Sinus-buster soup

We've all be nursing head colds for several days. Last night I wanted to make chicken noodle soup but didn't feel like cooking chicken. Or noodles. Here is what went into the base--it's like napalm for your nose, throat, and ear canals:

1 carton of low sodium chicken stock
1 Tablespoon of snipped chives
1-2 Tablespoons of grated fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
a dash or two of red pepper flakes

Then I chopped up some celery, carrots, and red potatoes. And we had about a half a can of low sodium garbanzo beans in the fridge, so they went into the pot, too. Simmer until you can easily pierce the potatoes and carrots with a fork. Salt to taste. (We're keeping a close eye on sodium intake here, so everything is salt to taste these days.)

It's really not worth photographing. I'm terrible at food photography anyway. It looks like soup. But it works like a sledge hammer. Between the steam and the super spicy-heat, I was breathing through my nose again. And my ears unclogged. And my hair follicles started to tingle. It's that strong. You'll feel good enough to rejoin the land of the living. Just remember to brush your teeth before going out in public. The public will thank you.

Legen...dairy

I'm no great cook, that's a known fact. But sometimes even a blind chicken gets a grub. Robb's parents sent us home with a gallon ziplock bag full of leftover dressing. I love dressing, just not the second day when it becomes dense doughy goop. We're fixing plates of leftovers for dinner tonight when inspiration strikes. I grab the Belgian waffle iron and tell Robb, "Don't judge me!" Press a layer of dressing into the waffle iron and wait... (Ding, fries are done!) This is a thing of beauty. It re-crispifies the dressing, as though it just came out of the oven with all the yummy crunchy bits. It didn't make it out of the waffle iron in one piece. Maybe if I mixed in some water or a little egg beforehand. Whatever, the taste was awesome. If you have leftover dressing, I dare you to try it. Oh, and be warned: it makes a mess of the waffle iron.

Baking the day away

I'm making a double batch of banana bread. I had to get all of those bananas out of my freezer. When they start turning black, I pop them into a zipper bag in the freezer. Then once I've accumulated 3 or 4 bananas I thaw them out and make bread. I'm far too lazy to squash a fresh banana. The first time I used frozen bananas I did not expect the squishy-banana-slug-thing to slither out of it's blackened peel. But now it's perversely my favorite part of the whole operation. I showed Robb this morning how a thawed banana faints dead away into the bowl, and he rewarded me with, "Ohmygod, gross!" Good times. One loaf will go to work with Robb tomorrow, and one will go with me to book club.

Making freezer waffles

One of our cooking projects with Mo was waffles. While I pre-measured the ingredients and lined everything up on the counter, Robb rounded up our little chef.



First, we all washed our hands and donned our aprons. I think the donning of aprons is Mo's favorite part of cooking. Robb wore a Valentine apron made by Great Aunt Sissy, Mo wore a green checked apron that was made for me as a child by Barbara Streaker (my namesake), and I wore a white and pink apron made by Theresa.



Sukey could feel the excitement buzzing in the kitchen and came to see what was going on.



Up on the step stool, Mo's first task was to mix the dry ingredients together in the big bowl. At first she was tentative, but then she gained confidence and enthusiasm.



Robb tried to deflect everything that was flying out of the bowl. But you know what they say: you can't make a dozen waffles without spilling a cup of flour...



Mo was really concentrating.



Then we added the wet ingredients. Robb assisted with the mixing.



The batter looked good. So just when Mo's attention was fading, Robb got her cleaned up, and I took over cooking the waffles.



Fast forward a bit, and we have a bag of Mo-made waffles ready for the freezer.



And the next morning I warmed them up in the toaster, and Mo enjoyed a breakfast that she made herself!

Lenten list

1. Only on days I wear khaki pants my black dog twines around my legs like a cat. This morning was a double dose as I also had a white shirt on. The shirt I managed to salvage with some masking tape. But the pants went into the hamper. It looked like I rolled around in the vacuum canister.

2. "Uppidah!" I don't want to forget this current Mo-ism. Although she knows and uses the words "up" and "down," uppidah is her aloha of directional instructions. It means "pick me up," "put me down," "lift me up and over," "move that obstacle out of my way," and "help me climb up and/or down."

3. I used the words el cheapo to describe something when I was talking to my artist friend Juan who is from Honduras. This was about five years ago, and it's still intermittently on my mind. He asked if I had some expensive piece of art equipment, and I replied no, that I use an el cheapo version. Then I paused and asked, "That's not real Spanish?" He laughed and shook his head. But upon reflection it strikes me as racist to imply that goods produced in Spanish-speaking countries are low quality or inferior. If I'm uncomfortable using a phrase in speaking to Juan, I probably shouldn't use it at all, right?

