October 7, 2008
Thanks to DiBer
I made digestive biscuits. Yum. Not quite McVittie's, but still, yum!
Hint--they need salt, it doesn't call for any in the recipe. I added about 1/2 tsp., but they needs a little more. And I brushed them with melted Baker's chocolate.
And read this.
More on that later after I recover my mental equilibrium. If you're a scholar and/or a parent, and have ever tried to combine (or even thought about combining) the two activities, read it. It's phenomenal.
Thanks, pal!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 5, 2008
Dragon-Con
Okay, so when we were kids, my brother and I used to totally make fun of Dragon-Con science-fiction conventions. The commercials would come on with someone shouting "Dragon-Con" in what sounded like an echo-room: "DRAGON [dramatic pause] CON CON CON con".
And then, of course, the guests of honor would be listed in Star-Wars-ish font, receding across the screen.
I mean, what was there not to make fun of? Never mind the fact that the only reason we were seeing the commercials was because we were watching Star Trek reruns.
More recently, Tim and I have seen a Simpson's episode that takes cracks at sci-fi conventions, and a Freaks and Geeks episode that treats the phenomenon quite affectionately.
Well, I've decided to mend my ways and stop making fun of DRAGON CON CON CON con.
It brought us two great things this year. When it happened a few weeks ago, we got to visit from our dear friend Karen, Tim's old college pal. She's a dealer--making and commissioning her own very cool Firefly-related memorabilia. We went to pick her up, and at first watching the people file out of the conference in their sci-fi-themed costumes seemed a little odd. But it was downtown Atlanta--vampires walking out in broad daylight aren't the strangest things you'll see there!
So, we rescued Karen from the Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-Legged Beasties, and took her to a little Southern diner.
And, during our discussion with Karen, in which I was poking fun at Dragon-Con a bit, she informed me that Sean Astin was there, and she heard him speak. Sean Astin. Adorable little Samwise.
I am somewhat of a Tolkien geek snob afficionado. I mean, our daughter's named Elanor!
I was actually rather upset when I heard there were movies coming out, because I knew everyone would say that they were Tolkien fans, even if they hadn't even touched the books. I even predicted that in the commercialization of the books, they might even come out with buy-your-very-own-rings-of-power (and unfortunately, I was all too correct in that prediction). But I ended up absolutely loving the movies, and especially Astin's portrayal of Sam.
Karen recorded the session with Astin, and mailed us a copy. He's as endearing, down-to-earth, funny, and transparent as I thought he would be. The perfect Sam. And he talked about his daughter playing Elanor in the film, which made me "awwwww" out loud. So, thanks so much, Karen, for the Sean Astin goodness, and inspiring me to mend my sci-fi-con-bashing ways! Come back to Dragon-Con again next year!!!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:42 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 25, 2008
Ethiopian food
A couple weekends ago, we were at my parents' house. And as usual, we couldn't resist going to the Dekalb Farmers Market, the United Nations of food. We always feel like we've visited the world after going there. Not to mention getting the cheapest produce around along with exotic cheeses and spices and so on ad infinitum.
On the way there, we drove past a teeny little Ethiopian food store. I casually mentioned to Tim that I had always wanted to make Ethiopian food--so he spontaneously (!) turned around and dropped me off. I didn't know enough about the spice mixes (decided to go home and research that first), but I saw a bag of enormous (I'd guess about two feet in diameter), crepe-like injera and bought a package.
I found a few recipes online--here and looked at a couple of other sites as well. I kind of improvised from there, making it less spicy for our tastes, and using what we had on hand. There are some recipes for injera there.
We also realized that since Ethiopian food is such a communal thing, it would be more fun to have someone over, someone who wasn't afraid to experiment a little bit. Which turned out to be our good friend and budding musicologist, Carrie. The kids like her, too. Though our esoteric conversation seemed to be a little too much for Elanor.
So, here's what I made: a beef stew (siga wat), lentil salad and a vegetable stew (yetakelt w'et), all piled onto injera, with more injera on the side with which to eat the food.
It's complex and spicy like Indian food, but more earthy. Definitely something I want to make again. It took awhile (basically for the beef, you start by cooking the onions until they practically melt), but I think I could tweak things to use the slow-cooker for some of it. And we had enough to eat for days and days afterwards.
Posted by Tim and Jo at 2:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 19, 2008
Little Russia By the Sea: The Rest of the Day
After walking the boardwalk for awhile, we headed back to the main street (Brighton Beach Avenue) in search of coffee.
Along the way, we stopped at a specialty foods store, M&I International Food Store. The pastries were decadent. We gazed for a long time, wondering how many people were hired just to make desserts.
We each bought some Russian chocolate as gifts. Unfortunately, since I don't know Russian, I have no idea why Napoleon is galloping across the chocolate bar.
We then continued our quest for coffee. Now, here's where things got a little weird. Even in Europe, if a restaurant is called a "cafe," you can stop there for coffee, even if it's one of the fanciest restaurants in Paris. In Little Russia--not so much. After being turned down at a couple of places where we asked if it were okay to just get coffee and dessert, we stumbled on an unassuming little place.
