a life beyond running shoes.

we went into the mission district for a sabbath outing.  we played on a playground, kicked the soccer ball, saw a tightrope walker, ate vietnamese food, had great company, and saw a naked man (peanut asked if it was because he was poor....nope, just san francisco)..... all in a day's adventure out of marin. 

lost in a good book by jasper fforde sequel. meta-fiction....not sure i know what that means. having just read a jane eyre book, i went back to this author whose first book was the eyre affair .  he transposed reality and fiction.... well, it is all fiction but includes time travel, adventure, extinct animals, fictional characters interacting with the characters of the novel.....and a character called jack schitt.  funny.  it is entertaining. i realized i had to let go of trying to figure out the time looping stuff and just ride the book for what it was worth. since i own the third book in the series, i might give it a go but wouldn't if it wasn't already on my shelf.  yes, chef   by marcus samuelsson can i fall in love with food any more.... yes, yes, i can.  ethiopian orphan, adopted in sweden, world travelled via the kitchen of restaurants, hotels, and cruise ships and immigrated to new york city where he was one of the first black chefs in...

    then again. by diane keaton i do love her.... her hat wearing, idiosyncratic personhood.  i also loved that i must have said out loud, "i didn't know that" about a million times about her and her life. AND.... oh the men she dated. woody. warren. al.  and the way she writes tribute to her mom.... giving her mom a voice from the journals she wrote that diane discovered after her mother died.   she is personal and candid. it feels very much like diane keaton..... lovable and enjoyable. perhaps not the best memoir i have read.....but it did make me want to go back and see some of her movies from the last thirty years.....including annie hall which i can hardly remember seeing the first time. loud and clear. by anna quindlen i told you i would get around to more of her.  this is a collection of her essays originally published in newsweek and the new york times .  it covers parenting, social issues, politics, 9/11. i love her voic...

if you know me, you  know i will find a topic and then read a few things about it: barefoot running eating locally and now...... olive oil. got this book for christmas which of course, lead me to other books. extra virginity: the sublime and scandalous world of olive oil by tom mueller frankly, i just love the subtitle. it was a fascinating read. the history of olive oil, the parallels to the wine industry, the scandals that have changed the italian wine industry and how little has changed in the olive oil industry. i loved learning about something that has such beneficial properties, but have almost none when diluted or marketed as something it is not..... like extra virgin.  it has lead me to explore some local olive producers and even gone taste testing here in northern california.  second book: the passionate olive: 101 things to do with olive oil by carol firenze oh....she gets creative.  but first she almost summarizes what i read in the ...

boys and i went to do some garden clean-up after church. we picked up trash, raked leaves, and met neighbors. it is part of sustainable flatbush . they are starting a community garden across the street from our new worship space. it is on the property of flatbush reformed church, the oldest worshiping church in brooklyn. i don't have pics, but their website might later. we came home and daddy was starting dinner: short ribs. ....braised over many hours in wine and herbs. farmer's market roasted potatoes with rosemary from our garden. the last of the csa tomatoes cooked with butter and shallots for a tomato soup. watched family movie. played. ate. laughed. it was a great day of rest. and this is just too cute: (she is counting in case you can't figure that out)

...seriously. this guy was a champ on the ride down. he was sweet and attentive and tried to be super helpful with his baby sister. he is getting big.... i love seeing his heart but don't like him getting big. and our dinner was scrumptious. we went out for spanish food.... grilled shrimp and chorizo.... .plus cheviche and sangria! YUM!!!

no impact man . by colin beavan i have been trying to figure out how to post about this book for over a week. that is right, i have been writing this post in my head for a week...... here is why: i want you to read it. and i know that most of you (my brother, my mother....okay, all my family) will dismiss it because it confirms what you really believe: that i am really that crunchy. there is has been said. i want you to read this book..... what can i write to compel you to read it? how can i spin it? how can i sell it? i can't. i will only tell you what i thought.... the decision is yours but so far this is the best book i have read this year..... he and his family (wife -prada wearing, cappuccino drinking, take-out ordering - plus toddler) try and go off the grid for a year....in new york city. no trash. no waste. no impact. want to read it yet? of course not..... that is merely strange and crazy but a slightly fascinating prospect. he is a good writer. he is honest. he is no...

