Starfish

I was thinking about making a baby quilt. I've done this with a friend for the babies of her two sisters. But those quilting memories are intimately connected to drinking beer. And since I can only partake in alcohol consumption in my dreams, I can't bear the thought of quilting right now. In my quest to find a baby project, I stumbled upon a book of toy knitting projects at a store in my neighborhood: Crafty Planet. I have to admit that I often feel like I'm not cool enough to shop at this store. But I do like my crafts, so I go in anyway.

My first project from this book was this starfish. I bought bamboo toy stuffing which is naturally anti-bacterial. I finished the project last Friday. And that night, and every night since, the Big D has fallen asleep on his big chair with his head on this toy/pillow. I have enough yarn for another one, so, now I'll work one for Baby. And, I'm sure Baby will like it because his Daddy likes it and I can't wait to see the two of them napping together on their pillows. So cute!

Next project: Knitted Teddy Bear.

Starfish

I was thinking about making a baby quilt. I've done this with a friend for the babies of her two sisters. But those quilting memories are intimately connected to drinking beer. And since I can only partake in alcohol consumption in my dreams, I can't bear the thought of quilting right now. In my quest to find a baby project, I stumbled upon a book of toy knitting projects at a store in my neighborhood: Crafty Planet. I have to admit that I often feel like I'm not cool enough to shop at this store. But I do like my crafts, so I go in anyway.

My first project from this book was this starfish. I bought bamboo toy stuffing which is naturally anti-bacterial. I finished the project last Friday. And that night, and every night since, the Big D has fallen asleep on his big chair with his head on this toy/pillow. I have enough yarn for another one, so, now I'll work one for Baby. And, I'm sure Baby will like it because his Daddy likes it and I can't wait to see the two of them napping together on their pillows. So cute!

Next project: Knitted Teddy Bear.

Craving Nutritious Food Again!

What a relief! I want my CSA, I love my CSA and I am so glad I hung on to it!

What a sad, sad summer. Most of my CSA produce went into the compost pile. What a waste of such good vegetables! What a terrible blow on our budget!

So, here's a pregnancy fantasy: Before I got pregnant, I was quite arrogant about the CSA. I was going to eat healthy. I had invested in healthy, locally-grown, organic food. I was accused of being "preachy" about my "organics" when I didn't want to talk about botox. I stood in shock when I heard a mother openly wonder when her four year old child would start eating vegetables. I was tongue-tied when another women asked me if my husband was willing to eat such things. I was dumbfounded when my mother-in-law fretted over all the sugar in those organic fruits and vegetables that would undoubtedly do damage to my diabetic husband.

When July hit and baby came in with a bang, I started to see the crazed nature of my fantasy of nutritious food. I couldn't stomach it. Salads made me wretch. Greens seemed to me to only exist in order to wilt. Beans? Ugh. Preparing this stuff? Forget about it. Give me a burger. Order take-out. Oh, god I want a hotdog. I actually ate a Big Mac for first time in over 7 years! I broke my seven-year Big Mac fast when I got pregnant. I went to Taco Bell and ordered three different burrito items in order to scope out what I would get on my next visit. I ate tons of popsicles in which the main ingredients were a list of chemicals. Fruit bars? Nope? I couldn't stomach them. And, ok, here's the worst of it because I chided a woman for feeding this to her children on a daily basis: Kraft mac-n-cheese. But, in my defense, I didn't eat it every day. I ate it always with broccoli AND I bought the whole grain stuff, but that was mostly because I didn't want to eat the pasta shaped like Scooby Doo or Sponge Bob. But, still it was whole grain. And who the heck is Sponge Bob?

Admitting this is a frightening thing for me. But then, not many people read here, so, what do I got to be afraid of?

I was astonished with my stomach, with my body. I felt betrayed. I saw the heavy hit on our budget. I had to leave the house when the Big D cooked up bacon for a simple BLT sandwich. I couldn't bear the thought of blogging when all that seemed good locally were fast food chains. I am so glad that I haven't eaten much fast food in my life, because I felt like I ate a lifetime's worth in the month of August.

Thankfully, things started to change. Slowly. But steadily. It all began with corn.




Then came the melons.




I still haven't made my way back to cauliflower. But it looks so lovely, doesn't it?




And then came yesterday. Yesterday! Oh my, what a lovely day. I made some baba ganoush!!! I tried it for the first time and the results did turn out better than store-bought. AND, the smell of the eggplant roasting did not drive me out of the neighborhood!




What a divine day. Now I have something healthy to snack on. AND, I spent more than 5 minutes in my kitchen!




Heck! The experience was so great I moved onto roasting a chicken! I roasted a chicken. It wasn't a pretty process. I mopped the floor in case I had any Julia Child-like mishaps and pulled out a whole stick of butter to soften. It turned out great. The only problem is that I, apparently, don't know what side the breast is on because I ended up cooking it breast-side down.

The free-range chicken cost me $9 and I figured we saved $20 in that meal alone because the last time I craved chicken we got take-out from Brasa. Tonight we will have big salads topped with chicken, and I might even have enough chicken left over for a pot pie. Three meals out of one chicken. I like that. My budget likes that!

Ahhh. It's good to be back to the land of living and good eating.

Today - a chicken broth with left over carcass. Did I really say that? Yes, ma'am, I said carcass and I don't even have to go puke!

Craving Nutritious Food Again!

