I heard that particular, unmistakeable, and ominous sound for the first time today:
"Sploosh." *pause* "Sploosh." *pause* "Sploosh."
Yes, LW snuck into the bathroom while I was working (oops, forgot to shut the door), and was methodically throwing all her bath toys into the toilet.
I wish I could say that it would be the first and last time I'd ever hear that sound, but I'm too much of a realist for that.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Boy meets Girl
I've been meaning to write a few back story posts for this blog - i.e. how my husband and I met, how I became Catholic, what my childhood was like, etc. While I know how all these things shaped the person I am today, it's difficult for anyone else to really know who I am without knowing those details!
Unfortunately, I never seem to really have the time to sit down and write about such things. Frankly, it's all I can do to sit down and write "wow, it's warm here today" without LW waking up, and my attention naturally going to more motherly or wifely tasks. But she's napping right now, so I thought I'd make a go of it. Be forewarned that I may have to write the words "to be continued" at some point!
Where to start...
Jim and I met five years ago, right at the end of the first semester of my senior year of college.
To be continued! (Actually, I'm joking, but LW really did just wake up. See what I mean about her timing? Since my husband is home, I've passed her off to him so that I can make it at least beyond the first line of the story).
Interestingly, I actually met Jim's identical twin brother a few months before I met Jim; he was attending the same school and started visiting our campus Catholic Center. At the time, Jim was serving in the Army in Iraq, then went back to Germany before coming home. I became friends with his brother quickly, and when Jim showed up, I thought he was nice, but it wasn't love at first sight. I was not impressed by the gaggle of girls who swooped around him (did I mention he was fresh out of the Army?), and while I hadn't dated much, I'd had enough failed relationship woes to know better than to be interested in anyone who had that many girls flocking around. He, on the other hand, thought I was a snob, because I spent all my time with my head in my books (I was taking 4 English classes at the time, and had a horse at our campus horse barn; I quite legitimately did homework on Friday nights because I had to, which baffled him). So we became casual friends (I spent a lot more time with his brother than him), and that was it. A friend of mine and he briefly dated; we spent time together in large groups, but really never particularly connected.
The following fall, I had moved an hour or so away, but still occasionally visited his brother, and we began to see more of each other, but he was dating another friend. Time passed.
Then in the spring, for one reason or another we really started talking, and he asked me to go to a play with him (knowing I was a Shakespeare buff). I went, had a great time, but assumed he was still dating our mutual friend (they had amicably broken up months earlier as it turned out), and so never called him afterwards to say I'd had a good time. This was a mistake that, I still hear about years later, and which apparently could have derailed the whole direction of our lives. Fortunately, I ran into him a month or so later, he chose to overlook the confusion, and we hit it off again. I had done some sleuthing in the interim to realize that a) he was single, and b) he was most definitely pursuing me. A few weeks and a lot of emailing later, he sent flowers as a surprise to my workplace, and that, as they say, was that :)
Of course, as they also say, the course of true love ne'er runs smooth (ironically, I think it was Shakespeare that said so?) We dated for the next two years, across long, short, and intermediate distances (three years in which I lived 600 miles, 60 miles, and 6 miles away, at varying times). And as time wore on, the question began to became more and more pressing, "where was this going?" It pressed on me, and I in turn pressed on him, and we actually broke up after two and a half years. That could have been the end of it, and certainly I thought it was. I was completely crushed, and thus was not in the mood to answer his phone call three days later.
Three days... Now I look at it and realize that on the third day came the Resurrection, but I didn't know that then. I did answer the phone (after he tried about six times), and did agree to meet with him. On the way there, I kept praying over and over again that the Lord's will would be done - I didn't want to get back together only to be crushed again, but felt peace about seeing what was in store for us. We met, and he poured his heart out, told me about discernment and confusion and making decisions that affect the whole rest of one's life. Then he told me that he knew he'd thrown away something great, and had planned to propose on the spot, but had been talked out of it by our parish priest (who later married us, and baptized our daughter). So instead, we got back together, with the concrete knowledge that we really were heading toward marriage. Three months later, on a cold winter evening, we stopped to pray at a beautiful little adoration chapel at Jim's old parish. As we pulled up to the building, he casually mentioned that he'd arranged for the parish priest, a good friend of his, to set out the Eucharist for adoration for us, and my heart started to pound. I had an inkling that something important was about to happen, and to be honest, it was probably the most distracted adoration of my entire life; my mind was racing through the "Is he? Probably not. Don't get your hopes up. But what if he IS?" litany rather than the Rosary or anything more fitting. Then he got down on one knee, and that really was that :)
We were married in August of 2008; two months later, we found out we were pregnant with our Little Wum, who was born in June of 2009, and now here we are! Incidentally, his brother, the one who in many ways brought us together, is getting married himself in just a few weeks to a really lovely woman (so pray for their upcoming marriage!).
