hjshorter

Bumping this up... Have they opened yet? Anyone been?

Many many thanks to Indique for a wonderful meal, and to Monica for organizing! I'm so full I don't think I can sleep.

Except, and this is one of the things I love about his cookbooks, he always makes allowances for those of us who live in the real world, who perhaps can't always get the most "authentic" ingredients. He always suggests alternatives, or whether the dish can't be made successfully with alternatives.

This is like saying "What if Philip Morris gives some of its profits to the EPA?" I have some sympathy here. I worked for the Kennedy Center (a nonprofit arts organization) for years. Philip Morris was a huge sponsor of ours. If it wasn't for them, many many worthwhile performances like ballet and symphony would not be presented. Sure they're a tobacco company and they suck, but if you need the bucks it's sometimes worthwhile not looking too closely at who signs the checks. I don't know of a single arts org in this town or many others who would have turned them down.

We have four half sheets. I'll chuck them in the car before we leave. And remember we're bringing the napkins, utensils, cups, etc. I copied Tommy's list from the NJ event so that I won't forget anything.

Foodie52, we will definitely stop and say hi the next time we're in Austin. Emma LOVES Central Market - and so do we.

It isn't that the kids aren't well behaved (although that does happen) but that it's much less of a major operation if I can go alone. It's less of a hassle if I take one or the other. Now, the farmer's market is another story. We always take the kids.

Oh yes. Especially since I now have no food at all in fridge or freezer (see hurricane thread).

Our power came back on at 2 am. Hurrah! It was off just long enough for us to have to throw away all of our food. I see a massive grocery run in my future.

We have no power - I'm posting this from a friend's house. I am still planning to be there tomorrow. See you at 5:30.

Ugh. Power went out at 10:30 last night, and it could be 2-7 days before it's restored along with my internet connection. Therefore, I should probably pass this blog over the fabulous Lady T. It's been fun.

Maybe he's got kids to put through college? He can't be making the big bucks doing shows for PBS, and how lucrative are the restaurants and packaged goods? I only see them at Whole Foods, so they aren't mass market yet.

We still have power! It's raining like hell, but no really big winds yet. Scott and Emma made an asparagus and anchovy pizza for dinner (her request), and ate it with sliced orange pepper. I had a big green salad.

A huge portion of roasted veggie lasagna (just for those of you who think I don't eat ) and a cup of french press coffee. Was contemplating a salad, but too full right now. We still have power - yay! - so cooking dinner is a possibility. Maybe we should grill... A big green salad with tuna and olives sounds appealing, and won't dirty too many dishes. We've switched to disposable plates, cups, etc. Don't want to have the dishwasher shut off mid-cycle if the power goes out.

Lunch: Rye bagel with cream cheese, lox, red onion, and tomato. Mmmmmmmmmmm. And a nectarine. Mommy refused to share her salmon, so Ian and Emma had turkey sandwiches and nectarines. Just snacked on a Petit Ecolier. Damn you to hell, Jason, for introducing me to these things. I can't wait until this box is gone so that I won't be tempted.

Yeah, it's now raining pretty steadily. Like Malawry, we lose power in any big thunderstorm, so I'm sure ours will be going out at some point. Ugh.

So glad you're enjoying it. For other Tolkien fans, or LoTR movie fans, clicky to see what we're talking about. And yes, Scott does post sometimes. He's user sashorter. It's getting windier and windier, but no rain yet. Got my fingers crossed.

Yeah, I only have two kids, but for a shopping trip it's: find the diaper bag, find my keys, load the toddler in while the preschooler roams the yard, track her down, buckle her into her seat, unbuckle everyone, find a cart that seats two (or I wind up chasing the 4 year old while the one year old is strapped into the cart), shop, check out, retrieve my amex from the floor, pay, strap everyone in, load groceries, drive home, unbuckle everyone, unload car after remembering to put up the baby gates and shutting the door behind me each time so that the kids don't wander outside...then I get lots of "help" unpacking the bags. We're just north of Washington DC, right in the path of Isabel. I'm hoping that it diminishes somewhat by the time it gets here. The ground is so saturated already that flooding is pretty much a sure thing. We have several big old trees so that's a big concern too. There was a big storm a couple of weeks ago that knocked down lots of branches, so maybe anything that was at risk already came down. I've been fantasizing that a tree will take out my car so that we have an excuse to get a new one. My favorite bagel shop is close to the hairdressers, so I'm definitely gonna get some decent bagels to help us ride out the storm.

Breakfast: One quarter of a slightly underripe cantalope, 2 buttermilk pancakes (homemade by the fab cook Mr Shorter), and bacon. More coffee. Ian gobbled his breakfast, but Emma is complaining that she wants sausage instead of bacon. We've emptied the ice in the ice maker into a cooler, and reset it to make more. We also started transferring food from the freezer upstairs to the large freezer in the basement. We have complete gray cloud cover but no rain yet. Not sure if I should even bother planning dinner - perhaps I should order a couple of mezze platters at Lebanese Taverna, if they're even open today. They are in the same shopping center as my hairdresser so I could order it, get my hair done, then pick it up on the way home. Yes, I have a hair appointment at 11 and I refuse to reschedule. It had better wait until after noon for all hell to break loose.

I make up for it with the ice cream. Also, I didn't mention the peach or banana I had yesterday. And Al, that first taste of cake is just priceless. Ian stuck a finger in his cake frosting, tasted it, and his whole face lit up. He devoured every last crumb. Right now I'm enjoying, you guessed it, a small mug of very hot coffee. Just realized that if we lose power we won't have a coffee maker. I'm getting a french press today - our cooktop is gas so we will be able to boil water.

How'd it go? Was it the 36 pricks on the back? I've been through it twice. Iris' back swelled up into one huge welt that stayed there for about 4 days (it was mostly the cats, mold, pollen, and peanuts) while Robert just had a couple of tiny ones (milk, eggs, peanuts) He didn't do all 36, just the more common, and no foods. She only reacted to a couple, so we go back for the intradermals in a month. She reacted to cats and dust mites yesterday. She was not happy, but lay across my lap and watched a video while waiting. And got stickers and a bracelet afterwards, so all was forgiven.

It's definitely foodp0rn. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Emma is the flower girl, so she will have many many chances at being out of control in front of a whole lotta people that day, while wearing a very fancy silk dress. What's more likely is that she will completely freeze up during the ceremony when she has to "perform." Then there's my son. I can totally see Ian grabbing a fistful of the wedding cake, or toddling down the aisle shrieking at the top of his lungs. What a little barbarian. My brother will be very glad that I talked him out of making him the ring-bearer.

Scott brought me a small scoop of coconut almond fudge chip.

Ugh. Emma's appointment took two hours, so we dashed home at 4:45 and put together a meal of hamburgers and baby carrots. Had a handful of tortilla chips while making supper. I wanted a nice big scotch & water and a cigarette, but decided to set a good example for the children. Scott is out taking Emma to Ben & Jerry's because she was very brave at the doctor (it was allergy testing, those of you familiar with it know how pleasant it is), and Ian is completely ransacking my desk while I'm online.