Nothing marks the beginning of summer in the city like street fairs, and the 5th Avenue street fair in Brooklyn happens to be right down the block from our apartment. This also means throngs of people crowd our neighborhood (do you see that wall of people in that picture above? I see it) and it also usually means hyped up children in bouncy castles and high on sugar (melt downs and whining is to be expected at some point). We don’t go to a lot of street fairs but I am partial to this one for other reasons other than its proximity to where we live (it stretches for 20+ blocks so it’s pretty unavoidable anyway). Along with the usual street fair stuff like bedding sets, sunglasses, socks, funnel cakes and meat-on-a-stick, all the neighborhood restaurants and shops up and down 5th Avenue open up stands on the street and it’s the one day where you can sample a lot of local restaurant food.

But the crowds! So easy to lose someone you’re with, right? Which is what happened. We were 4 kids and 3 adults cruising down 5th ave when all of a sudden I didn’t see Mia anymore. Whaaa? Wait wait wait, hold up now. Surely she was just a few feet away. Mark takes off from where we came, our friend Ben takes off up the street, I watch the other 3 kids and stay put. A few minutes later they both come back empty handed without Mia. I don’t freak out just yet but I feel the beginnings of panic starting to rise up my chest. The guys take off once again. Claudine starts yelling for Mia. I don’t know how much time passes, 5 minutes? 7 minutes? 10? And then…I see Ben emerging from the crowds carrying Mia, except it was almost in slow-mo, like a scene from a movie. If there had been some kind of tear-jerker music playing as a soundtrack in the background of that scene, you woulda cried.

Mia is very calm throughout the reunion. Apparently she went to a police woman when she realized she was lost (where she learned that, I have no idea). No tears, no drama, though she later admitted to being a little scared. We all high five Mia for being SO smart and use it to teach the other 3 kids a lesson on what to do if they ever get lost.

I admire Mia’s ability to stay calm. I was lost once too when I was around 4 years old for a few hours at Jones Beach. I still remember what it felt like to walk around the beach looking for my parents and bawling and then waiting at the life guard’s office for what seemed like forever. But Mia doesn’t freak out like that. Have I ever told you about the time nobody showed up to pick her up from school? It was a misunderstanding between me and our nanny. The school office tried to call us repeatedly, but both Mark and I were on separate subways so we weren’t getting the calls to our cell phones. The office then called all the grandparents when they couldn’t reach us and our phones were again being flooded by more calls. We were both underground. We had no idea what was going on. By virtue of good timing my subway emerged from the tunnel and started going above ground and I happened to pick up my ringing phone. When the school informed me that Mia was still at school waiting to be picked up I was disoriented and honestly a bit mortified, but I’m sure this wasn’t the first time this has happened at school. When I saw Mia later that evening I asked her if she was worried and scared. She said she wasn’t, but she put both hands on her hip and said “But nobody came to pick me up!”. Then she threw her hands up in the air and walked away as if to say “stupid humans. oy vey!”

Have you had? Because if you haven’t you should try it. These weren’t supermarket grapes, but rather ones bought at the farmers market. Mark’s mom introduced it to us and it is divine.

We’re at my mom’s house the last 2 days which means we get to eat comfort food like vegetables grown from my dad’s garden including spicy pork and rice wrapped in perilla leaves. It also means we get to eat things like frozen red bean pops, a favorite of ours because it’s not too sweet. Contrary to what you may think, Mark and I are not big ice cream eaters and I can count on 1 hand how many times I’ve had ice cream this year (the kids on the other hand…). Crazy, right? Obviously it’s not because we don’t like ice cream, we just don’t think to buy it when we’re at the store and Mark’s been too busy to make any.

Oh and this package of Fried Hard Tack? Have no idea what it is and have never seen it in their house before. Engrish at it’s best. I’m not really even tempted to open it. All I know from the package is that it’s “high quality and elegance” and that it’s meant to be enjoyed during my leisure time.

These have been our 2 fruits of choice of late. Mia’s crazy about eating pomegranates and we happily found some really big ones at Costco (a box of 6, of course). We’ve been going through them like mad. Claudine is intrigued by them as they look so appealing, like little ruby nuggets that are edible, but she can’t get past the hard kernel inside. And the persimmons? They are from my dad’s tree. He jokes that nobody steals them off his front lawn because nobody knows what they are or what to do with them. Persimmons may not be so commonly eaten here, but when they are perfectly ripe, they are like sweet custard with a most unusual flavor. We break the skin and scoop it up with a spoon. Claudine ate one a day last year for a whole month when she was a baby, but she won’t go near them this year.

They are one of Mia’s favorite things to snack on when we’re at my parent’s house, along with seaweed. Korean peeps, you know what these are, but I couldn’t tell you what kind of fish it is – maybe sardines? Anchovies? Some kind of baby fish? I don’t know, but these are the kind of things that was always around in the fridge when I grew up. They’re kind of crunchy, a little bit salty, a little bit sweet and flavored with sesame. Bet you can’t find another kid that is willing to put one of these in their mouths, let alone pop them in one after another, little beady eyes, heads and all (ok, except maybe for other Korean children). My parents love to say that even though she looks all white, (let’s face it, she does) there’s no denying she’s Korean because of her love of the food.

I can’t think of anything better right now than fresh, sweet sugarsnap peas bought from the Farmer’s Market. They taste so green and the little peas nestled inside their shells burst with fresh flavor. Kids love it too because they’re so fun to eat. Seems like anything that involves a little “project” to open, like nuts and shells, are met with great enthusiasm.

Mia’s done with school for the year, so we have a long summer of trying to entertain the kids all day. Luckily the 2 of them are playing so well together, even if Mia is starting to really boss Claudine around (Claudine doesn’t know any better, however, and she just follows her around saying “okay!”). We are looking forward to a non-Flea week. We still have steady online orders, but it would be nice not to have to pack cookies every night for a change.

A visit with my parents means more rice cakes (I’ll probably end up posting about every rice cake out there during the course of this blog). These, however, are one of my favorites. They’re made with rice wine as a key ingredient and as a result they are somewhat fermented and spongy, not unlike a sweet Ethiopian Injera, oddly enough. And who can resist the mini-cupcake shape?

Rainy spring days with a chill in the air means it’s a perfect day for a tea party. The girls are enjoying hibiscus tea with thin, crispy, sesame cookies right now, a favorite rainy day activity.