Sunday Morning Traditions

When I was growing up, every Sunday my dad would make us pancakes.  My brother and I would get 3 smaller ones each and then my dad would make one big pan sized one for himself.  In fact pancakes were the first food I ever tried to cook.  My dad started by letting me try to flip them on my own and then I gradually got to pouring them and mixing the batter too.  It obviously became a childhood memory for me.

I have kept that Sunday morning ritual going off and on over my lifetime.  If ever I had energy and the means I would try to make some kind of warm breakfast on Sundays.  Not always pancakes, but sometimes eggs, toast, and bacon, or French Toast or whatever else I was in the mood for. 

Since having Colin, we have had to become more morning people (see clock in photo) which I am still dragging my feet on, but on the upside, we get more time in the morning for things.  So I have decided to reinstate this Sunday morning tradition from my childhood to something we will carry on in our house.  We started with pancakes for a few weeks and then we moved on to French Toast and this morning we busted out the waffle maker for some seriously delicious waffles.


This recipe came with the waffle maker when we got it and it involves letting the batter sit out overnight, so you really have to plan these out, but my goodness they are light and fluffy and scrumptious.  The best part is the waffle batter keeps in the fridge for a couple of days, so you can have them multiple days if you want.  The recipe makes more than Rob and I can eat in one setting, so we usually make them all up and freeze them, but then we forget about them.  I think this time around, maybe we get crazy silly and have waffles for dinner one night this week.  :)

Colin isn't old enough to eat whatever comes out of the kitchen on Sundays yet, but he is certainly taking it all in in the meantime.

Shrimp and Pork Tarragon

Rob and I still try to be adventurous in out cooking endeavors, although not to the extent we were before.  Everything in moderation these days, but that's ok.  Rob was browsing through our Outer Banks Cookbook and found a recipe that sounded decent, Shrimp and Pork Tarragon.  It didn't seem overly complicated and sounded like something we might like, so in went into last week's recipe rotation.

Shrimp and Pork Tarragon
1- 12 ounce pork tenderloin
Flour for dredging
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon each unsalted butter and oil, mixed
1/4 sweet onion
18 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup white wine, preferably a chardonay
1/4 cup heavy cream
1-2 Tablespoons coarse French mustard (or smooth if you prefer)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon

1. Cut pork tenderloin diagonally into 1 inch slices.  Lightly dredge in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Heat the butter/oil mix in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  (Unsalted butter is best because it won't burn - who knew?)  Add the pork medallions and chopped onions and cook until pork is brown, 3 minutes on each side.  Transfer pork to an oven safe platter.
3. Add shrimp to the pan, and cook for 1 minute each side.  Add white wine and cook down to half, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and fan over the top of the pork medallions on platter.  Place platter in oven.
4. Add cream, mustard, and tarragon to the reduced wine.  Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until thick.  Add salt to taste.
5. Pour sauce on top of poke and shrimp, or arrange on individual plates and top with sauce.

I read the directions about 4 times, but somehow I missed when to add the onions.  Needless to say they were added after I cooked the shrimp (oops), but it came out ok in the end.  Not perfect but it was decent.

I also found a recipe for hush puppies, so I took a stab at making them as well.  They were a little on the dense side, but I think that's because I added all the liquid instead of following the directions where they say to mix until just moistened.  :P

Hush Puppies
2 cup cornmeal
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
3 Tablespoons minced onion (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and powder, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, beat the buttermilk and egg together. (Optional: Place the minced onions in the bowl before adding the buttermilk and egg)  Stiir into the dry ingredients just until the batter is moistened.  Set aside.
3. Pour oil into a deep skillet or pot until it is 2-3 inches deep.  Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees, or until a drop of batter begins to "dance" in the oil.
4. Drop the batter by a few spoonfuls (I used a cookie scoop) at a time into the hot oil without crowding the pot.  Fry until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

The whole meal was pretty good.  We probably won't make the shrimp and pork tarragon again with all the other recipes we like, but it was worth trying.  We will definitely be trying to make the hush puppies again though!  YUM!

Colin's First Big Trip

We recently embarked on our first big journey with Colin to the grand old state of NY.  We tried to pack like we were still going to be in civilization and I think we did ok.  We used pretty much everything and I don't think there was anything were we said, "DOH! Why didn't we bring that?"  And the bonus, everything and everyone fit pretty comfortably in the Prius for this trip. 

The reason for this trip was Rob's grandfather's burial ceremony so not the happiest of occasions, but we were still able to introduce Colin to a fair amount of relatives and friends.  This includes his Uncle Bill who was so excited to meet him, I am pretty sure he hopped out of the car as it pulled in to park.

There was a good amount of traveling even when we got to NY, but Colin did really well with being in his car seat.  He didn't sleep the whole time and nor did we want him to, but he did doze on and off like a normal day.  Over the course of the long weekend we did manage to do some tummy time, although by the time mommy grabbed the camera he was getting upset about it.

 We also managed to get to the diner where my parents eat every Friday night.  Everyone there ooed and aahhed over him (as is appropriate with such a cute baby :P). Rob was trying to keep the little man entertained while we waited for a table.

On Saturday we had a small picnic for immediately family and two of my past co-workers/friends from Syracuse and their little ones. 

We even got a couple of family photos of everyone together at the same time.

On Sunday we packed it up and headed back home.  The trip took longer coming back than it did going, but we made it.  I don't think I ever really appreciated how much stability a routine can bring with an infant.  But the take away is that we survived and we now know we can travel with him and it won't be the end of the world. 

Baby Quilts

Where on earth do I find the time to do these things?  When I figure it out, I will let you know.  But mostly I suspect it's my lack of ability to sit still and do nothing.  Most of the time it seems like such a waste.  I have a lot of things I want to do in my free time, but I just prioritize the hell out of it.  It helps to have a loving husband who is supportive of my insane need to do some of these things.  :)

Anywho, it's been a while since I made a quilt, but all these people are having babies and so my baby quilt book is starting to see some exercise!  The first batter up is Sarah who is having a shower this weekend.  I asked her a while ago what, if any, kind of theme she was going with.  Jungle prints, courtesy of inherited baby stuff from family members.  Awesome, I can work with that.  I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and let my mind wander as I picked out a pattern and fabric to go with it.  The patterns in the book always explain how to re-create the exact quilt shown, so I have to think outside the mold a little if I like the basic pattern, but not their prints (pretty much how all of them are). 

I pieced it together Friday during the day while everyone was out of the house.  After Colin went to sleep, I stayed up hand tying it together.  My husband thought it would be a good idea to record this process.

Looks just like I know what I am doing!  :)  This morning I finished making the binding and attached it to the quilt.  I find myself always going to look for the YouTube Video I found a few years ago to help me figure out how to get it to meet up and lay flat.   It never makes sense when I watch it, but it works every time!  Finished product:

And while I was at it, I decided to make some pacifier clips in case they need them.  I found them to be a life saver from having to play, "pick the pacifier up off the floor and rinse" every 5 minutes.   I found the pattern on Pinterest and it worked out pretty well. 

I am sure there will be a few more posted here before the year is out.  It seems people have really caught onto the baby fever!

Using Coupons at Target

In the past week I went to Target twice (imagine that) and had two completely different experiences involving the use of coupons.  Enough so I wanted to share them here.  And more so to say that in both instances I was right but each time the cashier was "wrong".  Also an important fact, my husband worked for Target for about 9 months and knows their policies.  Here is my tale.

I preface this first tale with this; I am not what I would consider an "extreme couponer", but I will push it right up to the nose of where I know the line to be.  I don't try to scam stores into taking more than what I can logically account for with items and number of coupons.  When I see a coupon for buy one get one free,  I immediately search my book to see if I have a coupon for the "buy one" part.  I had found a coupon for buy one get one free on mascara (Cover Girl if you care) and I did in fact have a coupon for $1 off Cover Girl products.  I also wanted to pick up another eye liner which I was also going to buy in a Cover Girl brand because I had another $1 off coupon for any beauty product.  So are you with me so far?  I have three Cover Girl items and three coupons.  Two mascaras (one free, and one will get the $1 off) and the eye liner (also $1 off).  I have done this quite a few times before and NEVER had a problem at the check out.  I should have known there was going to be an issue when the girl stopped to read IN DETAIL the cat food coupon I had which read off a number of combinations of canned food you could buy to save $1.  So when she got to the buy one get one coupon, it should have been no surprise that she had to call over a manager and have a discussion about what I had and why it wasn't going through.  And at this point I was like, what's the problem?  She was like, well, it looks like you are trying to use too many coupons, we only accept one per item (now I am mad because I have 3 items and 3 coupons - I am NOT stupid).  I actually bought exactly what was pictured and the manager added, well you didn't buy the item, to which point I might have had an outburst.  FYI - If you are a manager you better double check before accusing your customer of something that's not true.  It does wonders for customer service.  Also, at this point, another customer loaded their items back in their cart to find another line (I didn't blame them).  I had pulled out the items and was showing them exactly what I had bought and what coupons I was using and how.  She was not listening at all.  In the end, she "gave me the deal" but as I walked away I heard her explain to the employee, "we only accept one coupon per item" to which my head imploded.  I had to get home otherwise I would have gone back and had them explain what I was "getting away with". Sigh...

