Wow, what a gorgeous week, huh? Lurve this time of year, despite every sunny, warm day depressingly feeling like the last. Ugh. Well, there will be plenty of days to suffer actual melancholy of the chill - a day as hot, in fact sticky, as today is not one of them.

Nathan and I opened the day by cheering Stacey's kickass finish of the "Iron Girl" duathlon (run-bike-run) at Normandale Lake in Bloomington. Go Stacey go! Cooper was there too, to cheer on his mommy, as well as eat crackers, quack like an Aflac (race sponsor) duck, and run wild like the two-year old he is. Coop!

Stacey earned herself whatever the heck she wanted for dinner, and she chose...Wagner's Drive-Inn in St. Louis Park. A fine choice, in fact a classic, heartily seconded by myself and Nathan (even though we ran in exactly zero races today). She, we, and Cooper tucked into juicy homemade burgers, skin-on skinny fries, crispy onions rings, and creamy-thick chocolate malts, uff. I feel like I have lead in my stomach. I do have lead in my stomach. Tasty lead. Burger lead. Deeelicious.

This week, holy moly, party week my friends. A Susie Silpada Sales party on Tuesday night and the 7th grade parent party on Saturday. Hey, nothing like a party (or two) to kick one's butt into gear and wrap up numerous nagging house projects. It's always been my strategy (pure self-motivation runs thin in my veins). Works like a charm...

Moderate it: I watched someone else workout and then ate a burger. I got nothin', I'm sorry.

Wild Wednesday coming up! That means a visit from my nephew, Cooper Cuteness, yay! Cooper brightens our week, bigtime, especially since he says "n" for "l" at the beginning of words - that means he nuvs (loves) his new dog Nevi (Levi). Beyond cute. (Of course I haven't talked to him for a week, which means he could by now be saying "l" perfectly well. That's how it goes with a two-year old; one day you're Aunt Settie, the next you're a perfectly pronounced Ste-pha-nie, just nike that.)

Simple is the name of the food game on Wednesdays. Tonight the plan is steaks on the grill with a stir-fry of bokchoy, broccoli, and scallions (that's what remains of my veggie share; reload tomorrow) with a good amount of garlic, Thai curry paste, and chopped fresh basil for some interest and heat. (I'm all about the heat lately, outside and in my food. My aunt Mary got me addicted to the most unlikely-named spicy pickle this past weekend - Norwegian Dills, one of the Gedney State Fair versions. If you, like I, crave salty heat at about, oh, 4 pm, these are your pickle, crazy good.)

Hopefully I'll score some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Monday's fried walleye became yesterday's fish taco - a little chopped cabbage and red onion, slice of avocado, in a small French Meadow sprouted grain tortilla. Delicious. Leftover steak makes a damn good taco as well, and is always good stir-fried with a few peppers, onions, and mushrooms, eaten warm over salad.

On an unrelated note, check out (and chuckle about) this article describing the calorie-shock New Yorkers are experiencing as chain restaurants implement a new law requiring they post menu item calorie counts right next to the prices. Ouch. Maybe it's because I'm a woman who gains weight by merely glancing at unhealthy foods (therefore this blog!), and probably more likely because I cook and therefore know what really goes into making items like muffins, scones, and platter-sized pieces of nut-encrusted fried meats (although I also maintain it doesn't take thinking very hard about it to realize they're loaded with calories), but none of the counts in the article particularly shocked me. I know how I feel after eating food like that (ill). See what you think - do Minnesotans need calorie counts on their menus? I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not the calorie counts alone that freak people out - it's being seen eating the burger that everyone can plainly see is more than 1,200 calories. If shame encourages people to make healthier choices - or skip the chain restaurants altogether and cook their own food - then it works for me? Hmmm...

Moderate it: a small piece of protein (beef, chicken, fish, pork, tofu, lamb, etc.) + lots of fresh veggies (salad, stir-fry, roasted, grilled, etc.) + small amount of grain (whole-grain bread, couscous, rice, corn, pasta, etc.) = healthy dinner in 30 minutes. Of course my kids eat small amounts of fresh veggies + lots of grain, despite my best efforts to encourage otherwise; I try to think about it as a palate-training process, not completed until adulthood... A vegolescence, as it were... Right.)

