Things you can cook at 120f

Did you know that you can cook steaks to rare at 120f?

And smoke prime rib. And jerky. And tofurkey.

Eggs, duh.

Fancy lobster ravioli? Mais oui.

Sous vide? You betcha. Roast cocoa nibs.

Fudge. You can make fudge. And jam. And cookies.

Dehydrated meals, too.

You can also get rid of bedbugs by heating them for one minute in your dryer to 120f. And you can proof yeast.

There's a book about torture where people are tied up in 120f heat. It's called HELL ON EARTH.

The upside? Tomorrow is supposed to be worse. (Also, it's only noon. This afternoon will also be worse. Worse. Worse.)

Flowers Are for Making Up

I'm sorry.

I've been really, really, really busy.

Actually, we've spent a lot of time at the pool, with occasional busy days gumming up my important pool time. Paul has gone from refusing to go into the deep end to diving off the regular board and cannon balling off the high dive. And Maggie swims like a little fish.

This summer has been a flurry of activity, but when I try to tell you exactly what, well...

There has been a lot of cake baking. A lot.
We do Meals on Wheels (which is a great program and I highly recommend volunteering for it if you can).
Visits from dear old friends (I don't mean they're old. I mean I've known them for a long, long time. Just to be clear.)
There's been a fair amount of band activity.
Did I mention I saw Wilco two times?
The tea business keeps growing...

There's been the garden.
There have been many, many sleepovers. And play dates. We have a giant hole in our backyard to prove it.
There was the pool camp out (still recovering.)
Of course, there's the Market.
And now, I seem to be coming out of musical retirement. (Oy. What am I thinking?)

See? It doesn't look like that much on paper, but we've had a busy summer. And I haven't done nearly all the things I planned to do this summer!

Anyhow, this is all by way of saying that if you're actually interested in knowing what I'm doing these days, visiting twitter, flickr or whrrl are the best venues. The links are all on the right side of the page. I'm hoping for more time to update once school is back in session (three weeks!!!!) (Not that I'm counting. Because I'm not.)

Adult Night at Cheverly Swim & Racquet Club Needs Your Help!

One of my very favorite annual Cheverly activities -- Adult Night at Cheverly Swim & Racquet Club -- is in danger for a second year. The organizer says that the event may be cancelled unless the pool gets 25 people to buy tickets by this Wednesday (that's the 17th), even though that date isn't publicized anywhere. They did it last year, so cancelling again is entirely possible, unless we act now!

If you live in or near Cheverly (and you're over 21), please buy a ticket (or two) and come to this party! It's always fun -- the band is great and the lifeguards man the margarita machine. Someone -- and frequently several people -- always regrets something the next day, so you know it's a great night. You don't need to be a member of the pool -- just visit the front desk, hand over your cash and get on the list for next Saturday night.

UPDATE: Because of your responses, the people in charge have heard our pleas and extended the deadline! We haven't been able to get word on what that mysterious deadline is, but traditionally, event deadlines at the pool have been the Wednesday prior to the event, which would mean June 24. You still have time to get advance tickets... And thanks to those of you who have already signed up -- we're looking forward to a great night!

Maggie's Lemonade

This summer, Maggie and Paul are going to learn to cook. Paul already loves to make smoothies and peanut butter-banana-honey sandwiches. This is Maggie's first project: Cranberry Lemonade from Mollie Katzen's excellent kids' cookbook, Salad People.

From Maggie: This is very good. It goes really well with a quesadilla and some strawberries for lunch. We should have that today. Can we have that right now? Can I have some cheese? Can I have some cheese right now?

Cranberry Lemonade (makes one big glass)
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbs. maple syrup
2 tbs. frozen cranberry juice concentrate
water
ice

In a big glass, mix the lemon and the maple syrup together with a whisk, then add the frozen cranberry juice concentrate and whisk again. Add ice to the glass and then water. Add a straw and drink.

More kid recipes coming all summer long...

Toward a more perfect vegan burger...

This summer, we're planning to stay close to home. No big road trips, no big visits...lots of time in the backyard and at the pool. If you're not going to have a lot of big adventures, you'd better have some pretty fantastic little ones. This makes perfecting summer food very important. To that end, I'm working on making perfect vegan burgers, so that when we invite non-veg friends over for cookouts, they don't suddenly have something important to do far away. (Also, several friends have recently asked me for vegan recipes, so I'm trying to accommodate them, too.) Let the experimenting begin! (I've included loose approximations of some recipes. Word of warning: I'm really not much for measuring -- I cook by feel, taste, and occasionally good sense.)

I started by making ciabatta -- very easy to do. In fact, I think it's probably the closest yeasted bread to my perennial favorite no-knead in terms of low effort. I've made burger buns before, but I really like the texture and taste of ciabatta much better...

I made tofu mayo, which is ridiculously easy and way better than the stuff in the jar. Ingredients: a box of firm silken tofu, a few teaspoons of mustard powder, a pinch of cayenne, a little agave nectar, a few splashes of apple cider vinegar. Whip that in the blender until it's smooth, then drizzle in good olive oil and continue to whip until it's very smooth and thick. Yum yum yum.

