A Trip Down Memory Lane.

Any parent who says they don't occasionally, maybe-just-a-little-bit, miss their former child-free lives is lying. You can quote me on that. The honest ones just admit it with a wistful shrug and get back to the business of parenting. The self righteous ones can deal with it in therapy down the road, I guess.

When I think back to what I loved about being sans kids, I recall nights spent eating out in restaurants, sleeping in late, lounging around on a Sunday, reading the paper from cover to cover, exploring new neighborhoods in the city, travelling. That's a pretty long list. I suppose there are probably some parents out there who manage to do each and every one of these things routinely with a whole passel of kids to boot. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. We do pull off some of these things, some of the time. Or rarely. But nothing is taken for granted, and it's always a major production.

Sometimes the kids surprise me though. Take this weekend, for example. In a totally spontaneous move, Jeff suggested heading into Brooklyn on Saturday. He had some work to pick up in Manhattan, but thought we could head over to a former haunt on Atlantic Avenue for some Thai food. Part of me cringed at the thought of dragging our two kids to this once trendy, once-tasty place. Would it be overrun with people, would it be loud, would there be anything there they could eat? But, I was hit with such a wave of nostalgia for this restaurant and the neighborhood. I used to work close by, and would often meet up with my husband for dinner there. My mind began conjuring up images of that spicy red curry, those noodles, the shrimp, and the drinks.

In a rare moment of abandon, I said, "sure, let's go."

The restaurant was too crowded to wait. But, seeing as we were already high on crazy, we decided to be even more daring and try another old Brooklyn favorite - Alma, down in Red Hook. We used to eat out a lot, apparently. In the immediate vicinity, I could think of at least three other restaurants I would love to revisit.

But, this one turned out to be perfect.

Once upon a time, back when we lived in Brooklyn, this area was just on the cusp of becoming gentrified. Friends more in the know than us, turned us on to this very cute Mexican place, with awesome views of the city, and an even more amazing rooftop dining scene. These days, the restaurant has been discovered by the urban yuppie set. Toddlers, infants, pre-teens and others were all there. There were even high chairs, for crying out loud. Sure, there were a few whippersnappers, eating with their friends and trying hard to look as cool as their twenty-something selves could allow. The rest of us were just parents, eating with our kids and trying to enjoy the company.

Our kids behaved, tried a few bites of quesadilla, chips and guacamole, and entertained themselves long enough for us to hang out, chat with Grandma who came to visit, and enjoy the view. It wasn't quite the same as eating as a singleton, downing margaritas and stuffing my face with guacamole (sadly, those days are over. Too many weight watcher points to contemplate.)

But, I was able to pause long enough to appreciate the trip down memory lane with my new travelling companions. And, I appreciated the irony in seeing former hipster types juggling their own little screaming bundles of joy, in graphic t shirts, no less.

Youth. Wasted on the young.

My favorite guacamole recipe - when I'm feeling indulgent. My kids have been known to take a bite or two.

Guacamole with toasted cumin - by Suvir Saran, chef, writer, and owner of Devi (another favorite restaurant I might one day visit with the kids).

4 avocados, halved, pitted and chopped
1 tomato, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
1 jalepeno, chopped - keep the seed if you want it spicy
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground peppercorn
1/8 teaspoon toasted cumin (he gives another recipe for this, but in a pinch, regular store-bought cumin toasted lightly is just fine)
juice of 2 limes

tortilla chips to serve

Place avocados in a large bowl. Add the tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, salt, pepper, cumin, and lime juice. Combine with large spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning.

There's always something to write about.

This week's installment.

How we keep busy on dreary days...

Stomping!



Loudly!



Drawing.

Jordan did this one - entitled, "Mommy and Jordan playing hopscotch and a truck."



The truck theme continued here. This is "Jordan waiting for the ice cream truck." I particularly liked the ice cream versions - two!



Dress up!



Who am I kidding? Mina doesn't need a dreary day to dress up. It's Halloween year round over here.



On this dreary day, we had a very special outing to see Madagascar 2 - Escape 2 Africa! The kids got another chance to see all their animated friends...



And I got a chance to do battle against my childhood nemesis - Galaga!! Score!! Wow that was an added bonus! I'll admit, this had me very excited. If Jeff wasn't yammering in the background, I would have gotten on the high score board. I know it.

I got some writing done too - here's my latest kids' cuisine installment. In it, I shamelessly detail my fascination with all things celebrity and food related... as related to their kids, of course.

Yay! My first post!

Have a look!

Kids Cuisine - I'll try anything once.

Pumpkin Picks continued.

Back at the house, we did some preliminary home decorating for Halloween. I put up a large spider in the kitchen. This was Mina's reaction:









I'm so bad. What I did not get a picture of was Jordan, sitting on the other side of the table, laughing his little butt off at Mina's reaction. He's clearly forgotten his first year with the spider.

So, on another note, I'll be writing, on occasion, for Kids Cuisine. It's a website devoted to kid inspired food cuisine. The post I did earlier this week, on pumpkin pie, should be on this Thursday.

Hope you'll stop by and leave a comment!

When Inspiration Strikes.

Sometimes, you just never know what might inspire a kid to try something new. Maybe it's something they've seen another child at school eat. Maybe it's something they've seen in a book, or on tv. All I know is, I'll take help from any corner. Two picky kids at the table makes for some sad dinner conversations at best. Which is why, you need a plan.

I try to keep an open mind about it, and hope for the best. For the past year now, I've been using a simple formula at mealtimes to keep my sanity. Both kids get three choices - an entree and two kid friendly sides. The entree may be something I've made for all of us for dinner, or it might be a kid approved choice. Some days you get lucky, and some days you don't. And if you choose to eat that night or not, that's up to you.

It's been working so far. Both of my kids are picky - one notoriously so. But with this approach, they both somehow keep growing, and I limit mealtime discussions to "whatever is on your plate - those are your choices." And that's it.

Once in awhile though, out of nowhere, my son will mention something that has caught his eye. Sometimes, his inspiration comes from books. We had a very successful streak last year with peas, after he got his hands on the book, "Little Pea," by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This is a great picky-eater story about a pea and the lengths to which he will go to get some dessert. The twist lies in what he must eat first.

After reading the story, we had many a night at the table where peas made an appearance. And my son happily ate a handful or so. The book was such a hit with him, I brought it into school for his "special day" reading. He got a real kick out of seeing me read the story in school, and it got him to eat some more peas at the table that night.

Yay.

This weeks inspiration comes from a book called, "Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Nights," by Anne Rockwell and Megan Halsey. In it, a boy finds the perfect pumpkin at the farm. He brings it home to carve up for Halloween. At the same time, his mother picks up a dozen smaller pumpkins to use for pumpkin pie. The first time we read this story, Jordan decided that pumpkin pie was something he really needed to try.

"I'd like to try that, Mommy!" He said.

"Are you sure? Have you ever had pumpkin pie?" I answered, internally debating how much of an effort this was going to take on my part.

"I'd really like to try some. Mommy, let's make pumpkin pie together!"

Ok, that seals the deal for me. Any time I can get him into the kitchen to help make something, I'm game. On the agenda this week, will be pumpkin pie. Unlike years past, I think I'm actually going to try and make it from scratch, just like the lady in the book. Part of me is thinking if I involve Jordan in the process - scooping out seeds, and what have you - maybe he'll be more inclined to try it. And maybe this might be a gateway to trying other things, like pumpkin breads or roasted pumpkins? I can dream right?

Thank God I love pie.