This week Nana agreed to help me take dinner to the shelter in Redmond. They have recently increased their bed count, so now we take dinner for 20-25 hungry young people, which is bordering on too much. Well, perhaps not too many people, but it requires a lot of planning, and careful choices about menu. And you know who I want on my team when there is a cooking project that requires planning and choices? Nana. This week I decided to go with pulled pork, which is crockpotted in 2 crockpots, baked potatoes and salad. My fatal error was to also deciding to cook an apple crisp.
I picked up Nana at 5, and we got back to my house to start with dinner around 5:30. We figured we'd assemble the crisp, cook it, and then do the potatoes (which I foil wrapped beforehand), so that the potatoes would still be warm at dinner. It's ok to laugh a little at this point- we need to deliver dinner at 8:30, and that stuff is simply not all going to happen in that three hour window. Nana and Matt started slicing apples while I made the top and preheated the oven. The crisp went in the oven around 6:30, and I was already starting to think better of my plan. Instead of turning the oven up (since a crisp can pretty much cook between 350 and 425), I just threw the potatoes in there as well. This will get us to the punchline in about an hour.
Next, we shredded 16 pounds of meat. I was feeling good about this- it was tasty, and for once seemed like plenty of food. At about 7, I nuked up some lasagna and the three of us had a simple dinner. Matt kept bragging to Nana that this was special, I usually forget to feed us on the nights I take dinner to the shelter.
At 7:30, I got up from the table, ready to start thinking about how we would move all this stuff, and wondering why we weren't overwhelmed with the luscious smells out of the oven. Picture this, I have a 15x11x4 foil pan brimming with apple crisp on the bottom rack, surrounded by foil wrapped potatoes on all sides, and above that is a tray of more foil wrapped potatoes, which is also surrounded by potatoes. (Dinner for 25, right?) The edges of the crisp seemed bubbly but the middle was... still crisp. Gulp. I figured, if the potatoes were done, I would just pull them out of the way and the heat would get more even in the oven. Worse news, the potatoes are also crisp. My eyes are getting bulgy now.
There is a moment, usually about 7:30, when we are planning to take dinner to the shelter and I think, "Nevermind. This won't work. Is it too late to cancel?" This was that moment.
Nana breezes in to the kitchen and says, "Hm, why don't you turn up the oven? And can you nuke those potatoes?" and then she goes on to cleaning up from all the dinner and cooking. Yes and Yes! By this point Matt has looked up a real recipe for making baked potatoes (1hr at 425), and we crank up the heat. He starts pulling potatoes out of their foil jackets in pairs and throwing them in the microwave for a couple minutes at a time, then rewrapping them. Matt is watching the clock like a hawk, but I'm confident that dinner can be served eventually. I start loading up the car. Juice. Buns. BBQ sauce. Butter and sour cream. Lasagna pan full of pork. Salad. The longer the potatoes have been in the oven, the less nuking they need. The crisp is starting to soften and smell lovely. We get the last soft potato in the car and hurtle down to Redmond to serve.
I'm feeling grateful that I can afford to donate dinner, and that I have family to support me in the effort, but still a little bashful that we might be a couple minutes late and a fair bit frazzled. When we arrive, the shelter is dark. For one second, I wonder if I misread the calendar, but no, homeless shelters don't take days off. Turns out, we aren't the only ones feeling flustered tonight, the key has gone missing, and the staff are waiting for someone to let them in.
As we wait patiently, more people start hanging out in this dark parking lot, and I'm feeling really glad that we have a trunk full of tasty food to share. Once the door is open, we breeze in like this is no big deal, unpacking and delivering while the now flustered staff and trying to recover from their shortened prep time as well. By the time we left, it seemed like a huge crowd was waiting outside. Several of the guests thanked us for bringing dinner, and we slinked back to out nice warm homes. The next day I got an email that they had more people than beds that night, but they were able to offer dinner, even seconds, to everyone who was there that night.
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Nana Stories
One of the neat things about having Nana nearby is that I get to hear stories from her. Not just the major, life changing stories, like how she met Papa, or what it was like to have kids in Juneau's early days, but normal stories. I wanted to capture a few of them here for my siblings/ nephew and niece.
Last weekend over dinner I was talking about reading the Monuments Men (about the effort to save art, artifacts and monuments during WWII), and I confessed that I know embarrassingly little about world history. Did you know that Germany tried to invade Russia? Which is why Russia ended up in the war? And that we weren't exactly on the same side? Matt and I bemoaned that Juneau schools never seemed to take history very seriously, so now we are just ignorant adults. Nana said she also didn't get much world history. In high school she was on the annual commitee (yearbook), and she has this very sweet, very dull world history teacher. Should would just come in the class, flash him a smile and say, "I have to work on some things for the annual. Can I do the assignment next week?" and he would let her out of class. Pretty much all year. Seriously. I never pegged Nana for ditching class.
Earlier this week, we were talking about hot water heaters, and Nana reminisced about how when she was growing up, their hot water tank was basically uninsulated, so you could feel on the site how much and how hot the water was. (I assume Nana's Mom had impervious hands as well.) Nana said her mom always seemed to have infinite energy. I have heard he describe the garden that kept the family fed all year, especially when beans, fruits or other things were ready for canning. Because it was a large garden, there were huge spurts of urgency where Grandma Sandlin would have both Nana and Auntie Jeanne in the kitchen, canning for hours. Nana said she could see out the window that it was blue skies and sunny, but she was always caught in the sweltering kitchen heat. And at the end of a major canning effort, her every energetic mother would pat the hot water heater and say, "Come on girls, we still have enough hot water to do a load of laundry." I thought of how ambivalent I can feel about laundry when I'm tired, and then she told me how they DID laundry: manually. They would fill up two tubs, one with soap and a rinse that they would run it through a ringer, and they drop it into the second rinse, with "bluing" and then ring that out, and then hang it all out to dry in the sun. Just hearing that makes me want to flop into a frazzled domestic mess, but she said her mom never wanted her dad to see how much work it was. He liked to see her looking calm and relaxed when he came home from work, so she always made time to clean up from all these things, including scrubbing the floor, brushing her hair and changing her apron so that when her dad got home things were calm and quiet. I asked if she was ever able to achieve that standard with her own kids, and she just laughed.
We had planned to see her and Jerry this week to have dinner and go to the movie Saving Mr. Banks. Due to my poor planning (oh, the movie starts when?) and our general lack of urgency, we missed the movie, but it was nice to have dinner with Nana and Jerry. Just like "old times" before the folks moved here.
Oh, and I feel like bragging. As I mentioned we had a really great time at MOHAI a couple weeks ago, and when I mentioned this to Nana and Jerry, they thought it sounded cool, too. So cool, in fact, that they got one of the buses to take a load of people down there for the day. And they ALSO enjoyed it a lot.
Matt has been busy this week. He gave a talk on Friday, and is gearing up for the mountain bike race series. This means making changes and updates to the bike, that seemed to involved new wheels, and new cables, and many hours in the garage. He really enjoys that.
Last weekend over dinner I was talking about reading the Monuments Men (about the effort to save art, artifacts and monuments during WWII), and I confessed that I know embarrassingly little about world history. Did you know that Germany tried to invade Russia? Which is why Russia ended up in the war? And that we weren't exactly on the same side? Matt and I bemoaned that Juneau schools never seemed to take history very seriously, so now we are just ignorant adults. Nana said she also didn't get much world history. In high school she was on the annual commitee (yearbook), and she has this very sweet, very dull world history teacher. Should would just come in the class, flash him a smile and say, "I have to work on some things for the annual. Can I do the assignment next week?" and he would let her out of class. Pretty much all year. Seriously. I never pegged Nana for ditching class.
Earlier this week, we were talking about hot water heaters, and Nana reminisced about how when she was growing up, their hot water tank was basically uninsulated, so you could feel on the site how much and how hot the water was. (I assume Nana's Mom had impervious hands as well.) Nana said her mom always seemed to have infinite energy. I have heard he describe the garden that kept the family fed all year, especially when beans, fruits or other things were ready for canning. Because it was a large garden, there were huge spurts of urgency where Grandma Sandlin would have both Nana and Auntie Jeanne in the kitchen, canning for hours. Nana said she could see out the window that it was blue skies and sunny, but she was always caught in the sweltering kitchen heat. And at the end of a major canning effort, her every energetic mother would pat the hot water heater and say, "Come on girls, we still have enough hot water to do a load of laundry." I thought of how ambivalent I can feel about laundry when I'm tired, and then she told me how they DID laundry: manually. They would fill up two tubs, one with soap and a rinse that they would run it through a ringer, and they drop it into the second rinse, with "bluing" and then ring that out, and then hang it all out to dry in the sun. Just hearing that makes me want to flop into a frazzled domestic mess, but she said her mom never wanted her dad to see how much work it was. He liked to see her looking calm and relaxed when he came home from work, so she always made time to clean up from all these things, including scrubbing the floor, brushing her hair and changing her apron so that when her dad got home things were calm and quiet. I asked if she was ever able to achieve that standard with her own kids, and she just laughed.
We had planned to see her and Jerry this week to have dinner and go to the movie Saving Mr. Banks. Due to my poor planning (oh, the movie starts when?) and our general lack of urgency, we missed the movie, but it was nice to have dinner with Nana and Jerry. Just like "old times" before the folks moved here.
Oh, and I feel like bragging. As I mentioned we had a really great time at MOHAI a couple weeks ago, and when I mentioned this to Nana and Jerry, they thought it sounded cool, too. So cool, in fact, that they got one of the buses to take a load of people down there for the day. And they ALSO enjoyed it a lot.
Matt has been busy this week. He gave a talk on Friday, and is gearing up for the mountain bike race series. This means making changes and updates to the bike, that seemed to involved new wheels, and new cables, and many hours in the garage. He really enjoys that.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Blackberries
Washington is overrun with the most noxious and awesome of weeds, the Himalayan blackberry. In the summer, the thorny vines encroach on any and every untended space. We pulled runners away from over and under our fence, as well as crawling back down the tree in our yard. The thorns (or jaggers, as Pittsburghers have made me fond of saying) are a wicked surprise in the woods and make clean up a hassle. But then, for several delightful weeks at the end of summer, every abandoned thicket and hedge is transformed into a fragrant, fruit bearing orchard. Matt's house in college had a big thicket in the back that allowed us to make gallons of jam, and stacks of crisps and cobblers and pies. You hardly need to buy fruit if you have a good spot to harvet these things.
And blackberry season is finally here again. It seemed delayed for weeks due to the dry summer, but the air is full of that sweet fruity smell again. On Sunday we floated along the Slough (a term meaning a 'river' so slow it's unclear which direction it might run. Rhymes with Phew, it wasn't hard to paddle!), where the major hazard of falling in is not drowning, but be pieced to death by blackberries if you had to swim out. And although the berries at our house are sweet and flavorful- the berries on the slough were monsterously juicy from gorging themselves on water all summer. Himalayan Blackberries are not known for moderation.
In the spirit of summer, I've been having black berry smoothies and and have another blackberry cobbler in the oven (or possibly a mess of berries with a sweet biscuit in the middle, we'll see what comes out).
And blackberry season is finally here again. It seemed delayed for weeks due to the dry summer, but the air is full of that sweet fruity smell again. On Sunday we floated along the Slough (a term meaning a 'river' so slow it's unclear which direction it might run. Rhymes with Phew, it wasn't hard to paddle!), where the major hazard of falling in is not drowning, but be pieced to death by blackberries if you had to swim out. And although the berries at our house are sweet and flavorful- the berries on the slough were monsterously juicy from gorging themselves on water all summer. Himalayan Blackberries are not known for moderation.
