Accommodatingly

Having decided that– while we like Tilly and the Wall a great deal– we wouldn’t much enjoy a Tilly show that began sometime after 11pm, Jessie and I took advantage of my parents’ presence here, not to go out and paint the town some late-model indie-rock shade of red, but just to have a neat meal.

The place we chose for our neat meal, the Brazilian restaurant Muqueca, turned to have surely the best Brazilian food we have ever eaten, and probably the best meal we have had in any restaurant since we moved here. I’d recommend everything (even the light, cruncy frog legs), and I would recommend that you not tell your friends, since if the place becomes too popular Jessie and I won’t be able to go back there again and again.

I’m in the new Boston Review on Laura Kasischke, [UPDATE: LINK NOW CORRECT] along with a vivid and neatly challenging poem by my way-talented former student Linnea Ogden: if you pick up the print issue, you can read it while you wait to be seated for awesome Brazilian food.

(I’m still hoping to see one or two of you at this event at BU on Monday afternoon.)

Having decided that– while we like Tilly and the Wall a great deal– we wouldn’t much enjoy a Tilly show that began sometime after 11pm, Jessie and I took advantage of my parents’ presence here, not to go out and paint the town some late-model indie-rock shade of red, but just to have a neat meal.

The place we chose for our neat meal, the Brazilian restaurant Muqueca, turned to have surely the best Brazilian food we have ever eaten, and probably the best meal we have had in any restaurant since we moved here. I’d recommend everything (even the light, cruncy frog legs), and I would recommend that you not tell your friends, since if the place becomes too popular Jessie and I won’t be able to go back there again and again.

I’m in the new Boston Review on Laura Kasischke, along with a vivid and neatly challenging poem by my way-talented former student Linnea Ogden: if you pick up the print issue, you can read it while you wait to be seated for awesome Brazilian food.

(I’m still hoping to see one or two of you at this event at BU on Monday afternoon.)

Not very well connnected to one another, but all worth noting:

The NYTBR’s sf critic has recommended sf reading for presidential candidates. I found it hilarious: that doesn’t mean you will– I think I might be precisely the target audience.

You can now purchase Minor Threat hot sauce. Apparently it’s not so hot.

My mom and dad have now been married for 40 years! Cool.

My dad recommends a Jewish book.

And I recommend this Xmas Hannukah book, by one of the most successful authors of our time: we just got in in the mail from some awesome people, and I’m hoping Nathan enjoys it as much as I did.

Steve has been holding down the blog-fort for a while. I’ve been too consumed by household stuff to think of sitting down at the computer to post. Today the distraction of television presented itself, wresting me away from the process of putting together Ikea furniture.

Which brings to mind this exchange:

Nathan: Kee-ya! Kee-ya! Kee-ya!
Steve: Did you go to Ikea?
Nathan: No.
Steve: Who went to Ikea?
Nathan: Mommy!
Steve: What did Mommy get at Ikea?
Nathan: Daddy!

Dan came over with his son Louie this morning, bearing yummy scones for breakfast and, as an added bonus, beautiful purple and yellow tomatoes (perhaps in an homage to the Vikings?). We ate the tomatoes tonight with freshly-made mozzarella from the Belmont Farmer’s Market and basil from our very first box from Boston Organics. For $37 a week, they will be delivering a great big box of organic produce to our door! Definitely one of the perks of moving here.

It’s been strange reading and listening to coverage of the bridge collapse. We drove over that bridge several times a week, usually on my way to and from work and often with Nathan in tow for day care. Very scary stuff.

Yo, Baby, like my hat?

Originally uploaded by Jessie and Steve.

…or… you like my YoBaby hat?

see it jiggle

Originally uploaded by Jessie and Steve.

I was cleaning out the pantry and found a box of strawberry Jell-O. Nathan wasn’t really sure what to make of it, and treated it more as textural experiment than as food, making it not that different from most things we give him to eat.

We’re weaning. I haven’t nursed him in two days. We had been down to one nursing session a day since just before his birthday, but that one has now been eliminated. He seems to be handling it just fine. I’m feeling a little melancholy about it, but it seemed like the right time.

Nathan will now eat peas, but only if a) they are rolled in cinnamon sugar and b) they are the only thing on his tray. My feelings about this development are mixed.

