Weekend Without Daddy

div>So far the weekend without Daddy has gone smoothly. I am getting a first-hand reminder of all the things Cam does around the house on weekends/evenings!

1. Dishes and Post-Supper cleanup
2. Diaper changes
3. Piggy back rides to the park
4. Company for Mommy*
5. Bathtime wash up and puppetry
5. PJ duty at bedtime
6. Trash out to the garage
7. Spanking the cat while Mommy comforts Chance following a feline vs. baby cage match**
8. Running bubble baths for Mommy after Chance goes to bed
9. Poking Mommy at 10:30 to tell her to go to bed
10. Making coffee in the morning
11. And many many more things...!


* Very important. Mom got so bored this morning during Chance's nap that she actually answered the door when a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses came by to drop off their magazines. Pretty sure she'll be cursing herself for the next 7 Saturdays when they "pop by" to see how all is going with our spiritual lives...


** The cat has been very good. Chance has been very good. So far. But there have been some close calls. Some pulled whiskers and a scratched nose is probably just around the bend, though.


















Friday morning: do you think he's tired??

And some new items on the menu: Chance is in LOVE with raisins. Silly Mommy, thought since he was enjoying them so much, might as well give him more. Hah, let's just leave it at about 5 dirrrty diapers in a 24 hour period. If Chance as much as sneezed, he was crapping raisins.











Also have been introducing the boy to cutlery. After about 4 attempts with the fork, Chance flings it and gets both hands dug into his food. He's trying. Mom's cleaning the floor. Often.




















On the Move: Chance loves to walk. Preferably with something hard and plastic in his mouth. Removal of said item will cause temper tantrums and back arching. Lovely.

Food Network Follow Up

So the chicken stock bubbled away, and the whole house smelled wonderful! Cooked the stock with carrots, celery, onion (all sauteed briefly before adding the water), bay leaf and some rosemary.














Chance was a darling watching all the activity up in his high chair. After about 10 minutes, he wanted to get going though. That was OK, 10 minutes was all I needed to get the pot ready to simmer.















The resulting Curry Squash Soup was very good, and the spice improved overnight. As I didn't have a recipe for this, I had to taste it along the way and make adjustments. By the time I was done cooking I had about 15 spoons in the sink to wash!

Curry Squash Soup

Saute 1 onion, roughtly chopped in butter in a soup pot. Immediately add ginger, cinnamon, curry and chili powder. This "cracks" the oils from the spices. Add a small amount of garlic salt if you like, and black peppper. Once the onions are cooked through, turn up the heat to high and add some cold milk, chicken stock, whatever to deglaze the bottom of your soup pot.

Puree the squash cooked in the casserole from last night in food processor (blender would work too, I think) with a small amount of milk. I had a large yogurt container full (about 1 L) along with the sauteed onions and spices.

Put the squash puree into the soup pot along with about 1/2 L chicken stock. Add milk to get desired creaminess. Add a little more fresh curry to brighten up flavour. If you like spice (we do), add a good 10-15 dashes of tabasco sauce.

Food Network

I have been stock-piling a bunch of cooking shows on the PVR, and this week I decided to wade through them and write down the stuff that looked good. So I started with some Caribbean Jerk Chicken, which was awesome, unfortunately did not take a photo to share, but let me tell you, it was wonderful. Here is my adaptation:

2 breasts and 2 thighs cut from whole chicken (save carcass for soup, etc.)
Or 4 breasts or 4 thighs or whatever. Important - skin ON. The flavour really sticks to the skin. Leave your diet at the doorstep.

Caribbean Jerk Chicken
1 bunch of green onions, cut into 2 inch sections
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp ground ginger
zest and juice from 1 lime
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp molasses
hot sauce - adjust heat according to your taste
coarse salt

Whiz the whole thing up and marinade chicken for 2 hours in a plastic bag, massage every now and then. Grill over low heat (skin side down first) for 45 minutes, flipping half way. Check that the chicken is cooked through with meat thermometer.

We ate this with brown rice and grilled mini bell peppers ($$ usually but found them on the half-off cart at the grocery store - I actually thought they were habanero peppers at the time...).

We also enjoyed some Apple Stuffed Pork Chops this week. They were so good that I found myself almost rolling my eyes with each bite! Chance even ate these because they were tender and filled with sweet apple stuffing.

Apple Stuffed Pork Chops*
3 palm-sized sirloin pork chops, boneless, thick-cut

1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled and sliced
splash of apple juice
fennel seed
2 slices of whole-wheat toast, cubed

dijon mustard
1/2 cup apple juice

Melt butter in frying pan and saute onion until transparent. Add apple slices and splash in some apple juice to help apples steam. Cover and let simmer until apples are soft. Onions and apples should be browning nicely. Add bread cubes and remove to a bowl to cool down.

