THE DAILY TABLE::Life is Short...

The phone rang less than 30 minutes after he left. He doesn't usually call me from the airport when he leaves so early, I thought. It was shortly after 6am when I answered the phone.

"Remember when you told me to 'stay safe' this morning?", he asked.

"Yes", I replied, wondering where he was headed with that inquiry.

"Well...", he started. "We were going in reverse at 50mph. ...The brakes failed. ...The cabbie panicked. ...I was waiting for us to flip over. ...There was a small grass fire...." What?! Was I waking up from some surreal nightmare? No, this was real. My husband was involved in his first serious cab accident. He's ridden in many cabs and always has some kind of story to tell when he returns home. This time, the story came shortly after he left home.

I listened to my husband recall the events of the early morning. How he could stay so calm and talk the inexperienced cabbie through the incident is beyond my comprehension. His regular cabbie, Francis, was out of town but had arranged a replacement. This replacement cabbie remained frozen in fear as the cops proceeded to find out what led up to the accident. The cops, on the other hand, were calm and collected with a real "Southern attitude", as my husband later recalled. Perhaps they've seen it far too many times. Why, I'm sure they wondered, would he put his cab in reverse at 50mph?

Panic and fear caused the cabbie to mistake reverse for neutral as my husband talked him through the steps necessary to get out of the stalled engine. How did my husband know what to do? He had a similar incident with his Mercedes back in college in Germany. The gas pedal got stuck and he managed to turn off the ignition before he would have crashed into oncoming traffic.

The reason was unclear as to what caused this morning's accident...driving across all of the lanes of the highway and ending up in a grassy ditch. "Turn off the engine!", my husband kept instructing him. The cabbie was still frozen in fear. By him not turning off the engine immediately, he caused the small grass fire on the side of the highway. My husband shrugged off the EMTs' requests of taking him to the hospital. He needed to be on the plane to Toronto. Needed to take care of the customer. That's my husband. Calm and collected in a state of crisis. Quite the opposite from me.

That is how my day started this morning and continued with distractions of Sandy, the great storm, and how it affected his travel and everyone in the storm's path. Would my husband be able to return home on Friday's flight?

The highlight of the day was spending the morning with Cinnamon at her Fall Party. She had fun making a pumpkin hat...

...painting a pumpkin...

...playing bingo, and rolling out playdoh.

Sagey wanted to stay home with me and sleep some more. We were running late this morning and I was running on four hours of sleep.

In the afternoon, panic set in as I noticed that my older daughter had not arrived home. The bus stop is a mere five houses from our house. If I walk outside our door, I can see it. Last week, the bus driver had asked me if I approved my daughter being walked home by an older neighbor girl. I said I was fine with that. Today I assumed the girl would be in school. She wasn't. The driver did not let my daughter off the bus. Immediately I called up the school looking for my daughter. They got a hold of the bus driver who was finishing his route of dropping off the rest of the children. After a few minutes, he returned to our stop with my daughter all safe and sound. I learned that first graders are not allowed to walk off the bus alone. I had thought that applied only to kindergartners, but apparently not.

Food was not as interesting today. Cinnamon had five madeleines left over from her party. Not for long though. For dinner, the girls weren't too hungry and did not want the leftover lentil soup I was having. They preferred tortillas and naan bread. Sagey slept through dinner, after having played outdoors for a couple of hours. He later awoke and I read a few pages of Paddington Bear to the younger two. Saffron was already asleep by the time I read to them.

As the events of the day unfolded, I realized that you never know how long you have. You have now. You had yesterday. You don't have tomorrow...yet. Make sure you make the most of "now".

THE DAILY TABLE::The Calm Before the Storm

This coming week will be nothing short of eventful - especially with my husband leaving for Toronto early tomorrow morning. He will be not be flying through New York. If he was, the flight would already have been cancelled. It remains to be seen if Hurricane Sandy will cause any delays for him getting to his destination or his return home on Friday night. I'm reminded of the time my husband traveled to London during the Icelandic volcano eruptions. He had to stay in London for a week longer than anticipated. We're hoping for the best with Sandy.

