Touch-A-Truck

My sous chef 

Every year, Alex’s school puts on a Touch-A-Truck event. They close down the street, and have trucks ranging from a fire engine to a school bus to a garbage truck (a very clean one!) to a police car—the kids can “drive” the truck, push many of the buttons, learn about what it does, etc…and they  love it! Unfortunately, this year, we were in Maryland for the event, so we couldn’t attend.

Since Alex’s school is a co-op-like environment, parents are required to volunteer for the event, which left me baking 75 to 100 items. I decided to make it a little easier on myself than I did last year (I made two types of cookies from scratch) and purchased brownie box mixes.

Alex, of course, wanted to help make the brownies—he was the official taste tester. 

I made the brownies according to the package, cut into small, bite-size squares, packaged them in a clear bag, and tied them with truck ribbon (the same ribbon I used last year). 

Touch-A-Truck 2013

Last year, we were able to attend the event. I baked goods and volunteered on the school bus (at the time, Alex’s favorite truck). Alex was a bit on overload during the event, which we attended with Papa and Oma.

I remember at the time thinking that he looked like such a big boy, but looking at these photos now, I cannot help but think he looked like a baby. It is amazing how much they can change in a year. 

 It is a great event for the kids—if you live in New York, I recommend you check it out next year!

Roasted Multi-Colored Potatoes

I came across these beautiful potatoes in Whole Foods the other day—there were red, white and purple potatoes—and decided I need to make roasted potatoes for dinner. 

I adore potatoes (I think it is my Polish heritage coming through). And, I like them simple. For these, I sprinkled them with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, fresh chopped rosemary and chives. 

I put them in the oven at 350 degrees until they were tender. 

I served them with a chicken salad wrap and steamed broccoli. A simple dinner that hit the spot. 

National Cathedral in Washington DC

This past weekend, Alex and I went to Maryland to visit my family. We took the train there, which is both less stressful (no driving to worry about) and more stressful (3.5 hours in a confined space with a rambunctious toddler). 

I got Alex a pretzel before the train ride—he was so excited to go to Buzsa and Grandpa’s house. 

On Saturday, we had gorgeous weather and decided to go to the National Cathedral—I had never been before and we wanted to check out the gardens. On the walk there, we saw some beautiful flowers in bloom. 

I love the contrast of these purple flowers against the green—this has no filter on it. 

When we got to the cathedral, the sky, clouds and sun made it look even more majestic than it already does. 

 

The scaffolding you see is from the earthquake that hit DC in 2011—they are still repairing the damage from this. 

In the back, there is a little garden, with a Koi pond and a wide variety of flowers. It was so serene. 

Alex was clearly loving the wide, open grass—he was itching to run. 

Then, he spotted the fish. We had a hard time pulling him away from the Koi pond. He would put his little finger in the water and the fish would swim up to him thinking he was feeding them. It was so cute. 

We walked the grounds for awhile before heading back to the car (with a stop for a shake, of course!).