Anyway, that's our little back story. Of course there are many twists and turns to life that aren't really recordable; the emotions involved don't easily translate from heart to paper. But he is my best friend, the love of my life, my home, my husband... as to the rest of our lives, well, "If it's half as good as the half we've known, here's Hail! to the rest of the road." - Sheldon Vanauken
Unfortunately, I never seem to really have the time to sit down and write about such things. Frankly, it's all I can do to sit down and write "wow, it's warm here today" without LW waking up, and my attention naturally going to more motherly or wifely tasks. But she's napping right now, so I thought I'd make a go of it. Be forewarned that I may have to write the words "to be continued" at some point!
Where to start...
Jim and I met five years ago, right at the end of the first semester of my senior year of college.
To be continued! (Actually, I'm joking, but LW really did just wake up. See what I mean about her timing? Since my husband is home, I've passed her off to him so that I can make it at least beyond the first line of the story).
Interestingly, I actually met Jim's identical twin brother a few months before I met Jim; he was attending the same school and started visiting our campus Catholic Center. At the time, Jim was serving in the Army in Iraq, then went back to Germany before coming home. I became friends with his brother quickly, and when Jim showed up, I thought he was nice, but it wasn't love at first sight. I was not impressed by the gaggle of girls who swooped around him (did I mention he was fresh out of the Army?), and while I hadn't dated much, I'd had enough failed relationship woes to know better than to be interested in anyone who had that many girls flocking around. He, on the other hand, thought I was a snob, because I spent all my time with my head in my books (I was taking 4 English classes at the time, and had a horse at our campus horse barn; I quite legitimately did homework on Friday nights because I had to, which baffled him). So we became casual friends (I spent a lot more time with his brother than him), and that was it. A friend of mine and he briefly dated; we spent time together in large groups, but really never particularly connected.
The following fall, I had moved an hour or so away, but still occasionally visited his brother, and we began to see more of each other, but he was dating another friend. Time passed.
Then in the spring, for one reason or another we really started talking, and he asked me to go to a play with him (knowing I was a Shakespeare buff). I went, had a great time, but assumed he was still dating our mutual friend (they had amicably broken up months earlier as it turned out), and so never called him afterwards to say I'd had a good time. This was a mistake that, I still hear about years later, and which apparently could have derailed the whole direction of our lives. Fortunately, I ran into him a month or so later, he chose to overlook the confusion, and we hit it off again. I had done some sleuthing in the interim to realize that a) he was single, and b) he was most definitely pursuing me. A few weeks and a lot of emailing later, he sent flowers as a surprise to my workplace, and that, as they say, was that :)
Of course, as they also say, the course of true love ne'er runs smooth (ironically, I think it was Shakespeare that said so?) We dated for the next two years, across long, short, and intermediate distances (three years in which I lived 600 miles, 60 miles, and 6 miles away, at varying times). And as time wore on, the question began to became more and more pressing, "where was this going?" It pressed on me, and I in turn pressed on him, and we actually broke up after two and a half years. That could have been the end of it, and certainly I thought it was. I was completely crushed, and thus was not in the mood to answer his phone call three days later.
Three days... Now I look at it and realize that on the third day came the Resurrection, but I didn't know that then. I did answer the phone (after he tried about six times), and did agree to meet with him. On the way there, I kept praying over and over again that the Lord's will would be done - I didn't want to get back together only to be crushed again, but felt peace about seeing what was in store for us. We met, and he poured his heart out, told me about discernment and confusion and making decisions that affect the whole rest of one's life. Then he told me that he knew he'd thrown away something great, and had planned to propose on the spot, but had been talked out of it by our parish priest (who later married us, and baptized our daughter). So instead, we got back together, with the concrete knowledge that we really were heading toward marriage. Three months later, on a cold winter evening, we stopped to pray at a beautiful little adoration chapel at Jim's old parish. As we pulled up to the building, he casually mentioned that he'd arranged for the parish priest, a good friend of his, to set out the Eucharist for adoration for us, and my heart started to pound. I had an inkling that something important was about to happen, and to be honest, it was probably the most distracted adoration of my entire life; my mind was racing through the "Is he? Probably not. Don't get your hopes up. But what if he IS?" litany rather than the Rosary or anything more fitting. Then he got down on one knee, and that really was that :)
We were married in August of 2008; two months later, we found out we were pregnant with our Little Wum, who was born in June of 2009, and now here we are! Incidentally, his brother, the one who in many ways brought us together, is getting married himself in just a few weeks to a really lovely woman (so pray for their upcoming marriage!).