Cut pockets into pork chops using sharp knife. Stuff with apple mixture and squish pork chops closed. Heat frying same frying pan to med-high heat and sear pork chops briefly. Move to roaster. Keep heat on frying pan and pour in apple juice and mustard to deglaze. Pour this sauce into roaster. Cover roaster and cook for 45 minutes at 350°F.















All of this inventive cooking has revved up my imagination. I have been finding inspiration outside of cooking shows, and when I bought bought 2 bunches of baby beets from some Hutterite farmers who were set up next to the library, I knew I had to do something creative with them!

Honey Roasted Beets*
10 small beets (tennis ball size), greens trimmed, peeled & cubed.
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
olive oil
1/2 cup water
orange zest
italian seasoning
coarse salt
ground black pepper

Directions
1. Place beets in a roasting pan.
2. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine honey, vinegar, oil, water, zest, spices, salt, and black pepper; pour over the beets and toss.
3. Roast beets for 1 hour. Check to make sure that liquid is evaporating down to a sauce (leave lid off for last few minutes to speed it along if you're in a hurry).

Also I have been on a real squash kick lately. We have been enjoying zucchini squash and small patty pan squash (microwaved with butter and lemon juice). At the Farmer's Market on the weekend I picked up a buttercup squash for three bucks. I made an Apple-Squash Casserole with it.

Apple-Squash Casserole*
1/2 large (head-sized) buttercup squash, cleaned and cubed into 2" pieces.
2 apples, peeled and sliced.

1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp nutmeg

Put squash in roaster, layer apples on top. Mix remaining ingredients and pour mixture on top of squash and apples. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

This was good, but both Cam and I were not crazy about it - also due to the fact there were a ton of leftovers. I'm baking that chicken carcass left from the Jerk Chicken right now, I'll make a chicken stock with it and then puree it with the leftover squash with some curry powder and perhaps a little milk. So Thursday we will have Curry Squash Soup with Naan and Chicken Tikka....yum....



*denotes that Chance ate this along with us - what a gourmet palate he is developing!

Too cute not to share!

Chance likes to get his groove on these days!

Busy Saturday

We decided to hit the farmer's market this morning but ran into road construction along the way, so doubled back and found a more direct, more scenic route to Millarville. When we arrived, we noticed signs claiming that this weekend instead of $2 per car for parking, we would pay $5 per person, for the centennial market and fair! We saw some cars doubling back at that point, and this is after they spent 20 minutes or more waiting on the highway! How disappointing for them (but to be fair, there were lots of people in the cars, so it would have been $25 just to get in, maybe that was their whole veggie budget!)

We decided to go anyways, and we bought lots of things at the farmer's market: peaches (some bigger than Cam's fist), sugar plums (bright yellow and delicious), cucumbers, dill (an entire grocery bag stuffed full for $1), a zucchini that was too large to carry or fit into the stroller pack, so we tucked it in next to Chance, something called a buttercup squash, baklava (an evening treat to enjoy after Chance goes to sleep), 2 pans of cabbage rolls and fresh perogies!

After the farmer's market we examined some of the fair exhibits, including messenger pigeons, chickens (one of them was so fluffy it looked like a cat!), ducks, an ugly turkey (it gobbled at Chance and startled him, but then he laughed), rabbits, kids' science projects, etc.! We even saw a rooster crowing contest! Chance had some people laughing pretty hard at his "dancing" to the old-time country songs (banjo and fiddle kind of stuff, mountain music).

Of course I forgot to bring my camera. Actually, I chose not to bring my camera. We were only planning on being there for 30 minutes or so, just to pick up some fresh veggies and fruits, and instead spent the entire morning. I am just so thankful that Chance didn't poop his diaper as I didn't have an extra one or changing kit with me!

All of this activity left Chance wound up and not only did he not nap in the morning, he didn't nap in the afternoon as well! Around 5 he was quite irritable, and by 5:30 he was passed out in my arms. I just sat on the couch and watched television for half an hour before supper just to get him through the day. Supper went over quite well and he spent 30 minutes walking (yes, walking!) around the kitchen with a pair of salad tongs. We went to the park and then plopped him into the tub & he was soon asleep in his crib after that.

Tin Tub

These pics were taken in July at the cabin, but only got the film back yesterday. They are my new favorite photos for sure!

Week In Review

Monday: spent morning organizing the kitchen. Mommy still has no idea where she put the jar of beef boullion mix.




















Tuesday: When Mommy was putting the groceries away, she realized that the house was quiet. Too quiet.





















Wednesday: I am getting brave. Mom keeps on saying something about a heart attack.


















Thursday: Checking out my new boots from Daddy's coworker. I can't wait to fit these in 2008!




















Friday: Mommy took me to the park downtown. We visited with her friends and their babies Sam and Matthew. At lunch time Daddy met us and they ate smokies from a cart. I was stuck with cheese and bananas and squash and bread. I did not drink my formula.