The second tale is with another cashier a few days later.  I was trying to buy a handful of items and didn't have any coupons on hand to offset the cost at all.  Mostly because they were medicine/treatment for Colin's eczema and therefore not something in the usual kit of mine.  I bought a giant tub of Aquafor (or as we call it in this house - grease) which had one of those "instant" coupons on the top of the jar, but it was for their sunblock, so I was like oh well and just set it on the belt.  The cashier rings up my stuff and notices said instant coupon and says, "Oh you have a coupon here" and I told him "Oh that's for the sunblock version of this stuff".  He proceeded to take it off anyway and said, "Well, let's try it".  What do you know, it went through.  He was pretty pleased with himself and I wasn't going to argue.  My conscious was clear since I explained why I did not intend to use that coupon.  But hey, what a nice bonus.

So do the two tales cancel each other out?  Sort of, but I really have to wonder about the training at that store.  We have had a few other incidents with a couple of cashiers just not being smart enough to know how to ring things out.  One instance I recall was trying to get the Coke Zero free because we had bought the required amount (4 cases).  The dude was so confused, he tried to give us a $5 gift card and we were like no no, the Coke should just be free.  I guess if we were smart we would have just taken the $5 card since it was worth more, but again, we aren't trying to scam people.  The real lesson learned here is that I now have a favorite cashier to go to if he is working.  :)

Pinterest

Pinterest, the latest and greatest web phenomenon that's sweeping the nation.  Ok, it may not be that popular, but it's definitely main stream and sucking up hours and hours of peoples lives as they skim the website for the coolest ideas and funny photos of cats or the latest eCards.

I posted to Facebook the other day that I had learned the following things from Pinterest:

I need Mod Podge, it's the new duct tape
Chervon patterns are apparently the latest trend, but I think it's ugly
"I'll be glad I pinned this one day" is the most over used tag line
Some people are really clever
Some people have too much time on their hands
I need about 30 more hours a week to do some of the fun things I have pinned

I could also add these as well:

People appear to keep everything in cute labeled baskets and never seem to have anything out of place even if they are organizing a toddlers room!
People are blindly re-pinning things that have websites that go to no where (not a big deal when it's a funny picture, more so when it's 'follow these instructions to happy organized home")
Nutella is the new ingredient for any dessert recipe
Mason jars are the new "it" containers for everything from summer fun drinks to baking cake in to using as a vase.

 I love pinterest, I really do, but I also recognize that there is no way I am ever going to make half of the things I have pinned.  As my husband has told me, it's like the new magazine for people to oohh and aaahh over.  I don't disagree, but it sparks some little bit of self doubt when you see what people are pinning.  "Am I doing cool enough things around my house?" "Should I be craftier?" "What if I don't know how to make 50 random meals from what I have on hand?" "Do people really have time to do all of this and how the hell do I make time for just one of these ideas?"

A perfect category in which the above worries come into play is the "Brilliant ideas and tips for around the house".   Nothing like making you slap your head and say, "Why didn't I think of some of these?"  Of course, two minutes after you pin it, you can't remember one simple idea that seemed so second nature when you were reading and so the cycle continues.

