family

We are in the process of moving. It was only practical for Mother’s Day dinner to not be anything particularly elaborate.

My dad suggested we pull some meat out of the freezer in the basement and have a roast. I responded by playing my vegetarian card, which is something I almost never do.

More precisely, I said: I don’t want a stupid roast for dinner, it’s Mother’s Day!

So Shane made a delicious tortilla soup and a side of beans. This made my mom and I very happy.

Rose found the soup too spicy but happily devoured 4 servings of beans. Sid ate sprigs of cilantro dipped in salty water because that’s what he learned to do at Passover a few weeks ago.

For dessert we had tasty muffins, which is what Sid called the cupcakes he and Shane got me from Sweet, the bakeshop next to Wegmans.

Happy Mother’s Day y’all.

I haven’t been posting lately because a while ago, my light got put away, and it never came back out because things are a mess around here. Because we’re moving. All 8 of us.

You may recall that Shane, the kids and I moved in with my parents a while back, and then my sister and brother-in-law moved in too. It’s been a big, chaotic, happy family time. We’ve all enjoyed each other, gotten to know each other’s quirks a bit more, and my kids have come to know, love and depend on their immediate family in an invaluable way.

But now we’re moving on to the next phase in our lives.

My sister and brother-in-law are moving to a home of their own, to get started on their life as newlyweds. My parents and Shane, the kids and I are moving to separate temporary homes while we literally tear the roof off this big old house and turn it into a proper two-family forever home.

Also, my 73 year old mom broke her leg and Rose had her gymnastics State Championships this weekend. If there’s a better reason for carbo-loading, I don’t know what it is (ok, marathons maybe, but whatevs).

The last two nights there’s been enough remaining daylight to document dinner. I present you with Shane’s famous carbonara and mini grilled cheeses on baguette slices, with ham for those who like that kind of thing. And, of course, extra bread and delicious salads.

More soon. Miss you guys. xoxox

 Rose helped me plan the meals for this week. She’s opinionated, and often decisive, which makes her perfect for the job.

For Monday’s dinner, she penciled in hot dogs, to which I naturally added a couple of hearty salads. Later, a couple of folks said they might like burgers with their dogs. Shane made plans to fire up the grill, and that was Monday settled.

On the way home from the gym tonight, Rose told me she no longer wanted hot dogs, she was really in the mood for a burger instead. 

We sat down at the table where Sid was already eating a plate-full of ketchup with a fork. I gave him some hot dog, he screamed “No! I don’t want it! Take it off! Take it off!” 

I removed the offending morsel from his plate at which point he immediately took another hot dog, which he spent the remainder of the meal massaging with mayonnaise by hand, while intermittently exclaiming “I sticky, I sticky, I sticky!”

I had barely tucked into my carrot salad with harissa, feta & mint* and my sesame miso great beans when Rose said “Mom! Look at my burger! Will you take a picture? Will you put it on the blog? Please? Pleeeeease?”

How could I say no.

The burgers and the carrots were the clear winners tonight. But my generous dad took one for the hot dog team, and ate the guy that had been hand-massaged with mayo. Nice one pop.

*We use the recipe from Smitten Kitchen but significantly increase all of the seasonings, the oil and the feta to make it extra-yummy.

Sid surveyed the assortment of meal-related items on the countertop today, looked at me and said: “The veek, the veek!” Sid was correct, I was preparing our food for the week (aka ‘veek’).

Because that’s what I do on weekends, I prepare for the week ahead, I make pancakes for my kids, I do laundry, and I dress ever so slightly more casually. Make of that what you will.

Here’s what we’re having for dinner this week: Monday Anna is making African Peanut Soup with Sriracha. Tuesday is our favorite Vegetarian Chili, which I just this moment finished making. On Wednesday Shane will probably prepare the Penne alla Vodka. Thursday is Frank Pepe’s Pizza (yes! it finally opened) which Chris will pick up after work. And on Friday we like to get really wild and decide what to eat at the last minute.

Here are a few highlights from last week:

Shane’s carbonara.

A simple cheese frittata, salad & tomatoes with fennel oil.

Roasted root veggies, broccoli & this farro dish (which we thought was perfectly good, but not as life-altering as promised).

Happy work week everyone!

Sid started daycare a couple of weeks ago. What this means is that—in addition to hearing him say “I don’t yike it day care” several times a day—he almost immediately contracted every virus in the book.

Now the various viruses are making their way through the rest of us. Nothing like a hearty bowl of Tortilla Soup to soothe a sore throat.