Dear Kid,

I have a new favorite dish and its name is Shakshukah.

This is how you make Shakshukah.

Since it’s a tomato based dish, the first thing to do is go outside and see if there are any ripe tomatoes. It turns out there are several that are almost ready but prefer to remain on the vine for a while so you add to your plans a stop at the farmer’s market to get tomatoes.

Once you have tomatoes and have decided that the rest of the ingredients are as assembled as they are ever going to be, you begin.

Boil a pot of water that’s big enough to hold all the tomatoes. Get distracted, forget about the pot, and eventually realize that half the water has boiled off. Sigh. Once you have an actual pot of boiling water, put the tomatoes in and turn off the heat. After some number of minutes (“I think maybe a few more minutes would be good” says Tal), scoop the tomatoes out. Try not to burn yourself. The skins will peel right off. They are even easier to peel when someone else (Tal) peels them.

Chop a couple of cloves of garlic. Better yet, have someone else (Tal) chop several cloves of garlic while you see about cleaning up some of the dishes that have been left in the sink.

Heat some oil in a large pan. Watch Tal add the garlic and stir. After a few minutes, watch her add the tomatoes and mash them up. Add about “that much” from a can of diced tomatoes. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste. Watch Tal stir.

Season the mixture with some of the spices that Tal brought. (We added two tablespoons of spice and some salt and pepper. After the whole thing cooked for about 15 minutes we tasted and added more spice. Then we congratulated ourselves on being smart enough to taste before moving on.)

Get out the eggs. Consult about how many eggs are necessary. The recipe said 8 eggs, Tal said 5, and the pan said 6. We went with the pan’s idea. Break each egg into a bowl and gently slide the egg on top of the well-stirred tomato mixture. Cover the pan partway and let the eggs cook about 5 minutes. Check the eggs and decide they definitely need more time than that. Give them another 5 minutes or so and decide they’re done.

Serve with bread. You put the Shakshukah on your plate and then pile it on a piece of bread and YUM!

If you are a very good child, I shall make it for you sometime.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

It’s October. You can tell because the iris leaves are turning brown, the tomatoes are just ripe for picking off the vine, the stores are putting out Christmas decorations, and Booker is shedding like it’s spring. The trees and Pi have changed their plumage (trees to yellow and red; Pi to purple [my hands are now slightly lavender from the hair dye]). Right next to the preliminary Christmas décor you’ll find mega bags of candy and marked down school supplies.

We are somewhat seasonally confused.

Every year about this time, Dad says, “Next year I’m going to start the tomatoes earlier. I’ll plant the seeds inside and move them.” So far, we’re still picking tomatoes around Thanksgiving. When Pi was little she couldn’t quite get her mouth around the words “little tomato” so the red fruit in the picture continues to be called “l’illa matatoes” in our house.

To no one’s surprise, the world is still revolving and the government may or may not be operating with its customary inefficiency. Journalists from all sides of all issues have opinions. Comedians from all points of view have commentary on those opinions. As far as I can tell, the tomatoes have no opinion other than a slight desire to be eaten rather than thrown at someone. (Tomatoes are not known as great thinkers.)

Grandma and Grandpa are traveling (not a surprise, I know) this time to north Canada. Nope, farther north than that. Polar bear north. Special outfits north. Are-you-kidding-me north. Looking for a guy named Kris Kringle north. Take two more steps and you’ll be in the film “Gravity” north. North. I’m pretty sure they won’t be picking tomatoes in October.

Love, Mom