Wednesday, December 5, 2007

holy jeez

it's still snowing here, and there's a pretty serious layer of snow on the ground. i am working from home today, because it turns out that i am completely freaked out by snow. it's been 8+ years since i've really had to deal with it, and it always scared me to drive in, so now i'm a total basketcase. i find myself peering out the window and asking, do people really just go on with their lives in this stuff?!?! whereas when i first moved to atlanta, whenever there was ice/snow, the city would shut down, and i would laugh at how people didn't just go on with their lives like we did in the north with much worse weather. I'VE BEEN CONVERTED TO A SOUTHERNER! the plows hadn't come through by 7:30 this morning so i elected to work from home. they've come through once but the roads still look scary (i.e., not totally clear). i think i'll have to make a few trips around the block to see if i can get used to it. i guess i can't just hide in the house every time it snows. damn.

bryan is learning all about the snow. and how crappy it is to clean up. it took him some time on sunday to get the driveway cleared, mostly time to figure out the snowblower. he is also learning how to salt properly. he's currently suiting up to tackle the foot or so of snow sitting in the driveway. he has learned it is best to clear it before it has time to freeze over. :) i am thinking that shoveling will be a good way for me to get in work outs. just the thought of "getting up" an hour earlier to do so makes me want to cry though.

the good news about working from home is i get to peek at my beautiful baby all day today. he really is super adorable and kissable. he is 5 weeks old today! at our 4 week appointment last week, we got to see how much he grew. he measured in at 9 lbs 10 oz (a gain of 2 lbs 2 oz) and was 22 3/4 inches long (a growth of 2 1/2 inches). i can't believe how fast he is growing! he is turning into a little person right before our eyes. before we know it he will be crawling. i'm looking forward to the sleeping through the night part. he is great and all, and we do get to sleep at night, but when you only get to sleep in 1 - 2 hour increments it is not the happy refreshing type of sleep. it's the type of sleep where you don't think you slept at all. we'll get there!

in other news...

i'd been trying to think of a special cookie recipe to make for christmas. i was inspired by trader joe's. they have an oreo style cookie where the filling is candy cane peppermint flavored, which i thought sounded good. in discussing it with some friends who are not peppermint fans, i morphed the recipe (or really just came up with something totally new) into butter rum creme filling with gingerbread/molasses cookies. so i am working on fleshing that out. chris has also requested butter rum fudge between shortbread. i am thinking that would work well dipped halfway into chocolate. so those are my current food projects. results to come.

speaking of results, it's time i divulged the results of the great november frozen food experiment. we've eaten our way through many of our pre-made meals, to varying successes.

the tuna casserole worked out rather well. the noodles went a little softer than is preferable, but i blame that mostly on my brand selection (the cheap stuff was on sale). if i had cooked it even less than al dente than i did it would have been perfect. the flavor was retained rather well, however, and was one of bryan's favorite options.

we made the mistake of defrosting my cheese tortellini before cooking it, so some of it fell apart. but it still tasted good. :) the tortellini bake i put together with sauce and cheese turned out excellent however. the ham and portobello ravioli worked out as well. we have not yet had either of the lasagnas, and i am not sure if i will get a chance to since i'm currently off dairy (causes some digestive problems in junior).

the pork ad beef roasts themselves worked out well, though the accompanying veg and taters did not. i made the mistake of not parboiling them prior to freezing (should have known but still didn't do it), so once they froze and contracted, all the water squoze out. :\ this resulted in a uniformly gray, bitter mush. we ended up buying new veg to prepare alongside.

the cheese enchiladas and tex mex casserole (which was similar to chilaquiles) both turned out splendidly. katie was over for dinner when we did the tex mex casserole, and fell in love with both of her servings.

the meatballs and red sauce of course worked out fine, and have been nice for quick and easy pasta dinners.

my chicken dishes, chicken with rice and chicken with mustard mascarpone marsala, worked out fairly well. the rice didn't cook great, i think because we lost some liquid out of the pan. the mascarpone marsala sauce needed to be reduced further than baking would accomplish, but it tasted delish in the end.

shepherd's pie, beef and guiness stew, and chili all worked out well. that kind of stuff freezes pretty good. we still have some stew in there that i am excited about. perfect for the cold weather! :)

the chicken pot pie filling was good as well. we still have some left; the last time we had it was the night before oliver was born. bryan heated some up for dinner after they sent us home from the hospital. perhaps we haven't had it since because i unconsciously associate it with being in a painful labor. ;) i think i'm over it now though. i see chicken and dumplings in our future.

we had my leftover roasted tomato soup saturday night, with some fresh polish sausage and croissants. YUM. another meal perfect on a chilly night. my belly needed warming after we spent the afternoon out in the snow.

what else... that is all i can remember right now. all in all, everything worked out pretty well. we definitely learned some lessons. i am glad i spent the time making all the meals! however, i am also excited that we're getting back to real cooking. bryan made me some thick cut pork chops with apples last night. le yum.

well, junior is fussing. i think it's mostly because he knows that i, the milk dispenser, am home. too bad for him i actually have to work!!

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