Ahhh, home sweet home, baby. As lovely as it is to be away, especially in a place as insanely gorgeous and idyllic as the Hamptons, it is great to be settled at home, too. Here I am, unpacked (yes, I am unpacked, I who loathes major-buzzkill-downer-vacation-is-over-unpacking, I just bit the bullet and did the dirty deed and now I am sooo chill, yeah), sipping an ice-cold Pilsner Urquell, snacking on a freshly-picked tomato (from my pots on the deck, sliced, with a sprinkle of salt), downloading photos, and catching up on my email and (obv) blogging. I'm about to whip up a little pasta somethin-somethin, I think angel hair and (more) tomatoes and perhaps a touch of cream. Arugula salad with shaved Parm because the arugula looks shockingly decent after a week in the cooler. Basically, total comfort food, quite restorative at the end of a long day of travel. And even though it's only from the east coast, a long day it is - Hampton Jitney to Flushing Queens to cab to LaGuardia to long hang at the airport to flight to MSP to waiting for luggage to no-AC-cab to our house... That's eight-plus hours of travel-time, ack, and I'm ready for a little (healthy) comfort food. Yeah! Vacation is nice, but home is good too.

So, the last couple of days of our trip, the sun (sort of) shone. Great beach day on Friday, with huge waves, actually kind of scary-huge. And very wet - just when we thought we had skated past high tide, oh no, we got totally soaked, as did all of our belongings...books, umbrellas, towels, chairs, butts-in-chairs. Irritating but minor. John, his bro Tom, and their friend Jamie Frankfurt did some swimming (there was no way I was going into waves that big, Kiawah this was not, ha) and Nathan did some wading while I lazed (and dried my butt) on the beach finishing A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I loved, loved, loved.

Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon a thick fog rolled in (see above, I happened to catch the back yard just as it oozed over the pool), so after a lovely lunch at Atlantic Golf Club, and while Tom and Valerie graciously took the kids to the beach, John and I roamed downtown EH, browsing Book Hampton, Citarella, and watching Danny Glover parade by in an anti-Iraq-War protest.

When everyone returned home, and showered off their sand, we launched into preparations for our last dinner - beef tenderloin on the grill and more sweet corn. Let me pause here for a moment to explain the Annual Levy Sweet Corn Spectacle. Let's see, there were nine of us for dinner last night - John, Nathan, & moi; John's parents Dot & John; John's bro Tom, his wife Valerie, & their two kids. I think we shucked and boiled 28 ears of corn and all - yes, all - were consumed. No, we didn't each eat three ears of corn, nothing that rational or simple. Valerie and I were in for one each. The kids maybe had two each, max. Dot, two, perhaps three, certainly no more. That leaves, if my math is correct, more than five ears each for the three Levy men. Yep. Buttered and salted and inhaled, type-writer style - ding! - in an unusual sweet-corn-consuming ritual, it really has to be witnessed to be believed. The Levy men are famous for it, deservedly so.

And then, just like that, it was all over. After a dark chat on the front porch, it was time to pack, and sleep in our cozy (gorgeous, thank you, Dot) beds, and make our long way home. Summer 2007 is drawing to a close, my friends, I know you all feel it too. Sigh. It's been a great one, hasn't it?

Hello from East Hampton! We're having a lovely vacation with my in-laws (Dot & John) this week, away from the rain and gloom in Minnesota. The drought is officially over, eh? Sheesh. It was raining here, too, when we arrived (on Tuesday). But the sun peeked through last evening and is shining still (at least this morning), so we're all good, baby. Georgica Beach, here we come!

Grabbing some exercise here is a truly lovely experience - walking the mean streets (ha) of EH. The streets are grand tunnels of dappled tree-lined shade, peaceful and quiet and in full August bloom - basket-ball-sized hydrangeas, hydrangeas everywhere, blue and peaches-n-cream and pale green and pink and purple. Stunning. The houses - well, you could probably guess that in "The Hamptons," the houses do not suck. Variations on a serene, cedar-shingled, white-trimmed theme. Mostly big (real big), some small and cottage-y, all chic beachy. Very Not Minnesota. Fabulous.

We don't do the (famous) party scene here at all. We (happily, quietly) eat in every night, although I don't do any cooking (my father-in-law does!), I just sit back and eat all the beautiful things that are served to me - yeah, it rawks, yay for vacation and a big, BIG woo hoo for foodie in-laws! Some of the best fresh produce in the world - sweet corn, peaches, melons, tomatoes - is grown right here (it is truly rural out here) and it is glorious. Glorious! Little white peaches, three bites each, I could eat those babies all day long. The last bites of summer, I fear. Sigh.

