The boys, whole foods, the potatoes?

In 24 hours, I will be halfway to Portland, but who's counting. Pilates was awesome today, and afterwards I went to Oliver's end-of-camp celebration. He was so proud and darling, and I was somewhat overcome by how fast he's grown and how capable he is at the tender age of 2 and change. He received the Most Helpful award which didn't surprise me as, for the most part, he really loves to clean. He has a sprayer (that doesn't work thank god) that he carries around, and when he gets ready, he asks for a clean towel, "sprays" the floor and scrubs so hard you think he's going to pull his back out. It's adorable, and I was proud that he assisted his counselors when they sang the clean-up song. Jack finishes up camp tomorrow and feels quite sad about it. He has acquired a third girlfriend this summer; in addition to the two heads-of-camp that he began courting last summer (and who still head up camp), he has fallen in love with Ms. Jamie, his super-cute counselor. Keeping up with his love-card making is getting to be some work. He continues to be Mr. Fashion/Professional Police-guy, and refuses to attend camp without his fancy belt and his shirt tucked in. I swear if I could get him a button down onesie it'd be his favorite item of clothing as it incenses him when his shirt won't stay tucked. I bought him a pair of Madras pants this week, and he is smitten with them. I love it. Part of my never-to-have-a-daughter grieving was about the clothes- no one to shop with, no one to give a stink about fashion. But damn if I didn't get the cutest little fashion-plate son ever. Thank you universe.

Check out the yumminess that summer provides. I love this fruit, this mess of veggie goodness. Delicious! Whole foods rock.

Y'all, why is Oliver still singing in his crib despite having been up since 5:10a? Last I checked, he was not bionic. Hello, child, it's naptime.

Anyway, today I think it's time to investigate what's hanging on to the forest of potato greens that have grown out of the potato bag. I learned that when the potatoes are ready, the greens get really shabby looking- wilty, brownish, etc. We're there. Here's hoping that unlike the pitiful situation with my carrots and radishes (a profusion of green tops but no bottoms), we get some potatoes out of this experiment. I'll keep you posted. Send some good vibes.

Working through some old recipes, inspired by America Eats

If you missed it, I recently wrote about a new restaurant here in D.C., called America Eats. It's a Jose Andres creation that celebrates old, classic American dishes, starting from the arrival in the (now) U.S. of early settlers from foreign shores: Shrimp 'n Grits from 1607, Pickled Oysters from the 18th Century, and so forth. Anyway, along those lines, I thought I might share with you two recipes that I and my mother grew up eating. The dessert, Lemon-Lime Refrigerator Sheet Cake, certainly can't be older than the 50s, but the entree, Momo Potatoes, might surely have come about much earlier. Both are extremely simple, neither requiring more than 5 ingredients, and both are just plain good. Momo Potatoes

6 slices bacon 3/4 c grated sharp cheddar cheese 4-5 Russet (or similar) potatoes, washed and cut into 1/8" thick rounds 1 large onion, thinly sliced

Fry the bacon in a large, heavy skillet. Set the bacon aside. In the skillet with the drippings, place the potatoes and onions. Cook until well browned, crumble the fried bacon over the top, and sprinkle with the grated cheddar cheese. Serve warm. This is wonderful for dinner or brunch!

Lemon-Lime Refrigerator Sheet Cake makes 1 9x13" pan

For the cake: 1 package lime jello (4 serving size) 1 package Duncan Hines lemon supreme cake mix

For the topping: 1 envelope whipped topping mix (2-2.5 c yield) 1 package lemon instant pudding mix 1.5 c cold milk

Dissolve the lime jello in 3/4 c boiling water. Add 1/2 c cold water, and set aside at room temp. Mix and bake cake as directed in a 9x13 pan. Cool cake 20 minutes but do not remove from pan. Using a fork, poke deep holes through the top of the still-warm cake. Slowly pour the lime gelatin mixture over the cake. Refrigerate the cake while preparing the topping. In a cold, deep bowl, blend and whip together the topping mix, instant pudding and cold milk until stiff (3-8 minutes). Immediately frost the cake with it. Store the cake in the fridge and serve cold. This is a great summertime dessert.

Although this might sound like a cake made of fake, it is truly delicious and you will not be able to stop eating it.

Dinner recap

Tonight's meal was nice in the sense that it was out of the norm of what we usually feast upon. The grilled okra were lovely but though I had doused them in EVOO, red pepper, salt and garlic, the seasoning was fairly muted and called for more salt. Easy to oblige, and I enjoyed my first okra of the year. We absolutely love Israeli couscous; as well, Tom adores scallops, and I lemon and capers/caper berries. So, as  I noted earlier, this recipe seemed right up our alley. You roast the lemon, thinly sliced, in a 350 oven first and then chop and stir into the couscous. Tom, who does not have the I-love-bitter gene, found the roasted rind too bitter. I love bitterness but did think that a sprinkling of brown sugar or honey during the roasting would have added a nice sweetness that would take the edge off the HI, RIND! and complement the scallops nicely. The couscous was assertive and well-seasoned though, I managed to cook the scallops perfectly despite not having cooked scallops in years, and the lemon- crème fraîche was solid. Overall, I'm not sure I'd jump to make this again, but I would if the mood struck.

We also grilled a huge mango that was sitting around, and that's always a treat.