All's Fair at the Fair: Red Lentil Soup

I'm always surprised by people who don't take advantage of their local fairs.  I've been going to the fair since before I can remember, starting with the New York State fair.  That's the one I have no memory of.  I have loads of memories of going to the county fair with friends as a teenager, including the one time I had to pass off my candy apple to a friend when we turned the corner and saw my orthodontist.

And now I get to help my kids make memories.  So far they love the County Fair just as much as Thatboy and I do.  And why not? There's so much to do and see.

The theme of the fair this year was Wonderland and the fairground was transformed into a topsy turvy Alice in Wonderland inspired fantasy land.

If you have a small child at home, chances are you know all about Paw Patrol.  It's a big thing in our house.  And when I found out that the Roll Patrol Tour Bus was making a stop at the fair, I made sure our visit coincided with theirs.

The tour bus had a slide, a jungle play area, and a huge screen to play

 

The dogs in  Paw Patrol all have special jobs and corresponding cars.  So Chase, the police dog, drives a police cruiser.  Rubble, the construction dog, drives a backhoe...tractor...some construction vehicle.  So there was also a playzone set up where the kids could drive the pups' cars.  There was also an area with all the toy playsets set up for the kids to play.

 

But the highlight was getting to meet the pups themselves.  We got to see Sky

And Rubble

And Thatkid got to meet two of his favorites-  Chase and Marshall!

When we finished up with the celebrities, we headed over to Thatkid's favorite part of the fair - the rides!

Thatbaby even got in on the rides, riding his first carousel.  Which he loved so much!

We headed over to the kids' art area.  And while Thatboy and Thatkid admired the artwork, Thatbaby entertained himself in the play supermarket.

Next stop was The Farm, which has gardens, and horses, and butterflies!

All that activity had us work up quite the appetite.  So we pulled up a spot of grass in front of a stage featuring different singers and bands.  And we partook in fair food.  Thatkid had a hotdog, Thatboy had a grilled cheese with pulled pork, I had a chicken and waffle sandwich.

Thatbaby's first fair food was a grilled cheese sandwich with some tomato soup to dip it in.

And of course there was funnel cake.

After lunch we went to check out the photography exhibit, which is Thatboy's favorite.  But while we were eating lunch, I was planning a special surprise for Thatkid.  Turns out his best friend was also at the fair, and so his mother and I made sure the boys met up.  We brought them over to check out the rocks and minerals.

We split up after as they headed home and we headed over to the animal exhibits.  Where Thatkid got to pet a cow AND learn how to milk one.

And then it was time to head out.  But not before taking our annual fair picture!

I am such a sucker for fair food.  It's one of my favorite summer indulgences.  But it's all about balance.  For every funnel cake there has to be a huge leafy salad.  For every grilled cheese, there's a bowl of lentil soup.

Most lentil soups are made with green lentils, but when I saw a bag of red lentils at Trader Joes I thought it would be a nice change.  To change it up a bit from what is usually a great winter dish, I added some extra spice and the perfect summer accessory - lemon!

Red Lentil Soup

 4 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup red lentils

1 Tbsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp lemon zest

4 cups beef broth

juice of 1/2 lemon

croutons

1. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the lentils, cardamon, allspice, and lemon rind.
3. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Cool slightly, then place in blender and puree.  
5. Reheat gently and season to taste.  Stir in the lemon juice and remaining oil.
6. Top with croutons and serve.

Crave Wednesday: Steak Baguette with Pesto Mayo

Thatboy, knowing how important my birthday is planned a special celebration for just the two of us.   I knew about it for a while, or at least that he was doing something and I needed to keep a Saturday in June free.

On my birthday, things became a little more clear.  My present was a beautiful perfume bottle.

Thatboy told me that in addition to the beautiful bottle, for my birthday I was going to be creating my own signature scent.  We were going to a perfumerie.

On a bright and sunny Saturday, Thatboy and I headed to Tijon Fragrance Lab in La Jolla.

When we got there, we met with Vanessa.  She sat me down and asked a bunch of questions about scents I was drawn to.   Then she disappeared, leaving me with a bunch of bottles I was free to smell to see if they swayed me one way or another.

Vanessa reappeared with a selection of scents she had selected based on my responses.  Lots of citrus notes, some fruit, and what she felt were "clean" scents. 

Some missed the mark, while others hit it out of the ball park.  Eventually we were left with a nice collection of scents I liked.  That's when the fun began.  Vanessa took those scents and combined them to create two different perfumes.  She let me smell with each addition and we decided whether to add more or leave it as it was.

When she was done, I had two distinct perfumes, one a light and fruity scent, the other a more subtle, deeper scent.  I joked that one was young and carefree and the other was older and more worldly.   I ended up bottling the second - a blend of oak moss, green apple, and dune grass. 

With some time to kill before our dinner reservation, Thatboy and I took a walk down to the coast.  It's been a while since the two of us spent some time without the kids and  we enjoyed every minute of it.

After a bit we headed to Whisk n Ladle for dinner.  We started with the cheese and charcuterie plate and a couple of cocktails.

Then moved on to wine and dinner.    Thatboy had fried chicken, while I had gnocchi with spring peas.

What I love about Whisk n Ladle is that the menu changes almost daily to capture seasonal menu items.  Which is what I ideally love to do at my own house.  This is made easier when my neighbor brings over a flat of produce from his garden.  Bright summer tomatoes, grapes, passionfruit, and basil.   Fresh basil doesn't last long, so my solution is always to turn it into pesto.  Which freezes well, but is also a big hit in our house. 

Homemade pesto, paired with red ripe tomatoes is such a great summer treat.  And when paired with fresh crusty bread and steak, it makes sandwich perfect for days at the beach, or summer concerts under the stars.  Both of which we take advantage of during the summer.

Steak Baguette with Pesto Mayo (From Cooking Light)
12 oz boneless beef irloin steak
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp canola mayonaise
2 Tbsp pesto
1 baguette split in half horizontally
1 cup packed arugula
3 slices red onion
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced lengthwise

1. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat.  Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper.  
2. Add steak to the pan and cook 2 1/2 minutes per side or until done as desired..  Remove steak from pan and let stand 5 minutes,  Cut steak across grain into thin slices.
3. Combine mayo and pesto, stirring until well blended.  
4. Spread pesto mayo over cut sides of bread.
5. Layer bottom half of bread with arugula, red onion, steak, and tomato.
6. Top with top half of bread.  Cut sandwich diagonally into 4 equal pieces.

Birthdaying with the Girls: Pomegranate, Persimmon & Pecan Salad

Okay, back to my favorite topic.  Me.  Or more specifically, recognition of how wonderful I am.

Since I now share my birthday with Thatbaby I have resolved myself to not getting to celebrate my birthday for the next 18 years.  Or at least resolved to not celebrating on my birthday.  And devoting my birthday to prepping for Thatbaby's birthday parties.

My girlfriends did a terrific job of making sure my birthday was recognized last year, and inspired by that I decided to start a new tradition - a girls birthday weekend.  But rather than make it all about me, I expanded it to include the birthdays of Jurisslave and Mrs. Pirate, who both have June birthdays.

This year we decided to keep it close to home, because most of us have children under 13 months and Mrs. Pirate is pregnant.  So we got a room in downtown San Diego, bid our families goodbye, and met up.

I stopped on the way to the hotel to pick up some cupcakes.  Because it's not a birthday without cake.

I'd also decided that even though this was a grown up birthday party, we still needed goody bags.  So I stuffed some tote bags with water bottles, flip flops, a fan, champagne, nail polish, and lip balm.

Jurisslave's sister had sent up a bottle of champagne to our room, so we began our weekend with a toast.

Then we headed up to the pool.  With no kids around none of us had to actually get wet.  Nor did we have to get up off our chairs to get something for anyone.  Instead we lazed about talking and catching up.  Some napped, some just enjoyed the quiet.


Eventually we left the pool and got all dolled up for dinner.  We headed to BIGA for some Italian food.  M and I both ordered the tableside fettucine.

And we shared a bottle of wine with our delicious fare.

Afterwards we tried to hit up a piano bar, but there was a line, which we were entirely unwilling to wait in.  I had heard about a relatively new bar, Rare Form, which was right near our hotel.  So that became our headquarters for the evening.

Rare form markets themselves as being one of the only schnapps bars in the country.  Inspired by that, and Horsewhisperer's exclamation of BOILER MAKERS! We each ordered a boiler maker, shot of schapps paired with a beer.  I had the apple schnapps and a Czech lager.  That night we discovered that none of us like boiler makers.  Or schnapps.  Lesson learned.

