The Joy of Basil

I had a fabulous lunch today. It's been a frequent favorite of mine these days. Normally I don't spend time making myself something "real" for lunch (I just have leftovers or PB&J or nothing or yogurt/fruit/nuts or ice cream/chocolate if I'm feeling in need of a treat/reward). But lately I sometimes make myself CAPRESE. All for myself. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. So simple, but so colorful and tasty.

Layer on your plate:
- Slices of Organic Vine-Ripened Tomato
- Big, Fat, Vibrant Green Basil Leaves From the Pot on your Kitchen Windowsill (don't have one? Get one! It's awesome to see everyday and smell...)
- Slices of lowfat fresh wet mozzarella
- More fresh basil
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

YUM YUM! (colors of the Italian flag, too)

Then in the afternoon I baked Pumpkin Cookies and Pumpkin Pecan Bread. I made both because each one calls for one cup of canned pumpkin, and the cans contain, of course, two cups. I am so happy they have Libby's Canned Pumpkin here in England (didn't exist in France). Well, my pumpkin cookies came out great, but the bread game out all disgustingly gooey in the middle even while the outside didn't want to be cooked any more. Eventually I decided to chop it up into the cooked bits and the non-cooked bits, and throw the gooey bits back into the oven in slices on a baking sheet. So can I call the rebaked bits "Biscotti" since that means Twice Cooked? The family liked both versions, the "unicotti" and the "biscotti."

Ted Leung did a cool photo collage of the lunar eclipse from the other day. We missed it.

Advice from a doctor on dressing your daughters via Amanda Witt.

Totally unrelated matter coming up: Guide to Translating School Grades in the UK, USA, and France. I think I have posted this at least partially before, but I want to clarify it to myself again:

USA	UK	France
Kindergarten	Year 1	Maternelle
1st Grade	Year 2	CP
2nd Grade	Year 3	CE-1
3rd Grade	Year 4	CE-2
4th Grade	Year 5	CM-1
5th Grade	Year 6	CM-2
6th Grade	Year 7	6ème
7th Grade	Year 8	5ème
8th Grade	Year 9	4ème
9th Grade	Year 10	3ème
10th Grade	Year 11	Seconde
11th Grade	Year 12	Première
12th Grade	Year 13	Terminale

I haven't quite got it down to automatic yet for the conversion from UK to US and back. I know it's one number away, but sometimes I'm not certain in which direction. Our school uses the American system of grades, so when we are talking to people with kids in the local UK schools, it takes a minute to get ourselves all oriented as to which year our kids are in.