In the spirit of summer, I've been having black berry smoothies and and have another blackberry cobbler in the oven (or possibly a mess of berries with a sweet biscuit in the middle, we'll see what comes out).
Friday, August 31, 2012
The Exciting Conclusion of the Waffle-Off
You'll need a bit of backstory to get to the thrilling conclusion of this post, and I'm afraid the story goes much farther back than the story is thrilling. A fine Juneau institution is the Waffle Co., and after enjoying some of their Ham and Cheese waffles while on a visit home from grad school, Matt and I thought we should try to make savory waffles at home. We acquired a little waffle-maker for the project, and some busy school night decided to give this a go. In my memory, it took a long time. You add cold ham and cheese to waffles, they take a long time to cook. If you ask Matt, you would think the waffle-maker destroyed our breakfast-for-dinner optimism, that it ruined more that just one part of an evening, but perhaps our entire faith in waffles. I actually believed for a long time that Matt didn't like waffles. Any Sunday morning where waffles might suit me, he would snarl at the waffle-maker, or sigh in disgust, and we would usually skip to pancakes, which he says "are faster." Really, the sting of slow waffles had stung too deep, and that trust was irreparably broken, never to heal.
So imagine my surprise, when for my birthday, Matt gave me a waffle-maker. A very nice waffle maker, the kind that flips over (I don't understand this, but the one at the dorms did this). Tragically, it was dented, so it was returned to a store that was SOLD OUT of such nice waffle-makers, presumably to people who hadn't been betrayed by them before. But this started the conversation again. Didn't we love waffles? Was it too painful to invite them back into our lives, or could we try to see past the failure of the waffle-makers to the joy that waffles bring? Matt held firm that the first waffle-maker was "too slow," that better waffle-makers could do the job faster, possibly fluffier and toastier (sins I don't recall from the original waffle incident, but like I said, we seemed to have experienced this differently). Maybe he could love waffles again, but surely there was a better way??
At my second birthday party, at Betty's, I got another new waffle maker. This was good, because the first present came with 30 lbs of waffle mix (see? he wants to love waffles again). The new waffle-maker didn't have flipping capacity, but it did have George Foreman on the front, and I instinctively trust his judgement on waffles. And now we have two waffle-makers. Not that I am picking favorites, but we thought we should settle the score, once and for all. Was the old waffle-maker too slow? Would a new one be faster? Fluffier? Toastier? We mixed up a batch of waffle-mix, and turned on both waffle-makers for a Waffle-Off- a side-by-side duel of breakfast food.
That brings us up to speed. Are you ready for this? The results of the first official Waffle-Off?
It turns out BOTH waffle-makers take about 3-5 minutes to cook a waffle. BOTH waffle-makers make waffles that are about right for one plate. However, the key breakthrough of the experiment was making waffles in parallel- you get twice as many waffles in the same amount of time. Oh joy! The wait was over! We compared the relative merits of each (the old being slightly toastier, the new being slightly fluffier, both making a fine waffle), and sought the perfect combination of toppings. There was so much TIME to indulge in peanut butter and applesauce, or applesauce and Strawberry Rhubarb Quince Jam, or plain syrup, or peanut butter and jam... so much TIME to linger on the toasty, fluffy waffles. And it was good to linger, I had missed waffles- their strange geometry being vastly superior to pancakes for capturing toppings. But it was really momentous to see Matt finally taking joy in waffles again, letting go of that old burden and setting aside his grievances to just enjoy breakfast again.
Dad is going to be staying with me this weekend. Perhaps, if there is time, we will have waffles.
So imagine my surprise, when for my birthday, Matt gave me a waffle-maker. A very nice waffle maker, the kind that flips over (I don't understand this, but the one at the dorms did this). Tragically, it was dented, so it was returned to a store that was SOLD OUT of such nice waffle-makers, presumably to people who hadn't been betrayed by them before. But this started the conversation again. Didn't we love waffles? Was it too painful to invite them back into our lives, or could we try to see past the failure of the waffle-makers to the joy that waffles bring? Matt held firm that the first waffle-maker was "too slow," that better waffle-makers could do the job faster, possibly fluffier and toastier (sins I don't recall from the original waffle incident, but like I said, we seemed to have experienced this differently). Maybe he could love waffles again, but surely there was a better way??
At my second birthday party, at Betty's, I got another new waffle maker. This was good, because the first present came with 30 lbs of waffle mix (see? he wants to love waffles again). The new waffle-maker didn't have flipping capacity, but it did have George Foreman on the front, and I instinctively trust his judgement on waffles. And now we have two waffle-makers. Not that I am picking favorites, but we thought we should settle the score, once and for all. Was the old waffle-maker too slow? Would a new one be faster? Fluffier? Toastier? We mixed up a batch of waffle-mix, and turned on both waffle-makers for a Waffle-Off- a side-by-side duel of breakfast food.
That brings us up to speed. Are you ready for this? The results of the first official Waffle-Off?
It turns out BOTH waffle-makers take about 3-5 minutes to cook a waffle. BOTH waffle-makers make waffles that are about right for one plate. However, the key breakthrough of the experiment was making waffles in parallel- you get twice as many waffles in the same amount of time. Oh joy! The wait was over! We compared the relative merits of each (the old being slightly toastier, the new being slightly fluffier, both making a fine waffle), and sought the perfect combination of toppings. There was so much TIME to indulge in peanut butter and applesauce, or applesauce and Strawberry Rhubarb Quince Jam, or plain syrup, or peanut butter and jam... so much TIME to linger on the toasty, fluffy waffles. And it was good to linger, I had missed waffles- their strange geometry being vastly superior to pancakes for capturing toppings. But it was really momentous to see Matt finally taking joy in waffles again, letting go of that old burden and setting aside his grievances to just enjoy breakfast again.
Dad is going to be staying with me this weekend. Perhaps, if there is time, we will have waffles.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I suppose I should write one of these, too
I had to go back to my previous entry in order to figure out what has been going on since I last wrote. I know it's been a while, but I'm busy, usually either working, taking care of a baby, or resting to recharge my battery to do one of those things again.
So the cats first. They've gotten over their fear of each other and the house is much improved. I couldn't tell you if there is one alpha cat between the two of them. I've seen them both at the top of the cat condo. I've seen them both chasing the other one around, though it does look like most of the time Nagano is the one in charge of deciding when it is 'run around like a maniac' time. They mostly eat out of their own dishes...mostly. And they have even occasionally been nice to each other.
Gizmo is a great cat. I'm really pleased with him. For starters, he seems to have, mostly, lost the habit of trying to wake me up in the middle of the night with head bonks. He mostly just finds a nice spot under my armpit and curls up there. For some reason, whenever we're in the bathroom he decides he desperately needs attention like right then, and whenever he does he's astoundingly vocal about it. He likes it when I pick him up and let him nuzzle my face, as well as being a fan of good, hearty haunch scratches and even the occasional thumping. He's very good with Tyler and a sweetie all around. I'm glad he's mine.
Anyway, Tyler. His walking progress has really taken a good turn, recently. We went to a birthday party for one of Tyler's school-mates. Her third birthday. Very mature. Anyway, there were a lot of kids there of all sorts of ages, and Tyler, evidently, got very inspired by all the kids running around and doing things with their feet. Ever since he's been really interested in walking . He can cover a lot more distance on his own, for once, walking from the living room all the way over into the library sometimes. And more than that, he seems to be using walking to cover ground, rather than crawling everywhere. He's definitely more of a toddler than a baby at this point. Still cute, though.
More teeth are coming in, too. He's been a little fussy the past few days and I daresay we figured out why this morning when Jess had me flip him over so we could check his top gums for new teeth, and there was a new one already through. The one on his left side is through, the one on the right side is on his way. He's had some fussy times but for the most part has been weathering the trials like a champ. Still sleeps all night. What a trooper.
He's also down to just one nap a day. Not on his own, we've been trying it out for him. You see, once you hit 1 year you become eligible to move up to the toddler class, but you have to be able to do certain things, they don't just toss you over the fence on your first birthday. One of the big ones is be able to sleep in a cot and only take one nap. So we had the day care try it out for us, and they've been putting him to sleep at around noon, completely exhausted, (seriously, like a wet noodle) and he's been taking good, long 2 hour naps. Course, he does tend to sleep on the drive home with us too, but that's allowed. We kept it going over the weekend, and even on a day last week when he had to stay home sick with a fever. Of course, I had to stay home sick that day too, and Jess was kind enough to relieve me at about noon from my babysitting duty so I could take, no like, a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day. I can see why he likes it so much.
Tyler's birthday is this weekend! A fairly low-key affair, all told. We'll invite a bunch of people over, have some cake and ice cream, let Tyler open some presents, if he feels like it, and then allow a bunch of other kids to play with his toys. Oh, and also Jessie's mom and sister and nephews will be coming to visit. Such fun! I'm looking forward to letting him make a gigantic mess out of some cake.
Cooking! Nothing impressive, mind, but we have managed to clear out most of our pre-made casserole dinners from our freezer, so I took it upon myself to stock us up this weekend. I made double-batches of three different casseroles on sunday and froze the lot. I'm not actually sure how any of them will fare in the freezer, but they all seemed pretty tasty when I sampled them before they went in. I can send you guys recipes, if you want.
Other than that, it's been a lot of video games and the occasional spot of music production. I am, however, considering shaving my facial hair in the interest of looking a bit younger. I'm all old and everything, and while the facial hair is nice and dignified, inceasing the perception of my age really isn't a boon anymore. I'm a dad. I'm old, you see.
-N
So the cats first. They've gotten over their fear of each other and the house is much improved. I couldn't tell you if there is one alpha cat between the two of them. I've seen them both at the top of the cat condo. I've seen them both chasing the other one around, though it does look like most of the time Nagano is the one in charge of deciding when it is 'run around like a maniac' time. They mostly eat out of their own dishes...mostly. And they have even occasionally been nice to each other.
Gizmo is a great cat. I'm really pleased with him. For starters, he seems to have, mostly, lost the habit of trying to wake me up in the middle of the night with head bonks. He mostly just finds a nice spot under my armpit and curls up there. For some reason, whenever we're in the bathroom he decides he desperately needs attention like right then, and whenever he does he's astoundingly vocal about it. He likes it when I pick him up and let him nuzzle my face, as well as being a fan of good, hearty haunch scratches and even the occasional thumping. He's very good with Tyler and a sweetie all around. I'm glad he's mine.
Anyway, Tyler. His walking progress has really taken a good turn, recently. We went to a birthday party for one of Tyler's school-mates. Her third birthday. Very mature. Anyway, there were a lot of kids there of all sorts of ages, and Tyler, evidently, got very inspired by all the kids running around and doing things with their feet. Ever since he's been really interested in walking . He can cover a lot more distance on his own, for once, walking from the living room all the way over into the library sometimes. And more than that, he seems to be using walking to cover ground, rather than crawling everywhere. He's definitely more of a toddler than a baby at this point. Still cute, though.
More teeth are coming in, too. He's been a little fussy the past few days and I daresay we figured out why this morning when Jess had me flip him over so we could check his top gums for new teeth, and there was a new one already through. The one on his left side is through, the one on the right side is on his way. He's had some fussy times but for the most part has been weathering the trials like a champ. Still sleeps all night. What a trooper.
He's also down to just one nap a day. Not on his own, we've been trying it out for him. You see, once you hit 1 year you become eligible to move up to the toddler class, but you have to be able to do certain things, they don't just toss you over the fence on your first birthday. One of the big ones is be able to sleep in a cot and only take one nap. So we had the day care try it out for us, and they've been putting him to sleep at around noon, completely exhausted, (seriously, like a wet noodle) and he's been taking good, long 2 hour naps. Course, he does tend to sleep on the drive home with us too, but that's allowed. We kept it going over the weekend, and even on a day last week when he had to stay home sick with a fever. Of course, I had to stay home sick that day too, and Jess was kind enough to relieve me at about noon from my babysitting duty so I could take, no like, a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day. I can see why he likes it so much.
Tyler's birthday is this weekend! A fairly low-key affair, all told. We'll invite a bunch of people over, have some cake and ice cream, let Tyler open some presents, if he feels like it, and then allow a bunch of other kids to play with his toys. Oh, and also Jessie's mom and sister and nephews will be coming to visit. Such fun! I'm looking forward to letting him make a gigantic mess out of some cake.
Cooking! Nothing impressive, mind, but we have managed to clear out most of our pre-made casserole dinners from our freezer, so I took it upon myself to stock us up this weekend. I made double-batches of three different casseroles on sunday and froze the lot. I'm not actually sure how any of them will fare in the freezer, but they all seemed pretty tasty when I sampled them before they went in. I can send you guys recipes, if you want.
Other than that, it's been a lot of video games and the occasional spot of music production. I am, however, considering shaving my facial hair in the interest of looking a bit younger. I'm all old and everything, and while the facial hair is nice and dignified, inceasing the perception of my age really isn't a boon anymore. I'm a dad. I'm old, you see.
-N
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Home for the Holidays!
In the time interceding my visit to Austin, very little has changed, but I feel like a lot has happened. Still job hunting, still searching for something to do that makes me feel like the days don't slip away into an eternity of unemployment. But it's been great to have friends around. We had a glamorous evening of ballet at the Nutcracker with Italian food with Shaoshu to celebrate "Kirkland Christmas." We got to see of Matt's bestie and his family before they head to more southerly climes for a holiday adventure, which involved us stopping my a taco truck, and everyone being really glad to see us. It's great.
And now we are home. I think I haven't been home in more than 2 years, so it's exciting to see the work that has happened at the house (I grew up here?) and run in to people I know but have seen since forever. The main objectives today are to MAKE LOTS OF FOOD, and then get hungry enough to eat it. In the background, presents are being wrapped, and decorations are being assembled. We are all cheering Noel's efforts to convert the next week of breakfasts to yeast based delights (cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, munlies and who knows what else). I'm waiting my turn for the oven to convert some sugar cookie dough into lemon cookies, possibly thumbprints, maybe some other stuff. And there is the potential for meringues. And who knows what else. Ha, Mom was worried we wouldn't have enough food. Turns out we just won't have enough butter- and that is the mark of a good holiday.
And there is a baby! He warmed up to all the extended family quite quick, especially if Mom or Dad is not far off. We can all take turns plying him with such fancy toys as empty wrapping paper tubes (which are great as drum sticks, wands or megaphones), wooden spoons (which carry the tasty memories of recipes past), and the menagerie of percussion instruments that have always been a staple of the house. Tyler took great joy from the washboard sounds of Mom's wicker chest/coffee table, driving remote controls along the top to bring out the music.
Oh, and he LOVES Grandpa's mustache. He seems deeply tempted to try and taste it off of Dad's face. His Nana gave him his first ever haircut, so he is looking quite well put together. Nana also found him a new type of solid food, called Mum-mums, which are like quick melting zwiebacks. With his serious Winston face, he latches on to the big cracker with both hands and then "crunch-crunch-crunch" with those two little teeth. And speaking of baby advances, he is also very happy to climb the stairs to the apartment. I think we've got a climber in the making.
Merry Christmas to those of you not lucky enough to be here at the house with us. Maybe next year we'll amass all the readership in Austin TX for a Christmas Blowout Redeaux.
And now we are home. I think I haven't been home in more than 2 years, so it's exciting to see the work that has happened at the house (I grew up here?) and run in to people I know but have seen since forever. The main objectives today are to MAKE LOTS OF FOOD, and then get hungry enough to eat it. In the background, presents are being wrapped, and decorations are being assembled. We are all cheering Noel's efforts to convert the next week of breakfasts to yeast based delights (cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, munlies and who knows what else). I'm waiting my turn for the oven to convert some sugar cookie dough into lemon cookies, possibly thumbprints, maybe some other stuff. And there is the potential for meringues. And who knows what else. Ha, Mom was worried we wouldn't have enough food. Turns out we just won't have enough butter- and that is the mark of a good holiday.
And there is a baby! He warmed up to all the extended family quite quick, especially if Mom or Dad is not far off. We can all take turns plying him with such fancy toys as empty wrapping paper tubes (which are great as drum sticks, wands or megaphones), wooden spoons (which carry the tasty memories of recipes past), and the menagerie of percussion instruments that have always been a staple of the house. Tyler took great joy from the washboard sounds of Mom's wicker chest/coffee table, driving remote controls along the top to bring out the music.
Oh, and he LOVES Grandpa's mustache. He seems deeply tempted to try and taste it off of Dad's face. His Nana gave him his first ever haircut, so he is looking quite well put together. Nana also found him a new type of solid food, called Mum-mums, which are like quick melting zwiebacks. With his serious Winston face, he latches on to the big cracker with both hands and then "crunch-crunch-crunch" with those two little teeth. And speaking of baby advances, he is also very happy to climb the stairs to the apartment. I think we've got a climber in the making.
Merry Christmas to those of you not lucky enough to be here at the house with us. Maybe next year we'll amass all the readership in Austin TX for a Christmas Blowout Redeaux.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Turkey, Et. Al.
'Tis the end of our Thanksgiving weekend too, and it has been a very nice one. This also marks the first time Jess and I have celebrated Thanksgiving by staying home and not traveling across the country and driving ourselves crazy. I gotta say, if you can swing it, Thanksgiving at home is a pretty good way to go. Though you do have to cook for yourselves.
Wednesday was prep day, and like any good father, I just assumed I would have no time to do anything the next day (babies are unpredictable like that) and did whatever I could. Our spread was a little more modest, but I did manage to brine the turkey and set up for both green bean and Sweet potato casserole on Wednesday. Thursday I cooked, and having a little turkey breast to cook instead of a huge honking Turkey makes all the difference, let me tell you. Ever cook a turkey in an hour? It's a little less iconic on the table, but white meat is all we really want anyway, so it worked out. Then a couple of casseroles, some Stove Top stuffing, can-shaped cranberry sauce (the best) and some brown-n-serve rolls and we were in business. Everything was delicious, and we even bought ourselves a few pies to sustain ourselves during dessert. Of course, those pies had been missing a few wedges since we had been trying them out earlier in the week to make sure they were, um, ripe.
Friday was pretty sedate, though notable because it rained, which is always nice when you can get some of that in Texas. I had the bright idea to go get some discount turkey, but there weren't any notable markdowns so we just picked up some random stuff and came home. We're still undecided about Christmas lights, whether or not we actually want to put them up, and the fact that the ground was all wet meant we didn't want to go trudging around in the yard, so we just went on a few walks and played with Tyler a lot. And a few video games, I won't lie.
Saturday I decided to knock the last thing off my long weekend to-do list and finish my latest song. I've been working on the (unofficial) Ticom Geomatics theme song for a while and had the music and lyrics all written, but I hadn't been able to record the lyrics yet because...I've been busy playing video games. So I convinced myself I wasn't allowed to play Saint's Row until the song was done, and then Jess was nice enough to watch Tyler so I could do some recording.
It's still fairly low production value, I personally think it sounds like I'm in a Karaoke Bar, but it's functional, and a worthwhile proof of concept. Maybe I can get some Ticom musicians to help me with a more professional sounding version, starting with the singer. I'm not amazing. I'll post it up in a bit, but if you get desperate, or I forget, you can e-mail me and I’ll send it to you.
Then today was Judo. Our sensei, who just got promoted to 8th degree black belt (one of only 5 in the COUNTRY) decided to have a little seminar, and so I went and Jessie came to watch. There were only about 8 of us there, but it was great fun, good education, and excellent exercise, clocking in at 3 hours of judo, which ain't bad. After that, we've been at home and just fussing around with Tyler and trying to get him to stay awake until his bedtime. I think we've managed to skype with pretty much everyone on my skype list this weekend, so you've all seen his most recent antics. Lots of crawling, getting into things he shouldn't, and eating puffs like it's going out of style.
-N
Wednesday was prep day, and like any good father, I just assumed I would have no time to do anything the next day (babies are unpredictable like that) and did whatever I could. Our spread was a little more modest, but I did manage to brine the turkey and set up for both green bean and Sweet potato casserole on Wednesday. Thursday I cooked, and having a little turkey breast to cook instead of a huge honking Turkey makes all the difference, let me tell you. Ever cook a turkey in an hour? It's a little less iconic on the table, but white meat is all we really want anyway, so it worked out. Then a couple of casseroles, some Stove Top stuffing, can-shaped cranberry sauce (the best) and some brown-n-serve rolls and we were in business. Everything was delicious, and we even bought ourselves a few pies to sustain ourselves during dessert. Of course, those pies had been missing a few wedges since we had been trying them out earlier in the week to make sure they were, um, ripe.
Friday was pretty sedate, though notable because it rained, which is always nice when you can get some of that in Texas. I had the bright idea to go get some discount turkey, but there weren't any notable markdowns so we just picked up some random stuff and came home. We're still undecided about Christmas lights, whether or not we actually want to put them up, and the fact that the ground was all wet meant we didn't want to go trudging around in the yard, so we just went on a few walks and played with Tyler a lot. And a few video games, I won't lie.
Saturday I decided to knock the last thing off my long weekend to-do list and finish my latest song. I've been working on the (unofficial) Ticom Geomatics theme song for a while and had the music and lyrics all written, but I hadn't been able to record the lyrics yet because...I've been busy playing video games. So I convinced myself I wasn't allowed to play Saint's Row until the song was done, and then Jess was nice enough to watch Tyler so I could do some recording.
It's still fairly low production value, I personally think it sounds like I'm in a Karaoke Bar, but it's functional, and a worthwhile proof of concept. Maybe I can get some Ticom musicians to help me with a more professional sounding version, starting with the singer. I'm not amazing. I'll post it up in a bit, but if you get desperate, or I forget, you can e-mail me and I’ll send it to you.
Then today was Judo. Our sensei, who just got promoted to 8th degree black belt (one of only 5 in the COUNTRY) decided to have a little seminar, and so I went and Jessie came to watch. There were only about 8 of us there, but it was great fun, good education, and excellent exercise, clocking in at 3 hours of judo, which ain't bad. After that, we've been at home and just fussing around with Tyler and trying to get him to stay awake until his bedtime. I think we've managed to skype with pretty much everyone on my skype list this weekend, so you've all seen his most recent antics. Lots of crawling, getting into things he shouldn't, and eating puffs like it's going out of style.
-N
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thanksgiving survivors
Happy Thanksgiving, All!
We were very exited to be close enough to drive up to my mother-in-law's for a weekend of fun and eating. See, moving home is great, because you can get together and plan a big meal to share with you family in person, and then get together AGAIN and share it. How cool! Right? I mean, that was kinda how it turned out. Thanksgiving Eve, as it were, I started feeling not awesome- achey, sleepy, sore throat. By the time Matt came home I was reduced to shivers on the couch under a pile of blankets. In a brief moment of clear-minded-ness brought on by Tylenol, I remember 'Hey sometimes people don't like it when you bring them germs as hostess gifts.' I tried to explain this to Matt, but I am pretty sure my pathetic muttering came off as much more "Please take me to your mom's, she'll take care of me."
In the morning Matt confirmed, that yes, his saintly mother would still take us and all the germs we could carry for Thanksgiving AND put our entire, ambitious feast on the table. Whadda Woman! Picture this, I moved directly from the couch to the car, took a long nap in the car and arrived in slippers, sweats and a fleece blanket thrown over my head. I gave a big hug Betty, who made me a cup of tea, which I immediately took to bed. At some point, Matt poked his head in to ask how you make sausage cornbread stuffing. I believe my exact recipe was "Sausage, Cornbread and more butter." I woke up once thinking I might be energetic and asked "Are we having mashed potatoes?" and then went back to bed. I don't know that I felt so terrible, but being awake and suffering just didn't seem in the cards. During one of my brief peroids of awakefulness, Matt did say that he was feeling achey, maybe from his workout. This is a literary device called forshadowing. After a couple more naps and mugs of tea, dinner happened!
And let me just brag on this spread, because I optimistically committed us to it and then didn't lift a finger to get it on the table. I thought surely, the two remaining chefs would decide chard AND Brussels sprouts is overkill, or that maybe a waldorf salad was redundant considering we had like 4 other vegetable dishes on the table- but no. No pan was spared in the making of our Thanksgiving feast, which should come as no surprise given our turn-outs in the past. The centerpiece was of course a beautiful, herbed and brined turkey. Together, they made an amazing sausage and cornbread (that Betty baked fresh) stuffing, as well as Brussels sprouts with sopressetta, creamed chard, mashed potatoes and parsnips and a green casserole which I managed to muff up by giving him crunchy onions that expired 2 years ago (uh, yeah, we moved with that....). There was also a heavenly sweet potatoe dish, an heirloom quality orange-cranberry relish and a divine pumpkin cheesecake. AND a waldorf salad, which while I supposed Bety didn't grow the nuts, everything else in it was home grown AND my-mother-in-law's-best-recipe Deviled Eggs and a crazy good gravy to drown everything in. It was amazing. It took like and hour to move it all on to the table, and then on to each of our plates. And now is a good time to clarify, that yes, it was just the three of us eating. We of course ate ourselves silly, and then retired the feast to the fridge until we could consider cheesecake. I believe I had another nap. And about the time I got up to eating cheesecake, Matt said that, no, he didn't want any, he would just go to bed. Which I thought was weird- especially when I tasted how good the cheesecake was! By my bed time, my throat was just feeling bruised from swelling and I was tired, but Matt had mumbled a goodbye, and then curled up on the bed, fully clothed and passed out. Uh-oh.
He spent the rest of the night tossing and turning and feeling awful. He woke up in the morning sort of confused about it, like he often is about when his body does not respond as directed. After some discussion, we concluded that maybe you don't only need to take medicine when you are SICK, if you use a narrow definition of SICK that requires hospitalization, maybe sometimes you can take some medicine when you don't feel good. Having some aleve in him made it easier to get him interested in drinking juice, but unfortunately, his interest in food was completely off. Betty and I went for a brief sprint around town for "black friday" shopping- we went to the gallery, and her friend's gallery and the grocery store for more lemons for my lemon honey tea. I got some beautiful cards, and then was in sore need of a nap. I cannot exaggerate the amount I slept this weekend. Matt and I barely saw each other we were sleeping so much. This is partly due to illness, but I think also a cry for help in the form of blackout curtains for our bedroom. By today, we both felt with it enough to pack our own things out to the car and stay awake for the long (2 hours) drive home. Matt took a shower, put on all his warm clothes and came to sit on the couch with me. Then the cat yurped, and after he recovered his dignity, he came to be the cherry on top of our sick family sundae.
As objectively bad as most of that sounds, it was actually a really nice weekend. I mean, if you have to be sick, it is so much nicer to be around people who want to take care of you and can make tea without batting an eye. I'm thoroughly convinced our health was buoyed up by a full array of hearty and nourishing foods, prepared lovingly by my (blessedly un-infected) mother-in-law. And if we left too many germs behind, I will totally rush back to concrete to make the tea and prime the DVDs.
We were very exited to be close enough to drive up to my mother-in-law's for a weekend of fun and eating. See, moving home is great, because you can get together and plan a big meal to share with you family in person, and then get together AGAIN and share it. How cool! Right? I mean, that was kinda how it turned out. Thanksgiving Eve, as it were, I started feeling not awesome- achey, sleepy, sore throat. By the time Matt came home I was reduced to shivers on the couch under a pile of blankets. In a brief moment of clear-minded-ness brought on by Tylenol, I remember 'Hey sometimes people don't like it when you bring them germs as hostess gifts.' I tried to explain this to Matt, but I am pretty sure my pathetic muttering came off as much more "Please take me to your mom's, she'll take care of me."
In the morning Matt confirmed, that yes, his saintly mother would still take us and all the germs we could carry for Thanksgiving AND put our entire, ambitious feast on the table. Whadda Woman! Picture this, I moved directly from the couch to the car, took a long nap in the car and arrived in slippers, sweats and a fleece blanket thrown over my head. I gave a big hug Betty, who made me a cup of tea, which I immediately took to bed. At some point, Matt poked his head in to ask how you make sausage cornbread stuffing. I believe my exact recipe was "Sausage, Cornbread and more butter." I woke up once thinking I might be energetic and asked "Are we having mashed potatoes?" and then went back to bed. I don't know that I felt so terrible, but being awake and suffering just didn't seem in the cards. During one of my brief peroids of awakefulness, Matt did say that he was feeling achey, maybe from his workout. This is a literary device called forshadowing. After a couple more naps and mugs of tea, dinner happened!
And let me just brag on this spread, because I optimistically committed us to it and then didn't lift a finger to get it on the table. I thought surely, the two remaining chefs would decide chard AND Brussels sprouts is overkill, or that maybe a waldorf salad was redundant considering we had like 4 other vegetable dishes on the table- but no. No pan was spared in the making of our Thanksgiving feast, which should come as no surprise given our turn-outs in the past. The centerpiece was of course a beautiful, herbed and brined turkey. Together, they made an amazing sausage and cornbread (that Betty baked fresh) stuffing, as well as Brussels sprouts with sopressetta, creamed chard, mashed potatoes and parsnips and a green casserole which I managed to muff up by giving him crunchy onions that expired 2 years ago (uh, yeah, we moved with that....). There was also a heavenly sweet potatoe dish, an heirloom quality orange-cranberry relish and a divine pumpkin cheesecake. AND a waldorf salad, which while I supposed Bety didn't grow the nuts, everything else in it was home grown AND my-mother-in-law's-best-recipe Deviled Eggs and a crazy good gravy to drown everything in. It was amazing. It took like and hour to move it all on to the table, and then on to each of our plates. And now is a good time to clarify, that yes, it was just the three of us eating. We of course ate ourselves silly, and then retired the feast to the fridge until we could consider cheesecake. I believe I had another nap. And about the time I got up to eating cheesecake, Matt said that, no, he didn't want any, he would just go to bed. Which I thought was weird- especially when I tasted how good the cheesecake was! By my bed time, my throat was just feeling bruised from swelling and I was tired, but Matt had mumbled a goodbye, and then curled up on the bed, fully clothed and passed out. Uh-oh.
He spent the rest of the night tossing and turning and feeling awful. He woke up in the morning sort of confused about it, like he often is about when his body does not respond as directed. After some discussion, we concluded that maybe you don't only need to take medicine when you are SICK, if you use a narrow definition of SICK that requires hospitalization, maybe sometimes you can take some medicine when you don't feel good. Having some aleve in him made it easier to get him interested in drinking juice, but unfortunately, his interest in food was completely off. Betty and I went for a brief sprint around town for "black friday" shopping- we went to the gallery, and her friend's gallery and the grocery store for more lemons for my lemon honey tea. I got some beautiful cards, and then was in sore need of a nap. I cannot exaggerate the amount I slept this weekend. Matt and I barely saw each other we were sleeping so much. This is partly due to illness, but I think also a cry for help in the form of blackout curtains for our bedroom. By today, we both felt with it enough to pack our own things out to the car and stay awake for the long (2 hours) drive home. Matt took a shower, put on all his warm clothes and came to sit on the couch with me. Then the cat yurped, and after he recovered his dignity, he came to be the cherry on top of our sick family sundae.
As objectively bad as most of that sounds, it was actually a really nice weekend. I mean, if you have to be sick, it is so much nicer to be around people who want to take care of you and can make tea without batting an eye. I'm thoroughly convinced our health was buoyed up by a full array of hearty and nourishing foods, prepared lovingly by my (blessedly un-infected) mother-in-law. And if we left too many germs behind, I will totally rush back to concrete to make the tea and prime the DVDs.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Happy Birthday to me
Whenever I write one of these I like to go back to the previous one and read about where we were last time I wrote. Two weeks can be a heck of a long time in baby-years. The biggest change since last time, in fact, has been a big one. Tyler is a day-care baby now. That's right. We got him through a good 5 months of being a home baby thanks to everyone's help with babysitting, but now it's time for him to start learning some other lessons, like how to interact with other babies and how to get sick rather a lot.
The place Tyler is going for school (It's just easier to start thinking of it like that now) is called Bright Horizons, and it's part of a nationwide chain of daycare centers. A few people we work with go there too. It seems really nice, so far. Tyler has gotten along with the new environment surprisingly well...well, not that surprising when you consider that it's Tyler, I guess. But his first day Jess was very much nervous and so we 'happened' to go out to get lunch and it 'happened' to be at a place really close to the day care. We stopped by to see him and he was having a pretty great time, just hanging out on the floor and playing with toys...stuffing them in his mouth, that sort of thing. He was really only mildly interested in us, really, and after we got ourselves some Tyler-cuddling time, we just put him right back down and he went back to playing. We're told he has had a couple of rough mornings so far, but I'm sure with experience, both from Tyler and from the day care staff, they'll learn his cues better and that will smooth out. But considering the abruptness of the change, Tyler seems like he's fitting in quite well.
There's seven other babies in Tyler's class and two teachers. The babies go up to a little over a year old, but after that they become toddlers and graduate up to the next class. There's a lot of cuties in there, but Tyler is, of course, the cutest. Donna is one of the oldest. She has a full head of hair but no teeth, and she likes people a lot. She came up and flirted with me on the first day. One of the days Tyler even took a nap over two hours long. He missed his morning nap, though, so that's to be expected, and he didn't seem to happy about that.
But yeah, so far things have been going great at the day care. Friday we didn't even have to go see him at lunch, and he's always happy and smiley when it's time to pick him up in the afternoon. Also, no sickness, yet, though I'm sure it's just a matter of time with so many babies around.
Solid food has also been going well. He's still mostly just on rice, which he really likes but it is occasionally to slow for a very hungry baby. Today, though, we got him some oats to try. They didn't taste much different than the rice (both like cardboard) but he had some to eat and didn't complain or anything. What a great baby.
Mom Preecs was here to take care of Tyler for his last two weeks at home, and the two of them got along just great. So great, in fact, that mom had plenty of time to cook us a lot of dinners for us and do a couple of sewing projects for Tyler. She made up one of those seven-can stools for him with some really neat fabric we got, and she even made Tyler a 'Gussy' to cuddle with. It's got a cute face and pockets and everything. Also, really nice fabric. I helped find that one, so that's my contribution.
Mom was also here to help my celebrate my birthday weekend! With Fish! We went out to a very fancy fish restaurant (Thanks, Jess!) called Trulucks (pronounced True-lucks, we finally figured out) and had all sorts of fancy ocean delicacies. Including rather a lot of dessert. Mom and I both tried the Tuna, which I hadn't tried in quite a while, and the crab cake which was fantastic. And dad managed to mail me some Dremmel tool stuff for use around the house, no doubt. I already know what my first project is with that. Thanks dad!
Jessie's birday present to me was that I got to go to whole foods and buy WHATEVER I WANTED. Which, let me tell you, is a heck of a lot of fun, though not cheap. So I put together a list of a few random things I wanted to cook, most of them from Alton Brown episodes, and picked up all the ingredients. I've made about half of my menu already:
1) Cheesy Italian Meatball Casserole – Frozen for future eating
2) Pastitsio Casserole – Lots of parts, but really fun to make. Also frozen already
3) Avocado Ice Cream – I'll let you know how it turns out.
The rest get made later today or tomorrow:
4) Fudge – Yum!
5) Grill Pizza – Double-yum. I'll make several types.
6) Stuffed Tilapia with cheese sauce. (Jess is letting me make fish for dinner!)
So that's what I do for fun on Birthdays. Way better than pub crawling. At least, for me.
Later today we're going down the street to the neighbors to hang out with Grant and get him used to strangers a little bit more. I also want to use the opportunity to see if Tyler likes playing in their jumper. His legs are getting stronger and stronger, though he still needs more practice sitting up on his own.
-N
The place Tyler is going for school (It's just easier to start thinking of it like that now) is called Bright Horizons, and it's part of a nationwide chain of daycare centers. A few people we work with go there too. It seems really nice, so far. Tyler has gotten along with the new environment surprisingly well...well, not that surprising when you consider that it's Tyler, I guess. But his first day Jess was very much nervous and so we 'happened' to go out to get lunch and it 'happened' to be at a place really close to the day care. We stopped by to see him and he was having a pretty great time, just hanging out on the floor and playing with toys...stuffing them in his mouth, that sort of thing. He was really only mildly interested in us, really, and after we got ourselves some Tyler-cuddling time, we just put him right back down and he went back to playing. We're told he has had a couple of rough mornings so far, but I'm sure with experience, both from Tyler and from the day care staff, they'll learn his cues better and that will smooth out. But considering the abruptness of the change, Tyler seems like he's fitting in quite well.
There's seven other babies in Tyler's class and two teachers. The babies go up to a little over a year old, but after that they become toddlers and graduate up to the next class. There's a lot of cuties in there, but Tyler is, of course, the cutest. Donna is one of the oldest. She has a full head of hair but no teeth, and she likes people a lot. She came up and flirted with me on the first day. One of the days Tyler even took a nap over two hours long. He missed his morning nap, though, so that's to be expected, and he didn't seem to happy about that.
But yeah, so far things have been going great at the day care. Friday we didn't even have to go see him at lunch, and he's always happy and smiley when it's time to pick him up in the afternoon. Also, no sickness, yet, though I'm sure it's just a matter of time with so many babies around.
Solid food has also been going well. He's still mostly just on rice, which he really likes but it is occasionally to slow for a very hungry baby. Today, though, we got him some oats to try. They didn't taste much different than the rice (both like cardboard) but he had some to eat and didn't complain or anything. What a great baby.
Mom Preecs was here to take care of Tyler for his last two weeks at home, and the two of them got along just great. So great, in fact, that mom had plenty of time to cook us a lot of dinners for us and do a couple of sewing projects for Tyler. She made up one of those seven-can stools for him with some really neat fabric we got, and she even made Tyler a 'Gussy' to cuddle with. It's got a cute face and pockets and everything. Also, really nice fabric. I helped find that one, so that's my contribution.
Mom was also here to help my celebrate my birthday weekend! With Fish! We went out to a very fancy fish restaurant (Thanks, Jess!) called Trulucks (pronounced True-lucks, we finally figured out) and had all sorts of fancy ocean delicacies. Including rather a lot of dessert. Mom and I both tried the Tuna, which I hadn't tried in quite a while, and the crab cake which was fantastic. And dad managed to mail me some Dremmel tool stuff for use around the house, no doubt. I already know what my first project is with that. Thanks dad!
Jessie's birday present to me was that I got to go to whole foods and buy WHATEVER I WANTED. Which, let me tell you, is a heck of a lot of fun, though not cheap. So I put together a list of a few random things I wanted to cook, most of them from Alton Brown episodes, and picked up all the ingredients. I've made about half of my menu already:
1) Cheesy Italian Meatball Casserole – Frozen for future eating
2) Pastitsio Casserole – Lots of parts, but really fun to make. Also frozen already
3) Avocado Ice Cream – I'll let you know how it turns out.
The rest get made later today or tomorrow:
4) Fudge – Yum!
5) Grill Pizza – Double-yum. I'll make several types.
6) Stuffed Tilapia with cheese sauce. (Jess is letting me make fish for dinner!)
So that's what I do for fun on Birthdays. Way better than pub crawling. At least, for me.
Later today we're going down the street to the neighbors to hang out with Grant and get him used to strangers a little bit more. I also want to use the opportunity to see if Tyler likes playing in their jumper. His legs are getting stronger and stronger, though he still needs more practice sitting up on his own.
-N
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Happy Mother's Day
I wanted to do my next post about Tyler's numbers. We've stopped using the little App that keeps track of all his stuff (accurately predicted by Dad) and I took pictures of the month-long graphs we got out of the projects, but now I've got a new laptop and all my pictures are still on the old one, so I guess you guys will have to wait for that one while I get my data all sorted out.
Mother's day! Jess told me she wanted flowers for mothers day, then she told me she didn't. So Tyler and I are teaming up for a mothers day morning surprise. I made Jessie some breakfast biscuits and scones for whenever she wakes up. Tyler is doing the important work of staying asleep while Daddy bakes. The other part of my mothers day present, and weekends in general, is that I take over Tyler duties during the morning so Jess can sleep in as much as she wants. She still takes care of him at night during the weekend though. What a trooper.
Speaking of moms, we have a couple of them on their way in just a day or so. We're excited for the additional visitors, of course, and we're quite pleased with ourselves that we managed to go a whole week just with the two of us in charge of Tyler, even with me working. Fantastic work, all. Tyler continues to be pretty much the best sleeper in the whole world. He wakes up 2 or sometimes just once at night, and he usually sleeps for 10 or 11 hours around that. Yes, we know how lucky that makes us. It also makes me nervous to consider another kid. What are *real* babies like? This one feels like we are cheating!
Tyler is starting to interact more, too. Though in this case, 'more' really means 'at all'. He's started smiling at us! When he hasn't seen you in a while and you come over and give him a big smile...and wait a few minutes while he figures out why that particular blob looks familiar...he'll smile at you! He was all grins for a good half-hour yesterday during morning playtime. The heart melts!
Oh, and because we've been told to write this down, and I can't remember if I've blogged about it before: nicknames. We do call him T-rex every once in a while, especially wen he's nursing. Jessie's nipples are getting tougher, but the kid definitely has some serious mouth-grip going on. I can tell when he latches, Jessie starts to wince...and occasionally curse.
The more common nickname is 'Starfish.' When he startles, like all babies, all of the limbs go out in every direction, even when he's asleep, sometimes. He tends to startle at a lot of things, from sudden noises to the sound of daddy laughing. I laugh loud, anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you that. Jessie sometimes calls him 'startlefish'.
Most common, though, is still 'Baby Tyler.' I tend to make up songs for him when I get home. Usually songs about how he is a baby and is so cute and likes to dance and occasionally tries to throw up on me. Different song every day. How come I can't make anything in my studio. I should be recording these.
It rained (finally) last week on one of the days I biked into work. Oh, I've been biking into work a lot. I like doing it, and it's just me going in, so that's been my exercise, most days. But it did rain one day, and Jess came out to get me. She insisted I was cold and miserable and needed a hot shower. I didn't, of course. It's just water, and the biking was keeping me plenty warm, although totally soaked, but she tends to project her worry for me. She's cute. Then on Friday my tire got flat at work and Jess had to come pick me up. We got some new tubes to replace the punctured one and then the three of us went out for Thai food. Tyler especially liked the Pad Se Ew.
Yes, I'm kidding. He just had formula. With coconut milk in it. No! I'm kidding again!
Speaking of coconut milk, I'm hoping to try and make some Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner today. Alton brown has a recipe, and I've got the whole spices to try out. Yum.
Oop, I hear the stirrings of a little baby. Ciao!
-N
Mother's day! Jess told me she wanted flowers for mothers day, then she told me she didn't. So Tyler and I are teaming up for a mothers day morning surprise. I made Jessie some breakfast biscuits and scones for whenever she wakes up. Tyler is doing the important work of staying asleep while Daddy bakes. The other part of my mothers day present, and weekends in general, is that I take over Tyler duties during the morning so Jess can sleep in as much as she wants. She still takes care of him at night during the weekend though. What a trooper.
Speaking of moms, we have a couple of them on their way in just a day or so. We're excited for the additional visitors, of course, and we're quite pleased with ourselves that we managed to go a whole week just with the two of us in charge of Tyler, even with me working. Fantastic work, all. Tyler continues to be pretty much the best sleeper in the whole world. He wakes up 2 or sometimes just once at night, and he usually sleeps for 10 or 11 hours around that. Yes, we know how lucky that makes us. It also makes me nervous to consider another kid. What are *real* babies like? This one feels like we are cheating!
Tyler is starting to interact more, too. Though in this case, 'more' really means 'at all'. He's started smiling at us! When he hasn't seen you in a while and you come over and give him a big smile...and wait a few minutes while he figures out why that particular blob looks familiar...he'll smile at you! He was all grins for a good half-hour yesterday during morning playtime. The heart melts!
Oh, and because we've been told to write this down, and I can't remember if I've blogged about it before: nicknames. We do call him T-rex every once in a while, especially wen he's nursing. Jessie's nipples are getting tougher, but the kid definitely has some serious mouth-grip going on. I can tell when he latches, Jessie starts to wince...and occasionally curse.
The more common nickname is 'Starfish.' When he startles, like all babies, all of the limbs go out in every direction, even when he's asleep, sometimes. He tends to startle at a lot of things, from sudden noises to the sound of daddy laughing. I laugh loud, anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you that. Jessie sometimes calls him 'startlefish'.
Most common, though, is still 'Baby Tyler.' I tend to make up songs for him when I get home. Usually songs about how he is a baby and is so cute and likes to dance and occasionally tries to throw up on me. Different song every day. How come I can't make anything in my studio. I should be recording these.
It rained (finally) last week on one of the days I biked into work. Oh, I've been biking into work a lot. I like doing it, and it's just me going in, so that's been my exercise, most days. But it did rain one day, and Jess came out to get me. She insisted I was cold and miserable and needed a hot shower. I didn't, of course. It's just water, and the biking was keeping me plenty warm, although totally soaked, but she tends to project her worry for me. She's cute. Then on Friday my tire got flat at work and Jess had to come pick me up. We got some new tubes to replace the punctured one and then the three of us went out for Thai food. Tyler especially liked the Pad Se Ew.
Yes, I'm kidding. He just had formula. With coconut milk in it. No! I'm kidding again!
Speaking of coconut milk, I'm hoping to try and make some Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner today. Alton brown has a recipe, and I've got the whole spices to try out. Yum.
Oop, I hear the stirrings of a little baby. Ciao!
