NY mag

I suppose that much of my love for NY magazine is because I lived in NYC for three years and adored it. Also the magazine has a kick-ass crossword on its last page. But, truly, it also boasts terrifically skilled and witty journalism, and I love to spend an evening with a recent issue when I can.Two observations from the issue I'm reading now: 1) Ellen Barkin is awesome. I was lucky to see her in The Normal Heart and have long admired her anyway, but her complete unwillingness to engage in any(!) BS is so refreshing. What spirit she has. I'm not saying I want her to be my mother, but I do think she's fantastically appealing. 2) Hilar quote from a Democratic consultant re: Scott Brown: "He's trying to position himself as the third woman from Maine."

SOTU, cherry scones, early morning!

SNL or Up All Night could write a skit about this morning in my home. 5:39am: I hear Jack singing on la toilette, all lights are on, and he's simultaneously building some Lego contraption. 5:41am: Oliver starts carrying on about "something on my wall, Jack. You put it there. I want some milk. You put it on the wall, Jack." Out of desperation, I brought him some milk after about 10 minutes and then had to turn on my iWhiteNoise on high to escape the wailing calls pleading to come in my bed.

At this point, Jack flushes, turns on seemingly every light in the house and it's all over. I was regaled with the hilarity -"mom, laugh when I tell you this"- of spying a toilet seat on the recycling center's conveyor belt yesterday (cool field trip), and asked if they could have garbanzo beans in their mess kits and eat out as the sun came up. Now, I love garbanzo beans but not straight out of a can at 6:30 in the morning. Who can begrudge good eaters though, so beans they got! Now we're enjoying freshly baked cherry-cardamom scones: mass, cone head consumption is more accurate. This is a divine recipe.

I thought Obama gave an excellent speech last night. His frustration was palpable...

Y'all, I kid you not: Oliver just took too big a bite and then spit out the excess, happily chewing what remained. What a day I've got in store. More later. T, come home!

Satisfying and yum

Both of these recipes are quite understated but they're thoughtful, healthful and left me feeling satisfied. As y'all might know, I'm rather an imbecile when it comes to non-dessert cakes. Thusly, these quinoa cakes just didn't cake for me, and I ended up making a tortilla of sorts and just lightly frying the whole bit in a nonstick skillet with a touch of oil. No need for stress! The successful-looking patty in this picture was an aberration. Cake or a shape more abstract, the flavors here were lovely with faint hints of Gruyere and chives tickling your palate with each bite.  Yotam's lentil dish was slightly more bold what with its quick-pickled red onions and gorgonzola crumbles, but the relative lack of dressing and the lentils themselves kept things on the subtle end of the spectrum, and I added a splash more salt here, red wine vinegar there. My remaining oven-roasted tomatoes paired perfectly.

For me, tonight, these ingredients and flavors hit the spot, and I would recommend both for a quiet evening such as this. A perfect finale will be a cup of tea, a pistachio biscotto, and the State of the Union. Let's all give a shout-out to the Repubs not picking a complete screaming jack-arse to give the rebuttal. Mitch Daniels, don't disappoint me.