20080229
check up news
We went to the 4 month doctor appointment today and all is well. 60% height and weight, a little down from last appointment but going strong, and 25% for head circumference. The funny thing is that everyone says that he has a big head when they see pics, but not so. The big news is that we are going to be starting solids shortly. He is a big eater and we are having a hard time keeping up with his eating habits so hopefully solids will help with that. Cereal at first and "yellow" vegetables next. The one notable thing is that the doc said there is a chance he may have a milk allergy, so mom is to cut out dairy to see if his rash goes away. If it does we will need to rethink the cereal thing to accommodate. We will be sure to let you know.
20080228
Happy four months
X is 4 months old, (yes he was actually 4 months on the 26th) His pediatrician appointment is tomorrow morning and I will update his stats then. Yesterday, to celebrate, we went out and bought some clothes... onsies, pants, sleepers, etc. All in the 9-12 month size range. Because he is just that big. right now he is wearing a pirate shirt and some striped pants. I will post a picture later.
20080226
nuesday: lemon meringue pie
I was going to make a lemon meringue pie today but I was a little distracted and did not get the chance to. We (the family) are taking our first extended vacation together, X is 4 months old on Thursday and we are going to Pittsburgh on Saturday to return home later in the week. This causes a small issue in what to do with the dog, so i had to run around to make sure his shot record was up to date in a timely fashion so that he can be boarded this weekend. Apparently most places require the vaccines to be in the system at least 24 hours before boarding, if not 48, and Arthur's dpp expired on the first of the month.
Ultimately this means no pie today, but i sure as heck plan on making one tomorrow so stay tuned...
Ultimately this means no pie today, but i sure as heck plan on making one tomorrow so stay tuned...
20080224
Two tricks and a trait.
Over the last week, X has decided that he likes to sleep again. This is that he dose not cry as much as he did before, when we put him to bed at night. To help decrease the festival of tears, my lovely wife and I have started to spoil the boy, just a bit. We have started to let him fall asleep in our arms before we put him to bed. This is how I discovered the little man's first trick.
The trick is that he smiles right at the moment that he falls to sleep. It is so cute and endearing, and also key to the "no tears at night" scandal that we are in the midst of. If you watch him when he is dozing off, he closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep, but if you move him he wakes up and starts to cry. However, if you wait for the smile, you are able to move him and place him in his crib with the slightest bit of grunting, and it is nice.
The second trick has to do with when he wakes up in the morning. Lately when he wakes up, he squirms and squawks a little but, he has stopped with the fitful screaming indicating that he wants food, and he wants it now. This is nice, simply for the fact that in the morning I am able to leave him in the crib, happily talking to himself until I have feed the cats, cleaned the litter box, walked the dog, feed the dog, done the dishes, and occasionally have started a load of laundry. The trick is performed when I finally make it in to the room to get him up and changed, before feeding. When I walk in the room he instantly stops speaking and looks at me with a little smile. At that point I flip on the lights in his room and he scrunches up his face a sneezes three times. It too, is the sweetest thing, and at that point I know the day has begun.
The trait, is something that I observed a little while ago, but did not realize was an actual possibility, until Karen pointed it out to me. Our boy is graced with asymmetric pupils. I am not sure if you can see it in the pictures, but in real life his right pupil is slightly larger then his left. I always thought it was just that the light was shining on half his face when I was looking at him, and never thought it was something worth mentioning. Apparently, I was not hallucinating, and he really is odd, and his pupils will never be equal and reactive. They are stuck being slightly unequal and reactive. But we have decided to keep him, and that we love him just the same.
The trick is that he smiles right at the moment that he falls to sleep. It is so cute and endearing, and also key to the "no tears at night" scandal that we are in the midst of. If you watch him when he is dozing off, he closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep, but if you move him he wakes up and starts to cry. However, if you wait for the smile, you are able to move him and place him in his crib with the slightest bit of grunting, and it is nice.
The second trick has to do with when he wakes up in the morning. Lately when he wakes up, he squirms and squawks a little but, he has stopped with the fitful screaming indicating that he wants food, and he wants it now. This is nice, simply for the fact that in the morning I am able to leave him in the crib, happily talking to himself until I have feed the cats, cleaned the litter box, walked the dog, feed the dog, done the dishes, and occasionally have started a load of laundry. The trick is performed when I finally make it in to the room to get him up and changed, before feeding. When I walk in the room he instantly stops speaking and looks at me with a little smile. At that point I flip on the lights in his room and he scrunches up his face a sneezes three times. It too, is the sweetest thing, and at that point I know the day has begun.