We went back to the hotel room to tuck in for the night, but not before Jurisslave and I took care of our least favorite task, pumping.  Jurisslave has a 4 month old at home and since I had just recently stopped pumping, I was still dealing with engorgement from the lack of pumping or nursing.

We stayed up late talking, just like slumber parties from my childhood.  And the next morning we packed up our things and headed home to our husbands and children.

Before we departed, Jurisslave and I decided to go for a little run.  The goal was 7 miles, as Jurisslave is training for a half marathon but it was hot.  Super hot.  We ended up cutting our run about half a mile short.

I'm such a wimp when it comes to heat.  Which is surprising, given that I grew up on the East Coast.  San Diego summers have nothing on East Coast heat.  When it's hot outside there's really nothing I want to do or eat.  I survive on smoothies and salads (and popsicles).  I'm lucky that my guys are as happy to eat a salad for dinner as I am.  Because we have them weekly over the summer.  With the boys I especially try to include fruit in the salad, because even if they avoid the lettuce, they'll still be eating something.  That and I love fruit in the summer.  Which is probably why I do so many smoothies and popsicles.

Pear is one of my favorite fruits to combine with persimmon.  I find the cinnamony quality of the persimmon perfectly complements the sweetness of the pear.  The toasted pecans add just the right amount of crunch to keep this salad from being boring.  Plus, there's something fun about a salad where most of the ingredients begin with the letter P. 

Pomegranate, Persimmon & Pecan Salad

 3 ripe persimmons

3 ripe pears

1 lime

seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate

mixed greens

1 cup toasted pecans

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 shallots, finely chopped

5 Tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix the vinegar, mustard, and shallots.
2. Season with salt and pepper.  
3. Slice the persimmons and pears into slices.  Put in a bowl.
4. Sprinkle with the juice of the lime.
5. Add the pomegranate seeds and toss gently.
6. Toss the greens with some of the vinaigrette and arrange on plates.
7. Toss the fruit mixture lightly in the remaining vinaigrette.  Arrange on top of the greens.
8. Sprinkle with the toasted pecans.
   

Crave Wednesday: Sloppy Joe Sliders

Let's catch up a bit, shall we?  I've got a lot of filling in the blank spaces to do.  I'll probably jump around a bit, because otherwise I'd be blogging about the Fourth of July in September.  So let's start there.

We started the morning at the Scripps Ranch Old Pros.   Then came home and vegged.  Well, the boys and I vegged.  Thatboy did yard work.  When he was finished, it was time for a little patriotic arts and crafts. 

At Thanksgiving, Trader Joes came out with a gingerbread turkey.  It was sold out before we even got to the store.  So when I saw a gingerbread White House I snatched it up before the same could be true.  Thatboy and Thatkid painstakingly went to work on it.

When they finished we ate lunch and took a family nap.  And then it was pool time.  First in our blow-up in the backyard,

Then over at our neighbors.  We dined with our neighbors, a mini-block party with the group of us who end up together every Fourth of July.  We ate hot dogs and corn and homemade pickles.

After dinner I took Thatbaby home and put him to bed.  The benefit of spending the holidays with the neighbors is that the monitor reaches from his room to their house.  So I brought it with me back to their front yard to watch the fireworks.

The Fourth of July isn't typically I holiday I went spend with my family, but for some reason I'm missing my dad a lot recently.  I came across some of our old emails to each other.  I'd forgotten that we'd had correspondence, and when I read them I can almost hear his voice in those words.

Thatdad was much more the "cook" in our family.  He made dinner most nights, and fairly elaborate things.  I have memories of ducks hanging upside down in our basement.  Of hams, glazed and dotted with cloves.  Of Cornish hens, perfectly dressed and roasted.

But there were also the meals from his childhood, which he would pull out when my mom was out of town.  Fluffernutter sandwiches and sloppy joes.   I don't know why these were reserved for times when my mom wasn't around, but it was tradition.

My dad made sloppy joes with a can of Manwich, but it's so easy to make your own sloppy joe sauce - a tangy, tomato based sauce.  Every bite brings me right back to my childhood.