A lot of what I a pin are ideas that I hope to reference when Colin is older.  Ideas for keeping kids entertained that involve simple household items or cool craft projects they can make and occupy themselves for an hour or so.  I also like to pin gift ideas and crafty things around the house in the event I find time and want to make something  homemade (which I love to do).  But I try to at least skim the articles/blogs/sites and see if it is anything I would honestly every try to attempt on my own.  Some of the pins involve some really whacked out steps or materials and all I can think is, "Really?  You think people are honestly going to be able to do that on  their own?"  But that is what Pinterest is for after all, imagining the possibilities even if they aren't possible for you.

Food recipes I have gotten a bit more discriminating of because there are SO many food pins.  I am trying to get on board with using the crock pot more, but some sites use some really terrible ingredients.  The fact  that something has 5 ingredients or less is not always a plus in the dishes favor no matter how quick it is.  I like to enjoy my food.  I have made a couple of things from my pins and had varying degrees of success.  I am happy to try new things, but just not every day.

*gets on soapbox*

One of my bigger pet peeves about Pinterest pins are the ones that use the tag line, "I'll be glad I pinned  this one day".  I can't stand it.  That's the whole purpose of Pinterest!!  You "pin it" so you can reference it at some point in the future.  This pet peeve also includes things like,  "Definitely making this one day" or any other statement which implies that you think you'll do something with the pin at a later date. I want to write NO DUH! in response to many of these, but as Pinterest doesn't really have a medium for that (and thank god they don't) I vent my annoyances here.   Every time you re-pin something, you have the option to change the text that goes with it.  Do us all a favor and remove those silly statements and just give a two sentence summary of what you pinned if appropriate.  Comics don't need summaries, a simple Haha, LOL, Hysterical, Hilarious, or other such statement is perfect.

*gets off soapbox*

With that I say, if you haven't joined the Pinterest community and want to see some fun things, what are you waiting for?  :)  Happy Pinning!

Welcome Baby Colin

It's probably no surprise to anyone, but our son joined our family back in April and has been pretty much the center of our lives since.  His arrival was pretty textbook, although I wasn't expecting to have a relatively short labor (12 hours from first pain to delivery) the way I have heard many of my friends talk so I was shocked when after 5 hours of labor I was already 6-7cm which I had labored through at home.  We got to the hospital in the middle of the night at the next morning, out he came!

The hospital stay was nice and all the doctors and nurses we saw were great.  Definitely a positive experience and the food wasn't half bad either!  Before we knew it we were home with him and trying to figure out how to be parents for the first time.  Believe it or not, while they don't come with an instruction book, instincts kick in from somewhere and help guide you.  That and there are only so many things that can be troubling them at such a young age.  Diaper wet?  Fed? Tired? Gassy?  That pretty much covers 90% of all problems.

He has been a good baby and has slept at night from the start and has been pretty content.  I am not going to lie though, there were a few periods in there where I thought he was a colicky baby and I was going to loose my mind.  However it turns out he really didn't like me eating dairy, so I cut that out of the diet pretty much all the way (how I miss ice cream).  It has since helped a lot.  Of course, mom lost her mind and ate some broccoli the other day and was reminded in short order that that's not appreciated either.  The growth spurts at 2 weeks and around 6 weeks were the hardest, but we got through them.  Now we are in the "easy" zone for a few months before he starts teething.

While I would love to be home forever with him, we have bills to pay and I need two way conversations that don't involve poop.  Day care started a few weeks ago and he seems to be adjusting to that well.  We got him trained to take a bottle a while ago and that helped immensely.  The ladies at day care have been great and have been loving on him a lot.  He seems pretty happy when he gets home and that makes for happy parents.

The question people want to know the answer to most - Are you getting any sleep?  The answer is yes, but (there's always a but) it's nothing like the sleep you get before you have a baby.  So while yes in fact he does sleep for 4-5 hours (sometimes 6 if we are super lucky) at a time, you still have to wake from a dead sleep to get up, wake up enough to feed him, and then get yourself back to sleep.  It's not always as easy as it sounds.  Now that he is sleeping in his crib it's a bit easier because I don't lie awake listening to him until I know he is totally passed out again.  I have also gotten to know when he will and won't be happy when I put him back in his crib.  Like I said, it's a learning process and he is a good teacher.

So with that, I will share a few of my favorite photos for now and tell you all to just stay tuned as we go through this new (and very long) chapter in our lives about parenting.  :)