What a relief! I want my CSA, I love my CSA and I am so glad I hung on to it!

What a sad, sad summer. Most of my CSA produce went into the compost pile. What a waste of such good vegetables! What a terrible blow on our budget!

So, here's a pregnancy fantasy: Before I got pregnant, I was quite arrogant about the CSA. I was going to eat healthy. I had invested in healthy, locally-grown, organic food. I was accused of being "preachy" about my "organics" when I didn't want to talk about botox. I stood in shock when I heard a mother openly wonder when her four year old child would start eating vegetables. I was tongue-tied when another women asked me if my husband was willing to eat such things. I was dumbfounded when my mother-in-law fretted over all the sugar in those organic fruits and vegetables that would undoubtedly do damage to my diabetic husband.

When July hit and baby came in with a bang, I started to see the crazed nature of my fantasy of nutritious food. I couldn't stomach it. Salads made me wretch. Greens seemed to me to only exist in order to wilt. Beans? Ugh. Preparing this stuff? Forget about it. Give me a burger. Order take-out. Oh, god I want a hotdog. I actually ate a Big Mac for first time in over 7 years! I broke my seven-year Big Mac fast when I got pregnant. I went to Taco Bell and ordered three different burrito items in order to scope out what I would get on my next visit. I ate tons of popsicles in which the main ingredients were a list of chemicals. Fruit bars? Nope? I couldn't stomach them. And, ok, here's the worst of it because I chided a woman for feeding this to her children on a daily basis: Kraft mac-n-cheese. But, in my defense, I didn't eat it every day. I ate it always with broccoli AND I bought the whole grain stuff, but that was mostly because I didn't want to eat the pasta shaped like Scooby Doo or Sponge Bob. But, still it was whole grain. And who the heck is Sponge Bob?

Admitting this is a frightening thing for me. But then, not many people read here, so, what do I got to be afraid of?

I was astonished with my stomach, with my body. I felt betrayed. I saw the heavy hit on our budget. I had to leave the house when the Big D cooked up bacon for a simple BLT sandwich. I couldn't bear the thought of blogging when all that seemed good locally were fast food chains. I am so glad that I haven't eaten much fast food in my life, because I felt like I ate a lifetime's worth in the month of August.

Thankfully, things started to change. Slowly. But steadily. It all began with corn.




Then came the melons.




I still haven't made my way back to cauliflower. But it looks so lovely, doesn't it?




And then came yesterday. Yesterday! Oh my, what a lovely day. I made some baba ganoush!!! I tried it for the first time and the results did turn out better than store-bought. AND, the smell of the eggplant roasting did not drive me out of the neighborhood!




What a divine day. Now I have something healthy to snack on. AND, I spent more than 5 minutes in my kitchen!




Heck! The experience was so great I moved onto roasting a chicken! I roasted a chicken. It wasn't a pretty process. I mopped the floor in case I had any Julia Child-like mishaps and pulled out a whole stick of butter to soften. It turned out great. The only problem is that I, apparently, don't know what side the breast is on because I ended up cooking it breast-side down.

The free-range chicken cost me $9 and I figured we saved $20 in that meal alone because the last time I craved chicken we got take-out from Brasa. Tonight we will have big salads topped with chicken, and I might even have enough chicken left over for a pot pie. Three meals out of one chicken. I like that. My budget likes that!

Ahhh. It's good to be back to the land of living and good eating.

Today - a chicken broth with left over carcass. Did I really say that? Yes, ma'am, I said carcass and I don't even have to go puke!

Weekend Fire

It's been three months since I featured a weekend fire. And that really represents how little we went to the Airstream retreat this summer. The summer is coming to an end and I am left wondering where it went. I spent the summer in a fog of morning sickness and I distinctly remember thinking how wonderful it was going to be to have summer done and over with. But now that it's here, I am sad for the end.

The August weekend fires always have corn in them. This is my favorite way of cooking up corn. The corn has a bit of the smokiness from the fire and I love the process of peeling away the steamy husks. I had a friend who grew up on a farm and she always watched with disgust as fellow campers cooked up corn this way, muttering that cooked worm looked the same as a cooked kernel. I try not to think about that and when I did this year, I told myself "oh well, baby needs the protein."

Weekend Fire

It's been three months since I featured a weekend fire. And that really represents how little we went to the Airstream retreat this summer. The summer is coming to an end and I am left wondering where it went. I spent the summer in a fog of morning sickness and I distinctly remember thinking how wonderful it was going to be to have summer done and over with. But now that it's here, I am sad for the end.

The August weekend fires always have corn in them. This is my favorite way of cooking up corn. The corn has a bit of the smokiness from the fire and I love the process of peeling away the steamy husks. I had a friend who grew up on a farm and she always watched with disgust as fellow campers cooked up corn this way, muttering that cooked worm looked the same as a cooked kernel. I try not to think about that and when I did this year, I told myself "oh well, baby needs the protein."

Red Hot Chili Peppers

These of course are grown for the Big D. I overheard him the other days referring to the red hot chili peppers as he was watering the garden. I remember when we first hooked up and started merging living spaces, Blood Sugar Sex Magik was one of the few CDs that we both had. Weird how this is the first time I've noticed how prophetic this title is for our lives together. Being married to a diabetic the words "blood sugar" is so frequently used in this household. And "sex magik"? Yah, sure, we sure as hell found that!