But I'm glad I did.

As it turned out, I was the only student to show up tonight so class was actually a private Italian tutorial. Bene, bene! I was so happy for that opportunity as well as that I'd have felt awful if our teacher had been stranded. So it just goes to show that often, making myself boogie out to something is worthwhile. Plus, class is at the Friends Meeting House on Florida Ave (DC, non-DCers), and being in a peaceful Quaker environment periodically this summer has been a lovely reminder of how happy I am that the boys attend a Friends school. I was especially glad of this when I heard from the babysitter that during a bike ride with the kids, they told her an insane story of a neighbor in a nearby cul de sac who had tried to put nails in our car tires and so they needed to put one in his/hers. None of that is remotely true, and how two little honeys who biked by a lone nail and then created an epic tall tale about good and evil and vengeance and so forth is really quite a testament to their imaginations as well as the need to put their Quaker hats back on pronto. The babysitter, per wisdom and to her credit, did not believe a word they said; she did find them adorable. And that is the good thing about good babysitters dealing with childly BS.

A complete aside: aren't these pickled gingered carrots lovely? I will be selling these (and so many more items) at the Circle Yoga Arts Market on 9/7. Check my calendar if you need additional info. And do come!

Load of pickled carrots, now on to holiday butter cookies

I have had the nicest morning. It's cold and drizzly out, the perfect reason to stay inside and cook! I needed to make 11 jars of pickled gingered carrots for two orders so put up an even dozen. Now I've got 1¼ pounds of butter coming to room temp as I'm moving on to holiday butter cookies. Yee-ha! The kids and I had an impromptu dance party last night with a champagne cocktail for moi (prosecco, Luxardo sour cherries, splash of bitters, lemon peel!) and kidtails for them: sparkling apple cider and maraschino cherries. We told T he simply must come home from work and join us and in the meantime, danced to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. I will tell you, peeps, a cocktail can really make the end of a day with kiddos a bit easier and more fun. Heh! The shrimp creole was lovely and heck yeah! on the roasted romanesco broccoli with a lemony-caper vinaigrette I whisked together at the last moment. Delish! I was, shortly after dinner finished, seized with the desire for some brown butter brownies, and as usual, these rendered us speechless with delight.

This afternoon, the kids and I have a movie date on the pull-out couch in the basement: Home Alone (they've never seen it but will love it, particularly since they booby-trapped my mother-in-law's basement last Sunday) and popcorn.