To all the fantastic mothers out there, I hope you get your few moments of peace and gratitude today.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I’ve gotten very into Rachael Ray lately. Girlfriend knows what she’s doing . . . My one complaint? Many of the 30 minute meals I have made are 30 minutes of active time . . . that’s quite challenging when you are home alone with two little kids. Often, making her recipes involves Paige at the hip and Will standing close-by to see what I am up to . . .

Being two and a half, I try to let Will help when he wants to. But that can be a challenge. Sometimes he “forgets” that when I ask him to make the salads, the fixings are supposed to go in the bowl — not his mouth. Other times he wants to taste ingredients (to which I usually acquiesce, as long as it’s safe).

I’ve also found that many of Rachael’s recipes are kid friendly.
Will has liked pretty much everything I have made from her — mac and cheese with broccoli (from the magazine), French dip paninis and the pasta you saw above: Tomato, Bacon, Cheese Pasta . . . This one comes from her 30-Minute Meals book. I made it for the first time a few weeks back in desparation when our fridge was devoid of fresh ingredients save some chicken stock, bacon and a tomato . . .

I do make some changes to the recipe though: I skip the pasta water and just double the amount of chicken broth. I substitute two small diced tomatoes for the grape tomatoes. And the onions? I’ve made it with and without them and prefer without . . .  That’s the nice thing about her recipes — they are easy to customize.

Pasta with Bacon, Tomatoes and Cheese
Adapted from the Rachael Ray recipe
Serves 4
Salt
3/4 pound penne
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 bacon slices, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Black pepper
sea salt
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 small tomatoes, diced
1/2 ball fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasonings
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the pasta. Cook as directed on the package.

Preheat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the chopped bacon and cook until just starting to brown — about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, red pepper, pepper and salt. Cook, stirring all the time, for 4 minutes. Don’t let the garlic brown.

Add the white wine and stir briskly to get up all the yummy scrapings on the bottom. Stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and cook them for an additional minute. Add pasta and stir to coat in the sauce. Let sit for one minute.

Remove from heat and stir in cheeses and Italian herbs.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

“I’m like Pop-eye’s wet f*$%^@#% dream right now.” - Andrew

Let’s get the very worst of it over with: Dale’s outburst at the end of the (surprisingly fun to watch) Quick Fire could quite possibly be the most pathetic moment of this Top Chef season. That’s saying a lot with this group. Was his tantrum really necessary? Yes, it stinks to lose. No, you aren’t entitled to whine about it. It seemed less like a chef and more like a spoiled boy in need of growing up. The only thing worse was the whole Marcel hair shaving thing during season 2.

But, moving on. The Elimination Challenge split the chefs into two teams and pitted them against each other catering a wedding. Adding to the drama: the chefs had to work through the night and serve in the afternoon the next day . . . nice.

Did you catch that Andrew shuts up when he is lacking sleep? He should lack sleep more often . . . though his sound bites this episode were a trip (see above).

Shining moment for the episode? Richard giving up the winner spot to Stephanie for all her work on the cake. He’s really shown some strong character in the past few episodes. He’s the guy to beat, for sure, and the guy to know . . .

I wasn’t sorry to see Nikki go. The criticism of her — that she dropped the ball being the “Italian chef” — was completely valid. Too bad they couldn’t send Spike with her . . .

All of my cooking, photographing, and posting about our food has really caught on . . . with Will. The boy doesn’t miss a thing, I tell you.

I whipped out the camera to quickly catch a shot of the beef brisket before sitting down to eat. His little eyes lit up when he saw the camera.

“My plate next, Mommy! My plate!” Will chirped.

Of course, I indulged his interest and snapped a few photos of his cut-up food.

“Now Daddy’s, Mommy. Daddy’s plate!” He chirped.

I quickly snapped a photo.

“Now, yours mommy. Yours.”

I think I’ve created a monster . . .

