Carabiners

I keep a carabiner in my bag for two things:

1) When Miss. M. sheds an article of clothing, I can clip it to my bag or a belt loop so I don't lose it (and don't have to carry it).

2) When serial shopping - like at a mall - I can hang all or many of the accumulated shopping bags off of my shoulder bag thereby keeping the hands free for more shopping or toddler-herding.

Go ahead, bite me

Miss M. has a best friend at daycare. Once upon a time, said best friend bit Miss M. a number of times. The biting has stopped, and generally Miss M. comes home from daycare and says "S. didn't bite me".

One day last week, the two of them were playing with trains; Miss M. was apparently being quite possessive about the trains, and S. was getting upset. Finally, Miss M. presented her forearm to S. and said "Go ahead, bite me."

Wow.

Anacondas

Miss M. was splashing in the bath the other night and said "that's an anaconda". She'll be three in November - where did she learn about anacondas?

Weather Report

The other day dawned dark - rainy and overcast. As Miss M. sat eating her cereal, she looked up and said "the sun is having a little trouble".

New York Places and Pleasures

I recently came across an old guidebook to New York - (New York Places & Pleasures, Kate Simon, 1959) - published before I was born. It is a charmingly written and rather idiosyncratic book, now very out of date. But it paints a picture of New York, and flipping through it brings back sharp little memories of childhood - lunch at Sweets and Sloppy Louie's when accompanying Pop to the office, a birthday dinner at Luchow's, pre-theater meals at the Xochitl, which had a seemingly permanent open container of hot sauce on every table, fancier pre-theater meals at Pearl's (which I haven't found in this guidebook, but remember the lemon chicken oh so well).

Fulton Fish Market

Another snip from an old guidebook to New York:

"Turn eastward now, toward the East River, and continue east and south toward Fulton and South Streets. The streets will seem empty and waiting as the early dawn slowly brings dimension to the black cardboard buildings, but you will never be quite alone; a young policeman walking his somnolent path will greet you, a head will emerge from a manhole and shout "Good morning," a truck driver will tap his horn gently so that you may notice and greet him. When the Fulton Fish Market breaks through the silences with a tremendous roar, it is time to put on your rubbers against the ice spilling and melting all around. (If you've forgotten them, you can buy a pair, or hip boots for that matter, at one of the general stores on Fulton Street; they open at 4 a.m.) From Fulton Street to the Brooklyn Bridge on South Street, under the highway and to the edge of the river, stream stalls on stalls of red snapper, of endless sacks of scallops and scallop-shaped dogfish, of dried slabs of cod in soldierly rows, of silver threads of smelt glittering in gilt cans, of ice nests holding mounds of shrimp and a strayed starfish or two. Weathered men in high boots and heavy sweaters weigh out heaps of fish in suspended 100-pound scoop scales. Two men drag and carry a grouper twice their size, its face still set in the common fish expression of blustering anger. A row of cod, each in its own basket, stands head down with tail fins spread up and out, like precision divers in a water ballet. Out at the very end of the piers rest a few fishing smacks, rusty and worn, their nets hanging limp and dull. At one time, the bulk of deliveries to the market was made by boats, but they have ben supplanted by trucks, and it is now the truckmen who are the tough salty characters while the fishermen become anachronistic shadows." (New York Places & Pleasures, Kate Simon, 1959).

Swiss Chard Timbale

Chop an onion and saute it in some butter. Add 1 pound of chopped swiss chard, and saute until chard is wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated. Move chard to a bowl and add 2 T. melted butter, 1/4 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 t. salt, some ground pepper, 2/3 cup of breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of grated swiss cheese and 5 beaten eggs. Mix well and bake in a buttered souffle dish in a water bath - at 325° F for 45-60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Yum.

Pronunciation at 2 3/4

POOL, SCHOOL and STOOL are all two syllable words.

Toddlerisms

What color is that dress? "Pink Hot!"

While watching TV, "where's the termote?"

Her bottom is her "bahmen".

Toddler Industry

The other day, I put Miss M. in her room for a nap. When all was quiet, I went to check on her. She had turned over the toy box and climbed on the dresser, and was studiously inserting Q-tips into a tub of Vaseline.

Christ Cella

From an old guidebook to New York, a description of the now departed Christ Cella:

"One of the first steak houses in this area, and still venerated. In spite of the disturbingly spiritual name, it is heartily and successfully devoted to the flesh" (New York Places & Pleasures, Kate Simon, 1959).

Butter

A letter to the New York Times, following the death of Julia Child:

To the Editor:

Re "Ms. Child Departs the Nation's Table" (Appreciations, editorial, Aug. 14): Francis X. Clines mentions Julia Child's use of butter, not just in cooking but in eating. I recall that she once said that a person who didn't eat butter was a crank with limp hair.

Julia Child lives on in all our kitchens.

Estelle Shanley
York, Me., Aug. 14, 2004