Painted in Waterlogue
The Meatpacking District

We have news!

I’m not pregnant. But our family is experiencing a seismic shift on par with a new baby at home. Almost….

We’ve moved to the lake for the summer! Goodbye city streets, hello water, paddleboards, and jumping crickets.

While I’m excited about a lazy summer at the lake, it’s sad to leave New York. I love the city, its grit and its beauty. As a farewell, I thought I’d put together a collection of some of my favorite city moments from the past year, all seen through the hazy lens of watercolor. From last Summer, to our long-awaited Spring, a glimpse of NYC through the seasons:

Painted in Waterlogue
Chelsea water tower

Painted in Waterlogue
Bubbles blow on Sixth Avenue

Painted in Waterlogue
The Richard Meier Buildings, West Village
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dandelion

The horror, that I would actually feed my kids a humble weed. At least that’s what Lauren was thinking when I served up a big bowl of dandelion greens. They’re bitter, so when I use them in my cooking, I make sure to give them a good toss with olive oil, salt, and a splash of vinegar. But they’re fun to taste on their own because that’s what we do on our mystery food challenge. Try vegetables in their raw state for the pure pleasure of exploring something new. And maybe if I hadn’t covered our lawn in weed killer, we’d have been eating more dandelions this year.

ME: Guys.  I have a pretty special mystery food.  Does anyone know what this is?  You guys will not believe what it is.

LAUREN: What?

ME: What do you think it is?

SAM: We don’t know what it is.

ME: I know, that’s why I’m asking.  What do you think it is?

LAUREN: Lettuce greens?

ME: Nope. Have you seen this before, because I think you have.  It’s kind of like a lettuce green.  You’ve seen it before.  It grows in our yard.  Anyone have any idea?

LAUREN: (gives me a suspicious look)

ME: It’s dandelions. These are dandelion greens.  You can actually eat them.

LAUREN: Oh, yuck.

ME: And I bought them at the Farmer’s Market, a whole bag of them, and you can actually eat them.

SAM: And you can just pick them from the front yard?

ME: Yes, you can just pick them from the yard, except that we spray weed killer on ours.

SAM: Nahhhhh.

ME: I know.  Isn’t that the worst thing ever?  We could be hunting and foraging for chives and dandelion greens in our backyard because they both grow there, and instead we killed them with weed killer.

LAUREN: I’m feeling really sad for them.
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We’re lucky enough to call New York’s Chelsea neighborhood home. It’s diverse and energetic, always up for a good time. Particularly when June rolls around and Gay Pride celebrations kick into high gear. Lauren once said that we live in the most beautiful place on Earth because it’s full of rainbows. An astute observation from a then-4-year-old kid, who noticed that hundreds (if not thousands) of rainbow flags flutter above our neighborhood storefronts.

One of our neighbors co-hosts the J.P.Morgan-sponsored Pride event held in the Central Park Zoo every year.

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The kids look forward to the end of June every year, which marks both the end of school and the Pride event at the zoo.

Usually the Tropical Zone is open, but for some reason, this year, it was closed. But I do have a few pictures of the blazingly warm pavilion from last year. The Tropical Zone houses all kinds of exotic animals, from rare species of birds, to lemurs, and more creepy crawlies than I’d typically like to see in one sitting, including Pythons and Tarantulas.

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And the birds…there are the most beautiful species of birds in the Zoo. This was Sam right before the husband and wife pair in the background got into a huge marital spat and accidentally cuffed him in the head with their wings.

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birds_FeedMeDearly

Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that it was closed this year.

But we did have our regular Sea Lion show. “The seals, guys, the seals!” I called as the trainers got ready for the show. At which point a well-coiffed man in front of me exclaimed to his daughter “aren’t you excited for the SEA LIONS?” Apparently zoo animal classification is critical to some people. Not to me, ballpark is good enough.

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strawberry_rhubarb_yogurt_almonds_FeedMeDearly

Rhubarb has been taking center stage in the house this week. First we attempted to eat it as part of our mystery food challenge. Which led to mixed results and a potential case of food poisoning. Fortunately no kids were harmed, but they did learn some important lessons, namely that rhubarb 1) isn’t to be eaten raw, and 2) is effective as a sword when battling with your siblings post-breakfast.

After a few too many instances of needing to wrestle warped rhubarb out of small, maple syrup-sticky hands, I decided that a better fate than bruising and the eventual trash bin, would be to roast it with a sprinkling of vanilla sugar alongside some fresh organic strawberries.

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There is no better pairing, in my mind, than strawberries and rhubarb. The only combination that comes close is Roquefort + baguette + a sip of red wine all sloshed together in one decadent bite. I have my Stepdad and the country of France to thank for that one. I’m not sure to whom I owe my thanks for strawberry rhubarb, but I’m sure that he or she would be pleased at passionate response it’s gotten over the years.

My favorite use is strawberry rhubarb pie, but I generally leave all pie making to the pie experts. I made it once for a dinner party, and it wasn’t a hit. My crust was lackluster, and Rodney was convinced that in general, rhubarb is a weird fruit to make into dessert. “Vegetable”, I corrected him. “Exactly”, he said, reaffirming his point that dessert and vegetables shouldn’t co-exist.

I disagreed, but regardless, soggy crusts don’t have a place at my table. So I make jam.

I’ve admitted to the fact that I’m scared of making jams and other foods that are have long shelf lives, but throwing some fruit into an oven with some sugar, letting it roast in its own juices and calling it jam? That I can handle. The maximum time it spends in the fridge is a week because we eat it as soon as we make it. No pectin, no boiling of sealed jars. It’s a win win for everyone.

Roasted strawberry rhubarb has so many applications. Don’t get me started with Greek yogurt. I’ll stir it into the yogurt as is… 

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