something like this

For a long time now I’ve been wanting to host a kind of open studios at our house for kids to come over and make art after school. Turns out some of my friends who have kids in Honey’s grade were interested in the same thing. I finally got my act together and we had our first meeting last week.

It was a very basic still life session with charcoal. I started them out with quick studies, which are unbelievably challenging to many kids, particularly 4th graders – there’s a real drive to work super slowly, small and detailed, barely looking at the subject.

We also explored the material – charcoal is pretty fantastic stuff when it comes to range in line quality, tone and texture, as well as its ability to end up absolutely everywhere.

We also touched on the concept of negative space – just trying to explore different ways of looking at what we’re drawing. Check out this terrific chair study:

Pretty great, eh? I’m still figuring out the balance between instruction and freedom – too teachy and it’s overbearing, but I know from experience that too open-ended and it’s chaotic. I think it might come down to a brief time where I lay out a basic concept or two, and then we all work away together.

Here’s the thing: I think there’s something to be said for kids and adults engaging in art together. Not just kids being taught or watched by adults, but observing, working, exploring side by side. Making art (or music, or dance, or poetry…) can be a risky business, and I think it’s exciting to take those chances together.

I took a few photos of our refrigerator yesterday. I’m not normally compelled to document the major appliances in my life, but here’s a quick look at what came over me:

We love all the holiday cards and photos that we get from our family and our friends, and they usually end up stuck all over the house in a happy jumble. This year I decided that I wanted to have that happy jumble right where I’d see it all the time, so as the cards arrived we popped them up on the fridge. Of course, we still ended up with other cards on our bulletin board and on the desk, but I just love seeing as many as possible all grouped together. It reminds me of the wall of photos that Mum always kept over the desk in our kitchen. It was a magnet and a talking point. It’s wonderful to have all these friends looking out at us as we go about the day.

Here’s something else I’m excited about. I finally got a new beater for my trusty kitchenaid mixer! The original one was just a bit tired.

I haven’t put the new one to work yet, but it won’t be long. In other cooking news, I tried out a new method for baking dinner rolls.

This one’s from the King Arthur cookbook – it’s the basic hearth bread (although I made a honey wheat version for a bit more nutritional punch), which you let rise a couple of times and then bake in muffin tins. I used a tray of ice cubes on the bottom oven rack for steam to give a nice crunchy shell to the rolls. Everybody liked them, but I still think I like the traditional roll shape more – I think I’ll go back to that next time. I also tried a cheese cracker recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Are you reading that blog? If not, just go – get out of here! Terrific writing, beautiful recipes, and gorgeous photos. What are you still doing here?

Now I’m embarrassed to even show you this photo of my crackers, because just wait till you see the ones over at Smitten Kitchen. Well, you might laugh at these just a little bit, then. It’s ok, I’m laughing too. I’m laughing with my mouth full of these amazing, insanely delicious crackers. You should make them too.

Our Beautiful Aunt Mary and Uncle Dick gave Hot Wheels a new HESS race car for Christmas. It’s actually better than a race car, if that’s even possible. It’s a race car with a smaller race car inside it. A nested race car. He has been spending many a happy hour since, getting the race cars acquainted with the truck that he received last year. It’s going so well, they’re already on to stunts. They’ve perfected a moving transfer of the smaller race car from truck to big race car. It rocks.

Thank you, Dick and Mary!!!!

Christmas Eve gingerbread house construction at Sherri and Rik’s house

There’s something about all those small bowls filled with twisted red vines, ruby red hots, sparkling sugar gumdrops… it’s a story, a fairy tale. We had such a beautiful Christmas Eve, warm and bright, with amazing friends.

Holiday boats

Every December, we make sure we take a night drive to look at the holiday lights. It’s particularly fun when you live near water.

Marshmallows

Don’t believe me?

Yup, homemade! Right until about a month ago, I never even imagined that you could just up and make marshmallows. Here’s a confession – I don’t even like marshmallows all that much. The taste, that is. I’m nuts about their shape and powdery softness – they’re gorgeous. But the only way I can eat them is perfectly toasted and squashed between graham crackers and chocolate. (You could probably make just about anything taste good with that method.) These were really fun to make, though, and the kids ate them for me so that was a win-win.

