I Feel a Food Coma Comin' On

Thursday lunch at Tub Tim Thai.
Thursday night takeout from Kamehachi.

Frozen kefir at Starfruit on Friday afternoon.
Indian dinner at Hema's Kitchen (Lincoln Park) on Friday night.

And we'll top it all off Sunday morning with dim sum in Chinatown!

Veggies are Multiplying in Our Fridge

I did as best I could with the farm share this week:

cucumber slices
I barely have time to work on my personal writing projects, let alone cook for writing group. But one of our members has wheat allergies. I needed a gluten-free appetizer in a hurry, so I grabbed store-bought hummus and sliced up the farm cucumber.

taco salad
I was craving a taco salad, so I used about half the mongo head of leaf lettuce from the farm for this easy, favorite dinner.

basil salad
I used the other half of the lettuce for a salad to go with grilled italian sausage. I left out the onion this time, though, and went heavy on the basil. Yummy!

kale/italian sausage soup
I used all the farm kale in an easy soup with onion and leftover italian sausage. It was an awful lot of kale, though . . . should have doubled the broth. There is still some leftover kale and onion, but all the broth and italian sausage was eaten up. I'll have to think of something to do with it.

Never got to the broccoli or zucchini, and there is still a nice portion of basil left. Yikes! We're falling down on the job.

And the new farm box came last night.

Coffee Therapy

Recently, I donated some things to a community rummage sale. One of the items was a medium-sized Turkish coffee pot. This is the pot I once left unattended on the stove, just long enough for its contents to reach a pressure point and explode all over the kitchen ceiling and window blinds. And though I haven't made Turkish coffee since, I'd like to again.

But lately, I've gotten into the habit of making myself a cappuccino using one of those pod coffee machines. It's quick and easy, but not delicious. There's no technique involved. And so I've been considering other ways to make myself a cup 'o joe.

My grandmother used to boil her coffee in a saucepan on the stove. That always seemed old-fashioned and unappetizing to me, and I've realized I have no idea if her coffee was any good or not, because I never tasted it. My mother made (and my father still makes) instant coffee with water heated in an electric tea kettle. This I have tasted, and I really don't need to ever again. On the other hand, my brother's wife makes great coffee, Lebanese coffee, and that's more like what I'm craving.

Somewhere in our cluttered house, I have another, smaller Turkish coffee pot for making individual drinks. It was given to me years ago by a very cosmopolitan friend of mine. We've since lost touch, but I think of her often. She lived with her family in a beautiful 4-bedroom apartment on the north side, in which we'd sit around drinking Turkish coffee and talking for hours. It is this sensation . . . this rich flavor I'd like to have in my coffee-drinking life again.

I'll have to go buy Turkish coffee, and I'll have to learn how to make it again, and I promise I won't leave the stove while it's boiling. But in this deliberately inconvenient way, I'll be ready to recycle the Senseo when the next rummage sale comes around.

In Other Fashion News . . .

. . . our daughters finally found acceptable purses (sorry, bags), and their friend finally found a fedora. Ostensibly at Irish Fest for the live music and the Guinness on tap, I enjoy the shopping, too. I have to admit it's nice to check something off the to-purchase list.

As for the family bands performing Saturday night, I'll take Searson (three sisters out of Ottawa, Canada) over The Screaming Orphans (four sisters out of Donegal, Ireland) any day.

I Bought It So You Don't Have To

I succumbed to a supermarket-checkout-line-purchase the other day: Teen Vogue.

Shortly thereafter, my Popular Science-reading daughters asked in an accusatory tone, "Mom. . .why is there a Teen Vogue on the counter!?" I explained that I was curious about how Vogue would target teens (which is the truth), and suggested they look through it themselves. Their pithy review follows:

- Emma Watson is still cool--she's going to college and will live in a dorm like other freshmen.

- But why is she all dressed up and walking down a driveway with two ponies?

- Uh, duh. Of course Converse are the height of fashion.

Feel the Pain

Our daughters' taekwondo instructor has started an exercise class for the mothers of his students.

After many months of sitting in the chairs watching our children work out, I think we probably all feel motivated (obligated?) to get on the mats ourselves.

Musa, musa, musa! Ladies rule!

(But I'm still sore.)

It's True, Sometimes I'm Late Because I Have to Hear the End of the Story

Listening to the radio on my way to work yesterday, I heard an eye-opening story about where we grow most of our food in this country--California's Central Valley. Think residents are healthy? Wrong. Lots of gang activity, roaming dogs, fast food joints, and cases of obesity and diabetes. Not so many sidewalks, grocery stores, or farmers markets. It's all connected you see. . .

. . . and reported by the Kitchen Sisters.