taste of summer

1. "Swallow-Them-All Banana Balls" (Everyday Vegan by Dreena Burton)

These were really easy and fun to make. Apples, dates, banana, coconut, flax meal, almond butter, and corn flakes are rolled into balls between your palms, which are then rolled around in carob powder and/or coconut.

2. Aztec cereal

That's the crunchy yellow breakfast cereal by Erewhon. It has corn, amaranth, apple juice, sea salt, and nothing else. Eliza is crazy for this stuff.

3. ambrosia melon & blueberries

I'm not sure how ambrosia melon is different from cantaloupe, but it was perfectly sweet and delicious. The blueberries were from Stehly Farms Organics in North County and perfect. Blueberries are my favorite fruit of all, but they have been crazy expensive all season so far. Just last week, a tiny container went for $8 or $9 at Whole Foods, but this week they were $2 at the co-op. It looks like Stehly doesn't sell at any of this county's farmers' markets though. Bummer. I'll have to hope the co-op keeps getting a steady crop for weeks (months? I dare not hope) to come.

4. "Quick Lemon-Garlic Quinoa Salad" (Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair)

When I thought about what to do with the red quinoa, this was the first thing that came to mind. I make this salad (with typical quinoa) once a month or so. Most of the ingredients are raw (only the quinoa is cooked) and tastes best chilled or at room temperature, so it does well for lunch box or picnic fare. There was only a subtle flavor difference between the red quinoa and the usual suspect, so I think I prefer the cream-colored quinoa for visual appeal if nothing else (the brown-red quinoa makes it difficult to see the carrots, sunflower seeds, and parsley).

I almost forgot - I substituted Udo's DHA for part of the olive oil and the flavor was still very good. I wouldn't replace more than half since there's nothing like the fruity flavor of quality extra-virgin olive oil.

* * * * *

Fruit is without a doubt my favorite part about summer. I'm miserable when the temperatures rise above 80 (although the 80s sound pretty good compared to the day last summer I was stuck in Escondido the afternoon it hit 115 and the power went off for hours), so fresh fruit is my consolation.

Eliza's favorite fruits of May have been the various melons. Although she vacuums up them all, her favorite is watermelon, or as she says, "waduh-muhmuh." I like melons alright, but I'm really a berry person (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries - in that order). I was thinking that for my monthly dessert, I'd like to make the "Sexy Low-Fat Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberries" from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They are the cutest things with upside-down raspberries adorning the top and just a trickle of glaze.

crazy fruit

This week's trip to the co-op brought a few new finds.

First, after reading cookbook author Dreena Burton's post about a vegan DHA oil blend, I decided to give it a shot (good timing - my supplements just ran out). Dreena says it tastes "clean," which is good to hear since I have to disguise straight flax oil (such as in the fabulous sesame-miso vinaigrette from La Dolce Vegan!).


Second, I hadn't intended to buy any quinoa (having so much in my pantry), but I've never seen quinoa like this. The "grains" are considerably smaller than typical quinoa and possess an earthy red-brown hue.

Finally, that large green fruit that looks like it's wearing armor is a cherimoya. According to the Wiki article, "The fruit is fleshy and soft, sweet, white in color, with a custard-like texture, which gives it its secondary name, custard apple. Some characterize the flavor as a blend of pineapple, mango and strawberry." I had no idea what it was when I spotted it, but since it was organically grown in local Escondido, I thought the mystery fruit was worth a shot.

Cherimoyas have their own website - who knew? - complete with eating suggestions. Once it's fully ripened (it should get softer like an avocado), I'll cut it in half and we'll all eat half raw and put the rest in the freezer, since the website says it's ice cream-like. Hmm, we'll see. I hope it's Organic-Rice-Divine good and not soy-ice-cream lame.

can't catch me!

"Run, run, fast as you can. Can't catch me... I'm the ginger man." Her chanting would have been more charming if she hadn't been acting it out at the grocery store. No wonder it took me two hours to get out of there.

just my luck

Every time I think of something to post, I've forgotten what that was by the next time I have time alone with the cursed laptop (its AC connection is so wonky that it goes into hibernation mode every 20 seconds to 5 minutes, making composing a simple e-mail difficult).

Kvetch #1: On Tuesday, I spoke with the bike shop manager, who informed me that he could put on a temporary fork. I told him as wonderful as that sounds, we couldn't afford a few hundred dollars at the moment. "Oh, no," he protested, "cost of labor only." I was confused because I was told a few weeks ago that it would cost hundreds by an employee, who was himself confused. We fork over the fork when the permanent part arrives from Timbuktu. He continued, "it will be ready for you within the hour." I was speechless to think that these two months stuck at home could have been avoided for $20.

Although the bike shop is just two blocks away, the errand took nearly two impossibly long hours. Eliza outright refused to hold my hand despite traffic roaring by at 50+ mph. I literally had to carry all 32 pounds of her most of the way there - my back was crying. The way back was even worse as she still refused to hold my hand, but that time, I had a bike to steer in addition to an angry diva. When she wouldn't budge for anything, I had no choice but to sit and stay until she decided to move a few more feet; I couldn't carry her and steer the bike. It was so much easier making trips to the bike shop when I could just plunk her in a mei tai (yes, I know it's technically still possible, but she's so heavy now).

I arrive home exhausted and miserable, but at least the bike was fixed. The car was mine on Wednesday! I wish I could have gone somewhere more exciting, but I needed to make a trip to the co-op, and it was either then or at night. No problem - I was planning to go E's playgroup's craft day on Thursday. Little did I guess that DH would leave for work on his bike Thursday only to return five minutes later . . . with a flat tire! Since he got a flat tire just two days before March's crash, that means he got a flat two of the last five days riding the bike.

