FDC: Week 4

Since people have been asking, I'm trying to give a few more details....Levi is already in bed, so I've got the time tonight! I've linked some recipes below too.

Our co-op share this week is pretty much more of the same...greens, greens, and more greens. We got: 2 lbs shelling peas, bok choy, kale, collards, 2 lbs cucumbers, salad turnips, scallions, garlic scapes, lettuce, 1 qt strawberries, 1 pt raspberries, and the cheese was Fiddlehead Tommee (not sure what it means, but it was delicious). Last night we just ate a big salad for dinner using the lettuce, cucumbers, cheese and a variety of things in the refrigerator. We've been loving a simple balsamic vinaigrette with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar, and a pinch of herbs or shallots.

Tonight I went back to a standard dish: beans and greens. All I had on hand were a few dried Great Northern beans and a ton of dried kidney beans, so I mixed them together and soaked them overnight. I cooked the beans low and slow for a couple hours while we were around the house. For the greens, I chose to cook the collards. I sauteed some onions and garlic scapes and threw in the finely chopped collards and cooked until they were wilted. I added a little water and continued to simmer until the collards were soft (~1 h) and then mixed in the beans.

Tomorrow I'm planning to make an avocado and turnip green panini (inspired by a recipe in Vegetarian Times): good bread, sliced tomato and avocado, sauteed turnip greens (likely with garlic scapes). To round out the meal I'm making kale chips and turnip chips.

Friday night I've finally got an excuse to use some crab meat that I've had on hand: crab cakes with scallions. For our sides, I'm going to shell the peas and cook them as is and then roast the bok choy.

The cucumbers won't last long in our house and the fruit has pretty much been wiped out by the kids...in fact, the raspberries didn't last through the morning.

More Wayne!

Adelina continues to be a die-hard Wayne Potash fan, I swear she knows every word to every song. I checked his website yesterday and found that he has lots of upcoming concerts...including one today at the Pottery Barn Kids in Burlington. So while Caleb was at school, I took Lina and Levi to see him perform. As with last time, Lina was completely star-struck. She just stood very still and watched him in amazement. She finally loosened up and danced and sang along with him. He had a request segment of the concert and one little girl asked him to sing "You are my sunshine" and I think it made her mad...it's not a "Wayne" song, so she covered up her ears! Levi was all smiles and I think he really enjoyed listening to the music.

During his good-bye song, Wayne gave Lina a little shout-out...and amazingly I caught it on camera.

Catching Up Again

The camera has been idle the past week or so...and so has the blog. So to get back on track, here's a quick update on what we've been up to. Last weekend we celebrated Father's Day on Sunday. The kids had been hard at work during the week making a card for Randy and going shopping. Caleb thought Randy would enjoy some beer and Lina wanted to buy him some chocolate and we all bought him some new tea. The kids put together a nice breakfast for him and then we went strawberry picking later on in the day. It was a nice day for the best dad I know!

Levi had his 4 month well visit on Friday. Randy's nickname for him of late has been "Chunk" and it turns out to be appropriate. He's a whopping 15 lbs 4 oz and 25.5 inches long...by far our biggest baby. He did great with the shots, but unfortunately has been suffering from his first cold (a gift from Caleb and Lina).

We were just treated with a visit from Uncle Tate and Aunt Emily. The kids were thrilled for the extra attention that they got and had a wonderful time. We ate at some good restaurants and spent lots of time dodging rain drops. Randy and Tate ran a 5K yesterday and then went with Emily to the MFA. It was a nice visit.

And for the FDC update...

Week 2: spinach, kale, fennel, scallions, chard, lettuce, Napa cabbage, 3 qts strawberries and herb chevre. I made a Napa cabbage salad with seared tuna, spinach quesadillas alongside a mexican salad, a chard and fennel soup, and sauteed kale as a side for some salmon.

Week 3: 8 garlic scapes, swiss chard, dinosaur kale, green kale, radishes, salad turnips, bok choy, lettuce and 2.5 qts strawberries. I've made a swiss chard pie with garlic scapes, basil, and tomatoes, sauteed turnips with raisins and white wine, eaten lots of salads with radishes, made a kale and sweet potato coconut curry, and finally prepared kale chips, which were amazing! The strawberries (from FDC and picking) have gone into strawberry shortcake, strawberry ice cream, a blueberry and strawberry cobbler, and some strawberry jam....we've also eaten tons and frozen some for smoothies.

Graduation Day

Today was Caleb's last day of school for this school year. In true Rockland Montessori style, they had a BIG graduation and reception at his school today. The kids sang a bunch of songs that they had learned over the year, wore the cutest little cap and gowns, and were presented with their first diplomas. Although Caleb isn't truly graduating from preschool, I think today was really appropriate and special when I reflect on how much he has grown since September. Those first weeks of preschool were so challenging for us, Caleb cried at every drop-off and my heart just ached for him. And now 9 months later, he can't wait for school days and enjoys every minute. He's become more social and has expanded his interests. We couldn't be more proud of him.
This is his official school graduation picture taken a few weeks ago.

The graduates marching in to perform for the parents, who were all heavily armed with cameras and video cameras.

Caleb, Emma, and Hunter

Singing a butterfly song. Bless his heart, signing is not one of his favorite activities...especially in front of a crowd, but his lips were moving!

Caleb getting his diploma.

With the presentation of each diploma, the child's teacher said a few words about what made that child special to them. Caleb got the "Most Courtly and Well-Mannered Child" award and a card that read: "Caleb is a true gentleman. His formal and respectful way of speaking brings a smile to all who meet him. He is always polite, kind, and appropriate. I adore Caleb. Love, Mrs. Armstrong". Needless to say I got pretty emotional upon hearing those words about our child. Again, we are just so proud of the little boy he is.

