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My daughter loves this

kids

A Wrinkle in Time, the classic children’s science fiction novel by Madeline L’Engle.

Despite the fact that I, the overly-dedicated-to-analogue-still-listens-to-vinyl person that I am, have just about given up on the cassette format, I continue to refer to audiobooks as books on tape. Which thoroughly confuses my daughter, who I am sure wonders why anyone would bother putting books onto rolls of masking tape. But confusion aside, our family has become totally devoted to the format.

For years, the CD version of D’Aulaire’s Greek Myths (read by Harry Belafonte, Matthew Broderick, Paul Newman and Kathleen Turner) has lived in our glove compartment, as has Leonard Bersnstien’s brilliant reading of Peter and the Wolf. We must have listened to Cherry Jones read Little House on the Prairie and Little House in the Big Woods 3 or 4 times this summer alone.

But our current obsession is Hope Davis’ reading of Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, which was one of my absolute favorite books growing up. There is nothing more satisfying than sharing your own favorite things with your children and watching them become equally enthralled. It happened with corn on the cob. It happened with Prince. And is has just happened with the crazy story of the Murray kids and their quest to save their father.

It’s got real science to learn, as well as science fiction. There are some good lessons about the beauty of being yourself and the power of love. There’s even a tiny bit of first kiss style romance. All tied together into a plot that is so gripping, we had to press pause when my husband got out to fill the car up with gas. He didn’t want to miss a beat. And we couldn’t blame him.

And neither will you.

And while we’re on the topic of berries…

food

The hands of the inspirational Nancy Hagen, putting the crust on the cobbler.

Last weekend, my family went to spend the day on Shelter Island with my friend Nancy’s family. Our daughters have been friends since birth, and visits with the Ethridges always feel a bit like coming home.

That evening, we tagged along with them to a big multigenerational outdoor summer barbeque, with burgers, grilled tuna, lots of crisp veggies, a pool for the kids. and plenty of beer and wine for the adults. Nancy volunteered to supply cobblers for desert, so we spent a bit of our afternoon making what, if I do say so myself, was the most delicious summer cobbler I have ever had.

Thanks goes to Canal House, from whence the recipe comes. To Nancy, for being the chef de cuisine. To Josh, for his expert dissection of the peaches. And to me for… lots of mixing and recording, which is my usual role.

The recipe follows. You can use whatever fruit is in season… we chose peaches and blueberries, which is what looked best at the market that afternoon. Right now, the possibilities are endless. And one piece of advice… you might want to double it up and make two of these as they have a way of disappearing into thin air.

Canal House Berry Cobbler

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp cornstarch (we used Wondra as we didn’t have any cornstarch)
2 pint fresh raspberries or a combination of your favorite berries

Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Using a wooden spoon, beat the butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until well combined. Beat in the egg yolk and 1/4 tsp of the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir until well combined. Refrigerate the dough while preheating the oven to 375.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add the berries and the remaining 1 tsp of vanilla and toss gently to coat.

Put the berries into an 8 inch square (or 8 cup) baking dish. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons over the berries, covering the fruit evenly. Bake until the berries are bubbling and the topping is a golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.

The finished cobbler, at the dinner party, right before we cut into it. Poor thing didn’t stand a chance… it was demolished in moments.

Monday, Monday– or more links about race relations, berries and NPR…

links

We are in prime summer fruit season, so go out and eat as many peaches and nectarines and berries and plums as you can possibly stand. Because soon it’ll be November, and we’ll be back to potatoes and squash…

This cartoon about our local police oh-no-wait highly armed military officers would be funny if it weren’t so true…

All of this race related violence makes this series (“From here I saw what happened and I cried”) by Carrie Mae Weems all the more poignant and relevant.

On a more optimistic note, it is prime berry season, so check out and then go make and then go eat these favorite berry recipes from Food52…

Speaking of fruit, it is also prime tomato season. At the risk of overloading you with recipes, take a gander at this tomato toast with basil cream cheese from the ladies of A Beautiful Mess if you’re feeling like you need some new sandwich style ideas.

Everything makes a comeback at some point. Even lard.

If you’re thinking about hitting the road for these last few weeks of summer, NPR has a new app for you that will help you take a personalized version of your beloved public radio station with you. It’s called NPR One, of course.

And, for no particular reason, here’s a little piece celebrating the humble and ubiquitous USB.

This is one of my favorite pieces of animation ever

art

In which Doc Ellis describes what it was like, in 1970, to pitch a no hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates while high on LSD.

Enjoy.

And have a great weekend…

Yesterday, at some point…

photography

Most of the time, out of focus photographs require instant deletion. Especially when taken with your phone.

Sometimes, though, they are magic.

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Yesterday, at some point is a series of photographs that describe a moment I experienced during the previous day. The posts are meant to be stand alone images, though at times I can’t control myself, and I end up expanding the caption into a more lengthy bit of text. Hopefully the extra information is useful, or at least interesting. If not, feel free to ignore it.

Sadness

MORK AND MINDY. Robin Williams as Mork in " Mork goes Erk". Original airdate February 8, 1979. Copyright ©1979 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Credit: CBS Photo Archive. Image is a screengrab.

