Diagnosis: Mom-Poopa-Phobia

On MWF, I stay home, work on my book revisions, write, grade, and otherwise try to be a productive scholar. Oh - and I take care of Iain.

On T/Th, I go to school and teach while Charles entertains, protects, teaches and otherwise works to make Iain a good person.

Here's a quiz about Iain's latest pooping schedule:

1. Iain poops on:
a. Tuesday
b. Thursday
c. Anytime Mom leaves the house
d. Whenever Dad's in charge

2. Iain never poops when:
a. It's Monday.
b. It's Wednesday.
c. It's Friday.
d. Mom is on duty.

Ok, tally your points. If you answered "a" to either question, give yourself a piece of chocolate. If you answered "a," "b" or "c" to either question, have a piece of chocolate cake. You deserve it.

And if you answered "d" to both questions: you should take an all-expense paid trip to San Francisco to tour the Sharffenberger factory and get a lifetime's supply of chocolate. You are a genius. How did you know?

Outside is Nicer When You Can Sit Up

Yum!

I read a blog about eating/cooking in China called All Appetite for China. I don't know much about the author, who lives in China, but I do know that s/he has good taste and an adventurous palate.

Check out today's entry, on milky tea in Hong Kong. I want it, bad.

Reading Is Fundamental

Whatever the Literacy Police may say ("My grandson is going to be illiterate!" "Don't worry, I'll read to you, Iain. I'll make sure you aren't illiterate." etc. No exaggeration, I swear.), I do read to Iain.

For example, about half an hour ago I was reading to him out of the Stark Brothers catalogue. He especially liked the description of the SnappyMac Apple, which is "perfect for eating fresh or baking." He agreed with me that it would be good if he mimicked its growth habit, which is "superior...more open for better air circulation and sunlight on the branches."

We agreed, too, that the Prairie Spy Apple looked nice in the photograph but that "a tangy taste that's great for fresh eating and baking" sounded suspiciously like Granny Smith. In other words, not "tangy" but tart! Iain joins the rest of us in our opposition to tart apples.

So, see? I read to him. He liked the LL Bean catalogue, too. We read that after the Stark Brothers. Iain singled out a nice wool sweater for Dad and echoed my appreciation for this fall's colors in the Freeport cardigan. Not only am I teaching Iain to be "literate," I'm making sure he has an eye for shopping!

I won't have to read to him for long, though. As you can see, he's very independent and prefers to read to himself:

Tomato Update

This is how they look when finished. As you can see, very, very roasted. And yet still moist and flexible, unlike sundried tomatoes.


Here's a closeup, in case you're not salivating yet.

Yes, they're tasty. In fact, it's possible that we have 50% less roasted tomatoes in the house now than we did at 6am today, but if so I don't know anything about it.

Neck Ruffles, Part 2

Iain had a rough week. Until yesterday.

For days, he was fussy all the time - no smiling, lots of crying, bad napping, and little pleasure in things he used to like. He even fussed on our walk in the Arboretum with the Bowes clan yesterday afternoon.

But Dad came to the rescue. Last night, trying to calm Iain, Charles decided to give him the rice cereal a bit ahead of schedule. He wouldn't take it, but seemed hungry. So Charles took the last bit of milk in the bottle and gave him that. Slurp! It was gone. More milk. Slurp! Gone, too. And rice cereal, and nursing half an hour later. Kid was hungry.

The effect on his mood was amazing. Within minutes he was smiling and cooing and generally back to his old self.

Tonight was Day Two of Project Stuffed-Like-A-Tick. After nursing, a bottle, and rice cereal, we gave Iain a bath. Toward the end, I lifted him up and started blowing bubbles on his belly. He smiled a little. Then Juno came over to check out the action. She started licking his toes while I blew bubbles on his tummy.

In response, he laughed. Well - it was more like a giggly hiccup, but it was laughter.

Hallelujah.

Things You Can Do While Baby Is Awake (and Fussy)

1. Roast tomatoes.

Buy some tomatoes. This time of year, I buy Farmer's Market tomatoes, which are lovely. This method allows you to keep gazillions of them in the freezer all winter. But at other times of year, if you're craving tomatoes, doing this to them will make even crappy supermarket tomatoes pretty good.

Preheat your oven to about 200 degrees Farenheit. 215, 220 is fine, too. Just low.

Slice the tomatoes with a serrated knife (I use our bread knife, because it has a nice long blade). Lay them out on a cookie sheet with a silpat (or spray PAM on it or otherwise make it non-stick). I cut mine about 1/4 inch thick, but really it's just about how long you have to cook them. The thinner you cut, the less time it takes.



Once they're all laid out, sprinkle them with salt (I use kosher because it's crunchy and I can see it and it's less salty) and grind some black pepper over them (optional). Drizzle with olive oil.

Now, stick them in the oven and walk away. Far away. Leave them cooking for 6-8 hours. Or start them at dinnertime, turn off the oven at 11, and go to bed with them still in there. The point is: cook them low and slow. They're basically dehydrating. After a long time, they'll look like soft, gooey sundried tomatoes. They will taste fabulous - sweet, salty, slightly chewy.

You can freeze them (the oil helps with that), or use them in pasta, on meat (instead of ketchup, for example), or with veg (I sauteed yellow squash and added these.). The trays above represent more than 3 lbs. of tomatoes, which will cook down to about one pint-sized container. So if you're awash in tomatoes or you have a small freezer, this way you can keep summer flavors for winter without taking up tons of space.

2. Make and Bake Empanadas:

OK, these aren't the proper empanadas that people like the Frumins recognize. I love those, too. They're particularly good when eaten *with* the Frumins. These are more like a quick snack that comes in empanada form. You could as easily call them a pasty, but that's not as fun to say.

I sautee a pound or so of ground meat (usually beef) with carrots, onion, garlic, and herbs (tons of parsley, some oregano, basil, sage, whatever's around. A couple of good handsful, for sure. Fresh and chopped). I add some chicken stock base (the paste stuff, by the spoonful, with a little water), some ketchup, some Worcestershire sauce, and salt/pepper. When it's all cooked to something that looks good and is tasty (taste it!), I cool it off. I did that the other night.

So today I finished them. When it comes to pastry, I'm not what you'd call skilled. I tried and tried, but whatever magic you need for good pastry - I don't have it. So I buy Pillsbury. If you get the box with 2 pie crusts in it, you'll need about 2 boxes for the filling. Cut each circle into quarters. Hold it in your hand and fill, using egg wash to seal the edges. Do not overfill! Your empanadas will split and you will have to eat them all up right away. Seal the edges with a fork if you want.

Put them on a cookie sheet/silpat combo, brush with the rest of that egg wash, and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until they're golden and smell good. Don't move them too much for a few minutes, because they need to firm up. And don't try to eat one hot out of the oven. You'll burn yourself.

You can wrap them in clear wrap once cool, freeze them indefinitely, and heat them up by unwrapping and then microwaving for a minute or so. They make a good lunch because you can take them frozen, let them thaw a bit, then zap them at noon and voila! Hot lunch. Add a salad and an apple and you're done.