Pure Peach Pops

Naturally it was my sister-in-law Rivky (I love your new-kosher-product radar!!) who introduced me to Trader Joe's Peach Pops; a freeze pop of natural proportions. Made simply of puréed peach + some fruit juice, this push-up-pop nixes the chemicals, dyes, and artificiality of iconic American summer chilling.

To be quite honest, while Freida seems to love these freezr-treats, I personally happen to think they taste like a tube of frozen canned peaches (good and refreshing, but not delicious and fresh!). Though, I did think of something these would be totally tubular for: Bellinis!! Seriously, who can pass up that sumptuously fizzy and refreshing cocktail?? The only complication in a Bellini is that the most important component is fresh peach purée - voilà! Girls night out just got a whole lot cooler. Simply combine 2 oz. peach purée and 4 oz. sparkling white wine (I love this most made with Prosecco!), and let the chilling begin. Summer happy hour simply can't get any sweeter!

P.S. If you have a young baby at home and have been making and storing your own baby food, or interested in trying it out, here's a way you can both benefit! Buy some fresh, ripe, organic peaches, score the base of the fruit, and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes, and then immediately plunge into ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Remove the skin and get to puréeing (check out this neat little gadget for super-easy baby food production!!). Store and freeze for baby, and use reserve for these summer cocktails... take a deep breathe and inhale the sweet peachiness of parenting after hours! :)

Garden Eats!

Nothing like pausing the backyard play to pick some garden bounty and ring the snack bell! It's amazing how much more open children are to eating new things when they partake in the process. Picking the fruits and veggies from the earth, cutting, mashing, and tossing made it that much more plausible for curious, yet timid, little palettes. (Thank you again Estee Berkowitz - now start with your radical-homemakers mom blog already!!!) Chunks of avacado, cherry tomatos, and chopped leek was never consumed by children with such gusto! Plus, watching it go straight from earth to mouth... the nutrient viability must have been intense! :)

Freida pulled a leek from the ground and exclaimed "that was freaking awesome!" - to my delight and Estee's horror. :))

Smart Snacking

Sometimes a nutritious snack in only an innovation away. Try adding some bling to their peanut- butter-dunking apple slices for a brain boosting, energy lending, nutrient laden snack! (Yes, it's a bit of sugar and coloring - but this definitely trumps the Bissli! Plus, all together it'd probably equal a half of lollipop.)

Growth.

Hello again, dear lady friends. Just wanted to offer my deepest apologies at the insane lack of posting going on around here. As I've mentioned previously, we've been steeped in talk about some new and exciting developments on the work-front: my husband (so excited for you, love!!) has been given the opportunity to take on a 3 month construction project in the city of Dubai! It's the kind of prospect that comes around once in a lifetime, and G-d willing this will prove to be a giant turning point in his career. As you can imagine, there was lots and lots of talk around the whole deal; arrangements and terms that worked for the both of us (mostly lots of my terms - all about keeping the Mama happy!!), time frames for traveling, and planning a summer schedule that would work out best for all of us. With everything now (generally) settled, and the man of the house flying out on Monday morning, I've been taking advantage of our last summer week together in LA and we've been spending late nights out together on the town this past week - leaving me less than ample time for blogging and posting. :)

Frieda and I will be jetting out next week for some old-school family time at my parent's home in Skokie, and we'll be joining my sister and her kids there as well. At the end of the month the Mr. will be meeting up with us there for a week's visit (already looking forward!!). At which point, Freida and I will either join him in returning to Dubai for the remaining 6 weeks, or head with my sister to her home in Arizona. (I guess it all depends on how things there are going for him, and on how much anxiety I will have at the prospect of landing in the UAE.)

Meanwhile, Freida has been developing quite the green thumb! Amidst talking about all this growth in business, Freida and I have been discovering lots of green and lots of growth. Aside from all the in-garden exploration, I took her along to explore our local nursery (I was in desperate need of a purifying house plant, and a colorful kitchen plant). She had a great time discussing the different species with me, amiably questioning the Botanists, and was overjoyed to discover the vegetable and herb section!

Sometimes the best way to learn is via a tiny, local field trip. :)

Here's to growth - in whatever form it takes in life. Business, personal, or biological... growth is integral to life and must remain constant!

Garden Omelettes

Amidst frolicking and languishing in the Berkowitz garden while learning lessons of earth and of growth came the inevitable wondrous time of harvesting. Freida has been watching those leeks since they were planted there in the first place, has eyed their tiny forest-green sprouts suspiciously, and has brushed past their long and gangly leaves for weeks now - glancing fairly briefly to marvel at their uselessness only to make a beeline for those sweet pea pods. Until, that is, Estee announced that the leeks were viable, and generously offered them for the pickings. I've always loved leeks, mostly in soups, but after harvesting a few of these organic babies - I'm hooked in a variety of ways!

Freida carried those big green onions out of the garden, through the backyard and into the car. But upon arriving at home and dragging the greens through the house to the kitchen she just couldn't get over how the leek in full seemed to be even bigger than her! Little did she know we'd actually just be salvaging a few measly (but flavorful!) inches off the bottom.

We proceeded to peel off the outer layers and wash and clean them (they tend to get rather sandy in between the skins). Freida just has fun messing around and pretending with her wooden knife and board...

I roughly chopped the white and light green parts + some fresh parsley and sautéed them in some extra virgin olive oil. Then I added a few beaten eggs, a dash of salt and a grind of pepper.

Add a slice of toast + some butter and jam, and we got ourselves a totally fantastic fresh-from-the-ground lunch!!

The omelet was kid-approved , and it was such a wonderful way to introduce her to a new food. She got a serious kick out of the fact that we pulled it from the ground, cooked it in the kitchen, and ate it for lunch. She had a very good nap afterward. :)

Also, aside from the fact that it's great for children to learn where food actually comes from, feasting on food fresh from the earth means that all the nutrients are that much more viable and in turn that much more valuable. The difference between the nutrients found in produce that was picked weeks ago and transported a long way by many different forms of travel and the nutrients found in fresh-farmed, organic, local produce is unequivocal. That should help legitimize prices at the Farmer's Markets - you get much more bang for your buck!!