As for the brisket, it was a fly by the seat of my pants recipe that worked so well. We’ll definitely be adding this one to the repertoire. Prep time was about 15 minutes and it was ready to serve when I got home. As you can see in the picture, I conceded and served it with SpongeBob Square Pants mac n cheese . . . hey, the boy deserves a treat now and again.

Easy Slow Cooker Beef Brisket
serves 6

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large vidalia onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb beef brisket
1/2 cup water
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup tarragon vinegar
1/2 cup chili sauce (I used Heinz)
1 tbsp honey

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Stir in onion and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes, until garlic is translucent, but not browned. Scrape into the slow cooker.

Add the brisket to the pan and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side — until just browned. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the water to the hot pan and stir vigorously to deglaze. Pour over the meat.

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, tarragon vinegar, chili sauce, and honey. Pour over the meat.

Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours. Use two forks to pull the meat apart.

To serve: This is good on the plate or on a roll . . .

As if that isn’t enough, gas prices are skyrocketing to a point I never imagined for our country. I cringe at the pump every time I have to fill my small, fuel-efficient car that barely fits two car seats for the kids. I don’t know what I will do when gas gets more expensive . . . and we all know it will.

It’s a scary world we live in. As a mother with two young children, I can’t help but wonder what kind of a life I have birthed my babies into. Move over, I am scared.

I am scared that my children won’t have fresh water when they grow up. I am scared that our advanced society has out-priced itself so it can no longer prosper. I am scared that food prices could soar suddenly the way gas prices have. I am scared that one day we will wake up with no electricity, no gas and only the food in our pantry to sustain us because the country has overused everything.

What can we do? What can I do?

Those are questions I ask myself a lot.

I don’t have the answers. I wish I could say I did, but I don’t. All I know is that in the past year, and particularly in the past few months, I have been more and more driven to leaving less of a carbon footprint. I can’t stand the thought that I might contribute to my kids having a less-than-perfect world.

In some ways, I feel like we should all watch Monsters Inc. and take notice of an important underlying message: in the movie, the monsters pursue the source of energy they know — screams. But the screams are running out and becoming harder to come by. There is an energy shortage. Pressure is on at the plant. The owner of the big Monsters Incorporated company works with one of the less savory employees to find a better way to get screams. But their way poaches little children and sucks them dry. Meanwhile, there is a far more powerful source of energy out there: laughter. And better yet, it doesn’t run in short supply.

Ultimately, I think we need to find our laughter and harness it so that we no longer have to live in a world of short supply. Can you see the parallels to the situation we face right now with skyrocketing oil prices and a post-peak oil supply?

All I know for sure, is that something has to change. For me, that means less driving, more homegrown and local food and watching the budget with a keener eye. To make change, we need to be the change.

What do you think? What kind of a world are we leaving for our kids? What can we do about it?

Paige: {{Shriek, shriek!}}

Will: (Leaning over the side of his highchair to see her.) It’s okay, Paige. I love you.

Heck, the celebration of mothering is something that has been done for centuries. So, please, don’t malign this one. I happen to like it. Maybe it’s because I am a mother. Regardless, I think mothers do deserve their day after carrying their children in the womb for months and months, and then birthing them. Oh, the wonders of birthing . . . and the stories I could share.

The simple fact is that mothering isn’t easy. When your kids are young, they look to you for everything: nourishment, guidance, reassurance, and help. Then they get older and they still need you just as much, just in different ways. You put their needs before your own and do your best to give them the most wonderful life possible . . . and you don’t always succeed. That’s one of the hardest parts: understanding that you aren’t perfect and can’t make every moment perfect . . .

I really wish I could make every moment perfect . . .

I digress. The point is that mothers deserve the attention they should be getting on mothers day (and don’t forget: fathers have their own day in a month . . .).  They’ve earned it.
In case you want to buy a mom in your life a gift and are struggling, I thought I would interject my two cents on what would be a great gift this year . . .

