Pink Prickly Pear

In which we eat like hearty farmers.

Those of you subject to my relentless stream of porcine uploads on Facebook, know that we spend one morning a week at Green Gate Farms in East Austin.  Mini-Pear takes an art class (nestled under the trees, adjacent to the most adorably ramshackle red barn) while her brother and I wander the farm, free to commune with baby piglets, free-range chickens, goats and a very friendly horse.  Their farm stand was on hiatus for the first few weeks we were there, but I did manage to buy the most delicious eggs.

It is really something to arrive at the farm and know that the gorgeous, organic vegetables you are going to take home with you are being picked right now!  

I was going to just get a few things from the farm stand, when Farmer Erin let it slip there were still a couple of CSA shares available.  You know I jumped on that opportunity!

So, Friday's share included:

Okra

Cucumbers

Sweet peppers

Japanese Eggplant

Basil

Garlic

Mizuna

Serrano peppers

Little hot red peppers 

Zucchini

Chez Pear has always been an eggplant-free zone, based purely upon Mr. Pear's unfounded, yet vehement opposition to the poor unsuspecting vegetable.  He has however, always maintained that he will "eat wot he is gived", so I decided to forge ahead and use the eggplants, basil and hot peppers on Friday night in Pud Makua Yow.  I don't think I've ever seen dinner disappear so fast!  Who likes eggplant now?!?!  Who was talking about it the next day?!?!  

Thought so...

On Saturday, I used the cucumbers and a sweet pepper in a cucumber salad we took to a cookout with friends.  Sunday night, the mizuna got tossed in a green salad.  Tonight we'll arrive home from Mini-Pear's theatre class to a hearty vegetable stew waiting in the slow cooker, incorporating the okra, zucchini, garlic, and other local vegetables I picked up at Wheatsville at the end of the week.  I was crazy to only sign up for half a share!

I've been awake for hours...

Well before dawn.  Hours before dawn.  Why?

This one, to be sure.  

I did not take that picture this morning.  In that picture this one is eating.  And eating is not something this one wants to do lately. 

Frequently, this one decides he's not all that into eating.

Vita-Mix to the rescue!  A generous handful of kale, a generous tablespoon of chia seeds, a generous dollop of full fat organic yogurt with the cream on top mixed with whatever fresh fruit we've got on hand makes a super smoothie packed with enough protein and vitamins to let this mama's mind rest at ease. He will always drink a smoothie!

Except for yesterday afternoon.  And last night.  Oh, and this morning.  He was hungry last night.  Hungry this morning.  But he does not want that smoothie.  Or this one.  Or a banana.  Or some blueberries.  Or Gorilla Munch.  Or grapes.  Or cherry tomatos, or any other orb shaped fruit for that matter!

You know when you haven't eaten, and your mood gets a little...all. over. the. place???????

It's like that.  

I have offered chips.  I have offered ice cream.  I have offered him his yogurt.  I have offered him his sister's yogurt.

In a couple of hours, I am taking him and his sister to the beach to meet up with some friends.  Not so many months ago, he could be counted on to eat sand at the beach.  Perhaps he will have some sand for lunch.  I would not mind.

Four.

That would be the number of occasions I have obligingly allowed D'anjou to guide my hand towards his mouth in order to let him spit out a less than desirable morsel of food into it.

Three of those occasions?  Almonds.

Dear D'anjou,

I don't think you like those.  Let's move on to something else.

Love, 

Mama

Coconut flour pancakes

If you're nostalgic for mid-summer make-out sessions behind the tennis courts at the pool club, then maybe you'll relish the flavor of these gluten free gems facsimiles of pancakes.

I don't mind coconut so much, and some of those make-out sessions were pretty sweet, so I'll probably make them again, but no one else in my house is particularly smitten by them.

A sink full of dirty dishes later...

and a container of completely inedible baba ghanoush.

Mondays are...

trying.

How many times can I make a little snack for the boy, only to have him either spit it out, throw it on the floor, humor me with one bite, or turn resolutely away from it?  I don't know, but the boy's got to eat, hasn't he?  I should mention that the majority of the time these are little snacks he has gestured towards emphatically.  He has grasped my hand in his and yanked on the fridge door, or attempted to scale the kitchen drawers in an effort to reach a container on the counter.  He has wailed impatiently while I unwrapped, or washed, or sliced, or heated up...and then...

Breathing.  Breathing is good.  As is not thinking about waste.

Yay/Boo: The inmates are running the asylum version.

Yay: My "picky eater" two fistin' pears.  

Yay:  The other one.  Crazy.  But happy!  So happy!  Cannot squelch her joy!

Boo: The fireplace is not a great place to play (purely from the perspective of the mother and family laundress).

Yay: The removable top of my sewing table is the perfect size to hide the fireplace!

Boo:  Uh, sewing table?!?!?  No sewing table.  No sewing table.  No sewing table.  No sewing table.  I am gutted.

Related boo:  The underside of a workbench is not the most attractive addition to our decor. 

Yay:  Spaghetti carbonara with organic bacon for dinner last night.  And leftovers for lunch.  It's the little things, isn't it?

Yay: Reading Watership Down aloud with the whole family.

Possible impending Boo: Claustrophobic nightmares (mine - not the kids, they are as tough as nails) brought on by sympathizing with the plight of anthropomorphic rabbits.

I don't know why I bother keeping my old cookbooks around.

90% of the time, I just type in my ingredients and "recipe" into Google and see what comes up.  Or I'll have an idea about something I think will go well together and so I type the combination in just to see if it's been done, or what else might make it taste less "thrown together".

So today I have a couple of rotten pumpkins, some leftover Quinoa and a hankering for rice pudding.  I'm thinking of simmering it in a little whole milk with some flaked almonds and a bit of cardamom, but it never hurts to see what my other options are.

I prefer recipe sites with reviews.  Sometimes the recipe will get a bad rating, but reviewers will post substitutions or other tips for tweaking it.  Sometimes the reviewers are of no help whatsoever, but apparently feel the need to comment anyway:

This was fine, but not great. I used applesauce instead of bananas, and fat free milk with a little canola oil instead of whole milk, which seemed to work. Maybe it would have been better if I followed the recipe exactly, though.

I don't know.  Might as well say, "Well, I made chocolate pudding instead, but I'm still going to give this recipe a low rating".

For the record, everyone else gave the recipe excellent marks.  I'll let you know how mine turns out.

Let's put Thriller on repeat today, shall we?

Mini-Pear has declared Halloween her favorite holiday.  She ran into our room this morning and dove under the covers with us, "Happy Halloween!" 

Halloween.  I could take it or leave it, but I'll try not to squelch the kids' joy too terribly much.

 

Our park day's Halloween Shin Dig (organized by Mini-Pear) was a raging success.  Potluck contributions were the bomb.  I ate very well, as did the boy, but apparently it didn't stop my little kitty from hunting mice.  All we want for Christmas is hanta virus!

 

Close inspection of both pictures will reveal the kids in matching tie-dyed costumes.  Insufferably cute, and once again, we demonstrate our homemade costuming prowess!

The dog ate all our bread on Monday, so I'm having a brownie for breakfast. 

Nothing like modeling healthy food choices.