08/22/12

Sunny in Milwaukee

Alright, guys: we’re on a mission to eat/freeze all of our CSA stuff. Recipes may be flying for a while! I added a link to Tastebook.com, a site where you can build and print your own cookbooks, pull in recipes from a bunch of sites and browse lots of professional cookbooks – a new feature I haven’t played with yet. I keep all of my recipes here so they’re in one place online (aka accessible from anywhere in the world), and the printed copies make great personalized gifts. Dave, Tess and I are all home today. I’m billing a week ahead again, so my office days are wacky. I’m taking advantage of the unexpected time to fill the freezer with prepped meals and clear the fridge of, say, 9 ears of corn (and that’s after my freezing 8!) and 10 green peppers. Yesterday, Dave used tomatoes and cilantro in a Peruvian steak stir-fry.This is where the beet dip I made yesterday came from too – what are 2 people going to do with 6 beets?! The CSA overload has become quite inspirational. Tonight we’re trying chilled corn soup with crab meat, with the beet dip as an appetizer. Should be interesting!

08/21/12

Grocery shopping and growth

Tess had a weigh-in today. She grew to 23 inches long and 10 pounds 8 ounces! The nurse said she’s way past the baseline, so she’s doing great. We knew that already. 🙂

In order to celebrate, we went to the grocery store for the first time! Whole Foods is right underneath the pediatrician’s office, so it’s been a temptation to avoid. Still, it was almost empty and Tess was asleep – so in we went! Nothing dramatic – a bag full of odds and ends for the week. Still, it was mildly thrilling to stop by the meat counter, peruse the veggies and check out the new cheeses. Yum! I ended up falling a little more in love with our stroller. It maneuvers well even in tight aisles, and the cup holder also serves as a grocery bag shelf. Don’t worry – I held the bag steady the whole way home. Crushing Tess with pickled jalapenos would be horrific. When she grows out of it, I’ll be sad.

I had my first voice lesson today since Tess was born. There I was, warming up with Tess perched on one hip. Not exactly how it went five months ago! Singing felt great though; it’s some of the best work I’ve done in a while. All of the stress of infertility and adoption just sloughed off, leaving a happy, slightly tired but better singer/mom.

I came home to Dave in the kitchen whipping up some crazy Peruvian recipe I found and which was delicious! We brainstormed for my presentation and just hung out, catching up. Tess was quite the conversationalist, trying to talk over us the whole time! She finally collapsed in sleep and we followed shortly behind.