time keeps on ticking

it seems the older i get, the faster time flies, and the less time there is to do things. surely i'm not the only one who notices this. if only there were a few more hours in the day. of course, i'm usually too tired to do much in the evenings anyways, so i'm not sure it would matter. too bad i don't drink caffeine. perhaps that would help. i did get a large hot chocolate the other day, and i swear that had me buzzing and jittery, so i'm not sure what a cup of coffee would do to me. anyways. onwards.

way back on monday november 3rd, we had daal for dinner. bryan added chiles, so it was a bit too spicy for oliver, but boy did we ever love it. with some sour cream, lime, and cilantro to tame the heat, and puffy pita bread, it was a delicious dinner. definitely one we'll add to the menu to keep our bellies warm on these cold winter evenings. perhaps next time we'll do one less spicy, because i have the sneaking suspicion that oliver would love lentils.

friday november 7th, bryan came up with an on the fly dinner to use up some things we had in bulk. he made a deconstructed chicken cordon bleu, using chicken breasts, fresh mozzarella, some muenster, and ham. he served that with sauteed yellow summer squash, and potatoes. a hearty and satisfying meal. oliver enjoyed some leftover ground beef and beans instead, since we ate later than he needed to.



that saturday, the 8th, i made posole. oh posole, how i love you. pork, green chiles, bryan's homemade chipotles, onions, beer, hominy, oregano, cumin, bryan's homemade chicken stock. topped with sour cream, shredded lettuce, radish, sweet golden tomatoes, and a squeeze of lime. fantastic.

that sunday, mom and dad came over for dinner. in addition to bryan's traditional aztec squash (with zucchini, yellow summer squash, tomatoes, and epazote), he made a variation on sopa seca. i wasn't able to find the rice vermicelli noodles, so we adapted and just used rice noodles. instead of smoked turkey, we used leftover shredded chicken. it was a big hit. a very satisfying, comfort meal.

the weekend itself was fairly normal - running errands and hanging out. i got a cute new hat at target, so i can be a hip urban mom.


monday the 10th, we had a scrumptious pork tenderloin with maple mustard sauce, smashed red potatoes, and bryan's carmelized brussel sprouts with toasted bread crumbs. would you believe oliver enjoys brussel sprouts?

a few cute pictures of him being a ham that day:


why, no, mom, i'm not squishing my potatoes on the back of my chair, why do you ask?

look ma, no hands!

the next day, tuesday the 11th, we had - wait for it - chicken fried rib eyes (inspired by kristi's brother). why bother to chicken fry a rib eye, you may ask? because it's out of this world delicious, that's why. definitely better than the traditional cube steak, i'm not sure we can do it any other way now. we had that with some simply blanched carrots, mac and cheese, and of course, white pan gravy.

saturday the 15th, we got around to picking up some chicken wings so we could try them with bryan's homemade super spicy hot sauce. definitely hotter than normal. bryan liked them better than wings with his normal hot sauce, and they were quite good, but i like the normal hot sauce better - with less spice, it's more flavor.

last week sunday, the 16th, we started out the day right. i made breakfast sandwiches of waffles, grilled with ham, cream cheese, and apricot jam. everyone loved them. bryan and i indulged ourselves with some mimosas. our realtor had given us a bottle of champagne when we bought the house, but as i was pregnant, we stashed it. so we celebrated making it through the first year, just a little late. oliver tried to celebrate by stealing my orange soda, but too bad for him it was empty.


here's a random cute picture of ollie napping - he crashed out for a seriously LONG afternoon nap, which he wasn't too thrilled about being woken up from.


we used the leftover champagne tuesday, with some tuna steaks we had bought at trader joe's. bryan's champagne buerre blanc was spot on, but the steaks were a little dry and could have had better flavor. now we know not to buy cryo-vac'd tuna from there again. brown rice and carmelized turnips rounded out the meal.


we introduced oliver to peanut butter and jelly this past week. he's a fan.


friday, bryan had the day off so at&t could come and install new tv/internet/phone. day care had the day off, so oliver was home as well, and i worked from home to help out. for lunch, i gave oliver a bean burrito. at no point did it occur to me that this would be messy. i'm not sure why. but, he had fun eating it, and he loves beans, so i guess it worked out in the end.