Robin Williams’ suicide broke my heart. Not because I see it as a “waste” (which seems to be the thing most folks like to say when they hear about people taking their own lives) but because I imagine that he must have been in so much pain to have willingly left a loving family, his fans and his life behind. And I wouldn’t wish that kind of anguish on my worst enemy.

This morning’s sadness came in the form of the death of Lauren Bacall, an actress who was a style icon to so many of us, and not just in the way she dressed, but in the bold manner in which she led her life.

But then the more profound sadness came while listening to a story on NPR about the clearly unnecessary shooting of Michael Brown in a suburb of St Louis last week. “Overenthusiastic” police reactions to African American males seems to be the big thing this summer, and as such, the interview’s topic turned to the suffocation, by what looks to have been about 6 cops, of Staten Island resident Eric Garner. Listening to the audio tape of him screaming “I can’t breathe” over and over again made my heart burst apart.

Here’s the video if you want to see it. Though I warn you, it’s pretty harsh.

This blog does not usually go into politics and I promise to go back to the universe of happy summer recipes, great kids books and the beauty secrets of my friends in the next post, but I just want to ask you all to take a moment out and think about how we might make this a better world. How we might be just a little kinder to each other, and a little bit more understanding. Because if everyone were just a little less angry, we might all be able to see more clearly.

Yesterday, at some point…

food - photography - places

We had lunch at La Fondita in Amagansett, which is well worth a voyage down the over-travelled Montauk Highway if you are in this neck of the woods. Delicious street style Mexican food, picnic tables or blankets by the pond, cheese quesadillas for the little ones, watermelon juice…

This photo was taken while waiting very patiently for the number 15 to be called…

La Fondita
74 Montauk Highway
Amagansett, NY
631-267-8800
open every day

Yesterday, at some point…

food - photography

A perfect summer meal…

Baked fresh halibut with a charissa/yogurt sauce, fresh broccoli sprouts, tomato/mozzarella salad with fresh basil and perfect, sweet, barely cooked corn on the cob.

A heartfelt thank you to my extremely gifted husband for cooking this meal and creating a perfect ending to a wonderful summer day.

Monday, Monday– or more links about sleeping, shopping, summer…

links

My daughter made me go to the Sag Harbor carnival three (3!) times last week. It is a miracle I am still standing.

First off, in case you missed it, T magazine published a great story this week about my favorite suppliers of farm fresh food, Good Eggs. And while you’re reading the piece, you might just recognize a name or two. (I just happened to be eating lunch there during the interview!)

My husband is obsessed with air conditioning and sleep. He is also supposedly trying to lose weight, but refuses to put aside time to exercise. Turns out, if this recent study is right, all he really has to do is sleep in a chilly room and the pounds will just melt away. Sounds like a match made in heaven!

And while were on the topic of sleeping, check out this Ultimate Bedtime Routine For Better Sleep. I bet if we all turned off our electronic devices an hour before bedtime, we’d not only sleep better… we’d be happier people.

NYC water towers are about to get a makeover…

Oooh… the new Apiece Apart line has just hit the racks at Bird. Run, don’t walk…

Uh oh… summer is almost over. Go to The Archivast and buy a vintage photograph from the New York Times to keep that warm feeling going all year long. (They’re having a sale!)

But before the season is out, maybe you’re going to spend an August weekend at somebody’s house and need to bring along a hostess gift… check out this beautiful post on summertime gift wrapping and turn even a jar of jam into a priceless present!

Amber Waves of grain, and flowers, and tomatoes, and greens…

food - places

These are some of the delicious tomatoes at Amber Waves just hanging there on the vine, waiting to be picked…

Amber Waves Farm is a little slice of heaven, located down a semi secret stone driveway behind the totally not secret, overpriced, full on Hamptons-stylie Amagansett Farmer’s Market which is actually an outpost of Eli Zabar’s in NYC. Now to be fair, Zabar’s swept in and saved the old market, which was poised to go out of business. I am genuinely happy that the local farmers still have a retail outlet for their goods and are able to keep on keeping on. But I am letting other people pay $15 for a small crate of plums. Me and my more limited bank account shop elsewhere, for the most part.

One of our options is the just new this year non publicized retail table at Amber Waves. They are, for the most part, a CSA serving up the most incredible looking boxes full of their lush organic produce. But this summer they have started to offer a few things for those of us non-members who may happen to make our way down the driveway. Some of the stuff is prepackaged, and some (like the tomatoes) we go pick ourselves!

This is far from a one stop shop, as the selection is super limited, but it makes a great place to begin, as the vegetables they have right now are well worth planning an entire meal around. Plus it makes the horrors of driving on the infamous Montauk Highway feel worthwhile. And there is a little play area with two mini houses that the kids can run around in should you decide to break down and buy a watermelon juice or lemonade from the market up front and want to sit down and enjoy it.

And then, when you get home, you should consider making one of these delicious gazpachos that the great Mark Bittman has written about in the New York Times recently. One of these, some bread and maybe a salad and you’re good to go!

Here are a few photos of the farm just to get you motivated to come out…