Expect a drop in teenage pregnancies...

...at least in the north Boston suburbs.

I took the boys out for bagels for lunch. By myself. That doesn't sound like that big a deal. All of you who know me know that I'll bring my boys pretty much anywhere, at least once. They're pretty well behaved for the most part, so I'm really lucky that I have a reasonable amount of freedom in where we can go.

I had no worries about going to the bagel store. We've gone there many times. Usually on a weekend with TK, but a few times by ourselves.

We got to the bagel store, and I don't know if it was because it was right at the beginning of summer vacation, or if I just showed up at the wrong time, but the bagel store was PACKED with high school students from one of the local high schools. The line to buy bagels was out the door.

Again, I wasn't worried. The boys do fine waiting in line and we were kind of early for their lunch anyway so I wasn't worried about them being too hungry while we waited.

These bagels are really good. I thought I better clarify that point right away so you wouldn't all be thinking: "Why didn't she just leave?" Okay, back to the story.

So we're waiting in line. High school kids to the front of us, high school kids to the back. I was stuck in the middle with twins.

Who were a bit crazy.

They were in a good mood. Which was nice. But, if there is such a thing, they were in TOO good a mood. They were practically hyper, which anyone who knows my laid-back boys knows that isn't something I normally have to worry about. And certainly not both of them hyper at the same time!

They were running around in different directions. They were trying to open doors, trying to run behind the counter, climbing on chairs (at other people's tables), grabbing other girls mistakenly thinking these young women, who I'm sure just *loved* being confused for a 30-something-year old mom, were me. They were running in different directions. And they were totally ignoring me, in such a good-natured happy way that it was hard to get too mad at them.

I looked harried. The recent lack of sleep is taking a toll. I had no makeup on (a common occurrence, but I probably could have used some that day). I clearly couldn't control my children. I was alternating between trying to be stern and cracking up at how nutty they were. I must have seemed like an insane person. I was a spectacle. Everyone was staring at me, and I'm not just being paranoid. They were talking about us...really, I heard them.

Things didn't improve once we finally got our bagels. The boys kept getting out of their seats, running around, trying to eat food off the floor, both wanting to sit on my lap at the same time, begging for things to throw in the garbage can. You know, basically being three year old twins with a lot of energy.

Thankfully they weren't tantrumming. Things could have been far, far worse. But I think I gave all those high school students a good view of how much work children can be. I was a walking advertisement for the benefits of abstinence, or at least birth control, for high school kids.

So nine or ten months from now, if you hear a local high school bragging about how they've managed to drastically reduce teen pregnancy rates, you'll know the truth. It wasn't anything they did, it was just the view I gave them of how nutty life with preschoolers can be.

Random related thought: I had a great time that day, even though *I* needed a nap once we got home. Of course, the boys wouldn't agree to that so I powered through the rest of the day. Maybe the energy of an 18-year-old would have been handy. Oh dear, did I just encourage teen pregnancy?

Minty Garbanzos!

I had some leftover garbanzo beans, so I decided to try the minted chick pea salad recipe over on The Veggie Project.


Yummy! I have plenty of mint from my CSA, and also had half a leftover red onion from a different recipe, so this was a great to help clean out some of the odds and ends in my fridge. And I'm glad I made it as it was so delicious!

I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I tossed in some lemon thyme (also from our CSA), and lemon zest in addition to the other ingredients. It was a summery and fun salad. Quite beautiful and surprisingly colorful for a salad made primarily from chickpeas.

As an aside, can I tell you how much I'm in love with my microplane zester? We got it a few months ago, and I've been busy trying to incorporate citrus zest into nearly every recipe. Okay, I haven't gone quite that far, but it is awfully fun.

So what can I use my zester for besides citrus peel? I've used it for ginger root with some success, but I find it too difficult to use for garlic or parmesan cheese (I prefer my microplane coarse grater for parm :).

CSA Week 4: Anthony Hopkins would be proud!

So, what have we got here? I'll tell you!