So, I'm off for one of those walks. Gotta move my arse around a bit to earn the right to my evening meals and wine. So far I've enjoyed crab cakes, sweet corn, crispy chicken, brisket, tomato salad... Tonight, a cookout of burgers and Atlantic Golf Club 'dogs. Tomorrow, tenderloin on the grill and more corn, corn, corn. NICE!

I think it takes a drought to fully appreciate a fabulously dark, chilly, rainy weekend like this has been. Oooh, so cozy, truly. I've made brunch twice - TWICE! - for John and me (I hardly ever make brunch). Yesterday I made little pizzas, topped with a bit of bacon, fresh rosemary, fresh tomato, garlic, onion, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of mozzarella and freshly ground pepper. Totally hit the spot, next to an over-easy egg (yes!), especially followed by a whole-afternoon's plant in front of the fireplace. My God we were slugs, listening to music and reading all damn day...I'm reading Julia Child's memoir of her food-formative years, My Life in France, which as you might imagine, I'm enjoying immensely. I keep the famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking - her masterpiece cookbook - at my side for cross-referencing as she describes the hilarious and painstaking (!) detail she put into years and years of hard work, translating such French classics as decadent beurre blanc, perfectly roasted chicken, and a true, French baguette, for American cooks.

In fact, Julia inspired today's brunch of pan-sauteed sole filets (her descriptions of sole meuniere would make anyone crave a little buttery fish, rarrr...), finished with a bit of browned lemon-tarragon-butter from the saute pan. Alongside arugula tossed with (more) lemon juice and olive oil, it was lovely. And you know, I was ready for a warm meal after venturing out into the drizzle this morning to cheer my sister Stacey on as she completed a sprint-course triathlon near Lake Phalen. Yay, Stacey! Yeah, nothing like watching someone else work their ass off to work up your own hearty appetite...

Glorious day, eh? Wow, spectacular. What a difference a break in the humidity makes - the air positively sparkles in this late-summer sun. Saucy Suz and her kids, Vivian and Sullivan, came over for a lovely swim today, and we just soaked it all in, knowing - and feeling, for the first time - that September is right around the corner. Sniff.

Tonight, John and I had big plans to go out for Date Night, but after I picked up my LaFinca veggie share, and saw all the lovely possibilities (carrots, new potatoes, baby cabbage, arugula, tomatoes, green beans), I called John and said, Dude, let's eat here! Nothing can beat a fresh vege-ful dinner on our own deck on a night as spectacular as this! So John's happily picking up a couple of killer NY Strips at Byerly's on his way home, and I'm roasting those new potatoes with fresh rosemary, garlic, coarse salt, and oil (400 degrees, for about 45 minutes, turn several times) until they're crispy little bombs, perfect for a dippy-poo in cool, creamy sour cream. Yeah, baby! Chopped arugula salad with lots of shaved Parm and cracked pepper, alongside tomato slices, should finish us off nicely. I'd better get to it, tee hee!

Well, I got to it, and it rawked! Especially with the Cain Five 2003 we sipped with all the tasties, ooooh, Napa Nice. And XM Satellite Radio tuned to the 70s, ha, I love it. We could hardly make a dent in the Cain Five, however, with its high alcohol content, ack. Too early to be drinking it, but we went ahead anyhow (decanted it a couple of times) with at least a bit of it, and it was delicious.

Tomorrow, I gotta come up with some way to use the 10 + cukes I now have in my fridge. Sauteed? Raita? Greek salad? All of the above? Ha. Stay tuned...

Mya-man, mya-man! That's Cooper-speak for Spider-Man, whom thanks to Nathan, Cooper now loves. Stace and Nathan donned expired Halloween costume masks for maximum Spideyness, leaving Cooper alternately excited, confused, and a little scared (as you can see in the pic). Mya-man!

Cooper calls me Ne-uh-nee, totally adorable. For the longest time there was only Mama, Dada, and Nay-nay (Nathan), but now I've proudly joined the mix. YESSSSS!

Once again, I've got a foil packet full of veggies on the grill - it's turned out to be Summer 07's signature vegetable preparation. Tonight the packet is full of summer squash, carrots, dill, and onion. Chopped then drizzled and tossed with olive oil and coarse salt before they're enclosed in foil for a 30-minute pass on the grill (flip half-way through), they turn out lovely every time. And could not be easier, which is the best part of all. Yay for veggies on the grill! Yay for veggies every way!