Sloppy Joe Sliders (from Cooking Light)

1 carrot

3/4 onion, chopped

10 oz 92% lean ground beef

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp Wocestershire sauce

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1 can no-salt added tomato sauce

8 slider buns

1. Preheat broiler.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  While pan is heating, grate carrot.  Add carrot, onion, and beef to pan.  Cook 6 minutes or until beef is broned and vegetables are ender.
2. Add garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper.  Cook 1 minute.
3. Combine ketchup and next 5 ingredients in a small bowl.  
4. Add ketchup mixture to pan, stirring to coat beef mixture evenly.  Simmer 5 minutes or until thick.
5. While sauce thickens, arrange buns, cut sides up, in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Broil 2 minutes or until lightly toasted.
6. Place about 1/4 cup beef mixture on bottom half of each of 8 buns and top each slider with top half of bun.

Mommy Mondays: 13 Months

Weight: 23lbs (+14bs 12oz) (leftover from 12 months)
Height: 32 inches (+10.5 inches) (leftover from 12 months)
Head: 18.4 inches (leftover from 12 months)

 

Sleep:  Still the same.  About one wakeup a night.  At the beginning of the month we were still having trouble with him refusing to sleep for hours, with Thatboy and I trading off.  He very dramatically thrashes and screams.   Towards the end of the month it's been better - just the wakeup without the stayups.

Eating: We tried to move Thatbaby on to whole milk, but he's not a huge fan, so I've been transitioning by mixing breast milk and whole milk.  I'm officially done pumping!  And I've been able to keep him on the breast milk this month because of my freezer stash.  As far as food goes though, his appetite is back to normal and he's putting away plenty of food.  He's especially loving watermelon and could eat his weight in it.

Best Moment: My best mommy moment was actually spending time away from the family for a night.  Sounds terrible, but so nice for a recharge.  Maybe my best Thatbaby moment though was watching him walk to me. 

Monthly Wisdom: This is my least favorite month.  13 months was a really difficult age for Thatkid and it's turning out to be the same for Thatbaby.  Maybe worse.  At this age, Thatkid was walking, had a couple words under his belt, and started sleeping through the night.  Thatbaby isn't doing any of those things.  My wisdom of this month is just to get through it.

Goals for the Upcoming Month:
- more sleep
- get Thatbaby more comfortable with walking
- survive another long road trip
- switch over to whole milk



Things Thatbaby is doing:
- taking some unsupported steps
- raises his arm when he wants to be picked up - all the time
- teething: another tooth this month
- lots and lots of pool time
- dancing whenever he hears music and clapping for his favorite songs

Sunday Runday: Scripps Ranch Old Pros

There are a couple of races in San Diego that are fixtures of the racing scene.  They're the races that have been around forever, some that people travel in for year after year (like the Carlsbad Half Marathon) and others that are annual community events.

The Scripps Ranch Old Pros is one of those community events.  Held every year on the Fourth of July it's a San Diego tradition that draws thousands of runners, year after year.  And I've wanted to run it forever.  In fact, I had signed up for it back in 2009, only to sprain my ankle a day or two before the race.

But this year, I finally got to run the 10k!  The race itself is around Miramar Lake and the race starts in a nearby neighborhood.   I met up with a couple friends before the race and made plans to meet up with them after.

What's nice is these are some of my typical lake-running-pals.  Although I decided to run the race on my own to finish faster so Thatboy and the kids wouldn't have to wait as long for me, since they tagged along too. 

I run around the lake almost every week, so I was more than familiar with the course.  There's definitely a sense of of comfort in that.  Maybe too much.  This wasn't my fastest 10k, but this could also be the new job and lack of running during the week lately.

The last part of the lake runs you over the dam, which was lined with American flags in commemoration of the holiday.  They also handed out red white and silver necklaces at the water stations.

For many people, this is a major PR course.  The lake is billed as "flat" (it isn't but the inclines and declines aren't intimidating) and the last portion, from the lake back to the finish is all downhill.  Really, it's a nice way to end a race because you almost feel refreshed as you cross the finish.

And if a nice downhill doesn't refresh you, the beer garden after will!

All you can drink Ballast Point Beer!  Which is great, because I love Ballast Point.  (In fact, we've been going through their Barmy like crazy in this house right now.)

I met up with my friends/drinking buddies and we toasted to the race and the holiday.  A nice tradition to take part in.