Incredible new salad, crazy boys

This afternoon, the boys ran into the front room, became eerily quiet and then returned naked but with underpants on their heads. Keep in mind two things: these were the underpants each had been wearing all day, AND they had switched and were now wearing the other's skivvies, on their heads. While I am usually pretty cool about butts, burps and the like, this was a bit much for me, and I insisted they stop.

They did not but instead found new and unusual ways to wear the underpants. Mon dieu. I finally just gave in and laughed though I tried to keep it under my breath lest they be too encouraged. I did give them a thorough bath!

When mommy time was done for the night and cook time reconvened, I did make the most marvelous new salad and will share the recipe pronto. OMG, for real. Pluots, green tomatoes, mozzarella and an orange-blossom honey and agrodolce vinaigrette. Ridiculously good! And finally, more cheesy mashed potato puffs for T, and toasted pecan-raisin bread with buffalo butter for us both. Perfection!I also made the summer couscous with pistachios, sultanas and squash again but it was less thrilling than last time. Ah well. It's pretty!

Holy hush puppies!

Ok, seriously, these are riDICulously good. Growing up, I always loved my mom's fresh hush puppies and even now, when I go home to visit, I often ask her to make them for me. This week's contest on Food52 is Your Best Pub Food. The Rube Goldberg machinations of my mind this morning (have been awakened at 5a by the loons) made the following connections: pubs remind me of England, England reminds me of London, London makes me think of Wimbledon and the Olympics, and both of those events make me think of the way my entire family became utterly sloth-like during them. We would set up "nests" of blankets and pillows on the floor and couches in our TV room and, since it was summertime (hence no school), literally move in for the duration of whatever we were watching.

It was such great bonding, such lazy time together, and incredibly, as the London Olympics get underway, we will all be in Lake Charles together again: my sister from Italy, the boys and I from DC, and my parents. We are all super excited.

In any case, during these marathon sessions, we didn't take many breaks, but those we did were critically important ones like trips to the kitchen for sustenance. Mom often made hush puppies for breakfast, and all of these memories swirling in my mind earlier today got me thinking that hush puppies would make a great snack at a pub.

I wanted them to be both sweet and savory and also lighter than air so you didn't feel like a schlump after eating a few. So I started with my mom's basic cornmeal-based recipe and added slightly sweetened diced rhubarb and fresh corn, some ground mustard seed and a beaten egg white rather than a whole egg. The first batch (too much baking powder, whole egg vs my later move to egg white) wasn't quite right, so I tossed them and started again. The second was a home run. These are spectacular! I will definitely share this recipe with you. Make some for breakfast soon, and you'll see what I mean!

Family heirlooms

You may recall that Tom's paternal grandmother passed away a couple months back, in early May. While in CT this past weekend for a celebration of her life and the family service for her, we went to her house. There were a bunch of us there, and it was a really happy, reminiscent few hours. As those identified as the ones who love to cook, another granddaughter-in-law and I were given free rein to go through Grandma's kitchen and take what we wanted. I had a ball looking through her old recipe file- she'd noted the date(s) on which she'd made each, who she cooked them for and any adjustments she made or would suggest making. She also wrote her review: Great/Delicious/Good/Awful, and I thought it was both hilarious and charming that she returned Awfuls to the box. I brought home a few of these old, smudged, handwritten gems. Like all those I have from my grandmother and aunties, I will treasure these and add them to our family recipe repository. Looking through her cabinets, I felt like I'd been dropped into an Etsy housewares shop. It was awesome. 12 perfect condition old coupes now grace our china cabinet, this lovely dish for candy or trifle too. And you know those enormous Pyrex measuring cup/bowls with a spout? I can't remember the last time I saw one for purchase, and so I wrapped hers up eagerly. Fantastic! Utensils, pans, more Pyrex....this trove was my inspiration for cleaning out my drawers this morning.

We also brought a ton of old pictures, mostly black and white, some still in really great shape. Tom's going to scan them all and make CDs for everyone. I love pictures from the 40s and 50s; they look almost other-worldly in some ways. There is a glamour about them- the clothes, the coifs...even when humble, they maintain an elegance I often think is missing today.

And the boys were gifted with Tom's grandfather's old tool box, the red metal kind with three drawers and then a top compartment with the latching lid. It is heavy and well-made and was chock full of tools, and they just could.not.believe. that they got to keep everything. Oliver said that he, Jack and Tom could share it but "not Mommy because she is not a builder." I sort of loved that Tom's immediate response was, "Oliver are you saying that because Mommy is a woman? Because you know women can be builders!" O finally agreed to share the tools with me but I'm not sure he took in the lesson about women and the building profession. Heh!