Deck the tree

Since BigC's 1st Christmas, it has been the norm to get a tree her height the week of thanksgiving and have her deck it up. The first couple of years were a trial with potted trees that we'd then plant in the garden and soon it struck that we'd have one too many conifers. Having made our peace with cut-trees, this year was the year to try cutting her own with Appa. Moi wanted a blue tree but, it was dark by the time they got there and me thinks they brought home the first tree they could find - a green bushy one complete with creepy-crawlies. LilC enjoyed her 1st tree arranging and re-arranging the lower half of the tree until it was time to take it out.

BigC's summer-camp also had a winter fused-glass session that we decided to try and ended up making some ornament give-aways.

Finally had enough people to try out the "Mechoui" at Marrakesh. Being a Monday, the restaurant was able to accomodate our last minute request. LilC got up on the low table and danced to the arabian music playing in the background - making up for the missing Belly-dancing element. Justice we did to the dish, as we only had a couple sandwiches worth of leftovers. The chef even accomodated a couple of vegetarians in the group!!  

in the garden - mandevilla blooming into November

Adieu Summer!

Adieu Summer - only if yours lines up with the school calendar! The sun is still shining bright and long while the rains have kept away...the shorts and skirts still getting good use. Mangalorean dinner with friends in the garden with kids entertaining on the violin conjures up visions of what it might be like in a few years. BigC followed up with another dance performance at Art in the Pearl. The first time in 7 years that i did not bring anything home despite eyeing some beautiful hand-blown glasses - what with two tired kids.

A lot of apprehension about starting a new school for BigC has slowly turned into excitement. 80 degree temps and a half-day of school made hubby's proposal of a trip to the beach seem like the idea of the century. For a change, it was clear and sunny with perfect temps even at the beach. With water as freezing as ever, one could not have known two siblings more different than BigC and LilC. Fussy BigC in her jacket and pants staying miles away from the water while LilC frolicked into the water without a care about wet clothes. Ended the evening with dinner at Vivi's - packed even on a week-nite.

B had given me a taste of a cauliflower cake a while ago and i finally got around to baking it. Its an all-rounder of sorts - served it up as an appetizer, made a meal of it with a salad of cucumber/tomato and basil from the garden, BigC's breakfast given that its eggs holding it together! A keeper for sure.


in the garden - sweetly scented heirloom tiger-lily

Of long drives and...

Nothing is ever impromptu once kids arrive - something that was put to rest this past weekend with an aimless drive through the local wine-country. You do not need to be a wine-connoisseur to enjoy the picturesque countryside. Still in its infancy, the stands of tall conifers speak of the deforestation that has made way for the rolling vineyards - a must given the region's rainy winters. We stopped for lunch at the newer Paulee and were pleasantly surprised by the flavors and portions. A deconstructed nicoise salad had tuna grilled with plain salt and pepper - tastiest ever and Halibut "Fish and" taro "chips" came with a curried apple/cabbage/raisin slaw. LilC polished off the waffles that came with some very ordinary fried chicken. A few interesting antique stores that we could probably return to some time.

BigC had her debut Bharathnatyam performance and with a lot of helping hands, made it through. Took BigC for the class picnic before the school starts and while there, planted up their new veggie garden for the Fall. It was fun to see the kids excited about all the veggies they'd be getting (i hope eating too)soon!

Usually, i never try a recipe as soon as i see it but this one for a pudding/custard brought back memories of the berry trifle we had at Butchart Gardens. Ingredient list was minimalist enough that i had all of it even on a Friday and i set to try with the kids running around the house. BigC scraping down the last bit on the whisk and licking it up while giving LilC a taste was indeed a stamp of approval.
Custards
1 cup whole milk
Seeds from 1/4 to 1/2 vanilla bean (see Note) or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Berries
1 cup blueberries
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Juice from a wedge lemon, or to taste



in the garden - chocolate cosmos

La Provence, Oregon

A weekend cherry-picking jaunt to the hood river valley happened to also be just when the lavender fields were in full bloom. Despite not having traveled anywhere close to Provence, have delved into it enough to imagine and dream about it to be much like some vistas on this trip. It was amazing how well the lavender fields and wildflower gardens had established since our last visit with a visiting friend back in 2005. BigC helped cut a big bunch of lavender to take home while LilC marauded the flowers, bees and hummingbirds all set to the song "Hallelujah".


From here, on we went to stock up on some cherries at what has now become an annual ritual - with a picnic under the trees while picking. The owner even remembered us and indulged us in a bucket of water to wash the cherries.
Did a quick pit-stop to pick up dinner at Nicholas. Having had the same lamb and chicken shwarma the previous night at Gyro-house, the brother's find...must say the Gyro-house flavor wind by a mile and more.

in the garden - fragrant yellow roses and Russian sage, red crocosmia and stunning artichoke

First Summer/vacation

 Although the calendar says its summer, as has been the norm around here, summer has been playing peekaboo. We have had the odd HOT day this month and that seems to be consolation enough. For LilC, this is the first real summer - no longer dashing off into the street as soon as someone opens the door. The trip to the berry patch was quite happening as it was figured one was allowed to eat stuff off the plants, getting some not so good berries and spitting them out and learning to say 'stawbewy'. Luckily, it was cloudy and I even broke a sweat being the sole picker for the tribe. Having always wanted to extend the life of the berries, tried my hand at jamming this year. Being a minimalist, the whole preserving process always felt like overkill. Its amazing how little jam 3 pounds of berries make! This recipe uses about a cup and half of sugar and 3tbsp of lemon juice. The berries are definitely the star - the most brilliant jam (color and taste) you'll ever happen upon!

For BigC, this is the first summer vacation - no waking up to alarms, no hurry to get anywhere, making daisy wreaths from those picked on a walk, icecream in the middle of the day. It was quite the eye-opener that even left to their own, they are up and ready to go roughly at the same time as school. A hectic week ensued due to poor scheduling but, all have made it through with energy to spare, enough for a engagement party at a new Indican restaurant-bollywood theater (best to keep to the street food selection) Drama camp has been a great outlet for BigC's stories and crafts (rose for Briar Rose as Twelfth fairy) - even narrating a skit BigC wrote while older kids enacted it. 

in the garden - heirloom roses, alliums, pink spanish lavender and heirloom gladiolus - the flowers have a light and feathery look than the much maligned hybrid staples in bouquets

New beginnings

A celebration with the luxury of dining out sans kids should be reason enough to start blogging? No??? Maybe a menu item that makes you want to re-create some at home can be my reason. While i am not a big fan of recipes with a couple dozen ingredients when cooking at home, there's no reason not to try one that someone else put together...especially when you might happen upon one where the different elements hit all the right notes at all the right pitches. This was the case with the salad course that simply read Insalata di fragole aka strawberries.

Red juicy local berries interspersed with pickled green ones were complemented by the almost spicy micro-Basil (almost like Tulsi) and the milder Persian cress. Dehydrated black-olives added a salty touch to the docile Juniper Grove goats’ milk feta. All of this atop a black pepper fromage fraîche and dressed with basil gel. A beauty to behold! A crescendo!!

12th at Genoa

in the garden - fragrant herbaceous peonies