There were three different trips for food this week.
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The upcoming week is likely to be unusual. My three sons are spending the week about 5 hours from here, crashing around at my sister's home. My husband and I are alone for a week. We'll both do a lot of work (in fact, most days he'll do his 1.5-hour commute to work,while I do my 10-minute walk to my office). But we'll have several evenings together, and we're celebrating those evenings by splurging on restaurants. We're going to (as I tell my sons) hold hands and make googly eyes at each other to the point that we embarrass our server. Last night, I told my husband, "we're on our honeymoon."
We seldom eat out. I, for one, get twitchy at the idea of going to a restaurant or even ordering take-out just for the sake of "convenience" -- I find that eating out is more expensive both in terms of money and (surprisingly) in terms of time. But eating at a uber-fancy restaurant as a way of occasional celebration, I will do that. Only on occasion, though.
This week feels like an occasion. A second honeymoon, 15 years and 7 kids later. A week spent mostly together, mostly with no kids, in the middle of a summer in which we're often separate from one another and mostly surrounded by our sons. Fancy dinners seem to be in order for this week. We'll return to home-cooking soon enough.
*******
In the meanwhile, tomatoes are starting to arrive. Here is one of my favorite summer recipes. I always wing the quantities, so I can't even pretend to name measurements. But it's always turned out great.
Tomato Salad
- In the intense heat, I made a trip to a grocery store (yes, a store) to buy grapes, tortillas, and other cool-lunch items for the boys and me ($28). Do I feel like a cheater for buying non-local foods? Yes, I do. There you have it: cheater food.
- Then my son and I went to Market to buy watermelons, which were really thank-you gifts for their tennis teachers ($22) -- perhaps the good deed sort of cancels out the fact that we've strayed from the True Food Path.
- And my husband bought cereal and soap ($20).
*******
The upcoming week is likely to be unusual. My three sons are spending the week about 5 hours from here, crashing around at my sister's home. My husband and I are alone for a week. We'll both do a lot of work (in fact, most days he'll do his 1.5-hour commute to work,while I do my 10-minute walk to my office). But we'll have several evenings together, and we're celebrating those evenings by splurging on restaurants. We're going to (as I tell my sons) hold hands and make googly eyes at each other to the point that we embarrass our server. Last night, I told my husband, "we're on our honeymoon."
We seldom eat out. I, for one, get twitchy at the idea of going to a restaurant or even ordering take-out just for the sake of "convenience" -- I find that eating out is more expensive both in terms of money and (surprisingly) in terms of time. But eating at a uber-fancy restaurant as a way of occasional celebration, I will do that. Only on occasion, though.
This week feels like an occasion. A second honeymoon, 15 years and 7 kids later. A week spent mostly together, mostly with no kids, in the middle of a summer in which we're often separate from one another and mostly surrounded by our sons. Fancy dinners seem to be in order for this week. We'll return to home-cooking soon enough.
*******
In the meanwhile, tomatoes are starting to arrive. Here is one of my favorite summer recipes. I always wing the quantities, so I can't even pretend to name measurements. But it's always turned out great.
Tomato Salad
- Tomatoes, diced
- red wine or balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- basil, but of course
- salt and pepper
- chopped walnuts or pecans.
Mix everything but the tomatoes together first, then add the tomatoes. Serve cold or at room temperature.
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