Urinecane Peetrina, Concords

Urinecane Peetrina roared across Ol's bed at 3:30 this morning, leaving him drenched and groggily up. He stumbled into my room like a ghostly stinkbomb, and after shedding his sopping PJs and donning new ones, we made our way to the basement when it became clear that he, T and I weren't going to fall back asleep if we stayed in bed together. This was a Category 5 situation folks; when I went to change his sheets this morning, four hours after the storm touched down, the bed was still overflowing. I will not miss bed-wetting peeps, not a bit. In any case, I do enjoy a good snuggle with my boys, and Ol still has enough toddler squish that loving on him is especially sweet. So we cuddled and snugged until we could fall back asleep and he told me "you're the best mommy in the world and also the best cook and I love you". I thought I'd die.

T left for NYC this morning, and I am grateful to have dropped the Guinness World Record Talkers at school for the day. Nutmeg is going apeshit on one of my chairs despite the fact that I just built him a 5 foot cat tree with four scratch posts, and Percy is on his hind legs, his two front paws on my leg looking both disappointed and hopeful. Good god, pets.

I'm now breakfasting on some pumpkin-plum muffins and hope to get some some cooking done today! A big highlight will be meeting a foodie friend -we met online via Food52 and email regularly and hilariously- today. She's in town visiting family, and I am so looking forward to an in-person meet. Also this means I get to go out for a lovely lunch which is a treat I don't often afford myself.

As you may know, Concord Grape season has arrived! I do not love Concords on their own; regular grape juice is the liquid equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. Egads!! Horrors! But Concords love to be tossed with savory elements which results in divinely autumnal, sweet-salty dishes. I am definitely going to make a 2x batch of my Double Grape-Rosemary compote because it freezes well and then makes a stunning addition to our Thanksgiving table as well as a schiacciata con l'uva, a delightful Tuscan focaccia studded with grapes, rosemary and salt.

Male hullabaloo

The cat is chasing rainbows as Percy, tired after cleaning up the aftermath of the boys' dinner, snores on the couch. We have one of those solar-powered prisms in our window, and each afternoon, as the back of our house receives the setting sun's beams, the prism spins, making rainbows dance throughout the kitchen and dining room. I cannot believe how much the kids eat. They each had a quarter pound of grilled salmon with capers, peaches, edamame, and crackers. Oliver then had two oreos and a large glass of milk plus half of a granola bar. Jack finished his plate off with a small ice cream sandwich and two bowls of cereal and milk. Stinky and all crudded up, they're in the bath now, and I suspect I have just minutes before insistent cries of "I'm starving" reach me as I take two minutes for myself down here.

After a tough workout this morning, I had a great few hours of writing before running a couple errands and picking the boys up. Jack asked if we could "put a library in my [his] room" which I thought was a grand idea, so we bought a couple shelves at the Container Store and took down the old "pug orange juice" ad poster that's been on his wall since we moved into this house. He has a good plan for a corner nook in which he'll be next to a window and surrounded by books, all of which will be "organized and labeled by type. I'll use the label maker, Mom." A kid after my own heart.

I was all "woman, hear me roar" with the tools and plans, but I admit to getting gun shy when the instructions directed me to drill 12 1/8" holes except if I hit a stud and then there was some toggle bolt, and I just stopped and will wait for the troops-known-as-husband to come home and finish the job. Know when to fold 'em, I say.

I gotta boogie to a meeting. Back with you later or tomorrow. I did make a fresh batch of granola, and boy you should be in my kitchen right now. It smells to the nines!

Dinner with Yotam and Sami

Well, not really, but kind of. For our Meatless Monday sup, I made two dishes from Jerusalem: roasted eggplant with fried onions and chopped lemon; and Swiss chard (though I subbed lacinato kale and turnip greens) with tahini, yogurt and buttered pine nuts. Wonderful!

I cannot for the life of me remember the name of these darling, delicious little eggplants. Purple, round, with a flesh not the least bitter and in fact, per my husband, somewhat artichoke-like, I bought these at the farmers market Sunday and hope to buy more next week. They are so good!! Should I rediscover them Sunday, I will let you know the varietal name.

For this recipe, Yotam and Sami have you halve and score the aubergine, brush liberally with olive oil, season well and then roast until soft. Meanwhile, you make a lemon-garlic-chile mess and some fried onions with sumac, cumin and chiles. I love fried onions of any stripe, but these were really fabulous. The kick of the pepper and pretty, tangy oomph of the sumac made them something special. Towards the end I stirred in best-quality feta and then you just pile everything onto everything.

Meanwhile, I quick-boiled my greens, made the tahini sauce and sauteed the pine nuts. And then, once again, you sort of just pile on. I suspect T, poor man without the bitter-loving allele, would have preferred this dish with the chard it calls for, but I myself enjoyed it quite a bit.

And did I mention I made this divine ricotta-olive oil-plum cake yesterday? I just had to. Last o' the season plums, you know? The boys adore it but won't eat the cooked plums. More for me, tee-hee.