A couple sat next to us who treated us as if we were guests in their home. They moved chairs for the bulky double-strollers, commented on our food, smiled at the babies, and greeted us as they left. Old men chatted at another table, and then offered blessings on the little ones. Along with our coffee, we had a plate of crepes with chocolate sauce and fruit. I love the red in this picture.
The light was getting dim, so we headed back for one last stroll along the boardwalk. We got the kids out to wiggle before the long trip home and watched a community volleyball game on the beach.
Finally, we watched the sunset over the beach, silhouetting Coney Island in the distance.
Posted by Tim and Jo at 6:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2008
Little Russia By the Sea: The Park
Right off the boardwalk is a lovely little park. Adults played dominoes while the kids cavorted.
Our kids love, love, love swings.
Unfortunately, Ian seemed to be getting a little green by the end, so swing fun was over.
Which leads us to the final installment: the rest of the day!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Little Russia by The Sea: The boardwalk
It's a three mile boardwalk reaching its end point at Coney Island. As we walked along looking for a place to have a picnic, we passed gorgeous cafe's overlooking the sea.
We both finished reading Tolstoy's War and Peace recently, so Tatiana's caught our eye.
We found a pavilion and sat to have our pies.
In this pavilion and others like it, old friends chatted and old men played chess. A biker stops to look over a shoulder while a dog sniffs for scraps. I had never wanted to live in the middle of a big city, but now I understood the desire--this place was busy, bustling, and tight-knit; we sensed a real community at work.
And the views were gorgeous.
Refreshed by our time by the sea, we brought the kids to a park before heading for another walk in the city.
Next installment: Kids in the park (just for fun!)
Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 9, 2008
Adventures in traveling
We made it safely to New Jersey!
The actual travel process went incredibly well. That is, after being The One Person No One Wants to Follow In The Security Line. The first security person told us to go through the handicapped and special assistance line. The next one told us it was handicapped only. You'd think that twins in a stroller would qualify for special assistance. Go figure!
And no one told us car seats have to go upside down on the conveyor belt. That is until after everyone's baggage stopped up behind us! And then the stroller lost a wheel...
The kids did great on the flight. We had two aisles to ourselves, plenty of room for the kids to stretch out, squirm, etc. Baby puffs (like Cheerios only airier) made the taking off and landing a bit easier. Note (to anyone else with babies who might be thinking of air travel): the kids were registered as lap babies, and even though the plane was almost empty, AirTran wouldn't let us use the car seats. Just FYI!
We met up easily with Teresa, and made it back to her nifty little apartment. The kids were a bit restless, and loved crawling all over her house. Talk-times and a long breakfast have been punctuated by laughing with the kids and rescuing Teresa's house from the baby marauders.
Teresa lives in a cool, mainly immigrant based city somewhere outside of New York City. Driving through the town was a multicultural event. As Teresa played South African music, bits and pieces of Hispanic music, rap music, and sirens counterpointed against it.
In the afternoon, we went out for a late lunch at a Turkish restaurant. We drove through areas where many of the signs were in Arabic, and Halal meat was advertised in almost every grocery window. We shared sharply flavored hummus, a cucumber, tomato and fresh feta salad, and a yogurt-sauced bread and chicken dish.
Don't know whether this is insane or not, but tomorrow we're planning a trip to Little Russia (or Odessa) By the Sea. After reading War and Peace in tandem, and many long discussions on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, we couldn't resist a place that boasted a St. Petersburg Bookstore and Russian street food along the boardwalk.
Posted by Tim and Jo at 5:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 5, 2008
Change of scenery
I know this is a bit crazy...
...but the kids and I are going to fly up to NJ to see my old roommate Teresa on Monday. Woohoo!!!
My dad has a business trip to NYC, so I have an extra lap to take them as lap babies (saving us hundreds of dollars). It was all rather spontaneous, but thankfully Teresa doesn't mind spontaneity, either.
Any advice on plane travel with babies?
Posted by Tim and Jo at 3:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 22, 2008
We love Aunt-stina (& her mum's dog!)
(& her mum, too, we just didn't get a picture!)
Posted by Tim and Jo at 6:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 25, 2008
More quilty goodness
The quilt is so beautiful, and the kids are so cute on it, I couldn't resist!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 16, 2008
Baby Bloggers: The Meeting
So, at the house of her terrific aunt Austina, we finally got to meet Genevieve!
We've been following each other's baby stories from utero. So it was exciting to talk with each other, and for our babies to finally meet.
The kids looked pretty thrilled to finally meet each other.
Yes, Genevieve's eyes are every bit as big as her mom's blog suggests.
And she's twice as cute in real life!
Babies were fed. Burped. Swapped. Stories were told. Updates were given on blog posts ("So, I read the other day that Genevieve..." "And the twins were...?").
We marveled at Genevieve eating solids, and the stages our kids will hit in the next few months. And it was terrific to realize that "virtual" friends were real friends!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 7:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack