Seasonal Snacking

I love these Summer months and the garden bounty that comes with them! Suddenly, my crisper drawer is filled with fruits and vegetables that not just taste juicy and succulent, but even smell heavenly. It's like we go 8 months eating generic tomatoes - tasteless, styrofoam versions of the real thing, and suddenly without even noting it, we're cutting up fragrant, fleshy, juicy summer tomatoes! Same with the berries! Whiter-than-they-should-be strawberries that taste pretty much like an extremely watered-down batch of the real thing... But nothing really makes my palate sing quite like summer figs! Green figs, to be exact. This colorful little gems are by far one of my favorite fruits, and I've been pounding suthem all season long. Hudi's been loving them as well, and usually has one or two with breakfast or lunch. And both my girls even chowed down on fig and feta pizza last week! What I'm saying is, go out and get yourself some green figs if you haven't yet this season - they're too good to miss out on! Farmers Market, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes all carry organic, locally grown, giant, gooey ones. They're impossibly delicious with sliced Havarti, or a smudge of Camembert. They will only be available for another month or two so get 'em while you can!!

Also, figs seem to be cropping up all over the fad-foodie blogs. Try them in recipes like this, this, and this.

Book Report: A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Freida was home sick a few weeks ago, as seems to be our family's summer tradition - an impromptu sick week in the middle of July. Hudi was sniffly and teeth-y, and Freida was coughing and sneezing. So along with amped-up doses of Vitamin C, meticulously hidden shots of liquid Echinacea, and a pocket-full of Ricola throat drops, came the UPS man with our favorite monthly delivery: PJ Library books! And as fate would have it, one of my favorite library books landed with a thump on our doorstep.

I don't quite know why I have long adored A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead. Maybe because I love cute little old men, or because the illustrations are so quirky, or because the writer and illustrator are married (how sweet?). It's a beautiful book, with a really kind and simple message, and apparently I'm not the only one who loves it; this book won the 2011 Caldecott Medal. AND it's the first book Erin Stead has illustrated! Can you imagine? The Caldecott on her very first book?? Nice.

The book tells the story of a friendly zookeeper who spends his day taking care of various animals. He plays chess with the elephant, and runs races with the tortoise. But one morning he wakes with the sniffles and the chills and can't go into work. So his friends decide to come check in on him. They wait for the bus and ride over to Amos' home, and take care of him for a change. It's the simplest story of visiting the sick, and is told in the sweetest most unique way.

I suppose the mitzvah behind it is what made it PJ Library-worthy, but my curiosity on that matter led me to google the Steads... (That's where I learnt about the Caldecott.) If your curious too, read about how she heard about the big win here. One of my longtime dreams has been to write and illustrate a children's book, and I found the interview fascinating! Especially this part:

But winning the award for a collaboration with her husband has made the honor even sweeter. “We work together all day long, every day. We’re each other’s first pass. It would be really different if we didn’t win this as a team.”

If you aren't already part of the PJ Library community, getting signed up is a piece of cake! You can join in here, for a free subscription to monthly Jewish(ish) books for all your kids!

Visually Fresh

My brother Yossi and his two equally-creative compadres Shloime and Yudi, just launched their pop-up shop selling (mostly YGD) original and inspired art to the masses! Visually Fresh is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, a collection of fresh and modern art to be easily purchased, hung, and looked at. :)

But aside from the great art and simplistic shop, I'm totally enjoying browsing around the site and exploring the different levels of these guy's creativity. For instance, the description blurbs next to each piece are as wonderful as the art itself. Like this one:

When you place yourself in a box, don't expect to reach the top. To create, you must let go of all your inhibitions. You need to release your brain from the clutches of limitation. Let your ideas run wild. You can perfect them later.

And there are adorably creative surprises around every corner, like when I accidentally clicked on my empty cart:

But mostly, it's just a slew of wonderfully modern and uplifting typography art. Like this one by Menachem Krinsky:

Inevitably, I'm really being drawn to this one at the moment...

Also, remember the Think Good poster? You can snag one there too. Happy shopping!!

Bounce

We recently set-up a giant trampoline that we got from a friend in the backyard. The kids have been going wild on it, and it's proven to be the most efficient sleep enhancer I've ever witnessed. Right before bathtime, I've been taking them out back and letting them jump themselves silly for about 10 minutes. Bedtime has been a cinch. Freida likes to fantasize about being an olympic gymnast or a circus acrobat, and she'll flip around on the thing for anyone who is willing to watch her "show". And Hudi just gets the biggest kick out of the concept in general, she pretty much laughs hysterically through the entire bounce session. :)

Recently I've starting using it as well. After my evening run I get out there and onto that thing and seriously jump my ass off. Aside from it being great exercise and lots of fun, it's incredibly therapeutic! Especially when I'm already kinda "high" from the running and my adrenaline is pumping, and the rhythmic bouncing is so relaxing and puts me into a high-like trance. I know I sound insane :) but I really love it!! Common, ya'll better admit that SkyHigh is totally fun and you secretly look forward to chaperoning that field trip! Anyways, bouncing around on this thing always gets me thinking about the concept of "bouncing back". I feel like it's such an overused and abused term, we pretty much slap it onto any difficult experience; "bouncing back" after giving birth, "bouncing back" from losing a job, "bouncing back" from a sickness, a loss, a trail... we kind of always make it about bouncing back. But, really, life is about the bouncing itself.

There are countless cliches out about being down; that the only place to go is up. And lots of spewed information about life being like a wheel; when it's at the bottom it's gotta roll to the top etc. etc. I'm sure you've heard them all too. And really, there is an honestly to this concept of circular life. It's been embedded in us since the release of the Lion King and it's theme song, and since the 2nd grade when we learned the story of Yaakov and Esau's firstborn exchange, how he was cooking lentils for his mourning father - as a circular symbol of life. And so we understand and believe that life is a circle, going 'round and 'round and up and down. But mostly, we believe that life is about the "ups". And the downs are just an unfortunate side effect.

I'm probably working very hard to comfort myself through my discomfort, and I'm likely working overtime to convince myself that there is goodness within the pain and trauma and suffering... But in any case, I've been reading lots and learning lots and generally trying to do all I can outside of therapy to keep myself above it all, while still being able to feel it all and experience it all without too much pain. And I'm becoming more and more aware of the fact that life is really all about the ups and the downs. It's about the journey, and the wild untrodden roads we sometimes have to take to get there... I've already learned so much about myself  while going through this, and I know my studying myself and my psyche and habits has really only just begun, and I already see and feel and experience the benefits of this kind of self-examination. It's completely sick that I have to be here doing this, don't get me wrong, I weep and mourn the loss of life's simplicity at least once a day, but I also relish is the work - in the therapy and the focus I am now putting on myself. I love that suddenly I am putting myself first, and I mean really first. And it feels deliciously selfish and wonderful. And I needed it. So so badly. And a lot of this has shown me that part of the ups and the downs is the bouncing. And how good the bouncing can feel... It happens when you're not focusing on the fact that you're up or down, just on the rhythmic movement in between the two.

Annnd that's my little tidbit of extroversion for today. :)

P.S. How awesome is that bouncing gif?? Check out the tumblr it's no biggie - the adorable and quirky animated gifs are totally making me smile!

Whipped Feta!

The concept of "nine-days dinners" tends to be a little cliched. Everyone seems to always be talking about how difficult it is to produce family-friendly nutritious meat-free deliciousness for a whole week. And while I grew up eating mostly Macrobiotic (meet my mother) and was even vegetarian for about 10 years, I still tend to get a little bored as the 9 days taper off... So! I was browsing some foodie sites a bit this morning over coffee, and I happened upon whipped feta and almost fell out of my seat! This stuff is just genius. I mean, Pinterest has been showcasing the usage of feta in a myriad of different salads and sandwiches, so apparently it's a big food trend at the moment, but nothing I've seen even comes close to the awesomeness of this creation!! This makes the richness of feta as easily available as chummas! Dunk some pita chips, dollop some in your eggs, slather on toast, spread in a lasagna, stuff some mushrooms... this stuff is wickedly adaptable and seems to be simple as ever to conjure up!!

And so, as soon as my kid's early morning screening of Nick Jr. is through, we'll be heading out on our Sunday morning walking ritual (with the pull-toy crocodile in tow, no doubt), and heading over to Trader Joe's in quest for the best feta ever to whip up some novel lunch and dinner. Here's the recipe:

- 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled and at room temperature

- 3 ounces whipped cream cheese, at room temperature

Add crumbled feta to a food processor and pulse until small crumbs remain. Add in cream cheese and puree for 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides when necessary, until feta is super creamy. That's all. :)

Enjoy!!