The trait, is something that I observed a little while ago, but did not realize was an actual possibility, until Karen pointed it out to me. Our boy is graced with asymmetric pupils. I am not sure if you can see it in the pictures, but in real life his right pupil is slightly larger then his left. I always thought it was just that the light was shining on half his face when I was looking at him, and never thought it was something worth mentioning. Apparently, I was not hallucinating, and he really is odd, and his pupils will never be equal and reactive. They are stuck being slightly unequal and reactive. But we have decided to keep him, and that we love him just the same.
20080219
Lets cook something nuesday: Gnocchi
Today we were going over to a pot luck style dinner with and Italian theme so I had to pick something Italian to make for nuesday. Some friends of ours had made this dish a few years back, and I thought that it would be a good test of my culinary skills This recipe is a compilation of many recipes. The big difference is that I used Ricotta cheese directly in the dumplings, to help make the a little lighter. So basically you start with some potatoes (I used 5 to make a medium sized batch) and boil them for an hour in salty water. Once the potatoes are boiled, remove them from the pot, but save the water (apparently this is key to good italian food)
Once they are boiled, use a peering knife to peal them and then set them aside to cool slightly. Then run them through a food mill, or potato ricer. I actually used my baby mill, that I picked up a few months ago with the anticipation of making X's baby food in the future.
Once you have milled the potatoes you want to move them to a bowl leaving them in there stringy state. This will help to keep you dumplings nice and light. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Next I added two egg yolks, a light cup of flour, and 1/2 cup ricotta cheese.
Now you want to pull the dough together using light fingers, you do not want to squeeze any way, just toss lightly to make sure everything combines
Next you are going to pull of small portions of the dough, and roll them out into a long snake. Be sure not to push on the dough to hard when rolling. The dough will feel light and spongy, that is good. You do not want dense gnocchi.
Once you have a long snake you are going to cut of ½ inch dumplings. I usually will cut things like this on a bias to make it look cooler. After you have cut your dumplings, press one side lightly with the back of a fork, to leave a little set of ridges to “grab” the sauce.
Once you have cut your dumplings, return them to the boiling reserved potato water. They will sink at first and you will know they are cooked through when the float.
While the gnocchi is cooking, in a second sauce pan, melt a stick of butter, and add 2 Table spoons garlic, and a few tablespoons of fresh chopped basil.
Once the gnocchi is cooked, remove them from the pot and add to the skillet with the herb butter mixture. Be gentle with the dumplings as you move them for the will be a little gummy and may begin to fall apart.
Lift the pan of the burner and swirl the dumplings to pick up a light browning. If you try to stir them they will fall apart and stick to each other. Once they are lightly browned, transfer them to a warmed dish.
Next, repeat the roll, cut, boil, sauté steps with remaining dough. Always finishing in the warmed pot. I generally place the pot back in a 200 degree oven between batches of dough to keep it warm.
Once you have cooked the pasta, add a half cup of the boiling potato/pasta water to the sauté pan to deglaze, or to loosen up the brown bits. Then add half a cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Next add half a cup of light cream, stirring constantly, until the sauce pulls together.
Lastly, pour the sauce over the top of the Gnocchi and serve while its hot. To garnish you may add a sprig of basil, or some fresh parmesan cheese.
(Sorry, I do not have a picture of the finished product)
And there you have it. All in all it took about 2 hours including the potato boiling time, and most people who ate it pulled me aside to tell me that they thought it was really very good. One friend asked for the recipe but declined it once she realized it took more then five minutes to make.
Once they are boiled, use a peering knife to peal them and then set them aside to cool slightly. Then run them through a food mill, or potato ricer. I actually used my baby mill, that I picked up a few months ago with the anticipation of making X's baby food in the future.
Once you have milled the potatoes you want to move them to a bowl leaving them in there stringy state. This will help to keep you dumplings nice and light. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Next I added two egg yolks, a light cup of flour, and 1/2 cup ricotta cheese.
Now you want to pull the dough together using light fingers, you do not want to squeeze any way, just toss lightly to make sure everything combines
Next you are going to pull of small portions of the dough, and roll them out into a long snake. Be sure not to push on the dough to hard when rolling. The dough will feel light and spongy, that is good. You do not want dense gnocchi.
Once you have a long snake you are going to cut of ½ inch dumplings. I usually will cut things like this on a bias to make it look cooler. After you have cut your dumplings, press one side lightly with the back of a fork, to leave a little set of ridges to “grab” the sauce.
Once you have cut your dumplings, return them to the boiling reserved potato water. They will sink at first and you will know they are cooked through when the float.
While the gnocchi is cooking, in a second sauce pan, melt a stick of butter, and add 2 Table spoons garlic, and a few tablespoons of fresh chopped basil.
Once the gnocchi is cooked, remove them from the pot and add to the skillet with the herb butter mixture. Be gentle with the dumplings as you move them for the will be a little gummy and may begin to fall apart.
Lift the pan of the burner and swirl the dumplings to pick up a light browning. If you try to stir them they will fall apart and stick to each other. Once they are lightly browned, transfer them to a warmed dish.
Next, repeat the roll, cut, boil, sauté steps with remaining dough. Always finishing in the warmed pot. I generally place the pot back in a 200 degree oven between batches of dough to keep it warm.
Once you have cooked the pasta, add a half cup of the boiling potato/pasta water to the sauté pan to deglaze, or to loosen up the brown bits. Then add half a cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Next add half a cup of light cream, stirring constantly, until the sauce pulls together.
Lastly, pour the sauce over the top of the Gnocchi and serve while its hot. To garnish you may add a sprig of basil, or some fresh parmesan cheese.
(Sorry, I do not have a picture of the finished product)
And there you have it. All in all it took about 2 hours including the potato boiling time, and most people who ate it pulled me aside to tell me that they thought it was really very good. One friend asked for the recipe but declined it once she realized it took more then five minutes to make.
20080217
Layout Edit
I am trying to change my blog a little, I added a bunch of links to the left, and am altering some pics (the header is different, mountain now, not just clouds. its a pic i took in Switzerland years ago). I am also planing on adding a pic to the back ground. If you get the time , let me know what you thing, of the colors that is.
20080216
fun day
We had a fun day today, we busted out the bumbo, a little fomrplastic chair, and X loved it.
He actually fell asleep in it at one point.
20080215
v-day dinner
When I got home from work last tonight (at about 9:50), my lovely wife was preparing a lovely valentines day dinner for me.
Here is what we had, A blue cheese, pear and prosciutto salad with a red wine balsamic reduction. Some nice pepper seasoned steak, with Rosemary potatoes, and some X-rated martinis.
We also had a cute little candle set up, to set the mood. As if the x-rated martinis were not mood setting enough.
Here is what we had, A blue cheese, pear and prosciutto salad with a red wine balsamic reduction. Some nice pepper seasoned steak, with Rosemary potatoes, and some X-rated martinis.
We also had a cute little candle set up, to set the mood. As if the x-rated martinis were not mood setting enough.
20080214
happy v-day
here is the love of my life, and the apple of my eye.
his heart belongs to mommy, as does mine.
happy valentines day everyone.
his heart belongs to mommy, as does mine.
happy valentines day everyone.
20080213
Winter blast 2008...again
The weather here has been, well, not so good. The weather just to the south of us has been much worse. Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati, all of these cities were hit with some serious nasty last night. Some of which they said was coming our way, but did not. This is the second time in the last two months that the weather man has been way wrong. A few weeks ago we were told we were going to get a winter blast of 7 to 12 inches. The next morning we woke up to less then 1 inch and a few thousand upset children. Then again last night they said to expect 3 to 7 inches, and again this morning we got les then an inch. But that is not to say that the “storm” was not worth watching. The snow that did fall was the coolest snow I have ever seen. Perfect little individual flakes that were really thick. I put a peace of paper out and collected some on top of it just to get a closer look. The snow did not stick to itself at all, and it looker remarkable like the confetti that comes in cake icing mixes by Betty Crocker, alot like number 8 here on this web page. You could literally pick up individual flakes and look at the details for about 10 seconds, before they started to melt. Very cool
lets cook something nuesday!
I have decided that I am going to try cooking one new thing every Tuesday. This is both to expand my culinary repertoire, and because it is incredibly fun. This does not mean that I am sticking to just new entrees; we will have sides and drinks and in the future maybe even baby food. Do to copy write issues, I am just going to list the cookbooks I use, and the ingredients without quantities. If you want the recipe, I recommend trying to find the book for more exact details, or maybe send me an e-mail.
For let’s cook something nuesday number one, I have picked a dessert. Last night a whipped up a batch of almond honey delight, which can be looked at as a poor mans baklava. The recipe was from the cook book
“InterCourses.”
First you make a cookie crust with butter, sugar and almond extract.
Then add flour and egg. Yes I use a food processor to pull together my dough, especially dry dough like cookie crust, or pie crust. This makes the dough a little more crumbly looking at first but it is easier to dump into the pan and spread out, before pressing into a solid sheet of dough.
While baking the cookie crust, make a nice caramel sauce with sugar, brown sugar, honey, and plenty of butter.
