Voted Off the Island: Rites of Spring

March 24, 2008

Rites of Spring

My rites of Spring

Cutting forsythia branches and bringing them inside

Cooking baby asparagus

Changing the winter comforter to the cotton quilt

Seeing matzahs in the supermarket

Seeing my kids wearing their Birkenstocks

Making appointments for camp/summer physicals

The birds are back!

Cleaning for Passover

Sidewalks and cafes come alive . . .love those heat lamps

The Dogwood Festival comes to town

Pulling out pansies and planting stuff that can take the heat...like lantana.

Knowing that soon the car will be covered in pollen dust.

He's baaack.

Wondering how much longer The Starlight Six Drive-In will be around.

Getting Chastain tickets.

Joining a CSA . . . Community Supported Agriculture

Enjoying my porches . . .front and side.

Posted at 12:48 PM | Permalink

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Aahhhhhhhhh.... the ice cream man.....back in the day I think that a specialty ice cream cone/bar (Nutty Buddy perhaps?) was no more than 20 cents. Pied Piper, Good Humor or Mr. Softee? I think that Pied Piper and Good Humor have both closed their ice cream truck businesses. I still see a Mr. Softee truck every now and then on the streets of NYC.

Posted by: chailifeatlanta | March 25, 2008 at 12:26 AM

Strangely enough, in my neighborhood the only time you hear the ice cream truck is in the dead of winter! Seriously, he comes 2 or 3 times during the winter, right before dinner time. Never in the summer, and he drives fast enough that kids can't catch him if they wanted to.

Posted by: Katherine | March 26, 2008 at 09:00 AM

Wow, actual cleaning for Passover. That's pretty intense. We clean so that the health department doesn't condemn the place, but that's about our level..

Posted by: davido | March 31, 2008 at 03:38 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.

What I'm Reading

Jennifer Homans: Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet
Brilliant and BIG new history of ballet. Cool to be reading this after "The Black Swan."
Zoe Heller: The Believers: A Novel
Fun novel of family dysfunction -- an iconic leftie family (think William Kunstler) in NYC wrestles with truth and and loyalty as the patriarch lies in a coma.
Patti Smith: Just Kids
Patti Smith's style is lean and direct, but she still grabs your heart and soul in this memoir of NYC in the 70's and her lifelong friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe.
Allegra Goodman: The Cookbook Collector: A Novel
I didn't even realize it was a riff on Jane Austin. Well done novel dealing with themes of family, greed, trust and identity during the dot com boom.
Howard Jacobson: The Finkler Question (Man Booker Prize)
Substitute "Jew" for Finkler and you have a biting and hilarious novel about Jews in England.
Curtis Sittenfeld: Prep: A Novel
David Kamp: The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution
How I forgot to read this I'll never know...had a copy on the shelf and overlooked it. A very entertaining and well done overview of the Foodie Revolution. Putting all the players and trends into a time line makes me see how far we've come, and how far we still have to go.
Anthony Bourdain: Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
The always entertaining Tony Bourdain comes to terms, sort of, with aging, old grudges, and the delights of fatherhood. He hasn't totally lost his edge, but there are some knicks on the blade. The chapter on the guy who breaks down 700 pounds of fish every day for Le Bernardin is worth the whole book.
Hilary Thayer Hamann: Anthropology of an American Girl: A Novel
Well, I finished it. And I liked it alot. But then, I love books about bourgeois life where nothing much happens. The writing is sharp and evocative. The story is, I dunno, familiar? Most interesting is the story of how this book went from a self-published effort to a mainstream book. Kudos to HTH.
Clay Shirky: Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
A must read for anyone involved with social media or who is left breathless by the pace of change in our world.

What I'm Cooking

Cheap Ceviche
This is almost a mock ceviche because it's made with junk fish (tilapia) and surimi, the tofu of fish. However, with the right amounts of lime juice, cilantro, onion and hot sauce, even cheap fish makes a fabulous ceviche. I chopped up a 1/2 pound of tilapia and combined it with 2 packages of chunked surimi. Marinate in juice of 5 limes, 1/2 red onion chopped fine, and one head of cilantro chopped fine. Add a healthy squirt of Sriracha sauce and refrigerate.
Collard Greens
My CSA is sending us lots of green love in the form of collard greens. Here's my very delicious veggie-but-smoky recipe. In a large pot add 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 cup water. Nice pinch of salt, and 3/4 tsp. Spanish smoked Paprika. Add your chopped collards and simmer gently for at least 45 minutes.
Tzatziki Sauce
Just outstanding on everything. Take a container of Greek style yogurt (no-fat, low -fat, doesn't matter). Grate 2-3 thin skinned middle eastern cukes on a box grater and squeeze out all the water. Mince 3 cloves of garlic VERY fine. Stir cucumber and garlic into yogurt, add a splash of olive oil and a grind of black pepper. Dunk in vegetable of your choice, slather on spanakopitas, etc.
Polenta
Apparently the par-boiled polenta I'm using is considered ca-ca by serious cooks. I've found it to be utterly delicious, especially smothered with sauteed portobello mushrooms. I will give plain old yellow cornmeal polenta a try after Thanksgiving.
Hangar Steak
Grilled in a cast iron pan in the oven, on broil. Remarkably tender and so quick. Salt, pepper and smoked paprika for seasoning.
Brussels Sprouts + Corn
A smashing combination -- the bitter tang of the Brussels Sprouts with the sweetness of corn. Saute with olive oil, salt and pepper. C'est tout!
Stuffed Cabbage
My favorite recipe From the NY Times Jewish Cookbook, made with fresh cranberries and canned cranberry sauce. Total yum.

Voted Off the Island

Bye bye L.I. Hello Atlanta.

March 24, 2008

Rites of Spring

Comments

About

Subscribe to this Blog

The Daily Time Suck

Blogcetera - An Idiosyncratic Blogroll

Atlanta Blog Folks

Foodie Blogs I Like

What I'm Reading

What I'm Cooking

Archives

Categories

Usage & Licenses