Here's a good day - Tuesday Morning Coffee with Suz (Kim's in China, lucky girl; we'll snag her next week) and Tuesday Afternoon Hangin' with Nathan (my son, not in a camp this week for the first time this whole summer; he's been BUSY!). It's again been waaaay too long since I could sip and chat with Susie - she was on vaca last week, she's started a new business (or two?), her house is for sale, and well, she's basically crazy-busy. Luckily (for me) she had a showing this morning and so had to vacate her house to come HERE! Woo hoo! I was needing a girlfriend fix, I admit it, I had nothin' last week (except for Stacey, I love and need my Stacey time too). After tossing around a few f-bombs, cackling so loudly we scared the hell out of poor Digby (Suz's dog, who visited too), eating sweets, and drinking quarts of coffee, I was as good as new, ready for the day. Yeah, baby!

So this afternoon, chillin' with Nate. I promised him BLTs for dinner tonight. Who loves them more, Nathan, John, or me? Hmmmm, I'd call it a delicious toss up. I like mine on the healthy side - whole grain bread, very little (if any) mayo, just a touch of bacon, load 'er up on the lettuce and the true star...the T. For me, it's all about the to-ma-toes, perfectly red, garden-ripe, and juicy. Naughty, naughty, those tomatoes, in the best of ways. John and Nathan? For them, it's all about the oink. Hey, I'll admit, cured, crispy pork is a very good thing. But we can have cured pork anytime - in the summer, I'm going for the 'matoes (and berries and peaches and melons and cherries and green beans and sweet corn and lettuces and, and, and...)

Well, John and I ended up going for a drive yesterday, a mini-day trip. We love going for beautiful drives, it's "our" thing, so yesterday we chose to head south, along the gorgeous St. Croix River Valley down to the Lake Pepin area. We drove down Minnesota Hwy 61 and back up Wisconsin Hwy 35, very slick. I looked up and printed out several dining options, in various picturesque towns along the lake - we've eaten at the Harbor View Cafe in Pepin before, which is lovely (I highly recommend it), but we thought we'd try somewhere we could just walk into and sit down. As we drove into Lake City, which has a breathtaking view of Lake Pepin, I noticed a restaurant called The Skyline (not on my list), with a deck perfectly over-looking the lake, so on a whim we swung around and went in. Uh, I should have trusted my gut and hightailed it right back out of there when we saw how grimy the deck was, but there we were, and the view was great, so we took a chance. Big mistake. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Unremarkable, greasy food, filthy bathrooms (that smelled like Raid, not a good sign, shiver...), flies and bees all over our food (and us!), people smoking on both sides of us - basically the whole thing was revolting. We drove away feeling unclean, so I suggested we swing into the first cute coffee shop we saw for a hot cuppa and something sweet. We found the perfect tidy spot on the other side of the lake, in Pepin, and felt so much better afterward (magical, restorative coffee, oh how I love thee!).

As we wound our way home through charming little Wabasha, Pepin, Stockholm, and Maiden Rock, I pointed out some of the quaint little bars and cafes that were on my list of places to eat. John said, "Oh, that's OK, I was really hungry for crappy food in a filthy little place," and OMG did we laugh and laugh and laugh. Not our best drive ever, that's for sure, but hey, it made us mighty glad to be home! And that's always good, right?

Today, it feels soooo decadent to be eating clean, healthy food. For dinner I'm going to season chicken breasts with lots of parsley, mint, garlic, and olive oil and then grill them alongside pita bread rubbed with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt. Paired with a big Greek salad, full of garden-ripe tomatoes, cukes, dill, onion, olives, and feta...we should be so jamming. And with this break in the humidity, we can eat on our own - clean! smokefree! - deck, thank you very much. (We are incredibly lucky that our umbrella and table are both OK after Friday's failed leap-to-freedom over the side of our deck...you're stuck with us for a few more years of grillin' & chillin', sorry dudes...)

Whoa, that was a hell of a gust of wind... That's what both John and I were simultaneously thinking as we shot awake last night, around 3:00 a.m., as lightning flashed almost continuously and sheets of rain slammed the windows. You see, we were both fully aware of - and freaking out about - the umbrella we left open on the deck. Dang. Dang. Dang. We quickly decided we'd close it together and ran out into the kitchen only to find...nothing. No umbrella, no table. Just four lonely chairs sitting eerily in a perfect circle. From the lightning we were able to see the umbrella lying upside-down on the ground underneath the deck. It took a bit more searching to discover the table, also upside-down, dangerously close to the house. It appears the whole thing somersaulted right over the edge of the deck. Man, it could so easily have launched like a missile right through a window. We're idiots. Lucky idiots. Sheesh.