I make caramelized onions for a great pizza (caramelized onion-blue cheese-toasted walnuts), but since going vegan, that has -- sadly -- been off the menu. New use: burger topping. To make them, melt a tablespoon Earth Balance in a heavy skillet. While it's melting, slice an onion very thin (a mandoline gives perfect cuts for this purpose). Brown the onions in the

Earth Balance over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to get the brown bits off the bottom. It's okay if they get a little brown, but don't burn them. After 30 minutes, add a tablespoon or so of brown sugar and about the same amount of plain yellow mustard. Cook, uncovered, for another 10 minutes. Done. Yum. (You might not want to wash this pan out yet -- I like to cook the burgers in the stuff left in the pan with a little added black pepper.)

Black bean burgers are painfully simple to make, but they do take a little time. Drain and rinse the contents of a can of black beans. Mash the beans in a large bowl (I use my hands to really mash them.) Add A1 sauce and your favorite barbecue sauce, then some breadcrumbs and some wheat gluten (Bob's Mill makes it -- you can find it in the health food section of many grocery stores.) Knead all ingredients together until you get close to the consistency of meat (usually a minute or two.) At this point, I grind in a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of black pepper, then knead for another minute. Form the mixture into a log, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. When you're ready to cook, heat a pan (to medium high) and add oil (or use the pan you cooked the caramelized onions in, and add some pepper). Cut the log into 12 equal parts and shape each bit into a flat burger. Cook in batches, about 8 minutes per batch, turning each burger about 4 minutes in (make sure each side is nicely browned.)

To assemble your beautiful burger, slice a ciabatta in half , slather each side with mayo. Spread caramelized onions on one side, one quarter of a sliced avocado on the other side. place two burgers on the onion side, add a little more mayo, then top with some fresh arugula before adding the top half of the ciabatta. Some people like a little extra barbecue sauce on the side. I can't blame them. Some people also like a beer on the side. They are wise.

I bet you're wondering where I've been...

I did not fall off the face of the Earth.

I did not fall asleep in a ditch somewhere.

The children did not win (though it's been close...)

I've been busy...

First, we spent a lovely weekend at Lake Gaston, Virginia with our best friends. The prettiest member of several Cheverly bands that you know and love and her very kind parents opened their house to all of us for the weekend. By "opened their house" I mean fed us, housed us and took us on the boat. Repeatedly. At all hours of the day and night. (Actually, I slept through that...)

And why, you may ask, did we go all the way down to the VA/NC border?

So that Things 1&2 could see their very first WILCO show!!!!!!!!! They had a great time. We all had a great time (even though the crowd, as Jeff Tweedy mentioned repeatedly, smelled very nice...but not like the pine trees surrounding the amphitheater. You know, concert nice.) Cary, North Carolina, has a great concert venue -- the Koka Booth Amphitheater. If you ever have an opportunity to see a show there, do it. The band was great, and Bon Iver, the opener, was really cool. I want to see them again.

On the drive between Lake Gaston and Cary, we went to Raleigh, which has a great comic book store. Any comic book store that employs nerds willing to find the perfect comic book for a three-year old girl is tops in my book. They had one copy of a Barbie comic book and we all made a big deal about it being rare in in plastic. Maggie was thrilled. The boy needed no help in the store... there was also a good used bookstore and lots of coffee shops. Fun, fun, fun. (But not as cool as Richmond, where we stopped on the way down to the lake.)

So we had a terrific long weekend with great people and I got more sleep than I have in months. Fantastic. And then...

JURY DUTY.
Okay, I'm one of those people who think that jury duty is a good thing. I've been called several times, but was never put on a trial. Until this week. All I'm going to say: Do not do drugs. Do not use guns. If you have to use drugs, do not use guns at the same time. We'll all be alot better off if you just take my advice.

Monday night, after a quick yummy dinner at Eat First, we went to see Grizzly Bear at the 6th & I Synagogue in DC. A band I'd never heard of, Violens, opened (but I will seek them out!) It was the most polite show I've ever attended, and we were probably the only people there who had to get home to a babysitter (thanks, Abby!) Also, Charles said that every guy in the restroom while he was there washed their hands. Impressive fans, Grizzly Bear.

My jury duty ended early (plea deal) and I went to a little coffee place in Upper Marlboro that I've driven past so many times: More than Coffee! They make an incredibly good black bean and corn salad -- warm, tossed with oil and lots of cumin, and served over lettuce. (And really good soy cappuccino...) So after a relaxing lunch and a stop to buy school supplies for the boy, we got to spend Tuesday afternoon at the pool. You know those days when the cold water is especially welcome because you've been laying in the hot sun? Yeah. And we ended last night with a fantastic vegan meal made by some new friends and shared with some old ones.

