We spend a lot of time together as a family, which translates to a lot of time eating, and cooking together.  On a regular basis, Heather and I cook for at least six.  On some weekends, and especially during family holidays, that number balloons to twelve or fourteen.  When our family gets together, among all the voices and the commotion, I love to observe the consistencies from each gathering to the next.   My mother’s constant motion from one task to the next, Heather’s humming as she happily creates the treats and baked goods that were rarely a part of our lives before she joined us, my father’s eagerness to jump in to clean things up and make it easier for people to move in and out of the spaces, Jennie’s cheerful patience that gives room for anything to happen, Fabian’s deep, deep laughter which erupts from his belly and echoes throughout the room.  Nolan is always up earlier than everyone else, and when he arrives from his morning run, Milan calls out “Nolancito, you want some coffee?” as he pulls down the grinder and puts the kettle on the stove, since he knows the answer is always “Yes!”.

When I started this blog, I thought I could channel all of the energy of our kitchen, and share it with family, with friends, and with anybody who would like to read.  My thought was “we are always having brunch, lunch and dinner — it’ll be easy to come up with material!”   Since then, I’ve had lots of opportunities to create posts — besides the general holidays (Father’s Day, Fourth of July), I’ve also catered 2 parties, held a birthday party for 30 people, had Argentine houseguests who love to cook and eat.  And yet…no posts.   Here are two reasons why: 1. I haven’t been taking pictures.  Because I forget, or I don’t know how, or whatever reason.  And 2.  I’m just plain nervous nobody will like my posts, or that they won’t be compelling, or that I won’t do it right, or that…fill in the blank.

So here is my promise to my readers (that would be you, Diana ) .  I will continue to write.  And I’ll continue to post, regardless of the all the new blogger mishaps that may come my way (like not taking pictures), because the greatest of those mishaps is not posting at all.

Lemon Potato Salad

This is one of my favorite recipes that I’ve used all summer.  In spite of having a mayonaise base, it’s light and the lemon adds a brightness that I crave all summer.  I served it at David’s 30th birthday party, and more than 10 lbs of it flew out the door.  For some depth of flavor, and because I had them, I added preserved lemons to the base recipe (from Gourmet magazine, found at epicurious.com) , and used sliced green onions instead of chives.

• 3 pounds small boiling potatoes
• 1 cup chopped celery (about 4 ribs)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped preserved lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar