When the kids are away the parents will play

Friday, my boys left for 7 weeks. This is their 3^rd year and while I wasn’t especially emotional, my babysitter was a mess. So as soon as the bus pulled away, I had to make sure she was OK. There we were on the steps of the Museum of Natural History, I told her we’d have fun cooking and organizing, I told her she’d have more time for herself but 10 and a half years with these boys, she really loves them.

I love them too, of course, but I’d be lying if there weren’t some things I want to complete in the next 7 weeks. While I look forward to the little things reading the paper, reading more in general and walking home from work unrushed, I also have a “Summer List”, would you expect anything less of me?

Some of it is indulgent, I want to get back to acupuncture, run more and try a few new workouts (Jumplife anyone?). I also use the time with boys away to stay on top of doctors/dental visits. Then there’s the fun, some travel, some recipe testing and plans with friends (many who are child free as well).  We’ll send out our Foodtrainers Fourth of July Party Monthly Morsels Newsletter tomorrow but here’s a sneak peak. Chef Jenna Helwig of Rosaberry (@JennaRosaberry on Twitter) developed this beet dip recipe for us. It will vary in color depending on the number of beets added. You can serve it with crudité (snap peas, blanched asparagus and cucumbers work nicely) or Mary’s Gone crackers would work well too.

Beet Yogurt Dip

This dip keeps well in the fridge overnight, although the garlic flavor does get more pronounced, a treat for those of us that love garlic.

½ cup walnuts

1 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt

2-3 small to medium-sized cooked beets, roughly chopped (you can use love beets or any pre-cooked beets in the produce aisle, I used 1 pack original Love Beets)

½ teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped (optional)

2 teaspoons dill

freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Place the walnuts in a food processor (or coffee grinder) and pulse to chop finely.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to food processor (or add all ingredients to vitamix with stick attachment)  and blend until smooth. Taste for seasoning adding more salt and/or pepper if necessary.

What are your summer plans, any books you plan on reading, trips you'll be going on? Or maybe there are recipes or workouts you want to try? 

Pizza to the People, mobile pizza unit: hemp seeds?

A few weekend photos, Saturday we checked out the Wanderlust Festival in VT:

I didn't do the yoga but clearly lots of other people did. 

Top of Stratton Mt, we didn't hike up but rode up to enjoy the view. 

Sat night one of our favorite VT restaurants

with skip at the guitar

Stopped at Swoon in Hudson NY oysters and kale salad,  great find and a really pretty town.

I am not this person.

In a massive case of Spring-cleaningitis, I initiated a major kitchen purge. Dishes, serving trays, pantry contents and spices were removed from their homes so that I could decide what stayed and what went. What stuck me most, other than the fact that most people probably don’t have 15 varieties of salt and 4 types of cinnamon, was the items in my possession that do not reflect my style or who I am;  the majority of these things were acquired from my bridal registry.  I’ve always had simple, modern taste but I guess at 23 (yikes) when I got married I assumed that you have kids and you learn to like fussy crystal. It hasn’t happened yet and I can say with conviction, it never will. And then last week, my son had a sleepover with a couple of friends. In my head, I want to be the mom who can have a million kids over messing everything up without me batting an eye or in my case raising her voice. I do love guests but I’m way too anal to roll with all the punches. It’s just not who I am. I will have you over, feed you well but it’s all planned out and when things don’t go as anticipated, watch out.

So the question is, do we “know thyself” for who we are, in my case impatient and anti-crystal, or do we try to nudge ourselves in a different direction? These are insignificant examples but I confront food-related versions of this with clients all the time. If someone tells me they hate exercise, I’ll often suggest a nonthreatening amount to embark on but an incident with a friend made me rethink things.

Marc and I were at an event last Wednesday.  During dinner, someone we know really well sat down with us. This woman is thin, beautiful and always put together but we’ve never talked nutrition in the 18 years I’ve known her. She sat next to me and said “I stopped drinking soda and cut out sugar completely, I don’t even want it anymore. “ She was on a roll and proceeded to tell me all these sweeping changes she had made with her diet, her enthusiasm left me excited for her.  Had she been a client in my office I would never have proposed as many concurrent changes as she undertook on her own.

So while my life will not be significantly different based on my choice of serving pieces, I don’t think acquiescing and accepting our habits is always the answer. Sometimes sweeping changes work quite well. Non-exercisers can run marathons and meat and potatoes people may love green juice. Don’t rule it out.

Are you a fan of slow and steady change or major shifts? Did you register of items you never use? What would I be surprised about if we emptied all your kitchen cabinets?

Full disclosure, the bowl above belonged to my Grandmother but I only realized that after writing the post. And I am aware of the weird font, blogger is very uncooperative today (some things do not change).