4. Two current projects are underway for the duration of Lent (and hopefully beyond). First, I am going to update my family history blog at least once a week. I have posted twice there so far. Second, I am going to have Mo assist me in the kitchen at least once a week. I think of this goal as "Cooking with Sasquatch." Although I'm not sure if she's the sasquatch or if I am. We made mini-pizzas this week. Hilarity ensued. I got pictures.

5. My friends are attending a workshop seminar thing about potty training in two weeks, and they are encouraging me to go with them. I'm not going. We've been working on it since October, and I feel comfortable with the progress and our methods. It's a war of attrition that I will win because I have greater resources and infinite patience. We introduced a bribe into the mix: when Mo successfully uses the potty, she gets an M&M as a reward. She will do just about anything for "emmy-emms." End of seminar. [Edited to add: after a grumpy day (on my part) and very little success on the pot (on Mo's part) I might be reconsidering my stance here. Not feeling like such a winner right now.]

Also, Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the Year of the Snake--check out your Chinese horoscope for 2013. We're wearing red for luck today. I might need to run out for pork dumplings if I keep thinking about them....and I do keep thinking about them.

Spring harvest

Photo taken on Tuesday, June 26th. That's right, we were eating ripe tomatoes off our plants a full week before the 4th of July. That's an all-time early tomato record for me. And I totally beat my neighbor Sharon this year in the tomato race! Except Sharon has no idea that there is any sort of contest going on. She's just a really good gardener, and I'm always measuring my success against her. In other food news our early figs are rolling in. When fig trees are happy the produce a late spring crop and a late summer crop. In the past we've seen a handful of early fruits, but this year we have a substantial early harvest. And the figs are huge. Previously our fruits were about the size of chicken eggs; now they are nearly baseballs. I've been collecting the ripe ones in the cool of the morning before the birds come and peck them to pieces. There are so many though. I might have to make jam. Oh, and lots of wildflowers around this year. I'm loving the queen anne's lace.

S.O.S.

Some wonderful person made this for us for Christmas. Er, we are not certain who that person is, but we are certain that he/she is wonderful because everything this spice rub touches ends up tasting exactly like Stovetop Stuffing. As Martha Stewart says, it's a good thing. Trouble is we are already two-thirds of the way through the jar. Please, wonderful person, please we must have the recipe. It's the only way I can trick Robb into eating beans and rice.

Everybody loves Shark Week!

Did you flip to the Discovery Channel to be sure and then think, What is she talking about? Shark Week was months ago. But at our house, you see, Maureen now has five teeth on board and at least one more on deck, so it's shark week at Fig Point all day every day. I love how nursing sites downplay the significance of teething. They are like, "Pff! Simply tell baby not to bite you, and she will understand." Okay, not that glib but almost. Perhaps it is an easy transition for most folks. Mo's two bottom teeth were really no big deal because her tongue is over them when she eats. But the top teeth have been a different story altogether.

First I must tell you that Momo has been busy writing a book about solid foods. It's called I'M JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU. What started as a happy baby bird opening her mouth for more sweet potatoes quickly became a tricky baby weasel clamping her mouth shut every time a spoon gets within six inches of her. She will smile and laugh until she sees you make your move with the mush. Then slap! Closed for business. This is what happens when a total smartass and the class clown get together: they produce a smart-clown. We were lucky, though: the punnet square said there was a 25% chance we'd have a class-ass instead.

We persevere in the face of adversity. Every afternoon we sit Madame Smart-Clown in the high chair for an hour and play at getting human food into her. Purees are the problem. She deftly dodges, gags, teases, rubs baby food into her hair, and occasionally vomits all the hard-won success onto her bib. But if you sprinkle Momo's tray with food she can grab and feed to herself, then it's fine. Extremely slow but fine. We still try to give her mush, but mainly she eats Gerber puffs, yogurt drops, Mum-Mums, rice, tiny bits of cooked veggies, shredded chicken, hard cooked egg yolk, and noodles. At least 60% of her endeavors go down the hatch.

The solid food hour of prayer and pleading aside, Maureen is getting nearly all of her nutrition from breast milk. She still nurses about seven times in 24 hours. Contrast this with cousin Jack who now only nurses early in the morning and before bedtime (and during the night maybe?) and gobbles down baby food and cereal all day long like it's going out of style. Also, Jack does not have any teeth yet. Color me jealous.

I had to tell you all that to set the stage for the sharky stuff because it falls under the topical umbrella of eating. But I've one more feeding-related *aside* for you. Several months ago I wrote a post full of tips to help get you through the first six months of breastfeeding. At some point you will feel like you and your baby are really getting the hang of things. You hit your stride and bf-ing couldn't be going better. Enjoy that while it lasts.  Remember that part of Alice in Wonderland when Alice takes the baby from the Dutchess, only to look down and find she has been carrying around a pig in a bonnet? For us the change happened around six months. That's when we realized that Maureen had become a distracted drinker. Which would be a huge problem if she was also driving. Instead it is challenging to feed her when there is something more interesting in her vicinity, like a conversation or a television program or Sukey's tags jingling or Mommy breathing.

While I'm swinging wide... Did you know that nursing moms are more likely to be victims of sexual bias? But we are also more likely to very calmly kick someone's teeth in when bias rears its ugly head. Food for thought.

Which brings me back on point: teething. For the past month Mo's been getting up earlier, napping shorter, drooling, coughing, waking multiple times at night, and biting. Biting her toys, my shirt, burp cloths--whatever she can shove in her mouth. And, of course, me. She has been biting me going on three weeks. I have seen enough AFV to know that teething wasn't going to be fun.



Kid, I feel your pain.

My initial strategy to discourage biting came straight from dog training. When she nipped me I would say, "Ouch! No, you do not bite Mommy," and end the meal. That quickly taught Maureen how hilarious it is when I jump out of my skin. After a few days I noticed that she had a devilish gleam in her eyes and then was laughing when I scolded her.

This reached a crescendo last Thursday around lunch time. Mo bit me, and I shouted, "OUCH!" loud enough to maker her cry hysterically. I almost cried myself. She bit me so hard I had two tiny fang marks for most of the day. I was lucky she didn't break the skin. Clearly this wasn't working. The baby almost sheared off one of my nipples. And if I scared her too badly she might go on a nursing strike. That wouldn't be a big deal if she ate anything else, but she doesn't really. So on to plan B.

My current strategy requires that I show no potentially amusing reaction. I calmly remind Maureen that, "Mommy is for milk. Toys are for bites," and put a teething toy into her hand. For it to work I have to be hyper vigilant, watching her face like a hawk for any sign that she's about to chomp. A slight pause. Tension in her jaw. Her eyes glancing at mine so she doesn't miss the hilarious "ouch!" she is about to create. And then before she can strike, I burp her or offer a toy or switch sides. After several days, Mo seems to be catching on. Never a dull moment. *sigh*

An apple a day makes baby go bonkers

This article about the link between pesticide exposure and ADHD in our children is more than a little disturbing. Yet another sign that chemical companies do not have our or our children's best interest at heart.

Iron chef baby edition

This week's secret ingredient is...sweet potato!



We're starting to try solid foods, although "solid" is a loose term. Maureen has some awesome notes on making your own baby food over at The Vegetarian Salmon.





About the Green Sprouts food mill. It's BPA and phthalate free and made with recycled materials. April gave me this as a shower gift. When I checked out the reviews online, there was lots of bellyaching about food juice leaking out of the bottom and mashed food "explosions." But I had a good experience with it so far grinding up sweet potato, squash, and apples. It functions as well as a potato ricer would, so don't expect it to chop up meats or really tough stuff. Perhaps I was not disappointed because I never expected squashing up food to be a tidy task. I put a plate under the mill before I used it, same as I would with the cheese grater. (If mashing up your own baby food is really that miserable, inconvenient, messy, and...er, explosive, use a food processor.)





April also gave me a Green Sprouts grinder bowl for when we're on the go. I haven't tried it yet because we don't go anywhere. Heh. And Tmomma gave me her old Fresh Baby freezer trays. So we are in the baby food business.





I was hoping for a cringe or a scowl at the first taste of sweet potato, but this crazy child just kept on smiling and smiling. As usual. She opened her mouth like a baby bird when she saw the spoon coming her way again.



She even wiped her mouth with her bib. Now we are waiting for the orange poop.

Separating wheat from chaff

I went a little crazy last week. Sorting the goodies from the baddies. Separating the wheat from the chaff. Except in my case I'm only interested in eating chaff. I read labels for wheat gluten and its many aliases. And checked expiration dates on packages. That led to some frightening discoveries. Mainly I need to clean out the pantry more often. Good rule of thumb: if you can't remember purchasing a particular food item, it's time to chuck it.





But it didn't stop with the pantry shakedown. I moved on to scrubbing the cabinet faces and the counters. And I while I was standing on a chair I noticed that the top of the curtains were dusty (moreso than I care to admit), so into the wash with them. Whoa, the windows look really huge with the curtains down. If we weren't renters I would have chucked those nasty old shades too. (They are all over the house, and our landlord is not interested in reimbursing us for miniblinds, so they will remain.) But check out our new canister set (Thanks, Aunt Bunny!). Red and white--that sends me to the moon! Also I would like to note that our drying rack that looks like a tiny lawn is ingenious and truly indispensable. It can hold a ridiculous amount of baby feeding gear and breast pump accessories. I highly recommend it.







Now it's all about modifying recipes like the burgers above. I crunched up Kix cereal to use as breadcrumbs, and it worked just fine. Yes, I could purchase gluten free breadcrumbs at the store, but that's kind of ridiculous. Printing the words "gluten free" on a package sets a tricky equation into motion:

"gluten free" + food = normal price x 2 

There are enough foods available that do not contain wheat gluten and do not need to be labeled as such, mainly found around the periphery of the grocery store. You know, all that unprocessed stuff. Eggs, butter, milk, veggies, fruit, meat. So there will be a whole lot more cooking from scratch around here. Especially bread. I need to start experimenting with gf bread recipes and soon because this pseudo-Adkins thing I've been doing has got to go. This past week I even got Robb to try (and like) paella. It's a brave new world here at Fig Point!

New month, new info, new diet

In May I hit an all time low of 5 posts in 1 month. I will partially blame Angie because she was visiting for two weeks, and I tried to keep my loafing-around-on-the-computer time to a minimum while she was here. (I promise a post about her visit is upcoming.) And Maureen is also to blame because an infant who wants my attention is a definite posting obstacle. But I have discovered another scapegoat: Hashimoto's disease.

I was diagnosed yesterday. It's an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and gradually destroys the thyroid gland. My doctor had me stop thyroid meds at the end of April, and May was sort of a blur of low energy and mood. So we'll see what the blood test says about my levels this time around.

Meanwhile, I am beginning the tricky process of going gluten free. Doctor's orders. Last night I attacked the pantry. Did you know that the food ingredients "natural flavors" and "caramel coloring" have gluten in them? Ug. Double ug. More on all of this as it is revealed.

Homemade kind of day

Yesterday was a very nice, low key kind of birthday. I made these cookies (minus the browned butter because I can only cram so many tasks in between baby feedings). And yum. My baking buddies hung out in the kitchen with me. Robb made me dinner, and then stuck 3 candles in an ice cream cake. I will be listening to my mix cds in the car today. Love them!



I also made a rice pillow for Aunt Julie. It's green. I forgot to take a picture. She's undergoing cancer treatment and has been complaining of a sore shoulder. I thought a warm hug might help. We'll see her over the weekend. Tonight we are driving to the beach because this weekend is Paint Snow Hill 2011.



If you are in the neighborhood, please come to the Wet Paint Show & Sale on Sunday, April 17, from 1-4 PM. It's at the Old Firehouse on Green Street and will be the only chance to see and purchase paintings created by 60 artists during the 8th Annual Paint Snow Hill. Participating artists come from 5 states. We will be painting throughout the Snow Hill area April 15-16. 25% of sales support Snow Hill's Arts & Entertainment Program. Hope to see you there!

(No, there won't be any cookies left by then.)

Getting my land legs back

I've been cooking. Last week we had meatloaf and cornbread, then soy-citrus marinated chicken over spinach with banana bread for dessert. Tonight it's fajitas, and we have some lemon bread left from last night. Again and again I turn to the BH&G Cook Book. I may be only a passable cook, but I'm a damned good baker. And Robb is a damned good father, deserving of warm baked goods.



It's good to cook again. I haven't cooked much since last May when I found out I was pregnant. Between the nausea, my wackadoo thyroid levels, and slight anemia, I didn't feel like doing much of anything. For a year. And the less I did the worse I felt. I was coming off of 2009 which might have been the most creative, most productive year of my entire life. I spent that whole year canning and sewing and painting and knitting and researching like a maniac. Then boom: a fetus ate my homework. I tried to explain this to Mom. "I just didn't feel like cooking last year. Know what I mean?"

"No."



Explaining hormone-induced ennui to my mother is like explaining the purpose of speed bumps to a jackrabbit: it's simply not in her nature to have periods of inactivity or to become disinterested in her surroundings. But that's a good trait to have inherited. Aside from pregnancy, I could count on one hand the number of times I've ever been bored. Life is immensely entertaining. Especially now.

