Lettuce Entertain You

Yesterday we got our second farm share pickup which was much like the first, lots of varieties of lettuce and not much else.


We got sage, mustard greens, garlic scapes, butter crunch lettuce, mizuna, boy choy, red snail lettuce, romaine, and our first pickup of goat cheese: feta.


After picking up the vegetables I picked up the babies who got to hang out with the parrot who lives outside of day care.


Elliott is barely contained by out baby play zone. Having crawled for eight days he is now pretty much able to completely tear down portions of the wall to either make a break for the hallway or to attack our wine rack and throw bottles to the floor.


Martin is still working on his crawling and is just days away from joining his brother and making our lives twice as challenging.


To celebrate Jen getting home from work I opened this Kama Citra form Beer Here in Denmark. This is a beer brewed with English malt and American Citra hops. I mistakenly thought this was an IPA so I put it into one of our IPA glasses. It was not an IPA but it was very, very good. Apparently it's difficult to get a hold of so I am very grateful to my beer-hunting wife for tracking this one down.


After getting the babies to bed at the late hour of 9:00 PM I made up this stir fry using Chinese cabbage, bok choy, mustard greens, celery, carrot, chicken, shrimp, and red pepper with a little rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce. I served it over white rice. Now I just have to figure out to do with the remaining sixteen pounds of lettuce in the fridge.

Nothing goes better with a nice stir fry than watching the Bruins take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. There is nothing that reminds me of my childhood more than watching the Bruins set me up for an inevitable disappointment.

Go Bruins!

The Father's day Miracle

On Thursday, Elliott developed an incredible diaper rash. He didn't seem to care at all but it was pretty ghastly. I was able to avoid a complicated doctor's visit by just having them call in a prescription cream for the sores he had. Unfortunately day care will barely give a baby food without a signed document from a pediatrician so we resorted to only applying at home.


Since this suddenly came on we've enjoyed some nude time after baths recently. Friday night Elliott got to crawl all over our apartment to let his rash air out. By some miracle he did not pee all over the floor. In that regard I feel like Jen and I are particularly lucky. Personally I've only been peed on once or twice by the babies. They have shown amazing restraint in that area.

I'm just hoping this doesn't mean they're going to be pee on us all the time when they're teenagers.


Jen was in the mood for pizza so after getting them to bed on Friday I made this pizza with ricotta, mozzarella, roast chicken, roasted tomatoes, roasted peppers, and balsamic glaze.


To enjoy with the pizza I opened this bottle of Brux, a collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing Company. It was recommended to age this beer but I've had it for about six months and just wanted to have it right away. I'd highly recommend it if you can find a bottle.


After dinner I had a small glass of this Solera Aged Bourbon from Hillrock Estate Distillery in upstate New York. This was an anniversary gift from Jen as it is aged in wood for our wood anniversary.

This was easily the best bourbon I've ever had. Truly incredible. I had to look up what "Solera Aged" meant and after reading all about it I now realize that I still don't understand what it means.

It's damn good though.


Saturday morning was their last swim class of the season. I'm glad they are unable to understand this because if they knew that this was the last class for a while I have a feeling they'd be pissed. They love swimming so we're going to see about how we can get them back soon.


After class we got a visit from Nana STIM, Grandpa Butch, Auntie Debbie, and Uncle Dave. We took them to the park by the beach and had a nice lunch and some playtime. They were a little cranky from having to wear sunscreen and hats but they still had a pretty good time.


When we got back they got to open presents. Grandpa Butch got them some shirts from his trip to Arizona and a book about Rabbits that Martin is in love with.


Uncle Dave got them some Bruins Jerseys which they wore propelling the Bruins to tie up the Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks. That was a sound investment.


Nana STIM brought some incredible moussaka.


To me it looked like it had been made by someone who had confused our group of six normal adults with a group of 12 NFL linebackers, however, there was barely any left when we were done with it.


After a long day of routine-breaking it was time to attempt getting the guys to sleep.


Grandpa Butch got it all on tape. However, what he didn't get on tape after leaving was one of the worst bedtime wind downs of all time. After a long day of getting riled up and being off routine they were not interested in sleeping at all. Eventually, after much wrangling, they drifted off to sleep and we were left stunned, bruised, and ready for sleep ourselves.


I worked on Father's Day but got home early enough to hang out with the guys before their bedtime. When I got home I discovered that Jen had done all of the laundry. I'd pretty much planned on spending all day Monday doing laundry and was now at a loss with how to spend my day knowing there were now zero loads that needed to be done. That may have been the best Father's Day present (or any kind of present) ever given to me.




I also had time to feed them their first nectarine, amongst large quantities of other foods.

In a start contrast to last night we just bathed the babies, fed them their bottles, and they both instantly fell asleep with absolutely no protest. It was possibly the best Father's Day gift I will ever receive.



For some reason I was desperately craving burgers so we ordered some take out from Ruby's Oyster Bar & Bistro and had one of each of their burger options.

It was incredible. If you haven't done it in a while I highly recommend getting two burgers and just eating every last bite and all of the fries. But you have to eat all the fries. Just do it. You'll be glad you did.


To go along with the burger I had this Peche Mortel from Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!, another from our Quebec trip back in February. It's a coffee stout that is barrel aged for a year and it's fantastic.


To top off the evening I enjoyed a small glass of this High West Whiskey from High West Distillery in Utah. This was the other half of my anniversary gift. While not quite to the level of the Hillrock it was still very, very good.

I now have more whiskey and bourbon that anyone has any right owning. If you want to come to my place for a whiskey and bourbon tasting please give me a call.

And do not drive.



When we went to check up on the Bubses after dinner we found the secret to their fuss-free bedtime. Apparently it involved working themselves ito the most uncomfortable positions imaginable. The key to a good night's sleep is apparently in jamming your feet and legs through the slats of your crib.

Hey, whatever works.

Meals and Mischief

On continues the rains and my unending worries that we will wake up, once again, to our apartment surrounded on all four sides by water. The flood watch remains in effect until Saturday so, until then, I will just continue to worry.


It continued on Tuesday when I fed the Bubses their food after work and they made a holy mess of the place.


It rained all night, even after I got the Bubses to bed and enjoyed this fantastic oak aged quadruple from the Trappist brewery Le Trappe, the only Trappist Brewery in Holland. This is a fantastic beer for a cold night in December, or a miserable rainy night in what must be the wettest, nastiest June of my life.


Yesterday Elliott got to crawling everywhere and it was all I could do to contain both of them as I struggled to put together dinner. As we drove home I saw him squinting in the backseat and I couldn't figure out why since I'd put down his canopy to block the sun from his eyes. Then I realized that he had somehow pulled the shade free and repurposed it as some sort of waist guard.


He continued at home by becoming fascinated with our wine/beer fridge and attempting to liberate its contents.


And finally he discovered that he could pull down the container for their toys and that nothing would be more fun than taking out all of its contents one-by-one to scatter them about the room.


After we finally coaxed them to bed I made this gnocchi with kale from the farm, onion, garlic, andouille from the freezer, olive oil, butter, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.


I also opened this 2011 bottle of Burton Baton from Dogfish Head. It was a nice oaked beer that only could have been better if we'd been able to have it a few hours earlier and I hadn't passed out on the couch immediately afterward.


Tonight Martin was up to his own mischief as he finally discovered the secret of how to drain the tub. I knew this was just a matte rof time but I thought for sure Elliott would figure it out first.


After another Wombat wrestling match where I used all my cunning to get them to sleep I had some toast for dinner and enjoyed it with this Simple Malt Fumee from Brasseurs Illimités. I haven't had a tone of smoked beers but this was probably my favorite so far. Most that I've had have been very ashy but this was very rich and almost tasted like a barbecue. I'd highly recommend it if you are passing through Quebec at any point.

As I right this the streets are turning to rivers and Jen, sadly, is stuck in Manhattan trying to make it to the train in high heels. Our cars are parked high up the street in preparation for the worst.

We need to move.

Soggy Bottom Babies

As old as our marriage is our participation in an annual farm share. Of course we're the only people in America that seem to call it a farm share. Most others refer to it as a CSA. However, Jen and Nate Participate in . . . Community Supported Agriculture didn't have quite the ring to it as a title for this ongoing experiment in futility.

While it is true that the original purpose for this blog was to talk about our vegetables it has surely become taken over by our children in the last year. We've had very little complaint about this from our original three fans as it turns out most people seem to be much more enthusiastic reading the exploits of our human babies than they were in the obsessive cataloging of the number of garlic scapes we received on a weekly basis.


Thus begins our most recent year's farm share. In week one we got a lot of the expected greens: bok choy, chinese cabbage, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, sorrell, rhubarb, garlic chives, mustard greens, mizuna, and oregano.

Jen left town this morning to head up to New Hampshire for a work trip. This left me alone to hang with the Wombats on a bachelor "weekend" of sorts. It also left me alone to deal with picking up the farm share for the first week.

We opted to avoid the fruit share this year simply because it's difficult keeping up with the quanitiy of apples one gets later in the season. I did, however, sign us up for a goat cheese share when I picked up. I didn't consult Jen but hopefully when she reads this she is okay with it.

And also hopefully she will mail the check to the farm to pay for it.


After dropping off the vegetables I headed out to pick up the guys in the cold, miserable, pouring rain.


Elliott took particular interest in the works of Robert B. Parker this evening. I had a hard time prying him away from the books, especially since Martin was busy trying to open up the wine fridge. Trying, and succeeding, I should mention.


At home Elliott was off like a shot. I continually had to retrieve him from his new favorite spot: the hallway. It must be the novelty of it all because there really isn't that much going on in the hallway. He just zips by all of his fun toys so that he can fiddle around with some dirty old shoes.


