This is a post that only a mother can write and that only her family can tolerate, so feel free to skip over if you are not a grandparent, aunt or uncle. But…Claudine’s eyelashes…I will never get tired of admiring them, partly because I want them for my own (because as Mia likes to point out “mommy, you don’t really have any eyelashes”. Thanks, kid). So she certainly didn’t get her lashes from me, and while Mark does sport some serious lashes, as does Mia, Claudine’s are like ones I haven’t seen before in our family. They literally reach up to her eyebrows when she looks up. She’s killing me with those lashes!

Thanks to Cindi over at the Gobbl Feed, a NYC-based food community site, for conducting this interview with really thoughtful questions. In other biz news, we’ve been getting a lot more corporate gift orders (which makes me a bit afraid of what Christmas might look like), and we are finalizing arrangements to work in a new kitchen space which could very well become a turning point of sorts for our little biz. William Sonoma recently contacted us about possible inclusion in their catalog next Spring, but then rejected us in the nicest way possible (ha ha). All this to say, somehow, with very little effort on our part, the word seems to be getting around. Part of our hesitation on marketing is the fact that we have all that we can handle right now (never mind have the time to actually focus on marketing), but this new kitchen space may allow us to accommodate larger orders (like a William Sonoma). We shall see….

We have a new chair in the house today. And the upholstery choice was a bit of a surprise to me. I mean it’s velvet, blue velvet. I never imagined that I’d bring a blue velvet chair into the apartment, but well, something about it spoke to me when I saw it at the store. I knew that I loved the shape of the chair, and I knew that it was time to replace our Nurseryworks Storytime Rocker with a new one. While we certainly have some good memories in that chair, the kids started treating it like a swing and an amusement park ride. Mia was especially upset to see it go, but hopefully the couple who bought it from us will enjoy it as much as we did. This new chair can only seat 1, unlike the rocker which sat 1 adult and 1 kid comfortably, but I don’t mind that only 1 person can sit in the chair at a time (meaning, why do the kids have to feel like they need to cling and climb on me all the time?).

So here it is in our living room. I’m not convinced that it goes all that well with the rest of our stuff and I thought I recalled it being darker and not so blue, or the legs not being such a reddish brown, but this might just be a case of needing some time to grow accustomed to the piece, as it was with almost every new piece of furniture in the house. I do, however, like that it’s dark and hopefully won’t be such a dirt magnet that our old rocker was (“Mia, noooooooo! Step away from the chair! Not before you wash that tomato sauce off your haaaaaands!). But guess what? I forgot that velvet can be a lint attractor (ugh!), so ask me in a week if I still like the chair.

Well, never mind. It’s been damn hot here the past 2 days. Which is probably just as well. I won’t be so tempted to go window shopping for Fall clothes, which everyone in the family needs.

Does anyone else feel like the summer flew by this year? Labor Day weekend comes early this year and I feel like we’re running out of days to do all the summer stuff that’s been on our list. Sadly, we’ve only made it to the beach twice. I never was such a fan of summer and always got excited at any early hint of Fall, but now that I have kids, summer has been so much more fun and I’m finding myself a bit wistful at all the “Back to School” signs, which, in my opinion, has become like Christmas in that it’s just shoved in our faces way too early every year.

We had a really lovely day at the Hudson River water park. We hadn’t been to this particular playground since before Claudine was born, and every time we’ve walked along the water, I wonder why we don’t come to this park more often. I’m happy to say that Claudine happily embraced the water – in her bare feet, no less. Afterwards, we walked back to the train through the meat packing district before embarking on one of the worst train rides home (what is with all the trains being messed up on weekends?)

By the way, here is photo of Mia (below) at the same age in the same swimsuit 2 summers ago – the last time we were at this water park. It was fun to dig this photo out to see and compare the girls at the same age. There is, of course, a resemblance, but it strikes me how different they do look. It’s all in the eyes – they have different eyes. Well, not to mention their (almost) opposite personalities.

I never thought that this might happen, but while we were away in Seattle, we had fleeting thoughts of living in that part of the country again. Mark much more than me since his family is there and that’s where he was raised, but for the first time since we moved away from the area, I felt that it could actually be a possibility. Maybe it was the nice, clear August weather. Or maybe it was just the change in scenery. We asked Mia whether she liked being on vacation on our second to last day on the trip. When she replied yes, Mark answered that he wished we could be on vacation all the time. She kind of shot him a look of “duh” and said, “that’s called living here”.

