We can’t seem to give up the coconut + five spice combination, despite 2 previous efforts. The biscotti got little exposure because, well, as we discovered, only people who actually eat biscotti buy biscotti. Compared to cookies, biscotti is a hard sell. So we turned the combo into a mini macaroon. I have to say, when they are around, I can’t stop popping them in my mouth. I was never a macaroon eater, but these are addictive. They sell well at the Flea, but we had a bit of a tough time with shelf life so we are hesitant to sell them online. So what’s next? A drop cookie…this time with white chocolate. Pretty good so far and I think we are going to put them into a special Father’s Day box. Stay tuned…

I was the first to wake up this morning despite the fact that I was the last to go to sleep. It’s amazing how well I can function on so little sleep (relatively speaking, of course). I’m not used to being the first up in our house so I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet living room, watching the sun stream in.

I often wonder how long we’ll live in this apartment. It’s been 3 years and while the first year was nothing short of a nightmare (and those who know us, know what I mean), the last two years have been most pleasant and I’ve even grown to love this place. It’s a new building in Brooklyn so it has no character or architectural interest what-so-ever, unlike every other place that I’ve lived, but we’re making it our own. Is it weird that I have no interest in owning a house? Aside from a backyard (that’s what my parent’s house is for), and perhaps an extra room so that guests don’t have to camp out in the living room, I’m perfectly content in an apartment building. We’re lucky that we don’t hear neighbors and we have enough space for now. I’ve seen quite a few friends leave Brooklyn the last 2 years, and I’m sure I’ll see a few more go, but we’re holding on to our life here. Besides, I’m not sure where we would even go.

I’m hearing rustling in the other rooms. We’ve got a busy day ahead, prepping for the Flea tomorrow, plus we have a few birthday cake orders going out. By the way, I think I’ve decided that I can become quite good at decorating cakes so as soon as I have some free time (ha!), I’m going to try my hand at flowers and piping icing. Fun!

The humidity hasn’t hit yet but it’s downright warm today. Despite the copious amounts of sunscreen I slather on the girls everyday, they’re turning tan and Claudine even has funny little tan lines on her feet from her sandals. We met up with some friends in front of the Brooklyn Museum this morning to watch the choreographed fountains, but after 2 short thrilling minutes of shooting water works, the damn thing broke and stopped working. Instead, the kids frolicked on the grass while I tried coaxing Claudine onto the grass but she was not happy. I’m guessing she has some sensory issues because she doesn’t like walking on grass or sand, but seriously….how are we going to get by summer if she’s having these issues? Lunches on days like this are usually containers of fruit, cold cuts, sliced veggies and whatever else we might have in the fridge, laid out on a spread. Like me, Mia doesn’t have an appetite these days. Hard to believe how skinny she is getting - both the girls were such big, chubby babies. Now that she has lost all of her baby fat, she is looking so mature.

Despite the postings on this blog, I haven’t felt that hungry the last few days. It’s probably because the weather is getting warmer and I tend to eat less in the summer. In any case, Mark just handed me a grilled cheese sandwich with spicy chorizo which I happily chowed down even though I didn’t feel hungry. I’ve been unable to focus all day, totally scattered and jumping around from one task to another - work, potting tomato plants on the balcony, tending to and thinking about the business, and staring out the window. It’s a pretty day and the windows are wide open which almost makes me feel like I’m outside. I have exactly 1 hour of quiet before the girls come home from being out all day with their babysitter. The calmness of the afternoon will soon be replaced with chatter, chases down the hallway and incessant calls for mommy and daddy. I’m bracing myself.

The thing about buying food at Costco is that whatever you buy, you end up with a lot of it. Not such a big deal if you live in a house with a pantry or a basement for storage, but a very big deal if you live in a city apartment. We’ve been lucky enough to be able to store the massive 3-packs of ketchup and the like in our deep kitchen cabinets, but with more perishable items, like blueberries, you need to be creative. So it’s been blueberry smoothies, pancakes, and this morning, muffins. For some reason all the blueberries sank to the bottom of the muffin pans making them come out like little blueberry upside down cakes. Not so bad if you can pry them out of the muffin tin. At least Claudine, who refuses blueberries normally, ate them. Cautiously, of course.

For a brief hour, the skies looked like this yesterday afternoon. The winds picked up and battered our little potted violets on the balcony, and the gathering clouds created a moody, dramatic backdrop to all the activity, turning the apartment quite dark. As quickly as it came, it passed. In fact, it didn’t really rain much at all and the sun came out again soon after. I love summer storms like this.

When Mark was working as a Pastry Chef, holidays and weekends meant nothing since he was always working. In fact, getting 2 days off in a row was so rare that we never did short weekend trips or 2 day getaways. As you can guess, long weekends have taken on a whole new meaning for us and we happily drove out of Brooklyn and finally felt like any other American enjoying the long weekend. Part of our holiday was spent with swissmiss and her family who were gracious enough to host us (and there’s the pie on her site! ha!). We went to the beach, dutifully grilled meat for our dinner, and sat outdoors under a shaded umbrella for a spectacular summer lunch spread the next day.

This weekend was all about food. We came home Sunday evening for an extended family dinner at a small Korean restaurant in Flushing where we had barbeque cooked on stone plates and the best cold buckwheat noodles (Neng Myun) I’ve ever had. It’s officially summer when you eat that dish.

We ended the holiday weekend back in Flushing with a Chinese wedding banquet held for my good friend James and his new wife Rachel. A multi-course meal where the food kept coming even though we were mighty full midway after the 5th course. Mia ate like a champ and I was thrilled that Claudine liked the lobster soup. It was a spectacular weekend overall and this morning I’m having a bit of trouble switching gears and focusing on work. At least I have banquet leftovers to look forward to!

I have been waiting for rhubarb for a long time. For whatever reason the season seems to have started much later than usual this year and I did see a sign for rhubarb at the Union Square Greenmarket a few weeks ago, but I was told that they had sold out. My apologies were offered to Mia, who seems to like rhubarb just as much as I do and I promised her a pie as soon as I could find some. I finally did track down rhubarb at Provisions, a market in Fort Greene, and with Mia’s help, (she had her own setup with a toy rolling pin and some dough scraps), assembled the pie for a dinner at a friend’s house over the weekend. Rhubarb is one of my all-time favorite foods, going all the way back to my childhood when I would actually eat it raw from my grandmother’s garden. When I use it I never combine it with anything else - to me that just dilutes the flavor. I’m very happy that Mia likes it too. Claudine, however, true to form, rejected her first taste of rhubarb and only wanted the ice cream. I really hope that her pickiness lessens as she gets older as I just can’t imagine anyone growing up without rhubarb.

Rhubarb Pie (makes 1 10-inch pie)

Pie dough for a 10-inch two crust pie
6 cups rhubarb, washed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll half of the pie dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Press into the bottom of the pie pan. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour into the pie. Roll the remaining dough and lay on top. Crimp the edges to seal, and make five small cuts in the top with a small knife. Bake for 1 hour, until the crust is golden. Cool completely before slicing.