I’m moving!
Follow me to my new site, food for thought.
I’ll get the archives moved over soon enough, so that all the recipes, at least, will have a new, and more easily searchable, home.
July 15th, 2006
Archive for July, 2006
A Day in the Life
I’ve been trying to figure out where my time goes. You all know this feeling — you’re up for hours, you’re working hard, you don’t seem to make much headway on the to-do list. So I thought I’d pay attention for a day; apparently others have had the same idea. So here’s the rundown of my day. I considered waiting around to log a more “typical” day–this happened to be the one day in the week that I have some time without children– but then this project would never happen. So here goes.
5 AM Eli wakes. I bring him in bed to nurse, futilely hoping he will fall asleep, but he’s not having it. We’re downstairs at 5:22. It’s dark.
Over the next three hours, I:
- Put away the barbecue tools, trying to keep Eli off the wet deck
- Feed Eli a bowl of oatmeal and myself a bowl of granola
- Let Eli play with playdoh while I put together a bag of art supplies for Ben’s preschool
- Call my mom and sister (conveniently visiting each other)—letting Eli play with Tony’s cell phone while I do (he takes a nice closeup photo of his pjs which I make Tony’s new screensaver)
- Unload the dishwasher
- Feed Eli some toast with sunflower seed butter
- Play with Eli in the play kitchen
- Let Eli help himself to a box of crackers off the pantry shelf while I check email and write a quick blog post
- Sweep up cracker crumbs
8 AM Ben wakes up (he slept in!); I fix him a bowl of cereal.
8:15 Tony gets up. I turn the boys over to him and fold 2 baskets of laundry.
8:40 Tony takes Eli upstairs for a nap; I set Ben up with an episode of Oswald. We have a brief difference of opinion about pulling feathers out of the couch cushions. He’s not convinced of my perspective.
8:45 I head out for a run.
9:20 Home, shower, get dressed (I let Ben pick out my clothes). I argue with Ben, who is dancing around the bathroom, about his need to pee, and tell him I won’t play with him until he does. I am, in no particular order, amazed at his bladder capacity (he last went before bed at 7 last night); irritated by this daily argument; frustrated with myself for not letting it go (but glad he doesn‘t let it go); and sad when he decides to play a concert on his ukuelele and I’m stubbornly not participating.
But I do get a couple emails written about my book project, so that’s good.
10:22 Ben finally pees. In the toilet, I should add. We all relax.
10:25-11 Ben plays with the photo booth function on the computer and chats with me about trains and planets while I wash dishes and caramelize onions for tonight’s dinner.
11:15 Eli wakes up (nice nap!) – and we all play.
11:30 Make lunch: sunflower seed butter sandwich for Ben, scrambled eggs for Eli, leftover pasta for me.
11:45 Lunch over, I sweep up and load the dishwasher while the boys play, then we all play together.
12:30 Tony takes Ben to school and Eli to the babysitter –this is the one afternoon a week when we’ve got both boys out of the house for 3 precious hours. I spend the first chunk of it working: I read and comment on 3 essays (2 for my writing group; 1 for my book); return several phone calls; set up a college savings plan for Eli.
2:30 Break time. I take a walk in the neighborhood to clear my head and wind up at the used clothing store; I try on and reject a pair of pants. Stop by the used bookstore looking for a copy of Mansfield Park. Strike out there, too.
3 Back home to work. I finish a draft of my next column and send it out to my writing group. I wrap a gift for Ben’s teacher and mix together pizza dough for dinner.
4:15 Tony brings the boys home from babysitting and school; Eli nurses while Ben chatters to me about his day.
4:45 Ben and I pick chard from the garden for dinner. Uncle Fun (Tony’s brother) arrives.
5 Start making pizzas. Uncle Fun keeps the boys occupied while Tony and I cook.
6 Eat dinner. Ben tells us all about the planets; Eli stuffs his face. A good time is had by all.
6:40 Take Eli up to bed. We sit in the glider and I start to read him his bedtime story. A short time later I’m startled awake by the sound of the book clattering to the floor. Eli’s still awake in my arms, but I put him in the crib and he starts to burrow into his blanket. I pat him goodnight and start to leave the room when a trumpet sound from downstairs startles us both. Ben’s saxoflute! Eli’s sitting up and crying now. We start over. Some time later we hear the saxoflute again; this time I run down the hall to holler at Ben, Tony, anyone. Eli’s wailing. We start all over again, I calm him down, get him back in the crib and pat his back until he falls asleep. For the first time in over 4 years of mothering, the crib looks really comfortable to me; I briefly consider crawling over the gate and curling up right next to him. But instead I stand there, leaning uncomfortably in; if I shift my weight Eli starts to wail again.
8:10 Sneak out of Eli’s room, give Ben a goodnight kiss, and head downstairs. I’m done.
July 14th, 2006
Devil’s Food Cake
As requested, the recipe for the cake Tony made me, from Linda Collister’s beautiful “Chocolate.”
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 c sour cream or yogurt
1 c brown sugar
2 c flour
a bit of salt
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c white sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c water, at room temperature
3 8″ cake pans, or 2 9″ cake pans, buttered and the bottoms lined with parchment
Put the chopped chocolate, sour cream and brown sugar into a heavy saucepan and set over very low heat. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Sift the flour, salt, cocoa, and baking soda onto a sheet of wax paper and set aside.
