Summer: Day Four

I am not a born cook. But since I lucked out and married one I have developed a liking for cooking. All growing up, my mom constantly tried to entice me into helping her cook in the kitchen; poor woman, I turned her down everytime. So, she is endlessly impressed with whatever I cook, regardless of its quality, since she was afraid I was a lost cause. How times have changed. There has been one cookbook that has recently inspired me. I was first intrigued with Deb Perelman, author of the blog and cookbook Smitten Kitchen, when I heard her discussing her dislike of dust jackets in an interview and I yelled "me too!" into my empty car. I knew i could trust her taste in food as well. As soon a I got her book (thanks, Tracy!), I promptly disrobed it and drooled over those magnificent pictures using it as a coffee table book for the first few days so I could show anyone who came over. The few recipies I have tried out have increased my faith in her tastes as well as my own cooking abilities - if she developed her cooking chops in that tiny New York kitchen, then I was not a lost cause. So one of my goals, created in those first heady days of summer when everything seems possible, is to make at least one thing a week from her cookbook, three things in a good week. This week's first item was the New York breakfast casserole - bagels, red onion cream cheese, tomatoes, and eggs mixed into glory. I made it the night before, but it took quite a while to bake (1:15) in the morning. I was able to pop it in the oven, crawl back in bed, then wake up to the smell of that savory casserole while we snuggled with our little widget in bed. 

It was soo good and did not dissapoint, but we needed about four more people to help us finish the thing off! 

After our delicious breakfast Jack and I decided to check out the library and near by playgrounds, but had our adventure time cut short by Jack's first bee sting which he handled like a champ.

Please note the sock ice pack tied around his little foot. 

Day four - a success dampened only by the bees. Stupid bees.