Didn't even come close to posting again yesterday, ah well. Even an exhibitionist like me has to hole up for a bit! Not to mention, it's been a mite crazy around here these days, what with being away and having house guests and such. And Nathan and I are outta here again on Wednesday, this time to San Francisco, just the two of us. Way to over-schedule?! But what the heck, it's been a long winter, spring is coming, and we can't wait to fly the coop - yet again!

Speaking of Coop...my nephew Cooper's 2nd birthday party yesterday was hilarious. Cooperstar, in his bow-tie, preppy J. Crew pants, and red Chuck Taylors, completely stole the show. He was the calmest, chillest kid in a group of, well, utter wildness. Screaming, jumping, laughing, crying kids, all under the age of 5, having the time of their lives...as my sister Etta said, Teenage Birth Control, oh yeah. Great to watch Cooper Coolness handle it all with aplomb, have my family all in one spot, eat killer chocolate birthday cake with buttercream icing, and watch Coop's face while everyone sang Happy Birthday. Awwww, Cooper...priceless! And great job Mommy Stace and Daddy Bowen!

Speaking of cute, beyond-hip kids - check out this YouTube video of my friend Maud's nephews getting their first skateboards. (Their dad is having a pretty sweet time too...) Beautifully shot, it's the essence of "kid" and will leave you smiling. And wishing you lived in California, sigh.

So...Mexico! Playa del Carmen, at the Fairmont Mayakoba, absolutely spectacular. Michelle and I had smooth-like-buttah flights (she from NYC), arriving at the same time. Since this was a work award trip for her, we had cocktail parties to attend most nights, but they were lovely and fun. Beyond that, we were totally on our own. Of course we hit the guacamole and margaritas immediamente - every bit as fabulous as I had anticipated, if not better, especially while over-looking white sand and the turquoise-blue Caribbean, ahhh. As we kept saying, This Does Not Suck!

Our first full day, Thursday, we actually motivated for an activity - riding ATVs! What a dorky BLAST. We rode through the jungle, and alongside the beach, with stops to explore a cave, dip our toes into a crystal clear, freshwater oasis-pond, and splash in the ocean a bit. It was a pretty physical experience - we bumped and jerked over rocks and roots, and through twisty-turny brush. I've never been on an ATV before and I've concluded it's not something I need to do every day, ha - they are hot, very loud, and scarily powerful. But for a one-day adventure, I loved it.

After that, we were all spa and beach, baby. Lunches beachside every day - to me, my very favorite part of the trip. We couldn't get enough of the tomatillo gazpacho, spicy shrimp cocktail, or crab tostadas, rarrr... In fact, the food and scenery on the resort were so excellent and varied that we hardly needed to leave! But we did venture into Playa del Carmen for dinner Friday night. Strolling the festive cobblestone downtown and enjoying an incredible Maya-cuisine meal at Yaxche were definitely highlights, lovely. We shared several plates including shrimp, turkey, vegetable, and black bean dishes, seasoned with achiote, epazote, banana leaves, and bitter orange, among other Mexican/Caribbean flavors. Beyond delicious (and filling)! Definitely check out the restaurant's website, they post simple, lovely recipes.

Saturday night, our last night, we had dinner on the resort, at the seaside Las Brisas. We opted for the tasting menu, paired with Mexican wines, and it was truly spectacular. Michelle and I giggled like school girls through pillowy goat cheese gnocchi in a pool of English pea cream, as well as bites of butter-tender braised short rib, served with adobo sauce, baby vegetables, and a teeny-tiny plantain gratin. With such beautiful food and gracious service, we felt like HRHs Michelle and Stephanie, Princesses of the Caribbean.

Just in time to head back to winter, sigh. Although I have to say, as usual, I'm really glad to be home. The heat + humidity + salty food + margaritas = Swollen Stephanie, seriously, I swelled up like a balloon. I've never experienced anything like it, even while pregnant! Ugh, it felt awful, awful. In my first two days home, I shed more than 10 pounds of water weight, despite entertaining and eating far afield of my usual diet. Turns out I'm not very well cut out for the Caribbean - I can't take the sun, heat, or humidity. But I had an amazing time anyhow, seeing color, smelling flowers and salty air, feeling warmth. It was just what I needed to cure my winter blues and take the edge off my inner-bitch. (Although, like Michelle, it's never too far away - we raised many toasts to the pleasures and benefits of being Occasional Bitches - cheers!) Ah, thank you so very, very much, my dear Mich!

