Camp Cool

I'm a "Girl Mom."

When Carly was born, I must admit, a secret sigh of relief washed over my bedraggled body. "Princesses, pink, ruffles, tutus...yes," I thought, "I can do this."

And I did.

Then came Will. 8lbs, 6 ounces of Power-Ranger-loving, butt-scratching, alphabet-belching boy...what was I going to do with this little creature?

Ballet, baking, craft time, curlers...I had all of that down with my eyes closed. "Guess it's time to embrace my inner Jedi Knight," I thought,  "and to let The Force be with me."

And I did.

Before I knew it, I realized that I was, in fact, a "Boy Mom" after all. The cowboy-themed nursery came easy. So did the choo-choo birthday cake and the black velvet Christmas knickers...a temporary partial setback. From there, my surrender to the dark side became inevitable as the will of my "Will" proved stronger than forces of pink and pixie dust.

Giant plastic dinosaurs roamed our terrain and the gentle tunes of Disney Princess ballads wafting from the playroom gave way to Japanese-tinged thugs and ughs of alien Nylock or giant Decepticon blaring from the TV.

So much too for actually trying to work on the computer or do a load of laundry while Junior quietly amused himself with educational toys. Before long, the confines of his hand-me-down pink and purple Graco "pop-up" playpen proved inadequate as our Little Houdini discovered how to stack his stuffed animals in such a manner as to provide the ultimate launching pad up, over, and onto, head first, the hardwood floor.

"Okay, little man. I see the dance we're doing here," I said to him as we waited in the doctor's office for the surgical glue to set on his bulbous little forehead, "game on."

Between nanny's, neighbors, preschool and the 6 foot high locks we installed on the inside of the doors, we learned to stay busy and intact, filling our days with play dates, baking soda volcanoes, backyard archaeological digs and Hot Wheel demolition derbies.

But, just when we'd get into the flow of a new school year or nanny share, our well-intentioned plans would get rocked as we'd slip into the dog days of summer.

Sure, there were plenty of pricey camps available, but at $70 bucks a day, I quickly fell off my parenting high horse and found myself surrendering as he'd hook himself up to a virtual endless IV drip of Wii and Nickelodeon...a most intoxicating, accessible and addictive elixir.

I had to do something...fast.

Enter Camp Cool.

I'd been toying with the idea of a co-op camp for a few years but never seemed to pick up the phone or send out an email to make it happen. This summer was different. Will would start Kindergarten that fall and, at five, had made a handful of real buddies whose Moms I could possible rally. This might just work.

Between a couple of neighbors, and a friend of a friend or two, we committed our five guinea piglets, all set to enter the same class in the fall, to a week Camp Cool....perfect!

We enlisted the help of Carly and her best friend Siena who were just entering 7th grade at the time...prime babysitting age. Each day would be hosted by one of the moms, moving from house to house as the week progressed.

Carly and Siena thought of themes and activities for each day and the host mom had only to provide lunch, supervision and nerves of steel for one of the five days that week...a small price to pay for five days of serious entertainment and buddy bonding.

The inaugural year of Camp Cool proved to be a monumental success. Tie-dye, paper boat races, twister, refrigerator box fort building...come on...what's not to love.

Over the last few years, we have added and subtracted a camper or two depending on vacation schedules and alas, Carly and her friend are no longer 7th graders and are therefore no longer hip to spending one of their precious weeks of summer vacation with a group of boys...that is, a group of 9-year-old boys.

But us Moms have done a pretty good job of figuring it out ourselves, I must say.

Shark tooth necklaces and sunshine...

Wet and wild water play...

Custom "Camp Cool T's...

Trailblazing...

Fine art...

 Edible art (those are giant self-portrait cookies)...

Snacks, snacks and more snacks...

Scooters and kites...

Poker 101...

And, my favorite, "Young Enterprisers Day."

From marketing...

...to manufacturing...

...to sales and distribution...

...our little campers went home that day with an incredible sense of accomplishment and $8 bucks each rattling around in their gritty little pockets!

I'd like to think that perhaps some of the venture's success was due in part to the allure of the delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies that the boys so skillfully made and marketed. In reality, it probably had more to do with that pink furry hat, the "Yummy Yummy" sandwich board and an irresistible impish grin.

Regardless, here is my recipe for what I think are the most delicious chocolate chip cookies around. Finely ground oats, lots of vanilla, tons of chocolate chips and, yes, a combination of butter and shortening set these crisp yet soft delicacies apart from the standard Toll house variety.

Here's how it goes...

Blend oats until quite powdery and fine...set aside.

Cream together butter, shortening and sugars.

Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Mix together dry ingredients then add to wet.

I like to use a mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet chips (it's also what I had on hand). Mixing in milk chocolate chips is great too for a milder "bite."

Mix them in by hand or on slow speed.

My favorite size scoops is about the size of a golf ball and I always bake on a Silpat non-stick silicone baking sheet.

Hate to admit it, but I picked up this little trick from Martha. Blob your extra dough onto a parchment sheet like this...

...and shape into a log using your hands pressing with the parchment to avoid a sticky mess.

Tie the ends with kitchen twine...

...label and freeze for later use or to give as a unique hostess or housewarming gift. Keep them in a secret place in the freezer or they'll never make it into the oven.

Enjoy warm with icy cold leche.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup vegetable shortening (yes, Crisco!)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups white sugar

Mix in one at a time:

• 3 eggs

Add:

• 5 tsp vanilla 

Sift together and gradually blend in:

• 3 cups of oats, blended fine
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Mix in in gently:

• 24 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate chips

Bake for 9-11 minutes at 375°

Note: this is a double recipe...perfect for freezing.

