birthday dinner season

meyer lemon tart.  georgia buchert made the stunning crown for me, and it's become our birthday crown.

we have eleven family birthdays in january, february and march. 

what are you people gettin' up to in april, may and june?

birthday dinner season is in full swing at my house.  today was cecily's family birthday dinner.  i'm always really curious about what my people will ask me to cook for their birthdays--i finally get to know how they really feel about certain dishes.

some of them have predictable favorites:  moses always wants spaghetti and meatballs.  christian always wants a classic chocolate cake with no frosting.  eva frequently requests beef stroganoff. 

catsup chicken, broccoli with daddy's dipping sauce.  i bought a cheaper rice this week to see if it really made a big difference.  it did :(.  have been spoiled by a much more delicious rice.

cecily surprised me by asking for something new this year: two family staples::  the meyer lemon tart from alice waters' & lindsay remolif shere's chez panisse dessert cookbook (a classic cookbook you might add to your collection if you're into that kind of thing,) & mark bittman's  minimalist ketchup chicken from the new york times, a fantastic, garlick-y comfort food i discovered a few years ago that is very popular chez exoskeleto.

(a note on the tart:  meyer lemons are sweeter than eureka lemons.  i use the two meyer lemons called for in the recipe PLUS one fairly large eureka lemon.  i always want less sweet, more tart, and more lemon flavor in lemon desserts.  i need to continue working on making this tart a little tarter, but this alteration is a step in the right direction.) 

what do you want for your birthday dinner?

i want chicken under a brick, lula's curry fries, and the tart cockaigne from the joy of cooking.  

my birthday's in july, so heads up!

Subway Tights (6 pm); Plus, a To-Do LIst in Tribute to Lara's Awesome To-Do Lists

Tights spotted on the L Train last Friday during rush hour.

The owner of the tights wore a Sgt. Pepper-inspired jacket.

Something about the tights wearer's face reminded me of this Lucien Freud painting.

Lara's "To-Do" lists are little works of art.  I don't know how she does it.  Mine below is wholly practical, born out of the anxiety that I will something if I'm not careful.  (And it also cracks me up that the things on my list that are there for pleasure and edification become anxiety inducing.)  This week I need to: 

1.  See the Ungovernables at the New Museum with kids this Thursday.  Closes on Sunday!
2.  See the Whitney Biennial, which a parent described this morning as underwhelming, but I don't care.
3.   See friend's boyfriend's band Pak at The Stone on Tuesday night.
4.  Finish midterm grading.  This has stretched on and on.  And there's more grading to be done after.
5.  First week back at work:  Finish my Crime Fiction LibGuide!
6.  Check in on the current performance artist in the Abrons Art Center main gallery.
6.  Gather recipes for spring cooking.  (Although I threw together a stir fry--broccoli, pineapple, cashews, tofu, ginger on white rice--for my kids last night and they hated it.)

What's on your "need-to-do" list this week?