birthday boy

sweet james: a few days old / 1 year / 2 years

Well, I cannot believe our little Lumpy turned two years old on Sunday. That sweet bird of a baby has really grown into such a special little guy. And while adding another child to the mix has been a practice in controlling chaos, James is such a bright spot in all of our lives that I'll take the constant home-destruction, 5:45 a.m. wake-up calls and super-duper noisiness for all of his kisses, hugs and belly laughs. His joy, enthusiasm and happiness are tightly crammed into that little body and they burst forth with such vigor. He is excited to wake up in the morning and start his day and that exuberance doesn't stop until his head hits the pillow at night. He adores his big brother "RRRHY" as he calls him and always copies what Rhys is doing (for better or worse). So, happy birthday sweet James. You fill our hearts to the brim and we love you so, so much ...

Here's what we had for James's birthday dinner:

Creamy sweet corn soup -- for the boy who eats several bowls of soup at one sitting
-
Grilled flatiron steaks with rosemary and pink-peppercorns
Heirloom tomato salad
-
Cupcakes for candle-blowing, birthday wishing and, of course, dessert

shake your booty friday

Well, I got what I asked for ... it looks like the end of August will be sticky and hot. Lots of ice cream eating is in order. Time to put the ice maker in the freezer. Here are some delicious-looking ice cream recipes just begging to be made:
 


Dan Barber's corn ice cream



Merrill from Food52 made this super simple and surely just as refreshing lime ice cream

Yum: Sweet Cream and Sugar Cone's brown sugar ice cream with ginger-caramel swirl

 
p.s. for the hot weekend ahead, here's a song to get your sweating
 
p.p.s. making this delicious-looking, summer-in-pie-form for dinner this weekend

p.p.p.s. Joy the Baker's fig and almond cake is definitely the way to start a weekend morning.

happy eating, -s.

coveting ... brookfarm general store

I know it's a sin to covet things, but everything (and I mean everything) at Brookfarm General Store is covetable. The calm and cool aesthetic speaks to me and the entire kitchen section I want ... like NOW. And don't get me started on the linens ... or the foutas ... or the whole section of brushes.

happy shopping, -s.

shake your booty friday

Oh, August, you're moving too quickly to the end of the month! Let's go out with a bang: lots of hot days, cool treats, long swims and cocktails on the patio, okay?

p.s. here's a song to start off the weekend. Such a good one that always (creepily) reminds me of Silence of the Lambs.

p.p.s. My dear friend Sara made us this amazing pizza last summer ... I'm making it tonight. Hungry already.

p.p.p.s. I bought a lot of blueberries this week ... what a good excuse to make Cook's Illustrated's blueberry crisp for dessert with over-the-top scoops of vanilla ice cream. Heaven.

Happy eating, -s.

shake your booty friday

Jumping James

Our little James has mastered the art of jumping and has been constantly trying out his mad skills - especially during our post-dinner dance sessions. So, kiddo, here's a song just for you.

 

p.s. a perfect August weekend is upon us. Here's what I'm cooking up:

Friday: chicken cutlet po'boys with shredded romaine, heirloom tomatoes, pickles and homemade mayo.

Saturday: shredded zucchini and Italian sausage pizza with fresh ricotta and thyme

Sunday: skirt steak tacos with homemade roasted tomato salsa; rice and beans

desserts/treats: peach crisp with vanilla ice cream; blueberry muffins; banana milkshakes.

 

p.p.s. as someone who deals daily with human resources and personnel issues (among other exciting things), this video sent from a friend made me laugh a little too hard. I'm sure there are videos along the same lines for Gen-Xers, Baby Boomers, etc., but since millenials are the newest members of our workforce, they are easy targets.

 

p.p.p.s. my addiction to coffee is well-known (honestly, how do you have two kids and work full time without coffee?). For everyone who has had Mr. Klein's expertly brewed Joe, I think his coffee lands somewhere between Peet's and Starbuck's on this pictograph of caffeine levels. If you want to spend a chunk of your next paycheck, here's Mr. Klein's coffeemaker of choice.

 

Happy eating, -s.