Dusty the Crop Duster

October, you've arrived. Welcome glorious month of birthdays and costumes! I'm so looking forward to all 31 of your days and nights. 

And tonight, I could not be more excited, because I have just finished making what will perhaps be Parker's Halloween Costume. After making it, I realize it is a little bit large, so it may just end up being MY Halloween Costume -- we shall see. I think I look pretty good in it!

Zoom In

Zoom Out

Gotta prop up those wings...

Those of us who know #UnforgettableParker are likely surprised that I did not make some type of automobile costume. The truth is that Parker seems to have moved on from Pixar's Cars in favor of Disney's Planes these days. It's a welcome break from the Cars story lines, yes. But I admit a small piece of me misses singing Sheryl Crow's "Real Gone" from the first movie and Weezer's "You Might Think" from Cars 2. I'm not worried, Parker still carries his cars around the house the entire day, from his bed, to breakfast, to the bathroom for any and all diaper changes...

Should his passion for all things "Dusty the Crop Duster" fade by October 31, I'm certain I can whip up another costume. Because to be honest, this little arts and craft session, though intense, was actually SO. MUCH. FUN. We can always have an airplane-themed second birthday party, right?

Watch Out, Howard Schultz

At this moment in time, we have 8 pounds of GREEN coffee beans at our house. Yes, that's right. GREEN beans. The unroasted, not quite ready to turn into coffee varietal of coffee beans. Yes, because someone in our family decided he would like to start roasting his own coffee beans. 

Said Someone

I don't know why I'm surprised. The past year or so, Jeremy has been baking his own bread in the style of a famous bakery in San Francisco, Tartine. That means "regular" yeast is replaced by a natural leaven which gets its "yeast" from stuff in the air. (Sweet, Jeremy, we're eating microbes.) In addition, Jeremy cooks his bread in a cast-iron skillet. It's really kind of like a science experiment, which is fine, except that it's in my kitchen. And to be honest, the results to date have been hit or miss. But when they've hit, they've been great, I'll give the man that.

But coffee roasting? I honestly don't know where this one came from. He's mentioned a desire to brew his own beer, and make his own wine, and I get that -- such activities also include fermentation, a process he "studied in college," lest I ever forget the man is a chemical engineer.

A chemical engineer, and now, a coffee roaster. A coffee roaster who roasts coffee beans in a popcorn popper on a camp stove in our backyard.

The Setup

The Inner Workings

That is what ARTISANAL coffee looks like. And THIS is how it tastes...

Pizza Night

We live a hectic life. So it's nice to know that without fail, 99% of our Friday nights involve coming home from work, popping open an adult beverage, and then eating pizza for dinner. But not just any pizza, no. We Boltanos make our pizzas BY OURSELVES. (And I wonder where Parker gets his independence?)

Tonight our pizzas were especially delicious, nutritious, and gorgeous. We made our own whole wheat pizza dough, then shaped one circular pizza for the pizza pan and one rectangular pizza for the grill. This is the first time we've used the grill for pizza night, and it was a fantastic way to get a crispy crust. 

To add to our pizza's uniqueness, we also opted to use ricotta cheese instead of mozzarella this week, and NO PIZZA SAUCE. I know, how is your concoction even still considered pizza? I guess it could count as flat bread at some restaurants. You be the judge:

Heirloom Tomato Pizza Pie (Yes, many of the tomatoes came from our garden!)

Asparagus and Sun-dried Tomato Flat Bread (Since it's rectangular)

The only thing better than pizza is making pizza with #UnforgettableParker. He loves mixing the dough ingredients in the bowl. And much to my dismay, he also loves eating the flour straight from the container. He really loves spreading the cheese and toppings, probably because he typically eats most of the toppings when he thinks I'm not looking. And although he has cried every single time we have put the pizzas into the oven, he is easily distracted when I ask, "Parker, will you help me do the dishes while the pizzas bake?"

Very happy little boy eating a Popsicle for dessert

Already counting down the days until our next family pizza night...