Anyway, that's our little back story. Of course there are many twists and turns to life that aren't really recordable; the emotions involved don't easily translate from heart to paper. But he is my best friend, the love of my life, my home, my husband... as to the rest of our lives, well, "If it's half as good as the half we've known, here's Hail! to the rest of the road." - Sheldon Vanauken
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Happiness is..
A definition of happiness: the exceedingly rare combination of quiet weather, a nourished soul, a clean house, a sleepy baby taking a nap, a mug of my favorite (and hard to find) tea at my right hand, a good book at my left, and a pan of brownies in the oven.
Ah, Sunday...
A blessed Sabbath rest to all! More to come this week, if I can ever get my fingers to the keyboard instead of all the other activities currently keeping me running from day to night.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
What a week!
It's been so busy here, lately. My husband has been very busy with funerals, I've been trying to get my work done and do a lot else in the rest of the time, so I haven't been online much. I guess I shouldn't feel too bad, though, since that is the general trend in blog-land - almost every post I read says something to the effect of "sorry I haven't posted lately, life has been so busy!".
Here in the Northeast, we're busy cramming as much into the summer days of daylight and warmth as possible. This season goes all too fast, and soon we'll be trapped back indoors, and will turn our focus back to mental rather than physical pursuits, like more blogging.
Of course, right now it is pouring buckets and cool, not warm and sunny (hence, I'm online!).
A few bits and pieces of our life lately:
-Our Little Wum has finally started to walk! She hasn't made it more than three steps before sitting down yet, but she stands alone for longer each day. In a month I'll probably have to run to catch up with her.
-I felt the Quebec earthquake yesterday! I was sitting at my desk doing some work, and LW was napping, when I started to feel really strange - almost sick strange, and thought that I was shaking badly (like my blood sugar was super low). Then I realized that it wasn't me shaking, but rather, the room. The pictures on our walls started to knock slightly, and the weirdest feeling under foot. It lasted long enough for me to ponder whether I should wake LW and take her outside, and what the safest place would be; I was waiting to see if it would get any worse but it just faded away (I was actually a little disappointed). Still, it's the first one that I actually was very awake and aware for (VT doesn't get many earthquakes). We had one in 2002 when I was in college, early in the morning; I woke up to my (loft) bed shaking, and in my half-dreaming state thought that it was just the garbage truck making such a rumble.
-I've spent all week looking for a lost object, only to finally have to concede that I must have absentmindedly thrown it out in the trash. Unfortunately, said lost object (my retainer) is going to cost a bit to replace...
-We've started looking at houses! The first visit was pretty much a dud- the land was gorgeous, but every room in the house would need to be stripped and redone (like back to the studs in the walls), and we're just not up for quite that much of a fixer-upper. We also weren't convinced that the structure itself was 100% solid. But we'll keep looking! It's a challenge to try to find everything we are looking for with the budget we have, but it is exciting to be looking just the same.
-The garden keeps growing nicely; we've got over 30 tomatoes slowly ripening on their vines, I haven't bought lettuce in weeks, and am harvesting herbs regularly. It feels good to have such an intimate relationship with the food we are eating, and I can't wait to be able to grow an even bigger garden in the future. Having such a tiny little plot has been a great experience, though - it has shown me exactly what you can do with a small space, and how much easier a small space can be to take care of, as well.
-LW's BG diapers should arrive today! Much excitement, there. Of course with the pouring rain, she may not get to wear them today, since I may not be able to wash and dry them.
Anyway, my husband is taking a day off today, the baby is awake, and I'm all done with work by 10:30 (this might be because said baby woke us up at 5:50 am) so I'm off to enjoy the day. Hope you're all having blessed days in this busy season!
