Brasilliant

Busy Busy Brasilliant. What is She Doing?

2012-02-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

Brasilliant delegating.

Brasilliant celebrating.

Brasilliant roasting.

Brasilliant's ~~baby~~ toddler toasting.

Brasilliant playgrouping.

Brasilliant smooching.

If I were trying to replicate the Busy Animal books in earnest, I'd have a photo of me sleeping (and or looking a little bit dead). But I don't. So, smooches will just have to do.

Organization at Last, But Will It?

2012-01-19T09:22:00.001-08:00

Jesse and I spent MLK Day getting our shit together. I was inspired by an article that my mom brought over during their visit earlier this month. The article asked "are you a filer or a piler?" I am definitely in the "piler" category, which means I should not be allowed to pile anything. Ever. It's a miracle that Miles hasn't been lost permanently under a pile of old bank statements. So, I walked myself over to the Paper Source to buy pretty file folders and give myself an organizational intervention.

I'm pretty pleased with the results and barring some sort of natural disaster, I'm determined to keep it in order.

** Update** As of February 1st, my desk is still in fairly good working order. And the filing system has been amazing.

Sourdough Biscuits

2011-12-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

As you know, I made this sourdough starter a couple of months ago. After baking two underwhelming loaves of bread, I forgot about it for a while in the refrigerator. Since I really didn't feed it at all in October or most of November, I was a little afraid of even opening the lid. When I finally worked up the courage, I found a grayish watery substance on top that looked dead and swampish. However, I was assured by the internet that this is perfectly normal and went ahead and poured off the top liquid, gave the starter a stir, and fed it according to the instructions in the Bread Baker's Apprentice -- 1 cup starter to 4 cups flour and 2 1/2 cups water.

Just before Thanksgiving, I found a klondike-style sourdough pancake recipe in a 1985 Mother Earth News that sounded like a great way to use up some of the 4+ cups of sourdough starter. The pancakes were so fantastic that I moved on to their biscuit recipe (this one from ME's August 2011 issue). The biscuits were very tasty, but the texture needs a little work. I followed the recipe to the letter, but think that I need to work on the technique of incorporating the dry ingredients with the wet. I went against my best judgement and stirred the dough, when I should have just gently mixed in the wet stuff and dumped the crumbly mixture onto the counter while folding to incorporate. I've found that the best biscuits are made when you work the dough as little as possible -- only folding it in thirds on the counter a few times to create the flaky layers that puff up when cooked.

We experimented with the scalloped edges vs. smooth and the vote was unanimous in favor of scallops. The edges got a little crispy in the oven, which was a great contrast to the sourdoughy chew. I'm definitely going to try these again very soon to see if my folding technique improves the already great-tasting treats.

Welcome to the 21st Century

2011-11-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

When Jesse and I moved to Portland in 2008, we sold (and gave away) a lot of our possessions** in order to cram all that we owned into a single 7'x7'x6' moving crate. Among the things we left behind was our medium-sized, but rather bulky television that we scored on Craigslist. When we got to Portland, our apartment was not much bigger than our studio in D.C., so we decided to go without TV for a while (that and we felt rather broke, since the economy tanked and I was without a steady job).

Three years and three months later, we took the plunge and bought a TV -- a brand new, flat, and comparatively light TV. I can attest to it's relative lightness, because I carried it 4 blocks home from the car. We now stream our Netflix and Hulu onto 32 inches of beautiful screen. And Miles watched football in high definition for the first time on Thanksgiving day. He was enamored with the clarity (as was I) and even after the TV was switched off for the afternoon he would walk up to it and point while saying "boot ball."

We had to do a bit of rearranging to accommodate the new technology. In terms of decor, it does nothing for the mid-century modern credenza that had to be placed awkwardly in the corner. However, it felt wonderful to kick up my feet and watch a little Masterpiece Theater after a long day with Miles, so I'll bend this time on appearances.

**One possession that made the move and still remains is that damn drying rack from Amish country (seen to the right in the above photo). It's like the weirdo kid that shows up in all of your vacation photos, but I can't give it up, it's just so functional. I still maintain that if you come to visit, we'd be happy to air-dry your entire wardrobe on our 15-foot-tall rack in the living room. Some day we'll have a house with a basement where the drying rack can live out its retirement in peace and solitude after years of being shoved around, kicked, cursed, and crammed in closets.

Goodbye October

2011-11-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

October 2011 turned out to be an incredibly shitty month. Lots of travel, sadness, and unanswered questions. It's fitting that it isn't even acknowledged in my blog. But I'm back, maybe not fully, but life continues and there's lots going on lately. My job has picked up, Miles is growing and changing like crazy, and we're looking to move to a bigger place -- I guess I'm not giving October enough credit.

It made me remember how important family and friends are in my life. If I'm smart (and I like to think that I am) I will keep October close by and use it as a reminder to take a break now and again from my busy life to be thankful. Here Miles and I are with my sister, her fiance, Eric, my parents, and grandmother all together for the first time in a very long while.

Sourdough Success and Failure

2011-09-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was determined to make this bread submit (rise) in time to have it before bed. In my rush to get it proofing before picking Miles up from our nanny share, I did something stupid. I left my KitchenAid mixer running on the countertop for less than 30 seconds while checking out the next steps in my cookbook and BAM! It somehow walked its way off the countertop and onto the floor. Luckily, the dough was almost finished kneading and looked ready to go.

I set the dough to rise on the warm oven for three hours and contemplated the fate of my poor mixer. From what I can tell, the cord took a brunt of the force and came nearly completely out of the back of the motor. Today, one of my tasks after taking Miles to his one-year checkup is to call around and find a repair shop so the KitchenAid will be up and running again when we get back from our October trip to the east coast. After rising for three hours, I divided the dough into two balls and put one on the stove to proof again and one in the refrigerator to proof overnight. I got impatient and decided to go ahead and start the baking process at 10:30pm (about an hour early).

The dough looked perfect when I set it on the peel, but somehow the semolina flour didn't get under one of the edges and it flopped onto the baking stone in this sort of amoeba shape. As you can see, my cuts in the top weren't deep enough either, so overall, the appearance is less than ideal. However, the taste was fantastic. I'm excited to try again today with the loaf in the fridge, but this time give it the proper amount of time to rise and maybe leave it on the sheet pan so it will retain its beautiful round shape.

September Projects

2011-09-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

September is almost over and I don't even know how that happened. It's not been Miles' best month, to put it mildly, he's been a bit of a tyrant through his cold, growing pains, and teething. There are some clues left behind from the rubble of Hurricaine Miles -- piles of clothes soiled with snot and drool, chewed up books, miscellaneous kitchen gadgets in various states of disrepair, and some dried up raisins and frittata ground into the carpet. Somehow in the chaos, I managed to start a couple of cooking and sewing projects on the weekend and in between naps, work, and fluctuating nanny schedules.

My first project involved breaking out my Bread Baker's Apprentice book and doing two things that I've been meaning to try for a while: pizza dough and sourdough bread. The pizza dough was a success. I made six dough crusts and froze them for later use. The other night we decided to give them a try and they were wonderfully delicate and stretchy and when coupled with my baking stone, we made pizza that rivals our favorite pizzeria. Dough win.

The sourdough has been more of a challenge. I embarked on making my own starter over a week ago and still have yet to make a sourdough loaf. I feel like I've spent more quality time with the seed and barm than I have with my own child. Maybe if Miles smelled like rye flour and pineapple juice, I'd love him more. The process is easy enough. It starts out with dark rye flour and some liquid (pineapple juice for the first two days) and goes something like this: mix, cover, ferment, uncover, mix, throw out half of your bubbly (stinky) concoction, mix, cover, ferment, mix some more, throw out some more, uncover (shielding your eyes from the fumes), refrigerate, wait wait wait, warm up, mix, cool off, rise, wait wait wait, flip yet another page to find a list of 12 more steps to go. I think you get the point.

So here I started, with a weeks worth of variations on the starter in my Pyrex measuring cup, and am today, finally at the bread making step. I was so excited to have a fresh baked sourdough loaf on the table for dinner, but after reading through each step carefully, I realized that the bread won't be finished until about 9pm. Bummer. I should have started the process when I woke up this morning! Well, lesson learned for next time. And there will be a next time, because I have a bowl full of barm in the fridge that needs to be fed, rocked, and snuggled (I kid). Jesse and I have made a pact to bake at least three batches before giving up, then I'll freeze the starter for later so I don't have to start the process again.

The other project was making Miles a chair. I've been searching around for a mini upholstered chair for Miles to climb on and relax in, but they're either all terribly ugly or insanely expensive. So, I spent one evening on the internet and found a lady on Etsy who made a pattern for a plush kid's chair. I purchased the pattern on Tuesday and with great restraint, waited all the way until Saturday to get the supplies. Jesse watched Miles all afternoon while I went on an epic run to JoAnn's and Fabric Depot. Miles took stock of the foam and batting and determined it was a worthy project. I had all of the pieces cut out by Saturday night and spent Sunday in my sweatshop pumping out the slipcover. The instructions were pretty good (not outstanding though) and I had to scratch my head and dig deep into my brain's sewing chest to figure out how to get it all put together.

In the end I'm pretty happy with the results. Would I do it again? No. It was only slightly less expensive than just buying a stuffed chair from Pottery Barn, and was kind of a pain to sew. However, it looks adorable in our living room and Miles loves it, so totally worth the mild annoyance. I have to go back and fix the arms (they need more stuffing) and I goofed when putting in the zipper, so there's a slight pucker on the right side (this may never get fixed though, since removing a zipper is high on my list of things never to do). I don't think Miles will care though, because he now has his own piece of furniture to love and jump on.

Chicago Trip

2011-09-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

Miles and I had a wonderful trip to Chicago last weekend to visit my good friend, Lauren, and her husband, Ken. We escaped the oppressive 95º+ heat in Portland and the music festival bender that consumed the weekend for Jesse and our good friend, Tyson. I was pretty nervous about the 4 hour flight to Chicago, but Miles (all things considered) was a pretty good traveler. I won't go so far as to say I had a great time on the plane (who does, really), but it could have been worse. Way worse.

It was wonderful to visit with Lauren, since I haven't seen her since Miles was just a few weeks old. She and Ken purchased a wonderful old house in Evanston and we fully utilized the screened in porch for breakfast and dinners, as well as the back yard for happy hour bloody mary's. Miles loved the stairs and terrorized their two cats, Simon and Louisa, every waking moment. His growls of "kittay kittay kittay!" could be heard all over the house as he tried (in vain) to get his mitts on one of the cats as they scurried around trying to escape.

We took an afternoon drive over to Wagner Farm, just a few minutes from Evanston, where Miles ran around looking at pigs, cows, and giant farm equipment. I'd like to say that the animals were the object of his affection, but it was the blue tractor that gained his love. He was incredibly excited about the giant wheels and spent quite a bit of time inspecting the rims and tires.

We also took a walk over to Lake Michigan and spent a lovely Sunday afternoon watching the waves lap onto the beach. Tons of kids and parents were playing and swimming in frigid water -- I know this because I only allowed my big toe to get wet. Miles was a little unsure about the sand between his toes and refused to leave the beach blanket. I could tell it was a tough decision for him, because the lure of kids and beach toys would otherwise be too much temptation to resist. He happily barked orders from the safety of the green sheet and finally lost patience even for that. We put him in the stroller, brushed off his feet, and he happily cooed and dozed until we were ready to head home.

I arrived in Portland Monday evening exhausted, but happy. It was a great trip and I'm so glad I decided to visit.

Birthday Boy

2011-09-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

I had grand plans for Miles' birthday. I was going to bake a cake and there were going to be memorable decorations to remember the big milestone. Then, we were hit with an August heatwave that I (smugly) talked about avoiding the week before. I was also hit with ton of work in preparation for a new lecture season. Even with a ton of help from my mom, some days Miles is a tornado that whips and whirls around the apartment on a seek and destroy mission. So, instead of cute homemade decorations (in typical Brasilliant style), Miles got a pretty sad Happy Birthday banner from Fred Meyer and a store-bought cake.

One thing that I did not compromise on was my desire to have his first cake at least be a tasty one. While the banner was not what I had imagined for his first birthday, the cake was worlds better than I would have ever made. It was no larger than a cupcake, but was one of the tastiest non-chocolate cakes that I've had in a while (or maybe ever). Miles' birthday treat was white cake with a triple berry cream and a delicious blueberry or huckleberry core. The outside was rolled in delicious white chocolate and topped with more of the delicious filling. I had some reservations about getting him a pretty feminine looking cake, but my mom reassured me at Zupans (the specialty market that sold the cakes) that he'd probably turn out well adjusted despite the frilly wrapper and cotton candy colored frosting. Besides, who doesn't love berries?

That afternoon, following some present opening and a nap, we sang happy birthday and brought over the cake. Miles was pretty excited when we put it on his tray, but he wasn't quite sure what to make of his cake padded fingers after a while. He gave the cake a few tastes, but it was pretty different than anything he had before. The sweetness made him shudder. After a while the tray was smeared with icing and filling and he flapped his little arms to say he was finished. We got in a few photos before he really insisted on being released from the high chair. Jesse and I grabbed a fork and enjoyed a few bits of tastiness discarded on his tray.

Miles was much more interested in helping Jesse take down his Fred Meyer decorations. I don't blame him, they were pretty pedestrian, but oh so shiny and intriguing to a one year old boy. Next year, dude, we'll go all out. Homemade cake AND decorations of your choice. Not that you'll remember anyway, but I will.

Summer Saturday Evenings

2011-08-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

You could say this is part two of our great Saturday on one of the hottest days of the summer. The temperature got up to 95º yesterday, which doesn't compare to the scorching temperatures other parts of the country, but was pretty huge for us. We went to the park with Miles in the morning, but by 10:30am we knew it was time to close down the shades, turn on the fans, and move like turtles, so not to work up a sweat. Miles took a two hour nap after our romp in the park, which left him with a hollow leg. He proceded to eat anything put in front of him (with bamboo fork in hand) -- a scrambled egg, some watermelon, 4 or 5 silver dollar pancakes, blueberries, and some graham crackers.

We were a little nervous that he might have used up all of his nap time in this early long spurt, leaving him cranky and restless for the BBQ we wanted to attend in the afternoon. So, after the large lunch and reading A LOT of books, we took him out to a different park for about 30 minutes before nap time. He ran around again and by 3:30 he was exhausted and happily went down for his afternoon nap. He woke up cheerful and ready to party. YAY!

We arrived at the BBQ around 5:30 and our friends Rhiannon and Josh had set up a kiddie pool for the boys. The water was a little cool for Miles to take a dunk, but he happily played on the edges as Ethan and Daniel happily splashed around and handed him any toy that he wanted. Miles ran and ate like he had a second stomach to fill (growth spurt maybe?). The weeks leading up to his first birthday have maybe been the best yet. He's happy and playful and seems to get smarter by the minute. This week alone he's started to use a spoon, learned to drink from a straw, and learns new gestures almost instantly.

My mom is coming into town tomorrow and my dad is soon to follow. I can't wait for them to see what a different baby he's become!

First Bites

2011-08-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

This evening after work, Jesse and I threw Miles in the backpack and headed down to the Deschutes Street Fare for beer, music and tasty food from top-notch food carts around town. The evening was a fundraising event for a local family services organization here in Portland, so on top of all of the above, an all around good night.

Our first food and beer pairing was from Fuego de Lotus, which served up tasy arepas (a Venezuelan-inspired street food) paired with Deschutes Cascade Ale. The arepas -- white masa cakes filled with tasty goodness -- were fantastic. I got the chili chicken and Jesse sampled the pork belly. Yum. We will definitely go back, because Miles downed half of my arepa and was kind of ticked that I dared to eat the rest myself. Also, for those of you who are interested, their arepas are gluten free.

Second beer and food pairing was from Perierra Creperie. They served up both sweet and savory crepes, but there was no question which one I would get -- the sopressata, brie, pear, and pepper flake crepe (when matched with banana and nutella) was the winner hands down. Miles gave it 10 fingers up. I said Yum and was inspired to create our next pizza with similar ingredients. The crepe was a revelation, but so was the beer pairing. Deschutes Pilsner was surprisingly good. I'd actually order it again, which is saying a lot, because I just don't think that many American beer companies can compare to their German counterparts. Well done, Deschutes.

And the final food and beer pairing was more for Miles than for me and Jesse, Nutella sandwiched between two waffles from the Flavour Spot. The waffles were crisp, tasty, and delicious. Miles loved the carb/Nutella dinner and smeared it all over his face and backpack. He then rubbed it in his hair for good measure. Of all the food carts that we sampled tonight, Flavour is the one that I'll most likely seek out, because I'm on the search for a place that can make waffles that even come close to the ones we had in Ghent. I'll need a few more samples before I can decide if they stack up!

Jesse stayed to listen to the live music and I headed home with Miles in the backpack. He bobbed and clapped all the way home, just as he did to music at the street fair. He was pretty tired when we came home and gave me hell changing his diaper before bed, but as I kissed him goodnight I got a whiff of waffles and hazlenut -- all was forgiven.

Rough Mornings (and Afternoons)

2011-08-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, Jesse usually takes Miles for the first hour or so in the morning after he wakes up so I can get a little extra sleep. Yesterday morning though, 7:30am came rather early and I was pretty bummed to find a very fussy baby staring at me as I walked into the living room. The situation called for a trip outside for some fresh air and a way for us spend time together without Miles clinging to my body. I happily lugged the stroller downstairs and we set off to the Lovejoy Bakery.

Miles zoned out in the stroller and I reveled in the silence of our neighborhood at 8:00am. He ooohed when trucks would go by and I took the occasional break to poke my head around and say hello. Once we got to the bakery and I ordered breakfast, we parked ourselves at a cafe table that was just feet from the road (not an ideal location for most, but perfect for our purposes). Miles squealed with delight at the passing cars -- especially the streetcar -- and I read the Washington Post on my phone. We shared a cinnamon swirl muffin and washed it down with coffee (for me) and water (for Miles in his sippy cup). He'd point his finger at my plate and grunt, a form of communication that he uses a lot lately to signal MORE MORE MORE! He also flaps his arms around like a little bird to signal when OH MY GOD I'M FINISHED WHY ARE YOU STILL TRYING TO FEED ME?!

Anyway, back to the bakery. I'd hand him a bite, he would examine it in his fingers and stuff it in his mouth and give me a sweet little grin. I think he was unsure about the cinnamon at first, but then realized it was a baked good and, like his father, was helpless to its powers. Miles polished off about half of the muffin and then chucked his last bite out of the stroller and flapped his arms. Finished, moving on. We stayed for a few more minutes so I could chug my cup of coffee and turned around to head home. Miles somehow found a pacifier in his stroller and made his little sleepy sounds (like a car with a dead battery trying to start) all the way home. I crossed my fingers that he would not fall asleep in the stroller. Once home, I fed him, rocked him and he went down for a nap without a fuss. He was so tired, yet only slept for 40 minutes (smacks head in frustration). We made sure to administer a full dose of ibuprofen before his next nap (damn you teething)!

Today was a much better day. I actually got work done, thanks to my friend Tivra, who so kindly offered to watch the dude for a few hours this afternoon. I know I complain a lot about teething and we have more than half to go before they're all in. Maybe I should buy stock in Advil. It's going to be a long haul.

Kimchi Love

2011-08-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

I've been sad since one of our most interesting restaurants in the neighborhood, Tanuki, closed down its northwest Portland location. It served Japanese drinking food -- lots of spice, salt, and interesting ingredients -- and prided itself on "no sushi, no kids". Needless to say, we didn't frequent much after Miles was born, but I remember the few meals that we ate there fondly, particularly the kimchi fried rice. I think about it often.

A few weeks ago, I decided to purchase a jar of kimchi for just this purpose. I've been a little nervous about trying it, I'm not sure why because I love kimchi. Perhaps it was the fear of failing to even come close to the dish at Tanuki. What prompted us to make it was one unusual ingredient (other than kimchi) that we added to the refrigerator this week -- quail eggs. When we were buying our fresh eggs at the local farmers market on Thursday, the farmer added a little bonus to our bag. I've never had a quail egg, so we wanted to make a special dish to highlight this special ingredient.

The fried rice (recipe below) was quite simple and came together in about 15-20 minutes including prep time. Jesse was the wok master and I orchestrated the ingredients. Miles loved watching and flapped his arms around as the wok sizzled with each new ingredient. After the rice was done, Jesse fried four quail eggs sunny side up to go on top of our bowls. The final product was quite beautiful and tasty, but I'm not sure we're quite there yet in terms of matching Tanuki's greatness. I'm okay with that though, because it means I don't need a babysitter to have kimchi fried rice.

Brasilliant's Kimchi Fried Rice

3c. cooked rice (we used brown basmati)
1c. kimchi, chopped
1/2 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1T soy sauce
2T butter
1/3 c. tiny Pacific shrimp
1 fried egg for each serving (we used 2 quail eggs)
2 green onions, thinly sliced for garnish

Saute kimchi and onion in a wok over medium-high heat until liquid evaporates and onions are translucent. When onions and kimchi look sufficiently cooked down, add 1T butter, soy sauce and garlic. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add shrimp and cook until curled, just a minute or two. Toss in rice and another tablespoon of butter and stir to combine. Fry the eggs and place on top. Sprinkle with green onions.

Enjoy!

Parents of the Year

2011-07-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

It was a rough day. This week has been extra busy for both me and Jesse. Miles seems to have gotten over the rough patch that consumed the last two weeks, but has still been a lot of baby. We discovered that he's probably phasing out one of his regular three naps, which has thrown our schedules a bit off balance. Today though, we threw the schedule out the window (and Miles' much needed second nap) and decided to go out and enjoy the warm summer weather. We were going to head down to the Oregon Brewer's Festival on the waterfront, but it was pretty warm in the sun and the idea of heading into crowd with Miles on edge was not in the cards.

So, we hopped on the Max to Mississippi Avenue and picked up lunch at the food carts and a drink in the beer garden at Prost. There was a nice shady area with a corner bench to wrangle in the little dude, but also gave him the freedom to roam around. He had a blast throwing his truck into the planter around the perimeter and gently touching the flowers. As we sipped (okay gulped) our beer and blocked Miles' many attempts to fling himself under the picnic table, for a split second I was reminded of our trip to Belgium and Germany last fall. It was our last trip before really thinking about having a baby and we relished our time in the sun -- today I made every attempt to block the sun by forcing our unwilling 11-month-old to wear his sun hat.

We thought we might be able to get him to nap so we could enjoy a second drink, so I attempted to nurse him to sleep. It almost worked, but then he opened his eyes and realized there was a lot of action going on. I always try to be discrete about breastfeeding in public, but today Miles insisted on hoisting up my boob toward the gentlemen who were sharing our picnic table as if to say "dudes, I don't know what you're drinking, but you should order a Mass of this stuff." He was very proud of himself and we quickly asked for our check, since he literally had not napped in six hours.

Thankfully, on the way home he conked out in the backpack, but the rest of the evening has been a bit edgy (for lack of a better term). Clearly, he's had a growth spurt because his pj top that fit just fine not that long ago was way too tight. After wrestling him to get it on, drama ensued when we realized that there was no way in hell that it would fit over his meaty biceps. We laughed mostly out of frustration that we would in fact have to take off the shirt and try to get him into another one before bedtime. He squawked and ran around like a tiny t-rex with his arms pinned to his body because the shirt sleeves were so tight. Like any good mother I photographed his misery, because we needed to kill time before the next round of dressing and honestly, it was tragically hilarious.

Miles went to bed about 7:45 and is just now settling down to sleep. It'll either be an awesome night because he's so exhausted, or the worst night ever, because he's so exhausted. Only time will tell and I'm not exactly looking forward to finding out. Needless to say, we won't be winning any parenting awards this week.

New Job, New Nanny

2011-07-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well, not a new job yet, but soon. My supervisor at work accepted a new academic position, which means he has a lot less time for running our lecture series. Luckily, he feels pretty confident in my abilities, so I'll be taking on some more responsibility -- as he likes to say, I'll "curate" the next season -- more hours, and more paycheck. We had arranged for a nanny to come in to watch Miles a couple of days a week before we went to Los Angeles (oh yeah, should probably blog about that sometime), and her arrival couldn't have come at a more perfect time! I'm pretty busy at work "curating," Jesse is finding his way in the new company, and well, Miles has kind of been a jerk lately. Mostly it's teething, but also he's figuring out that he has control over things (like what goes in his mouth) and likes to exert that control when we all seem to be tired, hungry, or both.

He's really developing quite a personality, which is awesome and tiresome. For those of you who have been around Mr. Miles for an afternoon, you know what I'm talking about. He's active and fun and is strong as an ox. Walking is his new favorite activity and he's getting quite good at it. He's still taking some spills (cue bruise on forehead), but for the most part doesn't seem to mind. His personality really came out this past week as I had quite a bit more work to accomplish during the day. I was ignoring him more than usual and he was pretty pissed about it. I realized that working from home for me is not going to be possible for extended periods of time. Miles is very good at entertaining himself, but not when I'm in the room. The minute my laptop opens, he's clawing at my pants, shirt, and boobs (which is highly annoying) and has even started biting to get my attention. Of course, I let him know that this isn't allowed, but really, it's my problem not his. When I'm here, I need to be present (not in front of my computer).

As the summer moves along and I start to get a better idea of my new work schedule, we'll probably up the number of nanny hours a bit. On the one hand it's hard (especially knowing that a large part of my paycheck goes to pay for childcare), but on the days that Lindsay comes in, I'm happier, Miles is happier, and as a result, Jesse is happier too. I actually make dinner, we have conversation, and I don't count the minutes until Miles goes to bed (okay maybe sometimes). And then he gives me his "night night" face and waves bye bye. How can stay angry at that?

July 4th Home and Away

2011-07-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

The weekend leading up to July 4th was packed with activities. Friday night after a stroll in town, we stopped at REI and checked out the backpack style kid carriers. Along with another family (who had a toddler that was not very impressed by the backpacks) we peppered the sales associate with questions, had her help us get fitted and Jesse walked around the store with Miles harnessed in a backpack. We were a little worried about how he'd react, given that it was nearing bedtime and we were all a little tired, but felt a huge relief when Jesse hoisted him up and he immediately called out "oooh oooh ooh!" For any of you who have spent even a small amount of time with Miles know very well that this was his seal of approval -- Miles loved the backpack. After thinking about it for just a short while, we went back to REI and picked up the carrier as an early birthday present for Jesse. Miles cooed and shouted and smiled the whole way home. He loves sitting up high and having a great view of what's going on in the world.

To really test out his tolerance for the new pack, we headed down to the waterfront for the Portland Blues Festival. It was a pretty warm afternoon, but Miles bobbed along to some Zydeco music in the shade and really only fussed when we took him out of the backpack (notice how stoked he is while we pose for a family photo). Also, look at how long those legs are these days. Geez, he's starting to look more and more like a little boy.

As if one adventure wasn't enough for Saturday, we took Miles to his first Timbers game and sat right in the action with the Army. I was a little worried about the noise, but Miles actually liked all of the waving flags, balloons, and chants (he even bobbed his head when he heard some familiar ones). Unfortunately, he only made it through the first 30 minutes of the game. However, if we didn't have general admission seats, we wouldn't have had to show up 107 minutes early and he might have lasted well into the second half.

On Sunday, we packed our things and headed to Hood River for the night and spent the afternoon with friends and her family. Joanie's parents have two dogs, Sadie and Minnie, who were very sweet to Miles. Sadie loved bringing him toys and Miles would grab on so they could play tug of war. Then, Sadie would give him a million kisses on his hands and face and in his ears. Miles hated the ear licking and would run away, but then come right back and start the game again. It was pretty great. On Monday morning we claimed our spots in town and watched the Hood River July 4th parade and picnicked in the park afterward. Tired and full, we drove home Monday night and I crashed at 8:30pm. Miles was pretty tuckered out too and slept nearly all night.

Summer

2011-06-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

Still a little cool for June (not that I'm complaining), but I see many days in the park ahead.

Knee Deep

2011-06-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

....In teething.

I can't even think straight because a certain someone is having such a rough time with his two front teeth. He's been a pathetic mess all day and only wants to put his head down on my shoulder or his high chair tray. I feel terrible, but I'm about to go all great-grandmother on his gums with the back of a metal spoon. Okay, not really, but I am being very permissive with the objects that he chooses to gnaw (belt buckles, wooden spoons, shoes, towels, and even plastic bottles).

For the most part he's been a trooper, but today was pretty rough. Even after two doses of ibuprofen, he was frazzled at best. Jesse and I were counting down the minutes until his bedtime this evening (even though I know bedtime for us will not be restful).

A couple of weeks ago, I was the lucky recipient of this book (via a Facebook contest). It's by the same author as the book that Eric & Lea gave us for Christmas, which I have loved. I decided to put one of the recipes to good use. We had some extra watermelon and pineapple in the fridge, so I pureed it up and popped it in the freezer in some ice pop molds. I'm hoping it will be a nice (if messy) treat for the little dude tomorrow. I altered the recipe slightly and eliminated the honey and lime since they've not yet been introduced into his diet. I have to say, I'm not sure they would be necessary, as the pineapple watermelon puree is pretty darn tasty on its own. I'll make sure I post on other recipes from the book as I try them throughout the summer!

Project Birthday

2011-06-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

My friend, Elizabeth, arranged a Project Runway themed party for her birthday this weekend. It was brilliant and the most fun I've had in quite a while.

About twelve of us were invited to her place, where we spent the evening competing in PR-style challenges that led up to the final challenge of the night -- remake a hideous Goodwill dress into something that you'd wear today. Everyone was instructed to bring a pair of heels, three of their favorite accessories (to populate the "Bluefly Accessory Wall"), and a tank top/spandex in case we were chosen as models.

There were five models, five designers, and four judges. At random (and with some trading around) I ended up as a designer and was charged with remaking this dress (well not this exact dress, but something pretty identical) into something more modern. My model, Margaret, and I were charged with making a split-second decision between five equally hideous frocks and opted for this one instead of a leopard print house dress. We had a few minutes to confer and she was sent to the workroom to stake out a table while I visited "Mood" (Elizabeth's guest room) to shop for fabric. I wish I had brought my camera, because there would have been a lot more documentation.

Once in the workroom, Margaret and I decided on a converting the dress into a short jumpsuit with puffed sleeves and a collar. We paired it with pink pumps and hat from the accessory wall. Elizabeth had a sewing machine on hand, but it was missing a foot petal for about 1/2 of the challenge, so I ended up sewing the sleeves in by hand and safety pinning the dress hem into shorts. Thankfully, Margaret was a natural on the runway and made our outfit look awesome. In the end, we made it to the top three, but the judges were divided on the use of the pink hat. Regardless, it was an amazing party.

I was exhausted when I got home at nearly 1am -- by far the latest I've stayed out while having fun in quite a while.

Personal Chef

2011-06-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Miles made an outstanding developmental leap this past weekend. He figured out that there are ways of eating that don't involve his mom and dad shoveling food into his mouth. In other words, we embarked on new mealtime adventures while trying to figure out age-appropriate finger foods so he doesn't develop scurvy from a steady diet of Cheetos and astronaut food (I kid). So, I spent the weekend doing some research online and in the kitchen to reinvision some of his favorite foods. He's not turned into a picky eater, just changed the game overnight, insisting that he selects what he puts into his mouth and when. Fair enough, I suppose, but it would have been nice to get a little warning. After a few meals (and a day of him not eating nearly enough) I think we've found some solutions.

The little sir now enjoys a variety of nibbles that were prepared with love (and in exasperation) by his mother-turned-personal-chef. It's a job for which I'm entirely under qualified, but heck, I'm taking on all kinds of work beyond my scope, so why not tackle Miles' nutrition as well. It certainly beats the stuff that's sold as baby snacks these days -- cheese puffs, sugary fruit snacks and biscuits, and crisps that claim to contain vegetables, but provide no dietary fiber and are of very little nutritional value. I'm sad that we're unable to incorporate yogurt and cottage cheese in his diet anymore, but we're finding new ways to introduce protein and calcium that are even more exciting.

A few things I've learned in my short stint as a nutritional consultant: 1) oatmeal and turkey loaf make wonderful splat noises on the bare hardwood floors 2) my otherwise useless Exxon shareholder reports have done a splendid job of catching rogue grapes and tofu bits 3) the five second rule applies over and over again 4) the sheer happiness on his face makes the frustration worthwhile.

This Week's Specials:

Turkey loaf:(sounds gross, but quite delicious) made of ground turkey, carrots, applesauce, oat bran, spices, and herbs

Sweet Potato, Eggplant, and Zucchini Cubes: Roasted to creamy perfection with a dash of olive oil

Breaded Tofu: Rolled in Cheerio crumbs (easier for little fingers), also comes battered and baked for dinner menu

Oatmeal bites: A breakfast favorite cooked a little longer with applesauce and diced into small cubes.

Diced fruit: Quartered grapes, cantaloupe, ripe pears, bananas, watermelon, and honeydew.

Sichuan Feast

2011-05-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Finally getting around to posting on my Sichuan feast from Mother's Day. After Jesse and Miles let me sleep in and presented me with flowers and breakfast treats, my only request was that we do a fun cooking project from a pretty cool cookbook that I checked out from the library (which is now almost overdue and I must renew, crap), Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking. Two things that I liked about this cookbook: it has a rather nice index in the front of cooking techniques, ingredients, and equipment to ensure success, and the recipes are all wonderfully simple (aside from the occasional hard to find ingredient).

One of our favorite Sichuan dishes is Dan Dan noodles (and the reason I checked out this book in the first place. We have a recipe from Cooks Illustrated that is good, but I always felt the recipe was pretty Americanized (like many of CI's Asian recipes). I read through Land of Plenty, educated myself on the staples of a Sichuan pantry, and made a rather detailed shopping list. We drove out to 82nd Avenue to Fubonn market to pick up the necessary ingredients. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, the "facing-heaven" dried chiles that are a staple in Sichuan dishes were nowhere to be found (a post-market internet search revealed that some import issues make them all but scarce in the US). We subbed dried chiles that we could find at the store and I think it turned out alright. Among the other staples that we purchased, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, black vinegar, Shaohshing rice cooking wine, Sichuan peppercorns, preserved vegetables (mustard tubers), and sesame paste. Oh and I shouldn't forget the fresh noodles. Yum!

The first step was to make a chile oil with the crushed, dried chiles by getting the oil hot in a wok, letting it cool to a certain temperature, and pouring it over the dried chiles. It made a ton of oil, but apparently it keeps for a very long time in a cool dark place. The next step was to toast and grind the Sichuan peppercorns. The pepper has a wild smell and lends a distinct taste to the dish -- sort of citrus and spice. After the peppercorns started smoking, we put them in the coffee grinder and then sifted to weed out any large pieces of debris. Much of the flavor doesn't actually come from the peppercorn, but from the husk, so when you look at it closely there's a lot of little sticks and flakes that would make for an unappealing texture in the dish.

Finally, we got down to cooking. We fried about 1tsp. of the Sichuan pepper in 1T of peanut oil until hot and added the 2T preserved veggies until fragrant. We then added about 1/4lb of beef, some soy sauce until the beef turned brown and crispy. Then stirred up a sauce of Sichuan pepper, sesame paste, soy, chili oil, vinegar and cooking wine. We put the fresh noodles and the sauce in the hot wok and tossed it around until warm. The finished noodle dish was pretty amazing, unlike anything I've ever tasted, and really quite easy. Garnished with some scallions, it was perfect. And my new camera captured the details perfectly -- I'm super excited about that too.

As a side dish, we stir fried veggies -- peas, bell pepper, carrots, tomato and cucumber. Next time we'll use significantly less oil than the recipe calls for on the veggies. They were swimming in it at the end. We added a little homemade chile oil on the noodles for some kick and washed it down with ice cold Sapporo. Couldn't have asked for better results with our first stab at authentic Sichuan cooking. I think next time, we'll tinker with the sauce just a bit, but otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing!

Webmaster (Not So) Extraordinaire

2011-05-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a full ~~nine~~ eleven days since I posted last. I'll go ahead and blame my absence on preparing for/recovering from our four-day trip to Texas, but really, I should throw in a little laziness and chaos too. Work has been busy with two lectures in a row and we're still juggling our work schedules to watch Miles (I know, I know, I need to find a nanny already). And to pile on top of the chaos of coming home, I think Miles is teething again and turned into a Tazmanian devil. He literally destroys all sense of order in his path. But he does it with such a sweet smile, so how can I be mad?

I still haven't gotten around to writing that post about my Mother's Day Sichuan feast. That'll have to wait for another day because there's real work to be done. I have fundraising deadlines, mail merges to run (fun stuff), Tweets to post and a website to build (ha). I never thought when I took my part-time job at a non-profit last year that I'd be pushed into the deep end of databases, InDesign, Tweeting on a regular basis, and now, overseeing (and probably doing) a new website design. But something has to change, our website is pretty bad. We got an email on Wednesday night a couple of hours before our lecture that said:

"Hey, I love [Non-Profit Name], but your website is crap. I was going to say that your website needs a little fine tuning, but when I went to the staff page to try and contact someone, the person in charge of your information systems doesn't provide an EMAIL ADDRESS. Ha ha ha. AnyWho. Still love you and will see you tonight (I'll be the one with the bag over my head)."

We had a good chuckle and my boss emailed back that the website is the same vintage as our computers (2005) and that while the website may suck, it has done so reliably for the last six years. He assured her that we're trying hard to to change that by updating the website over the summer. The only thing stopping us from doing it sooner is funding. Hence, the fundraising drive.

And hence, my new role as web designer/IT lady.

First Mother's Day

2011-05-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Miles and Jesse worked together to make my first Mother's Day a special one. Jesse woke up early with the little guy so I could sleep in as late as I wanted. Getting up at 9:30am to the sounds of Miles babbling in the kitchen was pretty amazing. When I finally decided to roll out of bed, I found the breakfast room tidy with flowers and sweet treats from Ken's. My guys made it very easy to be a mom this weekend.

After breakfast, we lounged around the apartment, marveling at how great it feels to be parents while Miles entertained with giggles, feats of strength (trying to do pullups on the dining room table), and cheesing the camera with his two bottom teeth. He also reminded me of those teeth this morning when I wasn't paying him enough attention by gently nibbling on my big toe. Those things are sharp. He'll appreciate them in not too long when he can enjoy a greater variety of his parents' culinary adventures. We made a Sichuan meal last night that was pretty out of this world. More on that tomorrow.

As an extended Mother's Day gift, Miles was a delightful baby this morning (allowing me to finish a long overdue blog post for work). While I was typing away, he did a few chores around the house. I guess he was embarrassed that I never polish the brass knobs on his changing table, so he took on the task himself. Such a helpful lad. I'll have to talk to him though about being more gentle in the future, don't want teeth marks on the hardware.

Our Best Pizza Yet

2011-05-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, Jesse and I decided to whip up some cocktails with the leftover grapefruit from my Easter tart. We also decided that since we couldn't go to the Timbers game against Real Salt Lake, we would make a fun dinner and watch it at home. We hadn't made pizza in a while, mostly because we've never gotten the crust quite right and while tasty, is always disappointing in some way. I'm pretty sure we prepared ourselves for this time not being any different, because pizza is a lot of fun to make -- and eat. While I prepped the toppings, Jesse juiced the grapefruit and concocted our version of a traditional Greyhound (recipe below) and we brought the laptop into the kitchen to stream the soccer game.

I must admit, we did not make our own dough this time. It's a day-long (or with some recipes, two-day-long) process and we have an Italian market up the street that sells frozen dough for less than $3 and it is quite tasty. We let the dough thaw and rise for about 4 hours and I flattened it out on the counter. We let it rest for about 10 minutes and transferred it to the pan. Jesse made up a sauce of tomato paste, fresh garlic, some dried basil, and a little water. I thinly sliced mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion in addition to the paper thin slices of pepperoni Jesse had cut at the deli. We brushed the dough with olive oil, spread the sauce, topped it with mozzarella and a bit of Parmesan, layered the mushrooms, pepper, onions, and then pepperoni. We sprinkled just a bit more of the two cheeses and salted the outer crust, and threw it in the oven for 10 minutes. As we peered in the oven window I was shocked at the beauty that we created. Seriously, look at that pizza!

Now, two things that made this pizza outstanding: heat and thinly sliced toppings. While we prepped everything for the pizza, we cranked the oven up to 550º (highest temp) and let it heat up for at least 30 minutes. As I mentioned, Jesse had the pepperoni sliced paper thin and I did the same with the mushrooms, bell pepper, and onions. This ensures that the toppings don't get soggy, and even crisp a little with the high heat. And look! We got bubbles. That never happens at home. I was so excited about how this pizza turned out that we're going to try it all over again sometime this week.

The cocktails were not exactly a perfectly paired beverage for pepperoni pizza, but they were delicious and tasted like summer. They were also necessary for the numerous toasts we made on our perfect Saturday night. The baby is in bed! Cheers! The Timbers beat Salt Lake! Cheers! We rock at making pizza! Cheers! And Cheers!

Awmercy's Greyhound Recipe

2oz. Gin (not your best gin here -- we like Seagram's)
4oz. Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (with pulp)
~1 tsp. Honey

Pour room temperature ingredients into a cocktail shaker, stir to dissolve honey, throw in a few ice cubes and shake to chill. This drink is very simple, so needless to say, it's the ingredients that make it spectacular. Our grapefruits were particularly tasty and the honey was fresh from Salt Spring island in Canada.

And We Shall Call Him Mischief

2011-04-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Miles is now more mobile, but more importantly, more curious. He's in and on and under anything within his path. At the end of the day, it looks like a mini tornado touched down in our dining room and living room (as evidenced by last night's photo). I'm not complaining (much), his mischievousness makes him increasingly more fun.

Today he figured out how to pull fun stuff out of my fabric and notions stash. He tried ripping and chewing the lace, but (unlike the newspaper) it just wouldn't budge. He quickly lost interest and moved on to his next target.

He's particularly fond of the drawer pulls on the chest that serves as his changing table. They make a fabulous noise when pulled and dropped and apparently taste pretty good too.

He also found a new morning time friend -- his shadow.

And all of his tasks are accomplished with an endless supply of determination.

End of the Day

2011-04-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

Some days at the end of the day I'm not exactly sure how this all happens. I turn my back for just a few minutes and all hell breaks loose. Believe it or not, our dining room was rather tidy this morning. Now the contents of our bookshelves and nooks are all under foot. Sigh. Today I chose to ignore the chaos and just closed the doors.

Sunshine!

2011-04-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

After a week of extremely fickle weather, it looks like the sun is coming out to stay for a few days. It'll be a nice relief from the gray, 48º weather that we've had lately. Miles is feeling the spring fever too. I can tell he tires of playing alone in the dining room while I peck away at the computer (especially when there are so many cool noises, smells, and colors outside the window). We're both anxious to get outside in the fresh (hopefully not dewy) air to observe the the cars and dogs and trees. On a few walks lately, he's popped his little hand out of the stroller and reached for bushes and flowers -- anything green and colorful that he can get his hands on. It's nice that we live within a short walk of two great parks, but it'll be nice to have our own yard some day, so Miles doesn't have to peer down to the street from three stories up. But for now, we're making the best of bright spots in the weather forecast by taking long walks, going to the zoo, and throwing open the windows to feel the breeze.

This weekend I'm hoping that we take another bike trip around town and we're going to shop around for a frame backpack so we can start taking hikes again. Miles is at such a great age right now and I can't wait to experience the summer with such an enthusiast for life.

Easter Tart

2011-04-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

We went over to our friends' house on Saturday for an Easter party, which included a Peeps art contest and an egg hunt around the house for the kiddos. Miles was a little to young to get the egg hunt part, but did a top-notch job of playing his part in our living art piece -- Peepzilla. He first picked off the Peeps lounging around on the landscape and moved on to banging on the buildings and swaying them around. It was a lot of fun. My contribution to the party (aside from the afternoon entertainment) was something that I've been aching to try -- a grapefruit tart. We have two bakeries in town that make their own versions of this seasonal treat, so after sampling both I decided to give it a try.

I couldn't really find an exact recipe, so I decided to go to my favorite cookbook, The New Best Recipes by Cooks Illustrated, for inspiration. I settled on their recipe for pastry cream and sweet pastry dough for the shell and filling and surfed the internet a bit for instructions and photos on slicing and arranging grapefruit. The tart has several steps, but they were surprisingly easy and can be done ahead of time, so you don't have to spend all day in the kitchen. My food processor made the dough a breeze, and I found out (thanks to Cooks Illustrated) that the secret to a silky custard is straining it while hot through a fine-mesh sieve. Brilliant!

For this tart, I used four grapefruit: three ruby red and one pink for color variation. The pink grapefruit was definitely more tart, so it was a nice flavor contrast too. In order to get the fleshy slices, you have to peel and segment the fruit. Basically, you cut off either end down to the flesh and run a very sharp paring knife down the sides in curved slices to remove the skin and all of the pith (preserving as much flesh as possible). Once you remove all of the skin, you then segment the grapefruit according to the natural divisions. Run the knife along side one of the paper thin membranes to almost the core and then use the knife to sort of pop it out of the skin. Then, you move on to the next segment until the entire grapefruit is sliced. Oh, and don't forget to gently press the slices between two paper towels before placing on the tart -- you don't want vanilla custard soup from all of the extra juice. I practiced arranging the slices on a plate before actually topping the tart, which really helped the presentation. The only detail I left out was sprinkling coarsely chopped pistachios on top (a garnish used at St. Honore's bakery) because I ran out of time. I will opt for this next round though, because the bright green flesh of the pistachio nuts looks so pretty with the red grapefruit.

This particular recipe for the tart shell and cream called for a 9 1/2" tart pan with removable bottom. While the sweet pastry dough was sufficient for for the tart size, there was a lot more cream than I needed. I think next time, if I'm bringing this to a party, I'll make 1 1/2 times the amount of tart dough and use an 11" pan. The tart is ideally eaten within a few hours of preparation, so don't fill the shell until you're ready to serve (or leave the house). Due to time constraints, I filled the tart and topped with the grapefruit about an hour before we ended up leaving and stuck it in the refrigerator. It held up well, but started to get a little loose after sitting at room temperature for a few hours. Although Miles was a little skeptical, the tart was delicious. I think I'll have to make another while the grapefruit are still juicy and sweet.

Tart Recap:
9 1/2" tart pan with removable bottom
1 recipe of Cooks Illustrated Sweet Pastry Dough
1 recipe of Cooks Illustrated Pastry Cream
4 grapefruit, peeled, segmented, and blotted dry
coarsely chopped pistachios for garnish (optional)

Great Camera Debate

2011-04-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering DSLR cameras for a while, but started seriously doing some research after playing around with one on a recent visit to my parents' house. I then realized that while my point and shoot takes lovely photos, I'm really missing out. I also feel that it's not completely unreasonable for me to look into shifting into better quality photos, given that I took photography in college and really enjoyed walking around with my camera in hand -- and since I now have such a fun subject, I've really been itching to start up again.

After doing initial research, I narrowed it down to two companies, Canon and Nikon, which are pretty much the leaders in the DSLR business. Since I already own a Canon SLR, I decided that I'd just run with it and stick to what I know. I didn't bother looking at Nikon, because it was a lot easier to compare models within one family than look at the multitude of options that arise when you open the playing field. Until a week ago, I'd settled on the Canon T2i. It's on the higher end of entry-level cameras and was pretty much going to max out my budget, but I decided that maybe I should invest in a body that I could grow into and invest in a nice lens at a (much) later date.

However, I went over to our friends' house and got to play around a bit with his new Nikon. I really liked the feel and it prompted me into expanding my research. After doing a bit more digging, I learned that you're pretty much a "Canon" or a "Nikon" kind of person, so I didn't take this search lightly knowing that it would likely set my camera preference for the forseeable future. A million camera forums later, I came to realize that unless I'm going to really start to do specialized professional photography, a good entry-level DSLR body will do, but it's the lens that matters. With the Nikon that I'm looking at, I'll save about $200-250 on the body and kit lens, which means that I can really learn how to use the camera and invest in a good lens right away.

I went to a couple of camera shops in town and played around with both. I think my mind is set, the Nikon is my camera of choice.

Eggs 'n Beans

2011-04-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

For anyone who reads my blog with some regularity, you know that I am no stranger to beans. Love them. All kinds. I am somewhat of a bean snob, texture, taste, and look are very important. No mushy beans, thank you. Until Miles came along, I'd swear by the dutch oven as the only way to cook beans. You can see why Miles is confused to find my trusty Le Cruset on the shelf for the latest round of red beans and rice. However, I've found that the slow cooker makes a mean red bean. I've tested it twice now, just to be certain, that it produces the creamiest, most delicious beans ever -- maybe even better than my trusty red friend (gasp). Also, it takes about 10 minutes of prep time and I can forget about them for 4-5 hours without the worry of stirring to ensure that they don't scorch on the bottom. In a rush to get the beans going the first time, I left out the sausage for added convenience and found that the vegetarian version is pretty excellent. I've tried to restart my weekly regimen of making a large batch of beans of any variety so we can have delicious, healthy leftovers for various dishes.

Our most recent creation with leftover beans, was an attempt to replicate the egg dish that I enjoyed so much at Hi-Life in Seattle. We made a couple of changes: replaced the flour tortilla with corn, added more scallions, and subbed my red beans for the spicy black beans. Without the added spice to the beans, I was able to liberally apply my favorite condiment, Cholula. The result was delicious and maybe even a touch better than the original. It was a perfect weekend dish, but I've actually made it part of my hearty second breakfast routine this week. Finding quick, yet gourmet-tasting, meals has been key to us actually eating regularly at home.

It also means that I have time to devote to making food for Miles. I realized the importance of this when I went to the grocery store last week to pick up a few jars of reserve food. I found that the prepared stuff is insanely expensive, full of preservatives, and well, kind of looks gross. As I held a jar of sweet potatoes that had a weird salmon pink color, and a jar of green beans that were sort of brown, I realized that I hadn't gotten so busy that I couldn't put a damn potato in the oven every once in a while. This week the little Sir is enjoying pureed chicken soup and rice, steamed broccoli, roasted red bell pepper sauce, and yogurt. He tolerates the broccoli, but gobbles it up when paired with the peppers. He's even had a taste of the pureed red beans and rice, which he initially downed, but now makes him gag. Not sure what's going on there, but no son of mine would ever reject red beans and rice.

Brasilliant's Slow Cooker Red Beans

1lb small red beans, picked through and rinsed

1 onion finely diced

1 bell pepper (red or green) finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 carrots, peeled and finely diced

3 celery ribs, finely diced

6c vegetable (or chicken) stock

6 oz. andouille sausage, diced (optional)

(here's where the recipe is a pretty inexact science)

1 T Penzey's Cajun spice

2 tsp thyme

3 healthy pinches of kosher salt (or more to taste)

Few shakes of onion powder

Few shakes of hot sauce (Cholula)

Add all of the ingredients into the slow cooker, set to high, put on the lid and forget about it for about 4 hours. You can stir occasionally if you want, but I usually leave the cooking part to Jesse, which means that our beans are never stirred. After 4 hours, check for doneness. The beans should still be whole with skins in tact, but creamy and delicious inside. I usually find that this method cooks the perfect bean, but leaves the sauce a little soupy. I just uncover the beans, turn it to low and let it cook for another hour or so to let some of the liquid evaporate.

If you were so inclined, adding some andouille sausage around the 3 hour mark would probably be pretty delicious. I think I'll try that next time around.

Seattle With My Dudes

2011-04-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

Jesse had a business meeting in Seattle on Friday, so we decided to extend the trip overnight and take a mini vacation. I hopped on Priceline, held my breath and bid on a 4-star downtown hotel for $75. To my surprise (and delight) the offer was accepted. Seriously, $75 a night. We ended up at the Grand Hyatt on Pine -- super swanky and way cheaper than if we had gone with our usual, Holiday Inn Express. Miles enjoyed racing down the hallway, which was shiny, cool, and made lots of noise when banged. It also led to the bathroom, which had a giant mirror over the tub -- perfect for admiring one's hair and giggling. Speaking of the bathroom, the shower was larger than our walk in closet. In fact, we could have hosted a dinner party in there if given a little more time to prepare. I think we're going to do this Priceline thing more often.

While Jesse attended lunch meetings and work sessions, Miles and I cruised over to the Seattle aquarium for the afternoon. Just when I thought that he was a little too young to appreciate the fish, we headed over to the sea otter tank and spent most of the rest of our time watching them dive into the water and skim the edges of the tank. It was pretty awesome to watch Miles stare into the water and gasp when the otters swam by. After we spent some time watching them below the surface, we moved on to the outdoor tank and spent a good deal of time watching them above ground. The otters splashed, rolled and played on the rocks and would dive in the water for a special thrill. I'd say the day was a success. We then went down to the tide pool area and observed other little kids touching sea anenomies and starfish.

After the aquarium, he and I walked around and then met up with Jesse for dinner with Jeremiah & Jeovanna. It was such a nice little getaway -- just what I needed after a week of just me and Miles. On Saturday morning we met up with Jeremiah for breakfast in the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle at Hi-Life. Seriously, the breakfast was a revelation. Jesse had a fried egg with herbed breadcrumbs, dash of vinegar and home fries so good that we weren't even tempted to apply ketchup. I had eggs sunny side up (cooked to perfection I might add) over black beans and a flour tortilla filled with sharp cheddar and scallions. I will strive to replicate the deliciousness in the next week or two.

For now, I'll leave you with Miles, the 4-star baby:

Vogue

2011-03-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, but I think this one needs a little more explanation. Yesterday morning, Miles was in a spectacularly restless mood (probably something to do with the teeth that will never pop out) and was using my body as a jungle gym. Again. I, on the other hand, was feeling rather sloth and just wanted to stare blankly into the distance while Skyping with my mom, wolfing down breakfast, and chugging my morning coffee. The fact that I constantly have little hands, a nose, and sometimes an entire head groping around in my undershirt really doesn't phase me anymore. Miles has learned to use my zipper now, which makes life a lot more interesting (especially in public). It is for this reason that I walked around the house for about five hours with a pacifier stuck in my cleavage and had not a clue. Apparently, Miles unzipped my hoodie, stashed it in there, zipped me back up and went on with his baby business. I found it when getting ready to take a much needed shower.

The only good part of this story is that the grey hoodie pictured above is a cute pre-pregnancy sweatshirt that has replaced the size large maternity thing that I've been wearing around the house for the past six months -- silent cheer from Jesse who is thrilled, no doubt, that his wife is no longer wearing things that look like she borrowed them from a tubby hobo.

Which brings me to the real reason for today's post. Somehow I managed to get on the email list for Vogue patterns and quarterly, I'm updated on the new seasonal fashions and alerted to great sales. I went online this morning and thumbed through some of the Summer 2011 preview and found a few really cute patterns. It reminded me of the pact that Jesse and I made when I was pregnant -- we set aside funds for me to go out shopping for a few cute pieces to add to my wardrobe once I returned to a size that made me feel good. Well, I've been back to my pre-pregnancy weight for over four months now and still haven't done much about finding new things to wear. I have no solid reasons anymore for dressing like a slob.

I decided that rather than spend my funds on a new dress or two, I'd like to finally get a proper dress form so I can play around with dressmaking again. The duct tape form I made was great for deciding if I really wanted to tailor my own clothes, but it's heavy, clunky, and makes my pins sticky. Also, despite the fact that I actually weigh a bit less now than before Miles came along, my body shape has changed dramatically. Things are a little more curvy and a little less, ahem, perky. I think I'm going to do a little research online today to find the dress form that will work for me and maybe Vogue pattern V1086 could be a cute summertime dud.

Kitchen Dance Party

2011-03-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday afternoon while Jesse was at the allergist getting a new year's worth of antihistamine (marriage drugs), Miles and I headed into the kitchen to prepare some food for the week. I decided to make a giant batch of bolognese and prepped some mashed pears and steamed peas for Miles. I feel pretty lucky that he's so into green things. Of course that may change, but for now I'm going to take full advantage of his non-discriminating taste buds.

This week we've been dealing with Miles' teething woes. Poor little guy is having a rough bout with those two suckers on the bottom that are bulging and aching, but just won't come out. I try to keep him distracted during the day, but have resorted to giving him a good dose of ibuprofen at night, because it's just too much. He was getting a little fussy while I was cooking, so I set my iPod on shuffle and cranked up the volume. Gwen Stefani was one of the first artists to pop up and Miles smiled and immediately started bobbing to the music. I'm pretty sure Jesse is pretty bummed about his love of such pop nonsense, but our little kitchen dance party did the trick until it was time for bedtime relief. I'm thinking Miles' afternoons with dad will definitely include soul music appreciation dance parties.

Monday Monday

2011-03-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Jesse and I had a pretty good weekend. The weather was decent for noticeable periods of time and we got to take a few walks outside during this time of year when the first daffodils spring to life, the birds begin to tweet, and Jesse sneezes his way through eight boxes of tissues. Yes, the extra time in the great outdoors confirmed that Jesse's cold was in fact compounded by his seasonal allergies. Let me rephrase, it's that time of year when I wake up one morning bleary-eyed, wringing my hands (after the sneezing, snorting, and snoring all night) and threaten to kick him out of the house if he doesn't go-to-the-damn-allergist-already. The doctor's office opens in one hour. I am counting the minutes.

As for Miles, for the past few days, he has been noticeably less social. I think it's due in part to the fact that he's not been sleeping well from his stuffy nose, but also is working on popping out a tooth on the bottom. Poor little guy seems to be in a good deal of discomfort. That didn't stop him from exploring this weekend though at our friends' house. He took the time to explore all of their nooks, but liked the space under their sink the most.

Today, I'm feeling a bit like Miles, wishing that I had a nice cozy nook to crawl into. I was hoping Monday might shape up to be as productive as the weekend, but I've already hit a few roadblocks. I was up at 5am (for reasons I'm still not sure of) and found out that DEQ is closed. Seriously? On a Monday? Renewing our car registration was the major tasks for the day. In addition, the weather channel is predicting a 70% chance of rain and misery and as I type, Miles is bearing down to take the largest poo of his life in the nice fresh cloth diaper. Like I said, still hopeful that this Monday will turn out alright.

How is it Only Wednesday?

2011-03-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to feel better, but my cold is still lingering. It's disrupted my sleep as well as Miles', so neither of us were at our best this morning. Actually, my son was being super annoying -- refusing to nap, eat, or do anything on his own and then squirmed and twisted when I tried cuddle. At one point I just sat him on the floor surrounded by all of his toys and let him have a good short cry. He finally got over it, crawled over to my leg and gnawed on my kneecap. I guess he was making amends. Then, the cycle started all over again.

So, I decided that I needed to eat something more hearty than oatmeal for breakfast in order to deal with Crankster McGee. I hauled his highchair into the kitchen and gave him a spoon while he complained at the top of his lungs. Eventually, he realized that the spoon was really cool, especially when used to hit things. While Miles was working out his frustration with a spoon, I made a giant pan of scrambled eggs for Jesse and me, which provided the main protein for breakfast tacos (liberally sauced with sweet sweet Cholula). Black-eyed peas are a very non-traditional addition to tacos, but believe me, they tasted awesome.

Once I finished breakfast, I fed Miles a second round of solids while roasting a few sweet potatoes and some red bell peppers for his afternoon snack. What was on the menu for Sir Cranky Pants' breakfast? Steamed carrots mixed with pear, a dollop of oatmeal, and some cottage cheese. I normally wouldn't doll up carrots, but they were a pretty mediocre bag and quite honestly tasted like dirt -- I try not to feed him things that I wouldn't eat myself. Luckily, pear cures most food imperfections and he gobbled it up. After breakfast we played for a while, but a tumble onto the floor sent him into a downward spiral. It was finally naptime for real and he slept for an hour. Finally!

Let's hope this day is just an anomaly and tomorrow we'll both wake up refreshed.

Sick Days

2011-03-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Jesse was pretty sick last week with a cold. Mid-week while still symptomless, I proclaimed smugly on Wednesday evening "wow, looks like we dodged that bullet" (see pictured smugness). Then BAM! Sore throat and stuffy nose followed by a fever last night that had me in bed sleeping approximately three seconds after Miles went down for the night. Luckily, Miles only woke up once to eat and when he was bright-eyed at 6am, I was ready to face the day as well. The fever has run its course, but we're both still stuffy. Miles is handling it very well, actually he's running (crawling) circles around me with all of his energy. It's kind of driving me nuts. He's also learned that mom's shirt and pants make lovely tissues. My wardrobe has turned into a collection of installation art pieces with a tiny master painter at the helm.

Despite his cold, Miles developed a new trick yesterday: nearly cramming his entire pacifier, handle, nipple and plastic piece, in his mouth. If given a little more time, a quick twist would have securely wedged it between is palate and lower jaw. He was very proud of his (near) accomplishment and giggled when I gasped in horror at the thought of it getting stuck in there. I immediately removed the lot from his reach and, despite my cold, hopped in the car in search of a new brand that would be too big to fit in his mouth. For those of you who are wondering, bedtime without the pacifier would be a hellish nightmare that I'm not ready to approach at this time.

Sir Miles is very particular about the shape -- the likes the angled orthodontic variety -- so my search wasn't easy. Soothies have been a joke for a while, MAMs make him gag, and I haven't bothered with any other of the shapes, because it seems that he's stuck on Nuk. I was pretty shocked to find that many companies, Nuk especially, make pacifiers in sizes with larger nipple to fit the mouth, but do not scale up the outside piece accordingly. Haven't they hung out with tenacious six-month-old babies who are determined to cram as many things in their mouths as possible? And with our son, as soon as he learns a trick, he masterfully practices his skills until perfected. I don't think I'm overreacting when I say that it's a serious industry oversight that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Anyway, my friend Serena suggested a brand that her son likes and it seemed a little bigger than the ones that Miles has been using. Miles is still warming up to his new pacifiers, not that he has a choice in the matter, and I'm secretly hoping that he just decides he doesn't want them. Then, we won't have to worry about weaning later. Ha! Wishful thinking!

Fresh Cheese

2011-03-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to jump on the homemade yogurt bandwagon for a while. Since we go through gallons of yogurt every month, it seems like something I should at least try once. While researching how to make yogurt, fresh ricotta came up in a number of postings, as well as in my go-to cookbook for things like this, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. I ambitiously purchased all the ingredients for yogurt and fresh cheese earlier this week, but never found the time to actually try it until today. Since the yogurt required a bit more attention, I decided to start out with the ricotta* first and move on to yogurt this weekend.

The recipe is incredibly simple: 1/2 gallon of milk, 1 quart buttermilk, and a couple pinches of salt. Bring milk to a slow boil, pour in buttermilk and stir until the curds separate from the whey. The whole thing was a bit like a science experiment, but in this case you end up with something tasty rather than a table full of suds or shattered beakers. And really, the hardest part is tending the boiling milk so it doesn't scorch. With that said, I made the fresh cheese while also entertaining/feeding Miles. In other words, you don't have to watch it that closely.

After the curds separate, you dump the whole thing into a colander lined with a triple layer of cheese cloth. I was a little less than careful while pouring, so I managed to get splashes of curds all over my jacket. You then just gather up the cheesecloth ends and twist so the curds gather into a ball. It's pretty hot, so I had to run the ball under cold water until it was cool enough to handle. Then, just squeeze the crap out of it until a good deal of the liquid is gone. My technique for pressing was to twist the top and use my other hand to press from the bottom to keep the nice round shape.

It took a few minutes, but eventually I felt that it was firm enough to let set. Basically, you just leave it tied up for an hour or so and it hardens a little more.

I've also read that you can use the reserved whey to make bread or soak grains. I'm going to look into this further since I have at least a half gallon of leftover from this project.

So the verdict? Well, the overall taste was sort of meh. I think it needs a lot more salt. Next time I'll probably put a tablespoon or two. The texture is pretty good though, resembling a sort of queso fresco that you'd buy at the grocery store. It can be cut in slices or crumbled. Mark Bittman suggests that you can take the fresh cheese and brine it, which is what I think I'll do with this batch since it's a little too bland to add much to a dish. You can also add a number of things to it before pressing, like pesto, roasted peppers, various herbs, or fresh ground black pepper. I'm definitely going to play around with the ingredients and perfect my technique techniques. It's a fun, quick project that has a lot of potential!

*What I made is actually not ricotta, which uses considerably less buttermilk. It's just termed fresh cheese, which apparently is also the recipe for cottage cheese -- you just let the curds stand in the cheesecloth rather than pressing them into a ball.

Hello Old Friend

2011-03-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Nancy's,

Crank up your production! After a six-month hiatus, we're back in the cottage cheese eating business. We may not go through three pounds a week like during my pregnancy, but Miles is definitely a fan. Paired with carrots, pears, or just on it's own, cottage cheese was a hit.

Love,

Brasilliant & Miles

Home Again

2011-03-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

I think I'm still recovering from our two week vacation on the east coast, not because the trip was taxing, but getting back to normal life was quite a shock. I had a bunch of things I needed to accomplish right when we got home -- taxes, doctors appointments, expired car registration, work, etc. -- and it seemed as if the universe was plotting against me. The car battery died so hard that we had to have it taken out of the car and charged. Then, when I went to have the car tested at DEQ to get our expired registration renewed, I found out that the computer system was reset as a result of a dead battery and their monitors couldn't read our emissions. We have been charged with driving our car around town and logging some highway miles this weekend before I can take it back. Seriously, I could not wait for this week to end. I was not my best, but I think it might be behind me now.

The one thing that didn't stress me out this week was Miles. He's been awesome now that he's perfected crawling and climbing and general romping around. We straightened up the living room enough to let him roam while supervised and he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. Jesse also set up a bit of an obstacle course in the play pen, so he's been practicing his maneuvering skills. His endless curiosity has been pretty amazing to experience, definitely a bright spot in this gloomy week. Also, the fact that he's been napping and sleeping like a champ doesn't hurt either. I looking forward to whipping up a few new foods for him to try this weekend and maybe making some frozen treats in a new ice pop tray that I got this week.

Cookie Madness

2011-02-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

The Grand Central Bakery here in Portland is one of my favorite destinations in the spring and summertime. Before Miles came along, we would bike down to Sellwood, get a sack lunch, and have a picnic along the water. They make delicious bread and I always get the seasonal chicken salad sandwich with one of their oatmeal and golden raisin cookies. By the time the rain goes away for good and the sun comes out to stay, I think Miles will be old enough to ride along with us. Until then, I sometimes get a craving for their giant cookies. So, I was excited to see that the owner just published a baking book so I can try them at home. I quickly put it on my hold list at the library.

Last night, while waiting for Miles to settle down for the night, I baked a batch of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The baking book is great, because it reveals the techniques that make their cookies so unique. Apparently, part of the texture is achieved by creaming the butter and sugars for a good 5 minutes, until it lightens significantly and the sugar almost melts entirely into the butter. Also, it provided the exact weight to equal a ping pong sized ball of dough. For the first time ever, I didn't just eyeball the scoops, meticulously measuring out each on my electric scale. The other secret I learned in the book is to take the cookies out of the oven when the edges are golden, but he centers are still look under cooked. You then let them cool on the pan and they finish cooking. It gives the cookies that nice chew that I love so much! Brilliant!

The only downside of the recipe is that it was written in such a quantity that you might be able to open your own bakery -- this one makes about three dozen. However, Davis and Jackson have that covered too and give great instructions on how to freeze the dough for later use. Now we have two and a half dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies ready for our tummies. So, the verdict? Delicious. I'm not sure if they're exactly like the ones we get at the bakery, but they're pretty darn close. Crisp on the bottom and edges and chewy in the center. In fact, I'm having one for breakfast with my iced coffee. The book needs to go back to the library pretty soon, but I think this is one book that I should purchase for myself!

Love Those Greens

2011-02-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

I write this as I am taking on the ghastly task of sleep training our son. Yes, I know Dr. Sears warns about sleep trainers and how they are terrible beasts who hate children. I guess I'm just a terrible beast who desperately needs her child to get some sleep!

To take my mind off the difficult task at hand, I read and read all about introducing new foods to babies. Interesting stuff, you know. I learned all about nitrates and how they're not just in processed meats, but can be really concentrated in root vegetables and leafy greens. Buying organic helps a lot, since the farmers don't use commercial synthetic fertilizers, but being aware of how they're prepared and how much babies eat at first is important. Nitrates don't affect adults in the same way as babies, because of our ability to produce stomach acid that breaks it down (which babies start to produce between 5 and 6 months of age). Who knew?

To date Miles has tried sweet potatoes, avocado, pears, banana, and peas. Avocado was the only food that he really didn't like. I tried it for five days with no luck. With that in mind, I set out to make Miles his next two tasty meals -- butternut squash and kale. I, for one, love kale, collards, and just about any dark leafy green you can find. Despite his love for most of the other foods he's tried, I was still skeptical about how Miles would react. He watched me from his high chair as I removed the kale stems and washed the leaves. He was especially excited by the salad spinner as it whirled around. And he was even more excited by the stick blender as it pureed them to a fine consistency.

My baby food book suggested that if kale was too strong, that you mix in a little banana. I was fully prepared to mix in A LOT of banana. However, the little dude surprised me. I gave him his first bite and he went "mmm" and flapped his arms for more. He's definitely his mother's son. It makes me happy that he has so many positive associations with the kitchen and with his food bowl. And I guess he's gained enough trust in me (despite my beastly sleep training) to know that I'm not going to put anything too disgusting in his mouth and that eating is a fun activity that we can all share.

Thrifting and Crafting

2011-02-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

This weekend was beautiful and I decided to make the most of it. Jesse had work to do on Saturday, so I took Miles for a weekend outing with Anna and Elliot. We initially were going to stop for the grand opening of a new Cotton Babies store in Vancouver -- a grand opening that promised a free BumGenius diaper to the first 100 customers. We should have known that showing up only 30 minutes before the opening was a bad idea. As we drove by, we saw that tons of women, men, babies, and toddlers were already forming a line that wrapped around the entire building. Instead of joining the chaos, we decided to go to an awesome consignment shop that Anna has been raving about for quite a while. I scored a sweet pair of Converse sneakers for Miles for only $8. They're size 5's, so he won't be able to wear them probably until after his 1st birthday, but I will display them prominently on his shelf until then. I can't wait to go back when I have a better idea of what size clothes Miles will be wearing in the spring and summer!

Today, it's not nearly as warm, but very sunny. The non-gray sky put me in the mood to do a bit of crafting, but the success of my project largely depended on Miles. It seems like the sunshine put him in a good mood too and he was willing to sit through a morning of chores and watching me sort through projects that I aspired to start, but never had the time to finish. Between me cutting and folding fabric and the washer tumbling around load after load of clothes, he was a happy little dude. Occasionally he would let out a little shriek, as if to say "hey Mom, I'm still here," and I would make a goofy face and he would crack up. Man, it's been a good day.

In between our stints of crafting and doing chores, he's managed to sneak in two good, if short, naps. As you can see, I've whittled down the laundry pile and am well on my way to making an adorable sun hat for Miles. It won't be very useful here in Portland for another couple of months, but we're headed to Florida and then D.C. to visit the grandparents in just 11 days and I am hoping for lots of sun (at least in FL). Ahh! Only 10 more days to start packing while biting my nails thinking about the long airplane journey across the country with a 5-month-old baby.

Three Day Soup

2011-01-21T07:28:00.000-08:00

Way back in October, I had it all figured out. Miles napped like a champ -- three hefty stretches a day -- and even though I was sleep deprived from getting up at night, the free time during the day made life feel just fine. I caught up on work, blogged, and even started cooking again. I was quite pleased with the fact that I might actually be able to put delicious hot meals on the table at night. I had this brilliant idea to highlight all that free time by starting a series of posts on my blog called Naptime Gourmet. Like I said, I had it all figured out.

Then Miles turned three months old, went on a sleeping strike during the day, and demanded constant attention during his waking hours. Not only was there no time for prepping dinner, but I was lucky to sneak in lunch some days. Dinnertime in our household was pretty turbulent and haphazard. At Miles' four month checkup, I shuffled into the pediatrician's office looking like a zombie and begged her to tell me that things would get better. She very nicely told me that I looked like death and that four months wasn't too early to start sleep training. I cringed at the thought, but Jesse and I were frazzled and desperate. It took three nights of hell to get him in a routine. He now sleeps, well as they say, like a baby.

Miles will be five months old next week, takes three decent naps a day, and will go six to eight hours at night uninterrupted. What does that have to do with food you ask? Well, I am no longer sleep deprived (most days) and have it all figured out again (ha). Naptime Gourmet is officially resurrected. It won't be easy. In fact, I'm pretty sure I will have to seriously challenge myself to prepare something new each week.** However, I'm going to give it my best try because cooking is one of my simple pleasures; it makes me happier and us healthier.

For the debut Naptime Gourmet (resurrected) entry, I have chosen a simple, healthy, delicious three day bean soup. Why three days? For starters, it took me that long to finally get the energy to cobble together the ingredients. My lack of ambition was stupid, since it took about fifteen minutes to prepare. Then, after cooking all day with what seemed like no progress, I thought I might have to hover over the slow cooker for that long for the beans to finally cook. And finally, this morning I realized that there's so much of it we'll be eating on it for a while. I really don't mind though, because it is insanely tasty.

Brasilliant's Three Day Soup

2 c. black eyed peas (insert lame Fergie joke here)
1 c. red lentils (or any other bean really)
4-5 c. vegetable stock (I use Better than Bouillon)
1 14oz can diced tomatoes (or 2 fresh, peeled and diced)
1-2 shallots, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 ribs celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. Penzey's Cajun Spice (I bet thyme would work well instead)

Place beans in slow cooker and cover with 2 inches of water. Cook on high for 2 hours, or until beans begin to soften. Add remaining ingredients, turn slow cooker on low and forget about it for 8-10 hours (or until beans are cooked through).The lentils don't really hold up to cooking for that long and serve more as a delicious thickener. Sprinkle with a bit of grated Parmesan and voila! Simple. Healthy. Tasty.

Side note: I wanted to render a little bacon for the recipe, but was feeling lazy and didn't want to go to the grocery store. I'm glad I didn't. I find that black eyed peas have a wonderfully smoky, almost meaty flavor on their own, so bacon or ham would have just been overkill. The point of this recipe is to let the beans speak for themselves. And because the soup cooks for such a long time, all of the flavors really meld together. One option to kick up the spice would be to mince a little jalapeno or throw in a touch of cayenne. But I think I'll just let Jesse liberally apply Tabasco at the table!

** Be warned, I am not above subbing in the occasional baby food recipe from time to time when Miles starts sampling more complex concoctions. I do, however, promise not to bore you with such delicacies as whipped sweet potatoes and breast milk.

How Sweet (Potato) It Is

2011-01-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

Last night Jesse and I started our holiday detox routine with a simple dinner of salad with chicken, apples, and almonds with a side of roasted sweet potato. We also had a little bread and butter to round things out and to try out the sweet french butter dish that my parents gave us for Christmas. You smoosh the butter in the container (the dark ceramic dish in the foreground) and then turn it upside down in a bit of salted water (the other ceramic dish in the background near the bread). It keeps the butter fresh and cool while sitting out on the counter. After all of our holiday indulgences, I was a little worried that my taste buds had forgotten how to process vegetables, what with all the meat, sweets, and alcohol that I've consumed for the last month. Luckily, my dear friend salad tasted just as good as I remembered.

Although delicious, we usually don't have plain roasted sweet potatoes, but last night I had other plans as well. Miles' pediatrician said that we could start him on solids after his 4-month appointment because he was sitting up on his own in a high chair and had shown quite a bit of interest in our food and drink. I decided to wait a bit, partially because I wanted him to be a little older, but also I wanted to do some reading on what to introduce first. Eric & Lea gave me a sweet baby food book for Christmas and the more I read there (and other sources as well) the more I realized that rice cereal probably wouldn't be his first food -- although well tolerated, it's pretty bland and boring. Since breast fed babies are accustomed to sweet things, I decided on sweet potatoes, which are nutritious and tasty. He was pretty shocked after his first bite and had a few sour faces to go along with the experience, but he kept swallowing and opening his mouth for more. I think the jury is still out on whether he's a fan, but for a first try it wasn't bad at all.

After we put the little dude down to bed, I baked some gingerbread (something I had planned to do over the holidays, but never go the chance) and we had a mini belated birthday celebration for me. What? Everyone knows that you have to wean yourself off the sweets during holiday detox to avoid withdrawal. My mom picked up a small King Cake from Ken's Artisan Bakery before they left since we never got around to making a birthday cake while my parents were in town.

As you know, every year my birthday marks the first day of King Cake season in New Orleans, but this is unlike any that I've seen before. I'm pretty sure it's more of a traditional French King Cake rather than the yeasty bread-like cake that I'm used to, but it was delicious. I'd probably describe it as a giant croissant with a delicious sweet almond and vanilla treat in the middle. Well done Ken's, well done.

Christmas Take Two

2011-01-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

Miles met his Aunt Katie for the first time last week and they instantly hit it off. She was definitely his favorite person (other than me of course) out of our group of visitors.

Staying cozy on a chilly afternoon in his new blanket from Kay Kay.

Miles spent some time hanging out with his Papa, but probably wished at this moment that Aunt Katie would come to the rescue -- she has way cooler jewelry and hair. Shortly after this photo, he got a little fussy so we took off his pants and let him kick around on the floor. He quickly turned himself over to his belly and put on quite a show by hoisting his legs under his hips and sitting in the crawling position long enough for us to gawk and pull out our cameras. I think he was pretty surprised about his new tricks, but it's only a matter of time until the crawling position is no longer an accident and we will have a mobile child on our hands!

We all opened gifts from each other one evening while Miles slept. Fortunately he didn't really care that he missed out on the present opening, because he woke up to a bunch of new playthings. The shades are my favorite. He pulls off the naked cool guy look pretty well.

Miles finally had to say goodbye to his favorite Christmas present this year -- the Christmas tree. He sat with his Grandmom for a few minutes and stroked the branches and then tried to eat a few needles. We also said goodbye to the last year that we'll probably be able to have ornaments hanging on the bottom half of our tree. Next year he'll be toddling around and wreaking havoc on all of our decorations.

New Year, New Leaps

2011-01-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

December was a blur! Between preparing food and drink for our holiday party, setting up the decorations, and hosting Christmas at our place this year, I hardly had time to think about Miles' upcoming developmental leaps. I wrote earlier about this book that I found, The Wonder Weeks, and how it took a really positive spin on Miles' fussy behavior by explaining the changes going on in his brain. While our family was in town, Miles was the center of attention and demanded constant interaction. I thought that the hustle and bustle around the house was causing his discontent, but then I looked at the calendar and realized that the weeks surrounding Christmas were leading into Wonder Week 19: The World of Events.

Miles' understanding of the world around him got much more complex, and as a result, the little guy probably was feeling pretty overwhelmed. Thankfully, there were many loving arms to hold him when he fussed, because I'm not sure how I would have made it on my own. One night after feeling completely exhausted and exasperated at his insanely short naps, lack of sleep at night, and constant uneasiness I picked up The Wonder Weeks read it aloud to Jesse's mom. We both chuckled because it was like someone had been spying on our family and reporting on the action -- mood swings, sleeping poorly, wants more physical contact, bad temper, wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. Some days, the fussiness far outweighed the cool new things he was able to do like rolling over, sitting up with just a little support, exploring everything with his hands and mouth, and general fascination with the world around him. However, it was a relief to know that what seemed like the perpetual wonder week would come to an end and we'd have back our charming son again.

I have already started reading about the upcoming Wonder Week 26 so that I will be more understanding and prepared to challenge him through the next developmental leap. I recently upgraded to the newest extended edition of The Wonder Weeks, released in November, which goes all the way through week 75 (or 20 months). As we all know, this is the period when our babies experience their first adolescence -- the dreaded "Terrible Twos." According to Dr. Plooj, transitioning into toddlerhood is a cause for celebration and those months don't have to be terrible if I am prepared and know what's going on in his head. I plan to read and re-read these chapters so that Jesse and I can make the most of a very challenging time ahead.

Even in just the first few months of reading about Miles' developmental leaps, I've found that planning ahead and preparing myself for those upcoming stormy periods has helped me to be more accepting of those cranktastic days, knowing that something awesome is just around the corner.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T23:21:00.000-08:00

Miles supervising sugar cookie decorating.

Sugar cookies ready for hungry bellies.

Delicious crab cakes made by Jesse's brother, Eric.

The frantic search for the pickle ornaments.

Opening the medium pickle prize.

Holiday Party

2010-12-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

The Mad Men style holiday party was a success. Fun was had by all as you can see from the array of bottles, dishes, and glassware in the background. I realized last night after everyone went home that we didn't take one single photo together. So, I set up the Gorillapod and we posed for the camera before collapsing on the couch. Jesse had already removed his tie, but you get the idea. I'm pretty sure I also forgot to take photos of the food and drink, but maybe there's a stray shot of the nibbles in the background here and there.

With Jesse at the makeshift bar whipping up champagne cocktails, martinis, gimlets and sidecars, it was practically a crime to walk around with an empty glass. One of our friends had the brilliant idea of bringing a case of candy cigarettes, which were quite a hit. I initially thought they'd be great Bah Humbug props (for those who chose not to dress up), but everyone came dressed to the nines. It was awesome. I'm pretty sure we'll be scrubbing simple syrup, Creme de Casis, and those little white sticks of sugar off our floor for months. However, as a good friend of mine recently said, "The floor is disgusting. That's the sign of a good party."

As for Mr. Miles, he slept like a charm through the party, hence the lack of photos. After such a good night's sleep, he was happy and alive at six o'clock sharp. I brought him into bed with us and he thrashed around until I relented 45 minutes later and decided to let Jesse sleep in. I popped two Advil and a Lindt truffle, chugged a glass of water, and waded through the kitchen to find the french press and coffee beans. As I waited for the kettle to boil, I dreamed of bagels and leftover smoked salmon that we talked about before bed. For a split second, I thought I'd head out to the bagel shop with Miles and surprise Jesse. Then, I saw that it was 35º and decided that another truffle and some stale popcorn sounded like a perfectly reasonable breakfast. I think I will definitely need two cups of coffee to make it through the day, but it was totally worth kicking off the holiday season with a splash.

Oh (Giant) Christmas Tree!

2010-12-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

Jesse, Miles and I went out to Costco in Vancouver, WA to pick up supplies for our party. We decided to venture up to Washington because we didn't think it possible that they would have state controlled liquor stores like Oregon. I'm not sure why we didn't bother to look up this "fact" on the internet. As it turns out, Washington too only has state run stores for booze. Boo. Also, as it turns out, the Vancouver Costco has a pretty crummy cheese selection. Total bust (except for the flat of pomegranates that we used to make grenadine).

On our way home we picked up our Christmas tree. Like last year, it's a cute Noble Fir, but quite a bit taller at 5'6". We cleared out a spot in the corner of our living room and I was really excited to put it into place. Now, our stand is supposed to be good for a tree up to 6' tall, but clearly ours has a very large trunk. I guess that's what you get for buying a $12 Christmas tree stand. I rushed out to the hardware store with the mission of either buying a new stand or a hacksaw to get rid of some of the nubs at the bottom. I decided to upgrade to the $17 -- good for trees up to 7' -- since we were pushing the height limit of our miniature one at home.

Now that I'm a pro at putting together these crappy tree stands, I was eager to get home and impress Jesse with my Christmas ninja skills. And....Christmas tree fail. With our bigger stand the stumpy little Noble Fir trunk did not reach the bottom spike. In retrospect, I should have bought the stand AND a hacksaw. We both had a good chuckle, but neither of us wanted to go out in the rain to the hardware store again. So, we improvised.

Jesse dug deep into our toolbox and pulled out a knock-off Swiss Army Knife branded with "Motorola" on the side. It was likely some giveaway that my Dad picked up at the office. I'm not sure if we had ever used it before. Jesse pulled out all of the tool attachments and found one that looked like a saw. Rather, I should say "saw", because we might have been better off using a nail file. I got to work on one of the larger branches and quickly realized that it might take a while. Thankfully, Miles was taking a nap and we were able to take turns hacking away with our mini Motorola pocket knife.

Jesse developed a good technique of leveraging the tree branch with his foot and in no time we had cleared an entire row of branches. I held my breath as he lifted the tree off the floor and made our third attempt at getting this darn tree standing. It was a Christmas miracle. The tree plunked down into the stand with a crack. And Miles promptly woke up screaming. Since Jesse was holding the tree upright, I had to go tend to our little cherub with sap coated hands and forearms. He didn't seem to mind and giggled when we walked into the living room and saw the tree.

After dinner and a few cooking projects, I started to put on the lights. Since we have at least another foot or two of tree than last year, we're going to need one more strand to make it around the bottom. Given that this is only the second year that Jesse and I have purchased trees for ourselves, I'm guessing our experiences could have been much worse. I'm very happy with how it looks so far and am pretty excited to finally bust out the Christmas music and get to decorating. I think it's going to make a great gathering spot for all of the friends and family that are going to share the holidays with us this year. I'm really looking forward to having a full house for the rest of December!

Tour de Miles

2010-11-29T22:23:00.000-08:00

We're back from our Thanksgiving road trip and very happy to be home. It was great meeting up with family and friends, but I will be so happy to sleep in my own bed again. Miles was sleepy when we walked him up the stairs, but as soon as we were in the apartment and he was on his familiar changing pad, he kicked and smiled. I'm pretty sure he's happy to be home as well -- back to regular nap times, bed times, and familiar toys.

Thanksgiving Travel

2010-11-22T07:14:00.000-08:00

We set out on our first road trip with Miles yesterday morning. Miles isn't terribly fond of his car seat, so we were a little worried that he'd have a hard time with the 12+ hour trip. Overall the first leg was pretty great. We stopped about every two hours to feed and change him and let him stretch his legs. Miles had a small meltdown around Grants Pass, but after he settled down and went to sleep it was smooth sailing. After looking at the weather forecast, we opted to take the coast instead of the Siskiyou pass. It ultimately will add a couple of hours on to our trip, but saves me from experiencing flashbacks from two Christmases ago. We stopped in Klamath, CA for a nice long rest before heading to Eureka for dinner and a hotel for the night.

Miles was happy to be out of the car. So were Jesse and I. It felt nice to uncurl for the night and recharge. Miles took his uncurling very seriously and arched his back for several minutes to stretch. I don't blame him. That car seat can't be very comfortable! Today we set out on our second leg and will end up in Berkeley before dinner and our Thanksgiving week will officially start.

Tastes Like Fall

2010-11-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

I picked up a pork tenderloin at the grocery store the other night because Jesse and I were craving meat. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it has a lot to do with the cold rain that we've had for the past couple of days. Maybe it's some primal urge to put on bulk for the winter. So, anyway, I had this pork loin, some apples, and a craving for potatoes. I went to Epicurious to find an old favorite recipe and stumbled on something new: Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Cider. The dish was amazingly simple and incredibly tasty. Paired with mashed potatoes with a little butter, cream, and smoked sharp cheddar, dinner tonight was top notch.

Side note: I also got to use my All Clad saute pan to its fullest by taking it from stove top to oven to table (well to serving dish). The only disadvantage of the whole oven to table part is when the chef forgets the hot oven's effect on the pan handle. Yes, I burned the ever-loving crap out of my right hand. Don't worry, no blisters, just throbbing hot fingers. I'm currently typing with my left index finger. What? I'm a dedicated blogger.

Thankfully, I had lots of help in the kitchen. Jesse really stepped up to the plate in order to supervise Miles doing his chores. (Actually, Jesse is responsible for the stellar mashed potatoes.) Miles was a trooper and chipped in by helpfully lubricating the counter top with his drool. Salivating while whisking is pretty hard work and not long after this photo he had a righteous meltdown followed by a 30-minute nap (the longest stretch he's managed lately much to our dismay). At least it allowed me to muddle my way through the rest of dinner prep handicapped by the lack of use of my dominant hand. Despite my injured state, the pork was fabulous. In fact, you could say it was so easy that one could make it with a hand tied behind their back (or dangling in crippling pain). Just a thought -- do you feel sorry for me yet?

As you can see, Miles changed into his dress pj's for dinner (code for barfed all over his clean outfit) and chose to skip the pork for something much more delectable. Giraffe butt. Some say it's too gamey, but if Miles could talk I'm sure he'd say that they're just weenies. Just look at that face. That's one satisfied baby. In my opinion though, I'd say that the squeaky, chewy giraffe meat doesn't hold a candle to the tender pork and apples.

Now that Miles is finally down for the night, I'm off to Walgreens for some burn cream and maybe a little chocolate to soothe the pain.

Holiday Party

2010-11-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Jesse and I decided that we are going to host a holiday party at our place this year. We've yet to have many people over to our new apartment, which is a shame since we've been living here for exactly a year now. Morning sickness and a crippling lack of energy during the early months of pregnancy throws a damper on holiday celebrations. However, I've used my get out of jail free card now, it's time to party Mad Men style. This year's party has a dress code -- 50s or 60s chic. I'm talking skinny ties, smoking jackets, button down sweaters and fab cocktail dresses. Of course we'll let in modern day fashion with the caveat that there will be Bah Humbug accessories handed out at the door.

We're actually pretty excited about it and will likely go overboard on planning and execution. This weekend, our friends Ben & Daphne were in town and we used them as guinea pigs for a few potential retro cocktails on our drink menu. We've narrowed down the selection and will continue to tweak a couple more recipes. After dropping off Ben & Daphne at the airport on Sunday, we went shopping for a few holiday decorations and started brainstorming our food menu. Last night we took a walk to the library to check out a few books on cocktails and finger foods. Then we mulled over our book selections at Deschutes Brewery while sipping their winter seasonal beers. They were delicious!

I can't wait for Christmas!

Status Update

2010-11-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

I'm always surprised when I look at the calendar and find that nearly two weeks has gone by without me even noticing. It seems like Halloween was just yesterday, but now Thanksgiving is just two weeks away and Christmas is just around the corner. We will set out on our maiden voyage with Miles to San Francisco and Santa Cruz in exactly nine days! I surveyed our trunk the other day trying to figure out how exactly we are going to pack in all of the baby stuff necessary for nine days away from home -- stroller, infant carrier, portable crib, swing, enough outfits for the two day car ride without doing laundry, and a cooler big enough for all the Corralitos sausage we'd like to bring home. We still haven't planned our exact route. I mean there aren't an abundance of options, but taking 101 for a portion of the trip instead of I-5 all the way down is a possibility.

I had every intention of scoping out potential hotel stops, organizing the things we'll need, and running errands this week. However, our sweet, dear, adorable little Miles has had quite a stretch of incredibly cranky days. I'm thinking that he's going through his stormy period just before Wonder Week 12 and is wearing me and Jesse thin in the process. Naps are erratic, night sleeping is spotty, and he gets incredibly angry at the things he can't do like rolling over and crawling. His brain keeps telling him go go go, but his body has yet to catch up. At points I feel bad, because I can't even imagine how frustrating it must be for him, but it's hard to feel sympathy for too long when he doesn't just demand to be held, but entertained for every waking hour. Luckily, there are a few bursts of sunshine during the day and it helps to remind me that he's learning so many new things in such a short period of time. For instance, tummy time is no longer torture. In fact, he loves his new view of the world.

As for my errands and chores, well, they can wait for another few days. Our friends Ben & Daphne are in town for the weekend and I intend on making the most of their time here. We are going to bundle up this afternoon and take a walk downtown to enjoy the crisp fall air.

Date Night Resurrected

2010-11-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

My mom was in town last week to lend a hand with Miles while Jesse had a business trip to DC. On Friday night, she offered to spend some quality time with her grandson (we really had to twist her arm) so Jesse and I could spend a couple of hours alone. We chose to dust off our date night tradition and headed out to Cascade Brewing Barrel House on Belmont Street.

Cascade specializes in sour beers, which is a welcome variation in my opinion to the sometimes overly "hoppy" northwest brews. I am partial to more complex Belgian style beers, especially those that are spiced and dark. My first sour beer was in the form of a rather popular cherry lambic a few years ago -- a starter variety for sour beer drinkers or lambic with training wheels. Two years ago at the Cheers to Belgian Beers festival here in Portland, we sampled a local sour that was pretty awesome. In preparation for our trip to Belgium and Germany last fall, we decided to do our own sampling of Belgian varieties of lambics. We determined that some were very much an acquired taste -- with flavor descriptions that included "horse blanket" -- and others were rather delightful.

I was excited that Cascade Brewing managed to stay on the delightful and complex spectrum of sour beers and provided a spectacular evening of beer sampling. We started off with a glass of their special Cherry Bourbon Double Red and a glass of Bourbonic Plague. According to their menu:

Cherry Bourbon Double Red (11% abv) is a sour double red aged in Maker's Mark oak barrels for 9 months. The beer is then aged with sour pie cherries, fresh sour pie base and bourbacide. The result was a wonderfully tangy beer that had hints of bourbon. I was amazed at how much you could really taste the cherries. This was one of our favorites of the evening.

The Bourbonic Plague (12% abv) is aged for 14 months and consists of strong dark porters aged in oak wine and bourbon barrels that is blended with dark porter that was brewed with cinnamon and vanilla. This is probably one of the best beers that I've tasted in a very long time. Its flavor was complex, slightly sour, and full-bodied, but not heavy. I was skeptical about ordering a 12% abv beer, because in Belgium that was almost a guarantee that you'd get a syrupy heavy concoction. This beer was exactly the opposite. Seriously, you have to try the Bourbonic Plague.

We also sampled Cascade's Bourbon Gold Yeller II (in photo on the right), and the '09 Beck Berry. The Beck Berry was outstanding (pictured on the left), but the Gold Yeller II just didn't stand up to the Bourbonic Plague, Cherry Bourbon Double Red -- I wish it had been one of our first sips rather than our last. We took home a bottle of the Bourbonic Plague to enjoy sometime in the near future, since I'm not sure when we'll get out there again in the next few months. However, I can't wait until our next visit so we can try more of the many beers on tap!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to our friend Staci's 6th Annual Halloween Extravaganza -- this is our second year attending. We have the good fortune to have friends who love dressing up and spend months thinking and scheming about their costumes. It forces us to stay on our toes. This is our first holiday as a family of three, so I had a lot of fun figuring out our costumes. Naturally, Jesse and I were merely accessories to Miles, I mean, Thing One.

The party started at 7pm and we were the first to arrive. Miles charmed the early arrivals for approximately 45 minutes and then decided that parties pretty much suck. I went into the back room, swaddled him and shushed him to sleep and placed him in his stroller where he slept for a solid two hours. I guess the boom of the music and the the loud voices of the 25+ people were the perfect white noise. I was still nervous about leaving him alone where I couldn't hear his cries, but managed to have a great time while checking in on him every 20 minutes or so.

By 10pm, Jesse and I were both pooped. So, I fed our sleepy baby, wrapped him up tight, and walked briskly home in the rain. Miles stayed dry under the canopy of his stroller, but squawked toward the end to make sure we knew that it was way past his bedtime. Halloween was great this year, but we were all happy to be home and tucked into our warm beds.

Online Dating

2010-10-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

While reading a chapter of the Wonder Weeks aloud to Jesse the other morning over breakfast, we found out that around this Miles is really starting to see colors and patterns more clearly. He also is starting to enjoy movement more, such as rustling leaves on the treetops and shiny clothing or jewelry. Before Jesse left for his business trip to D.C. (and before the weather abruptly changed from warm sunny days to cold and rainy) we had been taking afternoon walks with Miles in his stroller. His eyes would stay wide open, taking in all of the scenery, and then about 10 minutes from home he'd fall asleep and nap. So, I feel that we've done a pretty good job of exposing him to new objects and places.

It's people that we've left out of the equation. Yes, we've introduced him to many of our friends, but it's been in the comfort of our apartment -- a very familiar setting. He's definitely starting to take interest in people walking by and facial gestures, but Jesse and I were struck by the fact that by 8 weeks, Miles will start to enjoy watching other children play. It was one of those "oh crap" moments, because we know very few couples with babies. Our friends Anna and Brian are our closest friends with a little one and Elliot is quickly becoming a little boy and is sort of indifferent towards Miles (I don't blame him...Jesse is much more fun at this point in time). We love our friends here in Portland and have every intention of attending many more happy hours, camping weekends, and birthdays, but it's time to expand our social circle -- we need to start putting ourselves out there to meet more people in our neighborhood with kids.

So, Operation Find More Friends has commenced. Jesse and I joked that it's like dating all over again. We both managed to avoid doing the online dating game the first time around, but this time I think it's inevitable. Don't worry (moms) we're not posting creepy Craigslist want ads or anything. I'm going through completely respectable channels to pick up other couples with babies. I joined a group of ladies called the Super Strollers who go out walking on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and the weekends. There are only 3 or 4 in the group, but they all live in NW Portland. I haven't actually gone out with them yet, but making contact and setting up dates is the first step right? I'm also going to join a parenting group at the local hospital that meets once a week. With Miles as my wing man, how could I go wrong? Miles is already honing his Blackberry skills for all of those phone numbers we're going to rake in.

Naptime Gourmet

2010-10-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

My goal yesterday was to utilize Miles' morning nap time to the fullest. Some days I just don't have the energy to do much more than check my email and stare off into space, but Miles (knock on wood) has been sleeping really well at night, so I've been waking up quite refreshed. He went down around 10am and I got to work in the kitchen.

I decided to crack open the Slow Cooker Gourmet and try another recipe since the first round was so successful. Sticking with the Mexican section, I flagged the Pork Stew in Tomatillo sauce. As I mentioned before, this isn't your average slow cooker cookbook, so there was some prep time involved. I roasted tomatillos, serrano peppers, onion and garlic under the broiler until everything was soft and slightly blackened. This veggie mixture was combined with chicken stock and I added a small bunch of cilantro before blending into a sauce and added a bit more salt. I was supposed to put a corn tortilla in there before blending to thicken the mixture, but I forgot. I will remember to do this next time.

Next, I salt and peppered a pork roast, diced it into 1 1/2 inch cubes and browned it in two batches and put the browned meat in the bottom of the slow cooker. I think browning the meat is one of the most important parts of having success with the slow cooker. If you skip this step then you'll likely end up with bland unappealing hunks of meat in whatever sauce you're cooking. It took some extra prep time, but was totally worth the effort. After the two batches of pork were browned, I de-glazed the pan with a little dry vermouth (white wine or even water would do as well) and poured the liquid over the pork in the bottom of the slow cooker. Don't skip his step! The browned juices are the best part.

I then dumped the tomatillo mixture over the pork, covered the slow cooker and set it on low for 6-8 hours. If the sauce looks too thin, just remove the cover for the last hour or two to let some of the liquid evaporate. Even though the recipe had a bit of work before going in the slow cooker, I was still able to finish it up in about 45 minutes and still had time left over to clean up the giant mess I made in the kitchen.

And the result? Incredibly tasty. The pork fell apart when pressed with a fork and the sauce was tangy and slightly spicy. We served it over rice with a liberal sprinkling of queso fresco on top. The cheese melted over the hot stew and added a nice salty kick. I paired my meal with a Drop Top amber ale and it was perfect. It feels so good to be able to cook delicious meals again even though I don't have nearly as much time to devote to cooking as I did before Miles came along. I'm going to continue to experiment with recipes for the slow cooker and maybe even develop a few of my own once I get the hang of ratios and ingredients.

Pork Stew in Tomatillo Sauce (Ingredients and Recap)

2-3 lbs pork loin (or a fattier cut if you wish)
3 lbs tomatillos
2 serrano peppers
1 onion peeled and quartered
6 cloves garlic peeled
2 c. chicken stock
1 c. fresh cilantro
1 corn tortilla
salt to taste
queso fresco and fresh cilantro for garnish

Salt, pepper and dice pork into 1 1/2" cubes. Brown in two batches and place in slow cooker. De-glaze pan with white wine or water and pour liquid over pork.

Roast tomatillos, onion, peppers, and garlic under broiler until soft and slightly blackened. Blend veggie mixture with chicken stock, cilantro, and corn tortilla. Salt to taste.

Pour tomatillo mixture over pork and cook on low for 6-8 hours (removing lid for last hour or two if mixture isn't thick enough). Serve over brown rice with crumbled queso fresco on top.

On My Bookshelf

2010-10-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Lately, my bookshelf has been a revolving collection of baby, parenting, and post-pregnancy books on trial from the library. After reading quite a bit of "professional" advice on eating, sleeping, and routines, I've happily dumped most of them right back in the library return box. The extent to which some of these guides want you to structure your day is exhausting. I just don't have the time or inclination to schedule "alone play time" for my 7-week-old and trying to structure feedings by the clock has proven to make my days more harrowing than restful. Anyway, there have been two books that I actually felt compelled to buy. One about me and one about Miles.

The first is a book called The Wonder Weeks, which takes a more positive spin on the fussy periods in an infant's development. Instead of seeing Miles as a cranktastic baby that needs to be fixed, it has helped me understand that these trying times are actually quite wonderful because it means he's growing, both mentally and physically. After reading the chapter on the Wonder Week 5, I realized that earlier in the month, Miles wasn't just being a total pain in the butt for no reason. He wasn't napping, he was feeding constantly, and was generally a grumpy little guy -- all indicators that he was making mental leaps and was probably really overwhelmed. The next milestone is Wonder Week 8 in which babies start to understand that they are not one in the same with the world around them. He'll start to recognize that his arms are in fact his and colors and patterns are more clear. The book also provides a really great checklist of some of the things that you might start to see in the week leading up to and following each wonder week. For instance, this week one of the games they suggest is helping him pull up into a sitting and standing position. We tried it and he loves it. In fact, he wants to stand all the time now, which is awesome and a little frustrating because it really tires him out. One thing that we also read is that around this time, babies really enjoy watching rustling leaves and being outdoors, so we decided to take him out for a spin in his Baby Jogger stroller because the weather was so nice.

Which leads me to my second book, Exercise After Pregnancy. Even though I only have about 3-5 pounds to shed to make it back to my pre-pregnancy weight, my belly is still pretty mushy and jiggly. The other day I pulled out my prenatal pilates DVD, which has a special postnatal workout, and found it nearly impossible to finish the 20 minute session. I don't consider myself to be greatly out of shape, so struggling through the "easy" warm-up exercises was difficult to swallow.

I learned from the book that it's important to take it slow and focus on getting your abs back into the right place before doing any hardcore strengthening exercises. Apparently, a lot of women's ab muscles split down the middle and are stretched to maximum capacity -- and we all know how big my belly got toward the end! When I checked to see if this was the case with me, I found that I had a good three finger widths between my right and left side. With that in mind, the book focuses on getting back your posture by gently strengthening your core. Also, all of the women pictured in the book are actually moms -- round midsections, love handles and all. For me, exercise is much more tolerable when it's coming from a woman who actually looks 12 weeks postpartum as opposed to Brooke Burke cheerfully bouncing on an exercise ball with unnaturally perky boobs and a 14-inch waist.

So for now, I'm now working on getting my rectus abdominis pulled in closer and then I can focus more on shortening the muscles to back where they should be. I mean, while my maternity jeans are oh so comfy, I'd really like to be able to put on a normal pair of pants sometime in the near future.

Apple Season

2010-10-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

Jesse and I always look forward to this time of year. The weather starts to get cooler, but is still sunny and the grocery store fills up with all kinds of delicious local apples. We thought about attending an apple tasting at a local nursery. However, Jesse got his flu shot on Friday and Miles didn't have a very restful night, leaving us worried that he might be catching a cold. I'm pretty sure Miles is just fine (and his gurgling, snorting, and coughing were just quirky newborn noises), but we both decided that it would be a great weekend to just hang out in our pj's. Fortunately, our lounging didn't interfere with enjoying one of the season's greatest treats.

It's been a while since Jesse baked a pie, so he was eager to dust off his favorite crust recipe and try out the new apple peeler that I picked up at Kitchen Kaboodle. We've had one of these gadgets on our kitchen wishlist for a while, but given that our cooking spaces for the past seven years have been so small, it always seemed like a luxury item. Well, now that we're in a much larger space, it no longer seems like a luxury, but a necessity. Jesse peeled and cored this whole bowl of apples in about 10 minutes. It was great. We used a combination of Braeburn and Granny Smith apples, so there was a nice mixture of sweet and tart.

Jesse only made enough dough for one crust, so we whipped up a crumble top for the apple pie. While Miles took his afternoon nap, we cleaned up a bit and did a few chores to the smell of baking apples and cinnamon. Nothing like a pie in the oven to motivate you to get things done! I kept telling myself that if I successfully rearranged the guest bedroom closet that I could maybe have an extra large piece of pie as an afternoon snack. You know, for all those extra calories I would burn re-shelving bedding and camping gear.

Just look at those perfect apple layers. And the taste is phenomenal. I have to say this may be one of his best baked goods to date! As you can see, less than 24 hours later we've managed to kill half of the pie. We had a slice in the afternoon because neither of us could wait until after dinner to sample the goods. Then, we had a celebratory slice when we finally got Miles to sleep after nearly two hours of his cranktastic antics. Jesse had a piece for breakfast, followed by his usual oatmeal later. And I'm about to dig in for my second breakfast. I'm thinking that apple pie will not be a regular item on our menu or we'll need a crane to get us out of the apartment come springtime.

More Purple Food

2010-10-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

We had an abundance of these purple beans from our CSA sitting in the refrigerator. Tonight I needed a quick vegetable (other than salad) and decided to saute them with a little butter and garlic as a side for the main course. They were pretty cool looking, purple on the outside, and bright green on the inside. I couldn't wait to test them out. Much to our disappointment though, they didn't stay purple. As soon as they started to cook, they turned green and looked just like any other bean. Luckily they were tasty and we had no trouble finishing them all.

The main course was much more exciting. Jesse and I purchased a slow cooker a couple of weeks ago knowing that life with a baby just wouldn't allow us to spend hours in the kitchen tending the oven and stove. When I was coming up short on inspiration for what to cook (other than pulled pork), my good friend Lauren suggested I purchase the Gourmet Slow Cooker. I was pleasantly surprised when not a single recipe called for canned soup!

I decided to delve into the Mexican section and prepared chicken in peanut chili sauce for dinner, which really turns out to be more like a mole. The recipes do require more prep time than the usual slow cooker concoctions that I've seen, which involve dumping cans of stuff and cooking the crap out of it. However, I browned the onions and garlic, blended the sauce, and prepped the chicken in the 30 minutes remaining on Miles' nap time. It cooked for about 3 hours on high and the chicken was perfect. We served it over a quinoa pilaf and sprinkled it with a bit of queso fresco. Paired with our hypercolor beans, I was really happy that dinner exceeded my expectations. I can't wait to try out the next recipe on my list, pork stew with tomatillo sauce.

I made quite a mess with the blender and sauce, so Miles and Jesse offered to help with the cleanup. What can I say, I'm one lucky gal.

E & J Diner

2010-10-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite meals to eat out is breakfast. In D.C., we frequented The Diner just around the corner from our apartment on Saturday mornings. Sometimes it was after a late night of drinking (where the reuben omelet helped soothe our hungover bellies) or just an early morning. Our rule was to get there before 9:30am to avoid the crowds of more sensible hungover people who slept off the previous night's debauchery. It was always fun to go around 8am when bleary-eyed parents would bounce infants and toddlers on their knees while scarfing down a stack of pancakes. We'd chat about the cuteness of the babies and the brilliance of choosing the diner for meals with little kids -- it was always so noisy that nobody cared when the little ones howled.

Today, we were those bleary-eyed parents, but lacked any place like the Diner for an early morning meal. Last night wasn't particularly bad for sleep, but Miles was wide awake at 6:30am and ready to rock. I rolled out of bed, changed his position and popped in his pacifier, which bought us exactly twenty-two extra minutes of rest. Jesse groaned something to the effect of, "We've been in bed for 11 hours. I shouldn't be this tired." Mercifully, those twenty-two minutes were just enough for us to wake up and embrace the day (and our baby who was sounding more like a rabid Ewok). Jesse offered to walk over to Ken's Bakery to pick up a baguette for French toast, but then I remembered that we had bacon in the fridge. Hell yeah! Breakfast was on.

By 7:45, Miles was fed, changed, and happily cracked-out on breast milk in his swing. So, I whipped up a batch of biscuits. Instead of baking and gorging on all twelve, we sensibly froze half of the uncooked dough for another sleepy Saturday morning. Once the biscuits were cut and ready, Jesse got to work on cooking up the bacon and eggs. It was a proper diner breakfast with orange juice, coffee, and a bottle of Cholula that I liberally applied to my scrambled eggs. I forgot how much I love Cholula and vowed to never eat eggs without her again.

Throw a (Pickled) Egg on It!

2010-10-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

Our friends Larson & Serena gave us this great book, Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it, a while ago. While I've poured over the pages from time to time and made plans to have a big pickling/jamming/curing day, it just never happened.

When my mom was in town a couple of weeks ago, Jesse and I took advantage of her stay to go out for happy hour at Clyde Common for our anniversary. In addition to some of the most delicious mixed drinks I've had in a while (that'll have to wait for another post down the road) we shared small plates including an assortment of house pickled vegetables. On the pickle plate was a wedged pickled egg. I've always been kind of grossed out by pickled eggs, particularly the ones that are colored with purple beets, so I almost wanted to hold my nose when sampling. However, their eggs had a slight yellow tinge, which was not nearly as gross as purple, so I ate one. And I was hooked. It was mind blowing. We decided it was about time to give pickling a try.

The only thing missing in our kitchen were all the ingredients for pickling spices. So, on Tuesday afternoon I decided to pick up the CSA solo (instead of our usual family trip that can become a somewhat harrowing experience with a screaming infant near the end). I left a few minutes early and stopped by Penzey's in the Pearl and purchased a jar of their pre-mixed pickling spices. This afternoon we decided to hard boil six eggs for a trial batch. They need to sit for seven days to attain maximum pickleness, so we won't have a verdict until then. I think they're pretty spectacular looking though.

Here's the recipe for our first try at pickling eggs:
(I'll update later if we tweak it a bit)

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. water
1 T. Penzey's pickling spices
1.5 tsp. kosher salt**
3 cloves garlic, sliced

Place eggs and garlic in a 1 pint mason jar. Bring vinegar, water, salt & spices to a boil. Pour over eggs and garlic. Let cool on counter and place in refrigerator for 1 week. Enjoy!

**The first batch turned out to be way too salty, so I halved the salt to 1.5 tsp.

Maybe Moby?

2010-10-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

When I got pregnant, I had set out a game plan of ideals. One of my main goals was to have a natural childbirth -- clearly that did not happen. Another one of my goals was to wear the baby as much as possible. I thought it would be so easy to just sling Miles on my chest, wrap him up and go about my normal life. Well, just like my birth, life threw a curve ball. I gestated a child who hates swaddling (unless under extreme duress) and despised all forms of child carriers including the famous Moby wrap that apparently is loved by all babies and parents. The first time I put Miles in the Moby he howled. The second time he screamed as though I were prodding him with hot pokers. The third time, well, it took us an hour to calm him down. I'm not one for giving up, but needless to say, the Moby went on a high shelf never to be touched again.

The galling thing about his reaction to the Moby is that it places him in the exact upright position in which he loves to be held. For some reason, after two weeks of avoiding it, I decided to pull the wrap off the shelf today to give it another try. I wrapped it a little looser than usual and slipped him in with hardly a whimper. After a minute or two, he realized he was being confined, so I popped in the pacifier. It worked like a charm. He tolerated it for about 15 minutes then began to rooting around to be fed. I nursed him and slipped him right back in and he passed out for a catnap. In fact, I'm blogging while baby-wearing -- how very new age mom of me.

A Quilt for Eloise

2010-09-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

I started this project a long time ago, but morning sickness, exhaustion from pregnancy, and life in general prevented me from finishing it. The project sat in my closet as a lonely quilt top for a good six months. When I heard the news of our friend Linnaea's new baby girl, Eloise, I pulled it out of that "to do" pile. I tried to make it as gender neutral as possible, which becomes more complicated when you stray from the traditional yellow/green combo. The big question was whether I should include blue? It was a tough decision, but ultimately I'm very pleased. This quilt also marks the first time that I used a dark color as the background. I played around with a few different colors, but decided that the slate fabric compliments the color palate much better than plain white sashing -- also, white and babies usually don't mix.

Given that I was recovering from birth and settling into new parenthood, my mom was gracious enough to offer to finish it while she was in town. She finished the back, quilted the layers, and sewed on the binding. I have to say it's kind of nice having more than one person involved in a baby quilt's creation. Just that much more love has gone into the gift. While Miles was napping on Monday, I finally got a clear window of time to take it over to the post office and send it down to Santa Cruz. The quilt was packed with entire package of newborn sized diapers that Miles, my jumbo baby, outgrew at two weeks old. Eloise was just shy of seven pounds at birth, so I'm thinking they'll be useful for a while.

Welcome to the world, Eloise!

Morning Daycare

2010-09-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Miles is one month old today. It's hard to believe. On one hand, I feel like I've hardly accomplished anything, but on the other, he's changed so much. One thing that we have developed is a pretty consistent morning routine. Miles is usually awake and alert between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning. We both get up, I nurse him and Jesse changes his diaper and takes him to the office (the dining room). Most mornings he happily coos in his swing and drifts off to sleep. I also happily drift off to sleep for another hour or two until Miles is ready to eat again.

However, this morning he was not stoked about the swing and wanted to be held like a sack of potatoes over Jesse's arm. Unfortunately, typing with one hand is not really an option when rapid-fire emails flood your inbox, so Miles was back in the bedroom with me for the morning. Even though we technically got seven hours of sleep last night, I was pretty drowsy. So, I nursed him again and instituted the Brasilliant school of morning daycare (dim lights, a nice belly rub, and a pacifier). It worked like a charm. We slept in until 10am.