And oh! Speaking of travel, one more YouTube video to check out, our friend Rudy Maxa waxing eloquent on his years of travel adventures and his recent work filming his new TV series, Rudy Maxa's World. (And check out how gorgeous and chic Ana is looking in St. Petersburg!)

And oh again! Speaking of friends and their TV series (I'm starting to feel like everyone we know has a TV series! Who's next, Suz?), John and I will be appearing on Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods - Minnesota episode next Tuesday, March 25, 10 pm ET (9 pm CST). Filmed this past September, in part at Chef Lenny Russo's Heartland Restaurant in St. Paul, we're pretty excited to see how it all turned out! Did John and I make nothing but the cutting room floor? You (and we!) will have to tune in to find out... If nothing else, it will be hilarious to see Zim hold court at the State Fair (with his adorable three-year-old son, Noah?!) and sample lutefisk "up north" (check out some preview photos, here).

Hola! Hola! Back from Mexico, in fact since Thursday night, but I've been having too much fun hanging with the Bryt family, visiting from New York, to scratch a post together! It's been a fast blast of weekend, with Bartley arriving Wednesday for work, and Maud and their daughters Catherine and Natalie joining him (us!) Friday night. We just had dinner here at the hacienda, simple pasta and roasted vegetables.

Yesterday Maud and I stole over to Stacey's to see Cooper Cuteness, Stacey's amazing Stacified house, as well Stacey's studio/new work. Thanks Pooh!

Then back here to cook and cook, with Harry Cunliffe and Suz et al coming for dinner to join all of us. For a little appy I made shrimp paste, a recipe from The Gift of Southern Cooking, basically sauteed shrimps pureed with lots of sweet butter, with a hint of cayenne pepper, sherry, and lemon. We spread it on toasts, but I'm dying to try it stirred into some hot grits, oooh... I'm a little obsessed with it in fact. (Recipe posted in comments, below.) For dinner, I grilled an insane amount of beef tenderloin (lots of tasty leftovers, more than enough to put Bartley & Maud on the plane with thick roast beef, tomato, lettuce, and horseradish sandwiches!), whipped up my new favorite saute of okra, onions, and tomatoes with bacon, and made a pile o' popovers. Ahhh, popovers. Nothing is better alongside beef, especially with pan juices to soak them in. Just kill me. It was a pretty magical evening - literally, since Harry is a sometimes magician and was gracious enough to show off a few of his tricks for the kids. (And adults!) Great, great fun!

And now, the Bryts are gone, sniff. House is very empty feeling, although not for long. Nathan is home from Florida soon (yay!) and then we're heading out for Cooper's 2nd Birthday Party! Happy Birthday Cooper Cuteness!

Many, many highlights from Mexico to share, a little later today, so stay tuned...

Cooper! Stacey! Both kids! All my favorite things about Wild Wednesdays (you too Johnny!), love 'em. Add in some sunshine and we're jamming, woo hoo!

Good walk-before-the-snow this a.m., keeping food simple and relatively light for the day. Steak fajitas for dinner, as light or decadent as you want to make them, garnished with jack cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, and lots and lots of grilled peppers and onions. Think I'll spice up some black beans to go with our ubiquitous Wednesday rice (oh how everyone in this house loves rice, the white version, they've refused my attempts at passing off less-processed brown, sigh) and call it a meal. Easy. Spicy. Nutritious. Tasty! Done.

Little exercise, plenty of veggies. Make sure to take good care of yourself today!

Meat pies! Rarrr! In whatever form - samosas, pasties, empanadas - the combination of savory meat and vegetables encased in tender pastry is irresistible. To me. And apparently to John and Nathan too. Before I abandoned my family for the Commanderie dinner on Tuesday night, I played the good wife and mother and tried out a recipe I'd pulled from Gourmet magazine last year for Beef and Curry Pies. Nathan helped me roll out and cut dough so that in no time he and John had hot, crispy meat pies for dinner, while I was whisked off for downtown (smelling rather of curry, a strange combination with my beloved Le Parfum de Therese, to be sure) by Stu and Debbie. The recipe in theory serves 8, but there were no leftovers between the two of them, so... I'll adjust the serving size accordingly (!) in the posted recipe (in comments, below).

If you're not in the mood to roll and cut dough (which with frozen puff pastry really doesn't take very long), I'd suggest empanadas from El Meson. Their empanadas are absolutely perfect. Tender, flaky crust filled with garlic-studded beef, with a hint of sweetness, dipped in fiery salsa... Shut. Up. I crave 'em, with cold beer, although I really only achieve them once a year. Perhaps tonight's the night, I'll have to think on that for a bit. What say ye, Johnny?

For lunch today I get to cash in on the efforts of yesterday, when I took the time to simmer a homemade chicken stock. (I use a couple of pounds of chicken thighs, brown them thoroughly in olive oil, then toss hunks of carrots, celery, garlic, and onion into the pot, with a handful of fresh herbs, water to cover, simmer partially covered- skimming often - for 2 hours. Strain carefully - discard solids - season liberally. If not using right away, cool to room temp, uncovered, then chill.) We had the hot stock as a sort of make-your-own-chicken-noodle-soup, with cooked egg noodles, sauteed veggies (asparagus tips, onion, mushrooms, carrots), grated gruyere, and chicken breast pieces (from a rotisserie chicken) as optional add-ins. With a loaf of crusty bread, it made a good, hot, filling meal on a ridiculously cold night. Even my nephew Cooper Cuteness had a few tastes of the rich broth! Coop de Loop does soup!

A definition:

Stomach: a saclike distensible enlargement of the alimentary canal located between the esophagus and small intestine; it stores food, adds gastric juices, begins the breakdown of proteins and churns food into a liquid mass.

Um, ew. Liquid mass? Way to make eating seem
totally disgusting (ha). Perhaps I should read that (Webster's) definition every time I get hungry for things I shouldn't be eating. It's definitely way ruder to imagine pizza or a burger as a liquid mass in the middle of my body than say, strawberries, which just sounds like a smoothie. A semi-digested rather acidic stomach smoothie.

Sorry. I've been in a wicked sh*t of a mood the last few days, John too, we've written it off to prolonged lack of sunlight. The post-holidays, post-birthday, snow-sucks-after-Christmas blues. You know it, too, I know. Meh. I've even been trading emails with Suz bemoaning the idiocy of the masses and chatting over coffee this morning (Friday Morning Coffee with Suz!) about the Holocaust. Egads. But I'll admit, I'm not opposed to using the saclike distensible enlargement of my alimentary canal to cheer myself up, namely through the filling of it with lovely (at least before chewing into a bolus) foods and the occasional sip of wine and/or bubbly.

Like last night. Date Night! Movie followed by dinner with John at (Uptown) Campiello. I know it's not all about Campiello the way it was when the place opened, but it was still festively hopping on a Thursday night and the food - D'Amico knows what the heck they're doing - was delish. We particularly loved the king crab appetizer - pieces of butter-tender crab tossed with julienne carrots, jalapeños, and scallions, served alongside a horseradish panne cotta. Unusual and spectacularly delicious, with a cool-creamy, sweet-spicy-crunchy thing going on. Our entree was a bit more traditional - ziti tossed with lemon zest, dried peppers, garlic, olive oil, and Parm. Simple, chewy-spicy deliciousness. Nothing makes a cooler (smoother?) bolus than king crab and ziti. Rad.

And lunch today, yum. At Yum Bakery, my mom treated Stace, Cooper, and moi to a post-Stephanie-is-41-(sigh) celebration. Yum Bakery is the perfect girlie lunch spot - sunny and buzzy, with a long list of spot-on comfort food tasties. Mom and I chose the salad sampler - good ol' fashioned tuna, egg, and chicken salads (with modern twists all of them, top-notch) spread on fresh foccacia bread. Cream of mushroom soup. Stace and Coop shared beef stew. We all dived into frites (but of course). And Happy Birthday to me...coconut cake. YESSS! Sooo good, a real, buttery scratch white cake, filled with coconut custard and iced with white icing and showered with sweetened, flaked coconut. Just exactly how it's supposed to be, ridiculously sweet and rich. Love, love, LOVED it.

Tonight? Uh, I'm not very hungry? Funny thing, ha. What to eat on a not-hungry night? Well, there's always the option of nothing, but that's not very weekendy. Or moderate. So I'm leaning toward a simple quesadilla - two French Meadow (Fat Flush, worst product name evar) sprouted grain tortillas, sprinkle of cheese, toast in a pan until melty and dip in some spicy Salsa Lisa. Few hundred cals, five minutes to prepare, tasty (essential), done.

Happy Sunless Weekend! (Grumble.)

And oh! Another reason to eat monounsaturated fats (as in avocados, olives, and nuts.)

Dida!

Merry Christmas again! Last night we had our very last Christmas celebration, with Dad & Susanna and David & Etta, home from NYC. Stacey & Cooper were there too, as well as John & Nathan. And of course Jake-a-saurus (my parents' adorable spaniel). We opened presents right away, as we're learning (remembering!) that it's tough for a one-year old (Coop!) to face all that excitement post-dinner, dangerously close to bedtime. The star gift was Dida, an orphaned baby elephant that Dad & Susanna sponsored in Nathan's name through The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Four-week old Dida had fallen into a man-made water hole, poor little sweetie, but is now healthy and settled at the orphanage with other young elephants. Nathan will receive monthly updates on Dida's progress, as well as photos of her with her caretakers. Read all about her and her lucky rescue here.

For dinner, Dad shot and Susanna prepared - I'm not kidding - Christmas goose! Not a roasted goose per se, but something rather more fabulous - a Julia Child, rustic French preparation of goose breasts over whipped potatoes and sauteed cabbage, napped with a rich, long-cooked brown sauce of onions, vermouth, and salt pork. Gorgeous, festive, and of course absolutely delicious, especially with crusty, grainy bread to wipe up every drop. Of that amazing sauce! For dessert, I made an old stand-by, cream puffs filled with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Pretty darn tasty. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

After lots of goodnight "kisses" for Cooper (you can tell he's tired when he starts "fuzzing" his little earlobes), and a very interesting look - on Nathan's new world map - at exactly where in Germany our family is from (Ostfriesland), we packed up our spiffy new gifts and made our way home for an early bedtime. Had to try for extra sleep because...

...tonight, we gather yet one more time, but more on that next year...

In case you're wondering, I am thinking about Thanksgiving and in fact started cooking today! I'm thankfully (ha) not hosting - my sister Stacey is - but we're making the meal together, for 12 people, so there's plenty to do. I'm following the turkey, stuffing, and gravy recipes I posted last year, as well as making a big batch of Deluxe Do-Ahead Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, my aunt Mary's recipe for The Best mashed potatoes in the world. And, as the name would suggest, they're do-ahead, a big bonus on the big day, since draining and mashing huge pots of hot, steaming potatoes is bad for your fabulous holiday hair-do, not to mention your favorite silk blouse. Shiver!

So, the turkey is a'brining and the gravy stock is a'simmering...it's starting to smell a lot like Thanksgiving! The turkey will actually roast at Stacey's - I'm making her a fair trade tomorrow, my nephew Cooper for a brined turkey, ha (we're overdue for a dose of Cooper-Cuteness around here, so he's coming for a visit tomorrow morning). She'll actually roast the turkey at her house on Thursday, after it's air-dried in her fridge overnight Wednesday. She and Mom are making Cranberry Relish, Candied Yams (the classic), and one of my favorite dishes, my stepmom Susanna's Spinach Casserole. Full of artichoke hearts and mushrooms, and topped with sliced tomatoes and buttery bread crumbs, it's that winning combination of beautiful and delicious. And it's easy, and do-ahead, therefore a perfect addition to Thanksgiving dinner. (Recipes posted in comments, below.)