that night for dinner, i made crock pot lasagna, which was an interesting concept to me. i had decided to use the crock pot a lot this winter, and wanted to branch out beyond roasts, soups, and stews. i didn't have very high expectations (it is lasagna in a crock pot, after all), but this turned out really delicious. i used a spaghetti sauce i had already made, and froze, with ground beef and italian sausage. the ricotta fluffed up, the cheese melted and even turned golden around the edges. definitely adding this one to the permanent roster. i picked up a rosemary herbed ciabatta for garlic bread, and made one of oliver's favorites - cauliflower.


oliver has been sick. it started last weekend with a runny nose, to which a dry cough soon added itself, which has turned into more of a hacking cough. friday i was worried he had pink eye, as while we were at target shortly before bed time i noticed his eye was weepy and a little goopy. saturday morning it looked much better. he's still feeling pretty crappy, though. he wouldn't eat much for breakfast or lunch yesterday (he did much better with dinner). he went down for his afternoon nap yesterday early. i thought we would sit and cuddle in the rocking chair, read a few books, but when we sat down, he simply curled up close to me, hugged his blanket tight, and immediately started to doze off. it breaks my heart to see him feeling so terrible. we picked up some hyland's homeopathic honey cough syrup for him, which seems to be helping. hopefully today he'll continue to feel better.

many new pictures have been added to the november gallery, including some cute video of him walking around.

the plan for today is to lay low at the house. bryan and i are going to marquette university this afternoon to see a play, chekhov's the cherry orchard. mom has graciously offered us 2 tickets and her babysitting services. we're pretty excited to get out of the house and take in some culture together. tonight, mom and dad will be joining us for dinner. bryan is making souvlaki (pork kebabs with cucumber–mint yogurt sauce), one of his favorite greek dishes. we have some pita bread, beans, and i'll be making some delicata squash fries, one of our favorite sides. the pork has been marinating since yesterday. it should be absolutely delicious!

we hit up the outpost yesterday to do some of our shopping for thanksgiving. they were having a sample day, with thanksgiving foods. so there were a lot more people there than usual, which i wasn't too happy about, but i did get to delight in feeding oliver tastes of things you'd never expect a 1 year old to like - such as wild rice, and leek stuffing. that's my boy! shannon arrives in town late wednesday night, and katie and kevin are flying in that night as well. unfortunately adrianne's car broke down, so it looks like she won't be able to make it. i'm really excited for the food; i think we have a pretty good "new american" (if you'll excuse me using that silly term) menu:

Waldorf Salad, which will be prepared by shannon

Salted Roast Turkey with Herbs and Shallot-Dijon Gravy, which is bryan's project

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bread Crumbs, to which we'll add some bacon (only because the brussels will carmelize better in pig fat, i swear), also to be prepared by bryan

Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding, which will be a joint effort between shannon and bryan

Green Bean Casserole, using a slightly different recipe than you usually see (no cream), which shannon will make

bryan will make his corn budin, of course (else i probably would make him sleep on the couch)

aunt debbie will be bringing a sweet potato dish of some kind

mom will of course bring her delicious yeast rolls

and for dessert: i'll be making my apple and fennel pie, debbie is bringing brownies with apples, caramel, and snickers, and shannon will be making a dessert as well

yummy, no?

fried green tomatoes (and other southern specialities)

last we left our brave (and hungry) heroine, she was eating:

tuesday 9/9: grilled pork chops with whipped maple and thyme glaze; smoked cheddar orzo with chives; and broccoli. we picked up the whipped maple from a local maple farmer and the family farm weekend at the zoo, the previous weekend. the chives were from our garden, and the broccoli from the csa. oh, and did i mention the pork was local (from the outpost)?

wednesday 9/10: smoked pork ribs (again, local) with onion mop; corn, with plenty of butter; collard greens with bacon; biscuits. i slathered my ribs with sauce, since i like a saucy rib. it was so good i would have told myself to shut up, but my mouth was full of pork.

thursday 9/11 was csa day. bryan picked up our bounty, which included more tomatoes (which is fine until our estimated 975 tomatoes ripen), eggplant, lettuce, basil (which we really don't need, considering the 18 foot basil tree in our garden), beets (so many beets!), cauliflower, lettuce, swiss chard, garlic, and radishes (which are just calling out to be lightly warmed in butter).