Baby Houdini

2010-09-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

Miles is a pretty great baby. He cries when he's hungry, sometimes when he's wet, and when he gets overtired. The rest of the time he's quite the charmer. Lately though, he's been pretty restless and quite noisy at night. Not crying, but grunting, rooting, and rolling around. We've been swaddling him in the evening with some success, but recently he's managed to strong-arm his way out of our tightest wraps. Last night I woke up to him grunting and fussing because he'd managed to free his arms and legs, leaving only a small piece of the receiving blanket wrapped around his midsection. So the problem? His beefy arms and strong back.

Exhibit A: Miles awake (and a pretty good approximation of his sleep activity):

He is noticeably more cranky throughout the day following a restless night, so his sleep activity isn't just an annoyance on our part. Our friends gave us a Miracle Blanket as a gift when Miles was born and up until this point we haven't pulled it out of the drawer. Since our swaddling techniques had been working pretty well to date, we almost forgot about it. However, tonight we're going to experiment with the "baby straight jacket" with the hope of a better night sleep for all three of us!

Purple Pesto

2010-09-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

We got a lovely (giant) bunch of purple basil at our CSA on Monday. It was so fragrant that it filled the entire car on the way home. Had it been green, there would have been no question as to its final destination -- a giant bowl of pesto. However, purple pesto? Ick right? I've never been a huge fan of purple food. I mean, I love red beets and will eat them on their own, but toss them with some cheese, which immediately turns pink, and barf. Not really all that stoked about it. I quickly got over my purple food phobia when Jesse started blending the leaves in the kitchen. It smelled divine.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but it definitely cast a dark tinge on the pasta (for the record the fusilli is not whole wheat). Tossed with a few fresh cherry tomatoes, we had a perfectly spectacular late summer meal, even though yesterday was technically the first day of fall. Despite our fully stocked freezer, thanks to my mom, it was nice to be able to put together a meal on our own and eat some of the fresh summer treats from our CSA. No doubt we'll be back to kale, collards, and late fall crops in no time. Also, pesto is great for new parents because it hardly takes any time and is so satisfying. As we sat down to eat dinner, Miles decided that he was no longer satisfied looking up at us from his swing.

So, we took turns scarfing down our purple pesto while jiggling/ making googly eyes at our little man. Notice that Jesse is not sitting on a chair, but rather our exercise ball that has gotten quite the workout this week. Miles sometimes is only happy when being bounced up and down. I like to think he's just urging me to get back into my pre-maternity pants -- at this rate I'll have a rock hard core in no time.

On Our Own

2010-09-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

My mom left for home this morning and Jesse and I are officially on our own. I feel pretty lucky that we had three weeks of uninterrupted assistance from our parents after Miles' arrival. My unplanned c-section threw curve into our postnatal plans, so having family around has made easing into parenthood a lot more fun. Also, our parents got to witness his incredible growth and development in just the first three weeks of life. He now holds his head up pretty well, can track objects and recognize faces, and he even has started to smile at me and Jesse while awake. Oh, also, he's completely busted out of all of his newborn clothing and has moved on to his three-month duds. This little dude knows how to eat!

Last night was a big step for us all, Miles slept for two four-hour stretches and another three hour stretch after that. As a result, he was a very happy baby this morning. If we had actually gone to bed with him at 8pm, we would have gotten eight hours of sleep! I'm hoping that I'm not jinxing it by telling his great accomplishment to the internet. My mom took advantage of his good rest by getting some last minute quality time while Miles was incredibly alert. He cooed and kicked happily all morning.

Also, notice his hair? That's all natural. I let it dry without combing it after his bath last night and it puffed and crinkled up like he'd been charged with electricity. It's undeniable that he's Jesse's son -- his hair grows straight up. I've noticed that he has some new fine hair growing in just in front of his old man receding hairline. It will be interesting to see how his non-baby hair turns out!

Driving Around

2010-09-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

This is pretty much how my days play out. My mom or Jesse take Miles in the morning so I can sleep in for an extra couple of hours. I get up, have breakfast, feed Miles his second (or third) breakfast, and he promptly passes out on my lap or shoulder. I decided to keep a book or two next to the couch so I can at least get a bit of reading done while he relaxes. With the exception of a few really restless nights, he's been a great baby, so I don't mind being his personal food cart.

Due to a couple of fussy afternoons, my mom and I have been putting off a few errands that required us to get in the car. However, yesterday we decided to make a break for it and took a mini shopping trip with Miles. It was my first time behind the wheel since he was born almost three weeks ago and I couldn't wait to get out of the neighborhood. We set out right around his regular nap time, which was a bit of a risk, since he'd either sleep peacefully as we browsed the aisles of Kohls and Target, or wail uncontrollably for not being in his swing at home. In my mind, it was worth the risk because I was in desperate need of some essentials to fit my postnatal (post-cesarean) body.

Miles handled the outing like a champ, crying only twice when he was hungry. I learned a couple of things as a result: 1) shopping will now take twice as long as it did before 2) I can never stop moving the stroller if I want him to snooze while I browse and 3) if all else fails, a full belly and bumpy car ride will soothe him into slumber. I definitely feel more confident that I will not be a shut-in for the rest of my life. This was a huge step.

Third Anniversary

2010-09-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's kind of funny how certain milestones are overshadowed by even bigger life events. Earlier this year, my 30th birthday came and went with hardly a tear or second thought. Who could worry about such a huge event when there was something even bigger on the way?

Today, Jesse and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary by consoling a very grumpy little baby, hanging out in the pediatrician's office for his two week checkup, and enjoying a quick (and very early) dinner at a restaurant downtown -- thanks to my Mom for babysitting and insisting that I not check my cell phone while on our date. We also stole a quiet moment as we passed in the bathroom this afternoon for a smooch and a hug. Oh, and my wedding band and engagement ring fit again. Bonus!

This year there weren't cards or gifts exchanged because quite honestly, we were both too exhausted to even put any thought into it. For a couple of hours it was nice to have a taste of our former lives, as we huddled together over small plates and delicious cocktails and people watched while sipping drinking chocolate for dessert. However, it was great to come home to our sleepy, chubby little boy. I couldn't imagine a much better anniversary gift.

First Outing

2010-09-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had my two week check-up and realized for the first time that I should allot two hours of preparation time in order to get anywhere on time. I was given the choice of nursing Miles (for a second time) and making it to the doctor's office at 10:30 or drying my hair, applying makeup (and possibly deodorant). I chose the baby with a full belly over my appearance. Anyway, I was given the all clear to resume some of my more regular routines, such as walking. Of course, I can't just jump right back into my two or three mile per day habit, but I'm looking forward to trying short walks here and there to build up my stamina again. Even though my incision from the c-section is healing well, I am not allowed to lift anything much heavier than Miles for another four weeks, so I'll be limited to small trips to the grocery store and strolls to the park.

My parents are in town to visit with their grandson and to help out while I'm still recovering. Being cooped up inside for two weeks had me feeling a little stir crazy, so I jumped at the chance to get out for a bit last night. We drove over to a favorite sandwich spot, Kenny & Zukes, and then walked over to the Chapman School to watch a flock of swifts roost in the building's giant chimney. It only happens once a year in the first three weeks of September, so hundreds of people gather on the school lawn with picnic baskets and lawn chairs to watch thousands of birds swirl and dive in the chimney.

Until yesterday, it had been warm enough to wear cute summer dresses and a cardigan, which were very comfortable on my still healing (and shrinking) midsection and sort of offset my otherwise disheveled appearance. However, an evening in the park necessitated pants and sleeves. So, with borrowed sweatpants, my now too large hooded jacket, and unkempt hair we went walking. I pretended not to notice my sad wardrobe state and enjoyed the fresh air and time away from the couch. By the time we got to the park I was pooped, but it was so exciting to watch Miles stare wide-eyed at all of the news sights and sounds. I can't wait for our next outing.

Mesmerized

2010-09-04T17:08:00.000-07:00

I could (and sometimes do) watch him nap for hours. Only 6 days old and we can already tell that he sleeps like his father -- active arms and legs spread wide. We quickly dispensed with swaddling. He prefers a little more room to breathe.

Welcome Little Man

2010-09-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

Miles Chamberlain finally made his much anticipated (and delayed) entrance into our world on Saturday, August 28th at 9:04pm. I'm not sure which was more exhausting, my 40+ hour labor or the first few days of parenthood, but Jesse and I are blissfully happy.

Baby? What Baby?

2010-08-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Today, not so much. I had to call in and schedule an appointment with the midwife for Tuesday (one week from my last appointment). I have been putting it off hoping that it was a phone call that I wouldn't have to make. As I sat on hold with the receptionist I fought back tears, but broke down and cried when I got the email confirmation that I have a 1:30pm visit on August 31st. AUGUST 31st. It's official. I'm never having this baby. He'll likely gestate for another few years and come out a moody teenager in desperate need of braces and a haircut.

So, just amuse yourself with photos of dinner. Again. That's all I have to show for my day, photos of a salad made with stuff from our CSA. For variety, I've switched up my beverage. Instead of water I'm enjoying a crisp black cherry soda. Oh, and our salad has beans in addition to corn and tomatoes. We are living on the edge here on Flanders Street.

Actually, all hope is not lost. We're heading out soon to see what may be our last Timbers game for the season. I'm going to round out my healthy first course of salad with a giant PGE Park hot dog smothered in ketchup and mustard. I managed to eek out a smile while Jesse practiced using our camera. Sadly, my Timbers colored t-shirt no longer fits, so I'll have to overcompensate with extra enthusiasm tonight.

No News

2010-08-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

The fetal monitoring appointment went well yesterday. Baby G vigorously kicked and rolled through the 20-minute session, as if to punctuate the fact that he's never coming out. I closed my eyes and imagined a tiny middle finger directed at all of us out here who are anxiously awaiting his appearance. The baby's amniotic fluid levels are just fine too, in fact, he kept sticking his foot in one of the pockets, so that it couldn't really be fully measured and the total still came out high. I'm scheduled to go in again on Friday for another monitoring session -- an appointment I hope I will not have to keep.

In the mean time, we're both trying to keep busy in order to take our minds off the anticipation. The Timbers have a home game tomorrow night and I fully intend to waddle my pregnant butt over there and cheer with the best of them. We're going to try a little reverse psychology. If I pretend the baby doesn't exist, then maybe he'll seek out my attention on the outside! I don't care if my water breaks at PGE Park and we have to head directly to the hospital, Timbers scarf in hand. I am tired of waiting. So I might as well have some fun.

Baby Watch Day 8

2010-08-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I passed the 41 week mark -- a milestone that I was convinced I would not reach last Thursday at my centering group appointment. So, I'm scheduled to go in today for an appointment with the midwife at 2pm to check in and develop a game plan for the next week. I also have a non stress test at 3pm to monitor my contractions and the baby's heart rate to make sure that he's handling them well. The midwives assured me that there is only a very small fraction of babies who scare/annoy the crap out of their parents by going post-term (42 weeks). I would expect no less from our child.

I think an ultrasound is also on the agenda today to make sure that my amniotic fluid is sufficient to let him continue to hang out for a few more days. I keep checking out this photo on our refrigerator reminding myself that he'll come along when he's ready (and not a minute sooner), but it's pretty hard to be patient! Jesse and I are actually looking forward to the appointments this afternoon. Since I can't have the satisfaction of holding him in my arms, I can at least see him pummel my organs on a high definition screen. Maybe I'll bring along some popcorn and we'll make it a date night.

New Strategy

2010-08-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

Clearly this baby is stubborn like his mother and does not react well to ultimatums. Poking at his rogue feet while repeating "get out, get out get, out or else" is not working. Tomorrow he will be officially a week past his due date and I am going to have to start practicing some tough love if he doesn't decide to get things moving.

It's not like we haven't tried to be nice about it. We've whispered encouraging words, Jesse's been singing little tunes, and I've been eating awesome foods to try and coax him out. What? Those two ice cream bars and pile of cookies were totally for the baby. Yesterday I satisfied a major craving for a hearty Italian meal by making a giant batch of spaghetti sauce (with beef of course). We paired it with sauteed summer squash from our CSA. It hit the food craving spot so hard that we replicated the entire meal again for dinner tonight. What's not to love?

In an attempt to get out of the house so I wouldn't go mad, we grabbed bagels for lunch up on Lovejoy, then walked down to Powell's in the Pearl to check out some children's books, and then strolled back home again. I even did a short sprint when I saw this guy driving down 10th Avenue. I jumped off the bench where we were resting and started running after the sort of creepy minivan yelling at Jesse to "run to see the guy with the monkey!" Jesse did not move fast enough in my opinion, so I yelled louder "the guy with the monkey" while pointing furiously in the van's direction. Luckily, the creepy clown caught a stoplight and Jesse was able to witness the dude who drives around Portland holding a puppet while lip syncing to the radio. It was a pretty awesome afternoon.

Cooked to Perfection

2010-08-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Jesse made his best batch of stir-fried beef on Wednesday night. It was marinated and cooked to perfection. I know it seems like I eat an alarming amount of red meat these days, but don't worry, I mix it up with an even more alarming amount of beans. If I don't get a giant amount of protein for breakfast and dinner then my energy is zapped by a little dude who refuses to make his appearance in this world. As a result, I've upped my morning cottage cheese intake to half a container (up from 1/3), which clocks me in at about 3 1/2 pounds of cottage cheese a week. Since my hunger has me waking up at 5am every morning, I've had to incorporate a second breakfast of eggs and toast around 9am. After letting that settle, I'm ready for my two-hour 10am nap. If someone looked at a chart of my daily activity, they'd come to the conclusion that I probably live in an old folks home.

Anyway, back to dinner. Alongside the beef we had a fresh corn and tomato salad with red onion and parsley -- all ingredients from our CSA. We also enjoyed roasted fingerling potatoes (from the CSA). It felt so good to be in a cool kitchen again after that insanely hot weather. I have to say, I have no complaints about Portland's unseasonably cool weather lately. Some people feel robbed of summer, I feel pretty lucky to sleep almost through the night because of the crisp air coming in through the window.

As for the baby, he's still basking in the 98.6º summer vacation that will hopefully soon come to an end. I went to my last centering group meeting yesterday and everything looks just fine, but I'm scheduled for fetal monitoring on Tuesday if I don't deliver before then. It's not a big deal, just checking in to track Baby G's movement and see how his amniotic fluid levels are doing. If he's tolerating life inside fairly well, I'll be allowed to stick it out until 42 weeks (August 30th). At that point we'll have to start making plans of nudging him along. Luckily, the midwife assured me that they almost never have to use Pitocin to induce labor, which puts my mind more at ease.

Bags Packed

2010-08-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the bags are mostly packed. All we have to do is throw in our cell phones, laptop, chargers, and last minute toiletries, which are all noted on my handy checklist. I tried to keep the checklist to a minimum, opting not to rely on the internet guides that would require us to mount a luggage carrier on the roof of our Mazda to cart all of the "essentials". I swear, you'd think that some of these women were planning for the apocalypse and packing to go off the grid for a few years. One blogger even suggested that I bring along a package of note cards to stay up-to-date on thank-you's for baby gifts. I can just picture it, "Jesse, for the love of god, please stop talking about my breathing. I need to get this thank-you note finished before I transition."

Basically, we have a change of clothes for me, Jesse and Baby G, a few snacks, and a some toiletries as suggested by the hospital. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am including my hairdryer and make-up bag in the basic items category. Don't judge. If I'm going to potentially work harder than I ever have in my life and have photos for posterity to prove it, then dammit I want to look cute the next day. You know who else will look cute? The baby. We're bringing along two outfits for his debut, one for the hot sweltering weather we've had for the past few days and one for the cold, rainy weather that is predicted for the next week. They're insanely tiny and Jesse refuses to believe that he was that small at one time.

Now the only thing left to do is wait!

We're Gonna Party Like it's Your Birthday

2010-08-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Officially 40 weeks today. Don't get excited Mom(s). No action on the Baby G birthing front (but it's not for lack of trying to get this party started). We solidified plans. We walked and walked. I even ate some spicy food, but not a twinge.

This weekend was actually a lot of fun, so I'm glad the baby decided to stick around and not come early. Friday evening we had the tournament game for our kickball league. Jesse had firmly been placed on the "maybe" list given it's close proximity to my due date. I think everyone was happy to have him on the team for the final game, but a little sad when they saw me waddling down the field from the parking lot. We lost the game, but ended up winners in the end because our opponents had to drag themselves out of bed for an early morning Saturday showdown. Afterward, we all headed over to Mississippi Avenue for a bar crawl to celebrate our good friend's birthday -- Baby G even got in on the party action. We didn't go to bed until after midnight and it felt great.

Saturday and Sunday were lazy days. The temperatures in Portland hovered in the mid-90s all afternoon, so we were inclined to do nothing more than lounge in front of the fan, catch up on a few television shows, and finish books that remained half read. We also practiced lots of relaxation and breathing and some labor/birthing positions. Jesse scheduled a concert last night for a band that he really really wanted to see, so we were betting that would certainly prompt the baby to make his arrival (clearly, it did not). However, we got to play a cool new game all evening with our friends Dan, Joanie & Ashley, so it all worked out in the end.

Today is supposed to be just as hot, but the heat wave is expected to break tomorrow with a high only in the mid-80s. I think if the baby can hold off for one more day, laboring at home for a while will be a lot more comfortable!

39 Weeks 2 Days: Get Out! Get Out!

2010-08-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Look! The towel rack almost disappears from the enormity of my belly! That news is about as interesting as it will get until the baby decides to make his appearance. Most of my days now revolve around spurts of light activity followed by long rests on the couch. The one major thing that needs to happen is packing that pesky hospital bag. Oh, and me teaching Jesse how to use the digital camera so he's not fumbling around trying to turn it on when it's time.

Jesse and I have been practicing relaxation techniques this week in preparation for labor and I have to say they work pretty well. I find myself rehearsing by relaxing various parts of my body during the day when I'm bored or stressed. For example, yesterday while waddling over to the photocopier at work, I realized that I have really been holding in my abdominal muscles while walking. That's probably a good thing, otherwise it feels like the baby might just sag to my knees. However, one of the main things that I read over and over is to not fight labor, it will only make it worse. Total muscle relaxation is key. So, as I picked up the stack of papers from the photocopier, I really relaxed my belly. Woah! Hello cranium on my bladder! I quickly tightened up (what's left) of my abs and went about my day. While brushing my teeth last night, I decided to try letting go of the belly again to the same effect. The Baby G started punching me and I had a pretty giant contraction. I'm thinking this relaxation stuff just might work.

Today is my last day at the office and I'm only planning to spend a couple of hours to tie up some loose ends. I will then drive myself home, waddle upstairs and put on my lounge clothes. For the rest of the day, I plan on letting my belly hang loose and maybe gravity will help things along.

38 Weeks 4 Days: AKA Baby Jail

2010-08-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

I had another centering group appointment with the midwife yesterday. We found out that one of our group members had her baby this past weekend, a week or so early, which turned a lot of our thoughts to the big day. There are four of us that are clustered around the same due date (August 15-17th), which led to many last minute questions about the hospital stay. Up until this point, we've focused mainly on pregnancy issues and managing labor and birth, but yesterday was mostly focused on postpartum care and newborn procedures at the hospital. We also all waddled up to the 12th floor of the hospital to take a peek at one of the empty rooms on the maternity ward. I feel pretty much at ease, knowing that we have chosen a pretty great group of midwives who are in line with a lot of the wishes that I have for labor, delivery, and treatment of Baby G in the minutes and hours after birth.

As for the baby, he is still very active and according to the midwife, "is hanging out very low". What does that mean? Nothing. Some babies drop weeks before delivery just to torment their mother's aching bladders. However, we did have to wait for a minute or so before she could find his giant butt (that smashes my right lung most days), because I was having a pretty long and strong contraction. The contractions still aren't uncomfortable, but are noticeably more frequent and longer in duration. So, it's just a really agonizing waiting game for us and the baby. He fidgets, stretches, and rolls off and on all day, making my belly a lopsided freak show. His most dramatic movements resemble a golf ball rolling from my hip to my ribs over and over again. I like to imagine him suited up in a little striped jumpsuit dragging a tin cup over the prison bars of my womb (my ribs).

Only 10 more days (give or take 10). I am so ready!

Meat & Potatoes Gal

2010-08-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

As my pregnancy has progressed over the past month, I feel like I have regressed at the dinner table. I keep having flashbacks of my first trimester woes and have become a pretty particular eater. My stomach is squished, so I can't eat very much at one sitting, which means I'm constantly low on energy. This leads to a somewhat constant nauseous feeling (either from eating too much or eating too little). Not only am I particular, but my cravings and dislikes have become wildly erratic -- last week I loved hard boiled egg sandwiches with cucumbers, cheese, and mustard, but now they equal death. Ugh, thinking about it right now makes me sick.

A few things haven't changed though, including my love for all things dairy. I still eat pounds of cottage cheese a week and send Jesse to Trader Joe's every other day to replenish our milk supply. Oh, and red meat = euphoria. If I allowed myself to survive alone in the kitchen, I'd gladly crack out on a cut of beef or sausage and little else for dinner. It's like my body knows that meals are going to be meager, so it might as well make the most of what will little food will fit.

Luckily, I have Jesse around as the voice of reason (coupled with the bounty from our CSA), so I do eat a fair share of vegetables. However, I think he felt bad about the last few meals that we cooked together because they left me less than satisfied. So, last night he encouraged me to design a menu that would make me blissfully happy. And this, folks, was my heavenly menu: marinated beef, potato salad, and as much watermelon as I could fit in my belly. I was pretty excited that the potato salad was made almost entirely from items from our CSA, including three kinds of potatoes, the spring onions, and eggs. I hear that watermelon is supposed to help with swelling. I can use all the assistance I can get in that department, since my feet look like little ham steaks at the end of the day. Oh pregnancy! You are such a joyous and venomous beast. Only two more weeks until my due date!

Nesting Part II

2010-08-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

Jesse and I spent a large part of Saturday organizing. Again. From the amount of organizing that we've been doing lately, you probably think we live in a total disaster area. Recent guests will likely attest to the fact that we are not living in squalor (but they probably never peaked in our closets). I finally assembled the crib, washed, folded, and sorted the remaining baby clothes, and got down to making a checklist for our hospital bag. The only major outstanding issue is the car seat, which Jesse and I will attempt to install this afternoon. I have to say, we are both pretty pleased with how the guest/baby room is shaping up. Of course we haven't hung any photos yet, so the walls are still bare, but all the essentials are in place -- the daybed for soon-to-be visiting grandparents, the crib for Baby G when he's finally ready to sleep in his own room, and a rocking chair for late night feedings and soothing. The day bed quilt, bed skirt, and roman shade were made by my Mom in her month-long sweatshop extravaganza.

While Jesse was excited to see how the crib looked in the room, I think he was mostly stoked to hang the mobile that we purchased a few weeks ago from a local artist -- naturally, the mobile is "for the baby". Jesse also adorned the crib with a few items to make it not look so lonely in the days leading up to Baby G's big debut -- a teddy bear from our close family friends, a Portland Timbers scarf from friends here in Portland, and of course, a mini soccer ball. We still have a few issues to work out in the room, but thanks to the magic of cropping and selective photography, you can't see the ugly Ikea shelf that I'd like to hide and the menagerie of cords from our internet router, wifi base station, and cordless telephone. Remedying those problems requires a bit more furniture shifting and some inventive maneuvering that we'll tackle this afternoon as well.

Overall, the apartment is now as ready as we are for the baby to finally arrive!

Nesting Part I

2010-07-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

Many of you who follow my blog and Facebook news feeds know that I've been hit hard by the nesting bug. It all started one night when I had a dream that the baby came early, was a girl, and could already talk (with a couple of choice phrases under her belt that would make a sailor blush). I was in a frenzy the next day picking up the apartment and was convinced that if Jesse didn't get a new smaller desk in the next ten minutes that my head might explode. Luckily, Jesse was willing to play along and really got into doing some serious apartment reorganization. It's so nice to finally feel settled. And now, I am at a point where I can share some of the work that we've accomplished.

Except for hanging artwork and photos, the back bedroom feels pretty great. Last week I finished making a roman shade for the window to block out some of the summer sun and add a nice touch of color to our desperately pale yellow walls. Jesse did get a new desk that looks surprisingly similar to his old one, but has a slightly smaller footprint. We were able to tuck it in the corner, which afforded more room for our bed, chest of drawers, and a some room to breathe. He also got to hang another one of his mobiles, which takes the total apartment count up to three (I'm pretty sure he's going to convince me to hang at least one more).

By chance, we also found the last piece of furniture to complete our living room. Recently, I'd been prowling Craigslist like mad looking for a matching end table to go on the other side of our couch, but was having little success. The nesting bug had really been buzzing, letting me know that I couldn't possibly give birth with only one end table in the living room (I know, I know). As we walked down Hawthorne Street on Monday with Naomi and Kyoko, I spotted a furniture shop with great mid-century pieces. There was a cute little end table in the storefront window that caught my eye, like a puppy dog begging to be taken home. I almost didn't look at the price tag, because I was certain that it was going to be way too pricey. However, curiosity won over and I looked. It was a little more expensive than I had hoped to pay for an end table, but it was so much more awesome than the ones I'd been finding on Craigslist. We perused the rest of the store as I pondered, and after about ten minutes of looking I was asking Jesse to guesstimate the dimensions of our trunk. He asked if I wanted to walk around a bit to think it over, but I was sold. And in about five minutes, so was that end table.

The purchase wasn't nearly as impulsive as it may have appeared to our guests, but the outcome was pretty exciting. Baby G is officially allowed to arrive.

Stay tuned for Nesting Part II: Baby G (Finally) Gets a Nursery.

Cooked Medium Well

2010-07-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

I reached the 37th week on Monday (going into my 38th week), which according to some books is considered full term. Of course, it's better for the baby to hang out for a little while longer to make sure his lungs are fully developed, but he's officially allowed to arrive anytime now and still be okay. I like to think of him as cooked medium-well. He's not terribly comfortable in there and rolls and stretches all day. He also gets pretty darn pissed when he gets the hiccups, which leads to leg and elbow thrashing until he's done.

I, on the other hand, am the picture of grace, waddling and wheezing from here to there. In order to relieve my arms and legs from the crushing weight of my body, I also do a bit of leg and elbow thrashing at night. Sometimes I don't even think I realize my struggle until I find Jesse looking at me with a concerned face and asking if I'm okay. Bottom line? I am gigantic. I didn't truly realize the enormity of my midsection until I looked at a photo from an outing to the Pittock Mansion with good friends this weekend. Watch out, Kyoko! The belly just consumed your right arm! I'm surprised they even let me out of the house.

I did get out of the apartment quite a bit this weekend though, both with Kyoko, Jesse & Naomi and for the baby shower thrown by our great friends here in Portland. It was so nice to have distractions from the nesting that's kept me scurrying around like crazy. Sunday was a scorcher, getting a little over 90º so we did a lot of lounging in the back yard around the BBQ while taking breaks to stick our feet in the kiddie pool.

We also feasted on delicious kebabs, grilled naan, and peach cobbler. And of course, a baby shower wouldn't be complete without games! We kicked off the afternoon with an amusing round of trying to figure out which candy bar had been melted in the diapers. I got 3 out of 5 correct. I believe Jesse had a near-perfect score. I think maybe I'll use his abilities to decipher poop as a good reason for him to be on diaper duty!

Overall, it was a great weekend, but now I'm back to grind, making sure everything is ready for when the baby decides to make his appearance sometime in the next 3-4 weeks. There's still so much to do!

34 Days to Go

2010-07-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

Give or take a few. Yikes! We're almost there.

Exciting Weekend

2010-07-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

The camping trip this weekend was great. We enjoyed the cool weather, played croquet on the beach, and ate s'mores by the campfire. The sunset Friday night was pretty spectacular and did I mention the cool weather? I was so happy to escape the 90º+ temperatures that plagued Portland and came home to a much more pleasant July. Sunny and 70º is much more my speed, especially since I am now carrying around a 5.25 pound baby who really has no consideration whatsoever for my personal space.

We had some very disappointing BBQ on Saturday afternoon while the rest of the group went hiking, but really, that was my only complaint. I have to say, sleeping on the ground wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, although being in my own bed again on Sunday night was nice. However, being in my comfortable bed Sunday night convinced that I was going into labor was not all that great. And yes, I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with our camping trip.

I called the midwife this morning with my symptoms -- lots of pressure and pain with "practice" contractions about 10 minutes apart -- and she scheduled me for a visit about an hour later. Her diagnosis over the phone was that I probably had a bladder infection, but wanted me to come in to rule out other things like the dreaded pre-term labor. I shuffled to my appointment, had the appropriate tests and an exam. She determined that there's absolutely nothing wrong with me except that I have a very active baby. My determination? John Braxton Hicks is an ass, because his "practice" contractions do in fact hurt. I think when the midwife saw the look on my face that read "you've got to be shitting me" she explained further.

Apparently, Baby G is now settling in a little lower in my pelvis and since he's still pretty wiggly he's putting a lot of strain on the ligaments and joints and organs down there. In fact, I had a contraction on the exam table and she noted how he actively fought against it with his knee or elbow. In other words, my baby is all "Oh I'll see your Braxton Hicks and raise you two elbows right in your damn round ligament." I am effectively experiencing a fetal smackdown that will not relent until this child is out in the world. But he better not get around to that for at least another two weeks!

In an attempt to alleviate my disappointment (that there's no real fixable reason for my pain) and my aching belly, the midwife suggested that I get a maternity support belt that will help distribute some of the weight. I drove immediately to Babies 'R Us and tried on the most hideous contraption right in the middle of the aisle because there are no dressing rooms (as if pregnancy couldn't get anymore awkward or genuinely unattractive). It was like a Christmas in July miracle. I seriously thought about wearing it around the store over my clothes until I was done shopping. While it hasn't eliminated my pain completely (and the baby truly hates it), I can once again walk upright without taking pauses to catch my breath and renew my will to live. I am also relieved that there isn't really anything wrong with me and that I will be able to survive the next 5-ish weeks without having to spend most of it laid out on our couch.

Week in Review

2010-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

Holiday weekends are the best. They give you an excuse to get together with friends, eat lots of delicious food, and lounge around without guilt (recovering from all of the friends, food, and activities). On Sunday, we went to a July 4th BBQ at Joanie & Dan's house in Sellwood and walked over to watch the fireworks after the sun set. I got to test out my new camera in the dark, and I have to say it's not bad for a point and shoot. I realized while taking the photos that I really need to play around with it a lot more so I'm comfortable taking pictures on the fly when Baby G arrives.

On Monday, Jesse and I were generally lazy and watched movies in bed and didn't get out of our pj's until almost dinner time. At that point, some of my crazy pregnant lady hormones kicked in and I freaked out because we hadn't done a thing all weekend to get the baby's room more prepared. Jesse looked at me like I had three heads, nodded, and got right to organizing. He's such a good sport. In the end it paid off, because good friends of Larson & Serena stopped in for a couple of nights on their month-long trip across the country and back. It was great having them around. I'm so excited that our guest bed is getting lots of use!

The rest of the week is mostly a blur, with frantic spurts of work in between some pretty hot and uncomfortable days. Portland's weather went from a lovely 65º to nearly 100º in a matter of minutes. I would have liked a little more time to ease into summer, but I think it's just a short hot spell and we'll be back to the normal high of 80º by next week. The heat has been a test of the new apartment and I have to say that it's passing with flying colors. While uncomfortable in the afternoon, it doesn't feel like I'm roasting in hell like our old place on 19th Avenue.

Luckily, we're escaping the heat by going to the coast with a few friends for a weekend camping trip. It feels like we get a July 4th weekend repeat and I couldn't be happier! Jesse's parents think that I'm nuts to sleep on the ground in my very pregnant state (they may very well be right), but I see this as maybe a final hurrah before Baby G arrives. It's only for two nights, we have pretty decent camping mats, and I fully plan on relaxing on the beach and at the campground. If only I didn't have to go in to work this morning. I'm pretty excited to get this show on the road!

Bounty and the Belly

2010-07-01T10:33:00.001-07:00

Last night we needed a quick weeknight meal before heading out to at Timbers game. Since we still had quite a bit of beef leftover from our salads a couple of nights ago and a boatload of baby bok choy from our CSA, Jesse and I threw together a quick Asian noodle dish. It was a pretty basic, but tasty recipe from our Cooks Illustrated Best Recipes cookbook -- a basic sauce with soy, oyster sauce, garlic, and ginger. Jesse was the wok master while I diced fresh spring onions, garlic, and scapes. We threw it all over a package of Chineese egg noodles and it was insanely fast and tasty.

I'm now nearing my 34th week, so the baby has taken over most of the space where my internal organs should reside. By Monday, Baby G will weigh about 4.75 pounds and will be nearly 18 inches long. As a result, this portion was way too huge and I couldn't finish all of my noodles. The Timbers game went into 30 minutes overtime (tied 1-1) and ended in defeat after missing two of their five penalty kicks. I had to ease my sorrows (and my aching belly) with a PGE park hotdog. It was awesome. All I have to say is that Seattle better watch out for next year when we're MLS. The timbers are going to kick butt!

Summer Bounty

2010-06-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

Jesse and I first arrived in Portland in 2008 at the tail end of summer. The weather was gorgeous and the farmers markets were exploding with fruits and veggies. As soon as we settled in, I immediately started looking into local community supported agriculture (CSA) programs and was surprised to find quite a few. After doing a bit more research, I decided to go with the 47th Avenue Farm because their summer share season was by far the longest -- May through September. Also, given that they're an urban farm here in Portland, our food literally only travels a few miles to reach our table. The farm grows at a couple of sites in Portland, with the biggest plot out on 117th Avenue and another in Lake Oswego, which is about 10 miles south of the city. All of the crops are grown sustainably using cover crops between vegetable rotations, certified organic fertilizers, beneficial insects, drip irrigation, and conservation tillage techniques.

One downside of getting your CSA share from a local urban farm is that there is limited space, which leads to a very long waiting list! When I got the exciting email in April to notify us that we'd made it to the top, it had been a little over a year since we first signed up. I gladly sent in my check for a half-share of vegetables and a full share of fresh eggs. Every week, we drive over to SE 47th Avenue and pick up our veggies along with a dozen eggs. The eggs are unlike any I've seen, with such golden yolks that when scrambled they look almost curried without having any spice at all. Until last week, our share consisted mostly of early spring veggies like garlic and onion scapes, leeks, spring onions, green garlic, and a small amount of mixed field greens.

This week, however, I feel like were just starting to get a taste of summer! We had a mixture of fresh lettuce, radishes, baby bok choy, the last of the scapes, spring onions, and fresh cilantro. In order to enjoy our nice fresh greens to the fullest, Jesse and I made a simple salad and topped it with marinated beef and a perfectly ripe avocado from the grocery store. I love summer!

World Cup Mania

2010-06-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Since the World Cup started two weeks ago, Jesse and I have tried to keep up with the many matches in group rounds. We mostly stream the games on our computers while hovering around Jesse's work desk or in our living room (hey the car seat is proving useful even before the baby arrives). As you can imagine, watching all of the games with internet streaming quality on a 14" screen isn't exactly ideal. So, we've visited several venues over the past couple of weeks to catch some of the more exciting games. When Jesse's parents were in town, we rolled out of bed to watch the 7am Argentina vs. Nigeria game. Later that day, we stopped in at the Mission Theater (one of our favorite second-run movie houses) to see the USA vs. England game, which was really fun and exciting.

As dedicated fans, yesterday morning we set the alarm for 6am and shuffled over to a local divey sports bar to see the USA vs. Algeria and the England vs. Slovenia games. Bars all over town have been opening early (some even open for the 4am games) to cater to the crowds of Portland soccer fans. Most even throw together some sort of special breakfast menu, you know, to help soak up the pitchers of beer they're pouring just after sunrise. This bar was no different. Jesse and I ponied up to the bar right in front of one of probably two dozen flat screen TVs, ordered two Vuvuzela specials and two coffees. The kitchen started slinging eggs, bacon, and sausage right away and waitresses spent the morning carrying armfuls of breakfast plates, delicious looking bloody marys, and pitchers and pints of beer. It was awesome.

One of the announcers during the USA game said that "Americans must be dying a thousand deaths over and over," which pretty much summed up the feeling during the nail-bitingly close match. When Donovan scored that goal in the first minute of stoppage time, the bar erupted with cheers, bar stools fell over, beer splashed in the air, and everyone started chanting USA! USA! USA! Jesse and I walked home excited, yet exhausted.

Later that afternoon, I was thinking about how quite a few of my pregnancy books have stressed that the baby can hear noises. Certain familiar sounds that he hears in utero might be soothing once he's born, like my voice, Jesse's voice, or certain beats from music. One even went so far to suggest that babies who are read to in the womb might even show preference to those books once born. If that truly is the case, then we're going to have to purchase a vuvuzela track (or a swarm of angry bees) as white noise, since that is probably the most consistent external noise he'll hear for most of June and July.

Spring/Summer Cleanup

2010-06-19T11:52:00.001-07:00

This morning as Jesse and I slept in until 9am, which in our house is nothing short of miraculous. Neither of us were quite ready to face the day, so we pulled out our laptops to check out World Cup updates from the two games we missed this morning. As we were watching soccer highlights, Baby G woke up, rolled around, and Jesse got to play with his little feet that that poked and prodded around my ribs. It feels so great to have Jesse home again and share a perfectly relaxing Saturday morning.

While lounging, I decided to change up the blog a bit. Blogger just rolled out new design features that make it very easy to switch things up (and look really really talented in the process). I think it took about 20 minutes, most of which was spent agonizing over what color to make the borders around my photos. Details, people. It's all in the details.

Updating the website really put me into a spring/summer cleaning mood, so I think I'm going to tackle a few organization projects. We're going to get our living room back in order, hang a few photos, and maybe even tackle a closet. I'm ready to have my life back in order again!