Cutest Baby Ever. Nuff Said....

Thanks again to Jeff and Ami at Babies and Bellies Photography. We had a great time at our second session and love the results.

Dinner and Dessert...

Last weekend, I made a fabulous meal. What? Conceited? Maybe a little, but rightfully so. . . well, almost. The pork I made as the protein for the entree sucked, but we just set that aside and enjoyed my low-fat carmelized carrot risotto and some sauteed baby zucchini for dinner, and fresh rhubarb cake for dessert. Because I like things very light and healthy... and happen to be on Weight Watchers (9.6 lbs in 4 weeks, thanks very much) I adapted them heavily. My adaptations are in parenthesis.

Sunset Magazine's Carmelized Carrot Risotto
2 Tbsp of Oil, divided (I used closer to 2 tsp. of very high quality olive oil, and supplimented a touch with chicken stock)
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, divided (I used 2 Tsp.)
6 Med. Carrots, peeled and chopped as finely as possible, 1/4 in. dice suggested, about 3 cups
About 1/2 tsp. salt.
1 tsp. sugar
5 C. reduced-sodium chicken broth (I actually used Chicken Stock for more flavor, since I didn't use as much butter or oil)
1/2 C. minced onion ( I think I used a shallot, it was all I had.)
1 1/2 C. Arborio Rice
1/2 C. Dry White Wine
1/4 C. Marscapone cheese (I used 2 Tbsp. of Organic Light Whipped Cream Cheese)
1/4 C. freshly shredded Parmesan Cheese, plus more for garnish.
1 Tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish (I omitted this completely, and think the crap tastes awful. Why, WHY is parsley in everything?)
1 tsp. roughly chopped fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. White Pepper (I didn't have this, just cracked some black pepper)

1. Heat 1 Tbsp each of butter and oil (I used 1 tsp. of each, and added a splash of stock) over medium heat in a large sautee pan. (Deep!). Add carrots and stir with a wooden spoon until well coated. Add 1/2 cup water, salt and sugar. Cover and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until water evaporated and carrots are just starting to brown. Reserve half the carrots for garnish. In a blender (I used a mini food processor), puree other half with 3/4 c. hot water.

2. Bring broth to a simmer and keep at a simmer, covered, over low heat.

3.Heat remaining oil and butter in same, unwashed pot. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add rice, stirring to coat rice with oil. Add wine and cook, stirring, until wine evaporates. Add carrot puree and cook, stirring until mixture no longer looks soupy.

4. Add 1/2 c. hot broth, stirring often, until rice absorbs most of the liquid. Repeat process, adding 1/2 c. broth at a time and stirring often till each addition is absorbed before adding the next, until rice is al dente. About 1 c. broth will remain.

5. Fold in most of reserved carrots, marscapone, and 1/4 C. Parmesan. parsley and thyme. Add up to 1 C broth (1/4 c at a time) to loosen the risotto.

6 Sprinkle each bowl with carrots, parmesan and parsley (ICK! PARSLEY! ICKYPOO!) Serve immediately and enjoy....preferably, not with dry, flavorless pork.


As I said before this week was also another Farmer's Market experiment. I'd never tasted rhubarb. It looks like red celery.... and I loathe celery. Not quite as much as parsley, but close. Still, my dad waxing about strawberry rhubarb pie made me consider it. I made a cake. And was THRILLED with the result. Tart and tasty. I wish I had known before the end of the season. I would have bought a bunch and frozen it! This turned out a lot like shortcake, and would be fantastic with some fresh whipped cream.

Cooking Light's Fresh Rhubarb Cake

4 C. Fresh, sliced Rhubarb
1 1/3 C Sugar (I used 1/3 c sugar and 1/3 c splenda in each part of the recipe)
1/3 C. Butter, soft (I used Smart Balance Omega Spread)
1 large egg
2 tsp. grated orange rind (Didn't have an orange, so I used 1/4 tsp. orange extract)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/4 C. flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/8 tsp. Salt.
3/4 C. Low-fat buttermilk (again, didn't have it, so I used low-fat sour cream- and the cake was moist and yummmmay)

1. Combine rhubarb and 2/3 C. sugar and spoon into a greased 8' x 8' pan.

2. Beat 2/3 C. sugar and butter w/ paddle attachment for about 5 minutes. Add egg, and beat, then add orange and vanilla.

3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour.

5. Spread over Rhubarb mixture.

6. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.

This makes 9 servings, which doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty rich.

Hot Fun in the Summertime....

It's a well-known fact that our area of SoCal is also the surface of the sun this time of the year. What do you do to keep a cranky, teething baby happy? Load up and head off to the pool. Baby E loves the pool. Bathtime is such a letdown now!

Farmer's Market Discovery

At last weekend's Farmer's Market, I saw that one of the booths was offering zucchini flowers. I had seen them used on TV, and thought, "Why not?"

After doing some research, I finally found a recipe that was baked rather than breaded and fried.
I'd post a link, but I ammended the recipe to my own needs.

Baked Zucchini Flowers

8 Zucchini Flowers
1/4 c Ricotta Cheese (we used whole milk, but you could use skim or lowfat)
1/4 c Parmesan Cheese
1 T Olive Oil (this is one of those recipes to break out the good stuff- makes for a richer taste)
1 pinch of Nutmeg

Mix and pour into a pastry bag. If you don't have a pastry bag- just use a Ziploc bag and snip off the corner.

Pipe mixture into flowers, and twist blossoms closed.

Place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper/parchment that has been spritzed with Olive Oil. Spritz or Drizzle flowers with more Olive Oil.

Bake at 325 for about 12 minutes or so. Sprinkle additional Parmesan on top of warm flowers before serving.

We served ours with some delicious pasta from our local Italian Deli. Scrumptious.

I hope they have more this week. Not only do I have a bunch of ricotta to use, and I also want to try to make them with some spinach added.

My little indoor girl...

Last weekend, Hubby and I took Baby E to the park, thinking that we'd get some great pics of her rolling around in the grass, and exploring nature.


Um. Not so much. My girl did not like the feel of the prickly grass....one bit.


Obviously, it didn't stop us from getting cute pics.

Culinary Weekend

So, this weekend, we headed up to the homestead to celebrate Dad's Day and my father's birthday with the fam. Since they just returned from Africa, I put on the whole spread. It was a great success!

We had turkey burgers created from a recipe heard on Oprah. I omitted the celery and parsley from this recipe because I hate both. The burger's were a big hit, despite the fact that my fam is a red meat fam. We served the burgers with fresh corn and watermellon from the farmers market, and tangy coleslaw from this month's Cooking Light. The slaw and burgers are both going into regular rotation at our house. Very, very yummy.

For dessert, I made Rocky Road Fudge Brownie Muffins found on Cookie Madness and White Chocolate Mini Blondies. The blondies were a recipe from Paula Deen found on Bake or Break. As with many Paula Deen recipes, at least in my opinion, it was a little much. The amount of butter used soaked thru the muffin cups and made them almost greasy. Coming from me, the comment of "too much butter" is really saying something. I don't think I'll be keeping the recipe. That said... they disappeared quickly, so everyone else liked them. You'll have to judge for yourself. The Brownie Muffins were great. I found they worked best with gourmet marshmallows from Trader Joe's. They're much softer, and melt better, holding everything to the muffin.

All in all, the food was a big hit, and I had a ton of fun doing it. Can you tell I've been reading a lot of Foodie Blogs lately? Yet another reason I want to get moved and get a house! I want to entertain!

The sweetest sound in the whole world.

Starting her art collection early...

At this year's Calabasas Arts Festival, one of our favorite artists proposed that our piece for this year be one created specifically to honor baby E (whom he couldn't get enough of- who can?). If you're me, you don't say no when Mr. Anthony Hansen makes a proposal like that! To give you a little background, he works in reclaimed automotive metal and creates beautiful wall sculptures. He's best known for his hearts, of which we have two. I love the contrast between the very masculine colors and material, and the feminine shape of the heart. He also does squares like these. This is what he created for E. I think it's sooooo incredibly cool. Pictures don't do it justice. Anthony does tons of shows all over the States. So, check out his website, and if you get the chance go see his work in person. He's an awesome guy, and a friend of ours, and we hope to be collecting his art for years to come. I'm also hoping that when we move, I can scout a great Denver show for him, so he can come and visit and we can keep up our art habit! Just one of the many reasons we need a guest room!

Springtime means......

Peonies.

Just Because....

Baby Sans Pants.

Now that E is pulling to a stand, she often steps on her pants, and ends up pulling her down. When I came into the room and found this, I laughed so hard that I cried.

Gas at the station a block from our house was $4.39 yesterday. Nuff Said.

Update as of 6/8/08: It's $4.49.9 The apocolypse is nigh.

Falling apart....

