Take and give

Friday the 13th, usually a lucky day for me, ended up being not so great. Someone broke into my car, and stole my iTouch out of there. Now, there are a couple of steps I took, to make life a little tougher for the thief. Should said 2007 iTouch ever have a problem, it'll be confiscated at your local Apple counter. For what it's worth, the local police have details of the theft in their records.

Thank you, in the end, iTunes registry for device serial numbers, when I was absent a record of the serial number.

That said, that's the only thing that really went all out wrong on Friday. Yesterday , on happier notes, Baby1 and I were having a conversation about pets. Here's the conversation:

Baby1: Mommy, we should have a pet. I do not like our fishies as pets.
Me: Why?
Baby1: Well... the fish... we need a pet. Not the fish. I do not like the fish. We need something different.
Me: OK, well what would you like to have?
Baby1: Um, well, we need to go to a pet store and see if there are stores, or places, where snakes are.
Me: Really? Snakes? (me getting the heeby jeebies about this prospect)
Baby1: Or, not snakes. How about... where can we find turtles?
Me: Well, sometimes you find turtles at lakes, or ponds, rivers...
Baby1: Or the ocean?
Me: Yes, there are some turtles that live in oceans.
Baby1: Can we have a sea turtle?
Me: No. Sea turtles won't be too happy living in our house.
Baby1: Why?
Me: They need the ocean. That's where they live.
Baby1: How about a shark?
Me: No, we can not keep a shark as a pet in our house.
Baby1: Or maybe a small turtle? Maybe, maybe we go to the store, and see if they have turtles that can live in our house.
Me: OK. That sounds good. Let's talk about it tonight.
Baby1: Or how about a sea turtle?

The innocence of life, the endless possibilities, stretched broadly between the shark and the sea turtle living in a 1930 bungalow. We've now tasked ourselves with finding a little pet for her, something that doesn't require that we keep a zoo as a food source or registry with the endangered species peeps.

And tonight, Baby2 made the connection, between the illustrated light fixture in "Goodnight Moon", with the one on the ceiling above his crib. Absolute amazement at these tiny little milestones.

So here's a little bit of summer joy, to share with you all. We celebrate tomatoes, and especially the little cherry ones that have come in bounty from our tiny little 2'x4' patch of a plant bed we have in our back yard. The first recipe uses these cherry tomatoes - the recipe, I can share with you in a quantity only as Baby1's appetite for these tomatoes would allow the rest of us to have. The second was my first attempt at this southern dish made famous by the movie of the same name so long ago, though it seems like it was just yesterday. Time, a drop of water in the ocean.

Summer Tomato Burst
Cherry tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
(optional - French baguette, garlic, salt, olive oil for some garlic croutons)

Halve the cherry tomatoes, and toss with salt and pepper (light on both). It's just as simple as that.
Serve with french bread, sliced and toasted, rubbed with half a garlic, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled lightly with salt.


Fried Green Tomatoes
Large green tomatoes, extra firm
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Oil, for deep frying
3 plastic bags
Flour, for dredging
Egg, beaten, for dredging
Panko bread crumbs

Night before serving:
1. Slice tomatoes to between 1/4" and 1/2" thickness. Saying 3/8" seems too exact.
2. Lay tomatoes out on a pan in a single layer. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt.
3. Cover, and let rest overnight.

Before serving
1. Heat up oil for deep frying.
2. Drain excess water from tomatoes. Pat dry.
3. In the three bags - have enough (1) flour; (2) egg; and (3) panko bread crumbs with salt and cayenne pepper, enough for completely dredging your tomatoes.
4. Using tongs, pick up a slice of tomato, and dredge first in the flour; then in the egg; then in the seasoned panko bread crumbs. Make sure to have a good covering of panko on the tomatoes, especially on the edges. Lay on a dry pan. Repeat with all slices.
5. Deep frying - take care, as the tomatoes may still have enough water on them to cause popping and splattering of the oil as you fry them. Deep fry the tomatoes until just golden, as many slices as will cover the surface of the pan without overcrowding.
6. Let fried tomatoes rest on a rack, and enjoy!