Once the sauce has darkened and boiled into a thick syrup, add the almonds
Then, spread the almond mixture atop the cookie crust, and bake again until thick, dark and bubbly.
After allowing to cool, Cut into wedges and serve.
All in all, I would say the recipe was a success. The friends that came over for dinner (we had grilled snapper with an avocado cream sauce, with sausage and grape crusteniess and a strawberry salad) really liked it. The key differences between this and baklava is that there is no layering. It also was not as sweet or sticky which some people prefer. The taste was remarkable similar, but to me the top was a little "brittelish, or toffeish," both of which I am not a big fan.
Aside from time it takes to the make, chill, bake, coat, bake, cool, and cut, the recipe is very easy.
For let’s cook something nuesday number one, I have picked a dessert. Last night a whipped up a batch of almond honey delight, which can be looked at as a poor mans baklava. The recipe was from the cook book
“InterCourses.”
First you make a cookie crust with butter, sugar and almond extract.
Then add flour and egg. Yes I use a food processor to pull together my dough, especially dry dough like cookie crust, or pie crust. This makes the dough a little more crumbly looking at first but it is easier to dump into the pan and spread out, before pressing into a solid sheet of dough.
While baking the cookie crust, make a nice caramel sauce with sugar, brown sugar, honey, and plenty of butter.
Once the sauce has darkened and boiled into a thick syrup, add the almonds
Then, spread the almond mixture atop the cookie crust, and bake again until thick, dark and bubbly.
After allowing to cool, Cut into wedges and serve.
All in all, I would say the recipe was a success. The friends that came over for dinner (we had grilled snapper with an avocado cream sauce, with sausage and grape crusteniess and a strawberry salad) really liked it. The key differences between this and baklava is that there is no layering. It also was not as sweet or sticky which some people prefer. The taste was remarkable similar, but to me the top was a little "brittelish, or toffeish," both of which I am not a big fan.
Aside from time it takes to the make, chill, bake, coat, bake, cool, and cut, the recipe is very easy.
sleepless night number three
Last night X did not want to go to bed again, and he woke up around midnight for more food again. I hope that this growth spirt slows down soon, and that he goes back into his 10+ hours of sleep at night. that was nice. plus our food reserve is running a little low. Unfortunatly with me feeding him at night, I have spoiled him. I am giving him big meals a few times a night. Bigger volumes then mom can produce in one sitting. when i should be giving him smaller volumes more times a night, so when mom is home she is able to satiate his hunger in one sitting. I believe that the volume is the same between the two methods it is just a balance of frequency of feedings and quantity per sitting. Tonight, both mom and I are working so he is having a sitter for the first time. Hopefully, he is much calmer for her then he has been for us, because we are hoping to use her services again one night in march. Keep your fingers crossed.
20080211
the growing season
X has decided he wants to be a little bigger. You may ask yourself, how can he tell. Well, let me, let you know, how i know. He is sleeping all the time, except when he is eating, which is every three hours. After almost a month and a half (save a night or two) of 8 to 12 hours of sleep. Last night he ate up to 8 ounces of milk at 6:00, 8:30, 11:30, 3:30, 6:30 and at 11:30. I can testify that it was not only a little snack he had but, a ravenous feast with growling, spitting, a little violence, and some very interesting sounds. It was a very interesting night. Today, hopefully, I will get some good pictures to show what he looks like now, considering it seams that change is on the way.
20080210
Music vs. movies
I remember back in collage, a friend of mine accused me of liking music more then movies. At the time I was offended. I have always considered myself to be up on the times and with it, when it comes to pop culture. In collage, I always had the radio on, or was listening to cd’s, But nothing heightened my spirits more then a film. In most cases I would even say the more out there the movie was, the better. I have never been one to subscribe to “main stream” movies, or music. At UK, there is a little theater just off campus called the Kentucky, which played foreign films, independent films, cult classics, and the occasional 3D porn. I was a frequenter of this establishment, and have many fond memories of it. But I digress, Even though I though I liked movies more then music, I have come to realize that one of the things that makes a great movie great, is the music.
Blockbuster films have never been my forte. I personally think all of the Spiderman movies are crap, and even though I own one or two (Braveheart for instance) big budget hits, they have never been on my top 100 to see list. And realistically it is because they don’t move me quite like a bad film with good music. In high school, I had some rough times, but one of the best memories I have is watching the movie Empire records. Now I will be the first to admit, that this movie did not have a great plot, the acting was sub par, and all in all it probably deserved the very limited release it had, But I still LOVE this movie because of the music. It is nostalgic to me; I hear a song like “video killed the radio star” or "romeo and juliet" and instantly I am flooded with good memories with good friends.
