Tired Thursday, intense craving

I am extremely tired today. Like to-the-bone tired. The kids' sleep schedules are really off for some reason, and the early wake-ups are bringing me down. Pilates was a struggle this morning, and until my babysitter left at noon, I sent into the ether, regular tributes of thanks for her presence. Presently, I am pleading with the sleep gods to pull Ol into a good nap despite the fact that he is enthusiastically singing about wanting to drive an excavator when he's older. In addition to waking up with the roosters, he spent nearly 2 hours at the playground; the bags under his eyes are enormous and belie his claims of not being tired. Unfortunately I have to be at Jack's school tonight for a meeting when in fact I'd much rather be nestled on the couch, wrapped in PJs and a blanket. Sigh. This time of year is SO busy. About a half hour ago, I realized that I simply must make a coconut cream pie. Do you like CCP? I loooovvve it. When I was younger, still living with my parents, Mom and I would sometimes splurge and buy a Sara Lee coconut cake from the grocery freezer section, get two forks and go to town. I'm having an intense taste memory of that right now, but in pie form.

Did Oliver just crawl out of his crib? Oh man.

Irises and flowering shamrocks, turkey cutlets, farro salad

So we had some painters here today because what we thought were a few boards on the house and garage that needed repainting were actually rotten strips of wood just hanging on by a splinter. All repaired and repainted now but damn if those guys didn't trample some of my plants. Why are workers blind to landscaping? The deck guys ravaged a number of my planted loves, and you should just see the sad mess of steam-rolled nettles I'd worked so hard to cultivate and direct now wasting away along the flagstone walk. GRR. At least their trail of damage was minimal and contained. On the flip-side of all that is that the flowering shamrocks I planted for Oliver (born on St. Patty's) are blooming again and the irises my mom has brought up from Louisiana over the years are going gang-busters. This is a true Louisiana blue. Gorgeous, eh? Dinner tonight was super satisfying. I decided to coat the turkey cutlets in mustard, egg and panko and then pan-fry them in a little butter. Delightful! And what to do with the asparagus? I didn't want to roast them as I usually do because I'm bored with that method and wanted something more substantial. Puttering in the pantry, I came across some pearled farro I had my sister bring me from Italy and immediately decided on a grain-based salad. I also saw some dried chanterelle and portobello mushrooms that I keep meaning to use. What about making a mushroom broth in which to cook the farro? Yes!

While I gave the boys their bath and tucked them in, the dried mushrooms steeped in boiling water. I used this stock as the farro cooking liquid and then again as the base in which to cook a mess of leeks and scallions, the asparagus, some tarragon and the now soft mushrooms. A hefty dose of lemon zest, some salt and pepper finished the veggie bit nicely.

The salad had nuttiness and herbal springiness in spades, but I wanted a touch of creaminess and an element of brightness. Into the mix went blue cheese crumbles and chopped apples. T said the final dish reminded him of a reconceived Waldorf. Whatever it was, it was good!

Pumpkin-prune bread

Isn't this pretty? And this little one is too cute! If you are or know anyone who is pregnant, if you've got little ones running around, or if this just sounds good to you, this bread makes a great treat. It's full of iron, fiber, folate and omega-3s, amongst other goodies, because of the pumpkin, prunes, wheat germ, walnuts, whole wheat flour, spices and egg it contains. There is no oil or butter to be found, yet it's moist as can be! It freezes well, toasts up nicely the day after it's made and can easily be made egg- and nut-free.