My aunt Marge is baking her amazing pies, my aunt Mary is bringing bread and wine, my cousin Kim is bringing an appetizer, and we're going to be very good to go. I. Can't. Wait! If I don't have a chance to check in before the big day, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Happy Halloween! Our Halloween was all about my nephew Cooper this year. Coop! He was a monkey, scampering around saying "twick tweat" and "canny!" (For maximum cuteness, check out the video, below.) I have a feeling some little monkey will be sleeping pret-ty well tonight!

Nathan donned...yep, Bucky Badger-wear, loosely as a costume, but mostly 'cuz Cooper loves Bucky. My mom gave away candy at Stacey's house, while Nathan, Stacey, and Bowen took Cooper around to a few houses. We didn't get back here until after 7:30, so we only saw a few of our own trick-or-treaters. But enough to give away several fistfuls of candy! Not that it matters - I only buy candy that I don't like (the faux fruity stuff - Starbursts, Skittles, SweetTarts, Swedish Fish, Bubble Gum, et al...no temptation there, yuck).

Hope you and your twick-or-tweaters had a fun, safe night!

How super-stylin' is my nephew Cooper while he scopes his Halloween pumpkin? The little pumpkin with his pumpkin, awww, Coop! Good thing he's keeping toasty warm in his hat and scarf on such a cold day! Brrr!

Nathan, John, and I are keeping toasty warm too, with bowls of chewy rigatoni tossed with a sauce of roasted cauliflower, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and Parmesan cheese. Mmmm, hearty with a bit of heat, totally hit the spot. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Bath, red wine, fire, blankets, tea, fleece, wool, cookies, socks, soup, scarf, coffee, robe, tights, candles, stew, books, pie, sweats, tall boots, bread, jeans, flannel... Y'all find ways to stay warm and cozy too!

It's been a Cooper-ish couple of days, or is about to be, lucky for me! Nothing like a dose of Cooper Cuteness to brighten one's day. He's really into cheesy, buttery quesadillas right now, it's great fun to make one for him and hear his "mmm" when he takes a bite, ha. His reactions are so pure - if he hates it, he spits it out. If he likes it, you get the "mmm." You always know where you stand with a one-year old, I love it.

Hanging with Cooper has been the extent of my socializing these last few days and that's just fine with me. Whew. I am officially partied out. What a ride it's been! Veeeery fun, yet very not moderate, and even I - hard to believe, I know - reach my limit with fine food and good cheer. All I want now is time for long walks, simple food, lots of tea and water, and plenty of good, solid sleep. Nice.

In that vein...soup? Soup's always appealing at this time of year, especially when I'm wanting to hole up at home a bit. Fish? Fish is my go-to restorative, it makes me feel healthy and back-on-track. Perhaps Manhattan Clam Chowder would fit the bill - satisfying but not too heavy, great with nothing more than crusty bread. Hmmm...stay tuned...

Perfect, we had a perfect dinner at Restaurant Alma last night. Cozy, fun, delicious. I love a restaurant that serves high-quality, beautifully-prepared food in appropriate (!) portions, so you walk out feeling fantastic, not stuffed, not ill. I love that about Lucia's, and now I love it about Alma.

I opened with a small celery root souffle, browned and puffy, with a hint of curry, fantastic. I followed with rigatoni with fennel sausage, chewy and spicy and positively lusty, I damn near licked the bowl clean, ha. I even splurged on dessert, an adorable little cupcake topped with lime curd and a flirty, swirly meringue, alongside a decadent crumble of a buttery coconut (!) cookie studded with whole, toasted, sugar almonds with a dollop of whipped cream. Yeah. The crunchy-meringuey-cakey-buttery-tart-creamy combo was absolutely delightful, it's not easy to hit all those notes on one plate. But zing ca-ching! It so worked. Could have licked that plate clean too. A lovely meal, no misses for me.

And oh yes, the company! Spot on, as always, when we get together with Ana & Rudy and Debbie & Stu. We sure do have a hell of a good time together! Ana & Rudy just had dinner in Las Vegas with our friends Andrew & Rishia Zimmern. Rudy joked about Andrew stealing the spotlight (people recognizing him from his Bizarre Foods show on the Travel Channel), since it's usually Rudy people are recognizing (from his Smart Travels show on PBS). (I joked that the only person anyone recognizes from my little ol' blog is Cooper Cuteness! Totally true!)