At least we got some rain? And didn't lose power? Sheesh.

After we pick up the mess and truly assess the damage (we're moving a bit slowly today), we'll have to decide how to spend the afternoon. Out for lunch? (We ate at Lucia's last night, delicious as usual.) Pool? (It's hot and muggy and not good for much else.) Movie? (We saw The Bourne Ultimatum yesterday, great fun.) Cook here? (I certainly have a stash of veggies again, plenty to work with.) I think I'm in a bit of a fog after that 3:00 a.m. adrenaline rush (and subsequent hours of trying to fall back asleep). Stay tuned...

Hey! Almost the end of Thursday, thought I'd sneak in a quick post. Fun, fun dinner tonight with Bill & Karla, Joe & Genie, and Stu (The Wine Genius) & Debbie here a the hacienda. Summer casual, as in very, sticking to the menu I outlined yesterday except I baked a Summer Fruit Upside Down Cake instead of a tart. Eh, just a whim sort of thing. A marriage of Suz's Quick Cherry Dessert with the fruits I had on hand. With a bit of lightly sweetened whip, gooood stuff. Creamy Polenta (polentaaaaah) was nice too, I could eat the whole pan but since I had to share, you know, with my guests, I reigned myself in. A bit. Ha. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

On a non-food note (no!)...check out this Plum TV interview of our friend Maud Bryt, regarding her current show of paintings inspired by her childhood summers on Nantucket. Maud is a photographer as well as a painter and many of her photographs of our children - luckily! - fill our home.

After Saturday's Date Day and Monday's Date Night, we've had a couple of days of very simple, low-key eating (and tough, tough walks and bike rides in this heat, makes me feel like I've hit a brick wall, ugh). Moderation, you know, ha - woo hoo! Mostly salads, although tonight I made a simple, garlicky, brothy shrimp sauce to toss with pasta. I sauteed spinach and ripe tomato as an optional add-in (we had both kids tonight, neither of whom would be thrilled to find wilted spinach in their pasta, ha) for John, Stacey, and me. Turned out light and so pretty, with pink shrimps, dark green spinach and fresh parsley, and red tomato, yum.

Tomorrow night, we're back on for a bit of part-ay-ing. John's partners Stu The Wine Genius, Bill, and Joe, with their wives Debbie, Karla, and Genie (respectively), are coming for a casual dinner. Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes and Onion will be the main course, alongside creamy polenta and a medley of grilled vegetables. A nice tart for dessert, I think (can't get enough of summer fruit desserts, rarrr...) Looking forward to it!

Date Night! At night, this time, a rather last minute affair, and quite nice at that. We went for al fresco casual, in Dinkytown, at Kafe 421, so I kept the bling-age to a minimum, just this funky ring I got for a song a couple of weeks ago (sorry, Maven, I can't do the "oh!" naughty face even half as well as you do, you own it, baby, you own it...). We scored a lovely sidewalk table for scoping the university scene. Purple hair, beards, combat boots, and pierced faces are still the college-usual, I'm glad to see. Made me feel not-quite-old (even though I soooo am, I know). Kafe 421's Monday-night special - half-price bottles of wine - does not suck, and the food is terrific to boot. We opted for a pasta tossed with chicken and a verde (green herb) sauce, as well as a crispy tilapia sandwich with radishes, arugula, and a killer homemade tartar sauce.

Afterward, doing our usual post-din drive, we accidentally stumbled upon several different riverside spots with limited views - and lots of gawkers trying for pics - of the I-35W bridge collapse. Chilling and devastatingly sad, to say the least. It hardly seems like it happened here, in Minneapolis, in a place we've all been a hundred times before. Sigh.

Oh, a fabulously restorative dose of Cooper Cuteness this weekend, Mr. Busy himself, in a constant state of motion-giggle-chat. John, Nathan, my dad, and I settled into my sister Stacey's (check out her new website!) lovely home this evening for an early Summer Sunday Dinner. Stace and I put the low-maintenance menu together via email and it worked out beautifully. I brought a salad, full of as many veggie-share veggies as I could cram in there, ha - mixed greens topped with roasted green beans and tomatoes, fresh dill, thinly sliced kohlrabi, sauteed corn, chopped onion and green pepper, and a crumble of feta cheese. Pretty and tasty. Stace made Cucumber-Mint Raita, I brought garlic bread, and we borrowed a genius page from my in-laws, Dot and John, by purchasing deli fried chicken (in this case, the Kowalski's version, delicious) earlier in the day and then grilling it for a few minutes just before serving, to re-crisp and warm it...works like a charm. Stuffed, we somehow made room for brownies topped with Blue Sky Creamery Double Chocolate ice cream (incredible stuff). Yeah. Uff.