-N
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Getting even readier
At the moment I’m kneading one batch of bread dough (two loaves, version 2) in the machine while another batch of bread dough (two loaves, version 1) rises on the counter. As soon as it’s done spinning, I’m going to go shopping for some ingredients to make casseroles that I can freeze in our new freezer. I’m hoping to make curry chicken pot pie and maybe a couple of others. Tonight I’ll make pizza dough, let it rise in the fridge overnight, and then partially bake it so it rises and starts to set, then freeze the dough so later we can make pizza by just thawing the dough, putting on the toppings, and letting it finish baking. So I have all of this stuff to do and it would be *really inconvenient if Jessie went into labor right now, Tyler!*
...Darn, no luck.
Meanwhile, Jessie is taking a nap, but she is, simultaneously *creating a new human life*, so I think she’s still working harder than I am.
‘Last minute’ preparations continue, though really I’m about as ready to be a dad as it is possible to be (which, unfortunately, isn’t all that ready). I’m just doing things to help future-me get though the first few weeks of fatherhood as easily as possible. (I appreciate it, past-me! (You’re welcome, future-me!) ) Really, whenever Tyler decided he’s had enough of waiting, he’ll be along and we’ll just drop whatever random thing we’re working on and head off to deliver. Maybe I loose a batch or two of bread dough, big deal. There are worse fates.
Jessie has had the occasional contraction, and while the scientific method *clearly* demonstrates why this is a bad idea, it’s fun to attribute it to whatever was happening directly before. We were out at a mexican restaurant and Jessie tried some of my spicy fish. She got a few test-contractions afterwards, which makes me think that the idea of spicy fish is enough to lure Tyler from his home. I also got to try out my contraction calculator, but no periodic behavior was established. There was another one today when Jessie lunged to try and stop Tigger from eating Nagano’s shedded hair (why does he do that?) I told her if she went into labor I’d tell everyone it was our cats fault.
So contractions, which is progress of a sort. I’m still convinced that without assistance Tyler would stay in there quite a while longer, and that’s probably not good for either Mom or Baby, so I’m all in favor of induction. A few more days at most, which is enough time to get some more prep-cooking done. I’m going to go buy a couple of whole, cooked chickens and reduce them to their component atoms to save me some time when cooking up my casseroles.
-N
...Darn, no luck.
Meanwhile, Jessie is taking a nap, but she is, simultaneously *creating a new human life*, so I think she’s still working harder than I am.
‘Last minute’ preparations continue, though really I’m about as ready to be a dad as it is possible to be (which, unfortunately, isn’t all that ready). I’m just doing things to help future-me get though the first few weeks of fatherhood as easily as possible. (I appreciate it, past-me! (You’re welcome, future-me!) ) Really, whenever Tyler decided he’s had enough of waiting, he’ll be along and we’ll just drop whatever random thing we’re working on and head off to deliver. Maybe I loose a batch or two of bread dough, big deal. There are worse fates.
Jessie has had the occasional contraction, and while the scientific method *clearly* demonstrates why this is a bad idea, it’s fun to attribute it to whatever was happening directly before. We were out at a mexican restaurant and Jessie tried some of my spicy fish. She got a few test-contractions afterwards, which makes me think that the idea of spicy fish is enough to lure Tyler from his home. I also got to try out my contraction calculator, but no periodic behavior was established. There was another one today when Jessie lunged to try and stop Tigger from eating Nagano’s shedded hair (why does he do that?) I told her if she went into labor I’d tell everyone it was our cats fault.
So contractions, which is progress of a sort. I’m still convinced that without assistance Tyler would stay in there quite a while longer, and that’s probably not good for either Mom or Baby, so I’m all in favor of induction. A few more days at most, which is enough time to get some more prep-cooking done. I’m going to go buy a couple of whole, cooked chickens and reduce them to their component atoms to save me some time when cooking up my casseroles.
-N
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Notes from the beer book
Since job hunting is not really all that exciting to blog about until you get good news, I'm pushing myself to do other blog worthy activities. This weekend, Matt and I decided to start another homebrew. It's been a LONG time since we've done this, but there is a homebrew bash coming up (organized by someone else this year, yeah!), and we are inclined to participate. It's been long enough that we've basically put a rosy sheen on the whole process, as you'll see when I describe how this all went down.
We pulled out the old books (The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing is classic) and tried to get some recipe ideas. Matt wanted to try an India Pale Ale (IPA), which is light in color and strongly hopped, to serve as a preservative on the long trip from England to India. But, since he has just bought a Double IPA, this modest ambition somehow got upgraded to an Imperial IPA- meaning 3X sugar, 2X alcohol, and 9X hops (by my estimation). I'll just add this narrative by way of an excuse. In the Joy of Homebrewing, there is a giant table of all the various hop varieties and characters. We started thinking it would be really nice with Citra, and a strong Cascade flavor- hmm, we should add some more sugar for that- and if there is more sugar we should definitely dry hop it with Tettnang hops, and how about Columbus for aroma, and those a pretty bitter, we should add more sugar just in case...
What we ended up with is a beer recipe that has 4 kinds of malts, 9 pounds of malt extract, 5 kinds of hops- which we continuously added during the brewing- and a high tolerance yeast. It took two of us just to walk that stuff out of the brew store! Fortunately, we spent time planning, for once. I've got a brewing notebook to make notes about how we wanted it to work, and how it actually worked. What actually happened, is I neglected to bring the 1.5 gal sparge water up from 150F to a boil before adding the 9 lbs of malt extract- which is basically bread flavored sugar. It floated on top, and became hard, sticky balls of malty mess until the temp rose enough, when it turned into a thick, impenetrable foam that expanded dramatically at boiling temp. Our 1.5 gal of water with 9 lbs of sugary extract in it was approaching the capacity of our 4 gal stock pot, until the foam died down. The rest of the brewing went well, but the stuff in the pot was a disgusting beer syrup. This got diluted with another ~4 gal of water which, thanks to our planning, was actually cold, and dropped the temp a lot. From there, we waited patiently until the temp came down from ~85F to ~77F to drop the yeast in. The whole process took ~4 hours, we pitched the yeast just after midnight.
Matt spent some time hunting for the coziest place in our house to house the yeast. He finally decided on a building a shelf from 2x4 to set over the heating vent. The cat is jealous that he's been outed from this hot spot. Hopefully the yeast will kick up in a couple days and then this process will continue for several weeks before bottling. We're excited to see how it turns out- and hopefully will get some motivation to start another beer soon.
We pulled out the old books (The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing is classic) and tried to get some recipe ideas. Matt wanted to try an India Pale Ale (IPA), which is light in color and strongly hopped, to serve as a preservative on the long trip from England to India. But, since he has just bought a Double IPA, this modest ambition somehow got upgraded to an Imperial IPA- meaning 3X sugar, 2X alcohol, and 9X hops (by my estimation). I'll just add this narrative by way of an excuse. In the Joy of Homebrewing, there is a giant table of all the various hop varieties and characters. We started thinking it would be really nice with Citra, and a strong Cascade flavor- hmm, we should add some more sugar for that- and if there is more sugar we should definitely dry hop it with Tettnang hops, and how about Columbus for aroma, and those a pretty bitter, we should add more sugar just in case...
What we ended up with is a beer recipe that has 4 kinds of malts, 9 pounds of malt extract, 5 kinds of hops- which we continuously added during the brewing- and a high tolerance yeast. It took two of us just to walk that stuff out of the brew store! Fortunately, we spent time planning, for once. I've got a brewing notebook to make notes about how we wanted it to work, and how it actually worked. What actually happened, is I neglected to bring the 1.5 gal sparge water up from 150F to a boil before adding the 9 lbs of malt extract- which is basically bread flavored sugar. It floated on top, and became hard, sticky balls of malty mess until the temp rose enough, when it turned into a thick, impenetrable foam that expanded dramatically at boiling temp. Our 1.5 gal of water with 9 lbs of sugary extract in it was approaching the capacity of our 4 gal stock pot, until the foam died down. The rest of the brewing went well, but the stuff in the pot was a disgusting beer syrup. This got diluted with another ~4 gal of water which, thanks to our planning, was actually cold, and dropped the temp a lot. From there, we waited patiently until the temp came down from ~85F to ~77F to drop the yeast in. The whole process took ~4 hours, we pitched the yeast just after midnight.
Matt spent some time hunting for the coziest place in our house to house the yeast. He finally decided on a building a shelf from 2x4 to set over the heating vent. The cat is jealous that he's been outed from this hot spot. Hopefully the yeast will kick up in a couple days and then this process will continue for several weeks before bottling. We're excited to see how it turns out- and hopefully will get some motivation to start another beer soon.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
I made my own Yogurt
I just wanted to share this odd tidbit from the ol' homestead. Since I am often misjudging how much of what food will get eaten before it goes bad, I've tried to amass as many ways as possible to give second life to "mature" foods. You know, banana bread, applesauce, that type of thing. But I occasionally misjudge how much milk I can get through, and that feels like a colossal waste.
But, some of my Indian collegues told me they regularly make their own yogurt, and it isn't hard. So when I realized I was a bit scared of the gently expired half gallon of milk in thr fridge, I figured why not? It's outstandingly easy, in fact. You milk can't be actually bad, but maybe by the time you realize you'll never be able to finish it all by the time it is would be a great time to try this. You can use regular fresh milk to. If you like your yogurt thick (as opposed to pourable, like Indian riata), gently head up the milk, to maybe almost a simmer. This step is optional. When the yogurt cools to at least bathtub temps (98 F or less), drop in a table spoon or so of old yogurt. You know, live and active cultures. They go bananas in the new milk environment. It may take overnight or so, but leave your milk covered and at room temp until it thickens up and tastes like yogurt. Amazing!
Mine is actually quite fluffy, and I think I'll try to drain some of the fluid out of it for a thicker, greek style. But it did make a rockin' smoothie this morning.
But, some of my Indian collegues told me they regularly make their own yogurt, and it isn't hard. So when I realized I was a bit scared of the gently expired half gallon of milk in thr fridge, I figured why not? It's outstandingly easy, in fact. You milk can't be actually bad, but maybe by the time you realize you'll never be able to finish it all by the time it is would be a great time to try this. You can use regular fresh milk to. If you like your yogurt thick (as opposed to pourable, like Indian riata), gently head up the milk, to maybe almost a simmer. This step is optional. When the yogurt cools to at least bathtub temps (98 F or less), drop in a table spoon or so of old yogurt. You know, live and active cultures. They go bananas in the new milk environment. It may take overnight or so, but leave your milk covered and at room temp until it thickens up and tastes like yogurt. Amazing!
Mine is actually quite fluffy, and I think I'll try to drain some of the fluid out of it for a thicker, greek style. But it did make a rockin' smoothie this morning.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Pictures of more cool things
This one’s for nana, the Amaryllis she sent to us. I’m holding on to it because it actually collapsed under its own weight a while ago. Fortunately, we just put it in a cup of water and it’s been sitting there and looking pretty for about a week, now. The other one still hasn’t bloomed, but little red petals are starting to peak out of the bud, so it shouldn’t be long now.
King cake experiments. I got the little plastic baby jesus in the king cake last year, and so we get to host the party this year (unless the baby shows up early). So I’ve been experimenting with king cakes to make sure I am up to the challenge of making one. This one is, essentially, a cinnamon roll, except rolled up. The recipe actually makes too, also, so we brought one into the office and kept the other for ourselves.
A couple of shots from the completed baby room. I added a few more details to the tree and then did a little dinosaur collage up on the wall. Looks nice, yes? I think I can keep a baby in here.