Lina and her big brother.

After the reception, we had a very nice lunch with Kristen, Ryan, and Ella and celebrated the boys being done with school. It was a hot afternoon, so Caleb and Lina enjoyed some time in the sprinkler. It's been a great day.

Exersaucer

It's hard to believe, but Levi is big and strong enough to stand in the exersaucer. Caleb and Lina have probably been even more excited than Levi about playing with the toys.

Our rainy Saturday

It's been a rainy-cool day, but we've had lots of fun. Randy and the kids made their standard big breakfast of grits, eggs, and bacon while I went to the gym for a bootcamp class. We did some chores around the house and then headed into Cambridge for lunch.

Caleb had wanted to eat food from Sudan this month, but Randy and I felt like we didn't have the time to devote to planning and cooking for the meal....so we did the next best thing and ate at an Ethiopian restaurant. For appetizer the kids sipped on guava juice and we all ate bread dipped in split pea puree and shared sambusas, which were little pastries filled with vegetables. For the entree, a large plate was brought out to our mesoba (table) that was filled with lentils, split peas, mixed vegetables, cracked wheat, salad (chopped tomatoes, onions, peppers), lamb, and more split pea puree. The food was all on top of a very thin pancake like bread and we were also given a stack of the same bread....there were no utensils, everything we ate we picked up with the bread. The kids (and Randy and I) had so much fun scooping up the food and eating with our fingers.

After nap time, we went to the YMCA in Malden for a swim. We all had a great time enjoying the water. We had a mish-mash dinner of smoothies, fruit, sandwiches, cheese, etc....and afterwards the kids were wild. I can't help but think that days like today are what memories are made of - simple times, enjoying each other, the laughter and noise of our children. As I told Randy, it's the good stuff. Here's a little of the end-of-day chaos.

FDC: Week 1

It's finally farm co-op season!!! We enjoyed some pre-season treats of fiddleheads, asparagus, eggs, and rhubarb over the past month, but now we are in for our weekly treats!! This week we got a head of broccoli, a head of lettuce, a bunch of turnips, a head of kohlrabi, 1 bunch of purple kale, 2 lbs of rhubarb, and 1 quart of strawberries. The strawberries took quite a hit before we even got back to the car. Adelina loves strawberries! We had no problem eating them all in a day.

So, with our share I've made a large salad using the lettuce, broccoli, and lots of veggies that we had on hand; we had our favorite beans and greens dinner using the kale; last night we ate fried fish sandwiches with kohlrabi slaw (which wasn't such a hit, but I thought it was pretty good). I made rhubarb muffins (yum) and probably one of the best desserts ever: strawberry-rhubarb cobbler topped with homemade vanilla ice cream. On tap for tomorrow or Monday night is a pasta dish made with orzo, turnips, greens, and raisins.

Looking forward to week #2!

Adelina Dresses Up

Adelina has really been enjoying Caleb's school days because she knows she'll get a little extra attention while big brother is away...especially if Levi takes a nap. As soon as Caleb leaves, Lina puts in her request to play with me and lately she's really been enjoying dressing up.

And last night while I was fixing dinner, she went to the bathroom and then said she needed some chapstick. I was busy and can usually trust her to put on some chapstick and go on her way. Well a couple minutes went by and I realized that it was dangerously quiet in the bathroom. I turn around to find her applying mascara to her face!

DPW Day/Franklin Park Zoo

On Monday the kids and I had a very full day. In the morning we went to the annual DPW (Department of Public Works) day in Melrose, which is a really great event for the kids. The city yard and the adjacent street is closed and all the town's trucks...from garbage trucks to snow plows to front loaders are on display and the kids can climb all over them. There are also games, bouncy houses, information about recycling, etc... It's another reason that I think Melrose is such a great family town.

After lunch I took the kids to the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. The highlight for us were the gorillas. The mother gorilla of the family had a baby back in November and we were all quite taken with the little one. I was surprised how small the baby gorilla was and how mobile it was already. We all loved watching the baby ride on the mom's back and play around with her big sister. I could have watched them all day.

Siblings at play

Papa gorilla

When we got home from the zoo, we spent some time in the yard. We've had lots of nesting birds around us this year and have enjoyed watching all the activity. We were really close to the suet feeder when the daddy downy woodpecker showed up with his son and proceeded to feed him. It was really cool.

Levi's 100th Day

Yesterday was Levi's 100th day, so as with Caleb and Lina we had fun celebrating the occasion. I took lots of pictures of him so that we could compare his pictures to those of his older siblings....he and Caleb are even wearing the same outfit. Levi's come a long way in his 100 days of life. He's up to about 14 lbs and is meeting milestones all the time. He still doesn't really like being on his tummy, but he's getting stronger and has rolled over a couple of times. He's grabbing at toys and gaining interest in playing on his own. He's very social and loves to smile and laugh at everyone in the family. He continues to be a mellow and easy-going baby and seems to just go with the flow. He's been doing great at night, so we are all feeling rested. He's an amazing addition to the family!

Levi wiggling about

We got a cake from the new bakery downtown and the kids sang to Levi. We then looked at pictures and videos of them when they were 100 days--a fun walk down memory lane.

Levi looks pissed that he can't have any cake!

Pictures of Caleb and Lina at 100 days. Who do you think Levi looks like? Randy and I think there has been a change in the past couple of weeks and that he is looking more like Lina. And we didn't realize how much hair they both had compared to Levi.