I am using the excuse of a snowy day stuck at home to bake and cook. I have made two pots of beans: black beans that are, after twice the normal cooking time, still hard, and white beans that are now mushy, in spite of my not overcooking them.

I also made a cake. I’m not a big Emeril fan (as stated here before, I am an Alton Brown devotee), but this cake appears to be seriously yummy. We’ll have to wait until Nathan’s in bed, however. It would be cruel to eat it in front of him, and I’m not ready yet for a toddler on chocolate cake.

My other project for the day is to organize the disaster area that is our kitchen cabinets. Zoiks, that’s a big job. Of course, I also really should go outside and do my share of the shoveling. Somehow it’s more fun to stay in and putter around the kitchen.

Made a good supper tonight and thought I’d share it. It’s easy, though since bacon is involved, the cleanup could be a bit greasy.

Serves 2

Software:
3 strips of bacon
3 eggs
1 onion, sliced in rings
2 carrots, bias cut into reasonably even slices
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 TB dijon mustard
1 (5oz?) bag of baby spinach
Freshly ground black pepper

Hardware:
1 pot
1 large cast iron skillet
1 pasta server
1 set of tongs

Fill a pot with water and place over high heat. When it comes to a boil, use a pasta server to gently place eggs in pan. Lower heat to simmer and set timer for 12 minutes. When eggs are done, remove from pan with pasta server, rinse in cold water and peel.

Set large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Don’t have a cast iron skillet? GO OUT AND BUY ONE. You can even buy them pre-seasoned. You need a cast iron skillet, so just go get one already. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

Skillet hot? Good. Add bacon slices. Cook until browned, then flip with tongs. Cook until other side is browned, then remove to a plate lined with paper towel.

Lower heat under skillet to medium. Add onion slices. Sweat onions until starting to brown, then add carrots. Cook until onions are fully browned. Remove to plate. (You can use the tongs for this step, but a spatula might also be helpful here.)

Whisk together balsamic and mustard. Add spinach to pan, pour balsamic mixture over, mix with tongs once or twice, then begin moving the spinach to plates. Mound half of spinach on each plate, surround with slices of hard-boiled egg (1 1/2 eggs per plate), mound onions and carrots on top of center, and crumble bacon over all. Add an extra splash of balsamic and fresh ground pepper. Enjoy with a dry white wine and crusty bread.

***Thanks to Scott for noticing my omission! This is why I shouldn’t write cookbooks…

Jessie and I had a genuine date last night. We ate at Cue. It is extremely modernist, surprisingly spacious, brilliantly designed, and a superb place for a date. Dates are good.

I recommend the quail. I asked Jessie if she wanted the last bite of quail, and by the time I registered that she had said “yes,” I had already eaten the last bite of quail. I think I’m going to be hearing about the quail for a good while now. (turns red)

Last week I had the feeling that my administrative responsibilities were grinding me down into powder. This afternoon, fortunately, not so much. Maybe it’s because we’ve also figured out the best way to work our shifts at Nathan’s day care: rather than trying to alternate weeks, so that Jessie does one Thursday all day and I do the next unless one of us has left town, we’re going to try to split in half each day, so that Jessie does the morning and I do the afternoon, or vice versa. Some hours of seven babies and toddlers = preferable to no hours– it’s fun working there, esp. since we see the developmental stages Nathan has yet to go through; but four solid hours of seven babies and toddlers = preferable to eight.

Geeky sidenote: when you Google “roasted quail,” one of the top five responses is this. The quail at Cue is better. Mmmm, quail.

…apples, banana, blueberries (I use the frozen kind, setting a bowl of them out on the counter 15 minutes before he starts dinner), freeze-dried raspberries (Target has their own brand for way cheaper than the stuff at the food co-op), Veggie Booty, Fruity Booty, Earth’s Best Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookies (hey, don’t look at me like that–they have VITAMINS), string cheese, Cheerios, Gerber Fruit and Veggie Puffs, waffles, pancakes.

Things he’s not so keen on: any variety of vegetable that I have prepared in such a way that he can eat them as finger foods (diced carrot, peas, broccoli florets).

He only eats stuff out of a jar if he is given the opportunity to soundly reject it by pursing his lips, shaking his head, and grimacing in a manner that would be amusing if it weren’t so annoying. If one leaves the spoon of mush in waiting, sometimes he will deign to open the lips and allow some to pass in, only to start the process over with the next spoonful.