I could have gotten the flat fixed Thursday, but I wasn't about to have a repeat of Wednesday afternoon's adventure. So I went back to being housebound for a couple more days.

Kvetch #2: One of the few places we can go within walking distance is music class. DH dropped us off (along with the stroller) in the morning. All was going well in class until Eliza came crashing down on my lap at an angle, literally knocking my kneecap out of its joint!* I shrieked in pain. It was only a mild dislocation, which snapped back immediately, but my reaction frightened Eliza badly. For ten minutes, I held her as tears streamed down her face. I reassured her that I was going to be fine, but she was so shaken that it took some time to calm down.

It took the better part of an hour to limp the mile home.

Can I add a third kvetch? During the composition of this entry, my laptop has hibernated at least a half dozen times. Next post, no kvetching - I have photos of Eliza's aquatic-muffin-duck masterpiece.

* I've had "trick knees" since ever I can remember. It's not a problem I think about much anymore because Southern California's climate means there's never ice to slip on, twisting my leg and knee - what used to be a frequent problem back east only now happens once every year or two.

tantrums

Between our being mostly housebound and her father's long hours at work, Eliza's tantrums have increased in length and intensity these last couple weeks. Most of the time, there's no trigger as far as I can see, and when there is a discernible cause, it's so odd. Here are two examples:

She asked for a pickle. What did I do? I handed her the pickle she had asked for (silly me), which was immediately thrown on the floor and declared "yucky!" She started walking away and was completely indifferent to the pickle's fate until I threw it in the trash. She threw herself on the kitchen floor only to bump her head hard, so her screaming intensified turning her face crimson. Often holding her will help her calm down, but not that day - it made her even more angry. So she screamed herself hoarse for a good 20 minutes on the family room carpet until her throat hurt so much she could only croak. All I could do was sit next to her helplessly - any attempt to make contact infuriated her. When she finally regained her composure, she curled into my lap, nestling her head against my shoulder to read a few books.

One of yesterday's tantrums was set off by Legos. You know the little Lego men? Eliza thought they'd be better off without pants. Great. The only problem is that the pants don't come off, which I tried to explain to no avail - she went off the deep end.

She's a good egg, a wonderful little person, and it makes me sad to see her so frustrated.

spring plans

As it turns out, spring will be more than half over by the time I have the car again, but a couple weeks ago when I was more optimistic, I tinkered with our chart (which lost pretty graphics when I uploaded it to Google).

Eliza only has one "class" at the moment. She has been going to Musical Children since she was 5½ months old - more than 2 years now! She was in a toddler tumbling class for about a year, which was once the highlight of her week, but we dropped it in December when overcrowding (coinciding with a bout of stranger anxiety) took out the fun.

The library's story time might be a good out-of-house activity. Our nearest library is beautiful - the building itself has stained glass windows, and there's a duck pond outside.* We used to go on Wednesday afternoons for more than a year (before I buried myself in library fines). Story time is every Tuesday at 10 for kids 3-6 years old (there is no toddler story time). At 2½, Eliza is tall and willowy, a full head above many 2 years olds, so based on physical appearance alone, no one would suspect she's not yet 3, so the only question is . . . would she sit still for a half hour? C feels it's worth a shot; after all, if Eliza is restless, we could remove ourselves and go to the duck pond - no money lost (it's free) and we only went 2 miles to get there.

Once the weather improves, we can start going again to the aquatic center 1½ miles away, which has a children's aqua playground in 18" deep water.

* I still remember the first time I took Eliza there as an older baby. After I checked out a few books, we sat in the adjacent meadow enjoying the sun while Eliza examined the wildflowers. When I told C about it later that day, he couldn't stop laughing. "So let me get this right. . . . you were nursing your cloth-diapered vegetarian flower child in a meadow. You are a hippie!" How droll. :/




(Photos on right are from her 2nd birthday; in the baby photo, she's 9½ months old.)

still stranded

2½ weeks from today. "You've got to be kidding" was the first thought that came to mind when the bike repair guy updated me as to when the bike part is expected to arrive. He had told me in late March that it had to be ordered from overseas, but he didn't tell me it was at the peak of Mount Everest, which could be the only possible explanation for a single bike part taking more than a month to arrive. I may remain stranded at home on weekdays until May.

The silver lining in all this is that our garden is well-tended, I've had time to catch up on Latin, and Eliza is happy as a clam spending the day reading and playing.

isolated

"Mommy's so sad."

No kidding. I've been feeling isolated for weeks. About a month ago, C had emergency surgery, which meant he couldn't bike in to work for a couple weeks, the consequence of which being that I was stuck home without a car unless I cared to waste an hour between two round trips of carpooling. Only a couple days after he resumed biking, he got a flat tire. Eliza and I walked the bike to the shop that day to have it fixed. Just two days after that, he crashed his bike into a parked car, mangling the front fork. "Didn't I just see you?" the bike shop employee asked. Unfortunately, this wasn't as easily fixed as a popped tire. I just got word that the special-ordered part would take a couple weeks to arrive.

For now, I have the car since C is out of town on business this week. I would much rather have him around than the car, but it's going to be hard being housebound these next two weeks. I guess I had better take advantage of having the car until he comes home.

Maybe we'll go to the Thursday playgroup tomorrow. I really miss them, but they're meeting so far from my house this week, and I'd feel like a shlub burning up that much gas. But since I haven't been in a month now, and our next opportunity won't be until after Pesach, I just might do it.

As if the bike/car woes weren't enough, this afternoon Miss Eliza thought my cell phone needed a bath. I sent an e-mail to C, who told me to take out the battery and let it dry overnight before trying to use the phone (I don't hold out much hope).

So next week, we're home alone with no car and no phone. When it rains it pours.