MamaPie

Busy Kitchen

I've been spending lots of time in the kitchen lately and, surprisingly, much of that time has been spent cooking new things!

Most of the good eats have come from this cookbook. I check out hordes of cookbooks from the library (what? you don't like to read cookbooks in bed at night?) to vet them before I decide about actually buying them. Well, the Rebar cookbook is due to arrive in my mailbox today, and that's a good thing because the library copy is in danger of getting completely food-stained/well-loved as I've been using it daily. It's rare that a cookbook inspires me so quickly to begin trying out recipes (the last one that had this effect on me was Clean Food), but I could hardly fall asleep the first night after beginning it, so excited was I to get in the kitchen and try out some of the fantastic/delicious/interesting sounding recipes.

And, since I got in that kitchen a few days ago and began working my way through the recipes, I have not been disappointed. I made granola for the first time: the recipe says that the huge batch of granola it yields will keep for one month - it's all gone over here 3 days later. The thai basil tofu with peanut sauce was restaurant worthy (which, for me at least, is saying something when it comes to Asian food) and the citrus cake, which we renamed Sunshine Cake in honor of this sweet book, is light and perfect for those of us anxiously awaiting sunshine.

And, spending lots of time cooking is also a good task for those of us waiting for Spring to arrive and stick around. So that's where I'll be.

"Ruby, where are you?"

Just a few of the places I've found this climbing monkey boy after I've asked this question.

Puzzling it Out

 

You know those times when your kids seem to be shifting into a new phase of play? It happens slowly and subtly around here, but then I look around and realize that they're playing with totally different kinds of things than they were a few months ago.

We've had one of those shifts lately and I'm still catching up and making adjustments around the "new normal." What are Ezra and Reuben interested in these days, at ages 6.25 and 3.0? Puzzles, building with blocks (this has been a constant, throughout lots of shifts and transitions) and games.

Ezra did lots of puzzles when he was three. One of my clearest memories of my pregnancy with Reuben is going to The Ugly Mug with Ezra every morning and snuggling on the couch there, reading books and doing little Melissa and Doug truck puzzles that we brought from home. We had some bigger puzzles that he would often do at home, too - a world map, a Richard Scarry bunny house and an alphabet train. I, never a puzzle person before, learned to love puzzles too, through sharing the joy with Ezra.

But, then, no puzzles, really, for a few years. And now...it's puzzle time again! This time with Reuben enjoying the same puzzles that Ezra enjoyed when he was three and with Ezra (and Mama!) enjoying 100 and even 200 piece puzzles. I am so happy puzzles have come back and have been having fun seeking them out at the Goodwill, our local consignment shop and our fantastic new neighborhood game store. Do you know of any great puzzles?

Snapshot of this week.

• We've been playing lots of Pitch Car. It's a really fun game that all of us (ages 3-almost 40) can play together, and we all have an equal chance of winning.
• These sound so good. I think they'll be on the dinner table tomorrow night.
• We did this hot rock painting yesterday and it was great. I think these would make great presents for friends and grandparents.
• Thinking of the people of Japan, all the time these past days.

Important

Sometimes you catch the moment in just the right way.

The other morning, after I spilled my much looked forward to chai all over table at the coffee shop (the opposite of what happens at least once a week at the coffee shop: Reuben spilling his steamer all over the table), I scooped Ruby off of his chair, so the rushing tide of chai didn't spill onto him. I went over to the counter and asked for a rag and sopped the hot brown liquid (that had tasted so good! whose caffeine I rely on to wake me up in the morning! but I didn't want to fork over the criminal price of $4 for another one) off of the table. Then, I got down on the floor and mopped up the chai, along with lots of dirt and debris, all while keeping up a calm narration of what I was doing to Ruby, who was on the verge of completely freaking out.

Once I was done with the cleaning bit, and had returned the rag to the counter, it was Reuben's turn. Sobbing and screaming, he told me that I had ruined his "paper." His paper was a raggedy insert from the local weekly alternative paper, that had some drawings of super heroes on it (not that Ruby has any idea who super heroes are), that he had found on abandoned on the table when we had arrived at the coffee shop.

"Oh," I said "let's fix that up sweetheart." And we walked over to where the napkins are, and I carefully carefully, as if I were drying off some famous historical documents, patted dry each page of that random booklet that, at that moment, meant something to my boy. Ruby watched carefully and then joined in helping me blot dry each page. "There, sweetie, it's all dry and good." And he was happy and relieved, and I thought - this is how we learn to take care of what is important to us.