Mummy Plotnik's 92nd Birthday

The Great FiveHead has passed into Month 7. As the Great 5.7Head, she is looking great, sounding great, feeling great. She pats her belly a lot, and everybody else puts their head against it, to listen to any new sounds or feel any unmistakable kicks. BZWZ keeps sending name ideas by text message; so far, the only two names that seem to have been ruled out are Hepzibah and Yassr.

Ducknik made a lemon merengue pie for Mummy Plotnik's 92nd birthday pre-dinner dinner. It was fabulous, even without the graham cracker crumbs in the crust. Plot spent some time afterwards thinking about that pie. We've all had so many bad merengue pies in diners and restaurants that we forget what the big deal is...that is, until you finally taste it. Burnt gooey on top, crispy crunchy on the bottom, and lemony squishy yummorama in the middle. This is a hard act to follow, which is why we always eat it last.

On Sunday, the Plotniks all went to the newly reopened Getty Villa overlooking the Pacific Ocean. J. Paul Getty decided to recreate a Roman villa with architecture, sculpture and art dug out from the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Best of all, when Getty died, he stipulated the museum always be free. It's a magnificent place. Plot loved the gardens, planted with fruits and herbs the Romans would have used. We still cook with all of those plants -- rosemary, garlic, sage, mint, apple, pomegranate, quince, lemon.

Afterwards on Sunday, Plotnik and The Great PunkyDunky took the inflatable kayaks down to the ocean in Malibu and...well, they did nothing. When they got to the water, the tide was at its high point, crashing against the rocks and making it very difficult to set the kayaks into the water. After the last two weeks of body parts getting mauled, Plot was not unhappy when P.D. said 'Dad, you know I don't think we should try this today.' Parents should always know when to listen to their children.