Life is just a bowl of cherries...

Ten years ago, almost to the day, Charlie and I clutched the dimpled paws of our baby girl as we marched her off to her first day of Kindergarten. I can still remember the nostalgic scent of white paste and construction paper wafting out the door into the warm morning air as we entered the Lilliputian world that would be Carly's first classroom.

She lost her first tooth, and made her first friend that year.

Today, I dropped Carly off at her first day of high school. Funny. I don't really remember shedding a tear the day we left Carly at Miss Woodman's door ten years ago. But today, I cried like a baby as I pulled away from the front steps of Carly's new home-away-from home for the next four years (and my Alma Mater). Yes, I am ten years older and my hormones (as well as some other things) aren't quite as balanced as they used to be, but I think it's more than that...perhaps.

As Carly bopped eagerly out of the car, bid Willy and me a hasty "bye" and ran off into her new world, a flush of excitement washed over my body in a wave of tiny electric sparkles.  Like the powdery pop of one of those old-time photographer's flashes, a million images fired through my brain: lockers, classrooms, teachers, guys, tests, rallies, football games...friends.  Friends! That was it. That was what I was most excited about: the new relationships Carly gets to explore as she navigates her way from the placid pond that was 8th grade into the high seas of high school life.

Almost 30 years later and we're still whining and dining...

So, yes, I did compose myself and luckily made my way out of the rat maze of a parking lot without completely exposing myself as a rookie parent.  I came home, plopped down in front of my computer and, just like any other day, watched a flood of emails populate my in-box. But it really wasn't any other day. Something changed.

Instead of scoffing at yet another Costco mattress event special offer or dreading the inevitable slew of mundane to-dos that would come, I smiled as I watched a parade of my friends stop into my in-box to say hi. Costco, your special offer is going to have to wait...I'm pouring myself another cup of coffee and stopping to chat.

Carol, wants to know if we've picked a hotel yet for our second Las Vegas high school girls get-away. "This time we're not sharing a double bed!"

Check out our Cindy Brady pig tails. I think mine were a little springier than Carol's

Amy, my "first house" best-neighbor-friend, wants to see if I am free to work with her at an upcoming non-profit event she is planning. "Yes...it's the only way I get to see you!"

On her way home from the hospital, two days after she was born, Carly (we were there too!) stopped at Amy's house first! They have been pals ever since...

Kathy, my "second house" best-neighbor-friend wrote on my Facebook wall that her oldest daughter is off to Davis. "Go Aggies!"

Onnie and Suz (my sorority/surrogate sisters) want to know when we can celebrate summer birthdays. Maybe by Christmas...but let's keep trying!

Paula, my bawdy buddy mom from Carly's grammar school class emailed to coordinate the next time we can take our shared boat out. "Can summer be almost over already?"

We may not be on the boat, but picking roses amongst the grape vines ain't so bad either...

Someone's at the door...it's Laura, "my third house" best-neighbor-friend here to pick up some hand-me-downs and return a Tupperware. "Can you pick up Will from camp?"

Back to email...Cynthia, my oldest friend from college, wanted to say thanks for dinner the other night (more on that later).

Here is one of the first desserts I made for her...!

Oh, and Lizzie, my first college roommate emailed today from NY too...no wait, that's her old address that I know not to open (it's usually a pirated, virus-filled spam touting male enhancement products)..."Lizzie, that email's gotta go!"

Anyway, you get the picture...so to speak. Somewhere along the line, after years of school, and roommates, and new homes, and kids, my big fat cherry bowl of life got filled with friends, each one juicier than the next. So here's to you...my friends. You make my life delicious and I love you.  And to you, my Carly, may your bowl runneth over.

Back to Cynthia. What a treat to have her to dinner the other night. After years of travelling the globe, she's back in town to stay for a while...so I did what I do... I made her a cherry pie. It's a little different than your run-of-the mill cherry pie but Cynthia's a little different than your run-of-the mill kind of friend...so here you go!

Start with my two favorite ingredients.

Add a couple of egg yolks.

Add the dry stuff and mix till it looks like this.

Press half of  the dough into your tart pan.

Then, roll out your other half of dough.

Chill your dough while you prepare your cherries.  I don't have a cherry pitter so Carly and I improvised by poking through each berry with a plastic chopstick...

...worked great but it was a mess. Nothin' wrong with that!

Pour your prepared cherries into the chilled tart shell.

Cover with the chilled dough disc then sprinkle with sugar. Nothin' wrong with that either!

Bake it baby. Here's what it looks like before being sliced to pieces. I think the bubbly, pitted crust is so cool in an alien, surface-of-the-moon sort of way.

Cherry Tart with a Cornmeal Crust

Beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth:

• 1 cup butter at room temp.
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar

Stir in until well-blended:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Divide the dough in half. press one portion into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch fluted tart pan with removable rim.  Place the other half on a sheet of waxed paper and roll out with a floured rolling pin into a 10-inch round. Slide onto a baking sheet and chill with the shell at least 1/2 hour or more until firm.

Mix in another bowl and let stand at least 10 minutes:

• 1 1/2 lbs. clean pitted cherries (this is the only cherry pie I've ever seen that didn't use the sour cherries that we can't get easily here on the west coast)!
• 2 Tbs. quick cooking tapioca
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice

Pour into your chilled shell and spread evenly. Place chilled round over the tart and press the edges to seal with the shell, trimming off any excess.  Sprinkle with a bit of sugar for extra sparkle and crunch.

Place tart on a baking sheet and bake on the lower rack at 375, rotating once half way through, until golden brown (about 35-40 minutes).

Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream (how about lemon buttermilk?). Serves about 8.