Put the butter into a bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture, 1 tbsp at a time, alternately with the water. When thoroughly blended, work in the melted chocolate mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans, then bake at 350 for 25 minutes (for 8″ cakes) or 30 minutes (for 9″ cakes). Let cool for 5 minutes, then invert on a wire rack, remove the parchment, and cool completely before frosting.
Tony used cream cheese frosting (because he knows how I feel about cream cheese frosting), but this is what the recipe calls for, which sounds pretty good, too:
Frosting & Filling
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
5 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 c sour cream
Melt chocolates together in top of a double boiler or in the microwave, then beat in the sour cream. Leave until very thick and spreadable.
1 comment July 13th, 2006
Sleeping In
Yesterday I got to sleep in. This is how it went.
4am: Ben crawls into bed with us, or really me – he knows better than to go to Tony’s side.
4:15: Eli wakes. Since he’s not nursing at night anymore, Tony’s on Eli duty, and gets up to settle him.
5: Tony gets Eli settled back into his crib; scoops Ben up and returns him to his bed.
6: Ben crawls back into bed with me.
6:15: Eli wakes. I sneak out from beside Ben to nurse Eli in his room.
6:45: Eli’s done nursing, I hand him off to Tony and crawl back into bed with Ben.
7: Ben gets up. I get the bed to myself for one glorious, uninterrupted hour before “rising” at 8.
1 comment July 12th, 2006
Cake Report
Devil’s food. With lots of cream cheese frosting. I ate two pieces (today).
1 comment July 11th, 2006
The century (the millenium) thus far, birthday edition
I’ve noticed a fair amount of retrospective blogging lately; here’s my contribution.
2000: I’m a newly-minted PhD, and about to marry Tony, but I cannot remember what we did for my birthday this year, the last one unaffected by children. Dinner out? Party? Probably.
2001: I’m just pregnant and so sleepy I can barely stay awake through my lovely birthday dinner.
2002: Ben hangs out with friends while Tony and I go to the Indigo Girls concert.
2003: Multiple celebrations! My baby friends (that is, my friends with babies) surprise me with a fancy picnic lunch the day before my birthday, and we have lots more friends over for a party on the day itself.
2004: Two year-old Ben acquires two new sentences just in time for my birthday: “I love you, Mama” and “Happy birthday, Mama!” Plus, we have a great party.
2005: Stomach flu and baby blues from #2 make it hard for me to enjoy this one.
2006: Bracelet birthday! I’ve been given five, including the pipe cleaner one Ben made me at preschool.
1 comment July 11th, 2006
Tony Bakes a Cake
The usual cooking division of labor around here (and with many exceptions) is Tony: savory; Caroline: sweet. Tony: cooktop; Caroline: oven.
Except on my birthday, when Tony bakes a cake. And he always makes something fabulous, often something I wouldn’t have tried but truly enjoy.
But it’s hard, when I’m sitting here ostensibly working on my next column and he’s right across the room starting the cake (starting! at nearly 10pm!), not to interfere. Especially when he blurts out things like, “Hmm, I chose this recipe for the ingredients, but I didn’t really read the recipe…”
Which brings us to another difference in how we work in the kitchen. Caroline: reads and combines several recipes. Tony: wings it.
I’ll report back tomorrow. I trust it’s going to be delicious.
1 comment July 10th, 2006
Fried Egg Pasta
Tony and I found this recipe in the Sunday Times magazine a few years ago; the first time we made it, we realized halfway through that neither of us really knew how to fry eggs. A quick consult with Irma rectified that situation, and now this is a standard part of the dinner repertoire. It’s particularly quick if you happen to have roasted red peppers and capers in your pantry.
2 red bell peppers
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
1 or 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1/4 c finely chopped parsley
3 tbsp bread crumbs
1 lb spaghetti
5 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
grated parmesan
Roast the peppers, peel and slice into thin strips.
In a small baking dish, combine peppers, capers, garlic and parsley. Season with salt &pepper. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top. Set aside until you’re ready to finish the dish (ie, this can sit all day…)
Bring pasta water to boil and preheat oven to 350.
Drizzle pepper mixture with 2tbsp olive oil and bake 10 minutes, while pasta cooks.
While pasta’s boiling and pepper mixture is heating, fry 2 eggs, sunny side up, until whites are set but yolks are still runny.
Drain pasta and pour it into large serving bowl. Toss in baked peppers & eggs, using a couple forks to break up the egg.
33 comments July 9th, 2006
Movie Column
My new column, on The Secret Lives of Dentists, is running now on Literary Mama. Take a look!
1 comment July 9th, 2006
The Note in Ben’s Lunchbox, part 2
Ben’s been grooving along for about six weeks now with his boring but adequate school snack of fruit leather and applesauce. Yes, he did give me a hard time last week that the fruit leather wasn’t organic (apparently he’s been listening in on our discussions of Michael Pollan’s latest book), but otherwise, all’s been fine in snack land since we started buying fruit leather.
Except this week, we ran out of Trader Joe’s applesauce, and so Tony had to run out to the local market to get a different, apparently unacceptable brand.
When Ben came home from school today, he asked, “OK, so, who packed my lunchbox?”
I admitted I had.
Ben walked over to where I was nursing Eli, zipped open the lunchbox, and presented this note:
“Mom and Dad,
My applesauce is too sour!!
All I had for snack was water and a fruit leather. (Tim gave me crackers).”
Thanks, Tim!
July 6th, 2006