And oh yes, the wine! Lovely, as always, when we get together with Ana & Rudy and Debbie & Stu. Burgundies from Rudy's cellar were the star last night. Incredible. Our friends share amazing wines with us, we are very, very lucky.

So, another blast with Team Napa. Nice (NICE!) way to start the week, I'd say. Left me a little confused about what day it was when I woke up this morning, but I'm not complaining. Let it rain. Let it be Tuesday. Let it be time to fold some laundry and eat boring things like oatmeal. I'm still riding the wave from last night and I'm feeling fiiiine.

Ah, Sunday, a day of moderation. I was due, I'm sure you'll agree, after a week that included dinner at Debbie & Stu's, dinner with Zim & Rishia, brunch at Lucia's, and roasted chicken not once, but twice. Uh, ack! So today - a gorgeous, cool, sunny day, just like I'd been wishing for - I took a long, lovely walk, and ate lots of veggies (cooked and raw) and dreamy Colorado peaches (perfect right now) and drank lots of water and just got myself back on track again. Felt good.

I also took in a heck of a long baseball game - yes, Nathan is at it again, "fall ball" this go-round, which is nicely low-key and chill (thank goodness). Stacey and Cooper stopped by for awhile, but there's no way Coop could hack an almost-three hour game. Nor could his mommy, not with him wanting nothing more than to splash in dirty water, pick up random pieces of trash, climb on the bleachers, and run into the middle of a pretty rowdy group of kids playing catch. Heart attack a minute, busy one-year olds! Luckily they're so irresistibly cute!

And so, off to bed. It's not truly a day of moderation without a good night's sleep. Clean jammies, clean sheets, ahhhhh... 'Night!

Cooper Cuteness Wednesday! (I babysit my year-old, red-haired nephew Cooper each Wednesday, The Best.) He's busy today, loving Bucky (my Bucky Badger bobblehead), mya-man (derived from Spider-Man, it now means various of Nathan's action figures), eez (I think cheese, for grilled cheese sandwich), ana (banana), and mik (milk). He emptied a few cupboards, played a little hide-n-seek, then was ready for a few books and a nap. He's now sleeping soundly in Nathan's cool, dark room. Cute does not begin to describe how he (and every baby) looks while sleeping. Why are adults so hideous asleep? Mouth hanging open, grey-skinned, puffy-eyed. I have a classic picture of a cherubic Baby Nathan, rosy-cheeked and heavily eye-lashed, adorably asleep next to an also-zonked me...looking old, exhausted, and seriously unlovely. Man, I laughed when I saw that pic, the contrast! Eeek! Need motivation to apply sunblock each morning? Place your face next to an angel-faced child and have a long look in the mirror together. Gasp! Yeah. That should do ya.

We also have both kids on Wednesday nights, and religious school gearing up soon here (my stepdaughter starts tonight), in addition to homework and school craziness. Wild Wednesdays! As a result, I usually keep Wednesday dinner pretty simple. Plus, by the time I come up with menus that both kids and John all like (my sister Stacey, who also joins us for dinner on Wednesdays, likes everything I make, bless her heart, and so far, so does Coop, but that's because they're Meyers, and Meyers rawk, we just do), the choices get, uh, a bit limited. Tonight, hot corn bread (recipe posted in comments, below) alongside tortilla soup. I'll set out chicken, avocado, cheese, scallions, and of course tortilla strips, and let everyone customize. Seems to work pretty well. (I use the same strategy for pizzas, pasta, and tacos as well.)

Can I just say that I am way over this heat? I'm just done with it. I don't want to swim anymore, I've had all the sun I could possibly want, I'm sick to death of exercising in thick, humid air (this morning totally sucked)...done! Now I'm not wishing for winter or anything, just September weather, the best Minnesota weather there is. Ahhh. I'm ready. It's technically September now. Bring it on!

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.

Cuteness time! As I mentioned earlier, Nathan is with my sister Stacey and her baby Cooper, having a blast visiting my parents in Montana. Stace just sent these sweet pics today so I thought I'd share them for a few smiles. Coop's red-haired self looks pretty little in the shadow of those mountains, fabulous. Hey, that cool table has a fun history - it was buried in the pool house of my stepmom Susanna's parents' home, pretty beat up. Her mom had it restored as a gift and voila, it emerged beautifully to meet its table destiny - looking lovely and welcoming, enjoying a sweet view (!), ready to bear many a pretty plate topped with delicious food. It does its job quite well and in return, table happiness.

With everyone gone (Nathan now, John and my stepdaughter last week, all of us the week before), our poor dining room table is lonely, lonely. Perhaps tomorrow night we'll be back on track. And I'll have to get back into the groove of cooking for the whole fam. I've had a nice little reprieve here, cooking just for myself or for John and me. We definitely won't be eating as much grilled fish and seafood...other than shrimp, I can get the kids to eat grilled shrimp...yeah, it's been a nice (healthy) run.

Oh, Friday Morning Coffee with Suz has officially become Tuesday Morning Coffee with Suz and Kim! Started today, in fact. Yes, The Maven has a new job, which will mean Tuesday's off, so she'll be joining us for our sipping and chatting. We only steal about an hour but that hour makes my whole week, love it. Today I biked over to our coffee spot, whew, it's a HOT mother out there. I had to mop myself while we chatted, yuck. Luckily my friends love me even while I drip. Stay cool everyone.

And, rest in peace to my friend Mary's mother-in-law, Kathy Pappas.

A relaxing, mellow Saturday today - hot as hell, but that's OK. It was a good day to not have to do much of anything, given how tired I am from staying up so late last night. Why oh why do I do it? I know that I'm too old for such shenanigans...but there I am anyhow, closing down the house, chatting and noshing and sipping away. It's the party-girl in me, the Badger Gamma Phi, the Kollege Klub Dr. Shots...suburban mommy, yes, but the party girl lingers just below the surface. (And she sure is feeling her age, ouch.)

John and I had such a lovely morning babysitting our nephew, Cooper. He played, and chatted, and played some more before eating lunch and getting very, very tired (as in head resting on the highchair tray tired). Post-lunch, he absolutely crashed in Nathan's cool, dark room for a long afternoon's slumber. I was actually jealous. Of a sleeping one-year old. Yeah.

But instead of napping myself, I headed out to the pool. I know I'm getting more than a little repetitive here. But hey, what can I say? It was 97 degrees out there today, with 40% humidity, and not much of a breeze, so into the pool we went. First just John and me, then Nathan joined us, then our neighbors the Hatzungs joined us too, and away we all cruised (and splashed!) into cocktail hour and then dinner, with a quick (and delicious!) delivered pizza (thank you, Hatzungs!) supplemented with a salad (thank you, La Finca CSA veggie share!). Now, it's bedtime, man, dang I'm tired. This party girl is all partied out. Until tomorrow...

Lordy, Lordy, looks who's 40! Someone other than me or Suz, no way! In this case, it's my neighbor, Dave Polyak. He and his lovely wife (and co-Badger, woo hoo!) Lindsay threw a hell of a party tonight to celebrate. That's why I'm up at, oh, 2:30 a.m., ouch. John, aka Mr. Not Party, honorably made it until around 10:00 p.m., then moseyed on home to our comfy bed while I stayed and did my usual - chat and chat and chat and snack (great food!) and drink beer. How fabulous! And I met Lindsay's bro Kevin, and his wife Kristi, who are major foodies and wine lovers and who happen to check in on someone's blog occasionally... NICE!

And in the same party vein - and let's face it, it's been a whole week of par-tay-ing - I must mention the lovely, lovely cocktail party we had on our neighbors the Hatzungs' patio last evening. Again, my favs - snacks (like an amazing black-bean salsa) and drinks and sunshine and chat. A fantastic way to launch into the weekend...

As was a visit from my aunt Marge today, with an easy lunch on the deck (steak quesadillas, salad, and strawberries with whipped cream) and some time in the pool with John, Stacey, and Cooper. Dang, friends, a mighty fine summer's day. Now, since it's officially quite Saturday, I must go to bed. G'night!