, who loved the Ren Fest and went every year; my Christmas present always came from the craftspeople.  

So, all in all, we had a wonderful time, though the loss of the dagger overshadowed the end a bit.  On the way home, we talked about going to faires in Pennsylvania and Maryland sometime; we laughed that later, Sis and Bud could even work them--on horseback, on violin, juggling, swordplay.  It was the perfect anniversary weekend.

Special Days

I never know how these conversations get started, but at dinner the other night, the kids were asking about our anniversary.  This is never a simple matter because we have several to choose from:

• the day in June 1994 that we met
• the day in August 1997 when we became a couple (the date on the calendar in the kitchen)
• the day in November 2001 that we signed official domestic partner papers in NYC
• the day in October 2005 when we celebrated our civil union
• the day in December 2008 when we legally got married in Connecticut (the date on the wooden box Mama gave me as a wedding present)

There's another date, when we had friends witness some legal papers that cemented our connection, but I can't recall that one, but it predated 2001.

Anyway, about every three or four years for almost the last two decades, we can point to a date!  

So we had to explain to the kids--again--why we have so many dates and why we didn't get married in 1997, 2001, or 2005.  They have trouble comprehending "illegal."  And they still don't fully appreciate, despite our repeated assertions, how lucky we are that we can marry even now in Connecticut.  And we haven't stressed that we are only married in CT and not federally (they wouldn't understand how this costs us thousands of dollars in taxes a year), though we mention it occasionally.

The unique moment in this specific conversation was Sis's memory of our wedding in 2008. 

 

"Wait, I remember that!  I was there!"

"Yes, you were there.  Not many kids were at their parents' wedding."

And Bud chimed it, "Cool. We were at your wedding!"

I'd say that's an unexpected perq of the challenges of same-sex marriage in this country.

Hard at Work

I've been busy compiling all of the recipes from this blog in a single, homemade cookbook--almost five years of recipes!  I hope to have it done by the 5th anniversary of my blog, in August, and available to readers, free, in pdf format.  It's over 300 pages already and I still have 2012 to add!  And three months to go.  I imagine it's close to 1,000 recipes.  And maybe an index!  Of course, there will be odd formatting, typos, and a lack of alphabetical order, but it will be comprehensive.  It's been fun to revisit posts and memories, even at breakneck cutting-and-pasting speed.

It's also a great distraction from all the stress, from which we are working hard not to buckle under.

Happy Anniversary!

To Gommie and Pop, wherever they are in the mountains--their 47th!

Happy Anniversary!

Today starts Year 14 of togetherness! And while there is more "worse" and "sickness" right now than we usually like, our life together on the whole has been full of "better." Illness and injury clarify such things and, while I am usually aware of how blessed I am by having Mama in my life, the last two weeks of her unflinching, generous, compassionate care and support have overwhelmed me with her love. I love you, Mama. But am hoping to never need to repay your tender sick-bed care in kind. Here's to more "better!" Soon.

Happy Almost Anniversary

To Mama and I, in a few weeks, we'll begin our 14th year as a couple.

And so, with only 5 more opportunities before Babysitter leaves for college, we had a celebratory lunch at the locavore restaurant, The Dressing Room, founded by Paul Newman. It was such a delightful lunch. Tapas in style, with small portions and an a la carte menu, we were in starch heaven: an heirloom grain "risotto" that was so creamy though it was vegan, cornbread with specially-milled corn flour and this amazing honey on the top, sugar snap peas in a light lemon sauce, creamy fresh macaroni and cheese, and the wonderfully corn-y (not corny) grits. Wow. And then there was dessert: pan-seared angel food cake, both crisp and tender, kinda like French toast, and drizzled with that incredible honey, plus a peach/blueberry crisp which would've been better if I couldn't have tasted as much of the skillet, and this smoked sugar ice cream that reminded us of smoked Thai desserts.

I'd love to be able to report that we had a significant and meaningful conversation, befitting the nature of the occasion. But it was much lighter than that--talking about the food, thinking about our upcoming schedule, trying not to talk about kindergarten, relating the events of the morning. But in many ways, it is the details of ordinary life that are important, not just the extraordinary, special occasions.

Though, it's nice to celebrate those, too.

Happy One of Our Anniversaries!

Happy anniversary, hon. Today is 4 years. For this anniversary.

Otherwise, I think we're at 12 years for the August one. 15 years for the June one. Almost one year for the December one. And I forget all the details about the November one (is it 8 years?).

Confused? That's civil union, pairing up originally, meeting, marriage, and registered domestic partners, respectively.

And I love you for them all.

Though, next time--like when it's federal--we need to pick a spring date!

(P.S. Thanks for reminding me, Mom. It's a lot to remember!)

Another Anniversary

So, I've been thinking of anniversaries today: one week with no restaurants, a month without a downstairs tv, almost six months as a vegetarian, and it's been almost two months without diapers!

I came to a realization about being potty-trained: we have gone the longest we have ever been without some kind of major cold-like illness. I think it must be the constant washing of hands. We've never been this clean!

A Decade

Last night was our 10th anniversary. We had actually celebrated in grand style last week, doing something we were both desperate to do--we got a babysitter and went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (yes, we've read HP7 and loved it; no I won't post any details). Add to that dinner at the theater--we're both devotees of junk food at times--and some Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and it was an amazing night.

But last night was the real date. 10 years. Wow. Amazing what can change in a decade. Then, she was working at her first job in Chicago and I was a grad student in NYC. We'd met three years earlier, shelving books at a summer library job in NYC, and pretty much dated since then, though we didn't realize it until later.

So last night we reminisced--3 moves, 3 cats, 5 jobs, 2 children, several trips, thousands of meals. And we're still in love. It's all very amazing, especially since the year we got together, two couples we knew broke it off in the 10th year. We always joked that we'd skip 10. But we made it through the 10th year and are starting 11.

And so, knowing me so well, DP went to Penzey's Spices and Balducci's and brought home two things I'm addicted to--dark chocolate (the darker the better) and cooking magazines. We savored one of the chocolates, not a pure dark chocolate, but marzipan coated in dark chocolate. Delicious, reminds me of a candy a Danish co-worker once gave me. Anton's, Antoine's, something, with plum filling and marzipan. The cooking magazines--Penzey's One--will be perfect for the selection of spices she brought home. A treat for us both.