My studio. The drums have been moved downstairs so that I can play rock band with them (I finally got the midi converter and I’m really learning to play the real drum parts. How cool!) But I include this one so you can see the picture I put up in the corner. I got a program called a ‘rasterizer’ that takes your picture and splits it up into 8.5 x 11 sized pictures that you can then print out and put together. I wanted a big version of this picture for a while, and now i have one.
This one is from the baby shower. Someone made us a t-rex cake that was actually shaped like a t-rex. We still have some in the fridge. Good frosting!
-N
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
This is the year!
Every year, about this time, I get this serious yen to make Graham Cracker Candy. Well, to eat it actually, but I've been stuck on this first step for year and years now. Every year I get this craving, and I get to thinking about how all the people in my life have never experienced the joy of Graham Cracker Candy, and so I should make some to share with every person I know... Every year, something horrible happens to the recipe, and I end up with a thick syrup with soggy cracker crumbs floating in it. That is, I say that like it is bad- I usually eat this syrup with a spoon until Matt gets so overwhelmed by my bad eating habits he throws is entire gloppy mess away, even though it is stuck amorphously to wax paper. Frankly, eating poorly made graham cracker candy is the nouveau tradition at our house.
Some of you may have been on the receiving end of my tragic email last year about the gooey failure that was "fat-free evaporated milk candy." Nana gently clued me in that candy should be made with fat, and magnanimously sent me a candy thermometer, in case I was ever inclined to butcher the family recipe again.
This year, I got to thinking again about Graham Cracker Candy, and I decided this would be a great gift for a friend of mine, and then I decided I absoloutly can't get through another holiday season without some proper Graham Cracker Candy for myself. This is the trifecta of candy failure- desire for candy, desire to gift candy, and inability to make candy. True to tradition, I got all the ingredients (not all the right ones, I used pecans this year), and in the midst of a lot of other distractions, set to making it.
Picture me in my kitchen, focused on grinding nuts and measuring sugar like I am making TNT, and Matt keeps wandering through the kitchen. At first he tried to help, then he tried to help clean up, and finally he just got on to some other things- namely permethrin treating our clothes to fend off malaria in Belize on the back porch, and then trying to un-treat his hands. I've got TWO candy thermometers going in my pot of boiling sugar, and I am mentally noting every slight change in the bubbling sugar, and completely blocking him out. "Hmm...? What was that about poison control?" I was expecting this to fail, so I started to get stressed when I mixed with graham crackers in and the mixture got really stiff! Like, hard to stir! And then I mashed it all into a shallow pan and gave it a good squish to make it all stick.... and I think it worked! For the first time EVER, it came out crumbly, not gooey!
I cannot recommend a candy thermometer enough. It's the best substitute for actual confectioner skills money can buy. Either classic analog or new fancy digital- as I mentioned, I used both.
I'm including the recipe here, both for posterity and also to include my own incredibly helpful notes- in italics.
Graham Cracker Candy
I always make a 1.5X batch because I don't know what I'd do with a half can of evaporated milk. Suggestions welcome.
In a VERY large stockpot (trust me, you'll thank me later), combine:
2 c sugar
1 c evaporated milk
1/4 t salt
Turn your burner on HIGH and boil this to soft ball stage, or 235F.
As this passes ~180F, it will quadruple in size and the temp can rise quickly. You are trying to drop the liquid content of the sugar, from 220 to 235 will be much slower. The total volume will shrink to nearly half the peak.
Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Add in 1 T butter
1 t vanilla
3 c (2 packages) graham cracker crumbs
1 c chopped walnuts (apparently pecans work too)
3 c mini-marshmallows or 24 large
Stir well. Use wax paper to Pat into a a shallow pan and "store in the icebox over night" or your non-insulated pantry for 20 min. or as long as you think you can wait. Cut into indulgent little squares and share with everyone.
----
As hinted at, Matt and I leave Friday for Belize. It is TWELVE stupid degrees here right now, so I am really looking forward to some Caribbean sunshine, even if it puts us at a slight risk for contracting malaria. That's why Matt was spraying insecticides on our back porch! I was just realizing that this is going to be the longest vacation we've had since we've come here (11 days!), and just in the nick of time, too. Now that the semester is over and I don't have adrenaline to keep me up all night, I can hardly stay away until 10pm. Yes, time for some time off.
Some of you may have been on the receiving end of my tragic email last year about the gooey failure that was "fat-free evaporated milk candy." Nana gently clued me in that candy should be made with fat, and magnanimously sent me a candy thermometer, in case I was ever inclined to butcher the family recipe again.
This year, I got to thinking again about Graham Cracker Candy, and I decided this would be a great gift for a friend of mine, and then I decided I absoloutly can't get through another holiday season without some proper Graham Cracker Candy for myself. This is the trifecta of candy failure- desire for candy, desire to gift candy, and inability to make candy. True to tradition, I got all the ingredients (not all the right ones, I used pecans this year), and in the midst of a lot of other distractions, set to making it.
Picture me in my kitchen, focused on grinding nuts and measuring sugar like I am making TNT, and Matt keeps wandering through the kitchen. At first he tried to help, then he tried to help clean up, and finally he just got on to some other things- namely permethrin treating our clothes to fend off malaria in Belize on the back porch, and then trying to un-treat his hands. I've got TWO candy thermometers going in my pot of boiling sugar, and I am mentally noting every slight change in the bubbling sugar, and completely blocking him out. "Hmm...? What was that about poison control?" I was expecting this to fail, so I started to get stressed when I mixed with graham crackers in and the mixture got really stiff! Like, hard to stir! And then I mashed it all into a shallow pan and gave it a good squish to make it all stick.... and I think it worked! For the first time EVER, it came out crumbly, not gooey!
I cannot recommend a candy thermometer enough. It's the best substitute for actual confectioner skills money can buy. Either classic analog or new fancy digital- as I mentioned, I used both.
I'm including the recipe here, both for posterity and also to include my own incredibly helpful notes- in italics.
Graham Cracker Candy
I always make a 1.5X batch because I don't know what I'd do with a half can of evaporated milk. Suggestions welcome.
In a VERY large stockpot (trust me, you'll thank me later), combine:
2 c sugar
1 c evaporated milk
1/4 t salt
Turn your burner on HIGH and boil this to soft ball stage, or 235F.
As this passes ~180F, it will quadruple in size and the temp can rise quickly. You are trying to drop the liquid content of the sugar, from 220 to 235 will be much slower. The total volume will shrink to nearly half the peak.
Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Add in 1 T butter
1 t vanilla
3 c (2 packages) graham cracker crumbs
1 c chopped walnuts (apparently pecans work too)
3 c mini-marshmallows or 24 large
Stir well. Use wax paper to Pat into a a shallow pan and "store in the icebox over night" or your non-insulated pantry for 20 min. or as long as you think you can wait. Cut into indulgent little squares and share with everyone.
----
As hinted at, Matt and I leave Friday for Belize. It is TWELVE stupid degrees here right now, so I am really looking forward to some Caribbean sunshine, even if it puts us at a slight risk for contracting malaria. That's why Matt was spraying insecticides on our back porch! I was just realizing that this is going to be the longest vacation we've had since we've come here (11 days!), and just in the nick of time, too. Now that the semester is over and I don't have adrenaline to keep me up all night, I can hardly stay away until 10pm. Yes, time for some time off.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Skype is so great
I’ve gotten a taste of Skype, and now I’m pretty much addicted to it.
It started out with a few ‘calls’ to the Pittsburgh residence to get the families to say hi to each other and check out how slick video calls can be, and now I’m using it pretty much all the time. Jess and I have been Skyping back and forth at least once a day, and usually twice. It’s really great to see her, and it’s really great to see the house behind her, looking all normal and familiar. It’s much better than I would have guessed. It’s good for Jess, too. She gets to see my face, she calls me ‘cute’ over and over, and it usually makes her feel better, too. She has stomach cramps and headaches and she always says that just looking at me and relaxing makes her feel so much better, so evidently my super powers work over Skype, too. She wants to cuddle me, too, which we can’t do over skype, but we’ve gone from audio calls to video calls. By the time I’m 80, who knows?
The pregnancy is going well. If I can convince Jess it’s a good idea, I may have her post up some of her weekly ‘pregnancy e-mails’ here. They’re great reading. It’s just two more weeks until we get the ultrasound where they try to divine the gender of our baby. That’s a thrill waiting to happen right there.
I’m still in Vegas for a few more hours, at least. I’m meeting up with someone at 3:00 today at the rental car center to head down to Baker. Not much happens today, other than checking into hotels and meeting up with people. Tomorrow we have a meeting to go to, and then it’s off to do some data collection, or something. Honestly, the work promises to be long and pretty boring. Similar to other collects I’ve done in similar scenarios, if everything is working correctly, there’s nothing to do. It’s only when stuff goes wrong that there is any excitement, so if we’re good at our jobs (and we are) it should be a snooze-fest.
Even extra snoozy given that we have to get up so darn early. I’m expecting to be getting up at 4:00 AM most days, so I’ve been moving my days up earlier and earlier. I was up at 5:00 today, so plenty of daylight still ahead of me. I plan to do some laundry before heading off today.
I made cinnamon rolls for the family here, which turned out pretty well except it didn’t rise the first time. I added the yeast and everything and nothing happened. I think I bought some dead yeast. So I just bloomed some yeast from another source and then sort of kneaded the yeast-slurry back into the bread. It was a mess, yes, but at least the dough rose. I tell you, though, between that false start and heading out to the casinos It took me all day to make a single batch. Came out good, though.
-N
It started out with a few ‘calls’ to the Pittsburgh residence to get the families to say hi to each other and check out how slick video calls can be, and now I’m using it pretty much all the time. Jess and I have been Skyping back and forth at least once a day, and usually twice. It’s really great to see her, and it’s really great to see the house behind her, looking all normal and familiar. It’s much better than I would have guessed. It’s good for Jess, too. She gets to see my face, she calls me ‘cute’ over and over, and it usually makes her feel better, too. She has stomach cramps and headaches and she always says that just looking at me and relaxing makes her feel so much better, so evidently my super powers work over Skype, too. She wants to cuddle me, too, which we can’t do over skype, but we’ve gone from audio calls to video calls. By the time I’m 80, who knows?
The pregnancy is going well. If I can convince Jess it’s a good idea, I may have her post up some of her weekly ‘pregnancy e-mails’ here. They’re great reading. It’s just two more weeks until we get the ultrasound where they try to divine the gender of our baby. That’s a thrill waiting to happen right there.
I’m still in Vegas for a few more hours, at least. I’m meeting up with someone at 3:00 today at the rental car center to head down to Baker. Not much happens today, other than checking into hotels and meeting up with people. Tomorrow we have a meeting to go to, and then it’s off to do some data collection, or something. Honestly, the work promises to be long and pretty boring. Similar to other collects I’ve done in similar scenarios, if everything is working correctly, there’s nothing to do. It’s only when stuff goes wrong that there is any excitement, so if we’re good at our jobs (and we are) it should be a snooze-fest.
Even extra snoozy given that we have to get up so darn early. I’m expecting to be getting up at 4:00 AM most days, so I’ve been moving my days up earlier and earlier. I was up at 5:00 today, so plenty of daylight still ahead of me. I plan to do some laundry before heading off today.