It’s easy to fantasize about life away from home when you are relieved of daily responsibilities while on vacation – which is the point of vacation after all. When we got back to NY earlier this week, the kids went back to their daily routines immediately. I, on the other hand, had a lot of catching up to do with work and business and in typical, horrible fashion, forgot to go outside for a few days. Meetings in Manhattan yesterday, however, had me walking all around downtown. We lucked out in having very mild summer weather when we got back instead of returning to oppressive heat and humidity, so again, maybe it was the pleasant weather, but as I walked around I thought to myself, I’m really glad I live here.

Today was another gorgeous day. The girls and I headed to Prospect Park to have a picnic and I was struck at how quiet the park was, the skyline of trees obscuring the buildings (well, except now for that all-glass Richard Meier building on Grand Army). We ran around, ate some food, played with some sticks, and it finally felt like “life as usual” again.

We just received our annual shipment of tomatoes from Jenna’s Dad’s garden. Every year at around this time, his garden overflows with big, fresh, juicy tomatoes and we always end up bringing home a full bag. Rather than use them gradually and have them slowly go bad, I just use them right away to make a big batch of fresh tomato sauce. It freezes well if you can’t use it all at once, but we never seem to have that problem.

Fresh Tomato Sauce (makes about 2 quarts)

12 big, ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sprigs of fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

First, peel the tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut a small X on the bottom of each tomato, then drop them on the water. Remove after no more than 30 seconds. Place them in ice water to cool them down. Peel off the skin, starting when the x was cut. When all the tomatoes are peeled, cut out the core and remove and discard the seeds.

(A tip: if you like your sauce thick, then at this point you should place the tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl to collect the juices. The more you let them drain, the thicker the sauce will be. It could even be left overnight in the refrigerator. However, I usually skip this step to save time, and also because I don’t mind a thin sauce.)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and saute for one minute. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the tomatoes, followed by the basil. Stir well, reduce the heat to medium, partially cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until has reached the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, then serve immediately over pasta.

We’re back in NY already and it’s back to life as usual, but our last day in Seattle was also one of the most fun and a super way to end the trip. We all piled on a funny looking multi-person bicycle out in Alki Beach Park in West Seattle and biked up and down the beach. Mia was not so fond of the plane trip back and suggested we drive to Seattle next time. Hmmm…we’ll see about that.

The thing about the NW that I will miss most when we get back on a plane tomorrow are the berries. They are everywhere – on the side of trails, in people’s gardens, in farms. Mark’s mom has a rambling bush of blackberries covering her entire side yard and the first thing we did when we got out of the car was pick blackberries, sweet and ripened from the sun. Every morning Claudine would beg to go outside so she can pop blackberries in her mouth. On a visit to one of our old college music teacher’s house, the girls went crazy picking wild strawberries, small and red, out in his back garden. And finally, a blueberry farm on Sauvie Island, right outside Portland where we took a day trip to meet an old school friend and former housemate. The girls are expert berry pickers now and there’s nothing cuter than watching a toddler picking berries off a bush, with mouth halfway open in anticipation.

We’re back in Seattle today. We leave at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning. It’s been a long trip, but I don’t think we’re quite ready to leave. We could have spent more time in Portland, for example. It’s been about 12 years since we’ve moved from there and the city is barely recognizable. Next time we’ll need to spend more time. By the way, if you’re ever in Portland, check out Lolo on Alberta Street in North Portland, a Tapas Bar where we sampled pretty much everything on the menu. The food was pretty outstanding.

I’ve been on vacation for a full week now and have cooked almost nothing. I made some butterscotch bars for our family reunion last Sunday, along with some peanut butter ice cream, but aside from that I’ve managed to stay out of the kitchen. While staying in Olympia, my mom came home with a bag full of fresh oysters, mussels and clams the other day, so we decided to make a chowder. The oysters were covered in barnacles and I struggled with cleaning and opening a dozen of then for over an hour, but in the end, it was worth it. Nothing really compares with homemade chowder made with freshly shucked shellfish.

Oyster and Clam Chowder (serves 4-6)

12 medium oysters, cleaned
2 pounds littleneck clams, soaked in water for 30 minutes and scrubbed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
3 Tablespoons dry sherry
1/2 pound thick sliced bacon, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 Tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
2 cups chicken stock or water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Open the oysters and remove from the shells, reserving the juice. Cut them into bite size pieces and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the garlic, cook for a few seconds, then add the clams and oregano, followed by the sherry. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until all the clams have opened. Cool for a few minutes, then remove the clams from their shells, reserving the cooking liquid. Chop the clams roughly and set aside.

Heat another large pot over medium-high heat and add the diced bacon. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the celery and onion to the same pot and cook for 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the flour and cook for one minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk, stock or water, and the reserved oyster and clam liquids. Bring to a simmer and cook only until the potatoes are cooked. Add the chopped oysters and clams, cook for just one minute, and season with salt and pepper to taste.