So. In less than a week, four bands. Three states. The pool. Lots of great friends and food. Civic duty. Not a bad way to wind down summer...

A Tale of Summertime Woe

If you have a school-age child, you may be spending part of your summer getting your kid to do workbooks in preparation for the coming year. Or, if your school-age child is like mine, you may be spending your summer in a circle of useless, endless negotiation about the aforementioned workbooks. You may be hearing a lot about what summer is supposed to be, and how you're "ruining my life" and how they "really hadn't put work in the plan for today." Sound familiar? If not, I envy you. Oh, how I envy you.

Until today, that is. This morning, MasterP (pretty much) voluntarily did his work without (too much) complaining. I was as surprised as you! He even asked me to take pictures so that we could remember this day. There were some conversational gems...

Working on sight-recognition words (the text was a little smudged so he missed one or two that he normally would get):
"Not quite. It's 'could'."
"Oh yeah. 'Could.' That's a classic."

The conversation after he finished:
"Mom? Mom, would you say this was the best I ever did workbooks, an average time or worse than usual?"
"Hmmm. Well, it was pretty good."
"Mom. I really need to know your full answer here."

What do you suppose he has up his sleeve? A survey?

I pushed my luck, though. I offered him a bribe -- I mean incentive -- to complete additional pages each day. He ran (and I can hear the lovely strains of Lego xBox now). I knew I was going too far.

Technically, right now I really should be working...

but instead I am going to let you in on the highlights of the weekend, because otherwise it'll never happen. My procrastination skills seem to be at their apex this weekend...

Friday:

Because P&M were good all morning (and I was busy and I'm a big treater) I took P&M through the McD's drive-through. I was told by the elderly man working the window that I "could make a man stop watching football". P&M have been repeating and giggling ever since. I'll have to remember that in the fall ... or maybe not, since I do not actually have that power in our household.

I took pictures at the Cheverly Community Market's Potluck, which was really charming. About 70 people came out and, though I didn't get a chance to eat, everything smelled and looked fantastic. Can't wait for another one!

Saturday:

We made it out to Target (for a cooler so that we don't borrow E&K's cooler for a second year), Clagett Farm (for our -- I have to say -- pretty teeny share) and Landover Liquor (thank you for stocking Sofia -- it's been a source of slow mornings more than once for several Cheverly mommies who shall go unnamed...you know who you are.) That was all a leadup to Soul Revolver's performance at the Surf Club. Fun night -- Ladies' Night was originally scheduled, but got pushed back (the band was only supposed to play 7:00-9:00) in favor of a second set by Kelly, the Brians and Charles...and a very special two-man finale around 11:00. There was lots of dancing (I'm sure I'll regret that...) and some people were rather surprised at how much dancing and drinking the parents were able to do...not sure if those people were impressed or horrified. Oh, you'll see when you're parents. I hope the band gets to play there again very soon! After finding my glasses (under a table, sorta wrecked), we had an after-party of sorts back at the house until 1:30am. Thank you, babysitters of Cheverly. You do important, meaningful work and your service to your town and the parents therein is valued. I salute you.

Sunday:

Things are a little slow and sleepy around here today...can't imagine why. I think we need a week to recover from our weekend.

I really do have to work now. Pfeh.

What do princesses do when it's 95 degrees and a code red day?

I have absolutely nothing to add.

Why I haven't posted.

We've been having too much fun. Sorry.

Between a baby calf eating Paul's shirt at South Mountain Creamery (Paul seemed to really enjoy that. Huh.), days spent poolside, visits to Clagett Farm, our bi-weekly Cheverly Community Market, and Maggie trying to eat things bigger than her head (I think there's some words of wisdom that I should have told her, but I forgot. Whoops.) the blogging thing has been an afterthought. At best. I have been good about taking pictures though...

Summer vacation preview

Things 1 & 2 don't have school today (cancellations as a result of yesterday's big storms), so P is practicing his summer schedule: sleep late, breakfast, pick a Beatles record (more on that in a moment), lay on the couch and play guitar until it's time to head to the pool. He has these things all figured out.

Actual conversation:
Mom, why do records sound so awesome?
Um, I don't know.
It's like a miracle.
Okay.
Do you want to listen to Rubber Soul or Meet the Beatles?
How about Rubber Soul?
Awesome choice, mom. You're pretty smart.

So. There you have it. At least to the seven and under set, I am pretty smart. Actually, the boy is smarter, but he doesn't need to know that. Yet.

They are NOT waiting for summer.

Things 1&2 have taken to wearing their swimsuits inside the house...whether or not we are going to the (very chilly still) pool. Because if they've been to the pool that means it's summer and of course you should wear a swimsuit all summer. Of course. Any fool knows that.

So Maggie is wandering around today in a swimsuit and it's in the low 70s. And I don't have the mental wherewithal to put an end to it because I am ready for summer too. Doesn't sleeping in, reading comic books, playing around in the yard and heading to the pool sound good? Maybe catching fireflies at dusk and eating grilled food?

Yeah? Get back to work.