Mamalicious in the City

I keep trying to work through my present state — to mold it into something new and improved.  There are things about this loss for which I’m actually grateful.  It affirmed for me all of the reasons why I married my husband.  And it reminded me that life is too short to worry about the little things, or to put something unimportant before myself, my family and my friends.

I try not to get lost in sadness or bitter sentiments.  I think I do well most days.

And there is a lot to be thankful for in my life.  We had a really nice Pesach this year with friends and family.  I was adventurous.  I made gefilte fish from scratch.  It tastes surprisingly similar to jarred gefilte fish, with an added bonus of picking through raw fish for a couple of hours.  On the other hand, the homemade matzoh ball soup was a hit and absolutely worth it.   

I’m also adding two new recipes to my stable.  This Israeli-inspired cornish game hen recipe is a nice contrast to the bland traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dishes. 

Next year I might skip the potato rosti, although my husband liked it. 

This charoset is the best I have ever tasted.  I added cardamom, and I also used a red sparkling wine (La Sera Red Ambrosia) in place of Manischevitz.  Full disclosure: it’s not kosher!  Look, I could barely get the pork out of my house by the time the matzoh came in. 

Speaking of pork, I think it’s pork belly time.  I might have to jet down to the butcher shop in Del Ray to get some. 

I’m also on the warpath to get our garden in shape.  The front yard is getting there, and I’ve planted mint, sage, lavender, thyme, basil, strawberries, cabbage, broccoli rabe, garlic and lettuce.  This weekend I want to start clearing out the bricks in the backyard patio so we can start garden phase two. 

I’ll have to post some pictures.  It’s quite a project to get this little rowhouse in shape.  E just figured out that we live in a rowhouse actually, and is completely tickled by it.  Speaking of e, he’s turning six next month!  Yikes.  Where did the time go?  I am hopeful he’ll have a brother or sister before he turns seven.  I had always imagined he’d be four or five, but life happens. 

April is going to be a busy month for us.  My sister is getting married.  I’ll still have to write my speech!  Busy, busy, busy.

Things will be better after the wedding.  I’m not sure why a wedding that is just brunch takes so much time to plan, but evidently it does. 

Plus we’re still working on our house.  A painted the steps this weekend to match the house, and it has made a huge difference.  I almost don’t notice the terrible eyesore of an electric box (the meter) in the middle of the yard.  Almost. 

I also did some gardening.  Why does anyone enjoy this?  Some activities, like knitting, will make me think, gee I would love to do more of this, if only I had more time.  Gardening?  Not so much.  Well, it’s not the gardening so much as it is digging holes in rock-like clay.  Yeesh, that is just terrible.  I spent hours hitting the dirt and swearing at it.  People kept passing by to ask, do you love gardening?  Yeah, mad love.

Anyway, on another topic, e says to me recently, I would like some new toys, because the toys that I have are not cool. 

And what do you know about cool, Mr. 5 year old?  So I asked him what toys he has that are not cool, and he answers, well, my magic set is cool, and my legos. 

What about Wolverine?  Yes, he’s cool.  What about your kitchen toys?  Oh, yeah, I like those.  Ok, I have no idea what we’re left with but wow, those terrible uncool toys must really be weighing you down! 

E, if you want new toys, we have to go through the ones you have, and giv away some toys to kids who don’t have any.  And then you can get new toys for Chanukah and for your birthday.  If you want something before that, we can talk about you doing extra chores around the house to earn money for toys.

But…I already set the table!   Damn, it’s like slave labor at my house, isn’t it?  What’s next?  Making your bed?  Actually, that’s a good idea, although I have a hard time enforcing that one since I never make my own. 

E, you don’t have to do extra chores.  I’m just saying that if you want new toys before Chanukah, then you can earn those yourself.  It’s completely up to you. 

Sometimes I think my kid has some serious chutzpah.  On the other hand, I went to a potluck for his school this past weekend and thought he was pretty well-behaved, despite the chaos of it all. 

At one point, a group of boys were arguing over a game and who got to play, and two of them got pretty frustrated.  I tried to stay out of it, but one kid slugged the other and I decided to break it up.  But maybe I shouldn’t have.  Not my kid.  And kids have to learn to work these things out on their own, right? 

Reminds me of this article in the New York Times about the importance of play.  I really wish preschool and kindergarten were a little more focused on teaching social skills.  Sometimes it seems like kids have every last whine, frustration or tantrum attended to without having the opportunity to work it out on their own.  The article is focused more on the ability to work together to get things done, rather than conflict resolution, but it seems like more emphasis on group play would improve the whole range of social skills. 

Speaking of skills, next week I get to be interviewed by e’s class.  I’m really looking forward to be grilled by the 5 year old set.  Could be brutal.

It’s that time of year again. I don’t really like having my diet coincide with the new year, because it seems like the kiss of death, but c’est la vie. Mama needs to move the booty.

At the moment, I’m doing what is close to phase two of South Beach: lean proteins, complex carbs, no white flour foods, plenty of veggies. I also have started working out in the morning, rather than leaving it to the evening, when late hours sometimes sabotage my most well-intentioned plans.

To keep my motivation up, I am online journaling with friends, and checking some of my favorite websites for inspiration:

Self Magazine

Eating Well Magazine Diet Challenge

Oprah’s Page on Health

The Rundown on the South Beach Diet