After a a bit of digestif swinging on the picture-perfect, front-porch swing, Cooper was ready to run again, wearing his Birthday Party Hat, no less, for maximum cuteness. And then...when his (and Nathan's) running reached the edge of almost-frantic-silliness, we took our exit cue. (Why is it that the more tired children grow, the more energy they expel? So not fair...) After clear-as-a-bell "bu-bye" and "nigh nigh" wishes, we moseyed on home and left Coop to his soft jammies and cozy crib and a Good. Night's. Sleep.

Date Night - I mean Day! Due to my stepdaughter feeling under the weather, John and I ended up with some unexpected free time today, so we quickly reconfigured our plans and headed straight for La La Lucia's for a decadently late and romantic brunch, sipping mimosas while watching the rain fall outside. Sigh. When we finished (I could have sat there all day), we took our pleasantly plump tummies (full of a bevy of shared tasties, including a perfectly fluffy ham omelet, giant popovers, cool-n-crunchy gazpacho, smokin' hot crispy potatoes dipped in sour cream, and "Baby Buddhas," aka mini-cinnamon streusel coffee cakes) over to the Lagoon Theater to continue the romance...by seeing the movie Once. Spare and bittersweet, it's a lovely (Irish) film, the music is gorgeous (and the real star of the film), in effect the perfect rainy-Saturday Date Day movie. Sigh again. Hope you had a nice Saturday too...

Here are the veggies and herbs (from my LaFinca veggie share) that I have to play with this weekend:

carrots
fennel
green beans
corn
kale
tomatoes
cucumber
zucchini
summer squash
onions
basil
dill

The carrots and fennel are terrific additions to a packet of Potatoes on the Grill. Summer squash would be nice too. In addition, I love steamed carrots with a little butter and lots of fresh dill and lemon.

The green beans, oh man, I'm so roasting half of them for Roasted Vegetable Panzanella, one of my very favorite meals. The other half I'll save for Spicy Braised Green Beans, which calls for tomato and onion as well. Fried Walleye with some Spicy Braised Green Beans? Ohhh, now that's a summer meal. What night can I pull that off? Might have to wait until Monday...

I didn't feel like boiling a big pot of water last night, just for John and me, so I sliced the kernels off of a couple of ears of corn and sauteed them quickly in a bit of browned butter (adds a lovely, nutty flavor). Salt and pepper, done. Easy and sooo yummy. I think I'll do the same for the kids tomorrow night.

The basil is going to become a small batch of pesto - I like to have a bit on hand for stirring into sauteed corn (stir in a diced tomato with the pesto, so pretty). Or for swirling into Instant Vegetable Soup (an assortment of vegetables grated together, brought to a quick simmer with water, and finished off with a sprinkle of cheese; delicious and very nutritious, and also a good way to use up veggie-share veggies!), which makes a perfect, quick lunch.

The cucumber already became Cucumber-Mint Raita, and I already ate it, ha. Ditto for the zucchini (see below for Zucchini-Tomato Gratin).

The kale, hmmm, there's not much of it so I'll probably just saute it with garlic, then steam it with a small amount of water until it's quite tender. With salt and pepper, and a drizzle of good balsamic, it's pretty hard to beat. Even if no one else in my family thinks so...

Yeah. It's shaping up to be a very colorful, healthy, moderate (no parties, no party food!) weekend. Yay, my butt lurves veggies!

Baseball Moms and their boys were here last Sunday (sheesh, it's already Thursday, I'm behind!) for a sunny, splashy day of play and snacks and chat. So FUN! We had my favorite type of food day - potluck, baby, with yummy dips and spreads (Sonja's Gorgeous Cheeseball!) and chips and bars and pie. And hot dogs (Nathan's Famous) on the grill, of course, can't swim without the 'dogs. And cold beer, can't have Baseball Moms without cold beer. All good, my friends, all good.

The rest of the week? With a bounty of zucchini from my veggie share, and access to absolutely divine tomatoes, we've enjoyed a couple rounds of a super easy zucchini-tomato gratin, based on the filling of the Summer Tomato-Zucchini Tart recipe I posted last summer. Lighter (no crust, just zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, onion, mozzarella, olive oil, herbs, and salt, baked until melting and crispy on top), yet every bit as delicious, especially cooled to just-warm and served alongside a crusty baguette. Or pasta. Or rice. Something to soak up all the gorgeous, garlicky juices. To. Die For. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)