Urinecane Peetrina, Concords

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Urinecane Peetrina roared across Ol's bed at 3:30 this morning, leaving him drenched and groggily up. He stumbled into my room like a ghostly stinkbomb, and after shedding his sopping PJs and donning new ones, we made our way to the basement when it became clear that he, T and I weren't going to fall back asleep if we stayed in bed together. This was a Category 5 situation folks; when I went to change his sheets this morning, four hours after the storm touched down, the bed was still overflowing. I will not miss bed-wetting peeps, not a bit. In any case, I do enjoy a good snuggle with my boys, and Ol still has enough toddler squish that loving on him is especially sweet. So we cuddled and snugged until we could fall back asleep and he told me "you're the best mommy in the world and also the best cook and I love you". I thought I'd die.

T left for NYC this morning, and I am grateful to have dropped the Guinness World Record Talkers at school for the day. Nutmeg is going apeshit on one of my chairs despite the fact that I just built him a 5 foot cat tree with four scratch posts, and Percy is on his hind legs, his two front paws on my leg looking both disappointed and hopeful. Good god, pets.

I'm now breakfasting on some pumpkin-plum muffins and hope to get some some cooking done today! A big highlight will be meeting a foodie friend -we met online via Food52 and email regularly and hilariously- today. She's in town visiting family, and I am so looking forward to an in-person meet. Also this means I get to go out for a lovely lunch which is a treat I don't often afford myself.

As you may know, Concord Grape season has arrived! I do not love Concords on their own; regular grape juice is the liquid equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. Egads!! Horrors! But Concords love to be tossed with savory elements which results in divinely autumnal, sweet-salty dishes. I am definitely going to make a 2x batch of my Double Grape-Rosemary compote because it freezes well and then makes a stunning addition to our Thanksgiving table as well as a schiacciata con l'uva, a delightful Tuscan focaccia studded with grapes, rosemary and salt.

www.em-i-lis.com

Home, settling in

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Y'all, I am so tired I hardly know my name. This morning, Jack asked me what week of September we're currently in, and I just looked at him blankly, as if he'd asked me to solve an ancient theoretical physics problem backwards and in Russian. "Jack," I said, "I'm sorry but at present, that question is entirely too challenging for me." I did manage to grab hold of a slight second wind yesterday afternoon and put together a Tuscan-inspired dinner of caprese salad (love the Mardi Gras hues!) and schiacciata con l'uva. The pic of the bread is pre-cook and definitely leaves something to be desired, but I'm just impressed that I put a homemade dinner on the table last night.

It may have been typical Em-i-lis Type-A overreaching, but before leaving for Florence, I committed to catering a dinner party for 25 this Thursday night. Oh mon dieu. Three beautiful leek confit and aged goat cheese tarts, a tray of tea sandwiches and two chocolate-almond cakes. Now channeling the Little Engine That Could on crack, "I know I can and must."