Quiet weekend

It's odd how homey home becomes ex patria. It's altogether too comfortable to have a cocoon of familiarity with internet, books in English, stuff that's at least become recognizable over the past few weeks (if you were in the know, you'd note that nearly everything in our pictures can be found here). Anyway, particularly for those with my eremitic tendencies, it becomes rather easy to remain in this cozy little enclave of familiarity rather than strike out into the world with two children in tow... so we've been hangin' out at the pad this weekend.

Cooking is great fun here since the produce selection varies daily... and we have to shop daily just to carry the amount of milk the kids drink in a day. What I wouldn't give for an old-fashioned milkman to set a few bottles at our door each morning. It's amazing what my kids will eat when they help fix it: eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, spinach salad (D. requested a second salad after finishing his ice cream the other night... did I mention he's a little mutant [in the nicest possible way]?). Yesterday I found a persimmon and decided to buy it just because it looked so appealing, having no clue how to prepare such a thing. Despite being unable to buy baking soda in this country and having no electric mixer, I attempted this recipe last night. It was probably a little denser than the original, but yummy nonetheless (as is just about anything with that much butter and sugar...).