Here in the Northeast, we're busy cramming as much into the summer days of daylight and warmth as possible. This season goes all too fast, and soon we'll be trapped back indoors, and will turn our focus back to mental rather than physical pursuits, like more blogging.
Of course, right now it is pouring buckets and cool, not warm and sunny (hence, I'm online!).
A few bits and pieces of our life lately:
-Our Little Wum has finally started to walk! She hasn't made it more than three steps before sitting down yet, but she stands alone for longer each day. In a month I'll probably have to run to catch up with her.
-I felt the Quebec earthquake yesterday! I was sitting at my desk doing some work, and LW was napping, when I started to feel really strange - almost sick strange, and thought that I was shaking badly (like my blood sugar was super low). Then I realized that it wasn't me shaking, but rather, the room. The pictures on our walls started to knock slightly, and the weirdest feeling under foot. It lasted long enough for me to ponder whether I should wake LW and take her outside, and what the safest place would be; I was waiting to see if it would get any worse but it just faded away (I was actually a little disappointed). Still, it's the first one that I actually was very awake and aware for (VT doesn't get many earthquakes). We had one in 2002 when I was in college, early in the morning; I woke up to my (loft) bed shaking, and in my half-dreaming state thought that it was just the garbage truck making such a rumble.
-I've spent all week looking for a lost object, only to finally have to concede that I must have absentmindedly thrown it out in the trash. Unfortunately, said lost object (my retainer) is going to cost a bit to replace...
-We've started looking at houses! The first visit was pretty much a dud- the land was gorgeous, but every room in the house would need to be stripped and redone (like back to the studs in the walls), and we're just not up for quite that much of a fixer-upper. We also weren't convinced that the structure itself was 100% solid. But we'll keep looking! It's a challenge to try to find everything we are looking for with the budget we have, but it is exciting to be looking just the same.
-The garden keeps growing nicely; we've got over 30 tomatoes slowly ripening on their vines, I haven't bought lettuce in weeks, and am harvesting herbs regularly. It feels good to have such an intimate relationship with the food we are eating, and I can't wait to be able to grow an even bigger garden in the future. Having such a tiny little plot has been a great experience, though - it has shown me exactly what you can do with a small space, and how much easier a small space can be to take care of, as well.
-LW's BG diapers should arrive today! Much excitement, there. Of course with the pouring rain, she may not get to wear them today, since I may not be able to wash and dry them.
Anyway, my husband is taking a day off today, the baby is awake, and I'm all done with work by 10:30 (this might be because said baby woke us up at 5:50 am) so I'm off to enjoy the day. Hope you're all having blessed days in this busy season!
Monday, June 21, 2010
A BG 3.0 Update
Update: I've been washing diapers once or twice a day to keep LW in them as much as possible, and am sprinkling acidophilus on her at every change... and I think we may have success! The rash has not returned and things look as clear as they have in months. We went ahead and took the plunge, and have 12 more BG's due to arrive in the mail sometime soon (I was able to get a great deal at Nicki's diapers - I think it worked out to around $13.80/diaper, which is over $4 less than usual). Still expensive, each diaper is still over a week's worth of Huggies, but hopefully they'll last until potty training (and maybe into the next baby).
So - for anyone out there whose baby has ever struggled with repeated rashes that seemed to be aggravated by cloth - try probiotics. It can't hurt, and I wish I'd tried it 6 months ago.
Also, so far I'm really loving the pocket diapers. I liked prefolds and covers, but the fit was always really fussy, and if I didn't use a snappi (which was a lot more work than just laying a diaper into the cover), the diaper would sag down and the cover would roll inward until the edge of the elastic was biting into her tummy. This hasn't happened at all with the BG's, and I love how she just has nice soft fabric everywhere next to her skin. I like the suedecloth a lot, too - it seems cooler and thinner than microfleece, and definitely keeps her dry. She may get "damp" when her diaper needs to be changed, but not sopping like the insert. The BG's also fit a lot better than her Thirsties covers did. Not sure how the velcro will hold up in the long run - I've heard reports of that failing and a lot of people prefer Fuzzi Bunz for that reason, but I was worried about the fleece in the Fuzzi's being too warm. Also, changing time is a nightmare these days; she hates staying on her back for more than 5 seconds, and screaming fits tend to ensue, so I couldn't imagine trying to fiddle with snaps... most of the time I can't even get the three snaps for her onesie done up before she has escaped.