but i finally finished our latest book club book. albeit, two weeks late..... but the conversation of the book was not really about the book. it was about food. which the book is about. thanks to mary...... for an amazing meal. fresh pasta..... and that is just where my palate memory begins. heat - an amateur's adventure as kitchen slave, line cook, pasta-maker, and apprentice to a dante-quoting butcher in tuscany. bill buford. how can you not want to read this. well..... mario batali makes more than just a few cameo appearances. buford works in his kitchen. learns what it looks like on that side of the order. fascinating. daunting. intimidating. then he travels to italy to learn pasta and butchering. mario takes a back seat and the book loses its flare. could mario's robust, obnoxious, foul-mouthed presence have made the book more interesting? possibly. i work my way to the end and then in the last section..... nuggets: "it's not in the breed but the breeding" ...

at home. a day late. but very yummy. menu: sauvignon blanc. arugula salad with garlic crouton, shaved parmesan, and lemon. steamed artichokes with lemon butter. whole wheat flatbread with rosemary and onions. pan-seared scallops with beurre blanc sauce. chocolate mousse with salted whipped cream. seriously. we could not have afforded that meal at a restaurant. and we could hear the boys chatting in bed while we ate. no screaming.... no fighting.... it was amazing. thank you boys.

mark bittman's book includes 75 recipes. i started dog-earring the ones i wanted to try...... then stopped when it was every other one. food matters: a guide to conscious eating . in the same vane as michael pollan..... re-thinking consumption. discusses our nation's over-consumption. gets into the issue of gov't involvement. "healthy" ingredients. sane eating. what i love is that he starts his book with the supposition that we don't eat healthy. and when he actually changed the way he ate (as described and proposed in his book) he actually lost weight, lowered his cholesterol & blood pressure. one of the ways he does this is by eating vegan during the day..... then consumes meat & wine & cheese at dinner. he is a self-proposed glutton at dinner. while i am not sure i could do the vegan-thing so strictly, it did make me consider how many meat products i consume on a daily basis. i mean, would it be so terrible to have vegetable or lentil soup (...

snow: three inches cancelled our training run this weekend..... but it afforded lots of fun. sports: geaux saints! food: barley soup with kale, dill, fennel and lemon (bon appetit page 89 ) perfect thin crust home-made pizza (cook's illustrated website) chunky cheese bread (passion for baking page 44) note: as 3 peas has said , it is worth the price of book. kids: rocking out to super bowl commercial:

not me.... (although, i am trying for that - wink, wink) the food i ate last night. friend won a raffle for a wine night at a vegetarian restaurant. she couldn't go. i got to. DELICIOUS! here was the menu: parsley root puree with truffled chestnuts warmed beluga lentils with artichokes on butter lettuce with sherry vinaigrette winter bean cassoulet with winter greens and roasted heirloom garlic warm chocolate cake with parsnip and toasted hazelnut ice-cream the menu was built to highlight local, organic wine. it used all local ingredients. it was so tasty. i only got a photo of one of the courses (the beluga lentils with butter lettuce).

yesterday...... of course there were hiccups along the way but that is to be expect with three children 4 and under....like sweet pea crying for the duration of her first nap.... (and granted i was not the one that woke up on the couch with the newly three-year-old as my sleeping partner) but i had an almost perfect day. breakfast as a family. boys & sweet pea had waffles. daddy made me his newly mastered scrabbled eggs ( tip my hat to mark bittman's 30 minute eggs). took little bit and sweet pea to library. peanut had an ice skating date with daddy. daddy dropped off peanut for school. passed off little bit for him to have pizza date with daddy. home with sweet pea for lunch & nap. while she slept, i finished a book, organized kid area, put away christmas decorations, finally finished clearing out the corner near my desk (two-month undertaking), pulled out baby girl clothes to send friend, had a cup of tea. nap time ended with not a happy baby. but....boys a...