So, I haven't even turned 29 yet (tune in for that next week), but I am falling apart at the seams. Baby E the Moose has made my back so sore that a massage is necessary in the near future. She's also keeping me from sleeping... that's not really her fault though. Teething has her crying in her sleep.

The worst, though, is my knee. Without warning, it got sore shortly after our trip to Denver. It's been a week and it hasn't gotten any better so I headed over to the GP yesterday. I had hoped he'd say that I just strained something one of the 150 times a day I bend or twist to save E from a head bump and to let it have another few days off and start exercise class again.... Not the case. He had serious doctor face on the entire time and thinks I've got a Baker's cyst in there. Eeeeeeww. What IS that? I have an appointment today for an ultrasound on my knee. Then, next Monday, an apoontment with the orthopedist. Only athletes and old people go to the orthopedist, and I am CERTAINTLY NOT the former. I just hope there's a way to get it better fast, and without needing to rest it too much. When you're chasing around an 8-month-old, who crawls like the wind, pulls up like a champ, falls constantly, and has a frightening affection for anything that could hurt her.... keeping off a leg just isn't an option.

In the meantime, I'm headed for my first Weight Watchers meeting this morning. I was making progress when I was working out 3 times a week, but I might be off this knee for weeks, and therefore need to be a LOT more conscious of what I'm eating. Here's hoping it works.

Gorgeous Face

Caught on our girls day out at the Farmer's Market. We miss daddy, who is on a business trip right now.

Baby E's Newest Trick

That's right, folks. Sh's pulling to a stand. Easily. Yikes.

An experiment in grossness.

We have a kid, and two cats. No one can expect our carpet to be especially clean. Still, I had no idea until I got down on Emma's level and saw all the grody cat hair that was still stuck in it. I have a Dyson! I had vacuumed that morning. Eeeeww. So, I did some research. Two days later, we were at Best Buy, purchasing a Bissel Pet Hair Eraser vacuum. Below you can see the progress of our experiment.

1) Place E in a Baby Containment Unit



















2) Clean Dyson














3) Dyson After















4) Clean Bissel



















5) Bissel After



















Needless to say, I am very pleased with my new purchase.

The Fuzzer

E's hair is growing in so soft and fuzzy. It's gettling long fast, so I just wanted to capture this moment. This, my friends, is the "Fuzzer." The soft, sweet halo that I just can't keep my nose out of. I nuzzle it all day.

A friend that's going to change the world...

This is my friend, Patrick. What a guy.

I miss being creative...

When I was in high school and college, music and the theatre were my life. My happiest days during those years were spent in the McCoy theatre. It absolutely boggles my mind that my hubby has yet to hear me really sing (once the piano is out of storage, I really hope that will change). Lately, I've been able to catch up with a lot of my buddies through Facebook. It's great to be back in touch, but I'm aching for the old times a little.

Many of my friends back in Memphis are involved in a new venture, started by three friends and one guy I don't know called Chatterbox Audio Theater. If I was anywhere near Memphis, I would have auditioned already, and, I would hope, be involved with this.

I suggest you check it out. It's supercool. Em and I have been listening to Rikki Tikki Tavi. I love that story.

Getting Fit.

I've been back to my pre-pregnancy weight since about two or three weeks after Ewas born. I'm still struggling though with a few- prepregnancy pounds (thank you PCOS!), and just generally want to get fit. Our complex is not great for walking, and without a reason, it's tough to get motivated to get her all packed up. So... we joined Stroller Strides. It gives me a workout, and Em some interaction with other kiddos. Tomorrow is our second class. As soon as I get over my PMS and ice cream jones, I'm sure it'll really start to work too.

Because I needed another project...

I've started making babyfood at home. First of all, store-bought organic babyfood is expensive: $1 for a jar of sweet potatoes, or $1 per POUND of sweet potatoes at the Farmer's Market. The same goes for carrots. A pound of sweet potatoes makes the equivalent of 4 or so jars. These are the only two I've tried so far, but it seems to be a hit. It's darn easy, too. Sometimes it's hard to find time, but now I'm making large batches and freezing them. In about an hour and a half, I can create all the taters and carrots she needs for at least a week, maybe two. Add to all this the lack of packaging- both for green reasons (we recycle more glass jars around here) and because the plastic in some of her favorite flavors (those not available in glass) are of #7 plastic which may leech chemicals. Ew. I can't do it all the time- shelf stable jars or plastic are still more convenient for on-the-go, but when we're at home, I'm more than happy to do this.

Here's how it's done... in pictures.