3rd Wedding Anniversary

We went to the park as usual after Chance ate supper to push him on the swings and ride the slide a few times. He always loves piggy-back rides on Daddy's shoulders.




















The squeals of delight are really cute to listen to. If it's a quiet evening they echo through the neighbourhood!















After visiting the park, we took a few minutes to roll around on the grass. Here is Cameron chasing Chance..."Daddy's gonna get you!" Chance is running away as fast as his little legs can carry him!

Don't Panic

Cartoons and cheerios work really well to keep an active baby sitting still on your lap while you apply pressure to a scratched finger.

And shampoo takes out bloodstains.

Don't ask me how I know. I just know.

Early bird gets the....French toast?

Ugh. 5:30 AM wake up call this morning. Chance was wiiiiiiide awake. I tried to nurse him in the big bed to settle him down, but after he was finished, he sat up and tried to crawl away. So, on came the lights (it was still #%%##@ dark outside for cryin' out loud!), and started stripping the bed. Laundry day. In went a load of towels and sheets and Chance and I had a bath together. Then we put new sheets on the bed and as I reached down to grab the last pillow case, I sniffed. Sniffed again. Groaned. Went off to change a diaper. All before 6:30 AM.

Breakfast was French toast, and I did up a 1/2 batch of pancakes and froze the works for Chance's breakfasts for the next few weeks. 3 pancakes should last him for about 5 or 6 meals. That boy LOVES pancakes.

We pick up Cam at the airport at 3:00 ish, so hopefully Chance will catch a few winks in the car on the way there or on the way home. I'm surprised he's not having a meltdown right now, actually, given that he was up so early.

Look Mom, No Tears!

Today was Chance's fourth time at the YMCA babysitting service while I went to the gym to get a bit of exercise. I was told that he complained (loudly) for 5 minutes after I left, but then settled in to playing with the toys and books. What a good boy!

My punchcard for the babysitting fees was nearing its end, so I went to purchase a new one before going home. There I was informed that a baby membership for Chance only costs an extra $3 per month. And that I would save $3 per HOUR by having a membership for him. So, Chance is now a member of the YMCA. We might even go swimming tomorrow.

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!