Back to school

School's off to a good start for all of us. Since Maya started 1st grade and is in school full days now, Jake has been able to get much of his work done during the school day and has been home an unprecedented 4 nights this week. It's awesome! He's been taking the dogs and kids to the dog park each night. Luna (not yet 6 months old) is the large one in the foreground.

 

We switched Maya from Spanish to English, since the former seemed to be causing unnecessary stress for her. She has adjusted very well to full days. Dylan looped up from 4th grade to 5th with the same teacher and he's doing great. Here they are waiting for the bus on the 1st day of school.

 

Anna's got 5 classes at Normandale, 2 of which are online. The other 3 just meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so she has time to work at Byerly's and study.

 

Kayla's taking 2 classes at Hennepin Tech. and working full time. She's relishing her employee of the month parking spot.
 

 

Kayla and Sam at a Japanese friend's party.

 

My favorite pic from Kayla's hour long stream of Pinterest pictures:

 

Here is Jake's next installment, his 3rd club newsletter article:

Excerpts from the mind and memory of a chef (3rd installation):

In the past two issues of the Inkling, I have recounted various memories I have had as a child with respect to family, food & eating.  I have briefly expressed what stuck in my mind from my childhood as I was exposed to the importance of being with family and how our meals have a great impact on how as adults, we have the great opportunity and responsibility to do the same for the next generation.

For those that don’t know, I have two step-daughters ages 19 and 17 and I have been a part of their lives since the beginning.  I also have a 10-year old son and a six-year old daughter.  My wife and I met while working at the old Copperstein restaurant on County Road 19 in Tonka Bay (many of you may recall that spot).  As I have progressed through the culinary world and my wife has moved on to her career, meal times at home can be quite hectic.  With four kids, likes and dislikes vary greatly.  If I am home making dinner, it is very possible that I am making three or four different meals.  Each kid has their favorites.

Exposing the kids to new and different things has always been a challenge.  They love my pot roast, pork ribs and risotto.  One kid doesn’t like to eat fresh fruit, but I’m a stickler for a balanced diet.  He gets fresh squeezed juice in the mornings.  I’ll throw carrots, apples, grapes, a wad of pineapple, a few strawberries and Cara Cara oranges into the juice extractor and he’ll chug ten ounces.  The little girl will eat broccoli like no one’s business.  This year, she’s helping tend to broccoli plants and she can’t wait to eat the broccoli she’s helped cultivate.  She also helps pick our strawberries (which she will eat) and tomatoes (which she will not eat but is more than happy to harvest). The older girls love when I make bacon.  I know just how they like it and I always hold some back because they’ll eat all of it if no one’s watching.  We have all enjoyed picking wild raspberries and strawberries along the North Shore and having little else for a snack.

Our favorite family meal takes place in the spring, summer and fall.  I pull the grill out into the driveway.  We set up a couple of tables and pull out our collapsible lawn chairs.  The boy and I usually go to the store for our very important ingredients.  Depending on the time of year, some of the ingredients come from the garden.  The prep work begins.  I dice onions, puree garlic, cut olives (nice ones), shave some celery, peel some orange zest, pick rosemary, oregano & chives (chop ‘em up) and get some banana peppers out of the garden.  We buy a nice, crusty sourdough loaf and slice it thick.  I drizzle it with a little olive oil and dust it with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.  I’ll grill the bread just before the meal is ready to serve.  In a pot on the grill, I start with the olive oil, garlic & onions.  Heat that up and start adding the other ingredients in order of cook time.  My son wants to do all the work (I just instruct him with the how’s and when’s).  At the very end, we dump in the cleaned mussels, a splash of white wine and put the cover on the pot.  We fire the bread, get everyone outside and once the mussels pop, we’re set to go.  I pour the mussels and vegetable mix into a large bowl in the center of the table.  We put a big ladle in it and the self-service commences.  We put plastic buckets on the ground for mussel shell disposal.  The bread we dip in olive oil or soak up the amazing mussel broth.  There’s a lot of finger licking (wouldn’t want to waste the flavor on a napkin) and laughing and the click of mussel shells hitting the buckets.  We finish the event by walking the dogs while the meal settles.

This is my favorite meal and I hope that my kids pass this one on.

See you at the Club,

Jake



Jake's cheese plate for his mom's book group. In his next article, he reminisces about his mom's cooking...