friday 9/12: bryan picked some unripe and thus green tomatoes from our garden, dredged them in cornmeal and breadcrumbs, and fried them up. he also made cornmeal fried chicken, and linguine with basil pesto. he didn't hear me complaining. the fried green tomatoes were a new one for me, and were pretty tasty. i can see how they would be great with a pan gravy. or remoulade (and why not shrimp?). or in a toasted cheese and bacon sandwich. or in a salad with tender baby greens, toasted pecans, and a soft cheese (take that, alice waters). let's just say i see a few fried green tomatoes in my future.


and our pièce de résistance: last night's meal. grilled lamb chops (local), with a garlic and herb marinade, which doubled as the sauce. bryan also made a traditional greek tomato and cucumber salad, with feta, onions, and a red wine vinegar dressing. he made a chickpea rice, which may seem like an unnecessary amount of grains, but let me tell you, it's not. omfg. best. lamb. ever. the lamb was from the outpost and thus local. it was SO tender, and tasted nothing like what i have always thought lamb tastes like. i hate to admit it, but i think i love lamb. i just wanted to nibble it's tiny little bones clean. the marinade/sauce double agent was made of greek oregano (from our garden), mint, dill (also from our garden), garlic, spinach (the recipe called for watercress, which we weren't able to find), parsley, lemon, red wine vinegar, and, of course, olive oil. bryan used tomatoes from our csa bounty, as well as the black uglies from our garden, as a base for the salad. he included cucumber, onions, and i made sure to add plenty of feta cheese. the chickpea rice was moist and flavorful, with cassia, hot paprika (the recipe called for aleppo pepper), marjoram (the recipe called for bay, which we oddly didn't have); salt, stock, and plenty of onion. i can see how a little more time in the oven would create a lovely crust, the kind you pick off the pan at the table, even when you're full. oh, and warm pita bread, did i mention? perfect for making sure none of the sauce escaped. for dessert, i made a cornmeal cake, which we topped with quenelles of greek yogurt, mini kiwis, and drizzled with a raw, local honey. we win! i think next time i would add vanilla and cognac to the yogurt. just sayin'.

the mini kiwis were a great find. at the outpost yesterday morning, i noticed them but had no idea what they were - they looked like little, soft, sort of oblong green cherries. the produce hippie guy saw me pondering over them, and came running out, insisting that i try one right then and there. to my happy surprise, they were sweet little kiwis! they are not fuzzy like your normal kiwi, but have thin green skins you can eat. to our even greater delight, they are grown locally by a guy in mukwonago, wi (about 20 minutes from here). he has a very small farm, and the store gets maybe 60 pints in a year. we decided right then and there that they would made a perfect dessert, with greek yogurt and honey. i had wanted to make a ravani (greek semolina cake) to go with it, but forgot to pick up semolina, and hence the cornmeal cake. nobody was mad. ;)

and here ends my culinary tales (but not my culinary day dreams... we have so much rice left over, and i had noticed the other day just how many grape leaves dad has on the vine... and did you know that rice goes very well in a grape leaf? which i think sounds wonderful with the whole trout we have, perhaps grilled...).

friday, i worked from home, since i was feeling pretty lousy. half the people here at work are sick as well, so i figured i'd be better off resting at home. oliver still toddled off to day care, though, so i could get stuff done. his allergies/sinuses have been pretty bad off as well, and he seems to be teething.

the rest of the weekend was fairly normal. it was rainy all weekend, so we were stuck indoors. i think we watched the mechanics episode of blues clues ummmm 18 times. saturday morning we generally hung around the house. oliver was being a total ham and he and i were having fun playing hide and seek and "tickle me mommy!". he's started giving this super cheesy grin, where he shows all his teeth and squints his eyes closed. the picture does not do it justice.

he did manage to do pretty good with his naps, teething, stuffy nose, and all. which was good, because we had maggie's wedding saturday afternoon! mom came over and worked on school work while he napped, and bryan and i attended the ceremony (and forgot our camera, ack!). it was *beautiful*. maggie looked absolutely gorgeous. her colors were pink and orange, very festive. enrique, the groom, is mexican, so the programs were printed in both english and spanish, one reading was in english and the other in spanish, and the music was provided by an acoustic trio who sang in spanish. the music was amazing; bryan wants to hire them for his next birthday party so we can do a fieta authentica. after the ceremony, we zipped home to find oliver still napping, wonder of wonders. once he awoke, we all headed to the reception (and forgot our camera AGAIN, grr), held at the rotary building on the fox river. oliver charmed everyone he could, of course. the meal was catered by maggie & enrique's favorite mexican restuarant, casa del rio. mexican = bryan's favorite food, so he was trilled. we ate a *ton* - even oliver. we were home shortly after 7, boring married people with a kid that we are. it was a great time.

sunday, we did our outpost run, and bryan did some work around the kitchen, including prep'ing for that fab lamb dinner. ihad been hoping to start canning, but as the tomatoes are not ready and i wasn't about to attempt to do all the beets we have in 2 hours, i held off. oliver's godfather chris was in town, so he and his girl charity came over for dinner. oliver flirted mightily with charity, and was enthralled with chris' beard. i think that oliver very much enjoyed having someone else other than mom and dad to play with.

oliver's sleeping has been off, what with being sick and this teething business. i am very much looking forward to him feeling better, and me feeling better as well. fall seems to have arrived, and i really want to enjoy this gorgeous weather before we're knee deep in snow (evil, evil, evil). sigh.

WFD: pasta with chorizo and chipotle pesto cream sauce. and maybe something green, like swiss chard. that would work. and beer. doesn't beer sound good? ahh, if only i could quit my job and do FOOD all the time...

15 feet of pure white snow

oliver is slowly getting closer to being back on track sleep-wise. last night he had near a 5 hour stretch. almost there! we're all starting to feel much better, so that will help everyone get some much needed sleep, i think.

he got himself into a serious fit of the giggles last night, which was pretty darn cute. we were playing Flying Baby and he thought it was the most hilarious thing. i'd fly him around a bit then plop him in my lap and he would laugh and laugh and laugh. that kept me amused for a bit, since i think that oliver laughing is the most precious, amazing, cute, entertaining thing pretty much ever. :)

i'm starting to get my sense of smell and thus taste back, and i've been daydreaming about breakfast foods. i never was a huge fan of breakfast foods, but with bryan's training in liking eggs and tomatoes, that has changed. some highlights:
- stuffed french toast. i take challah bread and slice it thick as ya like. i cut a little pocket in it and shove a bunch of chocolate chips in there, and make it into french toast. serve that with a fruit sauce and some mascarpone whipped with castor sugar and vanilla and viola! - delicioso. it's the equivalent of foie gras for breakfast. you'd be hard pressed to find something richer and more decadent. i dare you to eat more than 1 piece.
- pancakes with vanilla butter. it's hard to beat homemade pancakes for breakfast, and my accidental discovery of vanilla butter helped make them even better. i was whipping cream with sugar and vanilla, and walked away a few minutes too long... ta-da! butter! works splendidly with both maple syrup or powdered sugar (a favorite childhood treat).
- waffle sandwiches with ham, apricot jam, and cream cheese. this one i got out of a magazine and i must say, it has just about everything you can love about breakfast in it.
- biscuits with sausage gravy. need i say more?

part of the longing for a big plate of breakfast stems from the longing to have a relaxing weekend morning. someday, when we don't have babies and the kids are grown enough... someday... :)

it's been snowing non stop here since last night. it really picked up this morning. seriously. it's megatron. i am working from home so as not to risk the 26 mile round trip to and from work, and bryan is currently snow blowing the 10" inches we've gotten so far (and it's falling fast and hard still). i am yet again very glad we have 4 wheel drive on the suv. i'm hoping it abates before tomorrow morning so i can get into work. i'm totally sick of snow!

i've decided to start 2 new features on the blog!

WFD: What's For Dinner. i'll post my evening's menu plans, provided they are more exciting than fish sticks (although i was pretty chuffed to get the time to eat those last week).

My New Favorite: i'll detail out my new favorite thing. expect lots of things related to and in the general realm of eating.

WFD: salsa burgers. we have some leftover pico bryan made for last night's chorizo tacos, so we've decided to take our burgers south of the border tonight.

My New Favorite: archer farms natural italian sodas. archer farms is the target brand food stuffs, and most of it is pretty good and relatively natural. the soda is not as sweet as your normal soda, and they have more fun flavors, like strawberry pomegranate, and blood orange. le yum.

no rest for the weary

our weekend wasn't as restful as i had planned. you're amazed, i am sure. i don't know why i even bother to plan resting anymore!

oliver is still sick, so his eating/sleeping was off all weekend. we did the best we could to keep him hydrated, rested, and not feeling too miserable (a plan which involved lots of hugs, liberal smears of baby vicks, and a few doses of tylenol). he is doing better, but still isn't well yet.

friday, i did make the chicken soup i had been dreaming about. i finely diced some onions and garlic, and sauteed those; deglazed with white wine; added homemade chicken stock, marjarom, thyme, and carrots, and simmered. added egg noodles and celery; seasoned with peruvian salt and cracked black pepper; garnished with parsley and served. unfortunately, my extreme congestion meant i couldn't taste any of it. at all. which is crazy. i have never been so congested that i can't taste ANYTHING. it's weird and unhappy. bryan tells me the soup was good, though.

saturday, we headed out to the mall to make an exchange and pick up a new chain for my Oliver necklace. we had lunch at p.f. chang's (which i was interested in trying since i had never been but, again, i couldn't taste even in the slighest; bryan assures me it was mostly ok) and i picked up a few new books with my gift certificate from jess (gabriel garcia marquez and isabel allende... shocking, i know i am so unpredictable). we wandered around a bit to check out all the cute clothes we'll be able to dress oliver in when he gets a bit bigger and i longed after some new shoes, while he napped in the stroller, then headed home.

sunday, i had a hankering for a b.l.t (after recommending one to chris, i had bacon on the brain) so we went to johnny v's for lunch. unfortunately, again, i couldn't taste it, so it wasn't as satisfying as a b.l.t ought to be. bryan enjoyed his lunch, however, and the place in general. we then ran to target for some random household goods (including Puffs with Vicks, my new favorite find, even if i can't smell it), which was fun as usual. bryan also started to feel sick sunday. i managed to avoid the depression of watching the giants win the super bowl by going to bed very early. i was pretty exhausted.

i am starting to feel better, although still pretty tired and congested... and still can't taste a single thing, which is starting to stress me. bryan has hit the middle of the sickness and is feeling downright crappy. oliver has his moments... overall i think he is dealing with it rather well, considering he is a baby and if he is feeling as bad as i have been, he should be MUCH fussier (i know i would be). yesterday, he didn't nap much at day care so was pretty overtired in the evening... which meant he was too cranky to go to bed and just wanted to fight it. i did eventually get him down but it was another rough night. i just can't wait for us all to be well again.

no big plans for the week. we're supposed to get anywhere from 4 - 15 inches of snow tonight, depending on who you believe, which sucks majorly and means i may be working from home tomorrow. aunt mo is having a jewelery party on friday, so ollie and i will head over there for some free food and baby handling. other than that, i think we're going to try to lay low all week and weekend and not do much in hopes we'll get over this cold before we have to travel weekend after next! and i seriously mean rest this time. other than finishing the laundry. seriously.

and here is your obligatory cute baby picture:

that is him doing his best (and succeeding) in NOT smiling when i take a picture (and having serious giggle fits in between me snapping pictures, of course).

ok, just one more for good measure:

yep, he is really good at looking like he doesn't ever smile for me! :)

have a chat with ollie.

mama bear

the weather here has warmed some, though we're still getting pretty steady snow. i am so sick of snow and we have so many more months of it to go. and i don't even shovel (my hero of a husband takes care of all that for me).

oliver has been soldiering through his cold. i've managed to get sick myself; working from home today so i could go to the doctor to ensure it's not strep (it's not). all i'd need is a 3 month old infant with strep to complete my weekend, so i wanted to be sure. since i hadn't yet had a need to go to a general practitioner since the move up here, i had to pick a new doctor. i found one at a family practice, thinking if i liked what i saw and heard, we could switch oliver over. the doctor was very nice and attentive, and agreed that you can never be too safe with the baby. the facilities were very nice as well, with lots of things on site. it sort of pains me to switch; ollie's current doc is nice, knowledgeable, and so good with the baby... but i don't like feeling like i can't come to him with any concerns. call me over protective, i don't care: i'm still new at this and will play Big Bad Mama Bear until ollie (and whomever comes next) wears me down. ;)

no plans for the weekend, other than resting as much as possible. i'm feeling pretty brain dead from this virus, and am counting the minutes until nap time. i've got part of a roasted chicken left over in the fridge, so i plan on making a restorative chicken soup for dinner with some fresh carrots, celery, parsley, egg noodles, and bryan's famous chicken jello. that will leave us with another carcass for more chicken stock. i've been daydreaming about bryan's chicken stock. all i really need is that with some fresh cracked black pepper to help me feel better; the chicken and noodles are really just for show. ;)