making homemade fried donuts (aka beignets). making hand turkeys. lots of togetherness from colds, the holiday, and vacation. thanks for some fun days, daddy! (when does everyone go back to work & school) getting ready for advent!

with the idea of not using a flash. watching my friend, made in brooklyn , take some really beautiful shots, i decided to try my hand. while i am not her in photographic skills or baking skills...... i made our first apple pie of the season. yum. with apples we picked. i love the north east. we've come a long way in two years....two years ago i threw out my first attempt at home-made apple pie. version #2 of that year was not much better.... this was much better.

into thinking it is the real thing. it just ain't...tofu cream cheese that is. i got my new cookbook, passion for baking (thank you ms. made in brooklyn ). and having a child that is allergic to milk means lots of substitutions . the author says to not substitute butter for margarine but in our case health is the issue.... so we do. for the most part, it doesn't make that much of a difference. i mean it is the difference between yummy and "oh my gosh" yummy. we can deal. but for their vanilla cheesecake filled brownies..... tofu cream cheese just didn't quite do it for us. the brownies were more than delicious and thus made this treat edible but in terms of delectable - nope. not sold on us. other fun things we have made.... grilling! one of the things i love most about summer. homemade biscuits - simple recipe from joy of cooking . i made the boys with margarine.... then added some sugar and cinnamon to compensate for the yumminess i made the adult o...

i don't always know how i stumble across things. i found a blog. funny since i don't go looking for more blogs to read. perhaps i was looking for a recipe and google search lead me to her . i think that was it.... anyway, she lists books. some cookbooks, some foodie reads, some just related to food in a round about way. she had this book on her list and since i really do want to be french... or at least eat all things french or cook all things french or just appreciate things like french wine and chocolate and coq au vin, i checked it out from the library. there is part of me that wishes i had bought it because he includes lots of recipes that he took the time to adapt for the american cook..... other parts of me know that i will never really make financiers at home. i can dream. anyway, i finished today while both boys were asleep and it was just sweet pea and i sitting on the couch. she was amused by the package of wipes and got to finish my last three chapters. i fee...

....is such a small thing and yet it made me so very happy. i am almost a little embarrassed to admit how happy it made me..... almost. but i love it so much that i have to share it. my chalkboard menu board. it helps me plan my menu for the week, know what to buy, and get approval from the other reading member of the family. when i have planned through wednesday and i have those empty spaces for the rest of the week.... i feel compelled to figure out what to make that completes the week.... one night fish, one night vegetarian, one night simple, one night turkey, one night chicken, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth. it also gets me that much more excited about the farmer's markets and what is in season and figure out how to make things with zucchini. yum!

as i have posted before.... i like to read about food. i have become a big fan of michael pollan and have finished another of his books. as with the other book of his i read, there are aspects of his argument that flies over my head... like when he gets into all the science stuff - which he does for very good reason - because it gives substantiation to his argument. so, i admit to skimming through some of it. BUT there are many things that i take away from this read. much of it having to do with how my family eats. i think most of the major changes, we have already made in terms of some of the things pollan advocates.... but there is always room for improvement. this is what he advocates: eat food. not too much. mostly plants. he does flush out what all of that means but not before he lays a pretty convincing groundwork as to why this should be of vital importance: we are an unhealthy nation (as a whole). he is trying to help us get healthier. some quotables: "the sheer abun...

dad gets one year old.... friday: dinner with friends.... with mojitos. yum! saturday: farmer's market, the park then brunch at friend's house (including feeding his worm compost farm - a treat for both little boys) finished with a steak dinner and fabulous chocolate chip cookies (dad's favorite in lieu of cake). sunday: homemade pasta with browned butter sauce. the kids ate every bite!