Shake that boodie | tomatillo salsa

Last weekend I attended a rock concert for kids that was held at the architecturally incredible downtown Seattle Public Library. Let me tell you, things have changed since the mellow days of Raffi and Mr. Rogers. There were five hip bands (yes, real bands) playing on two stages. Our party, which consisted of three adults and one 2-1/2-year old, listened to two of the bands before said 2-1/2-half-year-old reached her personal limit.


Caspar Babypants rocks the crowd.

The first band to rock us was Caspar Babypants, and it’s a great group. They play music that appeals to kids and adults, with intelligence and humor that both entertains the kids and often goes over their heads. And you can hear the singers’ voices and understand the words. Yay for that.


Miss E enjoys a little rock time.

The lead singer, Chris Ballew, is a member of the band The Presidents of the United States of America. Get that.



The second set was The Not-Its. The girl-singers wear pink tutus and the guys wear pink ties, and they play LOUD. A lot of the small audience members also wear tutus to better get with the vibe.


Miss E chills to The Not-Its.

Along with her tutu, Miss E had to don her sound-dampening headphones so she could enjoy the music without freaking out. I, on the other hand, had no idea a kiddie band would be so loud, and didn’t have my ear plugs with me. I have to say, I prefer The Not-Its CD over their live performance; I can hear the words and control the decibel level.



After the concert, I was hoping to get some cool photographs of the library but it was so crowded, and I was kind of busy, so I only got a couple of shots of the childrens room.


Miss E and her mom admire a panda pair.

When I returned home after a long afternoon of music, the subject of what to have for dinner came up, as it always does. My son, who's been totally into cooking this week, wanted to make salsa with the tomatillos he’d found at the farmers market the day before. I suggested a bean dish to go with it, and we settled on me cooking kidney beans and him making chili and salsa.



Feeling really tired of canned beans, I wanted to cook the beans from scratch for the richer taste that comes from home-cooked beans. I didn’t have a lot of time so I used the quick-cooking method that I learned years ago from my friend Claudia. I put the beans and water in the pressure cooker and bring the pressure up. Then I bring the pressure down, drain the beans, and start again with fresh water. When the pressure comes up the second time, the beans are cooked. The whole process takes about one hour, with no soaking time. I cooked the beans a little extra because they're kind of old, and old beans take longer to cook.

The chili was served over brown rice and topped with fresh tomatillo salsa, and it tasted great. Here's a link to a recipe for the salsa, and some information about tomatillos.



And here's a completely gratuitous photo of some gorgeous roasted peppers that we bought at the farmers market, roasted on the spot and still warm. Although our farmers market runs all year, treats like this sure won't stick around. Is it spring, yet?