Nikita's (and my) napless weekend

I don't know whether it's because Nikita has been sleeping with us (his toddler bed is attached to our bed), but unless I go to bed really late (e.g., midnight or 1 am), I wake up in the middle of the night, and can't fall asleep again for a couple of hours. Last night, I watched Pride and Prejudice (2005) - good, but the 1995 A&E version has Colin Firth (who, I'll admit, is my ideal Darcy) and is more faithful (I was a little shocked at the gushing of feelings by Elizabeth and Darcy at the end of the 2005 version). Tonight, it's blogging.

I've taken full advantage of the library programs that allows us (usually) free access to museums. Last Friday, I took Nikita to the Museum of Science. Nikita had a good time pressing buttons and pulling levers, but I think he'll enjoy the museum more when he can actually read. Yesterday (Sunday), we went to the Franklin Park Zoo. It's much smaller than the Bronx Zoo, and many of the animals, though they roam in open spaces, are enclosed within a fence. And we missed the opportunity to roam with the farm animals. Still, Nikita enjoyed himself, particularly because there were lots of vehicles (a jeep, tractor, dump truck) to "drive". It was great to have Galina around because Igor is currently shooting crystals in Chicago.

Finally, Nikita and I went to a birthday party for 3-year old on Saturday. Nikita didn't play much with the other children (then again, not many of the 2 or 3-year olds did, including the birthday celebrant), but he had a great time driving around the cars (you see the obsession?) and playing with the other toys. The toys, however, made feeding him hellish; I think I followed him around for 1 1/2 hour trying to feed him one piece of barbequed rib.

The weather has been absolutely perfect for these outings: upper 70's with low humidity. Rather cool for August, like an Indian summer. I'm not complaining!

I'll end this post with my (first!) recipe. As the quantities suggest, I made up this recipe to get rid of odd ends in the refrigerator. The dish, served with quinoa, was a hit with both Nikita and Galina.

Corn with Zucchini and Basil

2 tbso olive oil
1 1/2 small zucchini, quartered and sliced into 1/4" wedge
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
kernels from 3 ears of cooked corn (about 3 cups?)
fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper

Heat oil on medium-high flame, and saute zucchini for a couple of minutes. Add onion, and cook until both vegetables are soft, about 8 more minutes. Add tomatoes and spices, and cook until tomatoes a relatively soft and have let out some of the juices. Throw in the corn, and cook until the corn is heated. Top off with fresh basil, salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: I add a little salt with each vegetable upon cooking. In addition, I didn't have a lot of fresh basil, and originally threw in what I had with the tomatoes (and supplemented with the dried basil). Next time, I would add it at the end, as stated in the recipe. Finally, chicken is a nice addition: I threw in some leftovers from a roasted chicken (about 1 cp) with the corn.