Santa Bags

It wouldn’t be a proper Christmas without one crazy 11th hour project on my part. This year, it was making bags to leave out for Santa (we’re all about saving Santa some time on a busy night). So there I was, two nights before Christmas, whipping up random bags out of old shirts, pajamas, dresses, you name it. The good news? They’re super fast to make, they work, and Christmas morning cleanup is a snap!

Resolution #1: Stop ignoring blog.

Holidays are the best and worst times to have a blog. They’re overflowing with all the kinds of activities I like most, which means I have plenty to talk about but no time in which to say it. We were a whirlwind of seasonal festivities. My lists had lists.

Now that the wrapping paper has settled a bit, I’ll put up a few posts with highlights and nonsense from the past couple of weeks.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Say no more, right?

Double chocolates (some with sea salt for an extra bit of happiness).

Gingersnaps

Ginger trees (Hot Wheels helped me ice these with white icing and sparkling sugar to look like they had snow on them, and then we stood them all over a chocolate cake with white frosting sprinkled with coconut to make a woodsy scene. Lesson learned: ginger and chocolate? YUM.)

Christmas cookies in process.

Christmas cookies in action. And upside down. And on a plate. And in a house. This is fast becoming the Dr Seuss cookie edition.

Absent on photo day:

- massive chocolate chips

- meringues

Let me tell you a quick story about those meringues, actually. They were my Christmas Miracle Cookies. (You’d think if they were that significant, I’d have gotten a photo of them, but no.) I’ve been having bad meringue karma around here. For years, I made them without a thought. Just whipped them up when necessary and never had a problem. Lately, I haven’t been able to make them work; I’ve been cursed by the sticky meringue gods and every attempt has been a flop. Or a glop, if you were to try them.

So when I found myself the night before Christmas Eve with three egg whites and no plan for them, I thought, “Don’t do it, Laura. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment.” But it was Christmas, by gum, and I was armed with my new Baker’s Illustrated cookbook. I followed the instructions to a T. The meringues actually held their form while I attempted to shape them into little trees (for the aforementioned cake tableau). I baked them super slow, and didn’t open the oven until it had been off for about 5 hours. I tasted them… sticky. Rrrgh. I went to bed Scroogily.

The next morning I complained to Tom that yet again, I messed up the meringue and didn’t know how. “Where are they?” he asked. “In the oven. I’m not talking to them.” Tom pulled them out. “They look good!” he said hopefully. “That’s what they want you to think.” I grumbled. He snapped one in half.

He snapped one in half. It snapped!! It was dry, and light, and just right – cue the choir, people, we have liftoff! What’s Christmas without a (albeit very very small) miracle?

Here’s a shot of the table from our Christmas Day open house:

Holy potato chips, Batman! That’s a big bowl. I didn’t realize how huge it looked. Of course, they were gone in a heartbeat, leaving that poor glass jar of celery and carrots to wonder if they’d every be asked to dance. Seriously, though, I don’t know why I ever bother with celery. Does anyone eat it? We put it out just to feel noble, I think.

What you can’t see, on the very edge of the table, is the ricotta pie. Oh yes, I did it, and it isn’t even Easter! (For those of you who’ve never heard about Lena’s Ricotta Pie, you can check it out here.) We never used to get this treat on a non-Easter day, but I broke that tradition wide open, I tell ya. A couple of our guests asked me what was in “the giant pop tart,” which momentarily offended my childhood sensibilities, but then I was forced to admit the resemblance. Poor pie.

I hope you also had a wonderful holiday filled with sweets and relaxation. Hmmm, that said, it looks like celery might just have its day, after all!

This afternoon, the combined effects of a crawling post office line (bad) and a bike ride home in a soft grey rain (good) left the kids and me in need of a serious snack. Fortunately, the other day I tried out a new recipe for ginger muffins from Cooks Illustrated.

Take two of these with a mug of hot chocolate, and call me in the morning. Problems solved.

A weekend ago, on Saturday morning, Honey decided to make some scrambled eggs.

She started out with just your basic eggs and milk and some grated cheese. Then she decided it needed some tomato, and as I passed through the kitchen on the way to my room I saw her dart to the fridge, saying, “I know what this needs! Some spinach!” A little salt and pepper later and she had a fine breakfast. It was a little soupy, but boy did it taste great.