As I fed them I cracked open this Bonfire Dunkel Weiss from Two Brothers Brewing Co. This was an excellent dark wheat beer. It also goes well with baby food. Considering I didn't have time to make myself dinner I just snacked on their dinner which means I had peanut butter toast, pasta, cheese, grape tomatoes, and watermelon. All fine accompaniments for a dunkel weiss.

It's also worth mentioning that the beer listed the IBUs at 15.1, the most precise IBU measurement I've ever seen on a bottle of beer.


We went to the farmer's market yesterday morning before work and Jen got some rhubarb and strawberries which she used to make me this strawberry rhubarb pudding.

Jen informs me that it's a pudding in the English sense, not in the American sense. I probably could have guessed that by looking at it. It was very delicious and even goes good with dunkel weiss, just like melon, pasta, and peanut butter!

I'm starting to think that I just like dunkel weiss a lot.

5 Years, 11 Months

On Friday it rained all day with the threat of floods. Knowing the routine I moved both of our cars to higher ground and we went to bed hoping for the best.


By the morning, when we went to take the guys to swim class, the rain had stopped but the brook was nearly ready to flood. Just another dodged bullet as we foolishly prepare to renew our lease for another year.

Apparently we're just not content with the amount of time we've spent evacuated and the amount of money in storm-related losses since moving into this place four years ago.


Saturday was the Wombats' eleventh month birthday. Elliott has been indicating that he would be crawling any day now. We woke up in the morning with him being unable to crawl but at some point after lunch something clicked and he suddenly realized how to crawl. This meant that he was able to repeatedly escape the living room and go to the hallway where he looked as if he'd discovered the lost city of gold.


In addition to being the Wombats' eleven-month birthday it also happened to be our five year wedding anniversary. We took advantage of this by getting a babysitter for the first time ever and going to Bedford Post Inn.

It was a great meal. If you don't want to be bored with what we ate, please skip ahead to the next section.



We started off with the citrus cured sardines on toast and the mixed crostinis of the day.



That was followed up with the pappardelle, rabbit sausage, fava beans, and leaves (not sure what that means) and the fagotelli, parmigiano fonduta, and chopped truffles.



I had the New York Strip steak special with broccoli and shiitake mushrooms and Jen had the half grilled lobster with herb butter.



As an accompaniment we ordered the marble potatoes with garlic and lemon and sugar snap peas with wild cucumber, feta, and mint. I don't actually think there were cucumbers or mint in the latter but that was fine with me.


For dessert with had the maple mousse with caramelized banana and brown butter ice cream which was outstanding.


And, to top it all off, our waitress looked just like Deputy Jo Lupo from Eureka!

That truly made it an evening to remember.

And, speaking of television cops, we saw a real cop on our way home from Bedford which just happens to be one of the richest places we've ever been. The cop had pulled someone over in a giant police SUV. We couldn't see the car that had been pulled over until we passed and this is what we saw.


Okay this isn't exactly what we saw. I found this on some antique car website but the car and the people in it are almost identical to who had been pulled over by the police. It was a perfect way to leave this ritzy town and return to the poorest corner of our pretty ritzy town.


The next morning we woke up early and decided to walk to the beach with the guys. They were doing some rebuilding from the storm and we were able to take this picture with the babies standing next to a digger before being chased away by the beach police.


We had a nice little time sitting in the park by the beach and all enjoying a refreshing beverage as the late morning sun was starting to make things quite warm.


We even stopped by a yard sale on the walk home where we contemplated buying a great number of things that we didn't need but ended up settling for some measuring spoons and cups so that the boys could play with them instead of using the ones we actually use for cooking.


Minutes before arriving at home both guys fell asleep just in time to be woken up for lunch.


When they were awake I made them their first omelet with only egg yolks and cheddar. This was only after Jen and I arguing about whether of not they should have egg whites as well. This is the source of our only real parenting disagreement. Jen feels that they should wait until they are a year old to have whites because the most common allergic reaction to eggs is from the protein in the whites. I argue that they've had eggs in any number of baked items they've had in the past but that argument doesn't get me anywhere.

If we can make this marriage work despite these differences I think there's hope out there for everyone.



The first omelet went over pretty well despite the fact that Martin treated it like he treats every new food. That is to say he reacts as if he's just licked a lemon.



The same was true of the watermelon they snacked on later in the afternoon. They really only napped for a matter of minutes despite the two hour walk we took to the beach. The main purpose of the walk, of course, was to let them nap.

By the time I left for work at 5:00 PM they had just settled in for their first nap of the day. I felt a pretty intense wave of guilt come over me as I left Jen alone for what promised to be a challenging evening.

Working until 4:00 AM in the morning while nursing a pretty bad sunburn was the easy way out. It's been eleven years together, five of them married. Eleven years from now we should have it a bit easier.

We just need to figure out who takes the guys to karate practice.