I made cinnamon rolls for the family here, which turned out pretty well except it didn’t rise the first time. I added the yeast and everything and nothing happened. I think I bought some dead yeast. So I just bloomed some yeast from another source and then sort of kneaded the yeast-slurry back into the bread. It was a mess, yes, but at least the dough rose. I tell you, though, between that false start and heading out to the casinos It took me all day to make a single batch. Came out good, though.
-N
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Better living with old Bananas
Matt and I buy a lot of bananas. It's a good serving of fruit, makes a tidy snack and is dependably delicious. Matt likes to eat one (drowning the vitamins in Peanut Butter) before a ride, so we've been optimistically buying a dozen bananas at the start of every week. And because I am super picky about when bananas are too ripe to eat, we've been perfecting the art of things to do with a spare old banana. I know, banana bread is a classic, but I felt the need to innovate.
After we tried the cook's illustrated Banana Bread recipe (6 bananas in 1 loaf!), with its caramel-y banana slices on top, I did find a recipe for banana candy (Doce do Banana). It took ages, but was pretty fantastic. I've still got a bunch which we've been spreading on waffles, and eating with sorbet.
And speaking of waffles, I got a yen to make waffles this morning while Matt tried to sleep off the rest of his cough. At the fantastic waffle place where I used to go to write, they will throw banana slices into your waffles, so I thought I'd try it with a tired looking one. This was an awesome idea. The sugars caramelized, and the banana got all soft- perfect! If only we'd had nutella on hand.
Matt is mostly better- sleeping through the night, and more manageable congestion and cough. Probably this was the healing power of waffles.
After we tried the cook's illustrated Banana Bread recipe (6 bananas in 1 loaf!), with its caramel-y banana slices on top, I did find a recipe for banana candy (Doce do Banana). It took ages, but was pretty fantastic. I've still got a bunch which we've been spreading on waffles, and eating with sorbet.
And speaking of waffles, I got a yen to make waffles this morning while Matt tried to sleep off the rest of his cough. At the fantastic waffle place where I used to go to write, they will throw banana slices into your waffles, so I thought I'd try it with a tired looking one. This was an awesome idea. The sugars caramelized, and the banana got all soft- perfect! If only we'd had nutella on hand.
Matt is mostly better- sleeping through the night, and more manageable congestion and cough. Probably this was the healing power of waffles.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Working at being a DAD
We all have our rolls to play in starting a family. Jessie, as it turns out, gets hers with a *superpower*. It’s one of the things that can happen, evidently, when you become pregnant: your sense of smell gets really sensitive. Hers was already better than mine, which is very, very bad. Now it’s upgraded to downright *legendary*. Literally legendary. People have written epic poems about her olfactory sense. There was some lunch meat that was a little old and I wasn’t sure if it was good, so I had Jess smell it. She made a face and then threw it away. Superpowers!
I on the other hand, am trying to become a DAD.
Take that, debris!
This is my first attempt at proper Dad-hood. Not fatherhood. Being a father is easy. Genetics start the process and everything else goes kinda automatically. Not being a dad. That’s a much harder process. (I still remember some random box with a cover on the top that we had back in, I think, Kentucky, that said “Anyone can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a DAD." True words.) Anyway, I figured being a dad involves power tools, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve managed to use all the of cool power tool set that dad got me for my housewarming present. The circular saw got used a while ago to cut off a plank of cedar for the cedar plank salmon I grilled up. Very tasty. A week or so ago a storm knocked a medium-sized branch off a tree in the backyard and I got to use my reciprocating saw to chop it down into trash-can-sized pieces. So I own power tools and I can use them. That makes me kind of a Dad, right?
I was pondering this on Saturday while tinkering around in the kitchen. “How am I going to be a good provider?” I thought while I put a load of shortcakes in the oven (they didn’t come out great). “What kind of things could I do for a family?” I asked while taking out the shortcakes and putting in some biscuits (they were pretty good). “What possible skills could I present as a dad?” I pondered while the biscuits came out and the scones went in (they were fantastic!) “Well yes,” I reasoned, as the scones came out and the chicken pot pie went in, “I guess there’s always baking.”
Man I am good at baking. I am so good at it, you have no idea. I can make different kinds of bread, quickbreads, cake, you name it. What do you need. Pizza dough? Pizza dough? Are you kidding? I make the best pizza dough that I’ve ever accidentally dropped on the table. I make it fast, I make it good, I make it fresh. Dads can bake, right?
zzzzzzz
Dads also play video games while wives and cats sleep next to them on the couch.
Man I hope I’ll be good at this.
-N
I on the other hand, am trying to become a DAD.
Take that, debris!
This is my first attempt at proper Dad-hood. Not fatherhood. Being a father is easy. Genetics start the process and everything else goes kinda automatically. Not being a dad. That’s a much harder process. (I still remember some random box with a cover on the top that we had back in, I think, Kentucky, that said “Anyone can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a DAD." True words.) Anyway, I figured being a dad involves power tools, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve managed to use all the of cool power tool set that dad got me for my housewarming present. The circular saw got used a while ago to cut off a plank of cedar for the cedar plank salmon I grilled up. Very tasty. A week or so ago a storm knocked a medium-sized branch off a tree in the backyard and I got to use my reciprocating saw to chop it down into trash-can-sized pieces. So I own power tools and I can use them. That makes me kind of a Dad, right?
I was pondering this on Saturday while tinkering around in the kitchen. “How am I going to be a good provider?” I thought while I put a load of shortcakes in the oven (they didn’t come out great). “What kind of things could I do for a family?” I asked while taking out the shortcakes and putting in some biscuits (they were pretty good). “What possible skills could I present as a dad?” I pondered while the biscuits came out and the scones went in (they were fantastic!) “Well yes,” I reasoned, as the scones came out and the chicken pot pie went in, “I guess there’s always baking.”
Man I am good at baking. I am so good at it, you have no idea. I can make different kinds of bread, quickbreads, cake, you name it. What do you need. Pizza dough? Pizza dough? Are you kidding? I make the best pizza dough that I’ve ever accidentally dropped on the table. I make it fast, I make it good, I make it fresh. Dads can bake, right?
zzzzzzz
Dads also play video games while wives and cats sleep next to them on the couch.
Man I hope I’ll be good at this.
-N
Monday, August 9, 2010
Tiny stories from the weekend
Nothing *largely* exciting happened recently, so I present to you a series of small little vignettes from a very nice weekend.
Jess decided she wanted pizza this weekend, so pizza was made. By me. I make great pizza. All you readers have experienced it, I think. I made 7 personal-pizzas worth of dough, and we made a large version of our collective favorite, the Gorgonzola pizza, and two personal pizzas each. Jess kept hers traditional, with another blue cheese and a garlic and cheese pizza, her favorites. I tried some cooked sausage on one and made a taco pizza on the other with some leftover taco meat and spaghetti sauce and pizza cheese on one half, Mexican-blend cheese on the other. Both halves were delicious. It was all topped off by jalapenos I grew in the backyard. Not spicy, but definitely mine.
We got a hammock. Jess came back from derby practice to find me setting it up in the front yard. She had stopped off at a smoothie place and asked for a strawberry banana smoothie for her and ‘something tart’ for me, because she knows what I like. We set up the hammock on the front yard and tested it out by lying down, smoothies in hand, and rocking back and forth under the shade of OUR trees while Jess relaxed on my chest. “This,” I thought, “is why I went to college.”
Much of the rest of Sunday was spent *completely* idle. I spent most of Saturday evening (a bit of Sunday early morning) and most of Sunday playing a game of Civilization 4, an *incredibly* complex society-building strategy game that is heavy on the complexity and light on the explanation. Jess sat next to me running some numbers on refinancing our mortgage and playing game of her own. We topped off the evening with some Rock band, which doubles as exercise, for me.
-N
Jess decided she wanted pizza this weekend, so pizza was made. By me. I make great pizza. All you readers have experienced it, I think. I made 7 personal-pizzas worth of dough, and we made a large version of our collective favorite, the Gorgonzola pizza, and two personal pizzas each. Jess kept hers traditional, with another blue cheese and a garlic and cheese pizza, her favorites. I tried some cooked sausage on one and made a taco pizza on the other with some leftover taco meat and spaghetti sauce and pizza cheese on one half, Mexican-blend cheese on the other. Both halves were delicious. It was all topped off by jalapenos I grew in the backyard. Not spicy, but definitely mine.
We got a hammock. Jess came back from derby practice to find me setting it up in the front yard. She had stopped off at a smoothie place and asked for a strawberry banana smoothie for her and ‘something tart’ for me, because she knows what I like. We set up the hammock on the front yard and tested it out by lying down, smoothies in hand, and rocking back and forth under the shade of OUR trees while Jess relaxed on my chest. “This,” I thought, “is why I went to college.”
Much of the rest of Sunday was spent *completely* idle. I spent most of Saturday evening (a bit of Sunday early morning) and most of Sunday playing a game of Civilization 4, an *incredibly* complex society-building strategy game that is heavy on the complexity and light on the explanation. Jess sat next to me running some numbers on refinancing our mortgage and playing game of her own. We topped off the evening with some Rock band, which doubles as exercise, for me.
-N
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Quiet Night- and banana candy? anyone?
Noel told me he really likes being "and old man," which I take to mean he enjoys the comfort of the settled and predictable life. I like that, too, about once a month. And this weekend was my weekend for it. Matt and I walked up the hill for bagels, and I spent a couple hours in the coffee shop (I am ready for at least the first 4 week of class, with only another ~5 to REALLY prepare for), and then we made a quick dinner, and the nothing really got into full swing.
I suppose Noel's old man-itude actually involves more doing stuff, which is perhaps why he finds it so fulfilling. After dinner, I made a Cook's Illustrated Banana Bread- which took ages longer that I might have expected. I should have known, it was Cook's Illustrated.
As far as the recipe goes, we determined that some of the basic principles of the recipe were things we already incorporate (who in their right mind ever tried to make banana bread with unspeckled bananas?), so while it was good, it wasn't the usual 3 times better than we could have made on our own. It calls for layering some bananas on the top of the loaf, and then sprinkling the whole thing with sugar. This actually makes a carmely banana candy that reminded me of a seemingly familiar recipe that I cannot place. Does any one remember any sticky sweet recipes that are flavored with ripe banana? I am suspecting that this is something I learned form the Brazilians, but I cannot for the life of me find online.
While the loaf was cooking, the oven was on, and the apartment acted as a protective reservoir for all the leaked heat. Rather than revel in the efficiency, we stepped outside to enjoy a cold beverage in the dark on our porch. We got to talking to our next-door neighbor and watching bugs. Just good ol'fashioned nothing.
I suppose Noel's old man-itude actually involves more doing stuff, which is perhaps why he finds it so fulfilling. After dinner, I made a Cook's Illustrated Banana Bread- which took ages longer that I might have expected. I should have known, it was Cook's Illustrated.
As far as the recipe goes, we determined that some of the basic principles of the recipe were things we already incorporate (who in their right mind ever tried to make banana bread with unspeckled bananas?), so while it was good, it wasn't the usual 3 times better than we could have made on our own. It calls for layering some bananas on the top of the loaf, and then sprinkling the whole thing with sugar. This actually makes a carmely banana candy that reminded me of a seemingly familiar recipe that I cannot place. Does any one remember any sticky sweet recipes that are flavored with ripe banana? I am suspecting that this is something I learned form the Brazilians, but I cannot for the life of me find online.
While the loaf was cooking, the oven was on, and the apartment acted as a protective reservoir for all the leaked heat. Rather than revel in the efficiency, we stepped outside to enjoy a cold beverage in the dark on our porch. We got to talking to our next-door neighbor and watching bugs. Just good ol'fashioned nothing.
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