This morning's breakfast was not the typical Sunday fare. I would have preferred to have eggs alongside avocado slices, dark rye bread, Parano cheese, and green bell peppers. Instead we had cake with coffee. No scones, no puffy pancake, no oatmeal. Simply cake. The kids did request bread after the cake. We ran out of honey and the next "best" thing was Justin's chocolate hazelnut spread. Something much more tasty than Nutella, but still not what I would have liked them to eat this morning. Such was the start to our October Sunday.

The day seemed longer than usual. Of course, when we sit down to breakfast by 10:30 on a Sunday morning, the day will naturally be much longer than previous Sundays when we breakfast around noon. Although I would have preferred not to get in the car and run errands today, it was not to be avoided. We needed milk. And something for a late lunch. While my oldest went with me in the "baby car", the younger two stayed home with Papa and built a plane with the Fischertechnik pieces...

...and finished the Space Shuttle. I'm sure Saffron felt left out when she noticed that the model was completed without her. Despite that, she proceeded to take apart a few pieces and put them back on.

Cinnamon ran around with her favorite costume, now torn and far too small for her. It was a fairy costume that Saffron got for her 2nd birthday...four years ago. Cinnamon wears it on an almost daily basis. If I let her wear it to school, she would. She also likes to run around with her sunglasses. Ones I bought her a few years back. I can relate to Cinnamon's sense of style. She really reminds me of me when I was younger. Seemingly mismatched clothes that somehow work together. She definately has her own sense of style.

For a late lunch, I decided on ready-made beef brisket from Whole Foods despite the fact that we had leftover lentil soup. While we were waiting for the lean brisket to be sliced, Saffron was reading the word "Texas" on a nearby sign advertising something or other as local. She commented on how the "a" in "Texas" was silent. I tried correcting her until I realized that it does in fact sound like it is silent. I mean, you don't really say "Tex-ass" do you? Children can teach you a thing or two. You just need to listen.

I knew that the kids would like the meat better than the leftover lentil soup which they ate with much persuasion last night. Plus, it was quicker than having my husband grill filet mignon steaks outside on the charcoal grill, not to mention much less expensive. My preferred way of eating the brisket slices is wrapped in a toasted flour tortilla and topped with chipotle barbeque sauce and arugula. Simple and quick.

We had our Sunday late afternoon tradition of coffee and dessert. Today it was an assortment of imported German sweets, including Lebkuchen and Marzipan Stollen.

The kids love this tradition as do we. Whenever we're in Germany, we do this on an almost daily basis. Sunday is a better option for us and more special when it's once a week - and during the colder months.

The evening carried on with the children playing upstairs with the Carrerabahn with their Papa. Sagey was helping to put the cars back on the the tracks until he decided he'd rather relax with his elephant and lion in the middle of the large track layout. The layout that's been set up in our game room since early this year - January, I believe.

I'll have to get around to racing my new car. The one that's still sitting in its box since last year. It was fun watching the cars race by while the madeleines were downstairs cooling. I was glad to have completed those cookies for Cinnamon's Fall Party tomorrow.

The day was filled with games and sweets and lots of time with Papa before his trip to Toronto. It will be one eventful week indeed. Here's to hoping that Sandy doesn't cause too much damage to those in its path. It looks like one dangerous storm.

THE DAILY TABLE::Soup Weather for Saturday

The kids slept in as expected which gave me a little time to sit by the fire and continue reading "The Racketeer". The story is getting interesting...but I won't give anything away in case you're planning on reading it. Hopefully I'll take more time away from baking next week to explore my other interests - including reading and knitting. And perhaps working on that Death by Chocolate puzzle. My boy seems to have taken after me in the puzzling skills. He sits with the puzzle book that Oma bought for him this past summer and does one puzzle after another. Ok, there are only six pieces per puzzle, but it's a start.

Breakfast was not scones this Saturday morning. It was polenta. Made with the last of the milk. The kids love eating it with maple syrup. Cinnamon was hoping for the hot cereal with the tiny wild blueberries. Maybe next week. After breakfast, I started chopping onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a red bell pepper for lentil soup. The weather was perfect for it.

Meanwhile, the kids worked on Sagey's new Space Shuttle Lego kit. Of course Saffron wanted to take charge and build it all by herself. "It's Sagey's", explained my husband. Personally, I think it's too advanced for him. Afterall, it does say "5-12 years" on the box. "He wanted it", my husband replies. Yeah, let's see how that argument works when the kids are teenagers. "Oh, but she wanted that shiny new red car!"

The day was also perfect for an experiment after cleaning out the vegetable bin in the refrigerator. There were a few veggies that I had to toss, but others were spared. I had almost half a head of cauliflower. It was leftover from the cauliflower soup I made almost two weeks ago. The one that Cinnamon called "applesauce soup". There were a few brown spots on the cauliflower, but nothing that a knife couldn't take away. After measuring it, I had about 335 grams. Enough for my cauliflower/potato patties with yogurt dill sauce. Minus the dill. And the cilantro. And...I saw that I was not going to be making those patties today. So, I improvised. Instead of making patties, I put the mixture into a gratin dish and baked it for about 40 minutes at 375F. The taste was good and the texture was souffle-like. I'll have to try again with fresh cilantro and the yogurt dill sauce. This could also make a good addition to eggs for breakfast tomorrow.

Cinnamon kept insisting on playing outside. In the cold. We had low 50s today and not a child was to be seen until late afternoon. Saffron joined her sister on her bike and they played for hours it seems.

Sagey preferred to stay indoors away from the bitter cold. He was happy building a house for me. I also made a short video of him building it and he was highly amused watching himself on the little LCD screen on my camera. He kept saying "Again!". And we watched it three times until he went to play some more.

If you're wondering whether or not there was cake today...why, of course! I had two more blackened bananas and instead of tossing them out, I decided to use them to verify my banana cake recipe. All for the sake of recipe testing.

This time, though, I left the cake in the oven about 4 minutes longer than last time. Still, it was delicious and we'll be eating more of it tomorrow.

THE DAILY TABLE::Friday, Finally

Weekdays blurred into weekends. The end of the year approached quicker than I had realized. I'd often have to check the calendar to verify the date. That was before the kids started going to school. Before days were defined by having to wake up at a certain time - before-the-sun early. A time before the oldest had to be at the bus stop before 7:15h. Until then, the days had no true structure. Now I understand the meaning of looking forward to Friday. And I cherish it. The weekend is finally here. As is a glass of fine Malbec wine.

Saturdays mean the kids will most likely be sleeping in. Which in turn means that I will have uninterrupted precious morning time to think about baking or actually start baking something. Or simply it might mean that I get a chance to read in silence. At least that's what I hope for.

Last night my husband informed me that he might be out of town next week. Today it was confirmed with his booking his trip to Canada...flying out early Monday morning. He's leaving me "holding the bag" alone for Halloween - a day I look forward to passing as quickly as possible. In any case, I found myself at World Market this morning on a mission to buy our yearly Halloween candy. And by candy, I don't mean bags of cheap chocolates. I mean the "good" stuff- mini bags of Haribo gummy bears, mini Hanuta, mini Rittersport chocolates, and Kinder Schoko-Bons. We've always believed in quality over quantity. I hope our kids realize the importance of this one day when they venture out into the world on their own.

I had a chance to photograph that banana cake I made last night. The one that turned out better than expected. The one that is now all gone. As I sliced into the last quarter of the cake and set up the shot, I noticed it - the heart...