In praise of things handmade

I must post about all the lovely homemade goodies we received and gave this holiday season. We did not make cookies this year. Thank goodness everyone else did. We got cookies from Mom, Sharon, and Chere, and blackberry preserves from Angie. Yum is right. Instead Robb baked pumpkin cranberry bread for our friends and neighbors. We took loaves of pumpkin bread with chocolate chips in it (we ran out of cranberries on the last batch) to our OB's office and to the main office at the marina, too.



My sister Angie made me a beautiful tweed stitch scarf (on Ravelry here). Her commentary on Ravelry is funny, though, because she thinks I am "a fall." I enjoy orange as much as the next person and brown perhaps more than most, but greens and blues are my staples. Check me out this morning looking super tired in my new scarf, favorite blue wool sweater, blue down vest, green mittens, and green eyes. Although I do wear the green eyes every day. Robb is in the background pumping gas.



While we're on knitting Christine made a pair of booties for our baby. She gave them to Mom for me several months ago, but I didn't get them until Christmas. Christine works at Dr. Fenlon's office, but I went to high school with her nephews, and we bonded more when she caught me knitting in the waiting room one day. So it's not as random as it might seem at first glance that my dental hygienist gave me a handmade baby gift.



I made a pair of mittens in this wool/alpaca blend for Mom but forgot to photograph the finished product. The alpaca should make them super warm. Of course she broke her thumb at work last week and can't really wear a mitten over her brace yet. All of my Christmas knitting got off track this year. I still need to make a pair of mittens for Aunt Genny and for Great Aunt Sissy and get them in the mail. I gave each of the veterinarians at the office an Eleventh Hour Scarf (Raveled here), and accidentally over-scarfed my mother-in-law Charlene by giving her the rose colored one she mentioned liking after she had already bought a green one from me at Beach Fest. I know Jen got her one, too. She's going to have the warmest neck in Maryland this winter.



Theresa made me an owl pincushion so cute that it's found a place among the pine branches on the mantle until we put away the Christmas decorations. I almost hugged it and impaled myself before realizing my name is spelled out in straight pins. We sent her and Rick a set of ceramic crabs (in which to bake crab imperial and other bounty of the sea) made by some local potter, but we were dismayed to learn that one broke fully in transit and two arrived chipped. We thought we had them properly insulated for shipping and are actively kicking ourselves now.



I hope that our gift to my brother Joey arrived in one piece. I matted and framed this sketch of dented old horns from a drawing class a few (9!!!) years ago. I've always liked how it turned out, so it seemed like a good gift for the family brass enthusiast. Jenny and Angie received raw materials. For Jenny we chose a sock kit from Knit Picks (not this one exactly but sort of close to it) that came with 4 skeins of yarn in woodsy colors and 12 patterns. And for Angie we picked this cardigan pattern and supplied her with enough blue and brown Shamrock Yarn to cast on immediately if she is so inclined.



We did not forget our favorite causes this holiday season. Rick and Theresa made donations to KIVA and to Dave Thomas Foundation for us. We made donations to Grace Church in honor of Aunt Sandy, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Linda, and we sent off a little check of our own to Dave Thomas Foundation for Mom.



I also want to show off the fleece blanket that Leigh made for our baby.



When we were unpacking Christmas decorations we stumbled across another bag of stuff from when I was a baby. Grandma Julie made this nursery rhyme quilt for me. It's far less complicated than the stamp quilt she made but darling nonetheless.



And there seems to be some debate over whether this bonnet was knit by Great Aunt Sissy or Barbara Streaker (my namesake). Either way it is a woolly tribute to Glenelg High School where both Robb and Mom attended. And baby it's cold outside, so our baby will be showing off his/her Glenelg spirit.

Other goodies worth mentioning...  I finally bought Alicia Paulson's Walk in the Woods ornament kit, and Robb is totally in love with it. I am hoping to get my tree, cottage, and deer made by next Christmas. My SIL Kate gave me The Little Box of Knits for Baby, and we dug through the patterns on Christmas day. I think we agree that the yarn colors in the illustrations are hideous, but the finished products (imagined in less radioactive shades) will be pretty nice. I have my eye on hoodie and the cardigan. You know, to make in all my free time. Theresa sent me the Doodle Stitching motif collection by Aimee Ray which I've sort of had my eye on for a while. (If you recall I got Aimee's other embroidery book about two years ago.) The motif collection gives me all kinds of ideas for decorating the plain white baby onesies. And I also ordered Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby--she has some super cute patterns.

Wow. I think I've covered everything here. I better get back to knitting if I want to finish these mittens before childbirth gets me really off track. Thank you to all of the knitters, sewers, bakers, donors, inspire-ers, and otherwise crafty folk who made this a very creative holiday season!