Today, even though I listen to the modern stuff, I still like the old stuff, and the stuff in between. At work they laugh at me because I know many of the words to many of the songs that are on the radio, be it the golden oldies, modern alternative, or even country and western. The funny part of this is that I go in musical mood swings. Nothing beats Sarah McLachlan in the fall, Or some Guster in the spring when it is just getting warm enough to wear a t-shirt in the day, but a nice flannel blanket is required at night. Then again, I also go on band swings. Right now I am into The Beatles, a few months ago it was Queen, and before that it was a guy named Ben Kweller. SO that leads into the Beatles. I have never been a big follower, I like some of there stuff, and I do believe that the best thing that they did was drugs. However, even though I admit now that I am not a big fan of there singing, I am a huge fan of there writing. The best way to experience this is the use of there music in movies. In movies, songs have more context. In movies I get lost, emotions are displayed to the extreme. In my opinion, to the average person love is never that intense, or hard. People never have that much fun or misery, ones nightmares do not come to life and kill them as they sleep. But to me they make me feel that it could be real, when watching movies, I detach and feel that love, hate, fear, joy, and if on screen, that feeling is overlain with a song, I am happy to know that I will feel that way again, when I hear that song again.
SO I guess the reason for this rant is to make it clear to myself that I like movies, more the music, because of music. As silly as that seams.
20080207
20080205
Happy fat tuesday
When I am down and out, I like to cook. So after this weekend I needed some alone time with my knife and stove. Since it is Fat Tuesday (completely forgot until I saw it on the news this morning). I decided to do some cooking New Orleans style. For dinner today we had Cajon steamed rice, with shrimp etouffee. It was a leap culinary, and it turned out scrumdidilyumtious. It is something I am going to be cooking again in the future. Maybe next year some of you will come visit during the Mardi Gras season to experience my good foods.
Oh, what a weekend
Two big events this past weekend... On Saturday Karen and I (along with John and Tara) went to the 20th annual sweethearts ball in celebration of Methodist hospital centennial. At the party we did some pretend gambling and learned the rules of blackjack. We also got skipped for the buffet line. Somehow the "captain" forgot we were there, and gave the ok to start moving to the desert course before we had even gotten dinner. There was almost a mutiny, but he realized his error and let us eat. Then there was a slide show and dancing. It was fun except for the fact that I was fighting off a cold. Here is a picture of Karen and me.
We also had X’s Baptism on Sunday. The boy decided to be happy and quiet most of the morning and into mass, but screamed his lungs out during the entire baptism proceedings. I am sure that the parents of the other two babies being baptized will be shooting us dagger eyes if we run across them again. The frustration of my screaming child and the 50 people giving advice as to how I should calm him was compounded by the fact I was fighting off a cold, still. Afterwards we went back to our house where I quickly got a lunch together and tried to calm myself down. I am sure it was not as bad as I am implying, but it was not my best moment. John and Tara were X’s godparents and most of Karen’s family was able to attend, along with my mom, dad, sister, cousin and grandmother. Here are some pictures
This is Karen, x and I , along with John Tara and the priest
This is xavier and his great grandma Boots
Xavier with Grandma Sharon, and gramps
Xavier and Grandmere
Monday I slept until 10, had a few pancakes, took a bath, slept some more. I also went in to work and had a small temper tantrum mainly do to the fact I was fighting off a cold…still. Finally, sometime last night, my fever broke and I am feeling much better today. However I am not so eagerly anticipation X’s bought with what I am sure I was able to pass on to him.
We also had X’s Baptism on Sunday. The boy decided to be happy and quiet most of the morning and into mass, but screamed his lungs out during the entire baptism proceedings. I am sure that the parents of the other two babies being baptized will be shooting us dagger eyes if we run across them again. The frustration of my screaming child and the 50 people giving advice as to how I should calm him was compounded by the fact I was fighting off a cold, still. Afterwards we went back to our house where I quickly got a lunch together and tried to calm myself down. I am sure it was not as bad as I am implying, but it was not my best moment. John and Tara were X’s godparents and most of Karen’s family was able to attend, along with my mom, dad, sister, cousin and grandmother. Here are some pictures
This is Karen, x and I , along with John Tara and the priest
This is xavier and his great grandma Boots
Xavier with Grandma Sharon, and gramps
Xavier and Grandmere
Monday I slept until 10, had a few pancakes, took a bath, slept some more. I also went in to work and had a small temper tantrum mainly do to the fact I was fighting off a cold…still. Finally, sometime last night, my fever broke and I am feeling much better today. However I am not so eagerly anticipation X’s bought with what I am sure I was able to pass on to him.
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