My Loves

I have been jonesin' for one of these for quite a while now. LL Bean was having a sale, and I just couldn't say no.


My beautiful BOB out of it's box, screaming to be put together!


HIIIIIIIII


I would like to go for another ride maaaamm!

We've been out a couple of times, and by golly, I don't know how I ever lived without it. I *HIGHLY* recommend a jogging stroller. Why didn't anyone INSIST on me getting one of these before I had a baby and wasted money on a regular stroller. This thing is fantabulous!



chocolate coooookies! Yum, yum, yum!!!


Guess what guys? I learned how to sit up AND stand up in my crib all in the same day. Therefore, I do not sleep. (the last 2 days, there has been maybe a 45 min nap each day) *sigh* (this picture was taken at about 9:30 at night........this child normally goes to bed at 7pm!)


mmmm chocolate! (we had to try the chocolate strawberries!)


So, this doesn't look particularly appetizing, BUT it was delicious. We cut up spring onions and radishes- cooked them (~12 mins) (next time I won't slice them so thinly- darn that mandolin doing such an amazing job)- then caramelized them with balsamic vinegar (1 tbsp), then tossed it with some spaghetti, salt and pepper. It was really good. I highly suggest trying to cook your radishes next time you have some- a whole new dimension to them! And! having a pasta dish that wasn't with red or white sauce was kind of a fun change as well.

(these are the instructions I used)
Slice spring onions and radish roots thinly. Sauté in olive oil (with a little salt) over medium-high heat until they are soft and start to brown-I used two spring onions and a whole bunch of radishes, and it took about 12 minutes. Stir enough to keep from sticking, or add a bit more oil. Once the roots are soft and starting to caramelize, add about 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar to the pan, watch closely and keep stirring for about 3 more minutes as the balsamic vinegar glazes the roots. Add to a bowl of hot pasta. Season to taste with salt, pepper, or more balsamic vinegar. You won't recognize that you're eating radishes!
This would serve 3-4 people. More if you have other side dishes.


I also told a couple people that I would post our fennel potato salad recipe - I'm sorry I forgot to take pictures- but really, it just looked like potato salad.
1 fennel bulb
~1.5 lbs potatoes (we used french fingerling potatoes)
your favorite potato salad dressing (I used mayo, mustard, paprika, celery seed, parsley)

These are the instructions I used:
HARVEST BOX POTATO SALAD: Slice, then dice one fennel bulb. Combine with some sliced sweet onions and boiled potatoes from your Harvest Box, and dress with either a mayonnaise-based dressing, or your favorite oil & vinegar dressing. Add a little hard-boiled egg or cooked beans for a complete dinner.

We put kidney beans and 4 hard boiled eggs in it and put it on top of some lettuce- it was delicious. I was weary of the fennel, but it was a really nice addition to the flavoring. I would definitely use it again! - it would serve 4 for dinner or ~8-10 for a side dish


Next up: Roasted Fennel!

Long Weekends and CSA's

On Memorial Day, we took a little walk over in the Baskett Slough just about 5 minutes from our house. We had never even BEEN over there until last fall to check it out. Monday was our first walk through though. There are a few longer hikes, but we were trying out a new hiking backpack, and adding 25lbs on your back takes a lot more out of you than I realized! So anyway, we got about 5 feet from a deer just munchin on some greens, we saw a bi-plane up in the sky and saw some really neat birds. One of them was mostly black/brown? but when it opened up it's wings, it was BRIGHT yellow underneath- so neat!

So other than that, our weekend was pretty low key, which was nice.

We bought E a bunch of toys for her birthday. One of them was this sit and stand push along toy. Since we have hardwood floors, it was hard for her to gain control of it. We ended up putting some weights inside of it just to give her some stability. Now she's been practically running through the house (until she hits a wall and needs to be turned around- hahahaha!)


E with her walker



For family that is too lame to come visit us, our house is about 5 minutes past a couple of those mounds.


It was blowy at the top with a child that was trying to grab the camera!



Our deer friend--we walked by quickly so my head shots aren't great.



The plane in the sky - it was really low



all done! (I also found a hat that she can't figure out how to get off yet!! maybe her head won't fry in the Caribbean!)



ooh! I almost forgot about this- good thing I uploaded pictures before I started typing! We signed up for the Denison Farms CSA this year to try it out and see if it was a good deal. I wish I had taken a picture before I pruned and washed everything, it was GORGEOUS! They left the carrot and radish tops on- which would have made for some really fun pictures. We also had already eaten half the strawberries and raspberries by the time I was able to get to them to take a picture. So anyway, we got lettuce, fennel, carrots, new potatoes, radishes (which are amazingly spicy when they're freshly picked!), cucumber, green onions, raspberries and strawberries. We definitely got a deal on what this would have cost at the grocery store (stupid LifeSource is ridiculously expensive) and I'm happy we did it. They gave us some fun recipes to use with our fennel and even our radishes that I'm excited to try out. I'll hopefully remember to take a picture next week before cutting off all the green to show how pretty it was!

Amusement

I read this photo editing helpful tips blog and it says that if you keep putting the same editing effects that you're in short, boring. Well then, I am boring. I find myself using the same 5-10 effects over and over. Why? Because I love the way they look, the way they react with my child. Some of them would be fun, but for artistic purposes, I just happen to like them. I'm also sure that if I took more pictures of things other than Elisabeth, I'd have reason to use some of the crazy wild effects I have. Since all my pictures revolve around E and the coast, you get the effects I feel capture those two items well! So to be fair, I chose an effect on this picture that is similar to ones I've used in the past, but not exactly the same. :)




Most pictures I post on here I don't edit the coloring or anything. You get what I see, and you see what I get. It's just faster. Most edits I do are months after and I decide that I like a certain picture, so they're stored away for later days. :)


This picture doesn't do the dirt justice. I almost wished she would have gotten messier because she was having a blast with that dirt!


E was helping fold laundry. She helped by grabbing her blankies and using them. She helped by pulling her pants out to inspect them. And most importantly, she was helping inspect and sort hangers. What a good little panda!


Lastly, "the pants." Drew was sick of rolling her pants up and she kept tripping on them. So what would any loving dad do? Hike up the pants so they don't get stepped on, of course! LOL oh dear...

Love This Girl...

I planted some flowers today and Drew gave her permission to eat dirt. It was pretty cute. I'll post pictures when I pull them off the camera. :)

S.P.A.G.H.E.T.T.I.

Holy Smokes! I had no idea this kid loved spaghetti so much! Normally I do a quick puree through the spaghetti and feed it to her with a spoon. Not this time though- we just took it how it was, and it was delightful!



You may think she's doing her OH MY face, but really, she's playing Peek-A-Boo with Drew.
She cheats...


Mama, give me the camera, I take good pictures.


Inspecting the noodles


She was saying num, num, num! - So cute!