We'll see how things go once the diapers arrive and I'm really at it full time, but it feels good to have her back in cloth again, and to have maybe figured out the problem!
So - for anyone out there whose baby has ever struggled with repeated rashes that seemed to be aggravated by cloth - try probiotics. It can't hurt, and I wish I'd tried it 6 months ago.
Also, so far I'm really loving the pocket diapers. I liked prefolds and covers, but the fit was always really fussy, and if I didn't use a snappi (which was a lot more work than just laying a diaper into the cover), the diaper would sag down and the cover would roll inward until the edge of the elastic was biting into her tummy. This hasn't happened at all with the BG's, and I love how she just has nice soft fabric everywhere next to her skin. I like the suedecloth a lot, too - it seems cooler and thinner than microfleece, and definitely keeps her dry. She may get "damp" when her diaper needs to be changed, but not sopping like the insert. The BG's also fit a lot better than her Thirsties covers did. Not sure how the velcro will hold up in the long run - I've heard reports of that failing and a lot of people prefer Fuzzi Bunz for that reason, but I was worried about the fleece in the Fuzzi's being too warm. Also, changing time is a nightmare these days; she hates staying on her back for more than 5 seconds, and screaming fits tend to ensue, so I couldn't imagine trying to fiddle with snaps... most of the time I can't even get the three snaps for her onesie done up before she has escaped.
We'll see how things go once the diapers arrive and I'm really at it full time, but it feels good to have her back in cloth again, and to have maybe figured out the problem!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Friday update
Today, the CEO of my company decided to give all employees the afternoon off - which means a very light work day for me, and the chance to actually enjoy both of LW's naps instead of having to work through them. And the weather is even beautiful, to boot!
A few things that I've found or been pondering lately:
1) We've officially, I think, found a laundry detergent that I like - eco-friendly, no enzymes or brighteners or dyes or things bad for us or the environment, and gosh, it actually *works* as well: Planet. We tried soap nuts, and they did an ok job getting smells out of clothing, but just didn't have the cleaning power for things like food stains or my husband's work socks (that he wears to the cemetery, and somehow grinds copious amounts of dirt into - literally - they come home brown instead of white). But I actually think Planet works better than Tide, and leaves no residue - everything is just soft and *clean*. So we'll see how it performs in the future, but for now it's working good. I'm really happy because I was desperate to find one thing that would work on all our laundry, from work clothes, to baby clothes, to cloth diapers.
2) On the subject of cloth diapers: the BumGenius report! So far, I really, really like them. They fit well, are soft, really do a fairly decent (though not 100%) job of wicking away moisture, and are really easy to clean (especially with the diaper sprayer that we bought back in the beginning and haven't gotten to really use due to the rash saga). However - LW's bottom hasn't seemed to like them as well as I have; she had a rash starting after the first day. I should note that we only bought three to try, so I've been washing them once or twice a day to be able to keep her in them as a trial, and then using a disposable at night.
3) But! I think I may have stumbled on a rash solution! I am really excited about this, because it seems to actually be working, the first thing that has made any dent in the rash while she's in cloth, and it's such a silly and cheap solution. I bought a $4 bottle of acidophilus capsules at the grocery store, and split one open, mix with some breastmilk to form a paste, and put that on at each diaper change. The redness, so far, seems to be disappearing... if this actually works, it confirms my suspicion that she actually had an underlying yeast overgrowth going on, which the cloth diapers caused to flare. In which case, it would be good to get it cleared up and her skin back into balance, rather than using the sposies just to keep it at bay. For now though, only time will tell. I'm cautiously optimistic that maybe, just maybe, I've found the answer, but I've been thwarted enough times on this journey to know that there's a huge possibility of this strategy failing as well. Still, it's the first glimmer of hope we've had in cloth diapering land since we started the whole process. Plus, the BG's are just too darn nice to not be able to use!
4) I'm reading an awesome book that my mom dropped off for me, which many of you would probably like as well: Radical Homemakers, by Shannon Hayes. It's a really uplifting, thoughtful read, and makes you think about (and want to put into action) a lot of her suggestions for changing our lives and communities. I'm also finding it a great antidote for those moments when I'm tempted to try and keep up with the Joneses. She really stresses the idea, which I've found very true lately, that happiness isn't found in things, but in people, community, ideas, abilities, productive work, etc. I also really like her take on self-sufficiency versus community - that we shouldn't strive to be self-sufficient in ourselves (i.e. as isolated persons or nuclear families, trying to go it all on our own in defiance and separation from the world), but rather seek to make our communities self-sufficient, so that neighbor helps neighbor, and the community as a whole can be more self-reliant, and thus less reliant on corporations, etc. This idea answers a need that I've felt for a long time, to be more a part of an actual neighborhood and community; I really dislike the isolation of living in a house surrounded by other houses, but never getting to know your neighbors as people. Yet I've found it hard to overcome that prevailing model... so often, my neighbors have seemed to simply not want to be known.
Not too much else going on in my brain at the moment, and LW will wake up soon, so happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
A few things that I've found or been pondering lately:
1) We've officially, I think, found a laundry detergent that I like - eco-friendly, no enzymes or brighteners or dyes or things bad for us or the environment, and gosh, it actually *works* as well: Planet. We tried soap nuts, and they did an ok job getting smells out of clothing, but just didn't have the cleaning power for things like food stains or my husband's work socks (that he wears to the cemetery, and somehow grinds copious amounts of dirt into - literally - they come home brown instead of white). But I actually think Planet works better than Tide, and leaves no residue - everything is just soft and *clean*. So we'll see how it performs in the future, but for now it's working good. I'm really happy because I was desperate to find one thing that would work on all our laundry, from work clothes, to baby clothes, to cloth diapers.
2) On the subject of cloth diapers: the BumGenius report! So far, I really, really like them. They fit well, are soft, really do a fairly decent (though not 100%) job of wicking away moisture, and are really easy to clean (especially with the diaper sprayer that we bought back in the beginning and haven't gotten to really use due to the rash saga). However - LW's bottom hasn't seemed to like them as well as I have; she had a rash starting after the first day. I should note that we only bought three to try, so I've been washing them once or twice a day to be able to keep her in them as a trial, and then using a disposable at night.
3) But! I think I may have stumbled on a rash solution! I am really excited about this, because it seems to actually be working, the first thing that has made any dent in the rash while she's in cloth, and it's such a silly and cheap solution. I bought a $4 bottle of acidophilus capsules at the grocery store, and split one open, mix with some breastmilk to form a paste, and put that on at each diaper change. The redness, so far, seems to be disappearing... if this actually works, it confirms my suspicion that she actually had an underlying yeast overgrowth going on, which the cloth diapers caused to flare. In which case, it would be good to get it cleared up and her skin back into balance, rather than using the sposies just to keep it at bay. For now though, only time will tell. I'm cautiously optimistic that maybe, just maybe, I've found the answer, but I've been thwarted enough times on this journey to know that there's a huge possibility of this strategy failing as well. Still, it's the first glimmer of hope we've had in cloth diapering land since we started the whole process. Plus, the BG's are just too darn nice to not be able to use!
4) I'm reading an awesome book that my mom dropped off for me, which many of you would probably like as well: Radical Homemakers, by Shannon Hayes. It's a really uplifting, thoughtful read, and makes you think about (and want to put into action) a lot of her suggestions for changing our lives and communities. I'm also finding it a great antidote for those moments when I'm tempted to try and keep up with the Joneses. She really stresses the idea, which I've found very true lately, that happiness isn't found in things, but in people, community, ideas, abilities, productive work, etc. I also really like her take on self-sufficiency versus community - that we shouldn't strive to be self-sufficient in ourselves (i.e. as isolated persons or nuclear families, trying to go it all on our own in defiance and separation from the world), but rather seek to make our communities self-sufficient, so that neighbor helps neighbor, and the community as a whole can be more self-reliant, and thus less reliant on corporations, etc. This idea answers a need that I've felt for a long time, to be more a part of an actual neighborhood and community; I really dislike the isolation of living in a house surrounded by other houses, but never getting to know your neighbors as people. Yet I've found it hard to overcome that prevailing model... so often, my neighbors have seemed to simply not want to be known.
Not too much else going on in my brain at the moment, and LW will wake up soon, so happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Call it "Recipe Wednesday"
I have to start this post with an announcement and slight digression:
I ate a piece of candied ginger today, and enjoyed it.
This may seem like no big deal until I tell you the back story. It goes back to when I was just a few weeks pregnant with LW. Morning sickness hit like an merciless wave, and I was working full time (and not from home). I had to keep it together, because no one at work even knew the news yet. I read somewhere that candied ginger was good for nausea, so I gave it a go - everytime I started to feel sick, I grabbed another piece to chew on.
