T - 24 hours

Just under 24 hours until the opening bell rings at the Circle Yoga Arts Market. I've awash in jams, pickles, chutneys, savory spreads, scones, spiced nuts, vegan chocolate bark, pies, collard handpies and these darling lemon-glazed lemon cakelets. The prep has been tons of fun, but tomorrow will be even more so. Hope to see you there!

 

Grilled Caesar Salad, highbrow crunch bar

I had an urge for a Caesar salad tonight but wanted it with a twist. What if I grilled the whole thing? The romaine and bread were a snap, and both are always delicious hot off the press. I cut the tomatoes in half, scooped out the innards and gently cracked an egg into each of two halves. On everything I brushed a garlic-anchovy-olive oil mixture that I'd cooked over medium-low heat for a while. Yum! Now, unfortunately, the eggs didn't soft-boil in the way I'd expected so I dumped the hot yolks into the anchovy oil, whisked effusively and made the dressing out of that. The grilled tomatoes were yummy, and atop it all I shaved Parmesan. Overall, a creative, tasty dinner despite the slight egg failure.

In the meantime, I made two pounds of this incredible caramelized rice-dark chocolate bark. Delicious. Come to the Arts Market Saturday if you want some!

Jack's questions during our brief morning commute to school

I thought I might share a sampling of questions Jack asked me during our 12 minute drive to school this morning. Multiply this by 12 hours, and you get a sense of why my brain is rattling by bedtime. ;) 1) "Mommy, William said Krypton and kryptonite are real but that Superman isn't real and so couldn't have died. Do you think that's true? Which parts? I don't think Superman was real so he couldn't die."

2) "Underpants? What about when you're wearing shorts? Why not undershorts?" Well, Jack, it's a general term for the garment you wear underneath your clothing. "But, maybe we should use all the words, underpants, undershorts... Maybe I'll use a Sharpie and label all my drawers: shorts, pants, socks, underpants, shirts, sweaters, bathing suits..." Jack, you don't have that many drawers. "...pajamas, vests..." as if he never heard a word I said.

3) "Mommy, why are some boogers wet? Some are dry. What if I drew a picture of a booger? I'm going to hide my picking behind a Kleenex."

4) "Why was Walt Disney's name, Walt Disney? Why Disney? How old was Walt Disney when he started Disney?"

Wow!