I'm Living Where The Green Grass Grows

...not watching the corn pop up in rows....and that's ok! 

Today was so beautiful!  Weather was perfect, sky was blue and the baby needed a change of scenery.  So we took a trip into our big back yard.  One the other side of our fence is a field with vast expanses of green grass- so off we went!  And one minute later, we arrived.  I've heard of babies getting a little put-off by different textures, so I was curious to see how the munchkin fared.

She did great!  No problem.  Well, until she took off!  Here she has been chased down by her Daddy and hauled back to our area:

She's not a goofball AT ALL.  Neither is her Daddy.  The short story is that she had a great time.  It was too much fun.  She took off several times. This one she even checked up on us a few times, just to see if we were gonna follow.  Then, I guess she decided she had gone far enough, so she plopped herself down and squawked and clapped her hands.  Much to our enjoyment, of course!

 

Then, because she had gone so far, and was gone for sooo long, I forced some kisses on her- which she returned.  I love this kid.

The second most fun thing to do (after running away from Mommy & Daddy) was to steal Daddy's hat.  Who knew hat stealing was this entertaining?

Just before we made the long trek back home, it was time for some good, old fashioned baby swinging.  My professional photographer risked spit-up and drool strings to capture these giggly moments:

For some reason my kid gets a kick out of being upside down.  We get a kick out of it too.  She is such a goof!

I love this little family.  I LOVE (to be pronounced loudly, assertively and full of joy) my family.  MY FAMILY!  We created a new family, and I love us.

Baby Food Factory and Donner!

My friend Kristi and I have a commitment to our children's health and this commitment took form over the weekend as an entire day of making baby food.  First we went to the farmer's market and loaded up with the good stuff.  When I say "loaded" I'm not kidding.  It happens to be squash season and squash are not light!  We were basically hauling ourselves and our children back to the car after making our purchases.

Aren't they so sweet?  Our trip to the market was really lovely and uneventful.  The weather was perfection and the changing colors of the trees always makes me happy.  Our only if-y moment was when we were practically pulling into the driveway and both babies began to cry simultaneously.   Thankfully we were home and we both got a humbling giggle about how maybe we aren't ready for baby #2 just yet.

The rest of the day was spent peeling, chopping, steaming, baking and scooping.  So much prep!  And so worth it...

We unintentionally stumbled upon how to make applesauce, it was super yummy!  What lucky babies we have.  Next, everything took a whirl in the blender.  Hopefully Kristi won't hate me for posting this picture of her, I think it's totally cute and represents our afternoon well :)

Look!  Our eggplants have hearts in them!  This baby food is absolutely infused with love:

And finally, everything gets poured into ice cube trays and frozen.  There was SO much puree!  This is just a small peek into the final result, I think we'll be set in the baby food department for awhile...

Yay for good friends, we love our Kristi and Em :)

But wait!  The next day is my mom and my sister-in-law's birthday!  So I whipped up some vegan (and super delish) chocolate cupcakes with a non-vegan caramel and chocolate icing, so pretty and sooooo yummy.

My amazing mother decided that for her birthday she wanted to do the Turkey Trot which is a 7 mile race around Donner lake.  So I decide to join her....a nice idea at the time.  That morning, up at 6am.  Not a cool idea anymore.  Driving up into the mountains: snow.  Ugh!  Really?!  Luckily I love my momma and we didn't turn around.  It was COLD up there.  COLD.  The wind wasn't helpful.  Everyone was bundled and I got nervous when an announcement came over the speaker about taking care on the hills because of snow and ice.  Seriously.  Despite it all, we ran.  And it was perfect!  We even got hot and had to peel a layer or two.  We also had a nice discussion about whether or not there were human bones in Donner Memorial Park and whether or not they had been chewed on by other people....
We finished the race in 1:30ish.  Just where we wanted to be!  And my mom, the rockstar that she is, had to pull me along the last mile or so- I was pooped.  I am so glad she wanted to do this for her birthday, it was beautiful and amazing and I loved it!

Ice Cream Cake?

Ever since I overheard discussion about Johnny Garlic's Mint Ice Cream Cake last weekend, I've been mulling over making one of my own.  So I did!  I commandeered some fixins: mint ice cream, Andes mints, Chocolate mint cookies and Junior Mints.  And we're off!
First I created a base with the cookies.  I laid a layer of cookies to the bottom of my 6" cake pan.  I had to cut some to fit and then I poured the crumbs I made to fill in the gaps.

 

Next, I smooshed in a layer of ice cream.  Then I added a rim of Andes mints.  Over that, a layer of Junior Mints.

 Lastly, more ice cream!  Then, into the freezer.

A few hours later, I used a hair dryer to loosen the edges and get the pie to slip out of the cake pan.  It's not very pretty, but it worked!

My hope was that, when cut in half, the Junior Mints would show a layer.  Oh, well.  Ethan and I sacrificed our bellies and tested my creation.  It was just ok.  I was hoping for fireworks, and outrageous deliciousness.  No such luck.  It was definitely yummy though, it was ice cream wasn't it?!   

Pumpkin

A few weeks ago I bought a beautiful pumpkin at the Roseville farmer's market.  I loved it so much that it almost became too ripe before I made it into mush.  So I baked it.  First I cut it in half, scooped out it's seedy insides then put the halves face down on a baking sheet with a few cups of water.  Then 350 degrees for 45  minutes.  The meaty stuff practically fell off the skin!  It's a lovely, vibrant orange color.  I really wanna make a pumpkin pie with it.  I am certain it will be better than canned stuff (although I'm not knocking the can-I'm a fan!). 
Since I can't bring myself to make a pumpkin pie this early in November, I headed over to the dessert cafe to try my hand at pumpkin pop-tarts.  They turned out pretty tasty.  I made a pumpkin filling and used puff pastry.  While the puff pastry probably wasn't the best choice for a traditional pop-tart, it was yummy!  Here are some pics of my adventure, including some shenanigans my mom and Rosanna got into.  If you wanna try one for yourself, the Dessert Cafe  has them now!

Creative Sugar High

I get such a kick out of being creative in the kitchen.  It doesn't have to just be with sugar- although the majority tends to lean that way.  I have made a new rule, however: if I am going to make something it has to be for a specific purpose.  Otherwise, I'd really be in trouble.  Meaning I'd be hardly recognizable encased in layers of well earned fat.  This is a scenario I'd like to avoid (and reverse, ahem).
Here are some of my adventures.  The first is a cupcake I made for Reese's birthday.  It started off as a collection of mini bundt cakes.  I'm not sure why and they didn't successfully come out of the pan in cake shapes, they were crumb shapes.  Oh, well.  So the rest of the batter lived to see being shaped as cupcakes.  They turned out beautifully!  It's a chocolate cake and I dipped the tops of them in peanut butter chocolate ganache.  Next I made a cream cheese peanut butter frosting, frosted those suckers and sprinkled them with chocolate jimmies then topped them off with a half of a PB cup.

Last week I tried my hand at biscuits.  I love watching my grandma make biscuits.  She doesn't even use a recipe, grandmas are magical creatures too.  So I desperately want to be a diva in the kitchen, just like her, and I thought I had better start getting my biscuit recipe handled.  It was a disaster.  They turned out flat, bland (despite the cheddar cheese!), dense and heavy.  I knew something was amiss when I was done getting the batter together and the directions said, "your dough should be floury" and mine was sticky wet.  I'm glad I got that out of the way so that I can now make them perfectly....

 Lastly, I made apple turnovers at the dessert cafe a few days ago.  They turned out SO beautifully and tasted wonderful!  I am super duper proud of these came out.  If you are in the Auburn area you gotta go by and try one!

Oh, and here's a cool red onion I found at the farmer's market last week.  It's called a "Torpedo Onion"  Weird.

Be still my heart

Every day with my baby is a new adventure.  I can't believe my good luck!  I am the recipient of the most perfect and rewarding job: mom.  This means clapping and laughing when my Ro makes a new discovery.  Today she discovered she could see me through her pink plastic tupperware box that holds her toys- it was perched over her head like a helmet, she was listening to her voice echoing inside, then she looked up at me.  We were both pink to one another, and it was so silly!
This also means testing the bounds of my patience when three teeth are trying to break through her tender gums at the same time and all day she requires me to hold her- and even then the fussing persists.  It's these days when I think about the future, and how I am sure that I will give my right arm for her to let me hold her like this.  These kinds of thoughts bring me back to cherishing the moment.