That was pretty cool, I thought. My son ate it later in the day. Of course, the lover of cakes gets the heart.

Meals were a bit unstructured today...more than usual. My husband and I had a late lunch of swiss chard "soup" after the kids returned from school. The kids had no interest in that whatsoever.

Lebkuchen appealed to them more, with Cinnamon devouring three of them. If you're not familiar with Lebkuchen, you should try them. They're a traditional spiced cookie seen all over Germany during Christmas. World Market had Christmas items in early this year and my husband always looks forward for that time of year when he can get Lebkuchen. I've never baked them before, but one day I will.

Today I finally got my wish of a cold day. The temperature was in the 50s and at one point it even started to rain. But only for a short while. Sagey slept most of the afternoon after returning from school. Saffron wanted to stay indoors with my iPhone and was not at all into my taking her outside for her daily photo. Cinnamon, on the other hand, wanted to stay outside and play in the cold and the impending darkness. She's starting to take after me more and more. Definitely my daughter.

Dinner was another simple meal of Thai Jasmine rice cooked in water with a little butter and salt. The younger two requested black beans be added to their rice. The older one wanted plain rice. They always ask for feta. Not tonight though. I skipped the rice and had a piece of dark rye bread with Fontal cheese and arugula along with a little of the Malbec wine. Friday is finally here.

THE DAILY TABLE::Another Day, Another Cake

"You think about today--how to get through it, how to survive it. When you wake up tomorrow, another day is behind you." - John Grisham, The Racketeer

Reading chapter 2 of John Grisham's newest novel this morning, I came across these two sentences. It resonated with me and stayed with me all day long.

How do you get through another day of everyone demanding everything under the sun from you? Of dealing with people who can at times be clueless, inconsiderate, or simply have no significant thought for you to ponder? Of having to deal with yet another person pointing out the obvious? "Your daughter is quiet" (of my middle daughter).

What you end up saying is "Yes, she is". What you'd like to say, on the other hand, is something along the lines of "The sun is shining and the sky is blue. Her eyes are blue too. Her hair is cinnamon-colored. And your point is???"

The seahorse::play date at the park

Being quiet is not a disease waiting to be cured with medication. There is no need to fill every waking moment with distractions. When is the last time you sat in utter silence even for 5 minutes? What about a mere 60 seconds? It's enlightening...at least it can be. Kind of like hot yoga.

Although the above quote referred to how to survive in prison, it can easily be applied to the daily grind. Sometimes you are able to change a situation. Other times, the situation is out of your hands. Complaining about it nonstop will do nothing for your peace of mind and physical health. So, when you face a challenging or annoying situation, do something to change it or stop complaining (unless you're German). Go for a bike ride. Or better yet, go bake a cake. It will make you feel better. Especially if the cake turns out better than you'd expected.

Today's cake was yet another of my rustic cakes. I haven't used a mixer of any kind for quite some time and am liking it. For version #4 of my banana cake, I used mascarpone instead of the usual full-fat yogurt. The crumble factor was low to non-existant. Of course, my son skillfully manages to make crumbs out of anything. Half of the cake was gone by the time dinner was over.

Showing off his strength? Or not realizing he could push the Plasma Car to the garage?

I was thinking of making a Grand Marnier puffy pancake (also known as a Dutch baby) for dinner. I even went out to get another cast iron skillet to make two as we've always been left wanting for more with one pancake. Reluctantly, I decided against that idea and instead made a slightly modified version of my Potato Cabbage Gratin. Instead of baking both the cabbage mixture with the mashed potatoes on top, I simply served the cabbage mixture on top of the mashed potatoes - directly in a soup bowl. The girls had leftover spaghetti with Parmesan (with Cinnamon later deciding she wanted mashed potatoes as well) and Sagey had...you guessed it - a flour tortilla. Oh, and cake. He will never refuse cake. If he did, I'd worry that he's sick.