Without further ado . . . Here are five gift ideas for all the moms in your life (or, just for me):

1. An ice cream maker - Summer. It’s ice cream time! The ice cream makers of yesterday that required gallons of ice and rock salt to work are over. Get an automatic one, and mom will thank you. And while you are at it, order David Lebovitz’s book, Perfect Scoop, to give her some recipe ideas.
2. Pearls. A nice strand that sits at the nape of the neck is a classic and beautiful thing . . .
3. A large tote bag like this or this, for the beach. Preferably with some extra thick and cozy beach towels to match . . .
4. A pink ultra-portable laptop like the Dell Inspiron or the Asus Eee (only about 2 lbs!).
5. A day out in the city . . . something like a good New York bagel and lox on the go, a visit to the Met or maybe a museum I am less familiar with like the Guggenheim or Whitney, lunch at ‘ino, some shopping downtown, a visit to the Union Square Greenmarket, back uptown for an early dinner at the Carnegie Deli, and then a show . . . maybe Mamma Mia or Wicked.

But while the outdoors are filled with hope and possibility, the inside of my house has me losing sleep. I have a problem. A big problem. A busy lifestyle has left me cluttering my counters, desk and bedroom. There are photos to be organized, books to be straightened and papers to be filed. I can’t take it anymore. I seriously can’t. But who am I fooling? The problem isn’t just a busy lifestyle — it’s a busy lifestyle coupled with sheer exhaustion and some degree of laziness. Basically, I need to push myself to do just a little bit more to have the home I’ve always wanted.

I’ve never been a neat person per se — photos of beautiful, clutterfree homes are fun to look at in magazines, but they’ve always seemed so unlived in. On the other hand, my clutter feels overlived in. There has to be a happy medium.

The clutter makes me anxious and upsets me in ways I never thought possible. And it makes me not want to work when I need to be working. It’s consuming and it needs to be put to rest.

I cannot take the clutter.

So, I am doing something I should have done a long time ago: I am decluttering, one corner at a time. It seems like the only way that I can really get a handle on it all. If I try and do too much at once, I will get overwhelmed. But it needs to change soon.

FlyLady helps. But it seems like her tips and tricks are more meant for the stay-at-home or work-at-home mom, since many come when I am in the office. Nonetheless, ideas of keeping a shined sink and getting dressed to the shoes are good ways to overcome the morning laziness (as is 2-3 cups of coffee with a dash of French vanilla fat free creamer).

So what am I doing? I am resisting the urge to buy all sorts of containers and sorters to help with organization. Ultimately, those things are just ineffective excuses that require some degree of organization to begin with. Instead, I am sorting through untouched bags in my office filled with old bills and receipts and discarding what I no longer need. I am pulling together bags for donation (one is all ready to go, a second ready to be filled). I am taking an honest look at my papers and files and deciding what is really necessary and what isn’t.

Will I buy any organizational containers? Probably. I could use a magazine rack for my myriad of subscriptions and a small file case would solve some issues on my desk. But to buy them now would put the cart before the horse.

You may wonder why I am only speaking of my home office. That’s where I am starting. I will carry this throughout the house. But it’s got to be one corner, one room, one area at a time . . . that way, it will be forever, not just some quick fix.

Am I the only one with this problem?

I loved - L-O-V-E-D - that guest judge Art Smith actually gave criticism while tasting. It was a very real moment for the show this season. On the other hand, I was disgusted (this should be a big surprise…really) by Andrew’s reaction to having a $10 budget. Plenty of Americans feed families larger than four people on less than $10 a meal. Seriously. And obviously, if they were all able to finish the challenge, they were able to follow that one guideline.

Really touching though was Antonia talking about her daughter, and then talking to her daughter. It was a shining moment for her. And when Richard said that seeing Antonio cry made him want to have babies . . . well, maybe he’s not so bad.

I imagine the episodes were all cut in advance, but it almost feels like Top Chef listened this week. We got more human contestants, a longer quick fire and more Tom Colicchio. Yay!

As for Mark going home: although I liked him, I was ambivalent about seeing him go . . .

. . . Next week on Top Chef: Weddings!