Our little chub has long since outgrown the infant tub that hovers over the sink.  Anymore she showers with me, and her fascination with the water showering down hasn't lifted.  Each time she holds out her hand, lets the water beat down onto it and just watches, sometimes she wiggles her fingers too.  I love watching her discover and learn about her world.  I wish I could have my first experiences all over again!  Bath time has been a blast too.  Why are splashing babies so cute?

It turns out there are endless things to do with babies that result in giggles, smiles, belly laughs, happy tears and grown-ups doing things that they would have never considered doing in the past.  For example, I now sing out almost anything that we do.  Diaper changing time?  I've got a song for that.  Going to the store?  You know it.  Sleepy time?  Which of my four nigh-night songs would you prefer?  Ethan has taken to naming her little plastic animals.  Her favorite it Zeeb.  Zeeb has an indian accent and is, you guessed it, a Zebra.  The first one to get a name was Pedro, he's a Giraffe.  Now, if you had told me 3 years ago that my husband would be naming plastic toys and talking for them in foreign accents, I would have told you that you don't know my husband very well.  Babies are magical creatures indeed.

Lastly (for now) I cherish bed time.  Hardly because it means time when I can fly solo around the house without her tipping over the dog's water bowl (this happened TWICE today and I don't wanna talk about it), but because it has become a routine that brings wonderful closeness.  When we lay down for her to fall asleep she knows it's time for just that.  She hardly fights it and mostly gets snugly.  Ah!  The BEST!  I used to judge myself for creating it this way: falling asleep every night with the help of myself.  I would have thoughts fly through my head like, "You are creating a monster" or "she will never be able to fall asleep on her own if you keep doing this" and "you are babying her too much".  And as those thoughts flew through my head I let them fly right back out.  I get that how I parent is perfect, just like how you parent is perfect.  Isn't it wonderful being perfect?!

Running, oh how I haven't missed you?

I desperately want to be a runner.  I love runner's lean bodies and high energy.  These are things I don't have.  Or maybe I love having accomplishments under my belt....whatever it is, I completed a gnarly feat over the weekend!  For the second time I ran and finished the Lake Natoma Four Bridges Half Marathon.  Wa-hoo!!  It's a gorgeous 13.1 mile run with some challenging hills and (of course) four bridges.  If you've never run in a structured event before, it's worth doing it at least once.  There is something special and exciting about standing at the start line with a thousand other people, everyone bouncing, stretching and doing their best to be ready when the horn blows.  And then it does!  A sea of bobbing heads, not moving forward right away (I'm usually about mid-crowd), then crossing the start line.  It's like being in a heard of cattle.  Everyone so close together, then finding our own space in the first few miles.  I love it.  I feel like a part of humanity and get reminded that there is nothing that divides us but our own egos.  Ugly, nasty thing that it is.  Jerk.
Unfortunately I was hardly prepared for this event.  My body was in for a shocker!  About mile 7 (and just after a ridiculous hill) my body had a suggestion:
"How about we call it good?  This is farther than we have gone in a long time, I'm getting tired and we have done a good job.  Whaddya say?"
To which I repied:
"No one asked you.  Hush up now and keep pluggin' along- do it!"
My body continued to let me know that it was not up for this challenge: foot aches turned into foot pain, back muscles fatigued, the leg burn that had worn off came back, my even breathing became labored and my body felt like it weighed 300 pounds.  The only breaks I took were a few walks in the last 3 miles, and those were against my will.  I hate stopping.  I find it so much harder to start running again once I've stopped.
Eventually it I was on the last mile.  Hallelujah!  I had been dreaming about this moment for 12 miles!!  The only thing was, some smart ass thought it would be neat if the whole last mile was uphill.  Not cool.
One great thing about coming in nearly last is that there are few others around you when you cross the finish line.  Since this was me, I got a whole crowd of people cheering just for me as they announced my name over the loud speaker.  It's funny how just a little outside encouragement can make me move faster: after struggling the past 6 miles I was suddenly compelled to run faster across that line and make a grand finale!!
Then it's "clip!" as they take the chip off my shoe (a neato timing device), get adorned with my finisher's medal and ushered in front of a backdrop for a lovely, sweaty, tired picture (ugh).
My hubby and child were such a glorious sight after my 3 hour journey!  They really are the best part of my life.  Rosanna especially loved my medal, it's hers now.
Today my body aches.  But, hey- I got a medal!

Did I mention it was exhausting?  BTW, thanks to Ethan for being such a dedicated paparazzi: