Independence Day Teens and Food

The vegan, gluten free Springtime Strawberry Lime Crisp is baking in the oven. My husband and I will be taking it, along with his should-be-world famous corn, to our dear family friends.

Our sons are in Spain and Florida, exercising their own independence. We miss them terribly but are so happy to know they are having beautiful experiences, the eldest at a home stay with the Experiment in International Living in Valencia, the younger at a goal-keeper camp in St. Petersburg. The organizers of that camp, who coached Tim Howard here in New Jersey, had scheduled him to help run the camp. World Cup Success intervened.
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At Our House: St. Joseph's Day Feasting

As I drove to the 65,000-square-foot wholesale bakery at the top of a hill, I could smell the bread baking, even behind my van's closed windows. Inside the retail store of Anthony and Sons, there were more smells - and sights - of bread baking. Some of my students work here and I have never visited. Today, being St. Joseph's Day, I decided to. I never tire of discovering the treasure troves of my faith; tonight my parish will celebrate with a special Mass so we might contemplate the man who raised the son of God.

Keeping It Simple: Girls' Night In

Last night, five friends came over and we baked brownies together. My "menfolk" decided to make  themselves scarce: Greg took himself out to dinner, Gabe ordered Chinese and ate it in his room and Lucas fell asleep in his room (though he did come downstairs to lick the big mixing bowl first). While I had hoped to save my family's batch for an upcoming Jazz Coffeehouse at Lucas' school, this is the sight that greeted me when I finally woke up today.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Try to Have an Easter Attitude

When you are in the midst of the most stressed-out week your family has had in a long time, 

Seven Quick Takes for Friday

1. Our eldest son,  a high school junior, earned a spot in his high school's National Honor Society chapter.  We all went to the induction ceremony last night in the high school cafeteria.

I was really proud of our son, who is maturing daily.  I was moved by the students' individual thank yous to parents, coaches, and teachers. I was creeped out by the pseudo-religious nature of the ceremony, which involved a darkened cafeteria and kids already in NHS lighting and exchanging candles with the new inductees. And then there are the "four pillars of NHS:" character, scholarship, leadership and service, each with its own candle.

I am not making this up.

Neither my husband nor I remember any of this nonsense when we joined NHS at our high schools. 

 "Mom, if you walked into there in the middle of the ceremony you would have thought it was some kind of cult," our 13-year-old quipped on the car ride home.

How Will You Celebrate Easter? Please Share!

OK, you might be thinking: Easter? We already celebrated Easter. This post is so yesterday. 

Nope. Easter - or Eastertide - is an entire liturgical season, stretching all the way to Pentecost. I mentioned this to our sons last night, as a way of explaining why their pane di Pasqua would not be ready by dinner. "Why doesn't anyone know that?" my 13 year old asked me.

Better Late Than Never: My Homely Pane Di Pasqua

By the time the Pane di Pasqua was out of the oven tonight, everyone else had gone upstairs and to sleep. So of course,  I had to take a nibble, even though I already was full from our Easter feast of lamb chops, brisket and grilled carrots, which I washed down with some Pinot Noir.

Blueberries for All on a Drizzly Day

Remember Blueberries for Sal? That lovely picture book by Robert McCloskey? It's about the little girl named Sal and her mother, who go blueberry picking on Blueberry Hill in Maine. Well, Sal has nothing on us.

I had a three-pound bag of frozen blueberries from Stop N Shop, which kept staring at me every time I opened the freezer door for ice cubes, flour (yes, I keep flour in the freezer), chicken or whatever. Today, I decided it was time to use them.

My Evening Without Quentin Tarantino, in the Company of the Belfast Cowboy

The second day of Christmas has been quiet; walking the dog under a gray sky, my husband and younger son heading to basketball practice and all of us managing long naps while we could hear the wind blowing through the trees.

watercolor by Sandra Ovono