The good news was that it really did work - for about three days.
The bad news was that after those three days, I couldn't stand the taste, smell, sight, or even thought of ginger. It was so bad (those of you who've had true pregnancy aversions will know what I mean) that it wasn't until about the 9th month that I was even able to reach into my desk drawer, fish out the tub of candied ginger that I had buried there, and throw it in the trash. And the aversion didn't go away when I had LW - for months afterwards the very idea of ginger made me cringe. By Thanksgiving time I was able to have foods with ginger in them (thank goodness!)... but candied ginger was still a no-go.
So imagine my surprise when I went shopping on Monday, saw that peaches were 87 cents a pound, and thought, "hey, I could make ginger peach jam!"
To test my recovery, I fished the long-abandoned tub of ginger out of the back of our home cupboard, and tasted some.. and it was pretty good.
So now I have all the ingredients on hand to make this recipe this evening.
As you may have noticed, and surely will in the future, I'm not a kitchen genius. I don't make up my own recipes (generally), but I will point you to ones that are tried and true favorites. And sometimes I'll even include my own tweaks :)
For instance, last night we had Linguine with Tomatoes and Basil for dinner. We have the Silver Palate cookbook, and this is one of my very favorite recipes in there. However, a little bit of experimenting has found that my husband and I both prefer fresh mozzarella to Brie in the recipe, so I always substitute the same amount of the former, cut into chunks, for the latter. Either is super yummy, though - it is a perfect recipe for a summer day, you can throw together the sauce early in the day in about ten minutes, then dinner is ready in the time it takes pasta to cook.
Also "cooking" at the moment, or rather freezing, is this treat that I found on a Stonyfield yogurt carton awhile back. I omit the strawberries because when I made it with them it ended up a little bit watery/icy, and let's face it, we eat cheesecake pie for the cheesecake, not the berries :) I'll probably buy some to serve on top, though (but it is amazing either way).
So what's going on in all your kitchens, today?
I ate a piece of candied ginger today, and enjoyed it.
This may seem like no big deal until I tell you the back story. It goes back to when I was just a few weeks pregnant with LW. Morning sickness hit like an merciless wave, and I was working full time (and not from home). I had to keep it together, because no one at work even knew the news yet. I read somewhere that candied ginger was good for nausea, so I gave it a go - everytime I started to feel sick, I grabbed another piece to chew on.
The good news was that it really did work - for about three days.
The bad news was that after those three days, I couldn't stand the taste, smell, sight, or even thought of ginger. It was so bad (those of you who've had true pregnancy aversions will know what I mean) that it wasn't until about the 9th month that I was even able to reach into my desk drawer, fish out the tub of candied ginger that I had buried there, and throw it in the trash. And the aversion didn't go away when I had LW - for months afterwards the very idea of ginger made me cringe. By Thanksgiving time I was able to have foods with ginger in them (thank goodness!)... but candied ginger was still a no-go.
So imagine my surprise when I went shopping on Monday, saw that peaches were 87 cents a pound, and thought, "hey, I could make ginger peach jam!"
To test my recovery, I fished the long-abandoned tub of ginger out of the back of our home cupboard, and tasted some.. and it was pretty good.
So now I have all the ingredients on hand to make this recipe this evening.
As you may have noticed, and surely will in the future, I'm not a kitchen genius. I don't make up my own recipes (generally), but I will point you to ones that are tried and true favorites. And sometimes I'll even include my own tweaks :)
For instance, last night we had Linguine with Tomatoes and Basil for dinner. We have the Silver Palate cookbook, and this is one of my very favorite recipes in there. However, a little bit of experimenting has found that my husband and I both prefer fresh mozzarella to Brie in the recipe, so I always substitute the same amount of the former, cut into chunks, for the latter. Either is super yummy, though - it is a perfect recipe for a summer day, you can throw together the sauce early in the day in about ten minutes, then dinner is ready in the time it takes pasta to cook.
Also "cooking" at the moment, or rather freezing, is this treat that I found on a Stonyfield yogurt carton awhile back. I omit the strawberries because when I made it with them it ended up a little bit watery/icy, and let's face it, we eat cheesecake pie for the cheesecake, not the berries :) I'll probably buy some to serve on top, though (but it is amazing either way).
So what's going on in all your kitchens, today?
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