spike

ahhh. the weekend.
finally time to write about the most exciting day the shorties had last week!

a while back, i ran into spike gjerde, a chef i worked for while in college. we were talking about my new teaching career. (surprisesurprise, i was talking about the shorties!)

when i told him how much the kids like to cook, he invited me to bring them to his restaurant, joy america café’! how awesome and generous to invite a group of third-graders into your fine-dining restaurant! not only did they get a tour, but they got to cook!

they made quesadillas and, for dessert, flourless chocolate cakes topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauce!
of course, before making dessert, they did a taste-test of milk and dark chocolate from france. they literally ate handfuls of the stuff.
aaaaaaaaand…
they got to taste homemade plantain chips and witness how an entire rockfish is cut into fillets and skinned.
they were introduced to squeezing limes over spicy spanish peanuts as a snack and allowed to brave the heat of hot peppers from around the world.


spike encouraged them to discuss the flavors and spices in the food they were eating while sitting at a table clothed with white linen.

afterwards, we raced to the top of federal hill and worked off our lunch zooming around the playground.
rolling down the hill back to the van burned even more calories!

when we got back to the school, the shorties actually got their reading pillows and collapsed into sleeping piles on the floor for the last half hour before they had to go home. hee!

what a day! so. if you get a chance to eat at joy america (in the visionary arts museum) in baltimore, please give kudos to chef spike for having a big heart and being so kind to shorties!


(click on the pictures and you can see more of our day!)

sum-sum-summertime

wednesday.
another hothothot day in charm city.
the sticky heat called for a trip to mr. benny's snowball stand.
the shorties and i took a shortcut down leslie street and cut over to the famous sandtown spot.
these icy delights are served in big cups (even the small is big and only 60 cents!)
filled with crushed ice and doused generously with sticky, neon-colored syrup.
flavors like: pimp juice, superman, and cold duck are very popular.
i like egg custard (vanilla).
for 25 cents extra you can get melted marshmallow gooped right on top!
YUM-O-RAMA!
the best part: your tongue turning the color of your snowball.

therapy

two weekends ago, i spent a wonderful, meditative weekend at my aunt and uncle’s beach house in bethany.
(by myself. alone. sans company, nada compadres)
when i arrived on friday night, i unpacked my car and drove to the boardwalk in ocean city.
upon emergence from the car, i was immediately five-years-old again.
you see…it was like sensory-memory-therapy.
when we were kids, along with anyone else who grew up within driving distance to this endearing place, we would beg our parents to take us to the boardwalk. “pleasepleaseplease take us on the rides…we want cotton candy…chocolate-dipped ice cream cones, yes!”
the big ferris-wheel, the salt-water taffy signs (does anyone actually eat that stuff?) and the hermit-crab cages…mmm hmmm. yup. all good.

i grabbed a slice of pepperoni and settled on a bench to watch the crowds.
pure entertainment at its best. truly.
stuffed-animal toting, exhausted children demanding ice cream from their sunburned parents, eating big buckets of thrasher’s french fries doused with vinegar.
high school graduates, celebrating “senior week”, weaving drunkenly in their teensy-mini skirts and tattoo-exhibiting wife-beaters.
aaaaahhhh yes, i was “downy o-shun” as we say in baltimore.

i finished my snack and walked a mile or so down, breathing in the salt air.
i could feel the stress leaving with each caramel-popcorn-infused inhale.
i was amazed at the big jesus-sand-sculpture. incredibly there was a huge container of cash-o-la that sits in front of the sculpture.
it is crammed with bills and no one steals it!
gives one hope that there is good in the world.


i went down to the very end of the boardwalk where the rides are. i reminiscently visited the same carousel that i used to ride thirty years ago.
so much goodness: the big ship that swings back and forth, and the
rollercoaster that looks like a giant, twisted spine.
all the same.
amazing.
beautiful even.



i treated myself to a chocolate soft-serve cone and watched the man flounder at the “i’ll guess your age and weight” attraction.
with my belly and camera full, i returned to my car and drove back to the serenity of bethany beach.
i slept in the silent night.
slept in the absence of sirens and traffic.
i slept.
hard.

i spent both saturday and sunday on the sand.
i read,
ate soft-shell crab sandwiches,
snacked on fischer’s popcorn,
ate more ice cream,
napped.

the beach heals.