After that we headed into the city to meet up with our friends Amy and Scott and their two children, who were in town for the weekend from LA. We met up at the Warming Hut at Chrissy Fields, which is one of the best spots in the entire city, as far as I’m concerned. Nestled right at the southern base of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Warming Hut is a café and store that supports the Golden Gate National Parks (Chrissy Field being one of those parks). It’s the perfect spot for a cup of cocoa and a sandwich while you take in a spectacular view of the bridge, the city and the bay.

There’s a pier where you can fish and catch crabs, and the kids always love walking out to see if anyone’s had any luck. That Saturday, This dude was checking everybody out -

I’m telling you this guy was like the pier mafia. He was half as big as Hot Wheels, and if you looked at him too long he’d come strutting over, all “Are you lookin at me? You got somethin you gotta say? I didn’t think so.”

See what I mean? Don’t let the perspective fool you – he only looks smaller because he’s farther away. Back away slowly, Hot Wheels, do not make eye contact.

I met this persimmon salad at Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco, and I’ll admit my first impression was that it was a bit fresh. In a good way, fortunately.

Let me start with a quick word about the restaurant – wow. Ha! Now here are a few more words: the staff hit the perfect balance of welcoming and professional, and the food was bright, creative and incredibly delicious. Every once in a while my mind flicks up an image from that meal, like a slide, and I’m back – sitting with good friends, watching mozzarella turn from a doughy mess into a soft balls, listening to the sounds of a restaurant filled with happy diners, taking my first bite of this salad.

Ok I’m back. Obviously, if you want the real deal, you should go straight to the source (come on, East Coasters, we have a spare room), but for a cheat that will still make you incredibly happy, here’s how it goes:

First you get some arugula – if possible the nice, small kind. Add some baby spinach if you’d like a slightly bigger salad and the arugula is overwhelming. (That’s what I did in the one pictured above.) Slice in a Fuyu persimmon and some Ricotta Salata. Toss lightly with meyer lemon olive oil and a little salt and fresh ground pepper. Then you’re going to want to be sitting down, because the first bite will knock your socks off. Where has this salad been all your life?

Here are three fun biking events from the past two weeks:

1. Family Ride to Tiburon

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we finally took a great ride that we’d been planning forever with our friends Rik and Sherri and their two awesome kids. We went from Mill Valley to Tiburon on a clear and windy Saturday afternoon. The ride was amazing; only one challenging hill and mostly beautiful bike path, tons of people out enjoying the day, stunning views of the bay and the city to the south. Everything went smoothly and the kids all had a fantastic time. We stopped at Waypoint pizza and got the back room all to ourselves – the food was made even more tasty by our ride beforehand. After we ate, we admired the view for a bit before heading back home.

Tom has this great app called Runkeeper on his iPhone which tracks all the stats on your adventures – distance, time, pace and even elevation – using the phone’s gps. Here’s the screen for our return ride from Tiburon:

How awesome is that?! The kids loved checking out the route and looking at the elevation chart – speed certainly is variable when your riders range from six to, well, you know, more than six. I love the information design on these screens – they’re easy to read and beautiful to look at. So satisfying. All in all, it was an incredible day.

2. Walk and Wheel Wednesdays

As I’ve mentioned here before, I put in a small amount of time for the Safe Routes to School committee at our kids’ elementary school. One of the ways we’re trying to build participation in the program is to encourage a weekly walk/wheel/carpool to school day. We try to drum up enthusiasm for the whole idea by putting up posters and a table at the school entrance on the first Wednesday of each month. Whole Foods was good enough to give us some bags of granola to hand out to the students, and we’ve been stamping hands to show they participated. However, we’ve been struggling to come up with other ways to get the message out without printing up hundreds of flyers that will just be tossed when the kids go home after school.

Last week, I started thinking about edible advertising. So I bought a couple bags of cuties and some food markers and put the message right on the clementines.

They had faces on one side, and “Walk & Wheel Wednesdays” on the other. It was fun watching the kids trying to decide which face to choose, and I think they worked pretty well. Anyone out there have other ideas? I’d love to hear them.

3. Xtra Clean

I’ve carried lots of fun things with my xtracycle.

I love having a bike that can carry my vacuum cleaner.