• 2 heads of lettuce
• Bunch of arugula (what to do, what to do?)
• Bunch of beets (they only had the red ones this time, so I'm glad I tried the golden ones last week!)
• Bunch of baby carrots (yum!!)
• 15 Fava Beans (certain to be eaten as a Hannibal Lecter special: with liver and a nice Chianti. Just kidding!)
• 1 Bunch scallions
• 1 1/2 lbs squash (we took patty pan and yellow squash)
• Misc. herbs, including flat leaf parsley, basil, and mint
• Oh, and a small bouquet of flowers. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a big fan of cut flowers. I find them kind of depressing. But the boys LOVE to pick flowers, so how could we deny them the excitement of fully sanctioned flower picking? As opposed to the normal, "NO! You're not allowed to pick flowers out of someone's garden!"

Any recipe suggestions? I'm all ears!

Random unrelated thought, I'm a 4th of July Scrooge edition: Our neighbors are idiots. They're lighting fireworks off in their backyard. Um, fireworks are illegal here. Um, there are a zillion trees in our backyards. Um, the houses are densely packed together and my roof isn't that far from where you're lighting those things.

I don't hate fireworks, and I'm not particularly scared of them, I just think it's better left to the professionals. Perhaps that's due to a "neighborhood" fireworks display I attended a few years back at my cousin's house (in a state where it is legal for just anyone to buy and set off fireworks). One of the fireworks misfired sideways, hit a woman who lived across the street, and set her leg on fire. Hello, 911. Hello, woman screaming in pain.

Is there really any better way to celebrate the birth of our nation than with a trip to the emergency room and permanent scarring?

I'm Omniscient!

Bow before my SYTYCD prediction powers!

Hee! I guess extreme fatigue is the key to accessing my psychic powers. Or perhaps it just wasn't that hard to guess this week. I'll have to see what everyone else in my betting pool predicted. It'd be funny if we all made the same choices.

I've got to go to sleep now. I just had to crow for a mo'.

Soup and....Figs?? Plus BIG BOY BEDS!

Oh, I've done it now. I was at the Farmers Market, and they had fresh figs (no way were those local, but they must be in season somewhere as they were cheap...a pint for under $5!)

I decided to make figs with goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto with a drizzle of honey on top. I was inspired by this recipe, but that called for the figs to be wrapped in grape leaves. Why would I wrap something in leaves when I could just as easily wrap it in meat? I made a ton of other changes, but I did get the idea of fig/goat cheese/honey combo from the linked recipe. Here's my version:

Ingredients:

5 fresh figs, washed and halved
1/2 log of goat cheese (I used herb and garlic, as it was left over from my beet recipe)
4 slices prosciutto
Honey for drizzling

Directions:

Preheat broiler.

Layer a slice of goat cheese on top of each fig half. Wrap in prosciutto (I used about 1/3 slice of prosciutto for each fig half). Place on broiler-safe baking sheet.

Broil until prosciutto begins to brown and cheese begins to melt (about 5 minutes for me, but I'd recommend checking every minute or so).

Remove from broiler and drizzle with honey.

These figs were SOOOOO good. Really amazing. I've got to appreciate a recipe that matches fruit and meat so beautifully. It's not every day you can make a recipe like that (remember that Friends episode where Rachel misread the trifle recipe and put meat in the dessert? That doesn't count!)

Oh, now I'm thinking about it, and I do have a recipe sitting in my inbox for beef and peach pie. I've always been curious about that recipe, although never curious enough to actually try it. And I guess you can mix pineapple and chicken pretty easily. Actually, chicken goes pretty well with lots of fruits...blueberries, strawberries, cranberries. Oh heck, maybe a fruit/meat recipe isn't all that unusual. Do you have a favorite you'd like to share?

And I have to give a quick "eat local" shout-out to Crystal's Maine Wild Blueberry honey. This is the best honey I've ever had. It has a really distinctive flavor, and is so delicious. I've also tried their Cranberry honey, which was good, but not as good. Here's a page that lists where it's sold.

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I served the figs as an appetizer, and had Kale and Bean soup as the main course.



I followed the linked recipe pretty closely, and thought it wasn't quite soupy enough. I'd probably add more liquid, or less kale in the future. Even so, it was good. TK and I agreed it was a really hearty meal and very filling.

We have another dinner's worth of the soup in the freezer. Maggie, I don't know if you'll read this before you get here, but I know you said E likes soup...think she'd eat this one? I'd be impressed...maybe she could teach my boys, who totally ignored it.

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Random unrelated thought, our boys are growing up so fast edition:

Here they are, our boys' twin beds.


Isn't that set up ridiculous? I don't know how we're going to set up their room. We're handicapped by the fact that the roof slopes in on both side, making it too low-ceilinged to put their dresser anywhere but directly in the middle of the long wall of the room. That's why there is one bed that runs sideways.

And do you like how you can see the (totally chewed up) crib just in the very front of the picture? We had both cribs jammed in the room for a day, too. TK took them down this morning. Happy Independence From the Crib day!

N-man has fallen out of bed every night so far, three nights total. Last night when I went in to his room after he'd fallen out of bed, he said, so disgusted with himself, "Mommy, I did it *again*!" It's okay, honey, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it one day.

SYTYCD Top 14 Predictions

Oh my gosh, I'm tired today. It was the boys' 2nd night in their big boy beds, and it went far worse than the first night. They didn't go to sleep until after 9:30, which means we didn't start watching So You Think You Can Dance until after 9:30. Kind of late for a 2 hour show! So we got into bed late, then had to deal with a few middle of the night wake-ups. Anyway, that all combines to create a SLEEPY me, which, if my predictions are wrong this week, is what I plan to blame it on.

Okay, let's start out with what I liked: Oh dear lord, I finally get the Will thing. The judges must have seen him shirtless before. In all seriousness, he is smokin'. No wonder why they keep talking him up. He even overshadowed poor not-quite-as-hot Twitch. Will and Jessica's lyrical jazz number with the shirt was my favorite of the night. I even liked how he put shirt back on when he went over to the judges. In seasons past, it seemed like some of the guys were unnecessarily flaunting their perfect physique in a bid for votes (yes, Dimitri, I'm talking about you!). I didn't get that feeling from Will.

So let's get into my bottom three predictions. The first two I'm pretty confident in, but once again, I'm having trouble with my third pick.

Comfort and Thayne: I liked their partnership better than either of their earlier partnerships, but I still wasn't that drawn to them. Comfort I still like...I think she's fun, though perhaps not the strongest dancer. Thayne, not so much. And the smooth waltz is the kiss of boring death.

Kourtni and Matt: I've been quite vocal about the fact that I love Kourtni, and I think she was adequate tonight, but they both kind of fizzled for me. They had an air of desperation about them, like they know America isn't really interested in them. I actually liked Matt okay in the Hip Hop dance, but they both looked kind of worn out by the end of the Mambo. At least Kourtni's costumes weren't terrible. I was beginning to worry she'd pissed off the costume department with all the ridiculously unflattering things they've made her wear.

Courtney and Gev: I'm not sure about this pick. They're cute, and I'm not sure how much of the teeny-bopper vote they draw. Gev was not very good tonight, especially in the Hip Hop. And I found both of their dances kind of forgettable.

Going home: I'm sad to say it, but I think it's going to be Kourtni. She's just not connecting with the audience, and I think the judges aren't going to let her continue to slide despite her beautiful solos. I highly doubt Comfort will go home as she's distinctive, and Mary is completely in love with her. And I'm not even sure Courtney will be in the bottom three. So I hope I'm wrong, but my guess is Kourtni.

And much more confidently, I'm guessing Matt to go home. If Gev's in the bottom three, he might be a contender, too, and Thayne also isn't the greatest, but the judges really don't seem to like Matt so I don't think they'll save him yet again.

And my vote for most ridiculous prop of the night: that stupid bed in the Twitch and Kherrington contemporary piece. I hate Mia Michaels. That wasn't choreography, that was energetic bouncing on a bed.

TK said to me today, "I love coming home to find out what you're cooking." Isn't that sweet? It has been so fun, experimenting with all new foods and recipes. Some are winners, some are losers (I haven't yet blogged about my strawberry gel-ly debacle, but believe me, my strawberry jam was a loser). But it's all fun.

I love vegetables, but I've found that I'm pretty tame in what I buy: if I'm at the store, I get what I know. Zucchini, green beans, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions. I love that the CSA is forcing me to branch out a bit. One of the vegetables we got that I had no idea how to prepare was kohlrabi. Honestly, I don't think I've ever even SEEN kohlrabi in the grocery store. I searched around online and found a recipe that appealed to me: kohlrabi and carrots in honey butter sauce. I figured, carrots: good. Honey: good. Butter: good.



The recipe was simple and I followed it pretty closely (although for some unknown reason, I halved the kohlrabi and carrots amounts but forgot to half everything else so it ended up a bit soupy. Operator error on that one but easily corrected as I just used a slotted spoon to remove the carrots and kohlrabi).

It was tasty, but somehow wasn't quite outstanding. The carrots were better than the kohlrabi. I'm not sure if I don't love kohlrabi, or if this just wasn't the best dish to showcase it, but I'd probably try a different recipe if we get kohlrabi again.

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Next it was time for the beets. I must admit, I'm not a beet fan. I've mainly had them at salad bars and have come to conclude they're just there to fill out the salad bar without the restaurant having to worry that anyone would actually want to eat them. But, as always, I'm game to give something a try.

I got my inspiration from this recipe to match roasted beets with goat cheese. However, I thought this was a bit fussy with cutting everything into perfect rounds and having different oils and vinaigrettes and glazes. And I didn't have two different kinds of beets...just the golden ones. And I'm probably admitting to my pedestrian tastes, but I'm just not a big fan of towers of food. That's just weird in my admittedly non-gourmet opinion to have stacked food, unless it's a club sandwich.

So I just tossed the beets in a few tablespoons of olive oil, put them in a baking dish covered with aluminum foil, and baked them at 350 degrees for about an hour (for my small beets) until a toothpick easily pierced the center. You can peel them after they've been roasted (and cooled a bit). The skin just peels off with your fingers.

I sliced the beets thinly and alternated them with slices of herb and garlic goat cheese. (As an aside, the goat cheese was local as well, from Westfield Farm. It was outstanding cheese!)


My final vote: it was pretty good. I'm not a huge beet fan, but the goat cheese/beet combination was perfect. TK thought this was incredible, but he likes beets far more than I do. Three year old twins: liked the goat cheese, wouldn't try the beets.

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As we were picking up the beets, the guy working the distribution mentioned that beet greens were delicious. Darn it, now I have no excuse for not cooking them!

I found a recipe for preparing beet greens (or kale, or collard greens) that used vinegar and bacon. Hey, that sounds good to me! As an aside, have I mentioned my theory of preparing these odd, new (to me) vegetables, or vegetables I haven't liked in the past? I try to pick a recipe that includes an ingredient I like. Goat cheese, bacon, honey...something familiar that I know I'll like.

Here's a link to the recipe I used. I made some changes, though, fairly significantly altering quantities:

Ingredients:

Green from 5 beets
1/2 large onion, finely diced
2 strips of bacon
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
Sprinkle red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Wash beet greens, remove thick stems, and tear leaves into bite sized pieces. Set aside.

Fry bacon until crispy and set aside on paper towels to drain.

Add onions to the bacon grease and cook over medium heat until slightly translucent. Add the garlic, stir, then add the water, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Stir in the greens and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes (the original recipe calls for 30 minutes if you're using kale or collard greens). Add the vinegar, cook for about 1 minute, then you're done! (The original recipe is a little unclear; if you're using kale or collard greens you may have to cook for an additional 20 or so minutes....basically, if you're using kale or collard greens, you should probably just head on over to the original recipe linked above).

Place the greens on a plate and garnish with crumbled bacon.


These were interesting. It was definitely my first time eating beet greens. They were sweet and sour; a touch spicy and a hint salty. That sounds like a lot of competing flavors, and it kind of was. But somehow it worked. TK and I cleaned this up...there wasn't a bite left. At the end of dinner, we even ate the little bits we'd put on the boys plates that they had totally ignored. Well, except for picking the bacon off to eat.

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If you look closely at the picture of the beet greens, you can see in the background that we had quinoa with it. In the last 3 minutes of cooking the quinoa, I tossed in some spinach. It was a great addition and a good way to use up some of that spinach. I'm not even going to include a recipe...just cook the quinoa however you normally do (or follow the directions on the bag/box if you don't normally prepare quinoa), then toss in some chopped spinach. Yum!

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Random totally related thought: The last CSA newsletter had a link to a brand new blog, The Veggie Project. It's basically a bunch of folks eating local in the greater Boston area. Their only flaw is that it's a vegetarian blog, so I highly doubt they share my love affair with bacon.

There's only a few recipes there at the moment, but I'm pretty excited about the blog since I was looking for something exactly like this when I first started on my eat-local adventure. If anyone is eating local in New England, or just looking for in-season veggie recipes, you may want to check them out!

Oh, double PS~~I just noticed Snickollet is a contributer to the blog! That's weird...Snick, how did you find out about this blog that's only existed for a week or two??